Latin America

(Informed Comment) – Hope and US Aid at the Border: the title of a recent New York Times video deodorizes the US attempt to overthrow President Maduro of socialist Venezuela and replace him with a hand-picked member of the Venezuelan elite, capitalist class. As the major media presents it, the US is altruistically rushing to […]

Donald Trump

Trump Hawks don’t Care about Democracy, they Want a Brutal Coup for Venezuelan Oil

Peter Certo

(Otherwords.org) – Do we think people who armed death squads and started wars really want to “bring democracy” to Venezuela? By Peter Certo | January 30, 2019 For some months now, Venezuela’s socialist government has lurched through a series of escalating crises — hyperinflation, mass protests, political violence — while both the government and its […]

Featured

Turkey, NATO ally, Rejects US “Coup Attempt” in Venezuela

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is no surprise that Iran should be supporting the Venezuelan government of Maduro, given that both typically take anti-imperialist stands. What is astonishing is that NATO member Turkey has piled on the criticism, along with the Turkish press. It is s sign of US-Turkish relations being at their nadir. […]

Venezuela

Pompeo taps Iran-Contra Death Squad Backer to ‘Restore Democracy’ in Venezuela

AFP

Washington, D.C. (AFP) – Top US diplomat Mike Pompeo on Friday tapped Elliot Abrams, a central figure in Ronald Reagan’s controversial anti-communist campaigns in Central America, as a new envoy to “restore democracy” in Venezuela. Pompeo announced the appointment of Abrams two days after Washington declared head of state Nicolas Maduro to be illegitimate and […]

Brazil

Corrupt Gov’t Kept slashing Nat’l Museum, Now Brazilian History up in Smoke

AFP

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Brazilian officials on Monday blamed years of government cutbacks for an inferno that gutted the treasured National Museum, described by President Michel Temer as a “tragic” loss of knowledge and heritage. Even before the embers had begun to cool Monday, grief over the huge cultural loss gave way to anger […]

Israel/ Palestine

Palestine Recognized as Sovereign State by Outgoing Colombia Government

AFP

Bogota (AFP) – Colombia recognized Palestine as a sovereign state in the days before new President Ivan Duque took office, according to a letter from the foreign ministry made public on Wednesday. “I would like to inform you that in the name of the government of Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos has decided to recognize […]

Mexico

Leftist Wave sweeps Mexico: Can Lopez Obrador take on Corruption, Poverty… & Trump?

Reese Erlich

When I was writing an article about street vendors in Mexico City, I saw firsthand how the country’s ruling party operated. Vendors eke out a living selling trinkets and food on street corners. A group in one part of Mexico City had held a series of militant demonstrations opposing a violent police crackdown aimed at […]

Latin America

Nicaragua’s People Power at the Barricades again, this Time against Ortega

Rebecca Gordon

San Francisco ( Tomdispatch.com) – On April 19th, university students in Nicaragua’s capital, Managua, exploded onto the streets. Their initial demand? A more effective government response to wildfires burning out of control in the country’s most precious repository of biodiversity. Soon, a social wildfire took hold in Managua and then spread across the country. Thousands […]

Immigration

Look Deeper: Child Detention and the US’s Paramilitary Politics Abroad

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, ME (Informed Comment) – Attorney General Sessions didn’t lose any sleep over those children forcibly separated from their parents. He maintained most of the asylum seekers will be denied because “many of them . . . like to make more money . . .” Unfortunately, however, when children are used as bargaining chips […]