Search

Marco Setaccioli challenged Marco Travaglio's calculations on European and Russian military spending, stating that Travaglio had indicated 450 billion euros for Europe and 150 for Russia and had argued that Russia had reason to fear Europe, which had invaded it four times in the last 200 years. According to Setaccioli, in the current year Russia would have spent around 17 trillion rubles on defense, equivalent to 181 billion euros, a figure indicated, according to him, by most analysts. He noted that the nominal comparison did not take purchasing power into account: applying indices developed by specialized research centers, Russian spending would rise to 574 billion international dollars, compared to about 700 billion for the entire EU. He added that the EU would have three and a half times the population of Russia and a GDP nine times greater. Setaccioli argued that the Russian federal budget did not show all military costs. He cited studies by economist Craig Kennedy, according to which part of the spending would be financed through subsidized loans and would thus remain on the banks' balance sheets. He also recalled an investigation by Dozhd', which, according to him, had documented pressures on private companies to hire people before signing contracts with the military and to supplement salaries with corporate funds. He added that at least three militias would be linked to Gazprom, which would cover part of the costs. For these reasons, he dismissed as false the claim that Russia spent less than the EU. Historically, Setaccioli criticized Travaglio's reconstruction, according to which the Napoleonic and Nazi invasions, along with interventions in Crimea and support for the Bolsheviks, would justify Russian fears toward Europe. Setaccioli listed Russian troop interventions in Poland in 1939, Finland in 1939-1940, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Romania in 1940, Bulgaria in 1944, Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, Moldova in 1992, Georgia in 2008, and Ukraine in 2014 and 2022. He stated that there were no Russian regions occupied by European countries, while eight regions—one in Moldova, two in Georgia, and five in Ukraine—would be under Russian control. Finally, Setaccioli accused Travaglio of presenting a selective and misleading reconstruction to make Russia appear not dangerous, portray Europe as a threat, and argue that rearmament was unnecessary and risky. In his view, that reasoning could legitimize a potential Russian attack on Europe and constituted a form of collaborationism. #Russia #Europa #Difesa (translated)

f.a.maisano reported that he was stuck for almost an hour at the Bologna station, returning from Milan, while outside, according to his account, about a hundred people were damaging the nearby streets. He thanked a young officer of the State Police who, since his wife was feeling unwell, helped them exit safely through a side exit. Regarding the broader situation, f.a.maisano expressed fear that things were going too far: in his view, when the right to assemble was used as a pretext for destruction, social balances were compromised, with consequences that "never end well." #Bologna #Sicurezza #DirittiSociali (translated)

Didier Maïsto believed that the police unions bore a heavy responsibility. He criticized them for defending police misconduct on television and for supporting Emmanuel Macron and his governments. According to him, during the Yellow Vests movement, the unions should have called on the police to lower their shields and not to strike people who were struggling to make a living from their work. Maïsto also stated that repression did not solve political problems and that the police had, in turn, become victims of the executive. He called on their unions to defend them by refusing to provide coverage for the protests, believing that this decision would hasten the end of "Macronism" and gain the support of the people. #Syndicats #Police #GiletsJaunes (translated)

Abelardo De La Espriella stated that the National Army, through Task Force Omega, carried out the Decisive Operation in Puerto Rico, Meta, against the structure Marco Aurelio Buendía, of the FARC dissidents from the Calarcá faction. According to his account, one member died during the operations and three people were captured, including alias “Junior Rojas,” who was injured and described as the second-in-command and financial responsible for the front. De La Espriella maintained that the group extorted merchants and businesspeople and controlled the production of narcotics in Vistahermosa and Puerto Rico. He added that the forces seized two handguns, two rifles, 274 cartridges, four magazines, a telescopic sight, and three hand grenades. He also expressed his support for the State to act with all its force against the group and concluded with patriotic and religious slogans. #OperaciónDecisiva #Narcotráfico #EjércitoColombiano (translated)

Antoine Léaument believed that Jordan Bardella preferred to defend Macronism rather than the people fighting for a better life. He said this choice did not surprise him and wished that Bardella's voters would see in his supposedly anti-system positioning a "joke." #politique #France #élections (translated)

Abelardo De La Espriella stated that the National Police, in coordination with the Army, Air Force, and the Prosecutor's Office, captured nine members of the "Yair Bermúdez" Front 57 in Bugalagrande, Valle del Cauca, a dissident faction of the former FARC-EP that, he wrote, was affiliated with the National Coordinator Bolivarian Army. He labeled them as narcoterrorists and said they were accused of illegal recruitment and conspiracy to commit crimes. He added that among those arrested were alias "Majiño," whom he identified as the leader of a commission in the Valley and included in the list of most wanted individuals in Nariño, and alias "Bastidas." According to De La Espriella, during the operation, 12 cell phones, a laptop computer, nine containers with black powder, and a homemade mortar grenade adapted to be launched with a drone were seized. He concluded the message with patriotic and religious expressions. #PolicíaNacional #Narcoterrorismo #SeguridadNacional (translated)

Maria Clara Posada announced that she would present a request to the JEP to open an incident of non-compliance and determine whether the Secretariat of the FARC should be expelled from the transitional justice system. She pointed out that the accusation from the Department of Justice against Nicolás Maduro claimed that the Venezuelan government had negotiated the delivery of weapons to the FARC to pay off a debt to the organization. Posada stated that it should be established whether the FARC omitted that account in the reserved hearings because, according to her, that would mean failing to tell the truth about an event that occurred before the signing of the Agreement and should lead to their expulsion and to them being tried by ordinary justice. #JusticiaTransicional #FARC #DerechosHumanos (translated)

Adriana Martínez stated that Miguel Uribe's wife had said that the order to kill him possibly came from Congress and pointed to the FARC party as suspicious. She added that she had always maintained that a killer does not change their nature. https://t.co/5foCynkV5j #Colombia #FARC #Justicia (translated)

María Fernanda Cabal said that the victims of Esperanza, Paz, and Libertad were demanding that the extermination that, according to her, the FARC committed against them be clarified. She added that she would support their legal actions up to the Constitutional Court or the inter-American system if the JEP refused to recognize them, and asserted that the truth would be known with or without that jurisdiction. #Justicia #DerechosHumanos #Verdad (translated)

Maria Clara Posada questioned why the JEP had not expelled members of the FARC Secretariat from the system who, according to her, had failed to fulfill their obligation to compensate victims. She cited the 10th Monitoring Report on the Peace Agreement by the Comptroller's Office, which stated that the FARC had not delivered 81.8% of the properties or 96.5% of the movable goods they had committed to, and argued that this figure did not include the assets that, she claimed, were hidden and not reported. She also asked where the FARC's money was and whether the agreement had become the largest money laundering operation in history. Posada noted that Legislative Act 01 of 2017 and the Statutory Law of the JEP established that those who appeared before it should compensate victims or lose their benefits, and criticized the jurisdiction for not applying that consequence. She stated that the FARC, which she claimed had a fortune of $600 million in 2014, only delivered assets worth $46.194 billion for reparations. She also described the JEP as favoring the FARC and mentioned that Victoria Sanguino had participated in a rally in support of the jurisdiction. Furthermore, Posada indicated that the Department of Justice had claimed that Maduro had negotiated with the FARC for the delivery of explosives in exchange for the payment of a debt. She asked whether this matter had been mentioned in previous statements before the JEP and maintained that not providing complete information could also lead to exclusion. She added that Colombians had the right to demand accountability from Transitional Justice. #JEPExpulseAlSecretariado #AcuerdoDePaz #FARC #JusticiaTransicional (translated)

Sander Sassen wrote to Kati Piri that the tolerance and inclusion she stood for, in his opinion, meant little as long as hoisting an Israeli flag could have consequences or Jews could not walk the streets in large cities without being recognizable. https://t.co/anFGjSYR9D #Israel #tolerantie #inclusie (translated)

Maria Clara Posada identified the woman in a photo from a demonstration supporting the JEP, driven by Alejandro Ramelli, as Victoria Sanguino, a member of the FARC whom she described as being accused of being responsible for hundreds of forced abortions and the recruitment of minors. Posada asked if anyone remembered another case in which alleged perpetrators participated in a demonstration to support their judge and said she did not recall seeing Nicolás Maduro support the Department of Justice. She also maintained that the scene was another example of a biased court that, according to her, prioritized criminals and forgot about the victims. #Justicia #DerechosHumanos #Paz (translated)

We need to be alert and not be caught off guard. We must be ready; it will require great humility. It seems like an easy match, but a great Lazio will be needed to bring points home. And for this reason, coach Gennaro Gattuso asks his players to be "alert and not be caught off guard. We must be ready; it will require great humility. It seems like an easy match, but a great Lazio will be needed to bring points home." #Lazio #SerieA #Calcio (translated)

Wolf recounted that Serge Juillard was returning home on January 7, 2009, when a snow-related traffic jam slowed him down in the Barbière area of Avignon. According to his account, young people were throwing snowballs containing stones at the cars. After a collision, Juillard allegedly went out to check the damage, then about ten youths insulted and violently attacked him. Wolf indicated that they notably pulled down his pants, struck him in the genital area, filled his mouth with snow, and hit him with a metal bar, the first blow reportedly hitting his head. He also reported that Juillard described being held by his arms and legs, saying they "crucified" him. The post indicated that in March 2013, Juillard was in a wheelchair and taking morphine for seizures and pain. Wolf wrote that about ten suspects had been arrested, but only three had been brought before the juvenile court. Two minors, aged 14 and 16 at the time of the incident, were reportedly sentenced to six months in prison, three of which were firm. Assisted by Me Gontard, the victim lamented, according to the post, that the older suspects had not been tried. Wolf concluded by asking his readers if they were already familiar with this case. #Justice #Violence #France (translated)

Melquisedec Torres stated that, according to the formal accusation by the United States justice system against Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flórez, Maduro negotiated drugs with the FARC in exchange for explosive mines and weapons, which he claimed were used to assassinate many Colombians. He added that these dealings had allegedly continued at least until 2017, after the signing of the Havana Peace Agreement. Torres requested that the Colombian Prosecutor's Office immediately seek collaboration from the United States to access that information and prosecute those involved. He pointed out Rodrigo Londoño, also known as Timoleón Jiménez or Timochenko, among them, and claimed that, according to the accusation, Iván Márquez and Jesús Santrich were also said to have participated, of whom he said was allegedly dead. Furthermore, he asked whether TimoComunes and other leaders had informed the JEP about that alliance, and if the court had questioned them about it or other alliances. #Maduro #FARC #Colombia (translated)