Political Report # 1343 The "Masterstroke" of the United States Against Venezuela

By Stella Calloni, RESUMEN

Regardless of which corporate party is in power the Pentagon continues its plans and strategies for world domination from the Middle East to the Korean Peninsula to Africa and to Latin America. Here is an analysis of an internal Pentagon document by Stella Calloni, outlining a very real scenario to be carried out by the Southern Command to overthrow the democratically elected Venezuelan government. Resumen Editorial The United States and its partners are quietly preparing a brutal "Plan to end the dictatorship of Venezuela": the "Masterstroke", which is already underway and whose first part would begin before the upcoming Venezuelan elections and, if they do not succeed in overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro with this new offensive, which will include the use of the whole propaganda and media apparatus available to them plus  violent actions in "defense of democracy", they will implement Plan B, which will bring in several countries to launch a "multilateral force" to intervene militarily. Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Guyana are all key components of the military operation, with the support of Argentina and "other friends," under Pentagon control. They already have made preparations on the bases they now occupy in the countries that border Venezuela with hospitals and centers to collect provisions for their soldiers. All this is specified in a real document, of 11 pages, which bears the signature of Admiral Kurt Walter Tidd, current commander in chief of the US Southern Command [SouthCom]. The document analyzes the current situation ratifying the war being waged against Venezuela, but also the perverse scheme of psychological warfare that justifies the persecution, harassment, discredit and criminal lies that are used to end not only the popular leaders but to subjugate the peoples of the region. Referring to the current situation in Venezuela, the Plan mentions that the "Chavista Venezuelan dictatorship is shaken as a result of its internal problems, with the great shortage of food, the exhaustion of income from external sources of money and unbridled corruption, which has diminished its international support. This had been won with petrodollars, but now the national currency is in a steady decline." They assume that this scenario, which they admit having created themselves, with a terrifying impunity, will not change. In this case they justify their actions affirming that the Venezuelan government will resort to new "populist" measures to conserve power.

Political Report # 1273 Renegotiating NAFTA Will Only Serve the Rich -- Just Like It Always Has

By David L. Wilson, Truthout

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect at midnight on January 1, 1994. That night, thousands of Indigenous Mayans rose up in arms in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas, seizing at least five towns and declaring NAFTA a "death certificate" for people like themselves. This was just the beginning of Mexico's troubles in a year that brought countless protests, hotly disputed elections and the assassinations of two of the then-ruling party's leaders. 1994 ended with a sudden devaluation of the peso, the start of an economic collapse from which the country didn't recover fully for years. NAFTA is back in the news this month: On August 16, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer met with his counterparts from Canada and Mexico, the other two NAFTA nations, to open talks on renegotiating the pact. While it's true that NAFTA was just one of the many problems Mexico had in the 1990s, we have to wonder, given the renewed focus on the trade accord, why US mainstream media have carried so little discussion of the events that accompanied NAFTA's rollout in Mexico. The reason may be a consensus among opinion makers about NAFTA and similar trade pacts. It is an article of faith across party lines that these accords are beneficial to our trading partners in the Global South. On the right, we have President Trump, who told CBS during the campaign that "Mexico ... is taking our jobs. I love the Mexican people. They're great people. But the leadership is too smart for our country.... We're being defrauded by all these countries." On the other side, we have commentators who insist that NAFTA's been good for the US economy but still go along with Trump's claim that Mexicans benefit from it. Some even assert that these trade pacts are the only hope for the developing world.

Book, The Process of Economic Development

:::::: Book ::::::

The Process of Economic Development 
by James M. Cypher

The fourth edition of The Process of Economic Development offers a thorough and up-to-date treatment of development economics. This landmark text will continue to be an invaluable resource for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of development economics and development studies.

The new edition has been revised and updated throughout, reflecting the most recent developments in research and incorporating the latest empirical data, as well as key theoretical advances. The period since the publication of the third edition of The Process of Economic Development has been a time of immense change in the developing world. The period has seen huge economic growth in China, economic restructuring in India and the continuing impact of environmental issues such as climate change. The fourth edition reflects these developments, as well as including numerous case studies and new material on the following:

• transnational corporations and labor in export processing zones
• industrial policy and structural change
• gender inequality, income distribution and development
• progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
• technology and national innovation systems
• aid and the least developed nations
• the post debt crisis era and debt relief for Africa.

Cypher’s comprehensive account remains the development economics text par excellence, as it takes a much more practical, hands-on view of the issues facing developing countries than other, overly mathematical texts. This book is unique in its scope and in the detailed attention it gives to the historical contexts that have influenced progress toward development. It is accessibly written both for students of economics and for those with an interest in the many aspects of development studies.

Book, The Process of Economic Development

:::::: Book ::::::

The Process of Economic Development 
by James M. Cypher

The fourth edition of The Process of Economic Development offers a thorough and up-to-date treatment of development economics. This landmark text will continue to be an invaluable resource for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of development economics and development studies.

The new edition has been revised and updated throughout, reflecting the most recent developments in research and incorporating the latest empirical data, as well as key theoretical advances. The period since the publication of the third edition of The Process of Economic Development has been a time of immense change in the developing world. The period has seen huge economic growth in China, economic restructuring in India and the continuing impact of environmental issues such as climate change. The fourth edition reflects these developments, as well as including numerous case studies and new material on the following:

• transnational corporations and labor in export processing zones
• industrial policy and structural change
• gender inequality, income distribution and development
• progress towards the Millennium Development Goals
• technology and national innovation systems
• aid and the least developed nations
• the post debt crisis era and debt relief for Africa.

Cypher’s comprehensive account remains the development economics text par excellence, as it takes a much more practical, hands-on view of the issues facing developing countries than other, overly mathematical texts. This book is unique in its scope and in the detailed attention it gives to the historical contexts that have influenced progress toward development. It is accessibly written both for students of economics and for those with an interest in the many aspects of development studies.

Abstract, Clientelism a Stumbling Block for Democratization?: Lessons from Mexico by Kristin Seffer

:::::: Abstract ::::::

Abstract:  Clientelism a Stumbling Block for Democratization?: Lessons from Mexico 

by Kristin Seffer

Clientelism is a form of social conflict management and as such is more than mere vote buying or a way of undermining rational-legal systems. Integrating clientelism into the debate over the transition to democracy makes it possible to explain the outcomes of stagnating political transition processes. Under the condition of labor surplus, clientelism hinders political inclusion by undermining the class-based organizations that might challenge the privileged access of the elite to resources. Consideration of clientelism helps explain the case of Mexico, which has been classified as a deviant case in transition research because two transition processes there, at the beginning and the end of the twentieth century, did not end in complete democratization.