QUESTION: I have been referred by the Embassy of Belarus in South Africa Ambassador, to contact the Armstrong Economics team.
This is pertaining the publication as follows:
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.armstrongeconomics.com_world-2Dnews_corruption_belarusian-2Dpresident-2Dclaims-2Dimf-2Dworld-2Dbank-2Doffered-2Dhim-2Da-2Dbribe-2Dto-2Dimpose-2Dcovid-2Drestrictions_&d=DwICaQ&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=1b9cMrxhopAbocguyDbJ-naWHNw5q0c-n3I3p_EMpvc&m=VKvjXq3WrxTr_sSk5vJnkugSARhdrvbLvxJrPyxcwSAdexqcHyap7zTWJgnpYYlo&s=fX497EatV5f3RDcEdB7zAQ6gKvPxTLIds65c3AVnmZo&e=
Request is as follows: Armstrong Economics team to please share evidence of this article as published in Sept 2020
Thanks in advance.
Kind regards -- S.D.
ANSWER: Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who is up for re-election in 2025, signed a law in January that grants him lifelong immunity from criminal prosecution. Lukashenko “cannot be held accountable for actions committed in connection with exercising his presidential powers” under the new legislation. Undoubtedly, this law was propelled by America’s persecution of Donald Trump and other world leaders who are not adhering to Western policies.
The war in Ukraine has place Lukashenko under pressure once again due to Belarus aiding neighboring Russia. The nations strategic placement bordering both Ukraine and Russia has made it a strategic stronghold for Russian troops, and more importantly, nuclear weapons. Belarus remained neutral during the 2014 Crimean conflict and attempted to act as a mediator between Ukraine and Russia.
Lukashenko has faced countless controversies during his 30-year reign. The August 2020 Belarusian election sparked massive civil unrest as many of his opponents believed the election was rigged in his favor. Russia aided Belarus during the 2020 political upheaval that saw tens of thousands of protestors arrested. Belarus had fallen out of the West’s good graces long ago, but its COVID response prompted further distain from the Build Back Better, World Economic Forum allied nations. Lukashenko’s government was one of the last to impost restrictions and those restrictions were far more lenient than the guidelines presented by world health agencies.
Most importantly, Belarus did not implement mandatory vaccinations for COVID. Lukashenka was accused of human rights abuses as his nation held the lowest vaccination rate in all of Europe with fewer than 21.2% of the population receiving the mRNA vaccine. The vaccine was available, but people were not threatened or coerced into taking it. Taking it a step further, his administration did not trust the vaccines produced in the West and only offered varieties provided by Russia and China. Lukashenka called the pandemic response a “mass psychosis,” refused to lockdown his people, and suggested holistic methods opposed to the vaccine.
The West has imposed numerous sanctions on Belarus for aiding Russia, but the economic impact has been cushioned by Moscow’s willingness to repay its ally with energy subsidies that exceeded $15 billion in 2022. It is in Belarus’ best interest to remain loyal as two-thirds of all imports and exports are with Russia.
I can discuss the Belarus-Russia alliance in further detail if there is interest. To address the original request, President Lukashenko did, in fact, receive a bribe from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in 2020 to persuade him to impose COVID restrictions. As mentioned in my original post, the president revealed this bribe through the Belarusian Telegraph Agency, BelTA. In exchange for a $940 million bribe, the World Bank and IMF demanded that the president of Belarus:
- impose “extreme lockdown on his people”
- force them to wear face masks
- impose very strict curfews
- impose a police state
- crash the economy
These are the president’s own claims. The world health agencies lost legitimacy when Belarusians had a LOWER death rate from COVID-19 than the rest of Europe. Belarus began testing efforts when the technology was available. Those who bought into the psyop refuse to acknowledge that lockdown measures did nothing to stop the spread. People simply do not want to believe that the COVID restrictions were completely unnecessary and only contributed to higher death rates and crippled economies.