 Give the people what they want. Give the people what they want. Give the people what they want. Your weekly movement news roundup. Today is the 19th of November. You're with us on Give the People What They Want, brought to you from People's Dispatch, your favorite movement-driven news site with Prashant and Zoe, and I'm Vijay from Globetrotter. My mother would like me to say that today is Guru Nanak's birthday, but, well, I suppose the best birthday present the great sage could have received Prashant was the withdrawal by the Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the three farm bills, which had occasioned a massive protest running almost a year, incredible protest and a major victory for Indian farmers and farm workers. What's been happening over there, Prashant? Right, Vijay. I mean, it's difficult to really quantify a day like this because, you know, you spend, there are moments when these kinds of things happen. They don't happen very often because what we saw was, let's take a look at the balance of forces, so to speak. What we saw was on the one hand, you have a right-wing government and Narendra Modi, which has basically, you know, taken over almost all livers of the state. And it has control over not only state institutions but also civil society institutions, for instance, like the media. And they passed a series of laws last year, which would have seriously affected the livelihood of farmers. Now, it's important to note that these laws were passed without any consultation with the farmers. They were rushed through parliament. And at that point of time, a lot of people were very unhappy about it, but people were like, what can we do? But on the other hand, farmers' organizations had been preparing for this moment. They knew from many months before the law was passed, the law was passed in September last year. They knew that this was coming. And they had been mobilizing across the country. And it's important to note, across the country, number of small agitations, number of mass mobilizations taking place over the months. And in November, at the same time when an all India workers strike was taking place, the farmers mobilized around Delhi. Now, again, for those of us who watch the visuals, I would encourage people to go back to people's dispatch and watch some of those videos on news click as well. They started this procession on November 26. Farmers from around Delhi marching towards the capital. They were saying, we go into the capital. And the police directed barricades. They tried every single way to stop them. The farmers just kept marching on. And they kept marching on in tractors. And again, this is not just a small bunch of farmers. We're talking about tens of thousands of people, whole families, old people, young people, women, no distinctions, people coming prepared. And tractors full not only of people, but tractors also full of groceries, for instance, tractors full of vegetables. Because the farmers then even then knew that this was going to be a very long fight. And they're not allowed to enter the city of Delhi, the main city itself. And they say that we are going to sit down here and we are not going to go back until these laws are withdrawn. Now, even at that point of time, which is two or three days into the strike, there were many people who said that, okay, they've kind of camped around Delhi. How long are they going to sit? It's not possible to sit forever. So at some point, the government is not going to give in. At some point they're going to go back. But that is not what happened. What happened was that the farmers continued to camp around Delhi. There are farmers who stayed in those camps for six to eight months. These encampments became proper many villages almost. There were community kitchens, there were bathrooms, there was an entire social system built around these camps. And the farmers had just one very simple demand. Withdraw the laws, we'll talk. The government tried negotiations in which they played this whole hand of trying to negotiate but not willing to withdraw the laws. The Supreme Court tried to intervene. There were stock of expert committees. But the farmers remained laser focused. That's the most important thing. They expanded their agitations to neighboring states. There were these mass gatherings of tens of thousands of people or farmers in various states who expressed solidarity, some of whom came. In January, for instance, there was an attempt by the government to break down these camps. Again, at that point, there were mobilizations. And this basically after a point it started, the government started realizing that this was not a problem for them that was going to go away. And that I think is one of the most important lessons. The enduring significance of these kind of occupations. And I say occupation very knowingly because we've seen similar occupations in various parts of the world. Where popular movements take over spaces. And they say that we have these demands and we are not going to go back. And this has been probably one of the most longest and powerful occupations that we have probably seen in the world. So what we see is over close to a year passes, by the end of November, the farmers were planning yet another major upsurge in terms of agitations. And there were elections coming up in a couple of states as well. And the best guess is that the government realized that this could prove to be a costly affair for them. Because they had tried everything. They had tried negotiations on their own terms, of course. They had tried various pro-government media outlets had defamed the farmers called them terrorists, called them anti-nationals. They had said that this was just a mal-section of malcontents. They had said that these were old fashioned farmers who were not catching up with the new liberal reforms. They had said that these were anti-growth people. They had tried every trick in the book. And the farmers had stopped protesting. So what probably happened was that the government did a calculation and realized that it did not make sense anymore to continue with these laws. Of course, the government and its allies are now spinning. It is a gift to the farmers as a concession, as a noble gesture. What is important to note that during the course of these protests, close to 750 people have died. These are 750 families whose lives will never be the same again. And I think the farmers have very clearly made some responses. People are celebrating, of course, but the farmers have been cautious. They have said that, one, this is not the end, because we are not going to go back until this promise of withdrawing farm laws is actually put in writing. That is until parliament passes the necessary steps. Two, that the farm laws are not the only demand. The farmers for decades have been asking for proper pricing, which the government can ensure. About 400,000 farmers have apparently committed suicide in the last 20 years. So what about all these families as well? All of these questions that are very much in contention, in the debate right now. So a major victory, yes, but the farmer leaders and the farmers movements also very clear that they want justice. This is not a concession as far as they're concerned. This cannot be written off as just a total gimmick, because this is not just begging for attention or whatever. This is a very organized mass movement with very clear demands. And I think the fact that they have won this victory today is actually an inspiration to popular movements across the world, because this shows that even in the face of such a very powerful establishment, people in large numbers united by a cause, people in large numbers mobilizing in an organized fashion are able to achieve something. So I think very interesting, as they say, vibes from India to the rest of the world today. And while we can, people might debate, what is the long-term political impact? What is going to happen in the elections? All these are maybe questions. But I think the more, especially for our show and especially for, say, an organization like People's Dispatch, really the question is this today shows what movements are, what movements mean, and what movements can do. I think it's important what you say, Prashant, just to underline this, of course, the struggle of the Indian farmers is a frontline in a global battle against agriculturalists. The three farm laws put in pushed through parliament by Mr. Modi's government. They have a majority. They didn't take consultation. They pushed three farm laws into law, which are actually part of a global architecture of uberizing farmers. Getting farmers to basically operate like uber drivers, where they don't have the ability to control the agricultural way of life, and which is why farmers saw this as an existential struggle. This is a life or death matter. Indeed, as you said, 750 people gave their lives for this struggle, a life or death struggle, and it's not going to end. The question of minimum support prices on the table, the question of the actual withdrawal of the laws on the table, they don't want to believe Mr. Modi, because Mr. Modi, in the statement he made this morning, said that, well, we didn't consult the farmers, therefore we should go back for consultation. This is a year, a year, a full year, after the farmers have been asking for the withdrawal. So it's hard to actually take at face value what the government of India is saying, but an incredible story. It should be seen as a victory of agriculturalists around the world, not just the farmers in India. The farmers in India fighting in a way of proxy fight for farmers around the world saying, no, we don't want digital agriculture. We don't want big corporate agriculture. We want to control our farming and we want state support for it. I think that's the key issue. They understand agriculture cannot function without state support. And I think that's important. Well, that's one victory. On this show, Prashant, Zoe, we're not used to celebrating too many good things. We generally celebrate terrible things, coup d'etats. I didn't say celebrate, did I? I meant we generally report on terrible things, coup d'etats, murders and so on and so forth. Here's another good story. I was told, Zoe, that I was told by the United States government that on the 15th of November, the Cuban revolution was going to be ended. Today is the 19th of November. Four days later, what's happening in Cuba today? Well, the U.S. was slightly off in their projections. The Cuban revolution is very much still alive, slightly off. And as we've been reporting on people's dispatch on this show, essentially, you know, the U.S. has been in cahoots with their, you know, far-right opposition groups based in Miami with kind of some new players emerging within Cuba. We saw Junior Garcia, who's a playwright who had founded this organization Archipelago, and they had been, you know, building towards supposedly a huge mobilization, huge civil society protests on November 15th, the day that Cuba opens up to tourism. Also the day that Cuba was reopening schools now that they have vaccinated not only large, almost all of the adult population, but also many children. And so, you know, on this day, they were going to have this huge protest. Their permit for the protest was not approved by the Cuban government due to the obvious links of this organization with the U.S. State Department. And, you know, of course, this provided some fuel to the U.S.'s fire saying that Cuba's cracking down on dissent and that this protest will go on and that, you know, making all these sort of statements and drumming up this day. And in the end, we didn't see anyone on the streets really. There were really isolated protests in a couple cities with maybe a couple dozen people, but these were largely overshadowed by people supporting the revolution and mobilizing in support of the government and above all against, you know, attempts by the U.S. attempts by this, you know, mafia in Miami to subvert the Cuban revolution. And so, you know, for example, there was this really beautiful encampment of young people in Havana, the red scarves, and they were, you know, camped out for 48 hours, you know, reading poetry, creating music, sharing, debating, really engaging and discussing what it means to defend the Cuban revolution today. And they even invited Cuban president Miguel Diaz Canel to participate. He, you know, accepted, we don't, this isn't the kind of thing we see in a country like the United States or much less in India. The president go to this encampment of young people and engage with them, dialogue with them, discuss the pressing questions that Cuba is facing today. And so, and then, of course, across the world, people mobilize in support of Cuba. There were in some cities small, small groups of opposition supporters who tried to kind of make a scene at the embassies. But again, they were overshadowed by people by and large supporting the Cuban revolution and, you know, of course, rejecting U.S. imperialism. So this is another great victory. Of course, as in India, with these victories, we always, you know, it's not the end. Originally, they had scheduled the protests for November 20th and it, you know, they shifted the date earlier because of the reopening of the country. So will they try to mobilize again tomorrow? It's unclear, but of course, you know, it's been 60 years since the Cuban revolution and the U.S. has never been successful, but they've kept trying. They've been trying to use different methods, you know, tried over a hundred times to kill Fidel. So, of course, this is not the end of U.S. attempts to de-sebelize Cuba, but I think it represents a really important victory, especially in this moment where Cuba is at a very challenging point where it's gone through the COVID-19 pandemic, where its economy has really been impacted by the lack of tourism to the island. So now it's kind of a turning point where now there will be, you know, more revenue coming into the island with opening to tourism, with the high level of vaccination. They really have turned a corner in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. On November 12th, they registered zero deaths from COVID, which is a milestone, you know, many countries have been unable to reach. So I think it's a really exciting moment. We have to celebrate these victories because if we're only talking about, you know, the challenges and the challenges we're facing in this world, it can get a bit grim. And so I think we have to celebrate this farmer's victory. We have to celebrate once again another victory of the Cuban people and the people of the world against U.S. imperialism. Well, history goes in zig-zag. So as you say, you never know what's coming around the corner. I read a piece at People's Dispatch yesterday very excellent report. I was first struck by this business of end SARS. I thought end SARS. What does this have to do? Is this, you know, the thing that came before COVID, the SARS epidemic? Turns out nothing to do with that. Another victory this time in Nigeria. Prashant, what is this end SARS business and shouldn't people go to People's Dispatch every day and read the kind of reports that I read yesterday? Absolutely. The report by our colleague Pawan actually is a follow-up on a very important issue that kind of was rock Nigeria last year, which is again, drawing threads to some of the many issues we've been talking about. This was a protest. The SARS is a police unit, a paramilitary unit in Nigeria or WAS. We'll come to that later, of course. But which was very notorious for its brutal ways in terms of how it treated people, issues of rapes, beating, kidnapping, all these classic paramilitary tropes that we've talked about in Latin America, for instance, or for that matter in Africa. So last year saw a massive round of protests against this organization. And that is how end SARS came to me. The end SARS became this umbrella term for this WAS movement, which of course began with police brutality and then also went into many socio-economic questions that young Nigerians were talking about. And young Nigeria, of course, facing an issue of unemployment, a lot of youth aspirations not being fulfilled. In many ways, this mirrors the kind of protest that we've covered in so many other parts of the world. For instance, in many other countries in North Africa, in countries in Latin America, where one small incident, for instance, of police violence leads to a larger systemic uprising against the structure of society itself, against the structure of how the government is organized. So these were mass protests that were taking place throughout the country towards the end of last year. And one of the most tragic instances of the police response to these protests or the government response to these protests was what is called the Leaky Tolgate Massacre in Lago State. Now, when the massacre took place at that point, it was believed that somewhere around 10 to 12 people had been killed at that point in Japan. And that itself, there was a huge amount of condemnation. But a year later, a very important report has come out, which is commissioned to find out what actually happened. And the revelations are shocking because it says that close to over 100 people actually, close to 115 people were killed on that day in at Leaky Tolgate. And what happened was a massive cover-up operation after that. Now, this report, the news of this report itself is very interesting because there were very strong suspicions that this report would be buried because the governor of the province who actually appointed another committee to look into this report, so to speak. And it's good that the contents of this report came out because it actually reveals the extent of state involvement in this issue because on the one hand, you had the army and the police who fired on these protesters. But equally shocking was the fact that civic agencies in Lago State, for instance, the organizations involved in clearing the streets, the organization involved in managing the Tolgate, all of them had a role to play as well. For instance, the fact that the day after the massacre, three large cleaners or trucks with cleaning brushes were brought in to remove all traces of the bleeding that had taken place. After about 100 people were reportedly killed, the army and the police basically took a lot of these corpses and dumped them in various parts of Lagos. And to this day, it's not clear about the identity of some of these victims, it's not clear. It is just believed that they are victims of the Ansar's protest. And the panel makes a very important point. Incidentally, for instance, it says that several unidentified bodies were removed by the Lago State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit and they were deposited at various mortuaries in the state. So look at the name of the organization, it's the Environmental Health Monitoring Unit and this is what it was doing last year. So the panel also makes a very important point that the protesters at the Leiki Tolgate were not any kind of threat to organized order. They were actually sitting peacefully. What we talked about about the farmers also, they had their own system for sanitation, they were extremely well organized. Many of them were sitting waving the flag and chanting the national anthem. And these were the people who were fired upon justice in a different way the Indian farmers were called as terrorists and anti-nationals and all that. These were the people considered as threats by the Nigerian state authorities. So there's been a series of recommendations about disciplinary action against military authorities, disciplinary action against police authorities. But the key question is that, you know, whether this report itself will prove vital in revitalizing the end SARS movement because protesters are pointing out, for instance, that SARS has been dissolved, but there's something called SWAT just taking its place, which is again a classic technique, give the, you know, rename the organization, call it something else and it keeps doing the same thing. And SWAT units continue to do pretty much the same thing that the SARS was doing as well. So this is actually in some ways a very powerful vindication of those protesters. The panel has even, you know, called for compensation to be paid. It is called for the toll gate to be renamed as the end SARS toll gate in honor of those victims. But the real key question is that, does this bring a lot more long term justice? Will it give a shot at the arm for the protests and revitalize them further? So definitely something to watch out for. It's an important story. I mean, we have to look at it as a escalating, you know, set of victories of the people because they've revealed, you know, the moment the government changes the name of a unit like that, it's a victory. Even though, well, you can say it's the same, but no, it's a victory. Shifting focus, we're going now deep into the question of trade. Complicated story to share with you friends. U.S. Trade Representative Catherine Tai was in Tokyo. She met the new Japanese foreign minister, Mr. Yoshimasa Hayashi. They met. They had apparently very cordial meeting. They signed or re-upped the U.S.-Japan partnership on trade, a very important initiative. But on the table, Mr. Hayashi apparently put to Catherine Tai is the question of U.S. engagement in the trade deals taking place around East Asia in particular. Mr. Hayashi apparently brought back to the conversation the comprehensive and progressive agreement for trans-Pacific partnership. Remember the TPP, this has a new name now, comprehensive and progressive agreement. Many countries signed up. The question of course is that China, Taiwan and the United Kingdom have applied to join. This has created some political problems. Australia says we're not going to let the Chinese into this new TPP. Japanese want the United States to return to it. They would like to see China blocked also. But friends, let's pause for a minute. The Chinese are already in a major trade deal with these countries. It's called RCEP, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. RCEP has 30% of the world's population inside it. 30% of global GDP. Australia is part of it. It's a very complicated situation here. What the Japanese are asking of the United States is to so-called, quote unquote, re-engage in trade policy. But it's contradictory. The United States says we will re-engage, but China has to be cut out. How can China be cut out? China is the principal trading partner of almost every country in East Asia and of Australia. Impossible to cut China out. These countries are actually dancing on the head of a pin, trying to keep both feet on the top of that pin. Not easy to do, I can tell you. Not that I've ever tried to dance on the top of a pin, but doesn't look like it's easy. And that's essentially what Mr. Hayashi talked with Catherine Tai about just a few hours later. He called Wang Yi of China and they had a telephone conversation where Mr. Wang Yi explained to Mr. Hayashi that the world is a complicated place, friend. And Japan better figure out what it's going to do. The world is a complicated place. Let's go on the other side of Eurasia. The Russians, Nord Stream, the big Russian gas company, Gasprom, had built a pipeline with a bunch of European partners called Nord Stream 2, which was going to to some extent bypass Eastern Europe. Also put it in harm's way from NATO ships to circle those waters north of Germany and Poland. Nord Stream 2 has run into some legal problems, it seems, in Germany. So that's halted. Meanwhile, gas prices or energy prices in Europe have shot up by 15%. What have the Russians done? Again, interesting. The Russians had previously been selling Chinese markets natural gas. Remember, the Chinese made a pledge to get off coal. The way to get off coal they thought was we'll buy Russian natural gas. Well, in Eastern Siberia, the Chinese have been procuring Russian natural gas. Now the Russians are saying, wait a minute, we're going to build another pipeline. It's called Power of Siberia 2. And we're going to bring you natural gas from the Yamal fields. These are the same fields tapped by Nord Stream 2. What the Russians are saying to the Europeans is, if you're going to make economic problems for us, we're selling our gas to the Chinese. Now, what has this story been? What have they taken you through a journey through? It's a story about the fact that this confrontationalist policy, which has infected trade relations, has actually put many of the US partners in a very complicated, difficult situation. Europe is going to have energy shortages for the remainder of the winter because they can't settle the question of Nord Stream 2. This is not a light matter. Many people will get their electricity cut off during this winter. There will be rolling blackouts in Europe. On the other side, in Asia, countries cannot afford not to be trading with China. Got to understand trade policy for this complexity. It's being hampered by politics. Where are the free traders when you want their voices to be heard? Silent, it seems. Meanwhile, of course, in Libya, we hear there's going to be an election. My old friend Saif al-Islam Gaddafi once wanted to make weight on the Mediterranean through his hat in the ring. So did Khalifa Haftar, the man that I'm happy to say I revealed as a CIA agent in 2011, also in the ring, and three or four other people. We're going to come back to the Libyan election because it's a mess, and we need to spend some time talking about it. But Zoe, I know there's a lot of elections again in South America, and you can't do a show without talking about a South American election. What's happening over there? Just not every November, December, and February, March, April. But this Sunday, elections in Chile and Venezuela. The Venezuelan elections are the super elections, the local level, sub-national elections, but hundreds of positions that are going to be voted on. Council members, governors, mayors. Really crucial elections, even, I mean, we might say, okay, but these are local elections. What does this matter? These are actually quite important, quite historic because the far opposition will be participating for the first time since 2015 when they essentially broke with constitutional order. Also, observation delegations with the European Union first time in 15 years. This is also historic, so these are very big advances that what they might lean to is that after these elections there is a possibility that bodies such as the European Union might loosen their sanctions that they have in Venezuela. A lot of the justification for why they impose these sanctions is that Venezuela is undemocratic, that they do not have free and fair elections. Now they're on the ground. They'll see for themselves. They'll be able to see how Venezuela has one of the most... They have the most advanced actually electronic voting system on the continent, and so that will be kind of revealed in those elections and over in Chile, a bit to the south. It is the first round of the presidential elections. This is going to be a close race. It's really a cast who is the far-right candidate who is trailing behind. I think he was in third place just a month ago and a half ago. He's kind of pulled right up and he's right neck and neck with Gabriel Boric. And it's most likely it will go to a second round, which will be held in December. It's likely to be between these two front runners. But it is... I mean, as you've written, Vijay, you were in Chile. This is a very important moment for Chile and democracy. It is a moment where Chile is going to re-rate its constitution that was written during, of course, the dictatorship of Pinochet. It is these elections and this whole process of renewing the democracy in Chile that has been kind of cemented by neoliberalism, by denying the rights to people, exclusion of important communities. As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, of course, there's also the current militarization of the Mapuche territory. So it's a very important moment in Chile. And between a far-right candidate and a left candidate, it's really... The future could go either way. And of course, as we've seen in neighboring countries in Latin America, of course, once the left candidate wins presidency, it doesn't mean necessarily that they're assured an easy passage. But it really could mark a shift in the waters of Chile, which has really been a stronghold of conservative neoliberal policy in the region. It has always been an ally of regional efforts against Venezuela, against Bolivia. Of course, they denied that Bolivia's access to the sea. So these are really important to watch out for. And in Venezuela, we'll see how the U.S. responds if they're going to say that, yes, this was a free-fair election or continue their campaign of siege and embargo on Venezuela. Where else are you going to watch a show, at least in the English language, that covers stories that we have covered in half an hour? You've been listening to give the people what they want. Your favorite weekly news roundup brought to you by People's Dispatch, one of the best places for regular news coverage. Prashant and Zoe, co-editors of People's Dispatch. Go and bookmark the page. Go and read Pawan Kulkarni's article. Read something, for God's sake. I'm from Klockrota. You don't know what that is, but go and find out. Thanks a lot. See you next week. See you.