 Give the people what they want. Give the people what they want. Give the people what they want. Your weekly movement news roundup. Well, it's the 25th of March, 2022. You're with Give the People What They Want, brought to you every week from People's Dispatch. That's Prashant and Zoe, People's Dispatch.org, your weekly, well, actually your daily hourly movement news source. I'm Vijay from Globetrotter. We're happy to be with you as we are every week. Of course, the conflict in Ukraine continuing. Ugly scenes in the press, photographs, video image and so on. Meanwhile, Mr. Joe Biden, US President, arrived in Brussels, met with his European allies. Several significant things to put on the table regarding that meeting. Firstly, as you know, United States putting a lot of pressure on Germany to cut imports of natural gas from Russia. Germany continues to import natural gas. Largely, it is actually true that Europe is reliant on Russian natural gas for its energy purposes, its fertilizer production and so on. Olaf Schulz, the Chancellor of Germany, has said he cannot ban Russian natural gas immediately because this would plunge Germany, he said, into a recession. United States has alternatives. It has such alternatives that they make the front page of the Wall Street Journal, the best place to get news about war profiteering and so on. Well, what does the United States say is an alternative to Russian natural gas? Take your guess, friends. It's liquefied natural gas coming from the Gulf states, from Dubai, from UAE, from Qatar, but also from the United States. Also from the United States, a very large shipment of US natural gas. In 2021, the United States actually supplied Europe with 22 billion cubic meters of natural gas, wants to increase this. Hence, front page news, Wall Street Journal, jubilation among US energy companies. Let's go, friends. Let's make money. Let's substitute US energy suppliers for Russian energy suppliers. Let's integrate Europe back into the North Atlantic and not allow Europe to integrate naturally with the rest of the Eurasian continent. That's the first thing that Mr. Biden put on the table. He will be signing an agreement with the European Union on this very soon, I think. That will be on the table. Mr. Biden is also going to go to Poland. It is said that he will speak with Mr. Zelinski at the border between Poland and Ukraine. Now, this is a tense moment, friends, because the border of Poland and Ukraine, that's Galicia. That's an area which Poland has long coveted. Sources tell me that it may not be long for Polish armies to cross the border to defend the city of Lviv and take it. They have long had their own desire to take that part of Ukraine. That will change the entire thinking if the Polish army crosses the border. What happens then? Meanwhile, back in Brussels, Mr. Biden, in that characteristic way of US presidents, finger being wagged at the world, says that he did not threaten Xi Jinping in his phone call last Friday. He said, I did not threaten Xi Jinping, but I told him, you see, it's very important that US presidents wag their fingers when they talk to the world, because that's the general attitude. Biden said, I told Xi Jinping that they have to cut ties, economic ties with Russia. And then he said, because the United States always knows what other people are thinking, he said, we know that China wants to integrate with the West and not with Russia. Interesting, because evidence over the last decade seems to be like that, as Russian and Chinese integration has gone apace. Also, the United States has continued with this argument, telling the Chinese fingers being wagged again, telling the Chinese do not arm the Russians. The Chinese have never said they're going to arm the Russians. In fact, friends, interestingly, the Russians have not asked for Chinese to resupply them, at least not publicly and formally. Out of nowhere, the United States says you better not arm them. Meanwhile, of course, weapons manufacturers around the world, particularly in the United States in Europe, quite happy as more and more arms are going into Ukraine. There are calls in the United States to double the US military budget. Well, energy companies, arms companies, somebody's happy about this war, not everybody, not everybody, not everybody is happy about militarism. Certainly, in Argentina, Zoe, they're not happy about militarism. Well, I don't know if they celebrate the anniversary of the coup in Argentina. They commemorate it. What are they doing? Yes, well, yesterday was the commemoration of the beginning of the military, civic military dictatorship in Argentina, March 24th, 1973, when the government was overthrown by the military junta in Argentina and instilled in the following period this dictatorship wherein over 30,000 people were detained, tortured and disappeared. This is a very important day in Argentinian history. It's an important day in Argentinian present. Every single year, since the end of the dictatorship, thousands of people take to the streets demanding justice, demanding memory and demanding reparations, which is something that to this day they still don't have. There's still so many family members of victims who don't have information about the whereabouts of their loved ones. This struggle continues today, and it's yesterday was the first time that people took to the streets since the beginning of the pandemic. So there was really an outpouring of emotion, I think, that images from yesterday are extremely powerful to see the grandmothers once again on the streets, the mothers of Plaza de Mayo. These are the brave and courageous mothers and family members who during the dictatorship would go to the Casa Rosada to demand that the leaders of the military dictatorship give them information about what happened to their loved ones and defying all, you know, in the middle of a dictatorship, defying threats, defying, you know, threats to their personal integrity and the integrity of their families continue demanding justice. They are one of the most revered symbols in Argentinian society having lived there. If you're at any protest and a mother from Plaza de Mayo, a grandmother comes, the entire crowd parts ways and people make a path for these mothers to come through because really they are the inspiration to so many people in Argentina who continue to struggle especially in the sense of demanding justice for the victims of the dictatorship but so many struggles that have come since then in the so-called democratic period, you know, the disappearances of young people have continued in Argentina. Police brutality has continued against people in Argentina. Police brutality against Mapuche communities. Today the Argentinian people are engaged in a struggle that seems to repeat itself in Argentinian history which is the struggle to not pay the debt of the IMF. The government of Alberto Fernandez, the Frente Dos Coalition, is currently facing a divisive moment. It's split down the middle in support of paying the debt to the IMF and support of the agreement that they've presented and then sectors that are more aligned to people's movements and are more aligned to this perspective that the IMF loan which is a loan that was taken out by the neoliberal government of Mauricio Macri that has only benefited capitalists in the countries that has only caused over 40% of the population of Argentina to be in poverty that has deeply, deeply kind of destroyed the socio and economic stability of so, so many families in the country. They say that the people should not pay this debt and that the current deal means that the burden like in so many countries is going to fall on the backs of the working class and at this moment with the 40% poverty rate in the country with unemployment continuing to grow even despite the social mechanisms that the government of the Frente Dos has attempted to put in place, the people are still suffering and so the debt they say is with the people the government needs to emphasize the people this is a cyclical struggle as I said in Argentina, so many instances where they've been forced to pay the debt of these governments, forced to continue fighting on the streets of Argentina. I think yesterday is such a powerful showing of this, linking the struggle of the past with the struggle of the future, you see mothers like Norita Cortinhas who is 96 years old and continues to march hands in hands with the people with the youth, with the indigenous communities of Argentina, with people across Latin America, I think it's such an inspiration and we need to hold up these stories, these figures well people that inspire us to fight for a better world Prashant include Michael Link the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied territory since 1967 what a report what a report we saw that with other human rights organizations but this is the United States, what's in his report? Right, so it's quite an interesting report first of all it's 18 pages and I think it's something that everyone should read because it is a very analytical, very well argued case and the question really Michael Link asks is a very simple thing of course let's put some context like you said for generations, Palestinian organizations have been saying that Israel is practicing apartheid in recent times we have seen some of the more prominent organizations like Human Rights Watch for instance Amnesty all of them reaching a similar conclusion as well but Silem also and I think this is marked a sort of, we have talked about this before this is marked a sort of trajectory in the global understanding of what Israel is doing and this is a very important report right now because it's UN Special Rapporteur he's placed this argument before the UN Human Rights Council and he's presented this argument in a very simple way basically we've all accepted that Israel has occupied Palestinian territory but has it congealed into something else is really the question he's asking and while of course people studying the issue people reporting in this issue might be impatient considering the fact that these are obvious facts on the ground nonetheless these reports are important and what he concludes is very clearly that this is definitely a case of apartheid using the legal reasoning which defines, which has defined apartheid as a convention against apartheid there is a Rome Statute to important milestones in international legal jurisprudence and using some of the key arguments mentioned some of the key factors mentioned in those documents he basically looks at what the definition of apartheid is there existing institutionalized regime of systematic racial oppression it has an intent to maintain the domination of one racial group over the other and there are human acts created as an integral part of this regime these three aspects are how he sort of you know sets the ground and then he talks about what's happening on the ground the fact that you know at every level there is a very systemic and systematic attempt whereby to destroy the lives and the livelihoods of the Palestinian people one important thing of course to notice that this report focuses exclusively on the occupied Palestinian territories there is no reference to what is historic Palestine or the diaspora outside but even within these occupied Palestinian territories you know he makes it a clear point to show how there is very systemic and systematic discrimination from you know various instances of day to day life moving around from place to place from finding a job from basic personal security to the brutal acts of invasion and you know warfare that the Israeli state regularly commits pointing out that you know the fact that the land of the Palestinians is being systematically seized and the possibility of a Palestinian state is being destroyed through settlements is inseparable from the fact that Israel maintains a very powerful military and it is military rule which is essentially prevailing in the occupied territory so these are basically two sides of the same coin there is no separating one from the other and you know so he clearly points out that basically there is a huge onus on the international community for instance to step up and take some kind of action there is of course an onus on Israel which it is time and again denied and that is part of his report the fact that time and again Israeli authorities have basically indicated that this is not some kind of you know mistake or a tangential policy this is essential to the way Israeli the Israeli government sees it says the nation state law for instance being one of the most classic examples of how they want the future of Israel to be so this report clearly points out in the most I would say conservative legal terms so let's be very clear this is not you know a radical report this is in some senses uses the most conservative legal terminology and definitions and even by those standards Israel is very clearly an apartheid state and I think he does a good job of pointing out that there is a continuity between the apartheid experience in South Africa and the apartheid there are some differences of course but there are many other ways in which Israel has been practicing worse so I think all these important points Israel of course will definitely dismiss the report but the key question I think is that does this mark a change does this mark a shift if for instance the UN Human Rights Council considers this more seriously does saying apartheid become start becoming more normalized applying the kind of pressure Israel truly fears does the boycott divestment and sanctions movement you know gain more power because of this I think these are important strategic questions that's very important I mean the question of apartheid it's a legal question it then raises issues of the international court of justice the international criminal court and so on provides the basis for the UN Human Rights Council to act in a censorous way of the Israeli government very important development I'm glad that we're keeping an eye on this of course coming after the human rights watch and amnesty text you're listening to give the people what they want coming to you every week from people's dispatch and globetrotter hope you go regularly to people's dispatch this story has been written up at people's dispatch you can read it you can go through the link to read the 18 page report at the UN Human Rights Council page I think it's well worth sharing that report with friends and others it's a pretty interesting text in fact the point Michael link makes Prashant which you mentioned about the question of South Africa it's not a question of some distant past in South Africa he writes I think he writes that very well fortunately on give the people what they want we just don't always do bad stories this time we're going back to Colombia but let me tell you something normally when we go to Colombia it's a story of a terror that has been gripping that country assassinations murders of different kinds and so on this time after the election primary election Gustavo Petro ready to lead the historical pact into the presidential election picked a very interesting vice presidential candidate Zoe I was very impressed with with this decision tell us a little bit about who Gustavo Petro picked and why we should be interested in her it is a historic moment in Colombia and I think in countries it is a historical moment for the world Gustavo Petro picked Francia Marquez to be his vice presidential candidate important to note the Francia Marquez in the internal primaries of the historic pact actually did get the second most votes which was extraordinary Francia Marquez is a afro-columbian human rights and environmental defender she comes from the region of Calca in Colombia one of these regions that we've talked about so many times on this show because the high levels of violence it is a region that's very rich in mineral resources there are a lot of armed groups that are occupying different territories in Calca Francia for example fought a very long struggle against illegal gold mining in her community fighting for the rights of the afro descendant communities there she has been really vital in many questions about defending the environment defending afro-columbian communities over the past couple of decades working with the black communities process and really trying to bring this voice of the communities in Colombia of the communities that have been so battered by this violence over the past six decades that have been so excluded from institutional politics and so for her to be the vice presidential candidate is a huge victory of the social movements you know of her movement of all of the movements that have rallied around her candidacy because in Colombia it's not only the story of the exclusion of the left from politics but really a pact between the oligarchy that has excluded anyone who is not wealthy, who does not come from well off families the new does not only have in mind the exploitation of resources the consolidation of large lands holdings in the country and so this means that all walks of life have been excluded from this from politics and with the historic pact there's a really powerful photo that came out yesterday that was from the meeting of the presidential ticket so Gustavo Petro and Francia Marquez with all of the elected senators and members of the House of Representatives and in this picture you really for the first time in Colombia's history you see a plurality of the different identities of Colombia represented in this who will be participating in the congress and who is running for president so you see peasants like Roberto Laza you see indigenous people like Eida Quilque you see Afro-Colombian people like Francia Marquez you see people from the poor neighborhoods in Colombia that have also dealt with this conflict for so many decades and so this really represents a historic moment in Colombia the people from the peripheries, the people from the marginalized communities who have dealt with the decisions of the oligarchy for so many years finally getting a say in these politics Francia Marquez is an incredible leader and she's been really working so hard over the past year to legitimize her request to be taken seriously as a political leader and so many people have been coming out there's been a barrage of very racist very you know, classist news articles since this announcement saying that she's not fit to be a leader she who is she saying a lot of questioning her character and her validity and her legitimacy and I mean you look at someone like Ivan Duque who had zero political experience and was just plucked by Alvaro Uribe and put in the presidential chair and there was no questioning of that and so I think not only is this represent a different kind of voice coming to politics but also breaking these racist sexist and classist you know stereotypes and fixtures on the political institutional life in Colombia I think right now the polls really indicate that there could be a victory of the historical pact. Gustavo Pedro and Francia Marquez are polling at 32% with Fico Gutierrez who's from the conservative coalition that's called Team Columbia he has about 23% so it seems that in the first round they won't be able to clinch a victory but it's very likely that in the second round they will be able to win given the current voter intention polls right now this is a very interesting time in Colombia I think we'll have the luxury of reporting on this somewhat regularly up until these polls in May so important to watch the fate of Colombia will really decide the fate of the rest of the continent. Well I hope apart from all those big things you just said Zoe I just hope that Francia Marquez pokes a big finger into the eye of white supremacy in Colombia that will give me enough joy speaking of white supremacy a headline you will not read in any other publication except people's dispatch here's the headline 80% of rural African population lack safely managed drinking water now that looks like a pretty dull headline if I was the sub editor I would say jazz it up a little bit what is there jazz up really 80% of rural African population lack safely managed drinking water that's not the fantasy of a talking head that's the UNICEF WHO report not only 80% of rural African population lack safely managed drinking water it's drinking water Prashant absolutely right so the report came out on the occasion of World Water Day which is March 22nd and often these days are seen as a bit anodyne nowadays not many people really pay too much attention to it but I think these are some of the dire challenges of our time and this report has some shocking numbers in terms of this is one aspect of course the safely managed drinking water the same 75% lack safely managed sanitation 70% lack hygiene services and this is in the rural areas it's not too much better the urban areas I think 40% of population in urban Africa lacks access to safely managed drinking water as well and I think the important question here really is that we need to be clear that this is not due to a lack of the lack of resources there is actually in fact the report also points out that there is sufficient groundwater to sustain the population for over 50 years of drought and the point really is of being able to extract the water being able to provide it very most importantly to its citizens in an equitable way and that is where many of these governments have failed and many of these governments also failing due to the fact that they have been pressured in terms of their economic policies to not really incentivize work on some of these issues so much for instance even this report while listing the nature of the problems that are there nonetheless makes it a suggestion that there should be some investment some private participation and I think some of the experts we spoke to our colleague Paavan wrote this story asked the question that why would a private enterprise invest in providing you know safe water to rural areas it's not going to be profitable for them so the key question really here is that governments need to spend money invest in building those kind of distribution networks in building those kind of supply networks but at the same time these very same developments are told time and again that as your single most important responsibilities to cut down your spending your single most important responsibilities to worry about your fiscal deficit you know say food and water for the population be done that's really not your concern the market will take care of it so although we've had this debate for decades now I think numbers like these really show the human toll that it takes is not in the realm of some policy making or some abstract economic theory the fact that these kind of policies are water imposed by the IMF by the World Bank in return for any kind of funding makes it almost impossible that any there is going to be any change and we all know with climate change with global warming the situation might get even worse in many of these areas will migration take place the future looks very bleak especially when due to the fact that there are no good social distribution mechanisms in place for even basic necessities you know when we're talking about basic necessities it's well worth considering the fact that you know I mean it's well worth considering the fact that this war in Ukraine is really knocking food prices out of the park the UN conference on trade and development just released a report where they have a graph of food prices from 1961 to 2022 there are two spikes one spike is in early 1970s some of that occasioned by the oil crisis the oil shocks of 67 but and droughts severe droughts but the second is the Ukraine war spike I've just done another story on Central Asia where last week the president of Kazakhstan gave a speech State of the Union address where he talked about the need for countries like Kazakhstan to de-link from the global food supply chain and to integrate regional food supply chains and he used the phrase food sovereign to go back to being food sovereign 25% or so of world wheat is produced in Ukraine and Russia it is incredible how this war accelerated by the United States you know pursued by the Russians it's extraordinary callous this war because this war is going to lift food prices take them out of the reach of many more hundreds of millions of people around the planet already fertilizer prices up 17% this is going to have a knock on effect on food in some parts of the world grain prices already up 10% 10% that's 10% over roughly 10% of food price inflation as a consequence of covid last year here's what the UN conference on trade and development said in their report soaring food and fuel prices will have an immediate effect on the most vulnerable in developing countries resulting in hunger and hardship for households who spend the highest share of their income on food in Uzbekistan poor families and 69% of their income on food you put anything up what else will they spend money on my friends already people's dispatch and other organizations provided a document called hunger in our times you can just download it from the people's dispatch site already Zoe Prashant already that document is out of date already it's almost as if we need to write a new addendum about the food price inflation will this food price inflation become relatively permanent I don't think you can recover this you see during the great oil shocks of the 1960s and 70s during the Iraq war in 2003 it was possible for the Saudis to pump more oil out of the ground to make up for depleted supplies you can't pump grain out of the ground like that you can't pump wheat out of the ground catastrophic impact on world food prices this is going to hurt a lot of people in Central Asia they are now predicting massive waves of starvation as a consequence of sugar and grain price rises gotta pay attention to that I hope you'll look into it you've been listening to give the people what they want coming to you from people's dispatch a great place to get your movement based news I'm Vijay from Globetrotter we'll see you next week and I hope we have more stories such as the one from Columbia for you next week