2020-09-28: News Headlines

Paul Dobson (2020-09-28). Attorney General Backs 'Restructuring' Venezuela's Controversial FAES Special Forces. venezuelanalysis.com Campesino leader and National Assembly candidate Isabel Granado was illegally arrested by the FAES on Thursday.

_____ (2020-09-28). Colombia: 'The Number One Demand On The Streets Is For Justice'. popularresistance.org On Wednesday, September 9, a video went viral in Colombia. It depicted a man repeatedly being beaten and tased by the police while he kept pleading "please, no more". In a few hours, the man, Javier Ordóñez, would be dead and thousands would be on the streets of Bogotá and across the country demanding justice for him. | Ordóñez, a lawyer and father of two, had stepped out with his friends when he was accosted by a group of police officers. As Ordóñez was being tortured, his friends begged the officers to lay off even while capturing their cruelty.

_____ (2020-09-28). US Sanctions Opposition Parties In Venezuela Ahead Of Elections. popularresistance.org Elections for Venezuela's National Assembly are fast approaching. But the United States does not want them to go ahead at all. Sanctions on Venezuela are nothing new. But yesterday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took the unusual step of sanctioning leaders of local opposition parties in an attempt to pressure them to pull out of the contest in December. | Remarkably, considering the well-documented flaws with the same problems in the U.S., Pompeo's statement dubiously claimed that Venezuelan voting machines are unreliable, that millions of voters remain unregistered, and that the country's supreme electoral counc…

Christina Noriega (2020-09-28). Colombians Take On Their Militarized Police. thenation.com Colombians Take On Their Militarized Police…

_____ (2020-09-27). RIP Andre Vltchek: 'Western Imperialism Is World's Biggest Problem'. popularresistance.org André traveled relentlessly from one battle field to another, from one conflict zone to a war zone. He exposed innumerable atrocities committed around the world, mostly by western powers. He never wavered from revealing the truth. From Afghanistan to Syria, Iraq, Iran, Sudan to Argentina, Chile, Peru to Hong Kong, to Xinjiang, the Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China — André was there.

Joe Emersberger (2020-09-27). Latest UN report on Venezuela is not remotely honest (Part 1). zcomm.org On September 15, UN investigators published a 411 page report about the human rights situation in Venezuela. They were not granted access to Venezuela but conducted hundreds of interviews with opponents of the Maduro government. Venezuela's Foreign Minister Arreaza assailed the report for being done "remotely". It was done separately from the office of Michele

Ricardo Vaz (2020-09-26). Oil Companies Wind Down Venezuela Dealings as Washington Ramps Up Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com The State Department has threatened foreign companies with secondary sanctions.

teleSUR, ce (2020-09-26). International Peace Forum Opposes US-Led New Cold War on China. telesurenglish.net Peace activists from China, the US, Britain, South Africa, India, Morocco, Bolivia and Belgium have come together for an international forum to discuss the US-led New Cold War and how to oppose it. | RELATED: | The event, organized by the No Cold War campaign, was chaired by Vijay Prashad, Director of the Tricontinental Institute and Kate Hudson, General Secretary of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. | Deputy General Se…

teleSUR (2020-09-26). Brazil: Politician Shot Dead After Denouncing Corruption. telesurenglish.net Cassio Remis, the candidate for the Brazilian city of Patrocinio's council, in Minas Gerais State, was shot dead after doing a live broadcast to denounce a corruption case. | RELATED: | Remis was killed allegedly by the Public Works' municipal-secretary Jorge Marra, while the politician was denouncing irregularities in a public work's construction. | According to local media, Marra interrupted Remis' broadcast as he took the cell phone aw…

WSWS (2020-09-26). Brazilian educators call strikes against homicidal reopening of schools. wsws.org The efforts of Brazil's ruling elite to reopen schools amid the catastrophic spread of COVID-19 are being met with a growing wave of resistance.

teleSUR (2020-09-26). Chilean Police Brutally Repress Health Workers' Peaceful Protest. telesurenglish.net Chilean Police (Carabineros) Friday repressed a demonstration called by health workers in the Chilean capital, Santiago, to demand that the government recognize their careers in the Health Code. | RELATED: | Health System's technical nursing staff (TENS) demonstrated in Plaza Baquedano, known as Plaza de la Dignidad, after several weeks demanding their professional recognition. | The demonstration was peaceful until t…

teleSUR (2020-09-26). Colombian Lawmakers Demand Defense Minister's Resignation. telesurenglish.net Colombia's Lawmakers Gustavo Petro and Jorge Robledo Friday demanded the Defense Minister Carlos Holmes' resignation for his political responsibility in the face of police brutality. | RELATED: | "Holmes has not apologized for his tolerant attitude towards the killing of citizens by the National Police," Petro tweeted. | The Minister "is a liar. He should resign because of the serious acts of excessive force and murders…

_____ (2020-09-26). Venezuela: From 'Magical Realism' To Parliamentary Elections. popularresistance.org Elliott Abrams, White House Special Envoy for Venezuela, recently referred to [far right politician] Maria Corina Machado's foreign intervention appeals as "unwise" and "magical realism." In so doing he made the US military intervention scenario less likely, at least for now, and he unwillingly left the electoral route as the only politically viable option. Meanwhile, Abrams himself has been pushing to escalate the blockade which has now generated a critical fuel shortage situation, with all its implications in terms of food supply and healthcare.

teleSUR, ce (2020-09-26). US Accuses Its Own Informant in Venezuela Case of Lying to Feds. telesurenglish.net United States federal law enforcement has accused a key informant on the trumped up case targeting Venezuela's Minister Tareck El Aissami of lying and stealing US $140,000. | RELATED: | The Associated Press reports that Venezuelan-born businessman and pilot Alejandro Marin was arrested on September 19th in Miami on three counts of knowingly making false statements to U.S. federal agents, according to court filings.

teleSUR (2020-09-26). Peru to Resume International Flights on October 5. telesurenglish.net Peru's Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Rocío Barrios has announced the resumption of international flights on October 5th, following a six month cease on travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | "The Ministry of Transport has been coordinating with the private sector and with the airline operators. A survey has been carried out on the demand that would exist and the need for the number of flights to be ope…

WSWS (2020-09-26). Killing by Colombian military escalates protests against state violence. wsws.org The wave of unrest is merging with opposition to the devastation caused by the state's counter-insurrectionary war, which has killed more than 200,000 civilians.

Ricardo Ayala, Bernardo Alarcon (2020-09-26). [Correspondence] The social contract and health care in Chile. thelancet.com Francisca Crispi and colleagues' plea for public health in Chile to be rebuilt,1 although thought-provoking, sets the private against the public. As much as we agree that inequalities in Chile have increased since the neoliberal turn, the social contract2 is far from dismantling. In fact, the concept is based on a liberal doctrine that seeks to protect individual freedom and private property.3 Crispi and colleagues' plea is therefore contradictory. Banning discrimination is the one basic condition for the tacit contract between citizens and the state.

Rebeccah Slater, Fiona Moultrie, Ralph Bax, John van den Anker, Aomesh Bhatt (2020-09-26). [Comment] Preterm health: time to bridge the evidence gap. thelancet.com Despite the development of revolutionary life-sustaining advances in neonatal medicine, medications are frequently administered in an ad-hoc and suboptimal way. Most drugs prescribed in neonatal care have not been submitted to the stringent regulatory processes of drug licensing that are standard in adult medicine.1 Although clinical research and licensing regulations differ between countries, the scarcity of licensed medications and inevitable use of off-label drugs in neonates are universal problems1 (countries reporting these issues include the USA, Japan, China, the Netherlands, Australia, India, and Brazil).

teleSUR (2020-09-26). Bolivia: TSE Officially Leaves Jeanine Añez Aside From Elections. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) Friday approved the request to dissolve the Alliance Together (Alianza Juntos) through which coup-born regime's leader Jeanine Añez intended to run for president. | RELATED: | "From this moment on, all Alliance Together candidacies are void," TSE stated as it explained that their candidates cannot run for the presidency, vice presidency, senate, and national assembly. | How…

teleSUR (2020-09-26). Uruguay: LGBTQ Community March to Demand Rights. telesurenglish.net Uruguay's LGBTQI community marched on Friday to demand their rights and to demand the accurate implementation of the Integral Law for Trans People. | RELATED: | Convoked by the Coordinator of the March for the Diversity of Uruguay, thousands of marchers gathered on El Libertador Avenue, carrying the rainbow flag and shouting out slogans like "Pride is to fight" and "The oppressive state is a rapist male." | The pride march had a pa…

_____ (2020-09-25). Pompeo Calls For Overthrow Of Venezuelan Government. popularresistance.org Guyana – United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo promised millions of dollars to Venezuelan exiles in neighbouring Guyana as he made it clear that Friday's visit was linked to Washington's bid to overthrow the Bolivarian government. | Stopping off on a speedy Latin American tour, he gave $5 million ( £3.87m) to "assist" Venezuelans who have fled the country in a donation believed to be a cash boost to opponents of the democratically elected President Nicolas Maduro.

teleSUR (2020-09-25). Far-Right Group Performs New Attack Against Bolivian Socialists. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's white supremacist, far-right group Santa Cruz Youth Union (UJC) attacked supporters of the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) in Montero city. | RELATED: | Videos posted on social networks show how these pro-coup activists shouted "Indigenous people, we're going to kill you!" to the MAS militants as they threw stones at them. | "We condemn these violent acts and demand guarantees to express ourselves peacefully," the MAS P…

W. T. Whitney, Jr. (2020-09-25). Colombia/U.S. Axis: Hitting at Venezuela. mronline.org Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Colombian President Ivan Duque, meeting in Bogota on September 20, talked about "managing the COVID-19 response … narcotraffickers … and [President] Maduro's illegitimate regime," according to the State Department.

W. T. Whitney Jr. (2020-09-25). Colombia-U.S. Axis: Hitting at Venezuela. peoplesworld.org Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Colombian President Ivan Duque, meeting in Bogota on Sept. 20, talked about "managing the COVID-19 response … narcotraffickers … and [President] Maduro's illegitimate regime," according to the State Department. A Cuban observer insists they explored "when to begin military actions and sabotage in Venezuela." Elliott Abrams, the White House …

W. T. Whitney (2020-09-25). Hitting at Venezuela: the Colombia/US Axis. counterpunch.org Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Colombian President Ivan Duque, meeting in Bogota on September 20, talked about "managing the COVID-19 response … narcotraffickers … and [President] Maduro's illegitimate regime," according to the State Department. A Cuban observer insists they explored "when to begin military actions and sabotage in Venezuela." Elliott Abrams, the White House

G. Dunkel (2020-09-25). Morales party's success uproots Bolivia election. workers.org Sept. 20 ‚àí The international media gave much more than its usual attention to the announcement by Bolivia's interim president, Jeanine àÅñez, that she was withdrawing as a candidate in that country's upcoming Oct. 18 election. A call for democracy in Bolivia, Sept. 6. àÅñez maneuvered herself into the position . . . |

RT (2020-09-25). 'The Army just killed my wife!': Soul-crushing video provokes online outrage towards Colombian military. rt.com A young Colombian man filmed himself crying over his dead wife, who was shot in her car by soldiers. The emotional video led online users to denounce both the country's government and US foreign policy. | The woman, reported as Juliana Giraldo Diaz, was killed on Thursday, while she and her husband were driving through the rural area of Miranda, Cauca. In the graphic video, her body can be seen lying in the car's front seat, apparently shot in the head, and in a pool of blood. | WARNING: DISTURBING VIDEO | The Colombian army shot this man's wife in the head and killed her. He's begging for help. "Help me plea…

Stephen Lendman (2020-09-25). Trump Regime War on Cuba by Other Means. globalresearch.ca Unlawful US sanctions on nations, entities and individuals are weapons of war by other means. | Since taking office in January 2017, Trump imposed sanctions on numerous countries extrajudicially, including Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba….

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-25). Argentina rejects Bolivian de-facto president's statements at the UN assembly. peoplesdispatch.org On September 23, during her speech before the 75th United Nations General Assembly, the de-facto president of Bolivia, Jeanine àÅñez, attacked the progressive government of Argentine president Alberto Fernández, accusing the neighboring nation of exercising "systematic and abusive harassment" against Bolivia. She also accused the Argentine government of "interfering in Bolivia's internal affairs" and "supporting a violent conspiracy by (former Bolivian president) Evo Morales against Bolivian democracy." | The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, on behalf of the national government, rejected the statem…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-09-25). Ecuadorian court orders the arrest of Rafael Correa. peoplesdispatch.org Ecuador's National Court of Justice (CNJ), on September 23, ordered the police authorities to "immediately locate and arrest" former president Rafael Correa and other former government officials and businessmen convicted in

teleSUR (2020-09-25). Peru: More Than 6 Million Unemployed Due To COVID-19 Pandemic. telesurenglish.net Over 6 million people are jobless in Peru because of the COVID-19 pandemic as the unemployment rate stands at 8 percent, the Labor Minister Javier Palacios reported on Thursday. | RELATED: | "The immobility has affected many sectors that have been prevented from going out to work. There are 6 million people who work independently in the country, and there is a group that could not go out to look for work, and that is a variable t…

yenisafak (2020-09-25). Brazil's famous Rio Carnival postponed due to COVID-19. yenisafak.com Brazil has postponed the 2021 edition of the world-famous Rio de Janeiro Carnival, as the country struggles to contain one of the world's worst coronavirus outbreaks."We came to the conclusion that the event should be postponed," Jorge Castanheiras, president of the Independent League of Rio de Janeiro Samba Schools (LIESA), which organizes the annual event, said on Thursday."We cannot do it in February. The samba schools do not have the time or financial and organizational resources to be ready in February."Authorities are yet to announce whether the traditional street parties, called blocos, will be allowed.The…

teleSUR (2020-09-25). Brazil: Volkswagen Acknowledges Persecution, Torture of Workers. telesurenglish.net Volkswagen announced that it agreed with the State of Sà£o Paulo to compensate its former workers for the damages it caused them during the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985. | RELATED: | The German company pledged to grant US$6.5 million to promote initiatives related to the defense of human rights and the investigation of crimes committed during the dictatorship. Just over US$3 mi…