ADD TO YOUR SEARCH BAR: New Database Exposes Vast Right Wing Network Threatening Freedom Around The World
Yanis Varoufakis hailed the effort as "a treasure chest of well-researched reports on how the reactionaries of the world unite."
"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war.”
(Editor’s Note: This is an extremely important story and an essential tab to add to your search bar. While I knew about the Israeli spy software Pegasus, I completely underestimated the scope and scale of what is going on with multiple Israeli spy agencies and private tech companies, linked up with other nations and tech tyrannies and their reach into our lives. Be sure to read the story below on the 2014 case of the 23 missing Mexican college students for a real-life example of how this network functions. The future is here. Read up. Get real about the enemies we face. — Mark Taylor)
By Brett Wilkins
Common Dreams (4/17/24)
"Coups. Assassinations. Riots. Detentions. Disinformation. We know the tactics that have been deployed to undermine our democracies. But who is behind them?"
Progressive International (PI) asks and answers this and other questions with an extensive new database published Wednesday that connects the dots in what the leftist group calls the "Reactionary International"—a loose global network of right-wing leaders and organizations working to subvert democratic institutions.
PI calls it an "illicit network undermining democracy around the world."
Needed mask-off moment
"Today is a mask-off moment for the Reactionary International and the parties, politicians, judges, journalists, foundations, think tanks, tech platforms, NGOs, activists, financiers, and entrepreneurs that comprise it," PI said.
"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.
"The twin insurrections at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Brasília's Three Powers Plaza in 2023 left no doubt about the international coordination of reactionary forces," PI argued. "Yet far too little is known about the entities of this network, their sources of financing, and their institutional allies operating inside our political systems."
Ultimately, PI aims to "support democratic systems to become more resilient to their insidious tactics."
From leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former U.S. President Donald Trump—the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee—to evangelical Christian groups influencing laws in African countries criminalizing LGBTQ+ people and tech companies empowering ubiquitous state surveillance, Reactionary International is a who's-who of the world's right-wing forces.
A cursory search of the database's contents shows users can:
Learn about Israel's NSO, Rayzone, and Team Jorge, and how a team of Tel Aviv tech entrepreneurs fuel unrest in Latin America;
Meet the Grey Wolves, Turkey's roving death squad with links to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ethno-nationalists in his governing coalition; and
Explore the global network of the Falun Gong, its Trump-connected media outlet The Epoch Times, and its traveling dance troupe known as Shen Yun.
Yanis Varoufakis, a PI member and secretary-general of the left-wing Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, called the database "a treasure chest of well-researched reports on how the reactionaries of the world unite."
PI invites the public to contribute to the database.
"Together, we will not only name, shame, and expose the forces of the far right—but also dismantle their network of complicity," the group said.
(Common Dreams material is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.)
Direct Israeli Connections To Cover-Up Of 2014 Case Of 43 Missing Mexican Students
Reactionary International report
In September 2019, unbeknownst to authorities or the press, Tomás Zerón De Lucio quietly boarded a flight from Canada to Israel. Once the former head of the Mexican Criminal Investigation Unit (AIC) under President Enrique Peña Nieto, Zerón was now prepared to make Tel Aviv his new home.
For the past year, Zerón had been on the run from the new administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. He faced an arrest warrant for tampering the investigation of the murder and disappearance of 43 students in Iguala in 2014 – a tragedy which had rocked Mexican politics to its core. The longer he remained in Canada, the greater the risk Zerón ran of being handed over to Mexican authorities. He needed to find a safe haven, and quickly.
“Zerón is part of a conspiracy of silence”. With the help of a global network of firms, Zerón and the Peña Nieto administration worked to erase the truth; and due to his long-standing relationships with Israeli cybersurveillance executives – including NSO Group’s Emmanuel Ansbacher and Rayzone’s David Avital – Zerón arrived safely in Tel Aviv, leaving a trail of blood and grief in his wake.
In July 2020, while Zerón resided in Tel Aviv, more incriminating evidence was leaked. Footage emerged of a detainee kneeling on the ground, shirtless, and covered with a bag on his head; above him, Zerón roughly directs his testimony: “A la primera mamada te mato, güey” – One wrong move and I’ll kill you, dumbass.”
To date, Zerón still remains in Tel Aviv. Israel does not have an extradition treaty with Mexico, and it has refused to extradite him despite repeated direct requests and negotiations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an Interpol red notice for his arrest.1 Israel cites Mexico’s support of a Palestinian state as the reason for its recalcitrance2 – but Zerón’s protection goes far beyond political convenience.
It is a story of decade-long friendships with Israeli businessmen and former security officials, generous contracts with Israeli cyber surveillance firms, and business partnerships which enabled human rights abuses at Zerón’s hands. Ultimately, it is a story that demonstrates the immense power of the Israeli cybersurveillance and hacking industry – and a story which uncovers the invisible networks fueling the reactionary international.
From Mexico to Israel: Weaving Zerón’s Safety Net
In December 2020, Proseco reported that Tomás Zerón was peacefully residing in a posh Tel Aviv apartment owned by Israeli businessman David Avital.3 A long-time friend of Zerón, Avital is a former director and large shareholder (31 percent) of M.T.R.X. Technologies, a subsidiary of the Israeli cybersurveillance company Rayzone and developer of military-grade cell phone tracking software.4 Avital also owns 100% of the IDR company in Mexico, which markets wiretapping tools marketed by Rayzone. All three of these companies – Rayzone, M.T.R.X., and IDR – worked closely with Zerón during his time heading the AIC, helping him obtain a range of intelligence systems and surveillance technologies. Avital and Zerón had therefore been friends and business partners for many years before Zerón came to his doorstep.
The networks which helped Zerón flee Mexico, settle in Israel, and resist extradition all share this common thread: the Israeli private cybersurveillance sector. Rayzone and its subsidiaries are one component of a dizzying network of Israeli cyber surveillance firms that have exploded in the past fifteen years, all of which utilize alarmingly precise hacking, surveillance, and misinformation technologies to inform and arm the forces of the reactionary international – including state interests in Mexico. The founders, shareholders, consultants, and clients of these firms overlap so heavily that it is often difficult to discern when the territory of one firm ends and the other begins. Understanding this network – its leaders, its power, and its global reach – is crucial to understanding some of the most insidious work of the reactionary international. …
Israel Urged To Deport Mexican Official Over Case Of 43 Missing Students
Tomas Zeron, who previously led Mexico’s Criminal Investigation Agency, has reportedly been in Israel for about two years.
Aljazeera (9/22/22)
Relatives of the 43 Mexican students who disappeared in 2014 have protested outside Israel’s embassy to demand the extradition of a former top investigator wanted in connection with the case.
Hundreds gathered outside the embassy in Mexico City on Wednesday with no visible police presence as some carried pictures of the missing students while others sprayed graffiti on the embassy walls.
Tomas Zeron, who previously led Mexico’s Criminal Investigation Agency, was accused of manipulating the probe into one of the country’s worst human rights tragedies. He has reportedly been in Israel for about two years.
Zeron is one of the architects of “historical truth” – the official version of the case presented in 2015 that was rejected by the victims’ relatives and independent experts.
“Israel is protecting Tomas Zeron, a human rights violator who tortured those he detained at the time to build the ‘historical truth,'” said Meliton Ortega, a representative of the students’ families. …
Now how do we learn from this, so that we can take the world in a better direction?
I think Max Azzarrello was onto all this. RIP