Brazil Coup

Brazil Coup LINK Source | @WikiLeaks  [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] [CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE] Brazil Coup Michel Temer -- Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia -- lawyer, politician -- VP Brazil since 2011 -- Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) -- centrist 'big tent' party with no defined ideology / seeking to appeal to diverse -- assumed the presidential role as 'acting president' -- on suspension of Dilma Rousseff during impeachment trial -- Maronite Lebanese -- family migrated to Brazil, 1920s from north Lebanon -- due to post-WWI instability -- children spread over 3 women so far: --     -- wife #1 - Maria --     -- journalist --     -- wife #2 - Marcela (42 years Temer's junior, dating then 60yo at 17) -- second VP of Lebanese origin -- Temer subject of corruption investigations -- 'Operation Car Wash' -- re construction contracts from Petrobras US$1.5 million alleged kickbacks -- payments characterised by Temer as 'legal campaign donations' -- & wrongdoing denied -- Temer involved in Dilma Rousseff impeachment process -- 2015 sends letter to President Rousseff complaining he's not consulted enough -- Temer letter mocked on Brazilian social media -- Rousseff condemned him as a traitor to her administration -- 2016 - audio file of Temer leaked to media -- Temer speaks as if impeachment process under-way & he was the new president -- leak came hours before special lower house committee scheduled to vote re impeachment “Let’s not think that a possible change in government will solve everything in three or four months.” [Michel Temer] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Temer  Operation Car Wash -- Brazil Federal Police investigation -- since March 2014 -- money-laundering investigation expanded to allegations of corruption -- involving state-controlled Petrobas -- alleging executives accepted bribes -- for awarding contracts to construction firms at inflated prices -- alleged ring used currency exchange & money transfer service -- to move illicit money -- 2016:  Marcelo Odebrecht, CEO of Odebrecht -- convicted of paying more than $30 million in bribes to Petrobras executives -- sentenced 19 years prison https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Car_Wash Petrobas -- 54% govt Brazil owned -- 5% Brazilian Development Bank -- 5% Brazil Sovereign Wealth Fund (Fundo Soberano) -- 36% privately held shares (BM&F Bovespa) -- f. 1953 under slogan 'the oil is ours' (& not the foreigners) -- 92% production = Brazil holdings -- significant oil & energy assets:  x16 countries, Africa, North & South America, Europe, Asia -- began processing oil shale 1953 -- Petrobas almost went bankrupt 1973 oil crisis -- 2005 joint venture Japan + supply ethanol -- 2007 & 2009 SEVERAL MAJOR OIL DISCOVERIES -- partnership incl:  --     Royal Dutch Shell (Anglo-Dutch multinational) --     Shell:  world's second largest oil company --     Galp Energia (Portuguese) -- 2009:  loans from China - US$10-bn -- 2013:  US government spying on Petrobras (US journalist Glenn Greenwald) -- 2015:  Petrobas accumulated $128-bn debt (84% foreign currencies) --     Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation sue Petrobras --     and its auditors, PriceWaterhouseCoopers --     arising from corruption scandal   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrobras   'NSA spied on Brazil's oil giant Petrobras'  [3:49]  PRESS TV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GerSgjS_huE [Source - PressTV video (above) / Gloria La Riva, ANSWER Coalition]  [for quotation purposes, confirm audio]  SUMMARY US oil companies & military corporations  have a decided interest in domination & recapturing of oil resources throughout world. Spying on Mexico due to struggle in Mexico to privatise Mexican oil. Pressure from US to dominate oil as it did to 1938, along with British. US & British working in tandem & using British territory (Ascension) to spy on Brazil. US militarising several Latin American countries & building more bases Colombia, and trying to pressure Latin American countries to break friendships with anti-imperialist countries in Latin America.  -------/\/\/ The anti-imperialist Latin American nations: Antigua & Barbuda Bolivia Cuba Dominica Ecuador Grenada Nicaragua Saint Kitts & Nevis Saint Lucia St Vincent & the Grenadines Venezuela   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALBA NSA’s Top Brazilian Political and Financial Targets Revealed by New WikiLeaks Disclosure Glenn Greenwald, David Miranda July 4 2015, 8:59 p.m Top-secret data from the National Security Agency, shared with The Intercept by WikiLeaks, reveals that the U.S. spy agency targeted the cell phones and other communication devices of more than a dozen top Brazilian political and financial officials, including the country’s president, Dilma Rousseff, whose presidential plane telephone was on the list. President Rousseff just yesterday returned to Brazil after a trip to the U.S. that included a meeting with President Obama, a visit she had delayed for almost two years in anger over prior revelations of NSA spying on Brazil. That Rousseff’s personal cell phone was successfully targeted by NSA spying was previously reported in 2013 by Fantastico, a program on the Brazilian television network Globo Rede. That revelation — along with others exposing NSA mass surveillance on hundreds of millions of Brazilians, and the targeting of the country’s state-owned oil company Petrobras and its Ministry of Mines and Energy — caused a major rupture in relations between the two nations. But Rouseff is now suffering from severe domestic weakness as a result of various scandals and a weak economy, and apparently could no longer resist the perceived benefits of a high-profile state visit to Washington. CONTINUES https://theintercept.com/2015/07/04/nsa-top-brazilian-political-and-financial-targets-wikileaks/

Filthy Wall Street & London Banker Swindlers in Collusion with Arabs, Knee-Capping Targeted Economies

Filthy Wall Street & London Banker Swindlers in Collusion with Arabs, Knee-Capping Targeted Economies SOURCE http://www.mintpressnews.com/brics-attack-western-banks-governments-launch-full-spectrum-assault-russia-part/215761/ Eric Draitser BRICS Under Attack: Western Banks, Governments Launch Full-Spectrum Assault On Russia (Part I) Russia is the target of a multi-faceted, asymmetric campaign of destabilization that has employed economic, political, and psychological forms of warfare -- each of which has been specifically designed to inflict maximum damage on the Kremlin. By Eric Draitser @stopimperialism | April 20, 2016  This article is part of a series on Western meddling to foment unrest and destabilize BRICS nations in an effort to ensure the continuation of Western economic and political control over the Global South. The first two parts, focusing on Brazil and South Africa, can be found here and here. Up next: Part II on the assault on Russia, which focuses on the political, psychological and military aspects that run in tandem with the economic war on Moscow. NEW YORK — The U.S.-NATO Empire, with its centers of power in Washington, on Wall Street, and in the city of London, is on the offensive against the BRICS countries. This assault takes many forms, each tailored to its specific target. The ongoing soft coup in Brazil has recently entered a new stage with the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff of the left-wing Workers’ Party. Simultaneously, the destabilization of the ANC-led government in South Africa continues as political forces align to remove President Jacob Zuma. These two situations illustrate clearly the very potent forms of subversion via Western-funded political formations and movements being employed against Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the bloc of emerging economies also known as BRICS.  However, when it comes to a country as large as Russia, with its vast military capabilities, consolidated and wildly popular political leadership, and growing antagonism toward the West, the tools available to the Empire to undermine and destabilize are in some ways more limited. Indeed, in the context of Russia, the popular mobilization pretext does not apply, and so that weapon in the imperial arsenal is blunted considerably. But there are other, equally potent (and equally dangerous) methods to achieve the desired effect.  Russia is the target of a multi-faceted, asymmetric campaign of destabilization that has employed economic, political, and psychological forms of warfare, each of which has been specifically designed to inflict maximum damage on the Kremlin. While the results of this multi-pronged assault have been mixed, and their ultimate effect being the subject of much debate, Moscow is, without a doubt, ground zero in a global assault against the BRICS nations. Economic war: Hitting Russia where it’s vulnerable While Russia is a world class power militarily, it is highly vulnerable economically. For that obvious reason, this area has been a primary focus of the destabilization thrust. Russia has for decades been overly reliant, if not entirely dependent, on revenues from the energy sector to maintain its economic growth and fund its budget. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration and Russia’s Federal Customs Service, oil and gas sales accounted for 68 percent of Russia’s total export revenues in 2013. With more than two-thirds of total export revenues and roughly 50 percent of the federal budget, not to mention 25 percent of total GDP, coming from oil and gas revenue, Russia’s very economic survival has been as dependent on energy as almost any country in the world. In light of this, it’s no surprise that the drop in oil prices over the 18-month period from April 2014 to January 2016, which saw prices dive from $105 per barrel to under $30 per barrel, has caused tremendous economic instability in Russia. Even many leading Russian officials have conceded that the negative impact to Russia’s economy is substantial, to say the least.  At the World Economic Forum in January, former Russian Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin explained that not only has the drop in oil prices badly hurt the Russian economy, but the worst may be yet to come. Kudrin noted the potential for prices to drop even further, possibly even below $20 per barrel, and he warned that the impact to the economy will be significant. Specifically, it’s not just the loss of revenue, but the negative effect on wages and the currency which have many economic analysts and political figures worried.  According to the Russian Federal Statistics Service, real wages for Russian workers have dropped significantly since the end of 2014, with steep declines throughout 2015 continuing into early 2016. This has been felt by ordinary Russians, whose wages have stagnated while inflation causes prices to shoot upwards and who have had to endure belt-tightening in terms of personal consumption, and at the national level, where the Russian government has been facing a potentially large budget shortfall for 2016. It must be noted, however, that recent months have seen an improvement in the relative performance of the ruble, but the long-term outlook from experts remains gloomy. This has led many Russian analysts and policymakers to advocate yet again for a decreased dependence on energy revenues. They argue that the current climate could force economic restructuring away from the critical energy sector. Aside from Kudrin, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev made the case for potential “structural economic reforms,” as did Vladimir Mau of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.  Writing earlier this year in Vedomosti, Russia’s leading business publication, Mau explained: “The demand for oil as a commodity depends on technological progress…And it’s not obvious that oil as a fuel will be always in demand in times of economic growth. With the change of the technological model, it is not ruled out that oil will become just a stock commodity for the energy and chemical industry.” This last point — how oil is used relative to the market — is the most salient; in other words, it’s the financialization of oil. But the analysis must go a step further and explore how the financialization is, in effect, a weaponization process as oil prices become increasingly the playthings of powerful financial institutions, particularly the major banks on Wall Street and in the city of London. And this is no mere conspiracy theory. How Wall Street targeted Russia using oil In July 2013, Sen. Sherrod Brown, chair of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection, opened a hearing to probe just how connected major Wall Street banks were to the holding of physical oil assets, and the attendant ability of these companies to manipulate oil prices. The findings of the hearing, considered damning by multiple analysts knowledgeable on the subject, prompted an investigation by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, published as “Wall Street Bank Involvement with Physical Commodities.” The report highlighted just one of the big banks, Morgan Stanley, noting:   “One of Morgan Stanley’s primary physical oil activities was to store vast quantities of oil in facilities located within the United States and abroad. According to Morgan Stanley, in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut area alone, by 2011, it had leases on oil storage facilities with a total capacity of 8.2 million barrels, increasing to 9.1 million barrels in 2012, and then decreasing to 7.7 million barrels in 2013. Morgan Stanley also had storage facilities in Europe and Asia.  According to the Federal Reserve, by 2012, Morgan Stanley held ‘operating leases on over 100 oil storage tank fields with 58 million barrels of storage capacity globally.’” Pam and Russ Martens of the well-respected financial analysis site WallStreetOnParade.com succinctly noted in their analysis of this issue: “With financial derivatives and 58 million barrels of physical storage capacity, it might not be so hard to manipulate the oil market.” Indeed, the sheer scope of Morgan Stanley’s market influence demonstrates the obvious fact that the major Wall Street banks, and their cousins in the city of London, are able to significantly affect global prices using multiple levers like supply and derivatives, among others. The Senate report’s brazen honesty is likely the main reason the corporate media failed to cover it all.  As noted in the report: “Due to their physical commodity activities, Goldman, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley incurred increased financial, operational, and catastrophic event risks, faced accusations of unfair trading advantages, conflicts of interest, and market manipulation, and intensified problems with being too big to manage or regulate, introducing new systemic risks into the U.S. financial system.” But perhaps most jaw-dropping is this January 2014 statement by Norman Bay, director of the Office of Enforcement at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who testified before the Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee. He plainly outlined how the big banks manipulate global oil markets: “A fundamental point necessary to understanding many of our manipulation cases is that financial and physical energy markets are interrelated … a manipulator can use physical trades (or other energy transactions that affect physical prices) to move prices in a way that benefits his overall financial position. One useful way of looking at manipulation is that the physical transaction is a ‘tool’ that is used to ‘target’ a physical price.” When one considers how much influence these large banks have on global prices, it’s almost self-evident that they would be able to use oil prices to execute a political and geopolitical agenda. With that in mind, it seems highly suspicious (to say the least) that the collapse of the oil price coincided directly with Russia’s move to annex Crimea and assert its dominance over its sphere of influence, thereby effectively stopping the eastward expansion of NATO in Ukraine. It’s amusing then when one reads The New York Times reporting this month that “simple economics” explains the drop in oil prices. In fact, it’s clear that it’s just the opposite: The collapse of oil is the result of financial manipulation by Wall Street in the service of the broader agenda of the Empire. Indeed, in late 2014 Russian President Vladimir Putin implied strongly that the oil plunge had less to do with economic factors than with political decisions. Putin openly theorized: “There’s lots of talk about what’s causing (the lowering of the oil price). Could it be the agreement between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to punish Iran and affect the economies of Russia and Venezuela? It could.” Of course, Putin was not alone in this assessment, as many international observers spread “conspiracy theories” about collusion between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia to deliberately depress oil prices by not cutting production despite all market indicators pointing to a needed decrease. With U.S.-Russia relations having reached their nadir at precisely that moment, and with Venezuela and Iran also on the enemies list, it is no surprise that many analysts around the world concluded that Washington and Riyadh were conspiring on oil for political reasons. Of course, the other major impact of the oil plunge on Russia has to do with the burgeoning energy-trade relationship between Russia and China. After the massive oil and gas deals announced between Russia and China in 2014 — deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars over the next three decades, it seems that Washington calculated that while it could not prevent the deals from moving forward, it could undermine them by fundamentally changing the calculus of the deals by tanking oil prices. In so doing, not only have the contracts been rendered less profitable for Russia, they are now subject to decreasing demand from China, which is experiencing its own economic slowdown.    In short, Russia’s attempt to break free of its dependence on revenue from gas sales to Europe by shifting its focus eastward has left Moscow in a bind. Facing the prospect of significantly less revenue than it anticipated coming from the deals with Beijing, Russia has been forced to adjust its own estimates and outlook for the coming years. Sanctions: The other economic weapon The overall impact of Western sanctions against Russia is a hotly debated subject. Russian media tends to downplay the overall impact of the sanctions, while the Western media paints a picture of imminent collapse. Notably, Paul Krugman, the leading liberal doomsayer, prognosticated in The New York Times in 2014 that “Putin’s Bubble Bursts,” warning that Russia was headed for economic meltdown thanks to the courageous sanctions regime imposed by the fearless leader President Barack Obama.  In reality, the sanctions had little immediate, direct impact on the Russian economy, but the indirect bruising might be significant, particularly over the medium- and long-term. Last year, the International Monetary Fund issued a report, noting: “IMF estimates suggest that sanctions and counter sanctions might have initially reduced real GDP by 1 to 1½ percent. Prolonged sanctions may compound already declining productivity growth. The cumulative output loss could amount to 9 percent of GDP over the medium term. However, the report’s authors underline that these model-driven results are subject to significant uncertainty.” But, looking beyond the raw numbers, one must realize that the policy prescriptions outlined by the IMF and leading economists internationally are perhaps the actual target for the West.  The IMF recommended “reforming the pension system” (read: reduce pensions), reducing energy subsidies, reducing tax exemptions, and other measures, while also suggesting that education, health care, and public investment be safeguarded. However, the subtext of the recommendations is that austerity, which by its very definition starves public programs of much needed funding, is the way to go for Russia. There are likely strategic planners in Washington who recognize that the political subversion model employed in Brazil and South Africa simply won’t work in Russia. If nothing else, the failed “White Revolution” protests of late 2011 led by Russian liberals and various pro-Western political forces, demonstrated unequivocally that the Russian state was prepared to prevent precisely this sort of outcome.  And so it seems that those who play on what former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski famously called “The Grand Chessboard,” have made their moves in an attempt to corner Russia economically. Whether that strategy has been, or will be, effective likely depends on perspective. While it alone will not bring about the Western pipe dream of regime change in Russia, the Empire’s elites are banking on the collective assault on Russia and the BRICS broadly to do what political subversion alone could not. About the author Eric Draitser Eric Draitser is a geopolitical analyst based in New York and the founder of StopImperialism. More articles by Eric Draitser [MintPress] SOURCE http://www.mintpressnews.com/brics-attack-western-banks-governments-launch-full-spectrum-assault-russia-part/215761/ -------/\/\/ Eric Draitser "Eric Draitser is an independent geopolitical analyst based in New York City and the founder of StopImperialism.com. He is a regular contributor to RT, Counterpunch, New Eastern Outlook, Press TV, and many other news outlets. Visit StopImperialism.com for all his work."   [RTNews] -------/\/\/ Enemies of the Free World: Morgan Stanley Goldman Sachs JP Morgan City of London Wall Street International Monetary Fund The New York Times -------/\/\/ COMMENT Help save Russia & Brics countries from greedy Wall Street & city of London banks.  Call for worldwide privatisation of their foreign assets ... that ought to throw a spanner in the works.  *Not sure I'll remember much of this.

Brazil - Has CIA Struck Again?

BRICS five major emerging national economies developing or newly industrialised countries large, fast-growing economies significant influence on regional and global affairs represent over 3 billion people, or 42% of the world population GDP of US$16.039 trillion, equivalent to abt 20% of the gross world product estimated US$4 trillion in combined foreign reserves [wikipedia] RT News source https://www.rt.com/news/339268-brazil-rousseff-impeachment-protests/ Rousseff supporters confront MPs after Brazil congressional committee ‘recommends’ impeachment Published time: 12 Apr, 2016 05:01 Edited time: 12 Apr, 2016 05:38 A Brazilian Special Parliamentary Committee has voted to recommend the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in a move that was slammed as an attempted coup by her supporters. They rejected accusations of alleged budget manipulation during her re-election campaign. The 65-member congressional committee voted 38 to 27 to recommend her impeachment, paving the way for the possible dismissal of the Brazilian president. The lower house of Brazil's Congress is now expected to vote April 17 on whether to impeach Rousseff. At least 342 of the 513 members of the body need to vote for impeachment for the measure to move to the Senate. If half the Senate votes for impeachment, Rousseff would be temporarily suspended from office pending a Senate trial. If the impeachment charges stand ground, the 69-year-old who took up the presidential seat in 2011, will be the first to be impeached since 1992. More than two decades ago Fernando Collor de Mello resigned right before a Senate conviction prompted by corruption charges. After receiving the news of the commission’s vote, Rousseff was “perplexed and saddened” by the result, presidential chief of staff Jaques Wagner announced. Rousseff is suspected of having broken fiscal laws by shifting government funds ahead of her re-election campaign in 2014, which allegedly allowed her to boost public spending to drive her votes. Rousseff denies the accusations, claiming that she didn’t do anything that was not common practice in all prior administrations. Furthermore, she argues that she has not been accused of a crime which could serve as basis for any impeachment. Monday’s vote took place amid ongoing protests from both supporters and opponents of President Rousseff. Supporters of the president were quick to confront congressional committee members after the vote. Shouting “putschists”, “fascists” and “no pasaran” (they shall not pass) at the congressmen, they prevented the MPs from leaving the building. Security forces even built an 80-meter-long metal barricade in front of the congressional building to keep supporters and opponents of the government apart. Brazilian security forces also deployed thousands of troops in the capital city of Brasilia. As Brazilian society remains split over idea of Rousseff’s impeachment, local newspaper Folha de S. Paulo leaked an audio recording of Vice President Michel Temer rehearsing and address to the Brazilian people if the impeachment process were to move forward. In the leaked speech, Temer speaking as the new president says that Brazil needs a “government of national salvation” to save the country from recession as he called for unity in the political system. Reacting to the recording, Temer said the 13-minute audio message was recorded for a friend, but was distributed through WhatsApp to other party members “by accident.” source https://www.rt.com/news/339268-brazil-rousseff-impeachment-protests/ EXTRACT The Empire President: Jeremy Scahill on Obama's "Neocon" Doctrine of Military Force in U.N. Speech September 25, 2013 In an address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Obama openly embraced an aggressive military doctrine backed by previous administrations on using armed force beyond the international norm of self-defense. Obama told the world that the United States is prepared to use its military to defend what he called "our core interests" in the Middle East: U.S. access to oil. "[Obama] basically came out and said the U.S. is an imperialist nation and we’re going to do whatever we need to do to conquer areas [and] take resources from people around the world," says independent journalist Jeremy Scahill. "It’s a really naked declaration of imperialism ... When we look back at Obama’s legacy, this is going to have been a very significant period in U.S. history where the ideals of very radical right-wing forces were solidified. President Obama has been a forceful, fierce defender of empire." TRANSCRIPT This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form. NERMEEN SHAIKH: I want to turn back to President Obama’s address at the U.N. General Assembly. During the speech, Obama told the world the U.S. is prepared to use its military to defend what he called, quote, "our core interests" in the Middle East—that is, U.S. access to oil. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The United States of America is prepared to use all elements of our power, including military force, to secure our core interests in the region. We will confront external aggression against our allies and partners, as we did in the Gulf War. We will ensure the free flow of energy from the region to the world. NERMEEN SHAIKH: That was President Obama speaking yesterday at the U.N. General Assembly. Jeremy, your response to what Obama said in his speech? JEREMY SCAHILL: I mean, during this section of the speech, my jaw sort of hit the floor. I mean, he just—he basically came out and said the United States is an imperialist nation, and we’re going to do whatever we need to to conquer areas to take resources from people around the world. I mean, it was a really naked sort of declaration of imperialism—and I don’t use that word lightly, but it really is. I mean, he pushed back against the Russians when he came out and said, "I believe America is an exceptional nation." He then, you know, defended the Gulf War and basically said that the motivation behind it was about oil, and said we’re going to continue to take such actions in pursuit of securing natural resources for ourselves and our allies. I mean, this was a pretty incredible and bold declaration that he was making, especially given what he—the way that he’s tried to portray himself around the world. On the other hand, you know, he—I mean, remember what happened right before Obama took the stage, is that the president of Brazil got up, and she herself was a former political prisoner who, you know, was abused and targeted in a different lifetime, and she gets up and just blasts the United States over the NSA spy program around the world. AMY GOODMAN: We have President Dilma Rousseff in her address to the U.N. General Assembly.     PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF: We are a democratic country, surrounded by democratic, peaceful countries that respect international law. We have been living in peace with our neighbors for more than 140 years. Like so many other Latin Americans, I myself fought on a firsthand basis against arbitrary behavior and censorship, and I could therefore not possibly fail to uncompromisingly defend individuals’ rights to privacy and my country’s sovereignty. AMY GOODMAN: That’s the Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff openly criticizing U.S. spying on her government, the news that just broke from the Ed Snowden releases that was released with Globo newspaper in Brazil by Glenn Greenwald, who is a U.S. journalist who lives in Brazil. And, Jeremy, you’re headed down there for the opening of your film, Dirty Wars, this week. JEREMY SCAHILL: Right, and, you know, I was there when this story was breaking. It is a major, major scandal in Brazil. I mean, it was such a major scandal that President—the president cancelled her state dinner with President Obama. This wasn’t just like sitting in the Oval Office or something. This is a thing where they create a huge menu, and they invite all these people, and it was meant to sort of secure this relationship of these two huge Western Hemisphere powers. I mean, Brazil is a rising power in the Western Hemisphere, and this was to be a very important moment in the history of relations between the U.S. and Brazil. And for the Brazilians to cancel it just shows you the severity of this scandal. I mean, all around the world right now, in the aftermath of the WikiLeaks cables being revealed, now you have the Edward Snowden documents, people around the world have access to documentation that in some cases is bolstering what people already thought was going on, but in other cases is revealing the extent of dirty tricks that the United States is playing on other nations around the world, and not to mention its own citizens." SOURCE http://www.democracynow.org/2013/9/25/the_empire_president_jeremy_scahill_on Dilma Rousseff President, Brazil -- economist -- Workers' Party (Brazil) -- centre-left -- one of the largest left-wing movements in Latin America -- party identified as 'socialist' -- 1988: -- party advocated repudiation of Brazil's external debt -- party advocated nationalisation of banks & mineral wealth -- party advocated land reform     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workers'_Party_%28Brazil%29 -------/\/\/ Dilma Rousseff -- socialist during youth -- after 1964 Brazilian coup d'état 1964 Brazilian coup d'état -- coup = US supported overthrow of democratically elected -- Prsident Joao Goulart ('Jango') by military -- Brazilian Labour Party --  Cabo Anselmo - agent provocateur (Sailors' Revolt / navy) -- Lincoln Gordon (Abraham Lincoln Gordon) -- US ambassador Brazil (1961-1966) -- academic and govt/diplomatic career -- Kennedy's leading expert on Latin American economics -- 1960:  helped develop 'Alliance for Progress' aid program -- to prevent Latin America turning to revolution & socialism for economic progress -- grants and credits provided by the USA to Brazil -- development loans and military aid   -- Lincoln Gordon (Abraham Lincoln Gordon) -- played major role for the support of opposition versus President João Goulart -- 1964 Lincoln Gordon cable:      -- urged support of:     -- Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco     -- with a “clandestine delivery of arms"     -- with shipments of gas and oil     -- with possibility of CIA ops     *Noam Chomsky has been critical of coup     -- US destroyed Brazilian democracy     -- by supporting military coup 1964     -- support for coup initiated by Kennedy but carried to conclusion by Johnson     -- US installed first really major national security state, Nazi-like state, in Latin America     -- with high-technology torture     -- Lincoln Gordon called it 'totally democratic'     -- there was an economic increase in GNP miracle     -- there was also INCREASED SUFFERING for much of population     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Gordon NOTE:     -- actual operational files of CIA remain classified     -- preventing historians from examining CIA's direct involvement in coup     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Brazilian_coup_d'%C3%A9tat ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Exciting development in Latin America. Dilma Rousseff and her political party sound good to me.  But they also sound like a classic American capitalist 'enemy'.   Uh-oh.  Look out for the American oligarchy and its CIA machinery. Note that Brazil is one of the BRICS countries:  thus a challenger to the US-led trade-financial and power hegemony, threatening the capitalist US-led bloc's domination and plans of one world government (capitalist profits, control etc) expansion and imposition on the rest of the world. Bet the CIA has been up to dirty tricks again. Check out what they've already done to Brazil! I've only just quickly skimmed this, the 1964 Brazil coup is in keeping with what little I know of the standard American capitalist order pattern of subverting democracy in Latin America (and elsewhere) and installing oppressive US corporate friendly, US-backed, regimes.

Foreign Updates - Middle East, Asia, Random

Random #Diplomatic US press attaché Johann Schmonsees has denied reports embassy in Riyadh shut down over security concern http://www.arabianbusiness.com/us-saudi-embassy-denies-security-shutdown-603700.html Iran protests - UK embassy reopening - counter-revolutionary both to continue operating by charges d'affaires Iran critics say: UK embassy has record support for spying ops, organisation of street unrests & assassination of scientists http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/199789 New Chapter Tehran-London Ties: Iran’s Envoy all diplomatic activities to be gradually re-established http://www.tasnimnews.com/english/Home/Single/838016 #Lebanon Kuwaiti embassy issues Lebanon travel warning / Daily Star #Thailand #presse Hong Kong photojournalist detained at Bangkok airport for carrying bulletproof vest in luggage one of the highest gun homicide rates in Asia / on par with USA / pop 67 million 3.48 murders per 100,000 http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/hong-kong-photojournalist-detained-at-bangkok-airport-for-carrying-bulletproof-vest-in #Vietnam #Diplomatic #Spain NGO Pazy Desarrollo in co-operation with Spanish Embassy run gender equality project http://vietnamnews.vn/society/274879/project-promotes-gender-equality.html Michael Lynn - #Ireland fled Ireland in 2007 with debts of €80m extradition #Brasil #Brazil #LatAm http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/michael-lynn-should-be-back-by-year-end-to-face-charges-lawyer-1.2326185 #Turkey Albayrak Group to operate Mogadishu Interl Port / re-opened in 2006 by Islamic Courts Union, who control South Somali / dailysabah USA Spirit Lake police chief TAKES job as a bomb-sniffing dog handler US embassy in #Iraq or #Afghanistan http://www.kboi2.com/news/local/Spirit-Lake-police-chief-steps-down-to-take-US-embassy-job-322627872.html #Afghanistan Kabul vehicle bombing 10 dead 60 injured Taliban fighting to overthrow foreign-backed govt http://www.dispatchtimes.com/at-least-10-dead-in-kabul-vehicle-bombing/59556/ #MiddleEast US Embassy Warns Against Travel to Upper Galilee & Golan Heights Rockets launched from #Syria territory #Israel: points finger at: "Iran-backed Islamic Jihad from territory under the control of the Assad regime" http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/319634/us-embassy-warns-citizens-against-travel-to-upper-galilee-and-golan-heights/ #Pakistan Removes 5,000 names from Exit Control List (ECL) Passports Directorate Blacklist contained 52,000 names http://tribune.com.pk/story/943345/nisar-announces-removal-of-5000-names-from-ecl-in-major-overhaul/ #Pakistan Intelligence agencies rescue: Chinese tourist kidnapped 2014 in an area close to insurgency-prone regions. Kidnapped China tourist rescue: faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility http://tribune.com.pk/story/943345/nisar-announces-removal-of-5000-names-from-ecl-in-major-overhaul/ #Australia #Syria US request to extend campaign Julie Bishop says Australia is seeking legal advice on Syria strikes USA has asked for Aussie support manned strikes, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, air refuelling etc http://forexreportdaily.com/2015/08/24/7334-julie-bishop-says-australia-is-seeking-legal-advice-on-syria-strikes/ #Nigeria Zone 6 Police took delivery of #surveillance helicopter in Calabar / combat of militancy & kidnap http://nationalaccordnewspaper.com/2015/08/police-receives-surveillance-helicopter-to-boost-fight-against-militancy-in-cross-river/ ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT Names being removed from a travel blacklist in Pakistan is rather intriguing.  Don't really understand why they've got a blacklist.  Maybe this is normal?  A bad guy travel blacklist? Action hotting up Syria / Israel border, by look of things? Turkey might be a player in Somalia. Islamic Union control in south.   That's a look-up job; don't know what this is. Photojournalist arrested Thailand sounds interesting, but it's probably routine. Thailand no longer sounds safe.  Well, it never did to me; but I'm weird like that.  ;) Pakistan definitely doesn't sounds safe.  Thailand a better bet.  lol This just random stuff that caught my attention ... nothing exciting. ꕤ

Ellen Brown article: TPP - Death of the Republic

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Death of the Republic Posted on Apr 26, 2015 By Ellen Brown, Web of Debt Mark Zuid (CC BY 2.0) This piece first appeared at Web of Debt.     The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.     — Article IV, Section 4, US Constitution A republican form of government is one in which power resides in elected officials representing the citizens, and government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law. In The Federalist Papers, James Madison defined a republic as “a government which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people . . . .” On April 22, 2015, the Senate Finance Committee approved a bill to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade agreement that would override our republican form of government and hand judicial and legislative authority to a foreign three-person panel of corporate lawyers. The secretive TPP is an agreement with Mexico, Canada, Japan, Singapore and seven other countries that affects 40% of global markets. Fast-track authority could now go to the full Senate for a vote as early as next week. Fast-track means Congress will be prohibited from amending the trade deal, which will be put to a simple up or down majority vote. Negotiating the TPP in secret and fast-tracking it through Congress is considered necessary to secure its passage, since if the public had time to review its onerous provisions, opposition would mount and defeat it. Abdicating the Judicial Function to Corporate Lawyers James Madison wrote in The Federalist Papers:     The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, . . . may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. . . . “Were the power of judging joined with the legislative, the life and liberty of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control, for the judge would then be the legislator. . . .” And that, from what we now know of the TPP’s secret provisions, will be its dire effect. The most controversial provision of the TPP is the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) section, which strengthens existing ISDS procedures. ISDS first appeared in a bilateral trade agreement in 1959. According to The Economist, ISDS gives foreign firms a special right to apply to a secretive tribunal of highly paid corporate lawyers for compensation whenever the government passes a law to do things that hurt corporate profits — such things as discouraging smoking, protecting the environment or preventing a nuclear catastrophe. Arbitrators are paid $600-700 an hour, giving them little incentive to dismiss cases; and the secretive nature of the arbitration process and the lack of any requirement to consider precedent gives wide scope for creative judgments. To date, the highest ISDS award has been for $2.3 billion to Occidental Oil Company against the government of Ecuador over its termination of an oil-concession contract, this although the termination was apparently legal. Still in arbitration is a demand by Vattenfall, a Swedish utility that operates two nuclear plants in Germany, for compensation of €3.7 billion ($4.7 billion) under the ISDS clause of a treaty on energy investments, after the German government decided to shut down its nuclear power industry following the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. Under the TPP, however, even larger judgments can be anticipated, since the sort of “investment” it protects includes not just “the commitment of capital or other resources” but “the expectation of gain or profit.” That means the rights of corporations in other countries extend not just to their factories and other “capital” but to the profits they expect to receive there. In an article posted by Yves Smith, Joe Firestone poses some interesting hypotheticals: Under the TPP, could the US government be sued and be held liable if it decided to stop issuing Treasury debt and financed deficit spending in some other way (perhaps by quantitative easing or by issuing trillion dollar coins)? Why not, since some private companies would lose profits as a result? Under the TPP or the TTIP (the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership under negotiation with the European Union), would the Federal Reserve be sued if it failed to bail out banks that were too big to fail? Firestone notes that under the Netherlands-Czech trade agreement, the Czech Republic was sued in an investor-state dispute for failing to bail out an insolvent bank in which the complainant had an interest. The investor company was awarded $236 million in the dispute settlement. What might the damages be, asks Firestone, if the Fed decided to let the Bank of America fail, and a Saudi-based investment company decided to sue? Abdicating the Legislative Function to Multinational Corporations Just the threat of this sort of massive damage award could be enough to block prospective legislation. But the TPP goes further and takes on the legislative function directly, by forbidding specific forms of regulation. Public Citizen observes that the TPP would provide big banks with a backdoor means of watering down efforts to re-regulate Wall Street, after deregulation triggered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression:     The TPP would forbid countries from banning particularly risky financial products, such as the toxic derivatives that led to the $183 billion government bailout of AIG. It would prohibit policies to prevent banks from becoming “too big to fail,” and threaten the use of “firewalls” to prevent banks that keep our savings accounts from taking hedge-fund-style bets.     The TPP would also restrict capital controls, an essential policy tool to counter destabilizing flows of speculative money. . . . And the deal would prohibit taxes on Wall Street speculation, such as the proposed Robin Hood Tax that would generate billions of dollars’ worth of revenue for social, health, or environmental causes. Clauses on dispute settlement in earlier free trade agreements have been invoked to challenge efforts to regulate big business. The fossil fuel industry is seeking to overturn Quebec’s ban on the ecologically destructive practice of fracking. Veolia, the French behemoth known for building a tram network to serve Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, is contesting increases in Egypt’s minimum wage. The tobacco maker Philip Morris is suing against anti-smoking initiatives in Uruguay and Australia. The TPP would empower not just foreign manufacturers but foreign financial firms to attack financial policies in foreign tribunals, demanding taxpayer compensation for regulations that they claim frustrate their expectations and inhibit their profits. Preempting Government Sovereignty What is the justification for this encroachment on the sovereign rights of government? Allegedly, ISDS is necessary in order to increase foreign investment. But as noted in The Economist, investors can protect themselves by purchasing political-risk insurance. Moreover, Brazil continues to receive sizable foreign investment despite its long-standing refusal to sign any treaty with an ISDS mechanism. Other countries are beginning to follow Brazil’s lead. In an April 22nd report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, gains from multilateral trade liberalization were shown to be very small, equal to only about 0.014% of consumption, or about $.43 per person per month. And that assumes that any benefits are distributed uniformly across the economic spectrum. In fact, transnational corporations get the bulk of the benefits, at the expense of most of the world’s population. Something else besides attracting investment money and encouraging foreign trade seems to be going on. The TPP would destroy our republican form of government under the rule of law, by elevating the rights of investors – also called the rights of “capital” – above the rights of the citizens. That means that TPP is blatantly unconstitutional. But as Joe Firestone observes, neo-liberalism and corporate contributions seem to have blinded the deal’s proponents so much that they cannot see they are selling out the sovereignty of the United States to foreign and multinational corporations. __________________ Ellen Brown is an attorney, founder of the Public Banking Institute, and author of twelve books including the best-selling Web of Debt. Her latest book, The Public Bank Solution, explores successful public banking models historically and globally. Her 300+ blog articles are at EllenBrown.com. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_trans-pacific_partnership_and_the_death_of_the_republic_20150426#.VT2JQGZfSsk.twitter COMMENT firewall 1. Banking: Laws that obligate a bank to completely segregate its securities underwriting business from its deposit taking and loan making activities.  These legal firewalls aim to prevent banks from using the depositors' funds in speculative ventures, and thus comply with the statutes such as US Glass-Steagall Act or 1933.  Also called Chinese wall, or ethical wall. http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/firewall.html Glass-Steagall Act Passed in 1933 as the Banking Act, Glass-Steagall was chipped away over the years and eventually repealed during the Clinton Administration with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass%E2%80%93Steagall_Legislation James Madison - here.  Fourth President USA.  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Thought this was a very good article.  How scary is the TPP? I haven't investigated the Glass-Steagall Act repeal or what regulations were subsequently put in force again after the financial meltdown of 2008, or whenever it was.  Post financial meltdown controls put on financial insinuations are now in danger of being negated by the provisions of the TPP.   Too lazy to look now.  This is enough info for me for the time being. Might have to come back & read about Madison.  Got have a shower.  ;)