Where is Gonzalo Lira?

[mountain_jim]

https://x.com/TexasLindsay_/status/1...568772037?s=20

[ExomatrixTV]

• Gonzalo Lira 'Died Like An Animal' In Ukrainian Cell: 'his Gruesome Death Is Blood On The Hands Of The US Government'

Chilean-American blogger Gonzalo Lira has died in a Ukrainian prison. His family announced this on Friday.

In a letter published by The Grayzone, his father writes that it is unacceptable to him that his son has died. He was tortured for eight months and 11 days and the US embassy did nothing to help my son, writes Gonzalo Lira senior, who holds 'dictator' Zelensky and the 'senile' US President Biden responsible for the death of his son.

Lira Sr. also contacted Tucker Carlson to inform him that his son had died. Carlson said Lira had been tortured in a Ukrainian prison since July for criticizing Zelensky. The US State Department has also confirmed his death.

• The So-called "Democratic" Ukraine

The blogger was captured in Kharkiv in May by the Ukrainian security service SBU. After being released, he tried to flee the country by motorcycle. Before reaching Hungary, he was arrested again.

According to the last note Lira managed to get out, he had double pneumonia, but the Ukrainian authorities refused proper treatment. He was so out of breath that he passed out after just two minutes of speaking.

He died like an animal in a Ukrainian cell, notes journalist Joost Niemoller. “The so-called democratic Ukraine, a beacon for the 'Free West', simply let him die.”

It is with great sadness I must announce that @GonzaloLira1968, passed away in a hospital according to his father, who has been fighting to get his son much-needed medical attention for the past weeks. Here is a hand-written note from Gonzalo which I received on January 4: "I have had double pneumonia (both lungs) as well as pneumothorax and a very severe case of edema (swelling of the body). All this started in mid-October, but was ignored by the prison. They only admitted I had pneumonia at a Dec. 22 hearing. I am about to have a procedure to reduce the edema pressure in my lungs, which is causing me extreme shortness of breath, to the point of passing out after minimal activity, or even just talking for 2 minutes." "I cannot accept the way my son has died. He was tortured, extorted, incommunicado for 8 months and 11 days and the US Embassy 🇺🇸 did nothing to help my son. The responsibility of this tragedy is the dictator Zelensky with the concurrence of a senile American President, Joe Biden," Gonzalo's father wrote.

• Tortured to death by Zelensky and Azovs

Researcher Max van der Werff adds: “Ukraine allowed a political prisoner and American citizen to die in his cell. Now he is dead.” “Tortured to death by Z[elensky] and Azovs,” says theater maker George van Houts. Lawyer Sietske Bergsma states: “His gruesome death is blood on the hands of the United States.”

• dutch 🇳🇱 (+ Multi-Language Options). 🦜🦋🌳

R.I.P. Gonzalo Lira

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lr6R90DMyFY

They had to do what they did because they FEAR him so much, what does that tell you about them? ... If they FEAR criticism that much ... shows how pathetic weak they really are! ... No wonder they are doomed to lose!

• My personal take on the Ukraine Situation

cheers,
John 🦜🦋🌳

[ExomatrixTV]

• U.S. Journalist Gonzalo Lira DIES In Ukrainian Prison!:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=schn6z26hkY

01:48 Gonzalo Lira faced physical abuse and apologized to by a fellow prisoner forced to administer torture, revealing disturbing conditions in Ukrainian prison.
06:10 State Department was aware of Gonzalo Lira's arrest and detention in Ukraine, yet questions arise about why action wasn't taken to prevent his tragic fate.
08:38 Tragically, Gonzalo Lira passed away in a Ukrainian hospital, according to his father, after being tortured and ignored for medical issues while in prison.
10:28 The Biden Administration's support for Gonzalo Lira's imprisonment raises questions about the alignment of US values with those of its allies and the handling of dissidents.
13:29 The tragic story of Gonzalo Lira highlights broader concerns about the US government's commitment to ideals, especially when its citizens face injustice abroad.

[arwen]

Mike Adams covers Gonzalo's death - 18 minutes.

Tribute to Gonzalo Lira - and what he told me before he died in a Ukrainian prison

- The death of Gonzalo Lyra in Ukrainian prison. (0:03)
- Free speech and censorship in the face of authoritarian regimes. (2:11)
- US government's failure to protect citizen's rights. (5:49)
- Ukraine-Russia war, media bias, and depopulation. (9:24)
- Censorship, tyranny, and the death of Gonzalo Lira. (12:54)

Source: https://www.bitchute.com/video/4quYQFLB6UvO

[Bill Ryan]

A most eloquent, heartfelt and emotional tribute to Gonzalo from Alexander Mercouris, who also counted himself as his close friend. The section is the first 15 minutes of the video.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2X7JmoXenw0

[bojancan]

Yeas, RIP Gonzalo!

I was listening him near from his beginning... so as both Alexanders... almost more than three years.. Gonzalo's father interview on Tucker X... warm heartening!!!

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/simpatico771/status/1746006000509878702

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
American citizen Gonzalo Lira died in Ukrainian custody because the Biden administration chose to do nothing.
@TuckerCarlson
and
@elonmusk
did more than the US government to try to save his life. All it would have taken was a phone call from Biden or his underlings. What an utter failure of leadership by the current US administration.

https://x.com/Stella_Assange/status/1745972413622329424

[Ravenlocke]

https://x.com/mazzenilsson/status/1746200354012725688

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240113/go...116142848.html

Gonzalo Lira: A Requiem From the Donbass

It is a form of torture and murder. I extend my sincere condolences to him, his family, his friends and followers. He did not deserve it, and it only serves as further proof of how evil our enemies truly are, both in Banderastan and in the US. It is no secret that I had a serious questions about Gonzalo and his work, but I never wished him harm, and am angered and disgusted by his torture and murder at the hands of US and Ukrainian Nazis.

I never believed Gonzalo could live in Ukraine and be any kind of an opposition journalist and survive. He could have come to Donbass and continued his work from here anytime he wanted to. For some reason, he never did. Ukraine is a war zone under Nazi occupation, and has been since 2014. If I was caught in Ukraine, I would not survive for 24 hours. Which is why I will not be going there without the Russian Army.

All those who speak truth to power, as Gonzalo may well have done, do so at their peril. They are "Heroes" exactly because they risk their lives to do so. It is a dangerous business. Those who risk their lives sometimes lose them. Gonzalo was not the first, and he will not be the last. A war zone under Nazi occupation is a dangerous place, and mistakes can be extremely painful or even deadly. Gonzalo did not deserve what happened to him in any way, but he made a fatal mistake and underestimated the evil of his enemies. He could have left when he had the chance, and he should have.

[Miller]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
A most eloquent, heartfelt and emotional tribute to Gonzalo from Alexander Mercouris, who also counted himself as his close friend. The section is the first 15 minutes of the video.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2X7JmoXenw0

I'm only halfway through this video, but what's coming across loud and clear is the complete lack of diplomacy on the part of the US/West. This is borne out by their gung-ho response to the Houthis, the apparent lack of any negotiations regarding peace talks in either Israel or Ukraine, the appalling continuing situation with Julian Assange and of course the unforgivable lack of intervention for Gonzalo Lira. We - and the Brits in particular - used to pride ourselves on our diplomatic skills, so what on earth has happened to them? Is there any recourse open to Gonzalo's family by way of official apology or compensation?

[ExomatrixTV]

[Bill Ryan]

There have been many articles and videos about this awful outcome, too many to post.

I'd like to share just two more:

First, here's Polish geopolitical analyst Ania K (a most wonderful and heart-centered person whom I follow closely), in the first 4 minutes of her video update for yesterday. Her closing words are those we might all remember.

God sees it all.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=h879kONVKA8

And here's Yves Smith, in an articulate, cogent and and emotional piece on her always outstanding Naked Capitalism blog.

• https://nakedcapitalism.com/2024/01/...a-is-dead.html

Gonzalo Lira Is Dead

I am saddened and outraged at this news. It is a disgrace, particularly after Gonzalo reported having been tortured and extorted while in prison, that the State Department did nothing to assist him, when they clearly could have gotten him deported. But that was certain not to happen given his show on Victoria Nuland.

Gonzalo wrote some posts for Naked Capitalism not long after the financial crisis that were very colorful and informative. We parted ways over his submitting a post that took strong views on budget orthodoxy. Update: our code maven Dave just informed me that Gonzalo also created our Wikipedia page. By e-mail:

00:29, 4 April 2010‎ GonzaloLira talk contribs‎ 319 bytes +319‎ ←Created page with ”’Naked Capitalism” is a popular blog run by Yves Smith. It deals mainly with finance-related and economic news and analysis. It has been consistently ra…’

I don’t know how I found his commentary on the war in Ukraine, but I watched it regularly. Lira had produced documentaries and analyzed some videos presented as battlefront scenes that he demonstrated were staged. In particular, he called out James Vasquez as a fraud who produced bogus videos to extract money from people who wanted to support Ukraine:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LICQ4Wjr2Aw

The New York Times reported that Vasquez was a con artist months later, without crediting Gonzalo. Business Insider re-reported the New York Times story and added new detail in The making of a fake war hero: An American who reinvented himself as a social-media soldier in Ukraine is accused of ‘stolen valor‘.

This was from our August 1 post. Gonzalo had been detained once by the Ukraine authorities for about ten days, has all of his social media accounts taken from him, and was released with (after much pleading) one very old laptop but also his identity papers. He was told not to leave the country but allegedly did not get the message that being given his documents meant he was being given the opportunity to fly the coop.

Instead he stayed and resumed broadcasting. I participated in a few of his Roundtables during this period, which I very much enjoyed. We last spoke for what was supposed to be 15 minutes and turned out to over 2 hours, in IIRC spring 2023, when I was bummed and stressed out the state of the world and getting my mother’s house emptied, sold, and moving overseas and he was depressed about being under something close to house arrest and not knowing what would happen when the war got to him in Kharkiv.

But Gonzalo and was unable to restrain himself from giving pointed commentary about Urkraine, resulting in a second arrest and much harsher treatment. From an August 1 post, after his second arrest:

Gonzalo Lira is alive, as the videos embedded below and a fresh 25-entry tweetstorm attest. However, he has a very ugly story to report. He was detained and repeatedly tortured by prisoners at the behest of guards, so as to create official deniability.
He was allowed to go free by virtue of paying $70,000 in bribes (after having $9,000 of “emergency cash” stolen) plus $11,000 in bail to be set loose before an August 2 trial date, where he was told his conviction was a certainty, despite the prosecution effectively admitting in its own filings that Gonzalo’s only crime was running afoul of Ukraine’s extreme restrictions on free speech. The anticipated sentence was 5 to 8 years in a labor camp. Gonzalo was not given access to an attorney despite claims otherwise.
And predictably, the State Department was no help, due not just to Gonzalo’s critical reporting on the US role in the conflict and outing some Western propaganda, but no doubt more specifically to his video on Russia-hater-in-chief Victoria Nuland, who was just promoted to number two at State. Representatives of the US Embassy did visit him three times, but offered, as Gonzalo put it, only bromides. But apparently there was enough noise made, particularly by the Chilean government, about Gonzalo not being allowed to post bail, so State apparently did eventually clear its throat about that.

Gonzalo tried to make a run for the Hungarian border and posted a video before his attempted crossing, which failed. I am at a loss as to why he did that ahead of time, putting the officials on notice, as opposed to arranging for it to appear at a time certain, when he would either have been arrested or be in Hungary.

Perhaps he had reason to think that setting up a delayed release could still be detected by the SBU, so he might as well go public. And he wanted to leave a record in case this was his only chance to give a message to his family. This is the last in a series of three videos he released then. It’s is a bit verbose but you can understand why:.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=9jUa45UcOvE

I feel I should say more but am at a loss as to how best commemorate Gonzalo. He was irreverent, funny, often acidly insightful, a little too fond of wild speculation for the hell of being provocative.

He could also be undisciplined, such as his unnecessarily vitriolic attack on Scott Ritter (his critique would have been more effective with less venom) and being insistent on his retrograde views of male-female relations. That defiance of norms was part of his charm but also a sign of perhaps too much appetite for risk.

Gonzalo said more than once the measure of a life was the distance between the highs and the lows. Tragically, he was killed on a low. It seems pretty obvious this is not a bona fide death from natural causes, as Ukraine is alleging.

He had pneumonia, which is highly treatable if dealt with early, and the Ukrainians did not. So they can pretend they had nothing to do with his early death when the reverse is true. As Lambert put it, “He died in prison, as was the intent.”

[bojancan]

Braking Points... talking about Gonzalo Lira!

SCANDAL: Biden SILENT As US Journalist DIES In Ukraine Custody

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=kZR6glLFURY

[Mike Gorman]

Gonzalo's fate demonstrates just how terrible Ukraine is under Zelenky's puppet regime, I don't think Gonzalo really thought they would pursue him so assiduously-after all what possible threat could he possibly be, one man using social media, among the billions of the world? But the word is potent when it is the truth, speaking truth is dangerous in our times. You know back when he was 'Coach Red Pill' I thought he was like that John Ham character on 'Black Mirror', directing geeky men to win female hearts, but he rapidly changed his mode of operation and became a credible journalist, and political analyst: I came to respect his work, and I liked his approach, he became a 'Gonzo' character! Anyway like so many I am appalled, RIP Mr Lira, God Bless.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
Gonzalo Lira, a journalist of Chilean descent, Zelensky critic who was jailed in Ukraine and died several months into his detention, was a citizen of the USA.

A single call from the White House to Kiev would have been enough to save Gonzalo Lira’s life and free him from the prison. Remember how 1 year before that the White House interfered in the case of Brittney Griner, a basketball player found guilty of attempted drug smuggling into Russia? All mainstream media were concerned about her fate. In Dec 2022, she was released in a 1-to-1 prisoner swap with Russia and returned home.

Yet, in the situation with Gonzalo, the US administration didn’t stir a finger to help, despite being the major funder of Ukraine's government and its war effort.

Apparently, for Washington protection of US citizens abroad is a top priority. Unless, of course, they criticize Washington for its proxy war in Ukraine – then abandoning US citizens to death is not a problem at all

https://x.com/EmbassyofRussia/status...08904247795844

[Franny]

This is from Mark Crispin Miller's Substack on Gonzalo Lira's alleged murder by SBU. All it would have taken to end his torture and save his life was a phone call from the White House…

https://markcrispinmiller.substack.c...m_medium=email

Gonzalo Lira's torturers were allegedly trying to extort $500,000 from him, and killed him after he told his lawyer. (The US embassy was trying to deal with it.)

From Alina Lipp, reporting these latest revelations, or claims, on Telegram
MARK CRISPIN MILLER
JAN 16

Outrageous facts have come to light about the murder of journalist Gonzalo Lira: The American, who was tortured to death in SIZO, a Kiev pre-trial detention center in a special wing controlled by the SBU, was the victim of extortionists. SIZO employees and an SBU agent extorted $250,000 from Gonzalo for a change of preventive treatment. The vice-consul of the US embassy, who dealt with the problems of Lira, knew about the blackmail and twice wrote a statement to the SBU and the OP. As a result, the extortionists began demanding $500,000 for Lira’s transfer at his own expense.

The money was to be transferred in cryptocurrency to the SBU agent’s bank.

Three days after the increase in rates, Gonzalo called his lawyer, but before the lawyer got there, he was killed. An ambulance crew found that he had died of cardiac arrest, with multiple burns from stun guns. The US embassy is silent, Zelensky's office is silent, the Ukrainian security service is ready to pay for the delivery of the body to Poland, and that's it. Curtain closed.

This a friend’s translation of Alina Lipp’s recent Telegram on the murder of Gonzalo Lira. (The German text is below.)

Ungeheuerliches bekannt geworden zum Mord an dem Journalisten Gonzalo Lira:

https://t.me/neuesausrussland/17654

Der Amerikaner, der in einem Kiewer Untersuchungsgefängnis in einem vom SBU kontrollierten Spezialtrakt zu Tode gefoltert wurde, war das Opfer von Erpressern. SIZO-Mitarbeiter und ein SBU-Agent erpressten von Gonzalo 250.000 Dollar für einen Wechsel der Präventivmaßnahme. Der Vizekonsul der US-Botschaft, der sich mit den Problemen von Lira befasste, wusste von der Erpressung und schrieb zweimal eine Erklärung an die SBU und die OP. Daraufhin begannen die Erpresser, 500.000 Dollar für die Überweisung auf eigene Kosten zu verlangen. Das Geld sollte in Kryptowährung auf eine Monobank-Karte des SBU-Mitarbeiters überwiesen werden.

Drei Tage nach der Erhöhung der Raten rief Gonzalo seinen Anwalt, doch vor dessen Ankunft wurde er getötet.

Eine Krankenwagenbesatzung stellte einen Herzstillstand und mehrere Verbrennungen an seinem Körper durch Elektroschocker fest. Die US-Botschaft schweigt, Zelenskys Büro schweigt, der ukrainische Sicherheitsdienst ist bereit, für die Lieferung des Leichnams nach Polen zu zahlen, und das war's. Vorhang zu.

[thepainterdoug]

Russia makes comment
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/russia-death-gonzalo-lira-kiev-is-allowed-torture

Russia on Death of Gonzalo Lira: “Kiev is Allowed to Torture and Kill Americans, and Everyone Keeps Their Mouth Shut”

The Kiev regime has been given free rein to do whatever it wants by the West and “is even allowed to torture and kill Americans,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov charged, referring to the death of US YouTuber Gonzalo Lira in Ukrainian Prison. Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova charged the United States with “consigning an inconvenient journalist to execution.”

“Kiev has unbridled freedom, and this permissiveness is manifested in everything it does. This free rein only leads to disaster. And this disaster has already reached the minds of the current Ukrainian regime, and they are leading their entire country there,” the Russian Foreign Minister said at an annual news conference devoted to reviewing Moscow’s foreign policy in 2023.

Referring to the death of American journalist and blogger Gonzalo Lira in Ukrainian prison, Lavrov said the Kiev regime “is even allowed to torture and kill Americans. And everyone keeps their mouths shut. (The Ukrainians) are allowed to do anything. Look at the fuss they make when their citizens are arrested. Here, not a word, not even a whisper. Draw your own conclusions,” Lavrov said.

Speaking to the media on Jan. 15, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova charged that Gonzalo Lira’s death “vividly revealed the face of the collective West.”

Reporter:

On January 12, the world media reported the death of Gonzalo Angel Quintilio Lira López in a Ukrainian prison. He was an American journalist, film director, and video blogger and had Chilean citizenship as well. What can you say about this tragedy?

Maria Zakharova:

First, I would like to draw your attention to this truly unprecedented situation. Gonzalo Lira was a national of both the US and Chile, but these countries preferred to leave him without attention and support from the moment of his arrest by the Security Service of Ukraine.

They essentially consigned this “inconvenient” journalist to execution. Santiago (de Chile) has done all it could to hush up this issue even when his tragic death became public. For many months before, the Chilean authorities ignored the repeated appeals of international and local human rights activists not to abandon him by shifting responsibility for his fate to the US Department of State.

What were American officials and relevant organizations doing the whole time? When they find it advantageous, they immediately rush to defend supposedly oppressed journalists. This is what happened with Evan Gershkovich who was caught red-handed while collecting classified information on instruction from the US authorities, and the American reporter Stavros Niarchos detained in July 2022 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In the meantime, the reasons for the blatant disregard for the journalist by the US and Chilean authorities that refused to defend him and did not even note his death in a Ukrainian prison are obvious to all those that followed without bias the fate of this courageous man.

In May 2023, it became known that the blogger was detained and accused under the article “Justification, defence as legal and/or denial of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and glorification of its participants.” After posting bail, he was put under house arrest. But soon thereafter, in July 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine placed him in a pre-trial detention centre, ostensibly for “violating the law and attempting to evade justice.”

He stayed there until his death after eight months of torture and lack of proper medical care. Obviously, the journalist’s refusal to follow the American mainstream and Washington’s line could not go unpunished. But in his case, the punishment was truly inhuman and literally murderous.

The tragedy of Gonzalo Lira, who dared have his own opinion, has vividly revealed again the face of the collective West. A zealous advocate of speech and press freedom in word, it defends them in deed only when convenient to its interests.

We are urging Gonzalo Lira’s colleagues to raise their voice in defense of the prisoners of the Kiev regime. This is necessary for those that are still alive and can still fight for the truth. It is also a tribute to the memory of those that died as martyrs for the cause of freedom.

We would like to convey our most sincere condolences to Gonzalo Lira’s family and friends.

[Ravenlocke]

Text:
US hypocrisy at its peak

Official representative of the State Department told Sputnik that he was not familiar with the situation surrounding the death of the US citizen Gonzalo Lira, and suggested redirecting the question to Kiev.

On January 13, a State Department spokesperson confirmed to Sputnik that Lira died in a Ukrainian prison following his long detainment and offered condolences to his family.

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/1749500110038241605

[Kryztian]

The United States sssassinated Gonzalo Lira Jr. That is the point that his father, Gonzalo Sr. makes during this video. A few days after Gonzalo Jr. turned his criticism directly to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (whereas before, he was just questioning the policies of the administration), he was taken by the Ukrainian authorities. If a U.S. journalist was taken into custody in such a situation, the government would do much to intervene. However, the Biden administration did nothing, and by doing nothing in this particular situation, caused his death. In other words, the Biden Adminstration assassinated him because they did not like his words. And this is also a most grotesque violation of the First Amendment.

The interview with Gonzalo Sr. begins just after the 48 minutes mark.


Source: https://www.rumble.com/video/v4adp70

[Bill Ryan]

Today (29 February) would have been Gonzalo's 56th birthday.