cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55370711
cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55370708
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in a remote Siberian prison two years ago, was almost certainly poisoned with a deadly toxin found in South American dart frogs, five European governments said Saturday.
A joint statement from Britain, France, Germany, Sweden, and the Netherlands said they were “confident” Navanly had been poisoned after an analysis of samples taken from his body “conclusively confirmed the presence of epibatidine,” and that the Russian government was the likely culprit.
“Russia claimed that Navalny died of natural causes. But given the toxicity of epibatidine and reported symptoms, poisoning was highly likely the cause of his death. Navalny died while held in prison, meaning Russia had the means, motive and opportunity to administer this poison to him,” it continued.
The five countries said they were reporting the case to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, alleging Russia violated the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Russian authorities had previously claimed Navalny, 47, died of natural causes while serving several sentences totaling more than 30 years at a high-security prison above the Arctic Circle.
“Scientists from five European countries have established: my husband, Alexei Navalny, was poisoned with epibatidine—a neurotoxin, one of the deadliest poisons on earth. In nature, this poison can be found on the skin of the Ecuadorian dart frog. It causes paralysis, respiratory arrest, and a painful death,” she said.
“I was certain from the first day that my husband had been poisoned, but now there is proof: Putin killed Alexei with chemical weapon. I am grateful to the European states for the meticulous work they carried out over two years and for uncovering the truth. Vladimir Putin is a murderer. He must be held accountable for all his crimes.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the poisoning shows that “Vladimir Putin is prepared to use chemical weapons against his own people to remain in power. France pays tribute to this opposition figure, killed for his fight in favor of a free and democratic Russia.”
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper added: "Only the Russian government had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to use that toxin against Alexei Navalny in prison. We are here today to shine a spotlight on the Kremlin’s barbaric attempt to silence Alexei Navalny’s voice.”
Russia announced Navalny’s death on Feb. 16, 2024, just as that year’s Munich Security Conference opened. On that day, Navalnaya delivered a speech, pledging that Putin “would pay for what they have done to our country, to my family, and to my husband.” After a weeklong dispute over custody, Russia released Navalny’s body to his mother.
I haven’t noticed particularly enlightened, or well reasoned arguments from the defenders of Russia and China that purport to be left and reject all westerners because our governments are mean, what you call tankies.
If you talk to them, you can agree on, well the people in power are a problem, doing x, which is bad. You might say, which is why we need to do y, to mitigate the damage. The tanky will say no, y won’t help, the entire system is fucked, only wholesale revolution will help, (as if somethng better would result in our circumstance gtfo,) and fuck you I hope you all eat shit and die (their attitude,) for being a resident of a country with a mean government.
So the conversations don’t go anywhere productive, they are a waste of time, on any such subject. We can still find common ground on a lot of foreign policy stuff though. We both disagree on war with Iran for instance, disagree on restarting the cold war style coups in latin america like they are with venezuela, like they did when they made a de facto military coup, which agreed to give up the president and a few of his loyalists, and stand down and let US helicopters not be shot down, which they could’ve done.
The US wouldn’t have attempted that operation without the agreement of the generals, not the least in one of the most protected areas in the country in a mobilized venezuela. Helicopters are vulnerable to numerous ground weapons that the US couldn’t reliably take out, not just anti aircraft batteries, but shoulder fired weapons like rpg’s, machine guns, including those mounted on trucks, manpads, other russian made small arms, etc. The military is the de facto puppet governor of Venezuela, and when they start exporting the oil wealth, there will be resistance, the army will mobilize against it, and the CIA will use black market drug and weapon sales monies to fund paramilitaries to run death squads to collectively punish villagers. Because that’s the template the US is working off of, and they are rotten, incapable pieces of shit with no vision.
Then you’re not looking for them. There are plenty of well reasoned arguments.
You’re already off the path. The problem is very rarely the individuals in power, as we see because we replace those people and the same things happen and get worse. The problem is class society and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie.
Yes, harm reduction strategies can be quite limited in their effectiveness. Attempting to stop flooding with sandbags, while a valid harm reduction strategy, does nothing to address rising sea levels.
Are you 12 and talking to other 12-year-olds?
Sounds more like a you problem, to be honest. I have plenty of productive conversations with tankies.
Cool cool. Have a nice day.