The Celebration Went Unnoticed

[autorank]

The Celebration Went Unnoticed - A Major Leftist Win in Uruguay


By Michael Collins
Last updated:
Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:26:00 +0000

(The Intelligence Daily) -- Uruguay’s left wing political coalition, the Broad Front party (Frente Amplio), retained control of the presidency in the November elections. This wasn’t just any election. The winner, flower farmer Jose “Pepe” Mujica, was the victim of imprisonment and torture during Operation Condor in the 1970’s as a result of his efforts as a Tupamaro rebel. During that period of military dictatorship, the new president spent fourteen years in prison, including two years confined at the bottom of a well. Snip

Years of the Condor

Under the code name, Operation Condor, from 1976 on, intelligence agencies for the military dictators in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay waged a “dirty war” against dissident citizens claimed to be “terrorists.” This meant nonviolent social reformers and socialists, plus a much smaller group actually using violence as a tactic. The terror inflicted by the dictatorships dwarfed any rural or urban violence they sought to control.

Over sixty thousand people were murdered or “disappeared” and torture was routine. Citizens in the Condor nations were victimized by the loss of political freedom and vicariously traumatized by living in an environment of kidnappings and violence perpetrated by their governments. Snip

The war was particularly rough on Uruguay, a smaller nation, where human losses and to political repression were experienced daily by citizens. Yet despite this violent history, Uruguayans, Brazilians, and Chileans persevered to regain basic human rights. For years now, the civilian governments that replaced the military dictators have been investigating and unearthing the past horrors as a preventive measure against future abuse. Legitimately elected governments of leftists operate through coalition building and shun reprisals.



More here: http://inteldaily.com/news/172/ARTICLE/12995/2009-12-07.html

[puebloknot]

1. Harks back to circa 1776 in America. Inspiring. Hope comes ...

... from unexpected places.

Right after Bush v. Gore was decided, my daughter and I attended a speech given by Vincent Bugliosi. He said that night, "History will show we should have been in the streets."

[autorank]

25. What a prophetic iroiny

He wrote a great book about Bush v. Gore. Not one to hold his thoughts down.

Inspirations abound. We benefit from the success of others, wherever they are. I remember being very moved by a brief radio report on the Philippines election when Marcos was defeated. Goon squads were taking pot shots at people at polling places. The reporter commented, "Despite gunfire, no one is leaving their lines." Amazing - bravery, the simple quest for dignity, and an clear example of the fight for human rights having heroes of all races around the world. I'd say those folks in the Philippines fought harder than we did in 2000. We can learn from others.

[Joe Chi Minh]

44. Don't laugh, Mike. Human rights? Guess what? Our bankers in the UK may take

the Government to the Court of Human Rrights, if it tries to tax their bonuses! They're sh*tting themselves!!!! The article is a laugh a minute. Or rather every few seconds. But this not the place to link it.

The crowds there would give a whole new meaning, an ultrapositive one, to that term for Ghengis Khan's Tartars: the Golden Horde. Now it looks like these Uruguayans are tartars, in the positive figurative sense. They mean business and ain't taking prisoners. Or as some of you Americans mysteriously put it: "bindess"!

[truedelphi]

2. DU'ers who are noticing how Kucinich gets more blame than the

Blue Dogs, should be aware that in all these South American states that are now progressive, it took the elimination of the progressives before these changes could occur.

Chile - in the early seventies, Allende was killed and then over the next decade, the progressives were "disappeared."

Progressives also "disappeared" in Bolivia and Uruguay.

Now all three nations have resumed the style of democracies that those nasty "progressives" had to shed their blood for.

Watch out for yourself - if you are an agent of real change.

There is no reason why it won't happen here.

[bobbolink]

28. That's the second time tonight I've been warned about my safety.

Maybe I should start announcing my favorite flowers?

[truedelphi]

48. Flowers? You or I won't get any stinkin' flowers - that is the whole thing about

"Being Disappeared"

You haven't died, you are just so rebellious that you probably have gone away for awhile (Or so the authorities say.)

Under Pinochet, the entire nation of Chile stayed in denial that this "Disappearing" even happened. Unless someone lost a close friend or relative, they were all led to beleive that a small, small segment of society were "Terroristas" and needed to be removed from the country.

And of course, the main protection we have had in this nation is the Fourth Estate of the Journalist. But that is gone now too.

[Echo In Light]

54. ...been gone a long time, but now the *illusion* of it has 'disappeared' as well

I agree.

[reggie the dog]

3. Pehaps I should study Spanish

Latin America is where it is at for fighting the corporations.

[tavalon]

38. Learn Chinese

Trust me on this.

[reggie the dog]

46. China does not have liberty

or that great of a social system, so even though there are a lot of people who speak Chinese I really dont feel like learning it.

[autorank]

4. Rec it at BuzzFlash.Net if you can

Great place to post stories and comment, worth the time.

http://buzzflash.net/story.php?id=1054966

:)

[Uncle Joe]

5. That's a humongous celebration, the people truly look overjoyed, I wonder, haven't they heard

about the Tiger Woods Crisis!?

Apparently they don't have a "free press," it's a good thing we have our corporate media to keep us up to date on the critical issues and developments of the day.

Thanks for the thread, autorank. :thumbsup:

[autorank]

30. There is joy beyond the corporate media

They are certainly celebrating. I couldn't find a crowd estimate but it looks like a cool two hundred thousand. Reminds me of NYC riverfront 4th of July celebrations (in the 70's) ... endless people.

Inspiring and quite a saga. :hi:

[Uncle Joe]

31. If you say so, autorank.

Although fans of the Jiffy Pop Boy's family would be hard pressed to agree.

Peace, :hi:

[Me.]

6. WOW

Inspiring...I'm envious

[inna]

7. Awesome, thanks for posting!

It did go completely unnoticed/ignored by the M$M, didn't it.

[autorank]

34. They blew a great story

This should have been a series. Operation Condor is worth an entire, very long and interesting article.

But we'll get the story out and enough people will get it so that there is one more example of how
the people can win out and do it decently and with dignity.

Mujica is known for his sharp tongue, just speaks his mind. He's like a leftist Barry Goldwater.
When he was elected, he preemptively apologized for offending in the past and said he'd do his best
as president to be even tempered. Imagine that ... direct dialog with the people on one of your
perceived shortcomings and saying you'll try to fix it. He's a flower farmer and lives in a stark
farm house outside the capitol. Interesting guy.

[malaise]

8. Beautiful

The other American continent is changing for real.

[autorank]

18. It is changing, in a very positive way.

Those with an nterest in rapid vulution bsed on a lot of hard work need to know this story.

[bertman]

43. Yes, and it's a good thing that the U.S. military is building those new bases in Colombia

so we can send our "best wishes" to the new democracies in the south.

[leftstreet]

9. Thanks for posting this

K&R

[autorank]

14. Welsome!

:)

[glitch]

10. Wow! Incredibly inspiring. Thanks for posting. K & R nt

[autorank]

13. glitch, It is amazing, the entire saga

And the bitterness is just not there. The president to surrendered power way back showed up to congratulate Mujica. Uruguay has two political factions - the reds and whites. Reds are urban and left, whites generally rural constituencies and conservative. I'll find the link and share it. Amazing story and what a pic that first one is - WOW!

[glitch]

15. South America is keeping real HOPE alive right now.

Did you see the movie "The Take" about Argentinian workers taking over their factory after the "owners" had abandoned it? And then all the great leaders they've been electing.
Every time I read about SA I think of the graffiti "Save Despair for Better Times" (translation, the original was in Spanish) someone painted on a wall in Argentina during their "shock" times.
:applause:

[msedano]

11. What happens to a deferred dream? Free elections.

Here's a taste of what Latin Americans had to settle for until elections returned power to the people, and / or U.S. money ran out: vicarious justice via literature. In Daniel Chavarria's Tango for a Torturer, a random conversation alerts a torture survivor to the presence of his torturer, a graduate and former instructor at School of the Americas. The victim sets a plan into motion to exact a measure of justice for himself and a full measure of misery for the comfortable asshole who believes he's gotten away clean...

http://labloga.blogspot.com/2007/06/review-tango-for-torturer-daniel.html


recommended.

and thanks for the link, Mr. Collins.

mvs

[autorank]

12. Ola good friend!

Thank you for that. I will read it shortly. La Bloga is a great resource, no doubt.

More later.

[autorank]

21. From the book review by msedano

"Don’t judge a book by its cover" is a useful reminder for book browsers. The blurb on the back cover describes Aldo and Teresita as Argentine revolutionaries. How odd, and misleading. Aldo’s bitter irony is that he and Teresa were not revolutionaries, the “legitimate” targets of the regime. Ortega insults Teresa on the street, hotheaded Aldo responds in outrage and kicks Triple O in the balls. A trained karate expert—Ortega both attended and taught at the School of the Americas and similar US military/CIA training courses—Ortega recovers quickly and thrashes Aldo before taking him and Teresa into custody. The couple’s abduction, murder, and torture occurs totally out of random coincidence, and the couple simply served for O to have a little fun.

"Tango for a Torturer makes an excellent companion to other torture-themed works. I recommend reading Chavarria and two others, Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden and Lawrence Thornton’s Imagining Argentina. In Thornton’s book, a husband goes in search of his disappeared wife, in the process revealing horrors such as sexual torture and child-stealing. Dorfman’s brings a torture victim face to face with her torturer, a guest in her own home."

Michael Sedano, La Bloga, June 5

[Kaleko]

16. Wonderful news. Thank you.

[autorank]

24. You're welcome

It's all accomplished with such dignity. The suffering and violence rally aren't that old but the
recovery is well underway. Ironically, Mujica's predecessor, the founder of the "Broad Front" way back,
gets very good reviews from economists for his policies. They make the country work.

They deserve this good fortune. During Operation Condor, the big violation in Uruguay was kidnapping. I can't even imagine ...

[Joe Chi Minh]

17. That crowd... as far as the eye can see. I asked my wife if she'd ever seen such a crowd.

Nice girl, too. And what wonderful news! Though perhaps the order those exclamations could be improved on.

[tekisui]

19. knr!

[slipslidingaway]

20. Thank you and the lessons are so true ...

from your article.

"Lessons

The war was particularly rough on Uruguay, a smaller nation, where human losses and to political repression were experienced daily by citizens. Yet despite this violent history, Uruguayans, Brazilians, and Chileans persevered to regain basic human rights. For years now, the civilian governments that replaced the military dictators have been investigating and unearthing the past horrors as a preventive measure against future abuse. Legitimately elected governments of leftists operate through coalition building and shun reprisals.

At the same time, here in the United States, the new administration is reviving an eight year old war in Afghanistan. It refuses to investigate and prosecute the architects of torture while it provides legal cover for the former government lawyer whose opinions enabled that torture and eviscerated the Constitution.

There are lessons to be learned from the history leading to Uruguay’s current democracy. One of them is honestly facing the truth of the past."

[ihavenobias]

22. Very interesting.

I admit I need to pay more attention to world affairs.

[autorank]

23. You guys have a great correspondent

SP Kelley.

[Usrename]

26. This is just a great thread.

:hi:

[autorank]

27. Isn't it. Great responses

and other than me, brief and very much to the point!

:hi:

[puebloknot]

29. Kick. This needs wide acknowledgement. It's good to read ...

... something with heart and intelligence!

[autorank]

32. I'll give you three thubs up!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[puebloknot]

49. I'll give you an "M" out of my own personal alphabet. No charge! :)

It's the thought that counts -- mightily! :)

[Usrename]

53. lol

:)

[Blue_Tires]

33. thanks for this...

[midnight]

35. k&R.

[Agony]

36. Thanks for posting! More...

TURNING ACTIVISTS INTO VOTERS IN URUGUAY: THE FRENTE AMPLIO AND JOSÉ MUJICA
"In any case, it is thanks to those votes that Mujica will be Uruguay’s next president. Now the Frente Amplio’s long road winds on, leading to political policies Mujica himself probably wouldn’t have supported as an idealistic Tupamaro guerrilla. As he said in the days leading up to the election, "we are not waiting for paradise, above all among the older people, but trying to escape from hell and cultivate hope."

http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2241/1/


More about the Broad Front
DEVELOPMENT: Afro-Uruguayan Women Find Their Own Way Home
The arrival in power of the leftist Broad Front government led by Vázquez in 2005 inspired the women of Mundo Afro to step up their efforts to reclaim their place in the neighbourhoods from which the Afro-Uruguayan community had been forcibly uprooted.

Their first success was the government’s decision to compensate the last residents of the Ansina conventillo, who were evicted by the dictatorship in 1978 and 1979.

With the assistance of García as a representative of the Afro-Uruguayan community in the Ministry of Housing, an agreement was signed between the national government and the local government of Montevideo for the construction of a 15-unit housing complex in the Palermo neighbourhood, specially designated for former inhabitants of Ansina and their children.


"The reparations programme was a major step forward and was met with full agreement. In the past when we brought up the subject of reparations with previous governments (led by the conservative National and Colorado Parties), it was like we were talking about something evil," commented García.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49576

[autorank]

41. Thankyou!

Upsidedown World - great source, excellent article. Thanks for adding that!

:hi:

[Greyhound]

37. Brava! K&R. Brava! n/t

[Joanne98]

39. YAY!

[autorank]

40. YAY is right!

[mmonk]

42. Time to get the economic hitmen and the CIA warmed up.

[TBF]

45. Recommended. n/t

[hfojvt]

47. this story does not seem to fit on DU

Was Operation Condor the fault of our CIA?

[Agony]

50. ?

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/20010306/

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/Predatory_States_Condor.html

[autorank]

51. Kick

:kick:

[EFerrari]

52. People are disappearing in Honduras.

The game never really changes.

[autorank]

55. The arrogance of dictators and fascists

We're not people to them, just objects to be manipulated. Wonder where those Honduran generals
got their training?

[EFerrari]

56. SOA of course. Mike -- I wish you'd check out all the contracts

Harris got this year in Honduras. I know of at least three big ones, two of them before the coup, iirc. There's a thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=405x26559

You're much better than I am at following the money. :hi:

[autorank]

58. You're very good at delegating

That's why I like you!;) I'll check it out.

[EFerrari]

59. LOL! Knowing your limits is a good thing.

:hi:

[autorank]

60. You were very precise, I'm very curious about this

:hi:

[EFerrari]

61. There's too much detritus.

Negroponte, Cinton's "adviser", meets with Micheletti before the coup. Lanny Davis, Clinton's old spokeswhore, turns up as the coup's mouthpiece. He and Otto Reich testify before Congress on behalf of the coup. Aid to Honduras is never turned off really and we continue to train their students at SOA. We find out that the plane that took him out of the country fueled up at our base.

The Obama administration is silent about kidnappings, rapes, torture of journalists and shutting down of resistance media.

The American press repeats over and over again the lie that Zelaya was seeking a second term.

:shrug:

Tonight, there's a rumor Zelaya was trying to fly to Mexico, the ooup won't let the plane land, Zelaya denies it. A lot still going on here and the peoples' bodies are still piling up.

ETA: And then there's this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=405&topic_id=26559&mesg_id=26656

[backtomn]

57. Please study history

Your response might be a bit different if you had a clue about South American history. I am certain that you didn't live there, know people there, or even visit there. In Argentina, the "military government" you criticize originally appointed president GENERAL Peron....that supported fascists and nazis....and named his wife vice-president (later named president on his death). The current Kirschner government has tried to take away pensions of people that worked during the military government. Imagine being a secretary, janitor, or admistrator working for the Bush administration, and having your pension taken away because the Obama administration is now in power. Please tell me how you defend that. Forget that the "terrorists" were blowing up things all over Argentina during the 70's. I would not defend the government of the later 70's, but having the remotist understanding of this country might give you pause, before you make absolutist statements that sound stupid. Please stick to things that you might even begin to understand.