State propaganda on NPR’s “Morning Edition”
By Justin Doolittle | Crimethink | June 12, 2013
On Wednesday’s episode of “Morning Edition” on NPR, a segment was devoted to exploring the extreme violence that has engulfed Honduras in recent years. Indeed, if measured by per capita murder rate, Honduras is now the most dangerous in the country in the world. There are many reasons why Honduran civil society has broken down like this, but let’s suspend that discussion for the moment in order to focus on one particular aspect of this story on NPR that was quite revealing.
At one point in the segment, Carrie Kahn, the NPR correspondent reporting from Honduras, said the following:
Last year, the U.S. Congress held up funding to Honduras over concerns of alleged human rights abuses and corruption, particularly in the Honduran police force. Part of the funds are still on hold.
This is an astonishing statement for someone who purports to be a journalist. Unless Ms. Kahn has psychic powers, she cannot know why the U.S. Congress held up funding to Honduras. She can only know why Congress said it was holding up funding to Honduras. There is often a profound difference between why politicians say they are implementing policy X and why they are actually doing it. As you might have heard, politicians are occasionally dishonest and insincere, and their decisions are informed by a number of factors that have nothing to do with their personal beliefs. For a journalist, someone who is supposed to adversarially cover politicians and express skepticism at everything they say, this kind of blind faith is inexcusable.
The problem, though, is that Ms. Kahn’s statement is actually quite a bit worse than that. Even if she had said, “the U.S. Congress held up funding to Honduras over what it claimed were concerns of alleged human rights abuses and corruption,” instead of just mindlessly repeating what the government claimed, that would still be wildly insufficient for any journalist who takes her profession even the slightest bit seriously. Why? Because the United States government provably does not base its decisions on allocating foreign aid on “concerns about human rights and corruption.” For decades, the U.S. has provided aid to some of the most repressive and corrupt governments on Earth. Going down the list would be trivial, but, for the sake of comparison, let’s stay relatively close by and just look at Colombia. The U.S. government ships hundreds of millions of dollars to the Colombian government every year; in FY 2012, $443 million was provided, making Colombia the leading recipient of U.S. aid in the hemisphere.
In a strange twist, though, Colombia is also widely considered to be the most repressive violator of human rights in the hemisphere, and corruption there is rampant. This is quite a conundrum. Ms. Kahn tells us that the U.S. withheld aid from Honduras “over concerns of alleged human rights abuses and corruption.” But the U.S. evidently has no such “concerns” in Colombia and continues to send hundreds of millions of dollars in annual aid. One is almost tempted to conclude that the U.S. government makes these decisions based not on noble and selfless “concerns” about human rights and corruption, but, rather, on what it perceives to be U.S. interests.
Ms. Kahn must know that the government claim she dutifully parroted is transparently fraudulent and, in fact, downright comical. She cannot be a working journalist and not know this. Presumably, she follows the news, she is knowledgeable regarding basic facts about U.S. aid, and she knows that the U.S. has always cheerfully sent aid to brutal regimes around the world. She’s not a wide-eyed poly-sci 101 student who is shocked to find out that U.S. government decisions are not invariably and solely based on considerations of Good and Evil. Ms. Kahn is a highly educated reporter, and she obviously does know these things, but the culture of obedience and submissiveness in American journalism is so profound that she probably doesn’t even consciously realize that she’s serving state power instead of doing journalism. The U.S. government told her that aid is being withheld to Honduras because of concerns about human rights and corruption, therefore aid is being withheld to Honduras because of concerns about human rights and corruption. That’s that. Then she goes on NPR, unquestioningly repeats government claims, and she’s done her job. We would call this “propaganda” if it happened in the Soviet Union, but it’s called “journalism” when it happens here.
Nicaragua: New Plans to Build Canal are Announced
By Kari Paul | The Argentina Independent | June 6, 2013
Rene Nuñez, president of Nicaragua’s national assembly, announced today that a Chinese investment firm will fund construction of a channel through Nicaragua, an alternative trade route to the Panama Canal.
The new channel will link the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea, and will be built by a “consortium of investors combined into one firm,” Nuñez, who declined to give more information on the group, said.
The government of Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega has introduced two bills to streamline the environmental impact study on the new works, so that the channel can be constructed as soon as possible.
“This is a project that is very important to the country, so we are pursuing it with urgency,” Nuñez said.
President Ortega said that the channel will serve as an alternative to the overcrowded Panama Canal, which is currently undergoing a US$5.2bn expansion project. He also stressed that the Nicaragua Canal will bring jobs to the impoverished in Nicaragua and other Central American countries.
Others oppose the canal, saying the government is pursuing it recklessly.
“I don’t know what is the rush, especially with such a sensitive topic,” said congressman Luis Callejas. “There should be a full consultation with the people, I do not understand why they are rushing the decision.”
Originally the channel was planned to go through the San Juan River, but now Ortega announced it would be built further north, through the waters of Lake Nicaragua.
“Lake Nicaragua should be a source of drinking water for Nicaragua and South America,” argued Environmental Affairs Chair Jaime Incer. He said the lake is currently protected as a “potable water reserve” by a law that Ortega himself passed.
The Nicaraguan National Assembly will debate the two bills on the project, taking into account the environmental impact, on Friday.
Corporate Media Drones on about Venezuela’s Defence Program
By Tamara Pearson | Venezuelanalysis | June 4th 2013
Merida – After President Nicolas Maduro attended a military display in Aragua state which included Venezuela’s three unarmed drones, some mainstream media have highlighted Venezuela’s defence program, stressing Venezuela’s relationship with Iran.
Maduro presided over a ceremony to hand over and display National Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) equipment last week. There was a demonstration of Venezuela’s Harpy System of Drone Planes.
The unarmed planes are operated by remote, can take photographs and be used for disaster situations, agricultural research and protection of the electrical grid, according to Defence minister Diego Molero.
Molero said that through the Simon Bolivar satellite, the drones can observe any part of Venezuela. He also presented the Gavilan project, for a drone plane which he said has been designed completely with Venezuelan technology.
Venezuela’s Harpy drones are small and can only be used for remote controlled long distance surveillance. They weigh 85kg, have a maximum flight distance of 100km and flight time of 90 minutes, a cargo capacity of 17 kg, and video cameras which can transmit in real time.
Venezuela’s Cavim (Venezuelan Military Industrial Company) manufactured the drones, with the help of Venezuelan military engineers who were trained in Iran. The system consists of three planes, a launcher, and a control unit.
Ciudad CCS reports that the government eventually hopes to have “at least a dozen” Harpies (Arpías in Spanish).
“We’re advancing in the development and management of military science and technology, for preserving peace and security in Venezuela,” Maduro said at the demonstration, adding that Venezuela is “prepared to resist any attack that could be fabricated overseas, against Venezuela”.
Minister for internal affairs at the time, Tareck el Aissami reported in September last year that Venezuela’s drones had detected a plane with a US registration number, allegedly transporting drugs, in Venezuelan territory. The first Harpy (Arpia-001) was manufactured in January 2012.
Media and U.S. response
Last week’s military demonstration led to some corporate media headlines over the following days about Venezuela “launching” its drones system. Media in and outside Venezuela have reported that the drones are for surveillance and to be used to “curb drug trafficking” but has also emphasised that Iran “helped to build them”.
Univision Noticias headlined with, “Venezuela will use drones to protect the country from any threat”. Fox News and AP reported that “Venezuela’s announcement comes as the United States has begun to use unmanned drones to hunt drug traffickers on both the U.S.’s southern border with Mexico and in the open waters of the Caribbean.”
Last year the U.S. said it would watch Venezuela’s drone development closely, with U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland saying at the time, “Our concern, obviously, would be with any breaking of international sanctions on Iran. And we will be most vigilant in watching how this goes forward”.
Further, according to an April 2013 article by the InterAmerican Security Watch (IASW), which “monitors threats to regional security” and the Jerusalem Post, “the growing military ties between Iran and Venezuela… have raised concerns in both the US[sic] and Israel”.
The IASW also made the claim that “Iran’s extended reach in Latin America could pose a threat to US national security; Tehran’s strategies in the region could also threaten Jewish and Israeli interests”.
However, while Venezuela’s 3 small drones are unarmed and have not left Venezuelan territory, the U.S. has used armed and unarmed drones in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia, while Israel has used them in Lebanon. According to a February 2012 report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, U.S. drones had killed at least 2,413 civilians in Pakistan alone, between May 2009 and the date of the report.
Argentina to Nationalize Cargo and Passenger Trains
By Sabrina Hummel | The Argentina Independent | June 4, 2013
Minister of the Interior and Transport, Florencio Randazzo, is set to announce changes in the railway sector – most importantly the nationalisation of passenger and cargo trains.
The Brazilian company América Latina Logística (A.L.L) will see its concession revoked and the historic Tren de la Costa will return to state hands. A.L.L had already received a warning from the Auditor General’s Office for anomalies in its provision of services.
From 1990 up to 2012, the company amassed a debt of over $237m to the government, 866% in excess of its contract compliance. Payments over the last six months have stalled, allowing the government to rescind its concession.
Tren de la Costa, built at the end of the 20th century, served as a vital link between the neighbourhood of Belgrano and the port of Tigre. Following various changes in ownership, it converted to electric power in 1931.
It covers 15.5km and runs alongside the scenic Río de la Plata serving four provincial municipalities. It has a total of 11 stations with a standard fare of just $16m or $10 for those with a DNI.
A.L.L meanwhile operates two of the most important freight railway networks in all of the country: A.L.L Central (line San Martín) and A.L.L Mesopotámica (line Urquiza). A.L.L Central runs through the centre of Argentina, beginning in the province of Cuyo and passes through San Luis, Córdoba, Rosario, Santa Fe, and finally Buenos Aires. A.L.L Mesopotámica in turn runs through the provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, and Entre Ríos, linking them to Paraguay, Uruguay, and its own network in Brazil.
A.L.L is the largest operator of rail logistics in Latin America. A.L.L Argentina is the biggest rail operator in the country, spanning 8000km. It is also the second largest in terms of cargo volume, transporting more than 5m tonnes each year.
Randazzo was recently quoted saying, “in terms of policy and management decisions, the State is more competitive than the private sector”.
NATO Intends to Explode Latin American Unity, Leaders Warn
Prensa Latina | June 3, 2013
Managua – The supposed initiative to incorporate Colombia in a military group like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an attack on Latin American and Caribbean unity, the governments of Nicaragua and Venezuela denounced today.
The statements by Presidents Daniel Ortega and Nicolas Maduro occurred on Sunday night during a massive event at Revolution Square in the capital, marking the visit of the South American leader.
“When the region seeks more unity through the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), it is worrying that initiatives are presented to try to divide and weaken the process”, noted Ortega.
“It is inadmissible and I want to believe that this is not actually happening, I find it hard to believe that President Juan Manuel Santos expressed his decision to join NATO,” highlighted the leader.
“Strength does not lie in filling our countries with foreign military bases, or joining organizations whose focus is bombing, murdering and destroying; that is NATO’s tradition and it has a “keep-on-doing-it” policy, noted the president.
“CELAC has commitments and if anyone breaks them, there will always be other leaders that rectify mistakes and strengthen unity of our peoples”, underlined Ortega.
Maduro warned that Colombia’s attempt contradicts the doctrine and the international law on which regional unity is based. “They want to put dynamite in the heart of the achievements of the unity of Latin America, the Caribbean and South America”, the leader pointed out.
Bolivia Calls UNASUR Summit to Discuss Colombia’s Inclusion in NATO
Prensa Latina | June 3, 2013
La Paz – The president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, described Colombia”s decision to join NATO as a threat to the region and called an extraordinary meeting of the Security Council of UNASUR.
During a ceremony in the southern city of Potosi, he considered that the decision of President Juan Manuel Santos to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a violation of the peace treaties signed by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and involves a dangerous possibility of military intervention to the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“We can not allow NATO to intervene Latin America. Having NATO is a threat to our continent, to Latin America and the Caribbean,” he said.
The president asked the General Secretariat of UNASUR to complete the formalities for the Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to take a joint position of rejecting the Atlantic Pact arrival to the region through Colombia.
He believed that the presence of that organization of military powers seeks to destabilize and undermine leftist governments in Latin America, primarily Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia itself.
Brazil: Indigenous Group Member Killed After Police Eviction
By Laura Benitez | The Argentina Independent | June 2, 2013
Indigenous groups have re-occupied farm land in Mato Grosso do Sul, South of Brazil, after being evicted on Thursday.
The groups are claiming ownership over part of the farm as they say it forms part of their ancestral lands.
The groups have occupied the land, which is owned by a local politician, Ricardo Bacha, for over two weeks. During the eviction process on Thursday, one of the group members, Osiel Abriel was shot and killed by police.
According to press reports, police officers have claimed that the group became violent during Thursday’s eviction process.
Brazil’s justice minister José Eduardo Cardozo, has called an investigation into the death of Abriel which will determine if an excessive and unnecessary use of force and firearms were used.
“We will very accurately determine what happened. If there were abuses, those responsible will be punished, “he said.
On Friday, 250 people from the group returned back to the farm to re-occupy the land.
Local media have said that although the situation continues to be “tense”, there has been no violence since the re-occupation on Friday.
Related article
- Argentina: Violent Eviction of Indigenous Community Deemed Illegal (alethonews.wordpress.com)
Colombia: Piedad Córdoba Ratifies Intention to Run for President
Prensa Latina | June 1, 2013
La Paz – While visiting this capital, Colombian ex senator Piedad Córdoba expressed her intention to run for president in the next elections in her country, according to press reports.
Cordoba visited the cities of Sucre and La Paz to film the next chapters of the program “Causa Justa” (Just Cause) to be broadcast by Telesur television network, and took the opportunity to ratify her position to become the first woman to be at the helm of Colombia.
According to the newspaper Cambio, Córdoba also extolled the transformations undergone by the Bolivian capital in the past few years: “you can really see progress in Bolivia, the big changes and improvements in La Paz!”, she said.
Cordoba, 58, has worked systematically for the rights of women, ethnic minorities and human rights in her country, besides being involved, in 2007, in efforts to reach an agreement between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP) guerrillas and the then government of President Alvaro Uribe.
Since 2011, in the wake of her dismissal as senator by the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia, she started to work with Telesur in the Causa Justa program, which highlights conflicts hitting the region, as told by political, social and cultural figures, notes Cambio newspaper.
She is in Bolivia “for a second season of the program in order to film a documentary on discrimination, bilingual education and the indigenous presence of President Evo Morales,” added the source.
Related articles
- Colombia: FARC and Government Reach Agreement on Land Reform
- Colombia: extrajudicial executions killing still ongoing according to report
- Latest FARC Proposal for Peace Process in Colombia
- Colombia: President Santos Announces ‘Profound Changes’
- Colombia: Drummond Contractor Convicted in Unionists’ Deaths
- Imperialism and Violence in Colombia
Colombia: extrajudicial executions killing still ongoing according to report
By George Nelson | The Argentina Independent | May 24, 2013
The Centre for Popular Research and Education (Cinep) in Bogotá has reported that during 2012 there were 11 separate cases of extrajudicial executions in Colombia, suggesting that executions known as ‘false positives’ are still ongoing. A further eight cases of arbitrary detention have also been reported, amassing a total of 52 victims.
The false positives scandal refers to the Colombian military’s alleged sanctioned practice of killing civilians and then dressing them up in guerrilla fatigues in order to present them as combat kills. Reports show that the executions usually target farmers, social activists, and political opponents.
The scandal is part of continuous armed conflict between Colombia’s government and the FARC and ELN, both guerilla forces. In May last year the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) alleged that over 3,000 civilians had been killed between 2002 and 2008 as a result of the conflict.
Cinep also claim that the general state of human rights in Colombia is poor with members of the paramilitary “the greatest violators” responsible for 565 cases, followed by the police with 268. Giraldo Serna, of Cinep, said, “Threats, tortures, disappearances, deaths, and social cleansing are still implemented in Colombia.”
The government denied ‘false positives’ are still occurring but Cinep believes the problem is far greater than people think. “Those who justify the false positives don’t realise they are damaging the prestige of the police force,” said Cinep spokesman Alejandro Angulo.
Honduras: Three Farmers Killed During Land Eviction
Agencia Púlsar | May 22, 2013
In the north of Honduras, in the community of San Manuel Cortés, three peasants were killed and two others wounded on Friday, when they tried to enter the lands that were expropriated last year by the Instituto Nacional Agrario (National Agrarian Institute). Valentín Caravantes, Celso Ruiz y Celedonio Avelar, who died at the scene, were members of the Farmers’ Movement of San Manuel Cortés (MOCSAM), located about 200kms from the capital.
The men entered the land because they obtained an order from the Court of Criminal Appeals, which stated that the evictions carried out in February 2012 against MOCSAM were illegal, reports the National Popular Resistance Front of Honduras (FNRP). “Security guards from the Honduran Sugar Company (CAHSA) fired at the three farmers,” FNRP added.
Brothers Aníbal and Adolfo Melgar were also seriously injured in the shooting and were immediately taken to a hospital in the municipality of San Pedro Sula.
For three years now MOCSAM has been demanding more than 3,000 acres of land which is currently possessed by the CAHSA company and exceeds 250 acres, the maximum a person or a firm can own in Valle de Sula under the country’s agrarian law.
The incident is the latest in a long series of clashes, which have ended up with many deaths over the past few years. In February, more than 1,000 peasants took back land after being expelled by British/South African beverages multinational SAB Miller in August 2012. And earlier this year, in March, the ongoing conflict between farmers and the Honduran government has resulted in the eviction of over 1,500 people from their land in the south of the country.
Related articles
- The New York Times on Venezuela and Honduras: A Case of Journalistic Misconduct
- Senator Menendez Meets with President Lobo to Discuss U.S. Funding for Honduras
- Honduras: Terror in the Aguán
- Will the World Bank Stop Investing in Campesino Assassinations?
- Killings Continue in Bajo Aguán as New Report Documents Abuses by U.S.-Trained Honduran Special Forces Unit
- Honduras: Murdered Lawyer’s Brother Killed in Aguán
- Step by Step: Honduras Walk for Dignity and Sovereignty
- World Bank Must End Support for Honduran Palm Oil Company Implicated in Murder
Conviction of former Guatemalan ruler overturned
Press TV – May 21, 2013
Guatemala’s top court has overturned the genocide conviction of the country’s former dictator Efrain Rios Montt, ordering his trial to restart.
The move came on Monday, about ten days after a three-judge panel convicted the 86-year-old of genocide and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to 80 years in prison.
The constitutional court’s secretary Martin Guzman said that the trial needed to go back to where it stood on April 19 in order to resolve several appeal issues.
The sentencing earlier this month was hailed by many Guatemalans, as it was the first time a former Latin American ruler was convicted of such crimes.
According to the panel, Rios Montt failed to prevent the killings of some 1,771 Ixil Mayans during Guatemala’s civil war.
Over 200,000 Guatemalan people were killed in the Guatemalan Civil War of 1960 to 1996, which pitted the right-wing government of Guatemala against various leftist rebel groups, mainly backed by Mayan indigenous people.
Most of the victims of the war were indigenous people.
In September 2011, Judge Carol Patricia Flores accused Rios Montt of genocide but could not prosecute him because he had immunity from prosecution as a congressman.
Related article
- Genocide in Guatemala: The Conviction of Efrain Rios Montt (alethonews.wordpress.com)

