Monthly Archives: January 2021

2021-01-23: News Headlines

Vijay Prashad (2021-01-22). The US's idea of diplomacy with Ecuador is a multibillion-dollar loan trap. peoplesdispatch.org On January 14, the US International Development Finance Corporation provided Ecuador with a loan of $2.8 billion. This move was part of the US strategy to remove Chinese businesses and political influence from Latin America…

Max Blumenthal (2021-01-22). Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodriguez details new measures to break the US blockade. thegrayzone.com In a wide-ranging interview with The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez details her government's new Anti-Blockade Law and explains how it counteracts the impact of the US economic war imposed on her country VP Rodriguez also answered left-wing criticism of the Anti-Blockade Law and discussed her family's history of leftist activism dating back to Venezuela's dirty war, when her father was disappeared by the old neoliberal regime. She placed the ongoing attacks by the US-backed right-wing opposition …

teleSUR (2021-01-22). 'Unity To Overcome the Crisis', Bolivia's President Demands. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's President Luis Arce on Friday called on the population to remain united to overcome the multiple crises facing their country. | RELATED: | "Bolivian families are going through very difficult times because of the pandemic and the economic crisis. We are working tirelessly to overcome these multiple crises and now more than ever we need the unity of the Bolivian people," he said. | Given the seriousness…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). The Brazilian COVID-19 Strain Might Be Present in Peru. telesurenglish.net Peru's Regional Health Director Carlos Calampa reported the identification of suspected cases of the COVID-19 strain originated in Manaos (Brazil). The new strain is independent of those recorded in the United Kingdom and South Africa. | RELATED: | Calampa pointed out that there were no doubts in terms of clinical diagnose due to the accelerated increase in COVID-19 cases with similar characteristics to those report…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). Brazil's Lula Thanks Venezuela for Sending Oxygen to Manaus. telesurenglish.net Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday thanked the Venezuelan government for sending medical oxygen to Manaus, an Amazonian city that is severely hit by the COVID-19 second wave. | RELATED: | "I want to thank President Nicolas Maduro for his political greatness in the face of Manaus' health emergency," Lula wrote in a letter addressed to the Venezuelan government. | "The Brazilian people will not forget this gesture of s…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). Argentina Extends Ban on Layoffs for Another 90 Days. telesurenglish.net The Argentine government will extend for another 90 days a ban that prohibits layoffs and establishes the payment of a double compensation if a contract is ended for 2021. | RELATED: | The measure aims at preventing private companies from dismissing staff under the pretext of low economic activity. In 2020 the government extended the measure three times in response to the financial crisis unleashed by the COVID-19 p…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). Brazil: Social Movements March to Urge Bolsonaro's Impeachment. telesurenglish.net Brazil's left-wing and right-wing movements called for a massive caravan throughout the country this weekend to put pressure on Congress over President Jair Bolsonaro's impeachment. | RELATED: | "For the first time in Brazilian history, the movements are united for a common purpose," journalist Mariana Schreiber reported and assured that choosing the caravan as a way of protest will reduce the risk of COVID-19 contagio…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). Ecuadoreans Denounce Impediment to Voting From Caracas. telesurenglish.net Leading up to the elections this upcoming February 7 in Ecuador, Ecuadorean migrants have denounced a delay in installing polling stations. | In Caracas, the Ecuadorean community delivered this Friday a letter of protest to the consular authorities of the Government of Lenín Moreno for what they consider impediments to exercise their right to vote in the upcoming presidential elections on February 7. | RELATED: | Protesters denoun…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). Andres Arauz Favorite to Become Ecuador's Next President. telesurenglish.net Ecuador's Comunicaliza polling company Friday released the results of a survey showing that the Leftist candidate Andres Arauz is the favorite to win the upcoming February 7 election. | RELATED: | According to the poll, 49.4 percent of Ecuadorian voters have already decided their intention to vote. Twenty-three percent of them assured they will choose the Union for Hope (UNES) candidate. | The Creo – Social Christian P…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). Paraguay's Govt. Admits Guaido Offered to Reduce PDVSA Debt. telesurenglish.net Paraguay's government on Thursday confirmed Venezuela's opposition politician Juan Guaido approved to cancel the Paraguayan debt to the state-owned Venezuelan oil company (PDVSA). | RELATED: | Cabinet Chief Juan Villamayor assured Guaido intended to halve the US$273 million Paraguayan debt accumulated since 2009 and also remove 100 percent of the interests. | The official confessed after The Washington Post revealed informatio…

Virginia Tognola (2021-01-22). Argentina's long history of struggle for legal abortion. zcomm.org After many years of campaigning, Argentina's feminist movements booked a historic victory at the end of 2020 when abortion was finally legalized…

teleSUR (2021-01-22). Chile: Banking Workers' Union Condemns Massive Layoffs. telesurenglish.net Chile's Confederation of Banking and Financial Sector Unions (CSBF) on Friday delivered a letter to the Banks and Financial Institutions Association (ABIF) President Jose Mena to express its rejection of recent massive layoffs. | RELATED: | Representatives from the Bank of Chile and the Santander bank signed the letter which highlighted the "unjustified" dismissal of over 2,000 workers. | CSBF President Pamela Henriqu…

Tom Clifford (2021-01-22). US President Biden: How to Deal With China. globalresearch.ca The lexicon has changed. Words and phrases that seemed to define our world until quite recently now belong to a bygone era. Remember BRICs? The grouping of the next economic superpowers. Well, Brazil, Russia, India and China now resemble a …

RT (2021-01-21). 'Very high risk': ECDC urges tougher Covid-19 measures amid mutant strains from UK, Brazil, and South Africa. rt.com The Covid-19 strains from the UK, Brazil and South Africa pose a very high risk due to their increased transmissibility and must be stamped out with tougher health measures, the EU's infectious diseases agency has said. | The transmissibility of the three variants will likely push infection rates higher, leading to more hospitalizations and "death rates across all age groups," the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement on Thursday. | "The overall risk associated with the introduction and community spread of variants of concern is therefore assessed as being high/very high…

Matt Kennard (2021-01-21). UK Mega Meddling — UK Sets Up Media Influencing Project in Venezuela Amid Secretive £750,000 'Democracy Promotion' Programme. globalresearch.ca The UK government has established a journalism project to 'influence' Venezuela's 'media agenda' while a Foreign Office-funded foundation is spending £750,000 on a secretive 'democracy-promotion' programme in the country, as Britain appears to deepen efforts to remove the Maduro government….

news.un (2021-01-21). Colombia: Criminal elements use violence and intimidation to 'stamp out' leaders' voices. news.un.org Illegally-armed groups and criminal organizations in Colombia are determined to "drive out State institutions and stamp out the voice of social leaders" through violence and intimidation, the head of the UN mission in the country told the Security Council on Thursday.

tfaadmin (2021-01-21). WEBINAR: The struggle for Food Sovereignty In Venezuela. taskforceamericas.org WEBINAR: Venezuela's Struggle for Food Sovereignty under the US Blockade Register here: zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gFJfwt6CQkK36VlGEgF_Fw Thursday Jan 21, 2021 7: 00 PM ET, 4: 00 PM Pacific Time William Camacaro will interview Hugo Alberto Nieves on the progress and challenges to establish food sovereignty in Venezuela. (Simultaneous English translation) William Camacaro maintains the website (in English), revolucionalimentaria.org, a resource for background information on…

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-01-20). 'Pure Sadism': Biden Blasted for Continuing Trump's Recognition of Guaidó Coup Regime and Deadly Sanctions in Venezuela. commondreams.org "How about a new Good Neighbor Policy on non-interference?" asked CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/ven_1.jpg

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-20). Brazilians celebrate arrival of Venezuelan oxygen supplies to struggling Manaus. peoplesdispatch.org Following the collapse of the healthcare system in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Venezuela has sent 130,000 liters of oxygen and a brigade of 107 doctors to help combat the pandemic…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-20). Brazilians celebrate arrival of Venezuelan oxygen to struggling Manaus. peoplesdispatch.org Following the collapse of the healthcare system in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Venezuela has sent 130,000 liters of oxygen and a brigade of 107 doctors to help combat the pandemic…

Manuela Solé (2021-01-20). Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrants for 'Illegal' Oil Executives. venezuelanalysis.com Oil subsidiary CITGO has been the subject of several legal battles.

2021-01-22: News Headlines

Max Blumenthal (2021-01-22). Venezuelan VP Delcy Rodriguez details new measures to break the US blockade. thegrayzone.com In a wide-ranging interview with The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez details her government's new Anti-Blockade Law and explains how it counteracts the impact of the US economic war imposed on her country VP Rodriguez also answered left-wing criticism of the Anti-Blockade Law and discussed her family's history of leftist activism dating back to Venezuela's dirty war, when her father was disappeared by the old neoliberal regime. She placed the ongoing attacks by the US-backed right-wing opposition …

Noam Chomsky — Vijay Prashad (2021-01-22). Why Neoliberal Leaders Who Failed to Protect Their Countries From COVID-19 Must Be Investigated. counterpunch.org Warnings that the oxygen supply was running out in the city of Manaus, Brazil, came to local and federal government officials a week before the calamity led to the deaths by asphyxiation of patients afflicted with COVID-19. No modern state—such as Brazil—should have to admit that it did nothing when these warnings came in and simply allowed its own citizens to die for no reason.

Virginia Tognola (2021-01-22). Argentina's long history of struggle for legal abortion. zcomm.org After many years of campaigning, Argentina's feminist movements booked a historic victory at the end of 2020 when abortion was finally legalized…

Tom Clifford (2021-01-22). US President Biden: How to Deal With China. globalresearch.ca The lexicon has changed. Words and phrases that seemed to define our world until quite recently now belong to a bygone era. Remember BRICs? The grouping of the next economic superpowers. Well, Brazil, Russia, India and China now resemble a …

RT (2021-01-21). 'Very high risk': ECDC urges tougher Covid-19 measures amid mutant strains from UK, Brazil, and South Africa. rt.com The Covid-19 strains from the UK, Brazil and South Africa pose a very high risk due to their increased transmissibility and must be stamped out with tougher health measures, the EU's infectious diseases agency has said. | The transmissibility of the three variants will likely push infection rates higher, leading to more hospitalizations and "death rates across all age groups," the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a statement on Thursday. | "The overall risk associated with the introduction and community spread of variants of concern is therefore assessed as being high/very high…

Matt Kennard (2021-01-21). UK Mega Meddling — UK Sets Up Media Influencing Project in Venezuela Amid Secretive £750,000 'Democracy Promotion' Programme. globalresearch.ca The UK government has established a journalism project to 'influence' Venezuela's 'media agenda' while a Foreign Office-funded foundation is spending £750,000 on a secretive 'democracy-promotion' programme in the country, as Britain appears to deepen efforts to remove the Maduro government….

news.un (2021-01-21). Colombia: Criminal elements use violence and intimidation to 'stamp out' leaders' voices. news.un.org Illegally-armed groups and criminal organizations in Colombia are determined to "drive out State institutions and stamp out the voice of social leaders" through violence and intimidation, the head of the UN mission in the country told the Security Council on Thursday.

tfaadmin (2021-01-21). WEBINAR: The struggle for Food Sovereignty In Venezuela. taskforceamericas.org WEBINAR: Venezuela's Struggle for Food Sovereignty under the US Blockade Register here: zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gFJfwt6CQkK36VlGEgF_Fw Thursday Jan 21, 2021 7: 00 PM ET, 4: 00 PM Pacific Time William Camacaro will interview Hugo Alberto Nieves on the progress and challenges to establish food sovereignty in Venezuela. (Simultaneous English translation) William Camacaro maintains the website (in English), revolucionalimentaria.org, a resource for background information on…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-20). Brazilians celebrate arrival of Venezuelan oxygen supplies to struggling Manaus. peoplesdispatch.org Following the collapse of the healthcare system in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Venezuela has sent 130,000 liters of oxygen and a brigade of 107 doctors to help combat the pandemic…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-20). Brazilians celebrate arrival of Venezuelan oxygen to struggling Manaus. peoplesdispatch.org Following the collapse of the healthcare system in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Venezuela has sent 130,000 liters of oxygen and a brigade of 107 doctors to help combat the pandemic…

Manuela Solé (2021-01-20). Venezuela Issues Arrest Warrants for 'Illegal' Oil Executives. venezuelanalysis.com Oil subsidiary CITGO has been the subject of several legal battles.

Brett Wilkins, staff writer (2021-01-20). 'Pure Sadism': Biden Blasted for Continuing Trump's Recognition of Guaidó Coup Regime and Deadly Sanctions in Venezuela. commondreams.org "How about a new Good Neighbor Policy on non-interference?" asked CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/ven_1.jpg

teleSUR (2021-01-19). Venezuelan Donated Oxygen Arrives in Manaus, Brazil. telesurenglish.net Authorities confirm the arrival of five trucks with oxygen in the capital of the Brazilian Amazon, Manaus, to attend to the sanitary crisis that the territory is suffering due to the Covid-19 pandemic. | The population welcomed the trucks with Venezuelan flags amidst applause. The shipment will be able to alleviate the dramatic situation suffered by the hospital network in Manaus. | RELATED: | The Venezuelan Fore…

teleSUR (2021-01-19). Paramilitaries Kill Two Young Men and One Minor in Colombia. telesurenglish.net The murder of these Colombian citizens is the second massacre that occurred in Antioquia this year. | RELATED: | Authorities identified the victims as Jhon Cuello, Duvan Bedoya, and Steven Jaramillo, 17. Another unidentified young man was injured. | "Neighbors in the community called the police when they heard the shots. The injured youth was referred to a hospital in the Monteria city due to the severity of the injuries," political activi…

Gero Rueter, Marcio Damasceno (2021-01-19). Global demand for meat propels deforestation in Brazil, says report. peoplesworld.org The growing world consumption of meat and the actions of the current government are the main ingredients of a recipe leading to the destruction of the Brazilian rainforest. This is one of the conclusions of Fleischatlas 2021 ("Meat Atlas 2021"), presented last Wednesday, January 6, in Berlin. "Beef is today one of the main motives …

WSWS (2021-01-19). Workers Struggle: The Americas. wsws.org Doctors across Peru have walked out over pay and COVID-19-related issues while teachers in Arizona's Peoria Unified School District staged a sickout over dangerous in-person instruction.

teleSUR (2021-01-19). Bolivia To Accuse 26 Police Officers Who Mutinied in 2019. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's Decolonization Deputy Minister Pelagio Condori Monday filed a complaint against 26 police officers who incited a riot during the political turmoil experienced in the country in November 2019. | RELATED: | The complaint included Santa Cruz's ex-Police Commander Colonel Miguel Mercado and the National Police Commander General Vladimir Calderon who urged ex-President Evo Morales (2006-2019) to step down. | If t…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-01-19). Remembering Commander Yesenia. peoplesdispatch.org On the 9th anniversary of the killing of Yesenia, an Afro-Colombian woman and commander of the National Liberation Army, Commander Pablo Beltrán shared his reflections about her struggle and her story, one that is shared by many Colombians who are victims of state and paramilitary violence. | December 20 marked the ninth anniversary of the physical disappearance of Commander Yesenia, an unforgettable revolutionary fighter from the SerraniÃÅa de San Lucas, where the Central Cordillera ends, stopped by the union of the great Magdalena and Cauca Rivers. | "You don't know how difficult it is to move f…

teleSUR (2021-01-19). Mexico to Produce 6 Million Doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine. telesurenglish.net Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) on Monday informed that Argentina sent to his country the active substance that will allow the manufacture of 6 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. | RELATED: | Argentina's MAbxience, the laboratory responsible for the raw material production, sent a first batch of the active substance to Mexico thanks to the project that both countries signed in…

teleSUR (2021-01-19). Ecuador: Lawmakers Vote a Bill to Seize Goods of Illicit Origin. telesurenglish.net Ecuador's Parliament Tuesday is set to vote on a bill aimed at recovering assets of illicit origin or obtained through acts of corruption. | RELATED: | The bill needs the favorable vote of 70 lawmakers in order to be passed. If approved, President Lenin Moreno will have 30 days to issue a partial or total veto. | Once published in the Official Gazette, the new regulations will apply the "retrospective principle" which allows f…

teleSUR (2021-01-19). Petroperu Issues Debt Bonds To Finance a Refinery Project. telesurenglish.net Peru's Economy Ministry (MEF) authorized the state-owned oil company Petroperu to issue debt bonds to finance Talara Refinery's Modernization Project (PMRT). These bonds, however, will not be backed by the government. | RELATED: | MEF's decision responds to warnings from Petroperu President Eduardo Guevara who assured that US$700 million were needed to complete the Talara project. | Non-financial public enterprises will…

teleSUR (2021-01-19). Peru: Cusco Doctors on Strike for Better Working Conditions. telesurenglish.net Peruvian Health workers from Cusco province's state-owned hospitals have been on strike for six days in a row, demanding better working conditions and medical equipment from the government. | RELATED: | To date, neither Peru's president Francisco Sagasti nor local authorities have attended to their demands. | "This week, we will radicalize the struggle," Peru's Medical Federation President Rodolfo Larota warned and assure…