Belorussia

May 2024 Forums General discussion Belorussia

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 23 total)
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  • #205858
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Is this going to be the last of the East European dictatorships to be overthrown by “people’s power”, ie through losing popular support but also crucially that of the armed security forces under the influence of the opinion of the general population? There’ve been photos of soldiers and policemen throwing away their uniforms:

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/outraged-police-throw-away-uniforms-after-belarus-crackdown-rjjjnl3ds

    #205868
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Won’t that all be up to Putin?

    He isn’t going to allow another Ukraine, is he?  He may jettison Lukashenko for political expediency, but a new despot with an improved  image will replace him.

    Added

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/belarus-protests-lukashenko-putin-2020-election-russia-kremlin-a9672316.html

    Lukashenko said he had secured a pledge from Russia in his phone call with  Putin to provide security assistance in the country if needed.

    #205879
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Belorussia seems to be a pretty artificial and pointless country (as capitalist states go). Landlocked with a population of less than 10 million most of whom speak Russian. But you are right the Russian  ruling class is not going to allow it to move into the NATO sphere of influence.

    Incidentally, on looking at it again, that video of policemen throwing away their uniforms seems too good to be true and may have been done by actors. Still, it was a nice thought.

    #205885
    james19
    Participant

    “Cops threaten to burn people alive”

    US cops fire tear gas, which has caused breathing difficulties in some, rubber bullets which have caused facial disfigurement and blindness.
    I got a good response after saying: Air traffic workers went on strike, the government said they would be jailed. US administration  condemned Poland for  attacks on striking workers!

    ⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️ Warning distressing images ⚠️⚠️⚠️
    Belarus election: ‘He threatened to burn us alive’

     

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-53789684

    • This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by james19.
    #205892
    J Surman
    Participant

    Belarus

    Interesting post by a former Foreign and Commonwealth Organisation and former British ambassador. he points out that which most UK news media ignores – that they behave just like Russia’s media but with even greater back-up from the ‘regime’.

    The final para – added after comments have started is also worth a look.

    #205909
    ALB
    Keymaster

    That’s the second of Craig Murray’s blogs I’ve read. This one is good. He obviously knows what he’s talking about. I might start to read his blog.

    #206020
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    When about to lose power, play the foreign enemy card,

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53877953

    He said troops in Poland and Lithuania were readying themselves, and that he was moving his armed forces to the country’s western border.

    #206041
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Despite the risks, tens of thousands took to the streets.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53882062

    Lukashenko takes a leaf out of Trump’s book

    “The defence ministry issued a statement saying the army would take over the protection of war memorials.”

    #206047
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    The question is: Why so many Russians and Eastern European have nostalgia and desires to come back to the old days of the Soviet Union? Some statistics indicate that more than half of the Russians want the Soviet Union back again

    #206048
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Equally, we should also ask why many former Eastern Bloc countries have adopted right-wing nationalist views.

    The ex-GDR regions of Germany have now a larger proportion of neo-fascists than West Germany.

    We have Hungary’s Orban.

    In Russia, there has been a return to the Eastern Orthodox Church and the canonisation of Putin and Stalin.

    Or Poland’s return to Catholic Church conservatism.

    I find it interesting though that despite the State’s rapprochement with the Pope, Cubans have not flooded back to the chapel (but i might be wrong so i stand to be corrected)

     

    #206049
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    They are evidence found in the archives of the KGB indicating that the Russian Orthodox Church made an agreement with Stalin during WW2 and they spread the idea that Stalin was the man sent by God to eliminate the devil of Adolf Hitler and Nazim, they called him the apostle of God, and some stained glasses had the images of Stalin with an aura over his head. The Russian Orthodox Church asked the Vatican to support Stalin but they refused. Despite that, the Soviet Union was spreading atheism the majority  of the peoples continued being Christians

    In Cuba Santeria and Syncretism have a lot of influences in the minds of the peoples especially among the African descendent, it is like in Haiti where Aristides was going to nominate Voodoo as the official religion of the nation, and Santeria has been considered as part of the Cuban culture by the Cuban government but 61% of the Cuban are Catholics

    In Cuba the government built a temple for the Greek Orthodox Church and when Paul II went to Cuba Fidel Castro said that he was a great defender of the human rights knowing that he had supported many dictators and dictatorship in Latin America, especially Augusto Pinochet.

    Nationalism has always reemerged in Europe because the Bolshevik expected a workers uprising from France and Germany and workers opted for bourgeois nationalism and reformism.

    Curiously, countries, where the Nazis killed so many peoples at present workers, are adopting ultra-nationalists and right wings point of view, and neo-nazis are emerging like flowers, and anti-communist sentiments are spreading all over Eastern Europe. Many Russian want the Soviet Union back because they are nationalists too

    #206646
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Playing the national security card

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/belarus-president-closes-western-borders-puts-army-high-alert-200917190047001.html

    President Alexander Lukashenko  has announced he is putting troops on high alert and closing the country’s borders with Poland and Lithuania.

     

    #208161
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Police in Belarus have been authorised to use lethal force if necessary against anti-government protesters.

    Belarusian authorities have been accused of brutality and torture in their suppression of the mass street protests.

    On Monday, the interior ministry confirmed police fired stun grenades and tear gas during an unauthorised rally in the capital, Minsk, which involved a large number of pension-age protesters. A spokesperson said action was taken after “citizens started to show aggression”. An unconfirmed number of demonstrators were also arrested.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54513568

    #209419
    ALB
    Keymaster

    Interview here by a Russian-speaking member of the World Socialist Party (US) of a member of an opposition group there:

    What’s going on in Belarus?

    Not all oppositionists favour the introduction of liberal capitalism which they recognise would lead to the rule of oligarchs as in Russia and the Ukraine.

    Bit of a scoop, actually,

    #209422
    alanjjohnstone
    Keymaster

    Kudos to Stephen for that informative interview which should be disseminated far and wide.

    Yes, i do consider this as a bit of a scoop and something to be emulated if possible.

    Well done the WSPUS.

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