On the show this week we spoke with Coral Wynter and Jim McIlroy, authors of Voices from Venezuela: Behind the Bolivarian Revolution. The book is a compendium of a year's worth of articles filed for Green Left Weekly in 2006, during which time Jim and Coral were correspondents for GLW in the capital Caracas. It also contains a selection of transcripts from some of the 400 interviews conducted during this time, many of which are with grassroots activists within the process of change taking place in that country.
The book is available through Resistance Books.
We also heard another excerpt from Dr Helen Caldicott's If You Love This Planet, with Helen's interview with Dr. James Hansen, an outspoken critic of the coal industry for its role in climate change.
Stay tuned for information about this week's climate emergency actions and more on the Lex Wotton case in coming weeks.
If you have any requests or would like to get in touch for any other reason, call the studio on 3252 1555 during the show, or email negroverdeyrojo@gmail.com.
Stay rad.
Music
Uh ah Chávez no se va - Grupo Madera
A Night in Tunisia - Kafka
Politician - Kora
Diver's Dub - Dry and Heavy
Helter Skelter - The Beatles
King of the Rodeo - The Bamboos
Down Here, So Long - The Mercy Arms
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
My Rant
So much for the triumph of the human spirit. Sixteen full days of second-rate, semi-pro athletes swimming and running, shooting and jumping, riding and all-too-occasionally falling.
Now that the Olympic circus has left town, can we get back on with the business of hating each other in harmony? “One world, one dream,” they say. I say quit pretending and focus on the real game: World Domination.
The sleeping giant has awoken, the Chinese century has begun. We’ll reserve our right to criticise your human rights record and jump on the pro-Tibet bandwagon when the (digitally altered) fireworks are over, thankyouverymuch.
Speaking of media manipulation, did you hear the one about GetUp!, the online activist group who paid top dollar for a series of “Free Tibet” advertisements scheduled for the opening ceremony?
What’s that? You didn’t see them? Lucky we don’t have media censorship in Australia, we’d end up like the poor old Chinese.
I digress.
I have all the respect in the world for the dedication and the athleticism our Olympians exhibit. I admire anyone who pursues anything to such a level of excellence.
But really. Heroes? Inspirational, yes. Venerable, certainly. All the same, I don’t remember seeing Stephanie Rice or any of her cronies pulling children from burning buildings in the last two weeks. No kittens rescued from trees either.
To complain of the elevated status we afford our sportsmen and women at the expense of the arts and research funding is beyond banal. But like all clichés, there is a kernel of truth beneath the schmaltz.
Our film industry is truly that of a banana republic, despite giving rise to some of the best talent at work in the industry, both behind and in front of the lens. Our pioneering work in developing photovoltaic cells is increasingly taken up in California and China but not in the Sunshine (Smart?) State. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.
As has become custom, we nurture our talent until they’re just ripe for the picking, and then watch the dust fly as they head for exile in Hollywood, or Silicon Valley or Geneva or London. The pastures are greener, the paycheques fatter, the recognition more forthcoming.
But our sporting stars are spared this fate; the nurturing is there. Boy, is it there. After the intensive, expensive training at our institute of sport, we repay them not only with our unfaltering adulation, but with lucrative endorsements and perma-tan television careers. It seems that Tall Poppy Syndrome, that most infamous Australian condition, has finally found its equal.
Yet looking even slightly beneath the veneer of heroism shows that our demi-god sports stars, much like the rest of us, have a few chinks in that brilliant armour.
Warnie. Ben Cousins. Wayne Carey. Nick D’Arcy. Greg Bird!
Granted, we should try and separate the off-field antics from what happens in the game, and remove ourselves from the entrenched “footballer/cricketer as role model” claptrap. But with great privilege comes great responsibility – if you live in the public eye and profit from your notoriety, you had better be prepared to suck it up when the name and shame brigade come a-knocking.
If anything, the above examples of less than sportsmanlike behaviour ought to be more reason for scorn than a resolve that places one in the upper echelons of their chosen field. Time and again though, we see such thuggery shrugged off as boys being boys and the game goes on. Meanwhile, the PhD candidate who is saving an indigenous language from extinction is doing the nightshift at 7/11.
I’ll admit it, for every Greg Bird there’s a Glenn McGrath; for every indiscretion, a charitable foundation. I’d just like to see less mindless glorification of sport and an acknowledgement that just like sport, art, culture and knowledge matter.
Some folks might even consider them heroic.
Now that the Olympic circus has left town, can we get back on with the business of hating each other in harmony? “One world, one dream,” they say. I say quit pretending and focus on the real game: World Domination.
The sleeping giant has awoken, the Chinese century has begun. We’ll reserve our right to criticise your human rights record and jump on the pro-Tibet bandwagon when the (digitally altered) fireworks are over, thankyouverymuch.
Speaking of media manipulation, did you hear the one about GetUp!, the online activist group who paid top dollar for a series of “Free Tibet” advertisements scheduled for the opening ceremony?
What’s that? You didn’t see them? Lucky we don’t have media censorship in Australia, we’d end up like the poor old Chinese.
I digress.
I have all the respect in the world for the dedication and the athleticism our Olympians exhibit. I admire anyone who pursues anything to such a level of excellence.
But really. Heroes? Inspirational, yes. Venerable, certainly. All the same, I don’t remember seeing Stephanie Rice or any of her cronies pulling children from burning buildings in the last two weeks. No kittens rescued from trees either.
To complain of the elevated status we afford our sportsmen and women at the expense of the arts and research funding is beyond banal. But like all clichés, there is a kernel of truth beneath the schmaltz.
Our film industry is truly that of a banana republic, despite giving rise to some of the best talent at work in the industry, both behind and in front of the lens. Our pioneering work in developing photovoltaic cells is increasingly taken up in California and China but not in the Sunshine (Smart?) State. Talk about fiddling while Rome burns.
As has become custom, we nurture our talent until they’re just ripe for the picking, and then watch the dust fly as they head for exile in Hollywood, or Silicon Valley or Geneva or London. The pastures are greener, the paycheques fatter, the recognition more forthcoming.
But our sporting stars are spared this fate; the nurturing is there. Boy, is it there. After the intensive, expensive training at our institute of sport, we repay them not only with our unfaltering adulation, but with lucrative endorsements and perma-tan television careers. It seems that Tall Poppy Syndrome, that most infamous Australian condition, has finally found its equal.
Yet looking even slightly beneath the veneer of heroism shows that our demi-god sports stars, much like the rest of us, have a few chinks in that brilliant armour.
Warnie. Ben Cousins. Wayne Carey. Nick D’Arcy. Greg Bird!
Granted, we should try and separate the off-field antics from what happens in the game, and remove ourselves from the entrenched “footballer/cricketer as role model” claptrap. But with great privilege comes great responsibility – if you live in the public eye and profit from your notoriety, you had better be prepared to suck it up when the name and shame brigade come a-knocking.
If anything, the above examples of less than sportsmanlike behaviour ought to be more reason for scorn than a resolve that places one in the upper echelons of their chosen field. Time and again though, we see such thuggery shrugged off as boys being boys and the game goes on. Meanwhile, the PhD candidate who is saving an indigenous language from extinction is doing the nightshift at 7/11.
I’ll admit it, for every Greg Bird there’s a Glenn McGrath; for every indiscretion, a charitable foundation. I’d just like to see less mindless glorification of sport and an acknowledgement that just like sport, art, culture and knowledge matter.
Some folks might even consider them heroic.
West End Markets Under Threat
Angry stallholders at West End’s Green Flea Market are embroiled in a fight over management rights, with the current operators rallying support for their bid to continue as market operators.
Gabba Ward Councillor Helen Abrahams tabled a petition this month with nearly 4500 signatures before Brisbane City Council, in a bid to secure The Peter Hackworth Group’s tenure over the successful market.
“The petition basically called for the markets to stay in its current place, under its current proprietor,” Cr Abrahams said.
“However, Council must – particularly now that it really is quite an entity –
call for expressions of interest, as with all markets on Crown land.”
“Expressions of interest will be called in the very near future, I’ve been told it will be in the next two to three weeks,” she said.
West End Market Manager Gian Ferrett said she fears the expressions of interest process could see the now-viable markets change hands after six years of building up the brand.
“It does seem rather cruel as we lost a lot of money when we started this market,” she said.
“It’s a community market, it’s not a highly profitable market and we know if any of the commercial operators come in… things will change here.”
The market has grown from a humble eight stalls in 2002 to include a diversity of fresh fruit and vegetables, clothing, art and cooked food.
“So many people come here and we are so popular now that it has become a bit of a problem,” Ms Ferrett said.
Mark Fairbairn, who manages the Chandler Market, said the Council’s regulations were being applied inconsistently and questioned the practicalities of the current West End site.
“None of the regulations I was forced to endure have ever been applied to the Green Flea,” he said.
Mr Fairbairn said the lack of onsite toilets and sufficient parking and the suitability of the dirt-floored areas for food preparation were only a few examples of how Davies Park was inappropriate.
Longtime market operator Peter Hackworth had originally been invited to operate the market at Davies Park by Souths Leagues Club, who held the title over the land at that time.
But recent changes had seen part of the market site fall under the Council’s jurisdiction, making the EOI process necessary.
Ms Ferrett said there was speculation as to who would be putting in an application to run the market.
“Souths are a major contender, because as soon the as the market was successful they wanted it of course – but so does every other market operator in Queensland,” she said.
“We have had this happen at Southbank, which we opened and had for 10 years and then management changed and they put it out to tender.
“It was like leaving your family after 10 years, you become very close to your stallholders,” she said.
Russell Solomon, a wire sculptor and regular stallholder at the markets collected a further 300 signatures from other traders on Saturday, saying there was significant support for The Peter Hackworth Group.
“I’ve seen markets come and go and I’ve seen markets change management and more often than not the new management sees the money, not the soul,” he said.
“Most of the stallholders I’ve spoken to are strongly of the opinion that they’re happy with the service that Gian and the Hackworth Group offers.”
Souths Leagues Club CEO Jim McLelland was unavailable for comment on whether the club was expressing interest in operating the markets.
Gabba Ward Councillor Helen Abrahams tabled a petition this month with nearly 4500 signatures before Brisbane City Council, in a bid to secure The Peter Hackworth Group’s tenure over the successful market.
“The petition basically called for the markets to stay in its current place, under its current proprietor,” Cr Abrahams said.
“However, Council must – particularly now that it really is quite an entity –
call for expressions of interest, as with all markets on Crown land.”
“Expressions of interest will be called in the very near future, I’ve been told it will be in the next two to three weeks,” she said.
West End Market Manager Gian Ferrett said she fears the expressions of interest process could see the now-viable markets change hands after six years of building up the brand.
“It does seem rather cruel as we lost a lot of money when we started this market,” she said.
“It’s a community market, it’s not a highly profitable market and we know if any of the commercial operators come in… things will change here.”
The market has grown from a humble eight stalls in 2002 to include a diversity of fresh fruit and vegetables, clothing, art and cooked food.
“So many people come here and we are so popular now that it has become a bit of a problem,” Ms Ferrett said.
Mark Fairbairn, who manages the Chandler Market, said the Council’s regulations were being applied inconsistently and questioned the practicalities of the current West End site.
“None of the regulations I was forced to endure have ever been applied to the Green Flea,” he said.
Mr Fairbairn said the lack of onsite toilets and sufficient parking and the suitability of the dirt-floored areas for food preparation were only a few examples of how Davies Park was inappropriate.
Longtime market operator Peter Hackworth had originally been invited to operate the market at Davies Park by Souths Leagues Club, who held the title over the land at that time.
But recent changes had seen part of the market site fall under the Council’s jurisdiction, making the EOI process necessary.
Ms Ferrett said there was speculation as to who would be putting in an application to run the market.
“Souths are a major contender, because as soon the as the market was successful they wanted it of course – but so does every other market operator in Queensland,” she said.
“We have had this happen at Southbank, which we opened and had for 10 years and then management changed and they put it out to tender.
“It was like leaving your family after 10 years, you become very close to your stallholders,” she said.
Russell Solomon, a wire sculptor and regular stallholder at the markets collected a further 300 signatures from other traders on Saturday, saying there was significant support for The Peter Hackworth Group.
“I’ve seen markets come and go and I’ve seen markets change management and more often than not the new management sees the money, not the soul,” he said.
“Most of the stallholders I’ve spoken to are strongly of the opinion that they’re happy with the service that Gian and the Hackworth Group offers.”
Souths Leagues Club CEO Jim McLelland was unavailable for comment on whether the club was expressing interest in operating the markets.
Will Bolívar’s dream ever be realised?
When South American independence hero Simón Bolívar united present day Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama into “La Gran Colombia” in 1819, he was fully aware that Latin American integration was still a long way off.
Bolívar, who came from the Spanish nobility himself, died poor and with his visionary republic in tatters.
In the 200 years since the formation of the great Colombian Republic, the unification of the continent remains as elusive as ever.
It seems logical that an area with “mutually intelligible” languages and a common religious foundation should be primed for such union. Looking at the success of the European Union, where language, history and culture have been transcended shows that continental integration is a possibility.
What initiatives exist at the moment?
Organisation of American States (OAS)
The OAS describes itself as “the region’s principal multilateral forum for strengthening democracy, promoting human rights, and confronting shared problems such as poverty, terrorism, illegal drugs and corruption.”
Similar in structure to the United Nations, the OAS comprises a Secretariat and a number of specialised councils on matters of security, governance, development, finance and trade and legal matters.
The OAS most recently made significant media headlines during the military impasse between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, facilitating an emergency meeting of the nation’s leaders after the March incursion of Colombian armed forces into Ecuador in pursuit of guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Critics have often accused the OAS of being a puppet of the US administration of the day; given the US’s foreign policy misadventures in Latin America under the Monroe Doctrine and position as primary financier of the OAS these evaluations do contain some factual basis.
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
Looking to expand upon the success (at least from an American standpoint) of the North American Free Trade Agreement that encompasses Canada, the United States and Mexico, the FTAA has been met with some resistance from the rest of the Americas.
Bolívar is tirelessly quoted as saying “The United States appear to be destined by providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty.” This appears to be a comment that still resonates with Latin Americans, given the regularity with which it is quoted and the significant rejection of the FTAA at the last summit meeting at Mar del Plata, Argentina in 2005.
While the FTAA has never officially been “buried,” despite proclamations to that effect at the time, the follow-up meeting scheduled for 2006 never took place. At the forefront of the resistance to the FTAA were the left-leaning “pink tide” governments of Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador – and to a lesser extent Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez with Argentine footballer (and vocal critic of the FTAA)
Diego Maradona at the Mar del Plata protests which put the FTAA plans on hold indefinitely
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/11/04/um/fotos/chavez_tapa.jpg
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA in Spanish)
The “death” of the FTAA was counterpoised by the strengthening of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’ pet integration project ALBA. With a series of strategic allegiances forming between relatively old allies Venezuela and Cuba and newly-elected leftist governments in Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, Chávez’ plans for a Bolivarian union of American nations seemed to be gathering momentum.
Three years later, there is evidence that such an alternative is proving attractive. Bolstered by skyrocketing oil prices, Venezuela has become a significant regional power. In early 2008 Dominican President Roosevelt Skerrit indicated his tiny Caribbean Commonwealth nation was to join ALBA, which has put the energy independence initiative Petrocaribe at its centre. As of August moderate Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya also signed up to ALBA.
Chávez’ has however faced a tumultuous year domestically. His push for constitutional reform, including an extension on his presidential term, was rejected in a poll late last year – his first significant electoral defeat. Despite overtures pledging his nation’s commitment to the project, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is still yet to sign up to the pact.
UNASUR – MercoSUR/CAN
Chávez’ ambitions to develop his own regional trading block also saw Venezuela withdraw in 2006 from what was then known as the Andean Community of Nations (CAN in Spanish) and embark upon a campaign to achieve full member status in the continent’s other major regional bloc MercoSUR – the Southern Cone common market.
At the time, Colombia and Peru were both negotiating bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the US, which Chávez argued as undermining the raison d’être of the Andean Community. Brazil, the economic powerhouse of the Americas, occupies a central role within MercoSUR and appears to hold the cards regarding Venezuela’s admission as a full member.
As of 2008, the two major blocs appear to be integrating, with the formation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) following the largely symbolic “Cusco Declaration” of 2004. In May a Constitutive Treaty for the Union was signed, advancing the cause of full-scale Latin American integration. Whether it succeeds where its predecessors have failed remains to be seen.
The UNASUR nations, including observers Mexico and Panama and associated Caribbean nations.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Unasur.jpg
Bolívar, who came from the Spanish nobility himself, died poor and with his visionary republic in tatters.
In the 200 years since the formation of the great Colombian Republic, the unification of the continent remains as elusive as ever.
It seems logical that an area with “mutually intelligible” languages and a common religious foundation should be primed for such union. Looking at the success of the European Union, where language, history and culture have been transcended shows that continental integration is a possibility.
What initiatives exist at the moment?
Organisation of American States (OAS)
The OAS describes itself as “the region’s principal multilateral forum for strengthening democracy, promoting human rights, and confronting shared problems such as poverty, terrorism, illegal drugs and corruption.”
Similar in structure to the United Nations, the OAS comprises a Secretariat and a number of specialised councils on matters of security, governance, development, finance and trade and legal matters.
The OAS most recently made significant media headlines during the military impasse between Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, facilitating an emergency meeting of the nation’s leaders after the March incursion of Colombian armed forces into Ecuador in pursuit of guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Critics have often accused the OAS of being a puppet of the US administration of the day; given the US’s foreign policy misadventures in Latin America under the Monroe Doctrine and position as primary financier of the OAS these evaluations do contain some factual basis.
Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
Looking to expand upon the success (at least from an American standpoint) of the North American Free Trade Agreement that encompasses Canada, the United States and Mexico, the FTAA has been met with some resistance from the rest of the Americas.
Bolívar is tirelessly quoted as saying “The United States appear to be destined by providence to plague America with misery in the name of liberty.” This appears to be a comment that still resonates with Latin Americans, given the regularity with which it is quoted and the significant rejection of the FTAA at the last summit meeting at Mar del Plata, Argentina in 2005.
While the FTAA has never officially been “buried,” despite proclamations to that effect at the time, the follow-up meeting scheduled for 2006 never took place. At the forefront of the resistance to the FTAA were the left-leaning “pink tide” governments of Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador – and to a lesser extent Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez with Argentine footballer (and vocal critic of the FTAA)
Diego Maradona at the Mar del Plata protests which put the FTAA plans on hold indefinitely
http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/11/04/um/fotos/chavez_tapa.jpg
Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA in Spanish)
The “death” of the FTAA was counterpoised by the strengthening of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’ pet integration project ALBA. With a series of strategic allegiances forming between relatively old allies Venezuela and Cuba and newly-elected leftist governments in Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, Chávez’ plans for a Bolivarian union of American nations seemed to be gathering momentum.
Three years later, there is evidence that such an alternative is proving attractive. Bolstered by skyrocketing oil prices, Venezuela has become a significant regional power. In early 2008 Dominican President Roosevelt Skerrit indicated his tiny Caribbean Commonwealth nation was to join ALBA, which has put the energy independence initiative Petrocaribe at its centre. As of August moderate Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya also signed up to ALBA.
Chávez’ has however faced a tumultuous year domestically. His push for constitutional reform, including an extension on his presidential term, was rejected in a poll late last year – his first significant electoral defeat. Despite overtures pledging his nation’s commitment to the project, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa is still yet to sign up to the pact.
UNASUR – MercoSUR/CAN
Chávez’ ambitions to develop his own regional trading block also saw Venezuela withdraw in 2006 from what was then known as the Andean Community of Nations (CAN in Spanish) and embark upon a campaign to achieve full member status in the continent’s other major regional bloc MercoSUR – the Southern Cone common market.
At the time, Colombia and Peru were both negotiating bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the US, which Chávez argued as undermining the raison d’être of the Andean Community. Brazil, the economic powerhouse of the Americas, occupies a central role within MercoSUR and appears to hold the cards regarding Venezuela’s admission as a full member.
As of 2008, the two major blocs appear to be integrating, with the formation of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) following the largely symbolic “Cusco Declaration” of 2004. In May a Constitutive Treaty for the Union was signed, advancing the cause of full-scale Latin American integration. Whether it succeeds where its predecessors have failed remains to be seen.
The UNASUR nations, including observers Mexico and Panama and associated Caribbean nations.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Unasur.jpg
publishing the unpublished
So I figure seeing as I spend so much of my time chasing my tail writing articles for uni, I may as well post them here so they might be read be someone other than the (ir)relevant tutor.
Brace yourself (myself? I'm the only one here) for a barrage of searching investigative journalism peeps.
More to come in the coming daze/weaks on Lex Wotton, Sea Shepherds and maybe even a little medicinal marijuana.
and I'll cross-post playlists and info from Radio Democracy on 4ZzZ (102.1 FM) too.
www.4zzzfm.org.au
bless up
Brace yourself (myself? I'm the only one here) for a barrage of searching investigative journalism peeps.
More to come in the coming daze/weaks on Lex Wotton, Sea Shepherds and maybe even a little medicinal marijuana.
and I'll cross-post playlists and info from Radio Democracy on 4ZzZ (102.1 FM) too.
www.4zzzfm.org.au
bless up
| RADIO DEMOCRACY PLAYLIST FOR 17 SEPTEMBER 2008 |  |
We heard excerpts from a public meeting with Lex Wotton, who is facing charges over the "riot" on Palm Island following the death in custody of his kinsmen Mulrunji Doomadgee, Lex and his solicitor Stuart Levitt gave us some insights into this case and broader issues of indigenous sovereignty and black deaths in custody. Stay tuned to Zed for more info on this case in anticipation of Lex's trial and check out the Aboriginal Rights Coalition site at http://aboriginalrightscoalition.wordpress.com/ for updates.
Vicki Bridgstock from Save the Regent gave us an update on the Regent Cinemas redevelopment , widely publicised in the mainstream media and by the state government as having been 'saved' by the latest Joh-esque development plan.The campaign continues. http://www.debritz.com/str/
Music:
(Artist-Track-Album)
Zapata - Arpioni - EZLN: El Fuego y La Palabra: Disc 1 - Fuego
River of Tears - The Drones - Cannot Buy My Soul: The Songs of Kev Carmody
SEQEB Scabs - La Fetts - Behind the Banana Curtain
You've Fucked It Now Entirely - Jane Woody - Big Breaths Little Lungs
We're Only Gonna Die (From Our Own Arrogance) - Bad Religion - All Ages
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