Using local police and military to brutalize anyone standing in the way of "progress" and to suppress organized opposition is nothing new.  In South America, police reaction to peaceful demonstrations against then proposed, and now agreed upon, bio-fuel deal with the United States offers a glimpse at how multinational corporate agendas are being enforced worldwide.

In anticipation of the arrival of American leader George Bush, people gathered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, to voice their displeasure at that government's plan to fuel America's addiction to SUVs using Brazilian corn.  A peaceful march of 6000 people through the financial district was halted when Police in riot gear attacked marchers with tear gas and batons.

A spokesman for the president stated that George W. Bush "enjoys traveling to thriving democracies where freedom of speech and expression are the law of the land."  Bush had played down expected protests before arriving, stating in an interview with Univision, "I am proud to be going to a part of the world where people can demonstrate, where people can express their minds".

Columbia, the next stop on the Bush caravan, also saw clashes between students and police.  Plans for larger protests were quashed in advance when organizers were "dealt with" by officials in Columbia.  As boldly stated by Colombia's highest-ranking police officer, General Jorge Daniel Castro, "We have taken measures to neutralize them".

These clashes are meant to deflect attention from the issues being voiced by protesters.  Increasingly any type of organized democratic voicing of opinion that does not comply with the ruling class agenda is deemed a threat and proactively stomped out by militarized police units.  The staged riots by agent provocateurs at the 1999 Seattle WTO meetings acted as the catalyst for ushering in a new form of corporate fascism.  One that uses local government and police to violently impose the will of foreign corporations onto already embattled citizens.

This latest agenda, which promotes using resources such as corn and fish to produce fuel for the ever lessening numbers of westerners who can afford to drive gas guzzling behemoths, has received plenty of air time by western media outlets in 2007.

January - A warm start to the year saw teleprompter readers on every channel leading off newscasts with dire global warming messages.  Just like that, Global Warming became the water cooler topic of choice and entered the forefront of the collective psyche.

February - passive western audiences were bombarded with big industry marketing campaigns promoting the idea that Bio fuel could end dependence on foreign oil and is an ecological friendly alternative.

March - The EU legislates a 10% bio-fuel requirement for road vehicles by 2020 and the US successfully sets out to secure a supply of Bio mass from its neighbors in the southern hemisphere.

We find ourselves at a time when those participating in the democratic process are vilified by corporate media outlets while those dismantling our democratic institutions have the full backing of local government, military and police.  Participating in the process today will likely have you choking on chemical smoke, beaten by batons, thrown into some gulag, or end up like Carlo Giuliani at the Genoa G8 meetings, dead.

-tdm

Sources:
Telegraph.co.uk
Times Online