Out of deference to the more than 160,000 victims of the tsunami tragedy that engulfed South Asia on 26 December 2004, we in Focus on the Global South (Focus) have refrained until now from pointing to an alarming development bearing on the security and well being of our executive director, Walden Bello.
In the December 2004 issue of the organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), Walden was named as part of a list of “counter-revolutionaries”.
Two of the people on the list, Arturo Tabara and Filemon Lagman, have already been assassinated.
Another, Ricardo Reyes, is being hunted down by operatives of the CPP and their paramilitary wing, the New People’s Army, and is in hiding.
For people familiar with the history and practices of these organisations, the message is unmistakable: “You are a ‘class enemy’ to be eliminated.”
The listing of Walden and other Filipino activists as counter-revolutionaries deserving of elimination comes as a shock to us in Focus. Walden’s work speaks for itself — he is acknowledged to be one of the most articulate critics of US military intervention and corporate-driven globalisation.
Focus calls on all civil society organisations and networks globally to condemn the threats in the strongest possible terms. We make a final appeal to the CPP to desist from its destructive course of action and refrain from dividing the movement that is fighting against corporate globalisation at a critical time in the struggle for a better, just and equitable world.
Focus on the Global South website: www.focusweb.org
To see the statement on Walden Bello from the World Social Forum, with a list of signatories click the link below
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