Subordination must disappear before democracy can exist
COMMENT - This is not an American issue, or even a British issue. This is an oligarch issue. The irony that in fact it is possible for a Zambian politician with deep enough pockets (HH, are you listening), to 'sponsor' an American senator or representative, and get pro-Zambian policies passed in the American houses of Congress. (I'm being sarcastic, but that is the system that exists today.) As we speak major political commentators are in fact lobbyists for the countries of Honduras, Georgia, and of course China. Courtesy of Citizens United, which of course is a direct assault on the sovereignty and democratic content of the nation state it was passed in.The trillionaire oligarchs are all about the destruction of national sovereignty - national identity, national monuments, national language, national solidarity, national borders, national religion, because strong nations make for strong states, and states are the only competition that is left to them, all that is left between them and world domination. And they fear the sheer numbers of the people, so they need to manage their minds and their psychology. Also read:
Zambia: King Cobra Disappoints and Confounds
President Sata's many promises in 2011 have so far amounted to little but disappointment.
Article | 16 July 2012 - 5:15pm | By Robert Rotberg
Subordination must disappear before democracy can exist
Sat 08 Sep. 2012, 10:20 CAT
No nation has the power to impose its will on other countries. It is said that the social furniture of modern society is so complicated and fragile that it cannot support the jackboot. And it is also said that we cannot run the process of modern society by attempting to impose our will on other nations. And those who have not learnt that are said to have learnt nothing.
We know that what President Michael Sata is saying about some foreign diplomats interfering in the domestic politics of Zambia is true. They are interfering. And they are doing so because we have allowed them the right to interfere in our politics for the last two decades.
And there is no Zambian president who has not complained, in one way or another, about foreign diplomats accredited to Zambia interfering in this country's domestic politics. Dr Kenneth Kaunda used to complain about such interference. Frederick Chiluba did the same. And even Rupiah Banda complained about foreign interference in the domestic politics of this country. Therefore, the threat to expel foreign diplomats accredited to this country if the government finds that they are interfering in Zambia's domestic politics is justifiable and not without basis.
We therefore urge those concerned to realise that if they are to live in the world and to be be regarded as decent nations, decent citizens in the world, they have to act up to different standards than the ones they have so far been following.
The democracy they talk about cannot be realised by any of our countries under the conditions they are imposing on us - conditions of subordination.
The subordination of one country to another must disappear before democracy can exist. How can a country that is subordinated to another country, politically and otherwise, be democratic? Under such conditions, the whole political system becomes nothing but a tool of imperialism for maintaining its domination.
Michael did not mention the countries involved in the interference he is complaining about. But we can mention those countries. It is the United States and British missions in Zambia.
Professor Robert Rotberg was brought here by the United States embassy in Lusaka to do what he did.
This is the article that got things going (also read the comments):
Zambia: King Cobra Disappoints and Confounds
President Sata's many promises in 2011 have so far amounted to little but disappointment.
Article | 16 July 2012 - 5:15pm | By Robert Rotberg
The professor has also written: China Into Africa - Trade, Aid, and Influence, by Robert I. Rotberg
From the description at Amazon.com:
" About the Author
Robert I. Rotberg directs the the Program on Intrastate Conflict and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and is president of the World Peace Foundation. He is the author or editor of numerous books including Worst of the Worst: Dealing with Repressive and Rogue Nations (Brookings, 2007), Building a New Afghanistan (Brookings, 2007), and Battling Terrorism in the Horn of Africa (Brookings, 2005). "
Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation is Alex de Waal.
And also from Think Africa magazine:
" Robert Rotberg
President Emeritus of the World Peace Foundation
Robert I. Rotberg is President emeritus of the World Peace Foundation. An American professor in governance and foreign affairs, he was director of the Program on Intrastate Conflict, Conflict Prevention, and Conflict Resolution at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government (1999-2010), and has served in administrative positions at Tufts University and Lafayette College. In 2003-2004, he served as a member of the Secretary of State's Advisory Panel on Africa, and was a Presidential appointee to the Council of the National Endowment for the Humanities."
Also, here he blames the effects of the World Bank's structural adjustment programmes on Africa's leadership. He doesn't mention that Asia moved ahead by steadfastly ignoring the three horsemen of the neoliberal economic apocalypse, deregulation, privatisation and free trade. In the Rockefellers' Council on Foreign Relations's (CFR) magazine Foreign Affairs, from back in 2000:
Africa's Mess, Mugabe's Mayhem, by Robert I. Rotberg
And from 2010, inferring that President Mugabe is Adolf Hitler:
(FOREIGN AFFAIRS, CFR) Mugabe Über Alles
The Tyranny of Unity in Zimbabwe
By Robert I. Rotberg
July/August 2010
Did he or Foreign Affairs complain about democracy and apartheid when their Anglo-American Corporation freely benefited from both colonialism and apartheid, systems put in place largely if not completely to execute on their business plans? But now, President Mugabe is 'a tyrant', a title they never applied to, say, the South African president under apartheid or any white minority regime in the 1970s or 1980s. They thought it was 'normal' exclude 90% of the population from national elections, when it came to Africa. Anyway...
From Keith Harmon Snow:
BLOOD DIAMOND
DOUBLETHINK & DECEPTION OVER THOSE WORTHLESS LITTLE ROCKS OF DESIRE
Rick Hines & keith harmon snow
PEACE IS WAR, IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
In 2001, the World Peace Foundation Program on Intrastate Conflict at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government organized a conference on conflict diamonds that “involved stakeholders of diverse interests.” WPF program director Robert Rotberg chaired the meeting. Rotberg also directs the Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Human Rights, whose directors are the core of the defense and intelligence establishment, men like John Deutch, former CIA director, and Richard Darmam, partner, Carlyle Group. The Harvard diamond conference actually normalized De Beers’ relations with the U.S. Government: De Beers reps received a special government amnesty to attend the conference after years of exile from the U.S. due to anti-trust law violations.
In 2002 the WPF produced a report Diamonds in Peace and War: Severing the Conflict-Diamond Connection. The report lauded the Kennedy School’s efforts based on a rush of activity that followed the conference at the end of November 2001.[31] The “rush of activity” included the U.S. government’s Clean Diamond Trade Act (H.R. 722), born in November 2001, passed in April 2003. All bluster and polish, the Act gave the U.S. President authority to institute “War on Terror” sanctions against any country that deals in dirty diamonds. The U.S. General Accounting Office noted in 2006 that the law is weak and deeply flawed. Since at least 1996, the campaigns of Russ Feingold (D-WI), who co-sponsored the Senate version, have been frequently funded by Leon Tempelsman & Son (1, 2). (Who also contributes to ZDERA co-sponsors Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.)
Comment - Russ 'The Progressive' Feingold was one of the co-sponsors of ZDERA (along with Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Jesse Helms), which put the Zimbabwean government under a credit freeze through Section 4 C. The language in this section he tried to continue in his personally sponsored Zimbabwe sanctions law, the Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2010. And then he mysteriously lost his senate seat.
SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY.
(d) Multilateral Financing Conditions- The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director to each international financial institution to oppose any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe unless...
{exemptions follow}
Maurice Tempelsman was heavily involved in the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, worked for Lazard Freres and De Beers, and as such is basically the Rothschild's representative. This would also explain the centrality of both the language about the DRC and diamonds in both the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 and the Zimbabwe Transition to Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2010. (Gossip: he was also a companion to Jackie O., also see here.)
Maurice Tempelsman is also close to the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001 co-sponsor, Hillary Clinton, and her husband Bill. From the Washington Post, from 1997:
" A longtime companion to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Tempelsman has been a guest at the Clinton White House nearly a dozen times, enjoying two private chats with Hillary Rodham Clinton. He flew to Moscow and back with President Clinton on Air Force One in 1995, and has accompanied the president and first lady sailing on Martha's Vinyard during their vacation trips. "
Source: (WASHINGTON POST) DNC Donor With an Eye On Diamonds
By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 2, 1997; Page A01
NM Rothschild provided "funding for the creation of De Beers in 1887", which trades and mines 40% of the world's diamonds. Zimbabwe has 20% of the world's known diamond reserves in the Chiadzwa and Marange diamond fields.
- MrK
The British High Commission in Lusaka, together with DFID, are also involved in similar things. They have all sorts of activities that are aimed at giving them some say in the politics of this country. Even their programmes to help 'strengthen' our political parties are also aimed at that. They have been bringing in all sorts of 'researchers' for the same purpose.
We have no doubt that what they are trying to do in this country they would not allow anyone to do in their own countries. What the United States and British diplomats are doing here, our diplomats cannot do in their countries.
But let's not be naive and forget that all these foreign missions are here to serve the interests of their own countries and not ours. But sometimes we have been so naive to think that whatever they think is correct and good for us. And as such we have been very eager to work for them against the interests of our own country.
Some opposition politicians and other civil society elements think the only way to succeed is to be assisted and promoted by these missions. But this is clearly not true because the Patriotic Front won last year's elections without money or the political support of these missions. And our whole liberation struggle in this region succeeded without them. They were actually on the opposite side. They were the sympathisers of Apartheid and white minority regimes in our region. We fought them and triumphed.
And let's not also forget that the problems in Zimbabwe, the decimation of that country's economy are partly due to their interference in the internal affairs of that country. But in Zimbabwe they met their match. For more than a decade, they have failed to impose their will on that country in the way they are doing in other countries. They wanted a regime change, they didn't get it in Zimbabwe.
[Partly? Knowing the sequence of events and the role of the knowing destruction of the Zimbabwe Dollar, I would say all of it is Blair and Bush administrations' doing. They wanted to prevent the success of land reform, which was a raging success in the first two years (2000, 2001) until the implementation of the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act of 2001, going into effect on Jan. 1st 2002. Only from 2002 onwards did we see the destruction of the Zimbabwe economy. - MrK]
A regime change will come in Zimbabwe and this is inevitable. But it will not be, and should not be, because of their will and their interference. Change should come in Zimbabwe as a result of the people of that country's desire and will to change their political leadership; as a result of a growth in the confidence in the power of ordinary Zimbabweans to transform their country, and thus transform themselves. This is the type of democracy we are seeking and should be seeking - a growth in the appreciation of people organising, deciding, creating together.
It is not a secret that the Zimbabwean opposition is under their control and funded by them. The opposition leadership in Zimbabwe is, in one way or another, an agent of theirs. We don't want the same to happen in Zambia. We want political parties that truly arise from the people and are pushed into power by the support of the people and not through the machinations of British or American imperialism.
We have been very quiet on these issues for many years and it's time we start resisting; it's time we started denouncing this undesirable behaviour which is not even in accord with acceptable international norms as stipulated under the Geneva Convention.
No one from our part of the world tells the Americans or the British how they should govern themselves. Even when we try on matters of common global interest, they never listen to us; they always do as they please.
Here, the United States ambassador or British high commissioner is made to believe he is at the same level with the president of our Republic. How is this possible? Is it simply because they represent rich and militarily very powerful countries? Look at the arrogance! Look at the lack of respect! What is its source? Is it money? What is it? Is it imperial might?
[Who owns Anglo-American De Beers? - MrK]
They are entitled to be treated with great respect by all of us because they are representatives of nations of people we respect and love. Zambians love the British people a lot. And they have a duty to love them. And no British citizen should be mistreated by anyone in this country. We have a long history we share and we have a future we can share through cooperation and solidarity. But that has to be a product of mutual respect and solidarity. We would like to see more British people come and invest and settle in this country and make it their homeland.
Equally, no Zambian has the right to hate, mistreat or humiliate any American citizen. Many ordinary Americans supported the liberation struggles of our region, sometimes against the wishes and positions of their government. We have no right to be ungrateful to them. We have a duty to respect and love them and indeed defend them when they are unjustifiably attacked by some insane people like it happened on September 11, 2001.
But again that type of solidarity and love is only possible under conditions of mutual respect and reciprocity.
It is time our politicians and other leaders from civil society start to see the world the way it really is. What is needed here is a government of the people by the people for the people, to borrow from Abraham Lincoln's wisdom. What we need are governments that arise from the people, have the support of the people and devote themselves entirely to working and struggling for the people and the people's interests.
And moreover, democracy implies the defence of all the rights of citizens, including the right to independence, freedom, national dignity and honour. There can be no independence, freedom, national dignity and honour in a country whose president and other political leaders are remote controlled by the missions of powerful countries.
We can't have a president of a country who is controlled by remote by the missions of the financially powerful countries. We can't also have opposition leaders whose political agendas are designed by the foreign missions of the United States and Britain in our country. Yes, they have the money and through their agencies they can fund a lot of things. But we should not allow this to be a ticket for their interference in the domestic affairs of our country. We don't want political parties that are run by these missions to decide the destiny of our country.
There is need for patriotism on this score. There is need for vigilance on this issue. We need to be fully aware of what damage this interference can do to the self-confidence, dignity, honour and independence of a people, a nation.
And we close this comment with some guidance from the apostle of our independence struggle on this score:
"No Zambian diplomat is allowed in any way at any time in the country he has gone to serve Zambia to interfere with the affairs of that country. This is not allowed by the government. Any diplomat who does that will be dealt with very severely. In the same way, we expect those who come here as diplomats from other countries never to interfere in our own affairs."
Labels: AMBASSADOR, HILLARY CLINTON, MICHAEL SATA, NEOCOLONIALISM, TREASON
posted by MrK @ 5:46 PM
6 Comments:
On Lazard Freres and Lazare Kaplan. Maurice Tempelsman is the Chairman of the Board of Directors at Lazare Kaplan International. From Reference.com:
Lazare Kaplan International
Lazare Kaplan International Inc. (LKI) is a diamond manufacturing and distribution company based in New York City. The Chairman of the Board of Directors is Maurice Tempelsman.
Business activities
LKI's main business activity is cutting and polishing "ideal-cut" and "fine make" diamonds, which it sells to upscale retail jewelers throughout the world. Some of these diamonds are distributed loose while others are set in jewelry under The Lazare Diamond brand. LKI distributes its products through over 1,500 retail partners and customers in 29 countries.
Although primarily based in the United States, LKI also has sales offices in Belgium, Italy, Mexico, Japan, China and Hong Kong. While some 60% of LKI’s sales are in the US, Canada and Europe, LKI has also operated in Japan since 1973, Southeast Asia since 1987 and Latin America since 1997.
LKI’s primary factory is located in Caguas, Puerto Rico, and is the largest diamond cutting and polishing factory in the United States. The company also has manufacturing operations in other parts of the world. It has established a joint manufacturing partnership with Alrosa (the Russian government-owned mining company), with cutting facilities in Moscow and Barnaul. In addition, it produces in Antwerp, Belgium (mainly larger stones and square-cut diamonds), and has contract manufacturing operations in China and Thailand. In Africa, LKI has manufacturing facilities in Botswana; a joint manufacturing and technical services agreement with NamGem in Namibia; and a partnership with Nozala Investments (Pty.) to manufacture diamonds in South Africa.
Company history
LKI was founded in 1903 by Mr Lazare Kaplan. The Tempelsman group purchased a controlling interest in LKI in 1984. LKI has been publicly listed since 1972 and remains the only company specialising in diamond manufacturing whose shares are publicly listed on a US stock exchange ( American Stock Exchange; stock symbol: LKI). It has been a Diamond Trading Company (DTC) Sightholder since 1946. In 1985, it became the first company to launch a branded diamond ( The Lazare Diamond ).
Technical innovation
In 1919, Lazare Kaplan’s cousin, mathematician Marcel Tolkowsky, first published the mathematical formula for diamonds cut to "ideal" proportions, a formula designed to optimise the brilliance, fire and sparkle in a polished diamond. In the same year, LKI became the first commercial-scale operation to cut its diamonds to ideal proportions. In 1957, LKI developed the modern oval cut, and in 1983 it developed and patented the laser inscription process. In 2002, LKI was awarded a patent, jointly with the General Electric Company, for the high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) process for improving the color of certain all-natural diamond types. In addition, LKI has secured numerous patents on diamond setting techniques and innovations in displays for loose polished stones and jewelry.
(Continued 1...)
Ethical standards
LKI supports (and has helped develop) policies that prohibit the trade in conflict diamonds, prevent money laundering, combat the financing of terrorism, and promote transparency, fair dealing and disclosure throughout the diamond pipeline. It is LKI’s strict policy to clearly identify its prospective suppliers and its customers before entering into any business transaction.
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme
– LKI actively participated in the inaugural meeting of diamond industry stakeholders in Kimberley, South Africa, in May 2000, and participated in all subsequent deliberations that led to the January 2003 adoption of the KPCS and its system of controls over rough diamond trading, intended to combat the trade in conflict diamonds. LKI will not import or export rough diamonds without an accompanying Kimberley
Process Certificate of origin.
World Diamond Council Industry Self-Regulation – Established in conjunction with the KPCS, the WDC has established a system of buyer-seller warranties to extend the reach and effectiveness of the KPCS throughout the entire diamond pipeline. LKI trades only with companies that provide such warranties, guaranteeing the conflict-free origin of the diamonds on their invoices. All sales and consignments of LKI diamonds are accompanied by LKI’s own warranty statement. This flow of warranties in and warranties out is audited and reconciled on an annual basis by LKI’s financial auditors.
Zero tolerance for conflict diamonds – LKI follows a policy of zero tolerance for conflict diamonds as defined by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/56 of 2000 The LKI system of controls was instituted before the existence of this UN Resolution, and received special commendation from the UN for its contribution to stemming the flow of conflict diamonds. All of LKI’s rough diamond buyers are required to sign and abide by a written code of ethical diamond trading conduct as a condition of continued employment.
Trade association membership – LKI and its officers are members of a wide variety of diamond and jewelry industry associations including, but not limited to, the American Gem Society, the Jewelers Vigilance Committee, the Jewelers Board of Trade, the Diamond Manufacturers and Importers Association, the Jewelers Credit Interchange Group, the Jewelers Security Alliance, the New York Diamond Dealers Club, and the Council for Responsible Jewelry Practices.
Best Practice Principles Assurance Program (a Diamond Trading Company program ) – LKI subscribes to and is compliant with this program, which was developed to demonstrate to supply chain partners, consumers and other interested stakeholders that the exploration, extraction, sorting, cutting and polishing of diamonds, and the manufacture and sale of diamond jewelry is undertaken in a professionally, ethically, socially and environmentally friendly and accountable way.
(Continued 3...)
Corporate citizenship policies
LKI supports and implements, within the scope of its influence, a set of core values in the areas of human rights, development, labor standards and environmental sustainability.
Social Accountability International (SAI) – LKI’s primary factory in Puerto Rico was the first such factory in the world to be certified by SAI for compliance with the highest standard of workplace norms, as measured by SAI’s internationally recognized social accountability measuring system ( SA8000). The SA8000 standard and verification system provides a credible, comprehensive and efficient measure of humane workplace practices and public responsibility.
UN Global Compact – In 2000, LKI became a founding member of the United Nations Global Compact, intended to support universal environmental and social principles.
Global Sullivan Principles – LKI endorses and subscribes to the Global Sullivan Principles, a code of conduct designed to promote social justice, human rights and economic opportunity.
External links
1. Lazare Kaplan International (LKI) official website: (click here)
2. Description of LKI in the DTC Directory of Sightholders: (click here)
Very Good and Informational Article.In addition, it produces in Antwerp, Belgium (mainly larger stones and square-cut diamonds), and has contract manufacturing operations in China and Thailand. In Africa, LKI has manufacturing facilities in Botswana; a joint manufacturing and technical services agreement with NamGem in Namibia; and a partnership with Nozala Investments (Pty.) to manufacture diamonds in South Africa.
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