WORLD LIBERTY CONGRESS
Un frente global contra las dictaduras: "Los tiranos cooperan entre ellos, ahora lo haremos nosotros"
Ante las amenazas a la democracia mundial, más de un centenar de activistas, opositores y líderes de 40 países se reúnen esta semana en Lituania para construir una alianza para la libertad
La unión hace la fuerza. O, en palabras del líder opositor venezolano Leopoldo López, "ante el opresor, nuestra actitud, nuestro espíritu, no pueden ser la de una víctima". Los enemigos de las dictaduras se han conjurado en Vilna, la capital de Lituania con un mensaje optimista pero sobre todo combativo.
Durante este año, activistas de Hong Kong, Venezuela, Cuba, Irán, Rusia, Bielorrusia y muchos otros han organizado protestas violentas a favor de la democracia. Pero estos disidentes y los movimientos por la libertad suelen estar aislados y no pueden articular globalmente su desafío a los gobiernos autoritarios. El World Liberty Congress que se celebra en Vilna estos días se centra en la lucha contra las dictaduras y en los mayores desafíos que enfrenta la democracia hoy. "No podría ser más apropiado el lugar y el momento, la frontera física entre la democracia y el despotismo", dijo el viceministro de Lituania, Mantas Adomenas, en su discurso de bienvenida. Le escuchaban activistas de África, Asia, América, Oriente Medio y Europa. Algunos de ellos han viajado en secreto.
Los regímenes autoritarios cooperan, cometiendo crímenes y agrediendo a estados vecinos y sus propias sociedades. Y también alterando el orden internacional basado en reglas. "Vilna se ha convertido en un refugio para la gente que lucha por la libertad", constató en el discurso inaugural el campeón de ajedrez y disidente ruso Garry Kasparov, que decidió exiliarse después de varios choques con la policía rusa en manifestaciones. En su solapa lucía un pin con la bandera rusa a la que le faltaba la franja inferior, la roja, quedando blanco azul y blanco: "Es una nueva bandera, sin la sangre que desgraciadamente están derramando mis compatriotas en Ucrania, y espero que un día la vean como bandera oficial".
"Estamos viviendo un momento interesante, no se trata sólo de nosotros los que venimos de países donde hay opresión, los países democráticos también están sufriendo esas amenazas y nos miran a nosotros en busca de respuestas", afirmó Kasparov. "Todo país en el que la libertad está en peligro debe ser nuestra causa común, porque ahora nos conocemos pero estamos divididos, mientras que los dictadores trabajan entre ellos, saben que si uno cae el otro también... y yo quiero que hagamos lo mismo".
Uno de los principales asuntos que los participantes del foro buscarán responder es cómo ayudar a los activistas defensores de los derechos humanos, así como a los medios independientes que operan en países autocráticos. "Igual que las mujeres y las jóvenes estudiantes de Irán lideran su revolución, nosotros tenemos que liderar la nuestra, y estamos aquí para apoyarnos los unos a los otros, porque somos los buenos, luchando por librarnos de los dictadores", arengó Masih Alinejad, la conocida activista iraní, a los presentes, que tratarán durante tres días sobre la lucha contra los abusos de las tiranías. El foro reúne a activistas por la democracia de todo el mundo. "La esperanza muere con el tiempo, por eso tenemos que trabajar sobre ella aquí", añadió Omar Alshogre, activista sirio y refugiado en Suecia.
FINANCIAR MEJOR Y DAR VOZ A LOS PRESOS
En la cita se han formado grupos de trabajo para mejorar el desempeño de los opositores en todo el mundo. El venezolano Leopoldo López, que pasó cuatro años en prisión, es uno de los impulsores de esta ambiciosa plataforma. Una comisión explorará cómo mejorar la financiación de plataformas opositoras. Otra buscará fórmulas para dar voz a los presos políticos. "Los autócratas colaboran entre ellos, diplomáticamente, tienen acuerdos internacionales para esconder el dinero de los que les desafían, tienen acuerdos para destruir la reputación de la gente, aprenden los unos de los otros", recordó López, que pidió hacerles frente con un esfuerzo similar.
"Estamos trabajando en una agenda para entrenar a millones de personas para que tomen las calles", anunció. "La mitad de la gente que está en esta sala ha estado detenida alguna vez. Los prisioneros políticos están muchas veces olvidados, y nosotros queremos dar la cara por ellos y por sus familias, darles capacidad de comunicación". En su discurso se refirió a la ley Magnitsky, aprobada inicialmente en Estados Unidos, que persigue a extranjeros acusados de corrupción y violaciones de los derechos humanos. Con el paso del tiempo se ha convertido en una herramienta legal de alcance global. López pide ahora pide tejer redes de activistas globales.
Meet the Venezuelan dissident trying to save democracy
With help from Maggie Miller
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As Americans worry about the future of democracy in their country, Venezuelan opposition leader LEOPOLDO LÓPEZ is on a mission to try to save it worldwide.
López, who spent more than four years of his life in solitary confinement after being arrested by the NICOLÁS MADURO regime for leading protests against it in 2014, is starting a new initiative along with Russian opposition leader GARRY KASPAROV and Iranian dissident MASIH ALINEJAD called the World Liberty Congress to gather together like-minded dissidents and democracy advocates to share ideas on how to combat autocratic regimes.
The group of more than 120 leaders and activists from more than 40 countries is meeting for the first time for three days next week — in a city that López asked to not be disclosed for security reasons. (This week a group of young dissidents from Nicaragua were arrested returning from a meeting the group organized in Costa Rica for participating in the event.)
“It’s very shocking, over the past 16 years, there’s been a recession of democracies worldwide back to the 1989 levels of democracies in the world,” he told NatSec Daily, numbers backed up by a recent University of Gothenburg report. And from 2017 to 2021, the number of people who have democratic rights has declined from 3.9 billion to 2.3 billion, according to Oxford’s Our World In Data.
“We have to figure out how we can become more effective in the way that we promote freedom and democracy,” López said.
As autocracies support each other with money and weapons, López believes that democracy advocates have to form a network that will counter that by sharing techniques for grassroots activism, fighting corruption, countering government messaging, and using technology and the financial system to counter autocratic regimes.
The group reflects a fundamental shift in the view among some dissidents and activists that they need to get more organized, and more technologically savvy, in fighting back against autocracies.
It’s still too early to say whether this new initiative will actually make real progress or just be yet another talking shop for activists about democracy, without the pull to truly fend off governments with armies and billions of dollars of natural resources or trade behind them.
López, the former mayor of part of Caracas and founder of the Voluntad Popular opposition party, said he was confident that Venezuela, which used to be Latin America’s most prosperous country but now is its poorest, would be free within his lifetime. López, who now lives in exile in Spain and travels the world advocating for democracy, said his mission for the rest of his life is to try to bring democracy back to his home country.
“What I wake up every day thinking about is not what’s going to be my destiny but what’s going to be the destiny of my country,” he said when asked if he still wanted to be the leader of Venezuela one day.
As the Biden administration explores whether to have any rapprochement with Venezuela to get access to their oil, López cautioned the U.S. to tread lightly.
“Anything that helps the path to democracy and freedom in Venezuela should be supported, and anything that gives Maduro or any dictatorship legitimacy, resources, or support should not be supported,” he said.
THE INBOX
SOUTH SCRAMBLES JETS: South Korea scrambled together fighter jets after detecting around 180 North Korean aircraft on the northern border on Friday, Reuters reports.
North Korean military planes flew along the northern military demarcation line that separates the two countries, South Korean military officials said in a statement. In response, South Korea deployed 80 jets, including its F-35A stealth fighters.
The unexpected maneuver came as North Korea continues to act with hostility toward its southern rival and the U.S for conducting large joint military drills, which the regime claims is practice for potential invasion.
PUTIN’S LIKELY SUCCESSOR: A new report by cybersecurity company Recorded Future places SERGEI KIRIENKO, Russia’s first deputy chief of staff of the presidential administration, as the most-favored candidate to succeed President VLADIMIR PUTIN in 2024.
Currently the head of domestic policy, Kirienko likely gained the Kremlin head’s favor as he assumed responsibility for the management and annexation of Russia-occupied regions in Ukraine, researchers wrote in the report released Friday. That quickly moved Kirienko into Putin’s inner circle, distinguishing him from other potential successors.
A Kirienko presidency “would very likely be defined by his ability to adapt to new realities, avoid conflict and maintain good relations with key actors,” researchers wrote. “Importantly, Kirienko’s ability to avoid conflict will likely lead him to pursue a more peaceful foreign policy.”
DIPLOMATS UNITE: G-7 leaders released a joint statement asserting common positions on Ukraine, Russia, China and recent developments in Iran and North Korea, the Associated Press’ MATTHEW LEE reports, citing officials.
“We reiterate our unwavering commitment to continue providing the financial, humanitarian, defense, political, technical, and legal support Ukraine needs to alleviate the suffering of its people and to uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the statement said.
The group also called out Iran for supplying Russia with weapons and condemned the government’s crackdown on protests and criticized North Korea for its escalatory behavior toward South Korea and the U.S. in the past month.
DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of the global national security and foreign policy scene prefers to unwind with a drink.
Today, we’re featuring LEOPOLDO LÓPEZ, whom we interviewed in this newsletter’s top. We asked López about his imbibing practices. Here’s what he said:
“There used to be a drink that I liked that was called the Moscow Mule, but I think it should be called the Kyiv Mule and I think the place to drink it should be in Kyiv in a free Ukraine.”
Yра, Leopoldo!
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