The powerful always agree on one thing: the rioting plebs must be kept in
obedience at all costs. Download, print and distribute the January issue of theA3 wall newspaper! ---- At the beginning of January, a popular uprising tookplace in Central Asian Kazakhstan, which was once one of the republics of theSoviet Union. Angry people took to the streets, set fire to several statebuildings, destroyed hundreds of cars and looted shops. ---- In short: Kazakhstanis the ninth largest country in the world, although it has only about 19 millioninhabitants. It is a country rich in minerals, including oil and natural gas.However, this wealth is controlled by a narrow (fairy-tale-rich) economic elite,while millions of people live in poverty and earn only a few thousand crowns amonth. The country is ruled by President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, who was given thescepter by longtime autocrat Nazarbayev, who built his cult of personality, asevidenced by his ubiquitous statues, and who did not give up his influence. Thepresidential election was a pre-arranged event, including the outcome.The uprising with a demand to stabilize gas prices began in Zanaozen, a citywhere in 2011 repressive forces killed at least 14 workers on strike for betterworking conditions and higher wages in the oil fields during the strike. Thebiggest riots took place in the city of Almaty, they had no leader or centralcontrol, they took place spontaneously and with the participation of varioussocial groups. Autocratic President Tokayev did the only thing he could - sendingmilitants to the rebellious people he called terrorists. In addition, he tookcare of cutting people off from the Internet so that information about theuprising and repression could not spread to the world and people would havedifficulty communicating with each other. The regime soon announced that it hadmanaged to "neutralize dozens of attackers" during the "counterterrorismoperation". The result of this very short purge among opponents of the regime isofficially 225 dead and 2600 injured.Thousands of people have been arrested.The bloody suppression of the uprising was confirmed by about 4,000 troopsinvited by Tokaev from the countries of the post-Soviet Collective SecurityTreaty Organization - Russia in particular, followed by Belarus, Armenia,Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. The "brotherly troops" withdrew after the"stabilization" of the situation. Tokyev first historically spoke critically ofhis predecessor and made certain promises of reform. At the same time, he had theregime's opponents arrested. However, no terrorists were introduced, except forone forced confession on Kazakh television, where the beaten man admitted that hehad been hired for money to turn out to be a Kyrgyz jazz pianist who had beenreleased following protests by the Kyrgyz embassy. Hard to believe that therewould be any change, at most the country's economic elites will take advantage ofthe situation to throw someone off the wheel,The Russian regime has shown that it still knows what it means to ask "autocrats"to provide "brotherly help." We received the "blessing" in 1968. The Soviet erais gone, as far as the name is concerned, Putin is more than willing to followthe imperialist legacy of this era. And it is not just about gaining influenceover a neighboring state with significant economic potential. Like any autocrat,he fears that a possible successful uprising could be an inspiration for thepeople of Russia, for whom he is slowly but surely ceasing to be the belovedfather of the country. That is why the Treaty countries are so similar in manyways, whether it is rigged elections, the liquidation of the opposition or harshrepression against any act of disobedience. Putin made it clear: "We will not letanyone in our homes destabilize the situation and carry out the so-called colorrevolution."But it's not just autocrats who can find common ground, knowing that endangeringthe people of one country can mean endangering the other. Others are alsointerested in stabilizing the dictatorship. For example, Western miningcompanies, for which the riots meant a failure to generate profits. Let us notforget that 70% of Kazakhstan's oil production is controlled by foreigncompanies. The European Union, including the Czech Republic, imports weapons toKazakhstan. According to the annual report of the Ministry of Industry and Tradeon the control of military material exports for 2020, licenses were activeenabling exports for almost 410 million crowns. It is said that only a fractionwas used, but a year earlier it was more than tenfold. Exports were also allowedfor "riot control agents". There will be other traces of the West.For example,American and British soldiers took part in international exercises of the Kazakharmy, where, among other things, they practiced interventions with batons againstthe crowd. However, the regime has so far remained in the use of firearms, whichhave a much more penetrating potential to stop popular unrest.We, the anarchists, supported the uprising at a small demonstration in Prague,because it is clear to us that the underprivileged strata of Kazakhstan havefound no great support anywhere. The vast majority of states and theirrepresentatives stick together in terms of the audacity of the masses to demandan improvement in their lives and to hinder the wheels of the capitalist machine.https://www.afed.cz/text/7572/a3-bratrska-pomoc-mezi-autokraty_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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