In Putin's Russia Corruption is the New Communism

Leadership - Following The Money For The Wrong Reasons

In Afghanistan the U.S. is making yet another attempt to curb corruption in the Afghan national police. The most effective Taliban weapon against the police is money. Bribes are not the only problem the police have. There are other forms of corruption like senior officials stealing much of the millions of dollars given to the Afghan government to pay and maintain the police. Hundreds of millions of those dollars have disappeared, leaving police in many parts of the country unpaid, unfed, without fuel and ammo and worst of all, cursed with wretched medical care if they are wounded in action. For the cops, it’s too often all about the money.

 

Lower ranking police not only demand bribes, but also steal or extort cash from innocent people they threaten with arrest. The Taliban have found that the police will for the right price back off from arresting the guilty or carrying out raids. The police will even sell you weapons, ammunition, and information. Too many police never miss an opportunity to steal. The traffic police are considered the worst. Not only will they frequently stop motorists and demand bribes but they will seize cars for the least infraction and later release the vehicle to its owner with most of its parts missing. The presence of U.S. troops or advisors can prevent overt acts of corruption by the police but the corruption is endemic in Afghanistan. It’s the great curse that keeps the country poor and dangerous. It is the main reason why Afghanistan is still the poorest and most dangerous country in Eurasia.

 

A year ago a new police anti-corruption unit was set up with punishment powers consisting of specific actions commanders could take against misbehaving subordinates (firing, reassignment). In the last year hundreds of corrupt cops have been found out and punished this way. The system was recognition that prosecuting dirty cops is often ineffective because the corrupt courts make this virtually impossible. This is a major problem for the senior commanders caught stealing millions of dollars. In effect, they cannot be punished, or get only a few months in jail and keep most of the millions they took. 

 

Last year some four percent of the 125,000 police were formally charged with corruption. The actual number is several times higher but it’s difficult to get enough proof to change a policemen. The corrupt cops protect each other and will threaten civilian accusers and witnesses with violence or death. 

 

A growing number of senior Afghan officials and tribal leaders are speaking out on how important it is to curb the corruption. This problem is causing more anger and unrest around the country as local warlords steal (via extortion or outright theft) large amounts of the foreign aid. Some of this money goes to hiring more gunmen, who in turn terrorize the population to prevent any organized resistance to the local warlord. This is how the Taliban operates and these Islamic radicals are seen as just another bunch of corrupt thugs. Alas, being a greedy thug has long been admired in Afghanistan, although not by the victims. Because there’s so much more money in Afghanistan the last decade (foreign aid, drug profits, and more economic activity) there is more to steal and a growing number of ambitious and thuggish Afghans are doing just that. The foreigners, and many Afghans, recognize that, in the 21st century, this traditional culture of corruption is an impediment, not a recipe for success. In Afghanistan tradition is killing the future.

Russian military's support of GLONASS on ice after corruption scandal, technical failures - report

The Russian Defense Ministry has reportedly refused to adopt GLONASS, the country’s rival to GPS, due to its technical shortcomings. One of the system’s 24 satellites has malfunctioned, and besides, GLONASS is still in its testing phase. 

­The malfunctioning satellite will not be operational any time soon as it has already exhausted its power after 96 months in service, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports. And due to a difference in orbit inclination, no existing reserve satellite can substitute it.

A backup satellite launched in December 2008 stopped working in September of this year, allegedly because of malfunctioning Taiwanese-made microchips. According to the report, Moscow was forced to order the microchips from Taiwan when the US, Japan and several other NATO countries refused to supply the GLONASS manufacturers with spare parts following Russia’s war with South Ossetia.

Though three GLONASS-M satellites are reportedly ready to be put into orbit, Russia’s 2013 budget has not allocated funds for additional launches. Formally, the navigation system is still in the development stage, which was planned to be completed by the end of 2012 with the Defense Ministry taking full control of the system. Due to systematic problems this has not happened, yet the federal program under which the project is funded has no provisions for any extension of the testing phase.

There are currently 31 GLONASS satellites in orbit, 23 of which are in operation. Others are either in reserve, or still being tested. If another satellite fails, it could delay the launch of the system by several more years.

Starting from January 1, 2013, all public transportation operators and the carriers of hazardous materials were ordered to equip their vehicles with GLONASS systems and report their locations to Rostransnadzor, Russia’s transport supervision agency. This requirement, however, is not legally binding unless the satellite system is formally put into operation.

GLONASS' development has been marred by corruption scandals in addition to its numerous technical failures. 

In December 2010, three GLONASS-M satellites crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The approximate cost of the equipment was estimated at $80 million.

In November 2012, inspectors from Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, uncovered several significant violations in the use of budgetary funds allocated to GLONASS. The investigators said that 6.5 billion rubles (over $200 million) were embezzled from the budget. As a result of the scandal, Yury Urlichich was sacked from his post as GLONASS chief designer and then resigned as the head of the Russian Institute of Space Device Engineering.

The GLOSNASS case came amid a separate scandal in which Russian Defense Ministry head Anatoly Serdyukov was sacked for his involvement in large-scale corruption.

Russia - 2 arrested in Defense Ministry’s $100MN corruption case

Yekaterina Smetanova, the head of the Expert Center for Legal Support company and a suspect within the Oboronservis embezzlement case.

A court in Moscow has sanctioned the pre-trial detention of two suspects as part of a major embezzlement case involving the Oboronservis company which is affiliated to the Russian Defense Ministry.

Khamovniki District court ordered the arrest of Yekaterina Smetanova and her partner Maksim Zakutailowho reportedlyare close friends of another suspect – the former head of the Defense Ministry’s property department Yevgeniya Vasilyeva.

According to investigators, Smetanova, who works as a general director in a law firm, planned and managed the sales of the 31st State Design Institute of Special Construction – a major state company that built docks for nuclear submarines, missile silos and launch pads for space rockets. In 2011 the institute was sold off by the Defense Ministry.

Smetanova was also detained earlier this year as she took part in the alleged kickback scheme during the sale of a supermarket building in the South Russian city of Samara. However, this case was quickly closed due to the lack of evidence.

The court agreed for the defendants to be detained because they possess real estate abroad and could flee Russia in order to avoid justice. In court Zakutailo asked the judge to release him on 800,000 roubles bail ($25,000) as with both partners under arrest no one would look after their children, but the judge ruled otherwise.

The defense lawyers said they plan to appeal the decision within three days.

A week ago the Central Investigative Committee conducted a search in Yevgeniya Vasilyeva’s Moscow apartment as part of their investigation into the alleged embezzlement of about 3 billion roubles (US $100 million) from the Oboronservis company.

Law enforcers suspect Defense Ministry officials of investing heavily into real estate before selling it to affiliates at well below market prices, the Investigative Committee’s spokesman said in a statement.

According to press reports, investigators seized about $3 million worth of gems and jewelry in Vasilyeva’s apartment.

Comments from Russia’s Chief Military Prosecutor Sergey Friodinskiy suggested that the Oboronservis probe touched upon a much broader corruption scheme. “A malicious system squeezed money from state budgets by means of joint stock companies controlled by the Defense Ministry”, the official said.

Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov said the ministry was closely monitoring the situation with Oboronservis and stressed that any public statements on the amount of damage and the complicity of particular officials in the alleged fraud were nothing more than allegations. The minister stressed that Oboronservis was a separate commercial structure with its own regulation and management and noted that the Defense Ministry, just like anyone else, is interested in a detailed investigation into all charges the company managers are facing.

Earlier this week, Business daily Vedomosti reported on investigators’ plans to question Serdyukov about the case, but the government’s daily Rossiiskaya Gazeta wrote that representatives of the Investigative Committee dismissed the report as unfounded.

On the day of the first search Serdyukov met with President Vladimir Putin, who instructed him to “ensure full cooperation with the investigation launched into Oboronservis,” presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

Waves of anger: Japan tsunami victim aid spent on whalers, officials and fighter pilots

A quarter of Japan’s tsunami relief fund has been spent on unrelated projects, including renovating a government office and subsiding whaling. The revelations have ignited outcry as more than 320,000 tsunami victims remain displaced.

The expenditure was identified after the publication of an independent government-backed audit into the allocation of the $150 billion relief fund, created after the earthquake and tsunami of March last year.

The fund intended not only to restore damaged cities, but to “reinvigorate Japan”, stimulating local economies into recover. Nevertheless, the relevance of some of the funded projects have been raising eyebrows.

Among the expenses listed are $30 million dollars to protect Japan’s yearly whale hunt from environmental activists, $380,000 to promote Tokyo Sky Tree, the world’s tallest free-standing broadcast tower, free training for fighter pilots and a subsidy for a contact-lens factory located nowhere near the site of the disaster-hit coast.

"Taxpayers accepted tax hikes because they thought the money would go to disaster victims and the disaster victims were grateful," said Kuniko Tanioka, who is a member of a group that studied the expenses in the Upper House of the Diet, Japan’s parliament.

"But the funds have been used for projects they never imagined. It is a direct blow to the willpower of those who are trying to rebuild their lives.”

At first the report was largely ignored by the Japanese media, as clientelism – the allocation of budget money to those with close ties, often in exchange for political support, is not unusual in the country’s politics.

But anger rose, sparked by those most in need of help who feel like they’ve  been ignored.

“Exploiting the construction effort is treacherous to the first degree,” proclaimed a Tokyo Shimbun editorial.

Cities on the coastline remain disaster sites, with administrators and former inhabitants unsure they will ever be rebuilt. More than 200,000 are still living in temporary housing.

Victims were allocated around $40,000 per household to rebuild their homes. The money is not nearly sufficient to rebuild the houses, particularly as many victims also lost their jobs.

240 ports – often economic hubs for smaller Japanese towns – remain closed.

Across the disaster zone itself 60 percent of applications from businesses seeking help to re-open have been rejected by authorities due to insufficient funds and red tape. Businesses have to re-open first before they are given financial aid, and have to be judged as “essential” by a local administrative panel.

Stunningly, not only has the money been misallocated, but half of the relief fund has not been given to anyone at all, due to a nominal lack of suitable applicants and red tape. The recovery is being blighted by the slowness of Tokyo’s bureaucrats to make centralized decisions to relieve troubled regions.  Whilst affected areas are worsening the situation, through apparent inexperience in managing such large-scale construction projects.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, whose DPJ party came to power in 2009 on promises of confronting long-standing corruption, was forced to defend the government in the Diet.

"We must listen sincerely to the voices calling for the utmost priority to be accorded to disaster area reconstruction,” said Noda, who was finance minister at the time of the disaster. He also promised to “narrow down” apparent unrelated spending, though he did not specify to what extent or on what criteria.

“The government has lost all public trust,” said Masako Mori, from the opposition Liberal Party.

"That's a fundamental characteristic of bureaucrats. It is the Diet that should check how money is used, but the Diet hasn't put any effort into it," Takayoshi Igarashi, a professor at Hosei University, told Japan Times.

Yoshimitsu Shiozaki, an academic specializing in urban planning at Kobe University, who has conducted his own survey of the spending, believes that little will be done to reverse the spending priorities.

"Legally speaking, there are no problems with these projects," Shiozaki told the Japan Times, noting that before signing off on huge subsidies, bureaucrats only had to prove that a company was in some way connected to the disaster area, even if it is through a single supplier.

He also pointed out that previous relief efforts in the country, such as the Kobe earthquake recovery in 1995, have also been marred by similar scandals.

"But this time the funds are being used in a more deceptive way," said Shiozaki.

In total Japan plans to spend $295 billion on disaster recovery over the next decade.

Nigeria - The Power Of Plunder

Oil, or any natural resources bonanza, has proved to be a curse to less-developed nations. Nigeria is one of the worst examples. The temptation to steal that money is irresistible to many and the result is pockets of luxury surrounded by a sea of poverty. About half the population doesn’t even have electricity. Roads, schools, hospitals and all sorts of infrastructure are in short supply. Even the oil industry infrastructure is plundered, which is why Nigeria only produces about half as much oil (two million barrels a day) that it is capable of. Even that is enough to account for 95 percent of exports and 40 percent of the federal budget. 

 

In the last year the government tried, for the first time, to accurately count the losses in the oil industry. The conclusion was that the theft, from pipelines and government bank accounts, amounted to over $10 billion a year in the last decade. The annual GDP of Nigeria is $238 billion, for a population of 165 million ($1,440 per capita). Oil accounts for about 14 percent of GDP and unemployment is currently about 25 percent. The report revealed, in detail and for all to see, what a lot of Nigerians had known for a long time. The theft is so pervasive (40 percent of refined petroleum products are stolen) that the activity is hard to miss. Eliminating the stealing will be difficult, because most politicians and political parties are financed by stolen oil money. The well-funded thieves are organized and determined to hang on to their wealth. Judges and police can be bought and many oil thieves have already been prosecuted and escaped. But there is progress. The oil thieves are under attack, some do lose, but the war will go on for years and there will be a lot of defeats.

In the north there is more and more popular hostility to Boko Haram. The Islamic radicals, despite pledges to clean up corruption and a lot of other problems, are being seen as a cure worse than the disease. As a result police are getting more tips about where Boko Haram members and equipment are hidden.   

Investigations into how Boko Haram gets its weapons revealed that many of them come in via southern ports, taking advantage of corrupt customs officials. Smuggling is a big business and the bribed port officials usually don’t check to see that they are letting in illegally. 

In the north police have uncovered a criminal gang that was pretending to be Boko Haram and killing southerners who refused to pay a large amount of cash to get off the hit list. Most paid but enough did not to leave a suspicious pattern of murdered people.

Nigeria and Niger have agreed to conduct joint patrols and coordinate operations along their 1,400 kilometer border, the better to limit Boko Haram movements. 

October 21, 2012: In the northeast (Potiskum in Yobe State) the expected Boko Haram attacks took place, leaving over 30 dead and several government buildings burned down over the last two days. Thousands of people have begun leaving the city of Potiskum, which is 230 kilometers west of the Boko Haram stronghold of Maiduguri. 

October 19, 2012: In the north (Borno State) a Boko Haram leader (Shuaibu Mohammed Bama) was arrested in the home of a politician (senator Ahmed Zanna) who had been suspected of supporting Boko Haram. Politicians have long been known to make deals with criminal organizations, and Boko Haram is no exception. 

In the northeastern city of Maiduguri, troops battled Boko Haram attackers, leaving at least six dead (including a Chinese man shot down by Boko Haram). 

October 18, 2012: In the northeast (Yobe State) an army raid hit a new Boko Haram hideout as the group was preparing to launch new attacks.

 

Abuse of inmates happens in every Georgian jail, says torture whistleblower

The penal system in Georgia is rife with the sadistic abuse of inmates covered under a glossy façade, claims an ex-deputy chief warden, who released footage of beatings and rape allegedly taken in a Tbilisi prison.

Vladimir Bedukadze alleges that top Georgian officials, including President Saakashvili, were aware of the abuses at the Gdlani prison, which triggered a major political scandal in the country. He claims that inmates in Georgia face inhumane treatment for political reasons or simply for the amusement of those in charge of jails.

Bedukadze told RT that he wanted to release the footage after bringing his family to Belgium, where he is seeking political asylum. But the Georgian authorities found out about the incriminating evidence and tried to undermine it by painting him a crook and a fabricator.

RT: Vladimir, how long have you been making these videos?

Vladimir Bedukadze: I have been working as the prison’s deputy chief warden since 2008.

RT: Who gave the orders? Who in the government knew what was going on? And who kept this matter under wraps?

VB: I made those videos on the instruction of the chief warden, and then the chief warden showed these videos to Minister Akhalaia. I made those videos over the period of a year, or maybe six months, I’m not sure. I didn’t make them in a day or two. They were accumulated over a period of time, and eventually I had two hours of video. Minister Akhalaia was in charge of all correctional facilities. Then Saakashvili made him Deputy Defense Minister. Then he became Defense Minister, and then, Minister of Internal Affairs. Throughout this time, Akhalaia remained in charge of Georgia’s prison system.

RT: How do you know the chief warden showed those videos to Akhalaia?

VB: I just did what I was told to do. I made those videos for him, and then he would take the tape, and I don’t know what he would do with it. But Akhalaia would often come to the Gdlani prison, perhaps once or twice a week. He used to spend a lot of time talking to the chief warden in his office. Akhalaia was a very close ally of President Saakashvili, whom President Bush called a “beacon of democracy.” He was fully aware of what was going on in the prisons. This is why I insist that Saakashvili should resign. In a democratic country, it wouldn’t be the Minister of Interior Affairs or Defense Minister stepping down; the President would resign. President Saakashvili must step down if he is a democrat. But he’s no democrat. He keeps the entire nation in chaos and fear. He relies on criminals. He has people with blood on their hands working in high positions in the government.

RT: Was Saakashvili aware of what was going on?

VB: Of course he knew. Saakashvili was fully aware of what was going on. When Akhalaia was appointed minister in 2005, the system was very far from European standards. Then Saakashvili appointed Akhalaia minister, and Akhalaia started taking very tough steps. He would send security forces into prisons. They would break into prisons and beat up inmates. Even Akhalaia himself would often be there with a camera, filming everything. And then, I think, he would show those videos to Saakashvili in order to show him what kind of system he had built. European MPs would visit the Gdlani prison, and they were impressed. They would say, “How did you manage to build such a system? You have 4,000 inmates there, and this place is so quiet, we haven’t heard as much as somebody speaking loudly. It’s almost as if there were no inmates there at all.

RT: You’re saying this has been going on for some time. Why did you release these materials now?

VB: In May, I asked myself whether I wanted to serve the regime or be a man. I tendered my resignation, took the videos I had made and left the country. I was afraid because I thought they would kill me. So I came to Belgium and asked for political asylum. My family is currently in Georgia. This is why I asked the Belgian authorities to grant me and my family political asylum as soon as possible.

RT: Are you afraid that something may happen?

VB: Yes. Saakashvili is mentally unstable. Nobody knows what he may do.

RT: Do you have specific reasons to be concerned about your family? Have you received any threats?

VB: Yes, after I released those videos, some people called me on the phone a few times, telling me to keep my mouth shut.

RT: And then you moved to Belgium?

VB: No. Those phone calls were just a couple of days ago. I secretly left Georgia and came to Belgium in July. I have been here for three months now, and for financial reasons I have been unable to bring my family here. Belgian institutions tell me my videos can’t be published before my family comes here, because nobody knows what Saakashvili may do to them. As soon as my family is in Belgium, this footage will be released. When I came to Belgium, I played those tapes to the European Commission and the European Parliament, and they assured me that they would keep it secret and that Saakashvili would never find out about it. They kept their word, but somehow four or five days ago President Saakashvili found out about this tape, and then he told Akhalaia to get two of my friends who worked with me at the prison, and stage a beating of an inmate. So those two guys beat up an innocent inmate, and then that video was aired on Georgian television. They claim that they did it on my orders. The purpose of this fabrication was to create an impression that I was connected to the opposition. They say I was paid 2 million dollars for those videos. But I have never been involved in politics. I have never been in a political party. I didn’t care about politics.

RT: Your critics say the upcoming election is the reason why you have published these videos now.

VB: No, no. They started this by publishing their video! They contacted two of my friends, made that video with an inmate and played it on Georgian TV. What could I do? I had this tape with two hours of footage. I had to defend myself. They forced me to release those videos.

RT: You mean you released your videos in response to what they did?

VB: Right. This had nothing to do with the election.

RT: Let me get this straight. You’re saying that Saakashvili somehow found out that you had these videos…

VB: Actually, it was not Saakashvili. It was Minister Akhalaia who found out.

RT: And then they published their video to accuse you, and after that you released your videos.

VB: Right. Except that their video was staged, it was a fabrication. Those two friends of mine are in prison now. Actually, four of my friends are in prison. This is just to put psychological pressure on me. Saakashvili and Akhalaia accused me of torture and issued a warrant for me. I’m a wanted man now.

RT: Who gave you the order to make those videos? And who among the high-ranking officials knew about what was going on?

VB: Nobody – just the chief warden and I. I was deputy chief warden. He wanted me to film some interesting moments: for example, when police arrest an opposition activist, or a prominent figure, is arrested, he wanted it on tape. Probably, they intended to use those videos later against those people. The chief warden would take those videos to Akhalaia, and Akhalaia would take them to the President. They used it for entertainment. They enjoyed watching how helpless people were in their hands. Once they take you to prison, you are nobody. You have no dignity. This is why these videos caused such an outrage in Georgia. This is why all those young people are protesting.

RT: How did they pick inmates for torture?

VB: They just did it for entertainment, or, if an inmate had something to do with politics, if he was Saakashvili’s enemy, they would pick him. The system is extremely politicized.

Chicago cop torture payouts reach $40m

Chicago is set to pay out over $7 million to two men who were victims of torture at the hands of ex-police chief Jon Burge. It brings the cost in litigation related to Burge’s abuses to an unprecedented $40 million of tax payers’ money.

The settlement, totaling $7.17 million, still needs to be fully approved by the city council and will be divided between the two claimants.

The larger part of the payout will go to Michael Tillman, who claims police tortured him for four days until he confessed to the murder of 42-year-old Betty Howard in 1986.

"They put a bag over his head to suffocate him. They beat him bloody with a telephone book. They took him outside the police station by some railroad tracks, put a gun to his head and threatened to kill him," said Flint Taylor, Michael Tillman's attorney.

He was 20 at the time and spent the next 23 years in prison. Despite his confession, Tillman maintained his innocence throughout his jail sentence.

Judges consistently dismissed his claims of confession under duress, even when another man was found in 1991 with evidence linking him to Betty Howard’s murder. Eventually, the charges against Tillman were dropped in 2010.

Tillman filed lawsuits against former Chief of Police Jon Burge and Chicago’s then-Mayor Richard Daley.

Tillman will receive over $5 million in reparations, while the lesser part of the settlement will go to David Fauntleroy, charged with double murder in 1983. Fauntleroy’s case was dropped in 2009 after a jail sentence of 25 years.

­

Price of justice

Former Chicago Police Chief Jon Burge has been the target of a number of high-profile lawsuits. To date the city has forked out over $33 million on legal cases linked to the ex-chief’s misdemeanor and abuses of power, of which $18 million has gone towards settlements.

If the Chicago City Council approves the latest settlements on Wednesday Burge’s will equate to nearly $40 million in tax payers’ money.

Burge is currently in jail serving a four-and-half-year sentence for obstruction of justice and lying over the torturing of suspects. However, he continues to receive a $3,000 monthly pension.

Tillman had also filed a lawsuit against former Mayor Richard Daley, accusing him of turning a blind eye to police abuses, despite being aware they were torturing suspects.

The $5 million payout to Tillman means that Daley will sidestep a potential court hearing that could lead to questioning from attorneys over other alleged torture victims.

Tillman’s lawyer said they were “disappointed” that they were denied the opportunity to question Daley, describing him as a “central figure” in the torture scandal.

"If he had done what he should have, I would not have been tortured, lived with the fear of the death penalty, or sent to prison. To me, this settlement proves that Daley, Jon Burge, and Burge's torture crew did me terribly wrong,” said Tillman in a statement.

The ex-mayor’s spokesperson issued a statement saying that Daley had fully cooperated with the case at every turn and was prepared to give his disposition. However, the former mayor denies claims that “he knowingly allowed police torture to occur some 30 years ago.”

Following the settlement decision, members of Chicago’s financial committee said the monetary reparations will allow people to turn the page on a dark chapter of the city’s history.

"That's the whole purpose of settling this case. Not to say a person didn't need to be deposed, but it's about healing our city and moving forward," said Alderman Anthony Beale of the Ninth Ward.

Grounded: Major Russian space contractor accused of embezzling $17 million

Police are searching the offices of Russian Space Systems (RSS), as the bosses of the country’s biggest space contractor face accusations of large-scale fraud. The makers of Glonass, Russia’s rival to GPS, are accused of misappropriating $17 million.

­Police claim that between 2006 and 2010 RSS management set up several shell companies and then signed contracts with them to provide research and development for the Russian geolocation satellite program. The research was then done by internal staff, while the money was siphoned back to the top managers through a series of fly-by-night firms.

If guilt is proven, perpetrators will face up to ten years in prison, though no suspects have been named so far.

Tax inspectors raised similar charges against the company in 2010, but these were subsequently rejected in court.

Russian Space Systems has officially stated that there is no evidence of any crimes.

The company has enjoyed a tempestuous relationship with its main client, the Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos.

Russian media has widely speculated that Roscosmos has helped police initiate the investigation. Earlier this year, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin accused RSS of financial irregularities. Russian Space Systems responded with an open letter demanding Popovkin’s resignation, citing his incompetence.

Glonass is a global positioning system conceived during Soviet times. Although it provided global coverage in the mid-90s, since then several of its satellites have fallen into disrepair. In recent years, Russia has spent billions on completing a constellation of satellites that would cover the entire planet. In 2010 3 Glonass satellites worth $80 million were destroyed after a failed launch, but the constellation was finally completed last year.

The Russian government plans to spend more than $9 billion on Glonass by 2020.

Brazilian opposition blasts Rousseff for the management of Paraguayan situation

The leading member from Brazil’s main opposition political party described Uruguay’s claim that consensus was absent in the Mercosur decision to suspend Paraguay and to incorporate Venezuela as “extremely serious” and complained Mercosur has become a merely “ideological” grouping.

 Bruno Araujo, Rousseff’s policies have turned Mercosur into an ideological block

Deputy Bruno Araujo, from the PSBD (Brazil’s Social democrats) said he was shocked on hearing Uruguay’s Foreign minister Luis Almagro revelation that he did not support the move by President Dilma Rousseff to exclude Paraguay and include Venezuela in Mercosur, which is contrary to the long tradition of Brazilian diplomacy respect for self determination.

“This attitude and push-policy by President Rousseff has turned Mercosur into a merely ideological block with no economic results for any of the member countries and its citizens”, said Araujo.

He added that the Brazilian government has thrown overboard “the long diplomatic tradition of the country based on Article 4 of the federal constitution that establishes international relations must be based on fundamental principles such as the self determination and non intervention”.

Araujo said that the forced inclusion of Venezuela in Mercosur is a great satisfaction for President Hugo Chavez ahead of the presidential election next October.

The Brazilian lawmaker said that Uruguay’s opposition to the decision on Venezuela was clearly evident when “Minister Almagro left the room at the moment the Mendoza final declaration was read aloud and president Jose Mujica sat on the second row leaving Uruguayan ambassador Guillermo Pomi in his place”.

Over the weekend another lawmaker from the opposition PSDB Sergio Guerra had strongly criticized Mercosur decision to suspend Paraguay from Mercosur and the incorporation of Venezuela.

“PSDB is extremely concerned with the reaction of the Brazilian government to events. There was no rupture of Paraguayan law or an attack on the institutional framework”, said Guerra making emphasis on the principles of self-determination and non interference in other countries affairs.

“The Brazilian government decision to suspend Paraguay until 2013 and at the same time admit Venezuela to the block was a hasty one. On the other hand what a difference in the Brazilian government treatment of other countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Iran”, said Guerra.

Uruguay says it accepted Venezuela in Mercosur as part of a major negotiation

The Uruguayan government said that it accepted the incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur as part of a “negotiation” in which it demanded no economic sanctions on Paraguay and that is why “the last word has not been said” on the issue.

 Diego Canepa, his master’s voice tries to explain what happened in Mendoza

During a press round following a cabinet council meeting on Monday the Deputy Secretary from the Presidency Diego Canepa expanded on Foreign minister Luis Almagro’s words, earlier in the day, when he said he was not satisfied with the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur under the current circumstances and that is why there was a request to have until July 31 to make effective the entrance of President Hugo Chavez.

According to Canepa, Uruguay ended accepting the decision although it was in favour of such a move on virtue of “political circumstances”.

“That is why President Jose Mujica decided not to veto the incorporation of Venezuela in spite of the fact that the Paraguayan parliament had not given its approval, but given the trading importance of Venezuela for Uruguay, as well as the acceptance by Brazil and Argentina not to impose economic sanctions on the Paraguayan regime”, explained Canepa.

The Deputy Secretary then revealed that President Mujica and Minister Almagro decided to attend the Mendoza summit with the idea of not allowing economic sanctions on Paraguay, because “what happened was not a problem with the Paraguayan people”.

Accordingly Mujica requested from his peers, Cristina Fernandez and Dilma Rousseff the continuity of the Mercosur Structural Convergence Fund for Paraguay and proposed that Venezuela should not cut the oil aid to the country, as Chavez had originally promised and announced.

Besides, the Uruguayan president proposed and it was accepted by the two lady presidents the opening of the regional block “to the countries from the Pacific Alliance,” a decision which Uruguay “believes is an opportunity to expand dialogue and not end up with a fractured America”.

The Pacific Alliance recently created includes Chile, Peru and Colombia, and eventually Mexico, all governments that favour open markets, foreign investment and are friendly business, which is not necessarily the case with Mercosur and the rest of the continent.

The alliance has seriously disturbed Brazilian diplomacy that is now facing a major challenge to their political, economic and trade dominance in the region.

Canepa also pointed out that Mujica requested to wait until the next Mercosur meeting in Rio do Janeiro to make official the incorporation of Venezuela instead of doing it right away in Mendoza.

“It was important that Uruguay adopted a realistic policy and having achieved what it achieved, Uruguay could not appear vetoing the access of Venezuela” argued Canepa.

The close aide of Mujica said that “Uruguay understands that from a juridical point of view another path could have been chosen and even better, but if in your country half the political public opinion supports it, you can’t reject the position”.

He also insisted that the incorporation of Venezuela to the Mercosur block was “long ago voted” by the Uruguayan parliament and besides all the presidents considered that the Ushuaia constitutional clause was not being complied during the process to remove Lugo and that is why the suspension of Paraguay from all Mercosur activities until elections are held in 2013.

“Paraguay did not leave Mercosur, but rather a democratic clause was applied. The three presidents understood that it was necessary to send a strong signal in strategic terms so that Mercosur in a complex chapter in world affairs, more precisely because of the situation the EU and US are undergoing”, concluded the loquacious Canepa.