Info on CANVAS (Otpor)

Background:

Otpor (means “resistance” in Serbian) was founded in October of 1998 at the University
of Belgrade. At first it was a student protest group (mainly concerned with Milosevic’s
repressive media and university laws), but quickly expanded into a national underground
resistance movement during the 2000 Presidential elections. Many of its members were
arrested in 2000 in the run-up to the elections, Milosevic branded them terrorists. This all
backfired as most of Otpor members were young students from the university.

Otpor first tried to brand itself as an anti-corruption NGO, while some of its members
went into politics (such as Srdja Popovic, who won a seat in the Parliament in 2000 and
was an environmental advisor to the Djindjic government). They finally reconstituted
themselves as a political party in 2003, but failed miserably to attract any votes.

CANVAS (http://www.canvasopedia.org/) is a spin-off of Otpor and was founded by

Srdja Popovic and Ivan Marovic in late 2003 after Srdja Popovic left the Djindjic
government (who was assassinated in March 2003). They have been involved with
numerous pro-democracy movements around the world (most effectively in Ukraine and
Georgia, but they were also in Belarus, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Iran, Lebanon, Azerbaijan
and Tibet). They use Gene Sharp’s non-violence theory and give it their own spin (to
check out their manual on non-violence, go here:
http://www.canvasopedia.org/content/weaponry/intro.htm)

They are supported by the Albert Einstein Institution (founded by Gene Sharp),
Democracy Research Guide, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict Resources,
International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute for International
Affairs. They may have also received CIA funding and training during the 1999/2000
anti-Milosevic struggle. The piece we did on them last fall is attached at the end of the
document.

Potential Benefits from Stratfor-CANVAS Cooperation

What they want from us: Canvas appreciates the media attention. The article we did on
them in October 2007 definitely pleased them (so much so that it was prominently
displayed on their own website for a while). They may be looking for more of this.

What we can get from them: They would be a great source of contacts. They have met
with most of the active student anti-regime organizations that matter. They could furnish
us with contacts and introductions that we could tap whenever we need timely
information. As a source themselves, CANVAS probably does not have the ability to
provide us with on the spot information (except maybe on Serbia). They can offer their
opinion and analysis, but they are much more valuable as a source of contacts. We can
also get a better picture of who in the US funds these types of groups.
The key players:

SRDJA POPOVIC

Srdja is a native of Belgrade, son of a prominent TV reported and a popular news anchor
on state television. His main responsibilities in Otpor (which he was a founding member
of) were human resources and training. He studied Gene Sharp’s works at the university,
so he translated his texts and put them into practice. His main field of study was biology.
He is considered the brainchild of the anti-Milosevic non-violent revolution in Serbia. He
mostly worked behind the scenes of Otpor, writing speeches and manuals (most of the
texts on CANVAS’s website are his writing). After he became an MP in 2000 with the
Djindjic government he became an environmental advisor. Was also the founder of an
environmental NGO called the “Green Fist”.

SINISA SIKMAN

One of the main trainers of Canvas, also an ex-Otpor member. He was directly involved
in the training of the Georgian and Ukrainian anti-government student groups. Has also
been quoted numerous times by Western media in relation to Canvas/Otpor international
activities. Has once stated that Otpor did receive CIA funding.

SLOBODAN DJINOVIC

Also an ex-Otpor member, he was very active in the run-up to the Georgian revolution.
He is also the founder and President of Mediaworks, a Belgrade based IT company that
immediately following the defeat of Slobodan Milosevic received very profitable
frequency permits from the government. According to some Belgrade sources he was the
main link to a lot of the US funding, especially with the International Republican
Institute.
Venezuela: The Marigold Revolution?
October 5, 2007 | 2121 GMT
Summary

Another color revolution may be forming — in Latin America.

Analysis

Our story begins in 1999, when a small group of Serbian college students took a look at
the government of then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and decided that enough
was enough. They began regular protests against Milosevic’s authoritarian rule and began
to act as a nexus, coordinating their efforts with other dissident groups and minor political
parties. In early 2000 they named their student activist group Otpor.

Within months, Otpor’s invigorating and slick campaign tactics helped energize and unite
various political factions and bind them together into a confederated anti-Milosevic
movement. And in October of that year, Milosevic’s government fell.

After its greatest hour, Otpor did not dissolve. It evolved. It remained active in
demanding political accountability at home in Belgrade, but also stretched out
internationally, seeking training and allies. As the organization’s founders graduated from
university the group became more nuanced and gradually grew to command a broader
and deeper skill set.

Otpor strengthened its connections with Western governments and nongovernmental

organizations, which provided the group with funding and limited amounts of intelligence
about potential weaknesses in regimes they were already targeting. The tactics used in the
crucible in Belgrade were “marketed” in documentaries and training manuals. Otpor
became more than “just” a student group and transformed itself into the Center for
Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS). Among the group’s strongest
allies are Freedom House and the Albert Einstein Institute and, through them, the U.S.
Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State.

In 2003 CANVAS worked with the opposition in the former Soviet state of Georgia and
helped foment the Rose Revolution. In 2004 similar efforts merged with a broader
international effort to spur Ukraine’s Orange Revolution and Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip
Revolution. Not all of CANVAS’s attempts proved successful. Efforts in Belarus,
Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan, for example, bore no fruit. But the group’s ability to mobilize
and unite disparate factions and strike at the core of authoritarian systems are among the
best on the planet.

In 2005, CANVAS turned its attention to Venezuela, and on Oct. 5 — the seventh
anniversary of Milosevic’s fall — five student leaders from Venezuela arrived in
Belgrade for training.
Demographically, Venezuela is very young, and thus in political terms student groups are
potentially powerful. Additionally, the student movement is probably the most cohesive
single faction within the Venezuelan opposition to President Hugo Chavez — which is
itself perhaps the most ineffective and fractured opposition in Latin America. Venezuelan
students only recently became active in anti-Chavez activities, and formed the backbone
of opposition to decision to not renew the broadcasting license of RCTV, the country’s
only meaningful private television station.

Success is by no means guaranteed, and student movements are only at the beginning of
what could be a years-long effort to trigger a revolution in Venezuela, but the trainers
themselves are the people who cut their teeth on the “Butcher of the Balkans.” They’ve
got mad skills. When you see students at five Venezuelan universities hold simultaneous
demonstrations, you will know that the training is over and the real work has begun.