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Bernal, Making good citizens

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Citizenship training

by Miguel Antonio Bernal V.

Our public universities have been the first to abandon their mission of being guides in the process of educating citizens.

The maelstrom of education in our country demands a civic reaction. However, this does not happen. The authorities are determined to cultivate ignorance.

Given this, it is urgent that we insist on the need for decisive action to train citizens for democratization and the full exercise of civic virtues. This is unfortunately absent today from educational programs at all levels.

It is not possible to speak of democracy if there is no education of citizens that has that objective. We have been induces to forget that education is the introduction to democratization. People with interests in doing so promote ignorance so that they ca profit with impunity from corruption. These days such militant ignorance is promoted and revered by a joint criminal enterprise that governs and its greatest accomplice, the partisan political system as we know it.

The political education of citizens, Amy Guttman points out, should have primacy over other objectives of public education because it “prepares citizens to participate in consciously reproducing their society, and conscious social reproduction is the ideal not only of democratic education but also of democratic politics.”

It is urgent to awaken the interest of all students, and all citizens in public affairs. That includes the practices, values and institutions of democracy. It is urgent to have citizen control mechanisms to avoid exaggerated irrationality in the exercise of political power.

Public universities have been the first to abandon their mission of being a guide in the objectives of citizen education. Today, they favor bureaucracy, nepotism, patronage and opportunism, as the recent revelations about UNACHI show.

The opponents of constitutionalism as a freedom strategy – although they deny this –cling to a parallel process that would close the doors to change. But it’s a brand new constitution, wrought in a process that the present in-crowd does not control, that would open the way for the democratizing transformation that our society and institutions require.

The same ones who have chosen to be fugitives from a Constituent Assembly are also the ones who block civic education. It’s time to separate the wheat from the chaff. It’s time to exercise our power as citizens. Let’s do that with the dignity and determination that these times require of us.

 

 

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Boric, Discurso inaugural

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If your Spanish is not that good, use Google Translate to get the gist of the text below.

Primer discurso en el Palacio de La Moneda del Presidente Gabriel Boric Font

Chilenas y chilenos, habitantes de nuestra patria, pueblo de Chile:

Esta tarde, por primera vez, les hablo como Presidente de la República, Presidente de todas y todos los que habitamos este país que tanto queremos y cuánto queremos a Chile, que ha sufrido tanto y qué tantas alegrías nos ha dado.

Gracias infinitas por darme este honor a ustedes, a quienes nos están viendo en sus casas a lo largo y ancho de todo nuestro país. También, a mi familia incondicional, a nuestro Gabinete, nuestros equipos y, también, personalmente a Irina.

Este Chile hecho de diversos pueblos y naciones, instalado en una cornisa del continente entre las cordilleras imponentes y su océano mágico, entre el desierto de vida y los hielos antárticos, enriquecido y transformado por el trabajo de su pueblo.

Es este Chile que solo en un puñado de años, y ustedes lo han vivido, ha debido atravesar terremotos, catástrofes, crisis, convulsiones y una pandemia mundial y violaciones a los derechos humanos que nunca más se repetirán en nuestro país. Pero en el que siempre, siempre nos sacudimos el polvo, nos secamos las lágrimas, ensayamos juntos una sonrisa, nos arremangamos y seguimos, chilenas y chilenos, siempre seguimos.

La emoción qué he sentido hoy día al atravesar la Plaza de la Constitución y entrar a este Palacio de La Moneda, es profunda y necesito, existencialmente necesito compartirla con ustedes. Son parte protagónica de este proceso, el pueblo de Chile es protagónico en este proceso, no estaríamos aquí sin las movilizaciones de ustedes.

Y quiero que sepan que no llegamos aquí solo para llenar cargos y solazarnos entre nosotros, para generar distancias inalcanzables, llegamos aquí para entregarnos en cuerpo y alma al compromiso de hacer mejor la vida en nuestra patria.

Quiero decirles, compatriotas, que he visto sus caras recorriendo nuestro país, las de las personas mayores cuya pensión no les alcanza para vivir porque algunos decidieron hacer de la previsión un negocio.

Las de quienes se enferman y sus familias no tienen cómo costearle los tratamientos. Cuántos de ustedes nos han hablado, nos hemos mirado a los ojos.

Las de los estudiantes endeudados, las de las y los campesinos sin agua por sequía y por saqueo.

Las de las mujeres que cuidan a sus niños con TEA que en cada lugar de Chile me las encuentro. A sus familiares postrados, a sus bebés indefensos.

Las de las familias que siguen buscando a sus detenidos desaparecidos qué no dejaremos de buscar.

Las de las disidencias y diversidades de género que han sido discriminadas y excluidas por tanto tiempo.

Las de los artistas que no pueden vivir de su trabajo porque la cultura no es lo suficientemente valorada en nuestro país.

Las de las dirigentas sociales que luchan por el derecho a una vivienda digna en las poblaciones de Chile.

Las de los pueblos originarios despojados de su tierra, pero nunca, nunca de su historia.

Las de la clase media acogotada, las de los niños y niñas del Sename, nunca más, nunca más, las caras de las zonas más aisladas de nuestro país como el Magallanes de dónde vengo, las de quiénes viven en la pobreza olvidada.

Con ustedes es nuestro compromiso.

Hoy iniciamos un período de grandes desafíos, de inmensa responsabilidad, pero no partimos de cero, no partimos de cero. Chile tiene una larga historia y hoy día este día nos inserta en esa historia larga de nuestra República.

Iniciar mi mandato como Presidente Constitucional de la República de Chile es hacerme parte, hacernos parte de una historia que nos excede a todos, pero que al mismo tiempo le da forma, le da sentido y dirección a nuestra mirada.

Por aquí pasaron antes que nosotros miles de personas que hicieron posible la expansión de la educación pública, el reconocimiento progresivo de los derechos de las mujeres y las disidencias en el país y en la casa, la democratización del país, el reconocimiento de los derechos sociales.

Por aquí, en este lugar desde donde hoy les hablo, pasó Balmaceda y su dignidad chilena, Pedro Aguirre Cerda y su “gobernar es educar” citando a Valentín Letelier.

Por acá pasó también Eduardo Frei Montalva y la promoción popular, el compañero Salvador Allende y la nacionalización del Cobre, Patricio Aylwin y la recuperación de la democracia, Michelle Bachelet abriendo caminos inexplorados con la protección social.

Aquí se escuchan también los ecos de quienes anónimamente se han levantado contra la opresión, defendiendo los derechos humanos, exigiendo verdad, justicia, reparación y garantías de no repetición.

Por acá resuena el clamor feminista y su lucha por la igualdad.

Y algunos se acordarán también de las 1.800 horas corriendo alrededor de La Moneda por la educación.

Pero estas paredes también han sido testigos del horror de un pasado de violencia y opresión que no hemos olvidado y no olvidaremos. Por donde hablamos hoy, ayer entraban cohetes y eso nunca más se puede volver a repetir en nuestra historia.

Este Palacio, esta Plaza, esta ciudad, este país tienen historia y a esa historia también nos debemos. Hoy, en esta jornada tan importante en el difícil, difícil camino de los cambios que la ciudadanía decidió echar a andar en unidad, repito, importante, en unidad, vienen a mi mente y a mi corazón los días en que, junto a muchos de los aquí presentes, y seguramente quienes nos están viendo en sus casas también, marchábamos juntos por un futuro digno.

¿Hacia dónde marchábamos, compatriotas? ¿hacia dónde marchábamos?

No va a ser este Gobierno el fin de esa marcha, vamos a seguir andando y el camino, sin duda, va a ser largo y difícil, pero hoy los sueños de millones de personas están acá empujándonos, dándonos sentido para llevar a buen puerto los cambios que la sociedad demanda.

Chilenas y chilenos:

Mi sueño es que cuando terminemos nuestro mandato, y hablo en plural porque esto no es algo individual, esto no se trata de mí, esto se trata del mandato que el pueblo nos diera a este proyecto colectivo, cuando terminemos este mandato podamos mirar a nuestros hijos, a nuestras hermanas, a nuestros padres, a nuestras vecinas, a nuestros abuelos y sintamos que hay un país que nos protege, que nos acoge, que nos cuida, que garantiza derechos y retribuye con justicia el aporte y el sacrificio que cada uno de ustedes, de los habitantes de nuestra patria, hacen para el desarrollo de nuestra sociedad.

Quisiera, compatriotas y en los ejemplos uno siempre se queda corto, pero quisiera, compatriotas, qué la gente de Puchuncaví y de Coronel puedan mirar hacia el futuro y saber que sus hijos no van a crecer rodeados de contaminación, algo tan básico.

Que la gente, los trabajadores de Lota no van a seguir viviendo en la pobreza.

Que las comunidades de algueras y pescadores artesanales de la provincia de Cardenal Caro podrán seguir desarrollando sus actividades tradicionales.

Que los niños y niñas de Alto Hospicio, allá arriba, sepan que ellos también van a poder acceder a una vivienda digna.

Que los vecinos y vecinas de Antofagasta, de Maipú, de Hualpén sientan tranquilidad al volver de sus trabajos y tengan tiempo para vivir junto a sus familias. Por eso impulsaremos, como hemos comprometido, las 40 horas.

Que los jóvenes de Juan Fernández, ese lugar aislado, insular van a poder tener un colegio digno para estudiar.

Sabemos, compatriotas, que el cumplimiento de nuestras metas no será fácil, que enfrentaremos crisis externas e internas, que cometeremos errores y que esos errores los deberemos enmendar con humildad, escuchando siempre a quienes piensan distinto y apoyándonos en el pueblo de Chile.

Quiero decirles que vamos a vivir tiempos desafiantes y tremendamente complejos. La pandemia sigue su curso, con un saldo de dolor y pérdida de vidas que nos va a acompañar por mucho tiempo, seguramente todos ustedes conocen a alguien que ha partido producto de la pandemia.

Pensemos, pensemos por un segundo, por un segundo en quiénes se han ido y quienes nos han dejado, pensemos en el dolor que tiene cada familia en su intimidad por quién ha partido y no volverá. Tenemos que abrazarnos como sociedad, volver a querernos, volver a sonreír, esto más allá de discursos y más allá de lo que está escrito, qué importante, qué diferente es cuando en un pueblo nos queremos, nos cuidamos entre nosotros, no desconfiamos el uno del otro, sino que nosapoyamos. Le preguntamos a nuestro vecino cómo ésta, apoyamos al trabajador de al lado, nos queremos, salimos adelante juntos y juntas. Eso es lo que tenemos que construir, compatriotas.

Sabemos también que la economía sigue resentida y que el país necesita ponerse de pie, crecer y repartir de manera justa los frutos de este crecimiento, porque cuando no hay distribución de la riqueza, cuando la riqueza se concentra solo en unos pocos, la paga es muy difícil. Necesitamos redistribuir la riqueza que producen los chilenos y chilenas, que producen quiénes habitan nuestra patria.

Sabemos que a todas estas dificultades se suma, además, un contexto internacional marcado por la violencia en muchos lugares del mundo y hoy también por la guerra. Y en esto quiero ser muy claro, Chile, nuestro país, promoverá siempre el respeto de los Derechos Humanos, en todo lugar y sin importar el color del gobierno que los vulnere.

Desde Chile, en nuestra América Latina, porque somos profundamente latinoamericanos y basta de mirar con distancia a nuestros países vecinos, somos profundamente latinoamericanos y un saludo a nuestros pueblos hermanos, desde aquí, desde este continente haremos esfuerzos para que la voz del sur se vuelva a escuchar firme en un mundo cambiante.

Son tantos los desafíos, la emergencia climática, los procesos migratorios, la globalización económica, la crisis energética, la violencia permanente contra las mujeres y disidencias. Tenemos que trabajar juntos con nuestros pueblos hermanos, como lo conversábamos hoy día con Presidentes de otros países. Nunca más mirarnos en menos, nunca más mirarnos con desconfianza, trabajemos juntos en América Latina para salir adelante juntos.

Practicaremos, compatriotas, la autonomía política a nivel internacional, sin subordinarnos nunca a ninguna potencia y cautelando siempre la coordinación y cooperación entre los pueblos.

Quiero que sepan que, como Presidente de Chile y nuestro Gabinete, nuestros equipos no le haremos el quite a los problemas, vamos a explicar, vamos a hablar con ustedes para contarles el porqué de nuestras decisiones para que sean parte, también, de las soluciones. Y eso requiere, también, cambiar de alguna forma la relación que se tiene con las autoridades, las autoridades no pueden ser inalcanzables; queremos ministros en terreno, en la calle, estando con el pueblo. Queremos no hacer visitas a las regiones que sean solamente de un par de horas para inaugurar una obra y chao. Escuchar, no estar escondidos.

Y, para eso, es importante que también haya reciprocidad y a qué me refiero con eso, que la relación con las autoridades no sea una de consumidores, que trabajemos juntos, que seamos ciudadanos y que este sea el Gobierno del pueblo y ustedes lo sientan como su Gobierno, de todas y todos los chilenos y chilenas.

Y para eso nos vamos a necesitar todos, Gobierno y Oposición, instituciones y sociedad civil, movimientos sociales. Nuestro Gobierno, cuya base política es Apruebo Dignidad y, también, un saludo a nuestros compañeros que han trabajado tanto por esto y, también, los partidos de Convergencia Progresista.

Quiero que sepan que no se agota, este Gobierno no se agota en sus adherentes. Seré el Presidente de todos los chilenos y chilenas y escucharé siempre las críticas constructivas y las propuestas de quienes piensan distinto a nosotros, los que siempre, siempre tendrán garantizada la libertad y el derecho de disentir.

Como he dicho más una vez, citando palabras nacidas al calor de las movilizaciones en un colegio tomado en una población, lejos, en una región perdida, porque de las movilizaciones venimos; hoy día estamos acá, pero no nos olvidamos de dónde venimos.

Vamos lento porque vamos lejos, vamos lento porque vamos lejos y no vamos solos, sino que con todos ustedes, hombres, mujeres, niños y niñas que nos acompañan hoy en esta plaza, a través de sus pantallas en sus casas, quizás, en el celular, en la micro, de donde sea que nos estén viendo o en el extranjero quienes también nos están siguiendo y añoran a su Chile querido porque es central, como he repetido varias veces en este discurso, que ustedes se hagan parte de este proceso porque no podemos hacerlo solos.

Desde este lugar quiero hacerles a todas y a todos, un llamado, que nos acompañemos en esta tarea. Caminemos juntos la ruta de la esperanza y construyamos todos el cambio hacia un país que sea digno y justo. Dignidad, qué palabra tan linda. Lo construiremos paso a paso con la sabiduría de quien sabe que los cambios que duran son los que tienen sustento en el conocimiento acumulado y que son respaldados por grandes mayorías.

Pondremos especial atención, cómo he señalado, a los efectos que la pandemia ha tenido sobre el sistema de salud, sobre los trabajadores y trabajadoras que nos han protegido y cuidado, sobre las listas de espera que tanta angustia generan en las familias.

Vamos a continuar, también, la exitosa estrategia de vacunación del pasado Gobierno colocando siempre la salud de las personas como prioridad primera y también implementaremos una estrategia específica para atender las consecuencias de la salud mental porque la salud mental también importa chilenos y chilenas.

Nos vamos a preocupar, específicamente, por la educación donde ha habido una brecha gigante producto de la obligación de cerrar las escuelas. Tenemos que volver a abrir las escuelas para que nuestros niños y niñas vuelvan a encontrarse generando, por cierto, todas las condiciones de seguridad para que ello sea posible.

Vamos a implementar, con mucha energía, la consolidación de nuestra economía, recuperar nuestra economía sin reproducir sus desigualdades estructurales. Un crecimiento que sea sustentable, nunca más zonas de sacrificio; el Estado también es responsable.

Queremos que las pequeñas y medianas empresas que generan valor vuelvan a crecer, queremos terminar con los abusos que tan injustamente, que tan justamente han indignado a nuestro pueblo y queremos volver a generar, en conjunto, dándole seguimiento a las buenas ideas de antes; empleo digno.

Reconocemos también que millones de chilenos y chilenas viven hoy día con temor. No podemos mirar para el lado ante eso y vamos a enfrentar el problema de la delincuencia enfrentando la desigualdad social que es su origen y también con una reforma las policías que asegure presencia en los lugares donde más se necesita, que aumente la efectividad de la investigación y que se concentre en las organizaciones criminales y de narcos que destruyen nuestros barrios.

Les doy un mensaje a quienes han hecho de la delincuencia algo común y que creen que pueden vivir en la impunidad. No quiero frases grandilocuentes, quiero decirles que los vamos a enfrentar con la comunidad.

Y quiero decir, también, que necesitamos reparar las heridas que quedaron del estallido social. Y, por eso, el día de ayer hemos retirado las querellas por Ley de Seguridad Interior del Estado porque tenemos la convicción de que como chilenos y chilenas tenemos que volver a encontrarnos y vamos a trabajar, vamos a trabajar intensamente en aquello; lo hemos conversado con los familiares de los presos, saben que estamos en ello.

Sabemos, también, compatriotas que enfrentaremos grandes desafíos en el Norte y en el Sur. En el Norte por la crisis migratoria donde vamos a retomar el control de nuestras fronteras y trabajaremos juntos nuestros países hermanos para abordar de manera colectiva las dificultades que conlleva el éxodo de miles de seres humanos, no nos olvidemos nunca que somos seres humanos, por favor.

Quiero decirle a la gente de Colchane, a la gente de Iquique, de Antofagasta, de San Pedro que no van a estar solos, a la gente de Arica, por cierto.

Quiero también decir que en el Sur tenemos un problema. El conflicto que no es como antes se hablaba de la pacificación de la Araucanía, que termino más burdo e injusto. Después algunos decían el conflicto mapuche, no señores, no es el conflicto mapuche, es el conflicto entre el Estado chileno y un pueblo que tiene derecho a existir. Y allí la solución no es ni será la violencia.

Trabajaremos incansablemente por reconstruir las confianzas después de tantas décadas, después de tantas décadas de abuso y de despojo. El reconocimiento a existir de un pueblo, con todo lo que eso implica, será nuestro objetivo y el camino será el diálogo, la paz, el derecho y la empatía con todas las víctimas, sí, con todas las víctimas. Cultivemos, cultivemos la reciprocidad, no nos veamos como enemigos, tenemos que volver a encontrarnos.

En este primer año de Gobierno también nos hemos impuesto como tarea acompañar de manera entusiasta nuestro proceso constituyente por el que tanto hemos luchado. Vamos a apoyar decididamente, decididamente el trabajo de la Convención. Necesitamos una Constitución que nos una, que sintamos como propia, una Constitución que, a diferencia de la que fue impuesta a sangre, fuego y fraudes por la dictadura, nazca en democracia, de manera paritaria, con participación de los pueblos indígenas, una Constitución que sea para el presente y para el futuro, una Constitución que sea para todos y no para unos pocos.

Los invito a que nos escuchemos de buena fe, sin caricaturas, sin caricaturas, tomémonoslo en serio, de todos los bandos. Nos lo digo a nosotros mismos también, escuchemos de buena fe, sin caricaturas para que el plebiscito de salida sea un punto de encuentro y no de división y podamos aquí, junto al pueblo, firmar por primera vez en la historia de Chile una Constitución, democrática, paritaria, con participación de todas y todos nuestros pueblos.

Chilenas y chilenos:

El mundo nos está mirando. Quiero decirles chilenos y chilenas que el pueblo nos está mirando, el mundo nos está mirando y estoy seguro de que también ven con complicidad lo que está pasando en Chile.

Tenemos la oportunidad de ir aportando humildemente a la construcción de una sociedad más justa y estoy seguro que vamos a estar a la altura de este proceso democrático que fue decidido por una inmensa mayoría ciudadana, repliquemos ese resultado.

Queridos habitantes de nuestra tierra:

Asumo hoy con humildad, con conciencia de las dificultades el mandato que ustedes me han confiado, lo hago también con la convicción de que solo en la construcción colectiva de una sociedad más digna podremos fundar una vida mejor para todos y todas. En Chile no sobra nadie, la democracia la construimos juntos y la vida que soñamos solo pueden nacer de la convivencia, el diálogo, la democracia, la colaboración y no la exclusión.

Sé que en 4 años más el pueblo de Chile nos juzgará por nuestras obras y no por nuestras palabras y que, como decía un viejo poeta, el adjetivo cuando no da vida, mata. Hoy era necesario hablar, mañana todos juntos a trabajar.

Como pronosticara hace casi 50 años Salvador Allende, estamos de nuevo, compatriotas, abriendo las grandes alamedas por donde pase el hombre libre, el hombre y la mujer libre, para construir una sociedad mejor.

Seguimos. ¡Viva Chile!

 

Contact us by email at / Contáctanos por correo electrónico a fund4thepanamanews@gmail.com

 

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Hauter, End the Oil Age to end wars over fossil fuels

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Tanker
The Samara City, moored at the Astrakhan Seaport. The port, located on the lower part of the Volga River, is an important terminal along the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). Photo by Erik Romanenko — TASS via Getty Images.

To help end this war — and prevent the
next one — we must ditch fossil fuels

by Wenonah Hauter — Food & Water Action / Common Dreams

Amid the mounting crisis in Ukraine, fossil fuel giants and an array of political leaders are using the guise of “global security” to promote an agenda that strengthens the dominance of dirty energy for decades to come.

The industry and their Congressional allies have responded by rehashing inaccurate complaints that President Biden is refusing to open up more land to drilling and fracking. Other voices are chiming in to say we should expedite the increased flow of fracked gas to European countries as they attempt to move off of Russian gas. And the White House, in response to bipartisan efforts in Congress, announced a ban on Russian oil imports.

Increasing fossil fuel production will not make the world safer, or provide any short-term relief for families struggling to pay sky-high energy or gas bills; it will only exacerbate the already rapidly escalating climate crisis. To enhance domestic, European, and global security, it’s time to aggressively promote energy efficiency and conservation while quickly deploying renewable energy and moving off fossil fuels.

The threats from climate chaos are well-known by now; we just received another dire warning from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The scientific panel’s report, in the words of its chair Hoesung Lee, laid out how “climate change is a grave and mounting threat to our wellbeing and a healthy planet.”

The report explained in great detail the impact our fossil fuel-based economy is having on the environment and people living in it, from loss of biodiversity to acute food insecurity for millions of people.

In this context, calls for increasing fossil fuel production to address the immediate situation in Europe make little sense. This would not provide an effective short-term solution; oil rigs cannot immediately start pumping, and gas export facilities take years to complete. The real point of some of this pressure is to fulfill the long-term plans of the dirty energy industry by bolstering its position in the global energy market for decades to come. This would speed an already rapidly unfolding climate disaster of unprecedented proportions.

As a practical matter, the United States, even if it wanted to, does not currently have the capacity to meet anything close to Europe’s energy needs. Though the gas industry is already making plans to massively expand its footprint, mostly on the Gulf Coast. Already planned facilities will increase fracking in this country, creating local air and pollution threats and increasing climate pollution.

The best way to address dependence on fossil fuels is to move off of them rapidly. Both the United States and Europe must invest significant funds in energy efficiency and conservation while at the same time building renewable energy. Not only will this approach result in greater energy independence, it will also help resolve the climate crisis rather than exacerbating it.

This would be a far more cost-effective solution.

Investing $500 billion in energy efficiency, for example, would save climate emissions equivalent to nearly 80 coal power plants, while at the same time creating over a million jobs and saving consumers over $300 a year on their energy bills. Solar and wind energy production are already less expensive than fossil fuels, and as oil, gasoline, and natural gas prices have risen due to a range of factors—from war to corporate greed—solar and wind prices have remained stable.

The fossil fuel industry is quite openly viewing the war as a business opportunity. One Italian fossil fuel executive touted the benefits of increased liquified natural gas deliveries to Europe by saying, “If we react to the current crisis with a warlike reaction, we can do a lot in six months.” This is revealing—and harrowing at the same time. Making the world more dependent on volatile international energy markets is not a solution, it is an invitation to further crises. Imagine promoting energy efficiency, conservation, and renewables with such intensity! Instead of doubling down on fossil fuel production, we must embrace these common sense solutions while we pursue swift reductions in fossil fuel extraction and consumption.

Many elected leaders, from President Biden on down, call the climate crisis an existential threat to humanity. Their actions do not reflect that. The White House is seeking to say everything all at once—calling on oil companies to ramp up production while simultaneously pledging to end the fossil fuel era. Rather than approving more oil and gas projects, our national leaders should embrace an all hands on deck approach to moving the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world off fossil fuels. Not only would this make short-term sense, it is the only way to avoid even worse climate-driven disasters and wars in the future.

 

Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Action. She has worked extensively on energy, food, water and environmental issues at the national, state and local level. Experienced in developing policy positions and legislative strategies, she is also a skilled and accomplished organizer, having lobbied and developed grassroots field strategy and action plans.

 

 

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¿Wappin? Conciencia cuando la necesitamos / Conscience when we need it

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Prince of the weirdos
Prince. Graphic by Johnny Silvercloud.

A Friday recharge
Una recarga de viernes 

Bob Marley – Three Little Birds
https://youtu.be/rBDNKFo_nhI

Aisha & Mad Professor – Creator
https://youtu.be/m8CMinoLkq4

Mark Anthony – Nada de Nada
https://youtu.be/bUab_Wn2qCM

Fugees – Killing Me Softly With His Song
https://youtu.be/oKOtzIo-uYw

La India – Seduceme
https://youtu.be/aWHjKKph9Jc

The Pretenders — I’ll Stand By You
https://youtu.be/vKl7DrQj9ig

Lord Cobra y los Pana Afros – Down the River
https://youtu.be/dqjb-ISo5qs

Mon Laferte & Enrique Bunbury – Mi Buen Amor
https://youtu.be/13m9v78uNJk

Prince – Raspberry Beret
https://youtu.be/l7vRSu_wsNc

Natalia Lafourcade – Soledad y El Mar
https://youtu.be/yAxu-KWKoOg

Sting – Russians
https://youtu.be/r5qhS9Ic96A

Séptima Raíz – Conciencia
https://youtu.be/w3jN4WOZOfg

Yasmin Williams – Tiny Desk (Home) Concert
https://youtu.be/nKDoVuG7uZ0

 

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MEDUCA rehabs an old corregiduria

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Makeover in progress
The switch from corregidores to justices of the peace was and is a controversial experiment with mixed results. In some ways it’s just a budget cut, wherein people in places like Juan Diaz de Anton in Cocle province lose the presence of the justice system in the neighborhood and have to go into town. But that left this building empty, among other things. In the runup to the last elections it was being painted with school colors and we were told it would be an annex to the local elementary school. Perhaps part of that was right. Only after several years’ vacancy, we now see some work underway. The editor, who lives nearby, went with his camera to check it out.

The rescue of a public space

photos and comments by Eric Jackson

The old corregiduria hasn’t been used inside for years. The last public use of it was during the Varela administration, by the Instituto de Mercadeo Agropecuario (IMA), a subsidized government food marketing program that from time to time — notably but not exclusively during the Varela years — generated allegations of pilferage by its functionaries. It was still a good way to get fresh vegetables and other staples without having to go into town. In Martinelli times the building was home to the more ambitious and less reputable Jumbo stores that the IMA ran at the time.

The last signs that this was in public use were in the run-up to the 2019 elections, when a local crew began to paint the outer walls blue and white — school colors — and a fence was put up around the building, which had been broken into and in back of which some of the local drunks would sometimes congregate. I was told it would be an expansion of the elementary school down the road, but after the election there was nothing more heard about it. I figured it was just a campaign promise.

Now, about three years from the last activity, things stir again.

A lady wearing a paint-spattered rector t-shirt told me that yes, the Ministry of Education (MEDUCA) is moving in, but no, it would not be additional classrooms for the elementary school. There would be testing and evaluations of young students there, perhaps child and even adult nutritional programs, and other activities that lend themselves to a well educated community that are not regular classroom instruction as such. 

We have diverse such needs. There are kids coming into the school system with learning disabilities due to malnutrition in the womb or in early childhood here. Continuing education for girls who leave school to give birth to babies is another community problem. When school was online there was this big Internet connectivity problem, but there were also a lot of parents and guardians who had not finished their secondary educations and were little able to assist children trying to learn in a home environment.

So let’s see what MEDUCA will do with our decrepit old community hall of justice and fresh vegetables.

2
First, out back, clean up after the winos. As in give them a gesture to go drink elsewhere.

 

3
In the back, patching an old hole in one window, and barring the windows on a new addition.

 

4
Stumps, vegetation and an old privy are being removed — and burned. It may not be the environmentally best way to proceed, but it does fit the neighborhood practices. In any case the holes where once there were trees, and once there was an old-fashioned toilet, need to be properly filled.

 

5
Starting to spackle and paint the sides now, and redo some of the windows. I think that the paint job, here and in the front, might just be the primer. One community factor that is not an issue yet this year but has been in the past is that just off of the right end of this photo there is a water spigot, now fenced in, that was a major supply when a nearby street had an eight-month water outage. That’s not the only feasible solution, of course, but it was when the water was out and the local government officials were not showing themselves.
 

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The Panama News blog links, March 10, 2022

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The Panama News blog links

a bilingual Panama-centric selection of other people’s work
una selección bilingüe Panamá-céntrica de las obras de otras personas
If you are not bilingual Google Translate usually works
Si no eres bilingüe, el traductor de Google generalmente funciona

Canal, Maritime & Transport / Canal, Marítima & Transporte

Lloyd’s List, Sanctions will affect supply chains beyond conflict region

Reuters, China tests freedom of navigation with partial sea closure

Seatrade, Filipino seafarers start arriving home from Ukraine

Mundo, Aumento de precio del búnker y transporte

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Economy / Economía

Metro Libre, Un consorcio coreano hará el túnel de Línea 3 del Metro

TVN, Aumento en precios de cereales por guerra entre Rusia y Ucrania

Stiglitz & Weisbrot, The IMF’s agreement with Argentina could be a game changer

Investor Place, Meta stock cratered over 38% based on a less than 1% drop in DAUs

ICIJ, The Russia Archive: the offshore wealth of powerful Russians

3

Science & Technology / Ciencia & Tecnología

ZME Science, Researchers sequence the potato’s entire genome for the first time

Metro Libre, Europeo investigará uso de software espía Pegasus

The Record, Inside Conti leaks: The Panama Papers of ransomware

Georgia Tech, New study finds COVID alters gray matter volume in the brain

TVN, Sáez Llorens: ¿El fin de la pandemia a mediados de año?

4

News / Noticias

AP, Niños panameños regresan a las aulas tras dos años de ausencia

EFE, Mujeres en Panamá marchan por la protección de las niñas

Reuters, Cubans protest in Havana as Panama tightens visa requirements

El País, Venezuela releases US prisoners after meeting with White House officials

The Costa Rica News, UN treaty on plastic waste is in the works

Business Insider, Russian steel billionaire calls Ukraine invasion a “huge tragedy”

Newsweek, Russian Orthodox leader blames invasion on Ukraine’s ‘gay pride’

ABC, Proud Boys leader charged in Capitol attack

5

Opinion / Opiniones

Litt, What democracy’s advocates can learn from Ukrainians

Greenwald, Victoria Nuland’s confession

Remezcla, What Latin American leaders say about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Turner, No a la violencia y acoso en el trabajo y centros educativos

Garibaldo, Un nuevo inicio de clases

Guevara Mann, Todos somos Ucranianos

6

Culture / Cultura

Metro Libre, ¡La sonera de Panamá triunfa en la música!

Com!c Sands, Texas students heckle anti-trans GOP candidate

The Ring, The best I faced: Anselmo Moreno

Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax & Leonidas Kavakos, Ukrainian national anthem

7
Margaret Atwood, at a demonstration in Toronto.
 

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Lo mejor del teatro panameño

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always
Siempre era noche

Teatro panameño en el Festival Internacional De Artes Escénicas

por Roberto Enrique King – FAE

La oferta nacional en el 11° FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE ARTES ESCÉNICAS (FAE 2022), que se realizará en abril próximo, estará impecablemente representada con la puesta en escena de seis obras de teatro que se suman a este extraordinario encuentro internacional artístico de carácter anual, que vuelve este año a la presencialidad con el propósito fundamental de impulsar la reactivación económica, el fortalecimiento de la cultura y contribuir a la salud mental y espiritual de nuestro público, con los auspicios principales de Micultura. Iberescena y Alcaldía de Panamá.

La franja horaria de representaciones panameñas será a las 6 p m todos los días y se inicia el martes 5 en el Teatro Anita Villalaz, con el monólogo CORAZÓN DELATOR – obra original de Edgar Allan Poe – a cargo del actor y director, Abdiel Tapia. Inmediatamente después y en el mismo escenario, se presentará la actriz Maritza Vernaza con su monólogo SIEMPRE ERA NOCHE, de Diego Montoya.

El miércoles 6 será el turno de la obra RED, creación colectiva dirigida por Renán Fernández, a cargo del Grupo Samón, en el Estudio Multiuso del GECU, y continúa la programación el jueves 7, en el Teatro Anita Villalaz, con la puesta en escena de LA BESTIA, escrita y dirigida por Roy Williams, en tanto el viernes 8, también en el Estudio Multiuso del GECU, se presentará RE:VERSIONES, obra de Javier Stanziola dirigida por él.

Y finalizando la franja nacional, que en el caso del FAE busca aglutinar lo mejor del teatro de búsqueda y experimentación que se da en nuestro medio, el sábado 9 también el Estudio Multiuso del GECU será el escenario para la presentación de la obra LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA, de Federico García Lorca, dirigida por Renán Fernández y a cargo de la Compañía Malapuñalada.

Los boletos estarán a la venta pronto en Tustiquetes.com a precios muy accesibles. Más información en info@faepanama.org o FAE Panamá en redes.

2
La Bestia
 

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To fend off hackers, organized trolls and other online vandalism, our website comments feature is switched off. Instead, come to our Facebook page to join in the discussion.

Para defendernos de los piratas informáticos, los trolls organizados y otros actos de vandalismo en línea, la función de comentarios de nuestro sitio web está desactivada. En cambio, ven a nuestra página de Facebook para unirte a la discusión.  

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Zechmeister & Lupu, Democracy losing support in the region

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fascist
A fascist waving a hangman’s noose and railing against foreigners in front of the El Carmen Church. Archive photo by Eric Jackson.

Support for democracy is waning across the Americas

by Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Vanderbilt University and Noam Lupu, Vanderbilt University

People are losing faith in democracy throughout the Western Hemisphere.

Across North, Central and South America, and parts of the Caribbean, only 63% of the public expressed support for democracy in 2021. This is a main takeaway from the most recent AmericasBarometer surveys we have conducted every other year: Support for democracy has declined by almost 10 percentage points since 2004.

The 2021 round – which encompassed 64,352 interviews of voting-age adults in nationally representative surveys across 22 countries in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean – offers important insights into what’s driving declining support for democracy in the region.

And it points to a possible explanation for the growth of support for authoritarian leadership in places like the United States, Peru and El Salvador.

Distrust in electoral politics

This waning support for democracy, which has parallels in other parts of the world, is alarming. Research has shown that mass support for democracy increases its odds of survival.

What is eroding democracy’s appeal?

A growing number of people view their elections, and their elected representatives, as flawed and untrustworthy.

On average, about 3 in 5 adults in the region think most or all politicians are involved in corruption. These views, however, vary quite a bit across countries. In Peru, 88% of citizens believe that most or all of their politicians are corrupt. Only 20% of Canadians feel that way about their leaders.

When asked to what extent they trust elections in their country, only 2 in 5 adults in the region gave a positive response. And in most of the countries we survey, less than half of all adults believe that votes are always counted correctly.

Cynicism on the rise

Across the Americas, the public is becoming increasingly disenchanted with elections and elected representatives, our surveys indicate.

These attitudes are correlated with declining support for democracy: The more cynical people are about the integrity of their elections and elected representatives, the less likely they are to support democracy.

In many cases, such negative views of electoral politics are justified.

Waves of high-profile corruption scandals rocked the Americas in recent years. The Panama Papers, a trove of financial documents leaked in 2015, revealed that politicians across the region had been evading taxes through secretive offshore accounts.

In late 2016, Brazilian construction company Odebrecht admitted that it had spent hundreds of millions of dollars bribing public officials across the region to secure public contracts.

There have also been scandals related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including politicians misusing emergency funds or accessing vaccines before the general public.

Former presidents are jailed or under investigation in more than half of the large democracies in the Western Hemisphere, including Argentina, Bolivia, Guatemala and Peru.

Elections have become deeply contentious. Sometimes this is because of misinformation campaigns, as in Peru in 2021 and the United States in 2016 and 2020. At other times, conflict arises because of actual mismanagement – and possible fraud – as was the case in Bolivia in 2019.

The experiences of the recent past have made people in the Americas cynical about electoral democracy.

A Peruvian protest with a banner that called for closing that country's congress.Supporters of President Pedro Castillo protested the Peruvian Congress in 2021 after lawmakers sought his impeachment. Carlos Garcia Granthon/Fotoholica Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Free expression is a priority

This cynicisim does not mean the region is ready to give up on democracy altogether.

When the 2021 AmericasBarometer asked people in the region to consider whether they would rather have a political system with elected representatives or one that guaranteed a minimum standard of living without elections, 54% chose the latter.

But when they were asked to choose between a guaranteed standard of living and a system that protects freedom of expression, 74% would rather be able to speak freely without fear of repercussions.

The difference in these responses indicates that most people in the Americas want their voices heard, but they don’t think most of their elected representatives are listening.

Instead, they’re increasingly turning toward charismatic populists to channel their voices against experienced politicians they believe to be corrupt.

People who believed that Donald Trump should stay in the White House swarmed the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. AP Photo/John Minchillo

Being open to closing Congress

Our survey asks people if they would find it justifiable for a president to shut down their national legislature in difficult times – a kind of coup known in Spanish as an autogolpe.

Support in the Americas for this extremely antidemocratic action has increased substantially, to 30%. That’s more than double levels seen in 2010.

In early 2019, our survey detected a significant increase in tolerance for shutting down the Congress in Peru. In late 2019, Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra did exactly that.

That same year, we detected a similar uptick in the United States – driven by an unprecedented 21-percentage-point increase among Republicans. Less than two years later, on January 6, 2021, hundreds of Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol.

Meanwhile, the public in El Salvador similarly became more tolerant of executive closure of that country’s Congress amid high public support for President Nayib Bukele. He has ordered security forces to intimidate the legislature and has centralized power in the executive office.

More confidence needed

Modern democracies are supposed to translate the people’s voice into politics through elected representatives.

But across the Americas the public is losing faith in that system. A growing number of eligible voters prefer to see people whom they consider to be strong leaders run the government – even if that means skipping elections or overturning their results.

In our view, unless citizens everywhere from Alaska to Argentina regain confidence in the integrity of their elections and representative institutions, democracy across the Americas will remain endangered.The Conversation

 

Elizabeth J. Zechmeister, Cornelius Vanderbilt Professor of Political Science and Director of LAPOP, Vanderbilt University and Noam Lupu, Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of LAPOP Lab, Vanderbilt University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 

 

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Editorials: This International Women’s Day; and Back to school

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IWD
The Anti-Racist Contingent has their banner ready for this afternoon’s march. Uncredited photo posted on Twitter.

On International Women’s Day

What women say for themselves will matter far more than what some male editor writes.

Which is not to say that men should not take notice, or only pay enough attention to react with fear and rejection. So many of the “women’s issues” are about the ways that men behave, and the most effective solutions are up to men. Like the domestic violence that runs in families, and little boys who grew up seeing that making and keeping the difficult vow that “I am not that man from whom I learned, and I refuse to live that way.”

Sexism is an international problem, with manifestations that cut across the boundaries of nations, legal systems, cultures, religions and political orientations. It crosses gender lines, too, with women who embrace male culture by choice or under compulsion.

As the world looks on in horror, women are fighting — attacking and defending — with the forces of both sides in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, women dying and killing, getting terribly wounded and having their minds warped by shocking traumas, in the wake of one man’s order.

That awful unfolding tragedy has taken a national disgrace off of our front pages. The combined actions of a rapist and then government officials apparently under the tutelage of the religious right that’s part of Nito’s governing coalition forced an eight-year-old girl to give birth, when the pregnancy was discovered by the government in time for her to have legally had an abortion. There has been and likely will be no accountability for the government’s willful inaction, nor for the roles that individuals played in that.

One of the issue’s that today’s marchers will bring up is the disproportionate economic hit that women have taken from the COVID epidemic’s disruptions. The participating labor union women will raise it from their perspective with the formal economy, but the increased and ever more female informal economy ought to get attention. Perhaps the biggest thing that Panama might do for women in the current situation is make it possible for women to cheaply legalize their now informal sole proprietorships and partnerships so as to gain access to company bank accounts, post office boxes, formal dealings with the government and protection from overbearing and richer monopolists.

We now have a female-majority Supreme Court to interpret and carry out laws and regulations mostly made by male-dominated legislative and executive branches. It’s about time, given who is graduating from Panamanian law schools these days. The truth of the matter is that on the whole women are now better educated than men in this society — but are still held down by these pervasive, controlling boys’ clubs.

So women have a lot to talk about on this day. It’s a day for men — and women and children to listen. 

 

Panamanian kids went back to school on March 7, after a two-year disruption of traditional education. There has been lost study time, and those studies that did continue were largely done online. They go back to school systems that have changed, in an economy that has changed, and with new habits and expectations. Ministry of Commerce and Industry photo.

Education resumes in a changed Panama

Overall, Panama is a young country. Also, in comparison with the rest of the world, a poorly educated country.

Classroom learning is now back in session, so will education pick up where it left off?

After a shift to online learning drove so many students out, because they lived where there was no reliable telecommunications infrastructure, or because their families were too poor to given them the proper computer equipment to study, or because their families were bewildered and unable to lend a hand in their cyber-learning? With an economically forced downsizing of private education, that has swelled public school enrollments? With a larger percentage of schoolkids having received crash informal lessons in poverty, illness and death?

Nothing goes back to what it was. Fortunately, human beings are part of an adaptable species.

Also fortunately, Panama will have a shortage of pompous politicians who berate kids for wearing masks, belligerent parents who attack teachers and school staff over anti-COVID protections, and unvaccinated people in the schools. Lacking in formal education, you see, equals neither stupid nor delusional.

Back to school isn’t just for the kids. It’s also a good time for all of Panama to wise up — advance our knowledge, recharge our eagerness to learn, and sharpen our ability to distinguish what’s undoubtedly true from what’s clearly fraudulent. It’s a time for each of us to admit that we don’t know everything and regain our curiosity about the world around us.

 

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Bear in mind…

 

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.

Alice Walker


Listen to the people who are talking about how to fix what’s wrong, not the ones who just work people into a snit over the problems. Listen to the people who have ideas about how to fix things, not the ones who just blame others.

Molly Ivins

 

It is not enough to profess faith in the democratic process; we must do something about it.

Ella T. Grasso

 

 

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Noble, Russians who oppose the Ukraine War

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him
Kremlin photo of Vladimir Putin.

Ukraine: Russian opposition to the Ukraine invasion is giving Putin cause for alarm

by Ben Noble, UCL

Vladimir Putin’s military aggression against Ukraine is meeting more opposition from Ukrainians than he expected. The Russian president also saw widespread condemnation of his military’s aggression in Ukraine at the UN General Assembly. But the opposition Putin faces domestically in Russia is also likely giving him cause for alarm.

There are clear reasons, however, to be skeptical of claims that Putin will soon be deposed in a palace coup – or that the existing elite could be removed by mass protests.

There are three broad categories of Russians who have voiced their opposition to the war, albeit in different ways. It helps to visualize these as three concentric circles, starting from the largest and closing in.

Anti-war street protests attended by regular citizens have swept the country. Within the first week of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, at least 7,669 people were detained by police at anti-war protests across Russia according to OVD-Info, a Russian human rights organization. Those detained include people all the way from primary school children to an elderly pensioner in St Petersburg.

Jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny has called for daily anti-war protests in and outside Russia, referring to Putin as an “insane tsar.”

Cultural elite and the intelligentsia

Portions of the intellectual and cultural elite have also voiced their opposition to war – from TV celebrities to sportspeople and scientists. Beyond individual statements, a flurry of open letters have been signed, including by 44 of the country’s top chess players and by academics.

There are already cases, though, of signatories facing negative consequences, including losing their jobs. As well as the detentions at protests, this serves as a clear reminder of the bravery of those publicly opposing the war.

Economic and political elite

What about important economic actors? With the enormous fortunes that stand to be lost because of the west’s unprecedented sanctions on Russia, it is plausible that they might speak out.

Some already have. A few of Russia’s wealthiest people – for example, the oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska – have called for peace. One of the country’s largest oil companies, Lukoil, has also called for an end to the war in Ukraine.

Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman sits with his hand over his mouth and a bottle of water in front of him.Out on a limb: Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman has expressed concern
at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Krysja via Shutterstock

But there is clear caution. Calling for peace is not the same as directly criticizing Putin, as Fridman has acknowledged.

Some public dissent has also been shown already by minor political officials: for instance, a Russian adviser to the World Bank and a Russian delegate at a UN climate conference.

What about people higher up the political food chain? Today’s Kremlinology has begun to resemble that of the Soviet era, where the opacity of politics forced western analysts to scrutinize material like photographs of official events to glean insights into intra-elite dynamics.

In similar fashion, people are now trying to read the body language of senior officials during meetings with Putin for signs of disquiet. One notable example relates to an image of Elvira Nabiullina, the head of Russia’s Central Bank, captured looking glum with her arms crossed and eyes down at the opposite end to Putin of a comically long table.

So far, however, there are no signs of significant cracks at the top. And that’s no surprise – Putin has surrounded himself with hyper-loyalists, the inner circle of which share his impression of a west intent on undermining Russia and his rule. Even if members of the broader political elite are deeply shocked by – or disagree with – Russia’s assault on Ukraine, the costs of voicing dissent or trying to exit the system are overwhelmingly high. For the moment, at least.

The true depth and breadth of opposition

It’s very difficult to measure the true extent of opposition to the war – and to Putin personally – across these three groups, as well as to work out how this might change over time.

The Russian president’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, has said that the “level of support for the president, for his decisions, and his actions is very, very high”. According to the Kremlin-friendly VTsIOM polling agency, 68% of Russians support Russia’s activities in Ukraine, with another Kremlin-aligned agency, FOM, reporting that 71% of Russians trust in Putin following the start of Russia’s military operation, up from 60% just before the invasion.

How can this be? Russian state media continues to portray a very different reality to the coverage in western media. Rather than a full-scale assault, the narrative is of a “special operation” to protect ethnic Russians in the so-called “republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk from “genocide” being carried out by Ukraine’s “neo-Nazi” government.

Words like “invasion” and “war” are banned in Russian media. Independent outlets have been blocked or shut down. And Russians face the prospect of harsh punishment for challenging the state’s line on the conflict.

A bleak outlook

The degree of opposition going forward depends on a number of factors, including the Russian military’s ability to subdue Ukrainian forces. The scale of economic hardship in Russia will also influence public opinion. But a lot will also depend on the Russian state’s capacity and willingness to repress dissent at home and continue to control the narrative. We’ll see economic problems and the deaths of Russian soldiers continue to be blamed by the Kremlin on the west.

Putin has staked his survival on this. And we’ve seen what he is capable of doing to critical voices: the incarceration of Navalny and the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 being just two examples. Given the steps that have already been taken to respond to domestic opposition, it is likely that – in the short term, at least – we will see a doubling down of repression, including to prevent any cascade of dissent that might shake the very foundations of the regime.The Conversation

Ben Noble, Associate Professor of Russian Politics, UCL

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

 

 

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