(2021-05-08). Colombia's mass protests continue amid reported "disappearance" of 379 demonstrators. wsws.org Colombia's ruling class, backed by imperialism, is determined to force the working class to bear the entire cost of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(2021-05-08). Gustavo Petro Represents a Progressive Alternative in Colombia. dissidentvoice.org 
Gustavo Petro is a force to be reckoned with in Colombian politics. The senator — once a member of the M-19 guerilla group, later elected to the House of Representations in the 1990s and then the mayorship of Bogotá (2012-2016) — has become the candidate to beat in next year's presidential election. He is such …
(2021-05-08). How Biden Funded Colombia's Deadly Police Regime. popularresistance.org In the last week, Colombia has exploded in nationwide protests and work stoppages against the government of President Ivan Duque. With over 19 people killed by state forces in the last week, and with image after image of brutal police repression going viral across the world, the protests have sparked international outrage and concerns about human rights abuses. Joining this chorus of voices is a growing number of organizations and politicians urging Joe Biden's government to take direct action to curb police violence in Colombia and stop its continued funding of the country's brutal riot cops, commonly referred t…
(2021-05-08). Leopoldo López Condemns Protests in Colombia from Luxury Condo in Madrid: Having Duque 'is a Privilege'. orinocotribune.com Regarding the bloody repression in Colombia against peaceful demonstrators, there are several aspects that are astonishing. In addition to the vicious will of its police officers to impose order through questionable means, there is an occurrence that surpasses them: Leopoldo López's condemnation of violence—but not the violence of Colombia's repressive forces. | The Venezuelan, who is known for his marked vocation for violence, released a statement whose reading produces enormous cognitive dissonance. | These are five paragraphs of an unknown version of Leopoldo López, at least to Venezuelans. The politicia…
(2021-05-08). Colombia an Imperial Beachhead: The War of the Colombian Oligarchy and Duque against Venezuela. orinocotribune.com 
By Mison Verdad — May 4, 2021 | One year after it sought to invade Venezuela and capture President Nicolás Maduro with Operation Gideón, the Colombian government continues to participate in conspiracies planned in Washington to bring about regime change in Caracas. | Since 2018, when the attempted assassination of President Maduro and the Venezuelan military high command was thwarted with the use of explosive drones, Bogotá's willingness to serve as an operational base to plan attacks against Venezuela has been confirmed with every step it takes and laid bare before the international media and diplomatic sho…
(2021-05-08). Colombian Security Forces Are Massacring People On The Streets. popularresistance.org In Colombia the right-wing government of Iván Duque is killing people taking part in an ongoing national strike protesting the government's economic policies and widespread human rights abuses. | Since the strike began at the end of April, Colombian human rights groups have estimated that 26 protestors have been killed by the government's infamous security forces. | In addition to the killings, there has been a major militarisation of cities, with reports of disappearances, sexual assaults on women protestors, and other abuses committed by the security forces. Local human rights organisations have registered 1,18…
(2021-05-08). "Nothing to Lose" zcomm.org Colombians Protest "Fascist Mafia Regime" Amid Deadly Police & Military Crackdown…
(2021-05-08). Colombia on the Brink. zcomm.org Colombians see their current political situation as a potential historical opening…
(2021-05-08). Cuba Denounces Colombia's 'Hostile' Gesture in the Expulsion of Diplomat. orinocotribune.com 
Amidst the continued internal crisis in Colombia caused by the ongoing anti-government protests and the heavy police repression, the Colombian authorities decided to declare a Cuban diplomat as persona non grata on charges of exercising "activities not compatible" with his diplomatic post. | On Friday, May 7, the Cuban Foreign Ministry described the expulsion of its embassy's first secretary in Colombia, Omar Rafael García, as unjustified and hostile. García was declared as persona non grata by the Colombian government. | In a message published on its official website, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINRE…
(2021-05-08). Venezuela's Delcy Rodriguez Provides More Details About Bot Campaign (ICC). orinocotribune.com 
A big data investigation carried out by independent experts determined that local and international right-wing elements used social media networks to carry out a campaign of media denigration and defamation against Venezuela on the issue of human rights, with the result that the South American nation is now the subject of an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC). "They want to classify [them as] international crimes without them having been committed," said the Executive Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, in a press conference broadcast this Friday, May 7 by state-owned Venezolana de…
(2021-05-08). How the U.S. taught Judge Moro to "take down" Lula. mronline.org 
How a U.S. State Department official taught illegal tactics to Brazilian judges and prosecutors that went on to be used to remove Lula from the 2018 presidential race | May 8, 2021 | Newswire…
(2021-05-08). May Day 2021 ILWU With Angela Davis In SF & AFL-CIO Gebre On Systemic Racism. indybay.org WorkWeek covers the San Francisco May Day march, the death of UFWA founder Al Rojas and the working class struggle in Argentina…
(2021-05-08). Tehran, La Paz to prepare coop. program. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, May 08 (MNA) — The Ambassador of Iran to Bolivia and the Vice President of the country emphasized the development of a cooperation program.
(2021-05-08). Re-Engaging Russia — OpEd. eurasiareview.com Russian realignment offers the biggest opportunity to dramatically transform the international situation in the immediate future. A cooperative relationship between Russia and the Industrialized World could be a highly visible example of democratic development, strongly undercutting Chinese promotion of autocracy and minimizing cyber intrusions. It would also significantly reduce requirements for military forces, including a potential for major reductions in nuclear weapons. Diplomatically, collaboration with Russia could help resolve confrontations in Afghanistan, Venezuela, Ukraine, Belarus, Syria and Myanma…
(2021-05-07). Alberto Fernandez, Evo Morales Condemn Repression in Colombia. telesurenglish.net Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez on Thursday expressed his concern over expressions of institutional violence against citizens who are in the streets protesting against Colombia's President Ivan Duque and his economic policies. | RELATED: | "It is with concern that I observe the repression unleashed in the face of social protests in Colombia. I pray for the Colombian people to return to social peace," he said, | "I urge the…
(2021-05-07). Colombian Lawmakers Tout Decree of Internal Commotion State. telesurenglish.net The state of "internal commotion" can be declared nationwide or in some parts of the country according to article 213 of the Colombian constitution. Its declaration would require the signature of all ministers and would allow the president to restrict the reporting activities of national and international media outlets as well as reinforcing the police.
(2021-05-07). Rebellion Sweeps Colombia Despite Deadly Repression. popularresistance.org Massive protests are taking place throughout Colombia as people stand firm in the face of deadly police violence. Since April 28, when a general strike was called to oppose deeply regressive proposed tax reforms, nationwide demonstrations against far right President Iván Duque have been ongoing. | "The repression on the streets perpetuated by the police force is systematic," a young protester in Colombia who wished to remain anonymous told Liberation, "The ESMAD [Mobile Anti-Disturbances Squadron] along with the national police shoots without remorse rubber bullets, tear gas and attack the protestors." | This is…
(2021-05-07). Colombian Workers Remain Open to Dialogue with President Duque. telesurenglish.net The Central Union of Workers (CUT) President Francisco Maltes on Friday informed that his organization agrees to dialogue with Colombia's President Ivan Duque to negotiate an end to the anti-government protests. | RELATED: | "The CUT is ready to negotiate with the government. We just need Duque to set a day, a time, and a place. So far, there are only formalities and generalities that do not set the exact time to negoti…
(2021-05-07). Cuba Rejects the Expulsion of Its Diplomat from Colombia. telesurenglish.net Cuba's Foreign Affairs Ministry (MINREX) Friday rejected Colombia's decision to declare the Cuban First Secretary in Bogota Omar Garcia a persona non grata in this Latin American country. | RELATED: | "We have summoned the Colombian ambassador in Havana to convey our energetic rejection of the decision taken by his country on Thursday night," MINREX Director General for Latin American Affairs Eugenio Martinez tweeted.
(2021-05-07). COHA Denounces Brutal Repression by Security Forces in Colombia. orinocotribune.com 
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) denounces the systematic violations of human rights perpetrated by the security forces of the government of Colombia. The government of President Iván Duque has deployed special units of the police and military to brutally repress broad based demonstrations that began on April 28, 2021 against a neoliberal tax reform package that proposed to rescue Colombia's IMF credit rating on the backs of the working class. Now that Duque has withdrawn the proposed reform package, protests continue over numerous other topics, including the violations of the peace accords, and urgent l…
(2021-05-07). 471 People Have Disappeared Amid Protests In Colombia. telesurenglish.net Colombia's Working Group on Enforced Disappearances (MTDF) on Thursday informed that 471 people went missing from April 28 to May 5 during the social outbreak against President Ivan Duque. | RELATED: | "Three hundred and seventy-nine of the victims are still missing. Most of the people who reappeared claimed that they were arbitrarily detained and transferred to unauthorized places and without the presence of judicial authorities," the organizatio…
(2021-05-07). 'Super Mustache' Strikes Back: Right Wing Could Not Resist Temptation to Blame Venezuela for Colombia's Uprising (+ 'Dissipated Molecular Revolution'). orinocotribune.com 
Although Colombia is ablaze with massive protests everywhere and brutal police repression, its politicians and media could not resist the temptation to blame Venezuela for the social unrest. Of course, this also made it much easier to avoid addressing Colombia's system—the disastrous management of the COVID-19 pandemic, horrific police brutality, and neoliberalism—as the cause of the uprising. | On social media networks, the defenders of Colombia's "imperfect democracy" justified the repression as the way to prevent their country from "ending up like Venezuela." | A week into the strike and demonstrat…
(2021-05-07). Over 370 People Go Missing During 9 Days of Tax Reform Protests in Colombia, Rights Group Says. sputniknews.com MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) – A total of 379 people went missing in Colombia over nine days of protests triggered by the now-shelved tax reform, the Movice National Movement of Victims of State Crime has announced.
(2021-05-07). Frente a la protesta ciudadana en Colombia: Militarización y represión. globalizacion.ca Hoy 6 de mayo las masivas protestas en Colombia completan ya 9 días sin signos aún de debilitamiento. Las marchas del miércoles 5 convocadas por el Comité Nacional del Paro fueron masivas en muchas de las ciudades del país. | Contrario…
(2021-05-07). Ocasio-Cortez Expresses Solidarity With Colombia's Working Class Facing Off Against Right-Wing Government. commondreams.org "All people should have a fundamental right to demonstrate against their elected leaders," said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a statement of solidarity with working class Colombian protesters. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/aoc_colombia.jpg …
(2021-05-07). Social unrest continues in Colombia. challenge-magazine.org Huge numbers of protestors have taken to the streets of Colombia over the last week after President Duque attempted to pass a bill that would further increase inequality in the country by making the working class pay for the covid-19-induced fiscal deficit. A general strike began on the 28th April in response to Duque's presentation of the ironically titled 'Sustainable Solidarity Bill'. The proposed bill has intensified grievances about the state of inequality in the country, with 2.8 million people having already been pushed into extreme poverty during the last year alone. The bill proposes increasing VAT on…
(2021-05-07). Unforgiving Repression of National Strike in Colombia. latinorebels.com BOGOTàÅ, Colombia — For a week, people from all over the world have looked on in horror as the Colombian government's crackdown on a national strike has been unforgiving. Different organizations have different tallies, but they all indicate tragedy.
(2021-05-07). Colombia: 471 Persons Disappeared During the Mobilizations that Began April 28th. libya360.wordpress.com The Working Group on Enforced Disappearances in Colombia warned that 471 people disappeared in Colombia between April 28 and May 5, in the framework of the #ParoNacional. 379 of them are still missing. The Working Group on Enforced Disappearances in Colombia — MDTDF, warned about the human rights crisis experienced in the country as a…
(2021-05-07). Venezuela's Popular Democracy Under Siege: A Conversation with Elías Jaua. libya360.wordpress.com Cira Pascual Marquina Politician and intellectual Elías Jaua served under Chávez as agriculture minister and vice president. Under Nicolás Maduro's presidency, he has been minister of foreign affairs, of communes, and of education. Now Jaua belongs to the PSUV direction, and he frequently writes about Venezuela, defending the country from imperialist attacks and speaking up…
(2021-05-07). Controversy on Social Media After Lenín Moreno Says 'I Wish I had a Better People'. orinocotribune.com 
This Wednesday, April 5, during his participation in the Defense of Democracy in the Americas forum, Lenín Moreno, outgoing president of Ecuador, criticized his fellow Ecuadorians while recounting an anecdote. | "At some point a person told me in an upfront manner as people are do: 'I wish we had a better president.' I said to him: 'I wish I had better people too.'" The outgoing president of Ecuador made the comment at the forum that brings together right-wing presidents and former presidents in Miami, USA. | Alguien que humilla al pueblo ecuatoriano con sus expresiones, merece todo nuestro desprecio y rechazo.
(2021-05-07). How the US Gov't Cultivated Environmental and Indigenous Groups to Defeat Ecuador's Leftist Correísta Movement. orinocotribune.com 
By Ben Norton — May 4, 2021 | When socialist Rafael Correa became Ecuador's president, CIA cutouts poured money into environmental and Indigenous groups, while the US embassy cultivated opportunistic leaders to undermine his constituency. These forces helped secure victory for right-wing banker Guillermo Lasso in 2021. | The people of Ecuador were hit by a surprise in the April 2021 presidential election: Hard-right banker Guillermo Lasso, one of the richest and most corrupt oligarchs in the country, who had unsuccessfully run in two previous races, scored a narrow victory over leftist Andrés Arauz. | Arauz,…
(2021-05-07). Police in Brazil Kill Two Dozen in Deadliest Favela Raid in Rio's History. truthout.org 
More than 100 heavily armed Brazilian police officers stormed a sprawling Rio de Janeiro favela Thursday and killed at least two dozen people, a raid that human rights activists, researchers, and journalists described as the The hourslong operation, purportedly aimed at drug traffickers in the poverty-stricken Jacarezinho favela, ultimat…
(2021-05-07). Venezuela & ALBA-TCP Deliver Humanitarian Aid to Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. orinocotribune.com 
The Venezuelan Navy, in conjunction with Civil Protection (PC), traveled to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and completed the first phase of humanitarian aid delivery, following the emergency caused by the activity of the La Soufrière volcano. | The work was recognized by the executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Sacha Llorenti, in the company of the president of the Bank of ALBA, Raúl Li Causi, who thanked the solidarity of Venezuela and the member countries of the regional body. | En acto de agradecimiento a la tripulación del buque de l…
(2021-05-07). The Good, Bad and the Ugly of Roughshod Chemistry. dissidentvoice.org 
"When we look at what is truly sustainable, the only real model that has worked over long periods of time is the natural world."— Biomimicry Institute founder, Janine Benyus [Photo: A selection of the thousands of native potato varieties that grow in Peru. Photograph: The International Potato Centre] It's paramount to talk about all the …
(2021-05-07). Brazil: Belem, Sao Paolo Negotiate To Obtain Cuba's Soberana 02. telesurenglish.net "In the last few days talks (about Soberana) began between the government of Bélem (under the administration of Socialist Congressman Edmilson Rodrigues) and the Cuban Embassy" in Brasilia, Medeiros told Fórum magazine. | RELATED: | A dispatch from Prensa Latina reports that the head of PSOL appreciates this step among the alternatives to immunize the people, particularly those of hat capital city, one which has received the l…
(2021-05-07). Argentine Clinics Struggle Despite COVID-19 Crisis. latinorebels.com BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — As COVID-19 deaths climb to new peaks in Argentina, the intensive care unit at the San Andres clinic in the capital is oddly silent.
(2021-05-07). Rise in tuberculosis in Peru: A byproduct of the COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org Epidemiologists predict a rise in tuberculosis (TB) due to treatment disruptions related to COVID pandemic. Treatment lapses leading to an increase of drug-resistant tuberculosis remains a concern reversing the progress made in TB progress worldwide.
(2021-05-07). The Brazilian ruling class is unwilling and incapable of mounting any struggle against the deadly pandemic. wsws.org The fascistic president Bolsanaro is the most radical advocate of the policy of social murder, but the Workers Party (PT) of Lula carries out similar policies in the states where it is in power.
(2021-05-07). 'This Was a Massacre': Brazilian Police Kill Two Dozen in Deadliest Favela Raid in Rio's History. commondreams.org "It's extermination—there's no other way to describe it," said one Brazilian researcher. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/brazil_police_raid.jpg …
(2021-05-07). La Corte Suprema argentina falla contra la suspensión de clases por la pandemia. globalizacion.ca El presidente argentino Alberto Fernández advirtió que continuará cuidando la salud de los argentinos por más que se escriban muchas hojas de sentencia, en respuesta a un sorprendente fallo de la Corte Suprema de Justicia que avaló la posición del…
(2021-05-07). May Day 2021 ILWU With Angela Davis In SF & AFL-CIO Gebre On Systemic Racism. indybay.org WorkWeek covers the San Francisco May Day march, the death of UFWA founder Al Rojas and the working class struggle in Argentina…
(2021-05-07). Brazilian Justice Investigates Police Raid That Left 25 Deaths. telesurenglish.net The Brazilian Prosecutor's Office announced that it will launch an investigation into the police operation that left at least 25 people dead in the Jacarezinho neighborhood, in Rio de Janeiro, on May 6. | RELATED: | The incident will be inquired into due to complaints from social organizations and residents about the police brutality that took place during the raid. | "We will verify the circumstances and deaths surro…
(2021-05-07). Brazil: UN rights office urges independent probe into deadly police operation in Rio de Janeiro. news.un.org The UN's human rights office (OHCHR) on Friday called for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into a major police operation in a favela in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, in which at least 25 were reportedly killed, including a police officer.
(2021-05-07). Chile's Neoliberal Nightmare, New Constitution, and Daniel Jadue. counterpunch.org Working and marginalized people in Chile can now see possibilities of relief from the political grief of decades. A new constitution is in the works. And Daniel Jadue, author of an astonishingly progressive program as mayor of Rocoleta municipality, is a presidential candidate. The election is set for November 21, 2021. Chileans will vote on
(2021-05-07). School Teacher Leads Voting Intentions In Peruvian Elections. telesurenglish.net The Peru Libre Party's presidential candidate Pedro Castillo continues as the frontrunner in voting intentions for the runoff elections scheduled for June 6. | RELATED: | According to Datum International (DI), Castillo could receive 41 percent of the votes, while Popular Force (FP) candidate Keiko Fujimori would get 36 percent. | The school teacher is a favorite in all regions except in Lima, where the daughter of former President Alberto Fujimori has 48 percent of…
(2021-05-07). Venezuela: "Almagro and Lima Cartel Promote Lies Against Us" telesurenglish.net Executive Vice President of the Republic Delcy Rodríguez denounced that Venezuela is facing a media lynching against its political and social leaders, as well as the fraudulent use of social networks in campaigns orchestrated in Washington and five governments of the Lima Cartel led by Luis Almagro that attempt to manipulate public opinion against the country.
