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The Age
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
An ice axe and a ‘gangland identity' spice up public-sector union fight
An anonymous email landed in Victorian prison officers' personal inboxes last month with a cryptic Gmail username: iceaxeforleon. Only those with a keen interest in 20th century Russian history might have grasped the reference. Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died when the assassin Ramon Mercader plunged an ice axe into his head. Just like Mercader's pickaxe, the email was pointed. Its target was Jiselle Hanna, a Corrections Victoria project officer and socialist activist who has nominated to be secretary of the Victorian branch of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which has 15,000 members spanning the breadth of the state's public service. The email, headlined 'A troubling campaign for union leadership' and addressed 'Dear member', raised 'serious concerns' about Hanna's campaign. It had received 'hostile endorsements', both from the Victorian Socialists' former Senate candidate Jordan Van Den Lamb, who had 'described law enforcement officers as militarised pigs', and to 'known underworld identity' Mick Gatto, claiming her campaign had accepted a $1000 donation from him. Loading 'Members deserve to know what kind of deal was struck in exchange for his financial support,' the letter said. Hanna was seeking to portray herself as the head of a grassroots movement, but was in truth part of a calculated hard-left political campaign to infiltrate the public sector union, the email claimed. Though the email was anonymous, its author left digital tracks. Supporters of Hanna used two-factor authentication to trace the Gmail account back to the staff email account of an employee of the Victorian branch of the CPSU.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
An ice axe and a ‘gangland identity' spice up public-sector union fight
An anonymous email landed in Victorian prison officers' personal inboxes last month with a cryptic Gmail username: iceaxeforleon. Only those with a keen interest in 20th century Russian history might have grasped the reference. Communist revolutionary Leon Trotsky died when the assassin Ramon Mercader plunged an ice axe into his head. Just like Mercader's pickaxe, the email was pointed. Its target was Jiselle Hanna, a Corrections Victoria project officer and socialist activist who has nominated to be secretary of the Victorian branch of the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which has 15,000 members spanning the breadth of the state's public service. The email, headlined 'A troubling campaign for union leadership' and addressed 'Dear member', raised 'serious concerns' about Hanna's campaign. It had received 'hostile endorsements', both from the Victorian Socialists' former Senate candidate Jordan Van Den Lamb, who had 'described law enforcement officers as militarised pigs', and to 'known underworld identity' Mick Gatto, claiming her campaign had accepted a $1000 donation from him. Loading 'Members deserve to know what kind of deal was struck in exchange for his financial support,' the letter said. Hanna was seeking to portray herself as the head of a grassroots movement, but was in truth part of a calculated hard-left political campaign to infiltrate the public sector union, the email claimed. Though the email was anonymous, its author left digital tracks. Supporters of Hanna used two-factor authentication to trace the Gmail account back to the staff email account of an employee of the Victorian branch of the CPSU.
Morocco World
10-03-2025
- Politics
- Morocco World
Morocco and Latin America: Truth or Dare?
What do we know about Latin America as Moroccan journalists or policy planners? What kind of question is this, one might be tempted to ask? People miss asking such a question when they happen to debate Morocco's foreign policy towards this continent. For the average person, Latin America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean are all the same. The history, and the cultures are very seldom taken into account in order to understand them. If we are lucky, we might have a set of confusing answers. We would have vague answers, referring to the Mexican or Brazilian soap operas of the 1980s and 1990s that monopolized the attention of Moroccan households in light of the entry of color televisions. One might hear a flawless summary of the history of the football World Cup, where Brazil and Argentina competed for the aura in the hearts of Moroccans. For the most informed among Moroccan people, one could read about the unfinished period of the three A's (Africa, Latin America, and Asia) during the 1960s, when a third world war was narrowly avoided (1962). We would then enter into an exercise in political acrobatics in which ideology would be on the menu to serve the same dish on capitalism, socialism, the welfare state, the centralizing state, liberalism, authoritarianism, the democracy of the peoples, and the democracy granted. Long-distance relationships cause misunderstanding. For intellectuals versed in one of the aforementioned ideologies, one could have explanations about Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) and her affair with Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) by closing one's eyes to her eventful life, her endemic health issues, and her libertarian misconduct. One would be surprised to receive details about Pablo Neruda (1904-1973) and his assassination, about Salvador Allende (1908-1973) overthrown by soldiers in cahoots with the CIA to defeat the policy of generalized nationalization and curb the rise of leftist trends throughout South America. In this brainstorming exercise, Che Guevara (1928-1967), who died at his early age for the sake of serving a transnational ideal that would have made him laugh if he were still alive would hit the jackpot. He would compete with the other comrade on duty, Fidel Castro (1926-2016), whose reputation for giving endless speeches would have been of no use to him either. We would still be well served on the epic saga of Simón Bolívar (1783-1830) and the dream of a unified and prosperous South America. Maybe these historical landmarks are exaggerated and mix the mythical and the historical or wishful thinking, to use a fashionable expression. For half-apolitical, half-committed intellectuals, depending on the mood of the moment, magical realism is a hallmark of Latin America. They might pretend to ignore that this expression was first introduced by the German Franz Roh in 1925. Some would be tempted to argue that diplomacy and foreign policy, in general, are a matter of making decisions timely and depending on the context. Hallucinations about the relationship between history, culture, and diplomatic behavior are a waste of time, explaining only slabs. Of course, this opinion lacks relevance. Now the main question: How should one perceive Latin America? The answer is very important before addressing Morocco's Latin American policy. First, an eventful history . The turbulent history of Latin America is linked to foreign interference from the Spanish, Germans, Dutch, Belgians, British, French, Portuguese, and Americans. The jerks of annexations, civil wars, the attachment and erosion of indigenous populations, coups d'état fomented by foreign interests associated with local oligarchies, etc., are few among the variables to take into account to understand the diplomatic behavior of many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The aftermath of historical disputes is still very strong. They determine the diplomatic behavior of the countries of the region. Examples can be mentioned in this regard. The fate of Guatemala, annexed by Mexico in 1821, colonized by Belgium in 1842 and by Germany in 1892, and victim of long episodes of civil war. The succession of border wars between Ecuador and Peru (1858, 1941, 1981) ending by territorial losses for the first country that the 2008 agreement temporarily resolved. Second, a charged and volatile political culture . The political culture of Latin American and Caribbean states is known for resisting all forms of domination or influence deemed arrogant. At the regional level, major players such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Mexico top the list of countries cataloged as vibrant voices against calls for resignation and unilateral interdependence. The shift between East and West these countries have shown during most of the last century and— a little less—during the first decade of the 21st century reinforces this interpretation. The political and diplomatic behavior of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean reflects the claim to identity confirmation. This is maintained in three distinct historical sources symbolized by the cultures of the Aztecs, the Incas, and the Maya, and a contemporary source: the European heritage for the factions holding power—to name only the most dominant. Thirdly, political doctrines randomly listed . The classification of political doctrines as pro-Western, anti-American, and pro-socialist has long been taken for granted. Moreover, non-commitment has never really been part of the political ambitions of most of these countries. One observation that does not raise any objection is the fact that the countries that are recalcitrant to openness, in the Western way, have allowed themselves to be ruined politically and economically (Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Ecuador, Bolivia). Countries that have opted for a market economy (Mexico, Chile, and Argentina) have been victims of financial crises (1991-1994 and 2008). They can't get by up till now. The project for a tri-continental conference (Africa-America-Asia) of the 1960s eloquently demonstrated the ambivalence of political and diplomatic options these countries have been paramount by. Moreover, the contemporary history of these countries has seen direct or indirect American intervention through an efficient policy of encirclement in Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. The Soviet Union, for its part, maintained its support for the communist parties in Brazil, Chile, and Cuba (intervention in particular during the missile crisis of October 1962). Fourth, conflicts and disputes in an area of large-scale military confrontations and fragile control . Like other countries around the world, Latin American and Caribbean countries are embroiled in limited intranational conflicts and endemic civil wars. They do better than the others by being a haven for banditry networks and the stranglehold of drug cartels. Fifth, a regionalism handicapped by aspirations to ascendancy and rest raint. The regionalism that Latin America boasts of is a different story. It has experienced mixed results due to the resignation of some countries from leadership, the proliferation of regional organizations, the exclusion of some of them, and the establishment of free trade areas by others. Promising awareness Moreover, the regional management of sub-regional or internal conflicts has been laborious. It was viewed with great suspicion. All the mediations undertaken by Brazil, Argentina, or Mexico (to name but a few) with regard to the civil war in Colombia (FARC) or Peru (Shining Paths) have failed because the belligerents and the mediators had diametrically opposed agendas. Morocco had a hard time explaining the issue of territorial integrity to countries that suffer from political misunderstandings and colonial legacies that are difficult to evacuate from their collective consciousness. As a result, the foreign policy of some countries vis-à-vis Morocco is influenced by the unfortunate episodes of their historical past, political culture, and the constraints of regional geopolitics. This is the case of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Uruguay, El Salvador (until recently), and Venezuela. These countries, without taking the necessary step back, privilege ideological solidarity no matter what. Shallow associations ignore the historical, cultural, and political realities of countries that do not fit into their diplomatic compasses. On the Moroccan side, diplomatic behavior has been based on its fear of the feudal structure of international relations, of which Morocco itself is a victim. There has been a kind of acceptance among the political elite that the promotion of relations between Morocco and Latin America must go through the survey of the latter's relations with the former Spanish and Portuguese colonizers. Similar behaviors have been witnessed with respect to relations with countries in North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. Some people thought they were referring to France, Belgium, or the United Kingdom to keep their behavior under control. By the same token, the Moroccan elite of Hispanic culture has focused on Spain. Some critics suggest that they have nurtured the same misperceptions spread in Spain about different Latin American cultures. In doing so, this elite spread the same misperceptions with respect to its own culture. Revelations have been made for some years now that there are missing links in the interpretation of Spanish documents pertaining to the history of Morocco. Premeditated or inadvertent shortcomings would be noted as well with regard to the controversial history of Spain and Portugal with Latin America. Proof of this is the ritual of summits between Spain and Latin America, which have often echoed deep differences over the treatment of certain member countries. Out of solidarity or being fed up, voices have sometimes been raised to denounce asymmetrical relationships that no longer have any reason to exist. As a result, relations between Morocco and Latin America have evolved in a rollercoaster fashion. Yet, in the mid-1960s, Morocco was one of the countries that Brazil included in its vision of South-South cooperation. It is on the occasion of the dialogue forums between the League of Arab States and Latin America or the meetings on the sidelines of the periodic meetings of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, in which Morocco is an observer member, that many Latin American countries have begun to grasp the magnitude of inter-Arab disputes. As for North Africa, they have come to understand, albeit laboriously, the ins and outs of the Sahara issue and Algeria's direct involvement. A dynamic was set in motion in 2004 by royal visits to Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. It came in the wake of the Sovereign's visits to Africa and some Arab countries. If the process of revitalizing relations has slowed down a little, it was for reasons related to the internal situation of the countries concerned and the suspicions about the Arab countries coinciding with the Arab Spring. Morocco was not systematically included in the mechanical categorization of the targeted countries; however, it felt the impact of the slowdown. It must also be said that the international financial crisis of 2008 also played a certain role. In addition, two factors of undeniable political and diplomatic significance have contributed to placing relations between Morocco and Latin America on an upward curve. On the one hand, the Autonomy Plan proposed by Morocco in 2007 to resolve the regional conflict over the Moroccan Sahara, and on the other hand, Morocco's return to the African Union in 2017. These developments have left no excuse for Latin American countries to continue to obstruct, unless they are acting in bad faith. We can add two more factors of very significant geopolitical importance. On the one hand, the idea of the ministerial conference of African states bordering the Atlantic, which Morocco sponsored in 2009, was relaunched in 2011 and reiterated in 2022, and on the other hand, the Atlantic Initiative the King of Morocco launched in 2022. Similarly, the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation, launched in 2023 in New York by Morocco and the United States, is part of the dynamic of cooperation in the Atlantic regions. These projects could not be more realistic. Moreover, this form of cooperation Morocco initiated is already well in place with Brazil. More serious gestures from other partners, such as Argentina and Chile, are still expected. However, political movements in Peru, Bolivia, or Colombia are still reluctant to make a move towards improving their relationship with Morocco. They should capitalize on the 2004 royal visit to a country like Mexico instead. Anyway, Morocco no longer accepts certain forms of blackmail with respect to its territorial integrity. This applies to its cooperation with the Caribbean countries, which are quite good but need clarity. Transparency for long-term partnerships The unequivocal terms used in the royal speech of August 20, 2022, on the prism through which Morocco views its international diplomatic neighborhoods apply to everyone. But Morocco can be pleased that only eight countries in Latin America continue to show hostile behavior on the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, three of which are in a situation of procrastination depending on the intra-national political mood. However, the opportunities are there. I will not dwell on the areas in which cooperation can be beneficial for Morocco. I will not dwell on the volume of trade, which depends on fluctuations in the international market. For, although the trade balance can be an indicator of the state of cooperation between partners, it does not mean economic good health. The most aggressive countries on the international trade chessboard are often among the most vulnerable. I would rather prefer the idea of reconstruction through clarification in order to remove ambiguities, explain the issues at stake, and assimilate the ways of equating them with the objectives of the different forms of partnership. The culture that wants economic diplomacy to be based on the conquest of foreign markets without putting in place the appropriate safeguards is outdated. All it takes is a small financial crisis, a change of regime, or a trivial disagreement for the whole chapel to be blown away. In addition, the intensification of the processes for establishing free trade agreements must take into account the difficulties already encountered by the free trade areas that already exist. Of course, the negotiators are aware of such unpleasant factors and fix them, but hard work is still needed to improve relations within the FTA landscape. Multilateralism is going through a difficult period. One of the causes highlighted is the exhaustion of the models put in place since the last century. The various limited restructurings or challenging policies can do nothing about it. Does this mean giving up partnerships within the framework of free trade regimes? No, on the contrary, it would be rather wise to seek to improve the negotiating instruments so that free trade agreements are symmetrical, ruling out planned hegemonic policies. This is how the negotiations with Mercosur must draw lessons from sixty free trade agreements that Morocco has signed so far. Furthermore, the time has come to read Latin Americans' mindsets in a way to get rid of perceptions that have been nurtured since the end of the Second World War and during the Cold War. If countries persist and sign in their hostility towards Morocco's territorial integrity, it will be necessary to understand that the political culture of some of them can only be understood in the context of their turbulent history. The nationality of the historical figures that some countries boast about must be in its context. This is the case of Venezuela, which is proud of Simon Bolivar, born in Caracas, who unified Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Bolivia, and Venezuela (1819-1830). This is the case of Bolivia, which boasts that Che Guevara is buried in Santa Cruz, even though he was Argentinian by birth, or Cuban, a nationality he obtained by making common cause with Fidel Castro. In Nicaragua, the impact of the Sandinistas on the internal political chessboard is strong. They derive their psychological legitimacy from the struggle of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FNLS) against the occupation of the country by the United States during the 1930s and then against the Contras (1984-1989) trained by the CIA. After an eclipse from 1990 to 2006, the FNLS is regaining power. Uruguay, for its part, has had a turbulent history and has often been governed by left-wing parties. The existential dilemma that impacts the country means that its political class, mostly of European origin, remains a mixed Western culture-driven. The United Kingdom created Uruguay in 1828 at a time when it was subject to covetousness and annexation by Brazil and Argentina. Some historians refer to the date of 1811 as the start of the struggle for independence against the Spanish and Portuguese, which raged in 1816. This culture is more left-wing diplomatically and less conciliatory in terms of social stratification. However, Uruguay was among the first Latin American countries with which Morocco established diplomatic relations. Then, Montevideo adhered to the anti-Moroccan theses. In 2016, Morocco made a move to improve the relationship with Uruguay, but no clear response has been witnessed. The inauguration ceremony of outgoing Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi on March 1, 2025, to which the Polisario leader was invited, is likely to postpone attempts to consolidate relations between the two countries indefinitely. The explanations reviewed above explain why policy and strategic planners should take into account the idiosyncratic variable as a component of the mindset of decision-makers in this part of the world. Pragmatism should be the order of the day at every scale of policy planning. Pragmatism advises that Morocco be careful not to be the secondary ground for misunderstandings and disputes between Latin American countries. Morocco sent a message to all in 2003. A few countries picked up the message. However, it will be useful for the various Atlantic partnerships to work as planned. For the time being, Morocco can be proud of having thirteen diplomatic representations with resident ambassadors in Latin America, including in countries that adopt a negative position towards the issue of the Moroccan Sahara. A few countries still adopt a biased policy towards Morocco's initiatives. Their hostility is a storm in a teacup. They are called upon to jump on the bandwagon. Otherwise, they will stay on the platform.
Ammon
23-02-2025
- Business
- Ammon
Russia sells famed imperial prison at auction
Ammon News - A notorious Russian prison complex that once housed jailed revolutionaries, toppled ministers and Soviet dissidents will be turned into a hotel, restaurants, museum and art gallery after being sold at auction on Friday, the site's new owner said. Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky and writer Joseph Brodsky are among the roll call of famous Russians who were imprisoned at the Kresty jail complex in the imperial capital of Saint Petersburg. Named after the Russian word for "crosses" in homage to its shape the jail's red-brick walls loom ominously over the banks of the Neva river. But having fallen into disrepair, Russia built a new prison, shut down Kresty and put the historic site on the market. In an auction on Friday it was sold it to a development group for 1.1 billion rubles ($12.5 million). The group said in a statement it would transform the complex in "one of Saint Petersburg's most ambitious urban planning projects." "There will be a museum preserving the memory and history of the location, as well as a hotel complex, restaurants, galleries and public spaces open to all," it said. AP
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia sells famed imperial prison at auction
A notorious Russian prison complex that once housed jailed revolutionaries, toppled ministers and Soviet dissidents will be turned into a hotel, restaurants, museum and art gallery after being sold at auction on Friday, the site's new owner said. Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Trotsky and writer Joseph Brodsky are among the roll call of famous Russians who were imprisoned at the Kresty jail complex in the imperial capital of Saint Petersburg. Named after the Russian word for "crosses" -- in homage to its shape -- the jail's red-brick walls loom ominously over the banks of the Neva river. But having fallen into disrepair, Russia built a new prison, shut down Kresty and put the historic site on the market. In an auction on Friday it was sold it to the KVS development group for 1.1 billion rubles ($12.5 million). KVS said in a statement it would transform the complex in "one of Saint Petersburg's most ambitious urban planning projects." "There will be a museum preserving the memory and history of the location, as well as a hotel complex, restaurants, galleries and public spaces open to all," it said. Kresty was commissioned as a jail at the end of the nineteenth century to house imperial Russia's swelling prison population. It was designed to be the largest and most modern solitary confinement facility in Europe with 999 individual cells. Before the Russian revolution in 1917, it housed enemies of the Tsarist state like Alexander Kerensky, who would lead the February Revolution and Anatoly Lunacharsky who would become Lenin's top cultural official as well as Trotsky himself. After the revolution, it was the enemies of Bolshevism who found themselves in the prison especially during Joseph Stalin's 1930s purges when its cells were filled with the victims of political repression. These included the historian Lev Gumilev whose mother, the great Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, would wait outside the walls of the prison in the hope of passing him a package. bur/giv
