Costa Rica to ban Hunting to ‘save the animals’

The move sounds more like an attempt to keep people out of the UN-owned Parks and Reserves and to favor large foreign-owned resorts.

REUTERS | OCTOBER 5, 2012

Costa Rica is poised to become the first Latin American country to ban hunting as a sport, after Congress on Tuesday provisionally approved reforms to its Wildlife Conservation Law.

Lawmakers voting on the ban voted 41 in favor and five against, and a second vote expected in the coming week is widely seen ratifying changes to the law, which aims to protect animals in one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.

Costa Rica’s national parks attract some 300,000 visitors annually, and tourism is a mainstay of the economy.

“We’re not just hoping to save the animals but we’re hoping to save the country’s economy, because if we destroy the wildlife there, tourists are not going to come anymore”, environmental activist Diego Marin, who campaigned for the reform, told local radio.

Jaguars, pumas and sea turtles are among the country’s most exotic and treasured species, and are often hunted or stolen as trophies.

The ban would not apply to hunting by some indigenous groups for survival, or to scientific research.

The Central American country is home to 4.5 million people. Famous for its sandy beaches, tropical rain forests and eco-friendly resorts, it owes roughly 5 percent of gross domestic product to tourism, which generates around $2.1 billion annually.

Brazilian Court convicts 12 politicians in Mensalão Scandal

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | OCTOBER 2, 2012

The time has come for Jose Dirceu to face justice in the Mensalão corruption scandal.

The Brazilian Supreme Court convicted Monday afternoon 12 individuals from four different political parties which were government allies during the Lula administration. These convictions are part of the process known as Mensalão, a corruption case where 38 people were brought to trial charged with seven crimes including active and passive corruption, money laundering and gang formation.

So far the Supreme Court issued 22 convictions and four acquittals. The acquittals were issued due to what the court said was lack of evidence. Monday’s convictions relate to 12 politicians from the political parties known as PP, PR, PTB and PMDB, which up until today are close to the Brazilian government and members of the Executive power.

According to the judges from the Supreme Court these politicians, which include MPs and party chairmen, such as Roberto Jefferson, president of the PTB and informer in the corruption case since 2005, had created a corruption scheme that brought former President Lula da Silva to the brink of losing his mandate. Despite multiple accusations against Lula himself, the Court has refused to hear testimony from those who accuse him of knowing about the corruption scheme that paid political groups in exchange for political support.

These 12 politicians have been convicted of having bribed with money taken from public coffers, to amass support for the Lula government and sell their votes in favor of the bills introduced by the Government, including the reform of the Social Security System.

The dean of the Supreme, Celso de Mello, who sentenced the 12 politicians for the three crimes charged by the Attorney General, made a harsh reflection on the serious consequences of corruption by politicians who should be the guarantors of democratic ethics. Mello defined them as “empowered criminals.” He said that “no one lives with dignity in a state taken by corruption”.

Mello had question the very same projects approved by people being accused of bribery today. He remembered that, for example, the judgments issued by a corrupt judge is invalid. The Chief Justice Ayres Britto, quoted Ulysses Guimarães, while explaining that “political corruption is the cancer of democracy.”

In the next few days, the focus will be on the block of inmates that belong to the Workers Party (PT), who, when the scandal broke out, were the ones responsible for the corruption scheme. They include José Dirceu, Lula’s right hand man and two-time presidents of PT, the former party member José Genuino and the treasurer Delubio Suares.

The three are accused of bribery, and of being the corrupters of political allies and of forming an organized gang as they sought to perpetuate their grasp of power in Brazilian politics and the government.

The possible sentence for Dirceu is the trickiest because, according to political scientists such sentence would also taint former president Lula, who maintains that he did not know anything about the corruption scheme known as the Mensalão.

An acquittal of Dirceu, who still claims he is innocent of the charges, would indirectly absolve Lula who insists that the ongoing process in the Supreme is a way to put in doubt the projects that his government conducted during the eight years he was in power, which he says, helped 30 million Brazilians to get out of poverty.

The PT, one of the most corrupt organizations in the country, has called on its militants and social formations to take to the streets to “defend the attempted coup against Lula”.

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Why is Venezuela selling its Gold reserves?

Another equally important question to answer is, where is the cash going?

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | OCTOBER 1, 2012

After loudly announcing the arrival of its gold reserves from Europe on national media, the Venezuelan government is now selling that same gold and allegedly ‘injecting’ the cash from the sales into the economy. “Labeled as a historic event for the country, the arrival of the last shipment of Venezuelan gold arrived from Europe last January, but just as fast as it arrived, it is now leaving the Bolivarian territory.

The government led by Hugo Chavez had to resort to selling the country’s gold reserves to add dollars into the economy. Last January, heavily armored tanks and trucks escorted Venezuela’s gold from one of its ports to the Venezuelan Central Bank coffers, while government-sponsored media parroted about how the return of the gold was a move to strengthen national sovereignty and Venezuela’s economic future. The Venezuelan gold had been in European banks for about two decades before returning to the country, after Hugo Chavez ordered the return back in 2011.

The arrival of the gold that began last year prompted the government to start the sale of gold in order to put more US dollars into the Venezuelan economy. The first sale accounted for 3.2 tonnes of gold, which attempted to alleviate the shortage of dollars. The move to sell gold to get dollars was not made public until recently in Venezuela, after the International Monetary Fund revealed details about the transaction last week.

Early last week, the news agency Reuters published details about the IMF report, which states how Venezuela’s gold reserves decreased by  10.98 tonnes in 2012. The country saw its 372.93 tonnes turn into 362 , 05 tonnes as it was accounted for last August. Just last month, the Central Bank of Venezuela sold 3.2 tons for about $ 300 million.

Last Wednesday, the chairman of the Finance Committee of the National Assembly, the government deputy Ricardo Sanguino, admitted to Caracas’ daily El Mundo that the government had indeed cashed over three tonnes of gold. According to information published by the local press, the sale was made to alleviate the cash dollar shortage facing the country and to cover the payment of imports, which in the past year  increased by 20%.

The main source of foreign cash are Venezuela’s oil exports, which also finance 60% of the national budget. Oil reserves are short right now, while President Hugo Chavez seeks reelection for another 6-year period.

Venezuela possesses today the largest proven reserves of oil while its oil price exceeds $ 102. But state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) produces below its capacity. A month ago, there was an explosion of fuel tanks of the largest of its refineries. The event killed 48 people and paralyzed operations at the government installation.

Imports are the oxygen of the Venezuelan economy. About 80% of food products consumed in the country are imported: powder milk, meat, sugar, chicken, coffee offered at subsidized prices in the popular market network managed by the state and , along with all this, the government also subsidizes all the social programs that benefit the poorest people who usually support of Hugo Chavez.

These imports are controlled by the government, which since 2003 maintained a strict policy of exchange of products. The purchase of foreign goods is tightly controlled by the Commission of Administration of Foreign Exchange, which decides who, what and how much Venezuelans can buy in foreign currencies.

Only entrepreneurs closer to the government have access to the official rate of 4.3 bolivars per dollar. The rest of the people need to go to the two parallel currency markets operating in the country.

The move to sell gold to flood the currency market with US dollars is seen as a political one from Hugo Chavez, who needs to keep his supporters happy until October 7, the day of the presidential election.

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Forbidden Education

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | SEPTEMBER 29, 2012

If you often wonder what did the traditional educational system do for you, let me say that you are asking the wrong question.How about asking what did the traditional educational system prevented me from doing? or What did the traditional educational system prevented me from becoming? The current educational system was invented and imposed on society since the times of the industrial revolution, following the model created in Prussia.

The main goal of that educational system was to deplete human minds and to simply prepare people to become effective factory workers who completed tasks in the most expeditious way possible without costing much to the land or factory owner. It was designed in a way that  prepared people to be obedient servants; and it still does so today.

The school system is considered by teachers, academics and students an obsolete and outdated method of instruction, but what many of those teachers, academics or students don’t know or recognize, is that such characteristics were purposely embedded into the educational system.

Obsolescence and ineffectiveness are not consequences of an outdated educational system, but fundamental parts of a control scheme that meant to turn people into dumbed down, obedient cows who could be milked throughout their whole lives for the fruits of their labor. This fact is documented by Charlotte Iserbyt in her book Deliberate Dumbing Down of America.

All traditional public and private schools functioning under government-created policy are designed to teach people how to repeat concepts and ideas born in government which are not only useless, but also not prepared by actual teachers.

The film College Conspiracy does a great job exposing the negative results of the current educational system because it explains how it directly affects the lives of millions of people who are born into a defective form of education. However, a new documentary called Educación Prohibida — Forbidden Education — takes an even deeper look at the roots of the current educational system and provides a historical perspective on how the government-sponsored method of ‘educating’ us has been destroying minds for hundreds of years.

The film is narrated in Spanish but it also provides English and Portuguese subtitles. Please watch it below and pass it to as many people as possible.

 

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Uruguay gets closer to lifting ban on Abortion

By LUIS MIRANDA | THE REAL AGENDA | SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Women stood naked with their bodies painted to reflect their support for what they called their right to choose.

Uruguay is now on the verge of decriminalizing abortion after its House of Representatives approved a motion to do just that with a minimum majority of 50 to 49. Although the bill still needs to be ratified in the Senate, it is expected to pass, because it seems to have enough support there too.

The motion to decriminalize abortion was approved after a lengthy discussion of nearly fourteen hours which had moments filled with emotion from those pro lifting the ban and others who sought keep abortion illegal.  The feelings of concern and excitement among representatives was evident as arguments marked clear lines of separation within all Uruguayan political parties.

The bill now goes to the Senate, where it will voted on in December to become law. After that, President José Mujica will have to sign it in order to ratify the law and make it official.

According to the text adopted, the motion decriminalizes abortion up to the twelfth week of pregnancy, with no limit in case of danger to the health of the mother, and provided that the procedure is carried out in health centers under the supervision of the authorities. Any Uruguayan woman who wants an abortion under this law only has to go to a doctor and express her desire to do so.

The physician will then send the woman to a committee of gynecologists, psychologists and social workers to inform the woman about all the possibilities she has available. If the woman still manifests her intention to have the abortion, the procedure will take place immediately without further proceedings.

This project is a substantial modification of the bill voted on by the Senate because the ruling Frente Amplio (FA), which promised to pass the motion, did not have the votes previous to the debate. The party was forced to agree on a new project with Independent Party lawmaker Ivan Posada, whose vote was crucial for approval.

In the end, the final tally of 49 votes from the Frente Amplio plus one from Posada helped approve the motion, even though representative  Andrés Lima voted against on grounds of conscience. Two other representatives argued against the project, but left the room and their seats to their alternates so the project could be approved.

Among them was Dario Perez, who tearfully told colleagues he could not accompany the vote because he still remembered the pain that resulted in the loss of a child when his wife spontaneously aborted while during her fourth month of pregnancy. On the opposing side, the Colorado Party deputy Fernando Amado, a supporter of the decriminalization of abortion, argued in favor of the measure and left the room to not vote against it as a mandate required him to do due to a mandate from his party.

Anibal Gloodtdofsky, also was in favor of decriminalization but said he would vote against to respect party lines. In his speech to the House, Rep. Posada defended the project saying it was “appropriate to reduce the number of abortions performed in the country. This project chooses the middle path, the path of lesser evil,” he said to the other members.

By contrast, Rep. Fitzgerald argued against by saying that “with this project the mother can do what she wants with the pregnancy.” Despite being punishable by law in Uruguay, records show that at least 30,000 abortions are performed each year, although the reality could double that number, say NGOs. In 2008, a similar bill was approved, but it did not become law due to the veto imposed by the previous administration.

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