(2019-08-28). The Open Amazon and Its Enemies: A Call for Action and Optimism. commondreams.org Tree in the Brazilian rainforest. (Photo: Pablo Albarenga, all rights reserved.) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/amazonr.jpeg …
(2019-08-28). Health concerns rise in Brazil as Amazon fires rage. thecanary.co 
Lingering smoke in the Amazon is causing concern among Brazilians who say that respiratory problems — particularly among children and the elderly — have increased as fires in the region rage."The kids are affected the most. They're coughing a lot," said Elane Diaz, a nurse in the Rondonia state capital of Porto Velho, as she waited for a doctor's appointment at a hospital with her five-year-old-son Eduardo."They have problems breathing. I'm concerned because it affects their health." | The number of people treated for respiratory issues increased sharply in recent days at a local children's hospital."Th…
(2019-08-28). US Opens Venezuela Interest Section in Colombia as Guaido Rebuffs Further Talks. venezuelanalysis.com It remains unclear whether the new Venezuela Affairs Unit will facilitate talks with Caracas.
(2019-08-28). The Green Party Denounces Business Deals and Trade Policies Through Which Multinational Corporations Profit From the Destruction of the Brazilian Rainforest. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-08-28). Transnational Honda shuts down production in Argentina. wsws.org Honda said it was discontinuing car production in Argentina, "in the face of abrupt changes occurring to automobile industries around the world."
(2019-08-28). Inexorable Solidarity With the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2019-08-28). It's not just Brazil's Amazon rainforest that's ablaze — Bolivian fires are threatening people and wildlife. nationofchange.org Up to 800,000 hectares of the unique Chiquitano forest were burned to the ground in Bolivia between August 18 and August 23. That's more forest than is usually destroyed across the country in two years. Experts say that it will take at least two centuries to repair the ecological damage done by the fires, while at least 500 species are said …
(2019-08-28). Lula Tells the World He's "Back in the Game" from Jail. "Lula is Brazil's only Possible Factor of Stability" globalresearch.ca Brazil has always been a land of superlatives. Yet nothing beats the current, perverse configuration: a world statesman lingers in jail while a clownish thug is in power, his antics now considered a threat to the whole planet. | In a …
(2019-08-28). We are facing a global emergency in the Amazon. Here's what we can do. nationofchange.org Called "the lungs of the Earth", the Amazon rainforest and its lush trees make roughly 20% of the oxygen on Earth. Yet, right now, the skies of Sao Paolo, Brazil are black and the smoke can be seen from space. Flames are ravaging the Amazon Basin. Though climate change has catalyzed many devastating blazes in recent years, …
(2019-08-28). Canada and Bolsonaro. counterpunch.org By now most environmentally conscious people understand that Jair Bolsonaro is a bad guy. Brazil's president has scandalously blamed environmentalists for starting fires burning in the Amazon region, after having called for more "development" of the huge forests. Canadians are lucky we have a prime minister who is not such an embarrassment and understands environmental More
(2019-08-28). How Bolsonaro's Climate Change Denial & Anti-Indigenous Policies Led to Massive Fires in the Amazon. democracynow.org 
In Brazil, fires continue to rage in the Amazon, and new drone footage shows the smoke and flames gathering strength. A vast plume of smoke has spread across South America and the Atlantic Ocean and is visible from space. The fires are also destroying large swaths of land in Bolivia. The fires are unprecedented in recorded history, and environmentalists say most of the fires were deliberately set by illegal miners and cattle ranchers. So far this year, there have been nearly 73,000 fires in Brazil, with over half of them in the Amazon region — an 83% increase from the same period last year. Far-right Brazil…
(2019-08-27). The Week Trump Hit Peak Megalomania. counterpunch.org 
The fact that Trump is an egomaniac hardly constitutes news. Before becoming president his professional life was characterized by a succession of attention-seeking vanity projects. Through his career as a property developer, he oversaw the construction of a series of gaudy buildings, which stand as monuments to kitsch in locations as diverse as Panama, Uruguay, More
(2019-08-27). Venezuela: "Landowners Persecute and Murder the Yukpa with Impunity" dissidentvoice.org 
The French journalist Angèle Savino lived in Venezuela for thirteen years, during which time she followed closely the conflict between the Yukpa and the major landowners. "After Chavez decided to hand over the land to the Yukpa, the assassinations ensued" — she confides. Convinced that in Venezuela, the indigenous struggle for land is also that …
(2019-08-27). What Will It Take To Declare A Climate Emergency? dissidentvoice.org 
Students march in Melbourne, Australia. Source AAP. The Embassy Protectors Defense Committee is calling on the US State Department to drop the federal charges against us. On May 16, federal forces invaded the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, DC in violation of the Vienna Convention and arrested four Embassy Protectors even though we were there with …
(2019-08-27). Rainforest on Fire: Brazilians Mobilize Against President's Amazon Policies. therealnews.com 
Mobilizations took place throughout Brazil on Monday, to declare their opposition to President Bolsonaro's environmental policies, which have contributed to the largest increase in Amazon rainforest fires in years…
(2019-08-27). Spurning Amazon Aid, Bolsonaro Brings Up Notre Dame Fire. truthdig.com 
JACUNDA NATIONAL FOREST, Brazil — Brazil insisted on Tuesday that it would set conditions for accepting any aid from the world's richest nations to help fight Amazon fires, saying France couldn't protect the Notre Dame Cathedral from fire devastation and should focus on its own problems. | The increasingly personal feud between Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and French leader Emmanuel Macron threatened to derail a pledge of tens of millions of dollars by the Group of Seven nations for the Amazon region. | Brazil has bristled over what it views as neo-colonial interference by Europe on matters of soverei…
(2019-08-27). A Top Financier of Trump and McConnell Is a Driving Force Behind Amazon Deforestation. theintercept.com 
Steve Schwarzman is the CEO of the Blackstone Group, which partially owns a Brazilian firm that is helping transform the Amazon from jungle to farmland.
(2019-08-27). Clampdown on Housing Rights Activists in Bolsonaro's Brazil. thenation.com Clampdown on Housing Rights Activists in Bolsonaro's Brazil…
(2019-08-27). Argentina: The Political Pendulum may be Swinging Left Again in Latin America. counterpunch.org The primary vote in Argentina last August 11 indicated quite a strong rejection of neoliberal policies in a region that has seen a wave of right-wing governments coming to power in the last ten years. The current neoliberal president Mauricio Macri lagged 15 percentage points behind the center-left Front of All (Frente de Todos) coalition More
(2019-08-27). Football is 'refuge for those who have left everything'; UN initiative aims to bolster well-being of refugee, migrant children in Peru. un.org Sport brings people together "regardless of conditions or flags", a senior United Nations official in Perú said on Tuesday referring to a new initiative launched over this past weekend to promote the well-being of children and youth in Lima's refugee and migrant communities through football.
(2019-08-27). Canada's PM Trudeau Supports Brazil's Environmentally Criminal President not the Amazon Rain Forest. dissidentvoice.org By now most environmentally conscious people understand that Jair Bolsonaro is a bad guy. Brazil's president has scandalously blamed environmentalists for starting fires burning in the Amazon region, after having called for more "development" of the huge forests. Canadians are lucky we have a prime minister who is not such an embarrassment and understands environmental …
(2019-08-27). Glenn Greenwald on the Amazon fires and the fight for Brazil's future. thegrayzone.com Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept discusses the record-setting Amazon forest fires, the struggle against Brazil's far-right government, and how his…
(2019-08-27). Amazonia in Flames. dissidentvoice.org On 28 October 2018, Jair Bolsonaro was elected President of Brazil with 55.1% of the vote and with a gigantic help from Cambridge Analytica. At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in January 2019 in Davos Switzerland, Bolsonaro made a sumptuous presentation, "We Are Building a New Brazil". He outlined a program that put literally Brazil up …
(2019-08-27). Headlines for August 27, 2019. democracynow.org Oklahoma Wins Case Against Johnson & Johnson as Court Finds Pharma Giant Fueled State's Opioid Crisis, Brazil Rejects G7 Amazon Aid Amid Mounting Environmental Disaster, Prosecutors Investigate After Gov't Ignored Warnings About Planned Amazon Fires, Trump Dismisses Wind Power Again at G7 as WH Walks Back Comments on Kim Jong-un, Lebanon Says Air Attacks Over Weekend Amount to "Declaration of War" from Israel, U.N. Says Floods in Sudan a "Humanitarian Emergency" as Death Toll Tops 60 People, Iran Sentences Journalist and Activist Marzieh Amiri to 10 Years & 148 Lashes, 19 States and D.C. Sue to Block Trump's Term…
(2019-08-26). Venezuela: Major Gas Explosion Called Act of 'Sabotage'. venezuelanalysis.com Government spokespersons have blamed opposition activists from First Justice Party.
(2019-08-26). MLB Breaks Ties with Venezuelan Baseball over US Embargo. venezuelanalysis.com All US-based ball players, including Venezuelan nationals, are now barred from playing in Venezuela.
(2019-08-25). Max Blumenthal: US sanctions on Venezuela are 'sociopathic'. thegrayzone.com The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal discusses his heated exchange with a former Obama official and a member of Venezuela's far-right opposition…
(2019-08-25). La Via Campesina: Burning the Amazon is a crime against humanity. greenleft.org.au 
Amazon rainforest La Via CampesinaIssue 1235 Brazil climate emergencyAugust 26, 2019La Via Campesina is a global social movement that unites 148 groups representing small farmers, peasants, rural workers and indigenous communities around the world. | It fights for…
(2019-08-24). Analysis and implications of the Argentine elections. uwidata.com 
The victory of Alberto Fernández in the PASO has generated a financial, social and political earthquake in Argentina. Who is Fernández, and what would his victory mean for the crisis-worn South American country? Argentina's internal political context Fernández' incumbent opponent, Mauricio Macri, was likely surprised that, after the economic and social disasters of left-wing Peronism …
(2019-08-24). Brazil Isn't the Only Far-Right Government Destroying the Planet. progressive.org As the Amazon burns, the terrifying parallels between the U.S. and Brazilian governments highlight the damage authoritarian leaders are doing.
(2019-08-23). Pre-elections indicate defeat for pro-imperialist Macri. workers.org 
It is rare that primary elections hit the news cycle like a thunderclap. Yet political observers across Latin America see the Aug. 11 primary in Argentina as indicating a continental shift, reversing the right-wing wave in that region. Some even call it a setback for Donald Trump. Mauricio Macri had . . . | Continue reading Pre-elections indicate defeat for pro-imperialist Macri at Workers.org
(2019-08-23). Argentina's Economic Crisis Deepens as Macri Applies IMF Measures. therealnews.com 
President Macri is trying to blame his predecessor and likely successor in office, Cristina Fernandez and Alberto Fernandez for Argentina's steep economic crisis. However, the IMF plan he is applying lays out very clearly where the real blame lies, says CEPR's Mark Weisbrot…
(2019-08-23). Bolivian Mine Workers Strike Against one of World's Largest Mining Corporations. therealnews.com 
The Japanese Sumitomo corporation runs one of the world's largest zinc, copper, and lead mines in Bolivia, where it has been denying workers overtime pay, despite a court order to pay them. We talk to the mine workers' union president, Henry Cayo…
(2019-08-23). Venezuela's Maduro Confirms Secret Trump Talks as US Navy 'Ready' For Action. venezuelanalysis.com US Southern Command chief said US Navy will "do what needs to be done."
(2019-08-23). GOP Lobbyists Help Brazil Recruit U.S. Companies to Exploit the Amazon. theintercept.com This summer, fires are being used to clear wide swaths of the Amazon at an unprecedented rate. One-fifth of the Amazon has already been destroyed in the past 50 years; further industrialization of the rainforest risks destroying another fifth, a loss that would be catastrophic for the global ecosystem. | The disaster is widely blamed on interests seeking to clear the world's largest rainforest for cattle ranching, mining, and export-focused agribusiness. Documents reveal that those interests a…
(2019-08-23). "Our House Is On Fire": Brazil Faces Global Outrage as Massive Fires Spread in Amazon Rainforest. democracynow.org 
The United Nations is calling for the protection of the Amazon amid fears that thousands of fires raging across Brazil and some parts of Bolivia are rapidly destroying the world's largest rainforest and paving the way for a climate catastrophe. The fires have spread a vast plume of smoke across South America and the Atlantic Ocean that's visible from space. They're unprecedented in recorded history, and environmentalists say most of the fires were deliberately set by illegal miners and cattle ranchers. Indigenous people in Brazil have accused far-right President Jair Bolsonaro of encouraging the destruction. Bols…
(2019-08-23). Sen. Merkley on the Dangers of a New Nuclear Arms Race & Why He Backs the Green New Deal. democracynow.org 
Fallout from the Trump administration's decision to pull out of the landmark 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty is mounting. Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military to prepare for what he called a "symmetrical response" after the U.S. tested what it said was a nonnuclear cruise missile earlier this week. The U.S. launch was the first test of its kind since the Trump administration withdrew from the INF. We speak to Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon about U.S. nuclear policy, as well as the Green New Deal, President Trump's wish to buy Greenland and more.
(2019-08-23). Headlines for August 23, 2019. democracynow.org U.N. Calls for Protection of the Amazon as Rainforest Burns at Record Pace, Indigenous Communities Say Brazil's President Is Encouraging Destruction of Forests, Bernie Sanders Unveils Ambitious Green New Deal to Avert Climate Catastrophe, Democratic Leaders Reject Resolution Calling for Candidate Climate Debate, French Authorities to Crack Down on Protest as 13,000 Police Mobilize for G7 Summit, Syrian Forces Encircle Last Major Rebel-Held Stronghold in Hama Province, U.N.: Burmese Troops Had "Genocidal Intent" in Targeting Rohingya for Sexual Violence, Indonesia Deploys Troops to Quell Independence Protests in W…
(2019-08-22). FROM THE FIELD: Argentina Preserving Pristine Forests. un.org Thousands of species of animals and plants which are indigenous to a vast forest in Argentina could be saved thanks to a partnership between the United Nations and the South American country.
(2019-08-22). Headlines for August 22, 2019. democracynow.org Trump Administration Proposes Jailing Migrant Families Indefinitely, Federal Budget Deficit to Top $1 Trillion in 2020, Satellite Data Show Brazilian Amazon Burning at Record Pace, Brazilian President Bolsonaro Blames Environmentalists for Amazon Fires, Wildfires Rage in Alaska, Canary Islands, Siberia and Greenland, Gov. Jay Inslee, Champion of Climate Fight, Drops 2020 Presidential Bid, Activists Disrupt Event Honoring House Speaker Pelosi to Demand Trump's Impeachment, Abdalla Hamdok Sworn In as Sudan's Prime Minister, Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Activists Mark Anniversary of Subway Attack, Mexico's Zapatistas Exp…
(2019-08-22). Collusion in Brazil's judiciary brings the curtain down on the rule of law. greenleft.org.au 
corruption Tony RosenbergIssue 1234 Brazil Operation Car WashAugust 22, 2019Messages between Brazil's federal prosecutor, Deltan Dallagnol, who led Operaàßà£o Lava Jato (Operation Car Wash) and then-judge, Sergio Moro, have revealed that the evidence used…
(2019-08-21). Why the Democratic National Committee Must Change the Rules and Hold a Climate Debate. theintercept.com 
A girl holds a sign that reads "pull the emergency brake" at a ceremony to commemorate the Okjà∂kull glacier in Iceland, on Aug. 18, 2019. | recorded in human history. You are meeting on the same week that smoke from a record number of wildfires in the Amazon rainforest turned day into night in the Brazilian megapolis of Sà£o Paulo. And you are meeting just days after Iceland's prime minister led her country in its first (2019-08-21). Meet Alvaro Enciso, the Artist Placing Crosses in Sonoran Desert to Memorialize Migrant Deaths. democracynow.org 
More than 3,000 human remains have been found in the Sonoran Desert, most of them of migrants fleeing their home countries to embark on an uncertain and perilous journey to the United States. On a recent visit to the Arizona borderlands, Democracy Now! accompanied Tucson-based artist Alvaro Enciso into the desert at the site where he placed four unique markers to honor four immigrants killed in a car accident years ago as they fled from Border Patrol. In the past five years, Enciso, who is originally from Colombia, has built and installed over 900 crosses across the treacherous Sonoran Desert in Arizona as part o…
(2019-08-20). 40 rebuttals to the media's smears of Julian Assange — by someone who was actually there. thegrayzone.com A former diplomat who worked in the Ecuadorian embassy while Julian Assange lived there in asylum debunks 40 of CNN's…
(2019-08-20). Say no to the McCarthyite attack on Chicago teachers. fightbacknews.org As the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) find itself locked in tough contract negotiations and faces the possibility of a strike, corporate and right-wing media like the Chicago Tribune, Breitbart and others have launched a bizarre attack that seems like it is straight out of the 1950s red scare. Rather than addressing the real problems impacting teachers and students in Chicago schools, these reactionary pundits have decided the rant and rave about – of all things – a delegation of teachers that traveled to Venezuela earlier this summer. | Here are the facts of the matter. A group of teachers who are also members of…
(2019-08-19). Venezuela Oil Production Continues Slump as US Embargo Deters Foreign Trade. venezuelanalysis.com July's production was 740,000 barrels per day, 4 percent lower than in June.
(2019-08-14). Venezuelan Opposition Journalist Served as Agent for US, UK Gov't. venezuelanalysis.com In a U.S. diplomatic cable, Bocaranda is dubbed a "reliable source" and to be "strictly protected."
(2019-08-14). Venezuela's Maduro Reshuffles Cabinet as Supreme Court Strips Three Opposition Lawmakers of Immunity. venezuelanalysis.com The National Constituent Assembly will also evaluate bringing forward legislative elections.
(2019-08-12). Worldwide Solidarity Rallies Held in Support of Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com Rallies were held on Saturday across the world in support of Venezuela as the Bolivarian Republic faces an inhuman economic blockade imposed by the United States and their Western allies.
(2019-08-12). Venezuela Secures New Chinese Oil Investment. venezuelanalysis.com The move defies the US embargo's secondary sanction provisions targeting foreign firms trading with Venezuela.