Exposed: Globally Renowned Activist Collaborated With Intelligence Firm Stratfor
Mon, 12/2/2013 - by Carl Gibson and Steve Horn
Serbias Srdja Popovic is known by many as a leading architect of regime changes in Eastern Europe and elsewhere since the late-1990s, and as one of the co-founders of Otpor!, the U.S.-funded Serbian activist group which overthrew Slobodan Miloević in 2000.
Lesser known, an exclusive Occupy.com investigation reveals that Popovic and the Otpor! offshoot CANVAS (Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies) have also maintained close ties with a Goldman Sachs executive and the private intelligence firmStratfor (Strategic Forecasting, Inc.), as well as the U.S. government. Popovics wife also worked at Stratfor for a year.
These revelations come in the aftermath of thousands of new emails released by Wikileaks' Global Intelligence Files. The emails reveal Popovic worked closely with Stratfor, an Austin, Texas-based private firm that gathers intelligence on geopolitical events and activists forclients ranging from the American Petroleum Institute and Archer Daniels Midland to Dow Chemical, Duke Energy, Northrop Grumman, Intel and Coca-Cola.
Referred to in emails under the moniker SR501, Popovic was first approached by Stratfor in 2007 to give a lecture in the firm's office about events transpiring in Eastern Europe, according to a Stratfor source who asked to remain confidential for this story.
In one of the emails, Popovic forwarded information about activists harmed or killed by the U.S.-armed Bahraini government, obtained from the Bahrain Center for Human Rights during the regimes crackdown on pro-democracy activists in fall 2011. Popovic also penned a blueprint for Stratfor on how to unseat the now-deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in September 2010.
Stratfors Global Activist Connector
Using his celebrated activist status, Popovic opened many doors for Stratfor to meet with activists globally. In turn, the information Stratfor intended to gain from Popovics contacts would serve as actionable intelligencethe firm billed itself as a Shadow CIAfor its corporate clients.
Popovic passed information to Stratfor about on-the-ground activist events in countries around the world, ranging from the Philippines,Libya, Tunisia, Vietnam, Iran, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Tibet, Zimbabwe, Poland and Belarus, Georgia, Bahrain, Venezuela and Malaysia. Often, the emails reveal, Popovic passed on the information to Stratfor without the consent of the activists and likely without the activists ever knowing that their emails were being shuttled to the private security firm.
In the U.S., this investigation's co-author, Carl Gibson (representing US Uncut), and the Yes Mens Andy Bichlbaum had a meeting with Popovic shortly after their two respective groups used a media hoax to play a prank on General Electric, ridiculing the company over itsnon-payment of U.S. taxes.
The pair gave Popovic information about both groups plans for the coming year and news later came out that Stratfor closely monitored the Yes Mens activities.
- See more at: http://www.occupy.com/article/exposed-globally-renowned-activist-collaborated-intelligence-firm-stratfor
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)Welcome to DU. thnx for posting.
PeoViejo
(2,178 posts)and thanks to Occupy, for exposing this miscreant...soon to be outcast. I hope he enjoyed his 20 pieces of Silver.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)starroute
(12,977 posts)They were trained and funded from the start by American NGOs, particularly the International Republican Institute, and they were always suspected of CIA connections.
For the brief version, see http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Otpor
For a more in-depth expose of the "color revolutions" in general, http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/MOW502A.html
PeoViejo
(2,178 posts)Good to know about these groups.