RATTAN SINGH (SIRPENTAPOTAMIA)

The history of Ghadarites in South America is quite niche. During discourse on the Ghadar Party, the South American history is often relegated in favor of larger hubs such as North America and Shanghai. This article is an attempt to bring light to some of the Ghadar operations that were carried out in South America.

Argentina

The first Punjabi migrants to Argentina arrived in 1910-11; they primarily worked as laborers in sugar mills and farms. From the late 1800s, Argentina had grown into a developed economy with an income on par with colonial powers like France and Germany, hence it became an attractive destination for Punjabi migrants. Despite this, it was still a secondary destination to the US and Canada. The general secretary of the Ghadar Party in Argentina, Bhagat Singh Bilga, writes on the state of migrants in his autobiography ‘Ghadar Lehar De Anfole Varke’:

1925 ਵਿਚ ਅਰਜਨਟੀਨਾ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਪ੍ਰਵਾਸੀਆਂ ਦਾ ਆਖਰੀ ਪੜਾਅ ਸੀ। ਇਸ ਦੌਰ ਵਿਚ ਗ਼ਦਰ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਦੀ ਇਸ ਬਰਾਂਚ ਨੇ ਅਹਿਮ ਰੋਲ ਅਦਾ ਕੀਤੀ ਸੀ। ਅਰਜਨਟੀਨਾ ਵਿਚ ਆਏ ਹੋਏ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਪੁੱਤਰ ਸਨ ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਸਿਰ ਭਾਰੀ ਕਰਜ਼ੇ ਸਨ ਅਤੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਅਦਾ ਕਰਨਾ ਅਸੰਭਵ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ। 1927-32 ਦੇ ਸੰਸਾਰ ਮਾਲੀ ਸੰਕਟ ਨੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦਾ ਨੱਕ ਵਿਚ ਦਮ ਕੀਤਾ ਹੋਇਆ ਸੀ।

In 1925, Argentina was the last destination for Punjabi migrants. During this period, this branch of the Ghadar party played a vital role. The Punjabi migrants to Argentina were sons with farmers that had debts which were impossible to pay. The worldwide economic recession of 1927 to 1932 had suffocated them.

The Ghadar Party had existed in Argentina from close to inception but it only gained popularity from 1925 onwards. Many popular Ghadarites such as Baba Bujha Singh, Bhagat Singh Bilga and Ajit Singh had resided in Argentina, at one point or another. Bhagat Singh Bilga and Bhai Rattan Singh would tour around the northern provinces of Argentina and Bujha Singh toured the central and southern provinces of Argentina to convince the laborers to join the Ghadar Party en-masse. Baba Bujha Singh worked as a leading member of the Ghadar office, inviting Ajit Singh from Brazil.

In the 1930s, Teja Singh Sutantar visited Argentina to train Ghadarites in military training. During which time, Argentina was subject to a coup and the British used the instability to deport Ghadar supporters back to India. The British were looking for Bhai Rattan Singh and Teja Singh Sutantar but were unable to locate and arrest them. During the same time, as described in ‘Ghadar Lehar De Anfole Varke,’ many Ghadarites were undergoing military training in the north of Argentina:

ਬਾਕੀ ਗ਼ਦਰੀ ਚੁਪਚੁਪੀਤੇ ਫੌਜੀ ਸਿਖਲਾਈ ਦਾ ਕੈਂਪ ਲਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਉਤਰ ਵਲ ਨਿਕਲ ਗਏ ਸੀ। ਕੈਂਪਾਂ ਵਿਚ 10 ਦਿਨ ਦੀ ਫੌਜੀ ਟਰੇਨਿੰਗ ਦਿਤੀ ਗਈ ਸੀ। ਅਰਜਨਟੀਨਾ ਦੇ ਗ਼ਦਰੀ ਵਾਲੰਟੀਅਰਾਂ ਨੇ ਉਤਰ ਦੇ ਜੰਗਲਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਜਾ ਕੇ ਅਮਲੀ ਟਰੇਨਿੰਗ ਲਈ ਸੀ। ਇਸ ਤੋਂ ਬਿਨਾਂ ਇਕ-ਇਕ ਹਫ਼ਤੇ ਦੇ ਰਾਜਸੀ ਸਟੱਡੀ ਸਰਕਲ ਵੀ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਅਤੇ ਸਾਰੇ ਫੈਸਲੇ ਜਮਹੂਰੀ ਅਸੂਲਾਂ ਅਨੁਸਾਰ ਲਏ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਸਨ।

The other Ghadarites silently left to the north to set up a military training camp. Inside the camp, 10 days of military training was given. Ghadarite volunteers from Argentina went to the northern jungles for training. Otherwise, one week was reserved for political study circles and all decisions were taken according to democratic principles.

In these study circles, many intense debates raged on. One important debate was on how ideology affected the failed Ghadar conspiracy of 1914-16. Bhai Rattan Singh ardently argued for the acceptance of Marxism as an underlying ideology for Ghadarites and convinced students from all countries to study at Eastern University in Moscow.

Panama

Punjabi immigration into Panama started as a result of the Panama Canal construction, hired mostly as labourers; this occurred between 1904 and 1914. This benefited the US making trade between the East and West Coast much more efficient. In addition, Ghadar plans from both coasts were able to be formulated quicker due to quicker voyages.

1904 ਤੋਂ ਲੈ ਕੇ 1914 ਤੱਕ ਪਨਾਮਾ ਨਹਿਰ ਦੀ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਰਹੀ ਸੀ। ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਇਹ ਕੰਮ ਫਰਾਂਸੀਸੀ ਕੰਪਨੀ ਫਰਨਾਂਦੋ ਦੇ ਏਸੇਫੇ ਨੇ ਸ਼ੁਰੂ ਕੀਤਾ ਸੀ ਪਰ ਇਹ ਕੰਪਨੀ ਗਰਮੀ, ਮਲੇਰੀਆ ਅਤੇ ਮਾੜੀ ਮੈਨੇਜਮੈਂਟ ਕਰਕੇ ਫੇਲ੍ਹ ਹੋ ਗਈ ਸੀ ਜਿਸ ਕਰਕੇ ਬਾਅਦ ਵਿਚ ਇਸ ਦੀ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਨੇ ਕੀਤੀ ਸੀ। ਇਸ ਦਾ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਵਧ ਫਾਇਦਾ ਵੀ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਨੂੰ ਹੀ ਸੀ ਕਿਉਂਕਿ ਸਾਨਫਰਾਂਸਿਸਕੋ ਤੋਂ ਨਿਊਯਾਰਕ ਦਾ ਸਮੁੰਦਰੀ ਸਫਰ ਹੁਣ ਮਹੀਨਿਆਂ ਤੋਂ ਘਟਕੇ ਦਿਨਾਂ ਦਾ ਰਹਿ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ। ਨਹਿਰ ਦੀ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਨੇ ਇਸ ਉਤੇ ਕਬਜ਼ਾ ਹੀ ਕਰ ਲਿਆ ਸੀ। ਨਹਿਰ ਦੀ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਇਮੀਗਰਾਂਟ ਪਨਾਮਾ ਆ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਸਨ ਅਤੇ ਨਹਿਰ ਉਤੇ ਮਜ਼ਦੂਰੀ ਦਾ ਕੰਮ ਕਰਨ ਲਗ ਪੈਂਦੇ ਸਨ।

From 1904 to 1914, the Panama Canal was undergoing construction. First, this work was started by the French company Fernando de Esfe (Ferdinand de Lesseps) but constructed failed due to heat, malaria and bad management, instead it was built after by America. The largest beneficiary of the construction was America because the voyage from San Francisco to New York reduced from months to mere days. After the construction of the canal, America had occupied it. During the construction of the canal, Punjabi immigrants came to Panama to work as laborers.

With suitable immigration into Panama, it eventually became a site for Ghadar activities. As with the US and Argentina, Teja Singh Sutantar set up military training bases and collected money to send back to the headquarters. This was when the affiliation with Ghadarites and communism occurred and many Ghadarites would go from South America straight to Moscow University.

ਤੇਜਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੇ ਪਨਾਮਾ ਦੀ ਇਸ ਬਰਾਂਚ ਨੂੰ ਜਥੇਬੰਦਕ ਰੂਪ ਵਿਚ ਤਕੜਾ ਦੀ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ ਤੇ ਫੌਜੀ ਸਿਖਲਾਈ ਦੇਣ ਲਈ ਕੈਂਪ ਲਾਏ ਸਨ। ਕਈ ਹਜ਼ਾਰ ਡਾਲਰ ਇਕਠੇ ਕਰ ਕੇ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਹੈਡਕੁਆਟਰ ਅਤੇ ਇੰਡੀਆ ਨੂੰ ਭੇਜੇ ਸਨ। “ਹਿੰਦੋਸਤਾਨ ਵਾਪਸ ਚਲੋ” ਦੇ ਸੱਦੇ ਉਤੇ ਪੂਰਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਅਤੇ ਅਮਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਿੱਧੇ ਹਿੰਦੋਸਤਾਨ ਆ ਗਏ ਸਨ ਅਤੇ ਦੂਲਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਜਲਾਲੀਵਾਲ ਅਤੇ ਮਾਨ ਟਰੇਨਿੰਗ ਵਾਸਤੇ ਮਾਸਕੋ ਚਲੇ ਗਏ ਸਨ। ਅਮਰੀਕਾ ਦੇ ਇਸ ਛੋਟੇ ਜਿਹੇ ਦੇਸ਼ ਦੀ ਗ਼ਦਰੀ ਬਰਾਂਚ ਦਾ ਗ਼ਦਰੀ ਸਰਗਰਮੀਆਂ ਵਿਚ ਅਹਿਮ ਸਥਾਨ ਹੈ।

Teja Singh strengthened the Panama branch’s organization and created camps to deliver military training. Many of thousands of dollars were collected and sent to party headquarters. Amar Singh and Puran Singh went to India with the call of ‘Go back to India’ and Dula Singh Jalaliwal and Mann went to Moscow for training. The Ghadar branch of such a small country in the Americas played an important role with regards to Ghadar activities.

Brazil

Punjabi immigration into Brazil was never a large phenomenon as other countries (Argentina, Panama) had more employment opportunities. Nevertheless, it was still a destination considered by some Punjabis but its community remained quite small comparatively.

The uncle of Bhagat Singh, Sardar Ajit Singh (discussed in the previous article), lived in Rio de Janiero since his exile from British India, after being released from Mandalay Jail in Burma. Teja Singh Sutantar and Bhai Rattan Singh would frequently visit him, with the intent to set up Ghadar operations in the coastal cities of Brazil.

Ajit Singh’s Speech

ਮੈਕਸੀਕੋ, ਕਿਊਬਾ, ਹਾਂਡੂਰਾਸ, ਨਿਕਾਰਾਗੁਆ ਆਦਿ ਦੇਸਾਂ ਵਿਚ ਅੱਗੇ ਅੱਗੇ ਭਾਈ ਰਤਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੇ ਬੁਨਿਆਦੀ ਕੰਮ ਕੀਤਾ ਜਿਸ ਦੇ ਪਿਛੇ ਪਿਛੇ ਤੇਜਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਨੇ ਜਥੇਬੰਦਕ ਉਸਾਰੀ ਕੀਤੀ ਸੀ। ਉਹ ਅੱਗੜ-ਪਿੱਛੜ ਬਰਾਜ਼ੀਲ ਪਹੁੰਚ ਗਏ ਸਨ। ਬਰਾਜ਼ੀਲ ਵਿਚ ਭਾਵੇਂ ਬੜੇ ਹੀ ਘਟ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਨ ਪਰ ਗ਼ਦਰੀਆਂ ਲਈ ਇਹ ਇਕ ਅਹਿਮ ਸਥਾਨ ਸੀ। 1907 ਵਿਚ ਜਲਾਵਤਨ ਹੋਇਆ ਸਰਦਾਰ ਅਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਏਥੇ ਹੀ ਰੀਓਦੀਜਨੋਰੇ ਵਿਚ ਰਹਿ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ। ਉਸ ਨੇ ਏਥੇ ਪੱਕੀ ਰਿਹਾਇਸ਼ ਕੀਤੀ ਹੋਈ ਸੀ। ਭਾਈ ਰਤਨ ਸਿੰਘ ਅਤੇ ਤੇਜਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਸੁਤੰਤਰ ਵਾਰੀ ਵਾਰੀ ਅਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਕੋਲ ਠਹਿਰੇ ਸਨ।

Bhai Rattan Singh started fundamental works in Mexico, Cuba, Honduras, Nicaragua and other faraway countries, after which Teja Singh started organizational development. After back and forth, they reached Brazil. Although Brazil had very few Punjabis, it remained an important place for Ghadarites. Sardar Ajit Singh, exiled in 1907, lived in Rio de Janiero. He had permanent residence there. Bhai Rattan Singh and Teja Singh stayed with Ajit Singh, in turns.

Ajit Singh was known for his links to administrative officers in the Brazilian hierarchy, many of whom harboured anti-colonial tendencies, thus making Ghadar operations smoother. Rio de Janiero mostly served as a temporary hub of command to carry out activities in India from whereas Montevideo and Panama City were cities where operations were functional.

ਅਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਅਤੇ ਤੇਜਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਰੀਓਦੀਜਨੇਰੋ ਆ ਗਏ ਅਤੇ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੇ ਫੈਸਲਾ ਲਿਆ ਕਿ ਸਿੱਧੇ ਹਿੰਦੋਸਤਾਨ ਪਹੁੰਚਾਉਣ ਦਾ ਪਲੈਨ ਬਣਾ ਲਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ। ਜਿਵੇਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਦੱਸਿਆ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ, ਅਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਦਾ ਬਰਾਜ਼ੀਲ ਦੇ ਹਾਕਮ ਤਬਕੇ ਵਿਚ ਕਾਫੀ ਰਸੂਖ ਸੀ। ਗ਼ਦਰ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਨੇ ਮਧ-ਪੂਰਬ ਅਤੇ ਪਰਸ਼ੀਆ ਵਿਚ ਕੌਫੀ ਵੇਚਣ ਦੀਆਂ ਏਜੰਸੀਆਂ ਲੈ ਲਈਆਂ ਸਨ। ਇਹ ਯੋਜਨਾ ਵਿਚਾਰਨ ਲਈ ਤੇਜਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਮੁੜ ਮੋਂਤੇਵੀਦੀਓ ਆਇਆ ਜਿਥੇ ਭਗਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਿਲਗਾ ਨਾਲ ਵਿਚਾਰ ਵਟਾਂਦਰਾ ਕਰਨ ਮਗਰੋਂ ਦੋਹਵਾਂ ਨੇ ਬਰਲਨ ਜਾਣ ਦਾ ਫੈਸਲਾ ਕਰ ਲਿਆ।

Ajit Singh and Teja Singh arrived at Rio de Janeiro and took the decision to plan how to reach India directly. As mentioned before, Ajit Singh wielded much influence among the administration of Brazil. The Ghadar Party had bought coffee selling companies in the Middle East and Persia. To discuss the plan, Teja Singh came back to Montevideo and after discussion with Bhagat Singh Bilga, both took the decision to go to Berlin.

Conclusion

Most of the Ghadarites from South America would either end up moving to North America (US or Canada) or back to India. It remains a trend amongst the richer Argentinian Sikhs to be married into Canadian families to ensure a better quality of life. Since then, the Sikh population amongst these countries has dwindled but they still retain some followings with operational gurudwaras.

______________

Courtesy: The Khalsa Chronicle (Received through email on May 13, 2023)

The post The Ghadar Party in South America first appeared on Sindh Courier.

By Tom Arms

South America is in a mess. The problems stretch from Patagonia to Cartagena and further north into Central America and Mexico.

Almost everywhere there is violence, political instability and economic problems.

The main spotlight has been shone on Brazil. The Portuguese-speaking nation is the economic giant of South America. Its GDP is four times the next largest Latin economy and the eighth largest in the world. Brazil has tremendous potential and political problems.

It is deeply divided after left-winger Luiz Inacio da Silva (aka Lula) narrowly defeated right-wing populist Jair Bolsonaro in October elections.

Bolsonaro and his supporters has claimed the elections were rigged and demanded a re-run. Thousands of Bolsonaristas (as they are called) stormed government offices in the capital Brasilia including Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential palace. 1,200 have been arrested.

But the real problem is not the validity of the elections but the deep divide between Brazil’s political left and right. Conservatives, which include the military, police, middle classes and growing Christian evangelical movement, view Lula as a crypto-communist set on destroying Brazilian democracy and taking their country down the path of Cuba or Venezuela. Bolsonaro’s opponents worry that he will return Brazil to a military dictatorship.

To the south, Argentina is suffering another bout of Peronism and a division at the top of the country’s political structure. President Alberto Fernandez and Vice-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner simply don’t speak to each other. On top of that, Ms. Kirchner has been convicted of fraud totaling $1 billion.

The resultant political vacuum and distractions at the top of the Argentine political tree, coupled with Peronism’s irresponsible spending has left the country with a crippling debt and 100 percent inflation rate. Thirty-seven percent of the country live below the poverty line.

Then there is Peru. In one week in 2020 Peru had three presidents in only five days. Exactly who is the current president is open for debate. Left-wing ex-school teacher President Pedro Castillo was arguing with his right-wing Congress. So he dissolved it and declared a state of emergency.

A raft of ministers resigned and Congress impeached President Castillo, threw him into jail and swore in Vice-President Dina Boularte as his replacement. From his jail cell, Castillo maintains he is the rightful president, as did the scores of rioters who died in the past month demanding Castillo’s release.

The war in the Ukraine has provided a reprieve of sorts for Venezuela’s beleaguered Nicholas Maduro. It has pushed up the price of the country’s only major export—oil, and forced Washington to improve relations. Inflation is dropping but is still at 156 percent a year. In 2021 it averaged 686.41 percent.

In neighboring Colombia, former guerrilla fighter Gustavo Petro faces challenges from the left and right. He switched from the armed struggle to peaceful politics when FARC signed a peace deal with the government in 2016. But other guerrilla groups have remained in the field under the banner of the National Liberation Army. The government has been holding talks with the rebels in Mexico, but so far the results are disappointing.

At the same time, President Petro has angered the Colombian right by increasing welfare spending and raising taxes for the wealthy. Recently there was an attempted assassination of Vice-President Francia Marquez, Colombia’s first Black woman vice-president. It is not clear whether the bomb was planted by extremists on the right or the left, but she rose to prominence as an environmental activist fighting illegal mining activities.

Forthcoming elections in Paraguay have a surprising international dimension. Paraguay is the only South American country to have full diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Its recognition of the island country has been a long-standing policy of the country’s dominant right-wing Colorado Party. But Paraguay’s beef and soya farmers want access to the Chinese market so opposition Liberal Party candidate Efrain Alegre has promised to break with Taipei and forge links with Beijing.

Both Taiwan and Mainland China are pouring money into the campaigns of the opposing parties and elections will be held on 30 October.

A bit further north in Central America there are endemic problems of civil war, gang warfare and drug-related political corruption in Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. The stand-out island of stability and prosperity is Costa Rica.

Political instability anywhere provides opportunities for exploitation by outside powers. In the case of South America, there is talk of Chinese naval facilities in Tierra del Fuego and Panama. Both Russia, Iran and China have close ties with Nicholas Maduro.

World Review

The Kevin McCarthy election fiasco will have far-reaching consequences for Speaker McCarthy, Donald Trump, the Republican Party, the conduct of US government and the rest of the world. Let’s start with Mr. Trump. He endorsed Mr. McCarthy. The “Never Kevins” in the far-right Republican Freedom Caucus ignored him. The voters ignored his key endorsements in the mid-term elections. Trump’s star is still in the firmament, but on the wane.

Now for the Republican Party. The battle to secure McCarthy’s election exposed a split. A small group of 20 right-wing extremists were able to delay and nearly blocked the election of Kevin McCarthy against the wishes of 202 of their party colleagues. They have also wrung key concessions out of the Speaker. The Freedom Caucus have discovered power. They will use it.

What are these concessions and what impact will their implementation have? First of all, if any one member of Congress does not like something that Speaker McCarthy has done they can table a vote to remove him. At the very least, this has the potential to seriously disrupt and delay congressional business. .  This means that McCarthy will be much more politically circumspect then he might have been otherwise.

Next, the Speaker has agreed to give more time to debate and amend legislation on the floor of the house. The Freedom Caucus are also known as “Disrupters” and they are particularly keen on disrupting or blocking any spending bills, especially those related to Ukraine and foreign aid. And if it means stopping the machinery of government, then, according to Freedom Caucus members, so be it.

The British NHS is not the only European health service with problems. The French are also wringing their medical hands. The problem? Not enough staff and—as in Britain—the looming threat of strikes. As the New Year dawned some Paris hospitals reported 90 percent of staff reported sick in protest at working conditions. The country’s second largest health union has called for an “unlimited walkout” of nurses followed by a strike by GPs.

President Emmanuel Macron is throwing money at the problem but so far it is not working. Forty percent of French nurses are planning to leave the profession this year despite an extra $10 billion wage package.  Wannabe doctors are being offered a $50,000 golden handshake to enter the profession.

The French desperately needs them. Rural areas are especially short of medical staff, some communities have been without a doctor’s surgery for several years and the situation is only likely to worsen as about half of the French doctors are over 55 and fast approaching retirement age.

There is a stand-out villain in Prince Harry’s book “Spare”—the press, especially Britain’s tabloid newspapers. I, in common with most of the public, have some sympathy and understanding with Harry’s views especially as one of the worst elements of the tabloids—the paparazzi played a major part in his mother’s death.

But the Duke of Sussex and his supporters ignore some basic facts: Newspapers are businesses. They are also a crucial element in any democratic society. Furthermore, the more successful they are as a business the greater their degree of freedom, which in turn is good for democracy. To make money and be free they must give the public the news that they want to read. The public wants to read about scandal and rows, especially if they involve the world’s most famous Royal Family.

And, of course, the Royal Family, needs the press. If the media stop reporting their activities they become an irrelevancy. Prince Harry should realize all the above. His book is making a fortune on the back of royal tittle tattle which tabloid readers love. And his willingness to lift the royal veil has swung the media spotlight firmly in his direction.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s notorious Wager Group won two major awards last year: The title of “Hero of the Russian Federation” and the “Corrupt Person of the Year Award.” The first was presented to him by his friend Vladimir Putin and the second by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.

The shadowy private army which is the Wagner Group is playing an increasingly important role in the Ukraine War.  Officially, there are no private armies in Russia.  They are against the law. Unofficially, the Wagner Group has become Putin’s privately-controlled army beyond the reach of legal niceties and ministry of defence bureaucracy. As well as Ukraine, the Wagner Group operates in Syria, Libya and Mali. Wherever it goes, it leaves a trail of rape, murder and a raft of other war crimes.

This is not surprising given that its ranks are filled with convicts. Of the 50,000 Wagner mercenaries currently in Ukraine, 40,000 of them were in prison cells a few months ago. These hardened criminals are ruthless and they are achieving results. It appears that this week they have gained control of the Ukrainian town of Soledad. The town is the center of Ukraine’s salt mines which can provide protected ammunition dumps and 200 miles of tunnels to infiltrate soldiers behind Ukrainian lines. But more importantly, the capture of Soledad provides Putin with a much-needed PR boost. Yevgeny Prigozhin may be in line for an oak leaf cluster for his Russian hero medal.

____________________

Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and the author of “America Made in Britain”.

The post Observations of an Expat: Latin Fandango first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Lima

On Friday, Peruvians stage the third consecutive day of protests to demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte, the closure of Congress, the call for a constituent process, and the release of former President Pedro Castillo.

The land Transport Superintendence confirmed the blockade of roads in 46 sites scattered in eight regions of the country. Among them is the blockade of traffic between Puno and Arequipa, two important commercial cities.

Social organizations, trade unions, and indigenous movements called for a national strike in several regions in rejection of Dina Boluarte’s government and in support of former president Pedro Castillo.

Currently, the strongest protests are taking place in the southern part of the country. Local media report traffic blockades on the Interoceanic Highway and the Pan-American Highway, as well as protests in Andahuaylas, Aymaraes, and Abancay.

#ATENCIÓN | Policías golpean, reducen a fotoperiodistas y obstaculizan que otros periodistas capten imágenes de las agresiones.@PoliciaPeru @MininterPeru @Defensoria_Peru @ANP_periodistas @cnddhh pic.twitter.com/7LzSmhRhYP

— Wayka (@WaykaPeru) January 5, 2023

In this last region, 70 percent of the population has complied with the national strike, leaving a large number of vehicles stranded on the roads. In the city of Chalhuanca, the police tried to unblock a highway, which led to clashes with the indigenous communities.

On Thursday, protests were reported in the departments of Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Puno, Cuzco, and Tacna. Motorcycle taxi drivers and food market workers then announced that they were joining the national strike.

Despite a persistent rain, the citizens held a sit-in in front of the Ayacucho Cathedral, from where they demanded justice for the almost 30 deaths caused by the repression in December.

In Arequipa, a mobilization of thousands of people demanded the departure of Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress.

#Peru | Social organizations, trade unions, and indigenous movements called for a national strike in several regions in rejection of Dina Boluarte's government and in support of former president Pedro Castillo. pic.twitter.com/Ih1PG3QyTl

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 15, 2022

Demonstrations resumed in Peru after the Christmas truce and continue to demand the resignation of President Boluarte, the release of deposed president Pedro Castillo, the closure of Congress and early elections this year.

The South American country is under a state of emergency decreed by the government in December, in the framework of the protests unleashed since Castillo’s dismissal.

In the previous days, over 20 people died due to the repression. A subsystem of prosecutors would be created to clarify the deaths, said Attorney General Patricia Benavides.

__________________

Courtesy: TeleSur (Posted on Jan 6, 2023)

The post Peru: Nation-Wide Strike Against President Since 3 Days first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Amy Maxmen

The peanuts we devour today, seeds of the legume Arachis hypogaea, originated in South America and spread around the world because of the peanut’s popularity as a snack and a source of oil. But as with many commodities, their expansion is also a story about the conquest of land and of humans.

In Slaves for Peanuts, environmental journalist Jori Lewis reveals how the rise of the peanut crop was intertwined with slavery, abolition and religious conquest in West Africa during French colonization in the nineteenth century. To unearth this history, Lewis pored over archival documents, newspapers and botanical manuscripts stored in Senegal, Gambia and France, along with oral histories and the lyrics of griots — singers revered as historians and poets in West Africa. Her drive to tell the stories of people excluded from history books stems, at least in part, she writes, from her own curiosity as an African American whose ancestors were enslaved.

The hard facts of the material are made lively through a few main characters and Lewis’s imagery as she traverses the land where the dramas of the book unfolded. “We traveled like the people whose steps we were retracing might have in the nineteenth century, in our horse cart that clip-clopped on a dirt trail toward the horizon,” she writes.

The modern peanut dates back more than 10,000 years, to the lowlands east of the Andes Mountains, where it derived from a hybridization of two older types of peanut — possibly thanks to a chance pollination by a bee. By the time Christopher Columbus landed in the New World, people across South America were cultivating peanuts. As waves of European conquerors and clergy arrived on the continent, some returned with peanut plants as gifts for royalty waiting to learn what goods they might gain from foreign lands. It isn’t clear when A. hypogaea reached West Africa, but Lewis suggests that the crop could have been flourishing in the region by the end of the sixteenth century. The peanut succeeded in its new home thanks to the climate and the farmers’ familiarity with another crop that produces small, edible seeds in the ground: the Bambara groundnut, Vigna subterranea.

When the transatlantic slave trade began to wind down in the first half of the nineteenth century, French officials living in colonial outposts in what is now Senegal focused on the peanut in their search for alternative sources of revenue. Demand for vegetable oil and soap was rising in Europe, and peanuts offered a low-cost resource as long as ample supplies could be provided for a low price. Key to this was the availability of free human labor.

Legal loopholes

Lewis delves into the powerful kingdom of Kajoor, which by 1850 was producing the majority of Senegal’s peanut exports. Its peanuts were often grown by people enslaved by Africans, despite France’s formal proclamation that it would end slavery in its colonies. A series of loopholes and justifications allowed the practice to continue. For example, France determined that slavery was permissible if enslaved people were classed as ‘domestics’ or ‘servants’. French officials in the late nineteenth century wrote to their superiors in Europe about the “delicate question of captives”, Lewis reports. One official warned: “If you suppress the supply of these captives to the colonies, you will destroy farming everywhere and in short order.” He grotesquely argued that captive people had volunteered for servitude and that it would be “inhumane” to grant them freedom.

To meet the hunger for peanuts, France overthrew leaders who did not comply with its demands. When Kajoor’s African ruler interfered with the Europeans’ plans to build a railway through the region to export peanuts, the French military invaded violently. After burning villages, troops posted a decree stating that they had “come to carry out a great work of civilization among you”. One captain wrote to his mother describing how a Black man had burnt to death when the troops had set fire to his home. Even in some of the darkest passages, readers will find relief in Lewis’s prose. She imagines what the invading troops see: “The landscape and vegetation so riotous after the rainy season, its forests of baobab and gum trees, towering cailcedrats, and brilliant green tamarinds with clusters of rusty-colored drooping fruits and the flaming blooms of flamboyant trees.”

Drive for liberty

Seeking freedom, many enslaved people fled from Kajoor and other interior regions to the French colonial outpost in Saint Louis, a series of small islands at the mouth of the Senegal River. Here, the colonial government had to make a show of supporting abolition. But it was a “false promised land”, Lewis writes, because escapees would be returned to their captors if they couldn’t establish residency in Saint Louis. One way to do that was to find Walter Samuel Taylor, one of the very few African pastors for the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, who ran a shelter for escapees. Lewis tells the story of Moussa Sidibé, a young man whom Taylor hid until the three-month residency period had passed and he could obtain papers announcing his freedom. A striking document reproduced in the book certifies that Sidibé is “able to possess his own self”.

Taylor bound his drive to abolish slavery to his goals as a missionary. At an 1878 meeting of the evangelical society in France, he told the audience that granting Africans freedom would give the church a competitive edge against Muslims who were trying to win hearts and minds. He also warned that a racist approach to missionary work that denigrates African cultures is alienating. In other words, the quest for souls would be more successful if it respected people’s lives.

Still, Taylor didn’t say much about slavery in Kajoor and other peanut-producing regions — at least that was preserved in archives. Perhaps such advocacy did not seem worth the risk, given the threats he already faced to his career from some Europeans in the evangelical mission. But there is no way to know his sentiments because, as Lewis reminds us, history is only as complete as what’s left behind.

Slaves for Peanuts is a valuable addition to agricultural and West African history. But part of what makes the book for me is Lewis’s journey tracing this history in Senegal, a country she’s resided in for more than a decade. When the archives don’t contain the voices of people who tilled the land, she goes in search of stories, asking elders for the vanishing memories of those who came before. Even when she comes up empty-handed, the reader is richer because of her questions.

____________________

Courtesy: Nature

The post How the peanut trade prolonged slavery first appeared on Sindh Courier.