Author: cruz del sur

Both Senators McCain and Clinton have bragged that they have greater foreign policy experience than Barack Obama, and that they would be ready for that 3am call.

Clinton:

McCain:

Both Senators Clinton and McCain  had their 3am call when Colombia forces attacked and killed Raul Reyes FARC’s second in command, just inside Ecuador’s territory. These are their statements right after the attack:

Senator Hillary Clinton was quick to back the Colombian president unconditionally by supporting his military attack… and “That statement provides proof-positive of Senator Clinton’s bent when it comes to US policy in Latin America: to use any crisis to prop-up the Colombian leader while attempting to forward the related agenda of demonizing Venezuela for the problems that Colombia causes in the region. Clinton’s instincts on Colombia are identical to those of the Bush administration and those of the Clinton administration before it: continuance of a doctrine that is hostile to human rights and democracy in the region.”

“Senator McCain is forthright about speaking in behalf of one of our strongest allies in the hemisphere, president Uribe, he has clearly put up with cross border sanctuaries for far to long with  FARC and in the name of hot pursuit going after FARC which is a terrorist organization…. Uribe was absolutely right in doing what he did.” (emphasis mine)

Now, lets consider the facts: Raul Reyes, FARC’s number second in command, had been working in the release of the hostages, (among them 3 US DEA contractors, who have been captive for approximately five years). As a matter of fact, they were releasing hostages (Here and here). This was being done with the knowledge of all parties involved, including the French President Sarkozy and French intelligence services, who were relentlessly working for the release of Ingrid Betancourt (a Colombian-French citizen) who is said to be gravely ill, an possibly close to dying.

” Raul Reyes considered the second-in-command of the FARC and the guerrilla movement’s principal international spokesman and diplomatic representative. He was well known in both Latin America and Europe , having served as the principal FARC negotiator in the abortive attempt under the government of President Andres Pastrana (1998-2002) to broker a peaceful settlement of the civil conflict that has wracked Colombia for more than four decades. During that same period, he met with officials of the Clinton State Department. This ruthless attack was staged not to ward off some pending terrorist attack. On the contrary, it was designed as a “preemptive strike” against a negotiated release of hostages held by the FARC,  among them a former presidential candidate… Ingrid Betancourt. The FARC itself issued a statement that Reyes had been working through Venezuelan President Chavez to concretize plans for a meeting with Sarkozy to arrange for the hand-over of Betancourt. After the news of Reyes’s assassination, the French foreign ministry issued a pointed statement to the effect that the Colombian government was well informed that France was conducting negotiations with him.

(Also note that I have boldened  “preemptive strike” against a negotiated release of hostages held by the FARC”. Keep this in mind, for it will be important to understand why the attack really took place, and I will come back to this point!)

Soon after the attack, Colombian President Uribe argued that his country’s forces had been in hot pursuit of FARC forces (which would have given, under international law, a legal justification to peruse then into a neighboring country).  However, Raul Reyes was sound asleep. (Furthermore, I have been in Ecuador, and know that in the midst of that jungle, it is hard to see more than a few feet in plain daylight due to the dense vegetation, and it would be impossible to see anything in the middle of the night)

According to the Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa , the bodies of the Farc commanders and 13 guerrillas were recovered in their pyjamas after being bombed while sleeping in a tent on the Ecuadorean side of the frontier. The Colombian air force, Correa claimed, had used advanced technology “with the collaboration of foreign powers” to locate the camp and “to massacre” its occupants. Uribe’s government is a close ally of the United States and of Israel, whereas Correa belongs to the radical camp led by Chávez. Subsequent to the bombing, Colombian troops crossed the frontier into Ecuador frontier to recover the bodies.

Here is where things become really interesting. Lets go back to the boldened statement regarding the  “preemptive strike” against a negotiated release of hostages”. President Uribe has been trying to reform the Colombian constitution in order to eliminate its two term presidential limit and become “president for life”:

Uribe’s path has been less explicit but, again no less ambitious . During his first term in office, lawmakers close to Uribe pushed a constitutional reform bill to allow for presidential re-election. Politicians from different allegiances also founded the Party of the U (the U implicitly stands for Uribe), and gave birth to a strong pro-Uribe movement that supported the president’s quest for a second term. Riding a high wave of popularity that he maintains even today, Uribe won his second four-year mandate in May 2006 with 62.2 per cent of the vote.
This week, the Party of the U decided to promote a second Uribe re-election. Its secretary-general, Luis Guillermo Giraldo, announced that the party will start collecting signatures to call for a referendum in 2009, in which Colombians would be asked whether they want a third Uribe mandate. If the answer is “Yes”, the president would contest the ballot again in the 2010 election. Uribe claims he has no intention of serving a third term–but he said the same about a second one before 2006.  

To do so, Uribe has to maintain the image of  being tough on the FARC, and to continue the fight without conceding anything to the armed group. Thus, he cannot negotiate the release of the hostages in exchange for clearing areas in the jungle where the FARC have been operating nor to exchange hostages for imprisoned rebels. Therefore he sabotaged the release of hostages Raul Reyes was trying to set free. Uribe not only ordered the killing of Reyes, but while those hostages who were released were trying to reach the negotiators  that would set them free, he also ordered the Colombian security forces to continually bomb the areas where they suspected that the hostages were.

When the attack took place, they used five “smart bombs” (photo)
Colombia uses the Brazilian made Super Tucano. This aircraft does not have the capability to launch smart bombs, and only infrared heat seeking missiles Coincidently enough, at about the same time the attack took place,  a US HC-130 (in Spanish )  plane took of from the Ecuadorian base of Manta, which has been leased to the US

It should be no surprise that

President Correa has decided to close that base : approving a measure that would go a step further and effectively outlaw foreign military bases in Ecuador after the lease expires. Since the American post at Manta is the only foreign military outpost in Ecuador, it was clear the move was a deliberate and very public swipe at the United States, which spent more than $60 million to build the facilities here for Awacs surveillance planes and crew members.

 

Now, lets take a look at President Alvaro [Scarface] Uribe. He and his family have had a long history of association with the drug cartels. The president’s father helicopter (AKA the Ghost Helicopter was found at the   Tranquilandia cocaine lab  

Famous drug lord Pablo Escobar truly admired Uribe:

“Virginia Vallejo claims that Pablo Escobar idolized Álvaro Uribe. When the man who is now president was director of Civil Aviation, he granted dozens of licenses for runways and hundreds of permits for planes and helicopters, on which the drug trade’s infrastructure was built. “Pablo used to say,” she told the Spanish newspaper, “that if it weren’t for that blessed little boy, we would have to swim to Miami to get drugs to the gringos.”

 
There are picture of Uribe’s brother Santiago with the drug-dealing clan Ochoa and Alvaro Uribe said he was taken a picture with Justo Pastor Perafán, another drug dealing lord currently in a U. S. prison  (this article indicates that Al Gore had cancelled its participation at an environmental forum in Miami because Uribe was going to be present ) The same article indicates that Pablo Esocobar’s cousin, José Obdulio Gaviria, is one Uribe’s presidential advisors.

The President’s Cousin, Mario Uribe , was a member of what is called Para-politics (members of Colombia’s Congress who are controlled by the Paramilitary)

Now, Mark Penn, [together with Joe Lockhart, who was chief spokesman for the president; Howard Wolfson, (Mrs. Clinton’s campaign communications director)], was a partner at the firm but has taken a leave of absence a top adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton,  lost his job as a lobbyist for the Colombian Government because Senator Clinton opposed NAFTA, which Penn was supposed to promote:

“According to the Justice Department, the Columbian government has paid Penn’s firm $300,000 to lobby for Columbia’s point of view and to secure $5 billion for the war on drugs  program known as Plan Colombia”

Although Senator Obama also condemmed the attack , his tone was more moderate and conciliatory:

The Colombian people have suffered for more than four decades at the hands of a brutal terrorist insurgency, and the Colombian government has every right to defend itself against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The recent targeted killing of a senior FARC leader must not be used as a pretense to ratchet up tensions or to threaten the stability of the region. The presidents of Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela have a responsibility to ensure that events not spiral out of control, and to peacefully address any disputes through active diplomacy with the help of international actors.

He was not  among those who came out bragging about having a superior foreign policy experience nor about their readiness for the unexpected 3am call. Instedad, those who did , proved that they were only bragging, and if they would have had to make a decision, they would have taken the wrong one:

    1-This was not the case of “hot persuit” and thus contrary to international law.

    2-We patrticipated in, and approved a situation that created a serious international incident that caused regional instability, and brought three countries to the brink of war (and possibly US involvment in support of Colombia, ” our regional strongest ally”).

    3-We jeopradized the lives of three American citizens, and managed to kill the only one person who could have set them free.

    4-We lost  a sixsty million Dollar base in the region.

    5-We finance a country which has as a president someone who appears to be closely related to the drug cartels.

In any case, neither Clinton nor McCain are in a better position when it comes to foreign policy than Obama, whose promiss of change comes at a perfect time.

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, according to exit polls recieved at least 46.3% of the votes. This has been an historic election, not only because  a woman has won the election, but also because the runner up is also another woman, Elisa Carrio, who recieved 23.7%. Another woman, Vilma Ripoll, also ran for president, although she is trailing far behind ( I think she came out 6th). Finally, all three are running on the left of the political spectrum.
According to electoral laws, any candidate has to obtain at least 45 % in order to avoid a second round run-off, or a 40 % and winning by at least 10% to the second candidate. At any rate, Ms. Kirchner is already the winner.

First official polls are coming out right now:

Kirchner 42%
Lavagna (former Economy Minister for Nestor Kirchner [he suckssss!!!] 21%
Carrio 18.1%
These results are official, with 9% of returns.

Another interesting fact is that they also voted in the penitentiaries, although only those that are not yet convicted were able to do so.

Finally, there have been several complaints regarding irregularities in the voting places. These were that ballots (as I understand it, each party or candidate has it’s own ballot) were not available. Also, one individual was caught stealing ballots stuffed in his jacket.

Presidenta elect Cristina Kirchner will be speaking soon




UPDATE:




At 9:42 pm E/T




With 19.3%




Kirchner:42.3%


Lavagna: 20.6%


Carrio:19.2%




I would love to see both women to be the top candidates. Carrio seems to be steadily ganing on Lavagna (he is the right wing candidate)






10:36 pm




With 30 % of the votes,




Kirchner:43.1%%


Carrio:20%


Lavagna: 19.7%




This is a one-two punch!!!
Carrio:19.2%

Operation Condor was designed to kidnap, torture and murder left wing supporters, activists, union members, and members of armed organizations armed organizations, Who had left their countries and sought refuge elsewhere.  It was formed by Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia. Until recently the US was thought of not being directly involved. At worst, it had only
 

facilitated communications among South American intelligence chiefs who were working together to eliminate left-wing opposition groups in their countries as part of a covert program known as Operation Condor.

After the Embassy Row bombing, until then, the worst terrorist attack on US soil, George H.W.Bush’s CIA  tried to cover up

Under George Bush, the CIA leaked a false report that not only cleared Chile’s military dictatorship – it pointed the FBI in the wrong direction. The bogus CIA assessment, was spread through Newsweek magazine and other American media outlets, was planted despite CIA’s now admitted awareness at the time that Chile was participating in Operation Condor, a cross-border campaign targeting political dissidents, and the CIA’s own suspicions that the Chilean junta was behind the terrorist bombing in Washington,

Later reports, however, indicate that they knew before hand of the terrorist plot

the discovery of secret-police documents in Paraguay and other recently declassified documents in the United States is pulling back the veil from Operation Condor. The new information paints a picture of up-to-the-minute knowledge of Condor operations by US officials, including detailed intelligence just before Chile sent a team to Washington, DC, where they killed a prominent opposition leader with a car bomb on Embassy Row.

So far there hasn’t been any direct link. However recent investigations of the “Automotores Orletti” which was a clandestine disappearance centre in Argentina reveal a direct involvement of the US with Operation Condor (In Spanish): It seems there was an embassy of terror where torturers would invite colleagues of the American intelligence services to participate. Cuban groups from Miami, who worked for the CIA passed through Orletti and tortured and disappeared two Cuban diplomats : Cresencio Galaguena Hernandez (26) and Jesus Cejas Arias(22)
American Journalist John Dinges in the Miami Herald ( I could not find it) tells about the close relation between the Argentine intelligence forces and the CIA and FBI. A month after the interrogation and torture sessions, the FBI wrote a memo regarding the interrogations.

As reported by Pagina 12(original in Spanish), , yesterday the Spanish justice ordered the detention of Guatemalan former dictators, Efraín Rios Montt and Humberto Mejia Victores and another 5 generals for the crimes of genocide, terrorism, murder, tortures and illegal detentions. Spanish Judge Santiago Pedraz ordered the international capture of all 7 as well as blocking their bank accounts in Guatemala whether on their name, their legal representatives or any other person.  
   
This means that none of them will be able to leave Guatemala; they will be detained in the border or airports of any country, and wait their extradition to Spain. The judge, in order to prevent them from evading justice, has also ordered the blocking of any account that they might have abroad, specially in the US and Switzerland, which is where most dictators prefer to stash their cash.  

They are accused of the killing of 250.000 Mayan indigenous, plus 30 people killed in the Spanish embassy, and also of killing 5 Spanish priests

The Spanish Constitutional Court affirmed October 5th 2005 in an Historical decision that Spain is competent to judge crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity which take place outside Spain, Although there are no Spanish Victims understanding that the “principle of universal jurisdiction primes on the existence or not of national interests”

 From Alternet:    

A Spanish judge arrived in Guatemala on Saturday to investigate atrocities committed during the Central American nation’s armed conflict, but local officials might not allow him to proceed…

It is part of a case brought by Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu. She filed it in Spain in 1999 to try people responsible for wartime abuses including the 1980 military assault on the Spanish Embassy in which 37 people died, among them her father…

It was unclear whether a Guatemalan judge would allow hearings after legal appeals by Rios Montt and others delayed the process indefinitely…

The accused are obstructing the process by presenting appeals and other demands in the Guatemalan court system,” said Menchu, now a goodwill ambassador for the 1996 peace accords in the Guatemalan government…

They had the chance to confront the Guatemalan courts but now they will do so in Spain
You got to love these Spanish Judges. First Pinochet, now these Guatemalans. Will they ever decide to do the same to George Bush? Personally I believe that sooner or later someone will dare to place an international warrant for his arrest, especially after a democrat is elected here.

During the last few months there has been an increasing conflict between Argentina and Uruguay because of the construction of two paper mills (with Finnish capital) by the shores of the river Uruguay that divides both countries. For Uruguay it represents a big investment, and Argentina opposes these projects because of the pollution that will follow.

Briefly, argentine people have been blocking several international bridges to Uruguay. After some time, these protests were able to force Uruguay to postpone the construction for a period of ninety days in which it was supposed to study the effects it would have on the environment. Unexpectedly, Uruguay ended the negotiations, and decided to take it to the international sphere, and tried to have the Mercosur (the South American Common Market) to try to resolve the blockage of the bridges. Uruguay proposed a last minute deal, in which it suggested that they sign an agreement in which the mills’ construction were to go ahead, while the environment effects were to be analyzed. Argentina rejected such deal, and instead decided to take the matter to The Hague.

So, on May 9th, President Kirchner traveled to Vienna for the IV Summit of heads of state of the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean. All 58 heads of state were about to have their photograph taken when Evangelina Carrozo, (25 years of age, a Green Peace activist, And also a Carnival queen for the province of Entre Rios) took her coat of, advanced in her carnival bikini and displayed a banner that read: “Enough of contaminating paper mills”. A security guard immediately grabbed her by the waist and took her away.

[For some reason I can no longer post photos , so if you want to see then, go here here and here]

Evangelina’s actions took everybody by surprise. At first everyone looked at this woman’s figure, only to notice a few seconds later the banner she was carrying. Tony Blair thought it was funny. Hugo Chavez laughed hard, blew a kiss to her and clapped. President Tabare Vazquez said : “beautiful woman with a great body”. Uruguay’s Minister of Environment qualified it as ingenious, audacious, and good humour. Kirchner made gestures as if saying: ” I had nothing to do with this.” On her way out Evangelina said: “Tabare should not lie to the people. The paper mills do pollute, and we don’t want them.”

Finally, Kirchner chastised the Europeans saying:” What we cannot allow is that those countries that have achieved a greater development, which many times have done it by the degradation of the environment, as evidenced in the climatic change, want to transfer the most polluting industrial processes to us. He also said that this was the case in which Europeans were trying to set up businesses that were trying to avoid norms that would have been applicable in Europe.
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 Today on an article by Irina Houser on Pagina 12, it was made public that five days after the Argentine Government announced the payment in full to the IMF, The Supreme Court there ordered the beginning of an investigation for the responsibility of the Monetary Fund in financing the crimes committed by the dictatorship between 1976-82.  
Former Representatives (Diputados, as they are called there)Ripli, Cafiero, and Patricia Walsh,proposed last September to initiate an investigation to the members of the IMF, either in Argentina or abroad who collaborated with the military dictatorship to obtain huge loans and allowed them to commit crimes against humanity. It was also pointed out that laws there allow the courts to intervene in those cases in which groups like the IMF appear to have immunity.

It was noted that the IMF was “too flexible with the military government,and not only silently consented in a disproportionated level of indebtness, but also it facilitated it”. Further, “international credit organizations are subject to international laws, and can be held responsible for civil, political economic social and cultural rights

Since crimes against humanity (as those in the dictatorship) do not prescribe, it should be extended to those who financed it. The dictatorship could not be maintained without those loans from abroad.

The Dictatorship made two agreements: one in August 76 and a second in in July 77. In the beginning of 76 the external debt was of six billion dollars. By the end of that year it was seven billion. By 1983 it was forty-three billion. Supposedly they were used to financed the World Cup if 78, prepare for the war against Chile, to be used for express ways, and for gas pipes.

It is pay back time!

Today is the 60th Anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials. A quick Google search failed to find anyone remembering that hallmark date today. They are all previous  articles. And I don’t like to celebrate anyone’s anniversary either before or after. Therefore I had to write this diary, to remember the Birth of International Law.

I was tipped by Pagina 12, who reproduced  an article written by Ernesto Ekaizer, and originally published in El Pais Semanal of Spain.

The translation is mine and so is the responsibility for the atrocities I committed on it.
…”November 20th is the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the first Nuremberg Trials against top Nazis, for crimes against humanity. The trials certified the birth of International Law. Just as it’s advances on the last decade, with the leadership of the Spanish and Great Britain’s judicial system, as it’s essence (the Geneva Convention and the UN’s Convention Against Torture, among others,) are threatened by the war against terrorism promoted by the Bush administration.

It is the morning of November 20th, 1945 in Nuremberg. The clock has marked 10 am. The courtroom is uneasy. The twenty-one accused make their entrance. Hermann Goering exhibits some papers and wants to make a statement. The tribunal rejects his request. Robert Jackson, the American chief prosecutor had the word, and will spend all day with his presentation.  

Essentially his message is “”We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants today is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well. Our conduct must shoe such impartiality and integrity, so that posterity will praise this trial for having fulfilled Humanity’s aspiration that justice was done”

Sixty years have passed. Reed Brody, from Human Rights Watch, is in Dakar, Senegal. This week he collaborated with the detention of former Chad’s dictator (1982-1990), Hissene Habre due to an international order for his detention by the Belgium Justice so he can be extradited to Belgium.

“Habre sidestepped justice for 15 years. On Tuesday I   saw how they brought him arrested to the court. It seems, and I say it seems because one is never knows what will happen when it comes to Universal Jurisdiction, that justice finally pounced on him” explained Brody from Dakar. The tribunal delayed the decision on extradition until the 22nd

Eric David, professor of International Law at Free University of Brussels, questioned during the 80’s if Nuremberg was a Damocles’ sword held over the head of every dictator and torturer, or is it a frozen product buried in the freezer of the legislative apparatus, of the states”. His answer: “The Law of Nuremberg is a bit of both things. According to him, it is a dormant right. Or, a ghost right

This Ghost Right traveled Europe and Africa and took shape in the tribunals of Rwanda and Yugoslavia in the 90’s. A process that culminated in the creation of International Criminal Court in 1998.

In the midst of this process, in 1996, a strong, unexpected wind begins to blow from southern Europe. Spanish justice led by Judge Baltasar Garzon, began to investigate the crimes the dictatorship of Jorge Rafael Videla in Argentina and of Augusto Pinochet in Chile.

“The Nuremberg Doctrine inspired our experience with Pinochet” remembers Joan Garcet who presented the first complain against the former Chilean dictator in July 1996. The strife between criminal and humanist impulses will continue to be permanent. The Nuremberg Doctrine continues to be one of the rational instruments to  confront them. The significant date was October 16th, 1998, the day when Judge Baltasar Garzon presented the international order for the arrest of Pinochet. On March 24th 1999, the British Parliament, in order to to determine if the former dictator could face a trial for extradition voted that Pinochet nor any other former head of state could invoke immunity against the crime of torture.

That sentence has weight in the US now. Scott Horton, president of the American Bar Association believes it is so: Jackson’s poisoned chalice seems to be in the lips of Bush, who has removed the country from the traditional respect for International Law, and ignores it’s obligations with the Geneva Convention and the Convention Against Torture. It is the Nuremberg Ghost.  Why are president Bush and VP Cheney threatening to veto McCain’s Senate Amendment that prohibits torture? They want to guarantee immunity in case of a future legal prosecution, explained Horton.

Meanwhile Brody said from Senegal:” I’m an American who goes through the world trying to take dictators and torturers to justice.  Today my hardest job is to be an American. Why? Because in the world’s eyes I represent a double standard and Judicial imperialism.

Carlos Castaneda, the prosecutor of the first demand against the crimes of the argentine dictatorship and later against the crimes committed by the Chilean one, warns from California against the dangers of hurricane Bush against International Law. The Nuremberg Doctrine, after the World Trade Center and in the context of the War Against Terror, has more weight than ever. International crimes are such,  even if internal   laws which authorize abuses such as  Guantanamo’s, Chechnya or Abu Gharib.

What about Bush and Cheney aids that helped design the War Against Terror? British lawyer Philippe Sands said that: “the Convention Against Torture also criminalizes those persons who are accomplices. The US on the other hand, sentenced Joseph Altstotter and other lawyers who collaborated in drafting Nazi laws and decrees for Hitler, for their participation in an organized system of cruelty.

President Bush might be able to hide in his Crawford’s ranch, but he cannot run. Time will most likely pass by, but humanity will always be waiting for the right time. We will ambush him, we will pounce on him and hopefully we will shackle him. And if not, he will fear that one day, US law might change. He will dream about it or even have nightmares of it. In the meantime we will be waiting patiently  and steadyly until that day arrives.  

As some of you must have read, I did e-mail a letter to the GrandMothers of Plaza de Mayo in preparation for the “welcome” to Bush in Argentina. Just got am email from them.  
It reads:

Dear Nico:

          We think yours was a great idea, and maybe we can add a few more lines to your suggestions for signs

1-Cindy, your struggle is our struggle
        Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and Mothers of
         Plaza de Mayo- Founders Line.

2_All People united say NO to war.
         Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and Mothers of
         Plaza de Mayo- Founders Line.

3-Cindy your son was murdered by those who cretate war
         Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and Mothers of
         Plaza de Mayo- Founders Line.

4-Cindy, your son’s death hurts us as much as our dissappeared
         Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo and Mothers of
         Plaza de Mayo- Founders Line.

I know that some of us here will be assisting some of  Cindy’s events, and I will try to forward my e-mail to the address  that I recieved, but since she did not reply to me in the past, it would be nice if someone who sees her or has contact with  her can pass along this message to her.

On mid September I posted this diary at MLW and DKos.
Yesterday, Whataboutbob from the Euro Tribune asked me to post it there, and to participate with some Latin American issues, which I intend to do.

Although this is a personal diary, I have been planning to write two more: regarding my father (as soon as I get the necessary info), and then one that is about my past, and how they all fit together.

I know that some here have already read it (Dammit Janet, Andrew White and Jerome a Paris) but I don’t think most of you have. So,That is why I decided to post here.

  About two years ago I Googled my name, and to my surprise, one of the search results had the words: Nazi  war crimes. First thought: What the fuck??!! I instantly clicked on it and dove straight into that web page.  The Memory Hole. I started reading:
“List of FBI Files on Nazi War Crimes”.  Now I am nervous. Start glancing thorough to see if my name is on it. The only thing that stands out is National Archive and Research Administration (NARA). Looks legit to me. I then continue to glance through, and further down I find the “A”. List of all last names that start with A’s. Then I scroll down to the D’s. There it was:

 
NICHOLAS DEKOENIGSBERG
 PAULA DEKOENIGSBERG

 Grandma and Grandpa. My father’s mom and dad. A second what the fuck crosses my mind.  Then, after a second look, my world starts shattering.

But before I continue, let me tell you about my family’s history: from German descent, he somehow ended up in Russia selling and fixing Remington typewriters. He married my Grandmother Paula of Russian decent. My father, Victor was their first son, was born in 1911 in Siberia in a wagon. They had two more kids: uncle Nick and aunt Ia.  As they traveled, I have been told that they would buy art and antiques. My grandma was a religious fanatic. She was Russian Orthodox. She would specifically look for Russian icons.

By the time of the revolution, my grandpa could not continue his business and became an actor. He then got an offer to go to Germany to do a show, which he was allowed to do. He and grandma headed for Germany. After crossing the border, they pulled out the kids that were hiding under the wagon’s seats
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I should point out that I know very little about my family. Most of it is in bitts and pieces from stories I heard when I was a kid. Anyways, they went to Germany, then to France, and from there they came to the USA. My father became a US citizen, and was a WWII vet. He was Army Intelligence.  Some stories I heard of him: he would pose as a German soldier at our prisoner camps, in order to identify German officers who were trying to hide their true id; he would also interrogate our prisoners; he saw the piles and rows of dead bodies.

After the war was over, my dad met my mom, in NYC. She was originally from Atlanta, Georgia. Both of them had been previously married, and had kids in their first marriage. My Sister Vicky was born in New York, and a few years after that they moved to Argentina. My Sister Maggie was born there in 1956, and I followed the year after.
In Argentina my family led a great life. My grandparents were very wealthy. They were doing really good. They had owned paintings from artists as Tintoretto, to a sculpture of Rodin, they owned the largest Russian icons collection in the Continent, including the US and Canada.  Hell, they even discovered and owned a Van Gogh. It was a small painting of a red carriage in front of a tavern or a resting place of some sort. It was found in Uruguay, purchased for $2000 and sold years later for $20.000. In the early 70’s it was auctioned for  $1.200.000 bucks.

As you can see, they did pretty dam good. Grandpa died in the 50″s, Dad in 74, and my grandma the following year

Back to the secret files story. I start putting every thing together. Argentina and the Nazis seem to go hand in hand. Then there was the thing of them being hi roller antique dealers, and the looted art during and after the war. I started questioning everything I had ever heard regarding my family’s history. Even if Dad had ever served in the Army. Who knows, maybe the US had brought them here and provided each one with fake id’s and past history. Maybe those photos I had seen of dad in uniform, in front of a bunker, were fake after all.

So, I got the phone and started calling. Started with NARA. Told them about my grandparents files, and asked them if they knew anything about them. I was told that no, there was no information regarding them. I told him about dad’s service and that something seemed wrong. . The person I spoke with told me not to worry, that sometimes the FBI would do interrogations when people came to the country, or that they could provide information of some war crime.

Next was the FBI. I called them, explained my situation with the operator and she sent me to the FOIA department. They looked it up, and also said that they had nothing. So then I called the CIA. I told them the whole story once again but this time I added a few things. I first told the woman I was speaking that my father had been Army Intelligence and, if there was such a thing as the “Intelligence Family, then I was a long distant relative”. I also mentioned a story that my sister had told that was a first one to me: She said that soon after my dad passed away, that we had received a condolence telegram from the CIA.
The woman I was speaking with told me that that was impossible since they would never do that (expose a possible asset). She also told me:” Why don’t you just forget about it” I replied that I couldn’t, that it wasn’t only my grandfathers name. It was also my name.

I soon realized that this would go nowhere. I e-mailed my sister Maggie in Argentina, and shared my fears with her. She also told me she knew someone who was involved investigating the Nazis in Argentina. She was going to talk to him. Later on, she told me that she had spoken to this guy, and that he would be soon traveling to Europe, and he would check and see what he could find there. She also said that he would contact some people he knew at the Simon Wiesenthal Center..

So, time passed by, and there was nothing new.  Except that this issue was eating me inside. An incredible shame filled me. Particularly when I remember all of my Jewish friends I left behind. If only one of them just Googled my name, they would find my family’s role in a war crime. I could never face many of my old friends again. Although little known, Argentina had a very big Jewish immigration. And so many of my friends are Jewish. I still didn’t understand, how was it possible that  my family had anything to do with the Nazis.

Then, my sister’s friend came back from Europe. He told her that he did not find anything regarding my grandparents. And, that he could only guess that they had some connection to looted art. Ok. That to me at that time was good news to me. Grandpa and grandma did not send anybody to their death. But, their hands were tainted with blood money. And further, my grandma’s character seems to fit perfectly. She always struck me as to being terribly greedy. Yeah, she probably had no qualms of dealing with blood money. And then there was that Van Gogh. This, seem to be some irrefutable proof that they had something to do with these matters. And, dealing with looted art from the victims and survivors of the Holocaust, was a war crime. The conclusion that followed is that my family had war criminals in it. An irreparable stain in the family’s name.  

I desperately needed to find out what was it exactly they had done, as well as who I really am. I guess that the Argentine Right to Truth and the Right to a real ID are very dear to me. And this applied not only to me, but also to those my grandparents had harmed. So I concluded that I would do everything I could to open up those files and to make them public. Regardless of their content. I then started seeking help among different members of Congress, with no results. However, I came across an article that mentioned that New York’s congressman, Maurice Hinchey, sponsored a bill that was seeking to have Argentina open it’s secret files regarding Nazi immigration to that country.

 Perfect excuse for me to call him, which I did, and left him a message:” How come congressman Hinchey demands that Argentina open up it’s secret files when we,  here in the US we have the same sort of files regarding the nazis. I would like him to know that I have dual citizenship, (Argentina/ US). And I know there are secret files, because my grandparent’s name appears in one of them. Shouldn’t we open our own files too?”

Time continued to pass by without any hope of getting those shameful files. Then, at the beginning of this year, Congress was seeking to declassify our secret files regarding Nazi activity. I caught congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY) pushing for declassification. I hurried and call her and let her know of my grandparents’ case and let them know that I fully supported the declassification of such documents.

It was the first week of August, when my girlfriend Diana called me and said:” You have to come and see this!”  So, I got up and went to the computer and looked at what she was reading. There it was again, another reference to war crimes, and this time it was by
TBR NEWS.  However this time it had some additional info. It mentioned a location:

“The complete records can be found today in the U.S. National Archives at: P&O File 311.5 TS (Sections I, II, III), 1948 in 1946-1948 Top Secret decimal file, Records of Army General Staff, RG 319, NA.”  

Sick and tired of seeing my name directly related to war crimes I decided to call NARA once again. I told them I had called previously and was told that they had nothing. Now, I could provide them with more info, which I did. This time I was told that apparently there was something. The man said that he would look at it, and would send me an  e-mail. A few hours later I had his reply. He wrote that he had found those files and that if I sent him my address he would mail them to me!!! Finally. I would soon be able to take a look at my family’s dirty past. Time for TRUTH.

.
Now I only had to wait three days. I immediately wrote my sister and let her know that soon enough we would find out what those files contained. And then the envelope arrived. My hart was beating so hard. There it was, finally on my hands after two long shameful years. I opened it and started reading.
This is what I found out: My grandparents had done an exhibition of their collection in Uruguay. It was such a valuable collection that it arouse suspicion. The collection was placed in customs until its origin was determined. The conclusions were absolute. Case closed; additional information failed to reflect that the Dekoenigsbergs were dealing with looted art; no further action is being taken by this office; no evidence found; that the investigation failed to disclose that the subjects were engaged in subversive activities; have been investigated with negative results; failed to reveal he had engaged in any violation of federal law; no evidence of pro-Nazi sympathies. Every single conclusion the FBI made cleared my family’s name.

More interesting to me now, was all the private information regarding my family that I also found. First of all I now had the info as to where my father served. He was stationed in Germany in 1945 with the 26th Infantry Division, and further in the documents I also found his Army Serial #, which in itself is incredibly valuable because it allows me to get his service records (which I already requested by the way). I also discovered that before the war my father was educated at Heidelberg’s University, that my aunt Ia married a German there, that they moved to France and that they lived under Nazi occupation, that when time came they lost two warehouses full of antiques; that my aunt’s husband had forced her to move to Germany during the war; and that after the war, my father was able to find her, and that she and her kids were malnourished. However I discovered something even more surprising to me, something I had never even thought of, and which was mentioned about four times: That my Grandfather Nicholas Dekoenigsberg was a German Jew!!

So, after two long years of shame and humiliation I found out that my grandpa a German Jew, who lost two warehouses full of antique treasures (according to the FBI) who fled Stalin, who suffered under Nazi occupation, who fled the Nazis, who had two sons fighting Hitler, was not responsible of anything to do with Nazi war crimes or looted art. Ironically, in the TBR News report, it also mentions that there is “a large file that details the looting by US government at the orders of President Roosevelt, of $229 million of Jewish funds in 1941, none of which was ever returned.”

Now, this is what I am looking for: To totally clear my family’s name; that next time someone Googles my name, it will no longer be the first thing that they read, and that the first thing should be how I tried to make the whole truth public.  . Also I want to verify my grandfather’s Jewish ancestry. I would like to honor his grave. I want it to be known that he was a Jew who, like so many at the time, had to conceal his true identity.

Bush has just arrived to Argentina to take part of the Americas Summit. I am sure you will be hearing of this all over the news, so I decided to write about what you wont probably hear: the Security for the Summit, and the Peoples Summit.

The Summit’s Security

Under the title “Summit of The Americas: Planes Under The Controls Of The US”. El Clarin newspaper points out that 4 Awacs and battle ships will cooperate with Argentine Air Force in the security of the Summit.

A couple of weeks ago, Argentina purchase Sidewinder missiles for this occasion, same ones that Great Britain used against Argentina in the Malvinas-Faulkland war in 1982 Given that in that war, Argentina lost 69 planes, in 1995 Argentina began purchasing   A-4AR Fightinghawks planes to begin re-arming their Air Force (today, only 10 out of 39 are in flying conditions)

They will be employing 8 A-4AR Fightinghawks, 8 French Mirage, and 8 Argentine made Pucaras (designed for anti-insurgency combat since, if I recall correctly, are able to move from side to side while flying straight).

The US also brought some Blakhawks and CH3 helicopters to protect Bush while he moves around Mar del Plata.

An exclusion area of 220 miles in diameter has been created, which will be guarded by the Argentine Air Force. The Mirages can travel from that area in about 10 minutes.

                 

As for the city of Mar del Plata, 250 blocks have been blocked of in order to insure the safety of Americas’ 34 Presidents (all except Fidel Castro). According to Pagina 12, on November there are 3 protective areas: the first one consists of a fence (so heavy that it takes three people to open the gates). Behind the gates, is the Province of Buenos Aires police, an anti-mutiny brigade, and the mounted police.

The second line of the fence is 3 blocks away. Even further away is the third protective ring, which cannot be seen from the first one. Needles to say, this operation has turned upside down the whole city. Bumper to bumper traffic is ever present, for  there are only three gates for vehicles, long lines to cross the fence for those who live with it, not being able to get the needed credentials, delivery trucks that could not get the passes, can’t do their deliveries. So, it is understandable that the people of Mar del Plata are not too thrilled. Many have left the city until the Summit is over.

Another reason many people have left is that there are many rumors flying around. For example, ti has been said that there are 40,000 body bags in the city. Further more, it has been said that the US has brought 4,000 coffins. There has also been the rumor that Bush is also bringing his own food, because he is afraid of being poisoned.
They also mentioned that the US has rented 2 frigorific warehouses. The rumors where such, that the government issued a statement to try to calm down the population.

The Peoples Summit  

                   

Lets start with a brief history:

The Peoples Summit (also referred to as the Counter-Summit) first took place in 1998, when the continent was fighting the neo-liberal policies, of militarization, and foreign debt, pushed by the US to dominate the Continent.

At the first counter-summit they demanded that there were more public information that the governments kept secret regarding free trade, and that the presidents should not sign no treaty without popular consultation.

In 2001, the third Summit of the Americas, and the second Summit of the people there were two visible discussions: on the one hand the presidents would compromise that the FTAA should begin to function in January of 2005, while the Peoples Summit was rejecting it and conduct popular mobilizations to resist the FTAA: today we can see that the FTAA has not been implemented, which is a product of popular resistance.

In the present counter-summit, there will be over 600 organizations, conducting over 150 workshops and conferences concentrating on these subjects:  
-No to the FTAA and free trade -yes to the           integration of the people
-We are not debtors-We are creditors of the social, ecological and historical debt.
-No to militarization-Yes to popular sovereignty

Organizers criticized security operations for the Presidential Summit, and related that in and just as in previous   there were intimidation campaigns so that people would leave the city, borrowing US’ paranoid discourses

Subjects will concentrate on education, justice, unions and syndicates, energy health, land and food sovereignty.

The Peoples Summit is not about protesting. Rather, it is about creating alternatives, about getting to know in depth the domination policies of the US for the region.

Nobel Peace Price, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, said: “we are going to repudiate Bush for the serious human rights violations, and for the invasion to Iraq. We are going to demand from the Latin-American presidents have some coherence so that kids wont from poverty.”

He also praise the presence of soccer player Diego Maradona, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who will leaving the security zone to be present in the Peoples Summit (now that is a president with guts) and Bolivian presidential candidate, and coca leader Evo Morales. Although Fidel Castro won’t be present, there is a big Cuban presence.  

UPDATE

Bush’s intention is to sign the FTAA agreement. My opinion is that this is crucial because if he does, he will earn some political capital, which we all know is so desperately needs when his image bottoming down. During his trip to Argentina, Condoleezza Rice and her argentine counterpart, Rafael Bielsa had a phone conversation that lasted about half hour. Those conversations have been described as tense.

Apparently, Bielsa explained her The Mercosur’s position and what is blocking the advance of the treaty. Apparently Rice was not to understanding, and said that the US wants that some concrete advance in these negotiations. According to some versions, Bielsa had accepted some points. According to others, he said that it was a matter for the Mercosur, and that it was out of his hands.

Apparently, there might be two different documents, which would be a first: One would express the majority version, and the other the Mercosur’s positions. This would be very unusual, because it would indicate the strong division of the continent. And Bush, with all the problems that he has at home, has to present himself as a leader of the group.

What the Latin-American opposition is looking for is an end to American subsidies of agricultural products, so they can have a chance of introducing their products into the US. If he does, he will face strong opposition of those red states, which are the agricultural zones.

After maintaining his arrival in secret, due to security reasons Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived to Mar del Plata . His first comments were against the FTAA,

He will be staying in a hotel OUTSIDE the exclusion zone. For him, the FTAA is dead and “we are going to bury it here,” and pointed out that the American empire is weakened and that proof of that is that the Presidents will sign a document that will not mention the FTAA. He also said: “only the peoples union will save this land.”

UPDATE:

Riots begin to take place. These groups are the hardliners. They set fire toBanco de Galicia. The numbers given By MSNBC are about 1,00. Argentine radio Splendid only says that they are about 200.
The rioters have been moving out, and on their retreat they are still burning and breaking stores.
Also they just mentioned that they are vandalizing a store of Direct TV. Also the rioters are concentrating on American related stores.
In Buenos Aires they destroyed a branch of the Bank of Boston