P. GREANVILLE—This central truth was not included in the CBS piece. CBS did not dare contextualise their report, thereby leaving it hard-hitting at the gut level, but also largely orphan of meaning, an unanchored act of unfathomable brutality lacking its proper social and political coordinates.
PATRICE GREANVILLE—In terms of sheer labor inputs, and engineering difficulties, the Carretera Austral is in a class comparable to the “near miraculous” projects recently seen in China. We wonder indeed how long it would take the Chinese to build this highway across impossible fjords, glaciers, ocean expanses, and all. With their advanced machinery, proven skills, and legendary tenacity, who knows, maybe they would get it done in less time than anyone in the West would expect. Ironically, the “Carretera Austral” Project was pushed against all naysayers by Augusto Pinochet (the road was originally called Carretera Austral Gen. Augusto Pinochet), and may eventually serve to whitewash the dictator’s innumerable crimes. Cynics claim Pinochet saw the project as a gigantic, bottomless pork barrel opportunity for his family and hangers-on. In any case, the ecological price of “developing” this fragile and precious environment is unquestionably bound to be high, perhaps prohibitive, even if the region is only kept as mostly a tourist reserve. The German documentary featured on this page suggests as much: the red tide (“marea roja”) that killed hundreds and possibly thousands of whales, a mind-boggling number for an animal whose numbers remain fragile in the global oceanic ecosystem, is a tragic reminder that the human footprint should not be extended thoughtlessly.
Ben Norton launches his exclusive Rokfin show Propaganda Today discussing corporate war profiteering in Afghanistan, debunking media myths claiming Washington supposedly “spent $2 trillion and got nothing for it.” In the rest of the video, Ben talks about the history of US meddling in Afghanistan, and how the CIA gave birth to the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and other Islamist extremist groups.
Abby Martin explores what’s missing from coverage of Biden’s announcement of the Afghanistan withdrawal. As the US Empire makes its major military retreat from Afghanistan, learn about the CIA forces that may be staying behind—and their disturbing 20-year track record of war crimes.
The Estadio Nacional was a sports arena in Santiago, Chile. The facility was used by the military as an improvised mass holding location until a more formal system of political prisons could be built. In September 1973, the Chilean armed forces, to their eternal shame, betrayed the people of Chile. The US-supported dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet lasted for almost 20 years. Many thousands were killed, their actual number yet a matter of conjecture. Tens of thousands were tortured (and many killed) in a network of special places set up by the new secret police (DINA). The country is still deeply divided.