Classified Documents Show Ties Between Ex-President Uribe and Para Military Groups

 https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/colombia/2020-08-31/friends-el-viejo-declassified-records-detail-suspected-paramilitary-narco-ties-former-colombian?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=a65c0c5d-475d-4fbb-ab00-1c35c2da92ef

Brasil: Hand To Heart, Hand To Till

 

BRAZIL

Hand to Heart, Hand to Till

A Brazilian court suspended Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel over the weekend as part of a corruption investigation into alleged kickbacks that involve the state’s chaotic response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Washington Post reported.

Prosecutors said that the governor was at the “top of the pyramid” of a corruption scheme of bribes and kickback for government contracts including projects to fight the outbreak that has infected more than 3.8 million and killed more than 120,000 people as of Sunday.

One of the suspected schemes was the construction of seven field hospitals and the procurement of supplies of ventilators and protective medical equipment. Only two hospitals were constructed and much of the equipment never materialized, or arrived too late.

The accusations are another blow for Brazil’s leadership which is struggling to contain the outbreak amid mounting accusations that officials are exploiting it to get rich.

Worldwide, corruption has grown into one of the “most nettlesome obstacles,” the Washington Post wrote. Officials from South Africa to Colombia have been accused of stealing money as their countries swelled health care budgets to meet the crisis.

Meanwhile, Witzel denied the accusations and said that the investigation was an attack orchestrated by his political rival President Jair Bolsonaro, who is also under investigation for corruption.

The two leaders have clashed on the pandemic response: Bolsonaro has urged people to go back to normal, while Witzel shut down all but nonessential businesses.

Argentina: The Wheat Field Priciple

 

The Wheat-field Principle

by Jeff Thomas

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In 1946, Juan Perón was elected president of a prosperous country: Argentina.

He promised great social benefits to the common man, under justicialismo (social justice). This "justice" was never actually defined; it was more implied: If you’re a common man, the Perón government will favour you over the "rich."

This he demonstrated through forced wage increases and other benefits. Railroads and utilities were nationalised (stolen from their owners by the government). In addition, extensive, but often unnecessary, public works projects were undertaken.

Work ethic and personal achievement took a back seat to being well-connected. Increasingly, success was the result of bribes to government leaders and officials.

The overall result of these actions was that the economy sank and the very businesses that were bled to provide the largesse given to the common man were no longer able to pay the ever-increasing cost of entitlements.

This led, not to an obvious reversal of the socially and economically destructive policies, but to an increased reliance on the military and a growing police state. Constitutional liberties were removed and any opposition was punished.

Although the "man of the people" campaign promises from Mister Perón had been welcomed in 1946, by 1955, it became apparent that they had led to inflation, increased poverty, corruption and political oppression.

Amid broad public discontent, Mister Perón was ousted from office. The subsequent government advised the electorate that, for the economy to recover, they must accept a loss of entitlements. Such was the payback to recover from the mistakes of socialism.

Perón went into exile, but amazingly, he was returned to office by the electorate in 1973 (and died in office the following year).

Since that time, Argentina has gone through cycles that have each begun with a new "saviour" candidate promising greater largesse from the government, winning the election, then instituting a revised Peronist model. In every case, it would end in inflation, increased poverty, corruption and political oppression two or three terms later.

Following the inevitable economic decline, a more conservative administration would be voted in. There would be a brief period of correction – fiscally sound governmental polices. Under such administrations, entitlements would be diminished and Argentina would begin to return to a sound economic footing.

But these periods of responsible governance would rarely last more than one term. Before the transition to full prosperity could be completed, the next election would result in a return to the Peronist model.

If the above description sounds repetitive, it is. The cycles have repeated for 73 years, with the odd interruption of military rule.

The result has been that Argentina, a once-highly productive country, has become a banana republic and has remained that way. There are significant periods of socialism, interrupted with brief corrections – attempts to refloat the economy – only to dive once more, headlong, into socialism.

And yet the Argentine people are, for the most part, educated and industrious. Why on earth does this conundrum continue after so many blatant failures?

The answer is human nature. Once a people have decided to cease to act responsibly, once they’ve decided to pass the decision-making to the government, they slide into a childlike existence in which they cease to bother to look any further into the future than their next governmental handout.

Once a people have become this shortsighted, they’re easily manipulated into forgetting the pain of past errors and are suckers for renewed empty promises.

It should be borne in mind that those who have watched Argentina closely over the years maintain hope that Argentines will one day "wake up" and recognize that the 73-year experiment has only brought repeated hardship; that they’ll return to an understanding that, in order to have a sound economy, they must accept that socialist concepts are invariably doomed to failure.

This hope was particularly high in 2015, when an accomplished businessman, Mauricio Macri, ran for office at the end of the disastrous reign of Cristina Fernández. He won the election – the first true conservative candidate to do so since the early 1940s.

There were many people who then said, "Finally – the electorate have seen the light."

Sorry to say, although I wished that this might be true, on hearing the results of the election, I predicted that Mister Macri would be a one-term-only president. If Mister Macri were to usher in a new era of fiscal responsibility, he would need at least two terms of recovery to re-stabilise the country, then another two terms or more of prosperity for the lesson to sink in – to build up the prosperity.

There was no chance, in my view, that he could complete the task within four years. Consequently, he’d be voted out.

I term this conundrum the "wheat-field principle." The same people who voted for redemption from a failed system will, in a subsequent election, reverse their vote.

So, how does this principle manifest itself?

Well, the pundits who predict elections tend to imagine that "the people" of a country have a change of heart and, accordingly, a change of leadership occurs. If not, the existing leadership remains.

This is never what actually occurs.

Instead, any country will always have a hardcore conservative group – mostly employers and other businesspeople – who almost invariably vote for the conservative candidate. It will also have the wage earners and the civil service, etc., who have a limited ability to increase their own income. They hope that a liberal leader will provide them with benefits that they cannot create for themselves through their limited abilities and ambitions. The latter group almost invariably vote for the liberal candidate.

In the middle are a percentage of the electorate – less than 25%, but often even less, who wave back and forth… like a wheat field. When a liberal candidate makes empty promises to make life better, they vote liberal. But when those promises prove to be empty and the economy craters, the wheat field, reluctantly, vote conservative.

The significance of this is that the wheat field have not ceased to want entitlements. In fact, they remain hopeful that entitlements can return. They’re uninterested in why socialism doesn’t work; they simply want to be told that things will be better this time.

It’s for this reason that, time after time, the Argentine wheat field that voted for a return to fiscal responsibility in one election, become the swing vote again in the next election, returning the country once again to socialism.

History shows that countries discard socialism only if it has brought the economy to the bottom and kept it there long enough for a fundamental change in thinking amongst an electorate. If not, the same wheat field that voted conservative in one election will blow the other way four years later – and that will be true in most any country.

Editor’s Note: A government-led crisis is already underway in the US and throughout the rest of the world.

If you want to navigate the complicated economic and political situation that is unfolding, then you need to see this newly released video.

It reveals what you need to know as the crisis deepens, and how these dangerous times could impact your wealth. Click here to watch it now.

Brasilian Partnership To Begin Producing NASA-Designed Covid-19 Ventilator.

 

NEWS | AUGUST 24, 2020

Brazilian Partnership to Begin Producing NASA-Designed COVID-19 Ventilator

This image shows the ventilator prototype for coronavirus patients designed and built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
› Full image and caption

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The Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency has approved the commercial manufacture of VITAL, a breathing device designed specifically to address the needs of coronavirus patients.

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In late April, NASA announced the development of Ventilator Intervention Technology Accessible Locally (VITAL), a ventilator prototype designed specifically to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, 28 manufacturers around the world have been licensed to make the device. Now one of those licensees is preparing to begin production in Brazil.

Anvisa, Brazil's counterpart to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced approval of this effort during an Aug. 24 press conference with the licensee, a joint partnership between Russer, a medical device manufacturer, and CIMATEC (Manufacturing and Technology Integrated Campus), a nonprofit research and development institution.

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"Throughout its history, NASA's missions to explore off Earth have benefited life on Earth and provided a means through which the United States has been able to strengthen relationships globally," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. "During these difficult times, we are particularly proud that the unparalleled expertise, abilities, and passion of our workforce will aid other countries in their response to the coronavirus pandemic."

The ventilator prototype was designed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where spacecraft engineers felt compelled to contribute their know-how to address the pandemic. In just 37 days, they completed a functional prototype of VITAL, which received emergency use authorization from the FDA on March 24.

JPL ultimately created two versions of VITAL - a pneumatic version and another using compressed air. The CIMATEC/Russer version is based on the pneumatic version. With one-seventh the parts of a traditional ventilator, both versions models rely on parts readily available in supply chains to avoid competing for components required for traditional ventilators.

Designed specifically for the needs of COVID-19 patients, rather than the wide range of ailments treated with traditional ventilators, VITAL is simpler to build and more affordable. The CIMATEC/Russer model - which goes by the acronym VIDA, or "life" in Portuguese - will be available at a fraction of the cost of a traditional ventilator.

"This device benefits Brazil in multiple ways," said CIMATEC Director Leone Andrade. "It can help Brazilians combat the virus while also providing an opportunity for industry."

The 28 VITAL licensees were selected from 100 applicants based on their ability to manufacture and deliver the ventilator. Several other manufacturers around the world are far along in their own efforts to bring to market a version of the ventilator, with JPL providing technical guidance.

"Our team is delighted to see how quickly the Brazilian licensees were able to replicate our prototype design, upgrade it where necessary, and also obtain local regulatory approval," said Leon Alkalai, manager of the JPL Office of Strategic Partnerships and VITAL project manager. "They did so in record time and we are truly impressed with how quickly they were able to master the art and even improve on the design."

VITAL's initial design, which CIMATEC/Russer's model is based on, uses a pneumatic pump to circulate air into the ventilator and was run through a battery of tests by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. A modified design that relies on an air compressor could be deployed by a greater range of hospitals was tested at the UCLA Simulation Center in Los Angeles before also receiving a ventilator Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA.

For more information about NASA's work in fighting COVID-19, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/coronavirus

News Media Contact

Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov

Argentina: Balancing Act

 

ARGENTINA

Balancing Act

Argentina extended a price freeze for TV, internet and mobile services until the end of the year, in a move that could further complicate a deal with the International Monetary Fund, Bloomberg reported.

The freeze establishes that the items are “essential public services” and bars providers from raising prices without government approval.

The new measures come after the South American country reached an agreement with investors earlier this month to renegotiate $65 billion in debt following its ninth default.

Argentina is trying to win back confidence in the global markets, as its economy is facing its deepest contraction ever caused by nationwide lockdowns to curb the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the decision marks the government’s latest measure to contain prices: President Alberto Fernandez’s administration has also banned layoffs, doubled severance pay and frozen prices on 2,000 consumer goods it deems essential.

His populist stance, however, contrasts with the recent comments by Economy Minister Martin Guzman, who hinted that the country may remove strict capital controls and would try to renegotiate its payments to the IMF.

D

Chile Lending A Paw

 

Lending a Paw

Chile was struck by the worst wildfire in its history back in 2017: It resulted in the loss of 714,000 acres of land and the destruction of the town of Santa Olga, displacing thousands of residents.

Since the devastating event, sisters Francisca and Constanza Torres have been helping the forests in the Talca region to regrow with the help of their three border collies, the BBC reported. The pooches are equipped with backpacks full of seeds that fall to the ground through holes when the dogs run around.

The sisters explain that they picked border collies because they are smart, fast and energetic. The dogs can travel more than 18 miles in one day and drop more than 20 pounds of seeds. They said that the activity is “more like a field trip than a job” for the pups, adding that they get rewarded with lots of treats and love.

The idea was born because the sisters said they had to do something.

“We have lived here since we were very young and then there were lots of forest…full of animals,” said Constanza. “Now you can see there is nothing left…”

The sisters pay for everything themselves and hope to expand the project. Their work, meanwhile, has received international recognition and both California and Australia, which have suffered devastating wildfires of their own, have reached out to them.

Watch them and the dogs here.

Brasil: Fighting The Fires

BRAZIL

Fighting Fires

Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research said that fires in the Amazon have increased by a whopping 28 percent from a year ago, despite government pledges to reduce deforestation in the rainforest, the Independent reported Monday.

The agency recorded a total of 6,803 fires last month compared to 5,318 in the same month in 2019.

The huge increase has sparked concern that another wave of devastating fires might occur as it did in August 2019, when 30,900 fires were recorded by the institute – marking a 12-year high.

Environmentalists and the international community have voiced concern over the policies of rightwing President Jair Bolsonaro, who has called for opening up the Amazon to farming, logging and mining to boost Brazil’s economy, according to the New York Times.

Bolsonaro has changed his stance following international pressure: In May, he deployed the military to protect the rainforest and last month he ordered a ban on forest fires for four months.

Despite the measures, analysts believe that these actions amount to little more than damage control.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s worsening reputation has thrown up roadblocks to its two main foreign policy goals – a trade deal with the European Union and membership in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.