Naomi Klein (Continuación)

ReflexionesDemocracia

Hace poco, mientras los manifestantes se congregaban en Montebello (Quebec) cerca del lugar de la reunión de la Asociación para la Prosperidad y la Seguridad (SPP, por sus siglas en inglés de Security and Prosperity Partnership), a fin de criticar a los presidentes de Estados Unidos y de México, George W. Bush y Felipe Calderón, y al primer ministro de Canadá, Stephen Harper, la Associated Press informó de este detalle surrealista: "Los líderes no estuvieron en condiciones de ver a los manifestantes en vivo y en directo. Pero pudieron observar a los manifestantes en aparatos de televisión dentro del hotel (...),…  Seguir leyendo »

ReflexionesDemocracia

As protesters gathered recently outside the Security and Prosperity Partnership summit in Montebello, Quebec, to confront George Bush, Felipe Calderón, the Mexican president, and Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, Associated Press reported this surreal detail: "Leaders were not able to see the protesters in person, but they could watch the protesters on TV monitors inside the hotel ... Cameramen hired to ensure that demonstrators would be able to pass along their messages to the three leaders sat idly in a tent full of audio and video equipment ... A sign on the outside of the tent said, 'Our cameras are here today providing your right to be seen and heard.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalEconomía,

La invasión de Iraq ha creado lo que podría ser el mayor boom petrolero de la historia. Todos los signos están presentes: multinacionales dispuestas a devorar empresas nacionales a voluntad, enviar a sus países ganancias ilimitadas, disfrutar vacaciones impositivas y pagar un risible 1% en tasas al gobierno.

No se trata del boom en Iraq generado por el proyecto de ley petrolera, eso vendrá más tarde. Este boom, en cambio, ya está funcionando, y está ocurriendo muy lejos de la carnicería de Bagdad, en zonas del norte de Alberta, en Canadá. Durante cuatro años, Alberta e Iraq han estado conectadas entre sí a través de un mecanismo invisible: mientras Bagdad arde, desestabilizando toda la región y enviando los precios del petróleo por las nubes, Calgary florece.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo,

Gaza en manos de Hamas: milicianos encapuchados sientan sus reales en el sillón presidencial, Cisjordania sigue en vilo, las fuerzas armadas israelíes concentran efectivos en los altos del Golán, un satélite espía transmite datos incansablemente sobre Irán y Siria, la guerra con Hizbulah pende realmente de un hilo y toda una clase política acosada por los escándalos afronta en estas horas una pérdida total de credibilidad. A primera vista, las cosas no van bien para Israel. Pero surge un enigma: ¿por qué, en medio de tal caos y carnicería, el auge de la economía israelí es similar al de 1999, con una bolsa pujante y unos índices de crecimiento próximos a los de China?…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoOriente Próximo

Gaza in the hands of Hamas, with masked militants sitting in the president's chair; the West Bank on the edge; Israeli army camps hastily assembled in the Golan Heights; a spy satellite over Iran and Syria; war with Hizbullah a hair trigger away; a scandal-plagued political class facing a total loss of public faith. At a glance, things aren't going well for Israel. But here's a puzzle: why, in the midst of such chaos and carnage, is the Israeli economy booming like it's 1999, with a roaring stock market and growth rates nearing China's?

Thomas Friedman recently offered his theory in the New York Times.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAmérica,

After a group of Mohawks from the Tyendinaga reserve blockaded the railway between Kingston and Toronto two weeks ago, a near unanimous cry rose up from the editorial pages of Ontario newspapers and talk radio: Get Shawn Brant. Earlier this month Brant, a beanpole of a man, walked into a packed courtroom with his wrists and ankles shackled after handing himself over to the Ontario provincial police.According to court testimony, the arrest warrant - on charges of mischief, disobeying a court order, and breach of recognisance - violated an agreement between police and demonstrators, who were given immunity when they peacefully ended the blockade.…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalEconomía,

No es el acto en sí mismo, sino la hipocresía. Ésa es la frase en relación con Paul Wolfowitz, que proviene de páginas editoriales de todo el mundo. Pero no se trata de ninguna de ambas. No se trata del acto (hacer caso omiso de las normas para aumentar el sueldo de su novia) ni de la hipocresía (el hecho de que la misión de Wolfowitz como presidente del Banco Mundial (BM) sea luchar por un buen gobierno).

En primer lugar, vamos a dejar de lado el supuesto problema de la hipocresía. "¿Quién desea recibir una filípica sobre corrupción por parte de alguien que informa ´Haga lo que digo, no lo que yo hago´?",…  Seguir leyendo »

InternacionalEconomía,

It's not the act itself, it's the hypocrisy. That's the line on Paul Wolfowitz coming from editorial pages around the world. It's neither: not the act (the way he disregarded the rules to get his girlfriend a pay rise); and not the hypocrisy (the fact that Wolfowitz's mission as World Bank president is fighting for "good governance").First, let's dispense with the supposed hypocrisy problem. "Who wants to be lectured on corruption by someone telling them to 'Do as I say, not as I do'?" asked one journalist. No one, of course. But that's a pretty good description of the game of one-way strip poker that is our global trade system, in which the United States and Europe - via the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation - tell the developing world: "You take down your trade barriers and we'll keep ours up."…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaInternacionalTerrorismo Internacional, , ,

Something remarkable is going on in a Miami courtroom. The cruel methods US interrogators have used since September 11 to "break" prisoners are finally being put on trial. This was not supposed to happen. The Bush administration's plan was to put José Padilla on trial for allegedly being part of a network linked to international terrorists. But Padilla's lawyers are arguing that he is not fit to stand trial because he has been driven insane by the government.

Arrested in May 2002 at Chicago's O'Hare airport, Padilla, a Brooklyn-born former gang member, was classified as an "enemy combatant" and taken to a navy prison in Charleston, South Carolina.…  Seguir leyendo »