{"id":329293,"date":"2021-09-28T22:15:12","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T22:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dissidentvoice.org\/?p=121553"},"modified":"2021-09-28T22:15:12","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T22:15:12","slug":"andre-vltchek-in-memoriam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/09\/28\/andre-vltchek-in-memoriam\/","title":{"rendered":"Andr\u00e9 Vltchek: In Memoriam"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In Kenya during Al-Shabaab standoff (September 24, 2013)<\/p>\n

On 22 September 2020, Andr\u00e9 Vltchek quietly passed away on a night-ride from the Black Sea in Turkey to Istanbul, accompanied by his wife, Rossie. He just fell asleep in the back seat of a chauffeur-driven car and didn\u2019t wake up. His legacy is diverse, heavy in substance and revealing \u2013 revealing about the world, about the dark forces that command the world. He never really referred to them as \u201cdark forces\u201d because for him the wars he investigated, photographed, the conflicts he witnessed, the misery he experienced and filmed \u2013 were real. The \u201cDark Forces\u201d came to the surface \u2013 no shade, no cover \u2013\u00a0 NO LIGHT.<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9 was always there where it was burning \u2013 or where there was great danger that soon it might burn \u2013 and the population blown apart.<\/p>\n

We had some remarkable experiences together on the Greek island of Kos, following the refugee tracks. Refugees from Turkey to Greece, to the European Union. Their sad fate in refugee camps with the most horrifying sanitary conditions \u2013 their patience, their HOPE.\u00a0 Hope is what makes these refugees tick and breathe. Not just those who come from the Middle East and Africa to seek a better future mostly for their children in lush and wealthy Europe.\u00a0 Refugees all over the world live from hope. If we lose hope, life ends\u2026<\/p>\n

Similarly, we visited Puno in Peru, and from there to Rinconada, the world\u2019s highest gold mine, a series of many small and large independent gold mines \u2013 controlled by a deadly mafia \u2013 some 5,100 \u2013 5,400 m above sea level with indescribable conditions of cold and misery.\u00a0 Some 70,000 people are living there in extreme destitution, but all on a voluntary basis, all in the hope to finally \u201chit the riches\u201d \u2013 GOLD. They work for 29 days a month for free and what they find on the 30th or 31st day they may keep.\u00a0 That\u2019s an old mining law that is still the rule for many of the Andean mines.<\/p>\n

No heat, no running water, girls of all ages make a living as prostitutes to uncountable miners, who leave their families behind in the HOPE to get rich. Huge fields of garbage \u2013 endless plastic waste \u2013 and ever-so-often in the midst of such mountains of waste\u00a0 a cross protrudes \u2013 a grave.<\/p>\n

These are some of the experiences Andr\u00e9 and I lived together. They created a bond, and throughout the years we knew each other from writing, from exchanging ideas — friendship in the virtual world, practiced in the real world \u2013 philosophizing during half a night in a cheap caf\u00e9 in Athens — are unforgotten; their richness cannot be taken away.<\/p>\n

Andr\u00e9, you are dearly missed.<\/p>\n

May your soul rest in Peace.
\nAnd remember: VENCEREMOS!<\/p>The post Andr\u00e9 Vltchek: In Memoriam<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n

This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Kenya during Al-Shabaab standoff (September 24, 2013) On 22 September 2020, Andr\u00e9 Vltchek quietly passed away on a night-ride from the Black Sea in Turkey to Istanbul, accompanied by his wife, Rossie. He just fell asleep in the back seat of a chauffeur-driven car and didn\u2019t wake up. His legacy is diverse, heavy in [\u2026]<\/p>\n

The post Andr\u00e9 Vltchek: In Memoriam<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329293"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":329301,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329293\/revisions\/329301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}