¡África, mi África!

Nnimmo Bassey, Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria

Bienvenidos a esta edición especial del boletín del WRM que mira al África con ojos africanos. Para muchas personas en el mundo, África es un continente exótico lleno de danzas y cantos, tanto de los pájaros como de las personas.

África es un gran continente. Su masa terrestre cubre 31 millones de kilómetros cuadrados y representa un 20% de la tierra. Es el segundo del mundo en extensión y tiene una población de alrededor de 900 millones de personas, o sea que está menos poblado que la India y China.

África es una de las regiones más ricas en recursos naturales y diversidad cultural. La bendición de sus recursos naturales ha sido calificada de maldición, pero un recurso sólo puede convertirse en maldición por obra del ser humano. Los expertos en estadística sostienen que el 41% o más de los africanos vive con menos de 1 dólar por día. Nosotros, sin embargo, decimos que la calidad de la vida de una persona no está dada por la cantidad de dólares estadounidenses que tiene en el banco. ¡Nuestro medio ambiente es nuestra vida!

África es el centro del mundo. Es la cuna de la raza humana y conserva mucha de la humanidad que se ha perdido en tantos lugares del mundo. Su fuerza radica en su diversidad biológica y cultural y en su rico acervo de conocimientos y sabiduría. Este boletín despliega ante nuestros ojos las muchas y continuas agresiones que especuladores codiciosos, empresas extractivas transnacionales e instituciones financieras internacionales infligen al continente. Su diversidad debe ser defendida y protegida.

África estuvo una vez cubierta por exuberantes bosques tropicales y bañada por aguas limpias, y albergaba una enorme cantidad de especies, algunas de las cuales aún no están documentadas. La prolongada explotación indiscriminada ha provocado una deforestación masiva y el consiguiente desplazamiento de pueblos.

Años de colonialismo empujaron a los gobiernos africanos hacia la agricultura de plantación con el objetivo de proveer de materias primas a Europa y Norte América. La división internacional del trabajo requería que la mano de obra especializada estuviera en la metrópolis y el personal subalterno en las colonias, y, como resumió el erudito Walter Rodney en su libro “Cómo Europa subdesarrolló a África”: “la evidencia más convincente de la superficialidad de los comentarios acerca de que el colonialismo ‘modernizó’ a África, es que la gran mayoría de los africanos entraron al colonialismo con una azada y salieron de él con una azada.”

El colonialismo y las actuales relaciones neocolonialistas logran que las tierras que habrían servido para producir alimentos para el continente sean transformadas en plantaciones cuyos productos están destinados principalmente a la exportación. Las tierras que se usaban para la producción de mandioca, ñame y otros alimentos básicos locales, se convirtieron en plantaciones de té, caucho, palma aceitera, algodón, café, azúcar, cacao y maní. Hoy en día, enormes franjas de tierra están siendo convertidas en plantaciones de agrocombustibles, simplemente para alimentar las máquinas en el Norte y afianzar la situación de dependencia de los africanos. Irritantemente, algunas de nuestras tierras son etiquetadas como tierras marginales y reservadas para cultivos como la jatrofa. Esta clasificación de las tierras no es más que un artificio lingüístico para marginalizar y desplazar a las comunidades pobres en beneficio de los acaparadores de tierras.

El hecho de que África sea rica en recursos minerales ha engendrado conflictos graves y violentos. Estos conflictos no son sólo los que se manifiestan como guerras; hay varios casos más sobre los que hay poca información, que ocurren cuando operadores irresponsables de la industria extractiva surcan el continente arrebatando todo lo que pueden, dejando la tierra cubierta de cicatrices y a la gente en la miseria. Recordemos los conflictos recientes que pusieron a Liberia y Sierra Leona de rodillas, los conflictos que devastaron la región del Congo y la situación actual en los yacimientos petrolíferos del delta del Níger, en Nigeria.

Hablar del delta nos hace recordar la destrucción de los hermosos manglares que bordeaban las costas tropicales del continente, ofreciendo lugares aptos para el desove de varias especies acuáticas y protegiendo la tierra contra las olas devastadoras y la erosión costera. Hoy en día, las actividades de la industria petrolera y la cría industrial de camarones representan una grave amenaza.

El cambio climático es un tema de derechos humanos y así lo han reconocido las Naciones Unidas. Nadie discute el hecho de que es injusto que las naciones industrializadas continúen con sus enormes emisiones de carbono mientras sugieren acciones en los países menos industrializados de África y el resto del Sur para compensar su inacción en casa. La justicia exige que los países del Norte tomen medidas fuertes para contener las emisiones de carbono en su lugar de origen, y así dar pruebas de alguna seriedad para afrontar las manifestaciones reales de la crisis climática que amenaza la supervivencia de muchos pueblos y naciones.

Una de las fallas principales del protocolo de Kyoto es que no atribuyó en forma inequívoca a los hidrocarburos la culpa del problema. Por lo tanto, los planes para manejar el problema fueron fundamentalmente erróneos. La sabiduría popular nos enseña a atacar la raíz de los problemas y no sólo los síntomas, si lo que buscamos es resolverlos de manera radical y duradera. Un volumen enorme de emisiones de carbono no puede ser un signo de progreso y desarrollo.

El protocolo de Kyoto se basó en una ideología de mercado y esto ha bloqueado el camino hacia soluciones verdaderas y justas del cambio climático. Incluso el acuerdo alcanzado en Bali (diciembre de 2007) sobre Reducción de Emisiones por Deforestación y Degradación (REDD) gira en torno a esa misma ideología de mercado. Permite a los países del Norte financiar proyectos forestales utilizando los fondos de carbono del Banco Mundial y reclamar créditos de carbono que los autorizan a seguir contaminando en casa. El mecanismo REDD ya está encendiendo señales de alerta roja en todo el Sur, a medida que las comunidades ven con preocupación que los comerciantes de carbono y los especuladores tomarán el control de sus bosques y sus tierras, marginándolos de ese modo aún más y poniéndolos ante peores riesgos que los generados por el propio caos climático.

La marcha destructora de las empresas petroleras transnacionales de Oriente y Occidente debe ser detenida. Las huellas de estas empresas pueden verse en el Golfo de Guinea y emergen cada vez más en la costa este del continente; las empresas petroleras están implicadas en los violentos conflictos que se desarrollan en Sudán y en el resto del mundo. Las comunidades de África están comenzando a reclamar que se impida cualquier nuevo emprendimiento petrolífero en la región, porque al mundo le irá mejor si el carbono permanece bajo tierra. Contar con el petróleo como fuente de enriquecimiento y como fuente de energía para el futuro es vivir de ilusiones, dado que se trata de un recurso finito, que está disminuyendo y que ya no tiene porvenir alguno.

Les ofrecemos un plato africano rico en calorías, que seguramente los hará pensar y, quizás, solidarizarse con los valientes pueblos de este continente que defienden su patrimonio. ¡Que lo disfruten!

Puedes comentar este artículo en: http://wrmbulletin.wordpress.com/

WORLD WAR 4 REPORT

Journalist Bill Weinberg's online report

Mission Statement

World War 4 Report has been monitoring the Global War on Terrorism and its implications for human rights, democracy and ecology since the immediate aftermath of 9-11. With an international network of contacts and correspondents, we scan the world press and Internet for important stories overlooked by the mass media, and examine the headlines with a critical eye for distortion, deceit and propaganda. We report on the forgotten wars outside the media spotlight, and seek out unexamined contexts that go beyond mainstream sound-bite coverage. We endeavor to expose the corporate agendas behind the new military interventions, and to find pro-autonomy, anti-militarist voices we can support in the countries under imperialist assault. We especially seek to loan solidarity to land-rooted, stateless, and indigenous peoples—the "Fourth World." Above all, we are committed to real journalism (as opposed to mere opinion-spewing and bloggery), and seek through our example to resist its alarming decline. We are fastidiously non-sectarian, and our first loyalty is always to the truth.

Why World War 4?

The "World War III" envisioned in the Cold War was a devastating conflict between two monolithic superpowers. The Cold War, thankfully, never reached this climax. But now we are faced with its chilling sequel: the age of "asymmetrical" or "molecularized" warfare, in which a single globalized superpower faces an invisible, hydra-headed enemy which is everywhere and nowhere; in which the expansion of "free markets" is an explicit aim of military campaigns; and in which indigenous peoples, stateless ethnicities and localist/autonomist poltical models—the "Fourth World"–are increasingly targeted and conflated with the "terrorist" threat. The leaders of this new global crusade acknowledge openly that it will last generations. To emphasize that this new world situation requires a new kind of thinking, we have joined with those on the left and right alike that call this global conflict World War 4.

See WW4 REPORT #106

Anna Lappe is in South Korea right now. This is the latest posting in her blog:

We Are Wowed by Cooperation

Blog

Saturday, August 23rd, 2008

At an iCoop bakery

My mother likes to tell the story of neuroscientists who studied the state of our brains when we cooperate and when we compete. In one experiment, volunteers engaged in various activities, some that got them cooperating, others competing.

The results were at once surprising and clear: Our minds, they discovered, downright like to cooperate. In fact, the same regions of the brain that light up when we eat chocolate, light up when we cooperate.

If that’s true (and peer-reviewed papers say it is), then this biological fact goes a long way to explain why the group of four leaders in one of South Korea’s powerful consumer cooperatives here smiled so big and laughed so easily with each other during our conversation today.

Founded just over ten years ago, iCoop (Korean Solidarity of Consumers’ Cooperatives) already has 50,000 member households, with 68 regional offices across the country. The cooperative works with 4,500 farmer households who supply more than 1,000 locally and sustainable produced products to members through online sales and at stores across the country. The coop has 34 stores (with 10 more planned this year), including the bustling bakery in a residential neighborhood in Southwest Seoul where we meet (and eat) with them.

The cooperative’s vision is to connect consumers and producers – and in doing so, radically change people’s ideas of what it means to be a “consumer” and a “producer.”

Part of this re-education happens in their annual farm visits, they explained to us through our indefatigable interpreter.

“Consumers are always trying to buy as cheap as possible. Producers are always trying to sell for as much as possible,” said Oh Hang Sik, iCoop General Secretary.

Through their farm visits and education programs (last year, they brought 8,500 of their members to visit their farmers), the cooperative helps people to rethink these relationships: “Both consumer and producer realize that they share a common vision of sustainable agriculture that can provide safe food and a secure future,” explains Oh Hang Sik.

Added Lee Jeong Joo, a member activist and the president of their 68 regional offices: “We like to say: Ethical production through ethical consumption.” Each makes the other possible.

“We help our members have a shift in consciousness that sustainable agriculture is linked to our food sovereignty. This shift in consciousness is an important role of iCoop.” They see how consumers and producers can cooperate with each other to work toward this vision. In other words, they eat the chocolate.

The most recent posting from Raj Patel's blog:

http://stuffedandstarved.org/drupal/node/396

Eating After the Revolution

Slow Food Nation will hit San Francisco this weekend. The City's already fluttering with SFN posters, and the Victory Garden, planted on the land outside City Hall, looks very handsome indeed. To prepare for the jamboree, I thought I'd go back to Carlo Petrini's book of the same name, and to Geoff Andrews' new book, The Slow Food Story. Together, these writers offer a corrective to the hoity toity food culture that has become synonymous with the organization. Although it’s often forgotten, Slow Food’s roots are radical.

Slow Food was created by a group of hard-core activists in Piedmont, Italy. They believed the Italian Communist Party had betrayed the working class so systematically that they resorted to 'extra parliamentary politics', creating the Democratic Party of Proletarian Unity to pull the left further to the left. They were popular too. Petrini was elected to local government in Bra, Piedmont. When they fell afoul of mainstream politicians, actor Roberto Benigni and playwright Dario Fo were among those who rushed to their side.

Through a number of fights with the leftist establishment in the 1970s and 1980s, Petrini and his comrades found their flaw in Italian socialism. Eurocommunists couldn't care less if the proletariat were eating cardboard - as long as it was good for them; the young Piedmontese had other ideas. They developed a concept that would propel them to form a movement. The axiom behind Slow Food is this: everyone deserves the right to pleasure.

Slow Food was, very consciously, an anarchic finger in the eye of capitalism. It was a collective sticking out of tongues at the acceleration and isolation of modern life, of which the opening of a McDonalds in Rome was both cause and consequence. But it was also a rejection of Soviet-style conformity. The foundation of Slow Food echoes Emma Goldman's line 'I don't want to join your revolution if I can't dance'. Petrini and his supporters didn't want to join the revolution if they couldn't be sensuous, and if their food couldn't be good, clean and fair.

This, I like.

But not every foodie wants to take the right to pleasure seriously. Or, worse, they'll take it seriously for themselves, but not for others. Too often, inside and outside Slow Food, I've heard the tastebuds of low income families disparaged, as if a generation had been irretrievably lost to junk-food. It’s why I've been particularly taken by an organization working in some of the poorest parts of Oakland, which offers the perfect antidote to this kind of thinking.

Bay Area Community Services runs, among other things, a meals-on-wheels program that weaves through some of the poorest areas of Oakland, serving over 30,000 meals per month. Most clients earn less than $10,000 dollars per year, and most aren't able to cook for themselves. For years, BACS served mass-produced food, bought from Sysco. Recently, they switched to a farm-to-table approach, sourcing ever-increasing amounts of produce from within 150 miles of the Bay Area, by partnering with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers.

Switching to fresh fruit and vegetables costs more, but not much. The price of microwaveable slop, per meal, was $1.65. With fresh local food, the ingredients cost 5 cents more. Of course, there's a higher labor cost per plate in putting the meal together, but that's to be expected - preparing fresh food takes more time and skill than does the reheating of mush.

But the kicker is this. With every meal comes a little envelope, into which people are gently encouraged to place a donation if they can, to help cover costs. In the three months since the farm to table service started, donations have gone up by $20,000 - a 23% increase. This, from the poorest people in the Bay Area, in the middle of the credit crisis.

It's a fairly straightforward reminder about the necessity of making good, clean and fair food available to everyone. But there’s a deeper lesson too: the reason everyone should enjoy the right to pleasure is because everyone has the capacity for it.

REVISTA APUESTA

En el Puerto Rico de hoy existen muy pocos proyectos literarios tan merecedores de apoyo como la Revista Apuesta. Y no digo esto simplemente porque el ejemplar corriente tiene una entrevista conmigo. Me gusta porque es literatura verdaderamente insurgente y no cae en algunos pendejismos cómodos que están de moda, no es ninguna izquierda liviana ni tampoco es otro proyecto intelectualote narcisista de esos que están de más. Esto es literatura para aquellos que no han perdido y no quieren perder su capacidad para indignarse ante las injusticias de la neorrealidad de la posguerra fría, y simplemente no les da la gana de ser cómplices.

En el archivo adjunto a este mensaje se anuncia la presentación del ejemplar #3 de Apuesta, que será el próximo jueves por la noche en la Librería Mágica en la av. Ponce de León en Rio Piedras, cerquita de la UPR. Me gusta la localización, puedo ir a pie desde casa, y el dueño, Arnaldo González, es un buenazo buena gente que me ha ayudado mucho con las dos ediciones de mi libro, Balada Transgénica (reseñado en el ejemplar #2 de Apuesta).

Ah, y debo mencionar que la actividad será amenizada con la música del guitarrista Renaldo Guadalupe Alamo, buen amigo y valioso compañero. Para más información léanse esto: http://carmeloruiz.blogspot.com/search/label/Renaldo

También aprovecho para anunciar una actividad para recaudar fondos para la revista, que será en el Viejo San Juan el domingo 31 de este mes:

flyergrande.jpg, image/jpeg, 321x465
APUESTA A LA REVISTA


Open Bar |Música |Karaoke
Marcas selectas
$20.00

Domingo 31 de agosto de 2008
(¡el lunes es feriado!)
9:00 pm - 1:00 am
COOL SAN JUAN
Mapa: http://www.coolsanjuan.com/Mapa-Cool-San-Juan.jpg

Actividad de recaudación de fondos para la Revista Apuesta.
Más información en el flyer adjunto.
Busca el grupo en Facebook: "Apuesta"

Water Footprints Make A Splash

by Ben Block on August 21, 2008

Photo courtesy UNEP

Children in India collect water during drought. Roughly one-third of the world population is estimated to live in areas of water scarcity.

A cup of coffee has a hidden cost.

If the full water requirements of a morning roast are calculated - farm irrigation, bean transportation, and the serving of the coffee - one cup requires 140 liters of water.

This notion of a product's "water footprint" is gaining traction. Defined as the total volume of freshwater required to produce a nation's goods and services, the tool tracks domestic water demand and the impact of consumption on water resources across the globe.

As world water availability begins to decline as the result of population growth, overconsumption, and climate change, more water advocates are encouraging governments and consumers to internalize the true cost of water through an account of their water footprint.

The global water footprint is about 7.5 trillion cubic meters per year, not including irrigation losses, according to estimates [PDF] by Dutch researchers and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). India, with 17 percent of the global population, has the largest water footprint in absolute terms. But its footprint represents only 13 percent of the world total. The United States, in comparison, comprises 4.5 percent of the world population and consumes 9 percent of the world's water.

Agriculture has the greatest impact on a water footprint. Global crop production requires more than 6 trillion cubic meters of water each year, with nearly a quarter of supplies flowing to rice paddies. Livestock production requires the most water resources in the food chain. One hamburger, for instance, needs 2,400 liters of water on average. During World Water Week, which runs through Sunday, the water footprint concept is benefiting from a spike in attention. This year's Stockholm Water Prize was awarded to professor John Anthony Allan of King's College London for introducing the predecessor to water footprints: the term "virtual water" - the volume of water required to produce a commodity or service.

The conservation group WWF-UK estimated that the 4,645 average liters of water that Britons consume daily leads the country to import 62 percent of its water sources - making it the sixth largest net importer worldwide behind Brazil, Mexico, Japan, China, and Italy, according to a report released Wednesday. "Only 38 percent of the UK's total water use comes from its own rivers, lakes and groundwater reserves," said WWF's Stuart Orr in a press statement. "The rest is taken from...water resources [often] stressed or very likely to become so in the near future."

Plastic manufacturer Borealis and plumbing supplier Uponor revealed a joint plan to include water footprints in the future planning of plastic products on Wednesday. "Understanding our footprint can be a key tool to further guide the development of more water-saving products," said Tarmo Anttlla, Uponor's communication vice president, in a prepared statement.

Roughly one-third of the world population is estimated to be living in areas of water scarcity. Unless water footprints recede, fierce conflicts over water resources are likely unavoidable, experts warn.

"Feeding everyone - including the undernourished and additional 3 billion people expected in 2050 - will require 50 percent more water than is needed today," said Anders Berntell, executive director of Stockholm International Water Institute at the World Water Week opening ceremony. "We are not prepared to deal with the implications this has for our planet."

Ben Block is a staff writer with the Worldwatch Institute. He can be contacted at bblock@worldwatch.org

La Revista Apuesta

Raúl Guadalupe y Ramón Rosario*

Luego de la caída de los socialismos burocráticos en 1989, muchos creyeron en la muerte del materialismo histórico como método de análisis social y del socialismo como alternativa política al capitalismo. La intelectualidad fue dominada por ideologías legitimadoras del capitalismo. Conceptos como globalización, sociedad civil y ciudadanía pasaron a conformar el lenguaje político de moda; nociones como el fin de la historia y un relativismo filosófico extremadamente subjetivista hegemonizaron las universidades. La Universidad de Puerto Rico no escapó a esta realidad. Mientras la izquierda política se debilitaba y la histórica orientación crítica del profesorado desaparecía, los gobiernos burgueses, “nuestro” gobierno colonial y la administración universitaria implantaban sus políticas neoliberales a los procesos de enseñanza y de trabajo. Así terminó el siglo XX en la UPR, en el país y en el mundo. Ante esto, la revista Apuesta es fundada por un grupo de profesores universitarios preocupados por sus precarias condiciones de trabajo, por las diversas degradaciones impuestas por el capitalismo, por los problemas ecológicos, de género, de orientación sexual y étnico-raciales; y especialmente por la escasez de investigaciones críticas sobre estos asuntos. Apuesta es un órgano de análisis desde un punto de vista radicalmente crítico. Apostamos a la producción de un análisis a contrapelo del “pensamiento único”, del neoliberalismo y de diversas agresiones que implantan los poderes establecidos. Publicamos nuestro primer número en febrero de 2006 y lo dedicamos al análisis de la universidad neoliberal. Incluyó artículos sobre las condiciones de trabajo de los profesores universitarios sin plaza, sobre los procesos de privatización en la UPR y una crítica a los argumentos antiestudiantiles de un grupo de profesores universitarios (conservadores posmodernos) a raíz del proceso huelgario. También incluyó artículos sobre economía política de la colonia y otro, psicoanalítico, sobre violencia, culpa y deseo. Además de los artículos, cada número de Apuesta también les ofrece a los lectores secciones de reseñas de libros, creatividad artística (gráfica, música y poesía) y unos sugerentes “juegos de ideas”. En el primer número se destaca la obra gráfica “No en mi nombre”, de Gazir Sued. El segundo número (2007) investigó la crisis gubernamental de mayo de 2006. Los artículos de Félix Córdova y Rafael Bernabe pormenorizaron la conformación histórica y las múltiples dimensiones de la crisis económica en la actualidad. Además, continuó el análisis de la universidad neoliberal con un artículo de Janice Newson sobre la corporativización de las investigaciones científicas en las universidades y con un estudio empírico sobre la explotación de los profesores en la UPR. El tercer número fue publicado en abril de 2008. Asumiendo que tener una relación armónica con el ambiente es sabio, examinamos cómo la cultura capitalista no tiene ese tipo de relación y cómo el Estado capitalista es un Estado antisabiduría (burro). Ese tono tienen la entrevista a Carmelo Ruiz sobre capitalismo, biotecnología y ecología y un ensayo filosófico sobre las ciencias como sistematización de la perspectiva burguesa. Además los artículos “De la universidad al pozomuro”, de Yván Silén y “Capitalismo académico”, de Waldemiro Vélez, precisan la relación de la universidad con aquella anti-sabiduría. También muy pertinente para el debate contemporáneo sobre las formas de matrimonio es el artículo de Nahomi Galindo sobre las relaciones sexuales entre hombres durante la colonización europea de las Américas. Además, se destacan en este número una composición del profesor y etnomusicólogo Emanuel Dufrasne y los grabados del joven Omar Velázquez, que también es autor de la portada de este número. Apuesta está disponible en la Librería Mágica y pronto en otras librerías del país. Invitamos a los pensadores críticos del (des)orden social contemporáneo a colaborar con sus análisis y con su arte para así desarrollar nuestro entendimiento de los modos de dominación de la sociedad capitalista contemporánea y explorar propuestas radicales de liberación. * Los autores son profesores de la Universidad de Puerto Rico en Bayamón y en Río Piedras.

Editorial de la revista Biodiversidad, Sustento y Culturas

Editorial de la revista Biodiversidad, Sustento y Culturas

http://www.grain.org/biodiversidad/?id=399

Extractos:

Enfrentados a la insolvencia de ideas y sistemas, no hay otro camino creíble que reconstruir desde los cimientos y emprender cambios radicales. En lo ideal, los campesinos, los indígenas, responsables de cuidar semillas, relaciones y procesos que hoy todavía permiten producir la mayor parte de los alimentos consumidos en todo el mundo, deberían ser quienes fijen el rumbo.

Son ellos quienes tienen propuestas no sólo para remontar la crisis sino para que haya un futuro. Pero es necesario que las instituciones financieras internacionales y los organismos mundiales de desarrollo dejen de tener el poder que detentan actualmente.

Muchos grupos y organizaciones locales, nacionales e internacionales de diversos estratos sociales, rurales y urbanos, ya nos exhortan enérgicamente a renovar estrategias, buscar soluciones, recuperar saberes y tradiciones, emprender relaciones diferentes entre nosotros y con la naturaleza. Resaltan tres ejes cruciales interrelacionados: tierra, mercados y la agricultura misma.

******

Hay estudios científicos que demuestran que los métodos campesinos pueden ser más productivos y sustentables que la agricultura industrial. Con el debido apoyo, esos sistemas agrícolas locales basados en los saberes indígenas, enfocados en conservar suelos saludables y fértiles, organizados en torno a una utilización amplia de la biodiversidad disponible localmente, nos muestran formas de salir de la crisis alimentaria.

Es vital entonces comenzar a hablar con las comunidades locales de todo el mundo. Impugnar y ponerle fin a la criminalización de la diversidad, para que los agricultores puedan acceder, desarrollar e intercambiar semillas, saberes, experiencias y prácticas libremente.

Pero no podemos esperar a que los gobiernos dejen de promover a las agroempresas y a los mercados de exportación y comiencen a proteger y reverenciar las técnicas, los saberes y capacidades de los pueblos.

Es claro que quienes no somos del gobierno ni del sector empresarial necesitamos unirnos más que nunca para construir nuevas confianzas y frentes de acción, no solamente para encontrar soluciones a los problemas inmediatos de la crisis alimentaria sino para construir soluciones de largo plazo —sobre todo buscando un cambio en las relaciones entre quienes gobiernan y quienes son gobernados, que ponga en primer lugar las necesidades de los sectores pobres rurales y urbanos, y el cuidado radical de nuestro futuro común. Nuestros sistemas agrícolas y alimentarios deben ser más justos, más ecológicos y verdaderamente efectivos si han de alimentar a los pueblos. Ya no podemos esperar o confiar en soluciones prefabricadas. Debemos crear esos sistemas mas justos ahora, colectivamente.

http://www.bilaterals.org/article.php3?id_article=12986

Latin America’s free trade agreements with the European Union - An agenda for domination

The EU is currently negotiating with Central America, the Andean Community of Nations and Mercosur. Its objective is to use these agreements to complete the privatisation process, to remove restrictions on European property and activity in the region, to acquire full access to natural resources and to obtain guarantees that European companies will be able to operate with clear advantages over national companies. Moreover, all these concessions granted to European companies are to be protected from any political changes that the peoples of the region might want to undertake in the future.

¿Firmar la renuncia a la soberanía nacional?

Autor : GRAIN

La Unión Europea está desatada impulsando "Acuerdos de Asociación" o de "Cooperación" con los países de América Latina. Estos acuerdos parecen ser más blandos y flexibles que los textos que Estados Unidos va firmando bilateralmente con diversos países. Tras este disfraz, obligan a los firmantes a ampliar periódicamente lo acordado y a emprender un número indefinido de reformas jurídicas, administrativas, económicas, técnicas y sociales cuyo fin es otorgar condiciones cada vez más extremas en favor de las empresas europeas, en todos los rubros de la vida nacional.

Es la nueva conquista, que busca que las transnacionales tengan control total sobre las comunicaciones, el agua, la banca, el petróleo, la biodiversidad, todo tipo de materias primas, la pesca, además de una personalidad jurídica para exportar desde cualquier país, para sustituir a las empresas públicas y para imponer normas, certificaciones y patentes, mientras se echan abajo aranceles, impuestos, medidas sanitarias, normas de calidad y cualquier otra condición que estorbe las maniobras de las empresas europeas o impida el flujo de mercancías que determinen éstas.

Si tales acuerdos se negocian en gran secreto, y su concreción se la encargan a comisiones del ejecutivo, es para impedir que las sociedades civiles o los parlamentos de los países implicados puedan protestar o indagar el fondo de sus implicaciones.

Este documento pretende entonces abrir la reflexión colectiva de estos procesos y apoyar las acciones urgentes para resistir estas pretensiones.

Fecha : Julio 2008

Para acceder a este documento (formato PDF) haga clic sobre el enlace a continuación y descargue el archivo:

¿Firmar la renuncia a la soberanía nacional?

THE ANTI-IMPERIALIST CASE FOR TIBETAN FREEDOM

by Bill Weinberg, AlterNet

With the crisis in Tibet, the left in the US finds itself once again at risk of losing precious moral credibility with the American people by apologizing for atrocities. If "Free Tibet" has become an unthinking bandwagon for many, so too has a kneejerk reaction from sectors of the radical left against the Tibetan struggle.

Over the past two months since the March 10 uprising, the Chinese security forces have carried out sweeps and "disappearances," occupied monasteries and villages, and opened fire on unarmed protesters. When such actions are carried out by US allies such as Israel or Colombia—or in occupied Iraq and Afghanistan—we don't have to ask ourselves whose side we are on. Like the Palestinians, the Tibetans have been pushed into exile, denied self-government in their homeland, and overwhelmed with settlers sent by the occupying power. We have a greater responsibility of solidarity to the Palestinians, because our government funds their oppression. But the fact that US imperialism is attempting to exploit their struggle does not mean we have no responsibilities to the Tibetans.

Tibet will especially need solidarity from anti-imperialists in the West if it is to avoid becoming a pawn in the Great Game for control of Asia. The US exploits the Tibetan movement for moral leverage against China (which has as its ultimate aims market penetration and military domestication, not Tibetan freedom), but is not going to risk a complete break with Beijing by supporting Tibet to the ultimate consequences. The CIA backed a small Tibetan insurgency in the '50s—then did nothing as it was brutally crushed. The worst of the repression was in 1956—the same year the Hungarian workers learned a similarly bitter lesson. The Iraqi Kurds would also learn it in the aftermath of Desert Storm.

Today, the National Endowment for Democracy provides funds for Tibetan human-rights groups in exile, and the Dalai Lama has met with Bush and received the Congressional Medal of Honor. It pains us to see the Dalai Lama cozying up to Washington—just as it should pain us to see Evo Morales and Hugo Chávez cozying up to Beijing. However, there are reasons behind such alliances. Bolivia and Venezuela need a non-US market for their hydrocarbons if they are to break free of the US orbit. The Tibetans perceive that they need powerful allies if they are to recover their homeland and right of self-determination. Leftist betrayal of the Tibetan struggle will only entrench whatever illusions the Tibetan exile leadership harbor about US intentions.

The Dalai Lama is not demanding independence for Tibet. He wants autonomy for Tibet within a unified People's Republic of China. His demand is essentially the same as that of the Zapatistas, who seek local Maya autonomy within Mexico. He calls for coexistence with Han Chinese. Hardliners in the exile community in India—especially in the Tibetan Youth Congress—are rapidly losing patience with such tolerant positions, as Beijing remains intransigent. Again, a betrayal of Tibetan solidarity by progressives in the West will only validate the hardline stance.

We must also realize that the US-China tensions are about imperial rivalry only (and especially the scramble for Africa's oil)—not ideology. China is not communist in anything other than name. Some of the most savage capitalism on earth prevails in the so-called "People's Republic." The lands of peasants are expropriated in sleazy deals for industrial projects and the vulgar mansions of the nouveau riche—leading to a wave of harsh repression against peasant communities over the past few years. Especially in the industrial heartland around Fujian, peasants have taken up farm implements against police in militant protests over the enclosure and pollution of their village lands. The state has struck back with sweeps, "disappearances" and programs of forced sterilization—the same tactics US client states use in Latin America. In "illegal" factories—which do not exist on paper but are encouraged by corrupt authorities—workers don't even have the minimum social security or wages, and labor in virtual servitude. Shantytowns have sprung up around the industrial cities of the northeast. The fruits of this hyper-exploitation are sold to US consumers at WalMart.

Despite the recent tensions, the Beijing bureaucracy has embraced the methods and ideology of the US "war on terror," and joined Washington in demonizing the Uighur self-determination struggle in China's far western Xinjiang province, known to the Muslim Uighurs as East Turkestan. The US added the East Turkestan Islamic Movement to the "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" list in a bid to win China's connivance with military action against Iraq at the UN in 2002. In March of this year, with the world's eyes on Tibet, China also put down a wave of Uighur protests in Xinjiang—while the US holds Uighur militants at Guantanamo.

Whatever we thought about Chinese communism, it is long gone. Mao is being de-emphasized in the school textbooks—and he is chiefly celebrated for giving China the nuclear bomb, not for leading a peasants' revolution. The Beijing bureaucracy may rule in the name of a Chinese Communist Party, but it arguably has more in common with Pinochet's model than Mao's. If under Mao, Han chauvinism was linked to an ultra-left ideology, today it is linked to ultra-capitalism. Tibet is turned into a Disney-fied Tibetland for the international tourism trade—even as journalists are barred, and the inhabitants are relocated into government-controlled (and Orwellianly-named) "socialist villages."

A March 18 AP shot by photographer Ng Han Guan said it all: Wen Jiabao's giant face spews forth anti-Tibet invective from a screen overlooking a Beijing mall—directly above a McDonald's golden-arches symbol.

Tibet could explode again during the Beijing Olympics, and progressives in the West will have to determine whose side they are on. It is important that we not be drawn into an ethnic divide-and-conquer strategy. One reason China's rulers are so intransigent on Tibet could be the potential for an alliance between the Tibetans and Han Chinese workers and peasants against the Beijing bureaucracy.

Indigenous peoples around the world instinctively understand the Tibetan struggle. They see in Tibet their own struggles for recovery of land and autonomy. When Chilean president Michelle Bachelet opposed a measure by her congress in support of Tibet, a solidarity website for Chile's Mapuche people commented: "The government of Bachelet...know that they have their own Mapuche Tibet." First Nations leaders in Canada have threatened to launch a Tibet-style protest campaign around the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "We find the Tibetan situation compelling," said Phil Fontaine, chief of Canada's Assembly of First Nations.

If we are going to speak up on these and other such struggles in our own hemisphere, tactical considerations as well as moral imperatives demand that we not remain silent now about Tibet—or loan comfort to its oppressors and occupiers.

----

Bill Weinberg is editor of the online journal World War 4 Report and author of Homage to Chiapas: The New Indigenous Struggles in Mexico (Verso 2000).

From Food First's electronic newsletter:

Converting lawns to organic gardens—one garden at a time

Imagine community supported agriculture in the community. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Community Roots challenges the assumption that commercial-scale vegetable production requires the mass of land only available in rural settings, as it has successfully transformed a number of neighborhood yards into bountiful organic gardens.

Kipp Nash founded Community Roots as a way to foster connection within communities by weaving together traditional ways of rural life into an urban setting and utilizing valuable resources to produce local, sustainable models of food production.

Since its inception in 2005, Community Roots has grown to include eight production gardens, totaling just under a half acre, with more in the works. In exchange for use of the land, Community Roots, transforms the space into a highly productive mini-farm, plants and tends a variety of vegetables, and harvests the produce, which is enough to feed 25 families. The bounty is shared between the landowner and Community Roots who then markets their share a number of ways, including at the Boulder County Farmers Market and through community supported agriculture shares.

The donor of the first plot was one of Kipp’s neighbors, followed by another, and then another, with each successive donor inspired to participate by the transformation seen in the previous. Following on its success in establishing an urban multi-plot farm and neighborhood-based CSA in the Martin Acres neighborhood of Boulder, Community Roots is also extending its projects to include CSA Outreach, which will involve low-income, food insecure families in the CSA program; Community Fruits, which will work with homeowners to harvest and distribute under-utilized fruit from residential trees; and another Community Roots Food Project in the Newlands neighborhood of Boulder.

For more information, visit the Community Roots website: http://www.communityrootsboulder.com/.

The Internet and Globalization: A View from Buenos Aires

Joshua Karliner
June 30th, 2008

Almost twelve years ago, when a group of us started CorpWatch, we did so because it seemed then that a few hundred transnational companies were intent on remaking the earth in their image. As we saw it, the corporate version of globalization undermined community, ecology and democracy. At that moment the Internet had just appeared on the scene, and it seemed to us, and to many others, a vehicle through which to build an alternative – a form of grassroots globalization that fostered human rights and environmental rights, and that helped hold corporations accountable across the globe. Thus CorpWatch was born.

In the ensuing dozen years, the corporate encirclement of the earth has only grown – as has the grassroots response to it in every corner of the planet. The Internet has boomed and become on the one hand, more corporatized than we might once have imagined and yet also an increasingly powerful tool for building democratic participation and communication (and I’m very proud that CorpWatch is still part of it). This dual nature of the Internet embodies a fundamental paradox of globalization. While globalization seems to concentrate power in the hands of a few in most every realm it touches, it also increasingly interconnects us, interweaving universal values into a multinational tapestry of cultures and politics.

I see this here in Argentina, where I’ve had the good fortune to live for the past year. As numerous people here will tell you, once, this country was so isolated from the rest of the world that a lot of folks were not aware of the magnitude of the horrors unleashed by the military dictatorship between 1976 and 1983. People knew enough and saw enough and felt enough to be afraid, and tens of thousands felt the direct impact as they or their loved ones were arrested, tortured, “disappeared.” But the truth was hard to come by; there was heavy local censorship, and there was no Internet. People abroad knew more about what was going on in Argentina, than many here did.

Today, the country, like most of the rest of the world, is dialed-in, networked to the hilt, totally online. It seems almost unthinkable that something similar could happen here again. There is a strong consciousness of and commitment to human rights, and an understanding of the connection between what Argentina went through, and similar histories and battles elsewhere in the Latin American region and the world. Argentina pulled itself out of the horrors of dictatorship, and as it has re-evolved as a nation, it has benefited in this way from globalization.

At the same time, the country is suffering many of the attendant ills. I asked my twelve year-old daughter what she had learned about the United States from spending a year outside of the country. Her reply was quick and clear – I’ve learned that the US controls the media in the rest of the world. From the mouths of babes...but after all, she learned to speak Spanish, in part, by watching American sitcoms dubbed into Spanish on the local TV. Meanwhile, although the country has reaped significant economic benefit from its agricultural prowess as a giant in the world soy market – the control of this commodity is increasingly in the hands of a few transnational corporations: Cargill, ADM and others. And the country’s forests are suffering as more and more trees are felled to make room for more and more soybeans. These facts will remain true, no matter the outcome of the current conflict between President Kirchner and the country’s farmers.

Finally, globalization and all its contradictions hits home directly for me here in the Buenos Aires neighborhood I’m living in. Once a zone of automechanics and warehouses, Palermo Viejo is today one of the hippest and most popular destinations in this wonderful city. Now known as Palermo Hollywood, it is a barrio in the midst of a vast transformation. Many of our neighbors have lived here for forty or more years – they are old-school butchers, bakers, antique dealers, bar owners. Yet they are increasingly surrounded by trendy boutiques and fashionable restaurants. Many are being squeezed out by big corporate real estate that has entered the scene and is speculating on a series of high-end apartment towers that will forever change the face of this low-slung old time neighborhood. In the midst of it all are a throng of artists, ex pats, and activists organizing for the soul of the barrio.

Don’t get me wrong; it ain’t all bad. To be honest, all the paradoxes and contradictions of the gentrification of this globalizing hub make it an exciting and wonderful place to live (for the moment). I decided to try and document the intersection – the convergence and contradiction – of these various separate realities-the old and the new of Palermo Viejo. You can check out my photo essay on the subject at http://www.palermobuenosaires.blogspot.com.

Josh Karliner is Founder and a board member of CorpWatch.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=15119

Panoramic view of Tromsø

TROMSO!

I have just returned from Tromso, Norway, where I spent two weeks taking an international biosafety course offered by Genok, Centre for Biosafety in the University of Tromso. I was among 40 students chosen from all over the world, from countries like Iran, Guinea Bissau, Honduras, Indonesia, Palau, Nepal, Bhutan, Mozambique, Cuba, Rwanda, Chile and China. The faculty and presenters included instructors and resources from the US, New Zealand, Malaysia, Italy, Austria and England, and included personal heroes of mine, like Ignacio Chapela, David Quist, Arpad Pusztai and Terje Traavik.

Those two weeks were really was an inspiring, intense and exhilarating experience, which I hope to elaborate on in the following days. Here is the course description:

Biosafety course: Holistic Foundations for Assessment and Regulation of Genetic Engineering and Genetically Modified Organisms

04.04.2008

Date: 28 July – 08 August 2008
Venue: Science Park/University of Tromsø, Norway

Topics include:
• Holistic overview of genetics, genes and gene expression
• Hazard identification and molecular characterisation
• Critical evaluation of characterisation and profiling tools
• Sampling dynamics
• Risk assessment case studies
• Practical sessions in writing a risk evaluation that meets the Cartagena Protocol requirements
• Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from GMOs
• Various application areas for genetic engineering
• Various risk areas connected to GE applications/GMOs
• Economic and legal aspects of GE applications/GMOs
• Socio-cultural, ethical, and political issues in GE applications/GMOs
• Policy and regulatory issues, including capacity building and biosafety implementation
• Future and emerging GE applications
• Gene ecology and alternatives to GE/GMO applications


Background
The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety seeks to protect human health (including food safety) and biodiversity from the potential risks created by the use and dissemination of living “Genetically Modified Organisms” (GMOs), while taking into account socio-economic considerations. Implementation of biosafety regulation is therefore the focus of many countries to establish such safeguards. However, the process of implementing the Protocol has unveiled a limited capacity for science-based hazard identification that is necessary to perform risk assessments, including a holistic understanding of the policy, legal, regulatory, ethical, economic and social dimensions, which is also lacking in many cases.

Performing credible and relevant biological risk assessments requires multi-disciplinary scientific and social scientific competence that considers the local context of GMO introductions. Each country requires the capacity for general scientific risk assessment and management, tailored to their particular environmental, health, and community needs. Moreover, there is a need to assess GMOs developed domestically, or imported purposely or accidentally from others, into the context of their special cultural, ethical, socio-economic and policy frameworks. Such initiatives will require holistic approaches to develop adequate integration of diverse issues in the regulation of GMOs.

About the course
The course is designed to provide policy makers, regulators, scientists and NGOs/civil society leaders, specifically from developing countries (ODA-countries), the knowledge and training necessary to develop a holistic view on the issues surrounding GMOs. The goal is to empower the participants with balanced information on GMOs, in order to fairly, yet critically, evaluate the issue from their own perspective and country needs. Lectures, laboratory demonstrations, group work on case studies and discussions will form the basis of the course, which aims to offer biosafety capacity building within a holistic framework. Participants will also be required to submit a GE/GMO/biosafety country report in order to more broadly share their local experiences of the current status of GMOs/biosafety with other participants.

Chávez charges US intervention in Georgia

by Bill Weinberg on Sat, 08/16/2008 - 20:23.

We've already noted that Venezuela's Hugo Chávez says he is seeking a "strategic alliance" with Russia. Now he weighs in decisively for Moscow in the Georgian crisis. VenezuelAnalysis reports Aug. 15, that upon his arrival in Paraguay the previous night for the inauguration of President Fernando Lugo, Chávez took the opportunity to accuse the US of directly intervening in Georgia. "I am almost certain that it was the president of the United States, the imperialist George Bush, who ordered the movement of the Georgian troops towards South Ossetia, killing innocent people, and with good reason Russia acted," Chávez said. He charged that the US is attempting to rein in Russia, "because this country rose up and now is a new world potential thanks to the work of ex-president Vladmir Putin."

Said the Venezuela leader: "Venezuela has been following, with concern, the development of the conflict, and in particular the increase in unacceptable acts of violence perpetrated by the Georgian troops against the South Ossetian population. In this sense, Venezuela reiterates its rejection of all actions that violate human rights, especially the right to life... This conflict was planned, prepared and ordered by the government of the United States, which, far from promoting the reestablishment of peace in the area, went to work on encouraging the aggression of the Georgian government. The international community was, once more, witness to the reoccurring policy of destabilization and incitement to violence that North American imperialism is used to putting in practice in distinct regions of the world."

Chávez added that he hopes that "whoever wins the presidency in the US learns and reconsiders the legitimate sovereignty of countries and understands that in Latin America there is a revolution...a peaceful revolution because our people have discovered a fundamental weapon, which is the vote."

We've pointed out before the practically ubiquitous double standards on the Georgian conflict, with the mainstream media in the West blind to Georgian aggression against the Ossetians, and the "alternative media" equally blind to Russian and Ossetian aggression against the Georgians. Chávez seems to be playing the same game, alas. Invoking "sovereignty" in the same breath that he apologizes for a Great Power invasion of a small country is a little ironic, to say the least. The questions that we have raised about Hugo Chávez continue to look all too relevant...

See the last posts on Venezuela, Russia and the Georgian crisis.

» Bill Weinberg's blog

U.S. Renewable Energy Growth Accelerates

by Ben Block on August 13, 2008

Photo courtesy National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Geothermal energy is poised to double in the United States, with 4,000 MW of capacity under construction." class="caption" align="" height="200" width="250">

Photo courtesy National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Geothermal energy is poised to double in the United States, with 4,000 MW of capacity under construction.

Renewable energy markets surged in the United States in the first half of this year despite uncertainty over federal tax credits and a sluggish national economy, according to mid-year figures.

Wind, solar, and geothermal energy are all on the rise. At least 17,000 megawatts (MW) of these three energy sources are now under construction. According to the Energy Information Administration, renewable energy will account for about one-third of new electricity generation added to the U.S. grid over the next three years.

Wind energy is leading the way with 19,500 MW of installed capacity at mid-year, including more than 1,000 MW added in the last six months. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) second-quarter report [PDF] predicts that total additions for the year will come to 7,500 MW, boosting U.S. wind capacity by 45 percent. In Texas alone, more than 4,200 MW of wind capacity has been installed this year or is currently under construction. Iowa is in second place with 1,770 MW.

Geothermal energy is expanding as well, although at a slower rate. Nearly 3,000 MW is currently on-line and about 4,000 MW is under development, the U.S. Geothermal Energy Association said in its August report [PDF]. Nevada is the hotbed for U.S. geothermal, with as much as 1,900 MW in different phases of development. At a government auction last week, a record $28.2 million of leases was sold for geothermal energy exploration, which suggests that additional projects may soon begin.

While U.S. solar energy data for 2008 are not yet available, last year's Solar Energy Industries Association report [PDF] said demand for photovoltaic (PV) panels, concentrated solar plants, and solar water heaters continues to expand. An additional 150 MW of PV panels were installed last year, 45 percent more than in 2006. Less than 500 MW of concentrated solar power - utility-scale solar plants that use mirrors to produce heat for power generation - is operational, but another 4,000 MW is in the works.

The accelerated growth of renewable energy projects is a response to the powerful combination of high energy prices and growing state government support. In addition, fears that Congress will not renew the federal tax credits before they expire at the end of this year have led developers to rush to connect their projects to the grid by December 31. The tax credits are crucial for renewables industries to remain competitive with the fossil fuel industries that receive regular government support.

"The pipeline of investment for 2009 has been on hold for months, with escalating risks and costs for the industry," said Randall Swisher, executive director of AWEA, in a prepared statement. Both major political parties support extension of the tax credits, but debate over how to make up for the estimated $8.2 billion loss in tax revenues has resulted in a stalemate between the parties.

Swisher's organization said this year's surge in installed wind capacity will likely enable the United States to surpass Germany as the world leader in wind power by the end of the year. Germany has installed more than 22,000 MW of wind power, almost 24 percent of the world total.

In the meantime, China has laid claim to the world's fastest growing wind industry and is on track to surpass the U.S. in the next few years. China currently has 10,000 MW of wind capacity installed, and this is expected to double by 2010.

But the U.S. wind industry may soon experience a gale-force boost. Last month, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens announced a plan to install hundred of thousands of megawatts of wind turbines in the wind corridor that runs from Texas to North Dakota. His plan would provide at least 20 percent of the country's power - enough to keep U.S. wind turbine factories in operation for decades to come.

The United States already leads the world in geothermal energy. It ranks fourth in solar energy, behind Germany, Japan, and Spain.

Ben Block is a staff writer with the Worldwatch Institute. He can be reached at bblock@worldwatch.org.

I fully agree with his analysis
- Carmelo

WEINBERG ON GEORGIA

Bill Weinberg's blog

Leftist malarky on Georgia: exhibit B

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Thu, 08/14/2008 - 23:24.

Robert Scheer uncovers an interesting piece of the puzzle as to what transpired in Georgia over the past week. But he can't resist the temptation to portray it as the entire explanation for the war—in further evidence of the current hegemony of the Conspiracy Theory of History in dissident (and even not-so-dissident) discourse these days. From AlterNet, Aug. 13, emphasis added. Our commentary follows.

» read more

Leftist malarky on Georgia: exhibit A

Submitted by Bill Weinberg on Thu, 08/14/2008 - 22:18.

While mainstream media coverage in the West paints a once-sided picture of arbitrary Russian aggression against an innocent Georgia, much of the "alternative media" is merely inverting the equation—and arriving at similarly skewed perceptions. We hate to have to call out Bruce Gagnon, because his Space4Peace.org website is a vital resource. But just because he's up to speed on weapons in space doesn't make him politically astute about other things. His Aug. 12 blog post—highlighting the similarly faulty analysis of one Patrick Schoenfelder—is a case study in kneejerk reaction to mainstream portrayals as a substitute for actual thought. We reproduce it below with untruths and distortions in bold. Our commentary follows.

» read more

http://www.bloodandoilmovie.com/

BLOOD AND OIL

Now Available on DVD

Featuring the author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet; Blood and Oil; and Resource Wars.

"Of course it's about oil, we can't really deny that."
Fmr. CENTCOM Commander General John Abizaid

Synopsis:
The notion that oil motivates America's military engagements in the Middle East is often disregarded as nonsense or mere conspiracy theory. Blood and Oil, a new documentary based on the critically-acclaimed work of Nation magazine defense correspondent Michael T. Klare, challenges this conventional wisdom to correct the historical record. The film unearths declassified documents and highlights forgotten passages in prominent presidential doctrines to show how concerns about oil have been at the core of American foreign policy for more than 60 years — rendering our contemporary energy and military policies virtually indistinguishable. In the end, Blood and Oil calls for a radical re-thinking of US energy policy, warning that unless we change direction, we stand to be drawn into one oil war after another as the global hunt for diminishing world petroleum supplies accelerates.

******

http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/5462

Russia and Georgia: All About Oil Michael Klare | August 13, 2008 Editor: John Feffer
Foreign Policy In Focus www.fpif.org
In commenting on the war in the Caucasus, most American analysts have tended to see it as a throwback to the past: as a continuation of a centuries-old blood feud between Russians and Georgians, or, at best, as part of the unfinished business of the Cold War. Many have spoken of Russia’s desire to erase the national “humiliation” it experienced with the collapse of the Soviet Union 16 years ago, or to restore its historic “sphere of influence” over the lands to its South. But the conflict is more about the future than the past. It stems from an intense geopolitical contest over the flow of Caspian Sea energy to markets in the West. This struggle commenced during the Clinton administration when the former Soviet republics of the Caspian Sea basin became independent and began seeking Western customers for their oil and natural gas resources. Western oil companies eagerly sought production deals with the governments of the new republics, but faced a critical obstacle in exporting the resulting output. Because the Caspian itself is landlocked, any energy exiting the region has to travel by pipeline – and, at that time, Russia controlled all of the available pipeline capacity. To avoid exclusive reliance on Russian conduits, President Clinton sponsored the construction of an alternative pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to Tbilisi in Georgia and then onward to Ceyhan on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast -- the BTC pipeline, as it is known today. The BTC pipeline, which began operation in 2006, passes some of the most unsettled areas of the world, including Chechnya and Georgia’s two breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. With this in mind, the Clinton and Bush administrations provided Georgia with hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, making it the leading recipient of U.S. arms and equipment in the former Soviet space. President Bush has also lobbied U.S. allies in Europe to “fast track” Georgia’s application for membership in NATO. All of this, needless to say, was viewed in Moscow with immense resentment. Not only was the United States helping to create a new security risk on its southern borders, but, more importantly, was frustrating its drive to secure control over the transportation of Caspian energy to Europe. Ever since Vladimir Putin assumed the presidency in 2000, Moscow has sought to use its pivotal role in the supply of oil and natural gas to Western Europe and the former Soviet republics as a source both of financial wealth and political advantage. It mainly relies on Russia’s own energy resources for this purpose, but also seeks to dominate the delivery of oil and gas from the Caspian states to the West. To further its goals in the Caspian, Putin and his protégé Dmitry Medvedev – until recently the chairman of Gazprom, the Russian state gas monopoly – have enticed (or browbeaten) the leaders of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan into building new gas pipelines through Russia to Europe. The Europeans, fearful of becoming ever more dependent on Russian-supplied energy, seek to build alternative conduits across the Caspian Sea and along the route of the BTC pipeline in Azerbaijan and Georgia, bypassing Russia altogether. It is against this backdrop that the fighting in Georgia and South Ossetia has been taking place. The Georgians may only be interested in regaining control over an area they consider part of their national territory. But the Russians are sending a message to the rest of the world that they intend to keep their hands on the Caspian Sea energy spigot, come what may. This doesn’t necessarily mean occupying Georgia outright, but they will certainly retain their strategic positions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia – for all practical purposes, daggers aimed at the BTC jugular. So even if a cease-fire is put into effect, the struggle over energy resources – sometimes hidden and stealthy, sometimes open and violent – will continue long into the future. Michael T. Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College, the author of Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy (Metropolitan Books, 2008), and a columnist for Foreign Policy In Focus (www.fpif.org). Klare’s previous book, Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum has been made into a documentary movie – to order and view a trailer, visit www.bloodandoilmovie.com