Kleptocracy: This Was The Second Transition

[ en ] Kleptocracy: This Was The Second Transition

 

Originally published on Diagonal, nº 179, p. 33. 

(Thanks to Richard McAleavey for the translation! :-)

‘The cutbacks announced by Rajoy will deepen the recession until 2013’: thus read the El País headline on the package of measures that starts off the imperial economic protectorate of the EU and the markets. The headline, however, could have been another one no less consistent or resounding: “It’s not a crisis! It’s a scam!”. After all, we are witnessing the worst extortion operation we have ever known.

Extortion, let us recall, is an ‘offence that consists of forcing –through violence or intimidation- the commission or omission of an act or commercially motivated legal transaction with a view to making money and with the intention of causing material loss to the victim or a third party’. In this case, the intimidation is that exercised by the markets, and the act or commercially motivated legal transaction is the measures approved in Las Cortes with the goal of ruining the lives of the 99% to the benefit of the 1%.

But is there really a crisis?

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25 Septiembre Ocupación del Congreso

publicado por e-mail

> La cosa se pone más seria...
>
>
>>
>> OCUPA EL CONGRESO.
>> Martes, 25 de Septiembre de 2012
>> Madrid, alrededor del Congreso de los Diputados
>> ¡Atención!, esta puede ser la próxima y definitiva movilización ciudadana a partir de la cual se inicie el proceso de cambio en el que se deje atrás el régimen vigente y se sienten las bases para una verdadera democracia.
>>
>> La acción es clara y contundente:
>> El próximo 25 de septiembre se llegará a Madrid de forma masiva desde todas partes de España, con el fin de rodear el Congreso de los Diputados y permanecer allí de forma indefinida, hasta conseguir la disolución de las cortes y la apertura de un proceso constituyente para la redacción de una nueva constitución, esta vez sí, la de un estado democrático.
>>
>> Toda la ciudadanía está invitada a participar, ya sea a modo individual o a través de asambleas, plataformas ciudadanas, etc.
>> El cambio es necesario y va a ser liderado por el pueblo.
>>
>> MANIFIESTO:
>>
>> Nosotras, persona comunes hartas de sufrir las consecuencias de una crisis que no hemos creado, nos unimos para redactar este manifiesto e invitamos a toda la ciudanìa del Estado a unirse a las reivindicaciones que reclamamos en él.

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¿De que vivo?

Una llamada al programa de Luis del Olmo nos muestra la crisis, sin paños calientes, una realidad que aparece

en la grieta de la desrealidad de los media.

Manifestación #19J en Barcelona

gracias a oscar martínez
http://quiendebe.blogspot.com/

Centenerares de miles de personas en todo el estado español -400.000 en Barcelona y 800.000 en Madrid, según las organizaciones convocantes- han expresado un rotundo rechazo a las políticas del memorándum impuestas por la troika y secundadas por el gobierno del PP, con la anuencia del PSOE y de CiU.

Un reportaje de racos1871. Con licencia Creative Commons. Reconocimiento - NoComercial (by-nc): Se permite la generación de obres derivadas siempre que no se haga un uso comercial. Tampoco se puede utilizar la obra original con finalidades comerciales.

Millions take streets as Spain unites against austerity

published at roarmag.orgwww.roarmag.org

Posted: 19 Jul 2012 08:20 PM PDT

Struggles converge as miners, firefighters, judges, public employees, the unemployed and even the army step up their resistance against EU-enforced cuts.

On Thursday, millions of Spaniards took to the streets in over 80 cities around the country in the largest protest since the past 15th of October, just hours after the Rajoy government ratified the largest budget cuts in the history of Spanish democracy. Once again, in times of crisis, the system shows it true face: as Congress and the streets around it were barricaded by militarized police forces, the ruling party (PP) enforced its absolute majority by carrying out the vote alone, while other parties left Parliament in protest.
Government Ratifies Austerity to Backdrop of Political Turmoil
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy arrived five hours after the debate had begun, just in time for the crucial vote. He has yet to appear in Congress to explain the actions his Government is carrying out, which include, apart from the mentioned austerity measures, an inexplicable deluge of lies and deliberate misinformation: as Spaniards learnt this week through the international media, their sovereignty (that is, the amount and conditions of a full bailout of the financial sector) is being debated not in Spain itself — but in Germany, Holland and Finland.
This new agreement, which Mr. Rajoy has failed to even bring up, implies a loan of up to 100bn euros that will fatten up the public debt even further. The deal, which will lead to even harsher austerity measures in the coming months, was simply left out of the public debate until mainstream media caught onto a document made public by the Dutch government mentioning the agreement and its possible conditions. A full review of this and other documents, some of which were kept confidential, was made public and explained yesterday by El Pais — Spain’s largest newspaper — and led to widespread criticism from different segments of the Spanish population.

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Police crackdown as striking miners march on Madrid

published at  www.roarmag.org Posted: 11 Jul 2012 05:45 PM PDT Dozens injured as riot police attack striking miners and their sympathizers in Madrid while Spanish government announces further austerity measures. The crisis of European capitalism took a major turn for the worse on Wednesday as the Spanish government made a radical U-turn by announcing even deeper austerity measures to the background of some of the biggest and most radical anti-austerity protests to have rocked Europe in months. While thousands of miners and tens of thousands of sympathizers clashedwith riot police during their march on Madrid’s iconic Puerta del Sol, Prime Minister Rajoy told Parliament he would raise sales taxes, slash unemployment payments, raise the retirement age and reduce civil service pay. At least 73 were injured as riot police indiscriminately fired rubber bullets into the crowds and protesters retaliated by throwing bottles, trash and fireworks back at police. Images circulating on Twitter showed a journalist lying injured on the ground and a young child (below) with a massive bruise from a rubber bullet. One particularly disturbing image showed a woman bleeding protrusively from the head as she was being led away by riot police. The clashes are remarkable because, in contrast to Barcelona and Athens, protests in Madrid have tended to stay relatively peaceful so far.

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#AmbSyriza. Entrevista a Stavros Karagkounis, 9 de julio de 2012

Un reportaje de oscar martínez (@racos1871). Con licencia Creative Commons. Reconocimiento - NoComercial (by-nc): Se permite la generación de obres derivadas siempre que no se haga un uso comercial. Tampoco se puede utilizar la obra original con finalidades comerciales.