WT WHITNEY—Between January 2016 and March 27, 2019, 498 people were killed. They included 113 community leaders, 18 political movement leaders, 9 labor leaders, 7 environmental activists, 6 land claimants, 5 human rights defenders, 31 indigenous leaders, 28 peasant leaders, and 24 Afro—Colombian leaders. Since the signing of the peace agreement between FARC insurgents and the government in late 2016, murderers have hit more than 129 former FARC guerrillas and 431 social and community leaders (some of whom having been accounted for above).
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ALAN MACLEOD—Due to the implementation of neoliberalism during the 1980s and 1990s, inequality between the classes in Venezuela greatly increased, and poverty rose rapidly. This led to profound social dislocation, particularly after the 1989 Caracazo, when the government ordered a military crackdown on working-class protesters from the barrios, resulting in the massacre of thousands. The event, and the economic crisis of the 1990s, led to the breakdown of the traditional social order and to the election of a former military officer and political outsider, Hugo Chavez, as president in 1998.Chavez, who came from a poor family, campaigned on the promise of a new Constitution. It was implemented the next year and contained new rights for indigenous groups, the poor and women, among others.
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The Yellow Vests’ fury and aggressiveness, despite the government heavy handed attempts at intimidation, appears to remain undampened. The events registered this weekend in Paris, including in front of the National Assembly (see below) are illustrative of the degree of alienation the French working class exhibits from the neoliberal Macron regime. Just imagine that these images were practically impossible to conceive even a few months back, and now this. Nothing is impossible once the masses begin to move. Obviously the Gilets Jaunes no longer see the French national congress as representative of their interests and goals.
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SELECT COMMENTS Greg Lenz • 21 hours ago Interesting that Macron needs to mobilize…
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VINCENT LAPIERRE—Saturday, December 1st will forever be engraved in French history. The “Yellow Vests”, i.e. French people who see right through the left-right divide, rose up and took over the Arc de Triomphe and other iconic places. We have here a “yellow revolt” – a pacifistic movement, sure, but over which the police had little control. Vincent Lapierre and the Média Pour Tous team were at the heart of the action that day. Follow them to see what happened.
