Political Report # 1238 Suppliers of Lowe's in the US and Walmart in Brazil Linked to Slave Labor in the Amazon

By André Campos, Mongabay and Repórter Brasil  New York City's iconic Brooklyn Bridge was recently renovated using wood from sources linked to slave labor.  (Photo: Tiago Fioreze via Wikimedia Commons)

This story is the third in a four-part series on slave labor practices at logging camps in Pará, Brazil, produced by Repórter Brasil; their Portuguese version of this story can be found here. Products derived from timber extracted by workers living in conditions analogous to slave labor in Brazil are connected to a complex business network linked to the US market -- possibly reaching the shelves of large retailers and being used in renovation of landmarks -- according to a new investigation conducted by Brazilian news outlet Repórter Brasil. After purchasing from suppliers held liable for that crime by the Brazilian government, local traders exported timber to companies like USFloors, which supplies the retail chain Lowe's, as well as Timber Holdings, which supplied timber for construction projects at Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge in New York. The commercial network linking retailers to sawmill companies was identified by a three-month investigation and confirmed by the companies. The wood products were mixed at Brazilian intermediaries, so the investigation was unable to track the exact destination of each piece of wood. However, its findings reveal that large retail and construction groups are sourcing the product from companies whose supply chains are contaminated by the alleged use of criminal practices, with the conditions of workers rescued from sawmill sites aligning with slave labor practices as defined by Brazilian law. Bonardi da Amazônia The cases investigated by Repórter Brasil began at sawmill companies based in the state of Pará -- an important hub for the timber industry in the Brazilian Amazon. One of them is Bonardi da Amazônia, a sawmill company that recruited nine people who were rescued from conditions analogous to slave labor exploitation in October 2012. The workers were located by the Brazilian Ministry of Labor and Bonardi da Amazônia was formally held responsible for the crime. The investigation found that workers slept in shacks in the forest at night, in makeshift facilities made of logs removed from the forest itself and covered with tarps, 110 kilometers (over 68 miles) from the nearest town. There were no walls to protect them from the dangers of the forest such as snakes, scorpions and even jaguars. They bathed and washed their clothes in a stream shared with local animals; there was no bathroom. The workers had no formal contracts and told investigators they were paid based on their productivity. Because of the degrading accommodation and hygiene conditions found by Labor Ministry inspectors, Bonardi da Amazônia was held responsible for using slave labor in accordance with the conditions for that crime outlined in the Brazilian Criminal Code. Between August 2012 -- two months before the crime was discovered -- and July 2015, Repórter Brasil found Bonardi supplied timber to Tradelink Madeiras, a company belonging to the London-based Tradelink Group. One of the companies that buys wood products from Tradelink is USFloors -- a leading floor manufacturer for the North American market. Tradelink confirmed the commercial relationship by email and, in reply to Repórter Brasil, stated that field inspections were conducted at this supplier but no labor irregularities were found at Bonardi da Amazônia in June 2012. That is, the Bonardi site was visited by Tradelink employees four months before criminal activity was uncovered by labor inspectors. In justification of its business dealings with a sawmill held responsible for slave labor practices, Tradelink maintains that Bonardi pledged to change its labor conditions. According to Tradelink, the decision to continue purchasing from Bonardi was based on an agreement the company signed with the Ministério Público do Trabalho -- an independent branch of Justice in Brazil (see Tradelink's response). When contacted by Repórter Brasil, Bonardi asserted that it met all authorities' requirements (see Bonardi's response). Bonardi remained a supplier for Tradelink until July 2015, even after the sawmill was included in the government's "transparency list" in March of that year. The list discloses the names of companies caught by the federal government engaging in working conditions analogous to slave labor. Companies are included on the list after the Ministry of Labor completes an administrative procedure on the results of inspections, which guarantees the right of defense to those held responsible. The "transparency list" is used by several companies that have formally committed to fighting slavery in their supply chains. It was disclosed by the Ministry of Labor at the request of Repórter Brasil and the Institute of the National Pact for the Eradication of Slave Labor (Inpacto) through the Access to Information Act (see its latest update here). USFloors and Lowe's Tradelink Madeiras' products have international reach. In 2015, one of its clients in the United States was wood flooring producer USFloors. Its products have been sold by the retailer chain Lowe's -- the second-largest construction material chain in the US Lowe's has more than 1,700 stores in the country and also operates in Mexico and Canada. USFloors confirmed by email that the timber purchased from Tradelink was subsequently sold to Lowe's. However, both USFloors and Tradelink claim that this specific material did not come from Bonardi. In its response to Repórter Brasil, Tradelink states that the timber sold to USFloors came from a different sawmill. A USFloors representative who responded to Repórter Brasil stood behind Tradelink. "I personally went to Tradelink factory in Brazil and we felt that among other factories we visited, Tradelink was the only company with adequate procedures for due diligence to ensure compliance with local and international regulations," said Philippe Erramuzpe, chief operating officer of USFloors. He added that all of the company's suppliers are required to "certify that the material is not harvested in violation of any local laws or requirements" (see USFloors' full statement). Repórter Brasil tried to contact Lowe's by telephone and email several times, but the company did not respond. Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park Another regular client of Bonardi da Amazônia, from 2012 to the present day, is Ronardi Comercial Exportadora de Madeiras, a Brazilian trading company based in the state of Paraná. Its clients include US companies such as Timber Holdings USA, a wood flooring manufacturer that has supplied raw material for major urban projects such as the Atlantic City Boardwalk in New Jersey, restoration of the Brooklyn Bridge, and construction projects in Central Park. Many of these projects include the use of the Brazilian ipê, or Brazilian walnut (Handroanthus spp). With its colorful canopy, this tree stands out in the forest. But with a high value in the market, the ipê is ever more difficult to find in Brazil. It is the same type of timber that Timber Holdings purchased from Ronardi in 2016, and which Ronardi has also purchased from Bonardi. In a statement obtained by Repórter Brasil, Ronardi stated it "vehemently repudiates any violation of labor laws." The company says it requested clarification from Bonardi on the issue and reproduced the company's statement in which Bonardi mentions to have improved working conditions and has no pending labor issues. (See Bonardi's and Ronardi's full statements). Repórter Brasil also contacted Timber Holdings. In its first response, sent by email, the company stated it purchased two containers of ipê flooring with papers saying that the timber came from Bonardi da Amazônia. In a later email, however, the company changed its response, stating that the timber acquired from Ronardi came from other sawmills. "Our company is completely against any kind of slave labor and illegal timber trade, and it should be noted that Timber Holdings was one of the first companies in the world to invest in an outsourced audit for every shipment of timber imported from Brazil," Timber Holdings said in its statement. According to the US-based importer, no shipment of timber is approved if a company with which it is dealing is listed on the Brazilian government's "transparency list." Timber Holdings stated it conforms to this standard at every stage of the supply chain, from the source to the direct seller. (See Timber Holding USA's response to Repórter Brasil). Tramontina and Walmart Another supply chain investigated by Repórter Brasil revealed links between slave labor exploitation and Tramontina, one of the largest manufacturers of kitchen utensils in Brazil. The group's products are sold to the nation's top retailers, including Brazilian Walmart stores. The case begins with Madeireira Iller, a company held liable for using practices analogous to slave labor in December 2012. The Brazilian Ministry of Labor rescued 31 people who worked in the processing, cutting and transportation of native wood for the company, in the city of Santarém, Pará. Workers were living in similar conditions as those in the Bonardi case and most other cases linked to slave labor in the industry: tarp or straw shacks with no walls, meals prepared below minimum hygiene standards, no toilet, and water taken from the local stream. Although they worked in an occupation in which the risk of accidents is high, Madeireira Iller workers were not wearing protective equipment at the time of their rescue, had no formal contracts, and their earnings were based off their productivity. They were not guaranteed the legal minimum wage -- it all depended on the number of trees they harvested. According to the Ministry of Labor, the company's owner told 23 of the people working at the facility to flee and hide from inspectors, allegedly to avoid being caught committing violations. The inspectors' account states the workers were forced to hide in the forest for five days. Three years after the inspection, in 2015, Madeireira Iller was charged with environmental crimes and the company's owners arrested. The government operation "Clean Wood" dismantled an operation allegedly engaging in illegal logging and land grabbing. Madeireira Iller was fined over $578,000 for having timber stored without proof of legal origin as well as for entering false information in the official forest control systems. Repórter Brasil contacted Írio Luiz Orth, a member of the family that owns Madeireira Iller. According to labor inspectors, he was the primary representative in charge of the company's administration when the slave labor case took place. However, Orth declined the request for an interview. As with Tradelink and Bonardi, Tramontina's press office stated that consultants personally assessed the supplier's labor conditions in 2012 -- the same year in which slave labor was found by the Ministry of Labor. The company reports that an internal evaluation showed a reality that is quite different from the one observed by federal inspectors: "During visits by Tramontina's staff, it was possible to see the existence of eating facilities, accommodations, uniforms and personal protective equipment. In case there were workers in other places, the company was not aware of it," the company said in a statement issued to Repórter Brasil. Madeireira Iller continued supplying Tramontina until June 2015, according to Repórter Brasil's investigation. The supplier was excluded only after it was found that it "probably processed timber from some legal projects and from other projects of dubious origin," according to Tramontina's statement. Three months before that, however, Madeireira Iller had been included in the government's slave labor "transparency list." When asked by Repórter Brasil if Tramontina used the "transparency list" when monitoring its suppliers, the company claimed that it does. "We have always used it and will continue to use it," said a company representative. Tramontina stated that from 2016 on, it started updating the records it provides for the de-accreditation of suppliers found to be involved in slave labor practices and environmental crimes every three months instead of the previously used six-month period. Walmart, as well as two other retail groups in Brazil -- Carrefour and Pão de Açúcar -- have also pledged to restrict their business with companies included in the "transparency list." They are signatories of the Brazilian Pact to Eradicate Slave Labor, a multistakeholder initiative created 12 years ago advocating this kind of restriction. As the three of them are all Tramontina clients, Repórter Brasil asked for their stance on the case. Carrefour says it rejects any form of labor similar to slavery or any practices that are not in accordance with environmental legislation. Walmart and Pão de Açúcar underscored that Tramontina had already taken steps to exclude Madeireira Iller from its supply chain. (Read the full statements from Tramontina, Carrefour, Pão de Açúcar and Walmart.) André Campos is a reporter with Repórter Brasil. Translation by Roberto Cataldo Costa. Original article and sources can be found here: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/39910-suppliers-of-lowe-s-in-the-us-and-walmart-in-brazil-linked-to-slave-labor-in-the-amazon

Book, Globalization and Military Power in the Andes

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

Globalization and Military Power in the Andes
by William Avilés

Through a series of comparative case studies, the author demonstrates that the conflicts and struggles over capitalist globalization in the Andes are intricately connected to the political power of the military in the region.

Political Report # 1181 The Alliance for Prosperity: Solution to the Central American Migrant Crisis or Déjà Vu?

Migrants crouch out of sight on the side of the road, waiting for a smuggler's signal that it is safe to cross, near Los Corazones, Mexico, November 8, 2015. The US Senate passed the Alliance for Prosperity Plan as a means to curtail the reasons for migration from the northern triangle of Central America. However, many fear the social component of the plan will be lost to the question of security, contributing to the militarization of the region.   (Photo: Daniel Berehulak / The New York Times) By Jeff Abbott, Thruthout

This year Guatemala inaugurated a new president: Jimmy Morales, a former comedian known for a racist television show in which he regularly performed in blackface and mocked Guatemala's indigenous populations. Morales, who took office on January 14, had positioned himself as a political outsider who was able to ride the wave of popular discontent to the office. But before his inauguration, Morales was paid a special visit by US Vice President Joseph Biden, whose late arrival disrupted the events planned for the day. Biden privately met with the new president in an upscale hotel in Guatemala's wealthy Zone 10. Guatemala's daily newspaper reports that the two discussed the importance of Washington's latest plan to curb northern migration, the Alliance for Prosperity. A month prior, the US Senate passed the controversial Alliance for Prosperity Plan as part of the 2016 budget on December 18, 2015, in a vote of 66 to 33. The plan includes $750 million to improve governance, strengthen security and promote the economic integration of the northern triangle countries of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. In late 2015, Mexico and Nicaragua were both added to the plan, with each country receiving nearly $120 million of the funds made available to secure their borders. In a New York Times op-ed, Biden called for the plan following the migration crisis of 2015, and proposed the plan as a means to curtail the reasons for migration from the northern triangle of Central America. "The economies of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras remain bogged down as the rest of the Americas surge forward," Biden wrote, emphasizing the reasons for this plan. "Inadequate education, institutional corruption, rampant crime and a lack of investment are holding these countries back."

Political Report # 1169 Free Trade is Killing Colombian Labor Activists

Police during International workers day on May 1, 2016, in Bogotá, Colombia. (Daniel Garzón Herazo / Pacific Press, Sipa via AP Images) By  Michelle Chen, The Nation

Though Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have both said they oppose the Trans-Pacific partnership-at least in its current form-they've hedged on trade issues overall, while the Obama administration continues to slide the treaty through Congress. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party remains ideologically tied to neoliberal policies for opening more "free markets," despite potential impacts on labor and economic standards around the Pacific Rim. But if past is prologue, it's time to revisit another trade pact that candidate Barack Obama rebuffed in 2008-back then he cited human-rights abuses against labor activists. The US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement ultimately did get enacted, however, and eight years on, despite lowering trade barriers and fueling an export market worth about $17 billion, it has left a labor movement in tatters, replicating a pattern of neoliberal trade ravaging the hemisphere. American workers are increasingly wary of NAFTA-like free-trade policies that are historically associated with the hemorrhaging of many blue-collar jobs. But the losses for our "trade partners" in the Global South are often paid in blood. According to a complaint recently filed by AFL-CIO with the Department of Labor, Colombia's political climate is just as, if not more, hostile toward trade unionists as it was before the trade treaty was enacted.

Political Report # 1161 US Withdraws Funding for Haiti Elections

by Jake Johnston,  Center for Economic and Policy Research

Dismayed by the decision to rerun controversial and fraud-plagued presidential elections, the US State Department announced on Thursday a suspension of electoral assistance to Haiti. State Department spokesperson John Kirby said the decision was communicated to Haitian authorities last week, noting that the US "has provided over $30 million in assistance" for elections and that the move would allow the US "to maintain priority assistance" for ongoing projects. Kirby added that "I don't have a dollar figure in terms of this because it wasn't funded, it wasn't budgeted." However multiple sources have confirmed that the U.S has withdrawn nearly $2 million already in a United Nations controlled fund for elections. Donor governments, as well as the Haitian state, had contributed to the fund. Prior to the US move, $8.2 million remained for elections. The pulling of funds indicates the growing displeasure with Haitian authorities' decision to rerun last year's presidential elections. "We've made no bones about the fact that we had concerns about the way the process was unfolding," Kirby told reporters on Thursday. During a July 4 address, US Ambassador to Haiti Peter Mulrean was even clearer: "We had difficulty understanding the decision ... to start the presidential election from scratch."

Political Report #1150 Hillary Clinton's Dark Drug War Legacy in Mexico

Image: SOA Watch / Flickr By Jesse Franzblau, Foreign Policy in Focus

Mexico, John M. Ackerman wrote recently for Foreign Policy, "is not a functional democracy." Instead, it's a "repressive and corrupt" oligarchy propped up by a "blank check" from Washington. Since 2008, that blank check has come to over $2.5 billion appropriated in security aid through the Mérida Initiative, a drug war security assistance program funded by Washington. Negotiated behind closed doors in the last years of the Bush administration, the plan was originally proposed as a three-year program. Yet Hillary Clinton's State Department pushed aggressively to extend it, overseeing a drastic increase of the initiative that continues today.

Political Report # 1142 Tropas estadounidenses en Honduras intervendrán en Venezuela, según el Comando Sur

Foto: Honduras: Base Soto Cano, tropas militares gringas By Dick y Mirian Emanuelsson,  Resumen Latinoamericano

Tropas norteamericanas en la base militar Soto Cano (Palmerola). Tiene la pista de aterrizaje más larga de Centroamérica. Aquí aterrizó el avión con militares hondureños que habían secuestrado el derrocado presidente Manuel Zelaya el 28 de junio de 2009. El avión quedó 15 minutos y de ahi partió hacía Costa Rica donde fue entregado. ¿Porqué Palmerola? "¡Tienen que ir! ¡No queremos bases militares aquí!" Fuerzas Especiales estadounidenses, concentradas en su base militar Soto Cano (Palmerola) en Honduras, serán trasladadas para intervenir en Venezuela, según el jefe del Comando Sur, Kurt Tidd. El origen de esta acción se basa en un papel de trabajo del Comando Sur bajo el título "Operación Venezuela Freedom-2", firmado por el almirante Kurt Tidd, su actual jefe, fechado el 25 de febrero de 2016. El extenso documento subraya 12 tareas tácticas y estratégicas que terminará en crear las condiciones políticas, económicas y militares para ejecutar la Carta Democrática de la OEA y así legitimar la intervención militar estadounidense en Venezuela.

Political Report #1138 A Force Unto Itself: A Military Leviathan Has Emerged as America's 51st and Most Powerful State

By William J. Astore, TomDispatch

In the decades since the draft ended in 1973, a strange new military has emerged in the United States. Think of it, if you will, as a post-democratic force that prides itself on its warrior ethos rather than the old-fashioned citizen-soldier ideal.   As such, it's a military increasingly divorced from the people, with a way of life ever moreforeign to most Americans (adulatoryas they may feel toward its troops).  Abroad, it's now regularly put to purposes foreign to any traditional idea of national defense.  In Washington, it has become a force unto itself, following its own priorities, pursuing its own agendas,increasingly unaccountable to either the president or Congress.

Three areas highlight the post-democratic transformation of this military with striking clarity: the blending of military professionals with privatized mercenaries in prosecuting unending "limited" wars; the way senior military commanders are cashing in on retirement; and finally the emergence of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) as a quasi-missionary imperial force with a presence in at least 135 countries a year (and counting).

Book, "Neighborly Adversaries Readings in U.S.–Latin American Relations Edited" By Michael J. Larosa, and Frank O. Mora

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Book:  "Neighborly Adversaries Readings in U.S.–Latin American Relations"

Edited By Michael J. Larosa, and Frank O. Mora

Political Report # 1137 Updating the Party: Cuba's New (and Not So New) Leaders By William M. LeoGrande

Associated Press By William M. LeoGrande

Alluding to his own mortality, Fidel Castro told the delegates to the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party he founded that this would probably be his last speech to such a gathering. When the members of the new Central Committee were announced the following day, Fidel was not among them. Generational succession is high on the agenda of Cuba's leadership, still dominated at the highest level by "los historicos" - the generation that fought together against the Batista dictatorship and founded the revolutionary regime. At the previous Party Congress in 2011, Raúl Castro emphasized the need to build a contingent of experienced young men and women for the inevitable succession. To ease out the old guard, he introduced term limits for top government and party positions - no more than two five-year terms - and pledged to abide by the limit himself by stepping down as president in 2018. At the Congress this month, Raúl reiterated the importance of rejuvenating the party. An aged leadership was "never positive," he said, reminding listeners that three leaders of the Soviet Communist Party died within months of one another a few years before it collapsed. Henceforth, Castro proposed, 60 would be the maximum age for admission to the Central Committee, and 70 would be the maximum age for assuming any leadership position.

Political Report #1132 How Does the US Pursue 'Regime Change' in Cuba through 'Normalization'?

Salim Lamrani, in an interview with Khamenei.ir (Photo: Khamenei.ir) By Khamenei.ir  Barack Obama can lift the economic sanctions without the agreement of the U.S. Congress but he refuses to do so. Normalization of relations happens if Washington lifts economic sanctions, gives Guantanamo back to the Cubans, put an end to the financing of an internal opposition on the island and abrogate the Cuban adjustment act. These reasons are clearly indicative that the normalization of relations are just a continuation of the past policy of 'regime change' in Cuba. Salim Lamrani, in an interview with Khamenei.ir, talks about the US-Cuba relations and how these relations are the continuation of the past painful US policies against Cuba. Salim Lamrani has a Phd in Iberian and Latin American Studies at the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne and is a senior lecturer at the University of La Réunion. His latest publication is Cuba, the Media, and the Challenge of Impartiality. - How do you think the US uses sanctions and negotiations to infiltrate her enemies? Can you give examples of how US has used these tools to infiltrate Cuba? Salim Lamrani: The main goal of U.S. policy toward the island has been to overthrow the Cuban Revolution. From 1959 to 1991 this was a hidden goal. Since the implementation of the Torricelli Act in 1992, it has become public. Washington wants a "regime change" in Cuba. One of the tools used to achieve this end is economic sanctions. These are sanctions that affect all categories of the Cuban population and constitute the main obstacle to the island's development.

Book, "Past and Prospects of Imperial Geopolitics" by Francisco López Segrera

"Past and Prospects of Imperial Geopolitics" 
by Francisco López Segrera

Book Review of:
América Latina en la geopolítica imperial
by Atilio Borón
LUXEMBURG 2012
ISBN: 978-987-1709-19-9

Political Report # 1128 The Rockefeller Commission, the White House and CIA Assassination Plots

President Ford formally receives the Rockefeller Commission report, June 6, 1975. (Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Library) By John Prados and Arturo Jimenez-Bacardi,  National Security Archive

Washington, DC, February 29, 2016 - The Gerald Ford White House significantly altered the final report of the supposedly independent 1975 Rockefeller Commission investigating CIA domestic activities, over the objections of senior Commission staff, according to internal White House and Commission documents posted today by the National Security Archive at The George Washington University (www.nsarchive.org). The changes included removal of an entire 86-page section on CIA assassination plots and numerous edits to the report by then-deputy White House Chief of Staff Richard Cheney.

Political Report # 1124 Indigenous Rights Leader Assassinated in Honduras Interview with Jesse Freeston, The Real News

Interview with Jesse Freeston, The Real News

GREGORY WILPERT, TRNN: Welcome to the Real News Network. I'm Gregory Wilpert coming to you from Quito, Ecuador. Around 1:00 AM of March 3, assassins murdered Berta Caceres in her home in the town of La Esperanza, Honduras. She was a longtime Honduran indigenous rights activist, and the founder and coordinator of the Council of Indigenous Peoples of Honduras. The people of Honduras have been attacked relentlessly ever since the coup attempt, or the coup, against President Manuel Zelaya in 2009. With us to talk about Berta Caceres and the current situation in Honduras is Jesse Freeston, an independent documentary filmmaker, and the director of the film Resistencia, a documentary about the resistance to the coup against Zelaya. He's coming to us from Buenos Aires. Hi, Jesse, thanks for joining us at the Real News. JESSE FREESTON: Great to be here, Greg. WILPERT: Let's start with what we know about the assassination of Berta Caceres. You know her personally. What do you know about what happened, and who might be behind her murder?

Political Report # 1121 Five Children Murdered After Being Deported From US to Honduras By Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, ThinkProgres

Immigrant families and children's advocates rally in response to President Barack Obama's statement on the crisis of unaccompanied children and families illegally entering the United States, outside the Los Angeles Federal building in July. (photo: Nick Ut/AP) By Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, ThinkProgres

Between five and ten migrant children have been killed since February after the United States deported them back to Honduras, a morgue director told the Los Angeles Times. Lawmakers have yet to come up with best practices to deal with the waves of unaccompanied children apprehended by Border Patrol agents, but some politicians refute claims that children are fleeing violence and are opting instead to fund legislation that would fast-track their deportations. San Pedro Sula morgue director Hector Hernandez told the Los Angeles Times that his morgue has taken in 42 dead children since February. According to an interview with relatives by the LA Times, one teenager was shot dead hours after getting deported. Last year, San Pedro Sula saw 187 killings for every 100,000 residents, a statistic that has given the city the gruesome distinction as the murder capital of the world. That distinction has also been backed up by an U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency infographic, which found that many Honduran children are on the run from extremely violent regions “where they probably perceive the risk of traveling alone to the U.S. preferable to remaining at home.” Hugo Ramon Maldonado of the Committee for the Protection of Human Rights in Honduras believes that about 80 percent of Hondurans making the exodus are fleeing crime or violence.

Political Report # 1119 Presidential Elections 2016: The Revolt of the Masses by James Petras, LAP Editor

Introduction             The presidential elections of 2016 have several unique characteristics that defy common wisdom about political practices in 21st century America.             Clearly the established political machinery - party elites and their corporate backers -have (in part) lost control of the nomination process and confront 'unwanted' candidates who are campaigning with programs and pronouncements that polarize the electorate.             But there are other more specific factors, which have energized the electorate and speak to recent US history.  These portend and reflect a realignment of US politics.             In this essay, we will outline these changes and their larger consequences for the future of American politics.             We will examine how these factors affect each of the two major parties.

Political Report # 1118 The American Empire: Murder Inc. By Chris Hedges

As Indonesia's former President Suharto lay ill in 2008, a supporter displayed a portrait of him outside the Jakarta hospital where the military dictator died two weeks later. It was in Suharto's brutal three-decade reign that Indonesia invaded East Timor, where investigative journalist Allan Nairn covered atrocities the general's troops committed. (Vincent Thian / AP) By Chris Hedges

Terror, intimidation and violence are the glue that holds empire together. Aerial bombardment, drone and missile attacks, artillery and mortar strikes, targeted assassinations, massacres, the detention of tens of thousands, death squad killings, torture, wholesale surveillance, extraordinary renditions, curfews, propaganda, a loss of civil liberties and pliant political puppets are the grist of our wars and proxy wars. Countries we seek to dominate, from Indonesia and Guatemala to Iraq and Afghanistan, are intimately familiar with these brutal mechanisms of control. But the reality of empire rarely reaches the American public. The few atrocities that come to light are dismissed as isolated aberrations. The public is assured what has been uncovered will be investigated and will not take place again. The goals of empire, we are told by a subservient media and our ruling elites, are virtuous and noble. And the vast killing machine grinds forward, feeding, as it has always done, the swollen bank accounts of defense contractors and corporations that exploit natural resources and cheap labor around the globe.

Political Report # 1114 Bleak Prospects for Latin America Under Trans-Pacific Partnership By Ian Gustafson, Research Associate at COHA

Featured Photo: A summit with leaders of the member states of the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) in 2010. Pictured, from left, are Naoto Kan (Japan), Nguyễn Minh Triết (Vietnam), Julia Gillard (Australia), Sebastián Piñera(Chile), Lee Hsien Loong (Singapore), Barack Obama (United States), John Key (New Zealand), Hassanal Bolkiah (Brunei), Alan García (Peru), and Muhyiddin Yassin (Malaysia). Six of these leaders represent countries that are currently negotiating to join the group. (Gobierno de Chile) By Ian Gustafson, Research Associate at COHA

The Trans-Pacific Partnership, agreed to on October 5, 2015 by the twelve participating countries, is likely to prove disastrous for the Latin American states-Chile, Mexico, and Perú-that have joined the pact up to now. Multinational economic interests based in the United States have exerted extraordinary influence over the accord, inserting language that will arguably serve to damage Latin American interests. Though the TPP has often been presented as a disinterested effort to stimulate basic economic growth and development in the Pacific Rim, the economic principles that underlay the TPP may instead serve to advance the interests of the world's leading corporations. U.S. President Barack Obama promised in a statement that the TPP would slash over 18,000 foreign taxes that the U.S. faces for its exports.[1] Despite being heralded as a path to prosperity for developing countries, eliminating protectionist measures in countries like Chile, Perú, and Mexico could prove to be very harmful. The great nineteenth century German economist Friedrich List argued that developed countries calling for expanded free trade in less developed countries is hypocritical as well as misleading.  As List put it, "it is a very common clever device that when anyone has attained the summit of greatness, he kicks away the ladder by which he has climbed up, in order to deprive others of the means of climbing up after him."[2] Britain and the United States, which historically have been unflagging proponents of free trade for developing countries, both adopted free trade policies only after they were technologically advanced enough not to need protectionist policies.[3] Britain adopted free trade in the mid-nineteenth century, while the United States eliminated its highly protectionist policies only in the early twentieth century. The unprecedented productivity gap that exists today between developed and developing countries makes high tariffs and other support for infant industries even more necessary to provide protection and foster the conditions under which today's advanced countries developed, according to Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang.[4] The United States' promotion of free trade in the Trans-Pacific Partnership ignores its own history and could set a troubling course for the Latin American states involved, which will now have an even more difficult time competing in global markets. The TPP, whose twelve members represent some 40 percent of the global economy, pits two of the world's three biggest economies (the U.S. and Japan) against much smaller states in a productivity battle.[5] It will not be a fair fight, but neither is it guaranteed that any adjustation of the free trade zone will necessarily bring economic justice to some of the poorest countries in the world. Even the most ardent defenders of free trade ideology acknowledge that there are certain conditions under which protectionism is the better policy, conditions that are present in the Latin American countries taking part in the TPP. Economists of international trade agree that improving a country's terms of trade-the ratio of the price of goods it exports to the price of goods it imports-is unequivocally beneficial.[6] Tariffs improve a country's terms of trade, because a tariff will lower demand for the imported good and increase demand for the now relatively less-expensive domestically produced product. Latin American states generally export lower-priced goods and thus have quite a bit to gain from improving terms of trade; the TPP hampers the potential for these gains by eliminating tariffs on goods from more developed states. Pro-Corporate Regulations Besides promising some potential macroeconomic difficulties for the Latin American countries involved, the TPP also includes provisions to allow big corporations to undertake more unrestricted and potentially predatory behavior. One part of the agreement that has been generating quite a bit of criticism from the left is the Investor-State Dispute Settlement Program, or ISDS. The ISDS permits companies to sue governments directly if they believe any TPP country has legislation that could restrict their potential future profits, with the hearing before a tribunal of three private sector lawyers operating under United Nations guidelines.[7] U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) has argued that this provision will violate the sovereignty of individual country's legislative bodies and provide far too much leverage for corporations. Senator Warren also condemned the TPP's ISDS program for not providing adequate safeguards for impartiality. "ISDS could lead to gigantic fines, but it wouldn't employ independent judges," she noted. "Instead, highly paid corporate lawyers would go back and forth between representing corporations one day and sitting in judgment the next."[8] The Investor-State Dispute Settlement Program, which also exists in other trade agreements, does not directly override laws, but imposes a financial penalty for regulations that are restrictive to big business.[9] This provides a financial incentive for states to be lax in their regulations, and will likely force smaller states to give in to corporate demands or else risk stiff financial penalties. For less-developed Latin American states which do not have the discretionary government funds that some other countries do, this issue will be particularly acute. Further, taxpayers will have to pay the legal defense bills when their nations decide to take on the corporate titans. The ISDS is not the only section of the Trans-Pacific Partnership that will potentially provide corporate interests with ruinous power at the expense of less developed nations. Language from the trade pact suggests that it will be far more difficult for generics to challenge brand-name pharmaceuticals abroad, and that there is a serious possibility for monopolistic competition in that industry with the passing of the TPP.[10] The TPP's treatment of the pharmaceutical industry has sparked controversy because it requires eight years of data exclusivity for all prescriptions for all countries except Australia.[11] This lack of transparency for drug companies would make it impossible for TPP countries to make a generic version of new drugs. Language from the TPP also suggests that negotiating bulk purchases of drugs from these companies will be significantly more expensive for governments that use such bulk purchases for aid programs and prisoners.[12] Doctors without Borders suggested in a press release that, "The TPP agreement is on track to become the most harmful trade pact ever for access to medicines in developing countries."[13] Restriction of access to affordable drugs will deny a fundamental human right to the poor, and could become a devastating burden for the people in TPP's Latin American countries. Preventing generic medicines from entering the market is particularly devastating in light of the ascension of India's revolutionary generics program that has made life-saving medicines accessible to even its poorest citizens, a model that could be implemented in Latin America if not for these regulations. Some commentators have suggested that the TPP is at its core a geopolitical maneuver by the U.S. and any economic benefit from the agreement is really a secondary consideration. There certainly is some truth to this statement. The United States is desperate to follow through on President Obama's "pivot to Asia" and establish a foothold there to combat growing Chinese geo-political power. The TPP provides just the vehicle for them to do so. Many analysts agree that Obama's argument that the trade pact will be a stanchion against China's power in Southeast Asia will be an effective cudgel in his efforts to get Congress to pass the deal.[14] Another important geopolitical consideration that likely motivated America's leadership in this endeavor was the tension between the United States and Japan in recent decades over trade policy. The TPP is meant to assuage any concerns that Japan, one of America's most vital allies, might have about future trade wars with the U.S.[15] Despite all the rhetoric that the U.S. espouses about lifting countries out of poverty with free trade and economic union, a significant reason for the U.S. to lead the way in establishing the Trans-Pacific Partnership was geopolitical concerns. It is manipulative for America to involve poor Latin American countries in Washington's global political ambitions, especially when that involvement comes with a potential hit to economic health. NAFTA's Foreboding Example  An illuminating example of how seemingly well-intentioned free trade agreements can end up exacerbating inequality within designated countries and unfairly benefitting American corporations, as the TPP seems poised to repeat, is the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was enacted in 1993 and implemented in 1994. In the aftermath of NAFTA's inception, two million Mexican agricultural laborers lost their jobs and eight million farmers were forced to sell off their land at fire-sale prices.[16] They simply could not compete with more technologically advanced American farming, especially in producing corn, which remained heavily subsidized in the United States. The suffering of Mexican farmers under free trade terms is a stirring example of Friedrich List's "kicking away the ladder" thesis, and should provide a cautionary note for additional Latin American countries joining the TPP. In fact, the World Bank's poverty headcount ratio metric for Mexico displays a higher proportion of people in poverty there today than before NAFTA's passage in the early 1990's, and inequality has widened in the country by several metrics.[17] It is easy to imagine the TPP having similar results for its Latin American members. Further, the regulations that NAFTA eliminated in Mexico had served as a valuable safety net for many poor Mexicans. Provisions of the agreement forced the liquidation of the Compañía Nacional de Subsistencias Populares (CONASUPO), or the National Company of Popular Subsistence, which for years had prevented monopoly control and price speculation to protect basic commodities and staple foods. In early 2007, a 67 percent increase in the price of tortillas left many impoverished Mexicans hungry and desolate without the price guarantees CONASUPO had offered.[18] The ISDS portion of the TPP threatens to spell doom for protective regulations like CONASUPO that would restrict corporations from exploitative practices that would jeopardize the welfare of Latin America's poorest residents. The Trans-Pacific Partnership's terms have only recently been fully disclosed by the participating countries, and early indications suggest that this could be a very harmful agreement for the Latin American states involved. Creating a favorable climate for business to operate in was clearly a major goal, as was slashing the trade barriers that would force nascent Latin American industries to compete with more developed economies. Only time will tell what the practical repercussions will be, but additional Latin American states should exercise caution while considering joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Certainly more profound dialogue is needed. [1] The White House Office of the Press Secretary. Statement by the President on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, 2015. Web. 8 Oct. 2015 [2] Chang, Ha-Joon. "Kicking Away the Ladder: Infant Industry Promotion in Historical Perspective." Oxford Development Studies. Volume 31, No. 1, 2003. Page 24. [3] Chang, Ha-Joon. "Kicking Away the Ladder: Infant Industry Promotion in Historical Perspective." Oxford Development Studies. Volume 31, No. 1, 2003. Page 25. [4] Chang, Ha-Joon. "Kicking Away the Ladder: Infant Industry Promotion in Historical Perspective." Oxford Development Studies. Volume 31, No. 1, 2003. Page 27. [5] Granville, Kevin. "The Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal Explained." The New York Times, August 1, 2015. [6] Irwin, Douglas. Free Trade Under Fire (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2007), Page 99. [7] Sargent, Greg. "Elizabeth Warren fires back at Obama: Here's what they're really fighting about". The Washington Post, May 11, 2015. [8] Warren, Elizabeth. "The Trans-Pacific Partnership clause everyone should oppose". The Washington Post, February 25, 2015. [9] Sargent, Greg. "Elizabeth Warren fires back at Obama: Here's what they're really fighting about". The Washington Post, May 11, 2015. [10] Grunwald, Michael. "Leaked: What's in Obama's Trade Deal". Politico. [11] McGregor, Jaynce. "Spin Cycle: Will joining the TPP increase drug costs?" CBC News, October 16, 2015. [12] McGregor, Jaynce. "Spin Cycle: Will joining the TPP increase drug costs?" CBC News, October 16, 2015. [13] Doctors Without Borders. Trading Away Health: The Trans-Pacific Partnership. 2015. Web 11 October 2015 [14] Calmes, Jackie. "Trans-Pacific Partnership is reached, but faces scrutiny in Congress." The New York Times, October 5, 2015. [15] Solís, Mireya. "The geopolitical importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership: At stake, a liberal economic order". The Brookings Institute, March 13, 2015. [16] "The Failures of NAFTA". The Council on Hemispheric Affairs. June 19, 2012. Accessed October 15, 2015. [17] "Poverty and Equity". The World Bank. 2015. Accessed October 15, 2015. [18] "The Trans-Pacific Partnership". Bilterals.org, 2015. Accessed October 13, 2015. Article and sources can be found: http://www.coha.org/bleak-prospects-for-latin-america-under-trans-pacific-partnership/

Political Report # 1113 Despite Pledge, US Still Not Letting Gitmo Detainees Tell Their Stories By Jenna McLaughlin, The Intercept

Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay prison camp. (photo: NBC)                               By Jenna McLaughlin, The Intercept

Despite promises to allow Guantanamo prisoners to speak more freely about their experiences there, the U.S. government is still blocking the release of over 100 pages of notes and diaries from torture victim Abu Zubaydah. The U.S. had for many years taken the position that the prisoners could not describe their own experiences of torture and confinement because those activities were classified. But in January, after the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s torture report, the government changed its classification rules. In a brief filed in a military commission case, the government wrote that “general allegations of torture” minus specific details about the CIA agents involved or the location, were now unclassified. The brief specifically lists 119 names of prisoners who could now discuss details about their treatment-and, according to Joe Margulies, a law professor at Cornell and lead defense attorney for Zubaydah, his client’s name is the first one the list. Zubaydah, who the Bush administration incorrectly alleged was a key Al Qaeda operative and who has never been charged with a crime, has sent his lawyers hand-written letters, declarations, and other materials describing his torture and confinement in CIA black sites and Guantanamo Bay. Amy Jacobsen, Margulies’s co-counsel, laid out the specific steps the team took in submitting the Zubaydah material for review by the government’s Privilege Review Team in an e-mail to the Intercept. “The bulk of the material I submitted was taken from letters that [our client] had written to us, in which he described his torture, but there were also some notes from meetings with him, and some written declarations that he had made to us,” she wrote. “Sometimes these included physical descriptions of his torturers and indications of where in the world he was imprisoned, but I removed any such identifying information, leaving ellipses, such as this [ . . .] in their place,” she explained. “If he said what they were asking him about in the interrogation, I also removed that. The only information that I submitted for review was information regarding his torture, treatment, and conditions of confinement and transfer.”

Political Report # 1112 Cuba After the Thaw By Michelle Chase, Boston Review

Cuba. (photo: Flickr)            By Michelle Chase, Boston Review

Will the normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations mean worsening inequality for Afro-Cubans and women? In December 2014 President Obama made the stunning announcement that he had used his executive power to negotiate with Cuba and would reestablish diplomatic relations with our erstwhile enemy. Throughout the subsequent year, the U.S. media focused on the more exciting aspects of reestablishing diplomatic ties: the long-overdue removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism; the moving act of raising the flag above the reinstated U.S. embassy in Havana; and most recently, the sudden announcement of big business interests sitting down with U.S. and Cuban officials to negotiate compensation for properties expropriated by the revolution a half-century ago. Our official recognition of the Cuban government after fifty-five years of isolation, open aggression, and clandestine destabilization is extremely important and must continue. Yet what already seems clear is that the renewal of U.S. relations will not automatically bring widespread prosperity, much less social equality, to Cuba. The December 17, 2014 rapprochement between Cuba and the United States came on the heels of several years of Cuban internal reform that have deepened inequality, stacking the deck of the new political landscape in favor of some Cubans. Not surprisingly, race and gender figure prominently in Cuba's growing disparities. Even the most measurable change so far this year-the spike in American visitors-may contribute to the island's deepening inequality. The growing flood of U.S. tourists will inevitably provide new clientele for the restaurants, home-stays, and other urban services that are the bread and butter of Havana's new upwardly mobile class of business owners, who tend to be light-skinned and often male, threatening to leave Afro-Cubans, women, and vulnerable groups, such as the elderly, behind.