[World Report] Venezuelan migrants "struggling to survive" amid COVID-19
Joe Parkin Daniels | thelancet.com | 2020-03-28
Humanitarian organisations are concerned that border closures and health-care shortages are amplifying the challenges posed by COVID-19. Joe Parkin Daniels reports from Bogotá.
thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30718-2/fulltext?rss=yes

We won't go back to normal, because normal was the problem
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2020-03-27
It is hard to remember that just a few weeks ago, the planet was in motion. There were protests in Delhi (India) and Quito (Ecuador), eruptions against the old order that ranged from anger at the economic policies of austerity and neoliberalism to frustration with the cultural policies of misogyny and racism. Ingeniously, in Santiago …
mronline.org/2020/03/27/we-wont-go-back-to-normal-because-normal-was-the-problem/

Uruguay: Cuts in Public Wages to Finance the 'Coronavirus Fund'
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-27
Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Thursday announced cuts to public officials' cuts and pensions to finance the "Coronavirus Fund", which is intended to pay for the treatment of Covid-19 patients and medical supplies. | RELATED: | Uruguay: Educators Protest Against President Lacalle's Bill | That decision implies a cut of 20 percent of the salaries of the president and his ministers. | The remuneration of legislators and directors of public institutions will be reduced in equal magnitude.
telesurenglish.net/news/Uruguay-lacalle-implements-economic-measures-facing-covid-19-20200327-0003.html

Uruguay: Cuts in Public Wages to Finance the 'Coronavirus Fund'
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-27
Uruguay's President Luis Lacalle Thursday announced cuts to public officials' cuts and pensions to finance the "Coronavirus Fund", which is intended to pay for the treatment of Covid-19 patients and medical supplies. | RELATED: | Uruguay: Educators Protest Against President Lacalle's Bill | That decision implies a cut of 20 percent of the salaries of the president and his ministers. | The remuneration of legislators and directors of public institutions will be reduced in equal magnitude.
telesurenglish.net/news/Uruguay-lacalle-implements-economic-measures-facing-covid-19-20200327-0003.html

Media Repeat Phony Trump Regime Narco-Terrorism Charges against Maduro
Stephen Lendman | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-27
Establishment media never miss an opportunity to set the record straight on major issues. | Instead they consistently proliferate state-sponsored Big Lies about designed US adversaries. | The latest exercise in Trump regime mass deception is directed against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro…
globalresearch.ca/media-repeat-phony-trump-regime-narco-terrorism-charges-against-maduro/5707753

Venezuela Dismisses US Justice Department 'Narco-terrorism' Accusations
Lucas Koerner | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-27
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected US drug trafficking accusations against his person and senior members of his government. | In a televised address Thursday evening, Maduro blasted the State Department's "racist cowboy methods" of offering money for information leading to his …
globalresearch.ca/venezuela-dismisses-us-justice-department-narco-terrorism-accusations/5707786

Bolsonaro Needs Help to Overcome Coronavirus Pandemic Despite Loyalty to Trump
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-27
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after weeks of downplaying the potential seriousness of the coronavirus is beginning to lose popularity for his irrationality, especially since describing the coronavirus as a "fantasy" and a "minor flu." While all South American countries, with …
globalresearch.ca/bolsonaro-needs-help-overcome-coronavirus-pandemic-despite-loyalty-trump/5707520

Bolsonaro Needs Help to Overcome Coronavirus Pandemic Despite Loyalty to Trump
Paul Antonopoulos | globalresearch.ca | 2020-03-27
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro after weeks of downplaying the potential seriousness of the coronavirus is beginning to lose popularity for his irrationality, especially since describing the coronavirus as a "fantasy" and a "minor flu." While all South American countries, with …
globalresearch.ca/bolsonaro-needs-help-overcome-coronavirus-pandemic-despite-loyalty-trump/5707520

'Are those who bomb towns going to accuse us of terrorism?' Maduro rips US over 'narco-terrorism' charge
rt.com | 2020-03-27
Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro fired back at the US, which is offering a $15 million bounty for information leading to his arrest, dismissing the narco-terrorism charge as a smear to deflect attention from its coronavirus woes. | Maduro came out swinging after the US Justice Department, in an almost unprecedented move, indicted the president of the Latin American nation on "narco-terrorism" charges, claiming that Maduro and over a dozen Venezuelan political and military leaders plotted to "flood the Unite…
rt.com/news/484219-venezuela-maduro-terrorism-response/

Democracy in Brazil would not be normal, Bolsonaro threatens
teleSUR Desk | mronline.org | 2020-03-27
The far-right president hints that a regime more authoritarian than Chile's Augusto Pinochet dictatorship could be the "price to pay" due to the "chaos" that the "small flu" triggers.
mronline.org/2020/03/27/democracy-in-brazil-would-not-be-normal-bolsonaro-threatens/

US Senators Request to Ease Sanctions Against Venezuela, Iran
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-27
U.S. Senator Christopher Murphy and 10 other lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin urging them to alleviate the sanctions that the U.S. keeps against Iran and Venezuela amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | The U.S. Harasses Venezuela Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic | "We are writing to express…
telesurenglish.net/news/US-Senators-Request-to-Ease-Sanctions-Against-Venezuela-Iran-20200327-0002.html

Brazil's Bolsonaro threatens dictatorship over COVID-19 crisis
wsws.org | 2020-03-27
Leading Brazilian businessmen have terrorized workers with threats of "40 million unemployed" unless state quarantines are lifted.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/27/braz-m27.html

A Message For America from Brazil's First Indigenous Congresswoman
Ruth Hopkins | counterpunch.org | 2020-03-27
Last year, we all watched in horror as the Amazon rainforest burned at an unprecedented rate. We cannot afford to lose it, especially amid a climate emergency. It's vast greenery releases oxygen and stores carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that causes of global warming. The death of the Amazon would mean the end of life…
counterpunch.org/2020/03/27/a-message-for-america-from-brazils-first-indigenous-congresswoman/

Cuba slams US for indicting Venezuelan president
yenisafak.com | 2020-03-27
Cuba slammed the U.S. for indicting Venezuela's elected President Nicolas Maduro on alleged narco-terrorism charges on Thursday. "I condemn the #US immoral drug-trafficking accusation against president @NicolasMaduro and #Venezuela, which is based on brazen lies," Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Twitter, shortly after the indictment.He also criticized the timing of the alleged charges, which came in the middle of a global fight against the coronavirus pandemic."Even in times of #COVID19, the US government proves to be the main threat to peace and tranquility in #OurAmerica," he added.The U.S. offe…
yenisafak.com/en/news/cuba-slams-us-for-indicting-venezuelan-president-3515186

EU, 15 WTO members set arrangement for trade disputes
yenisafak.com | 2020-03-27
The EU and 15 World Trade Organization (WTO) members on Friday announced that they have reached a contingency appeal arrangement for trade disputes, according to a statement. The Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement will allow the EU and 15 WTO members to bring appeals and solve trade disputes among them despite the WTO Appellate Body not being fully functional.The communique said that the agreement underscores the importance that the participating WTO members

Well-Behaved Guinea Pigs Always Play 'Follow the Leader'
sputniknews.com | 2020-03-27
In South America, the birthplace of marine rodents, Guinea pigs live in marshy areas, and in the foothills, plains and forests.
sputniknews.com/videoclub/202003271078726380-funny-and-cute-guinea-pigs–follow-routine/

As the World tackles the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. raises the pressure on Venezuela
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2020-03-26
In a press conference on March 26, it was almost comical how little evidence the U.S. Department of Justice provided when it accused Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro and several of the leaders of his government of narco-trafficking. The U.S. offered $15 million for the arrest of Maduro and $10 million for the others. Maduro, U.S. …
mronline.org/2020/03/26/as-the-world-tackles-the-covid-19-pandemic-the-u-s-raises-the-pressure-on-venezuela/

Colombian prisoners ask for medical help and receive bullets
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-03-26
The National Prison Movement (Movimiento Nacional Carcelario) and other prisoner rights groups called a demonstration in Colombian prisons on March 21, to protest the lack of protection against the COVID-19 virus and the general lack of decent healthcare in the Colombian prisons. Twelve Colombian prisons answered the call for a 'cacerolazo,' a protest where one bangs on pots and pans to make enough noise so that the protest is heard. | The protest in the prison Carcel Nacional Modelo de Bogotá began at 9 p.m. on March 21. The prisoners were mostly on lockdown in their cells and began banging on their pots and pan…
fightbacknews.org/2020/3/26/colombian-prisoners-ask-medical-help-and-receive-bullets

Rogue General Admits Plot Against Venezuela From Colombia
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
The former major general of the Venezuelan Army, Cliver Alcala Cordones, confessed that he organized from Colombia the plan denounced by the Venezuelan government this Wednesday that foresaw a series of selective murders, including that of President Nicolas Maduro. | RELATED: | The U.S. Harasses Venezuela Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic | Alcala Cordones was identified as the coordinator of all efforts to commit terrorist acts and assassinations against Venezuela, which would be carried…
telesurenglish.net/news/Rogue-General-Admits-Plot-Against-Venezuela-From-Colombia-20200326-0018.html

Venezuela's Coronavirus response might surprise you
Leonardo Flores | mronline.org | 2020-03-26
Within a few hours of being launched, over 800 Venezuelans in the U.S. registered for an emergency flight from Miami to Caracas through a website run by the Venezuelan government. This flight, offered at no cost, was proposed by President Nicolás Maduro when he learned that 200 Venezuelans were stuck in the United States following …
mronline.org/2020/03/26/venezuelas-coronavirus-response-might-surprise-you/

Eight Day Journey from Hong Kong to Chile, Covid-19 on my Tail
Andre Vltchek | dissidentvoice.org | 2020-03-26
Imagine that you are in Hong Kong, in a city where "you are actually not supposed to be", in the first place. You are ready to go home, to South America. But just two days before your departure, via Seoul and Amsterdam, your first Sky Team carrier, Korean Air, unceremoniously decides to cancel all flights …
dissidentvoice.org/2020/03/eight-day-journey-from-hong-kong-to-chile-covid-19-on-my-tail/

Bolivia: TSE Gives Possible Date for Presidential Elections
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal announced a possible date for the next presidential elections. The elections were supposed to be held on May 3, but were postponed due to the threat of Covid-19. | RELATED: | Bolivian Regime Rejects Cuba's Offer to Help Fight Coronavirus | On its official Twitter profile, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal published a statement announcing the date of the elections between Sunday, June 7 and Sunday, September 6, 2020. | According to t…
telesurenglish.net/news/bolivia-tse-gives-possible-date-for-presidential-elections-20200326-0010.html

Cuba: FM Denounces US Defamation of Cuban Medical Collaboration
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla denounced the claims by the U.S. government about Cuban medical collaboration in the countries affected by Covid-19. | RELATED: | Cuba to Send Doctors to Four Caribbean Countries and Argentina | In an official statement, the Cuban government representative stated that Washington's hostility towards his country cannot affect Cuban solidarity with nations in need. | On his official Twitter account, Parrilla denounced the U.S. alle…
telesurenglish.net/news/cuba-foreign-minister-denounces-u-s-defamation-of-cuban-medical-collaboration-20200326-0006.html

Chile: Govt Allows Employers Not to Pay Wages During Quarantine
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
After various inquiries emerged in Chile about how employers and workers should operate if a complete quarantine was decreed, the ministry of labor issued a set of rules Thursday allowing employers not to pay ‚Äã‚Äã‚Äã‚Äãtheir workers' wages. | RELATED: | Chile: Piñera's Gov't Asks Homeless People to 'Stay Home' | The document published by the government of right-wing President Sebastian Piñera ‚&Aum…
telesurenglish.net/news/Chiles-Govt-Allows-Employers-Not-to-Pay-Wages-During-Quarantine-20200326-0019.html

Chile: Piñera's Gov't Asks Homeless People to 'Stay Home'
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
Chile's government requested the homeless population to "stay at home" and to maintain hygiene to prevent Covid-19. The administrative request generates mockeries and polemic reactions. | RELATED: | Chile: Lower House Postpones Plebiscite Amid Covid-19 Fears | Chile's Social Development and Family Minister, Sebastian Sichel, affirmed that his administration is asking the ones who live on the streets to go back to their houses. That statement shows the unfamiliarity of the function…
telesurenglish.net/news/chile-pineiras-government-asks-homeless-people-to-stay-at-home-20200326-0009.html

Democracy in Brazil Would Not Be Normal, Bolsonaro Threatens
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro Wednesday affirmed that democracy runs the risk of "ending" if the crisis caused by the coronavirus leads to "chaos." | RELATED: | Brazil: 'Covid-19 Can Decimate Indigenous Peoples' Doctor Warns | "What happened in Chile is going to be a 'trifle' compared to what can happen in Brazil. We are all going to pay a price that…
telesurenglish.net/news/Democracy-in-Brazil-Would-Not-Be-Normal-Bolsonaro-Threatens-20200326-0001.html

Venezuela: U.S. blocks flights to repatriate citizens amid COVID-19
teleSUR Desk | mronline.org | 2020-03-26
Arreaza reiterated that the request for humanitarian flights responds to a request made by Venezuelans themselves to the Venezuelan Attention System in the United States.
mronline.org/2020/03/26/venezuela-u-s-blocks-flights-to-repatriate-citizens-amid-covid-19/

The U.S. Harasses Venezuela Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
Regardless of the human costs that the economic blockade causes to the Venezuelan people, the U.S. Attorney General William Barr Thursday announced that his country will designate Venezuela as a state sponsoring terrorism. | RELATED: | 8 Nations Address Letter to UN Chief Urging Sanctions Be Lifted | The State Department also announced i…
telesurenglish.net/news/The-U.S.-Harasses-Venezuela-Amidst-the-Covid-19-Pandemic-20200326-0004.html

8 Nations Address Letter to UN Chief Urging Sanctions Be Lifted
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-26
Venezuela has joined Wednesday China, Russia, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Nicaragua in their plea to United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urge the United States (U.S.) to remove its illegal economic sanctions on these countries amid the coronavirus global pandemic. | RELATED: | Iran: Campaign to Lift US Sanctions Gets Around 100K Signatures | "Today we have a common enemy. As you've already recognized, it's a time to prepare, to step up and incre…
telesurenglish.net/news/8-Nations-Address-Letter-to-UN-Chief-Urging-Sanctions-Be-Lifted–20200325-0024.html

'Another Attempted Coup': US Rebuked for 'Absurd' Drug Trafficking Charges Against Venezuela's Maduro
Eoin Higgins, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-03-26
commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/maduro_venezuela_0.png …

Around the World, Women Go on Strike to Protest Violence
Peter Kuper | thenation.com | 2020-03-25
"The Hell With Patriarchy" Santiago de Chile 2020. Women's March, Oaxaca, Mexico.
thenation.com/article/world/around-the-world-women-go-on-strike-to-protest-violence/

Media Struggle to Defend Washington's Cruelty Toward Venezuela and Iran as Coronavirus Spreads
Joe Emersberger | fair.org | 2020-03-25
AP (New York Times, 3/17/20) accepts the IMF's excuse that lack of "clarity" over Venezuela's "rightful leader" prevents it from giving the country coronavirus aid–even though in 2002, the IMF rapidly offered aid to a short-lived coup government. | An Associated Press article (New York Times, 3/17/20) headlined "IMF Rejects Maduro's Bid for Emergency Loan to Fight Virus" declared: The r…
fair.org/home/media-struggle-to-defend-washingtons-cruelty-toward-venezuela-and-iran-as-coronavirus-spreads/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=media-struggle-to-defend-washingtons-cruelty-toward-venezuela-and-iran-as-coronavirus-spreads

Media Struggle to Defend Washington's Cruelty Toward Venezuela and Iran as Coronavirus Spreads
Joe Emersberger | fair.org | 2020-03-25
AP (New York Times, 3/17/20) accepts the IMF's excuse that lack of "clarity" over Venezuela's "rightful leader" prevents it from giving the country coronavirus aid–even though in 2002, the IMF rapidly offered aid to a short-lived coup government. | An Associated Press article (New York Times, 3/17/20) headlined "IMF Rejects Maduro's Bid for Emergency Loan to Fight Virus" declared: The r…
fair.org/home/media-struggle-to-defend-washingtons-cruelty-toward-venezuela-and-iran-as-coronavirus-spreads/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=media-struggle-to-defend-washingtons-cruelty-toward-venezuela-and-iran-as-coronavirus-spreads

Maduro Calls for Dialogue With the Opposition Over COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-25
The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, announced this Wednesday that a meeting with all the opposition sectors is necessary to attack the coronavirus pandemic more effectively. | "I am willing to meet with all the sectors that want to talk about the coronavirus pandemic, the care of our people, and reach agreements with them based on national interests," said the head of state. | RELATED: | President Maduro Denounces New Terrorist Plan Against Venezuela | He also highligh…
telesurenglish.net/news/Maduro-Calls-for-Dialogue-With-the-Opposition-Over-COVID-19-20200325-0023.html

Venezuela's Coronavirus Response Might Surprise You
Leonardo Flores | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-25
Unlike in the United States where coronavirus treatment can cost up to $35,000 and where Trump seems more concerned about the economy than about peoples' lives, Venezuela is handling the crisis by placing value in health over profits.
mintpressnews.com/venezuelas-coronavirus-response-might-surprise-you/266036/

After expelling Cuban doctors, Brazil requests their help to fight COVID-19
Susan Price | greenleft.org.au | 2020-03-25
Healthcare Latin America & the Caribbean Ben NortonIssue 1258 Brazil COVID-19 Cuban doctorsMarch 25, 2020The coronavirus pandemic ha…
greenleft.org.au/content/after-expelling-cuban-doctors-brazil-requests-their-help-fight-covid-19

"Humanitarian Solidarity": Even Under U.S. Sanctions, Cuba Sends Doctor Brigade to Italy and More
Staff | democracynow.org | 2020-03-24
As Italy's death toll soars past 6,000, Cuba has sent medical brigades to combat COVID-19. Cuba has also deployed doctors to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname and Grenada. "The arrival of a medical brigade from Cuba to Italy is pretty historic. You have a leading European nation accepting support in the form of a medical team from a small Caribbean island," says our guest, Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University. "It just goes to the history of Cuba's deep and long-lasting commitment to humanitarian solidarity with other cou…
www.democracynow.org/2020/3/24/cuba_medical_diplomacy_italy_coronavirus

From Hong Kong to Chile in 8 Days With COVID-19 on My Tail
Andre Vltchek | mintpressnews.com | 2020-03-24
Santiago ( 21st Century Wire)

Expert: US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela during pandemic could be genocidal
Aaron Maté | thegrayzone.com | 2020-03-20
Intensified US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela during the COVID-19 pandemic could amount to genocide, a former UN expert warns. Iran…
thegrayzone.com/2020/03/20/expert-us-sanctions-on-iran-venezuela-during-pandemic-could-be-genocidal/

No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy
Joe Emersberger | zcomm.org | 2020-03-13
I respect UK journalist Andrew Buncombe. As I noted for FAIR last year, he was one of the few corporate journalists who reported on a study linking Trump's financial sanctions on Venezuela to thousands of deaths by the end of 2018. Since 2018, Trump has repeatedly intensified the sanctions and threatened Venezuela with military action, Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/no-venezuela-does-not-have-a-six-child-per-family-policy/