Crackdown: Venezuelan Prof. Visited by Feds in Pomona
Video By Staff - Democracy Now! - Mar 17 2006
Also, Bolivian Prof. Denied U.S. Entry Visa
We look at two cases of U.S. government crackdown on university professors: A prominent Bolivian scholar who was recently barred from entering the U.S. while a Venezuelan-born professor comes under the watch of federal agents in California.
For the second time in two years, the U.S. government is blocking a prominent foreign scholar from teaching in this country due to so-called security reasons. Eighteen months ago, the U.S. denied a visa to Tariq Ramadan to teach at the University of Notre Dame. The Swiss-born Ramadan is considered to be one of the leading Muslim scholars in Europe. Now the U.S. government is blocking an indigenous Bolivian professor from entering the country to teach at the University of Nebraska.
The professor's name is Waskar Ari. He is a member of the Aymara indigenous people in Bolivia and a leading authority on religious beliefs and political activism in Bolivia. He received his PhD at Georgetown and has spent many years studying in the United States.
A State Department official told the Chronicle of Higher Education that the government has "derogatory information " about Ari that renders him ineligible for the visa. But the government has not shared that information with Ari or the university. The government has not officially rejected Ari's visa but it has effectively blocked him from teaching the past two semesters.
Meanwhile in California a Venezuelan-born professor has also come under the watch of federal agents. Last week Pomona College professor Miguel Tinker-Salas said he was visited and questioned by two Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies working for the FBI's federal anti-terrorism task force. The agents questioned the Latin American studies professor about the political situation in Venezuela and his ties to the Venezuelan government.
The questioning has rattled the education community.
Pomona College President David Oxtoby said he was extremely concerned about the chilling effect this could have on free scholarly and political discourse.
Today we speak with both professors:
Miguel Tinker-Salas__, professor of Chicano and Latin American Studies at Pomona College in California.
Waskar Ari, a visiting professor at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia. As an Aymara activist, he founded the Kechuaymara Foundation in La Paz and other 7 grassroots organizations in Bolivia and Peru. In addition, he was the first director of the largest Internet site on Aymara peoples, Aymaranet.org. He is the author of a number of books, including some on the issues of indigenous movements, human rights and the Aymara people.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AMY GOODMAN: Today, we're going to speak with both professors, Professor Waskar Ari, who joins us on the phone from Bolivia, and Professor Miguel Tinker-Salas, who is in a studio in Puerto Rico, where he's attending the LASA International Congress, that’s the Latin American Studies Association Congress in San Juan. We begin with the professor in San Juan. Welcome to Democracy Now!
MIGUEL TINKER-SALAS: Thank you very much. Good morning.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s very good to have you with us. Professor Miguel Tinker-Salas, tell us what happened. When did the sheriff's deputies come to your home?
MIGUEL TINKER-SALAS: They came to my office last Tuesday as I was having office hours. I have my door always open, and I noticed two individuals walk by who, obviously by their age and dress and stature, were not students. And they joined and milled around outside my office. I could hear them talking to students. And when the student that I was working with left, they entered and identified themselves as L.A. County sheriffs working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force. And they began, very interestingly, talking about my credentials and about my work and about my publications.
And then the conversation quickly moved into a discourse about the Venezuelan community in the Southern California area and in the United States. They were keenly interested in finding out about the nature of this community, where it congregated, its ties to the Venezuelan consulate, its relationship to the Venezuelan embassy. Would it respond to any proclamations being put forth by the government?
And I found the questions rather disingenuous, because much of this is public information. Had they simply gone to the internet, they would have found out that there is no Venezuelan consulate in Los Angeles. They would have found out that the community of Venezuelans in Southern California is relatively small. And when I pushed them on these questions, they kept insisting that they were there to develop a profile of this community and concerns over security. And that troubled me.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, professor, I'd like to ask you, the Chavez administration in Venezuela has been accused of many things by the Bush administration, but to my knowledge, involvement in terrorism is not one of them. Your sense of why they would be even asking, or did you say to them, what does this have to do with anti-terrorism work?
MIGUEL TINKER-SALAS: I was concerned because that very day in the front page of the L.A. Times, there was an article citing Condoleezza Rice trying to link Venezuela to some new axis of evil that included North Korea and Iran, and particularly with her statements about inoculating Venezuela and John Negroponte’s statements to the same effect. t concerned me that there was now being a connection made between Venezuelan immigrants who are here to make a living as are hundreds of thousands of other immigrants and somehow now the idea that the state could in some way move this population to become a security threat. And I was concerned by that correlationship they were drawing.
JUAN GONZALEZ: But there was also, as I understand it, another Venezuelan-born professor at your college who was not questioned, as well, right? So, it would indicate that –
MIGUEL TINKER-SALAS: Right.
JUAN GONZALEZ: — they’re also concerned about the political views of the various people they're questioning?
MIGUEL TINKER-SALAS: Precisely. What I — when they left the room, I asked them what was their intent. And they kept — they said, “Well, this is only the first of many visits we plan to take into account in the Southern California area. We plan to be talking to a lot of professors to deepen this idea of a profile.” And when I questioned them further, the questions became personal. The questions became, “Are you a U.S. citizen?” They also became, “Where did you go to school? What is your background?” And that’s interesting, because on their lap they had a profile, which gave them that information. On their lap, I could see that they had downloaded a copy of the Pomona College web page that has my faculty profile. So they were asking me questions to which they already had an answer. So again, it seemed very disingenuous.
AMY GOODMAN: What are you planning to do now? And how has Pomona responded? How has the college that you are professor of Chicano and Latin American Studies responded?
MIGUEL TINKER-SALAS: The college response has been extremely supportive. I am heartened by my colleagues who have all indicated support and opposition to this intrusion into the academic arena by state agents. The President has issued a very strong statement. The neighboring colleges in the Claremont Consortium have issued also very strong statements, as has the American Association of University Professors. the AAUP.
What I'm concerned about is if they are interviewing other scholars with this intent, I would like to have as a public discourse what is their intent? How many people have they interviewed? What is the objective of trying to link an immigrant community with purported questions of security or terrorism? And what are the implications? What is their objective? I would like this policy to be part of an open discourse, particularly concerning, now that we have the renewal of the PATRIOT Act and we have all the issues of Homeland Security, what are — and we have the N.S.A. wiretapping people in the U.S., I am concerned where this is going and what the implications are for, not only academic freedom, but for also public discourse in the U.S.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Tinker-Salas, we only have ten seconds, but you're at the Latin American Studies Association conference in San Juan. Has LASA taken a stand?
MIGUEL TINKER-SALAS: It is on their agenda. It is before the executive body. It’s also before the Venezuelan section. So we hope that there will be a statement coming out of this organization, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much for joining us from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As we turn now to a colleague in Bolivia, Professor Waskar Ari, a visiting professor in La Paz, Bolivia. He is an Aymara activist, founded the Kechuaymara Foundation in La Paz and seven grassroots groups in Bolivia and Peru, first director of the largest internet site on the Aymara peoples. But our question to you first, Professor Ari, is why we're speaking to you in Bolivia, as opposed to at the University of Nebraska?
WASKAR ARI: Hello, everybody. Taking your question, please. I couldn't listen well.
AMY GOODMAN: What is the reason that you're not teaching at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where you were invited?
WASKAR ARI: Well, the reason is that my work permit is not ready yet. And it’s about nine months that I'm expecting my work permit. But also I learned that my previous visas were cancelled, and through the Chronicle of Higher Education, I learned that actually the State Department ordered to cancel it.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And has the State Department given you any explanation of why this has happened and what information that led them to cancel your visas?
WASKAR ARI: Well, I never – I never got any information. Once I went to the vice counsel here in La Paz and talked to the vice counsel, she just asked me to show my passport, and she canceled the visas. And before I could have asked why she was doing that, she just said, “We don't know. This is just the State Department order us to do this. You should know.” And that was all.
AMY GOODMAN: We're talking to Professor Waskar Ari, who was invited to be a professor at the University of Nebraska, but at this point has been not allowed into the country. I wanted to get your reaction, Professor Ari, to the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the inauguration of the new Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, visiting with Evo Morales, the President of Bolivia. I believe he gave her a guitar that she played on that was made of coca leaf, which she didn't realize at the time. But your response to that meeting?
WASKAR ARI: Well, the guitar is the charango. That’s something very traditional in Bolivia. And the Bolivians have proved that President Morales just wanted to show her that, well, this is very Bolivian. And that was mostly related with something that earlier happened in Chile, in which President Lagos gave the charango to another personality. And that was in relation to that. About the coca leaf, I read that in the international news, but information about that is not in Bolivia. I haven't heard about that.
JUAN GONZALEZ: I'd like to ask you also about the case of Leonida Zurita, a leader among Bolivia's peasants and coca farmers, who has also had a visa revoked after the U.S. government received "information" they said about her and that the order came from the ambassador of the U.S. to Bolivia that she not be allowed to travel to the U.S. Has that gotten much attention there in your country?
WASKAR ARI: Yeah. That's right. That got some attention in the country. First of all, Bolivia is a country that is more or less used to this problem about visas. So visa is not a big news in Bolivia. But this issue about Mrs. Zurita was in the news. And the reactions are that — indeed that case, by the way, is different than mine, because the embassy gave an explanation and said openly that this is about security concern, and they quoted some parts of the PATRIOT Act on that. So this is something that had explanation. But in my case, it’s different, because I never got an explanation about why my case is a case. But in terms of Mrs. Zurita, there was some reactions in Bolivia about the way that was she treated, and I guess this is an issue that some institutions in Vermont are still trying to get a visa for her.
AMY GOODMAN: And, of course, she's a close confidante of the new president, Evo Morales.
WASKAR ARI: That's right.
AMY GOODMAN: Waskar Ari, what has been the response in the United States in the academic community to the U.S. government saying they have “derogatory information on you,” though they're not willing to share it with you or the University of Nebraska?
WASKAR ARI: Well, I got strong support from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and they wrote letters to the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and asking information. And then, also at Georgetown — my PhD is from Georgetown — the president also wrote to the Condoleezza Rice. And then, the American Association of University Professors, also. So, basically — but the most strongest support is from the American Historical Association. So basically now, people are writing letters asking that they should give me visa.
AMY GOODMAN: Professor Waskar Ari, I want to thank you for being with us, supposed to be at the University of Nebraska, but remains right now in Bolivia. We thank you for joining us.
I would watch the Mexico/Chavez situation pertaining to Mexico’s forthcoming election.
I live close to the Mexican border. Why is border protection now a priority when the Mexican border remained porous even in the immediate aftermath of 9/11? Mexico is in danger of going left.
I already posted I believe Hugo Chavez has an army of immigrants in California that have contributed to the immigration protests and this is the information for which the US is looking. I will go further, this country is already wired and an attack on Iran, a strong ally of Chavez , will light the fuse. #msg-10448619 #msg-10433548
If one notes the tag-team efforts of Chavez and great friend China in the Caribbean and the means by which the US has infiltrated China with the idea of tearing the Dragon apart as seen in Taiwan, Xinjiang province and Tibet, I would not rule out China’s presence in the US, albeit the Middle Kingdom will remain hidden. #msg-10164867
-Am
Mexico's presidential race gets down and dirty
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 Posted: 1720 GMT (0120 HKT)
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico's presidential race has gone sharply negative with attempts to tie the front-runner to Hugo Chavez and portray him as a leftist revolutionary in the same mold as the Venezuelan president.
After weeks of leveling unsubstantiated allegations that Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's campaign has been infiltrated by Chavez supporters, the conservative National Action Party went even further in a TV ad aired this month.
The commercial takes a clip from a diplomatic flap last year in which Chavez warned Mexican President Vicente Fox: "Don't mess with me sir. You'll get stung." Then it cuts to video of Lopez Obrador yelling at Fox: "Shut up, citizen president."
"Say no to intolerance," it concludes.
From 2,200 miles away in Caracas, Chavez spoke up to complain that "The Mexican right is using television spots ... to try and stop the rise of the Mexican left and of its presidential candidate."
Then Lopez Obrador's opponents, who had dragged Chavez's name into the race in the first place, demanded a federal probe into whether the Venezuelan's retort violated Mexico's law against foreign interference in elections.
So far, the fuss has done little to shrink Lopez Obrador's lead over former Fox energy secretary Felipe Calderon, his nearest rival, four months ahead of the vote. Lopez Obrador says he has never met Chavez, or even spoken with him by phone.
"Our adversaries are very desperate," he said recently.
His opponents portray the former Mexico City mayor as a demagogue who will scare off foreign investment, antagonize Washington, nationalize more industries and leave Mexico deeply in debt.
Chavez and his socialist revolution fed by Venezuela's oil wealth are the sharp end of a Latin American trend toward electing left-leaning leaders after a decade in which free-market economics failed to substantially dent the region's chronic poverty.
Lopez Obrador's base is certainly what he calls Mexico's "poor and forgotten." As mayor of 8.7 million in the "Distrito Federal," he provided cash grants to the needy and financed expensive public works, including a second deck on two major city highways and a new bus system designed to ease traffic woes.
Opponents claim he left the capital more indebted than ever, though convoluted bookkeeping makes that difficult to confirm.
Now he promises to hold down fuel prices at the likely expense of the state-run oil monopoly and other business interests. But he insists he's a moderate, inclusive politician who will welcome international investment and keep Washington happy.
Fox, constitutionally limited to one six-year term, leaves office in December, six months after the July 2 vote, and there are already signs institutional momentum is flowing in Lopez Obrador's direction -- Fox's former chief of staff joined his campaign this month.
Running with the leftist Democratic Revolution Party and two smaller factions, Lopez Obrador holds a 10-plus point lead over Calderon in most polls. Roberto Madrazo, the candidate of the Institutional Revolutionary Party that controlled Mexico's presidency from 1929 until 2000, trails even further behind.
Major business leaders who may soon have to work with a Lopez Obrador administration have been careful not to publicly criticize him. Jose Luis Barraza, president of the pro-private sector Business Coordination Council, denies assertions that the economy will suffer if he wins.
Business leaders have gotten used to the prospect of a Lopez Obrador victory, said Michael Lettieri of the Council On Hemispheric Affairs in Washington.
"Most see him as pretty moderate," Lettieri said. "They are coming to realize he's not this terrifying communist bogeyman who is going to nationalize all kinds of sectors."
Still, analysts see signs of nervousness. Lopez Obrador has promised to reopen the books on banking privatization scandals that presaged the 1994 peso collapse. Such a crusade could lead to charges against some former banking leaders and business people.
"For now, everything is calm, but some of his statements, especially recently, have been exaggeratedly populist," said Yasmin Corona, an analyst at Bursametrica, a financial consulting company in Mexico City. "There is fear in certain sectors."
Pamela Starr, an analyst at Eurasia Group in Washington, says Mexican business is "afraid he's becoming like Chavez, saying reasonable things now but changing when he gets in power."
But Larry Rubin, head of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico, says most investors think the country's economy will stay stable regardless of who is in power and can live with any of the three major contenders.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
U.S. More Intent on Blocking Chavez Venezuela's leader seeks to rally opposition to Washington as elections near in the region. By Paul Richter, Times Staff Writer March 10, 2006
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is stepping up efforts to counter leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as he builds opposition to U.S. influence in Latin America.
U.S. diplomats have sought in recent years to mute their conflicts with Chavez, fearing that a war of words with the flamboyant populist could raise his stature at home and abroad. But in recent months, as Chavez has sharpened his attacks — and touched American nerves by increasing ties with Iran — American officials have become more outspoken about their intention to isolate him.
Signaling the shift, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Congress last month that the United States was actively organizing other countries to carry out an "inoculation strategy" against what it sees as meddling by Chavez.
U.S. officials believe Chavez uses his oil wealth to reward governments that share his anti-American views and to foment change in those that don't.
"We are working with other countries to make certain that there is a united front against some of the things that Venezuela gets involved in," said Rice, who called Venezuela a "sidekick" of Iran.
Rice leaves today on an eight-day trip to Latin America, Indonesia and Australia, including a stop in Chile for the inauguration of President-elect Michelle Bachelet. Rice said pointedly Thursday that she did not plan to see Chavez, who is expected to attend the inauguration Saturday.
As part of the administration's new view of Venezuela, U.S. defense and intelligence officials have revised their assessment of the security threat Venezuela poses to the region. They say they believe Venezuela will have growing military and diplomatic relationships with North Korea and Iran, and point with concern to its arms buildup. Of equal worry to them is Venezuela's overhaul of its military doctrine, which now emphasizes "asymmetric warfare" — a strategy of sabotage and hit-and-run attacks against a greater military power, much like that used by Iraqi insurgents.
The U.S. government's revived interest in Latin America comes at a time when Congress has been pressing the Bush administration to define its strategy amid a growing number of clashes with the Chavez government.
Last month, the United States and Venezuela engaged in a diplomatic tit-for-tat reminiscent of the Cold War, trading espionage accusations against each other's diplomats, then expelling them. The two countries have also clashed on airspace and landing rights for civilian and military aircraft, as the United States has sought to block Venezuela's bid to become a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council. Venezuela has threatened to end the oil sales that provide the United States with about 12% of its imports, and begun rewriting its contracts with U.S. oil companies.
The tougher U.S. approach also reflects an administration interest in trying to head off any further leftist inroads in upcoming elections in the region. A number of governments face elections this year in Latin America, and Chavez has made known his support for opposition candidates in several of the countries, including Mexico, which will elect its president in July.
"There is some concern that if the United States doesn't play its cards right, there could be a major policy shift in the region that favors Venezuela's interests over the United States," said Daniel P. Erikson of the Inter-American Dialogue, a research organization in Washington.
Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has been trying to build a left-leaning alliance and has offered cut-rate oil and other inducements through a foreign aid program some believe to be worth billions of dollars annually. His stated aim is to push an alternative development model that eases the sting of globalism and favors the interests of the poor, who make up about 40% of the region's population.
Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the United States, defended his country's policies, saying they respond to failed economic models that have increased poverty and social exclusion. "Chavez and [Bolivian President] Evo Morales are not accidents of history," Alvarez said.
In a recent interview, Alvarez defended Venezuela's relationship with Iran, saying the two nations had forged strong ties as co-founders of OPEC in 1960. He said his government's repeated efforts to improve relations with Washington have been met with indifference.
"Any time we try to open a dialogue, there are people who act to sabotage it," Alvarez said.
Many observers are skeptical that Chavez has much appeal beyond Fidel Castro's Cuba and impoverished Bolivia, but U.S. officials are concerned that his efforts could foment violence in unstable countries and weaken Latin American support for the American program of free market economics and U.S.-style governance.
Rice said U.S. officials were trying to build international pressure to address what they see as Venezuelan abuses of democratic institutions at home. This year, she called European Union officials to draw their attention to the trial of a Venezuelan opposition group, Sumate, whose leaders face treason charges for accepting a $31,000 grant from the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy, a private group funded by Congress.
"This kangaroo trial is a disgrace," she said. The EU, a key trading partner of Venezuela, signaled its concern by sending observers to the trial, she noted.
Chavez reacted strongly to Rice's criticism, saying it amounted to plans for an "imperialist attack" that he would resist.
Some State Department officials continue to emphasize that they do not want to be confrontational. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas A. Shannon, the top U.S. diplomat for Latin America, has said he is not looking for a quarrel with Chavez.
"We don't want to exaggerate his role or presence in the region," Shannon said in an interview. "We want to stay focused on a positive agenda for the region."
Military and intelligence officials have been more blunt.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld last month likened Chavez to Hitler, noting that both leaders were elected legally. At the same time, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, appearing before the Senate last week, said Chavez was spending "very extravagantly" to build alliances and seeking to strengthen ties with Iran, North Korea and Cuba.
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said this week in Caracas, the capital, that the recent tough talk by U.S. officials "represents a victory of the hawks in U.S. foreign policy," the official Cuban News Agency reported.
Whether the United States' tough talk will resonate among Latin American leaders is uncertain. Thus far, only Mexico, not an immediate neighbor of Venezuela, has persisted in criticizing Chavez. Mexican President Vicente Fox, who is in the final nine months of his presidential term and hails from a conservative party strongly committed to free trade, exchanged angry words with Chavez late last year over Mexico's U.S. ties.
In the widening spat, the Bush administration might be able to enlist countries that are heavily dependent on the U.S., or badly want the benefits of better ties with the north, one senior Latin American diplomat said.
But others, "even the ones who don't like Chavez, don't want to be out front," said the envoy, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the subject. "They don't want trouble."
Times staff writer Chris Kraul in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
Reference: Chavez, thorn in Bush’s side and economic lifeline for Cuba another thorn in Bush’ side, is also gaining vast influence in the Caribbean along with that major thorn in Bush’s side, China.
The Caribbean- Chávez was in Jamaica Tuesday to finalize details on the PetroCaribe agreement signed in June. The deal, which is meant to help small Caribbean economies cope with high fuel prices, offers generous financing for oil sales and favorable rates in exchange for goods, services, or credit. Thirteen of the 15 members of the Caribbean Community group, or Caricom, have already signed on. #msg-7487003
China is waging an aggressive campaign of seduction in the Caribbean, wooing countries away from relationships with rival Taiwan, opening markets for its expanding economy, promising to send tourists, and shipping police to Haiti in the first communist deployment in the Western Hemisphere.
And the United States, China's Cold War enemy, is benignly watching the Asian economic superpower move into its backyard. #msg-5859727 #msg-10120317
The pertinent issue is that the US government obviously suspects that many immigrants especially from Venezuela are under foreign influence. With the growing influence of Latinos, if this is true, what is to stop the secession of California?
He also was asked whether the U.S. government should have concerns about Venezuelan immigrants and whether they might act upon declarations or pronouncements from that country's embassy or consulate.
This is not an immigration matter although immigration is a factor. Rather this is a situation in which a targeted future majority could easily become under the control of a foreign power whether the Latinos are conscious of who is in reality pulling the strings or not.
A California secession movement is already underway. At the present it lacks support and is anti-immigration. There is, however, no reason why the secession movement cannot be hijacked by a plurality that also happens to be under the sway of foreign pressure, it being the clandestine foreign interference to which I object.
My agreement with much of what Chavez stands for and understanding of Iranian and Chinese positions does not answer the question of how will this kind of power which could easily include the takeover of California corrupt?
Is this a from the frying pan into the fire matter?
-Am
California secession: New California Republic
Wednesday, March 29, 2006 1:58:08 PM
Move On California becomes New California Republic
The support and well-wishes from all of our readers and contributors has been amazing. In order to keep the momentum of the move toward California independence alive we have agreed to change the name of our website and organization. Move On California will now be known as New California Republic.
An independent California: How scary can that be?
This isn’t about starting a civil war. We are talking about peaceful secession and the creation of an independent California. Time will judge if a majority of Californians agree that independence is the best way. If and when that happens it is our desire that cooler heads prevail and a diplomatic, peaceful, political resolution comes about. Read more>>
California secession debate is not simply a red and blue issue
Some common ground is beginning to emerge that frames the discussion of an independent California in a different light. While the New California Republic was founded in reaction to the disappointment of George Bush’s re-election, there are some very good reasons why a majority of Californians should at least consider moving down the path toward independence.
Red reasons
Blue reasons
Secession makes sense to your wallet
The citizens of California will soon see that all of the talk about secession isn’t so farfetched when it hits them in the pocketbook. California secession is not just about gay marriage and abortion rights. It’s about preserving our state’s economy. It’s about protecting Californians from red state politicians who want to siphon off our taxes to pay for pork barrel spending projects in their own states. Read more>>
Immigration and independence
Californians need to step up and take a bigger role in solving this problem. Whether it is independently as a republic or working together with our neighboring regions, the states most greatly impacted by the affects of immigration are best suited to understand and solve the problems. Californians didn’t wait for the federal government to fund stem cell research, let’s not wait for Washington to bring about meaningful immigration reform. Read more>>
Just the blue of us Who's to say what the North American continent will look like in 30, 50 or 100 years? Demographic, cultural, economic and political changes could dramatically change the landscape of the continent.
Putting independence on the ballot
Numerous people responding to the New California Republic have suggested we move forward with a ballot initiative for California secession. Some kind of ballot initiative is something that we would like to move toward with a degree of caution. Read more>>
Questions and answers about secession
Secession may not be the only answer or even the best answer, but citizens on the West Coast are finding themselves increasingly disenfranchised from the conservative cultural domination of the large middle and southern sections of the country, dubbed by some pundits as "Jesusland." Read more>>
>Listen to interview with New California Republic organizer Jeff Morrissette and Thomas Naylor, founder of the Second Vermont Republic, on KPFA Radio 94.1 from 12.15.04 >More satire: Red Babies, Blue Babies: liberals need to fuck more >And now for something completely different...There is one scenario that is worth entertaining which might make secession a moot point—the implosion of the Republican Party.
Reference: Latinos are projected to become the largest racial or ethnic group by 2011 and to constitute a majority by 2040. They are now the largest group of residents under age 30, and almost half of births are to Latina women.
Caracas, Mar 31 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned on Friday that the US intends to invade Iran in its search for energy resources, and said the world can avoid that aggression.
ElBaradei: Iran Sanctions Bad Idea
At the opening of a hydroelectric station on the Caroni River Chavez publicly asked Europe, Russia, and China to save the world by evading the US aggressive policy.
After denouncing the genocidal occupation of Iraq, he said Europe has an important role in preventing that "US imperialist policies cause a greater tragedy in Iran."
The Venezuelan president, who called to resolve international differences diplomatically, accused US President George W. Bush of trying to implement a fascist anti-immigrant law.
Chavez wondered how Bush could justify the immigration law, which is something horrible, an atrocity," against millions of human beings, and said that measure, together with the wall to stop immigration of Latin Americans to the United States, "borders on fascism." hr/ccs/iom/ml
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