I’m not
down with a violent response to protestors regardless of their causes. I just
want to begin there, but I’m not really sure there is a side to be on in this
one. I’ve been trying to find good sources for information, but I’m running
pretty dry. I didn’t find one piece by Daniel Sandford for
BBC News, which might be ok. He includes a niffy timeline.
The death
toll on as Tuesday was 26 in Kiev, which is the capital of the Ukraine.
President Yanukovych blames the opposition leaders (Vitaly Klitschko, Udar
party and Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Fatherland party) for the violence, because
INTERNET or just blaming the opposition leaders to blame the opposition leaders,
I guess. Talks are failing and Yanukovych is encouraging the opposition leaders
to distance themselves from the “radical forces.” As of Wednesday the EU and
President Obama have come out in favor of sanctions.
A
breakdown of the injuries goes like this as of Tuesday:
- 10 killed were police
- 14 protestors were killed
- A journalist for a Russian language paper, Vyacheslav Veremyi was pulled from a taxi and shot
- Hundreds have been treated for injuries
Sandford
is attributing the conflict’s origin to a “democratic argument over Ukraine’s relationship
with Russia.” However, I think that isn’t the full picture, because are the
opposition capitalists who want more connection to the EU? The protestors maybe
inspired by far-right politics, but now they are focusing on revolution.
Sandford asserts the opposition’s numbers are small and cannot on their own
overthrow the government. The support for the protests seem to be coming from
Lviv, which is highlighting the split between eastern and western Ukraine. The
protests are centered on Independence Square (also called Maidan). Initial
protests began in late November, when President Yanukovych rejected a trade and
association deal with the EU in favor of closer ties with Russia.
Things
were claiming down because the protestors had agreed to give up their
occupation of government buildings for amnesty against prosecution. However, on
Tuesday, government supporters blocked the opposition’s attempts to scale back
the constitutional powers of the president. Both sides blame the other of
course. Violence spread and the police launched their first attack on Maidan on
Tuesday. The police have been using, water cannons and tear gas, while the
protestors were using stones and petrol bombs. The government is calling this
an anti-terrorism operation (because anything you disagree with is terrorism,
USA, USA, USA). The protestors have barricades made of burning tires.
Russia, of
course, has an opinion because when they aren’t violating the rights of their
own citizens they want to give advice, saying the protestors are trying to take
power.
So my dilemma
is: are the opposition really on the side of the people or are they looking for
free trade agreements? Because free trade agreements aren’t in the best
interests of the people, they are in the best interests of owners. Of course,
the government doesn’t seem much better. Actually, anyone in leadership over
there care about the people?
Tomorrow Venezuela.
*Update, per the headlines alone this morning: there is a cease fire and an increase in the death toll.
