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look Vargas is the United Nations correspondent for talk radio news
service in the past he's joined us in 2012 from the Democratic and Republican
national conventions
more recently he joined us from the climate talks in Warsaw Poland
as well as from jordan and today Luke joins us from Kiev Ukraine
covering the ongoing anti-government demonstrations that we've talked about
Luke it's great to talk to you once again always a pleasure David
so let's start broadly where are you now
and what is the situation in Ukraine
right now I'm standing in Independence Square it's also known as my done square
this is in in downtown kiev behind me there's a stage where they're been
speeches every night it through the 24/7
above activity prior musicians come here poets come here and read poems and
and every evening usually the opposition figures come here and give a speech
to recap the history above why this is an interesting topic for me
back in November the president up the Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych
I answered in a political 180 saying he was not going to sign an economic
integration treaty
with the European Union instead he took fifteen billion dollars in loans from
Vladimir Putin as
as you can probably imagine I wonder putting doesn't give out that kinda
money without some strings attached and a lot of people here were frustrated
this was an abandonment have sort of westernization in this country
but but then when those protests were met with force
in December people got really angry and more more came out
and now two months later after after violence after more clashes with police
protesters have basically occupied a large part of downtown kiev
they're still asking for a lot they're not receiving a lot from the government
and at this point
%uh the very beginning in February word in a political stalemate if you well
okay so that gives us at least some in the background and the reason why people
are congregating there
I war how have people kinda organized here
and we're going to take a look at some other video that you and Zack bad or
film there
and this is definitely more than a protest summer calling it an occupation
I described what the of the area is like a real to come
out of downtown Kiev which looks like most other you know major European
cities
and then cross through these barricades they're constructed with base with the
benches that have been uprooted from all over
at the bottom then a wooden pallets on top the news 10
gallon rock fact filled with ice and and and frozen snow
there maybe 20 for high and they're all over the place and and occupiers here
have cordoned off maybe ten
city blocks where they've erected 10th Iowa
thousands of people sleep here every night thousands of people are fed
as in the people are closed many hundreds of Melissa are armed and
you know they get their armor here to go out in the gate with police in and guard
the area from
from above for the Special Forces essentially but is so the site is
amazing it's it's a testament to
really extreme our organization if its it's quite amazing there's also been
occupation up
a buildings around here one of the buildings is a trade union building a
distinctly
soviet-era post be so soviet-era facility if seven stories tall
on the ground for you've got a place for clothing donations
the second floor a media center on the third floor a mini hospital in on the
four through seven floors you've got political offices for summer the largest
opposition parties
it's a big hurry interesting site in at other buildings
but you've got cultural workshops in Open University
a you name it there's probably some equivalent to normal society functioning
here and I'll I'd say quite well within euro made on at this point the
it's a testament to really concentrated focused and dedicated nurse civic
organization
it seems that relatively
organized in kinda well put together remembering back when we had Occupy Wall
Street here in New York City and the level of organization that existed there
there were
library some places to get food and sleep are there more similarities are
more differences here
you know the similarities between occupying here have actually
you know sort occurred to me a few times there are some major differences though
one is that the demonstrators here with these barricades in with the armed
guards at the barricades
really feel this significantly large area the downtown
off from the police so they're not even any security forces
a you know within the camp but even though I just outside the barriers that
it feels like it different city like a complete be
I you know there's separately governed area some other differences are that
it's 'em accurately clean almost everywhere we've seen some
some dirty porta-potties we've seen some trash piled up but it's amazing what
these protesters have done
the combat this are the problems that typically the
spring up when you have a sustained occupation in an area that is not suited
to how's this many people
the if there are homeless people that have congregated here we don't see them
at their people here
who are starving and hungry and need the food here we don't see them it
it really seems like everyone's getting by here and I think again that's a
testament to the ability of the volunteers here
to adequately serve the needs of the people that have decided to come out
here in protest
so these protests haven't been without violence we've seen
the dramatic images in video I'll tires burning priest standing between
demonstrators in the police
what happened to some other protesters who
were there in late January what the reaction been
have you seen any fighting a violence
yeah there there has been violence here there were four man who were killed
in clashes with the police probably about three hundred yards from where
we're standing now
this is a very peaceful area it seems like a normal political type protest
if you go a few streets over you see this area that is like a war zone as
some of the other journalists covering it say it like stalingrad
a their water cannons were used against demonstrators
the whole area pros at sub-zero temperatures here a
the barricades are composed a burned-out police vehicles that have been stacked
up on one another
other been burning tires at night to the ground the combination oven I A San
and and black oil in certain and and rubber residue
it's crazy we haven't seen too much fighting here it's been very peaceful
actually
the week we've been here though you know that is this disrespect hangs over
everything that if
if parliamentary negotiations break down at the president doesn't offer
concessions that the opposition
is willing to accept then violence could spring up there are in the building
behind me
groups that are basically came to Melissa's they walk around here
they seem willing to engage with police if they if they situation comes up so
no violence right now but it happened it is on the front of people's minds that
leads to a lot of concern here and around the country
but at the moment here it's quite safe so what's the next step I mean where
does this leave us is the president backed into a corner has he found a way
to hold on to power this is really kinda
the original catalyst the impetus for these protests
now what well diversity up the opposition has been both its strength
and its weakness again the the range of parties that are
that constitute the opposition in that have seats in parliament span
ideological spectrum that his
akin to libertarianism on one side
and communism on the other side actually a communist party here that's quite
powerful and an articulating as the many protesters
but it is a problem all these parties can pretty much agree they wanna see
new presidential elections new parliamentary elections %uh the violence
that they seemed
on the security apparatus here means that they think the president is a
illegitimate but they they don't agree on tactics some of them are trying to be
more moderate in the demands they could power to Parliament
especially the party of the tally Klitschko the heavyweight boxing
champion in the world
the he's an MP in quite the considered quite a bit later a really when it comes
down to it
I'll you know how they would govern if there were to be
a new election they're not even have parties that are going to form a
coalition
in a postman president the on a cold *** world and as such
its complete political uncertainty here right now none of us know what is going
to be offered as a concession by the government
nobody knows really have the opposition is going to respond so
we wear our proper breath from hot now but when we got to the front line
photographers are out there every night expecting potential clashes
and people here you know are on edge they want to see some changes
but at least in the week that we've been here nothing really major has happened
and I think that
makes a lot of people nervous Luke Vargas United Nations correspondent for
talk radio news service joining us from Kiev Ukraine thanks Luke
sure thing david it's it's it's always great to speak to him