By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein – Oct 3, 2023
For my brother and comrade
Orlando Bahamondes “Caballito”
Who left this world a few days ago,
taking away his nobility and his goodness,
but leaving us infinite signs of his conviction, his passion and his fighting spirit
for a better world.
Always towards victory!
The recent visit to Chile caused me deep discomfort when I observed – like in no other country – the impact of transculturation and the uncritical acceptance of Western truth as the only evidence to interpret international events. Although it must be admitted that this phenomenon occurs throughout the world, it has a higher incidence in Our America, considered by Washington as its backyard.
For a few months now, I have reaffirmed the conviction that the great battles of the 21st century are not going to take place on the territory of the countries, but inside the human brains: A true “territory” to be conquered by the powerful to impose their truth and reason.
The United States and Europe are being defeated by China and Russia in the economic, financial, technological, political, ideological, ethical fields and even in war with both possessing hypersonic missiles that the West does not have. This has changed the equation regarding military strategic balance.
In this framework, the only mechanisms left to the West to maintain its planetary hegemony are the monopoly of the issuance of dollars and the maintenance of that currency as fundamental for global trade. Likewise, the dominance it exercises through its almost absolute control of the cultural-media-communication apparatus must be considered. This is where the main battles of the present and future will take place.
Since the process of de-dollarization of the world economy has already begun, is expanding and becoming irreversible, it seems that it will be in the cultural-media space where the “mother of all battles” will be fought. Therefore, at the present time, the form and instruments we use to inform ourselves are of utmost importance.
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Therefore, if we do not take note of the reality and depth of this combat and the understanding of it, the enemy (in this case it is not valid to speak of an adversary) will maintain its dominance because we will not be prepared to face this decisive battle. Hence, it is a first-order task to construct our truth and believe in it.
When information issued by the media enemy is transmitted uncritically, the intermediary who does so becomes a blind propagandist of a “truth” that is usually false and that is actually mendacious and deceptive.
For example, in my personal case, the last time I listened to and watched CNN was April 11, 2002, the day of the coup against President Hugo Chávez. At that moment, I became aware that CNN was lying with complete and utter impudence. Since then, I have never watched or listened that channel again. I have done the same with other media outlets at the service of the empire or the local right. Even so, I do not consider myself an uninformed person, precisely because those media do not inform. On the contrary, they are the fathers of post-truth and “fake news.”
There are those who say that it is necessary to know what the enemy thinks. I ask them what they do with that information except for becoming bitter, distressed and discouraged. And apart from relaying it to their 500 best friends, becoming thus the propagandists of those media outlets? Sometimes it is necessary to resort to imperial means (I do it myself), but only to reinforce an idea that exposes its contradictions and/or aberrations.
The uncritical transmission of rumors, gossip, anonymous opinions or those of authors who do not show their faces, transforms into accomplices those who consciously or unconsciously reproduce the lies constructed – most of the time – in the thought tanks associated with global power.
Hence, the importance of not believing in the “information” emanating from the enemy, since it leads to accepting the false truths it constructs. This has begun to be particularly ruthless when facts regarding Russia’s military operation in Ukraine become known. The lie is no longer subtle, on the contrary, today it is malicious, vulgar, unscrupulous and evil.
In recent days alone, fake news broadcast by the imperial media has accumulated. It is so grotesque that some of them even expose the lies that others transmit. Let’s look at some examples:
1- Kyiv announced with “great fanfare” that the Chief Admiral of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and his staff had died following a missile and drone attack by the Ukrainian armed forces. The news “flooded” the Western media. The next day, Admiral Victor Sokolov appeared at a meeting with the Russian defense minister broadcast on television. Total silence.
2- In the same attack, Ukraine reported that it had severely damaged the Russian amphibious assault ship Minsk causing 62 casualties. The problem is that even when the Minsk suffered certain breakdowns, that day it was undergoing repairs in the dry dock. No ship in any country in the world is full of sailors and officers when it is in that situation. Total silence.
3- A few weeks ago, with carnival roar, the transnational “communication” media reported that a Russian missile had hit a market in a town in Donetsk. As if a magic wand had been waved, a chorus of accusations against Russia began for such an “inhumane action.” However, an investigation by none other than the New York Times (evidently already set up in the United States election campaign) has been in charge of demonstrating that the projectile was Ukrainian. Total silence.
4- Another Russian ship, the large landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak, was hit on August 4 by a Ukrainian drone and left “seriously damaged and adrift” according to the report of the press service of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The ship was repaired and rejoined the Black Sea Fleet on 7 September. It is difficult to assume that a ship “ seriously damaged and adrift” can be repaired in less than a month. Don’t waste time searching for information about the vessel. You will only find the Ukrainian action of August 4 on the internet. The ship then disappeared from the Western media. Its photo sailing and docking in the port of Sevastopol, headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet cannot be seen in any Western media. Total silence.
5- The missile that hit a grain factory in Poland last November and was reported to be of Russian origin was actually Ukrainian, according to Polish experts. At the time, it was irresponsibly reported that a NATO country (Poland) had been attacked by Russia and that this could trigger the third world war. Faced with this important clarification made a few days ago, the response has been total silence.
6- In something that has become widespread, the Ukrainian regime’s information services announces that Russian missiles and drones are shot down in their entirety during each attack. But the absurdity of reporting the collapse of a greater number of drones than those that were actually used has been reached. The last straw is that they say that they did not cause any damage, at the same time that they report deaths, injuries and destroyed buildings. If anyone has doubts, I recommend that after the Russian attacks on the war infrastructure and the command and concentration centers of troops in Ukraine, they review the NASA fire maps that can be observed for free on the internet. You can draw your own conclusions.
Anyway, these are just some recent manifestations of how people lie, which is why you have to learn to inform yourself. “Our wine is bitter, but it is ours” said José Martí. We must learn to drink our wine, no matter how bitter it is.
In the same way, we have the imperative to think for ourselves, to be convinced of what we believe in and thus, build our truth and transmit it. Only in this way will we be able to play a leading role in this battle that will be hard, difficult and prolonged. But if we are armed with our truth, the truth of the majority, there will be no doubt that we will move forward.
Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein, a Venezuelan international relations expert, Gelfenstein was previously Director of the International Relations of the Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, his country’s ambassador to Nicaragua and an advisor for international politics for TELESUR. He has written numerous books, among them “China in the XXI Century – the awakening of a giant”, published in several Latin American countries. You can follow him on Twitter: @sergioro0701
