{"id":189262,"date":"2021-07-26T12:01:18","date_gmt":"2021-07-26T11:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=189262"},"modified":"2021-07-21T08:31:15","modified_gmt":"2021-07-21T07:31:15","slug":"evo-morales-denounces-new-u-s-led-operation-condor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/07\/evo-morales-denounces-new-u-s-led-operation-condor\/","title":{"rendered":"Evo Morales Denounces New U.S.-led Operation Condor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plan follows precedent of 1970s state-sponsored assassination campaign targeting leftists.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Evo Morales speaks in Cochabamba in 2017.
[Source: telesurenglish.net]<\/p><\/div>\n

19 Jul 2021 – <\/em>Operation Condor<\/a> was a U.S.-directed secret intelligence program in the 1970s and early \u201980s in six South American U.S.-backed dictatorships\u2014Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay\u2014that resulted in the torture and \u201cdisappearance\u201d of thousands of people.<\/p>\n

The victims included dissidents and leftists, union and peasant leaders, priests and nuns, students and teachers, intellectuals and suspected guerrillas.<\/p>\n

\"Operation
Arrest in Operation Condor in 1970s. [Source: bbc.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bolivian President Evo Morales has recently suggested that the 2019 coup directed against him is part of a new U.S. Plan Condor<\/a>\u2014whose aim is to rollback the renewed left-wing ascendancy in South America.<\/p>\n

In a speech in early July, Morales stated:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sending of war materials by the former presidents of Ecuador (Moreno), and Argentina (Macri), and the letter of thanks from General Terceros are further evidence that, together with the assassination of the President of Haiti, by former Colombian military personnel<\/em>, show the execution of a second Condor Plan under U.S. direction<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

We alert the Latin America social movements about #PlanC\u00f3ndor2 and the need to strengthen the struggle for peace with social justice and democracy to preserve the sovereignty and independence of our States and the dignity of the people.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the face of the Bolivian right wing and its U.S.-paid media that lie and do not show a single piece of evidence of the alleged fraud [2019 elections], more evidence continues to appear about those who participated in the 2019 coup d\u2019\u00e9tat and the support given by anti-popular governments with war material and money.<\/em><\/p>\n

We reaffirm that #PlanC\u00f3ndor2 is under way and we must agree on measures so that the right-wing governments of Latin America do not continue to participate in coups d\u2019\u00e9tat under the leadership of the United States, causing mourning and pain to our peoples.<\/em><\/p>\n

We warn the people, militants, sympathizers, patriotic military and professionals committed to their country: <\/em>We are in the sights of the U.S.<\/em><\/a> because we recovered our natural resources, nationalized strategic companies and closed the military base in Chimor\u00e9. They do not forgive us.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The \u2018pau-de-arara\u2019 was a preferred form of torture in Brazil, introduced by the CIA in the 60\/80\u2019s Operation Condor. Electric shocks were applied to limbs, genitals, anus, cigarettes put out on body, and beatings to unconsciousness. When the person passed out, they would throw a bucket of water over and continue the electrification, now multiplied many times over. Deaths were not uncommon during torture.<\/p><\/div>\n

Cuba\u2014On the New Condor Hit List<\/strong><\/h2>\n

That the new Operation Condor represents an extension of the old one is evident in Washington\u2019s continued subversion efforts directed against Cuba, a country that has defied U.S. imperial designs since the 1959 Cuban revolution.<\/p>\n

As CAM reported<\/a>, on June 23 of this year 184 countries of the United Nations General Assembly voted in favor of an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba. It was the 29th<\/sup> consecutive year where virtually all countries, except the U.S. and Israel, made this demand.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the Cuban media have denounced<\/a> the millions of dollars of U.S. funding, through organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), to create and fund opposition media and the organization of youth.<\/p>\n

The NED programs are an adjunct of the new Condor operation, whose goal is regime change of left-wing governments.<\/p>\n

Cuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel Berm\u00fadez on July 11 rejected<\/a> the smear campaigns of the U.S. media hegemony in the midst of the Covid pandemic with the intensification of the illegal economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States.<\/p>\n

\"Cuba's
Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel [Source: france24.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn a subtle, cowardly and opportunistic manner, those who have maintained the blockade and those who have been used as mercenaries and lackeys of the empire, appear with humanitarian doctrines to strengthen the criterion that the Cuban government is not capable of dealing with this situation; if they are worried about the people of Cuba, they need to end the blockade,\u201d<\/em> said the Cuban president.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The U.S. is intensifying the blockade hoping to cause an internal implosion. \u201cThey want to suffocate us and try to put an end to the Revolution \u2026 I am giving this information to ratify that the streets belong to the Revolution; that the party and the Government have all the disposition to debate and help,\u201d <\/em>said President D\u00edaz-Canel.<\/p>\n

\"\"
In response to a recent anti-government demonstrators, thousands attended a pro-government rally in Havana, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel and former President Raul Castro. (July 17, 2021) [Source: reuters.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The President called on the base of the Revolution to go into the streets to face the provocations of manipulators who promote protests and support illegal sanctions against their own country; \u201cwe know that there are revolutionary masses facing small anti-revolutionary groups, we are not going to let any mercenary of the U.S. empire provoke destabilization,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n

\"Biden
Protesters in Miami supporting anti-government demonstrators in Cuba. [Source: rollingstone.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The head of state emphasized that the provocations of small groups intend to create a scenario so that the U.S. can justify an invasion. \u201cIn the second half of 2019 we explained to our people that we were going through a difficult juncture, from the signs that the U.S. was giving against Cuba,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe financial, economic, commercial and energy persecution increased, they [Washington] want to provoke internal social problems in Cuba in order to call for humanitarian missions that translate into military invasions and interference,\u201d denounced President D\u00edaz-Canel. The president recalled that Cuba was included in the infamous list as sponsors of terrorism, \u201ca unilateral list; they believe they are emperors of the world,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Peru\u2014from Old Condor to New: Viva Fujimori!<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to historian J. Patrice McSherry, Peru was one of the target countries for the original Operation Condor<\/a>. In June 1980, Peruvian President General Enrique Morales Bermudez (1975-1980) collaborated with Argentine security forces in hunting down Argentine leftists<\/a> in Peru who were tortured and \u201cdisappeared.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. later provided security assistance to help Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) destroy the left-wing Sendero Luminoso guerrilla movement.<\/p>\n

\"USA:
Bill Clinton and Alberto Fujimori in the White House. [Source: aparchive.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fast forward two decades, and Washington appears to be pulling out all the stops under the new Condor to try to orchestrate a coup designed to empower Alberto\u2019s daughter, Keiko\u2014who like her father, would advance policies that favor Peru\u2019s wealthy classes and transnational corporations.<\/p>\n

\"With
Keiko Fujimori addresses supporters. [Source: bostonglobe.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As CAM reported<\/a>, in the June 6 elections, Pedro Castillo, a teacher and candidate of the Free Peru Party, won the elections in the second round. But Fujimori\u2014who is facing a long jail sentence on corruption charges\u2014refused to concede. With 100% of the votes counted Castillo won 50.127% of the vote (8.84 million votes), beating Fujimori of the Fuerza Popular Party, who received 49.873% (8.79 million votes).<\/p>\n

\"A
Leftist Pedro Castillo celebrates election victory in June 2021. [Source: nbcnews.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The U.S. and the Peruvian oligarchy as well as Fujimori and her army of lawyers are using the model of an electoral coup to try to keep Castillo from the presidency. He is calling for a constituent assembly and appears to favor far-reaching reforms that would improve the lives of the impoverished majority and diminish the power of the country\u2019s elites as well as corporations.<\/p>\n

\"Peru's
Pro-Fujimori protesters invoke fear of communism in a replay of the Cold War. [Source: Aljazeera.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just six weeks before the election the U.S. sent a new ambassador to Peru<\/a>, Lisa Kenna. Kenna was an adviser to former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a nine-year veteran at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and a U.S. State Department official in Iraq.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Ambassador
Lisa Kenna [Source: pe.usembassy.gov<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

What dirty tricks she may be trying to help pull remains uncertain, but if Morales is correct about the new Condor, she is definitely someone who is supporting it.<\/p>\n

Haiti: An Assassination by Proxy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On June 30, just a week before the assassination of President Jovenel Mo\u00efse, William J. Burns, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, arrived in Colombia<\/a> to participate in a \u201csensitive\u201d security mission.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Colombian ambassador in Washington, Francisco Santos, reported on the CIA director\u2019s trip to Colombia, but said he did not want to give further details about Director Burns\u2019s visit to Bogota: \u201cI prefer not to tell you, it is a delicate mission, an important intelligence mission that we were able to coordinate,\u201d<\/em> responded Santos when questioned about the mission.<\/p>\n

\"A
CIA Director William J. Burns was in Colombia a week before the assassination of Haitian President Jovenal Mo\u00efse. [Source: resumenlatinamericano.org<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The U.S. has seven military bases in Colombia and a history of support for the narcotics-dealing paramilitary forces that are the political base of right-wing President Iv\u00e1n Duque and his sinister narco-terror implicated mentor, former president \u00c1lvaro Uribe.<\/p>\n

So, it makes sense that Colombians may well have been part of the commando group that killed President Mo\u00efse. There has been a lot of disinformation given about the assassination to try to confuse people, but it is not difficult to surmise which country is most likely behind the killing.<\/p>\n

Mo\u00efse to be sure was no progressive. He was groomed by the corrupt former president Michel Martelly, a close ally of the Clintons, and received only 11 percent of the vote in 2016.<\/p>\n

In a March interview<\/a>, former U.S. ambassador to Haiti Pamela White talked about a plan to \u201cput aside\u201d President Mo\u00efse, leaving power in the hands of an interim Prime Minister. All this to avoid democratic elections which the population have been calling for since early 2020.<\/p>\n

\"Haiti
Pamela White [Source: haitianinternet.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How do you \u201cput aside\u201d a president? The U.S. government has a long record of assassinating presidents and leaders or supporting coups to overthrow elected governments, as it did in 2004 to remove President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who had wide support among Haiti\u2019s poor.<\/p>\n

\"Jean-Bertrand
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a victim of U.S. subversion. [Source: haiti.fandom.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2020 when Mo\u00efse should have stepped down and when the most popular party, Fanmi Lavalas, was calling for elections, the U.S. backed him staying in power.<\/p>\n

Polls show that the progressive party Lavalas is very popular and, if the U.S. were to allow fair elections, they would very likely win. Whoever murdered President Mo\u00efse and for whatever immediate reason, the principal medium-term result is continued chaos for Haiti\u2019s people, including possibly another military intervention, putting a stable political settlement further out of reach than ever.<\/p>\n

\"A
Colombian suspects in death of Haiti\u2019s President Jovenal Mo\u00efse\u2014a victim of the new Operation Condor. [Source: Today.in-24.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The above photo shows the men the Haitian Police accuse of being \u201cspecialized commandos\u201d who allegedly executed the president. The photo shows the weapons these men were caught with. There are no heavy weapons, only old weapons and only enough for about half of these men. They were found with only two walkie talkies and not a single bullet proof vest.<\/p>\n

There is nothing about this group to indicate any kind of \u201cspecialized commandos\u201d and very unlikely that such a ragtag group could have gotten past the President\u2019s ten body-guards without resistance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There has been no presentation of what was found on security cameras\u2014neither from the President\u2019s home nor from any neighboring homes. And now the police are saying that a progressive Haitian doctor<\/a> who lives in the U.S. and has had pretensions of running for president in the past was the mastermind. This scenario being pushed by the Haitian Police wreaks of a cover-up\u2014as had occurred with many of the assassinations in the original Operation Condor.<\/p>\n

Nicaragua\u20131980s Redux?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In Nicaragua, U.S. policies under the new Condor show great continuity from the era of the 1980s Contra War.<\/p>\n

In 2018, with careful direction and millions of dollars from U.S. agencies and foundations, a coup was attempted against Nicaragua\u2019s government<\/a>\u2014headed by the original Sandinista revolutionary leader, Daniel Ortega, who had won the 2016 elections with over 72% of the vote.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

The failed coup attempt left more than 260 people dead, including 24 police.<\/p>\n

Along with executions, hundreds of Sandinista supporters and government workers were kidnapped and tortured. With destruction of government and private buildings, vehicles and equipment, loss of 130,000 jobs and business closures, Finance Minister Ivan Acosta calculates the cost to the economy of more than a billion dollars\u2014more than the combined losses caused by the Covid pandemic and the two devastating hurricanes of November 2020.<\/p>\n

\"A
Sandinista revolutionary leader Daniel Ortega leads celebration of defeat of U.S.-backed coup attempt in 2018. [Source: janatweekly.org<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new destabilization plan called RAIN<\/a>, Responsive Action in Nicaragua, managed and financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), was leaked from the U.S. embassy in July 2020. Many more millions have been given by the U.S. to its agents and proxy organizations in Nicaragua to carry out RAIN\u2019s operational program which openly calls for an unconstitutional \u201ctransition\u201d and for promoting \u201ctransition-related activities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Text,
Report advocating regime change. [Source: coha.org<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These activities violate Nicaragua\u2019s Constitution, the country\u2019s 2007 criminal code, national security legislation and money laundering laws in compliance with international standards, as well as the law relating to non-profit organizations.<\/p>\n

The current U.S. administration under Joe Biden has maintained President Trump\u2019s designation of Nicaragua as an \u201cextraordinary and unusual threat to the U.S. national security and foreign policy.\u201d This means that Nicaraguans accepting money from the U.S. government and participating in U.S. programs to promote a \u201cdemocratic transition\u201d\u00a0are actively collaborating with a hostile foreign power.<\/p>\n

Since June of this year more than 20 Nicaraguans involved in these unlawful and potentially treasonous activities have come under investigation.<\/p>\n

The offenses they are accused of committing involve not only possible treason for organizing, financing and participating in a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat, requesting foreign economic and even military aggression, and promoting coercive measures against the government and individual citizens.<\/p>\n

Additionally, some are under investigation for money laundering, financial fraud relating to abuse of non-profits, and the law on registration and financial reporting as foreign agents, similar to the U.S. FARA legislation<\/a>.\u00a0Moreover, among the detained are people who, by engaging in this broad range of\u00a0law breaking, violated the terms of the Amnesty Law from which they benefited in 2019.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2014Trying to Destroy the Lifeblood of the Bolivarian Revolution<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nicaragua had been designated by the Trump administration as part of a \u201ctroika of tyranny\u201d<\/a> along with Cuba and Venezuela.<\/p>\n

Venezuela\u2019s socialist president Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, on July 12 at a dialogue with National Assembly lawmakers, denounced two assassination attempts against his life in just the preceding two weeks. Maduro stated: \u201cThey had prepared an attack against me on June 24 in the bicentennial of Carabobo this year. Another attack with drones, we dispelled it, we knocked it down, we neutralized it. First time I say it, because the investigation is still ongoing until we get to the person behind everything.<\/p>\n

They had prepared [yet another] a desperate attack against me on July 5 in the middle of the parade \u2026\u201d referring to the July 5th<\/sup> Independence Day civic-military parade.<\/p>\n

\"A
Image of drone that was involved in assassination attempt against Maduro. [Source: venezuelaanalysis.com<\/a>]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All of these attacks\u2014and other assassination attempts directed against Maduro\u2014fit under the rubric of the new Operation Condor disclosed by Morales.<\/p>\n

Venezuela is a key target because it is led by a socialist government that since the 1998 election of Hugo Ch\u00e1vez has been committed to Pan-American solidarity and the integration of Latin American economies so that they can develop independently and rid themselves of Yankee exploitation.<\/p>\n

In May 2020, a large group of U.S.-funded terrorists<\/a>, including two U.S. citizens, after training in Colombia, entered Venezuela by boat, hoping to kidnap or assassinate President Maduro. Their presence was quickly reported by local fishing workers and the group was intercepted by the Venezuelan authorities.<\/p>\n

U.S. Southern Command has long openly proposed plans and advocated measures to facilitate the overthrow of Venezuela\u2019s elected government.<\/p>\n

Recently, President Maduro denounced<\/a> the U.S. Southern Command and the Central Intelligence Agency for designing plans to attack Venezuela from Colombian territory. Maduro accused the CIA of planning to assassinate him. He alerted the Venezuelan people and urged them to be prepared \u201cto respond forcefully to any destabilization plan in perfect civil-military union.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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