Gonzalo Lira: The Harpening
So it's been just over a week since Gonzalo Lira was arrested in Ukraine and the Dispatch is still harping about it. Sometimes one has to latch on to a specific event to keep it from getting swept into the memory hole by successive waves of news from a world in turmoil. Is the Lira arrest a big deal compared to all the other shit going down? Well, for him probably yes, but in the end that's not the point. Small things matter too. It all depends where each one of us draws the line.
The news is circulating in alt media and the Russian government has officially put it 'on the record' through its spokesperson and on RT, but there have been no updates since the arrest. So at this point we have little more than speculation.
For example, why now? The Uke law that makes it 'legal' to arrest dissenters –like the Russians have, and every other state in history has in times of war-- came into effect two months ago (March '23). Maybe they were waiting to see if Lira made good and shut up, which didn't happen. Maybe they don't want him to be 'liberated' if Kharkov comes under Russian control, which could well happen if the much-vaunted Uke counteroffensive fails and the Russians push through the current front lines.
What we do know is that it was a propaganda stunt. If they wanted him dead, he would have been shot in the street by unidentified assailants in an unmarked vehicle. Instead his arrest was filmed and made public, and further disseminated by the trans nazi corps propaganda division. Resources have been invested in this production, ergo Lira has some value for the regime alive, at least for now.
Lira is just a regular guy, that's what makes his case important. Amidst the endless criminal chicanery of a rabid regime at war for survival, it is the regular guys speaking inconvenient truths that are treated like dangerous criminals. Today it is Lira in Ukraine, tomorrow it may be any one of us in the western countries that consider free speech a 'threat to democracy'.
If we don't speak up when the secret police come pounding at Lira's door... we already know how that story ends. The harpening will continue until morale improves.
Dispatch out.