Klaus Hart Brasilientexte

The araponga (bell bird) is a bird which does not miss an opportunity to peck any piece of fruit it finds. It has a special peculiarity: the seeds it swallows do not lose their germinating power, which actually increases.

Under the dictatorship in Brazil, spies from the National Intelligence Service (SNI) were known as ‘arapongas’. They poked their noses in people’s lives, including supporters of the military regime.

http://www.hart-brasilientexte.de/2013/09/30/urban-space-brasiliens-wichtigster-befreiungstheologe-frei-betto/

Now, thanks to young Snowden, we know that the greatest ‘arapongagem’ practised in the history of humankind is ‘made in USA’ which considers security more important than freedom and capital more important than human rights and pokes its nose in the life of people, governments, businesses and institutions. It learned from Clausewitz that surprise is the enemy’s trump card.

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