This man apeared some times in the spanish TV. He avoids questions about censorship and critic questions. It's just regime propaganda
By the context I am understanding he spouts NK regime propaganda to the Spanish people?
Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
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Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#42This man apeared some times in the spanish TV. He avoids questions about censorship and critic questions. It's just regime propaganda
By the context I am understanding he spouts NK regime propaganda to the Spanish people?
Yup (I’m a Spaniard as well).
Take this with a grain of salt as I’m talking from memory, but I think he’s acted as a middleman with North Korea to set up trips to the country for tourism, including for some Spanish journalists that were taken through very controlled routes. I remember the guy kept talking about how the North Koreans don’t mess around and so the people should be careful, about how great the Kim family is and about how proud he is to be so well considered by the regime.
I remember wondering if it’s all just a charade for him that allows him to have contact with North Korea (as in, him being some sort of agent), if he just found his business niche, of if he’s an idiot who drank the kool aid because he likes to feel he’s important.
As an aside, I was impressed watching those documentaries by how many North Korean officials spoke perfect Spanish without any trace of an accent. Apparently some of them had lived and studied in Cuba for some time.
Edit: I found it, the documentary is called 'En tierra hostil', from 2015. It's currently only legally available under subscription from A3player, a streaming service from a private Spanish TV channel, but it might be viewable in other sites.
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Does he really believe it or is he just cynical Neither, IMO. From observing him over the years, he knows what's good for him, and he knows how to get a good vibe going with others at the same time. The vibe can make anything true or false and is not known for being concerned with moral true/false questions, which get into subjective (qualitative) ethics. (You can argue that those same ethics prevent reasonably hel…
It’s probably like being an ambassador from a country with lots of controversy around human rights and so on and they get interviewed when something big hits the news. It’s not like they don’t know what happens but it’s in their and their countries’ interest to see things differently.
An ambassador is a citizen of their country and is subject to getting recalled and being sent to reform-through-labor camp to forage corn kernels from frozen pig shit if they don't toe the line.
This guy, on the hand, has voluntarily chosen to be an apologist and enabler for one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet.
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
> We know it's a shady country You think it is - in reality, it's not really so shady. He probably picked the name not because it's true but because it's believable.
Nope, it is. I am from there and can certainly tell you that it's true. Nice job trying to cover it up though. Virgil! It is full of bullshitters, thieves, and good people who are misled by their government which plays on their hopes and fucks them up the ass while they protest their hearts away every year. Then again I could substitute any other country name and the sentence would still make sense wouldn't it? Defin…
This comment could describe basically any country in the world.
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#45“He rejects all questions about extrajudicial killings or humanitarian atrocities as propaganda: “The media is often reporting that we execute people, which is not true,” he claims.” Interesting article. I often wonder about the mindset of people who deny the obvious facts. Does he really believe it or is he just cynical?
>I often wonder about the mindset of people who deny the obvious facts. Does he really believe it or is he just cynical? This just made me think of Baghdad Bob so I looked him up and apparently he is still alive and allegedly living in the UAE. It would be interesting to hear what he thinks now of all the obvious lies he told almost two decades ago.
Funny you mention Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf considering it's been proven in hindsight that Iraq didn't have WMDs, in addition to the devastation that the invasion did to his country. ISIS wouldn't exist if your lot believed in his "obvious lies".
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nope, it is. I am from there and can certainly tell you that it's true. Nice job trying to cover it up though. Virgil! It is full of bullshitters, thieves, and good people who are misled by their government which plays on their hopes and fucks them up the ass while they protest their hearts away every year. Then again I could substitute any other country name and the sentence would still make sense wouldn't it? Defin…
This comment could describe basically any country in the world.
No, not really.
People just don't know the Eastern Bloc all that well. It is shady as the OP says. It's a mentality and a way of life that the more polite-class citizens of those countries there are trying to unwind and return to some bastion of civility, but it's hard when the modern-day mafia runs the governments and does it's best to stay in power.
At least here, the corruption isn't as obvious. Over there, they wag their tail right in your face and ask you what are you going to do about it.
People emigrate from these countries to say, North America or Western Europe or UK in search of a better life.
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s probably like being an ambassador from a country with lots of controversy around human rights and so on and they get interviewed when something big hits the news. It’s not like they don’t know what happens but it’s in their and their countries’ interest to see things differently.
An ambassador is a citizen of their country and is subject to getting recalled and being sent to reform-through-labor camp to forage corn kernels from frozen pig shit if they don't toe the line. This guy, on the hand, has voluntarily chosen to be an apologist and enabler for one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet.
“one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet.“
Does North Korea have any competition for this title? I thought they were number one on that list.
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s probably like being an ambassador from a country with lots of controversy around human rights and so on and they get interviewed when something big hits the news. It’s not like they don’t know what happens but it’s in their and their countries’ interest to see things differently.
An ambassador is a citizen of their country and is subject to getting recalled and being sent to reform-through-labor camp to forage corn kernels from frozen pig shit if they don't toe the line. This guy, on the hand, has voluntarily chosen to be an apologist and enabler for one of the most oppressive regimes on the planet.
No question. The thought process though would be similar. His client isn’t going to take it lightly if he spills the beans—probably wouldn’t get a dose of Pu, but the guy running the place had his brother offed in a foreign airport.
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
This comment could describe basically any country in the world.
No, not really. People just don't know the Eastern Bloc all that well. It is shady as the OP says. It's a mentality and a way of life that the more polite-class citizens of those countries there are trying to unwind and return to some bastion of civility, but it's hard when the modern-day mafia runs the governments and does it's best to stay in power. At least here, the corruption isn't as obvious. Over there, they w…
I'm not saying that all countries are equally corrupt. I'm saying that the angry citizen's rant at the government, in broad-brush terms, is pretty much equally applicable anywhere.
Re: Wanna Do Business in Pyongyang? Call Alejandro Cao de Benós
#50"Lately, Cao de Benós says he’s fostered agreements with European companies to use cheap, skilled labor on technology projects. “We develop a lot of apps for Android and iOS, and very cheap,” he says. “And we are very strong in animation. We export a lot for all kinds of modern cartoons.” He cites an example, but obliquely: “Let’s say you’re making a cartoon, and you are outsourcing the work. So you go to Romania, be…
>The shadow hands of globally sanctioned socialist labor are all around us
what a weird smear. who in their right mind really believes DPRK is the realization of any kind of socialism? i guess the nazis were socialists too then.