2021-12-30: News Headlines

Staff (2021-12-30). Venezuela Mourns Death of US Activist Chuck Kaufman. orinocotribune.com This Wednesday, December 29, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Félix Plasencia, mourned the death of US activist and organizer Chuck Kaufman, who consistently supported social movements in Latin American countries. Kaufman's involvement in solidarity actions spanned several decades, first focused on Central America and Nicaragua, and later expanded to include activism for Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, and many other Latin American countries. | "We express our deepest sadness at the tragic passing of Chuck Kaufman," wrote Plasencia through his Twitter account, "a US activist, defender of…

Staff (2021-12-30). Venezuela's National Assembly Passed Almost 40 New Laws in 2021. orinocotribune.com A total of 38 laws were passed by the National Assembly (AN) of Venezuela since its installation on January 5. At all times, the national parliament acted in compliance with the 7+7 scheme and all biosafety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. | Since its passing of the Interior and Debate Regulations at the beginning of the year, the Legislative Power has gone on to pass numerous laws leading up to the draft law on the Commission for the Guarantee of Justice and Reparation of Victims of Crimes Against Human Rights, passed on December 15. | The laws passed were: | 1) Interior and Debate Regulations of the…

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Venezuelan Congress To Debate Reform To Supreme Court. telesurenglish.net On Thursday, Venezuela's National Assembly will debate a bill to reform the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ). | RELATED: | "In recent days, the TSJ President Maikel Moreno sent to the Commission for Dialogue and National Reconciliation a proposal for the reform of the Supreme Court law," National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez said. | During the discussion of this proposal, the Venezuelan lawmakers will evalu…

WSWS (2021-12-30). Morenoite Izquierda Diario criticizes lockdowns as COVID-19 surges in Spain. wsws.org The petty-bourgeois Morenoite organisation, affiliated to Argentina's Socialist Workers Party (PTS), is politically implicated in policies that have led to mass death.

teleSUR (2021-12-30). Bolsonaro Shows Contempt for Human Life: Bahia Governor Says. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro rejected the humanitarian relief offered by Argentina for the cities affected by the rains and floods in the state of Bahia. | RELATED: | Through a press release, the Foreign Affairs Ministry affirmed that the federal government has sufficient resources to address the problems caused by the ongoing natural disaster. | Nevertheless, it also admitted that "in case of an aggravation of the situ…

Yanis Iqbal (2021-12-30). Left-Wing Victory in Chile. orinocotribune.com By Yanis Iqbal — Dec 25, 2021 | The 2021 presidential election in Chile has resulted in the

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-29). Lima Cartel is Over: Peru Receives President Maduro's Ambassador. libya360.wordpress.com Kawsachun News The so-called Lima Group has been officially buried and Peru has normalized relations with Venezuela. Peru's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Oscar Maúrtua de Romaña, received the credentials of Alexander Yánez Deleuze, which accredit him as the new Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Peru. El Ministro de Relaciones…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-29). A Soft Civic-Military Coup in Argentina? libya360.wordpress.com Germán Gorraiz López The Pacific Alliance was born in 2011 with Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia as founding States, the USA and China as observers and Australia and Canada as future associated States and currently represents 41% of Latin America's GDP and 57% of its foreign trade with a potential market of about 230 million…

teleSUR (2021-12-29). Bolivia To Use Digital COVID Vaccination Card Starting in 2022. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Bolivia's Health Minister Jeyson Auza presented the new digital COVID-19 vaccination card that will be requested to carry out procedures or access public sites starting next January 1. | RELATED: | Auza indicated that the new certificate is connected to the database of the National Epidemiological Surveillance Registry. Therefore, citizens can generate the card by accessing the Health Ministry web page…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-29). Mexico Authorizes Emergency Use of Cuba's Abdala Vaccine. libya360.wordpress.com Kawsachun News Cuba's Abdala vaccine has been granted emergency use authorization by Mexico, which joins Nicaragua, Venezuela, Iran, Vietnam and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in authorizing the use of Cuban-developed vaccines, produced by the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. The Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) reports that "specialized personnel…

Eva Barlett (2021-12-29). Your $1.7 Billion of Gold is Now Ours, UK Tells Starving Venezuelans. orinocotribune.com By Eva Bartlett — Dec 26, 2021 | In its prolonged freezing of Venezuelan assets, the UK continues to withhold 31 tons of Venezuelan gold stored at the Bank of England, with a new Supreme Court ruling supporting the seizure. | The recent decision, CNN

Staff (2021-12-29). Venezuela's Science and Technology Minister Jiménez: 'Vaccine Geopolitics Has Endangered Life'. orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Minister for Science and Technology, Gabriela Jiménez, stated that "if equity in the vaccination process was real, we would have a greater distribution of vaccines amongst the poorest and hence the most vulnerable nations. Vaccine geopolitics has endangered life, and this must not happen. In January we will start vaccinating with boosters to protect our people [from COVID-19]." | The minister made this comment at a COVID-19 vaccination report session led by President Nicolás Maduro. "The virus will continue its evolutionary and mutational course," Jiménez stated during the meeting. "However, there will…

teleSUR (2021-12-29). Colombian Constitutional Court Condemns Expulsion of Migrants. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, the Plenary Chamber of the Constitutional Court of Colombia concluded that due process was not observed during the expulsion of 59 Venezuelan migrants that took place amid the 2019 national strike. | RELATED: | The sentence will be published in January 2022. In the press release, however, the Court indicates that the Colombian police arbitrarily deprived the migrants of their liberty. Subsequently,…

Staff (2021-12-29). Venezuela Booster Shot Campaign Begins Next Week. orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Minister for Health Carlos Alvarado provided details about the National Plan for COVID-19 booster vaccination schedule starting next week, on Monday January 3. He reported that "more than 18 million vaccines are guaranteed." Likewise, he specified that as of the second quarter of the year Venezuela will be producing the Abdala vaccine domestically, via an agreement with Cuba, which "guarantees the booster vaccine in Venezuela for the year 2022." | The statements were issued during a briefing on the vaccination plan and the fight against COVID-19, led by President Nicolás Maduro and broadcast by public…

Staff (2021-12-29). Headlines for December 29, 2021. democracynow.org U.S. Coronavirus Infections Hit All-Time High, Omicron Drives Record Rates of Infection in Several European Countries, Taliban Fire Warning Shots at Dozens of Women Protesters in Kabul, U.N. Envoy Warns of Civilian Toll as Saudi-Led War on Yemen Escalates, Mahmoud Abbas Meets Israeli Defense Minister, Death Toll from Brazil Flooding Rises to 20, Kodiak, Alaska, Hits 67 ∞F as Climate Emergency Fuels Extreme December Weather, Climate Emergency Cost Global Economy Nearly $200 Billion in 2021, South African Court Halts Shell Oil's Offshore Oil Exploration Plans, Russia Shutters International Memorial, Which Chr…

teleSUR (2021-12-29). Heavy Rains Cause Destruction In Northeast Brazil. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, the Governor of Bahia Rui Costa announced that the death toll due to the rains and floods in his state rose to 21. | RELATED: | The most recent victim is a 19-year-old man who drowned while trying to cross a strong stream in a flooded area of Ilheus City, according to a report from the Civil Defense. So far, some 470,000 people have been affected by the floods. Over 77,000 of them had…

Michelle Begue (2021-12-29). Women now head 40% of Brazil's households. america.cgtn.com In Colombia, about 40 percent of households are headed entirely by women. And that ratio has been rising in the past decade. Many single mothers work in jobs that don't offer pensions or other benefits. See how they manage to survive.

Paulo Cabral (2021-12-29). New Brazilian form of opportunity for businesses started in the slums. america.cgtn.com In Brazil, there's a new stock market for businesses, started in slums. It's working to encourage entrepreneurship and bring social change to those communities. Find out more.

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-29). Leonardo Boff: "Lula Knows that the Ecological Question is Strategic and Fundamental" libya360.wordpress.com Brasil de Fato In an interview, Leonardo Boff talks about Lula, Bolsonaro, Pope Francis and the direction of society. Photo: Brasil de Fato The Brazilian theologian discusses the direction of society, the need to save the people and the planet, and Pope Francis Debates about the climate will be on the agenda of governments all…

Brasil de Fato (2021-12-29). 21 dead due to severe flooding in Bahia state of Brazil. peoplesdispatch.org The tragic floods in cities across the state of Bahia cost yet another life on Tuesday December 28 bringing the total number of dead to 21. Severe flooding has been registered in several cities in the state in the last few days, with the number of municipalities in a The latest confirmed death is of a 19-year-old girl who tried to cross flood waters in Ilhéus on Monday December 27 and drowned. This is the second death that occ…

Staff (2021-12-29). Chile: Boric Rejects Piñera Invitation to PROSUR Summit in Colombia. orinocotribune.com Chilean President-elect Gabriel Boric has emphatically rejected outgoing President Sebastián Piñera's invitation to accompany him to the PROSUR summit to be held in Colombia. | "I have spoken with President Piñera and informed him that I have decided not to attend the summit in Colombia," Boric announced. "Our priorities are in the formation of transition teams here in Chile." | | On Monday, December 27, Boric and Piñera met at the Moneda Palace, the presidential residence. There, Piñera extended an invitation to P…

teleSUR (2021-12-29). Chile: Abortion Rights Enter Into the Constitutional Convention. telesurenglish.net This Wednesday, the popular initiative that establishes the right to free abortion in Chile, drafted by feminist organizations, achieved the necessary signatures to enter the debate in the Constitutional Convention. | The president-elect, Gabriel Boric (i), offers a press conference after his meeting with the president of the Constitutional Convention, Elisa Loncon…

teleSUR (2021-12-29). Mexicans Echo Gabriel Boric's Proposal on Solidarity Pensions. telesurenglish.net The Chilean president-elect Gabriel Boric's proposal on the need to dismantle the private pension system found an echo in Mexico, a country whose citizens also suffer the consequences of individual capitalization of social security contributions. | RELATED: | The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) Researcher Gustavo Leal explained that his country's Retirement Fund Administrators (AFORE) are very simila…

_____ (2021-12-29). Forced Displacements In Colombia Increase By Over 169% During 2021. popularresistance.org The Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), on December 22, warned of an alarming increase in massive and multiple forced displacement events in Colombia during 2021. The CODHES reported that between January and November, 2021, 82,846 people were forcibly displaced from their homes and territories, a figure that represents an increase of 169.3% as compared to the same period in 2020. The CODHES further reported that a total number of 167 displacement events were recorded in these eleven months, which represents an increase of 65.3% in relation to the same period in 2020. | CODHES also reported tha…

Internationalist 360 ∞ (2021-12-29). Colombia: Duque's Neo-Nazi Security Law. libya360.wordpress.com Horacio Duque The Colombian Congress, the Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of Defense have issued a Law of supposed citizen security. In reality, it is a statute to establish a series of provisions and institutions that reshape the political regime to fully establish a neo-Nazi dictatorship to crush social movements and political organizations…

Michelle Begue (2021-12-29). Colombia travel firms pivot to virtual tours amid COVID-19. america.cgtn.com See how tour agencies in Colombia are looking for a new and safe way to revitalize the tourism industry, as they look to stay afloat.

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2021-12-29: News Headlines

teleSUR (2021-12-29). Bolivia To Use Digital COVID Vaccination Card Starting in 2022. telesurenglish.net On Wednesday, Bolivia's Health Minister Jeyson Auza presented the new digital COVID-19 vaccination card that will be requested to carry out procedures or access public sites starting next January 1. | RELATED: | Auza indicated that the new certificate is connected to the database of the National Epidemiological Surveillance Registry. Therefore, citizens can generate the card by accessing the Health Ministry web page…

Staff (2021-12-29). Venezuela Booster Shot Campaign Begins Next Week. orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Minister for Health Carlos Alvarado provided details about the National Plan for COVID-19 booster vaccination schedule starting next week, on Monday January 3. He reported that "more than 18 million vaccines are guaranteed." Likewise, he specified that as of the second quarter of the year Venezuela will be producing the Abdala vaccine domestically, via an agreement with Cuba, which "guarantees the booster vaccine in Venezuela for the year 2022." | The statements were issued during a briefing on the vaccination plan and the fight against COVID-19, led by President Nicolás Maduro and broadcast by public…

teleSUR (2021-12-29). Heavy Rains Cause Destruction In Northeast Brazil. telesurenglish.net On Tuesday, the Governor of Bahia Rui Costa announced that the death toll due to the rains and floods in his state rose to 21. | RELATED: | The most recent victim is a 19-year-old man who drowned while trying to cross a strong stream in a flooded area of Ilheus City, according to a report from the Civil Defense. So far, some 470,000 people have been affected by the floods. Over 77,000 of them had…

teleSUR (2021-12-28). Petroperu Returns to Oil Production After 25 Years. telesurenglish.net On Monday, Peru's President Pedro Castillo announced that Petroperu assumed the exploitation of the Block I field. This allowed this public company to return to producing oil after 25 years, in which it remained limited to fuel refining, distribution, and marketing. | RELATED: | Petroperu took over the operations of Block I for the next 22 months as the Peruvian State concluded a 30-year exploitation contract with…

WSWS (2021-12-28). Workers Struggles: The Americas. wsws.org Air traffic controllers in Peru struck to demand better work conditions and COVID protections while over 250 workers at Republic Services in Chula Vista, California, walked out over contract issues.

Editor2 (2021-12-28). Maduro to Al Mayadeen: We Will Not Abandon Palestine. orinocotribune.com Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro says, in an interview for Al Mayadeen, that the Venezuelan people resisted fierce attacks launched by US imperialism and its allies, and discusses relations with some countries, including Iran and Syria. | In an exclusive interview with Al Mayadeen, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro noted that 2021 was the first year in which Venezuela registered economic growth since "the beginning of the criminal imperialist US sanctions," adding that this growth was the result of Venezuela's economy which produces food, goods, products, and services. The country has witnessed growth in i…

José Manuel Blanco Diaz (2021-12-28). Screwed? Guaidó Extends 'Interim Government' into 2022. orinocotribune.com As 2021 comes to an end, the so-called interim government of Venezuela, appointed by former deputy Juan Guaidó two years ago, also reaches a crossroads. The puppet government, a legal mechanism created by the far-right to destabilize the constitutional government of President Nicolás Maduro and divert funds to Guaidó and his entourage, is continuing to unravel. | In this regard, the pseudo-parliament, which still includes former deputies to Venezuela's National Assembly who had been in office during the 2015-2020 legislative period, has undertaken a new maneuver that, according to them, will enable them to procla…

teleSUR (2021-12-28). Venezuela Aims To Be Free of Colombian Irregular Groups by 2022. telesurenglish.net "I set a big goal, but I know that you (the Armed Forces) will make it possible, 2022 must be the year in which Venezuela achieves a territory 100 percent free (…) of Colombian Armed Drug Trafficking Terrorists (Tancol)", said the President in statements to the state channel Venezolana de Televisión. | RELATED: | During the end of the year ceremony of the military forces, the President said that during 2021 the Venezuelan m…

teleSUR (2021-12-28). This Is How Venezuela Celebrates the 'Holy Innocents Day'. telesurenglish.net On Dec. 28, Latin American peoples commemorate the "Holy Innocents Day," which recalls that baby Jesus escaped the massacre of children ordered by Herod I, the King of Judea. | RELATED: | Venezuelans celebrate these holidays by making jokes amid artistic expressions that melt symbols from various cultures. | In Sanare town, in the state of Lara, people say prayers and dance "Las Zaragozas," while musical groups play songs in Tamunangue rythm. In t…

teleSUR (2021-12-28). US-Backed Opposition Continues to Loot Venezuelan Assets. telesurenglish.net On Monday, Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister Felix Plasencia accused the US-backed opposition of continuing with the looting of resources belonging to the Bolivarian people. | RELATED: | "Unscrupulous politicians, who are divorced from national interests, intend to continue with the shameless plundering of the resources of all Venezuelans. Justice will be imposed sooner rather than later and they will have to render accounts before our people," h…

José Manuel Blanco Diaz (2021-12-28). María Corina Machado Speaks Out Against 'Interim Government'. orinocotribune.com Faced with the announcement of former deputy Juan Guaidó's clan and the fake National Assembly that Washington uses to provide some legitimacy to its actions, the Vente Venezuela party, led by María Corina Machado, rejected the recent steps to renew the "interim government" and announced that it will not support them in this new stage. | It should be remembered that next January 5 is the date that the US-led extreme opposition politicians consider as the deadline for the renewal of the pseudo-parliament that supports Guaidó, following the directions of the US government —despite countless corruption scandal…

_____ (2021-12-28). Labor Unions, Environmentalists, And Indigenous People Unite To Defeat Mining Interests In Argentina. popularresistance.org The people of the southern Argentinian province of Chubut are celebrating more than just the holidays this December. After a fierce struggle against a recently enacted zoning law that would have opened the province up to large-scale silver, copper, and lead mining by multinational corporations like Canadian Pan American Silver, the governor was ultimately forced to backtrack. The law in question, which was approved on December 15, was repealed last Tuesday, just five days later.

_____ (2021-12-28). Labor, Environmentalists, And Indigenous Unite To Defeat Mining. popularresistance.org The people of the southern Argentinian province of Chubut are celebrating more than just the holidays this December. After a fierce struggle against a recently enacted zoning law that would have opened the province up to large-scale silver, copper, and lead mining by multinational corporations like Canadian Pan American Silver, the governor was ultimately forced to backtrack. The law in question, which was approved on December 15, was repealed last Tuesday, just five days later. | From the night of the approval until the afternoon of December 21, the movement against the law spread rapidly throughout the province…

Peoples Dispatch (2021-12-28). Pope Francis urges peace, vaccine access in 2021 Christmas message. peoplesdispatch.org For his Christmas message this year, the progressive-leaning Pope Francis called for peace and dialogue amid an unprecedented global crisis. Once again, the global leader of the Catholic church took advantage of his platform to issue a clarion call to global leaders of all creeds, across all regions of the world. | Pope Francis, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina who initiated the World Meeting of Popular Movements, has made headlines frequently for

Romina Green Rioja (2021-12-28). In Chile, Boric's Win Signals Victory for Social Movements and New Constitution. zcomm.org Elected on the heels of a historic movement against neoliberalism, president-elect Gabriel Boric will face high expectations and social movement pressure to deliver on his campaign promises…

Editor (2021-12-28). A Few Amazing Progressive Wins That Happened in 2021. scheerpost.com Former Chilean student leader Gabriel Boric will be Chile's next left-wing president. [ By It would be easy to survey the end of 2021 and see another year in wreckage. There's the pandemic that won't end. Rising inflation. Climate disasters. A democracy that looks creakier by the day. | And that was before West Virginia Senat…

teleSUR (2021-12-28). IACHR Admits Fernando Lugo's Case Due to Removal From Office. telesurenglish.net The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) declared admissible the case of the former president of Paraguay Fernando Lugo against the State, in the framework of an impeachment trial described as arbitrary and which lasted less than 24 hours in June 2012, after the Curuguaty massacre. | RELATED: | Now, the Commission will begin the analysis of the merits of the proposal made by the former president, who is currently a sen…

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