Friday, July 20, 2007

Ready Made Thugs for Putin

In the middle of the camp stand large portraits of Other Russia's leaders under the headline: "The Red Light Street."

Other Russia's three male leaders, including world Chess champion Garry Kasparov, are portrayed as prostitutes. In lurid colors they pout and pose in stockings, their faces frozen into feline grins.

"I didn't know who those people were until I came here," 20-year-old Lena from St Petersburg said as she walked past.

"Now I know they are fascists."

The two-week summer camp is run by Nashi, the biggest of several pro-Kremlin youth groups, and in Nashi's vocabulary Putin's enemies are fascists.

Nashi, which means 'ours' and is funded by the Kremlin, was founded in the wake of popular demonstrations that toppled pro-Moscow leaders in Georgia and Ukraine. Its stated goal is to promote nationalist values for a greater Russia.

....
Drinking alcohol is banned in the camp, but other activities are encouraged. A display shows why the Woolly Mammoth died out -- not enough sex. Russia is fighting to stop a fall in population as a result of alcohol abuse, AIDS and migration.

Alexander Zlatmenkov held hands with his fiancee Julia. They are both 23, and with 39 other couples will marry at the camp.

"It's important for us to set an example and it's fun and interesting," he said.

All the Nashi members Reuters spoke to were aged between 18 and 23, were at university or had just left and came from lower income families whose parents worked in jobs such as teachers and engineers.

Four girl friends from Smolensk walked arm-in-arm along the lake's shore to lessons on how to organize mass public protests.

-Kremlin preaches Putin's greatness at youth camp

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