PANDEMONIUM
DISCUSSION FORUM
No. 871
No. 871
English &
Spanish:
http://www.geocities.com/juschmi/constitution.html
********************************************************************
What is "wrong"
with Venezuela's Constitution?
6th February, 2003
6th February, 2003
If we reflect about
why the Venezuelan constitution of 1999 poses such a threat for the established
national and international economic interests, that the representatives and
former political power-holders of the latter have not hesitated to
do away with it in one stroke of a pen when briefly and temporarily usurping political
power in Venezuela via last year's April 11th coup d´état, we
certainly have to understand the wider picture within which
the Venezuelan "crisis" is developing, framed by some kind of "master
plan" for the Americas, which is part and parcel of the New
American Security Strategy of the current Bush administration, intended
to fully insert Middle and South America and the Caribbean into the
infamous globalization process under terms clearly detrimental to the region
and favourable to the interests of the USA.
The name of this master plan is FTAA - Free Trade Area of the Americas (ALCA iin Spanish), lately sold to the general public as a move to tackle the roots of terrorism and to "promote global security" by "igniting a new era of economic growth through free markets and free trade", with the USA "seizing the global initiative" and "pressing regional initiatives"! (1)
Under the FTAA project,
34 countries will have to subscribe to an international legal framework
for at least 50 years, with obligatory modifications of the
member countries' constitutions regarding critical issues
like firstly, the privatization of remnants of collective property
of land (especially in indigenous areas); secondly, the acceptance
of multilateral investment agreements allowing transnational corporations
to sue the host State in case the latter should hinder optimum profit
making in the form of environmental or social responsibility laws denounced
as "trade barriers"; thirdly, the privatization and appropriation of
natural, genetic and biological resources under the flag of corporate "intellectual
property rights"; and fourthly, the private appropriation of the existing
fossil energy resources of the Andean/Amazonia Belt by declaring them
"global, human patrimony" open to the highest bidder and not necessarily
property of a particular State under the soil of which these
resources happen to be located. All these issues come down to a rather
crude expropriation strategy better known as "neoliberalism".
A look into the new, Venezuelan
Constitution of 1999, approved by 80% of the Venezuelan population by
a national referendum, especially into articles 12, 119, 124, 127
and 129, will make us understand what the problem with
Chávez is all about, and why the national economic elite in combination
with foreign interests consider it not enough that the president be
forced to resign, but that the entire constitution be trashed and for
that end the country be lit up and burnt to ashes on all fronts!
Regarding FTAA agenda
point "privatization of collective land", Article 119
of the Venezuelan constitution would have to be done away with, as it states
the following:
"The
State fully acknowledges the existence of the indigenous peoples and communities,
their social, political and economic forms of organization, their cultures,
customs and traditions, languages and religions, as well as their
habitat and original rights over the lands they and their ancestors have
traditionally occupied and which are necessary to develop and
guarantee their ways of life. It therefore is the responsibility of the
national government, with the participation of the indigenous peoples, to
delimit and guarantee the right to collective property of their lands,
which will be inalienable, inprescriptible, not confiscatable and not
transferable according to what is established in this constitution
and the law." (my translation / my emphasis)
Regarding FTAA agenda
points "optimum profit making" and "privatization of genetic and biological
resources", Articles 124, 127 and 129 of the Venezuelan
constitution would have to be shredded to pieces, which declare the following:
Article 124: "The intellectual,
collective property of knowledge, technologies and innovations of indigenous
peoples is guaranteed and protected. All activity related to genetic
resources and associated knowledge will pursue collective
benefits. The registering of patents on these resources
and ancestral knowledge is forbidden." (my translation
/ my emphasis)
Article 127:
"It is the right and the duty of each generation to protect
and maintain the environment for the benefit of itself
and of the future world. Each person has the right to individually
and collectively enjoy a sane, secure and ecologically balanced life
and environment. The State will protect the environment, the biological
and genetical diversity, the ecological processes, national parks and
monuments and other areas of special ecological importance. The
genome of living creatures cannot be patented and the corresponding law
of bioethic principles will regulate this matter. It is a fundamental
obligation of the State, together with the active participation of society,
to guarantee that the population develops within an environment free of
contamination, where the air, the water, the soils, the coasts, the climate,
the ozone layer and the living species shall be protected in a special
way according to the law."
Article 129,
last paragraph: " ... In the treaties subscribed by
the Republic with natural or juridical persons, national or international,
or in permits granted which involve natural resources, the obligation
to conserve the ecological equilibrium is considered to be an integral
part of these, even if not expressly formulated, as well as to
permit the access to technology and its transference in conditions
of mutual agreement and to re-establish the environment to its
natural condition in case of alteration, according to the
law." (my translation /my emphasis).
Concerning FTAA agenda
point "appropriation of existing fossil energy resources", Article
12 of the Venezuelan constitution is certainly a stumbling block
and would have to be eliminated, as it declares all mine and
hydrocarbon deposits under the national continental, insular and
maritime territory exclusive property of the Republic
and thus inalienable and inprescriptible goods of national, public dominion.
This is just a glimpse
into the immediate problematic of what is "wrong" with Venezuela's Bolivarian
Constitution in the eyes of the national and international economic, financial
and energetic interest of the ruling elites and the big, transnational
corporations. The magnitude of their combined and sustained attack
on the democratically elected, legal and legitimate government presided
by Hugo Chávez reveals the magnitude of the basically nationalistic
yet not isolationist, humanistic project of the nation envisioned, outlined
and enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
(1) (see introduction and point VI in: http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html )
http://www.geocities.com/juschmi/constitution.html
********************************************************************
DISCUSSION: TANAKA MEMORIAL, "MEIN KAMPF",
PEARL HARBOUR AND "TWIN TOWERS"
09/11/03.
*********************************************************************************************************----- Original Message -----From: CARL ZIMMERMANTo: Bill LyneCc: Bart ; Bobby Lee ; Iris ; Jutta Schmitt ; Khalid ; Peter ; Robert Wechsler ; Stella ; Vic CampbellSent: Friday, November 07, 2003 3:01 PMSubject: Tanaka memorial
Bill,
are you familiar with Japan's Co-Prosperity Sphere pre-WW2,? It included Manchuko (Manchuria) & White Russian military officers who participated in slaughter of Chinese in Harbin. Is the Tanaka Memorial (Japanese Mein Kampf), a plan for world conquesthttp://vikingphoenix.com/public/JapanIncorporated/1895-1945/tanaka.htm
Is this viable today?
Carl
********************************************************************************************************----- Original Message -----From: William LyneTo: CARL ZIMMERMANCc: Bart ; Bobby Lee ; Iris ; Jutta Schmitt ; Khalid ; Peter ; Robert Wechsler ; Stella ; Vic CampbellSent: Friday, November 07, 2003 9:26 PMSubject: Re: Tanaka memorial
Carl,what I always heard was that the Japanese would become the masters of all Asians, and the Germans would get the rest, except there was alsoa plan to have a Black Nationalist block.The Tanaka Memorial was obviously the "master plan" being followed by the Japanese from the beginning of the century. They had their industrialismall mapped out before it really existed. The Germans did the same by 1900. If the Tanaka Memorial were not the master plan, then what else was?It was inherent that they had one and the Tanaka Memorial describes it better than anything else. Japanese foreign policy followed it to the tee.The Axis Powers apparently intended to split up the world, Germay with the West, and Japan with the East.But, let's not forget that there was also a British-American World Imperialism in existence in the form of the secret agreement between the British Royal Institute of International Affairs (Cecil Rhoads) and the Council on Foreign Relations. Those combined organizations intended to crowd out Germany and Japan to dominate the world.Russia was a wild card which fit into no camp so was "neutralized" by the Communist Revolution financed by Rothschildt-connected banking house of Jacob Schiff, Kuhn and Loeb. Japan's supply of petroleum was cut off by British Petroleum and Rockefeller, so the attack on Pearl Harbor was justified. The New York bankers also financed the Thullegesellschaft and Hitler's rise to power, thus setting the stage for the ruin of Germany. That did not come to completion as I describe in my book due to the ''Stalemate" so Germany had to be cut into the equation, so that became the "Tri-lateral" Commission (THREE-sided Commission, Britain, America, and Germany). Thisis symbolized by the triangle.Bill
Carl and Bill,
are you aware of the real,
21st century "Tanaka Memorial"? Today, it translates into "Proyect for
a New American Century", and its "Mein Kampf" is titled "Rebuilding America´s
Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a new American Century."
I recommend you read that document
in its entirety (90 pages), available online at http://cryptome.org/rad.htm;
and downloadable in *.pdf format on: http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf.
The main author of the Memorial
is Thomas Donnelly, Director of Communications and strategic Initiatives
at Lockheed Martin Corporation, and the people behind the Proyect
are Elliot
Abrahams, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Eliot
A. Cohen, Midge Decter, Paula Dobriansky, Steve Forbes, Aaron Friedberg,
Francis Fukuyama, Frank Gaffney, Fred C. Ikle, Donald Kagan, Zalmay Khalilzad,
I. Lewis Libby, Norman Podhoretz, Dan Quayle, Peter W. Rodman, Stephen
P. Rosen, Henry S. Rowen, Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, George Weigel, Paul
Wolfowitz. - Any known faces here?!
Furthermore,
there is hardly a big, American transnational corporation that would not
be among the sponsors of the Proyect, and most of its participants, apart
from working directly for the Bush Junta ("US government"),
are directly bound to the energetic-military-postindustrial complex Eisenhower
had warned of quite a couple of decades ago. If you go through the list
of foundations, that are affiliated with the Proyect, you find the ultra-conservative Bradley
Foundation (the public relations arm of Rockwell International Corporation,
one of the leading US defense and aerospacial contractors), the American
Enterprise Institute, the Sarah Scaife Foundation and the Olin Foundation.
The Memorial´s mission: Avoid, at all costs, the rise of a potential competitor or new superpower in the 21st Century and secure, in the first place by maintaining military preeminence, America´s uncontested, dominant position in the world.
The means: Trash international law and organizations and if necessary, fight and decisively win multiple "big theater wars".
The motor: Create a new Pearl Harbour (- does 11th of September 2001 ring a bell now?!) - Check it out in chapter V, "Creating tomorrow´s dominant Force".
Reminder: The Memorial was written in 2000 and displays, in retrospect, an astonishing and almost witchcraft-like power of prediction!
Cheers,
Jutta.
********************************************************************************************************
From: Peter Meldrum
pmeldrum@pppoe.ca
To: Jutta Schmitt
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2003 11:31 AM
Subject: Re: "Tanaka Memorial" of the 21st Century ...
In actual fact the PNAC goes a lot further back than what you say. To the early 90's if I'm not mistaken.
The interesting part, to me, is that PNAC ignores the rise of the EU. Another example of it's "blinkered" view.
From: Jutta Schmitt
To: Peter Meldrum
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2003 01:13PM
Subject: Re: "Tanaka Memorial" of the 21st Century ...
Peter,
in fact, it goes back to the Department of Defense´s "Defense Planning Guidance", elaborated by Paul Wolfowitz in 1992, when the Department was run by Dick Cheney in the "Bush, the Father" administration. The document was leaked to the New York times, caused a public controversy and had to be withdrawn and reformulated.
With regard to the EU, the PNAC is designed to prevent the rise of the EU, especially in terms of hindering them from formulating and institutionalizing their own, independent foreign- and military policies. Also and in energy matters, having established their military presence in and grip over Iraq and the Middle East, the US´ control over oil translates into control over Europe, Japan and China.
China, of course, is also on the radar screen of the PNAC as a possible future rival. Check out the chapter "Key Findings" of their document, and check out an article on the Homepage of the Heritage Foundation by Larry M.Wortzel, titled "China and the Battlefield in Space":
(http://www.heritage.org/Research/AsiaandthePacific/wm346.cfm)
Regards,
Jutta.
From: Peter Meldrum
To: Jutta Schmitt
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2003 1:39 PM
Subject: Re: "Tanaka Memorial" of the 21st Century ...
Firstly there is no way the US can control Europe. Energy is not an issue due to the presence of Russin oil and gas. Further the EU market will soon vastly exceed that of the US. The EU will become the dominant world economy.
Secondly we are seeing the formation of anti-US groups of democratic countries. Particularly in South America and Asia. The US will not be the world "power" for long.
From: Jutta Schmitt
To: Peter Meldrum
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2003 05:25PM
Subject: Re: US & Europe
Peter,
There is no doubt whatsoever about the strong rivalry between the USA and Europe, with continuous US intromission into European "internal affairs" and a bid for divide et impera that aims at the core of European forces (http://www.expatica.com/france.asp?pad=278,313,&item_id=35505). The US Trojan Horse with regard to an eventual "independent" European foreign policy and military force, is the "Joint Vision 2010/2020" concept of Full Spectrum Dominance, even over its so-called "European Allies". US military power may well want to impose itself over any other advantage their "European Allies" enjoy.
The US´s bid for total market control in what it considers its "backyard", Latin America, is the Free Trade Association of the Americas (FTAA), planned to be concluded by the end of 2005 and anchored in the very National Security Strategy, which reflects the basic outlines of the PNAC. The FTAA is one of the main reasons why we have seen a Latin American resistance emerge against the US. The politico-military framework to the FTAA consists of the Regional Andean Initiative and a series of subordinated plans like the Plan Puebla-Panamá, Plan Colombia, Plan Dignidad (Bolivia), Plan Buenos Aires-Quito, etc. etc.
It would take a very strong and very decided coalition of economic and military forces worldwide, in order to stop the US´ forward march on a global scale. How difficult this is, can be seen in the desperate struggle of the Latin American peoples for their sovereignty, dignity and very economic survival, and by the opportunistic maneuvring of European core forces as well as the split within Europe itself, with regard to the US agression against Iraq.
Jutta.
*********************************************************************************
Anxiously conjuring up the spirits of the past to our service ...
By Franz J. T. Lee
"However, they do not always correspond to the transhistoric, global realities, with the bitter lessons that we have learned, from Conquest, Colonization,
Christianization, Pacification, Militarization and Annihilation. Furthermore, as Marx explained in his 18th Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, .... it is not only that "all facts and personages of great importance in world history occur, as it were, twice, ... the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce", but even more so he emphasized that "the tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living." That is why, "when they seem engaged in revolutionizing themselves and things, in creating something that has never yet existed, precisely in such periods of revolutionary crisis they anxiously conjure up the spirits of the past to their service and borrow from them names, battle cries and costumes in order
to present the new scene of world history in this time-honoured disguise and this borrowed language."
Hence, it is pertinent to remember that we are living in the "Information Age", in "Globalization", and not in 19th Century Spain, France or Britain, not in the epoch of liberal capitalism, colonization and imperialism, but in the Third Millennium.
Our current Emancipatory Struggle against the former, this is the New that we are creating. We are facing not an emerging capitalism, but a dying mode of production, that is more brutal than ever. Hence, never mind tactics, strategies, playing the game, the corporate "bourgeoisie" does not debate or negotiate with the workers, it exploits them; capitalist politics dominate, they don't obey any "governmental" rules, neither of, nor by, nor for the working people; they only function of, by and for themselves, eternalizing their self-created own master-slave relations. Thus, we should not try to poison the corporate mamba with its own self-produced democratic venom. It is only mortal, fatal and lethal for those who resist "regime change", but for the "generation of vipers" themselves, it is the carte blanche for big lies, "shock and awe" , monopolization, centralization and concentration camps. "
(Franz J. T. Lee, 15/08/03: http://www.franz-lee.org/files/pandemonium00779.html
"Lo Nuevo Real en los Trajes del Antaño
A causa del desarrollo igual, desigual y combinado, e igualmente debido a la intransparencia de los procesos transhistóricos globales, también en Venezuela está ocurriendo lo que Marx ha explicado en su libro "El Dieciocho Brumario de Luis Bonaparte", donde se refiere al "autogolpe" del presidente de la República Francesa, Luis Bonaparte, quien en 1851 disolvió la asamblea nacional legislativa y concentró todo el poder político en sus propias manos. Marx explica, de manera introductoria, que todos los importantes hechos y personas de la historia universal casi siempre ocurren o aparecen dos veces, una vez como tragedia, y la segunda vez, como farsa. Ejemplo típico de ésto son casos como la tragedia de las cruzadas y la farsa de las nuevas "guerras de liberación" de Bush; la tragedia de 40 años de "democracia" puntofijista y la farsa de la dictadura de "Pedro el Breve" (Carmona Estanga). Además, Marx hace una observación transhistórica importantísima, al destacar, que los actos verdaderamente nuevos que se llevan a cabo en el horizonte de la historia siempre se visten en la ropa de lo antiguo:
"Los hombres hacen su propia historia, pero no la hacen a su libre arbitrio, bajo circunstancias elegidas por ellos mismos, sino bajo aquellas circunstancias con que se encuentran directamente, que existen y les han sido legadas por el pasado. La tradición de todas las generaciones muertas oprime como una pesadilla el cerebro de los vivos. Y cuando éstos aparentan dedicarse precisamente a transformarse y a transformar las cosas, a crear algo nunca visto, en estas épocas de crisis revolucionaria es precisamente cuando conjuran temerosos en su auxilio los espíritus del pasado, toman prestados sus nombres, sus consignas de guerra, su ropaje, para, con este disfraz de vejez venerable y este lenguaje prestado, representar la nueva escena de la historia universal." (Karl Marx, El Dieciocho Brumario de Luis Bonaparte, Editorial Progreso, Moscú 1974. También véase: http://www.narconews.com/comments/view/1/p11.20 )
Tenemos la fuerte sospecha, de que algo similar ocurre con la Revolución Bolivariana, que constituye, objetivamente, la primera frente de lucha, nueva y auténtica, contra la globalización del tercer milenio, y que al mismo tiempo presta sus símbolos, lenguaje y héroes de lucha de su pasado colonial de los siglos XVIII y XIX."
(Franz J. T. Lee, 06/11/03: http://www.franz-lee.org/files/pandemonium00870.html
********************************************************************************************