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Foreign-funded NGOs in Ecuador: Trojan Horse for intervention?

Ecuador has come under fire for scrutinizing non-profits like Accion Ecologica, many of whom get millions from Europe and North America. Part 2 - Silent Action Meets Loud Reaction This government is the first to scrutinize NGOs, but their scrutiny has not been limited to Accion Ecologica. In 2012, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa boldly declared that NGOs have been entering the country like never before during the previous decade. Many, backed by foreign states and foreign money, are out to destabilize the state, Ecuadorean leaders stated. “ Their interest is not the country, impoverished sectors, natural resources or strengthening democracies, ” said Paola Pabon, director of the National Ministry of Political Management, which is responsible for tracking NGOs, in an interview with teleSUR last year. “ What interests them is having control over governments, having influence over civil society to create elements of destabilization. ” Executive Decree 16,

Making America broke again: Trump & the inevitable financial crisis

Trump can either ‘bite the bullet’ now if he really wants to improve the American economy or he can ‘kick the can down the road’ like his predecessors have, noted financial commentator Peter Schiff tells MintPress. by Whitney Webb Part 3 - The failures of Dodd-Frank In the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, public outrage and anger at the country’s financial sector was palpable. In order to temper public sentiment, a massive piece of legislation known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was assembled with the stated goal of minimizing risk in the U.S. financial system chiefly through the creation of new regulatory agencies and the establishment of certain consumer protections. While the current consensus holds that Dodd-Frank made some individual institutions technically safer due to the constraints it imposes, it is still widely regarded as an imperfect piece of legislation. Indeed, prior to taking office, Trump joined a host of other c

Brazil’s manufactured coup: the ‘Shock Doctrine’ returns to Latin America

The Global South is growing unintelligible from the European South amid harsh austerity measures and other maneuverings that suit the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor and working class. by Michael Nevradakis Part 6 - Familiar Tactics Escobar refers to the “toolbox” of tactics employed in Brazil leading up to Rousseff’s ouster. This set of strategies included the creation of manufactured consent amongst the populace, for the impeachment and the new regime. This bears a great similarity to the cases of countries such as Greece, where public opinion polls conducted by polling firms which are not independent of the state and which are commissioned by pro-austerity media outlets have repeatedly shown vast majorities purportedly in favor of EU and eurozone membership at all costs, while the very few independent surveys conducted in Greece, such as those by Gallup International, have actually found such majorities to be slim or nonexistent.

Varoufakis: Brexit would not had occur if the Europeans would not had crush the Greek government in 2015

globinfo freexchange Former Greek Minister of Finance with Tsipras Administration, Yanis Varoufakis, gave another interesting interview on Greek TV recently, revealing further interesting details about the Greek situation and the European situation after the crisis, Brexit, refugee issue and the rise of Far Right in Europe. Among his most interesting remarks was that Brexit would not had occur if the Europeans would not had crush the Greek government in 2015, referring to the open financial coup against Greece when the current PM, Alexis Tsipras, decided to conduct a referendum on the catastrophic measures imposed by the ECB, IMF and the European Commission, through which the Greek people clearly rejected these measures, despite the propaganda of terror inside and outside Greece: Brexit would not had occur if they [European creditors] would not had crush our government in summer 2015. During the period of pre-referendum process in the UK, before 23th Ju

Κούλογλου: Η Ελλάδα δεν μπορεί μόνη της να σηκώσει το βάρος της αντίστασης κατά της CETA

globinfo freexchange Ο γνωστός δημοσιογράφος και ευρωβουλευτής του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ Στέλιος Κούλογλου, μίλησε στο κανάλι της βουλής για την καταστροφική συμφωνία CETA μεταξύ ΕΕ και Καναδά, που προωθούν τα μεγάλα εταιρικά λόμπι. Όπως είπε, οι συμφωνίες αυτές ευνοούν μόνο τις μεγάλες πολυεθνικές. Όλες οι μικρές και μεσαίες επιχειρήσεις στην Ευρώπη θα πληγούνε και ιδιαίτερα ο αγροτικός τομέας και τα προϊόντα που δεν προστατεύονται. Αναφέρθηκε επίσης και σε μια συνέντευξή του στο Politico κατά την οποία ρωτήθηκε γιατί οι ευρωβουλευτές του ΣΥΡΙΖΑ ψηφίζουν εναντίον της CETA, ενώ η Ελληνική κυβέρνηση θα την υπερψηφίσει, τονίζοντας εδώ τη μεγάλη αντίφαση. Εκτίμησε ότι η CETA θα περάσει από το ευρωκοινοβούλιο λόγω συσχετισμού δυνάμεων (θα την ψηφίσουν οι Σοσιαλιστές και η Λαϊκή Δεξία, δηλαδή τα κόμματα που κυριαρχούν τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες και έχουν διαφθαρεί πλήρως από την διαπλοκή τους με τα τραπεζικά και τα εταιρικά λόμπι). Εφόσον όμως η συμφωνία θα πρέπε