Choosing to confront the rise in power of left-leaning
governments in its backyard, the United States is
recreating the Fourth Fleet.

It's now official: The Pentagon is going to
resuscitate its Fourth Fleet, with the mission of
patrolling Latin American and Caribbean waters. Created
during the Second World War to protect traffic in the
South Atlantic, the structure was dissolved in 1950. "By
reestablishing the Fourth Fleet, we acknowledge the
immense importance of maritime security in this region,"
declared Adm. Gary Roughead, head of the Pentagon's
naval operations.

Based in Mayport, Florida, the fleet will operate
under the double orders of the American Navy and the
Army's Southern Command, responsible for Latin America
and the Caribbean. Vice Adm. Joseph Kernan will command
the fleet, which should include a nuclear aircraft
carrier.

According to Alejandro Sanchez, an analyst at the
Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a research center on
Latin America based in Washington, "the reestablishment
of the Fourth Fleet is more of a political than a
military gesture, designed to confront the rise in power
of left-leaning governments in the region." The Pentagon
does not trouble to camouflage its intentions: "the
message is clear: whether local governments like it or
not, the United States is back after the war in Iraq,"
Sanchez explains.

"New Threats"

De facto,, Washington's military influence in the
region has diminished considerably since September 11,
2001, and the launch of the "war against terrorism."
Concentrated on the Middle Eastern arc of crisis, the
Pentagon did not pay much attention to the political
upsets in its own backyard. Leftist governments, now
broadly in the majority in Latin America, reproach the
United States with the support it gave the dictatorships
that reigned over several decades and to the ultra-neo-
liberal policies those dictatorships applied.

While Washington assures that its sole interest in
the region is combating "new threats" (terrorism, drug
trafficking and the Maras gangs of Central America),
Latin American people often see it as the pursuit of
"imperialist" interests dictated by energy needs. The
tensions between Washington and the radical presidents
of the sub-continent's main oil and gas producers
(Venezuela, Equator and Bolivia) accentuate that
perception.

As a sign of defiance, almost all Latin American
countries have refused to sign the American Serviceman
Protection Act, a treaty that prevents legal pursuit of
American soldiers for crimes committed abroad.

The plan to install a military base in Paraguay,
close to Bolivian gas fields, was denounced by Brazil
and Argentina. Ecuador has made it known that the
American military base installed in Manta until 2009
will not be allowed to renew its mandate. Worse still,
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, has
relaunched the idea of a South American Defense Council,
explicitly excluding all United States intervention.

Washington's sidelining comes at a time when new
sources of conflict are arising in the region, as, for
example, the one that pits Colombia on one side and
Ecuador and Venezuela on the other, or that between
Bolivia and Chile over sea access. An arms race is
underway in the region, where governments have taken
advantage of the economic revival to reequip their
armies, neglected since the 1970s.

American arms manufacturers are no longer alone in
this market: some European countries, but especially
China, Russia and Iran, are trying to get a footing in a
region that also attracts them for its natural resource
and energy potential.

« The land is ours. It's not European and we have taken it, we have
given it to the rightful people... Those of white extraction who
happen to be in the country and are farming are welcome to do so, but
they must do so on the basis of equality."

"Countries such as the U.S. and Britain have taken it upon themselves
to decide for us in the developing world, even to interfere in our
domestic affairs and to bring about what they call regime change."

"If the choice was made for us, one for us to lose our sovereignty and
become a member of the Commonwealth or to remain with our sovereignty
and lose membership of the Commonwealth, then I would say, and then
let the Commonwealth go."

"People are free to campaign and they will be free to vote. There
won't be any soldiers, you know, at the queues. Anyone who has the
right to vote is free to go and cast his vote anywhere in his own
area, in his own constituency."

By President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe

Statement:

Subject: "PRESIDENT KOROMA'S STATEMENT ON ZIMBABWE: PDL REPLIES."

We, the leadership of the Sierra Leone People's Democratic League,
PDL, read with utter horror an official press statement purportedly
issued by the State House in Freetown, on the situation in free and
independent Zimbabwe. This statement was supposed to represent our
position as a nation on the release of the results of the March 29,
2008 Presidential and Parliamentary elections held in that country.

The statement does not amuse us in the PDL as it cleverly dodged the
root cause of the problems in that country: the manipulation of the
system to abort the brave attempt by His Excellency Comrade Robert
Mugabe to transfer ownership of Zimbabwean wealth to Zimbabweans. This
task, which is nothing short of a revolution, has been on going for
the past 14 years as he courageously dismantled the obnoxious
apartheid system that he and other sister Southern African countries
inherited from the British colonialists and their lackeys.

The statement, to say the least was downright rude and did not show
any respect for the Government and People of the Republic of Zimbabwe
as President Bai Koroma's handlers sought to give him a macho, tough
talking cowboy-image cast in the mould of a head teacher of a mission
school in pre-independence days.

Or what do you think of "We therefore join the clarion call from all
democratic nations, institutions, and individuals in asking the
Zimbabwean authorities to listen to the voice of the people, release
the results without  further delay and with utmost transparency. "The
current uneasy peace in Zimbabwe may erupt into an unthinkable
scenario if immediate action is not taken to save the situation."

To us the above quote is downright rude, insulting and an attempt to
starve Africans in Zimbabwe and force them to accept degrading and
dehumanising strategies that could emerge from the Anglo-American
colonial-driven designs. We believe as a nation that suffered the
evils of racist, the heinous Atlantic slave trade, brutal colonialism,
imperialist terrorism and oppression, Sierra Leone must not be a party
to attempts by the Governments of Britain, the USA and allies to
re-colonise Zimbabwe and return that Southern African nation to the
pre-independence holocaust era. But as it is, with the APC at the helm
of affairs in Freetown, it seems President Ernest Bai Koroma's foreign
affairs advisers do not know Zimbabwe's history and the Lancaster
House Agreement that brought to an end the illegal, fascist, racist
and monstrous apartheid regime led by the late Ian Smith.

>From President Koroma's statement, the PDL can safely deduce that our
President is in support of occupation of other people's land by those
who do not own it by any stretch of imagination as the British
colonialists did through rape, guile, murder and outright brigandage
stole from the Zimbabweans. The Lancaster House Agreement that said
the United Kingdom should provide money to pay the British farmers so
that the true owners-the Zimbabweans- can own it has been refused.
Comrade Mugabe therefore did the only sensible thing: ask his
countrymen to take back their property.

The PDL has always suspected that Mr. Bai Koroma condones the illegal
occupation of Yenga and other towns and villages in Sierra Leone, by
the Guinean army and therefore he sees nothing wrong with the
centuries of occupation, use and misuse of Zimbabwe's only God-given
land by British settlers without paying any compensation to the
owners. Koroma also sees nothing wrong with the merciless occupation
of our mineral-resource rich lands by ex-mercenaries and foreign
criminal businessmen in cahoots with mainstream politicians to
pauperise our nation.

Right from the start, the PDL has always suspected the regime of
President Bai Koroma to be another well-designed tool on the continent
through which the hidden agenda of the detractors to Africa is
pursued.

We in the PDL will like to tell the US Under-Secretary of State Frazer
who has suddenly metamorphosed into the electoral commissioner of
Zimbabwe that her statement declaring the so-called Zimbabwe
Opposition leader elected President of that country threatens peace
and stability on the African soil. It is an attempt to overthrow the
Zimbabwean state through criminal methods. This is worse than
irresponsible. Any self-respecting government cannot accept this
statement and we view it as a new form of psychological warfare
against concerned Africans in general and Zimbabweans in particular.
She is serving a regime not a government: a monstrous and murderous
one led by George Herbert Walker Bush that came to power via a court
verdict not through the ballot box, as all democratically elected
governments are wont to be. She is therefore not qualified to talk
about free and fair elections or who won or did not win an election.

The PDL just wants to remind her of some well-documented facts of
history that have been in the public domain for ages. Ms. Frazer has
forgotten where she is coming from and like some of her forbears and
peers are very satisfied lapping the spittle from their paymasters'
table and are therefore ready to destabilize Africa to satisfy them.

The world must hear the side of the Zimbabwean Government in a just
and objective view without compromising the aspirations of the
Zimbabwean people. ZANU-PF displayed of maturity in conducting the
March 29 elections in peaceful, fair, honest and democratic atmosphere
and conditions should not be misconstrued. The record of democracy in
Zimbabwe is not compared to say for instance countries that are allies
to Western imperialism. The West continues to deal with local
oppressors and thieves as it is much easier to deal with unpopular
regime like the Ernest Bai Koroma's APC enclave in Freetown that will
forever be beholder to its foreign benefactors.

What Zimbabwe needs from the world is peace and stability. Nothing more!

In conclusion, we will advise Bai Koroma's advisers not to embarrass
themselves as a government and we as citizens through the issuance of
such insulting statements. This apology of a statement questions our
commitment to the liberation of the continent as intelligent, educated
Africans who know what the stakes are in every conflict situation.

It is naïve for anyone to think Zimbabwe would behave foolishly and
cowardly and reduce herself to the evil designs of foreign criminal
adventurers.

Long live Comrade Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF, a unified power which
always stands strong, high and proud in the face of our detractors and
say "no" to degradation and dehumanisation of Africans!

Sender:

Alimamy Bakarr Sankoh
Leader and Chairman of the Sierra Leone People's Democratic League
(PDL), and Presidential Aspirant.
For and on behalf of PDL leadership, members and supporters.

Por: Manuel C. Martínez M.

Fecha de publicación: 07/05/08
Ha quedado establecido que el objetivo de las ciencias es avanzar,
enriquecer el acervo teórico que potencia la sociedad para que sus
trabajadores operen mejor con el mundo circundante y así acrecentar
tecnológicamente su variada productividad. Comprende disciplinas que van
desde la Psicología hasta la Física en un orden de temas que
complementariamente se mueven desde los más *inmateriales* y sutiles hasta
los toscamente materiales.

Requisito fundamental para todas las ciencias es la praxis. En este sentido,
todo el progreso de las extraordinarias elucubraciones de los griegos no
pasó nunca de magníficas satisfacciones contemplativas. El saber por el
saber mismo. Los g. no practicaron el pragmatismo científico, desconocieron
la Tecnología, y su praxis se redujo a labores estrictamente campesinas y
artísticas.

La praxis devino después de los griegos y logrará su máxima expresión y
desarrollo cuando la sociedad actual brinque al comunismo. Pero durante
estas transiciones sociales la praxis gobierna todo el paquete de acciones,
prácticas, experimentos y vivencias del trabajador con su medio, con los
demás trabajadores, de estos con el Estado y viceversa. La p. es requisito
para todas las ciencias en su búsqueda de descubrimientos y en el
seguimiento de estos para la conquista de nuevos y perfeccionados hallazgos.
Curiosa y paradójicamente, sólo la Matemática escapa a tal requisito a
pesar de ser ciencia eminentemente aplicada.

Ahora bien, ocurre que clasistamente hay muchas actividades económicas y
muchas experiencias. Indudablemente existen prácticas inasequibles o vedadas
para la clase asalariada. Por ejemplo, la práctica bursátil, la práctica del
inversionismo industrial, todas estas actividades, que no son productivas
per se, están limitadas a los dueños del dinero en grande. Los corredores de
bolsa son simples voceros de las cotizaciones que a diario se mueven con una
celeridad y constancia que a corto plazo impiden seguirle su curso. Sólo el
inversionista se imbuye de su praxis.

Karl Marx echó manos del método de la *abstracción* para poder analizar,
inferir y descubrir el intríngulis del valor de cambio de las mercancías
capitalistas. Verdaderamente, ninguna ciencia social permite experimentación
in situ. Con ellas no puede experimentarse salvo con muestras de dudosa
representatividad y objetividad. Digamos que la cientificidad de ciencias
como la Economía, la Sociología, la Historia, siempre estarán impregnadas de
rasgos subjetivistas a los que no puede escapar ni siquiera el más objetivo
de los científicos involucrados.

Aquellas actividades cuya práctica exige grandes aportes de capital jamás
podrán ser abordadas de conjunto por parte de ningún trabajador, habida
cuenta que estos siempre tendrán asignadas ocupaciones individuales y
parciales, sin que puedan tener una visión global de la problemática
productiva, salvo sus aproximaciones interpretativas que por *abstracción*
terminen deduciendo.

Así las cosas, la clase burguesa de alto rango siempre tendrá reservada para
sí la praxis de aquellas actividades cuyo ejercicio sólo puede correr a
cargo de sus miembros mientras estos sigan siendo dueños del poder
económico. En este sentido podríamos dispensar parcialmente a aquellos
epígonos y panegíricos del burguesismo cuando niegan la cientificidad del
comunismo. Pensamos que basan sus argumentos en la virtual imposibilidad de
experimentar en el negocio burgués por parte de quienes no lo sean. Esto nos
llevaría a inferir que sería de la propia alta burguesía de donde vendría el
necesario apoyo teórico científico de la causa del Comunismo, como
reemplaplazante del sistema actual.

marmac@cantv.net



Article published Apr 23, 2008
Americans hoard food as industry seeks regs

By Patrice Hill - Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly to federal officials yesterday for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher. Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.

Their pleas did not find a sympathetic audience at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where regulators said high prices are mostly the result of soaring world demand for grains combined with high fuel prices and drought-induced shortages in many countries.

The regulatory clash came amid evidence that a rash of headlines in recent weeks about food riots around the world has prompted some in the United States to stock up on staples.

Costco and other grocery stores in California reported a run on rice, which has forced them to set limits on how many sacks of rice each customer can buy. Filipinos in Canada are scooping up all the rice they can find and shipping it to relatives in the Philippines, which is suffering a severe shortage that is leaving many people hungry.

While farmers here and abroad generally are benefiting from the high prices, even they have been burned by a tidal wave of investors and speculators pouring into the futures markets for corn, wheat, rice and other commodities and who are driving up prices in a way that makes it difficult for farmers to run their businesses.

"Something is wrong," said National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, adding that the CFTC's refusal to rein in speculators will force farmers and consumers to take their case to Congress.

"It may warrant congressional intervention," he said. "The public is all too aware of the recent credit crisis on Wall Street. We don't want a lack of oversight and regulation to lead to a similar crisis in rural America."

Food economists testifying at a daylong hearing of the commission said the doubling of rice and wheat prices in the past year is a result of strong income growth in China, India and other Asian countries, where people entering the middle class are buying more food and eating more meat. Farm animals consume a substantial share of the world's grain.

U.S. wheat stocks are at the lowest levels in 60 years because worldwide consumption of wheat has exceeded production in six of the past eight years, said U.S. Agriculture Department chief economist Gerald Bange. Adding to tight supplies was the back-to-back failure of two years of wheat crops caused by drought in Australia, a major wheat exporter, he said.

In addition, the diversion of one-third of the U.S. corn crop into making ethanol for vehicles has increased prices for corn and other staples such as soybeans and cotton as more acreage is set aside for ethanol production.

Farmers also have raised prices because they have been hard hit by spiraling energy costs, which not only raised the price of diesel fuel to records of over $4 a gallon but drove up the cost of nitrogen fertilizer, which is made from natural gas.

"Commodity prices across the board are at levels not experienced in many of our lifetimes," said CFTC Chairman Walter Lukken. "These price levels, along with record energy costs, have put a strain on consumers as well as many producers and commercial participants that utilize the futures markets to manage risks."

The upswing in prices has been exaggerated by the massive influx of investors and speculators seeking to profit from rising prices for corn, wheat, oil, gold and other commodities. Big Wall Street firms and hedge funds have taken huge positions in futures markets that once were dominated by relatively small operators such as farmers and grain-elevator owners.

Small investors, who see fast-rising commodities as good hedges against inflation and a falling dollar, also are getting a piece of the action by investing in index funds that are tied to commodity prices.

"During such turbulent times, it is tempting to shoot first and ask questions later," Mr. Lukken said, but he contended the commission should be "cautious" about doing anything to curb speculation. He and other regulators argued that speculators add volume and liquidity to the markets, which makes them operate more efficiently and helps farmers and other players.

Commissioner Michael V. Dunn said the soaring demand for food and fuel worldwide might be leading to permanently higher food prices, both domestically and abroad.

"We may already be working under or fast approaching a new paradigm of higher agricultural prices," he said. "There is not a silver bullet or single solution to address the problems we are currently facing."

FARM TRADE

Federal market regulators say the soaring price of most commodities over the past year reflects increased demand rather than investor speculation.

Rice 122%

Wheat* 95

Soybeans 83

Crude oil 82

Corn 66

Gasoline 41

Gold 37

Sugar 30

Coffee 24

Milk 5

Live cattle -7

Lumber -14

* On the Chicago Board of Trade

Source: Commodity Futures Trading Commission http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080423/BUSINESS/868303815/1006&template=printart



Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly to federal officials yesterday for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher. Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.

Their pleas did not find a sympathetic audience at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where regulators said high prices are mostly the result of soaring world demand for grains combined with high fuel prices and drought-induced shortages in many countries.

The regulatory clash came amid evidence that a rash of headlines in recent weeks about food riots around the world has prompted some in the United States to stock up on staples.

Costco and other grocery stores in California reported a run on rice, which has forced them to set limits on how many sacks of rice each customer can buy. Filipinos in Canada are scooping up all the rice they can find and shipping it to relatives in the Philippines, which is suffering a severe shortage that is leaving many people hungry.

While farmers here and abroad generally are benefiting from the high prices, even they have been burned by a tidal wave of investors and speculators pouring into the futures markets for corn, wheat, rice and other commodities and who are driving up prices in a way that makes it difficult for farmers to run their businesses.

"Something is wrong," said National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, adding that the CFTC's refusal to rein in speculators will force farmers and consumers to take their case to Congress.

"It may warrant congressional intervention," he said. "The public is all too aware of the recent credit crisis on Wall Street. We don't want a lack of oversight and regulation to lead to a similar crisis in rural America."

Food economists testifying at a daylong hearing of the commission said the doubling of rice and wheat prices in the past year is a result of strong income growth in China, India and other Asian countries, where people entering the middle class are buying more food and eating more meat. Farm animals consume a substantial share of the world's grain.

U.S. wheat stocks are at the lowest levels in 60 years because worldwide consumption of wheat has exceeded production in six of the past eight years, said U.S. Agriculture Department chief economist Gerald Bange. Adding to tight supplies was the back-to-back failure of two years of wheat crops caused by drought in Australia, a major wheat exporter, he said.

In addition, the diversion of one-third of the U.S. corn crop into making ethanol for vehicles has increased prices for corn and other staples such as soybeans and cotton as more acreage is set aside for ethanol production.

Farmers also have raised prices because they have been hard hit by spiraling energy costs, which not only raised the price of diesel fuel to records of over $4 a gallon but drove up the cost of nitrogen fertilizer, which is made from natural gas.

"Commodity prices across the board are at levels not experienced in many of our lifetimes," said CFTC Chairman Walter Lukken. "These price levels, along with record energy costs, have put a strain on consumers as well as many producers and commercial participants that utilize the futures markets to manage risks."

The upswing in prices has been exaggerated by the massive influx of investors and speculators seeking to profit from rising prices for corn, wheat, oil, gold and other commodities. Big Wall Street firms and hedge funds have taken huge positions in futures markets that once were dominated by relatively small operators such as farmers and grain-elevator owners.

Small investors, who see fast-rising commodities as good hedges against inflation and a falling dollar, also are getting a piece of the action by investing in index funds that are tied to commodity prices.

"During such turbulent times, it is tempting to shoot first and ask questions later," Mr. Lukken said, but he contended the commission should be "cautious" about doing anything to curb speculation. He and other regulators argued that speculators add volume and liquidity to the markets, which makes them operate more efficiently and helps farmers and other players.

Commissioner Michael V. Dunn said the soaring demand for food and fuel worldwide might be leading to permanently higher food prices, both domestically and abroad.

"We may already be working under or fast approaching a new paradigm of higher agricultural prices," he said. "There is not a silver bullet or single solution to address the problems we are currently facing."

FARM TRADE

Federal market regulators say the soaring price of most commodities over the past year reflects increased demand rather than investor speculation.

Rice 122%

Wheat* 95

Soybeans 83

Crude oil 82

Corn 66

Gasoline 41

Gold 37

Sugar 30

Coffee 24

Milk 5

Live cattle -7

Lumber -14

* On the Chicago Board of Trade

Source: Commodity Futures Trading Commission http://washingtontimes.
com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080423/BUSINESS/868303815/1006&template=printart

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THE FUTURE OF MARXISM IN THE EPOCH OF GLOBALIZATION
    Birth of the Communist Manifesto

Por/By: Franz J. T. Lee
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