Turkey and the EU

Two articles about the possibility of Turkey entering the Union. The first one, from Newsweek: Second Thoughts:

Once, Europe was a sweetshop, and Turkey was an eager kid with his face pressed to the window. Just two years ago, polls showed that more than 70 percent of Turks wanted to join the European Union, convinced that following the road to Brussels would make them richer, healthier and freer. Now, only months after long-delayed negotiations finally began, support for the EU has slipped to just 43 percent, and is falling fast.

Why? The cost and hassle of implementing the EU’s 80,000-page Acquis Communautaire—the vast canon of rules and regulations on everything from air quality to the size and shape of bananas (imports must not be “abnormally bent”). A new study by the politically powerful Turkish Industry and Business Association estimates the cost of reforming Turkey’s huge agriculture sector alone at up to $76 billion over the next decade, a significant hit for a $382 billion economy. Almost every clause of the Acquis Communautaire comes with a giant bill—for example, implementing European drinking-water standards will require digging up vast swaths of Turkey’s often haphazardly planned cities to replace crumbling piping.

Le Monde: For Jacques Chirac, Turkey must recognise the Armenian Genocide:

The French President Jacques Chirac has judged, on Sunday September 30th, in Erevan, that Turkey must recognise the Armenian Genocide before being able to adhere the European Union. Questioned at a Press conference if Turkey should recognise the character of genocide to the massacres of Armenians committed between 1915 and 1917 in the Ottoman Empire, he has answered that “honestly, I believe it”. “All the countries grow when the recognise their drames and errors”, he added.

Según Newsweek, los índices de apoyo de la población turca a entrar en la Unión Europea han decrecido de manera muy importante, de 70% hace dos años hasta un 43% ahora. El coste y la molestia de introducir en el país el “acervo comunitario” se ha estimado, por ejemplo, en la agricultura, en 76 billones de dólares sólo en la próxima década, lo que es excesivo para una economía con un valor estimado de 382 billones de dólares.

De viaje en Armenia, Jacques Chirac ha declarado que “honestamente cree” que Turquía debe reconocer el Genocidio Armenio.

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For Spanish-speaking readers

From now on, I will try to sum up each post at the end in Spanish for people who are not able to understand English.

De ahora en adelante, trataré de resumir al final de cada post la noticia en español, para aquellos que no entiendan el inglés. La parte en español irá con este formato.

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Will the next UN Secretary General be South Korean? (UPDATED)

From The Times:

An investigation by The Times has disclosed that the South Koreans have been waging an aggressive campaign on behalf of Ban Ki Moon, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the front-runner to replace Kofi Annan as UN chief at the end of the year. The inducements range from tens of millions of pounds of extra funding for African countries to lucrative trade agreements in Europe – and even the gift of a grand piano to Peru.

Well, I do not think that the ballot should be modified by giving money or incentives to the countries who will vote. I would rather ask for someone really interested in assuring that Human Rights are really respected and Countries which do not respect them are punished. I would rather ask for someone who would strongly recommend a modification of the present UN, to make it an organization really fighting for democracy and freedom of all human beings. And of course, to really develop these values in under-developed countries, where UN is making very little, but protesting about First World’s injustices, but never about tyrans, dictators and so on, who are primarily -with few exceptions- the real reason of their state.

But that’s got nothing to do with UN nowadays. A place in which Chávez can insult another state’s President and people, instead of just critisizing him, just laugh about his ocurrences. In which Mr Morales, Bolivian President, who showed out a coca leaf, pondering his properties. When speaking before the UN General Assembly! So all the important people go somewhere to talk and all they speak about is nonsense.

South Korea is not interested that their candidate is stained by that alleged aid to countries which are going to vote, so they have denied it:

South Korea denied yesterday that it was using foreign aid as a means of buying votes in the Security Council. “I would like to stress that theallegations against Mr Ban Ki Moon and, moreover, the integrity of the Korean Government do not correspond with the facts,” In Joon Chung, the spokesman for the South Korean Embassy in London, said. He added that Seoul had decided in 2002 to increase aid to the developing world. He added that the state visit to Greece was planned a year ago because Athens had been an ally of Seoul in the Korean War.

But:

David Mepham, the associate director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, described the selection process for the secretary-general’s post as “untransparent and unprofessional”. He said: “Given the sensitivity and importance of the post we need root-and-branch reform to ensure that we get the best candidate.”

I agree. Only look back to Koffi Annan’s importance in all the conflicts of the last times. For example, the case about the map which eliminated Israel, the Oil-for Food Scandal or his denial to receive Cuban dissidents, because they were not “aligned with truth, liberty and justice” in the recent Non-Alligned Countries Summit -via La Ventanita-. In this comment, you can see some of the very important things Mr Annan has been involved in.
It strucked me that the ousted Prime Minister of Thailand was a candidate.

CSM is writing about what kind of leader the UN should have now.

“The UN under Kofi Annan has begun to adapt to a very different world and a very different mission” than that of the world body’s first half century, says Lee Feinstein, a UN expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. “It’s much less a talk shop, much more a place that does things.”

But the UN’s reputation is also badly tarnished in the wake of the oil-for-food probe and other scandals. Some critics believe the UN under Annan has aligned itself too closely with American foreign policy, while others, notably among US conservatives, say Annan has presided over the transformation of the UN into a den of inefficiency, corruption, and anti-Western thinking. President Bush recently noted that support for the UN among Americans is at it lowest level ever.

Annan has not shied away from addressing previously “taboo” topics for the secretary-general, such as the promotion of democracy, individual rights versus those of government, the individual’s right to protection, inequitable wealth distribution, and genocide, Mr. Feinstein says.

Yet despite that, the UN has suffered from failing to operate effectively or efficiently as it has expanded its workload, he adds. “And part of that is because Kofi Annan has not been an effective and efficient manager,” he says.

That view, widely held among Annan admirers and detractors alike, has led many analysts to conclude that what the UN needs most now is not so much the “world’s top diplomat” as a manager with a laser focus on internal operations who will make the organization work better.

“Yes, you need the well-respected international figure, but beyond that, what is needed as secretary-general is someone who is tremendously focused on reforming a highly flawed institution,” says Nile Gardiner, an expert in international institutions at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

“You need someone who won’t just preside over a deep well of corruption but will dig in and do something about it,” he adds, “someone who will challenge time-honored practices like hiring and promotion rules that too often yield the lowest common denominator.”

I agree.

BBC -we know its tendency by now…- reports:

A consensus has developed that it will be Asia’s turn to provide a new secretary general, Jordan counting as part of the Asia group at the UN.

If the Jordanian ambassador [eventually in the 4th place] were eventually to beat the other candidates, he would be the first Muslim to head the world body.

Is it me or looks like BBC wants a Muslim to head the world body? Has any shintoist/confucian… or whatever religion Ban Ki Moon has -if he has any- been the head of the UN? Why that statement then?

You can also check: Sacredscoop.

Sent to Dumb Ox Open Trackbacks, Third World County, Right Wing Nation, Pursuing Holiness, Basil’s Blog, Blue Star Chronicles.

UPDATE: Thanks to a comment in the About page, I discover that Washington Post is handling a debate about the new UN Secretary General. There are several commentators about this issue. The first of them, King-Min Liu writes:

For a failed organization like the U.N., it doesn’t really matter who becomes its next Secretary General, especially when the world body seems to have adopted affirmative action in selecting the candidate. Ban Ki Moon, South Korea’s foreign minister and the forerunner, should ask himself: Am I the favorite because I’m good or simply because I’m Asian?

Among all the factors contributing to the UN as a failed organization, China is a key obstacle. And as long as China remains one of the five permanent members with veto power at the Security Council, the UN has no hope of becoming a more decent body. One example: When China finally invades Taiwan, do you expect the Security Council will be able to discuss this “domestic affair” before the eyes of Beijing?

Christine Ockrent considers that Indian candidate should be granted the job. And, lastly, a Palestine from Jordan, Daoud Kuttab, praises the Jordanian candidate -what can he do, hein?-.

From my part, I would not consider the Muslim Jordanian candidate. It is true that Jordan has played an important role in the Middle East, but I would never trust him as been really impartial in the solution of the Middle East problem. What is more, there are a lot of problems caused by Islamic population nowadays -Chechenya, Sudan, Nigeria, Pakistan, etc…- and we cannot forget the Iranian question with nuclear weapons and the Iraqi war.

Anyway, that is my view. I encourage my readers to think what would be their best candidate and, if they can, to comment about it in the blogs of the mentioned journalists.

UPDATE 2 : There are two things I have to add:

1. the anti-Americanism breathed by South-Koreans, even if it was USA who freed them from communists in the 50’s. Looks they are even planning to end the permanence of US Army in South Korea. You can also read The Korea Liberator’s opinion about Ban Ki-Moon. He says South Korea is not interested in how this man will do his job, but in how South Korea will look in an international level.
2. Secondly, I forgot yesterday to speak about another of the UN’s lack of action, which is going to be inherited by Koffi Annan’s succesors: the situation in Darfur, from the Telegraph [via EN] . Nothing has been done, but genocide continues and looks like inaction is going to be the ongoing policy of the UN.

UPDATE 3: INSTAPUNDIT links to a Sunday Times’ article about Srebrenica and Ruanda disasters:

Annan was the head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) between March 1993 and December 1996. The Srebrenica massacre of up to 8,000 men and boys and the slaughter of 800,000 people in Rwanda happened on his watch. In Bosnia and Rwanda, UN officials directed peacekeepers to stand back from the killing, their concern apparently to guard the UN’s status as a neutral observer. This was a shock to those who believed the UN was there to help them.

[I am sorry: a part of the article was lost when I was trying to correct some expressions. 😦 )

Parece que el sucesor de Koffi Annan será el surcoreano Ban Ki-Moon, que ha obtenido 14 y 13 votos de 15 en las votaciones ya realizadas. The Times informó de que Corea del Sur, muy interesada en que se elija a su candidato ha pagado donaciones millonarias a países del Tercer Mundo, sobre todo en créditos al desarrollo, acuerdos lucrativos comerciales con Europa (¡!) e inclusive ha regalado un piano a Perú.

Por supuesto, los surcoreanos lo niegan y señalan que ya habían planeado incrementar la ayuda al desarrollo desde hace mucho, lo que, sin embargo, no parece muy probable dada la coincidencia de las fechas.

El problema es determinar qué características debe tener el nuevo Secretario General de Naciones Unidas. Después de una dirección que ha dejado bastante que desear por parte de Koffi Annan, la ONU se enfrenta a la necesidad de adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos, con la incorporación de nuevos miembros -India o Japón, entre otros- y la necesidad de controlar a los soldados destacados en misiones humanitarias -conocidos como los cascos azules- y su propio presupuesto, después del escándalo financiero del Petróleo por Alimentos. También necesita clarificar sus ideas frente a los disidentes que estén a favor de la democracia y de los derechos humanos, a diferencia del todavía Secretario General, que incluso se negó a recibir a los disidentes cubanos señalando que “no estaban cerca de la verdad, de la justicia y de la paz” o que posó al lado de un mapa del Próximo Oriente en el que Israel había desaparecido.

Entre los candidatos se encuentra el depuesto primer ministro de Tailandia, Surakiart Sakirathai, y el príncipe Jordano Raad Zaid al Hussein. La BBC, en otra muestra más de su alienamiento ideológico, indica al final de su noticia, que, al estar considerada Jordania como país asiático, si saliera elegido alHussein -ha quedado cuarto en la votación- sería el primer musulmán en dirigir las Naciones Unidas.

Por un comentario en la página “About” de este blog, me entero de que en PostGlobal, el Washington Post está llevando a cabo una discusión sobre el próximo Secretario General. Tres periodistas han dado su opinión. King Ming Liu considera que la ONU está acabada desde el momento en que China todavía tiene veto en el Consejo de Seguridad. La periodista francesa Christine Okhrent alaba al candidato indio, mientras que el jordano Daoub Kouttab considera que deben elegir al candidato jordano “por su gran conocimiento del conflicto del Medio Oriente“. Os animo a todos a participar en la discusión.

Podeis leer también El Diario Exterior.com.

ACTUALIZACIÓN 1: Ayer se me olvidaron dos cosas: la primera es el anti-americanismo que Corea del Sur ha venido desarrollando durante los últimos tiempos, hablándose desde hace tiempo que se quieren retirar de allí el contingente que todavía queda, eso sí, muy reducido. La segunda, es que el “heredero” de Koffi Annan herederá el conflicto de Darfur, convertido ya en genocidio, del que no se habló seriamente en la 61 Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas y que continuará olvidado a pesar de que cada día es peor.

ACTUALIZACIÓN 2: Annan era el jefe del Departamento de Operaciones de Paz (DPKO) entre marzo del 1993 y diciembre 1996. La masacre de Srebrenica -8.000 hombres y niños fueron asesinados- y el asesinato de 800.000 personas ocurrieron bajo su mandato. En Bosnia y Ruanda, los oficiales de Naciones Unidas ordenaron a los cascos azules que se apartaran de los asesinatos, aparentemente preocupados por conservar su status de observador neutral. Fue un shock para los que creyeron que la ONU estaba allí para ayudarles. [artículo en The Times].

(Lo siento: he tenido que volver a copiar el post porque una parte había desaparecido al intentar corregir unas faltas 😦 ).

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Italy is also dealing with immigration

Looks like Prodi is also having problems with illegal immigration: 16.000 illegal immigrants have arrived only this year, to the Italian and little island of Lampedusa. His proposals, “ambiguous and contradictory“, are a good reflection of the several political parties which conform Italian Government nowadays. “Il Professore” has reduced from 10 to 5 years the time to grant Italian citizenship to foreigners. But this is the first step: the Social Security Minister, the Communist Paolo Ferrero, announced unilaterally a regularization which would be greater than the one Zapatero made in Spain [my goodness… another non-existent human being…].

Yesterday, Giuliano Amato, Italian Interior Minister , announced a new law. Spanish newspaper writes that it consists, basically, in abolishing the “Fini-Bossi” Act, but without any alternative measures to contain the arrival of the illegal immigrants to Italy. Yahoo News! Italy has titled their information “Amato: Sponsor per immigrati“, that is, “Amato: the immigrants’ sponsor” (via Italian blog Fard Times).

Italian Newspaper Il Corriere della Sera also writes about this: Italian immigrants will need an sponsor. According to Italian newspaper,

the Government is going to let enter in Italy only the immigrants that have taken Italian classes, a formation course for the job. Only immigrants in those lists could be admitted. BUT, instead of letting immigrants come only from countries  that would readmitting their citizens [as it is now], now this wouldn’t be necessary.

There will also be “sponsors that engage themselves financially with guarantees“. If they arrive to Italy and do not work, then these sponsors, whether associations, Chambers of Commerce, etc. would have to pay their contributions.

He also announced system of “voluntary repatriations“, which would be of a lower cost than to have them in jail.

Firstly, I think these measures are a little bit naïf: Does he really think they are going to return voluntarily to their countries of origin once they have arrived to El Dorado? I am not really sure. And what methods are they going to use if they are not willing to return?

Secondly, who is going to pay the guarantees of these sponsors? Italian contributor? Countries of origin? This is important to know, because of the cost to the average citizen the measure can have.

Thirdly, the idea of making the would-be immigrants take classes of Italian and to specialise in their future jobs, is a very good one. But, do they think that if people can arrive without any kind of these requirements and stay in the country, are they going to fulfill them? I mean, you want to come to Europe where jobs are very easy to find and everyone lives really well [or so they are saying to the would-be immigrants]. There are some friends of yours who have arrived here without any requirements and are working here. Remember Mohammed,  the Moroccan immigrant in Spain:

“France is a racist country. Italy, on the contrary is ideal. If you work without bothering, Police just leaves you alone. In Spain, by contrast, if you are detained, you are thrown into jail“.

If you work, whether being legal or illegal, -should be added- without bothering… I do not know, I am not very optimistic about this. And what would be the solution if instead of entering through Italy they have entered through Spain and have gone to Italy afterwards?

And lastly, what is going to say Paolo Ferrero, the regularization man, about this “restrictive” law?

Thanks to enzo, for the help with translation.

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Some very interesting links

Yesterday I wrote about Russians being accused of a coup which intended to change the Georgian Government. Today, from the blog Taking Aim, Georgia has surrounded the Russian Army Headquarters in Tbilisi.

Have found two blogs which seem to be really good.

1. The first one about Venezuelan reality called Venezuelan News and Views. The blogger profile says: Written from the Venezuelan provinces, this blog started as private letters to my friends overseas, letters narrating the difficult days of the 2002/2003 strike in Venezuela. These letters became this mix of news, comments, pictures of the Venezuelan situation. Unknowingly, I have written the diary of Venezuela slow decent into authoritarianism, the slow erosion of our liberties, the takeover of the country by a military caste, the surrendering of our soul to our inner demons. You should read about Anti-Semitism in Venezuela or Chavez’s concept of democracy: not applicable.
2. The second one is about Belarus. Belarus -Bielorrusia en español- is a very unknown country in Spain. And information is always useful. But if this does not convince you, what about this photo?

If you want to laugh, Bill [Clinton] and Belinda [Stronach]’s excellent adventure. Looks like Clinton is now with the Canadian Conservative-turned-out-Liberal Stronach. Or so it is rumoured.

Newsweek: China’s Wealth Woes.

Beijing’s growing dollar hoard represents the most dangerous imbalance in today’s global economy. The United States is both importing heavily from China and borrowing heavily from the country to finance those purchases, pushing the dollar down and putting the two economic superpowers on a collision course. Washington politicians demand that Beijing raise the value of the yuan against the dollar, and Chinese officials have hinted that if pushed too hard they might shift their near-trillion-dollar reserve out of U.S. Treasury bonds, which could trigger a U.S. and global recession. The main thing preventing this confrontation is the fact that both sides have too much to lose. Former U.S. Treasury secretary Lawrence Summers once called this “the balance of financial terror.” What has gone widely unremarked is that, increasingly, this balance is threatening China as much as the United States.

The United States has been worrying for the past 25 years about a mounting trade deficit and the threat it poses to America’s financial pre-eminence. But China now views its surplus with growing alarm, too. Its dollar mountain reflects huge demand for Chinese goods and the Chinese currency needed to buy those goods.

Also from Newsweek: Silent Games.

Beijing’s goals are far more sweeping than the chicken-and-monkey metaphor could encompass. Today’s targets are not just domestic media and foreign correspondents, not just our Chinese sources and local assistants. Less than two years before Beijing hosts the 2008 Summer Olympics, authorities are in the midst of a concerted—and disturbing—effort to slam stricter controls on what Chinese know and how they know it. The aim of the recent crackdown is not only to silence individual “troublemakers,” but also to beef up institutional controls over the free flow of information. This is a grim portent for the 2008 Games, when some 20,000 international journalists are expected to descend on Beijing. “These latest measures sound a wake-up call to the international community that a closed, state-controlled Olympics is on the horizon,” warns Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China, an NGO.

Asia’s Mistery Man, about Shinzo Abe, likely to be the new Japanese leader:

What will the world see when the cameras are finally trained on Abe? The problem is that no one—not even the Japanese—really knows. At the tender age of 51, Abe is decades younger than most of his predecessors. He has no high-level government track record, and his policy views in some areas, especially in terms of economic reform, are vague. That’s caused observers to latch onto what little they do know about his ambitions—which, despite the muted reaction to his Yasukuni visit, are worrying to many outside Japan.

He’s got at least two big goals, and they’re both risky. The first is revising the Constitution to eliminate Japan’s pacifist postwar military tradition, and the second, which could be a function of the first, is defying China’s bid for regional pre-eminence. A generation ago, the first idea would have struck mainstream Japanese voters as irresponsibly radical; the second even now strikes many as fraught with uncertainty.

Rights group Slams Legal System as China Jails Blind Activist. via Causes of Interest.

Last week, authorities in the eastern province of Shandong handed a four-year jail term to Chen Guangcheng, a social activist who blew the whistle on official abuses under China’s one-child policy. Lawyers and Chen’s relatives called the trial an illegal and retaliatory move by local officials.

Background about Chen: Cina et dintorni. Chinese authorities had to postpone his judgement as his supporters gathered to protest his arrest.

Lastly, I am going to direct you to a post by Díaz Villanueva in which he quotes Danish-American-Argentinian actor Viggo Mortensen saying, about his new film, Alatriste:

“US Health system is nearly at the same level as it was in XVIth century Spain. Really, this film (Alatriste), it’s not history but plain present”.

I think it deserves no comments…

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Zapatero does not accept critics from anyone in immigration matters

Yesterday there was a Government’s control session in Congress. Spanish right-wing newspaper LA RAZÓN writes about it:

Nicholas Sarkozy, French Interior Minister, Otto Chilly, German Interior Minister; Rita Verdonk, Dutch Immigration Minister; Dominique de Villepin, French Prime Minister; Nicholas Schimit, Vicepresident from Luxembourg; Günther Beckestein, representative of the Interior Ministers from the German Länder; Wolfgang Schuable, Federal German Interior Minister and Franco Frattini, European Minister of Justice and Security. There can be foreign responsibles that speak about some sort of EU’s problems, but not with such unanimity and in such a contusive manner as these responsibles have been doing these past weeks about the Spanish immigration policy. And not to praise it. The long list of critical voices was shown yesterday in Congress by Mariano Rajoy.

But Mr Rajoy also extracted two political consequences:

The first, that the credit of the Spanish Government “could certainly be better”; and the second, that it’s “impossible to understand how the Minister for Labour and Social Matters (Mr Caldera or “immigrants do not read the laws”) has not been dismissed”.

The answer from Mr. Zapatero was that he:

did not admit any lectures from nobody of EU, and less from Sarkozy, remembering the riots who were “caused by citizens of foreign extraction in Paris”.

He could have charged against any other European minister critical with his Government, that there a lot, but he chose the French Interior Minister -right-, the principal defender of a harder European immigration policy. Zapatero does not support Sarkozy, but integration and multicultural pluralism seriously questioned in some countries of EU. He is so sure about this that the lectures of European politicians are not valuable for him. “They could be valuable for you” -he shouted at Rajoy- but not for this Government,  and they are not convenient for this country”. He added that “there haven’t been any critics. The European Governments and the European Commission try to cooperate in front of this challenge that for some countries has a great range”.

Surprised at the answer, Rajoy censured Zapatero for denying evidence, and demanded him a little humility to recognize his errors, and to take a look at the PP’s proposals regarding immigration. After that, Acebes showed the most shivering figures about immigration: for each illegal immigrant returned to their country of origin, 7 remain in Spain; thousands of them are not even taken to temporal living centers as they are too crowded; the calling effect has already taken to Spain 690.000 illegal immigrants and only 12.000 have been returned to their countries of origin.

Pride is one of the seven capital sins and this laic Government of us have a good proportion of it. The reason why he charged against Sarkozy can be that he is coming to Spain to participate in an interministerial conference on immigration matters. I would like to know what it is said on it… it would be funny.

The Madrid’s Autonomous TV Channel showed a report in which some immigrants were escaping easily from the temporal living center in which they were held. That same day we were told that Interior Minister has instructed Policemen not to write down or make any statistics about the immigrants who escape from those centers. When questioned yesterday about this order, the Government did not contradict it. Vice President Fernández de la Vega only answered that now immigration is more “human and noble“.

Tell that to the approximately 5.000 immigrants who have died in the trip. Tell it to the immigrants who are not granted even a health control when they are held to provide them with medicines and appropriate diagnose and treatment. Finally, look into the eyes of normal people and tell them that an invasion of nearly 1.400.000 (the 700.000 who were legalized last year and the 690.000 who have come because of the calling effect) without any control, job or even perspective of having one (if an illegal immigrant is employed by Spanish firms, the responsibles of the latter will have to face criminal punishment, aggravated by socialist laws, so they have it very difficult to be admitted in one), are not going to cause any type of security problems, not only to citizens but also to legal immigrants.

And after everything happens, laments are not necessary. Politicians should know they are experimenting with people’s lives, dreams, desires, families, jobs, etc. So please before any type of “I’m so good and clever, my critics are idiot and are not worth even the time I am dedicating them“, think a little bit. I think, so I am, said Descartes. Several political figures today do not exist -as they do not think at all-, but they harm citizens and societies a lot for being non-existent human beings from Descartes perspective.

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"The market of organs appears to be thriving in China" (UPDATED)

Some time ago, I wrote about prisoners in China being removed several parts of their bodies to sell them in the international organ market. An investigation from BBC has concluded that the market of organs appears to be thriving in China.

Organs from death row inmates are sold to foreigners who need transplants.

One hospital said it could provide a liver at a cost of £50,000 ($94,400), with the chief surgeon confirming an executed prisoner could be the donor.

China’s health ministry did not deny the practice, but said it was reviewing the system and regulations.

‘Present to society’

The BBC’s Rupert Wingfield-Hayes visited No 1 Central Hospital in Tianjin, ostensibly seeking a liver for his sick father.

Officials there told him that a matching liver could be available in three weeks.

One official said that the prisoners volunteered to give their organs as a “present to society”. [Oh, yes, and I am just so stupid as to believe it…]

He said there was currently an organ surplus because of an increase in executions ahead of the 1 October National Day.

China executes more prisoners than any other country in the world. In 2005, at least 1,770 people were executed, although true figures were believed to be much higher, a report by human rights group Amnesty International said.

In March, China’s foreign ministry admitted that organs from prisoners were used, but said that it was only in “a very few cases”.

Spokesman Qin Gang said that the organs were not taken forcibly, but only with the express permission of the convict.

But whether prisoners really are free to make up their own minds on organ donation just before they are executed is not at all clear, our correspondent says.

In April 2006, top British transplant surgeons condemned the practice as unacceptable and a breach of human rights.

But the No 1 Central Hospital carried out 600 liver transplants last year, our correspondent says, and the organ transplant industry has become big business.

So Europeans, we are so good to be opposing death penalty, but then use their organs to save lifes -nowadays this reason looks like that is OK for everyone-. The problem is that some of this organs are removed before the condemned has been killed, especially if he is a dissident -in the case of the link, Falung Gong prisoners-. Of course, BBC has not told that. So if it’s terrible that people are made to give their organs if they have not decided to, this is much more terrible, as the prisoners are “donating” alive their organs.

UPDATE: Le Monde: In China, the fight against corruption boosts the influence of the President Ju Hintao. In French, but very interesting.

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Russian opposition activist Litvinovich, beaten in the street (and other news)

From Moscow Times:

If you follow the news, you know now that Garry Kasparov, the chess king who has devoted his life to deposing President Vladimir Putin, has an office on Ulitsa Makarenko in central Moscow. There is no sign on the door announcing his grandly named United Civil Front, nor is his office marked in any way. When you enter, you encounter a couple of his bodyguards (altogether he has eight or so). These guys follow the opposition activist everywhere and watch over everything that concerns him, including food preparation. And if you follow the news, you know this is not paranoia.

Monday night, Kasparov’s right-hand person, the political consultant Marina Litvinovich, left the United Civil Front office just after 9. About an hour later, she opened her eyes to discover that she was lying on a cellar awning and someone was trying to ascertain if she was all right. She was not: She had apparently been knocked unconscious by a blow or several blows to the head. She had been badly beaten, was bruised all over, and was missing two of her front teeth. Nothing had been taken from her: not her notebook computer or cell phone or money.

(…) Litvinovich has a bruise on her leg that, the doctors told her, was probably caused by a blow with a rubber baton. The police suggested it may have been a car bumper. Litvinovich pointed out that her clothes were so clean that she was wearing the same trousers and coat the following day. She clearly was not hit by a Moscow car. Moreover, this is one of several signs that she was attacked by professionals: She must have been held while she was beaten, then laid carefully on the awning on which she found herself.

(…) In other words, the attack was a message. The pristine execution and the fact that Litvinovich’s valuables were not touched serve to underscore this. So what’s the content of this message? Another young political consultant, an up-and-coming member of the Kremlin’s Public Chamber, Alexei Chadayev, put the message forward in his blog: “Women should not be in this line of work. … Marina is on the warpath, and no one ever said this war would be conducted according to rules.”

Apparently, this was not the first time this woman had been badly beaten, although in that case the assailants also stole some important documents she was carrying. Scraps of Moscow has a very good round-up about the related facts. [NOTE: After reading it, I saw that this happened back in March. I will see what has been the development of this story. Oohh, myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 😉 ]

Related to this assault: US Media Watchdog criticizes Russia. (via La Russophobe)

Vladimir Rakhmankov, the editor of the online publication “Kursiv,” went on trial on September 21 for running an article with the headline “Putin as Russia’s phallic symbol.”

In the article, the journalist made fun at Putin’s state-of-the-nation address in May, in which the president called on citizens to boost the country’s birth rate.

And:

If convicted under Article 319 of Russia’s criminal code, “Insulting a Public Official,” Rakhmankov could face up to 12 months of corrective labor. Local prosecutors brought the case without the involvement of Putin or presidential representatives, according to local press reports.

We can consider that the article was of little taste, but in any case, I would not consider this as a insult, much more when he can be charged with up to 12 months of corrective labor. But much more, because this man was not trying to make Putin any personal damage. He was just criticizing his policies.

Recent news from Russia, include the killing of the Vice-President of Russian Zentrobank (similar to Central Bank or Federal Reserve).

Mr. Kozlov left the stadium through one of the service exits, where there is no camera surveillance and there are many trees and bushes bordering the parking lot. Kozlov’s driver was shot almost simultaneously with him; Kozlov was shot twice, in the neck and head, and died on his way to a hospital. The bushes around the parking lot provided easy concealment for his killer/s to flee in many directions without being noticed. Even though the entire Moscow police force was alerted within minutes of the murder, no suspects have been caught or reported.

And the reason is:

Andrei Kozlov was responsible for supervising credit organizations and banks for the entire country; Kozlov was the key official who had the power to revoke a license from any bank involved in fraud, money laundering or other illegal business activities. And so he did – over 900 unlawful banking operations were closed down on his watch. Professional colleagues and personal friends all remember Mr. Kozlov as a very honest man, who took pride in his work. Kozlov epitomized the model new government official in Putin’s Russia, who works openly according to the laws, fights corruption and refuses to take bribes. Now the whole country knows that Kozlov’s integrity cost him his life.

Andrei Kozlov had supported introducing legislation in Parliament to ban convicted criminals for life from the banking profession. However, many say that in Russia one can get killed for something he has done, rather than for saying and proposing an action. With so many criminal enterprises foiled by Kozlov’s work, there is no shortage of suspects. While stabilizing Russia’s banking system, meeting all the international FATF banking requirements, and making Russia one of the most attractive countries for foreign investment, Kozlov made a lot of enemies.

And, secondly, accusations of being beside the Giorgadze Coup Attempt had been raised. The coup intended to change the Georgian Government (via Free Thoughts):

Nearly 30 people were arrested in Georgia on suspicion of plotting a coup against the government, officials said. They say those detained are supporters of Igor Giorgadze — the fugitive former head of the state security service. Lawyers for those arrested deny the coup accusations, saying the arrests amount to political persecution.

Giorgadze fled Georgia after being accused of trying to assassinate then President Eduard Shevardnadze in 1995 — a charge he denies. “They will be charged under Article 315 of the Georgian criminal code — plotting against the state and overthrowing the government,” Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told reporters.

Among those detained are officials of two opposition parties — the pro-Russian Justice Party and the Conservative Monarchists.

It is not a very good landscape really. In fact, it is a very bad one.

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AOL Openride

Aol has launched a new program -now in BETA- called AOL Openride. It represents a new concept of websurfing, as it has 4 panels which can be resized at your will. This four panels are:

1. Mail Panel: if you have an account with AIM or AOL you can enter directly to it, just clicking on a button in the right part of the program called “Sign in”. AIM accounts are free and have 2GB of capacity and a very good spam detection system. The program also tells you if you have new mail. You can also see any account which has POP3 access.
2. Explorer panel: tabbed browsing, search-panel, etc. The only problem: it is based on Internet Explorer, although with the new BETA7, it goes really smooth. But you know, if you do not like IE, then probably you won’t like this.
3. AIM Messenger: if you have an AIM account, then it will be really useful. You won’t have to open a new program for the Messenger.
4. Media Panel: you can hear Music on the AOL Internet Radio -free-, search your files in your computer, etc. A very interesting panel.

The publicity of the program says:

The new AOL OpenRide™ Beta software helps you do what you want online in fewer clicks and fewer hassles. No more jumping from one window to the next – everything you need is right there the moment you need it.

OpenRide is more than just a browser. The dynamic four-pane design will help save you time with these great new features:

1. Time-saving features like tabbed browsing, thumbnail previews, and sneak peeks of emails and attachments.
2. A new all-in-one Media Center that lets you enjoy video, music and pictures faster and with less hassles.
3. Access your pop3 emails from the OpenRide Mail pane. Each of your email accounts are kept in separate folders, and you don’t have to sign in to each account to switch back and forth to manage them all.
4. The panes in OpenRide automatically resize to your current activity. However, you can also resize them with the Dynasizer™ tool so you’re always in control of your online experience.

Download the beta software and start enjoying OpenRide today. As with any beta product, please review the Frequently Asked Questions and Known Issues before installing. If you encounter any issues, correspond with the Beta Staff and fellow testers in the product message boards, and be sure to file a Bug Report for any non-Known Issues that you encounter with the software.

 Ehh, yes, it is only for Windows 😉 .

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Sarkozy in Senegal

French Interior Minister, Mr. Sarkozy, is in Senegal. Le Monde – after reminding the “drames of Ceuta et Melilla“, that is, the dramas of Ceuta and Melilla – makes clear what is the new “treaty” between France and the African country about illegal immigrants:

1. Senegal accepts, respecting human dignity, the return of its nationals who are residing there in an irregular situation.
2. France only obliges to help in the creation of profitable activities in Senegal, promising a sum near 2,5 million of Euros to “microprojects“.

Le Monde insists in the fact that Senegal rejected the return of the illegal immigrants who arrived at Canary Islands, because of “bad treatments“. But it forgets to add that Spain paid Senegal 8 million euros, more that three times the sum promised by French Government.

The most interesting part of the article is this one:

Ni l’Europe ni la France ne peuvent recevoir tous ceux qui rêvent d’un eldorado, a déclaré M. Sarkozy. Une ouverture générale des frontières entraînerait en peu de temps une déstabilisation des sociétés européennes et l’arrivée au pouvoir de partis xénophobes. Cela, personne ne le souhaite.” La visite de M. Sarkozy à Dakar intervient au lendemain de la réunion à Tampere (Finlande) des ministres européens chargés de l’immigration, où il avait refusé de se rendre, mettant en cause le laxisme de la politique espagnole de régularisation.

Translation:

“Nor Europe nor France can receive all the people who are dreaming about El Dorado“, declared Mr. Sarkozy. “A general openning of all frontiers will cause in little time a desestabilization of European societies and the rise to power of xenophobes parties. That is what anyone wants“. The visit of Mr Sarkozy to Dakar was the day after the meeting at Tampere (Finland) of the European ministers in charge of immigration, which he did not attend, because of the soft -laxa- Spanish policy of regularization.

And the plan of Socialist Government was to reintroduce Spain in Europe, helped by France and Germany… My goodness.

Now that French Government has had to pay, Chirac has united himself to Spain (Mr. Zapatero), Portugal (Socrates), Greece (Caramanlis), Prodi (Italy), Cyprus (Papadopoulos), Malta (Gonzi), and Slovenia (Jans), to write a letter to Finnish Presidence. In it, they assure immigration problem should be reveiwed in a European level, “especially in terms of financial help and resources“. We will see the results.

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Now Morales asks for some shares… (UPDATED)

But not ANY share: the ones which the Spanish Bilbao-Vizcaya Argentaria Bank manages, from the oil companies. Of course, he is not going to pay for it. The Bolivian VicePresident García Linera has announced it saying that “if in three days BBVA and Zurich Financial Service do not handle them the shares, their offices will be intervened, as clear as that“.

BBVA and Zurich Financial Service are not the owners but the institutions who are managing the funds who owns the shares. These shares are from the Argentinian Andina, owned by Spanish-Argentinian Repsol-YPF; Transredes, owned by US Enron and Anglo-Dutch Shell; and Chaco, owned by British Petroleum.

García Linera -left- is a very interesting fellow. Some days ago, he asked “the social movements and the Indian communities to arm themselves and to defend with their lifes the nationalization policy“, remembering at the same time, his past as guerrilla fighter, “to defend the natural resources of Bolivia“.

From Wikipedia, this is his life:

He graduated from Colegio San Agustin. Then, he studied at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City and became a mathematician. Returning to his native Bolivia, he attempted to put some of his long-held socialist ideals to practice and joined the Katarist “Ayllus Rojos”, a series of experimental, Marxist-inspired native communities in northwestern Bolivia. When this attempt at grass-roots politics failed to come to fruition, Garcia Linera opted for a more radical approach. Alongside Felipe Quispe, he organized and worked, mainly as an ideologist, in the insurgent Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army. After being caught destroying electrical distribution towers in rural La Paz, he was arrested and charged with insurrection and terrorism. While imprisoned without trial, he studied sociology. After his release he worked as a university professor, political analyst, and news commentator. He was a well known academic, known for his support of indigenous and left-wing political movements in South America (in spite of his upper-middle class upbringing). He was elected vice president as the running mate Evo Morales in the 2005 Bolivian presidential elections.

Very interesting: from Marxist to an “insurgent Army” in spite of his upper-middle class upbringing. But in the conflict lived between the members of the Government, he is the visible head of the “moderates”, who want a “multicultural Bolivia and to maintain the institutional model“, while Morales is more populist, radical and is patronising a much more hostile discours again the people who traditionally has been governing the country.

But the real situation of Bolivia is worsening: there is a serious collapse of the transport system, caused by demonstrations and blockings, which have caused severe problems to exports, especially to Chile and Peru. This has benefited the offensive by the opposition led by the rich regions of the country.

As I wrote some months ago, it won’t be the last.

UPDATE: Looks liks a civil war in Bolivia can be the result of this kind of politics. Bolivian bloggers are writing about it. MABB and Ciao! are writing about a report of Argentinian think-tank Stratfor in which they say there is a 50% chance that a civil war breaks out in Bolivia. More on Publius Pundit and Sonitus.org. BlogBis has an Argentinian perspective of this worrying news.

Tags: Bolivia, Evo Morales, García Linera, Spain, BBVA

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"Spain is not going to be destroyed by 25.000 more immigrants"

These were the words that the German Interior Minister said at European Union Conference last week. This has come along with several very harsh critics also from Austrian Justice Minister.

The problem is getting worse each day: this same week ends the time for 5.000 illegal immigrants to be living at a temporal living center. Even when it’s calculated that it is needed approximately one month to send them back to Senegal, the Government has confirmed their policy is going to remain the same, that is, they are going to do anything.

The laboratory that is making analysis to the immigrants in those centers -naturally, the ones who are entering without being detained and taken to those centers are not controlled- has detected a rise of a 25% in the number of contagious illnesses. But its responsibles have also protested because they are only allowed to make them some analysis, as the ones who are needed for detecting malaria or typhoid fever. Experts say approximately 20% of illegal immigrants who enter Canary Islands have typhoid fever and there is a confirmed case of VIH who has been transferred to the Peninsula and nobody knows where he is. A policeman has been infected of typhoid fever at a Police Station, a fact that raised the alarms of the Police Unions who asked for more protection for Police operatives who are in direct contact with the illegal immigrants.

Anyway, Communists (United Left) are disgusted with Mr.Zapatero’s policies on immigration, because they are… tough. They want to make social policies to help the “without papers” immigrants. The problem, as I have mentioned before, is that those same immigrants are not helped in their countries of origin with policies that control the corruption and ensure they receive what it is sent for them.

But in a country in which you can present an un-executed expulsion order to be permitted to stay legally, anything can happen.

I do not know what would happen if someone would just defend here the new Swiss immigration law that includes some proposals considered as “racist and xenophobe” by UN. In fact, they are strengthening the possibilities of achieving refugee status or having approved an asylum claim, particularly to immigrants from outside EU. The objective of this law is to make general opinion consider Switzerland as an uncomfortable country for illegal immigrants. And as a result:

William Spindler, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said he regretted the outcome of the referendum. “It will now be necessary to ensure that the rights of asylum-seekers and refugees remain protected and that the new laws meet international standards,” he said.

Well, the problem here is: does UN really work for people on these countries for international standards to be met, or not? Because considering their job in affairs such as the raping of Congo girls by UN peacekeepers or the silence about the Islamic countries not signing the international treaties which ensure a defense of the Human Rights, this remark cannot be considered as just or real. They are not fighting for the rights of immigrants but to demonize Europe as a racist and xenophobe corner of the world. If Europeans would began to enter illegally those countries with no control from authorities, we will see what would happen.

But Swiss people have approved this law with majorities of 72% in some cantons. This is democracy: citizens decide what is better for them as a country. Considering their principles, yes, but related first to their citizens. Countries are not sustained to be charity organizations but to defend their citizens from external and internal dangers. And if Governments are going to practice solidarity, as they are not giving their money but public money, which is given in most cases not gladly by the citizens, they must ensure that the money is going to the proper recipient, not dictators or corrupt bureaucrats or politicians. Are they doing so? Eehh, well,… NO.

A different question is if individual citizens want to help citizens from under-developed countries, through all the legal and admirable channels that reality offers. Often, these ones are much more transparent than the State-related ones. And in the time being it is necessary to ask for a reinforcement of the solidarity, but not of money -which is necessary but not the most necessary thing- but of facts and acts which help ensuring Human Rights and mutual respect. And this is something normally these same bureaucrats and politicians are not asking for in their countries of origin. They are not worried about this poor people been mistreated in their countries of origin but in Europe. It is very easy to call racist to mild Europeans but very hard to call corrupt to the already corrupt and misleading leaders of the “under-developed” nations.

Till the patience ends, and people prefer to be called racist than to hear propositions like Gadaffi’s come true.

UPDATE: The American Thinker reports Australia is planning a radical strengthening of immigration laws too.

UPDATE 2: Spanish newspaper El Pais published that “Political union declares that the Canary Islands’ policemen are buying their own vaccines. They also insist on the unhealthiness inside the temporal living centers“. And it continues:

Para custodiar a estos miles de personas hay menos de 12 agentes. En la isla de El Hierro permanecían ayer 282 subsaharianos en un polideportivo, en La Gomera otros 440 en un restaurante abandonado y en casetas de lona.

En Tenerife, sólo 10 policías custodian a 3.410 en los campamentos militares de Las Raíces, dos a 1.350 en el centro de internamiento Hoya Fría (con capacidad original para sólo 330 plazas) y dos policías a los 1.411 inmigrantes que había anoche en la comisaría del sur de la isla.

Translation:

To guard all these thousands of people there are less than 12 agents. In El Hierro island there were yesterday 282 immigrants in an sports center, and in La Gomera there were another 440 in an abandoned restaurant in canvas’ tents.

In Tenerife, only 10 policemen are controlling 3.410 immigrants in the molitary camp at Las Raíces, 2 are controlling 1.350 at Hoya Fría (with an original capacity of only 330 immigrants) and 2 policemen to 1.411 immigrants at the police station in the south part of the Island.

The report also tells that the State Secretary of Security said that the internation camps where “crowded but we cannot speak of collapse“.

Via Alianza entre Mamones, who also quotes Spanish Health Minister saying “there are no problems of public health among immigrants“. Magnificent.

Information from:

Occidente Liberal, Occidente Liberal, GEES: La crisis de los cayucos o el naufragio de una política.

Related posts: The summer of illegal immigration.

For more information about the Swiss immigration law: Blue Star Chronicles, The American Thinker, Gates of Vienna, Instapundit (E), Adéntrate en el camino de las baldosas amarillas  and Maya (S). And of course, Le Mont de Sysiphe, from Switzerland.

Tags: Spain, Zapatero, Immigration, Switzerland, Canary Islands

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Censorship “made in Spain” is coming?

This piece of news arrived at Spanish media on September 5th but I did not have time enough for commenting it. Spanish ex-Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism, José Montilla -on the photo, left-, who is now Socialists’ candicate for Catalan Autonomous Government the "Generalitat", announced that Spanish Government will be able to "prevent Internet access from Spain to international services or contents whose interruption or withdrawal has been decided by some competent organ". He did not mention if that organ was going to be administrative -and the Government will control it- or judicial. Everything will be included in the new Act for the Impulse of the Information Society -Ley para el Impulso de la Sociedad de la Información-.

Since the day Socialists came to power (March 14th, 2004) the Spanish blogosphere has grown very much. But it has been mostly because of citizens whose ideas are linked to the opposition, more than to the Government. So it is normal than a lot of bloggers and blog-readers are worried in Spain, because that would mean a total lack of criticism and, as a result, much power for Government-friendly media.

But the best of it, is this "inspiration":

The Government is inspired in this measure by the New York Times, which blocked the access to some news published in its website, to the British readers to fulfill British "summary phase" laws.

This is nonsense: a Government is not the same than a private newspaper. A Government must respect freedom of expression and must stand criticism, even if it is hard, boring or disgusting. Democracy is based on opinions. But on opinions based on facts and, as a result, reasonable ones. As ever, to judge something, to consider circumstances and to give oneself’s opinions, one must judge every possible important fact that can be related to the objective of one’s opinion.

Víctor Domingo, President of the Websurfers Asssociation (AI, Asociación de Internautas) declared he "did not understand very well what was referring the Minister to, especially because e did not mention the character of the "competent organs" who can take such a decision". For Mr Domingo, this is a new step in the "regulation of the interceptatation of the communications".

On June 29th, 2005, the Spanish Supreme Court accepted the illegality of a Government Regulation related to Electronic Communications, because it introduced an administrative procedure to intercept electronic communications without Judicial control. It also let agents obtain a lot of data from the citizen subject to the interceptation and of any other people who could a be part of the communication and were clients of the same operator.

You can also read Libertad Digital, Yahoo Noticias, IBL News, Minuto Digital, Plus.es, La Razón, Periodista Digital, El Mundo, La Vanguardia.

Blogs: Esto no se puede aguantar, Este lado de la galaxia.

Tags: Montilla, Spain, freedom of expression, Web

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Gadaffi wants to be compensated

I wrote yesterday about immigration but Gadaffi’s words are worthy of a post. I read in DOCE DOCE -I translate it- that the Lybian dictator

is surprised of the “reactions” European countries are showing regarding illegal immigration. But he added that they were ready to solve that problem if European countries payed them 10.000 millions of euros (1 euro is nearly $1.30).

He also stated that “Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Kiti-Cola are made with essences that come from Africa, and as a result, multinationals must compensate us accordingly“.

Marvellous, eh? And I figure they are not letting us, in case we were so idiot as to pay that sum for a problem they are creating in their own countries, any control over those funds. What happens, Gadaffi? Is your Swiss account not great enough? Or are you spending more than you thought?

But I fear that European bureaucrats will end by giving them some funds for something -controlling illegal immigration- which should be an obligation of these countries. Just because of the differences between both sides of the Gibraltar strait.

What are the citizens of these countries witing to ask their own Governments a compensation for lacking justice, freedom and equality?

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The summer of illegal immigration

The negotiation of Spanish Government with ETA has only been taken away of the first line of Spanish news by another topic: illegal immigration. There are a lot of stereotypes about immigration: “immigrants come because of misery, because of hunger, because of the wars in their countries of origins...”

Without denying that these can be some of the problems, there are some causes who are not been quietly examined: for example, First World is sending every year money to these countries. But -at least- citizens in the so-called First World do not know really where this money is going. There is no control over this funds. Are the hospitals/schools/etc. been built? Is really the help for culture, women development, doctors, etc. reaching these places? Well, Spanish politicians are not very worried about this particular matter, but are insisting on the mentioned topics.

But if this is particularly appalling, the stories of illegal immigrants being transported over Spain, without any knowledge of the authorities of the place where are taken are just shameful. Because these illegal immigrants are just thrown into unknown cities, without any knowledge of the language, without perspectives of a legal job, because they are illegal and without any health control. As a result, medical authorities are beginning to find some diseases who had been declared eradicated from Europe some time ago: smallpox, scarlet fever, scabies and even some varieties of hepatitis, who can be transmitted by drinking from the same glass, as they are not destroyed by the traditional means of washing with detergents.

El Confidencial Digital described the arrival of a group of 22 immigrants to the Galician City of Lugo:

August 22, 20:00. Bus station ofLugo. A furtive arrival of 22 immigrants of Lord knows where.

At that hour, people are waiting in the bus station and they see how a bus enters the station at great speed. Quickly 22 immigrants descend from it. The driver encourages one of them, who looks like their leader, to disperse as soon as possible, without forming a group. Then the bus goes at high speed again and disappears.

Some of the immigrants change their shirt in the surroundings. Some others waive at each other as a goodbye and go alone through the streets of the city.

A neighbour speaks with a worker about the scene: “Looks like today Lugo has more inhabitants”. And the worker answers: “Nowadays they are peaceful, but there has been more “arrivals” with Africans. You can see that this is not happening in Barcelona or Bilbao”-

Their lives are been endangered by some politicians who have no scruples to lie. Mr. José Blanco, commonly known as Pepiño, Secretary of Organization of Socialist Party, has said that “with Socialists, immigration is legal and organized“.

Now, they are coming from Pakistan to Canary Islands. Just as a note: Pakistan is between India and Afghanistan. Spanish Government is trying to repatriate them. But this is the third ship since August that brings “Asiatic” immigrants to Spain. Senegalese Police and Antiterrorist Forces are investigating nearly fifty Islamists in Dakar, its capital, accused of being linked with Islamic terrorism. And this is the other reason of why we should worry of the lack of control in the immigration flaws: since some time ago, Intelligence forces are worried about the presence of Al-Qaeda in Africa.

The immigrants vision is somewhat troubled, by propaganda. Moroccan immigrants think they are going to be given the legal papers three years after they arrive, by the King. “This is the law in Spain, that is what the King wants“, says Mohammed, an illegal immigrant from Morocco, to an Italian journalist covering the problems of the illegal immigrants in Canary Islands. Of course, the notion of a democratic Government -even one as wrong as Socialist Government is now- does not cross his mind: “Spain is a Monarchy as Morocco, where a Monarch administers as he wants the happiness and the sufferings of his subjects“.

But the best is how he sees Europe: “France is a racist country. Italy, on the contrary is ideal. If you work without bothering, Police just leaves you alone. In Spain, by contrast, if you are detained, you are thrown into jail“. If you ask why this kind of accusations for France -not forgetting last November riots in France-, there are another news regarding this: France has accused Spain of creating a “calling effect” for immigrants. Sarkozy declared in French Public TV Channel, France 2: “This calling effect is the cause of the incapacity to control the secret immigration nets. Just watch what is happening in the Canary Islands”.

The problems in Canary Islands are growing each day: there are 300 “illegal immigrants” by each policeman –there are nearly 8.000 illegal immigrants only in Canary Islands of which nearly 4.000 are from Senegal-, so if there is a violent “incident”, they can be unable to contain the “illegals”. If they see Civil Servants from Senegal working with Spanish police they sing “Spain, Spain, Spain” and “Repatriation to Senegal, no“. Senegalese Civil Servants are beginning to feel panic also. They are collaborating after Spain has paid Senegal 8 million of euros: they were even blocking the operative to control the “cayucos”, but now, with the money in their pockets detentions have begun … by Spanish Policemen in Senegal. A difficult job in a country where the new “aristocracy” is formed by the families of the immigrants who have reached Spanish soil. There are even parents encouraging their sons to make the trip.

Vicepresident De La Vega says the Government “working without resting“, shouting and very altered at Parliament. Looks like she is working a lot and suffering from a lot of stress. But I do really not know if the Government as a whole is working to control and diminish immigration or just for the contrary. Because the massive regularization and expressions like “immigrants do not read the State Official Bulletin” -where the laws are published-, said by the Ministers of Labour and Social Matters, Mr Caldera, are just some of the examples we can point out of the disastrous policy of the Government.

It is not very striking then that some of the related Ministers are eluding the “invitations” to speak about the problem at Parliament. It is not the public opinion, it is not the work of the opposition, it is not the reality what they are fearing. El Pais, the newspaper from Prisa holding, the supporter of the Government, has criticized it about the chaos of the immigration. For a moment I thought they were ashamed. No, they are just fearing the unemployment row.

One last remark: according to a poll, Britain is a worse today than 20 years ago. Can you imagine why? One of the causes is immigration: 430,000 Eastern Europeans in two years –Conservative estimations rise it to 600.000– make people think about the impact of this phenomenon in British life. There is only one differences: their immigration is legal.

In Spanish:

Nuevo Digital:

1. Emigration creates an “aristocracy” in Senegal with families who have succeeded in sending one of their youths to Spain.
2. Terrorism and crime made British consider their country “worse for living” than 20 years ago amid a strong debate about an immigration”out of control”.

Related posts:

1. Spanish immigration problem.
2. More on Spanish immigration.
3. Immigrants are paid to return to their countries or relocated in PP-ruled cities.
4. Latin American style express kidnappings in Spain.

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