Daily Archives: May 14, 2021

2021-05-14: News Headlines

thelancet (2021-05-15). [Department of Error] Department of Error. thelancet.com Chauvin L. Peruvian COVID-19 vaccine scandal spreads. Lancet 2021; 397: 783—This World Report incorrectly stated that clinical trials had been halted at Cayetano Heredia University. The National Institute of Health suspended the unit at Cayetano Heredia University doing the Sinopharm trial, pending an investigation. It did not suspend other trials. This correction has been made to the online version as of May 13, 2021.

Jorge Arévalo, Francisco C Villafuerte, Martin Montes, Theresa J Ochoa, researchers from Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, from Instituto de Medicina Tropical Alexander von Humboldt, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (2021-05-15). [Correspondence] Peruvian research: striving for the highest standards. thelancet.com For 60 years, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima, Peru, has contributed to world-class knowledge in tropical medicine, high-altitude medicine and physiology, public health, and basic sciences with the highest research standards and ethics. We therefore read with interest the World Report by Lucien Chauvin,1 in which we found some inaccuracies that we would like to clarify.

WSWS (2021-05-14). Nationwide demonstrations in Brazil after police slaughter 27 in Rio favela raid. wsws.org The raid, the largest police massacre in Rio since 1989, was carried out in defiance of a Supreme Court ban on such operations during the pandemic.

_____ (2021-05-14). South America's 'Business Friendly' Bloodbath. popularresistance.org International Business and Banking support for the most repressive regimes in Latin America is even more evident than it was during the original cold war. Now, Wall Street ºs three main men in South America all face charges of crimes against humanity, even genocide, at the International Criminal Court. | Whilst the anglosphere regularly attacks governments of the left in Latin America on human rights grounds, it is its pliant business friendly U.S. regional allies; Brazil ºs Bolsonaro, Chile ºs Piñera, and Colombia ºs Duque, who face being sent before the Hague. | All three countries face cruc…

Staff (2021-05-14). Chile: 5 Keys for this Weekend's Election that will Define the Future. orinocotribune.com For some they are the most important elections [in Chile] since the plebiscite that marked the end of the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990), for others these elections will set the rules of the game for the next decades. Whatever the approach, no one doubts the significance of the elections that Chile will experience this weekend. The star will undoubtedly be the Constituent election, which should bury the dictator's legacy. | 1. What is being voted on | Chile faces four simultaneous elections on May 15 and 16 in which 16,730 candidates participate: municipal and regional elections, in which mayors, counc…

David Swanson (2021-05-14). Chile and Colombia to Move Money Out of Militaries. warisacrime.org By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, May 15, 2021 While the proposal for a global ceasefire during a disease pandemic has done the opposite of catching on, there are a few small signs of sanity and even of successful activism. While most big military spenders (including the super-mega-biggest one) have increased or kept their spending …

Waging Nonviolence (2021-05-14). How the Movement in Chile Went from Jumping Subway Turnstiles to Rewriting the Constitution. dissidentvoice.org Mass protests that began in 2019 in Chile — and have deep roots in the country's militant history of resistance to neoliberalism — are about to bring about a new constitution. This is an attempt to correct the constitution imposed under military dictatorship in 1980 (with the guidance of Milton Friedman and the so-called Chicago …

_____ (2021-05-14). Meet The Neo-Nazi Advising Colombian Police On Breaking The National Strike. popularresistance.org Cali, Colombia – Colombia is on strike. And the police and military are terrorizing the population to crush it. | It kicked on when the far-right president President Ivan Duque announced a wildly unpopular tax reform imposing crushing austerity measures on middle class and poor Colombians. Duque's proposal aimed to pay off debt in order to project stability and satisfy international investors. But that stability for international capital means more instability for the tens of millions of Colombians struggling to put food on the table. | The country is already in dire economic straits — 43 percent of Colombi…

_____ (2021-05-14). Colombia: Anti-Government Protests. popularresistance.org Colombia's security forces apparently entered panic mode and the government of President Ivan Duque all but collapsed after the US Congress reiterated threats to cut military funds. | The panic was most evident on the National Army's twitter page, which suddenly began publishing in Spanglish about mysterious "spirit of body and military training." | The prosecution and the police additionally announced investigations into reports on widespread human rights violations against anti-government protesters. | This violence that surged after protests began on April 28 suddenly stopped on Wednesday when police apparentl…

Dan Cohen (2021-05-14). Meet the Neo-Nazi advising Colombian police on how to break the National Strike. mronline.org Behind The Headlines' Dan Cohen examines the ongoing national strike in Colombia and how President Duque is relying on a neo-fascist ideology to subdue it. | May 14, 2021 | Newswire…

Jeffrey St. Clair (2021-05-14). Roaming Charges: How Bio-Warfare Came to Colombia. counterpunch.org There's a theory that Israel controls US politics, that the most powerful war-making state the world has ever known is a mere puppet of Israel, institutionally incapable of asserting its own agenda in the Middle East. This is a convenient myth for both parties, since it makes Israel seem more powerful than it is and it tends to exculpate the US from direct complicity in ergregious human rights abuses. But in fact the US finances Israel. It is dependent on us. Its crimes are ours. We paid for them.

news.un (2021-05-14). Rights experts call for probe into violent crackdown on Colombia protests. news.un.org Independent human rights experts appointed by the UN and the Organization of American States (OAS) have called for the Colombian Government to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the violent crackdown on recent peaceful protests in the country.

Vijay Prashad (2021-05-14). If I fall in the struggle, take my place. mronline.org Ugliness defines the mood of state violence from Cali (Colombia) to Durban (South Africa), each context different and the depth of the violence particular to the location. Images of security forces cracking down on people trying to express their political rights have become commonplace. | May 14, 2021…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-05-14). Colombians continue to resist as national strike completes 15 days. peoplesdispatch.org Enduring brutal police and military repression, hundreds of thousands of Colombians continue to remain on the streets against neoliberalism and violence, for life, peace, justice and democracy…

_____ (2021-05-14). If I Fall In The Struggle, Take My Place. popularresistance.org Ugliness defines the mood of state violence from Cali (Colombia) to Durban (South Africa), each context different and the depth of the violence particular to the location. Images of security forces cracking down on people trying to express their political rights have become commonplace. It is impossible to keep track of the events, which move swiftly from public manifestations to courtroom scenes, from the dissipation of tear gas to the invisible frustration of the prison cell. Yet, underlying these events and amidst the range of feelings that shape them lies a sense of refusal, the Great Refusal, the refusal to…

_____ (2021-05-14). Colombia Has Lost Its Fear. popularresistance.org After decades of armed conflict and paramilitary violence, Colombia has seen protest movements return in strength over the past year and a half. The forceful demonstrations of the past week exceed even the high points of the nationwide uprising of November and December 2019. In response, the most heavily armed government in Latin America has carried out a brutal crackdown. | The COVID-19 pandemic and its social and economic consequences have hit Colombia hard. The country is reaching a breaking point as the ruling class attempts to squeeze the last drops of profit out of an already suffering populace kept in line…

Editor2 (2021-05-14). Zionism's Alliance with Luis Almagro the Yanacona. orinocotribune.com By Pablo Joffre Leal — May 11, 2021 | The policy of "public diplomacy" that the Zionist government has ordered, as part of the process of cleaning up the image of its regime, implies buying support from international organizations, governments, parliamentarians, and opinion leaders. | These are usually well rewarded for this shameless support in favor of an entity that commits war crimes and crimes against humanity. In this context and as part of his political conversion process from progressivism and solidarity with the peoples, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Uruguay…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Bolivia Holds Forum on COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Liberalization. telesurenglish.net Bolivia's President Luis Arce Thursday warned that the COVID-19 pandemic might wipe out health systems worldwide if patents for vaccine production are not released. | RELATED: | He made the remarks at the International Forum on Patent Freedom, which was organized by the Bolivian Foreign Ministry and the United Nations Development Progam (UNDP) in El Alto. | "Humanity has had the scientific and technological capac…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Brazil's COVID-19 Death Toll Tops 430,000. telesurenglish.net Tests detected 74,592 new cases, taking the national count to 15,433,989, said the ministry. | Brazil has the world's second-highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third-largest caseload, behind the United States and India. | The country sees the second wave of an outbreak in 2021, increasing cases and deaths, and surging COVID-19 patients have overwhelmed numerous hospitals. | According to the ministry, Brazil now has a death rate of 204.8 per 100,000 inhabitants and an incidence rate of 7,344.4 per 100,000. | Local media reported that as of Wednesday, 55.8 million people had been vacci…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Brazil: Poll Shows Lula as Winner of 2022 Presidential Election. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Brazil's Datafolha institute revealed the results of a poll ahead of the presidential elections to be held in the country next year, in which it puts the former president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, as the favorite over the current head of state, the far-right Jair Bolsonaro. | RELATED: | According to the poll results, Lula would obtain 41 percent of the votes in the first round, well above Bolsonaro wi…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Brazil Passes Law To Reduce Gov't-Led Environmental Assessment. telesurenglish.net Brazil's Congress lower house passed on Thursday a bill to further reduce state-conducted environmental assessments and allow companies to carry out their impact study instead, a decision widely rejected by activists and human rights organizations. | RELATED: | The bill lifts control over a series of economic ventures from the construction of roads to agriculture, which used to require a state-led environmental st…

Workers World Party (2021-05-13). PDF of May 13 issue. workers.org Download the PDF. Repression and resistance in South America Colombia: State terror won't stop the struggle Brazilians tell police: 'Stop killing us!' Pandemic triple threat; 'We have power'; Indigenous pipeline protest; Black Lives Matter in Georgia; Editorial Vaccine monopolies. GLOBAL: Palestine; U.S. vs. China; Evictions in South Asia. Tear down . . . |

Monica Moorehead (2021-05-13). Brazilians tell police: 'Stop killing us!'. workers.org The police invaded the Jacarezinho favela (slum) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at dawn May 6, armed to the teeth with bulletproof helicopters, armored tanks and machine guns to confront what they claimed were suspected drug traffickers. When the smoke cleared after what seemed like hours of shooting, 27 young . . . |

Ruhi Bhasin (2021-05-13). Mismanagement of the COVID-19 Crisis Increases Food Insecurity in India and Brazil. counterpunch.org As Indians continue to scramble for survival through a deadly second COVID-19 wave and deal with an inadequate health care system that has failed them at every step, for a majority of the country living in rural areas and in slums in urban centers, food insecurity is proving to be a bigger struggle than protecting

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Mexico Welcomes Brazil's Former President Dilma Rousseff. telesurenglish.net Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) held a meeting with Brazil's former President Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016), who will attend the 700th anniversary of the founding of Tenochtitlan on Thursday. | RELATED: | Rousseff was also received by Mexico City's Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum who declared her a distinguished guest of the country's capital.

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Pope Francis Backs Argentina on IMF Debt Renegotiation. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez met with Pope Francis on Thursday as part of an international tour to obtain European support for the renegotiation of Argentina's debt with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). | RELATED: | Fernadez held a 30-minutes private audience with the Pope to whom he offered details on the progress of the debt renegotiation process. The meeting took place in the Paul VI Hall studio…

Tanya Wadhwa (2021-05-13). Chile prepares for historic Constitutional Convention elections. peoplesdispatch.org This weekend, around 15 million Chileans will go to the polls to elect the 155 members of the Constitutional Convention, a body that will be responsible for rewriting the country's dictatorship-era constitution inherited from the era of Pinochet…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Colombia: Foreign Minister Claudia Blum Submits Her Resignation. telesurenglish.net "I want, in the most respectful manner, to submit to you my irrevocable resignation to the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, effective immediately," reads the letter sent by Blum to Colombian President Iván Duque, dated last Tuesday, May 11. | Her departure from the Foreign Ministry occurs although Blum was scheduled to travel to Madrid (Spain), Brussels (Belgium), and The Hague (Netherlands) to meet with delegates from the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and the diplomatic staff of her country, to offer the Government's version on the protests that have been taking place in Colombia since…

WSWS (2021-05-13). Colombia enters third week of protests as Bogotá and Washington prepare to escalate repression. wsws.org The crackdown is being carried out not only with the support of the Biden administration in Washington, but in close coordination with the Pentagon.

Guest Contributor (2021-05-13). OPINION: All Colombians Must Unite and Fight for the Legitimate Right to Protest. latinorebels.com Until we all access these basic rights, la protesta y la lucha no deben de parar.

teleSUR (2021-05-13). INDEPAZ Confirms Murder Of Another Social Leader In Colombia. telesurenglish.net Colombia's Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) on Wednesday reported the murder of women's rights defender Cecilia Valderrama in the Chaparral municipality, Tolima Department. | RELATED: | The leader of the El Escobal Women's Association (ASMUES) was found dead with signs of violence in a pasture on Wednesday. | Her neighbors last saw her on Tuesday at 18h00 local time, when she left her residence to a nearby road to wait fo…

Vijay Prashad (2021-05-13). If I Fall in the Struggle, Take My Place. dissidentvoice.org Tiger Tateishi (Japan), Samurai, the Watcher (Koya no Yojinbo), 1965. Ugliness defines the mood of state violence from Cali (Colombia) to Durban (South Africa), each context different and the depth of the violence particular to the location. Images of security forces cracking down on people trying to express their political rights have become commonplace. It …

_____ (2021-05-13). From Palestine To Colombia: The End Of The White World Colonial/Capitalist Project? popularresistance.org The world is shocked by the image of an eleven-story residential building in Gaza collapsing from a bomb dropped by the Israeli Defense Force, one of the most advanced armies in the world thanks to U.S. support. But in the U.S., Andrew Yang, former presidential candidate and now candidate for mayor of New York, proudly proclaims that he stands with the heroic people of Israel who are under attack from the vicious, occupied Palestinians who have no army, no rights, and no state. | But as politically and morally contradictory as Yang's sentiments might appear to be for many, the alternative world of Western liberal…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Colombian Police Crack Down On Protests In Bogota And Popayan. telesurenglish.net Colombians denounced that the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) attacked peaceful demonstrations that took place in Bogota and Popayan on Wednesday night. | RELATED: | Videos posted on social media show police shooting and throwing tear gas canisters at citizens. Local media have not yet reported any deaths due to police brutality, but witnesses say several people were injured or arbitrarily arrested. | During the clashes, Bogota's mayor Claudia…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Colombians Demand Resignation Of Ombudsman. telesurenglish.net The Human Rights Union of the Ombudsman's Office (SINDHEP) on Thursday demanded the resignation of Ombudsman Carlos Camargo for not being committed to the social process the country is going through. | RELATED: | "Camargo does not represent us nor the people. We are concerned about his erratic actions and pronouncements, which put protesters and workers of the Ombudsman's Office at risk," the defenders said. | They criticized the Ombudsman's…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Dialogue Table in Cali Reaches No Agreement Amid High Tensions. telesurenglish.net A dialogue table between Cali's demonstrators, local authorities, and government representatives was lifted amid high tensions and no resolution on Thursday, ahead of tomorrow's meeting of the National Strike Committee to evaluate starting a negotiation. | RELATED: | Despite extreme police brutality and militarization of the country, Colombians have remained in the streets for 16 days demanding social justice and…

Susan Price (2021-05-13). Colombia's leaders want to stain the country with blood. greenleft.org.au In the face of ongoing state repression, the Colombian people remain on the streets and continue resisting, write Laura Capote and Zoe Alexandra.

àÅngel Guerra Cabrera (2021-05-13). Colombia — El derrumbe del uribismo. globalizacion.ca Hace dos años àÅlvaro Uribe habló de perpetrar una masacre con criterio social para acabar con la Minga indígena en el Cauca (n9.cl/42qwi ).Y hace unas horas, a lo comandante en jefe, proclamaba: "confiamos en el inmediato copamiento militar de…

teleSUR (2021-05-13). Uruguay: Military Withheld Information on Dictatorship Crimes. telesurenglish.net The "Mothers and Relatives of Detained and Disappeared People" Organization (Desaparecidos) decried the concealment of information related to the crimes committed by Uruguay's military dictatorship (1973-1985). | RELATED: | Over the weekend, files were found in a military unit containing intelligence reports and orders from the Information and Defense Service (SID) and the Coordinating Body for Anti-Subversive Ope…

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