Lots to Protest About at the G20 Summit
2018/12/03
Lots to Protest About at the G20 Summit
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
Protests marked earlier G20 summits, including the just concluded one in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Public anger is all about opposition to predatory capitalism, globalization adversing affecting billions of people worldwide, neoliberal harshness, ecocide, and endless wars of aggression, among other issues.
Protestors had another reason for anger this year - Saudi crown prince Mohammad bin Salman's presence at this year's summit. More on this below.
Ahead of and throughout the summit, Buenos Aires was on virtual lockdown, normal life and civil liberties for its residents suspended.
Federal Security Minister Patricia Bullrich warned that anyone "cross(ing) the line (would) have to face the legal consequences."
Around 25,000 police and hundreds of other security forces were deployed for the summit, along with others from the US, UK, and other countries. Coast guard and border patrol agents were involved.
A near-five square mile area around the Costa Salguero Convention Center where proceedings were held was cordoned off - public transportation, including the city's metro, shut down. Vehicular traffic along the River Plate was prohibited.
The threat of possible terrorist attacks was way overblown. On Friday, thousands of demonstrators marched in Buenos Aires, protesting against anti-populist agendas of G20 countries.
One protestor likely spoke for others, saying "(w)e are against the policies of the G20, which are tearing the world apart. In Argentina and the rest of the world there's lack of education, food and work, because of the policies that they are over there discussing."
Another protester shouted: "Down with capitalism and down with the G20!"
Argentines are experiencing hard times, harmed by Mauricio Macri's force-fed neoliberal harshness, worsening after getting $50 billion in IMF financing last June.
Its predatory lending practices come with unacceptable strings, demanding privatization of state enterprises, mass layoffs, deregulation, deep social spending cuts, wage freezes or cuts, other corporate friendly policies, marginalizing trade unions, and harsh crackdowns on resisters.
It's all about letting bankers and other corporate predators strip mine countries of their material wealth and resources, shift them from public to private hands, crush democratic values, hollow out nations into backwaters, destroy middle class societies, and turn ordinary people able to find work into serfs earning poverty wages.
For nations getting into bed with the IMF, it's perpetual debt bondage, obligating them to go deeper into debt to service existing obligations - at the expense of eroding vital public services.
Argentina's economy is contracting, inflation at around 40%. Since succeeding Cristina Fernandez de Kircher in December 2015 as Argentina's president, Mauricio Macri's popularity plunged to around 36%.
Economic contraction in the country is the severest in nearly a decade, millions of ordinary Argentines experiencing Depression conditions.
Macri's earlier message of "short-term pain for longterm gain" has been all about the former, none of the latter.
Soaring prices of gas, electricity, water, food, medical care, and other essentials to life and well-being made conditions unbearable for most Argentines - one former middle-income Buenos Aires resident, saying "(m)y quality of life keeps going down with this government."
In October 2019, presidential, legislative, and most local elections will be held. Without economic improvement enough to make a difference, Macri may be a one-term president.
Along with opposition to the G20, imperialism, and Macri's neoliberal harshness, protesters rallied against Mohammad bin Salman's presence, posters calling him an "assassin."
One demonstrator speaking for others said "(w)e don't want him here because of the assassination of the journalist, because of what the Saudis are doing in Yemen, because of all this death."
A pariah to some G-20 leaders, he was treated otherwise by Trump, Vladimir Putin, France's Macron, Britain's Theresa May, China's Xi Jinping, India's Narendra Modi, summit host Macri, and others - eager for Saudi oil, investments, and purchases of what they're eager to sell the regime.
Macri unjustifiably justified his presence, saying "Saudi Arabia is a member of the G-20, so the prince has to come...(H)e is part of this community and is...in the country to participate" in the summit.
A final communique was largely G20 boilerplate on 31 items, including economic development, trade and investment, migration, climate change, the international order, and other issues.
Putin and Trump exchanged brief remarks, including about Ukraine's week ago Black Sea/Kerch Strait provocation, Russia's president saying:
"I answered his questions about the incident in the Black Sea. He has his position. I have my own. We stayed in our own positions."
Trump cancelled his scheduled meeting with Putin over the incident. He also called off a G20 news conference.
He and China's Xi Jinping agreed on a 90 day Sino/US truce to continue discussing major irreconcilable issues between both countries.
VISIT MY NEW WEB SITE: stephenlendman.org (Home - Stephen Lendman). Contact at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
My newest book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html
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Philippine Rights group remembers two activists murdered by death squads
2018/12/03
Philippine Rights group remembers two activists murdered by death squads
Aldwin Quitasol
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - While the president of the country is announcing his plans to create his Duterte Death Squad (DDS) that he claims to go against the partisan units or "sparrow units" of the New Peoples Army (NPA) and kill them in cold blood, the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA) remembers two human rights defenders who were extra judicially killed after they were politically vilified as "enemies of the State".
The NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NDFP) waging a revolution to change the Philippine societal system for over 4 decades. President Rodrigo Duterte in one of his speeches announced his plans to create death squads to assassinate presumed communists.
On November 28, 2005, Jose "Pepe" Manegdeg III was waiting for a bus at the highway of San Esteban, Ilocos Sur when assassin shot him 22 times. He just came from a paralegal training where he is one of the speakers that day and he was about to fetch his wife who is arriving from Hongkong at an airport. Manegdeg from Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte is a church worker of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP).
The next day, November 29, 2018, Albert Terredano of the Abra Human Rights Advocates (AHRA) and the Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) was on his way to his office at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Bangued, Abra when suddenly he was shot by unidentified motorcycle-riding gunman. He was rushed to the town's hospital but expired moments later.
According to CHRA, Manegdeg and Terredano was murdered as per state policy of killing activists under Oplan Bantay Laya during the reign of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The rights group stated that prior to their killings, they were vilified in different disinformation campaigns patterned after the (AFP)Armed Forces of the Philippines' "Knowing Your Enemy" and "Trinity of War".
"Both persisted in their work despite threats to their lives. Pepe, as a missionary, worked and lived with peasants of Ilocos to uplift their conditions as a testament to his faith. Albert Terredano, as a government employee with the DAR and a human rights worker, saw to it that the interests of the farmers of Abra were given due attention as he fully embraced the activist commitment to serve the people. Both cases and the more than a thousand killings under the rule of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo have not seen justice. Both are remembered today as President Rodrigo Roa Duterte unleashes words to strike at legitimate political dissent in his order to create a 'death squad' against 'suspected members of the NPA's sparrow units' and even "tambays" (loiterers)," stated CHRA.
CHRA stressed that the two were silenced because the State wanted to send a message to the people who were critical about policies imposed by the government. "There is no room for dissent," the group stated. The group condemned the same fascist framework and course of action being replicated and legitimized by the Duterte administration at present.
"The killings that happen everyday compel all of us to rise above the fear the State intends to create as they try to ram down unjust economic and political policies down our throats. If we are to remember victims of extrajudicial killings and pay tribute to their sacrifices, we have to work for justice, we must strive to keep human rights violations from happening incessantly, we have to make our voices collectively heard as the number of orphans, and families losing their loved ones grow by the day. State attacks against human rights have to end," CHRA ended.
By Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://ift.tt/2rh7i6r
L'Antidiplomatico Interview: Andre Vltchek interviewed by Alessandro Bianchi
2018/12/02
L'Antidiplomatico Interview: Andre Vltchek interviewed by Alessandro Bianchi
AB: Let's start from today's crisis in the Sea of Azov. The European Union and NATO have given full support to Ukraine after the violation of Russian sovereignty by two Ukrainian vessels. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gave his full support to Poroshenko, who declared martial law. What does a country like Italy risk in continuing its accession to NATO?
AV: Russia intercepted three Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait. The ships had, even according to Ukrainian authorities, several intelligence officers on board, as well as a number of light arms and machine guns. It was clear provocation, as the ships refused to inform Russian authorities about their intentions, and behaved in an aggressive manner. They were passing through Russian territorial waters. Ukrainian intelligence officers were obviously in charge of the entire operation. So, what is really so 'alarming' for the West? The ships were stopped, some crew members detained, and there is a serious investigation underway.
The 'incident' took place just days before the G20 meeting in Argentina, where Presidents Trump and Putin were supposed to meet. Also, it is only 4 months before the Ukrainian Presidential elections (March 2019), and Poroshenko is trailing behind the two leading candidates with only 8% of support. Ukraine under his leadership is so messed up that many flats in the capital city of Kiev will not be heated during this winter. Logically, Poroshenko provoked the crises, so he could pose as a strongman, hoping to at least gain some popularity. He has imposed martial law, for 30 days, although originally, he wanted it to last for 2 months. What does it mean? The press will be censored and criticism of the government, limited. Good for the grotesquely unpopular president? Definitely.
Also, it is obvious that the West, particularly the EU and NATO, are behind this new wave of dangerous madness.
Italy is part of both EU and NATO. As I am writing in my new essay, it is a nonsense to believe that "Europeans are brainwashed; that they do not know what the West is doing all over the world". They know, or they at least suspect - most of them. But they pretend that they don't know. In Europe, there is a shadowy deal between the government, corporations and the people. People want more benefits, and they do not care that the benefits come from plundering the world. If they get their benefits, they shut up. If they think they are getting too little, they protest, like recently in Paris. But do they care if tens of millions of 'un-people' die for those benefits? Of course not!
The same when it comes to Russia, China or Iran. Europeans in general and Italians in particular, know that there is some sort of vicious propaganda against those countries that refuse to yield to the Western diktat. But they will do nothing to stop it. It is sweet, isn't it, to feel superior, 'democratic', and 'free'. And it is horrible to admit that one lives in a place that is spreading terror to all corners of the world, robbing even the poor of all they have. These six weeks vacations could turn sour, if Italians were to decide to see who is really paying for them. So, they shut up, and will shut up, until it is 'too late'.
Remember, countries like Russia and China have their own 'democracies' (rule of the people). It is not the Western system. Rulers and the masses communicate and interact in a direct way, in a very distinctive manner. And in both Russia and China, the people have 'had enough' of being bullied and brutalized by the West, for decades and centuries. Just a little bit more, and things will explode. If pushed further, Russia and China will respond. If provoked militarily, they will defend themselves. The same goes for Iran. Being part of the grouping that is terrorizing the world, Italy will have to pay the price, too.
AB: Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov asked the Western allies in Kiev to "intervene" and "calm down" the Ukrainian authorities, warning about the potential crossing of a "point of no return" between Russia and the West. Is the risk of war real even in light of the great gathering of NATO troops at the border?
AV: Yes of course it is real. Just turn the tables around: if Iran or China or Russia or Venezuela or Syria or Cuba did to the West what West is doing to them, would there be real risk of war?
This impunity and racist belief in total superiority, which is so prevalent in the West, has to stop. And soon it will stop. As they say in Chile: 'By reason or by force'.
AB: You were recently in Syria, a country that thanks to the Russian intervention and the resistance of the Syrian people supported by the regional allies - Iran and Hezbollah above all - is slowly trying to return to normal. What country did you find?
AV: I found a beautiful, confident and proud country. I am also writing a long report about my visit there.
I met many victims, common people, but also a General, and a Minister of Education, who is also an accomplished novelist. His motto is: "Ministry of Education is like Ministry of Defense". Correct: education without ideology and passion is just a waste of time.
Syria won. And there, the entire Arab world won together with it. Arabs were, for decades, thoroughly humiliated - by the West, by Israel, by their own leaders who were put on the throne by London, Paris and Washington.
As I have written many times, Aleppo is the Stalingrad of the Middle East. The losses were terrible, all over Syria. But the victory is tremendous, too. Pan-Arabism will blossom again. People in all countries of the region are watching and now they know: it is possible to defeat Western imperialism and its spooks, its terrorist implants.
Russia stood by its Arab sister with determination, but also very wisely. It used diplomacy whenever it could, and it used force only when there was no other way. In Syria, the Russians won people's hearts. 'Thank you, Russia!', is everywhere, even engraved on traditional wooden boxes. The Russian language being my native tongue, opened so many doors, as it opened thousands of doors to me in Afghanistan (I never expected it there).
Syria has to finalize its victory, soon. And I will be back, to cover events there. At the front if needed.
It is tremendously optimistic and beautiful to be in a country which did not prostitute itself; a country that stood tall, fought hard, for its own people and for the entire region. There is great confidence and kindness on the faces of people. Celebration is not loud, because, after all, so many people died. But people are out, till the morning, men and women, boys and girls. Cafes are packed; the streets of Damascus are bustling. But even in Homs and the destroyed suburbs of Damascus, life is defiantly returning to normal.
What a nation! Yes, they say 'Thank you Russia!". As an internationalist, I say: "Thank you Syria!"
AB: The chemical attack by the "rebels" in Aleppo yesterday unmasks the lies in the mainstream of these years. What role did the media play in allowing the terrorist gangs supported and funded by the West and Gulf allies to destroy Syria?
AV: A tremendous role. In Syria, the Western mass media finally ceased to exist. It became a prostitution force for the Empire, nothing else. But we all know that both the media and education are basically used for indoctrinating people, at least in the West and in its 'client' states.
There was so much provocation. The Gulf and the Western broadcasting companies were literally igniting the conflict, spreading lies, pushing people into rebellion against the government. They have blood on their hands, the same as Pashtun Service of the BBC has blood on their hands, as the VOA, Radio Free Europe and 'free whatever' have blood up to their armpits.
AB: Before Syria you did two important reports in Argentina and Mexico telling about the mutations under way in Latin America. Bolsonaro has won in Brazil, while in the next few days Lopez Obrador is preparing to settle in a Mexico that has turned left. At what stage is the dispute in Latin America, and what are the prospects for the left in the continent?
AV: Well, I worked for three weeks all over Mexico, before going to Syria. My big work in both Argentina and Brazil, had been done earlier.
Look, Ale, you and I know; are very well familiar with Latin America. I used to live in Mexico, Chile, Peru (during the so-called Dirty War) and Costa Rica. I have worked all over the continent.
What happened in Mexico is great, although one could say 'overdue'. Now let us hope that President-Elect Obrador will be able to turn his magnificent country around, towards socialism. It will not be easy. There is plenty of terrible inertia. There are horrible 'elites' of European stock. And there is the United States, right next door, always ready to 'intervene'. But I think he can do it. I trust him. I travelled all over this huge country, I spoke to people. It was all summarized by a gangster in Tijuana, a man who became a criminal out of desperation. He said, and I paraphrase: "I think it is close to impossible for Obrador to change things, but if he will do what he is promising, I will drop everything, and support him. This is the last chance for Mexico to change things peacefully. If he fails, we will take up the arms."
Brazil, this is so difficult to explain. But essentially, there, in Latin America, more than anywhere else, the mass media which is in the hands of the right-wing, played an extremely significant and thoroughly destructive role. When I visited Amazonia, around Manaus and Belem, or Salvador Bahia, people would tell me: "Our life improved significantly. Now we have this and this and that. But Dilma has to go!" My God, I thought, am I dreaming? No, I was not. Basically, somehow, the elites hammered into people's brains that if they are better off now, then it is because of their own personal success. But if some things are not going too well, it is the fault of the government.
"Corruption" is always used in the combat against left-wing governments in Latin America. Microscopes are used, to encounter any wrongdoing. It was used against Kristina Kirschner, against Lula, even against poor Dilma who was not corrupt at all, but suffered from the right-wing and West-backed 'constitutional' coup. But just imagine that stupidity, that absurdity: right-wing dictatorships in the Southern Cone but also in Brazil used dogs to rape women; they tortured prisoners, killed, 'disappeared' people, robbing everything they could put their hands on. And that is not 'corruption', right? Then some company offers to renovate an apartment of Lula's, and he is in prison! Suddenly those fascists are playing the moral card. Do you know what Bolsonaro will do now? He will screw the entire Amazonia; do it almost 'Indonesia-style'. He will allow that horrid deal with the Western corporations, the privatization of the aquifer shared with Paraguay, to go through. The third biggest passenger airplane manufacturer on earth - Embraer - will be sold to Boeing, for petty cash. Brazil will lose its rainforest, its industry, and its poor will lose their lifeline - government support. And this is not called corruption! Argentina under Macri is allowing the US to operate in Tierra de Fuego. The entire country is screaming from pain: electricity prices have gone up, the famous film industry is losing support, and the middle class is again going down the drain.
But I am optimistic. Latin American people have a great desire for socialist, in some places, communist societies. Whenever they are left alone, they fight for it, or vote for it. Then they get smashed. The West has overthrown, basically, all the truly left-wing governments of the continent, from the Dominican Republic, to Chile. But the process never stops. It begins all over again.
I only hope that one thing changes: you know, the West was very successful in implanting the idea in the heads of Latin Americans, that after all that has happened, Europe and even the US are somehow superior nations. And so, people look down on the truly great nations like China and Russia, in places like Brazil. It appalls me. I speak the language, and I clearly see what is happening. In Argentina, there is not much of a real left: the intellectuals there are connected to those defunct theories in Europe and North America, like 'anarcho-syndicalism'. And there is nothing really revolutionary about those ideas. There are too many Westerners influencing Latin American revolutionary movements. They lost at home, became irrelevant, but still they insist on judging the world from a Western perspective. Still, somehow, many of them are admired in Latin America. And it always backfires: Westerners dilute revolutionary spirit. They also kidnap the South-South narrative. I would love to see Russian, Chinese, Venezuelan, Cuban, Syrian, Iranian or South African comrades running the state media in countries where the true left is winning. It would make a great difference!
AB: Argentina continues to sink under the weight of Mauricio Macri's neoliberal austerity but the mainstream media are silent. Meanwhile, Evo Morales' Bolivia continues, to the contrary, to record the highest growth rates in the region in a climate of stability. So, socialism works contrary to what they try to make us believe?
AV: Yes of course socialism works, Ale. If left alone, if it is not bathed in pus and blood, it prospers. Unfortunately, so far, whenever any country decides to go socialist, the West unleashes its campaign of terror, lies and economic banditry. Socialism is not some extreme utopia, but the most logical goal. The majority of people want to live in an egalitarian society, where they feel secure and safe, and where when sick they get treated, when they are thirsty for knowledge, they get educated for free. They want the state to work for them, not against them. They want their government to control companies, instead of companies controlling their governments.
AB: Meanwhile, in Venezuela, the economic, psychological and media war goes on. Will the Bolivarian government succeed in resisting this unprecedented attack?
AV: Yes, it will. But again, look how fragmented Latin America has become. People in Chile or Argentina watch CNN and FOX and they know much more about Miami or Paris, than about Caracas. The Brazilian President-Elect said that he would murder Maduro - still, people voted for him.
Latin America is mostly run by European elites. They robbed the continent, turned it into the part of the world with the greatest disparities. For any revolution to succeed here, it has to be radical and decisive. Democracy should be direct, not that multi-party idiotism implanted from the West - that is so easy to pervert and divert from outside, or with the use of social and mass media. Latin America cannot try to ape Europe and hope that it will prosper. Europe is based on the plunder of other parts of the world. Latin American countries do not have colonies, and the plunder is internal - the rich of European stock are plundering both the land and the native people.
AB: In one of his last articles Fidel wrote how "The alliance between Russia and China is a powerful peace shield able to guarantee the survival of the human race". What is the legacy of Fidel Castro today two years after his death?
AV: Just tremendous! Even when the entire Latin America betrayed Cuba, Fidel and his people never surrendered. This is the spirit I admire. Cuba has a big heart - it fought for the independence of several African nations, it helps so many places on earth with their doctors, teachers, and rescue teams during natural disasters. Cuban art is some of the greatest on the planet. That is why, Cuba has had a tremendous impact on me personally, and on my work as well. I proudly call myself a 'Cuban-style internationalist'. I am endlessly grateful to Fidel, to the Cuban revolution and to Cuban people. In many ways, it is perhaps the greatest country in the world. A country I would never hesitate to fight for, or even to die for.
*
Andre Vltchek is a philosopher, novelist, filmmaker and investigative journalist. He has covered wars and conflicts in dozens of countries. Three of his latest books are Revolutionary Optimism, Western Nihilism, a revolutionary novel "Aurora" and a bestselling work of political non-fiction: "Exposing Lies Of The Empire". View his other books here. Watch Rwanda Gambit, his groundbreaking documentary about Rwanda and DRCongo and his film/dialogue with Noam Chomsky "On Western Terrorism". Vltchek presently resides in East Asia and the Middle East, and continues to work around the world. He can be reached through his website and his Twitter.
MED 2018: Italy's Double Standards Towards NATO and Russia
2018/12/01
MED 2018: Italy's Double Standards Towards NATO and Russia
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on NOVEMBER 25, 2018
Marinella Correggia
Internationalist 360°
The 4th edition of the MED Dialogues 2018 was held in Rome on the 22-24 of November, organized by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the luxurious hotel Parco dei Principi. Among other conferences, we want to highlight two meetings to show the double standard implemented by the "new" Italian institutions towards NATO's and Russia's invitees.
Jens Stoltenberg- First Plenary November 22nd
NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, is "interviewed" by the new president of Rai (the Italian public TV channel) Marcello Fao, in a congenial manner, completely homologated to the Atlantic world views, along with another speaker, Defense Minister, Elisabetta Trenta.
Stoltenberg's statement (usual for NATO) begins at 23.59:
"Yes one of NATO's main tasks is to help to fight terrorism and stabilize neighboring countries, therefore NATO and NATO allies have participated and contributed to the fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq".
Incredible that he is not afraid of being ridiculed...who really helped Daesh with the several wars waged by NATO members?
And at 26.21 Stoltenberg says:
"NATO has to be able to conduct big combat operations, as NATO and NATO allies have done in Afghanistan, as we have done in Iraq", and here he knows that he cannot avoid naming Libya but he minimizes saying, "and Libya and any other places". He leaves the audience before the others for his plane and Foa salutes him: "it was a pleasure and honor to have you here".
The session with Stoltenberg did not allow any question from the public, so the only possibility to react to the astonishing statement by Stoltenberg would have been some intelligent remark or question by Mr. Foa, who just kept smiling respectfully.
Sergey Lavrov
In the same event, a completely different session was held on November 23, a Special Dialogue with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
In his introductory remark, Lavrov mentioned the role of the West in many interventions which ruined the world. Here are some quotations:
"Countries violated the UN laws bringing chaos in the geopolitical space of the Mediterranean";
"The lessons from Iraq, Libya and Syria are not taken into account by the arrogant policies in the region; fundamental international agreements are ruined";
"generally there is a trend to replace the international law with something which Western diplomats call *rules based order";
"there are attempts to privatize global institutions";
"the international life cannot be guided by those who live only in the prism of domestic electorate";
"the former NATO general secretary Rasmussen had said that the unified will NATO is an extremely powerful source of international political legitimacy (...) now Rasmussen is the advisor of Ukrainian president and I don't think his advise will be helpful to solve the crisis; they want to forget international laws to introduce rules based on the legitimacy of groups like NATO".
"There are attempts to revise and fragment international law";
"The reality of the XXI Century demands to come back to the UN Charter and to the restoration of the international role of UN (and UNSC - UN Security Council - for peace and security), instead of actions based on imperialistic philosophy";
"We have to get rid of initiatives which are routed in the nineteenth century colonial imperialistic philosophy, otherwise it would be impossible to try to resolve the crisis, like in Syria".
5.53 to16.15:
"Libya was ruined by NATO bombings in gross violation of the UNSC resolution 1973, which only spoke about declaring a no-fly zone, meaning that the Libyan air force cannot fly, and they were not flying, but instead of ensuring the no-fly zone, NATO bombed the Libyan troops and helped people with very bad reputation, armed by some Europeans, in violation of the UNSC embargo, and also by some regional powers to help those people topple the Libyan government and then start trouble in Africa; the very same people who toppled Qaddafi with weapons of you know whom, threatened the government of Mali";
"so for Libya it is clear that Libyans themselves must resolve the crisis and that all of them must be part of the dialogue, it is indispensable and for this reason Russia participated in the conference in Palermo".
"The Balkan countries were pulled into NATO without asking the local population, to the opposite, with aggressive pressures on them; the public opinion of those countries is really being aggressively pressured; the number of western leaders who campaigned this was amazing".
On Syria:
"We acted in Syria under the request of the legitimate government";
"We are talking to everybody in Syria, and in Yemen, except for the terrorists";
"the Astana process we promoted was the first step to wake up UN process which was dormant and to initiate a dialogue between the government and the very broadly represented opposition; then we convened the Sochi congress on Syrian national dialogue which decided to create a Constitutional Committee";
"those who insist on setting a deadline by saying this is my list ,I don't care what you think, they want only one thing: to ruin the Astana process and to come back to some regime change logic";
"by the way when the Islamic State was closer to Damascus in the summer of 2015, nobody was calling on the opposition to start negotiations; when the situation changed on the ground, everybody is calling the government to start negotiations; Bias in these kind of things demonstrates not only a double standard but it reveals the geopolitical games".
The session with Foreign Minister Lavrov allowed questions from the public BUT only pre-prepared ones, all very biased. Others who raised their hand were deliberately ignored by the organizers.
An excerpt of a question by a Tunisian (29.05):
"What is the rationale of supporting States in Middle East if they kill and torture? Syria for instance, your policy of supporting the State instead of peoples? And can you ask your friends to be less violent to their populations?"
(Cheers by the public).
Lavrov' s answer (30.20):
"Yes, the States must not be violent against the population, there are many international legal instruments and I hope they will not be replaced by those who want to forget about international laws and introduce their rules based system...it happened in the past with the attempts to impose the *New world order".
"On authoritarian regimes, I already said that there are obligations on human rights and you cannot use your sovereignty to avoid it. But you have to be realistic: if you are obsessed with human rights and don't give a damn about the stability of the countries, and to life, which is a human right, not to mention social and economic rights, I am afraid you are one sided. Yes, Iraq, Libya, Iraq more than Libya, were considered authoritarian regimes, but right to life risks and violations, or may be hundreds of thousands less after the "people's revolutions" happened, in Iraq and Libya where there were foreign interventions, ask the Libyans how they used to live, their educational rights, the economic situation they enjoyed, so you cannot say forget about anything, bring the freedom to people; you cannot say forget human rights and be respectful of any government".
At minute 35.07, a question by Maya Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut (also chosen by the moderator during another session on Syria):
"Will Russia continue to support Bashar al Assad if his continued presence in power will block reconstruction? Do you see eye to eye on Iran on this issue?"
Lavrov's response:
"We want Syria to be calm and stable. (...) We respect the UNSC resolution and the Geneva communique of June 2012, where it is clearly stated that the process must be Syrian-led and Syrian-held and that only the people of Syria can decide the fate of their country. And the method of such decision to be taken is a Constitution and then elections. Syrian people have to decide whether they want somebody to go or to stay. As regard to the links between Bashar al Assad staying in power and outside assistance... (...) USA justify their presence in Iraq by the need to fight ISIL and at the same time they say it is impossible to defeat ISIL as long as Bashar al Assad is there. A very weird logic, and I hope that everybody is committed to the principle that the Syrian people themselves must decide the fate of their country through elections".
Lastly are a few words from Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who dared to conclude:
"And if NATO now looks at the Mediterranean, it is because, let me say it, of the Italian commitment".
Better not to commit then!
Editor's Note:
*On rule based order vs International law as the foundation for the "new world order"
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