Daily Archives: October 18, 2020

2020-10-18: News Headlines

Max Blumenthal (2020-10-18). Bolivia militarizes on election eve: Dispatch from the capital La Paz. thegrayzone.com Hours before polls opened in Bolivia, de facto Interior Minister Arturo Murillo launched a massive military show of force, praising security forces for removing "dictator" Evo Morales from power in 2019. Max Blumenthal reports from the capital La Paz Video by Ben Norton…

Joe Emersberger (2020-10-18). Latest UN report on Venezuela is not remotely honest (Part 2). zcomm.org On September 15, UN investigators published a 411 page report about the human rights situation in Venezuela.[1] Part 1 of my analysis of the report focused on its gross dishonesty about opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. The report reviewed his career since 2000 but never mentioned his proud participation in coup attempts, in particular the briefly

Zoe PC (2020-10-18). Hours before Bolivia goes the polls, early results system suspended, military mobilization in La Paz. peoplesdispatch.org The first elections since the coup d'état will be held on October 18 amid a tense social and political climate. This includes a military mobilization in La Paz the night before the polls and the suspension of the DIREPRE early results system…

Sudip Bhattacharya (2020-10-18). The Story is US imperialism. counterpunch.org As we continue to battle the police and those who depend on their "protection" in the U.S., including the major businesses who donate to anti-racist initiatives all the while continuing to reap gargantuan profits off our labor and limited consumer choices, there are thousands of Bolivians also standing up against a far-right wing government and

Ben Norton (2020-10-17). Unelected Bolivian govt detains, doxxes, threatens international observers on eve of election. thegrayzone.com Bolivia's unelected transitional administration has repeatedly threatened international electoral observers, detained monitors from Argentina in the airport, and shared the private information of Spanish supervisors with a far-right activist. By Ben Norton LA PAZ, BOLIVIA — On the eve of Bolivia's first election since a violent November 2019 military takeover that removed President Evo Morales from office, the un-elected de facto government has detained, doxxed, and threatened international electoral observers. On October 16, Bolivia's migration department shared the private information …

teleSUR (2020-10-17). Bolivia: MAS Will Have Its Own Vote-Counting System. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) binomial Luis Arce and David Choquehuanca Friday presented to the international electoral observation missions the quick vote-counting system that the Party will use in the elections. | RELATED: | According to the MAS Electoral Control Direction, the quick count will provide real-time reports structured by observers at the local, departmental, and national levels. | The aim is…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-10-17). Bolivian security forces detain Argentine deputy Federico Fagioli. peoplesdispatch.org The deputy from Frente de Todos coalition in Argentina was detained at the airport in El Alto by immigration officials, police and unidentified individuals and taken to a detention center in the airport…

WSWS (2020-10-17). Brazil's COVID-19 deaths pass 150,000 mark amid back-to-school campaign. wsws.org After reaching the grim milestone, state governments are following Bolsonaro's homicidal back-to-school policies with the support of the unions.

teleSUR (2020-10-17). Alberto Fernandez Rejects Argentinean Lawmaker's Arrest in Bolivia. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez Friday denounced the arrest of Lawmaker Federico Fagioli by police agents upon his arrival in Bolivia to observe and guarantee the transparency of next Sunday's presidential elections. | RELATED: | Through a message on Twitter, the head of state held the coup-born regime's leader Jeanine Añez responsible for the integrity of his country's delegation of lawmakers who arrived in Bolivia to observe the Octobe…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-10-17). Will free and fair elections be held in Bolivia? peoplesdispatch.org As Bolivia heads for a historic election, we look at the situation on the ground, the harassment of electoral observers from other countries and concerns regarding the system for early announcement of results…

teleSUR (2020-10-17). Argentinean Lawmaker Released After Being Arrested in Bolivia. telesurenglish.net Lawmaker Federico Fagioli, who is part of the Argentine delegation to observe the presidential elections in Bolivia, was released this Saturday hours after being detained upon his arrival at the airport in El Alto. | RELATED: | Fagioli, is safe at the Argentine embassy in La Paz after being mistreated by Bolivian police. | Political actors denounced on social media the arrest of Fagioli and the mistreatment…

teleSUR (2020-10-17). Chile Takes to the Streets Ahead of its Social Outbreak's Anniversary. telesurenglish.net Dozens of Chilean people Friday gathered in the renamed Dignity Square, in Santiago, two days away from the First Anniversary of the social outbreak in the country and one week away from the Constitutional Plebiscite. | RELATED: | An artistic intervention was carried out in which the traditional statue of General Baquedano was painted completely in red, as a symbol of the blood spilled in the protests started a year ago.

teleSUR (2020-10-17). Bolivia: TSE Suspended The Quick-Vote Count. telesurenglish.net The Bolivian Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) Saturday decided to withdraw the new quick-count system, the Preliminary Results Dissemination System (Direpre) to avoid mistrust and confusion during Sunday's elections. | RELATED: | TSE President Salvador Romero said that the Electoral Court has carried out tests and simulations for Direpre over the last few weeks, but he "wants to inform the country that the results of t…

_____ (2020-10-17). Chile To Mark First Anniversary Of Its Social Outbreak. popularresistance.org Chile's Constituent Unity Pact (CUP) called on citizens to commemorate the first anniversary of the social outbreak with pot-banging, honking, cycling, caravans, and cultural activities. | "Although the best way to remember this date will be to take part in the plebiscite, the people will also take to the streets peacefully," the CUP stated. | On Sunday, a massive rally is expected in "The Dignity Square," which has been the epicenter of demonstrations in Santiago City. | "In the last year, over a million Chileans have taken to the streets to demand their rights."

_____ (2020-10-17). Bolivia: First Election Since US-Backed Coup Creates Divisions. popularresistance.org Eleven months after a U.S-backed military coup overthrew the democratically elected Evo Morales and his Movement to Socialism (MAS) party, Bolivians will go to the polls on Sunday, offering them a chance to repudiate the coup government of Jeanine Añez, who has ruled the country since last November. | The last year has been a period of constant political struggle, as the self-described "interim government" has fought to impose its rule on a rebellious population, attempting to bring sweeping changes to the Andean state.

sputniknews (2020-10-17). Peruvian Archaeologists Discover Massive Drawing of a Cat on Ground in Famous Nazca Desert. sputniknews.com The illustration will join the list of geoglyphs in Peru, which are one of the biggest mysteries in archaeology due to their quantity and size. Scientists believe these drawings produced on the ground had ritual and astronomical functions.

teleSUR (2020-10-17). Colombia: Another Community Leader Murdered in Antioquia. telesurenglish.net A group of armed man Saturday killed Colombia's social leader Jairo Pulgarin, who was a farmer and served as vice president of the Community Action Board of the Tesorito village, in Antioquia Department. | RELATED: | According to local outlets, the hitmen attacked Pulgarin with stabbing weapons and firearms until he was killed. | The events took place close to the town of Barro Blanco, approximately one hour from t…

commondreams (2020-10-17). Senator Markey and Congressman McGovern Demand Fair Elections in Bolivia. commondreams.org ______________________________…

Editor (2020-10-16). Steve Donziger: How Big Oil Weaponized Our Judicial System Against Him and the Indigenous People He Represented. scheerpost.com The epic battle by Steve Donziger to get Chevron to pay a $9.5 billion judgment he won in 2011 for its "mass industrial poisoning" of Indigenous Amazonian tribes in Ecuador has left him under house arrest for 13 months, disbarred, with, frozen bank accounts, $32 million in legal fees, a lien on his home, and no way to make a living. The judgment has not yet been paid.

_____ (2020-10-16). Bolivian Couper Stalk International Election Observers. popularresistance.org Santa Cruz, Bolivia – Contributors to The Grayzone including Max Blumenthal, Anya Parampil, and Ben Norton traveled from the United States to Bolivia in order to join a delegation of independent international observers of the country's October 18th presidential election — the first vote since a November 2019 US-backed military coup removed the country's elected president. | Little known to us, however, was that we were being stalked on the way. A number of Bolivians covertly took photos of us as we waited for a connecting flight in the airport in Chile, snapped more as we boarded the plane, and published th…

_____ (2020-10-16). Bolivian Coupers Stalk International Election Observers. popularresistance.org Santa Cruz, Bolivia – Contributors to The Grayzone including Max Blumenthal, Anya Parampil, and Ben Norton traveled from the United States to Bolivia in order to join a delegation of independent international observers of the country's October 18th presidential election — the first vote since a November 2019 US-backed military coup removed the country's elected president. | Little known to us, however, was that we were being stalked on the way. A number of Bolivians covertly took photos of us as we waited for a connecting flight in the airport in Chile, snapped more as we boarded the plane, and published th…

_____ (2020-10-16). Possible Recurrence Of OAS Electoral Fraud In Bolivia. popularresistance.org Washington, DC — Bolivia's general elections on Sunday, October 18, could again be threatened by the involvement of the Organization of American States (OAS), Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) Co-Director Mark Weisbrot warns. On September 30, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro met with the de facto interior minister of Bolivia, Arturo Murillo, at the OAS's Washington, DC headquarters. Following the meeting, Almagro Tweeted that Murillo had "conveyed his concern about the possibility of a new fraud" in Bolivia's October 18 elections.

Oliver Vargas (2020-10-16). Bolivia: First Election Since US-Backed Coup Pits Right against Left, Rich Against Poor and White against Everyone Else. mintpressnews.com This coming Sunday represents Bolivia's best chance to secure lasting peace, with a widely anticipated MAS victory expected to be a repudiation of last November's US-backed military coup.

W. T. Whitney (2020-10-16). Medical Doctors Seek Social and Political Solutions for COVID 19 Crisis. counterpunch.org It didn't seem to fit. The website of the Colombian Communist Party on October 5 published a medical doctor's reflections on recharacterizing a disease. Félix León Martínez MD quoted extensively from an editorial appearing in the famous British medical journal Lancet. He and Lancet editor Richard Horton MD claim that COVID 19 is not a

news.un (2020-10-16). Bolivia elections, an opportunity to defuse extreme polarization: UN rights chief. news.un.org The UN's top human rights official has called on everyone active in Bolivian politics, to ensure calm on the streets, and refrain from any action that could undermine the peaceful conduct of the general elections, taking place on Sunday.

news.un (2020-10-16). Bolivia: UN urges calm, ahead of Sunday's general elections. news.un.org Top UN officials have called on all stakeholders in Bolivia to maintain calm and commit to peaceful conduct of the general elections, taking place on Sunday.

teleSUR (2020-10-15). Brazil Carried Out War Games on the Border With Venezuela. telesurenglish.net During the visit of the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Brazil in September, President Jair Bolsonaro's administration conducted war drills in the jungles of the state of Amazonas on the border with Venezuela. | RELATED: | The military games cost US$1.1 million, involved 3,600 men, and carried out the launching of artillery rockets with a range of 80 kilometers. | Under the Access to Information Law, the loc…

Ben Norton (2020-10-15). Bolivian coup officials and supporters stalk international election observers, launch violent incitement campaign. thegrayzone.com By the time a team of electoral observers arrived in Bolivia — including members of The Grayzone — right-wingers had already published a flood of online threats, smearing them as "terrorists" and circulating photos captured while stalking them in the airport. By Ben Norton SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA — Contributors to The Grayzone including Max Blumenthal, Anya Parampil, and Ben Norton traveled from the United States to Bolivia in order to join a delegation of independent international observers of the country's …

Anya Parampil (2020-10-15). Inside Bolivia's right-wing base on eve of election. thegrayzone.com We entered the power base of Bolivia's far-right, Santa Cruz, where the 2019 coup was hatched, and where the country's elite seeks to consolidate its hold on power in the election this October 18. Anya Parampil filed this dispatch with Max Blumenthal. Video by Ben Norton…

teleSUR (2020-10-15). Venezuela Starts Clinical Trials of Russia's COVID-19 Vaccine. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro informed his nation that 2,000 volunteers are already participating in the clinical trials of Sputnik, the Russian COVID-19 vaccine. | RELATED: | "The Russian vaccine is here and the tests have already begun… In addition, thousands of Chinese vaccines will come to the country," Maduro said during a program broadcast by Venezolana de Television on Wednesday. | In the first half of 2…

Manuela Solé (2020-10-15). Venezuela's Maduro Vows to Train More Doctors as Covid Numbers Recede. venezuelanalysis.com A Chinese Covid-19 vaccine will soon arrive in the nation for clinical trials.

John Catalinotto (2020-10-15). Bolivia's corrupt coup makers fear electoral rebuff. workers.org National elections are scheduled to take place in Bolivia on Oct. 18. They are the first to be held since November 2019, when a Washington-backed coup overthrew the legal government of President Evo Morales. The coup regime, guilty of repression, massive corruption and a mangled response to COVID-19, is facing . . . |

Ricardo Vaz (2020-10-15). Venezuela: Oil Production Shows Modest Uptick as Gov't Seeks Foreign Investment. venezuelanalysis.com The country's new "anti-blockade law" looks to boost conditions for foreign investors.

teleSUR (2020-10-15). Argentina: Minimum Wage to Increase by 28% Until 2021. telesurenglish.net The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) and the Central of the Workers of Argentina (CTA) announced that workers will receive a wage increase of 28 percent in three parts. | RELATED: | These union organizations held a meeting with the business chambers in the Minimum Wage Technical Commission, where they agreed that wages would increase by 12 percent in October, 10 percent in December, and 6 percent in March. | In addition…

teleSUR (2020-10-15). 'Democracy Is at Risk in Bolivia,' International Network Warns. telesurenglish.net The Network of Intellectuals, Artists and Social Movements in Defense of Humanity (REDH), which is an independent organization made up of people living in America and Europe, published on Thursday an open letter to warn about the risks to democracy in Bolivia. Its text is presented below. | RELATED: | The October 18 elections in Bolivia are going through an extremely difficult and sensitive time. The systematic declaration…

Matt Sedlar (2020-10-15). Ecuador's New Loan Program: A Tale of Two IMFs. cepr.net OpenDemocracy See article on original site In her speech opening this year's Annual World Meetings, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned of the dangers of an uneven recovery and increasing inequality and talked of the need for an inclusive recovery. Otherwise, Georgieva warned, we are at risk of recreating the dystopian world of Charles's Dickens …

teleSUR (2020-10-15). Argentina: Fernandez Urges Businesspeople to Help Recovery. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez urges business people to work alongside the government to recover the economy that has been hard hit by the COViD-19 pandemic. | RELATED: | "Recovering our coexistence is central to recovering a different Argentina," Fernandez remarked as he highlighted the decisive role that small and medium enterprises would play in the aftermath of the pandemic. | "What we need is an Argentina that grows wit…

teleSUR (2020-10-15). Chile: Lawmakers Approve Resolution To Dismiss Police Chief. telesurenglish.net With 74 votes in favor, 66 against, and two abstentions, Chile's Lower House Wednesday approved a "draft resolution" whereby it asks President Sebastian Piñera to request the resignation of Mario Rozas, the director of the Military Police (Carabineros). | RELATED: | In the background to that resolution, members of the Party for Democracy (PPD) and other progressive organizations highlighted that the Comptroller's Off…

WSWS (2020-10-15). Former Chilean Health Minister charged with falsifying COVID-19 figures. wsws.org The ultra-right government of billionaire President Piñera criminally mishandled the pandemic, inflicting suffering upon the most oppressed layers of the population.

_____ (2020-10-15). Top Bolivian Coup Plotters Trained By US Military. popularresistance.org The United States played a key role in the military coup in Bolivia, and in a direct way that has scarcely been acknowledged in accounts of the events that forced the country's elected president, Evo Morales, to resign on November 10. | Just prior to Morales' resignation, the commander of Bolivia's armed forces Williams Kaliman "suggested" that the president step down. A day earlier, sectors of the country's police force had rebelled. | Though Kaliman appears to have feigned loyalty to Morales over the years, his true colors showed as soon as the moment of opportunity arrived.

_____ (2020-10-15). Morales Warns About US Meddling In Upcoming Elections. popularresistance.org The former head of state made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Iran's Hispan TV Spanish-language television network on Tuesday. | Morales was seeking to nationalize the extraction of Bolivia's lithium reserves when he was forced to resign last November under pressure from the military and following the opposition's challenging the victory that he had secured in presidential elections a month earlier. | The former president, who both himself and his Movement for Socialism (MAS) still wield influence in Bolivia's politics, sought exile in Mexico back then and is currently residing in Argentina, closely mo…

Jon Queally, staff writer (2020-10-15). Progressives Warn Against Accepting—Let Alone Applauding—Twitter Ban of "Garbage" NY Post Story. commondreams.org "Look carefully at what Twitter is saying to justify censoring the Biden story. If applied consistently, it'd mean that some of history's most consequential journalism—the Pentagon Papers, WikiLeaks' war logs, Snowden docs, Panama Papers, our Brazil Archive—would be banned." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/twitter_banning_ny_post.jpg

Eds. (2020-10-14). Exposing Trump's deadly sanctions on Venezuela. mronline.org KEN LIVINGSTONE looks in-depth at the story of U.S. sanctions on Venezuela.

WSWS (2020-10-14). Civil war elections in Bolivia. wsws.org àÅñez is using her state position to outlaw the MAS opposition and mobilize fascistic forces among the military against the working masses.

news.un (2020-10-14). Continued violence strains Colombia peace process, Security Council hears. news.un.org Enormous challenges remain on the road to lasting peace in Colombia, where despite ongoing attacks and stigmatization, the vast majority of former FARC-EP fighters who laid down their weapons under a 2016 peace agreement with the Government, remain engaged in the reintegration process, the head of the UN mission in the South American country says.