What the Empire Didn't Hear: US Spying and Resistance in Latin America

[marmar]

What the Empire Didn't Hear: US Spying and Resistance in Latin America

Friday, 19 July 2013 00:00
By Benjamin Dangl, Toward Freedom | News Analysis


US imperialism spreads across Latin America through military bases and trade deals, corporate exploitation and debt. It also relies on a vast communications surveillance network, the recent uncovering of which laid bare Washington’s reach into the region’s streets and halls of power. Yet more than McDonald’s and bullets, an empire depends on fear, and fear of the empire is lacking these days in Latin America.

The controversy stirred up by Edward Snowden’s leaked documents reached the region on July 7th, when the first of a series of articles drawing from the leaks were published in the major Brazilian newspaper O Globo. The articles outlined how the US National Security Agency (NSA) had for years been spying on and indiscriminately collecting the emails and telephone records of millions of people in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina, just as it had done in the US, Europe and elsewhere.

The articles pointed out that data collection bases were located in Bogota, Caracas, Mexico City and Panama City, with an additional station in Brasilia which was used to spy on foreign satellite communications. The NSA gathered military and security data in certain countries, and acquired information on the oil industry in Venezuela and energy sector in Mexico, both of which are largely under state control, beyond the reach of US corporations and investors.

As with the spying program in the US, Snowden’s leaks demonstrate that this method of collecting communications in Latin America was done with the collusion of private telecommunications companies in the US and Latin America. ......................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/17659-what-the-empire-didnt-hear-us-spying-and-resistance-in-latin-america

[Demeter]

1. Imagine the results, had the US employed friendship instead of fear and intimidation

A whole lot of soi-disant Americans would have to emigrate to more congenial countries...like North Korea or maybe Somalia...where hate and fear are the common currency.

They could no more tolerate tolerance, than vampires tolerate sunlight.

[matthews]

2. We've done a lot of bad things and now to spy on the people...

...not just the government, but the people as well, is going to earn us some long-term problems.

*From the Article**

The shadow of 20th century dictatorships hangs over much of Latin America, orienting the region’s democratic processes and struggles for justice. Brazil’s Rousseff and Uruguayan President José Mujica are among today’s various Latin American presidents who were active in the social movements fighting against brutal US-backed dictatorships in their respective countries.

Rousseff was jailed for her activism from 1970-1972, and Mujica was shot by the police six times, tortured and imprisoned for 14 1,000 military personnel years, including being confined to the bottom of a well for over two years. Under the leadership of Nestor and Cristina Kirchner, Argentina has sought justice for the some 30,000 people disappeared during that nation’s dictatorship. Needless to say, the legacy of US-backed coups, right-wing spying networks, and police states looms large in Latin American politics and recent memory.

***
The American military is threatening Syria, no matter what Obama 'says' he's might do, we are still in Afghanistan, and there's this as well:


5 Under-the-Radar Places American Troops Are Stationed

1. Cuba - 1,000 military personnel
2. Honduras - 500 personnel
3. The Philippines - 700 U.S. personnel
4. Djibouti - 3,200 U.S. military personnel and contractors, including 300 special operations staff
5. Niger - ?

Conclusion

...The sequester and looming budget battle, however, may dampen the Pentagon’s ability to continue its robust foreign deployment and force decision-makers to choose which foreign missions are most critical to protecting U.S. national security.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/29332/5-under-the-radar-places-american-troops-are-stationed

***

We can't afford all this interventionist nonsense. We need an intervention here.

[Laelth]

3. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth