Johannes Wilm

Who really helps Haiti?

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 13:38:54 -0700

After listening to a lot of debates lately on who should give more and who has given a lot to the earth quake effort in Haiti, I decided to do some number crunching myself. Arguments such as "Denmark only gives 10 million, but it should give 50 million Danish Kr." make little sense if one has nothing to compare it to. This overview excludes all help that is not given in the form of money and or that does not come from a country. Also, in case aid has not been listed on Wikipedia yet, or in case aid that was promised and never materializes, it will skew the picture on this overview as well. I may try to update it a few times, but can not guarantee that it represents an accurate reflection on what is being listed on the corresponding Wikipedia page at all times.

If you want the Open Office spreadsheet file I used to create this image or want to send in corrections, please use the above email.

Status 25th of January 2010:

Brazil gives twice as much as the US in total amount of support

Status 19th of January 2010:

EU outspends everybody in total amount, DR Congo is amongst highest givers as percentage of GDP.

Status 18th of January 2010:

Who is most generous? EU now gives more than US.

Status 17th of January 2010:

Who is most generous? Measured as percentage of GDP it's 1. Guyana, 2. Gabon, 3. Liberia

Status 16th of January 2010:

Who really helps Haiti?

DVD "The Young Honduran Revolution" available for only USD10.99 as a DVD or as a free download

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:29:40 -0700

The Young Honduran Revolution - the DVD

Finally the DVD of the Documentary on Honduras "The Young Honduran Revolution" is available to be bought online for only USD10.99 (+shipping). The money recovered thereby will go towards recovering some of the costs I've run into traveling around and showing it around in the United States and Mexico.

Th DVD can be shipped to most destinations world wide, with the exception of Central America (how ironic).

Click here to buy!

Prices are, including shipping (*):

US	USD14.99
Norway	84kr
Denmark	75kr
Euro-zone	Euro 10

*) The final price is calculated in USD. All other prices will vary with the change in value of the USD.

An interview about the documentary with TeleMax of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico (in Spanish):

Also, listen to this interview on Radio Nicaragua with some members of the Juventud Sandinista:

download

ALBAstryde

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:54:48 -0700

ALBAstryde -- combining textual with statistical data

For eight months I have been working on this (January 5th - September 5th), together with the nice people of Simas.org.ni. It had been my dream for a few years to be able to build something similar to Cuyberstryde/Cybersyn and this year I finally was able to do so.

Read the entire article at Linux Journal!

La Joven Revoluci�n Hondure�a available online!

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:05:16 -0600

Update: The online version now includes subtitles in English!

Finally, after the premier on Saturday in the Cinemateca Nacional of Nicaragua the final version is available online. This version has a length of 90 minutes.

There is also DVD image and various downloadable versions available from here.

A shorter version will be used on September 28th in front of all the embassies of Honduras in Latin America when the radio network Puente Sur arranges convocations against the military coup.

Update:

Posters for the 28th of September including advertisement for the documentary:

28th of September 2009, all across Latin America

28th of September 2009, Ecuador

28th of September 2009, Dominican Republic

Honduras trailer

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:01:09 -0600

I went to Honduras for a few days, and so now here is the trailer. I've been incredibly busy lately, but please let me know if you have further suggestions, can offer me free music rights, etc.

Update: in the media:

Radio Bemba: Y sin embargo se mueve Sep 30 (last few minutes): low/high

Radio Puente Sur: Entrevista con Johannes Wilm, Director del documental La Joven Revoluci�n Hondure�a

Monthly Review Zine: The Young Honduran Revolution

Junge Welt: �Auch Unpolitische f�hlen jetzt, was eine Diktatur ist� (Michael B�hmer und Johannes Wilm)

Posters for opening in Nicaragua:
Cinemateca Nacional 12 de Septiembre 2009, 6pm, GRATIS

Article in El Nuevo Diario about opening at Cinemateca Nacional (almost everything correct):
September 10, 2009

President Zelaya has not violated the constitution

Fri, 3 Jul 2009 07:04:00 -0600

Hey, I am currently in Berlin on a minor holiday away from Central America, and then this stuff happens! I phoned the Honduran embassy here, but they were not quite sure which side they were on yet, and the Nicaraguan embassy asked me if I could try to help them get their statements out to the big media.

I do not particularly care about the legal situation much more than many other aspects of this, but the reporting on this has been equal also in many other European countries, and so I thought I would translate and repost this Norwegian response to the allegations that are made:

President Zelaya has not violated the constitution

(originally a press release in Norwegian by Latin American Groups in Norway written by Alberto Valiente Thoresen, Cecilie Hirsch and Susanne Normann, http://www.latin-amerikagruppene.no/Artikler/10685.html, translated by myself )

Several media reported Monday that the president of Honduras was abducted by the military, after he allegedly should have tried to conduct a referendum to change the Honduran constitution to prolong his presidency. Latin-American groups in Norway (LAG) believe that this is a gross simplification and inaccurate information, which is used to support arguments that coup government uses to justify the coup against the state government of Manuel Zelaya. LAG will here provide a thorough explanation of what happened in Honduras, and hope that the Norwegian media, will henceforth present the situation in a more balanced way.

1) President Zelaya called for a non-binding popular consultation and not a binding popular plebiscite. In accordance with article 5 of the "Act on popular participation" from 2006, all state powers in Honduras can carry out such inquiries to learn and take into account what people think about certain actions and issues.

2) The non-binding popular consultation asked what people would think about adding another ballot box at the election in November 2009. This vote was to conduct a poll whether people wanted to form a basis for a future assembly to write a new constitution. If people had said yes, an election for the members of this assembly would then have been arranged. After the assembly would have been chosen, they would have made a proposal of a new constitution, which eventually would have had to have been voted upon by the people.

3) Article 5 and 374 in the current Constitution from 1982 (with the reforms of 2005) specifies that it is not possible to reform the Articles of the Constitution which deals with the government, presidency, Honduran territory or opportunities for re-election, as described in the Constitution. It is not possible to conduct binding referendums with this purpose. So here there is a distinction between reforming the Articles of the current Constitution, and to undergo a democratic process to create a new constitution with an elected assembly set up to write a new constitution.

4) The Constitution does not prohibit the formation of an elected assembly with a mandate to write a new constitution.

5) The Supreme Court of Honduras did not look upon the "Act of popular participation" as unconstitutional when it was adopted in 2006. Thus, it is not unconstitutional that the government is conducting a consultation of this type.

6) When it comes to a possible extension of the election term, this would have been something the constitutional Assembly would have had to take a position on. In the current constitution the president can only sit for one term. Zelaya can not stand for re-election in November 2009. He could possibly have tried again, once a new constitution was in place, which would have taken one to two years depending on how quickly the constitutional assembly worked. The new constitution proposal would have had be adopted by the people in a popular vote before it could have been put into effect.

7) Constitution Article 205 Paragraph 22 specifies that Congress can prosecute officials who violate the constitution. Article 239 states that a president can only sit for one term, and if the president tries to break this article, he will automatically lose office and with this immunity. If Zelaya had broken the law, there are thus legitimate procedures that can be followed. This is not what Congress and the military used. He will, however, be accused of breaking article 239, which is not the case.

8) it seems clear that those doing the military coup realized that they didn't have a case against President Manuel Zelaya and therefore decided to ignore the Constitution and the democratic institutions that they claim to defend.

A misleading representation of the intentions of Manuel Zelaya is not acting neutral. It helps spread the propaganda the coup makers need to manipulate the international and Honduran media, which may help to recognize and maintain their power position. The same happens if this legitimate discussion is played down. So LAG asks the media to use a more balanced language.

European elections

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 22:01:00 -0600

I was first asked to send them a video of myself speaking, however it seems that they did not manage to put it all together that way.

Anyways, a very un-traditional, but interesting way of trying to convey a political message. If you know German, watch it. If you can vote in Germay, vote for us!

Two small video items

Wed, 4 Mar 2009 23:55:40 -0700

While working hard on my thesis and another project for the Nicaraguan ministry of agriculture, I've also found a little time to go visit some of the productive countryside here in Nicaragua.

As part of that, I've made these two tiny videos together with Jason Glaser from the La Isla Foundation.

Sugarcane burning in Chichigalpa

The smoke from the annual sugar cane burning contains gases that are everything but healthy for those living around.
We interview the local headmaster of a school. And interestingly, he tells us that the burning of the cane is not the worst thing of living around the sugar cane fields.

English

Spanish

See also the discussion here.

9 year old girl working in Estel�

We picked up a group of workers at a tobacco farm in Estel�, Nicaragua and gave them a ride. One of the three was a nine year old girl. And the owners of the farm are, to our knowledge, Cuban-Americans residing in Miami, Florida.

The three explained to us that the father of the family was making 7.50 USD/week, and therefore had no choice but to send his daughters to work. The nine year old is working eight hours a day, six days a week, earning 50 US cents an hour. She does not have time to go to school.

English

See also the discussion here.

Both of these have been taken with a regular handy cam, so the sound quality is marginal. But both have been subtitled. You may have to enable that manually in the lower right hand corner of the video.

A Sandinista pig

Thu, 4 Dec 2008 17:21:09 -0700

I wrote this story some two-three months ago, originally in German, then translated to Danish and then to English. I was trying to find a place to get it published in paper form. But the information is likely a bit to obscure for anything mainstream, and no normal person reads the academic journals (and in addition I would need to throw a whole bunch of aca-gibberish on there before anyone would take it). I was busy with all kinds of other things and just about forgot about it. But I noticed this list of the Top 100 anthropology blogs (worldwide?) with this blog being listed (sorry, but I don't think that list is to be taken serious, really) and that this blog still receives a few hundred hits daily (despite almost no new content for a year). And so I just thought this might be as good a place as anywhere to put it. So please, enjoy. And if you need the German or Danish version for anything, please contact me!

A Sandinista pig

Blanca Nella is a poor woman. She lives on the island Ometepe in Lake Nicaragua in the Central-American country of the same name.

In this country, the socialist Nationalist Sandinista Liberation Front (FSLN) came to power through a revolution in 1979. Throughout the 1980s, the country had to fight counterrevolutionary insurgencies financed by the Unites States with the help of Cuba and Eastern Europe. At the national elections in 1990, the Sandinistas lost, and for sixteen years the country was ruled by three neo-liberal governments, until the FSLN won the presidential elections in the fall of 2006. Daniel Ortega, who was elected president once already during 1984–90, now rules the country.

This is the story of a person who witnesses these times.

Nella would like to receive a pig from the government, but unfortunately she doesn't have enough land to grow the food for it. Now that Ortega is president, there is such a program, called ‘zero hunger’.

The program is directed towards women and consists of a cow, a pig, a rooster, five hens, the building of the housing for cow and pig, seeds and food for the first few months as well as training in how to treat the animals. Altogether this is supposed to have a value of 1,500USD and the producer agrees on giving back 300USD of the income to other projects in the area, such as micro-credits.

Blanca Nella and her son are full of hope for Daniel Ortega's programs
0.7 hectare

Nella's land is located on the beach a few hundred meters from the main pier of the island, in the village of Moyogalpa. She and her neighbors each just have an ordinary one family sized lot. To qualify for ‘zero hunger’ though, one needs to have access or own between 0.7 and 2.1 hectares of land. On the other side of the sandy path they live on, there is enough land for the whole neighborhood to qualify for this quantity. And in the 1980s, that land was controlled by the coastal residents. Since however, it was taken over by a cooperative in the general chaos following the Sandinista electoral defeat, and later sold to individual land buyers.

“The sale was illegal,” Nella claims. She has organized her neighborhood to recover the lost areas, “because the cooperative just took over, and in addition most members of the cooperative simply left their land. And individual members of cooperatives can not just sell their land.” It is uncertain if they will end up with the law on their side. In the last four municipal elections in Moyogalpa, right-wing political parties won. And one of the battles Nella is involved in, is against the local tourist chamber, which has allied with the mayor to expropriate Nella and her whole neighborhood, in order to replace them with a seaside road.

When I see Nella a few weeks later for the second time, she tells me that after our interview a representative from city hall passed by, and accused her of giving ‘foreign journalists’ a false impression of the legal status of the land.

But such small things are hardly stopping Nella. “Sure I could develop 0.7 hectares right across the path from here,” says Nella, in whose hut of approximately 200 square feet, a second room is separated from the remainder with a plastic bag. She lives there with four of her children.

When I arrive for my second visit, she has just returned from Rivas, the county capital, where she was promoting the campaign to vote for Ometepe as one of new seven natural wonders of the world. She is even willingly wearing the advertising-t-shirt with the end of the sleeves folded, so the logos of the commercial sponsors don't show.

All those on Nella's side of the path, seem to be on a fairly equal economic footing. These are the people Nella organized.

Only two years ago they renewed their brotherhood by putting up a new sign for their community, the ‘Apante,’ and built a church – from grasses.

The community set up a sign and built a church – from grasses.

How many more pigs?

Ometepe has about 34,000 residents. According to internal calculations of the Sandinista government, of those 13,284 individuals, or 2,234 families, live in extreme poverty. The first group of 100 recipients of ‘zero hunger’ on the island received their animals by March 2008. According to the spokesman of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry on the island, Mario Jose Ivarda, so far only a little under 3% of these animals have died an early death due to improper handling so far. Similar programs of animal and seed gifts have benefitted another 501 families on the island. The next round of animals from ‘zero hunger’ has been halted temporarily though.

Last year, Ortega created a country wide network of so-called Citizen Power Committees (CPC), against the wishes of all other political parties. They are very active especially in the poorer neighborhoods they are very active, and Nella's neighborhood organization is in the form of a CPC.

“The representative of the mayor, the representative of the ministry, and the representative of the party imply ignored the list of priorities we set as the CPC,” says Nella. She summarizes her reasoning for the fact that a higher level decided to halt the give-out of more live-stock packs. Ivarda sees that somewhat differently and believes that many of the people who originally were on the list simply did not fulfill the conditions of the programme.

Nella says that the selection process was heavily partial, and only those with good connections, often several members of the same family, were chosen. Also she claims that the statistics of dead animals have been manipulated. On the other hand, the CPC are generally accused by the opposition as only helping Sandinistas. Members of other parties rarely show up at their meetings.

The rich neighbors

One the other side of the road, Roy lives almost like in the United States.

‘Right across the path’ is the house of Roy and his US American wife. With the land that their neighbors are missing, they operate an eco-tourism farm. She came to Nicaragua to avoid the rat-race at a major US pharmaceutical company. Roy, on the other hand, was once a Sandinista himself. He tells me how he had had enough of the war after several combat missions against the contrarevolutionaries in the 1980s. And then how he became generally disappointed by the Sandinista project, when he found out one day that higher government employees enjoyed Coca-Cola and whiskey. “That was all for me,” Roy defends himself, “I wanted no more of it.”

He then fled to the north, worked as a waiter in Honduras, Guatemala and the United States, but came back before the 1990 elections. He voted against the FSLN, and has done so apparently ever since. About the present government, he complains that they do nothing for the poor, and that they use words such as “anti-imperialism and so” – just like in the 1980s. When I ask him about the ‘zero hunger’ program, he says that only those affiliated with the party would get to take part in it – and he names Nella as an example. “The woman in front of us helped the party during the election campaign, and now she got a pig for it. We always say that the pig is better off than her, because it has a cement floor, while she has no floor at all.” Roy tries to joke, but he realizes quickly that it is inappropriate and he rows back. “She hardly speaks with me, probably because I have a US American wife.”

Because Roy and Nella hardly speak, he does not know that he could be so wrong. Nella raises up to three pigs on her land, but those are owned by other young people in the neighborhood, and her reward will be paid in chunks of meat once they are slaughtered.

Whose government?

Also, the 2006 election campaign was not the first time Nella was active for the party.

“Are you a member of the party?” I ask her when I first meet her. “I am a militant of the Sandinista National Liberation Front!” she shoots back.

She joined the party at the age of sixteen years. First she was trained in Costa Rica and then came back to join the Southern Front – all underground of course. As part of the proletarian tendency, which held the theory that the most important preparatory measure for a revolution against the US-allied Somoza dictatorship was the organizing of the workers, she worked in the mountains under a cover name as a ‘fighter’ – “until the triumph of the revolution” as those days in August 1979 are generally called. Everything was secret, and even now in the city of San Carlos she is only known under this cover name.

Although still a party member, Nella feels discriminated against as an island inhabitant even now: “For them [the mainland residents], we live beyond the outer frontier of civilization� Here everything always arrives last. And it really should be the opposite: We, with the worst infrastructure, should be the first to get help.” She describes how during Somoza's times the island had no electricity. Although Moyogalpa now does have electricity, Nella and the neighbors even further from the city center still don't.

Even though Maria Nella, at least so far, has not received a pig by the government, she continues to support the FSLN and Ortega as her president. “He is not my idol, but I respect him as my president,” she explains while sitting on the wooden bench in front of their hut.

And politically speaking, she is even active outside her local area. During the last year, she was first elected cultural representative for the CPC of her territory number ten, then for the city Moyogalpa, and then for the county of Rivas. “We need to use this government term to develop the culture,” she says as she explains their decision to get involved. The county extends far beyond the island, and so much of her time is spent sitting on the 1.5-hour ferry trip to the mainland. The criticism of the CPC, that they are almost exclusively controlled by the Sandinistas, is not valid for Nella: “Of course others can participate, collaborate and discuss with us. But we are those who decide. I have not fought for sixteen years to regain power, only to then let the political right be in charge anyway.”

Roy already left the Sandinista movement in 1984.

But why this commitment to a government which left her in such poverty? “I'm not a party member to enrich myself,” Nella protests, “of course I do not always agree with what the party does. But to leave it would mean for me to break with my inner political conviction.”

In the 1990s, as a single mother without any permanent source of income, she had to move around a lot. She worked in other places such as Costa Rica, and also for the Nicaraguan military under neo-liberal presidents. And always the Sandinistas lost the elections. “But I never left the ranks of the party—when we hungered, when we froze, when we lived through the whole misery—I never left the front behind. I was always there for my people.”

Education makes the difference

But did not all Sandinista revolutionaries become rich? These are the comments by critics. Nella received a salary: She does not feel poor. “Poverty is what it is in your head,” she tries to explain, “if you have education, then you do not need more than what I have here.”

After spending the first year under the Sandinista controlled post-Somoza government, registering and disbanding weapons stocks, and working as an amateur actress in her spare time, she won a scholarship to study dance and theater, which was awarded to the representatives of the various regions of Nicaragua. “Until we lost the power of 1990,” as she puts it, she was responsible for culture and adult education for the island of Ometepe and was the political secretary of the party.

Roy recently called her ‘Mrs. Doctor,’ even if that was only because he wanted something from her. Nella explains the change in values that took place inside of her like this: “I grew up here, just like everybody else. But I had the opportunity to get to know a different world through my studies – a world of ideas and theories.”

Blanca Nella's pigs are not from the government.

The new government also gave the opportunity to one of Nella’s sons to complete his studies. He is now working for Petronic, the state oil company, and can therefore help her out a bit economically. In any case, until Nella manages to get Roy and his wife expropriated.

“The floor in my house is not a permanent solution,” Nella answers to my question why the pig is better off than her. If all goes well, she may perhaps have a cement floor herself in a few years time.

Change the name of the A.P.M�ller school!

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:08:40 -0700

This is a campaign I started a little over a month ago. And yes, I happened to take the initiative, but the fact that the name wasn't very well chosen was something many people had been thinking about before. Basically, it's this Danish company that's taking over a piece of property that had belonged to the army previously and builds a Danish school on it for 70 million Euros, and everybody gets all excited about how great they are. The problem is just that the company doing it is the shipping giant MAERSK and it's named after their founder Arnold Peter M�ller, who died in the 1960s. Now this guy and this company happen to have a history on earning their money on wars (selling arms to the Nazis and earning high profits on services to the Pentagon in connection with the Iraq war) and using union busting tactics against their workers.

The A.P.M�ller-school of today might be the Gilberto-Soto-school of tomorrow.

Just in terms of numbers If they were to pay the same tax percentages for their oil exploration in Denmark to the Danish government as private companies have to pay to the Norwegian government, that would amount to 6 Billion Euros more in tax income from today until 2045. But the queen, and the Danish minister of education thank them so much for giving 70 million!

When I first wrote this, I wasn't aware of several points that appear in the final version. That is because the first ten people signing it had a say in the contents of it, and several of them added things I didn't have a clue of.

Arnold Peter M�ller -- weapon producer for the Nazis -- is now being honored with a school named after him.

The reaction in the borderland has been like it would be anywhere in Soviet Eastern Europe before the fall of the Berlin Wall: the newspaper Flensborg Avis refused to print it with the argument that the fond paying for the school had been "giving a lot of money to Southern Schleswig in the last couple of years". Other people employed by the Danish institutions either were told that they could not sign such a thing or they were afraid of signing it due to past reaction from the system. The text was allegedly also spread in the intranet of the teachers down there. One guy went as far as calling me six times on my Nicaraguan cell phone and some 20-30 people sent me hate mails of various kinds. A reporter from Flensborg Avis went on and on in Facebook forums, trying to find some or other problem with the text. Unfortunately for him, he just revealed thereby that his investigative skills weren't all that developed.

Still, despite some (unfortunately very uninformed) criticism I and we received so far, I am sure that in a few decades the call will come to fruition in some form or another. Here you can read it in four languages:Remove A. P. M�ller's name from the Danish school in Schleswig!

The area of Southern Schleswig, situated just south of the German-Danish border in German territory, recently received a second Danish high school in the city of Schleswig, sponsored by A.P. M�ller, who is known for his MAERSK company. The school was named the "A.P. M�ller School".

In the months before the official opening, the phenomenal building was admired not just by people associated with the Danish school and association system, but also of those inhabitants who only a day to take advantage of the German institutions in the region. The opening was visited by the Queen of Denmark, and in Arnold M�rsk McKinney M�ller's speech, we were made aware of the role of the private sector in building up the Danish institutions south of the border.

And he was right with that: The private sector pumped well some money into the failed attempts to get a Danish majority in the area before a vote on the borderline in 1920 and financed the expansion of the Danish institutions southward in the post-war years. Axel Johnsons research in A.P. M�ller's financial support and semimilitaristic push towards the south until 1969 -- against the Danish governments' official policy -- is a frightening proof of what ulterior motives were -- and are? -- behind that kind of "support". During the second world war A.P.M�ller had less problems with Germany. As the biggest stockholder in the company Riffelsyndikatet, the family produced weapons for the Nazis -- and tried to get London to stop any attempts of sabotage.

But where does the money come from today?

MAERSK is a global company with revenue producing activities in many countries. Just between 2003 and 2004 MAERSK's trade with the Pentagon grew in connection with logistical tasks between the U.S. and Iraq from just 239 to 639 Billion U.S. dollars. And while MAERSK in South Schleswig behave as benefactor, its role is slightly different in countries such as El Salvador.

An example from Counterpunch.orgs newsletter from the 3rd December 2004: In 2001, MAERSK fired and black-listed 100 company drivers as part of a union busting strategy.

Three years later, in 2004, trade union activist Jos� Gilberto Soto from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who was visiting the country to try to establish contact with port workers, was shot by two armed men outside his mother's house. Soto had worked in New Jersey to investigate MAERSK's violations of labor rights for several years prior to that. MAERSK spokesperson claimed that they did not know about Soto, and trade union activists have since protested against the so-called "independent investigation" into Sotos death, that MAERSK started in cooperation with the government, because they believe it diverts attention from the true facts.

MAERSK controls 80% of the container market in El Salvador, and it is clear that if the workers there would have paid a higher salary, then MAERSK's profit share would diminish. There would probably still be enough left over to give away an opera and a super expensive school every now and then. But it could be interesting for the students to know what kind of activities the money for building their school originated from.

Regardless of whether MAERSK was directly involved in the murder or not, we believe it is people like Soto who are the true heroes that improve the living confitions of the world's poor -- and not the large corporations who earn good at exploiting the disadvantaged. That is still true, even if such companies give parts of their profits to some charity or another.

Now that the queen is back in the Kingdom of Denmark, the school is built, and one really has been everything one wants from A.P. M�ller, it could perhaps be appropriate to show a sign. For this purpose, we propose to rename the A.P. M�ller School. An appropriate name could be the "Gilberto Soto School".

- - - -

Signatures:

Weronika Adamiec, Katerina Arne Aemwargel, Nina Agerskov, Mille Kamilla Albrektsen, Katrine Nymann Amtoft, Nosizwe Lise Baqwa, Ed Basye, Katrin Becker, Kaja Beton, Are Blomfeldt, Tanja Bohm, Ben Brusniak, Eva B�hler, Pedro Caba, Thomas Clausen, Jan Willi Christiansen, Lauritz Nykj�r Dahl, Johan Kristensen Dal, Nikolai Dragnes, Matthias Dreve, Bj�rn Tore Egeberg, Henning Eichberg, Stian R�dven Eide, Bj�nnulv Evenrud, Mike Fallwell, Hans Petter De Fine, Line Flo, Mathias Hunsk�r Furevik, Jason Glaser, Sara Devi Graaf, Kathrin Grundmann, Kathrin Haase, Marit Halse, Bjarne Speth Hansen, Camilla Hansen, Wiebke Hansen, Bob Hatton, Peter Heinen, Solvor Horrig Helland, Hunt Hoffman, Anne H�y Horsberg, Rasmus H�fer, Pia Qu Hyrland, Gunvald Ims, Alexandru Iorga, Helen Jackson, Nika Jamnikar, Bruno Jerup, Helene Mercedes Johansen, Christian Juhl, Nikos Karadilion, Nina Kaschel, Aleksandra Spryt Kawecka, Ronny Kjelsberg, Marieke Klauder, Christoph Klinger, Anna Katharina Kramer, Diana Kress, Morten Godtkj�r Larsen, Angela Lieber, Arne List, Olga Makowska, Malene Meisner, Allan Berg Mortensen, Federico De Musso, Margit Neuhold, Christian Neumann, Thomas Nielsen, Magnhild Nilsen, Erik Nygaard, Diego Olavarr�a, Lasse Olsen, Barbara Paech, Daniel Panduro, Sjur Cappelen Papazian, Eva Paulsen, Anusa Pisanec, Aleksandra Pytko, Friedrich Reimann, Andreas Rohde, Hanns-J�rg Rohwedder, Eduardo Rosales, Kjell R�nningsbakk, Yader S�nchez, Anker Schjerning, Martin Schmidt, Bj�rn Schulz, Jesper Nedergaard Semmelhack, Ingvar T�ll�v Skjerve, Simon Spiekermann, Felix Storch, Linus Strothmann, Teresa Svejnoha, Aleksandra Szwed, Petter Helstad Torp, Leif Trampenau, Monika Tworzydlo, Boris Uran, Douglas Augusto Varela Vilchez, Lindsey Weatherall, Jakob Wilm, Johannes Wilm, Julius Wilm, Miha Zadnikar, Justyna Zietek

- - - -

Fjern A. P. M�llers navn fra skolen i Slesvig!

Sydslesvig har f�et et andet og nyt dansk gymnasium.

I m�nedsvis f�r den officielle �bning blev det f�nomenale byg beundret. Ikke bare af folk tilknyttet det danske skole- og foreningssystem, men ogs� af de beboere, som til dagligt kun benytter sig af de tyske institutioner i landsdelen. Under �bningen var endda dronningen p� bes�g, og i Arnold M�rsk McKinney M�llers tale blev vi gjort opm�rksomme p� det private erhvervslivs rolle i at bygge de danske institutioner syd for gr�nsen op.

Ret har han dermed:

Det private pumpede en del penge ind i det mislykkede fors�g p� at f� dansk flertal i Zone II under afstemningen 1920 og s�rgede specielt for en ekspansion mod syd i efterkrigs�rene. Axel Johnsons forskning i A.P. M�llers finansielle st�tte og semimilitaristiske fremst�d mod Ejderen frem til 1969 ? imod de danske regeringers officielle politik ? er et skr�mmende bevis p� hvilke bagtanker der l� (og ligger?) bag den slags "st�tte". Under anden verdenskrig havde A.P. M�ller derimod mindre problemer med Tyskland. Som st�rste delaktionaer i Riffelsyndikatet producerede familien v�ben til nazisterne -- og pr�vede at klage til London da produktionen blev udsat for sabotage.

Men hvor kommer de penge egentlig fra idag?

MAERSK er et globalt firma med indt�gtsgivende aktiviteter i mange lande. Alene mellem 2003 og 2004 voksede M�rsks handel med Pentagon i forbindelse med logistikopgaver mellem USA og Irak fra godt 239 til 639 mia. dollars. Og mens MAERSK i Sydslesvig opf�rer sig som velg�rer, s� er det lidt anderledes i land som f.eks. El Salvador.

Et eksempel som vi kender til fra Counterpunch.orgs nyhedsbrev fra 3. december 2004: I 2001 fyrede og sort-listede selskabet 100 chauff�rerer i et fors�g p� at �del�gge fagforeningens organiseringsaktiviteter.

Tre �r senere, i 2004, blev fagforeningsaktivisten Jos� Gilberto Soto fra International Brotherhood of Teamsters, som var p� bes�g i landet for at pr�ve at oprette kontakten med havnearbejdere i El Salvador, skudt af to v�bnede m�nd udenfor sin mors hus. Soto havde da arbejdet i New Jersey med at opklare MAERSK's overtr�delser af arbejdsrettigheder i flere �r. MAERSKs talsperson h�vdede at de ikke kendte til Soto, og fagforeningsaktivister har siden protesteret mod den den s�kaldte "uafh�ngige unders�gelse" i Sotos d�d som MAERSK startede i samarbejde med regeringen, fordi de mener den afleder opm�rksomheden fra de sande fakta.

MAERSK kontrollerer 80% af containermarkedet i El Salvador, og det er klart, at hvis arbejderne d�r skulle f� betalt en h�jere l�n, s� vil MAERSKs profitandel g� ned. Der ville vel alligevel v�re nok tilovers til at kunne for�re en opera og en skole i mega-klassen i ny og n�, men det kunne jo v�re interessant for skolens elever at vide, hvilken slags aktiviteter pengene til skolebygningen oprindeligt kom fra.

Uafh�ngigt af, om MAERSK selv var direkte involveret i mordet eller ej, mener vi, at det er personer som Soto, som er de sande helte, der forbedrer verdens fattiges livsbetingelser - og ikke de storkoncerner, som tjener godt p� at udnytte de svagt stillede. Ogs� selv om koncernerne s� af og til giver noget af deres overskud til den ene aller anden velg�renhed.

Nu hvor dronningen er tilbage i kongeriget, skolen er bygget og man egentlig har f�et alt det man vil fra A.P. M�ller, kunne det m�ske v�re passende at vise et tegn.

Til det form�l vil vi foresl� at man omd�ber A. P. M�ller Skolen. Et passende navn kunne v�re "Gilberto Soto Skolen".

Trykket i Dagbladet Arbejderen og Nordjyske.

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Entfernt den Namen A.P. M�ller's von der d�nischen Schule in Schleswig!

S�d-Schleswig, das Gebiet s�dlich der deutsch-d�nischen Grenze, erhielt vor kurzem ein zweites d�nisches Gymnasium. Es liegt in der Stadt Schleswig und ist gesponsert von A.P. M�ller, der f�r sein MAERSK Unternehmen bekannt ist. Die Schule tr�gt den Namen "A. P. M�ller-Schule".

In den Monaten vor der offiziellen Er�ffnung wurde das eindrucksvolle Geb�ude nicht nur von Menschen bewundert, die mit dem d�nischen Schulwesen und Vereinsleben verbunden sind, sondern auch von Bewohnern, die nur die deutschen Institutionen in der Region in Anspruch nehmen. Der Er�ffnung wohnte die K�nigin von D�nemark bei, und in der Rede von Arnold M�rsk McKinney M�ller wurde dem Publikum die wichtige Rolle des privaten Sektors beim Aufbau der d�nischen Institutionen s�dlich der Grenze erkl�rt.

Und Recht hatte er damit:

Der private Sektor pumpte Geld in den gescheiterten Versuch, eine d�nische Mehrheit in der Region vor der Abstimmung von 1920 um den Grenzverlauf zu erreichen, und sorgte dann in den Nachkriegsjahren f�r die Expansion nach S�den. Axel Johnsons Forschung �ber A.P. M�llers finanzielle Unterst�tzung und semimilitaristischen Schub in Richtung S�den bis 1969 -- gegen die offizielle Politik der d�nischen Regierungen -- ist ein erschreckender Beweis daf�r, welche Hintergedanken es da gab (und gibt?) bei dieser Art von "Unterst�tzung". W�hrend des zweiten Weltkriegs hatte A.P.M�ller hingegen weniger Probleme mit Deutschland. Als gr��ter Einzelaktion�r der Firma Riffelsyndikatet produzierte die Familie Waffen f�r die Nazis -- und versuchte, sich in London �ber die Sabotageversuche zu beklagen, die die Produktion stoppen sollten.

Und woher kommt das Geld heute?

MAERSK ist ein globales Unternehmen mit Einnahmequellen in vielen L�ndern. Allein zwischen 2003 und 2004 wuchs MAERSKs Handel mit dem Pentagon im Zusammenhang mit logistischen Aufgaben zwischen den USA und dem Irak von 239 auf 639 Milliarden US-Dollar. Und w�hrend MAERSK sich in S�d-Schleswig als Wohlt�ter verh�lt, ist die Rolle des Konzerns eine andere in L�ndern wie El Salvador.

Ein Beispiel, das im Counterpunch.orgs Newsletter vom 3. Dezember 2004 genannt ist: 2001 feuerte MAERSK 100 Fahrer als Teil einer Anti-Gewerkschaftsstragie.

Drei Jahre sp�ter, im Jahre 2004, wurde der Gewerkschaftsaktivist Jos� Gilberto Soto von der International Brotherhood of Teamsters bei einem gewerkschaftsorientertem Besuch des Landes, bei dem er Kontakt mit den Hafenarbeitnehmer aufnehmen wollte, von zwei bewaffneten M�nnern vor dem Haus seiner Mutter erschossen. Soto hatte zuvor in New Jersey mehrere Jahre lang daran gearbeitet, MAERSKs Verletzungen des Arbeitsrechts anzuprangern und aufzukl�ren. MAERSKs Sprecher kommentierte nach dem Tode, sie kennten Soto nicht. Seitdem haben gewerkschaftliche Aktivisten gegen die so genannte "unabh�ngige Untersuchung" von Sotos Tod, die MAERSK in Zusammenarbeit mit der Regierung startete, protestiert, denn sie glauben, dass diese nur von den wahren Geschehnissen ablenkt.

MAERSK kontrolliert 80% des Container-Marktes in El Salvador, und es ist klar dass MAERSKs Gewinn�berschuss verringert w�rde, wenn die Firma ihren Arbeitnehmern dort mehr Lohn zahlen w�rden. Trotzdem w�re wahrscheinlich immer noch genug daf�r �brig, die eine oder andere Oper und Schule in der Megaklasse zu verschenken. Aber es k�nnte f�r die Sch�ler der Schule in Schleswig interessant sein zu wissen, von welcher Art von Aktivit�ten das Geld f�r den Aufbau ihrer Schule urspr�nglich kam.

Egal ob MAERSK direkt am Mord beteiligt war oder nicht, meinen wir dass es Menschen wie Soto sind, die die wahren Helden sind, die die Lebensbedingungen der Armen der Welt verbessern ? und nicht die gro�en Konzerne, die an der Ausnutzung der Unterdr�ckten verdienen. Das gilt auch, wenn diese Unternehmen einen Teil ihres �berschusses f�r wohlt�tige Zwecke weggeben.

Jetzt, da die K�nigin ins K�nigreich D�nemark zur�ckgekehrt ist, die Schule gebaut ist, und man alles hat, was man von A.P. M�ller wollte, w�re es angebracht ein Zeichen zu setzen. Zu diesem Zweck schlagen wir vor, die A.P. M�ller-Schule umzubenennen. Ein passender Name k�nnte der Name "Gilberto Soto-Schule" sein.

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�Quiten el nombre de AP M�ller de la escuela danesa en Schleswig!

En la regi�n alemana Schleswig del Sur, situada en la frontera con Dinamarca, fue construida hace poco la segunda escuela de secundaria danesa en la ciudad de Schleswig, patrocinada por el fondo de AP M�ller, quien es conocido por su empresa MAERSK. La escuela fue nombrada "Escuela de A. P. M�ller".

En los meses anteriores a la apertura oficial, el enorme edificio fue admirado no s�lo por personas vinculadas con escuelas y el sistema de asociaciones danesas, sino tambi�n por aquellos habitantes que normalmente s�lo usan las instituciones alemanas en la regi�n. La apertura fue visitada por la Reina de Dinamarca y en la charla dada por Arnold M�rsk McKinney M�ller, destac� el papel del sector privado en la creaci�n de las instituciones danesas en el sur de la frontera.

Y ten�a raz�n: el sector privado financi� muchos de los fallidos intentos de obtener una mayor�a danesa en la zona durante una votaci�n sobre la l�nea de la frontera en 1920 y tambi�n financi� gran parte de la expansi�n del sistema dan�s hacia el sur en los a�os de la posguerra. Las investigaciones de Axel Johnsons sobre el apoyo financiero de A.P.M�ller y su empuje semimilitar�stico hacia el sur hasta el 1969 - contra las l�neas pol�ticas oficiales de los gobiernos daneses - es una aterradora prueba de lo que fueron las segundas intenciones (�y posiblemente todav�a son?) con ese tipo de "apoyo". En los a�os de la segunda guerra mundial, a A.P.M�ller le gustaba Alemania mas. Como due�o de 31.6% de los acciones de la empresa Riffelsyndikatet, la familia produjo armas para los Nazis -- y trat� de contactar a Londres para poner fin al sabotaje de la producci�n.

Pero, �de d�nde viene este dinero realmenten ahora?

MAERSK es una compa��a global con actividades que producen ingresos en muchos pa�ses. S�lo entre 2003 y 2004 el comercio entre MAERSK y el Pent�gono creci�, gracias a operaciones de log�stica entre los EE.UU. e Iraq, de 239 a 639 mil millones de d�lares. Mientras que MAERSK en Schleswig del Sur se comporta como benefactor, su funci�n es ligeramente diferente en pa�ses como El Salvador.

Un ejemplo del bolet�n de Counterpunch.orgs del 3 de diciembre de 2004: En 2001, Maersk dispidi� y puso en una lista negra a 100 conductores de la empresa como parte de una estrategia contra el sindicalismo.

Tres a�os m�s tarde, en 2004, el activista sindical Jos� Gilberto Soto de la International Brotherhood of Teamsters, que se encontraba de visita en el pa�s para tratar de establecer contacto con los trabajadores portuarios, fue baleado por dos hombres armados fuera de la vivienda de su madre. Soto hab�a trabajado en Nueva Jersey para investigar las violaciones de los derechos laborales de MAERSK durante unos a�os antes de la tragedia. El portavoz de MAERSK declar� que no conoc�a a Soto, y los activistas sindicales protestaron contra la "investigaci�n independiente" de la muerte de Soto, que Maersk hizo en cooperaci�n con el gobierno, porqu� creen que desv�a la atenci�n de los verdaderos hechos.

MAERSK controla el 80% del mercado de contenedores en El Salvador, y es evidente que si hubieran pagado un salario m�s alto a los trabajadores, el porcentaje de ganancia de MAERSK hubiera disminuido. Es probable que todav�a tuvieran suficientes fondos para continuar financiando �peras y escuelas super caras. Tiene que ser interesante para los estudiantes saber de qu� tipos de actividades provienen los fondos que han financiado la construcci�n de su escuela.

Independiente de si MAERSK est� directamente involucrada en el asesinato o no, creemos que es la gente como Soto, que son los verdaderos h�roes, los que mejoran las condicionse de la vida de los pobres del mundo - y no las grandes empresas, aqu�llas que ganan dinero en la explotaci�n de los desfavorecidos. Eso sigue siendo cierto, incluso si estas empresas dan parte de sus beneficios a la caridad de alg�n tipo.

Ahora que la Reina ya regres� a su Reino de Dinamarca, la escuela ya fue construida, y el pueblo ya ha obtenido lo que quer�a de AP M�ller, es el momento para denunciar el hecho con una se�al. Por eso proponemos que cambien el nombre de la Escuela A.P. M�ller. Un nombre apropiado podr�a ser la "Escuela de Gilberto Soto".

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http://www.teamsters.org/press-release.aspx?id=15486

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-3406547/Teamsters-Reject-Maersk-Offer-to.html

http://www.nlcnet.org/campaigns/soto/report.shtml

http://dbacon.igc.org/Work/2005maersk.html

http://www.counterpunch.org/allen12032004.html

http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=131&Itemid=27

http://www.counterpunch.org/allen11112005.html

http://www.laborradio.org/node/608

http://www.teamsters.org/press-release.aspx?id=15694

"Krigens K�bm�nd" ved Christian Jensen, Tomas Kristiansen og Karl Erik Nielsen, udgivet af Gyldendal, ISBN 87-00-46974-2