[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

'Some people will die, that's life': Bolsonaro questions Covid-19 crisis, says deaths in Brazil exaggerated for political purposes
rt.com | 2020-03-28
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has waved off the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, insisting that life goes on. He suggested the death toll in his own country has been overstated for political purposes. | The Brazilian leader has been locking horns with many of the country's governors, who have imposed bans on non-essential commerce and continue to accuse Bolsonaro of prioritizing the economy over the lives of his citizens. | "I'm sorry, some people will die, they will die, that's life," Bolsonaro said in an televised interview on Friday. "You can't stop a car factory because of traffic deaths." | He remarked…
rt.com/news/484342-brazil-bolsonaro-coronavirus-die-people/

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/

Bolsonaro Suggests Brazilians are Naturally Immune to COVID-19
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-27
Brazil's President, Jair Bolsonaro, has suggested without evidence that Brazilians may have a natural immunity to COVID-19 while promoting an advertising campaign against social distancing measures to fight the new coronavirus. | RELATED: | Brazil: Protests Against Bolsonaro's Incompetence Over COVID-19 | Bolsonaro said on Thursday he didn't think the outbreak would get as bad in the country as it has in the U.S., citing anecdotal evidence on the health of Brazilians. | "I don't th…
telesurenglish.net/news/Bolsonaro-suggested-Brazilians-are-naturally-immune-to-COVID-19–20200327-0010.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

Colombia: Two COVID-19 Cases Among Native Population
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-27
The Indigenous Organization of Colombia reported March 25, two positive Covid-19 cases among the aboriginal population. So far, 250 indigenous people are said to be in overcrowded conditions. | RELATED: | Venezuela's Top Prosecutor Files Charges Against Conspirators | These events occur after the claims of the indigenous population in the face of the indifference of President Ivan Duque because of their vulnerability to the virus. Both cases belong to the Yukpa ethnicity in the…
telesurenglish.net/news/colombia-two-covid-19-positive-cases-among-native-population-20200327-0007.html

Covid-19: UN Chief Appeals for Solidarity With Developing World
telesurenglish.net | 2020-03-27
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday appealed for solidarity with developing countries in stemming the COVID-19 pandemic. | He argued that the international community will be helping itself by helping developing countries deal with the crisis. | RELATED: | US Senators Request to Ease Sanctions Against Venezuela, Iran | If one looks at what has happened until now with COVID-19, the main crisis, with one or two exceptions, has occurred in countries that have huge capacit…
telesurenglish.net/news/Covid-19-UN-Chief-Appeals-for-Solidarity-With-Developing-World-20200327-0011.html

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

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/

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/

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…
www.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/

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/

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

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

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

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

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/