Destabilisation

‘F**k the EU’: Nuland’s decade-old Maidan quip has never been more true

Posted by Lou on November 23, 2023
Posted in: Destabilisation, European union, Political science, Russia, Ukraine, USA, War. Leave a comment

At the height of the 2014 coup in Ukraine, Washington’s ‘Maidan midwife’ uttered a phrase that has held true ever since

https://www.rt.com/russia/587796-nuland-eu-ukraine-maidan/

By Rachel Marsden, a columnist, political strategist, and host of independently produced talk-shows in French and English.

rachelmarsden.com

Nov 23, 2023

‘F**k the EU’: Nuland’s decade-old Maidan quip has never been more true

U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland offers food to pro-European Union activists as she and U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, right, walk through Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013. ©  AP Photo/Andrew Kravchenko

This week, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky – and his Western backers – celebrated the tenth anniversary of the start of the Maidan protests in Kiev. Of course, they led to a US-backed coup and, ultimately, the current conflict with Russia.

“Ten years ago, we began a new chapter in our struggle. Ten years ago, Ukrainians launched their first counteroffensive. Against lawlessness and an attempt to rob us of our European future. Against unfreedom. Year after year, step by step, we make every effort to ensure that, among the other stars on the EU flag, which represents the unity of European nations, our star shines as well. The Ukrainian star,” Zelensky tweeted.

Except that, in reality, it’s been a full ten years now of “f**k(ing) the EU,” as US State Department fixture Victoria Nuland was caught saying back then in a leaked conversation with then ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt.

“F**k the EU,” she demanded. And, well, they sure did exactly that. 

And it was no one-night stand, either. Instead, it has turned into a marathon, sadistic orgy on the EU people who are endlessly getting the shaft in this whole mess while the bloc’s chief whip-cracker, unelected Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, tells Western Europeans to bend over and take the pain for Ukraine as she and her pals blow up their own economies with endless sanctions against Russia. Not to mention that her fellow Germans just sat there like a bunch of masochists while their own cheap energy supply got blown up.

“F**king the EU” for ten years straight has been good for her though, apparently. “Ten years of dignity. Of pride. Of striving for freedom. The cold winter nights of Euromaidan have changed Europe forever. Today, it is clearer than ever. The future of Ukraine is in the European Union. The future that the Maidan fought for has finally begun,” von der Leyen said. 

Meanwhile, speaking of masochists, Germany is currently panicking over money problems, largely as a result of selling out its own industry to the US-led agenda for Ukraine. “The house is in flames,” one member of the ruling coalition told Bloomberg. Well, it could be a fire. Or it could be German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lighting some romantic candles while tweeting, “10 years ago, the Maidan became a symbol of freedom, democracy and sovereignty. The courage of the Ukrainians will not be forgotten. Ukraine is part of Europe – and we stand by its side.” Scholz still hasn’t bothered to tell us who blew up the Nord Stream pipeline network carrying Russian gas into Germany – his country’s economic and industrial lifeline – an attack which happened to come just a few months after Scholz himself stood right beside Joe Biden while the US president openly threatened the pipeline’s existence. With the International Monetary Fund forecasting a recession for the German economy, Scholz has since resorted to congratulating himself for securing deals like the one to replace a whopping 2% of the pricey American liquified natural gas on which Berlin is now dependent, with Nigerian gas – maybe by 2026. 

It’s also quite the revisionist history from Zelensky, saying that Euromaidan was about Ukraine fighting against being robbed of its “European future” and freedom. In reality, Ukraine already had freedom to deal with both Russia and the West, was courted by everyone like the hottest girl in town, and the country’s president at the time, Viktor Yanukovich, had, in fact, just refused to sign an agreement with the EU, which would have reduced Ukraine’s diversity of options and its freedom, and would have put all its eggs in the Western basket. All that is the exact opposite of what Zelensky is now spinning. 

Zelensky is also getting poetic about something he calls the Ukrainian star – whatever that is – shining among the stars on the EU flag that represent the bloc’s unity. In any case, some EU leaders have already thrown cold water on the wet dream of Ukraine’s integration into the bloc, which would require unanimity among all member states. 

Not only is Zelensky fantasizing about Ukrainian stars but also about Western European unity. But even the bloc’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, whose actual job is to present the EU’s best face to the world, isn’t quite that delusional. Borrell has repeatedly referred to major dissent within the bloc on everything from Ukraine and US-China competition to migration, which Borrell has called nothing less than a potential “dissolving force.” None of this sounds like the quaint little constellation of 27 countries among which Zelensky already sees Ukraine. More like a Big Bang.

The thing about romanticizing relationships is that it can turn out to be a bummer when you have to deal with real life. And here in the real world, Ukraine is already getting into fights with other European countries, most recently Poland and Slovakia, whose truckers, by the thousands, have been blockading roads to three border crossings for days, and effectively blocking humanitarian aid. They apparently feel that they’re losing business amid the Ukraine conflict and that their government isn’t doing anything about it. So there isn’t even an engagement date in sight between Kiev and the EU, let alone a wedding day, and already there’s trouble in paradise.  

Too bad all these elites can’t just get a room already and leave the rest of us out of it. 

‘I am Fidel’ – the Cuban Response to US Hopes of Destabilising Cuba

Posted by Lou on December 8, 2019
Posted in: Colonianism, Communism, Cuba, Destabilisation, Imperialism, Political science, USA. Leave a comment
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Ramona Wadi
Ramona Wadi is an independent researcher, freelance journalist, book reviewer and blogger. Her writing covers a range of themes in relation to Palestine, Chile and Latin America.
December 7, 2019

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Three years since Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died at age 90 of natural causes, the Cuban Revolution has withstood ongoing destabilisation efforts to turn the island once again into an imperialist playground. Indeed, as Latin American countries grapple with the ramifications of historical and current US intervention, Cuba has steadfastly held on to the principles which Fidel imparted to the Cuban people throughout the revolutionary process. The participatory aspect of memory in Cuba has been sustained through Fidel’s emphasis on education as an integral component of the revolution.

The US might have harboured the intention that Fidel’s departure would facilitate the process for a counter-revolutionary period in Cuba and the fall of the ideals that have transformed Cuban politics and society. However, the Cuban Revolution was always bigger than Fidel. It encompassed the link between leadership and the people, built upon the historical foundations which Fidel himself articulated. Defining revolution, for Fidel, was an endorsement and affirmation of Jose Martí as the “intellectual author of the Cuban Revolution”. What Fidel achieved was a continuation which now lies in the hands of generations of Cubans who are well versed in the importance of unifying education with revolution.

This is why, despite the attempts to sabotage the Cuban Revolution, the US blockade on Cuba and its transgressions against the island – a recent USAID conspiracy involved the tarnishing of the Cuban medical contingents – have not succeeded in changing the island’s course. Indeed, as Chile and Bolivia grapple with the ramifications of neoliberalism and a military coup respectively, Cuba remains a standing bastion in the region, just as much as it did when Fidel was alive and deemed the main obstacle to US plans for the island.

The Cuban resolve to remain independent and free of colonialism necessitated a radical change – namely prioritising education within the construction of revolutionary goals. Even prior to the triumph of the revolution, Fidel exhibited awareness of implementing the continuity. As can be gleaned from the Manifesto of the Sierra Maestra (1957), as well as the First and Second Declarations of Havana (1960, 1962), Fidel’s concept of education is inclusive of Cuban independence from imperial motives in Latin America. The Manifesto declared ‘an immediate initiation of an intensive campaign against illiteracy, and civic education emphasising the duties and rights of each citizen to his society and fatherland’. Furthermore, in condemning ‘the exploitation of man by man and the exploitation of underdeveloped countries by imperialistic finance capital,’ an awareness of rights in association with education was asserted – a statement reminiscent of Fidel’s early memories concerning the link between illiteracy and exploitation. Prior to its triumph, the revolution considered education as the vehicle through which Cubans could fight for economic, social and political rights. Therefore, education as a right and duty affirmed the Cuban Revolution’s stand against imperial exploitation of people and natural resources.

Revolutionary education contrasted with the colonial and military functions of the Batista regime. Several speeches of Fidel attest to this fact. Using a metaphor of armies during a 1961 address in Havana which recapitulated the revolution’s achievements in education and a goal to eradicate illiteracy in just one year, Fidel invoked the differences between Cuba’s ‘army of educators’ and the army of ‘exploiters’. Furthermore, Fidel declared: “The resentment of imperialism is so profound, its hatred of our revolution so great, that the imperialists refuse to resign themselves.” Eradicating illiteracy was perceived as a fundamental battle against imperial and counter-revolutionary actions against Cuba, also allowing Cubans to become active participants against imperial intervention. Throughout the revolutionary phases, there is ample evidence that Cuba not only consolidated its anti-imperialist values at a national level, but also, through Fidel, managed to impart internationalism based upon education and revolutionary consciousness.

Education, therefore, has contributed to the empowerment and organisation of Cuban society. This dynamic has contributed to awareness, and termination of, the relationship between subjugation and exploitation, while striving to complete an evolution of humanity within the context of socialist revolution.

The US, which only understands the language of coercion and intervention, will not comprehend the insoluble bond not only between Fidel and the people, but also between the people and the revolution. This unity has enabled Cubans to stand principled in defence of the revolution, while also providing an internationalist example for the rest of the world to emulate.