KNUST/MasterCard Foundation Scholarship for Ghanaian & African Students 2017/2018

Application Deadline: 17:00GMT, 12th May, 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Ghanaian and other African countries

To be taken at: The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Ghana

Eligible Field of Study: A preference for Science students; however, all subjects are considered

About Scholarship: The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program at KNUST provides academically talented yet economically disadvantaged young people in Ghana and Africa with access to quality and relevant university education.  It embodies an array of mentoring and cultural transition services to ensure student academic success, community engagement and transition to employment opportunities which will further social and economic change for Africa.

Offered Since: 2013

Type: undergraduate

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: For the 2017/2018 Academic year, the opportunity is open to;

• All Applicants with WASSCE or GBCE or ABCE or GCE O’Level or their equivalent Results from an accredited/recognised institution and Certificate Ready and Satisfies KNUST’s Admission Requirements. NO AWAITING RESULTS candidate will be accepted.
• The Applicant must have Critical Economic Needs.
• The Applicant must have Proven Records of Leadership and Community Engagement (s).
• Females and Physically Challenged Applicants shall be given top priority.
• All Subjects are considered; however, there is Preference for Science Students.
• The Applicant must be prepared to Go-Back And Give-Back to his or her Community.

Number of Scholarships: several

Value of Scholarship: The Scholarship includes;

• Comprehensive financial support (full tuition, fully paid accommodation, learning materials and uniforms, transportation and stipend
• Regular group meetings with other scholars that focus on personal and professional development opportunities and activities tailored to build relationships and scholar capacity.
• Continued academic support through academic mentoring, virtual learning, life and career coaching and tutoring.
• Opportunities to participate in leadership congresses, community service and mentoring (Go-back Give- Back) and uniquely sourced internship.
• An academic environment where faculty and students engage with global issues.
• The prestige of becoming part of the growing family of MasterCard Foundation Scholars Alumni
• The opportunity to be enrolled on an accelerated Master’s Degree after undergraduate studies with an MCF Partner institution in the USA.

Duration of Scholarship: full period of study

How to Apply

Download a copy of the application form from www.mcf.knust.edu.gh

• Submit the completed application form THROUGH EMS/ any other courier mail to:

The Program Manager, 
MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program at KNUST, 
Office of the Dean of Students, KNUST
Private Mail Bag
Kumasi, Ghana

• Only shortlisted applicants will be called for interviews to be held at the KNUST Secretariat of MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program, Office of the Dean of Students
• Final Selection will be done by an independent panel constituted by the Vice Chancellor of KNUST.
• Verification of ALL examination results and door to door visits of SUCCESSFUL candidates will be conducted.
• Award of the Scholarship will be published on the Program’s website

Sponsors: MasterCard Foundation

Important Notes: There are absolutely no charges/ fees/ facilitation/ agents or intermediaries required at any stage of this process

Wellcome Trust Intermediate Fellowships in Public Health and Tropical Medicine 2017

Application Deadline: 8th May 2017

Eligible Countries: Low- and middle-income countries

To be taken at (country): Fellowships can be taken in Low- and middle-income countries (See list of countries below)

Eligible Field of Study: Fellowships are awarded in the field of Public Health and Tropical Medicine

About the Award: This scheme helps mid-career researchers from low- and middle-income countries establish independent research programmes in those countries. The scheme aims to support research that will improve public health and tropical medicine at a local, national and global level.

Type: Research (Intermediate career stage)

Eligibility: Students can apply for an Intermediate Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine if they:

• Are a national of a low- or middle-income country
• Have a PhD or a degree in medicine and are qualified to enter higher specialist training
• Have three to six years postdoctoral experience.
• Students that do not have a PhD or degree in medicine, Welcome Trust may still be considered if they have a first or Master’s degree and can show substantial research experience.

Students must also:

• Have a strong track record in your area of research and show the potential to become a scientific leader
• Have sponsorship from an eligible host organisation in a low- or middle-income country
• Have a research proposal that is within the public health and tropical medicine remit.

Selection Criteria: 

• your track record
• the quality and importance of your research question(s)
• your approach to solving these questions
• the suitability of your research environment.

This scheme may be of particular interest if you’re an early career fellow (such as a Training Fellow in Public Health and Tropical Medicine) and this fellowship is the next step in your career as a research scientist.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Fellowship: Support includes:

• A basic salary (determined by your host organisation)
• Personal removal expenses
• Research expenses, directly related to your proposal

Scholarship can be taken in Low- and middle-income countries

Duration of Fellowship: An Intermediate Fellowship in Public Health and Tropical Medicine is for up to five years and cannot be renewed. An Intermediate Fellowship can be held on a part-time basis.

List of Countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, American Samoa, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Dem. Rep., Congo, Rep., Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Arab Rep., El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia,  Georgia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Islamic Rep., Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Korea, Dem Rep., Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Lithuania, Macedonia, FYR, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, RB, Vietnam, West Bank and Gaza, Yemen, Rep., Zambia and Zimbabwe

How to Apply: Applicants must submit their application through the Wellcome Trust Grant Tracker (WTGT). Stages of application

• Submit preliminary application
• Submit full application
• External peer review
• Shortlisting
• Interview

START YOUR APPLICATION

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider:  Wellcome Trust

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) Internship for Tanzanian Students 2017

Application Deadline:  12 noon on 13th February, 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Tanzania

To be taken at (country): Tanzania

About the Award: DFID is a UK government department which leads the UK’s work to end extreme poverty. We’re ending the need for aid by creating jobs, unlocking the potential of girls and women and helping to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit.

The internship placement will include supporting your colleagues to deliver their day-to-day work, as well as leading a project or initiative of your own choosing, in agreement with your line manager. The purpose of the internship is to develop skills and experience that you can use in the wide variety of fields in their future career, including gaining a better understanding of working in an international environment. The position also offers the opportunity to develop skills in communication, participating in projects and working with others.

The successful candidates will support DFID Tanzania in delivering development activities across an exciting and diverse portfolio, delivered by four teams:

• Human Investment Team: including education, health, water, family planning, nutrition and social protection
• Sustainable Growth Team: including agriculture, infrastructure, job creation, access to finance and trade
• Governance team: including civil society, anti-corruption, elections and human rights  Strategy, Delivery and Results: including public financial management, tax and statistics

Type: Internship

Eligibility: This opportunity is only open to Tanzanian nationals or applicants who are currently residing in Tanzania and have the legal right to work and live in Tanzania for the duration of this contract.

• Fluency in English and Swahili (reading, writing and speaking)
• Passion for development
• Good IT skills, in particular the MS Office package
• Motivated, pro-active, willing to learn and develop

Value of Internship: The successful intern will receive a monthly allowance of TZS 1,000,000.

Duration of Internship: 6 months

How to Apply: Applicants should submit a one page CV, latest academic results and a one page statement outlining why you are interested in the position and how you are a suitable candidate for the internship by email to AfricaHrHubRecruit@dfid.gov.uk with the subject line “Internship Opportunity – Tanzania”. Failure to comply with this procedure might lead to your application not being viewed.

Visit Internship Webpage for details

Award Provider: UK Department for International Development (DFID)

Morgan Stanley Worldwide University Photo Competition 2017

Application Deadline: 19th February  2017

Eligible Countries: Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa and North American countries

Type: Contest

Eligibility and Selection Criteria: From January 18 to February 19, we encourage you to submit up to two photographs that illustrate Places and Spaces that you have encountered. After all photos are submitted, our panel of judges will narrow-down all submissions to five entries from each region – Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa and North America – based on the following criteria:

• Theme: does the photo accurately reflect the theme Places and Spaces?
• Creativity: has the entrant used their imagination to create something original?
• Style: does the photograph hold a distinctive appearance in its technique and form?
• Impact: does the photograph influence or have a strong effect on its audience?

In order to be eligible, all entrants must be studying at a university in Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa and North America and the photo must come from a university email address. Students should be willing to provide evidence of their enrolment if short-listed.

Selection:

• The short-listed photos will be published here by March 17 at which point we would ask you return to the site to cast your vote! Chose the one photo you like most! Or the one that represents your campus! Whatever takes your fancy!
• Voting period will close on April 23 and the winners will be announced during the week of May 1, 2017.
• All winners will be informed during the week of May 1, 2017 and announced on this site.

Number of Awards: The three entries with the most votes from each region will win one of the prizes listed below.

Value of Contest: There will be a global winner chosen from across all regions.

First Prize: Apple Watch Sport
Second Prize: FitBit Activity Tracker
Third Prize: US $100 or equivalent local currency in Amazon vouchers

How to Apply: You can submit your photo by emailing photocompetition@morganstanley.com, attaching your photo and specifying the following:

• Your Name
• Region
• University/School where you study
• A short description (maximum 100 words) of how the photo conveys the theme “Places and Spaces”

Visit Contest Webpage for details

Award Provider: Morgan Stanley

Scuola Normale Superiore PhD Scholarships for International Students 2017/2018 – Italy

Application Deadline: 20th February 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International and Italian citizens

To be taken at (country):  Italy

Field of Study: PhD Program in the following fields: Cultures and societies of contemporary Europe, Literature, Art and History in Medieval and Modern Europe, Philosophy, Classics, Physics, Mathematics, Financial Mathematics, Methods and Models for Molecular Sciences, Nanosciences, Neurosciences, and Political Science and Sociology

Type: PhD

Eligibility: Applications for admission are invited from candidates who, irrespective of their citizenship, have an Italian laurea magistrale (MA/MS degree) or an equivalent degree from outside Italy, or who expect to have obtained the degree required for admission by 31 October 2017 – failure to obtain the degree by this date will disqualify the candidate for admission.

Admission to the call is restricted to candidates who:

• • were born after 31 October 1987;
• • have no past criminal charges against them resulting in a prison term of more than three years;
• • have not been subject to the disciplinary measure of “expulsion” as specified in the didactic and internal regulations of the SNS;
• • are not in possession of a research doctorate issued by an Italian university, and in any case have never benefitted from a scholarship to attend a research doctorate course in Italy.

Number of Awardees: 78

Value of Scholarship: All students admitted to the PhD program receive full financial support. This includes tuition, fees, and a cost-of living scholarship.  All students will be assigned further funding for their research activity and travel.

How to Apply: Applications for admission to the selection process must be registered online by 23:59 CET of 20 February 2017.

The online procedure will be activated at the section dedicated to the call on the SNS web site at the address http://phd.sns.it/

All applications received and registered online after the stipulated date and time will be rejected whatever the cause of delay. Applicants are strongly advised to go through the application procedure before applying.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Scuola Normale Superiore

Top Peruvian politicians implicated in Brazil’s “Lava Jato” corruption scandal

Armando Cruz


Revelations stemming from the investigation into Brazil’s “Lava Jato” bribes and kickbacks scandal centered at the state-run energy conglomerate Petrobras have exposed the use of these same methods abroad, with Brazilian corporations, particularly the construction giant Odebrecht, bribing high-ranking public officers in order to secure lucrative public contracts.

On December 21, the US Department of Justice made public that Odebrecht S.A. and Braskem S.A., a petrochemical company partly owned by Odebrecht, agreed to pay a stunning $3.5 billion in fines to Brazilian, US and Swiss authorities after pleading guilty to charges of bribing officials in 12 countries. The US took part in the prosecution basing itself on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which sanctions companies and individuals that directly or indirectly cause acts of corruption on US soil. (Odebrecht carried out infrastructure projects in Florida, Louisiana and Texas).

“Odebrecht and Braskem used a hidden but fully functioning Odebrecht business unit—a ‘Department of Bribery,’ so to speak—that systematically paid hundreds of millions of dollars to corrupt government officials in countries on three continents,” said US Deputy Assistant Attorney General Suh.

In the settlement, Odebrecht admitted having paid US$788 million in bribes to public officials in Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Angola, Argentina, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and the Dominican Republic. 

In Peru, company executives revealed that US$29 million was paid between 2005 and 2014, a timespan that includes the administrations of Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), Alan Garcia (2006-2011) and Ollanta Humala (2011-2016), all of them right-wing governments dedicated to the protection and expansion of free-market policies that were imposed in the country during the 1990s.

While Odebrecht was active since the late 1980s in Peru, and was one of the beneficiaries of the corrupt, autocratic government of Alberto Fujimori in the 90s, there has yet to emerge conclusive evidence of illegal practices during that time. Fuerza Popular, the party headed by Fujimori’s daughter Keiko, has made it clear that it will oppose any attempt to investigate Odebrecht-related corruption under the Fujimori government, using its control over the legislature. 

Among the major figures that may be targeted by prosecutors are the current Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who was prime minister under the Toledo administration, current mayor of Lima Luis Castaneda, who held the same post from 2003 to 2010, and the former mayor of Lima Susana Villaran, who unexpectedly rose to office in 2010 with the support of the pseudo-left.

During each of the last three governments a major infrastructure bid was secured by Odebrecht. Under the Toledo administration, it was the Inter-oceanic Highway, a project that would link Brazil to Peruvian ports in order to facilitate the export of products to China. Under Garcia, it was the construction of a substantial part of the Lima Metro. And under the Humala administration, it was the Gasoducto Sur Peruano, a gas pipeline project that would supply the country’s south with natural gas.

The first major casualty in the Peruvian investigation is ex-president Alejandro Toledo who on the night of February 3 was accused by prosecutors of receiving $20 million in bribes for the construction of the Inter-oceanic Highway thanks to the revelations of a close collaborator, Jorge Barata, Odebrecht’s main man in Peru.

It is reported that this money ended up in a money-laundering case in which the former president and his Israeli wife, Eliane Karp, acquired a mansion in Lima valued at US$3.7 million. Peruvian justice eventually absolved both of them.

In an interview with the daily El Comercio, Toledo, who is currently in Paris attending an economic forum, denied taking the bribes and claimed a “political witch-hunt” by his enemies. He said that, while under his administration the price of the project was secured at US$850 million, it ended up rising to US$2.1 billion in the next administration of Alan Garcia.

On Saturday, prosecutors gave the go-ahead for a raid on one of Toledo’s houses in Lima in the search of evidence linked to the Odebrecht bribes. They claim to have already found US$11 million in the offshore accounts of Israeli businessman Josef Maiman, one of Toledo’s allies.

If Peruvian and international prosecutors ask for his extradition and he is found guilty in a subsequent trial, Toledo would become the second ex-Peruvian president sitting behind bars: Alberto Fujimori was convicted in 2009 of human rights violations in the dirty war against the Sendero Luminoso guerrillas and subsequently against the resistance of the working class to the free market measures ordered by Washington.

Ironically, Toledo was catapulted to the national stage as the overblown symbol of the “democratic resistance” to the autocratic Fujimori regime during its last years, when it was collapsing amidst filthy corruption scandals. Once elected, he continued and deepened Fujimori’s submission to Washington and big business.

With Toledo in the crosshairs of the Lava Jato investigation, the position of the current president, Kuczynski, is becoming increasingly precarious. He was Toledo’s most powerful prime minister, and evidence may turn up that he also was involved in the corrupt deals with Odebrecht. The congressional “Lava Jato Commission” has declared that it is “almost inevitable” that the president will be called to testify.

This could not come at a worse time for Kuczynski. After landslides ravaging most of the Andean region of the country, violent protests in Lima against an excessive highway toll, and a humiliating conflict with the fujimorista-controlled congress over the removal of a minister of education, the president’s approval rating has fallen 11 points in one month.

Two public officers from the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications (MTT) under the APRA party government of Alan Garcia have already been detained in connection with Odebrecht’s Lima Metro project. Edwin Luyo, a member of the bidding committee for the Metro, admitted to receiving bribes from Odebrecht and said he could become a witness for the prosecution, while Jorge Cuba, the deputy minister of the MTT, disappeared for some weeks before returning to Lima to face charges.

The accusations of bribes and corruption in connection with the construction of the Metro—a project whose cost rose from US$583 million to US $900 million—have thrown the APRA party and its upper echelons into crisis. This party, the oldest one in Peru, was throughout the 20th century a political force that mobilized a substantial part of the Peruvian working class under a reformist bourgeois program. With its first and second periods in power (both under Alan Garcia,) it was transformed into a club of powerful lobbyists centered around the figure of Garcia, a reported multi-millionaire. Currently, it is completely discredited amongst the working class and youth, who view it as the symbol of corruption in the country.

The response to the prosecution of Luyo and Cuba from the party leadership around Garcia has been to shield the former president and place “political responsibility” for the corrupt deals on the minister of transportation at the time: Jorge Cornejo, who is seen by many as a rising star in the party after a relatively successful participation in the last elections for the mayor in Lima and a potential challenger to Garcia’s near-total domination of the party. Cornejo, who declared some weeks ago that APRA would “disappear if Alan Garcia keeps leading it,” has charged that the orders to scapegoat him come from Garcia himself. The party responded by stripping him of his rights inside APRA.

Meanwhile, in the camp of the pseudo-left, the former mayor of Lima, Susana Villaran, will be summoned to the congressional committee investigating the Odebrecht bribes in connection with the Vias Nuevas de Lima project awarded by the city to Odebrecht in 2012.

Elected in 2010, Villaran was a relative newcomer to Peruvian politics who benefited from popular disaffection from the traditional bourgeois parties. From the start, she came under the political influence of individuals linked to the Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers Party) of former presidents Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva and the ousted Dilma Rousseff, such as the Argentinian-Brazilian political operator and former member of the French Lambertist OCI (International Communist Organization), Luis Favre.

The pro-capitalist record of the PT in Brazil did not stop the pseudo-left in Peru from hailing her election and working with her. By promoting her as a viable alternative to the discredited parties, they paved the way for the return of the right-wing populist Castaneda who easily won the last elections. Now these same elements are either distancing themselves from her former administration or defending her against the charges.

Also, there are indications that the main trade union federation, the CGTP, was working in support of Odebrecht. The online journal El Expreso Informativo de Moquegua reported that the CGTP had been promoting the demand that the state gave a US$5 billion credit for the construction of the Gasoducto Andino pipeline, the main project Odebrecht secured during the Humala administration—which the CGTP supported. At the end of January, the CGTP issued a statement lamenting the loss of 15,000 jobs due to the Odebrecht corruption investigations.

These developments have left the ruling class nervously contemplating the discrediting of every party and political institution in Peru. A column in El Comercio, the Peruvian bourgeoise’s main voice, explains that for the majority of the population, “the main discussion [about the politicians] is who got bribed less.” It concludes by warning that the spectacle of corruption tainting the entire political establishment is rich soil for “anti-system” and “anti-status quo” sentiments.

Germany deploys troops to Lithuania in NATO build-up against Russia

Johannes Stern

The operations of the battle group led by the German army in Eastern Europe were formally launched on Tuesday. In the presence of German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (Christian Democrats), Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite welcomed the soldiers from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, who are part of the so-called enhanced forward presence (EFP), NATO’s military build-up on the border with Russia.

Three further battle groups are being established: one in Estonia (led by Britain), Latvia (led by Canada), and Poland, made up of US forces.

Already on Monday, the US warship Hue City arrived in the eastern Lithuanian port of Klaipeda. According to media reports, additional combat vehicles and US military technology arrived at the Tapa base in Estonia, including Abrams tanks and Bradley armoured vehicles. Over recent weeks, a total of 4,000 soldiers, 2,000 tanks, field guns, jeeps and lories have travelled through Germany to Eastern Europe in close cooperation with the German army.

The advance of NATO combat troops to Eastern Europe is part of the war preparations against Moscow adopted at NATO’s summit in Warsaw in early July. This included the construction of a NATO missile defence system in Romania and Poland and the establishment of a 5,000-strong “very high readiness” joint task force, initiated at the NATO summit in Wales in 2014.

The German army is increasingly assuming a leading role. The core of the battle group, the first German battalion in Eastern Europe since the end of the Wehrmacht’s war of extermination against the Soviet Union during the Second World War, is the Panzergrenadierbataillon 122, an armored infantry battalion from the Bavarian town of Oberviechtach. According to official army figures, 230 German and Belgian soldiers are already in Rukla, Lithuania. By May at the latest, the unit should have grown to over 1,000, of which around 450 will come from the German army.

The heavily armed unit—according to the Bundeswehr it possesses “a variety of large vehicles,” including “several dozen tanks (combat, mining, engineering, bridge-building and armoured vehicles)”—can be topped up at any time. As army inspector Lieutenant General Jörg Vollmer stated at the beginning of February in Vilnius, “Along with the permanent parts of the EFP battle group, we are retaining troops in Germany to temporarily support exercises as required. In addition, in the event of a crisis situation, we are capable and prepared to send the necessary reinforcements to Lithuania. You can depend on that.”

At the joint press conference with von der Leyen, Grybauskaite justified the NATO offensive with reference to the “threat” of Russia. Von der Leyen declared dramatically, “What we see today, this is NATO … the fact that we are ready at any time to step in for each other. … we are determined to support Lithuania, we have brought well-trained units here to do so.” Ultimately the issue at stake was the “defence of democracy and joint values and friendship.”

This is equally as dishonest as it is cynical. In reality, it is the Western powers, not Russia, who are the aggressors in Eastern Europe. In early 2014, Berlin and Washington organised a coup in Kiev in close collaboration with fascist forces to overthrow pro-Russian President Victor Yanukovitch. Since then, Germany has exploited Russia’s overwhelmingly defensive response to systematically build up its military forces and go on the offensive. And this is not about “democracy,” “values” or “friendship,” but the imposition of economic and geo-strategic interests with military force if necessary.

After an initial shock, the German government views the contradictory stance of the US administration towards NATO as a chance to strengthen its own position in the military alliance and at the same time develop a more independent German and European foreign policy.

In a telephone call, the new US defence secretary, James “Mad Dog” Mattis, reassured von der Leyen that the US remained loyal to NATO, she said in Rukla. But she was “of the firm belief that Europe must assume more responsibility within NATO, that means also investing more in its capabilities.” This had already been “clear and obvious” prior to the election and now “continues to be a legitimate demand in the room.” It was in “Europe’s own interests to invest in its own defence capacities, on the one hand as a stronger European pillar within NATO, but also in the spirit of a European security and defence union.”

The Baltic states and Poland, which mainly depended on support from the US within the framework of NATO until now, were shaken by the comments of US President Donald Trump—that NATO is no longer relevant and the EU is an opponent—and are orienting increasingly towards Germany.

“Even a flesh-and-blood Atlanticist like former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who led his country into NATO, are choosing words of unheard of sharpness” and described Trump’s remarks as “extremely disquieting,” the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung acknowledged in a recent article headlined “Gaps in the deterrence.”

In the Baltic and Poland it was feared “that Trump’s lack of clarity could undermine joint defence,” the paper reported. Wojciech Lorenz from the transatlantic-oriented think tank Polish Institute for International Affairs warned of “a conceivable deal between America and Russia at the expense of Ukraine, the Baltic states and the former Warsaw Pact members.”

“For politicians in Berlin (and other capitals in the EU)” Kwasniewski “therefore has some advice,” the FAZ acknowledges, visibly relieved. “Europe must take its own security in its hands—independently of Washington. A ‘Europeanisation of NATO’ to the logical conclusion: ‘Europe must have a perspective as to how it can [create] its own nuclear deterrence.”

Spiegel Online commented on yesterday’s visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Poland as follows: “Whatever serves to strengthen the EU’s defence capacity, Merkel and Kaczynski (president of the governing PiS party) will quickly agree. The Pole can even conceive of a ‘nuclear European superpower.”

Philippine President Duterte declares “all-out war” against Maoist party

Joseph Santolan

Peace negotiations between the Philippine administration of President Rodrigo Duterte and the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) abruptly broke down over the past week. On Tuesday, the Philippine military, with the full sanction of the president, declared “all-out war” against the CPP and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA).

Since he took office in July, Duterte has, under the auspices of his murderous war on drugs, built up the apparatus of military rule, openly speaking on several occasions of his intention to declare martial law. He has at the same time, in a lurching and volatile manner, sought to rebalance Manila’s diplomatic and political ties toward Beijing and increasingly away from Washington.

Duterte has cultivated a base of support for his administration within the lower ranking officer corps and rank-and-file members of the military, whom he has promised massive pay rises. He is moving to turn over the prosecution of his drug crusade to the military, and has pledged to reconstitute a portion of the military as the Philippine Constabulary, the hated force of state repression created by the American occupation and deployed by Marcos to enforce martial law. He gave a state burial to the hated former dictator and is moving to implement a policy of mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) for high school students, effectively militarizing all of Philippine life.

At the same time, he has relied upon the Communist Party of the Philippines and its front organizations to promote his fascistic agenda as progressive. On the basis of their Stalinist program of a two-stage revolution, the CPP and its front organizations have peddled his right-wing populist rhetoric and even promoted the idea that his war on drugs—which has now claimed over 7,000 victims—was of benefit to the working class and poor.

The CPP appointed three cabinet level positions—Social Welfare, Agrarian Reform, Anti-Poverty Commission—and one undersecretary—Labor—to the Duterte administration. Duterte announced his public endorsement of vigilante killings on July 25 during a dinner hosted in his honor by BAYAN, the CPP’s umbrella front group. BAYAN held a rally on the same day where they invited Bato de la Rosa, head of the Philippine National Police, directly responsible for carrying out the drug war, to address the crowd. The armed wing of the CPP, the NPA, announced that it would carry out executions of alleged drug criminals in support of the Duterte administration’s policies.

Meanwhile, the government opened peace negotiations with the CPP, which has been engaged in an armed struggle in the Philippine countryside since 1969, in keeping with its Maoist strategy of a “protracted people’s war.” Both the government and the CPP issued unilateral ceasefire orders for the duration of negotiations. By December, Duterte had declared in a speech that his administration was secure from destabilization because the Communists “are willing to die for me.”

On January 19, during the third round of peace negotiations held in Rome, Joma Sison, founder and head of the CPP, declared that be believed that Duterte could prove that “he is truly a patriotic and progressive president and fights against the imperialists and oligarchs for the benefit of the people.” Duterte responded in late January by requesting that Washington remove the CPP from its terrorist watchlist.

Yet within one week the ceasefire ended, and within two Duterte had declared the CPP to be terrorists and ordered the military to launch an “all-out war” against the party. What happened?

While Duterte has sought to secure the support of lower ranking officer corps, the top military brass have all been trained in Washington and their loyalties are above all to the Pentagon, not the presidential palace of Malacañang. They were trained by Washington in the art of domestic suppression and for the past 48 years they have been at war with the CPP. Duterte has openly spoken of the rumblings from the military leadership in opposition to his rapprochement with Sison and the CPP, as well as his geopolitical reorientation.

The military brass has gotten into the habit of publicly countermanding the president. When he declared that there would no longer be any joint war games staged with US forces, his Secretary of Defense Delfin Lorenzana informed the press that this was not true and that the war games would continue. In a similar fashion, the military has staged, over the past several months, a series of provocations on the southern island of Mindanao designed to undermine the peace negotiations with the CPP.

At the same time, there is an emerging fragmentation of the CPP leadership. On January 21 the Manila Standard reported that three factions were forming within the party’s leadership: Joma Sison and the founding and older members of the party, now based in the Netherlands, were seeking a negotiated settlement with Duterte and a possible coalition government; Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, who headed the party in Sison’s exile until their arrest in 2014, were seeking only the release of political prisoners; but Jorge Madlos, the NPA National Operational Command, wanted to continue armed struggle. This report closely corresponds to the political developments.

In August, the peace negotiations were jeopardized when NPA units under Madlos carried out a firefight with military forces. On January 30, five days after the last round of peace negotiations, Madlos announced through the party Facebook page which he controlled, that he would be making an important announcement the next day. On January 31, he posted an announcement that he was calling off the CPP’s unilateral ceasefire effective February 10 because of repeated military incursions.

On the same day, Sison’s right-hand man, Fidel Agcaoili, who is heading the CPP negotiating team through its National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) organization, issued a statement on a separate party Facebook page which the Netherlands group controls. He stated, “We declare that as of today, there have been no orders from the CPP-NPA leadership to revoke its unilateral ceasefire declaration. The CPP-NPA’s unilateral ceasefire remains in place. … We strongly advise Secretary Dureza [head of the government negotiating team] not to raise the bogey of disunity among the ranks of the revolutionary movement.”

On February 1, NPA forces under Madlos engaged in a firefight with the military and killed three soldiers. The military claimed that the three killed had been arrested and executed, and their bodies “desecrated.” Madlos responded that their bodies had not been “desecrated” but that they were in an advanced state of decomposition when the government forces located them 24 hours later. In a separate encounter, NPA forces captured three other soldiers.

Seemingly unable to control the flow of events, Agcaoili issued a statement on February 1 “assuring the government” that “the recently announced termination of the NDFP’s unilateral ceasefire does not mean the termination of the peace negotiations.” On February 2, he issued another statement that the “NDFP reiterates its commitment to move forward with the peace negotiations.” He issued instructions—which have thus far been disregarded—for the three soldiers held hostage to be released.

The roots of the tension between the Netherlands group and the NPA forces under Madlos would seem to be over the disposition of the NPA forces in the wake of a successful peace deal. The NPA currently operates a fairly profitable racket for its leadership, exacting “revolutionary taxes” from local businesses for protection and permission to continue operation, particularly on the island of Mindanao. In a speech delivered in June, Sison proposed to transform the NPA into “armed guards” for industry, i.e., to become the agent directly engaged in suppressing the working class, as well as to integrate them within the Philippine Armed Forces. For both Sison and Madlos, the armed wing of the Communist Party exists to secure their political and economic privileges, and they are fighting over its disposition.

Duterte responded with initial hesitation to the Madlos announcement that the unilateral ceasefire was ending. He warned in a speech that if he continued peace talks after the NPA attacked soldiers, the military “might kill me, and whom will you be talking peace with if that happens?” On February 3, he announced that the government was responding by lifting its unilateral ceasefire.

On February 5, Duterte delivered a speech in which he gave full vent to his anger against the CPP. He denounced the party as “spoiled brats” and announced that there was no difference between the CPP and any “terrorist organization.” He said that he had no interest in resuming peace talks for the rest of his administration. The next morning he issued arrest orders for the 13 leaders of the CPP who had been released from prison to facilitate the peace negotiations, and the police arrested one of them that afternoon.

The CPP leadership in the Netherlands responded to Duterte’s declaration of war against the party, by reiterating that “We continue to look forward to scheduled talks on February 22–24.” That evening Duterte held a cabinet meeting which the CPP appointed members attended. They issued a statement declaring, “We will continue to engage within the Cabinet and the rest of the administration …” They hailed “the political will of President Duterte” which had allowed the peace talks to make “historic strides” and declared that the government and the CPP “have never been closer in their articulation of a shared vision of a society that addresses the root causes of war—poverty and inequality.” They continued, “the foremost concern of both parties in the peace negotiations [i.e., Duterte and the Maoists] is the interest of the Filipino people to address the roots of poverty and achieve a just and lasting peace.”

While the CPP and its front organizations continued to hail Duterte as progressive and reiterate their desire to work with him, the military leadership latched onto his February 5 speech. Defense Secretary Lorenzana delivered a speech to a press conference on February 7 in which he declared that Duterte had asserted that there was no difference between the CPP and the terrorist group, Abu Sayyaf. The military, he said, was launching an “all-out war” against the Communists.

That afternoon, the Manila chapters of the front organizations of the CPP marched to the presidential palace to appeal to Duterte to “urgently resume the peace negotiations.” Not one of their statements denounced Duterte, but all blamed sections of the military leadership for leading him astray. The marchers were dispersed by the presidential security forces.

China protests US sanctions on Iran

Peter Symonds 

The Chinese government has formally protested the decision by the Trump administration last Friday to impose US sanctions on Iran over its latest missile test. Among the 25 sanctioned individuals and entities were three Chinese citizens and two Chinese companies, which will now be barred from access to the American financial system and dealings with US corporations.

The sanctions follow a menacing statement by US National Security Adviser Michael Flynn last week accusing Iran of “destabilising behaviour across the Middle East” and “officially putting Iran on notice.” The penalties against Chinese individuals and companies are another indication that the Trump administration is preparing to confront China as well. Iran has denied that its missile test is in breach of UN resolutions.

Beijing formally complained on Monday that the sanctions will severely affect Chinese businesses. Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a daily press briefing that China, which has in the past supported the US push for UN sanctions against Iran, is opposed to “unilateral sanctions,” saying the move adversely affected other countries.

Lu warned: “The sanctions will not help in enhancing trust among the different parties involved and will not help in resolving international problems.” The remark suggests that the Chinese government, which has confronted repeated threats by Trump on trade, North Korea and the South China Sea, could be less supportive in the future of US actions in the Middle East and internationally.

China along with Russia, Britain, France and Germany were part of the Obama administration’s agreement in 2015 with Iran to severely restrict its nuclear programs in return for the gradual lifting of punitive economic sanctions. Trump, however, along with many of his top officials, has been scathing in his criticism of the 2015 deal and could move to abrogate it.

China’s state-run Xinhua news agency published a comment which pointed out that the latest sanctions will have little effect on Iran but signalled an escalating confrontation between Washington and Tehran. “Now Trump has taken office, uncertainly in the US-Iran relationship has risen and this may become a ticking time bomb for peace and stability in the Middle East,” it stated.

The US Treasury department named only one Chinese citizen—Qin Xian—among those who had been sanctioned and gave no detailed reasons for the decisions. Those on the US list have been targeted for allegedly either being involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program or supporting the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp’s Quds Force.

Yue Yaodong, an executive at Cosailing Business Trading Co, told the South China Morning Post that his firm had been forced to shut down after his accounts at the Agricultural Bank of China were closed. He insisted that his company had only provided quotations to Iranian customers for “daily use items” and machinery parts via email more than three years ago. He had sent product samples but no deals were completed.

“I don’t know what my company has done that would lead to US sanctions,” Yue said. “I have no idea why the Agricultural Bank of China would freeze my accounts. I have not been engaged in trade with Iranian customers for years.” Foreign banks and corporations, including in China, can face penalties for having dealings for blacklisted individuals and companies.

The blacklisting of Chinese individuals and companies took place amid rising tensions between the US and China and an increasingly open discussion in the American and international media about the rising danger of war between the two countries.

In his first overseas trip, US Defence Secretary James Mattis visited South Korea and Japan last week to reassure both governments over their alliances with the United States. In the course of last year’s election campaign, Trump had threatened to walk away from the alliances unless Japan and South Korea paid more towards the cost of American bases.

While he suggested that the US would take no immediate “dramatic military moves” in the South China Sea, Mattis did provoke Chinese protests when he announced the deployment in South Korea of a sophisticated anti-ballistic missile system by the end of the year.

Mattis also assured the Japanese government that it could invoke the US-Japan Security Treaty in the event of a war with China over disputed rocky outcrops in the East China Sea known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The islets have become the focus of an increasingly dangerous cat and mouse game between Japanese and Chinese aircraft and vessels. The Japanese defence ministry reported in early 2016 that for the 2015 fiscal year, its air force scrambled fighter jets a record 571 times to intercept Chinese aircraft allegedly approaching Japanese-claimed airspace near the Senkakus.

Following Mattis’s visit to Tokyo, three Chinese coast guard ships approached the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands on Monday and, according to the Japanese coast guard, entered Japanese territorial waters around the outcrop. The intrusion was the fourth for the year following 36 such incidents in 2016.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson rang his Japanese counterpart on Tuesday to reaffirm that Washington would go to war with Japan against China if conflict erupted over the disputed islets. “The United States will be against any unilateral action made to damage the Japanese administration of the Senkaku islands,” he said, according to a Japanese foreign ministry statement.

The Trump administration’s decision to link its punitive reaction to the Iranian missile test with its increasingly bellicose stance against China is another sign that the confrontations and wars of the Bush and Obama administrations are coalescing into a global conflict as the Trump administration embarks on a reckless and militarist drive to shore up American hegemony.

GM makes $9.4 billion in global profits as it slashes thousands of jobs

Jerry White

General Motors made $9.43 billion in global profits last year. The world’s third largest automaker generated most of its net income from its North American operations, which brought in $12 billion in pre-tax profits in 2016, up from $11 billion in 2015. The company lost money in economically stagnant South America and Europe, while profits remained flat in China.

Adjusted North American profit margins for the fourth quarter of 2016 rose to 12.1 percent from 10.5 percent a year ago, and full-year margins were 10.1 percent, down slightly from 10.3 percent in 2015. GM, like the other auto companies, has cashed in from brisk demand for highly profitable pickup trucks and sports utility vehicles in the US where gas prices and auto loan interest rates have remained relatively low. At the same time, GM has cut back on production of slower-selling passenger cars resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs.

Automakers have offered discounts and other financial incentives, long frowned upon by Wall Street, to maintain sales, which hit a record 17.6 million in 2016, up from 17.5 million in 2015. GM has made record profits from the pent-up demand during the Great Recession, which saw vehicle sales plunged to 10.4 million in 2009. The Obama administration’s bankruptcy restructuring of GM and Chrysler halved the wages of new hires and allowed the corporations to dump their retiree health care obligations and slash jobs so investors could profit even as auto sales slowed.

Despite the profit report, GM stocks fell 4.5 percent after the announcement, with investors anticipating that the global slowdown and growing inventories of unsold cars signaled an end to GM’s back-to-back years of record profits.

The number of unsold vehicles at GM’s dealers in the US rose by one-third to 845,000 vehicles by the end of 2016. GM CEO Mary Barra and other top executives assured investors that they would carry out an aggressive campaign to reduce capacity at plants producing small and mid-sized cars and to implement “continued cost-efficiencies.” In addition, GM executives said they were considering further “restructuring” in Europe and other regions.

GM is currently eliminating 3,300 jobs in Michigan and Ohio. January 20 was the last day for 2,000 workers on the third shifts at the Lansing Grand River assembly plant in Michigan’s state capital and the Lordstown Assembly Plant near Youngstown, Ohio. Another 1,300 workers face the loss of their jobs at the GM Detroit-Hamtramck plant, the company’s only plant in Detroit, when GM starts phasing out the second shift on March 6. GM is also cutting 625 jobs at its CAMI assembly plant near London, Ontario, west of Toronto.

The job-cutting has been facilitated by the labor agreement signed by the United Auto Workers in 2015 in the face of widespread opposition from rank-and-file workers, a fact that has been widely acknowledged by industry analysts and the business media.

“CEO Mary Barra has accelerated cost cuts by using levers within GM’s labor contracts to lay off workers making struggling models such as the Camaro sports car or Cruze compact,” Bloomberg wrote. “To keep profits humming, Barra needs to address inventory that would take about 108 days to work through at January’s selling rate—more than a month’s worth of extra supply compared with this time last year.

“Boosting profits in spite of the supply challenges may be doable because GM can cut temporary workers at its US plants without paying costly buyouts. The carmaker has already eliminated entire shifts at factories making the Cruze and Camaro, as well as the LaCrosse and Cadillac CT6 sedans.”

In a conference call with investors Tuesday morning Barra said, “By nearly every measure, 2016 was a great year. This underscores the progress we are making in strengthening our brands and putting our customers first in everything we do.”

In fact, top executives like Barra—who was paid $28 million in total compensation in 2015—were single-mindedly focused on driving up share values for the company’s richest investors. Last month GM’s board of directors voted to add $5 billion to the company’s existing stock repurchase program. This brings the total value of the stock buyback program to $14 billion since 2015 when former Obama auto task force member Harry Wilson, who represented a group of hedge funds, pressed for a larger share of GM’s cash hoard of $25 billion.

At the time Cindy Estrada, UAW vice president in charge of relations with GM, praised the deal, saying the “strategic process outlined today leaves room for our members to prosper, strong product investment for customers, and a healthy, well-positioned company.” The UAW praised the deal because the union-controlled retiree health care trust—a slush fund for the union bureaucracy—controls the largest block of GM shares, some 140 million, or a 9.34 percent ownership stake in the company. Former UAW Vice President Joseph Ashton has been on the company’s board of directors since 2014.

On Tuesday, UAW officials boasted about the profit-sharing check being sent out to the company’s 52,000 hourly employees. “Today’s performance bonus announcement of a maximum of $12,000 each rewards our members’ dedication and commitment to building some of the most popular and high-quality vehicles in the world,” Estrada said. “They deserve every penny of that collectively bargained bonus check.”

Several things must be said about the profit-sharing checks, which, in any case, will be taxed and greatly reduced before workers see them. First, the $12,000 is a pittance compared to what workers have given up due to the UAW’s abandonment of annual wage improvements, cost of living adjustments, paid holidays, the eight-hour day, current and future health and pension benefits and countless other hard-won gains.

The UAW-imposed concessions have enabled GM to make more than $50 billion in profits since the 2009 bankruptcy. Rather than improving the living standards of workers, the company is squandering $14 billion on stock buybacks and dividend payouts for its wealthy shareholders and executives. If this amount was divided among the 52,000 hourly workers who produced the bulk of these profits, every worker, including the ones losing their jobs, would get a bonus of $269,230—not a miserly $12,000. To add insult to injury, many of the temporary workers being laid off in Michigan and Ohio do not have enough time to qualify for the full bonuses.

Since it was introduced in the early 1980s, “profit-sharing” has always been used as a device aimed at concealing the fundamental conflict between workers and the capitalist owners and to preach class “unity.” Far from workers having the same interests as the capitalists, the enrichment of the capitalist class depends on the ever-greater exploitation and impoverishment of the working class. This social reality has been confirmed in the experiences of workers in every part of the globe.

For all his phony expressions of concern about American workers, Trump has said nothing about the thousands of workers GM is tossing into the streets. On the contrary, he has appointed Mary Barra to the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum—a committee of top CEOs that will discuss corporate tax cuts, deregulation and trade policy. Trump has promised to slash corporate tax rates from 35 percent to as low as 15-20 percent, and eliminate 75 percent of existing occupational safety and health, environmental and labor regulations, including fuel efficiency targets the automakers oppose.