The Free

Tuesday, Jul 26, 2022 — ZeroHedge by Thomas Fazi via UnHerd.com via thefreeonline

Ultimately, the next euro crisis is much more likely to break out on the streets of Europe than on financial markets.

Mario Draghi’s defenestration has left the Italian — and indeed international — establishment reeling in horror.

 This is not surprising. When he was nominated as Italy’s prime minister at the beginning of last year, Europe’s political and economic elites welcomed his arrival as a miracle.

Virtually every party in the Italian parliament — including the two formerly “populist” parties that won the elections in 2018, the Five Star Movement and the League — offered their support. The tone of the discussion was captured well by the powerful governor of the Campania region, Vincenzo De Luca (PD), who compared Draghi to “Christ” himself.

Everyone agreed: a Draghi government would be a blessing for the country, a final opportunity to redeem its sins and “make Italy great again”.

 Draghi, they said, simply by virtue of his “charisma”, “competence”, “intelligence” and “international clout”, would keep bond markets at bay, enact much-needed reforms, and relaunch Italy’s stagnant economy.

Alas, reality hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations: Draghi leaves behind a country in tatters.

 The latest European Commission macroeconomic forecast predicted that Italy will experience the slowest economic growth in the bloc next year, at just 0.9%, owing to a decline in consumer spending due to rising prices and lower business investment — a result of rising borrowing and energy costs, as well as disruptions in the supply of Russian gas.

Italy is also experiencing one of the fastest-growing inflation rates in Europe — which is currently at 8.6%, the highest level in more than three decades. Interest rates on Italian government bonds have also been steadily climbing ever since Draghi came to power, rising four-fold under his watch; today they stand at the highest level in almost a decade.

And this “polycrisis” has taken its toll on Italian society: 5.6 million Italians — almost 10% of the population, including 1.4 million minors — currently live in absolute poverty, the highest level on record.

Many of these are in work, and that number is bound to increase as real wages in Italy continue to fall at the highest pace in the bloc. Meanwhile, almost 100,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are at risk of insolvency — a 2% increase compared to last year.

So much for “Super Mario”, then. Of course, one could argue that other countries are experiencing similar problems, but it would be a mistake to let Draghi off the hook.

He has been one of the staunchest supporters of the measures that led to this situation, having been a driving force in pushing for tough EU sanctions against Moscow — sanctions that are crippling Europe’s economies, while leaving Russia largely unscathed.

Draghi even boasted about the bold measures adopted by Italy to wean the country off Russian gas — the result being that Italy is now the country that pays the highest wholesale electricity prices in the entire EU.

The absurdity of these policies becomes apparent when we consider his attempt to reduce Italy’s dependence on Russian gas by reviving several coal-fired power plants — coal that Italy largely imports from Russia.

Worse still, Draghi did little or nothing to shield wage-earners, households and small businesses from the impact of these policies.

For anyone who has an inkling of Draghi’s ideology, this is hardly surprising. 

As I’ve argued before, Mario Draghi is the bodily incarnation of “neoliberalism”. Neither is it surprising that those policies haven’t delivered, given that the EU’s neoliberal logic, based upon privatisation, fiscal austerity and wage compression — which Draghi has played a crucial role in implementing since the early Nineties — is the main reason Italy is in such a mess to begin with.

Draghi also further strengthened the EU’s stranglehold over the Italian economy by relentlessly peddling the narrative that Italy desperately needed the European Covid recovery funds to kickstart its economy, and that in order to access those funds it needed to diligently implement the reforms demanded by Brussels.

Yet in macroeconomic terms, the funds in question are a pittance, and nowhere close to what would be needed to have a meaningful impact on Italy’s economy.

Continue reading “How Mario Draghi Broke Italy”

by thefreeonline 26th July ’22

#NoFlyZone4Rojava @starrcongress #YPJ #SDF #NES #10yearsRojava @CommuneInt #RiseUp4Rojava @hawarnews @Anarkism_info @YpgInt

Russia is no friend of the SDF and the NES autonomous multi-ethnic area in Syria. Only with Russian airspace permission could the Turkish dictator Erdogan invade and genocide Afrin in 2018, and the same day the permanent “incursion” began he signed with Putin the agreement for the Turkstream 2 gas pipeline.

Erdogan is angry, sending his new drones daily to murder defense militias in Rojava. Massacring tourists in Iraq.. But will the 4th Invasion still go ahead with Russia, Syria and Iran now opposed?

But this time round Putin has so far said ‘NYET’ to Turkey’s much boasted plans for a 4th invasion, and has backed up its position with demonstrations of military force, new air defences and by organising Syrian and Iranian help.

Russia is after all a guarantor of the ceasefire lines from the 3rd invasion, but at first glance it’s surprising they would risk key Turkish aid and Black Sea transit permits in the Ukraine war by publicly humiliating the ‘Emperor’ Erdogan.

And this especially as the NES and SDF are still nominally supported by the enemy USA, at least in the oil rich eastern Deir es Zur area, due to their hugely successful war against ISIS with US Coalition air cover.

At the Madrid NATO summit Turkey achieved by blackmail a tacit approval to invade and takeover NE Syria, in exchange for dropping its veto against Swedish and Finnish membership.

That is they gave permission to subject an Autonomous, Democratic, Federal, multi-ethnic region to Turkish language, money, jihadi mercenaries..etc in the name of US “freedom” and Ottoman Empire. This to us is a disgusting and immoral example of power politics.

If Russia has really stopped the Turkish imperialist invasion it seems like a principled strategic move to prevent a NATO member further dividing up Syria: to prevent the long term breakup of its Syrian ally, and encourage a rapprochement between the progressive multi-ethnic Rojava and the stubbornly centralized Arabic Damascus regime.

Comrades continue to develop the reasons why #WomenDefendRojava and we should all #RiseUp4Rojava.pic.twitter.com/LundsxUtcn

— Kongra Star Women's Movement Rojava (@starrcongress) December 2, 2019

“The summit in Tehran was a defeat for Erdoğan” https://medyane..

” ….Erdoğan faced opposition when, after the NATO meeting in Madrid, he traveled to Tehran to speak with Russian President Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. With slightly different words and expressions, both said no to the next offensive in Syria.

…Erdoğan had promised his voters that he will accomplish what Atatürk – ‘the father of all Turks’ – failed to achieve: To create a great Turkey as described in the National Pact – Misak-i Milli – from 1920. Last autumn he said that 23 July 2023 (the 100th anniversary of the Lausanne Agreement) will be “the biggest milestone on the road to building a great and strong Turkey.”…

Erdoğan was visibly disappointed at the press conference after the meetings. He said he will continue the fight against terrorism and expects to receive support.…”

So, for now, Rojava survives again…. Viva Rojava.. No Pasarán

***********

Turkish Invasion Cancelled? Did Putin just save Rojava from Erdogan? With new defences and organising Syrian and Iranian help. https://t.co/W8fQcsBJ88 #NoFlyZone4Rojava @starrcongress
#YPJ #SDF #NES #10yearsRojava @CommuneInt #RiseUp4Rojava @hawarnews @Anarkism_info @YpgInt pic.twitter.com/QBB4YxZ9gJ

— Mike Gilliland (@MikeGilliland11) July 26, 2022

Related

• Turkish Hitler celebrates in UK Palace after murdering 8 Kurdish children
• Erdogan to install Jihadi allies in Afrin after expelling Kurds

NATO okays Turkish genocide of 170K trapped Afrin refugees in Tell Rifaat/Shebha enclave July 5, 2022

War Crimes: Erdogan gave Putin #Turkstream 2 pipeline for Russian okay to Bomb, invade and genocide Afrin June 13, 2021

Genocide Tomorrow: Trump sells ‘right to invade Rojava’ to Erdogan for $3.5bn ..  

También son responsables de los crímenes de #EEUU sus aliados de la #OTAN

El verdadero régimen criminal.

By Delmy Tania Cruz Hernández July 2022 English version from debatesindigenas Spanish via thefreeonline

The Zapatista journey has marked the lives of Indigenous peoples and peasant communities with its teachings of autonomy and dreams of other possible worlds.

However, the southeast of Mexico continues to be plagued by extreme poverty and violence generated by criminal economies. In this context, the collective Fases de la Luna promotes educational processes of political training to eradicate violence against women and promote autonomy.

In southern Mexico, the light ignited by the Zapatistas during the First International Meeting of Women in Struggle is still illuminating and expanding.

Although there are strong winds that try to extinguish it, the collective Fases de la Luna (Phases of the Moon) is one of the many experiences of organized women who keep the flame glowing and seek to project it in their territories.

Located in the Chiapas-Guatemala migratory corridor, the organization cannot be explained without the struggle of the Zapatista communities and peoples.

Many of the women’s organizations that are building community networks in the communities and towns of Chiapas are echoing the Zapatistas, the hope of building autonomy and the revolutionary ideas promoted by Liberation Theology.

The southeastern Mexican state has been characterized as a place of resistance and dreams of building very different worlds, but it is also one of the most politically controversial states in Mexi

First International Meeting of Women in Struggle. Photo: Elisa Corzo and Karen Krenz

Extreme poverty and violence in Chiapas

Twenty-eight years have passed since the uprising of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN): the social movement that marked the history of the country for daring to walk an emancipatory political and ideological path from an Indigenous perspective.

In spite of the low intensity warfare promoted by the state and federal governments, the insurgent movement is still alive. In this historical process, women have occupied a key place and their presence is notable in all areas of work: promoters of education, health, agro-ecology, insurgents, militias, sub-commanders and female drivers.

After two years of pandemic, the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL) reports that Chiapas is the state with the highest index of population living in extreme poverty.

In addition to its precarious situation, several processes marked by violence converge in Chiapas: the migrant route, criminal economies that tend to control the territory, drug trafficking, militarization and forced displacement.

The crossfire disrupts the daily life of the communities and, in these scenarios of terror, adult and young women are the most affected because of their gender condition.

Crossfire disrupts the daily life of communities and, in these scenarios of terror, adult and young women are the most affected because of their gender condition.

Since mid-2021, in the Comitán-Huehuetenango border corridor, several confrontations with firearms have been observed in the municipalities of Frontera Comalapa and La Trinitaria.

Although government agencies have not mentioned the identity and origin of the criminal groups, people who live in the area mention that the violence is due to the dispute over territory between the Jalisco Cartel Nueva Generación and the Sinaloa Cartel.

Continue reading “Chiapas: Indigenous women weaving territories of life in the crossfire – English/Spanish”