Monday, 29 de November de 2010

Mais um assassinato do Mossad em fronteiras estrangeiras. Direitos Humanos condena o ataque

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www.nazen.tk

Mais um assassinato do Mossad em fronteiras estrangeiras. Direitos Humanos condena ataque

Read on leia em:

www.news.az news.sky.com www.lastampa.it www.irna.ir BBC

Tehran-based human rights group decries terror attacks on academics
from:  Tehran, Nov 29 |  IRNA

Tehran-based Organization for Defending Victims of Violence on Monday strongly condemned the terror attacks against innocent citizens, the academics of the country, as blatant example of human rights violations.

The ODVV, campaigns against terrorism, violence and assassinations in society.

It said in a statement that terrorism and violence have jeopardized the fundamental rights which is the right to live in a world full of peace and justice.

‘While the international community and human rights organizations all over the world are propagating the international campaign against terrorism, the people of Iran in the aftermath of eight-year US-backed war on Iran in 1980-1988 and in the three decades since victory of the the Islamic Revolution have fallen victim to blind terrorism by hidden powers.

‘Their aim in conducting these brutal acts is to disrupt the scientific and technological advancements of our country. Several times the university and scientific community has been targeted by acts of terror.

‘As an active civil institution in Iran, with slogan of peace and human rights, the ODVV while condemning these despicable and horrific acts, expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the university lecturers and victims of these terror acts, and calls upon the international community and responsible authorities to punish the perpetrators of these crimes,’ the statement said.

Islamic Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 30098583

________________________

Sobre

Blog @ nazen.tk

“Comentários islamofóbicos, anti-semitas e anti-árabes ou que coloquem um povo ou uma religião como superiores não serão publicados. Tampouco ataques entre leitores ou contra o blogueiro. Pessoas que insistirem em ataques pessoais não terão mais seus comentários publicados. Não é permitido postar vídeo. Todos os posts devem ter relação com algum dos temas acima.” (*)

Este blog existe para a discussão aberta, buscando reunir pontos de vista diferentes e não

O comunicador e ativista político, Nazen Carneiro, formado em Relações Públicas pela Universidade Federal do Paraná, foi correspondente internacional temporário de “Gazeta do Povo” em Teerã, no Irã. Já fez reportagens do Irã, Romênia, Turquia e Grécia, escrevendo sobre a relação do Oriente Médio com o mundo.

Tendo passado pelo Rádio, atua também como ativista cultural e produtor independente do evento mundial pela paz, Earthdance.

Leia os blogs recomendados ao lado.

About

Blog @ nazen.tk

Anti-Semitic, Islamophobic or anti-Arab comments or placing a people or religion as superior not be published. Nor attacks between readers or against the blogger. People who insist on personal attacks will no longer have your comments published. You may not post video. All posts must be related to some of the above topics. This blog exists for open discussions with educated manners, trying to gather different points of view, not to have final answers.


The communicator and political activist, Nazen Carneiro, graduated in Public Relations in the Federal University of Paraná,
temporary international correspondent to the newspaper  “Gazeta do Povo” in Tehran, Iran in 2009. Reported from Iran, Romania, Turkey and Greece, writing about relations with the Middle Eastern world.

Previously worked on Radio, event producer and cultural activist. Executive producer for the  global event for peace, Earthdance, in Curitiba.

Thanks for reading =D
Read the blogs recommended to the side.


Nenhum comentário »

Thursday, 4 de November de 2010

Ministro da Defesa ataca estratégia militar de EUA e Otan para o Atlântico Sul

www.nazen.tk

Não seremos parceiros dos EUA para que eles mantenham seu papel no mundo

Ministro da Defesa ataca estratégia militar de EUA e Otan para o Atlântico Sul

04.11.2010 | De: Folha de S. Paulo | CLAUDIA ANTUNES

O ministro da Defesa, Nelson Jobim, fez um forte ataque às estratégias militares globais dos EUA e da Otan (aliança militar ocidental), afirmando que nem o Brasil nem a América do Sul podem aceitar que “se arvorem” o direito de intervir em “qualquer teatro de operação” sob “os mais variados pretextos”.

Ele criticou em especial a proposta ventilada nos EUA de “cortar a linha” que separa o Atlântico Sul do Norte para criar o conceito de “bacia do Atlântico”.

Lembrou que os EUA não firmaram a Convenção sobre o Direito do Mar da ONU e portanto “não reconhecem o status jurídico de países como o Brasil, que tem 350 milhas de sua plataforma continental sob sua soberania”.

“Como poderemos conversar sobre o Atlântico Sul com um país que não reconhece os títulos referidos pela ONU? O Atlântico que se fala lá é o que vai à costa brasileira ou é o que vai até 350 milhas da costa brasileira?”

Também referiu-se a uma “alta autoridade” americana que defendeu “soberanias compartilhadas” no Atlântico. “Ao que nós perguntamos: qual é a soberania que os EUA querem compartilhar, a deles ou a nossa?”

Jobim falou na abertura da 10ª Conferência do Forte de Copacabana, promovida pela Fundação Konrad Adenauer, ligada à Democracia Cristã alemã, para criar um “diálogo” entre América do Sul e Europa em segurança.

Em resposta ao alemão Klaus Naumann, ex-diretor do Comitê Militar da Otan, que disse que a Europa é o “parceiro preferencial” de que os EUA necessitam para manter seu papel dominante no mundo, o ministro disse: “Não seremos parceiros dos EUA para que eles mantenham seu papel no mundo”.

Também criticou o embargo a Cuba e defendeu o direito da Venezuela de desenvolver energia nuclear para fins pacíficos. “A política internacional não pode ser definida a partir da perspectiva do que convém aos EUA.”

Ele afirmou que a Europa “não se libertará” de sua dependência dos EUA e por isso tende a sofrer baixa em seu perfil geopolítico. O da América do Sul tenderia a crescer, pelo crescimento econômico e os recursos naturais, água inclusive, de que dispõe em abundância, enquanto escasseiam no mundo.

O Brasil e o subcontinente devem “construir um aparato dissuasório voltado para ameaças extrarregionais” que lhes permitam “dizer não quando tiverem que dizer não”, completou.

O ministro lembrou que alguns países europeus são “parceiros” do reaparelhamento militar brasileiro, caso da França. Mas advertiu: “As chances de cooperação nesse campo serão tanto maiores quanto menor for o apoio da Europa a esquemas diplomático-militares que venham a entender como tentativa de reduzir a margem de autonomia do Brasil”.

fonte:

http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mundo/825261-ministro-da-defesa-ataca-estrategia-militar-de-eua-e-otan-para-o-atlantico-sul.shtml

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Tuesday, 2 de November de 2010

Três questões sobre o Holocausto

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www.nazen.tk

Três perguntas sobre o Holocausto

e o que os Palestinos tem a ver com iso

O desrespeito e a violência étnica do holocausto palestino

O desrespeito e a violência étnica do holocausto palestino

1.
– Onde aconteceu?
– Na Europa, certo?

2.
– No que os palestinos são responsáveis pelo Holocausto?
– Em Nada, afinal os responsáveis são os nazistas,certo?

Para finalizar:

3.
– Por que foram os palestinos que tiveram que dividir suas terras e então ter seus direitos civis retirados, seu estado ‘negado’, sua capital Jerusalém dividida e suas crianças assassinadas sem direito de defesa
?
– A resposta? Não sabemos, ou sabemos, enfim o que importa é trazer aqui uma série de artigos para compreender melhor o fato pontual:

Os palestinos estão tendo seus direitos internacionais totalmente desrespeitados e as autoridades internacionais estão a fazer vista grossa.

Pundits and politicians are telling falsehoods.

________________________

Sobre

Blog @ nazen.tk

“Comentários islamofóbicos, anti-semitas e anti-árabes ou que coloquem um povo ou uma religião como superiores não serão publicados. Tampouco ataques entre leitores ou contra o blogueiro. Pessoas que insistirem em ataques pessoais não terão mais seus comentários publicados. Não é permitido postar vídeo. Todos os posts devem ter relação com algum dos temas acima.” (*)

Este blog existe para a discussão aberta, buscando reunir pontos de vista diferentes e não

O comunicador e ativista político, Nazen Carneiro, formado em Relações Públicas pela Universidade Federal do Paraná, foi correspondente internacional temporário de “Gazeta do Povo” em Teerã, no Irã. Já fez reportagens do Irã, Romênia, Turquia e Grécia, escrevendo sobre a relação do Oriente Médio com o mundo.

Tendo passado pelo Rádio, atua também como ativista cultural e produtor independente do evento mundial pela paz, Earthdance.

Leia os blogs recomendados ao lado.

________________________

About

Blog @ nazen.tk

Anti-Semitic, Islamophobic or anti-Arab comments or placing a people or religion as superior not be published. Nor attacks between readers or against the blogger. People who insist on personal attacks will no longer have your comments published. You may not post video. All posts must be related to some of the above topics. This blog exists for open discussions with educated manners, trying to gather different points of view, not to have final answers.


The communicator and political activist, Nazen Carneiro, graduated in Public Relations in the Federal University of Paraná,
temporary international correspondent to the newspaper  “Gazeta do Povo” in Tehran, Iran in 2009. Reported from Iran, Romania, Turkey and Greece, writing about relations with the Middle Eastern world.

Previously worked on Radio, event producer and cultural activist. Executive producer for the  global event for peace, Earthdance, in Curitiba.

Thanks for reading =D
Read the blogs recommended to the side.

Nenhum comentário »

Saturday, 23 de October de 2010

United States are now the international Judge for civil rights and political processes in other countries

www.nazen.tk

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United States are  now the international Judge for civil rights and political processes in other countries

Nazen Carneiro | from Curitiba, Oct 23rd 2010

No. It’s not enough to bring the war over arabs and iranians. No, it’s not enough to have the biggest nuke arsenal and move sanctions over countries that wants to have equal rights. No, it’s not enough. US wants to be the law, everywhere.

The US lead sanctions over “”” Iran’s nuclear program””” are,in fact, over iranian average citizens (and its revolution) once the only thing it does is to make life harder and less pleasant for citizens. It is now harder to send money to Iran and other bank services became tough duties. Sanctions now make technology and other primary goods harder to find.

Like this, iranian people would pressure government towards accepting US\Europe orders. Well,  this is what US\EU governments want but is easy to find people who don’t like to be affected by this situation and it works as reverse for US\EU, because people are getting even more angry and anti-US \ Israel moves in the area.
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by BBC London

US imposes sanctions on Iranian officials over abuses

Hillary Clinton: “We speak out for those unable to speak out for themselves”

US President Barack Obama has ordered unprecedented sanctions against senior Iranian officials for “sustained and severe violations of human rights”.

The eight men include the head of the Revolutionary Guards, a former interior minister and the prosecutor general.

The treasury department said they would face a travel ban and asset freeze.

The alleged abuses include the killings and beatings of anti-government protesters after the disputed presidential election in June 2009.

Following the poll, millions of Iranians defied official warnings and participated in mass rallies that drew the largest crowds since 1979’s Islamic Revolution.

The authorities launched a brutal crackdown, during which opposition and human rights groups accused the security forces of extra-judicial killings, rapes and torture. Thousands were held without charge.

Over the subsequent six months, at least 40 protesters were killed; the opposition says more than 70 died. At least two people have been executed for related offences, and dozens imprisoned.

‘New tool’

In a statement, the White House said: “As the president noted in his recent address to the United Nations General Assembly, human rights are a matter of moral and pragmatic necessity for the United States.”

“The United States will always stand with those in Iran who aspire to have their voices heard. We will be a voice for those aspirations that are universal, and we continue to call upon the Iranian government to respect the rights of its people.”

“Start Quote

The Iranian government has ignored repeated calls from the international community to end these abuses”

Hillary ClintonUS Secretary of State

All of those named in the US sanctions list served in Iran’s military, law enforcement and justice system around the time of the 2009 protests:

  • Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC)
  • Sadeq Mahsouli, the current minister of welfare and security, and former minister of the interior
  • Qolam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, the current prosecutor general of Iran and former intelligence minister
  • Saeed Mortazavi, the former prosecutor general of Tehran
  • Heydar Moslehi, the minister of Intelligence
  • Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, the current interior minister and former deputy commander of the armed forces for law enforcement
  • Ahmad-Reza Radan, deputy chief of Iran’s National Police
  • Hossein Taeb, current deputy commander for Intelligence for the IRGC and former commander of the IRGC’s Basij militia

Any assets in the US held by the eight Iranians will be frozen, and US citizens and companies will be prohibited from doing business with them.

“On these officials’ watch, or under their command, Iranian citizens have been arbitrarily arrested, beaten, tortured, raped, blackmailed and killed,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a news conference in Washington.

“Yet the Iranian government has ignored repeated calls from the international community to end these abuses.”

Mrs Clinton said it was the first time the US had imposed sanctions against Iran for human rights abuses.

“We would like to be able to tell you that it might be the last but we fear not,” she said.

Iranian riot police beat anti-government protesters in Tehran (14 June 2009)The Iranian authorities launched a brutal crackdown against the mass opposition protests

“We now have at our disposal a new tool that allows us to designate individual Iranians officials responsible for or complicit in serious human rights violations and do so in a way that does not in any way impact on the well-being of the Iranian people themselves.”

The US has banned most trade with Iran since 1979, when Iranian students stormed its embassy in Tehran and took diplomats hostage.

The Islamic Republic has also been subjected to four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to suspend the enrichment of uranium, as well as unilateral US and EU measures. The US and its allies suspect Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge it denies.

Mr Jafari is already subject to US sanctions over the nuclear programme.

The BBC’s Kim Ghattas in Washington says it is unclear what impact the move will have, as the men are unlikely to have any assets in the US.

But the Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, said that when the US targeted specific individuals or entities, other countries often responded by cutting off their economic and financial dealings with them. European nations are reportedly working on similar sanctions.

US diplomats say they decided to focus more on human rights abuses in Iran because the emphasis on the country’s controversial nuclear programme alone was not enough to isolate its leadership or change its behaviour, our correspondent adds.

_______________

Sobre

Blog @ nazen.tk

“Comentários islamofóbicos, anti-semitas e anti-árabes ou que coloquem um povo ou uma religião como superiores não serão publicados. Tampouco ataques entre leitores ou contra o blogueiro. Pessoas que insistirem em ataques pessoais não terão mais seus comentários publicados. Não é permitido postar vídeo. Todos os posts devem ter relação com algum dos temas acima. O blog está aberto a discussões educadas e com pontos de vista diferentes” (*)

O comunicador e ativista político, Nazen Carneiro, formado em Relações Públicas pela Universidade Federal do Paraná, foi correspondente internacional temporário de “Gazeta do Povo” em Teerã, no Irã. Já fez reportagens do Irã, Romênia, Turquia e Grécia, escrevendo sobre a relação do Oriente Médio com o mundo.

Tendo passado pelo Rádio, atua também como ativista cultural e produtor independente do evento mundial pela paz, Earthdance.

Leia os blogs recomendados ao lado.

Nenhum comentário »

Tuesday, 19 de October de 2010

Brasil sobe 13 posições em liberdade de imprensa, diz ONG

www.nazen.tk

Alguém falou sobre liberdade de imprensa no Brasil nestas eleições. Alguém falou que o governo quer ‘controlar’ a imprensa. Digo que a concentração de poder na imprensa está com os dias contados. Vide Confecom!

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Brasil sobe 13 posições em liberdade de imprensa, diz ONG. Europa cai do pedestal.

da EFE, em São Paulo | 19 de Outubro de 2010

O Brasil subiu 13 posições no ranking anual de liberdade de imprensa da ONG Repórteres Sem Fronteiras (RSF) –passando de 71º para 58º. O estudo sobre a situação em 200 países foi divulgado nesta terça-feira. Finlândia, Islândia, Holanda, Suécia e Suíça lideram o ranking.

O relatório destaca também que, pela primeira vez desde a criação da classificação anual, em 2002, Cuba não faz parte dos dez últimos, embora ocupe o 166º lugar.

“Esta progressão se deve principalmente à libertação de 14 jornalistas e 22 militantes durante o verão de 2010. No entanto, a situação no país não evoluiu muito, a censura e a opressão são ainda cotidianas para os dissidentes políticos e os profissionais da informação”, afirma a RSF.

A ONG alertou ainda que vários países membros da União Europeia continuam perdendo posições –e prejudicando a imagem de exemplo para outras nações.

Também preocupa a linha-dura sendo adotada pelos governos no pé da lista: Ruanda, Iêmen e Síria se juntaram a Mianmar e Coreia do Norte no grupo dos países mais repressivos aos jornalistas no mundo.

Mais do que nunca antes, vemos que desenvolvimento econômico, reforma institucional e respeito aos direitos fundamentais não necessariamente caminham juntos“, disse o secretário-geral da ONG, Jean-François Julliard. “A defesa da liberdade de imprensa continua sendo uma batalha, uma batalha de vigilância nas democracias da velha Europa e uma batalha contra a opressão e a injustiça nos regimes totalitários ainda espalhados ao redor do mundo.”

A ONG prestou homenagem aos ativistas de direitos humanos, jornalistas e blogueiros que defendem o direito de expressão no mundo e reiterou ao governo chinês o pedido para libertar o dissidente Liu Xiaobo, vencedor do prêmio Nobel da Paz deste ano.

UNIÃO EUROPEIA

A ONG alerta para a situação deteriorante da liberdade de expressão na União Europeia, tendência confirmada pela última pesquisa. Dos 27 Estados membros da UE, 13 estão entre os 20 primeiros da lista da RSF.

Porém, a distância entre os países que têm desempenho bom e os que têm desempenho ruim está aumentando. Dos outros 14 países da UE, alguns estão em posições bem baixas. A Itália aparece em 49º., a Romênia em 52º., e Grécia e Bulgária estão empatados em 70º..

Em alguns países não foi registrado nenhum avanço: França e Itália não conseguiram reverter a tendência de redução da liberdade de imprensa. No ano passado, houve casos de violação do sigilo das fontes dos jornalistas, além da contínua concentração das empresas de mídia, mostras de desacato e impaciência da parte de autoridades do governo em relação a jornalistas e seu trabalho, e intimações judiciais.

PAÍSES NÓRDICOS

Vários países dividem o título de melhor nação para atuação jornalística, e o norte da Europa se mantêm no topo. Neste ano, Finlândia, Islândia, Holanda, Noruega, Suécia e Suíça ficaram em primeiro lugar no ranking da Repórteres Sem Fronteiras.

Todos eles já estiveram nesta posição antes, e Noruega e Islândia sempre apareceram em primeiro lugar –exceto em 2006 (Noruega) e 2009 (Islândia).

Esses países constituem exemplos de liberdade de imprensa, e continuam melhorando. A Islândia, por exemplo, estuda um projeto de lei para conceder um nível único de proteção à mídia.

PIORES LUGARES

Nos últimos anos, a ONG chamou atenção especial aos três países que sempre estão nas três últimas posições: Eritreia, Coreia do Norte e Turcomenistão.

Este ano, um grupo maior de dez países –marcado pela perseguição da imprensa e por uma falta total de informação e notícias– estão juntos no final da lista.

“A situação de liberdade de imprensa continua se deteriorando nesses países e está ficando cada vez mais difícil dizer qual é o pior”, informa a ONG.

Afeganistão, Paquistão, Somália e México –países que estão em guerra aberta, guerra civil ou que enfrentam algum tipo de conflito interno– mostram uma situação de caos permanente e uma cultura de violência e impunidade se enraizando, tendo a mídia como um dos principais alvos.

Eles estão entre os países mais perigosos do mundo, e combatentes miram diretamente em jornalistas –caso, por exemplo, dos jornalistas da TV francesa, Stéphane Taponier e Hervé Ghesquière, mantidos reféns no Afeganistão nos últimos 300 dias.

AMÉRICA

Na América Latina, após Cuba, o país mais atrasado é a Colômbia (no 145º lugar), seguido de México (136º), Venezuela (134º), Peru (109º), Bolívia (104º) e Equador (102º).

A República Dominicana ocupa o posto 97, seguido da Nicarágua (83º), Guatemala (77º), Brasil (58º), Argentina (55º), Paraguai (54º), El Salvador (51º), Uruguai (38º), Chile (33º) e Costa Rica (29º).

Os Estados Unidos ocupam a 20ª posição, seguidos pelo Canadá, o que os transformam nos países da América mais bem colocados.

COM EFE

________________________

Sobre

Blog @ nazen.tk

“Comentários islamofóbicos, anti-semitas e anti-árabes ou que coloquem um povo ou uma religião como superiores não serão publicados. Tampouco ataques entre leitores ou contra o blogueiro. Pessoas que insistirem em ataques pessoais não terão mais seus comentários publicados. Não é permitido postar vídeo. Todos os posts devem ter relação com algum dos temas acima. O blog está aberto a discussões educadas e com pontos de vista diferentes” (*)

O comunicador e ativista político, Nazen Carneiro, formado em Relações Públicas pela Universidade Federal do Paraná, foi correspondente internacional temporário de “Gazeta do Povo” em Teerã, no Irã. Já fez reportagens do Irã, Romênia, Turquia e Grécia, escrevendo sobre a relação do Oriente Médio com o mundo.

Tendo passado pelo Rádio, atua também como ativista cultural e produtor independente do evento mundial pela paz, Earthdance.

Leia os blogs recomendados ao lado.

Nenhum comentário »

Thursday, 14 de October de 2010

O Líbano quer paz e quer suas terras de volta. É errado pedir de volta terras roubadas contra a lei da ONU?

www.nazen.tk

O  Líbano é um país soberano, livre para receber o chefe de Estado que bem entender

Lebanon is a sovereign country that can be visited by any chief-of-state it wants
Oct  14th 2010 – | Nazen Carneiro

Israel considera a visita de Ahmadinejad ao Líbano como uma provocação.
É errado requerer a completa liberação dos territórios ocupados por Israel no Líbano, Síria e Palestina durante guerras que opões leis e acordos das Nações Unidas em 1948? Por acaso é considerado provocação o líder de Israel, Netanyahu, visitar os Estados Unidos? Por acaso o discurso de  Netanyahu não é também carregado de acusações e “solicitações” em relação ao Irã?
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O Líbano vem sendo desestabilizado e desestruturado ao longo dos anos através de ocupações, guerras, indústria cultural e da ação direta de outros países na política regional. País chave na política do Oriente-Médio, o Líbano é disputado pelas forças ocidentais no intuito de enfraquecer a resistência local aos objetivos de suas empresas multinacionais e do vizinho Israel.Ahmadinejad no Líbano signigica o mesmo que Obama em Tel Aviv, ou não?

Abaixo você encontra 3 artigos de diferentes jornais: The Guardian, BBC Brasil e Al Jazeera, para ler e tirar suas próprias opiniões.

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Lebanese people welcomes Ahmadinjead
**english version
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Israel takes Ahmadinejads visit to Lebanon as provoking and “playing-with-fire”.
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Is it wrong to ask back territories taken by the use of force and one-side-politics? Is it wrong to  support Countries that ask this simple 1948 UN Law?
By the way, is it considered provoking if Israel’s leader Netanyahu visits the United States?
Isn’t  Mr.  Netanyahu attitude also full of accusations and question to Iran’s activities?
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Lebanon has been destabilized along several years through occupations, wars, cultural industry and direct actions of foreign countries interested on local politics. The fact is that Lebanon is a key-country on Middle-East politics and it is disputed by western powers in order to weaken islam resistance in the region and prepare a “better place” for their business and Israels interests.
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Isn’t the visit of Ahmadinejad to Lebanon just the same as a visit of Obama to Tel Aviv?
Right down you will find 3 texts from THe Guardian, BBC BRasil and Al Jazeera, to read and take your own opinion about it
enjoy
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guardian.co.uk home
Wednesday 13 October 2010 08.47  |  Article history
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcomed as hero in Lebanon

Pro-western groups make muted protest as Iranian president is greeted by supporters of Hezbollah militants his country funds

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has been welcomed by thousands of supporters in Lebanon on a visit that underlines the deep divisions between the country’s Shia “militants” and its pro-western “factions”.

Ahmadinejad’s first state visit to Lebanon comes amid tensions between Iranian-backed Hezbollah and American-backed parties. There are fears for the fragile unity government, which includes both sides and has managed to keep a tenuous calm.

Hezbollah’s opponents in Lebanon often brand it a tool of Iran. They fear the movement is seeking to take over the country – it has widespread support among Shias and possesses the country’s strongest armed force. In turn, Hezbollah and its allies say their political rivals are steering Lebanon too close to America.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, has raised concerns about the visit with the Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman. “We expressed our concern about it given that Iran, through its association with groups like Hezbollah, is actively undermining Lebanon’s sovereignty,” US state department spokesman PJ Crowley said.

A poster of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad set up in Beirut for his visit

The visit throws Lebanon’s divisions into sharp relief. Thousands of Lebanese lined the main highway into the capital from Beirut’s airport where Ahmadinejad landed. Many waved Lebanese and Iranian flags and giant posters of Ahmadinejad towered over the road, while loudspeakers blasted anthems and women in the crowd sold Hezbollah flags and balloons to onlookers.

The crowd broke into cheers and threw sweets as the motorcade slowly passed. Ahmadinejad stood and waved from the sunroof of his SUV.

“Ahmadinejad has done a lot for Lebanon, this is just a thanks,” said Fatima Mazeh, an 18-year-old engineering student who took the day off classes to join the crowds. “He’s not controlling Lebanon, he is helping. Everyone has a mind and can think for himself. We are here to stand with him during the hardest times.”

Hezbollah’s rivals expressed concern over the message sent by the Iranian leader’s visit.

A group of 250 politicians, lawyers and activists sent an open letter to Ahmadinejad on Tuesday criticising Tehran’s backing of Hezbollah and expressing worry Iran was looking to drag Lebanon into a war with Israel. Iran gives the group millions of dollars a year and is believed to provide much of its arsenal.

“One group in Lebanon draws power from you … and has wielded it over another group and the state,” the letter said, addressing Ahmadinejad.

“Your talk of ‘changing the face of the region starting with Lebanon’ and ‘wiping Israel off the map through the force of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon’ … makes it seem like your visit is that of a high commander to his front line.”

But even in the mouthpiece newspapers of parties opposed to Hezbollah criticism of Ahmadinejad was muted as the government sought to treat the visit like that of any other head of state. The government is headed by the leader of the pro-western factions, Saad Hariri, as prime minister, but his cabinet includes members both from Hezbollah and fiercely anti-Hezbollah parties.

The visit comes as many Lebanese worry over an impending possible blow to the unity government. A UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri – Saad’s father – is expected to indict members of Hezbollah as soon as this month, raising concerns of possible violence between the Shia force and Hariri’s mainly Sunni allies.

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Líbano reforça fronteira para visita de Ahmadinejad ao sul do país

14/10/2010 – 11h34  |   DA BBC BRASIL

O governo libanês reforçou suas tropas ao longo da fronteira com Israel em preparação para a viagem do presidente iraniano Mahmoud Ahmadinejad à região, que faz uma polêmica visita ao Líbano.

Em seu segundo dia de visita ao país árabe, o líder iraniano visitará diversas cidades no sul do país que foram destruídas na guerra de 2006 entre o grupo xiita Hizbollah e Israel.

No sul, Ahmadinejad deverá fazer discursos de apoio ao Hizbollah, um forte aliado do Irã, e fazer menções honrosas à luta do grupo xiita contra Israel.

O governo libanês teme que a visita de Ahmadinejad aumente a tensão na frágil e instável fronteira entre os dois países.

Em Israel, a segurança também foi aumentada devido à visita do presidente iraniano ao país vizinho.

O governo israelense qualificou a visita de Ahmadinejad como provocativa e alertou para o fato do Líbano se transformar em um “protetorado iraniano e um Estado extremista”.

O porta-voz do Ministério de Relações Exteriores israelense, Yigal Palmor, disse que a visita de Ahmadinejad estava “recheada com uma mensagem de confrontação e violência”.

“É uma visita provocativa e desestabilizadora. Parece que suas intensões são visivelmente hostis e ele está vindo para brincar com fogo”, declarou Palmor para a imprensa.

Políticos da base governista no Líbano, rivais do Hizbollah, vinham alertando que a visita do presidente iraniano seria uma provocação desnecessária a Israel.

No sul, região que é controlada pelo Hizbollah, Ahmadinejad visitará a cidade de Bint Jbeil, local de intensos combates na guerra de 2006 e fortemente bombardeada por Israel, onde fará um discurso para uma multidão.

UNIDADE

O líder iraniano faz sua primeira visita ao Líbano desde que assumiu a Presidência do Irã, em 2005.

Na quarta-feira, em um encontro com os principais líderes libaneses, ele pregou a unidade no país e prometeu apoio iraniano para o governo de união nacional, do qual o Hizbollah faz parte.

Discursando para autoridades do país, Ahmadinejad destacou que o Irã estava ao lado do Líbano em sua luta contra Israel.

“Nós apoiamos a resistência do povo libanês contra o regime sionista (Israel) e queremos a completa liberação dos territórios ocupados no Líbano, Síria e Palestina”, disse ele na entrevista coletiva.

Os Estados Unidos também qualificaram a visita do líder iraniano ao Líbano como uma provocação.

“Nós rejeitamos qualquer esforço de desestabilizar ou inflamar tensões dentro do Líbano”, disse Hillary Clinton, secretária de Estado americana, na quarta-feira.

TRIBUNAL DA ONU

Na noite de quarta-feira Ahmadinejad participou de um comício nos subúrbios no sul da
capital, Beirute, reduto do Hizbollah.

Milhares de pessoas compareceram para ouvir os discursos do iraniano e do líder do Hizbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

Em coro, a multidão gritava palavas de ordem como “morte aos Estados Unidos” e “morte a Israel”.

Em seu discurso, Ahmadinejad atacou o Tribunal Especial das Nações Unidas (ONU), que investiga a morte do ex-premiê Rafik al-Hariri em um atentado à bomba, em 2005.
Informações preliminares deram conta de que o tribunal – previsto para apresentar as conclusões do inquérito neste mês de outubro – deve indiciar membros do Hizbollah pelo assassinato de Hariri, o que provocou um crise política no Líbano.

“No Líbano, um amigo e patriota foi assassinado… países ocidentais estão tentando implantar conflito e discórdia… manipular a mídia para acusar nossos amigos (Hizbollah) e realizar seus objetivos na região”, disse ele para o público.

O atual premiê, Saad al Hariri, vem enfrentando forte pressão da Síria e do Hizbollah para que rejeite os resultados dos indiciamentos.

O grupo xiita e seus aliados acusam o tribunal da ONU de servir aos interesse dos Estados Unidos e de Israel.

As críticas de Ahmadinejad ao tribunal da ONU repercutiram negativamente entre políticos da base governista no Líbano.

Conhecido com 14 de março, o grupo que reúne a base governista vem condenando a visita de Ahmadinejad, dizendo que o o presidente do Irã planeja trasnformar o Líbano em “uma base iraniana no Mediterrâneo”.

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Ahmadinejad begins Lebanon trip

Iranian president arrives in Beirut to begin a visit that has divided opinion in the Mediterranean country.
13 Oct 2010 15:11 |
Ahmadinejad is undertaking his first state visit to Lebanon, but the trip has sparked controversy in the country [AFP]

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has arrived in Lebanon for a visit that has split opinion among Lebanese politicians, highlighting internal divisions and underlining Iran’s influence in the country.

Tens of thousands lined the streets around the airport on Wednesday to welcome Ahmadinejad for his first state visit to Lebanon since taking office in 2005, which will include a tour of villages close to the country’s volatile border with Israel.

The crowd threw rice, sweets and rose petals for the Iranian leader as his convoy made its way to Lebanon’s presidential palace.

But pro-Western politicians in Lebanon’s fragile national unity government have protested against Ahmadinejad’s visit, accusing him of treating the country as an “Iranian base on the Mediterranean”.

Iran’s support for Hezbollah, a political party backed mainly by Lebanon’s Shia Muslim community and which maintains a large arsenal as well as close links to Iran, is opposed by Sunni Muslim and Christian political parties, who say that the country’s sovereignty has been undermined.

Al Jazeera’s Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, said that the visit comes at a sensitive time for Lebanon, where tensions are running high over an investigation into the 2005 killing of former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri.

Members of the pro-Western March 14 political bloc have expressed concern over the timing of the visit.

“They don’t want to feel that this visit will strengthen Hezbollah,” she said. “The country is going through some rough times, and tensions are running high. Some are concerned that the country is sliding towards another round of violence.”

Hugely popular

Ahmadinejad is a hugely popular figure among Lebanon’s Shia population, which is mainly concentrated in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in the south of the country, and has borne of the brunt of periodic bouts of conflict with Israel.

“The enemies of Lebanon and Iran are terrified when they see the two nations standing alongside one another,” Ahmadinejad told parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who greeted him at Beirut’s airport on Wednesday. “Today is a new day for us and I am proud to be in Lebanon,” he added.

After a 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, Iran funded the reconstruction of large swathes of conflict damaged areas in Hezbollah strongholds.

The party’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said on Saturday that Lebanon should thank Iran for supporting “resistance movements in the region … especially at the time of the July war in Lebanon”, referring to the 2006 conflict. “Where did this money come from? From donations? No, frankly from Iran.”

Officials close to Hezbollah say they have spent about $1bn of Iranian money since 2006 on aid and rebuilding. But the West accuses Tehran of equipping Hezbollah with tens of thousands of rockets to be used against Israel.

As well as meeting Lebanon’s president, prime minister and parliamentary speaker, Ahmadinejad will visit towns close to the border with Israel. He is expected to tour towns including Qana and Bint Jbeil, just 4km from the border, which was heavily bombed by Israel during the 2006 war.

The visit has sparked criticism from the US and Israel, which accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and has not ruled out military action to prevent Tehran building a nuclear bomb.

But Ahmadinejad has repeatedly insisted his country’s nuclear programme is peaceful, and has warned that any Israeli action against it would lead to the destruction of Israel as a political entity.

Caught in the middle

With powerful backers in both the US and Iran, Lebanon has found itself caught in the middle of the row, with both sides seeking to bolster their allies in the country.

The US has given aid and training to Lebanese security forces with a view to eventually disarming Hezbollah, which it considers a terrorist group. But Lebanon’s fractious relations with Israel have complicated this support, and US military aid to the country was frozen earlier this year after Lebanese troops became embroiled in a cross-border clash with Israeli soldiers.

Dan Diker, director strategic affairs at the World Jewish Congress told Al Jazeera that while reaction to the visit might be overblown that Ahmadinejad is “playing a dangerous game with the entire region” by visiting and investing in countries such as Syria and Lebanon.

Diker said that “Israel’s neighbours in the Middle East” worried that the Iranian regime might collapse.

Iran has offered to step in and give Lebanon its own military aid, but diplomats say that weapons sent to Lebanon from Iran would violate UN sanctions imposed over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Ahmadinejad is, however, expected to sign an agreement for a $450 million loan to fund electricity and water projects, as well as an accord on energy co-operation, in what has been percieved as a sign that Tehran is seeking to reinforce its influence in Lebanon.

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Sobre

Blog @ nazen.tk

“Comentários islamofóbicos, anti-semitas e anti-árabes ou que coloquem um povo ou uma religião como superiores não serão publicados. Tampouco ataques entre leitores ou contra o blogueiro. Pessoas que insistirem em ataques pessoais não terão mais seus comentários publicados. Não é permitido postar vídeo. Todos os posts devem ter relação com algum dos temas acima. O blog está aberto a discussões educadas e com pontos de vista diferentes” (*)

O comunicador e ativista político, Nazen Carneiro, formado em Relações Públicas pela Universidade Federal do Paraná, foi correspondente internacional temporário de “Gazeta do Povo” em Teerã, no Irã. Já fez reportagens do Irã, Romênia, Turquia e Grécia, escrevendo sobre a relação do Oriente Médio com o mundo.

Tendo passado pelo Rádio, atua também como ativista cultural e produtor independente do evento mundial pela paz, Earthdance.

Leia os blogs recomendados ao lado.

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Friday, 8 de October de 2010

Panfleto pró-TFP circula em reunião de cúpula tucana

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Panfleto pró-TFP circula em reunião de cúpula tucana

texto incita militantes a divulgar na web que plano de Dilma inclui perseguir cristãos, legalizar aborto e prostituição

Participantes da reunião de cúpula da campanha de José Serra (PSDB) hoje (6.out.2010), em Brasília, receberam um panfleto com instruções sobre como propagar uma campanha anti-Dilma na internet. Num dos trechos, recomenda aos militantes visitarem o site do Instituto Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, um dos fundadores da TFP ( Sociedade Brasileira de Defesa de Tradição, Família e Propriedade), uma das mais conservadores agremiações do país.

O panfleto basicamente se refere ao PNDH-3 (Programa Nacional de Direitos Humanos), lançado pelo governo Lula no final do ano passado. Eis um dos trechos do panfleto divulgado na reunião tucana:

O PNDH-3 é um projeto de lei que tem por objetivo implantar em nossas leis a legalização do aborto, acabar com o direito da propriedade privada, limitar a liberdade religiosa, perseguir cristãos, legalizar a prostituição (e onde fica a dignidade dessas mulheres?), manipular e controlar os meios de comunicação, acabar com a liberdade de imprensa, taxas sobre fortunas o que afastará investimentos, dentre outros. É um decreto preparatório para um regime ditatorial”.

O blog estava dentro da sala do centro de convenções Brasil 21 na qual se realizou o encontro tucano. Por volta das 16h10, antes de a imprensa ser admitida no recinto, uma mulher com adesivo de Serra colado no peito distribuiu o bilhete. “Pega e passa”, dizia.

Era do tamanho de um papel A4 dividido ao meio. Mais tarde, um pequeno maço com esses panfletos foi deixado ao lado do local onde era servido café –e a imprensa teve livre acesso. Ao final, o texto recomenda: “Divulgue esta informação através das redes sociais da internet (blogs, Orkut…)”. Eis a foto da mesa:


Segundo as assessorias do PSDB nacional e do candidato José Serra, a confecção do panfleto não tem relação com o partido nem com a campanha tucana. Ainda assim, o papel ficou à disposição de quem tivesse interesse em pegar. Os panfletos só foram retirados um pouco depois de o Blog ter perguntado à cúpula tucana a respeito do assunto.

Eis a íntegra do texto do bilhete:

“Você sabe o que é o PNDH-3? Se você é uma pessoa que pensa em votar na Dilma, conheça bem este projeto antes de votar.

“O PNDH-3 é um projeto de lei que tem por objetivo implantar em nossas leis a legalização do aborto, acabar com o direito da propriedade privada, limitar a liberdade religiosa, perseguir cristãos, legalizar a prostituição (e onde fica a dignidade dessas mulheres?), manipular e controlar os meios de comunicação, acabar com a liberdade de imprensa, taxas sobre fortunas o que afastará investimentos, dentre outros. É um decreto preparatório para um regime ditatorial.

“O que podemos esperar de um governo que tenta atropelar a sua constituição, tratados e convenções internacionais? Não duvide da veracidade dessas informações, pesquise a respeito e voto consciente!

“No próximo dia 3 de outubro, você pode mudar radicalmente o campo de batalha contra o PNDH-3. Para o bem ou para o mal… Tudo vai depender de como se comporá o novo Congresso Nacional depois do resultado das urnas. Mas e muito grande o número de pessoas que ainda não se conscientizaram do momento que atravessamos.

“Se você não fizer nada agora, não adiantará chorar sobre o resultado das urnas. E prepare-se para assistir nos próximos 4 anos uma transformação radical do País. Pense na sua família! O direito de votar é seu , o dever de promover a vida é do povo brasileiro. É através do voto que demonstramos o nosso poder!

“Passe essa informação adiante, não se omita, lute pelos nossos direitos! Depois pode ser tarde demais!

“Vamos eleger os políticos “Ficha Limpa de PNDH-3”. Veja as propostas dos seus candidatos, fique alerta! Divulgue esta informação através das redes sociais da internet (blogs, Orkut…)

“Acesse HTTP://www.ipco.org.br/home/ – Envie o seu cartão amarelo de alerta as deputados e senadores. Faça você também a sua parte, não se omita! Se puder faça cópias deste texto e ajude-nos com este trabalho, imprima os cartazes disponíveis neste site.

“Jesus disse: Eu vim para que todos tenham vida!”.

“Uma democracia sem valores converte-se facilmente num totalitarismo aberto ou dissimulado, como a história demonstra”. João Paulo II”.

Post Scriptum:

O Departamento de Divulgação da Secretaria de Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República pede ao Blog que faça a postagem de alguns complementos sobre o que é o PNDH-3:

Link atualizado do PNDH-3 http://portal.mj.gov.br/sedh/pndh3/pndh3.pdf

Cinco pontos referidos no panfleto:

Aborto: O PNDH-3 não trata da legalização do aborto. Sua redação sobre o tema é: “Considerar o aborto como tema de saúde pública, com garantia do acesso aos serviços de saúde” (Diretriz 9, Objetivo Estratégico III, ação g);

Propriedade: O PNDH-3 trata apenas da questão da mediação de conflitos agrários e urbanos, dentro da previsão legal e procedimento judicial. Eis a redação: “Propor projeto de lei para institucionalizar a utilização da mediação das demandas de conflitos coletivos agrários e urbanos, priorizando a oitiva do Incra, institutos de terras estaduais, Ministério Público e outros órgãos públicos especializados, sem prejuízo de outros meios institucionais para a solução de conflitos” (Diretriz 17, Objetivo Estratégico VI, ação d);

Religião: O PNDH-3 preza pela liberdade e tolerância religiosa. A redação do capítulo sobre o tema diz: “Respeito às diferentes crenças, liberdade de culto e garantia da laicidade do Estado” (Diretriz 10, Objetivo Estratégico VI);

Mídia: O PNDH-3 garante a liberdade de expressão e de comunicação, respeitando os Direitos Humanos. A principal ação prevista neste tema tem a seguinte redação: “Propor a criação de marco legal, nos termos do art. 221 da Constituição, estabelecendo o respeito aos Direitos Humanos nos serviços de radiodifusão (rádio e televisão) concedidos, permitidos ou autorizados” (Diretriz 22, Objetivo Estratégico I, ação a). Vale lembrar que o PNDH-2, elaborado em 2002 propunha o controle social dos meios de comunicação.

Impostos: O PNDH-3 observa a Constituição Federal, neste caso o art. 153, VII*. Propõe em seu texto: “Regulamentar a taxação do imposto sobre grandes fortunas previsto na Constituição Federal” (Diretriz 5, Objetivo Estratégico II, ação d).

* Art. 153, VII – Compete à União instituir impostos sobre: (…) VII – grandes fortunas, nos termos de lei complementar.

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18h12 – 08/10/2010

Dilma tem mais favoritos em 2° turno dos Estados

petista tem 6 aliados que acabaram 1ª etapa na frente; Serra tem 3 …

… mas, em 2010, 2ª votação estadual tem menos influência sobre a presidencial

Aliados de Dilma (PT) são favoritos em 6 das 9 eleições para governador que terão 2° turno. Trata-se de candidatos alinhados à petista que terminaram o 1° turno com vantagem em relação ao adversário. Aliados de Serra (PSDB) são favoritos em 3 Estados.

Além da maioria de favoritos, Dilma conta com vitória assegurada de 3 aliados: no Amapá, na Paraíba e em Rondônia (Estados nos quais os 2 concorrentes são alinhados ao PT, apesar de nenhum ser filiado ao partido).

Mesmo com a polarização entre PT e PSDB se repetindo na eleição presidencial e nas estaduais, em 2010 há menos importância do “voto casado” –quando o eleitor escolhe ao mesmo tempo o presidente e o governador.

Neste ano, apenas 14% dos eleitores do país vão votar para governador e presidente no 2° turno. Em 2006, foram 41,4%. Em 2002, 53,3%. Ou seja: em anos anteriores, candidatos a governador que foram ao 2° turno falavam a um percentual maior de eleitores e, por isso, podiam puxar mais votos para seus aliados presidenciáveis.

O jornal “Valor Econômico” publicou, em 7.out.2010, gráfico sobre a diminuição do percentual do eleitorado que vota 2 vezes para governador. O ano em que mais eleitores votaram em 2 turnos foi 1994. Aquele em que menos vão votar é 2010:


Para ampliar a imagem, deve-se clicar sobre ela com o botão direito e salvá-la no computador. Em seguida, é preciso abri-la com programa de visualização de imagens para aumentá-la.

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Tuesday, 5 de October de 2010

Quais as análises possíveis para a votação record do palhaço Tiririca em São Paulo

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Quais as análises possíveis para a votação record do palhaço Tiririca em São Paulo

Nazen Carneiro para nazen.tk | Curitiba, 05 de Outubro de 2010


Tiririca YouTube _ wwwnazentk

Quais as análises possíveis para a votação record do palhaço Tiririca em São Paulo?
Mais do que um fenômeno da democracia brasileira, a votação record do Palhaço Tiririca, ‘cantor’ de ‘Florentina’ e humorista da TV Record (no momento) marca uma época da política brasileira e representa um recorte da imagem e doprestígio das instituições democráticas junto a população. Afinal, 1.3 milhões de pessoas colocaram um palhaço na Tribuna do Estado de maior economia do Brasil.

Penso em três perguntas na verdade, pelos artigos que tenho lido:

1 -Seria o fracasso do voto obrigatório? Afinal, quem levantaria a bunda de casa para ir votar no palhaço tiririca se não fosse obrigado?

2- Seria uma expressão coletiva de protesto contra a Câmara a política em geral em São Paulo? Pode-se ler como desaprovação expressiva de 1.3 milhao em relação as instituições(de SP)?

3-  OU Seria porque uma (grande) parcela dos paulistas ‘não tá nem aí’ mesmo, a apatia política é a nova moda, sensação do momento e votar no tiririca é tirar uma onda?
( se sim, quem se beneficia desta situação? )

Quem se arrisca?

O video é um marco no marketing político brasileiro (rs)

Com vocês, o abestado!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BomKjEVHrzI

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Saturday, 2 de October de 2010

How President Lula changed Brazil

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This time I wont’t write about the article’s view. From São Paulo, BBC’s reporter Steve Kingstone writes about Brazilian Booming.

lula_livro_ofilhodobrasil

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How President Lula changed Brazil

Brazilians  walk along a main street in Sao Paulo, September 2010Brazil has seen a huge swell in its middle class since Mr Lula came to power

I used to tell visitors to close their eyes as I drove them into Sao Paulo from the airport.

That was seven years ago, when the first impression of South America’s biggest city was a pot-holed motorway running parallel to a stinking river, along whose banks economic migrants had made their homes in wooden shacks perfumed by belching exhaust fumes.

This week, I have come back to Sao Paulo to cover the election.

And while still not exactly scenic, that airport run has improved significantly.

The river bed has been dredged to stop flooding and the motorway surface is today smoother, with more lanes.

Shacks still line the road, but there are fewer of them. The eye is drawn instead to the massed ranks of cranes and tower blocks, which house the city’s rapidly swelling middle class.

Five reasons why Brazil matters

1. Economy: It is set for some 7.5% growth this year. The number of Brazilians regarded as middle class is rising fast, and with it their desire and ability to buy consumer goods.

2. Resources: It is a top exporter of key foodstuffs including sugar, poultry and beef, and a major producer of iron ore and other commodities much in demand by countries such as China. The recent discovery of offshore oil fields could propel Brazil into the top league of oil producers.

3. Environment: The size of the Amazon rainforest makes Brazil an essential presence in climate talks. Deforestation has slowed. Brazil makes much use of renewable energy – for example, hydroelectricity. Development of its oilfields and use of land for agriculture could undermine its green credentials.

4. International voice: Brazil is now more visible in international diplomacy, with strengthened ties with Africa and the Middle East. Brazil is among those pushing the importance of the G20.

5. Sport: Expect plenty of stories in the next few years about Brazil’s 2014 World Cup preparations and Rio’s 2016 Olympic plans. They will be two huge events in a country that knows how to party.

Disposable income

Number-crunchers say rising incomes have catapulted more than 29 million Brazilians into the middle class during the eight-year presidency of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former trade unionist elected in 2002.

Some of these people are beneficiaries of government handouts and others of a steadily improving education system.

Brazilians are staying in school longer, which secures them higher wages, which drives consumption, which in turn fuels a booming domestic economy.

The new consumer footprint is visible in the San Mateus neighbourhood in eastern Sao Paulo, where traditional hole-in-the-wall bars and tyre repair yards have been joined by more aspiring businesses.

I pass a poodle parlour, an upscale driving school, and countless beauty salons – none of which are new to Brazil but which are new to this evolving barrio, where disposable income is suddenly flowing.

“Nowadays, women who once cut their hair at home come in demanding the very latest products,” explains Gilberto dos Santos, a stylist at the grandly-named Celebrity Space Salon, where Marilyn Monroe posters adorn the walls.

“As a society I think we have become more vain and more people have access to this kind of pampering,” he says.

Behind him, chattering customers wait patiently for today’s cut, manicure or wax.

Start Quote

Nowadays, women who once cut their hair at home come in demanding the very latest products”

Gilberto dos SantosHair stylist

Almost everyone I spoke to gave President Lula credit for these achievements. Their tributes as he leaves office is a far cry from the cold fear that greeted his election in some quarters in 2002.

‘Remarkable leader’When I began my posting as the BBC’s correspondent in Sao Paulo the following year, bankers were openly fretting that the leftist newcomer would undo a decade of economic reforms.

Erudite opinion formers warned that a former metalworker with only basic education would embarrass Brazil on the world stage.

Neither fear has been borne out.

Internationally, Lula’s easy charm and heartfelt advocacy of the developing world has moved Brazil centre stage in the globalisation debate.

“I love this guy,” US President Barack Obama enthused at one G20 summit, while former British Prime Minister Tony Blair recently told the BBC that Lula was “one of the more remarkable leaders of the modern age”.

Women in a beauty salon, Sao Paulo
Brazilians now have more disposable income

Similarly, Brazil’s business community has come to appreciate its one-time bogeyman.

In the breakfast room of my Sao Paulo hotel, gaggles of Blackberry-wielding entrepreneurs begin their deals for the day – riding the wave of an economy that will grow by about 7.5% and create some 2.5 million jobs in 2010.

“We’ve done well by Lula, so no-one is complaining,” one suited diner told me.

“And he’s spread the wealth around the country, which in Brazil is good politics,” he said.

Nor did my business friend seem in any way perturbed by the imminent general election to choose Lula’s successor.

“We’re cool about this vote,” he said.

Start Quote

He’s spread the wealth around the country, which in Brazil is good politics”

Diner Sao Paolo hotel

“Whether the winner is Dilma (of President Lula’s Workers Party) or Serra (of the Social Democratic Party), we know economic policy will stay the same.”

Teaching qualityWith a grin, he expressed a slight preference for Dilma Rousseff, arguing that she would be the easier of the two potential presidents to lobby.

Not everyone shares the rosy outlook.

One Brazilian friend, a self-employed language teacher, complained that short-term economic euphoria is drowning out the debate about much-needed changes to the country’s infrastructure and education system.

Although Brazilian children are staying in school longer, the quality and consistency of teaching leaves a lot to be desired.

My friend also correctly pointed out that the cornerstone of today’s stability was the inflation-busting new currency introduced by Mr Lula’s predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso whom has very low support from population today due to its neoliberal view and government.

Brazilian supporters of presidential candidate for the Green Party (PV), Marina Silva, wave green flags while supporters of the candidate for the Workers' Party (PT), Dilma Rousseff, wave red flags, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on September 29, 2010
Brazilians vote for a new president on Sunday

All the same, the departing president is rightly banging the drum for his achievements, and hoping the feel-good factor will rub off on his anointed successor, Ms Rousseff.

At a rain-sodden final rally in Sao Paulo, the technocratic Ms Rousseff struggled to fire up a scrupulously loyal crowd.

Tellingly, it was President Lula who spoke last, boasting that his 2010 Brazil enjoyed “one of the lowest unemployment rates in the history of humanity” – far lower than the USA, Germany and other first world heavyweights.

But whether it amounts to indifference, complacency, or simply confidence in Brazil’s still youthful democracy, this election does not appear to have set pulses racing.

The most telling thing about Thursday evening’s final presidential debate was its late time-slot, broadcast live only after the sacrosanct telenovela (soap opera).

It was well after midnight when the candidates made their closing pitches, directly into the homes of viewers – most of whom had long since switched off.

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BRAZIL ELECTIONS

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Tuesday, 28 de September de 2010

Intolerance, murder, massive exploitation and Provocation. US strategies for Middle East

www.nazen.tk

These keypoints can be clearly observed on US\British actions towards middle east in the whole last century. What could be next?

Below you can read and watch about the ABu Ghraib prison, where us soldiers could do whatever they wanted to human beings protected by international laws.

Protected?

____________

Andrew Sullivan  | The Atlantic

“May The Judgement Not Be Too Heavy Upon Us”

Watch the YouTube video:   part 1 part 2

[Re-posted from Ash Wednesday]

To have lived in an America where its former vice-president can boast of supporting the torture of human beings is tragic and terrifying enough. For me and many others, this is not America. As aformer president said of the abuse and torture at Abu Ghraib,

“This is not America. America is a country of justice and law and freedom and treating people with respect.”

But it is more than disturbing, especially as we begin Lent, to watch a Catholic cable channel, EWTN, present a self-described Catholic, Marc Thiessen, defending torture on Catholic grounds as compatible with the Magisterium of the Church.
Now I am not one to criticize Catholics who in good conscience dissent from the Magisterium on some topics, because I do so myself. I certainly do not deny that I am in conflict with the Magisterium on the question of homosexuality. This is not true of Marc Thiessen, as he is interviewed in an extremely supportive fashion by Raymond Arroyo, a Catholic media figure prominent enough to have been given the only English language interview with Pope Benedict XVI. Watch for yourself:

Abu-ghraib-leash
As the interview happens, Catholics keep calling in to protest, as Arroyo notices. He never challenges the absurdity that waterboarding isn’t torture. He never brings up the Church’s own horrifying past with respect to the use of torture, including the stress positions defended by Thiessen today. But the Catechism is very clear about this:

Torture which uses physical or moral violence to extract confessions, punish the guilty, frighten opponents, or satisfy hatred is contrary to respect for the person and for human dignity.

Notice that torture for a Catholic includes “moral violence,” in which a human being’s body is not even touched – the kind of sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, or crippling total isolation deployed by the US government for months at a time. Subjecting someone to weeks of sleep deprivation as was done to al-Qhatani, or freezing human beings to states of near-deadly hypothermia, let alone threatening to crush the testicles of a prisoner’s child, as John Yoo said was within the president’s legal and constitutional authority in the war on terror, is obviously at the very least moral violence. The idea any of it is somehow defensible as a Catholic position is so offensive, so absurd, so outrageous it beggars belief.

Moreover, the US Catholic Bishops have also made their position quite clear. From Dr. Stephen Colecchi, Director, Office of International Justice and Peace, Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops:

“Torture is about the rights of victims, but it is also about who we are as a people. In a statement on Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, issued in preparation for our recent national elections [2008], the bishops reminded Catholics that torture is ‘intrinsically evil’ and ‘can never be justified.’ There are some things we must never do. We must never take the lives of innocent people. We must never torture other human beings.”

This is not a hedged statement. It is a categorical statement that what Thiessen is defending is, from a Catholic point of view, intrinsically evil and something that cannot be done under any circumstances. Pope John Paul II’s Enclyclical, Veritatis Splendor, contains the following passage:

“… ‘there exist acts which per se and in themselves, independently of circumstances, are always seriously wrong by reason of their object’. … ‘whatever violates the integrity of the human person, such as mutilation, physical and mental torture and attempts to coerce the spirit; whatever is offensive to human dignity’ … ‘all these and the like are a disgrace, and so long as they infect human civilization they contaminate those who inflict them more than those who suffer injustice, and they are a negation of the honour due to the Creator.'”

The notion of the integrity of the human person, of human dignity, is integral to the Catholic faith. We are all made in the image of God, imago Dei. The central and divine figure in our faith, Jesus of Nazareth, was brutally tortured. He was also robbed of dignity, forced to wear a mocking crown of thorns, sent to carry a crippling cross through the streets of Jerusalem, mocked while in agony, his body exposed naked and twisted in the stress position known as crucifixion – which was often done without nails by Romans so that the death was slow and agonizing in the way stress positions are designed to be. Ask John McCain. That the Catholic church in the Inquisition deployed these techniques reveals the madness and evil that can infect even those institutions purportedly created to oppose all such things.

Human dignity is reflected in the Geneva Conventions which bars outrages on human dignity against prisoners in captivity. Here is an iconic photograph of an individual robbed of all human dignity:
>>>

The technique below was not invented by Lynndie England. It was also used at Gitmo and directly authorized by the man Thiessen worked for. Forced nudity is another way in which the human being is robbed of dignity:

Abu3

This photograph is particularly striking since it so closely mimics in its form the way in which the Romans exposed Jesus on the cross. Forced nudity of this kind was also directly authorized by Thiessen’s bosses. The argument that these techniques were somehow invented by low-level soldiers on the night-shift and had nothing whatsoever to do with the waiving of Geneva or the specific techniques authorized by the last president is simply, flatly, demonstrably untrue. We have the memos and the documents and the Red Cross Report and we have the unanimous conclusion of the Senate Armed Services Committee Report:

“The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own. Interrogation techniques such as stripping detainees of their clothes, placing them in stress positions, and using military dogs to intimidate them only appeared in Iraq after they had been approved for use in Afghanistan and GTMO. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s December 2, 2002 authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques and subsequent interrogation policies and plans approved by senior military and civilian officers conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in IUS military custody.”

What was done to human beings under the CIA program that Thiessen’s boss, Cheney, has repeatedly and proudly insisted he supported and authorized and that Thiessen is now promoting in his new book, was far worse. Waterboarding, which Thiessen describes as the worst of the tortures, was not, in fact, the worst. Sleep deprivation – another medieval torture technique – can be far more grueling. Alex Massie has a recent post on the subject which I urge you to read. It contains this description from a torture victim subjected to sleep deprivation under the apartheiid regime:

“It is the equivalent of bear-baiting, and we banned that centuries ago. I was kept without sleep for a week in all. I can remember the details of the experience, although it took place 35 years ago. After two nights without sleep, the hallucinations start, and after three nights, people are having dreams while fairly awake, which is a form of psychosis. By the week’s end, people lose their orientation in place and time – the people you’re speaking to become people from your past; a window might become a view of the sea seen in your younger days. To deprive someone of sleep is to tamper with their equilibrium and their sanity.”

It lasts for what seems like for ever. In one case under the direction of Thiessen’s boss, Dick Cheney, a prisoner was subjected to 960 hours of it, with a few short breaks. Here is what Marc Thiessen’s boss, Dick Cheney, supported, from the Bradbury memo:

“The primary method of sleep deprivation involves the use of shackling to keep the detainee awake,” wrote Bybee’s eventual replacement, Steven Bradbury, on March 10, 2005. “In this method, the detainee is standing and is handcuffed, and the handcuffs are attached by a length of chain to the ceiling.” The detainee’s feet are shackled to a bolt in the floor, giving him a “two-to-three-foot diameter of movement.” His hands “may be raised above the level of his head, but only for a period of up to two hours.” His weight is “borne by his legs and feet during sleep deprivation,” ensuring that he had to keep awake, for if he “los[t] his balance” from exhaustion he would feel “the restraining tension of the shackles.”

[…]According to the memo, the “maximum allowable duration for sleep deprivation” is “180 hours,” or seven and a half days, “after which the detainee must be permitted to sleep without interruption for at least eight hours.”

A footnote to the memo indicated that there was an associated technique of keeping a detainee awake through “horizontal sleep deprivation.” In that technique, “the detainee’s hands are manacled together and the arms placed in an outstretched position — either extended beyond the head or extended to either side of the body — and anchored to a far point on the floor in such a manner that the arms cannot be bent or used for either balance or comfort.” Interrogators would place similar restraints on the detainee’s legs. “The position is sufficiently uncomfortable to detainees to deprive them of unbroken sleep, while allowing their lower limbs to recover from the effects of standing sleep deprivation,” Bradbury wrote.

This is not just torture; it is sadism and cruelty that any Catholic of any kind must find abhorrent. It is so close to crucifixion it chills the soul and shocks the conscience. Here is an FBI description of the treatment of a human being at Guantanamo Bay – an FBI eye-witness description – of what was done to a human being made in the image of God, under the direct authority of Thiessen’s boss:

“On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position on the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they had urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more.” The agent also described military police manipulating the temperatures in detainees’ cells. One was kept in air conditioning so frigid “the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold.” ”When I asked the MPs what was going on, I was told that interrogators from the day prior had ordered this treatment,” the agent wrote. On another occasion, the same agent saw an ”almost unconscious” prisoner in a room where the temperature was ”probably well over 100 degrees” — and a pile of his hair on the floor. The detainee “had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night.”

Again this was at Gitmo, and cannot even be attached to defenseless scapegoats as at Abu Ghraib, because that prison was monitored directly by the government of the United States in a program the former vice-president “strongly supported” and which Thiessen is now defending on a Catholiccable channel.

On the show, Thiessen argues that this kind of treatment of human beings is compatible with Catholic just war theory, because the hundreds of prisoners subjected to these techniques – many of whom were innocent and none of whom had been given fair trials with due process to make even a preliminary assessment of whether they were terrorists at all –  knew of impending plots and therefore were still technically fighting the US and metaphorically on the battlefield.

First off, remember that just war theory defends warfare as a last resort act of defense. The Vatican opposed the Iraq war on those grounds. Even on the battlefield, just war theory requires that the force used be minimal to the goal of self-defense and proportional to the force being fought. The idea that a combatant, already taken out of combat, shackled in a cell, defenseless and weaponless, represents a version of a battlefield threat proportional to the use of torture is so outside any understanding of Catholic teaching it really does quite simply shock the conscience.

Secondly, every prisoner captured in war of any kind may have information related to pending attacks. Many may have been briefed about future operations. Leading commanders captured may know a huge amount about what may be coming. In the Cold War, nuclear annihilation of the entire country was at stake. But Geneva explicitly bars such acts of torture under any circumstances, and explicitly makes the case that no impending threat can justify its use, or anything that can remotely be seen as similar to its use. The language is broad and sweeping for a reason. It is not broad and sweeping so that governments can argue that the need to use “severe mental or physical pain or suffering” to extract information legitimately allows them to explore how far they can go. It is broad and sweeping in order to tell such officials that they cannot and should not go anywhere near itunder any circumstances.

And before we get the argument that these prisoners are somehow not eligible for such treatment because they are terror suspects not uniformed soldiers, let me repeat yet again the simple fact that the baseline protections against torture and abuse and outrages on human dignity are not just reserved for formal prisoners of war in uniform.

The baseline provisions of Article 3 apply to any prisoner of any kind, including irregulars out of uniform, including terrorists fighting guerrilla wars. In the past the US has actually prosecuted the use of almost identical enhanced interrogation techniques” against irregulars out of uniform as serious war criminals. One defense of such techniques by the deployers of “enhanced interrogations” were that

(c) That the acts of torture in no case resulted in death. Most of the injuries inflicted were slight and did not result in permanent disablement.

The United States executed those responsible for these techniques in 1948, and yet all these decades later, we have a vice-president and his speech writer going on television to brag about them.

More to Thiessen’s point that torturing is a legitimate form of self-defense in just war theory, let me again reiterate the US Catholic Bishops’ spokesman’s statement on the matter:

Torture is ‘intrinsically evil’ and ‘can never be justified.’ There are some things we must never do. We must never take the lives of innocent people. We must never torture other human beings.

Then we have the astonishing argument from Thiessen that the torture-victims in the Cheney program he supported were grateful for being tortured, because when they were forced beyond what they could endure – which, of course, is Thiessen’s unwitting admission that what he was doing was definitionally torture – they were grateful. They were grateful because their duty to Allah had been fulfilled and they were then free to spill their guts. They had done their religious duty and had been brought to a spiritual epiphany that allowed them to tell us so much.

There is much to say about this but let me on Ash Wednesday simply remember the Catholic church’s own shameful history of torture. It was done, according to the Inquisitors, as a way to free the souls of the tortured, to bring them to a religious epiphany in which they abandoned heresy and saved themselves from eternal damnation. It is hard for modern people to understand this, but as a student in college of the years in which my own homeland used torture to procure religious conversion, it is important to remember that the torturers sincerely believed that what they were doing was in the best interests of the tortured. In fact, it was a sacred duty to torture rather than allow the victims to die and live in hell for eternity, a fate even worse than the agonies of stress positions or even burning at the stake. Why? Because the torture they would endure in hell would be eternal, while the torture on earth would not last that long.

This is not an exact parallel to the way in which Thiessen defends torture. But the meme that it somehow relieved the victims, that it liberated them, that it helped them to embrace giving information without conflict with their religious faith is horribly, frighteningly close to this ancient evil. For a Catholic to use this argument on a Catholic television program and to invoke the Magisterium of the Church in its defense is simply breath-taking in its moral obtuseness.

Today is a day for repentance. It is not a day for me to condemn anyone else, given my own failings and sins. And I want to repent today for those many occasions when my anger at what has happened, and my own profound guilt in unwittingly supporting those who made this happen, has gotten the best of me. On a blog, anger can run fast and deep and I will pray today for forgiveness for intemperance. My essays – written over time and in a different rubric – take care not to do this, as evidenced here and here. People do evil most of the time because they think they are doing good. In fact, the greatest evils have been committed in the name of good.

But what has happened in this country, what we have allowed ourselves to do to others, innocent and guilty, is something for which I believe repentance is necessary. As Christians and as Catholics, we are required to follow Our Lord’s impossible example and not just love our friends, but to love our enemies. This does not mean pacifism; and I have a long, long record of supporting what I believe were just wars. I mean understanding that war is always evil even when it is necessary, but that some things, like torture, abuse and dehumanizing of others under our total control, are neverjustified.

And once done, once perpetrated, they damage the souls of the torturers as profoundly as they destroy their victims.

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

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