#military coup

[geminisee]

ok so in the span of like 5 hours:

- the south korean president declared martial law (the first time since s korea stopped being a military dictatorship in the 80s)

- claims his political opponents are insurgents working on behalf of north korea and communism

- declares that all political activity must cease (inc the national assembly/parliament), all media must be under the control of the military, and all protests/strikes are illegal

- the opposing political party immediately assembles at the national assembly in the middle of the night

- holds an emergency vote that goes thru 190-0 to declare the end to martial law (while barricading the entrances to prevent the military from entering and removing them)

- the president concedes an hour later

- civilian protesters in the streets are calling for the impeachment & arrest of the president

please feel free to add details/correct me

as of 2:40 EST Dec 3 2024

[gay-david-tennant]

have a reverse Destiel confession meme ‘cause Dean just didn’t say enough to fit everything there (at least he gets to say ‘i love you’ this way)

[odinsblog]

Idk, but if Putin doesn’t want the Wagner Group to continue challenging him, maybe he should just give the Wagner Group whatever Russian territory they control. Do it for peace and to stop unnecessary bloodshed, like he told Ukraine to do.

[the-worms-are-all-right]

friendly reminder that today (9/11/23) marks 50 years since the coup in Chile. I have literally not seen anyone talking about it.

Chile was under dictatorship for almost 17 years. over 3000 people lost their lives, and many others were forced to flee the country. artists, socialists and communists were given absolutely inhumane treatment. the coup leader were never charged for his crimes.

as we all know, history repeats itself when we forget it. i just hope that we’ll never forget what happened in Chile. that we will recognize the early stages of persecution of political opponents, and ensure democracy. that we will remember the ones who gave their lives to the fight.

anyone and everyone who has been affected by the coup in Chile: my thoughts are with you today.

[alwaysbewoke]

[themundanemudperson]

my dad picked a great time to go on a twelve day meditation retreat with no contact with the outside world

in family happenings:

my cousins house burnt down

my aunt got into a car accident

in world news:

the whole titan submersible debacle

military coup in russia

so that was fun to explain to him

[workersolidarity]

List of US Military and CIA-backed coups around the world 1946-2017

[plethoraworldatlas]

In what case litigants are calling the first time an American jury has held a U.S. corporation legally liable for atrocities abroad, federal jurors in Florida on Monday found that Chiquita Brands International financed a Colombian paramilitary death squad that murdered, tortured, and terrorized workers in a bid to crush labor unrest in the 1990s and 2000s.

The federal jury in West Palm Beach, Florida found the banana giant responsible for funding the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and awarded eight families whose members were murdered by the right-wing paramilitary group $38.3 million in damages.

EarthRights International, which first filed the case—Doe v. Chiquita—in 2007, called the verdict "a milestone for justice."

"The jury's decision reaffirms what we have long asserted: Chiquita knowingly financed the AUC, a designated terrorist organization, in pursuit of profit, despite the AUC's egregious human rights abuses," the group said.

"By providing over $1.7 million in illegal funding to the AUC from 1997 to 2004, Chiquita contributed to untold suffering and loss in the Colombian regions of Urabá and Magdalena, including the brutal murders of innocent civilians," EarthRights added. "This historic verdict also means some of the victims and families who suffered as a direct result of Chiquita's actions will finally be compensated."

One of the plaintiffs in the case called the verdict the "triumph of a process that has been going on for almost 17 years, for all of us who have suffered so much during these years."

Plaintiffs' attorney Agnieszka Fryszman said that "the verdict does not bring back the husbands and sons who were killed, but it sets the record straight and places accountability for funding terrorism where it belongs: at Chiquita's doorstep."

The U.S. labor reporting site More Perfect Unioncalled the verdict "an unprecedented win against corporate violence, which could [be] the first of many."

A Chiquita spokesperson toldFruitnet that the company plans to appeal the verdict.

The AUC was formed in 1997 via the union of right-wing paramilitary groups battling leftist guerrillas—mainly the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and National Liberation Army (ELN)—in the South American nation's civil war. Closely linked to Colombia's U.S.-backed military, the AUC—some of whose members were trained by Israelis—was designated a terrorist organization in 2001 by the U.S. State Department, which cited its "massacres, kidnappings of civilians, and participation in the trafficking of narcotics."

[knifeknifeknife69]

participating in geopolitics the only way I know how

[juliettedelune]

I'm so tired of living in historical events. Can I live in peace and see this shit in books and movies rather than the news feed?

[nando161mando]

"USA will become a fascist dictatorship." It already was one.

[nnn-lll-nnn]

To the Free Xanxon Army and the Imperium/Novo Alliance.

Do not presume, even for a second, that you will win this war.

To Kathryn, spokeswoman. (Yeah, yes yes yes, that videyo you just received ist off your drone going down.)

Tell your commanders to surrender NOW. I no play games, woman. I know you can see the vehicles outside the palace, it is from youer offitz vindov-c, tiyihn khyn. Yornkelov, he must meet me outside of the building, twenty minutes from now, or we will begin executing hostages and firing on that location. Again, as you already know by nau, I yamnh Kommandant He Hyn, I will speak to him in dzea open, no? No, no guards, no tanks firing, just two of us, and maybr you, or your little friends. If you chose to pick them, 1rst notify me, on this channyel, and 2nd Sekaound, I vill be using my own lieutenants and my own friends. Do not play games with me, if I go down I will happily die for the glory of the Empire, knoving your army will die off.

You must also be familiar with that drone we just shot down, what in dzea hell did you think would happen? Broadcasting signal for a ll to hear?; Woman, you play stupid games and win even dumber prizes knowing you and your kind. Don't test me or my crew like that again, idiyot. What kind if fool tries that?

If your troopers do not stand down and surrender immediyatelly, within the timespace between now and dauwn, at 0600 Xanxon City local time, zone AB11,GDZ is AA, I repeat at siks'z'hyn ocklock our tayenmn, hyn? you must all be vafving vait flags off shrr surrender, surEST surrender. Iff not, I vill schoot and open fayar on you all. Your armies are losing! After all! Do you vantkant to make more vieo vidowes? No, so make it easiy on everybodiy, and jast give ap alryeadyiy.

And to you, Markovich.

I do *not* know who in dzea hell you *think* you are messing vit, accusing us of plotting terroristic sattack on Dokal?!, bat I ckan assure you that it is all lies, rumnours and ledjends. This tayp off deceit and mytologdjikal thinking leads you to novere bat dzea lyunattyik adsaylyum! Qvit it alryeady vit zea "Operatziyohn Dropbox" bullzhiht, bekaus'z ist jast dzat, bullshittery, I knouw ackuze you of crimes, now do aiyhn? S'dzyohn back off! And if you even TRY to assist our littel rebelliyouhn, I svear to you, I will PERSONALLY assure Dokal City is left nothing more than ruins. You ar e fucking with TME, dzea most powerful empayar vorld ever sea!

Hayl Xanxoni!

Azul Xanxoni!

Praiz Xanxoni!

Death to all of you Onperiyals and traitors to Xanxon Empire.

This is He Hyn, a-out.

[odinsblog]

(more) (related) (related)

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has vowed to "go all the way" to topple Russia's military leadership, hours after the Kremlin accused him of "armed rebellion"

Yevgeny Prigozhin said his Wagner fighters had crossed the border from Ukraine into Russia, entering the city of Rostov-on-Don.

Mr Prigozhin said his men would destroy anyone who stood in their way.

Mr Prigozhin claimed that his forces had shot down a Russian military helicopter that "opened fire on a civilian convoy". He did not give a location and the assertion could not be immediately verified.

The Wagner Group is a private army of mercenaries that has been fighting alongside the regular Russian army in Ukraine.

Tension has been growing between them over how the war has been fought, with Mr Prigozhin launching vocal criticisms of Russia's military leadership in recent months.

On Friday, the 62-year-old mercenary leader accused the military of launching a deadly missile strike on his troops and vowed to punish them.

👉🏿 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66005256.amp

[tinyreviews]

You like thrillers? You like politics? You like military fiction? Go into this blind and enjoy the ride. Also, a rare story where the villain is the protagonist.

12.12: The Day (Korean: 서울의 봄; RR: Seoul-ui bom; lit. Spring in Seoul ) is a 2023 South Korean historical action drama film directed by Kim Sung-su, starring Hwang Jung-min, Jung Woo-sung, Lee Sung-min, Park Hae-joon and Kim Sung-kyun.

[southeastasianists]

Myanmar's military is producing a vast range of weapons to use against its own people thanks to supplies from companies in at least 13 countries, former top UN officials say.

The US, France, India and Japan are among those named, despite Western-led sanctions intended to isolate Myanmar.

The report says the home-produced arms are used to carry out atrocities against those who oppose the military.

Myanmar has been engulfed in violence since a February 2021 military coup.

Opponents of the coup, which ousted the elected government, have joined ethnic rebel groups in resisting military rule.

The Special Advisory Council on Myanmar's report notes that several UN member states continue to sell weapons to the military.

"An equally important factor, however, is the fact that Myanmar's armed forces can produce, in-country, a variety of weapons that are being used to target civilians," it says.

The firms named supply Myanmar's military with raw materials, training and machines, the report says, and the weapons produced as a result are not used to defend its borders.

"Myanmar has never been attacked by a foreign country," explains Yanghee Lee, the UN's former Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, and one of the report's authors.  

"And Myanmar does not export any arms. Since 1950, it's made its own arms to use against its own people."

Officially, more than 2,600 people have been killed by the military since the most recent coup. However, the real death toll is thought to be 10 times higher.

"When it started... it seemed that the military could overpower those fledgling opposition movements, but the tide has turned a little bit in recent months and weeks," explains Soe Win Tan, head of the BBC's Burmese service.

"What the opposition are lacking is the air power the Myanmar junta has at its disposal." 

The weight of sanctions and international isolation imposed in the wake of the coup has not stopped Myanmar's rulers from manufacturing a litany of weapons, including sniper rifles, anti-aircraft guns, missile launchers, grenades, bombs and landmines.

Alongside Yanghee Lee, the report was written by Chris Sidoti and Marzuki Darusman, both from the UN's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar.

Their work sources leaked military documents along with interviews with former soldiers and satellite imagery of the factories. Photos have also been invaluable: images taken in 2017 prove the home-produced weapons were used before the coup.

Soldiers are seen carrying made-in-Myanmar rifles during the Inn Din massacre, when Myanmar troops killed 10 unarmed ethnic Rohingya men.

"More recently, we had the massacres that took place in the Sagaing region," explains Chris Sidoti, "particularly the bombing and shelling of a school that resulted in a number of children and others being killed.

"The weapons that were found, or the... military artillery shell casings that were found on that occasion were clearly identifiable as coming from those production plants."

Some of the equipment used to make weapons is believed to come from Austria. High-precision machines made by the Austrian supplier GFM Steyr are used in several locations, the Special Advisory Council says, to manufacture gun barrels.

When the machines need maintenance, they're shipped to Taiwan, where GFM Steyr technicians reportedly restore them before they're returned to Myanmar. The report says it's unclear whether the Austrian company's technicians are aware they're working on things that will be used inside Myanmar.

GFM Steyr did not respond to a BBC request for comment on the report's findings.

The authors of the report admit they have only uncovered a fraction of the weapons production network, but a number of countries are thought to be involved:

Raw materials from China have been traced to weapons production in Myanmar, including copper and iron believed to come from China and Singapore

Key components such as fuses and electric detonators have been tracked from companies in India and Russia using shipping records and interviews with former military sources

The machinery in Myanmar's weapons factories is said to come from Germany, Japan, Ukraine and the US. Software to programme the machines is believed to originate from Israel and France

Singapore appears to function as a transit hub, the report says, with Singaporean companies operating as go-betweens for Myanmar's military buyers and external suppliers.

For decades, Myanmar's military has been subject to a range of international sanctions, but they haven't stopped its production of weapons. The number of factories is multiplying - from around six in 1988 to as many as 25 factories today.  

"The international sanctions have been very hit and miss," says Chris Sidoti. "There haven't been sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council, but only by individual states or groups of states.

"So, it's been relatively easy for many companies to avoid the sanctions, by going through other companies in countries that do not impose sanctions, or dealing with local Myanmar intermediaries."

So far, it seems that Myanmar doesn't export weapons to other countries. However, it showcased a range of weapons at a Thai weapons trade fair in 2019. Bullets, bombs and grenade launchers were all neatly lined up on display shelves at the fair.

"Life in Myanmar for ordinary people is incredibly tough," says Ronan Lee, doctoral lecturer at Loughborough University London.

"Myanmar is not functioning as a viable country and I think it's close to internal state collapse.

"The opportunity for the international community, who care about the people of Myanmar, is now for them to tell the military that it can't continue to build weapons that they are going to use against civilians."