Friday, November 21, 2014

American Made Sham Elections: From Ukraine to Burkina Faso





I was perusing the news and I saw this headline in the New York Times:  Military Officer Named Interim Prime Minister in Burkina Faso


So I’m wondering, what and where is Burkina Faso?  According to BBC


Excerpt:


A poor country even by West African standards, landlocked Burkina Faso has suffered from recurring droughts and, until the 1980s, military coups.  A popular uprising forced long-term leader Blaise Compaore from office in October 2014….   Burkina Faso has significant reserves of gold, but cotton is the economic mainstay for many Burkinabes.


First thing that came to mind was cash poor, resource rich and major cotton producer Someone’s getting an American Made Sham Election





OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — The military officer who seized power in Burkina Faso after the ouster of President Blaise Compaoré last month was named on Wednesday as prime minister in a transitional government intended to steer the country to elections within a year.


The appointment of Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, 49, a senior officer in the presidential guard, seemed to run counter to the entreaties of the United States and of other nations for the military to return to barracks and FOCUS ON WHAT THE STATE DEPARTMENT IN WASHINGTON HAS CALLED ITS “PRIMARY MISSION” OF ENSURING NATIONAL SECURITY….


Early on Monday, facing a deadline from the African Union for the military to withdraw, a panel of political, military, religious, traditional and other leaders agreed to appoint Michel Kafando, 72, a former foreign minister and onetime ambassador to the United Nations, as interim president.


That sounded so familiar and then I realized what’s happening in Burkina Faso is exactly like what is happening in Ukraine.





UKRAINE:




"Yats is the guy," said Obama's potty-mouthed Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, in a recorded and widely disseminated discussion with the U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine earlier this year. She was referring to Arseni Yatsenyuk, the former foreign and economics minister who was confirmed as the interim Prime Minister of Ukraine today….


Yatsenyuk has immediately vowed that he will sign the Association Agreement with the EU, and carry out the slashes in the social safety net and budget that the IMF and EU have been demanding.



Since Yatsenyuk was ‘appointed’ Prime Minister in February, Ukraine has become increasingly polarised into Eastern and Western Ukraine, with Lugansk and Donetsk in the East declaring independence from the corrupt and criminal government in Kiev. Western Ukraine has all but been absorbed into the European sphere of influence, along with the puppet leaders allowing private and corporate jackals to exploit the countries resources.


BURKIMA FASO:





A previous foreign minister and United Nations representative, Michel Kafando, was appointed interim president until national elections can be held during 2015. Kafando served for thirteen years under the imperialist-backed regime of ousted President Blaise Compaore….


The appointment of Kafando may not calm the social unrest inside the country if there are no genuine reforms implemented to alleviate the mass poverty, unemployment and lack of food security. This interim leader was favored by the military which has been castigated by most Burkinabe who want a return to what they perceive as democratic civilian rule….


UKRAINE:


From BBC:


Ukraine's security services infiltrated anti-government protest groups and plotted to provoke conflict between demonstrators ahead of the ousting of President Viktor Yanukovych, according to documents published on the Ukrayinska Pravda website.


BURKIMA FASO:


It was contingents of working class youth wearing t-shirts and carrying placards evoking the revolutionary legacy of martyred Marxist leader Thomas Sankara, who ran Burkina Faso between 1983-87, that led the mass demonstrations against the neo-colonial system supported by France and the United States.


UKRAINE:




Excerpt:

In fact, almost immediately after Yatsenyuk became the leader of Ukraine, he sacked the existing three Deputy Defense Ministers, on March 5th, and replaced them with three rabidly anti-Russian neo-Nazis, who were committed to this bombing-policy.



The person who was made the Minister of Defense, Mikhail Koval, has announced his intention to ethnically cleanse from southeastern Ukraine the “subhumans” who voted for Yanukovych, who will “be resettled in other regions,” meaning either Russia (if Russia accepts these Ukrainian refugees) or else concentration-camps inside Ukraine (and then perhaps death).


“There will be a thorough filtration of people.” Their property will be confiscated, and “Land parcels will be given out for free to the servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other military formations, as well as to the employees of Interior Ministry and the Security Service of Ukraine that are defending territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country in eastern and southeastern regions of Ukraine.”


BURKINA FASO:


From BBC:


Excerpt:


The authorities in Burkina Faso have appointed an army officer, Lt Col Isaac Zida, as transitional prime minister.  Col Zida had been among officers who took power when then President Blaise Compaore was forced to resign on 31 October during mass protests.



He declared himself head of state but on Tuesday oversaw the swearing-in of former Foreign Minister Michel Kafando as interim president.  The moves followed agreement on a year-long transition to elections.  


The transitional charter imposes tight controls on the powers of Mr. Kafando, who was the army's choice as interim leader.  The document calls for an interim legislative chamber to be installed until elections next year.


So now the basics are in place for an American Made Sham Election for Burkina Faso.  So let’s take a look and see what is in the future for Burkina Faso.  We won’t have to look far, just look into the crystal ball and you will see the American Made Sham Election in America November 4th, 2014.  The winners of the sham election in the U.S. are clear and the “American Made Sham Election Vultures” are more powerful and protected than ever before.


Of course one of the most deadly, of the vultures is Monsanto.  Monsanto played a huge part in the Ukraine coup and subsequent sham election and they are a huge player in Burkina Faso.  


In this Reuters article from May 2013 BEFORE the overthrow of the government in Ukraine, Monsanto was already laying the GM seeds of rebellion when they decided to build the largest Monsanto seed plant in Ukraine, a country that outlawed Monsanto GM seeds and crops.


UKRAINE THEN:

Ukraine corn may replace US corn in China


Excerpt:


Monsanto plans $140 mln Ukraine non-GM corn seed plant


May 24 (Reuters) - Monsanto Co, the world's largest seed company, plans to launch a non-GM (genetically modified) corn seed plant in Ukraine, one of the world's leading producers of the grain, the company said on Friday.


"Monsanto is planning to build a seed plant in Ukraine to produce conventional corn seeds," Vitaliy Fedchuk, corporate affairs specialist at Monsanto Ukraine, told Reuters in an email.


"The seeds will be for the Ukrainian market and for export."


Ukraine, which harvested about 3 million tonnes of maize 10 years ago, threshed 20.9 million tonnes of the commodity in 2012 and might increase the output to 21.8 million tonnes this year, analysts say.


Initial investment in the project "is intended to be about $140 million", Fedchuk said.


"We plan to have the plant operational as of August 2015, provided we finalise the land acquisition by mid-August 2013. We have several preferred locations, one of them is Vinnytsya."


UKRAINIAN LAWS BAR LOCAL FARMERS FROM GROWING GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS. 


ASKED WHETHER MONSANTO EXPECTED CHANGES IN REGULATIONS, Fedchuk said:


"Indeed, in Ukraine only conventional seeds are allowed for production and importation, thus we will be working with conventional seeds only."


BURKINA THEN (From Monsanto):


Excerpt:



Achieving Healthy and Productive Societies in Africa


Lack of knowledge regarding farming techniques and plant varieties, limited access to water except during rainy seasons, and a poor understanding of nutrition often create a cycle of poverty in the province of Houet in western Burkina Faso, Africa. But a project by Africare has changed that for many families in 10 villages there.


Africare obtained a $400,000 grant from the Monsanto Fund for a two-year pilot food security project called Houet Agriculture and Nutrition Alternatives for Revenue Producers (HANARP). The current phase of the project involves raising awareness of the villages’ food and nutrition issues and improving farmers’ income.


How much you want to bet that two-year pilot was ending as the people rose up to demand a new government?


Through the HANARP project, farmers are introduced to new varieties of seeds and gardening methods. They also are taught animal production techniques and given access to micro credit to purchase equipment such as water pumps….


UKRAINE NOW:


 From Counter Punch:


Excerpt:


Monsanto and Ukraine
By JOYCE NELSON


Finally, a little-known aspect of the crisis in Ukraine is receiving some international attention.  On July 28, the California-based Oakland Institute released a report revealing that the WORLD BANK AND THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF), under terms of their $17 billion loan to Ukraine, would open that country to genetically-modified (GM) crops and genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture.  


The report is entitled “Walking on the West Side: the World Bank and the IMF in the Ukraine Conflict.”…



In late 2013, the then president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, rejected a European Union association agreement tied to the $17 billion IMF loan, whose terms are only now being revealed.  


Instead, Yanukovych chose a Russian aid package worth $15 billion plus a discount on Russian natural gas.  His decision was a major factor in the ensuing deadly protests that led to his ouster from office in February 2014 and the ongoing crisis….


Just a few days before Madrazo’s remarks in Washington, Monsanto Ukraine had launched its “social development” program for the country, called “Grain Basket of the Future.” [7] It provides grants to rural villagers so they can (in Monsanto’s words) “start feeling that they can improve their situation themselves as opposed to waiting for a handout.”


Actually, the real “handout” is the one going to Big U.S. Agribusiness through the terms of the IMF/World Bank loan, which besides opening the country to GM crops, will also further lift the ban on the sale of Ukraine’s rich agricultural lands to the private sector.






In August 2011, WikiLeaks released U.S. diplomatic cables showing that the U.S. State Department has been lobbying worldwide for Monsanto and other biotechnology corporations like DuPont, Syngenta, Bayer and Dow.  


The U.S. non-profit Food & Water Watch, after combing through five years of these cables (2005-2009), released its report entitled “Biotech Ambassadors: How the U.S. State Department Promotes the Seed Industry’s Global Agenda” on May 14, 2013.



BURKINA FASO NOW:



            Excerpt:

2012

BURKINA FASO: Preventing conflict between farmers and herders


Excerpt:


….The most recent recorded case occurred in June in Tapoa in East Region, a largely agro-pastoralist zone where herders attacked the dwellings of forestry agents after a herder was arrested for cutting leaves from a tree to feed his animals, according to Bertin Somda, governor of East Region.


Livestock are an economic mainstay for many families across Burkina Faso, with 80 percent of rural families keeping at least one or two animals to fall back on during hard times. "They act much like a bank account," said Ouedraogo.


Why clashes up


As in much of the Sahel, conflict arises when farmers have encroached on transhumance paths, leading herders to move onto agricultural land to enable their animals to feed. Competition over scarce agricultural land is also mounting as the population grows by 3.1 percent per year, one of the highest rates in the world.
 
Burkina Faso-landscape


Land scarcity has also been accentuated by land-grabbing by agro-businesses following new land laws that encourage private land ownership; and by the growth of artisanal gold miners who both squeeze herders off transhumance routes but also poison water points with chemicals. Some 800 artisanal mining sites have opened since 2007.


And Burkina Faso is not alone.  According to Global Research

Excerpt:


Burkina Faso Not Alone as Strikes Escalate in West Africa
Class struggle intensifies as imperialist system continues to decline
Strikes and Unrest Spreading Throughout West Africa Region


The workers, farmers and youth of Burkina Faso are by no means alone in their struggle against neo-colonial rule. In Ghana, Niger and Nigeria, strikes and mass demonstrations are occurring on a weekly basis.


In Ghana, tens of thousands of public sector and education workers went on strike during Oct. demanding higher wages and better conditions of employment. The government of President John Mahama took the unions to court and secured an order forcing the workers back on the job.


Nonetheless, the unions threatened to resume their work stoppage if the government did not meet demands for pay raises and the guaranteeing of pensions. The strike actions also impacted the burgeoning oil producing industry in Ghana where workers refused to unload barrels of oil until their grievances were adequately addressed.


Hey, that sounds familiar, I know I read this at Black Agenda Report


Excerpt:


The Obama Administration.... Standing Up For Poor and Working People Since... Never

By BAR managing editor Bruce A. Dixon


….An Amazon.com worker filed in federal court against his bosses, who forced employees to stand in line without pay for a daily security check before being allowed to leave the job. Workers asked to be paid for the time. Amazon said no. They asked their bosses to buy another scanning machine and hire more security staff to speed up the process. Amazon said no. And again, this is a common practice across a large section of retail and warehouse employers.


It took a couple years, but a federal judge ruled in favor of Amazon's workers, and an appeals court also ordered Amazon to pay them. Amazon's platoon of lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court, which has agreed to hear the case….


… And who did the Obama administration side with? The administration that would not help workers secure their rights with new laws, and would not prosecute employers for wage theft filed not one brief in favor of Amazon.com's right to NOT pay its workers, but two --- one from the Justice Department, and another from the Department of Labor, the cabinet bureaucracy supposedly created to safeguard the rights of working people.


Hey, America if you don’t like it you get another chance to go to the polls in 2016 for the ultimate Made in America Sham Election.


But, I’m an optimist at heart and I’m pinning my hopes for the future on the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).  They are forming an unbelievable bloc with their own bank, gold, oil, military, space program and everything that America was before our government was overthrown on December 12, 2000. 


The true test of democracy is the peaceful transition after an election of the people.  On December 12, 2000 the Supreme Court of the United States in concert with the United States Senate staged a coup.  Since then any laws, any elections in the United States are illegal and invalid.  Any appointments to courts in America are illegitimate.





But, in the meantime, get ready Burkina Faso you are the latest winner of American Made Sham Election, brought to you by Monsanto.


By Patricia Baeten


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