South America

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Correísmo Continues to Lead in Ecuador’s Polls
JULY 6, 2023


Luisa González and Andrés Arauz, the Citizen Revolution Movement candidates for the upcoming Ecuadorian elections. Photo: Alberto Zambrano/EFE/File photo.

Ecuador’s presidential candidate for the Citizen Revolution (RC) movement, Luisa González, continues to lead the polls as of this Tuesday, July 4, ahead of the early elections scheduled for August 20.

According to the polling firm Negocios y Estrategias, led by public opinion researcher Iván Sierra, the initial indications are positive for the RC candidate, with 41% of the voting intention in her favor.

The study was carried out between June 22 and 26 across the eight provinces in the state with the largest populations—on the coast, the highlands, and the east of the Andean country—equivalent to 70% of the electoral roll.

According to the survey, candidates Otto Sonnenholzner (11%) and Yaku Pérez (10%) are vying for second place in voter support.

However, the survey reflected that 38% of the sample displayed indecision, representing both a challenge and an opportunity for all candidates, according to Sierra.

Likewise, the survey further detailed that Sonnenholzner and Pérez are two of the most well known candidates, although González has the best ratio between positive and negative opinions.

Negocios y Estrategias has been conducting public opinion and market research in Ecuador, and ten other countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region, for over 26 years.

The RC movement—created by former President Rafael Correa—has recently been shown to have increasing popular support in the provincial and municipal elections held on February 5, in which its candidates won the most important prefectures and mayors’ offices in the country.

González has announced that public investment and returning security to the population of this South American nation are among the main objectives of her government program. A number of analysts suggest that the RC movement is the political force that currently holds the greatest winning chance for these elections.

https://orinocotribune.com/correismo-co ... ors-polls/

Null and Blank Votes Lead to Runoff Elections in Guatemala
JUNE 26, 2023


A polling box being sealed with a sticker from the Guatemalan Supreme Electoral Tribunal sticker that reads "General Elections 2023." Photo: CNN.

Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Guatemala’s 2023 general elections commenced on Sunday as the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) inaugurated the electoral process with a ceremony held at the Colegio Salesiano Don Bosco. The official opening ceremony featured a symbolic ribbon-cutting, marking the start of the electoral day to select the new president in the first round. With this act, the Guatemalan authorities have formally initiated the voting process.

Approximately 9.3 million Guatemalans have been summoned to partake in the upcoming elections to select candidates for the positions of president, vice president, and 160 congressional deputies. Additionally, 20 representatives for the Central American Parliament and 340 mayors will also be elected.

It is worth noting that the current right-wing and conservative president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, was elected in a runoff election held on August 11, 2019, where 61.41%. of voters did not participate. If no presidential candidate secures an absolute majority of votes in the first round of elections on June 25, another runoff election will take place on August 20, 2023.

The electoral campaign was marked by controversial judicial decisions made by the TSE and the Constitutional Court, in which three of the favorite candidates and opponents of the incumbent government of Giammattei were eliminated from the presidential race, as reported by HispanTV.

The magistrates of the TSE made the decision to disqualify Thelma Cabrera, an indigenous leader; Roberto Arzú García Granados, the son of former president Álvaro Arzú Irigoyen; and Carlos Pineda, a prominent businessman who was leading in the presidential election polls.

As the country headed into elections, Latinobarómetro reported that 65% of Guatemalans expressed a lack of trust in the country’s democratic process. Recent surveys published in the media revealed that no candidate managed to secure more than 20% of voting intentions.

Corruption and abstentionism
According to Manfredo Marroquín, an activist representing Acción Ciudadana, there is an anticipation of increased abstentionism in the upcoming elections. This sentiment arises from the prevailing belief among the majority of the population that elections fail to bring about substantial change for the country.

The former presidential candidate of the center-left party Encuentro por Guatemala, reflecting on the upcoming elections, conveyed a sense of disillusionment and lack of enthusiasm among the citizenry. According to the average citizen, the elections seem destined to perpetuate the status quo, leading to a significant portion of the population abstaining from voting. The candidate further anticipated a rising percentage of null votes, as the elections fail to generate any meaningful expectations or hopes for the people.

Marroquín highlights that the current situation in Guatemala raises numerous concerns regarding the credibility of the electoral process. Astonishingly, only 15% of the population believes that the voting will be conducted in a transparent manner. He shed light on the distressing reality, stating that “most, if not all, of the institutions have fallen into the hands of the so-called Pact of the Corrupt. Their objective is to protect themselves from any form of investigation.”

The analyst, in referencing the “Pact of the Corrupt,” is referring to the alliance that exists between politicians, businesspeople, and members of organized crime groups that were exposed by investigations conducted by the defunct International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was dissolved in 2019 by former President Jimmy Morales (2016-2020).

Irregularities denounced
The magistrates of Guatemala’s TSE provided insights on the ongoing general elections in the country. They confirmed that, as of 2:00 p.m. (local time) on Sunday, a total of 96 complaints regarding irregularities had been officially registered with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, as reported by Telesur.

According to Magistrate Irma Palencia, by 3:00 p.m. they were aware of five incidents, three of which had been resolved. She explained that these are isolated events and do not tarnish the electoral process.

She noted that, up until that point, there had been significant voter turnout, which she viewed as a positive development. However, due to the complicated nature of the nation’s electoral process, she was unable to provide a precise count of the number of voters. Nevertheless, she encouraged the electorate to make the most of the remaining hours available to cast their votes.

Magistrate Palencia and Magistrate Gabriel Aguilera officially announced the suspension of elections in the municipality of San José del Golfo due to force majeure and the need to safeguard the safety and well-being of all involved. Disturbances have persisted in this municipality since Saturday, and officers from the Guatemalan National Civil Police have resorted to tear gas, hindering the commencement of voting.

The altercations began with the arrival of election personnel who were forced out on buses by a large group of people who sprayed them with gasoline and threatened to set them on fire.


In response to a complaint lodged by the Commitment, Renewal, and Order Party (CREO) in the municipality of San Miguel Petapa, Magistrate Aguilera clarified that the party must formally submit the appropriate paperwork. Once the election day concludes, the TSE will then assess and address the matter accordingly.

Another incident was also confirmed in San Martin Zapotitlán, Retalhuleu, where a group of people destroyed election materials. Magistrate Rafael Rojas said that the municipal electoral board decided to protect the security of voters, electoral material, and facilities in response to the incident.

Furthermore, he reported that a number of individuals have been detained, and the authorities are actively investigating the incidents. The specific actions to be taken will be determined by the TSE. President Alejandro Giammattei, while exercising his right to vote, disclosed that 195 people have been arrested thus far for engaging in irregularities.

Voicing her strong opposition, the social democrat candidate Sandra Torres denounced the alleged vote-buying by the government in the Guatemalan elections. Torres, who currently leads the polls of voting intentions, expressed her concerns, stating that “the official party is not allowed to offer gifts or purchase votes. We have received complaints regarding vote-buying through the distribution of food.” Surrounded by reporters, the former first lady emphasized these concerns at the Valle Verde School in Guatemala City.

Torres is confident about making it to the second round of elections, having secured the top position in the polls with 21.3% of the voting intention, according to a study conducted by the firm ProDatos and published this week in the local newspaper Prensa Libre.



24% of votes either null or blank
At 10:18 p.m. (local time) Prensa Libre reported that with 21% of the votes counted, Sandra Torres was leading with 14.7% (154,002 votes) closely followed by Bernardo Arevalo from the Movimiento Semilla party with 12.93% (138,903 votes).

The more striking result presented by the Guatemalan newspaper with TSE data was that 23.97% of the votes were either null or blank, with 17.03% and 6.94% respectively. These figures confirm what many analysts stated about the disdain of the Guatemalan people towards their democracy, as they do not see that it represents their needs or aspirations.

Based on this preliminary report, it is indicated that a runoff election will occur on August 20, in accordance with Guatemalan electoral rules. This is due to the fact that none of the candidates appears to have garnered the required 50% of votes to secure victory in the first round.

Orinoco Tribune Special by staff

https://orinocotribune.com/null-and-bla ... guatemala/

"Null and blank" would be a considerable improvement over what goes on here.

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Democracy in Check: The Crisis of MAS in Bolivia
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JULY 6, 2023
Ana Laura Dagorret



The Movement Towards Socialism in Bolivia (MAS) is going through its final crisis. The rupture has left two well defined sides: On one side, the current president Luis Arce leads the “renovation” of the party. The other side’s leader is the former president and founder of MAS, Evo Morales, who is in an irreconcilable crusade with Arce himself.

What was already palpable from the crossed declarations of both leaders, in the last days was consolidated with a decision of Arce. The sector represented by Evo approved in Congress a motion of censure against the Minister of Government, Eduardo Del Castillo, a key figure for President Arce. For this, the congressional sector that responds to Evo voted together with the opposition blocks of Comunidad Ciudadana, of Carlos Mesa and Creemos, of Luis Fernando Camacho, both protagonists in the coup d’état against Evo in 2019.

After the legislative procedure, President Arce reappointed Del Castillo to the position, which was considered a clear challenge to Morales. In the same act of appointment, Arce mentioned that “we have listened to the Bolivian people, we have said it and it is not only a mention, not only the organizations that are present here, but through our Vice-Ministry of Coordination with Social Movements, we have been in contact with many organizations, which have overwhelmingly and forcefully supported Eduardo Del Castillo”.

Minister Del Castillo also took the floor and stressed that “today, like it or not, the leader of the revolution is President Luis Arce and he is complying”.

After the new appointment, Evo expressed his criticism via Twitter: “Let the worthy Bolivian people judge. I hold the censured and unconstitutionally and illegitimately ratified minister responsible for any attempt against my life or physical integrity”.


May the worthy Bolivian people judge. I hold the censured and unconstitutionally and illegitimately ratified minister responsible for any attempt against my life or physical integrity. The MAS-IPSP militancy is witness of the threats, lies and attacks against us.

The only thing missing is for Del Castillo to show his handcuffs as Arturo Murillo did. The MAS-IPSP will never give up in its fight against corruption and protection of drug trafficking. As in neoliberal times, the right wing seeks to attack the political instrument of the people.

The crisis that MAS is going through is confusing if one takes into account the economic present of the Plurinational Republic of Bolivia. In 2022, it had a growth of around 4%, a percentage that could have been higher, but was “slowed down” by the 36-day strike in Santa Cruz (the country’s economic engine) and by climatic phenomena that affected production.

Inflation rates also show a stable outlook: 3.28%, as established in the Fiscal-Financial Program 2023, as a result of the fuel subsidy policy implemented since 1997. Faced with a situation of rising prices that has spread internationally, one of the campaigns promoted by the Bolivian government was the comparison with the economic reality of other countries, where inflation was generalized in the face of the war in Eastern Europe.

Some analysts point out that the crisis within the party is caused by the personal aspirations and the apparent continuity of the power project of former president Evo Morales, as well as those sectors that support him. Investigations regarding the coup suffered by Morales in 2019 confirm that there was no electoral fraud, which would give legitimacy to Evo’s victory for another five-year term. As the latter was not consolidated due to the coup d’état articulated by the Organization of American States (OAS) with the Bolivian right wing, the former president insists on regaining prominence for 2025.

For the former Bolivian vice-president Álvaro García Linera, the incentive to internal division constitutes a “political suicide”. Linera even said in an interview that “there are differences that are getting bigger and bigger, because there are disqualified people who speak in the name of the leaders and this is bleeding our process”.

Far from contemplating the warnings and supporting unity, Evo Morales went so far as to make public his enmity with Linera, whom he described as a traitor, saying that the latter disqualified him because of his indigenous condition. In his statements, Morales did not mention the fact that Linera had stressed the need for the next Bolivian president to be of indigenous origin.

Some analysts warn that the MAS crisis is being encouraged from outside. As it happened in Ecuador in the last elections, it is speculated that there may be agents operating to foster the division in the party, mainly within the indigenist movement, in order to build a strong opposition to Arce.

If at some point someone speculated with the possibility of an alliance of this sector of the MAS with right wing parties to consolidate the defeat of the current president, the analysis was not wrong. In this opportunity in which the Minister of Government was censured, the part of the MAS aligned with Evo allied with the right wing who was directly envolved in the coup of 2019 to try to impose a defeat to Arce’s government.

If this situation deepens, something increasingly difficult to rule out due to Evo’s insistence to fuel the rupture, it is more than likely that the division will benefit the current opposition, especially U.S. imperialism, whose interest in the country is due to the wealth of its natural resources, mainly lithium. If this happens, the progress achieved during the 20 years of MAS in Bolivia will be put at risk.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/07/ ... n-bolivia/

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Ecuadorian workers reject social security reform proposal


Ángel Sánchez stated that the crisis of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security will be resolved when the Government pays what it owes to the affiliates. | Photo: Scoops
Published 7 July 2023

The president of the National Union of Educators, Isabel Vargas, said that they will accept the right to resistance.

Workers grouped in the Unitary Front expressed their rejection of the reform proposal in the social security system promoted by the Government of the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso.

The workers described the reform as “criminal” and threatened to take to the streets if it reaches the Constitutional Court, citing what happened in France as a reference.

Union leader José Villavicencio expressed his condemnation of the proposal, declaring that “it is criminal for workers and retirees. If the government dares to send this proposal through urgent economic channels and decree laws, the united front will activate the right to resistance and social protest”.

In turn, the union leader Mesías Tatamuez described the proposal as disastrous and denounced that the affiliated and retired workers were not invited to the commission created by the Government of Guillermo Lasso to propose reforms to the social security system.

Another union leader, Ángel Sánchez, stated that the crisis at the Ecuadorian Social Security Institute will be resolved when the Government pays what it owes to members.

The president of the National Union of Educators, Isabel Vargas, said that they will accept the right to resistance and stated that they will mobilize and take to the streets if President Lasso takes the proposal to the Constitutional Court.

The commission created by the Government of Guillermo Lasso raised the increase in contributions for affiliates between 30 and 35 years of age to reach retirement and that the retirement pension will be reduced since the five best salaries would no longer be calculated during lifetime contributions but up to the 25 best salaries.

The economist Pablo Dávalos declared that “the reform of the pension system is included in the commitment that Ecuador assumed with the IMF in March 2019 and reactivated in September 2020 after lending the country 6,500 million dollars. In this program of fiscal consolidation and structural reform is the privatization of what is known as the disability, old age and death fund”.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/ecuador- ... -0003.html

Google Translator

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Perú: De Facto Judiciary Orders Seizure of President Castillo’s Assets
JULY 7, 2023


Police "escort" Peruvian President Pedro Castillo to the police station (December 7, 2022), Lima. Photo: AP/Renato Pajuelo.

Perú’s attorney general, Daniel Soria, made a request for the Peruvian judiciary to seize the personal and real estate assets belonging to former President Pedro Castillo, who is currently serving a double preventive detention in the Barbadillo prison, located in the province of Lima. The controversial detention of the Peruvian president is labeled as illegal by many jurists, and was the result of a parliamentary coup d’état that installed Dina Boluarte as de facto ruler.

The order was issued this Wednesday, July 5, against a number of officials—including former prime minister of Castillo’s cabinet, Aníbal Torres—and is holding the proceedings against them for the alleged crime of rebellion, in reference to Castillo’s attempt to dissolve the Congress and establish an emergency government on December 7, as provided for by Article 134 of the Peruvian constitution.


The attorney general also stated that a consultation of the assets of both investigated parties was made at the National Superintendence of Public Registries (Sunarp); from there, the list was sent to the Judiciary so that the requested precautionary measures could be executed.

Accordingly, the Attorney General’s Office (PGE) requested—in the case of President Castillo specifically—the seizure of three real estate properties in the department of Cajamarca, as well as a house in Tacabamba, in northern Perú.

The PGE further requested the seizure of a jeep vehicle and eight real estate properties in the name of Aníbal Torres; a number of which are located in a building in Los Eucaliptos street, in the Lima district of San Isidro, and other estates in the Cercado de Lima.

Former ministers Betssy Chávez, Willy Huerta, and Roberto Sánchez are also being investigated for the alleged crime of rebellion.

https://orinocotribune.com/peru-de-fact ... os-assets/

Argentina: Jujuy Protests Continue as Indigenous Communities Demand Repeal of Constitutional Reform
JULY 7, 2023


Assembly of numerous indigenous communities in Purmamarca, Jujuy. Photo: Twitter/@telesisaoficial.

Raúl Choquevilca—the president of the indigenous community of Ocumazo, in Humahuaca, Jujuy province of Argentina, and member of the Assembly of the Third Malón de la Paz—confirmed on a local radio interview that a new day of protests was beginning in Jujuy against the express and unconsented regional constitutional reform, promoted by Gerardo Morales, the governor of Jujuy province.

In a communiqué released this Thursday, July 6, Choquevilca informed that all roads will be blocked and that no traffic will be allowed “until the constitutional reform is repealed,” although they clarified that they will allow the transit of essential services, such as ambulances, medical emergencies, transfers of deceased persons, persons with disabilities, and police vehicles.

Among the principle claims, the indigenous community demands that the law be declared unconstitutional, that the repression and persecution of community leaders cease, an end to the exploitation of lithium, and the resignation of Gerardo Morales and his minister of security, Guillermo Corro, who was singled out for his radicalized reactions, “adding fuel to the fire” by making new threats against demonstrators.

“We held our spirit of refusal from the first moment,” said Raúl Choquevilca, in a conversation aired on AM750 radio. “We took to the roads as a last resort. They don’t leave us many options to be able to go out to fight the injustice they are committing.”

“The injustice could even be slight, but our outrage is not only regarding this,” Choquevilca continued. “As soon as Morales took office, he passed a provincial law termed ‘5915’. This law was also not consensual, nor was it made known to the indigenous communities, because it affects their territories.”

“It is enough to look at the title of the controversial regulation,” he added. “‘Law of administrative easements of electrical pipelines and special regime of constitution of administrative easements for the development of projects of electric energy generation from renewable sources on community property’.”

In other words, a regulation that proposes the development of new energy production in territories inhabited by native communities, without considering any of the rights of the peoples of the area.

“[This reform] was aggressive from the start, and our indigenous communities made legal presentations so that this law would not go into effect. At the end of the day, this law is just a prelude to what we are denouncing: this subjugation,” concluded the representative of Third Malón. “This Constitution would come to be the synthesis of all the abuses we have been denouncing. We are convinced that our struggle is for the right to life.”

https://orinocotribune.com/argentina-ju ... al-reform/

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Electoral Coup Attempt in Guatemala Denounced


Semilla's presidential candidate Bernardo Arévalo de León along with his supporters. Jul. 13, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@sonriegt

Published 13 July 2023

"...the TSE has 24 hours to obey the ruling against Semilla or else it could be accused of not complying with the law..."

On Wednesday, various social organizations in Guatemala denounced an attempted electoral coup due to the decision of the Public Ministry to suspend the political party Semilla, of candidate Bernardo Arévalo.

According to several official reports, in a communiqué, the organizations Transparencia Internacional, Acción Ciudadana and La Red Nacional de Comisiones y Colectivos Ciudadanos por la Transparencia y Probidad, among others, stated that the decision to suspend the political party Semilla is "illegal" and urged the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) to "ignore" the judicial resolution.

According to the different social entities, the objective of the criminal suspension of Semilla is to consummate an electoral coup equivalent to a coup d'état.

As per the judicial resolution, the TSE has 24 hours to obey the ruling against Semilla or else it could be accused of not complying with the law.


CONSUME ATTEMPTED ELECTION COUP A few hours after the TSE made the electoral results official, the Public Ministry through the Special Prosecutor's Office against Impunity announced that the 7th Criminal Instance Judge in an illegal resolution.

The document was disclosed after the Attorney General's Office announced the suspension of Semilla, at the same time that the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) made official the results of the elections of June 25.

The TSE confirmed the advancement of candidate Sandra Torres and Semilla's presidential aspirant, Bernardo Arévalo, to the runoff scheduled for August 20.

The Public Prosecutor's Office informed that the criminal suspension of the Semilla party was ordered by a judge of the Guatemalan Judicial Organism, at its request.

The candidate Bernardo Arévalo de León (center-left), of the now illegalized party, has expressed himself in his social networks defending his party and political position.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ele ... -0005.html

New Ideas Party Formalizes Bukele's Presidential Candidacy


Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele (L), 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @DiarioLibre

Published 10 July 2023

The Salvadoran president announced his intention to seek re-election in 2022, once the Supreme Court's Constitutional Chamber allowed that possibility.


On Sunday night, the political party Nuevas Ideas (NI) officially announced the candidacy of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for the 2024 elections, in which he will seek re-election.

"The country is hereby informed that our President Nayib Bukele has officially been chosen as the candidate for the presidency by the Nuevas Ideas party to participate in the 2024 elections," stated NI President Xavi Zablah Bukele, who is Nayib's cousin.

Bukele announced his intention to seek re-election in Sep. 2022, one year after the Supreme Court's Constitutional Chamber changed its stance on immediate presidential re-election.

Prior to the decision of the constitutional judges, who were elected through a process criticized for its irregularities in the Legislative Assembly, a president had to wait ten years before attempting to run for the Presidency again.


The Constitutional Court's ruling states that in order to seek a new term, the President must request a leave of absence "six months before the start of the new presidential term."

In other words, Bukele would only govern for the first six months of his fifth year and would have to step down from the Presidency in January 2024.

Various lawyers have pointed out that Bukele's re-election would constitute a violation of several articles of the Constitution, such as the one stating that a person who has held the Presidency cannot "continue in their functions for even one more day."

Bukele came to power in 2019 with the far-right party Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) as the electoral vehicle, following the delay in the registration of his NI party.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/New ... -0007.html

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White House Deploys Troops to Bolster Right-Wing Coup Regime in Peru
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JULY 12, 2023
Abayomi Azikiwe



As unrest continues the United States-backed government of Dina Boluarte commits atrocious human rights violations

In early December of 2022, the socialist president of Peru, Pedro Castillo, was overthrown in a political coup engineered by the conservative-dominated Congress and immediately thrown into prison.

Vice-President Dina Boluarte was installed as the new leader having received the endorsement of the military and the police.

Simultaneously, the United States administration of President Joe Biden recognized the new political order making it appear as if the coup had the full support of the oval office in Washington, D.C. Since December, the people of Peru have engaged in mass demonstrations, strikes and blockades of the mining areas aimed at forcing the resignation of Boluarte and the holding of new elections.

In recent weeks the announcement that the Pentagon would deploy approximately 1,100 troops to Peru in what is described as Resolute Sentinel 2023, has been met with opposition inside the country and throughout the regions of South America, Central America and the Caribbean. The official explanation from the White House regarding the sending of troops to Peru is that they will carry out training exercises among the military and police.

This decision by the Biden administration provides further proof that the U.S. capitalist class views Peru as being significant in their efforts to maintain economic hegemony of the mineral-rich state. Over the course of the last seven months since the right-wing coup, at least 66 people have been killed as a result of military and police actions against demonstrations and strikes.

On a legal basis, the ongoing harassment by the Boluarte regime of opposition figures in Peru obviously indicates that the U.S. has given authorization for the blatant violations of fundamental civil and human rights in the country. Numerous organizations involved in monitoring repressive governance in Latin America have cited the coup regime in Lima with gross abuses of union organizers, political activists, former elected officials and rank-and-file workers and farmers.

Although the former President Castillo has been denied a proper hearing involving the charges of rebellion against him, on July 6, the Peruvian State Attorney General Daniel Soria requested that the Supreme Court of Justice seize the assets of the socialist leader. Castillo is a former rural school teacher and union leader. Castillo’s assets were three properties in a rural area of Chota and a home in the Tacabamba district. (https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Per ... -0014.html)

What’s At Stake for the U.S. in Peru?

The former President Castillo’s rise to power in 2021 represented the aspirations of the workers and peasants who have been exploited for centuries by the landed oligarchy allied with multinational extractive corporations which reap enormous profits from the resources and labor of the people. Historically, colonial and semi-colonial territories and nations are designed to extend the profit-making capacity of the capitalist class based in the western industrialized states.

Peru has vast reservoirs of mineral deposits which are essential in the global capitalist system of production and distribution. The country is the second largest producer of copper, silver and zinc. It is the third leading producer of lead and the fourth supplier of tin and molybdenum. In addition, Peru is the eighth largest producer of gold internationally, and the number one source in Latin America.

According to one source on the known mineral resources existing in the country and its relationship to the pre-colonial period says:

“Peru’s mining industry has always played a vital role in the nation’s economy. Mining dated back to pre-Inca times and thrived through the Inca, colonial, and republican periods, contributing to much of the country’s development. As a critical component of its economic development, mining accounts for 10% of Peru’s GDP and 60% of its exports, making minerals its leading export sector…. In addition, Peru has a wealth of non-metallic resources, such as phosphates, manganese, and uranium. In the last ten years, high production rates have attracted USD $60 billion in inbound investment into Peru’s mining sector. However, future mining projects set to move into development within the next few years are worth an estimated of over US$55 billion.” (https://agmr.ca/peru-mining-industry-2022/)

Peru is dependent upon Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as the principal engine of economic growth domestically. The leading players in FDI in the country are the U.S., the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Spain, Brazil and Chile. Since the 1990s under the presidency of Alberto Fujimori, laws were drafted to facilitate external control over large sectors of the national economy.

The utilization of mining as a major source of wealth generation has increased the GDP of Peru and the profitability of the corporations which control the extractive industry. Nonetheless, there have been negative outcomes related to the environmental damage done by mining.

Labor unions and peasant organizations representing the Indigenous communities have resisted the encroachment by the multinational corporations and their super-exploitation of the land and labor of the majority within society. Since the coup in December, people living in the southern mining and tourist areas have used direct action aimed at emphasizing their demands for a democratic government based upon the interests of the workers and farmers. (https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/mine ... y-protests)

The same news website quoted above highlights the corporate-friendly character of the Peruvian state:
“Peru’s strength as a secure investment destination is also reflected in its international integration. It has signed over 30 Agreements for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments and Agreements to Avoid Double Taxation And Prevent Tax Evasion with Mexico, Canada, Brazil, and Japan, among other major economies. Peru is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TP), and the EU Multi Party Trade Agreement. Furthermore, Peru is constantly improving its business climate to strengthen its economy. In collaboration with other public and private entities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through the Directorate-General of Economic Promotion and its network of 137 diplomatic and consular missions, works tirelessly to promote investment in mining projects, focusing on social profitability and respect for the environment and surrounding communities.”

However, the reference to social profitability and environmental concerns are obviously thrown in for international public consumption. The response of the Peruvian conservative-dominated Congress and administration to the workers and farmers indicate that it is the U.S. and the western-controlled mining firms which have the primary consideration inside the country.

Strengthening the Repressive Neo-Colonial Apparatus

Consequently, the deployment of Pentagon special forces and security trainers to Peru illustrates the role of the U.S. in perpetuating the existing exploitative system prevailing in the country. Such a move being initiated to bolster an administration responsible for the staging of an imperialist-engineered coup, carrying out widespread false arrests, legal framings and the injuring and killing of its citizens should have been vigorously challenged within the U.S. Congress and media.

The only real attempt to prevent the deployment of U.S. troops to Peru was a challenge mounted by New York City Democratic Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez when she submitted an addendum to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which prohibits the funding and joint military cooperation with governments where human rights violations have occurred. Unfortunately, the effort failed to garner adequate support within the House of Representatives which is dominated by the Republican Party. (https://wayka.pe/alexandria-ocasio-cort ... das-y-pnp/)

Even the minority Democratic members of the House and the majority within the Senate have not challenged the rising Pentagon budget. Moreover, both parties have not objected to the stated $115 billion commitment to continuing the NATO proxy war in Ukraine against the Russian Federation.

Biden’s coordination of a military-directed coup regime in Peru maintains the long existing foreign policy of the U.S. in Latin America. Washington does not want the consolidation of the leftward trend in national and international politics in the region.

Cuba, Venezuela, Honduras, Bolivia, Brazil, Nicaragua, among other states and mass movements are setting examples of what can be achieved through pursuing an independent domestic and foreign policy. The Republic of Mexico has expressed an interest in joining the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Summit scheduled to meet from August 22-24 in the Republic of South Africa, the annual host. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has extended an invitation to all other 54 African Union (AU) member-states to attend the BRICS gathering. Many within the U.S. ruling class and Congress are bitterly opposed to the Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) and the Morena Party which has built its political base upon the notions of genuine independence and sovereignty from the U.S.

Threats of military intervention by the Pentagon against Mexico, under whatever pretext, should be categorically condemned by all progressive forces in the U.S. These military deployments are acts of desperation, as also holds true in regard to Peru.

It will not benefit the ruling class of the U.S. to expand the violent and unwarranted intervention in the internal affairs of states within Latin America. These efforts will result in a worsening social situation in the U.S., quickening the demise of the unjust and exploitative capitalist system.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/07/ ... e-in-peru/

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Latin American Presidents Will Speak in Defense of Sovereignty and Equality at CELAC-EU Summit
JULY 15, 2023


Flags of CELAC and EU countries at the foreign ministers' summit of the two blocs. Photo: Últimas Noticias.

The upcoming summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the European Union (EU) is attracting the attention of global public opinion due to the positions taken by some Latin American governments against abusive actions by European countries.

Among the leaders expected to raise the most controversial topics is Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, who confirmed his attendance at the summit to the prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, who holds the pro tempore presidency of the European Union.

Lula described as “unacceptable” the EU’s latest proposal on the agreement with Mercosur and called for an agreement of “equals.” Lula has also been a harsh critic of Europe’s environmental policies, and has said that industrialized countries should pay “for the climate catastrophe that they have caused.”

Some controversy is also expected over the attendance of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, although he said that he would advocate for cordiality. “Cuba will participate in an active and very constructive way in the relations between the EU and Latin America,” a statement from the Cuban presidency said.

Cuba, as always, takes a firm position against the application of unilateral coercive measures by some countries of the European Union, which violates all international laws and conventions.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro will also attend the summit. Colombia will promote issues such as debt swap for climate action, green transition, digital connectivity, and investment in strategic areas for development.

Argentinian President Alberto Fernández will also be present at the Brussels meeting. He will address thorny issues of his country’s debt with the IMF. Also, for the first time, the British occupation of Malvinas Islands could be discussed in a forum of this level.

The member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will demand with one voice that Europe pay reparations for the harm caused by centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, in which European countries used the Caribbean islands as a base of operations.

Notable absences
As usual, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who does not attend such events, will not be present. However, on this occasion, the Mexican government has expressed its disagreement with the position of the European Union, which asked the CELAC countries not to criticize NATO’s expansionist policy and its role in global wars and geopolitical tensions.

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, will not attend either. The controversial leader, criticized by some European governments for his militarization to combat organized crime and insecurity in his country, will send Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill in his place.

The presidents of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega; of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro; and the coup president of Peru, Dina Boluarte, will also not attend the summit. In these cases, the respective foreign ministers will attend on behalf of their countries.

https://orinocotribune.com/latin-americ ... eu-summit/

Peru: Boluarte Embroiled in Plagiarism Scandal
JULY 15, 2023


Boluarte co-authored the book in question with six other people. Photo: Infobae.

According to reports from Lima, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has faced accusations of plagiarizing a book that she included as her own work on her resume back in 2007 when applying for a job in the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status.

The TV show Punto Final reported on Sunday that 55% of Boluarte’s “Reconocimiento de los Derechos Humanos y el Derecho Internacional Humanitario” (Recognition of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law) from 2004 consisted of theses, monographs, and academic articles published in Mexico, Argentina, and Costa Rica. Additionally, the show explained that she co-authored that work with six other people.

“I have heard the president mention in the Councils of Ministers that she is always willing to undergo any investigation. In that regard, I can confidently say that she is open to being investigated, and I would encourage anyone to thoroughly examine and clarify this situation,” Minister of Women’s Affairs Nancy Tolentino said in a press conference.

As reported by Lima media, the original book consists of four chapters spanning 176 pages. Interestingly, when Boluarte assumed the position of Minister of Development and Social Inclusion, she did not include it again in her résumé.

The TV show carefully reviewed the publications both manually and by employing Turnitin, a plagiarism detection tool that relies on a comprehensive database. It was discovered that what Boluarte had written lacked any section dedicated to bibliographic sources or footnotes, which are essential for crediting the authors of cited texts. Upon comparing an Argentinian scholar’s paper from 2000 with Boluarte’s book, it became evident that the entire content of the former was present in the latter. Additionally, four paragraphs were found to be identical to those published on the website of the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico in 2002.

https://orinocotribune.com/peruvian-pre ... m-scandal/

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Argentine Opposition Wins Primary Elections in Santa Fe


Citizens go to the polling stations in Santa Fe, Argentina, July 16, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @teleSURtv

The alliance "United to Change Santa Fe," which includes the Republican Proposal, the Radical Civic Union, and the Socialist Party, secured 65.21 percent of the votes.

On Sunday, the opposition parties to the administration of President Alberto Fernandez emerged victorious in the primary elections held in the Argentine province of Santa Fe, reflecting the internal struggle within former President Mauricio Macri's party (2015-2019) leading up to the general elections.

The alliance "United to Change Santa Fe," which includes the Republican Proposal, the Radical Civic Union, and the Socialist Party, secured 65.21 percent of the votes, compared to the 25.90 percent obtained by the "Let's Move Forward Together" party, which represents the ruling Peronism.

Former Security Minister of Santa Fe, Maximiliano Pullaro, garnered 35.96 percent of the votes, surpassing Senator Carolina Losada's 21.74 percent. Consequently, Pullaro will compete against other political formations for the position of governor on September 10.

This election had national implications as each of the presidential pre-candidates from the right-wing Together for Change coalition, Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, the Mayor of Buenos Aires, and Patricia Bullrich, former Security Minister, supported one of the candidates from Santa Fe within that opposition front.


Pullaro's victory prompted the Rodriguez Larreta to emphasize that "the people chose the path of experience and management." In a clear allusion to Bullrich's tough campaign speech in the national opposition primaries, he also said that the politician he supported "took responsibility" and did so "without shouting."

Bullrich, the former Security Minister known for her firm approach in fighting organized crime and social protests, also expressed her support for the winner of the internal contest, stating that "Santa Fe deserves to live in peace and order."

Rodriguez Larreta and Bullrich will compete for the opposition's candidacy in the presidential elections during the Simultaneous and Mandatory Open Primaries (PASO) to be held on August 13.

Thirteen candidates vied for the position of governor in the elections in Santa Fe, the country's third-largest district in terms of voters. In the ruling alliance, whose current governor Omar Perotti has faced significant criticism for his security policies, former football commentator Marcelo Lewandowski obtained 16.75 percent of the votes and will compete for the position.

The campaign was marked by a high level of confrontation, which intensified when a political party raised suspicions about the campaign's funding originating from drug trafficking.

The wave of violence associated with drug trafficking dominated the campaign, as the intentional homicide rates per one hundred thousand inhabitants in Santa Fe (11.3) exceed the national average (4.2) in 2022, with peaks in the city of Rosario (22).

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Arg ... -0008.html

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Persecution of protesters intensifies in Argentina’s Jujuy: Police raid homes, break into university, and arrest protesters

The police raids of activists’ homes, the university, and arrests have been condemned by human rights organizations across Argentina who have raised concerns about respect for human rights in the Jujuy province

July 15, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch


On July 13, hundreds of people returned to the streets across Jujuy, Argentina, to demand the abolition of the new provincial constitution and the release of the people arrested the day before. Photo: Edgardo Valera/Télam

The judiciary of Argentina’s Jujuy province, on Wednesday, July 12, ordered the arrest of over 40 people, who participated in a massive march in the city of Humahuaca on June 30. The march was organized in rejection of the reforms to the Provincial Constitution, promoted by conservative Governor Gerardo Morales of the right-wing Radical Civic Union party.

According to reports from provincial human rights organizations, the local police raided the homes of at least 22 members of different social organizations and trade unions, and arrested three people: two municipal workers and a student. Local media reported that they were asked to come with the officers to hear the accusations against them, but then were arrested immediately. In many cases, the families didn’t receive any information about the whereabouts of those arrested for hours.

Meanwhile, provincial teachers and students’ organizations condemned the illegal entry of the police into the National University of Jujuy. The police entered the campus without authorization, apparently to learn about the decisions of the Superior Council of the university regarding the new constitution. The university rejected the move, highlighting that it violates its autonomy and academic freedom. At the same time, students’ organizations pointed out that educational institutions are gun-free zones and that the unsanctioned entry of armed police is prohibited by the Argentine constitution.

The complaint against the protesters was filed by members of the Humahuaca City Council and the search and arrest warrants against them were requested by prosecutor Enrique Alancay. These repressive measures by the provincial government were rejected by human rights organizations across the country, who raised concerns about respect for human rights in the province.

The Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS) noted that all defendants were accused of “serious crimes such as sedition and deprivation of liberty so as to ensure that they are detained and that (the legal actions) generate fear.”

The organization added that “the persecution is aimed at demonstrators, social leaders, Indigenous people and human rights defenders” and stressed that “the criminalization of protest not only affects the persecuted and detained people but also seeks to limit the right to demonstrate and silence those who oppose the policies of the Jujuy government.”

‘In the face of increased harassment by the Morales government, on Thursday, July 13, hundreds of people returned to the streets across Jujuy to demand the abolition of the new Constitution and the release of the people arrested the day before. They rallied under the banner of “We demand that the persecution of comrades in struggle cease. Up with our Rights, Down with the Reform”.

Since June 5, the people of Jujuy have been peacefully demonstrating for better salaries for school teachers. On June 14, Indigenous communities, social organizations, and other sectors of the population joined their struggle, also calling for withdrawal of the reforms to the Provincial Constitution, which were approved on June 15 without the necessary prior consultation with the citizens. The people of Jujuy have strongly rejected the new Constitution, calling it “unconstitutional” and “regressive.”

Jujuy’s new constitution prohibits the blocking of streets and roads and penalizes any other disturbance to the right to free movement of people. Provincial human rights organizations have said that it indirectly criminalizes the right to protest. Additionally, the new constitution does not recognize the rights of the Indigenous peoples enshrined in the National Constitution, and promotes the provincialization of natural resources such as land and water. Indigenous movements and social organizations have condemned the constitution for enabling the displacement of Indigenous communities that inhabit territories rich in resources and for denying them their collective rights to ancestral land and territories.

Popular discontent has escalated due to brutal police repression against the protesters. It is important to note that the Jujuy police violently repressed the demonstration in Humahuaca on June 30, leaving dozens of people seriously injured, with some losing their eyesight.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/07/15/ ... rotesters/

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Milagro Sala: A Tribute to the Colours of Her Homeland Demanding Her Freedom
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JULY 15, 2023
Oleg Yasinsky


(Image by Mariano Quiroga)

This struggle is not just Milagro Sala’s and Raúl Noro’s, and it is not just Jujuy’s or Argentina’s or Latin America’s: it will continue on a global scale, on the same scale of lies, harassment and dispossession.

The most beautiful mountains I have seen in Latin America are those of north-western Argentina. It is a landscape tinged with the voices of Atahualpa Yupanqui and Mercedes Sosa, with its rugged and monumental geography of the lyrics of their songs, where the real colours of the hills surpass the capacity of any photoshop for tourist guides. The colourful Andean earth is not an ornament for contemplative dreamers (although that too), but a sign of the enormous mineral wealth of a territory where there is still much poverty, especially among the people who were the first to inhabit these beautiful places. Iron, lead, silver, zinc, copper and gold are some of the treasures that, including the lithium in its salt flats, make these lands an extremely attractive prey for large-scale international mining, which distributes corruption, promises, climate disasters and misery on a global scale.

Jujuy province, the northernmost and most indigenous province in the country, is now at war. A war of the government of this province against the poor. Argentina is a federal state and the governors in their local politics have a high level of independence from the central power in Buenos Aires. The right-wing governor Gerardo Morales has been in power in Jujuy since December 2015. Since the beginning of his administration, still during the neoliberal government of Mauricio Macri, Morales already started to turn Jujuy into an extremely repressive and intolerant police fiefdom towards any organised popular expression.

In June of this year this government policy reached its peak, carrying out a constitutional reform of Jujuy that definitively restricted the legal possibilities of social protest, applied an extractivist logic of natural resources and threatened the rights of indigenous peoples with an article that states that “the law will regulate the administration, disposition and destination of fiscal lands susceptible of productive use, establishing for this purpose development regimes that promote territorial development and the socio-economic interest of the Province”. Eight per cent of Jujuy’s population is indigenous, more than three times the national average; there are at least nine peoples living in some 300 communities, several of which occupy the territories legally designated as “fiscal”.

In addition, the new Constitution removes from the previous one a part that ensured that the exercise of the right to private property “may not be carried out in opposition to the social function or to the detriment of human health, security, freedom or dignity”, and also Article 50, which guaranteed that “the State is responsible for recognising both the legal status of the communities within the provincial territory and the communal possession and ownership of the lands they traditionally occupy”. With good reason, the indigenous organisations saw these new laws as a trap that enabled the privatisation of their communities’ lands, with the aim of handing them over to private owners and corporations to exploit their resources, as is the case in much of the continent.

The indigenous people were joined by teachers, professors, health workers and other rural and urban workers. The response from the Jujuy government was brutal, with dozens injured and hundreds arrested of non-violent and initially quite conciliatory protesters. This is how Carolina Moisés, national deputy for Frente de Todos, describes it: “The President of the Nation himself called on Governor Gerardo Morales to reflect and to open a space for institutional dialogue to overcome the crisis. In response, the governor has stepped up his repressive actions, which in the last week went so far as to order the State Prosecutor to aggravate the criminal cases against demonstrators, to levy fines of millions of dollars and even to seize the property of the already impoverished native communities. The provincial police chief himself went beyond all limits by announcing that he will send people to jail without the intervention of a judge. More fear is being spread about the reborn social panic after the hunt for people in unmarked vehicles, the raids on private homes without warrants, the illegal arrests of detainees, the shooting of demonstrators in the eyes. This is the Jujuy of the 21st century, a throwback to the dark and sinister 1976”. The year 1976 was the year of the military coup that established one of the bloodiest dictatorships in the history of the continent, which cost the Argentinean people at least 30,000 disappeared detainees and the indelible horror stories of their collective memory.

In the provincial capital, San Salvador de Jujuy, lives a person whose name is already a symbol of dignity and resistance to the abuses of power. Although very little is said about her in the international media, so sensitive to human rights issues in other parts of the world, in Argentina she is known to everyone. The political, social and indigenous leader and Mercosur parliamentarian Milagro Sala was arrested on 16 January 2016 and since then has not had a single day of freedom, only exchanging prison for house arrest.

Argentina’s historically powerful right-wing press juggled to accuse Milagro of being corrupt and a murderer, which is what its owners specialise in. Several international organisations along with several leaders of the Argentinean government many times pleaded for her innocence, demanding her immediate release, but the Jujuy regime of Morales continues to put together one set-up after another, all to keep her imprisoned. A few days ago she, confined in her house with her husband and partner, the seriously ill Argentinean humanist Raúl Noro, lived through another police raid with new accusations of “leading” all the protests. The brutal police operation, in its degree of violence, had all the characteristics of the repression of the times of the dictatorship before torturing, murdering and “disappearing” its victims.

Governor Gerardo Morales is not wrong. He knows who his main enemy really is. It is she, an indigenous woman, a girl who grew up on the streets, who as a young woman stole, trafficked and, like many poor people, spent several years in prison, where she formed a political consciousness of the world and her country. On her release, she dedicated herself to the struggle, organising the most marginalised, dispossessed and discarded by the system. Apart from having children of her own, she adopted twelve street children. In the 1990s, she participated in the founding of the Tupac Amaru Neighbourhood Organisation, one of the most combative and best coordinated forces in the country, especially in the northwest.

Unlike many parties or organisations that claim to be left-wing, Tupac Amaru has achieved real roots in the most marginalised areas of the country and was not afraid to work with the neediest and despised by all. It dedicated itself to obtaining and distributing products, medicines and basic necessities, providing housing solutions, creating cultural centres, defending citizens’ rights to health, education and carrying out preventive medical campaigns. Helping people to solve their most urgent problems, the Neighbourhood Organisation Tupac Amaru never stopped being a popular school of political participation, creating instruments and generating experiences of autonomous organisation of workers for a real struggle for their rights, seeing education and culture as a total priority. The images of Tupac Amaru, Ernesto Che Guevara and Evita Perón in the organisation’s symbology reflect the syncretism of Argentina from below and of course it presents itself as a threat to the power of the usual ones.

The hegemonic media that continue to format the world according to the criteria of their owners will never put “We are all Milagro Sala” in their headlines, nor will they show the scandalous figures of the private business of Gerardo Morales’ partners with the lithium from Jujuy. But this struggle is not just Milagro Sala’s and Raúl Noro’s, and it is not just Jujuy’s or Argentina’s or Latin America’s: it will continue on a global scale, on the same scale of lies, harassment and dispossession.

We are sure that on this path towards a more just and humane future for all, many Milagros and many miracles await us.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2023/07/ ... r-freedom/

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Bolivia confirms sentence of ten years in prison for Jeanine Áñez


The former de facto president was arrested in March 2021 and is in pretrial detention in a La Paz prison. She has six cases open in ordinary Justice. | Photo: Fides News
Posted 16 July 2023 (11 hours 37 minutes ago)

The former de facto president was found guilty of breach of duty and resolutions contrary to the Constitution and laws.

Bolivian media outlets reported that the Fourth Sentencing Court of that country ratified the ten-year prison sentence imposed in 2022 on former de facto president Jeanine Áñez within the so-called Coup II case.

Añez was found guilty of breach of duty and resolutions contrary to the Constitution and laws. She was accused by the Prosecutor's Office of having assumed the presidency of the Senate in 2019 and then of Bolivia without meeting constitutional requirements, after the coup d'état perpetrated against former President Evo Morales by the local right, external allies and the Organization of American States (OAS). ).

The ratification of the sentence was confirmed by his defense attorney, Eusebio Vera, who reported that he will file an appeal before the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), the last instance of appeal, to declare it as an executed sentence.


The complaint in this case (Golpe II) was presented by the president of the Senate, Andrónico Rodríguez, in April 2021, when Áñez was already being prosecuted for the crimes of sedition, conspiracy and terrorism after the complaint by former deputy Lidia Patty (Golpe case). YO).

According to press reports, other people tried in the Golpe II case also received ratification of the sentence. The ex-commander general of the Police, Yuri Calderón, and the ex-commander of the Armed Forces (FF.AA.), Williams Kaliman, received a ten-year prison sentence. Both are fugitives from Justice.

Also sentenced were the former chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, Flavio Gustavo Arce (two years in prison); the ex-commander of the Army, Pastor Mendieta (three years); as well as the former Inspector General of the High Command, Jorge Fernández, and General Sergio Orellana, former head of Department III of Operations (both sentenced to four years).

Áñez was arrested in March 2021 and remains in preventive detention in the Miraflores prison, in La Paz. In total, she has six open processes in ordinary Justice.

Popular sectors that resisted the coup consider it responsible for the massacres in Sacaba (Cochabamba) and Senkata (La Paz), when the military repressed followers of Evo Morales and defenders of the return of institutions with the use of war ammunition.

On November 15, 2021, in Sacaba, 11 civilians lost their lives and around 120 were injured, while another 11 died and 78 left with injuries in Senkata, on November 19 of the same year.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/bolivia- ... -0029.html

Google Translator

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6.8 magnitude earthquake shakes several Central American countries


Despite the intensity of the earthquake, the Salvadoran authorities ruled out issuing a tsunami warning. | Photo: USGS
Published 18 July 2023

The strong telluric movement was felt in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

A 6.8 magnitude earthquake in the Pacific Ocean shook regions of El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua on Tuesday, without the authorities reporting fatalities or significant damage.

The Salvadoran Ministry of the Environment reported that the epicenter of the tremor was located 66 kilometers south of El Espino beach, in the department of Usulután.

He also indicated that the depth of the telluric movement was 51 kilometers, in the subduction zone of the Pacific where the Cocos and Caribbean plates collide.





Despite the magnitude of the tremor, the Salvadoran authorities ruled out issuing the threat of a tsunami.

In Honduras, the early warning coordinator of the Permanent Contingency Commission, Juan José Reyes, reported that the earthquake was felt throughout the Honduran territory and with greater force in the Gulf of Fonseca, which they share with El Salvador and Nicaragua.


The Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies indicated that the earthquake had a magnitude of 6.5 and specified that no damage or affected people have been reported in the country.

The Central American region registers high seismicity because it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, as well as due to the activity of its volcanic chain.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/sismo-sa ... -0044.html

They congratulate Nicaragua on the 44th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution


The leaders sent warm congratulations to the president and the government of the Central American country for their Sandinista victory. | Photo: El19digital
Posted 19 July 2023 (-10 hours -41 minutes ago)

Presidents of Cuba, Russia, China and the Venezuelan foreign minister sent their congratulations to the Government of Nicaragua.

Leaders, presidents and political representatives sent congratulatory letters to the Government of Nicaragua, on the occasion of July 19, the 44th Anniversary of the Triumph of the Sandinista Popular Revolution.

The President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz Canel, and the Army General, Raúl Castro Ruz, sent the Head of State Daniel Ortega and the Vice President, Rosario Murillo, a letter on behalf of the Cuban people, the Party and the Government.

In the text, they highlighted that the Sandinista Revolution marked "a historic milestone in the struggle for sovereignty, justice and democracy in Nicaragua."


"The efforts that have been made in Sandino's land to consolidate peace, development and integration are admirable, as well as to strengthen the ties of friendship and cooperation with Cuba and the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean," highlights the text.

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, also cordially congratulated President Daniel Ortega through a letter, in which he stressed that Russian-Nicaraguan relations are based on traditional friendship and mutual respect, as well as on the interests of both peoples.

"Moscow and Managua develop a fruitful relationship in various areas and carry out constructive interaction on current issues on the international agenda," he said.


For his part, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, sent his congratulations to his Nicaraguan counterpart Denis Moncada Colindres, on behalf of the people and the Government of his country, stressing that the Sandinista Revolution was an inspiring milestone for his generation.

"Our countries share a rich relationship that has been distinguished by solidary cooperation, and a shared vision of the challenges that the birth of a new international order brings with it," the text underlines.

In this sense, he indicated that "Venezuela ratifies the fraternal and solidarity commitment to accompany the Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of Nicaragua on its path of Peace and Common Good.


Likewise, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping, also extended his warm congratulations to the people of Nicaragua and the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).

"Throughout more than a year since the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, a trend of rapid development of bilateral relations between China and Nicaragua has been observed," the document states.

In this regard, the Chinese president assures that the decision to restore bilateral decisions was correct, and is consistent with the interests of both peoples and countries.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/felicita ... -0041.html

Google Translator

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Nicaragua did not sign consensus of the III EU-Celac Summit


Nicaragua did not sign consensus statement of the III EU-Celac Summit. Jul. 18, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @ALBATCP

Published 18 July 2023 (12 hours 9 minutes ago)

The Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, pointed out that the declaration was announced in a pompous and lying manner.


The Government of Nicaragua informed today that it did not sign, approve or accompany the consensus declaration of the III Summit of the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held in Belgium.

Through a communiqué signed by the Nicaraguan Foreign Minister, Denis Moncada, and released in this capital, the Sandinista Executive pointed out that said declaration was announced in a pompous and lying manner.

He emphasized that the EU, as it usually does, broke the procedures and mechanisms established by democratic organizations, and went over "the rules that are the basis for the functioning of our own entities".

"From free and sovereign Nicaragua, we ratify our vocation for peace, based on the struggles that dignify our peoples and are the strength of victories," he concluded.


The tweet reads: The Foreign Minister of Nicaragua, Denis Moncada at the III #CelacEU Summit:

"The same Government of the United States has qualified the use of those cluster bombs as a war crime, we hope that this administration does not commit the crime thus qualified by its representatives"

The EU-Celac Summit, representing 60 countries and some one billion inhabitants, was held for two days in Brussels, Belgium, with the presence of more than 50 heads of state and government.

Speaking at the meeting, Moncada demanded the suspension of the unjust coercive and unilateral measures applied against several nations, because they violate human rights.

The head of Nicaraguan diplomacy stressed the need to eliminate such policies if the EU really wants to strengthen bi-regional relations.

He demanded the fulfillment of the commitments of the developed countries of the EU to guarantee climate justice and the policy of reparations to compensate for losses and damages, and to promote direct, respectful and unconditional cooperation.

In addition, he urged the EU to reflect and act in good faith with a vision of the present and future, taking into account the human beings of Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean and other regions that yearn for peace, security, stability, progress, sustainable development and respectful relations without interference.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Nic ... -0022.html

Nobody in LA should have signed it. Why make a deal with vassals who can be over-ruled at a whim?

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They reveal alleged CIA espionage plot against Rafael Correa


The investigation also reveals that UC Global would have spied on Correa's two daughters in 2014, when the Ecuadorian leader was still in government. | Photo: Metro Ecuador
Posted 18 July 2023 (10 hours 41 minutes ago)

The wiretaps would have been offered to President Lenín Moreno, after his estrangement with Rafael Correa.

A Spanish security company would have used its equipment to spy on the former president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, at the request of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to different international media.

The investigation revealed that UC Global, which provided its services to the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, contained files on the computer of the company's owner, former military officer David Morales, of an alleged activity of listening to Correa's conversations with leaders of the region. like the Brazilian Lula da Silva, the Argentine Cristina Fernández and the Uruguayan, José Mujica.

UC Global would have executed espionage orders given by the CIA from the United States (USA) and it happened when Correa had already left the presidency of Ecuador in 2018.


It was also learned that the wiretaps would have been offered to the then Ecuadorian president Lenín Moreno, after his estrangement with Rafael Correa and the expulsion of Australian journalist Julian Assange from the embassy in London, which occurred in 2019.

Morales had been hired by the Correa government to be in charge of the security of that diplomatic headquarters, where Assange was taking refuge. The ex-soldier would have commissioned his staff to spy on the WikiLeaks founder's meetings with his lawyers; but he also kept an eye on the Ecuadorian president.

The investigation also reveals that Morales would have spied on Correa's two daughters through computer viruses installed on their phones in 2014, when the Ecuadorian leader was still in government and while the young women were studying in France.

Precisely in 2020, Rafael Correa filed a complaint against Morales that was admitted by the National Court and incorporated into the case in which the alleged espionage of Assange was already being investigated.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/cia-empr ... -0042.html

Google Translator

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Economists Blast Menendez for ‘False Narrative’ About Crises in Cuba, Venezuela
JULY 18, 2023


View of San Lazaro street in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Photo: AP/Ramon Espinosa.

By Arturo Domínguez – Jul 14, 2023

More than 50 of the world’s top economists have slammed Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) for recent remarks he made about Cuba and Venezuela, asking that he “stop spreading the false narrative that there is no association between economic sanctions and the economic and humanitarian crises in” in the two countries.

First, a bit of backstory…

On May 10, Reps. Veronica Escobar (D-TX), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), and 19 of their fellow Congressmembers sent a letter to President Joe Biden in which they call attention to the unprecedented number of migrants from Cuba and Venezuela arriving at the U.S. borders, arguing that the increase was the direct outcome of U.S. sanctions on both countries.

Sen. Menendez reacted by sending his own letter to the president, blasting his colleagues and urging Biden to keep the sanctions in place.

Then, on July 5, the economists sent a letter to Sen. Menendez, slamming him for his remarks and asking that he stop spreading “the false narrative.”

The letter to President Biden from Rep. Escobar and others underscored how the majority of modern-day Cuban and Venezuelan refugees weren’t leaving their home countries merely due to political ideology and repression, but primarily because of dire economic conditions brought about by U.S. sanctions enacted under former President Donald Trump and his predecessors, which the Biden administration has chosen to keep in place.

“While your administration enacted new temporary parole programs over the last year for both Venezuelan and Cuban migrants outside of the United States —and these programs have allowed a limited number of eligible Venezuelans and Cubans to be paroled into the country for a temporary period of up to two years— migrants continue to leave their home countries because of instability and dire economic uncertainty,” Rep. Escobar said in the letter to the president.

The letter went on to cite the administration’s commitment to identifying the root causes of irregular migration, its promise to support countries in the Western Hemisphere, and to create conditions to improve quality of life—promises that were made during the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles in June 2022.

“Cuba is experiencing the largest migrant exodus in its modern history, with more than 220,000 Cubans fleeing the country in 2022, far exceeding both the 1980 Mariel boatlift and the 1994 rafter crisis,” Rep. Escobar said. “Venezuelans, meanwhile, currently comprise the second-largest group of displaced people in the world, with more than 7 million having fled the country since the start of its economic crisis.”

Rep. Menendez responded in his letter to the president by saying that Venezuelans and Cubans were leaving because of “brutal dictatorships” in both countries. Instead of backing his claims with evidence, Rep. Menendez took the opportunity to promote his “Menendez Plan,” in which he calls on the United States to enact a more robust response to “secure the U.S. border, bolster humanitarian assistance, expand lawful migration pathways for migrant and refugee populations, and dedicate additional financial resources towards programs to help migrants integrate into communities hosting them across the Americas.”

“The truth is that Cubans and Venezuelans are leaving their homeland because of one simple fact: they are suffering under the yoke of brutal dictatorships that violently repress their citizens and that have destroyed their countries’ economies through widespread mismanagement and graft,” Rep. Menendez wrote.

Rep. Menendez then echoed similar right-wing talking points in mentioning the “failed states” of Nicaragua and Haiti, without addressing the decades of U.S. intervention in both countries leading to their continued instability. Similarly, he ignored the economic success Cuba experienced when former President Barack Obama began thawing relations with Cuba and the turmoil the island nation has seen since former President Trump added sanctions that crippled Cuba’s economic ambitions.

“Removing U.S. sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela will only betray our democratic values and further empower criminal dictators,” said Menendez. “Such an approach would do nothing to resolve the underlying factors driving these crises, nor address the broader hemispheric challenges that are leading to unprecedented levels of migration, including another criminal dictatorship in Nicaragua, a failed state in Haiti, worsening criminal activity in Mexico and Central America, and enduring economic challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The economists later responded to Menendez’s letter to the president with several studies and reports showing that economic sanctions are doing the most damage to Cuba’s economic and political stability.

“Unlike Rep. Escobar’s letter, your letter fails to cite any research or evidence supporting your central claim that U.S. economic sanctions have not been a significant driver of migration from Cuba and Venezuela,” reads the economists’ letter to Rep. Menendez. “This is hardly surprising, as there is, in fact, no serious research supporting this claim. In contrast, as a recent report on the human consequences of sanctions has highlighted, dozens of peer-reviewed academic studies document the substantive negative —and often lethal— effects of economic sanctions on people’s living conditions in target countries.”

As noted in the economists’ letter, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported the arrival of 414,127 migrants from Venezuela and Cuba at U.S. borders in 2022—marking a 361 percent increase from the previous year. The U.S. has already seen nearly 280,000 arrivals from both countries so far this year.

“We respectfully ask that you stop spreading the false narrative that there is no association between economic sanctions and the economic and humanitarian crises in countries targeted by those sanctions,” the economists wrote. “If you truly believe in protecting the human rights of ordinary Cubans and Venezuelans, you should stop leveraging your considerable power in the Senate to maintain the cruel measures that cause profound human suffering, fuel humanitarian emergencies, and push many more people to migrate to the US.”

In June, a separate group of House Democrats —including Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee— also sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, asking that they consider adopting measures to ease the ongoing economic and political crises in Venezuela, including the lifting of certain sanctions.

Arturo Domínquez is a first-generation Cuban American, anti-racist, journalist, and the publisher of The Antagonist magazine. Twitter: @ExtremeArturo

https://orinocotribune.com/economists-b ... venezuela/

[blindpig]

Peru: Mobilizations Continue, So-Called Takeover of Lima


Manifestations in Peru. Jul. 21 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@teleSURtv

Published 21 July 2023 (9 hours 12 minutes ago)

"...other settlers are keeping the bridge blocked for the second day..."

On Thursday, Peruvian social organizations, movements and demonstrators continue with the mobilization in Lima to demand the resignation of the current president Dina Boluarte and the closing of the Congress.

The Peruvian Ombudsman's Office said that they are deployed in different points of the city of Lima and also in the Central 105 of the Peruvian Police in order to monitor the development of the current demonstrations and guarantee the right to peaceful protest of the citizens.

"The people united will never be defeated", "Dina murderer, narco criminal", "The people repudiate the usurper Dina", are some of the slogans raised by the demonstrators, who are heading to the Palace of Justice.


The mobilization took another direction. Thousands march towards the Palace of Justice

Likewise, other settlers are keeping the bridge blocked for the second day in protest against the government.

The National Unitary Coordination of Struggle of Peru, which groups diverse social organizations at national level, announced a new demonstration for Saturday, July 22.


Puno delegation requests resignation of Dina Boluarte. At this moment they are marching around Plaza San Martín surrounded by a police cordon.

Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of Human Rights of Peru (CNDDHH) from its Twitter account pointed out that last night at the door of the Alfonso Ugarte Police Station, located in downtown Lima, undercover police harassed journalists and lawyers of the human rights organization, who went to the police station to denounce detentions.

Similarly, the Women's sector of the New Peru Yesterday Movement recalled yesterday's mobilization. "Yesterday, we took to the streets to protest against the dictatorship of Dina Boluarte and her criminal coalition, against the Congress and for the memory of our murdered brothers and sisters".

[youtube]https://youtu.be/2WSTXL0dJBU[/youtube]

http://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Peru ... -0003.html

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Guatemala: Electoral Tribunal Reaffirms Movimiento Semilla’s Green Light
JULY 20, 2023


Bernardo Arévalo, candidate of the Movimiento Semilla party, during a political rally in Sacatepéquez, July 16, 2023. Photo: EFE.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Guatemala confirmed this Tuesday, July 18, in a communication sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office that it will not veto the Movimiento Semilla party, the political party to which Bernardo Arévalo, candidate for the presidential runoff on August 20, belongs.

The decision of the electoral court responds to a request—the second of its kind—made to the Attorney General’s Office, endorsed by Judge Freddy Orellana, to remove Semilla from the presidential race on charges of corruption, linked to an alleged use of false signatures in order to register the party.

The first lawsuit was filed on July 12, and was subsequently annulled by the Constitutional Court. Faced with this new request from the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the TSE limited itself to reiterating the need to obey the decision of the Constitutional Court, the highest legislative level of electoral matters.

The campaign of the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Semilla resulted in a series of demonstrations over the course of three days in front of the headquarters of the judicial body, demanding the dismissal of the Attorney General, Consuelo Porras. The Attorney General was sanctioned in 2021 by the United States for sabotaging the Guatemalan judiciary, despite the fact that it is the US government enabling democratic instability in the region in the first place.


The protesters also demanded the dismissal of Judge Freddy Orellana, who was in charge of the process that charged and imprisoned the renowned journalist, José Rubén Zamora, who was one of the main critics of the government of the current right-wing president, Alejandro Giammattei.

Semilla—the party for which Bernardo Arévalo is the presidential—achieved a great surprise on June 25 when it came in second place with 12% of the votes, competing against the candidate for the Union for Hope party, Sandra Torres, who won first place with 15% of the votes. Giammattei’s successor will emerge from the second round of elections, scheduled for August 20.

https://orinocotribune.com/guatemala-el ... een-light/

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Latin America Again Refuses to Fall In Line With the Collective West on Ukraine, This Time from Brussels
Posted on July 21, 2023 by Nick Corbishley

Another attempt by the Collective West to isolate Russia from the rest of the world — or the “Jungle,” as the EU’s chief “diplomat” Josep Borrell calls it — fails spectacularly.

Volodymyr Zelensky is accustomed to being the star guest, whether in person or on-screen, at just about every Western international summit, though his shine does appear to be fading. But at the summit that took place in Brussels early this week between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the first in eight years, the president of Ukraine was nowhere to be seen. This was despite the best efforts of Spanish President Pedro Sanchez, who is current holder of the EU Council’s rotating president, to get his name on the guest list.

At a bare minimum, Zelensky’s participation would have required the endorsement of the governments of Latin America’s three largest economies, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, all of which have taken a largely neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. Which is why it came as little surprise that the EU’s dogged attempts, not just during the two days of the summit but in the preceding weeks, to include in the final declaration a paragraph condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also come to nothing. The move faced opposition from a host of CELAC members including Brazil, Bolivia, Honduras, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.


Another Failure By Collective West

Once again, an attempt by the Collective West to isolate Russia from the rest of the world — the so-called “Jungle,” as the EU’s chief “diplomat” Josep Borrell calls it — has failed. From AP:

European Union and Latin American leaders concluded a summit that was supposed to be a love-in after eight years of separation, but instead ended Tuesday with aggravation over the failure to unanimously support even a bland statement on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Europe’s fervent support of Ukraine clashed with the more distant or neutral approach pervasive in the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. What should have been a mere detail in a landmark summit celebrating economic ties and fresh investment became its encompassing theme.

In the end, the heavily diluted paragraph (#15) not only did not mention Russia but merely expressed “deep concern” about — as opposed to “condemnation” of — the “ongoing war…, which continues to cause immense human suffering and is exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks.” And even then, Nicaragua, a close ally of Russia, refused to join the 59 other nations, including Cuba and Venezuela, in signing the statement.

In his closing statement at the Summit of the Peoples, a parallel event taking place in Brussels, Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, which will be hosting the next EU-CELAC summit, in 2025, pilloried the EU’s obsession with the war in Ukraine, which he described as “a far-removed issue” for Latin America and the Caribbean:

“The EU has basically focused on a topic that was of fundamental interest to itself, but which is far-removed for us: the war in Ukraine. [It wanted] to point to the construction of a block in the world, Latin America and the European Union, coalescing around Zelensky and support for a political, economic and military strategy, obviously. That was its priority.”

The President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also blasted the EU’s position on the conflict and lamented that “resources that are essential for the economy and social programs” are being channelled toward sustaining the war in Ukraine. He also suggested that both the EU and US sanctions against Russia contravene international law:

“Brazil supports all the initiatives proposed by the different countries and regions, demands a ceasefire, an end to hostilities and a negotiated peace. Using sanctions and blockades without the support of international law is something that merely serves to punish the most vulnerable segments of the populace.”

No Signs of Peace

At the beginning of this year, in his first month back in office, Lula laid out his government’s core positions on the NATO-Russia proxy in a phone conversation with Macron:

*Brazil acknowledges that Vladimir Putin’s Russia violated Ukrainian territory and this is illegal.
*But NATO’s behavior in recent years has not contributed to guaranteeing a relationship of trust with the Kremlin.
*Brazil defends the establishment of negotiations with Russia so that a ceasefire can be reached.
*Brazil will help to bring about peace, but will not contribute in any way to military operations.
*Brazil’s war is against an entirely different foe: poverty.

In her speech at the summit, the President of Honduras Xiomari Castro underscored the opportunities offered by the newly emerging multipolar world. Castro is the wife of Manuel Zelaya, who was removed in a Washington-sponsored military coup in 2009 that set in motion not only a decade of brutal political repression in the country but also, as Castro outlined, “a continent-wide persecution of our leaders, Lula Da Silva, Rafael Correa, Dilma Rousseff, Cristina Kirchner, Evo Morales, among others.”

As readers may recall, Castro’s government in March officially established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China after formally breaking ties with Taiwan. Like Lula, Castro also lamented the lack of progress toward peace in Ukraine:

The Ukrainian war must come to an end. The European Union-CELAC, we must find a way to achieve peace, we cannot live with the nightmare that hell could be unleashed upon all of us any day. Trillions of dollars in weapons are sent for war, but we are not capable of contributing to the integral development of humanity with the objectives of sustainable development, proposed by the UN.

Boric the Outlier

There were a few dissenting voices among the visiting delegates, most notably Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, who is the only head of state in Latin America to have invited Zelensky to address the nation’s parliament. In his speech at the summit, Boric pilloried his fellow CELAC members for refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or acknowledge that the war was “against” Ukraine, not just “in” Ukraine:

“In this place, the situation in Ukraine has been under discussion. I think it is important that those of us from Latin America say clearly: what is happening in Ukraine is an unacceptable war of imperial aggression where international law is being violated… I understand that the joint declaration is blocked today because some do not want to say that the war is against Ukraine. Dear colleagues, today it is Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be any of us.

Of course, Boric’s words were music to the ears of EU leaders but elicited a subtle put-down from Lula. During his parting speech on Wednesday, Brazil’s three-time president attributed Boric’s impatient zeal to youth and inexperience. “I was once in a big rush like Boric,” he said, recalling that when he was invited to the G7 summit during his first year in office, he also wanted everything to be decided there and then.

On the topic of Ukraine, Lula said: “we all know what Europe thinks, we know what is happening between Ukraine and Russia and we know what Latin America thinks.” Lula described the summit’s final declaration as “extremely reasonable,” reiterating that Brazil wants peace, which is why he is talking not only to other countries in the region but also to China and Indonesia, with a view to building a coalition of countries “capable of convincing Russia and Ukraine that peace is the best way forward.”

People are “growing tired of the war,” Lula said. Interestingly, he also described the EU-CELAC summit, as a whole, as “extremely successful.” From the English language edition of El País:

“Of all the meetings in which I’ve participated with the EU, this has been the most successful of all,” said the politician. Lula is clear about the reason: “I have rarely seen so much political and economic interest from the EU countries towards Latin America.”

The appreciation of the president of Brazil, the main political and economic player in the region, leaves no doubt about the outcome of the summit. Nor is the Brazilian deceived about what took Europe from a very recent apathy to an utmost interest in the region: “Possibly due to the dispute between the United States and China, possibly due to China’s investments in Africa and Latin America, possibly due to the new Silk Road [the Chinese investment program], possibly due to the war [in Ukraine].” Regardless, Lula recognizes the concrete result: “The European Union showed great interest in investing by announcing an investment of €45 billion [$50.2 billion].”

Staying Neutral on Ukraine

EU leaders are probably somewhat less enthused, due to the refusal of Latin American countries to fall in line on Ukraine. Only one country in the region is actually applying the sanctions against Russia, according to the Spanish daily La Vanguardia. That country is Costa Rica.

Three countries voted in favour of Russia in the UN resolutions on the Ukraine conflict: Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Bolivia and El Salvador have abstained in some UN votes. Most other governments in the region have tried to maintain a largely neutral stance on the conflict, initially condemning the war while refusing to endorse sanctions on Russia. They include the region’s four largest economies, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, which earlier this year categorically rejected US and EU requests to send weapons to Ukraine.

There are many reasons why most governments in the region are determined to maintain neutrality in the conflict. They include those outlined in an article by Krishen Mehta, “5 Reasons Why Much of the Global South Isn’t Automatically Supporting the West in Ukraine,” cross-posted on this site back in February:

1.The Global South does not believe that the West understands or empathises with their problems.
2.History Matters: Who stood where during colonialism and after independence? NC: This was a major bone of contention at the EU-CELAC summit. For example, the Spanish government has volunteered as a mediator between Europe and Latin America, but for many Latin American countries Spain was their colonial master for hundreds of years, acquiring vast wealth by plundering their resources and exploiting their lands and people. The European slave trade also forcibly transported millions of Africans into slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean. Then, of course, there’s the more recent role of the US, which has sponsored or organised dozens of hard and soft coups and military interventions over the past century or so.
3.The war in Ukraine is seen by the Global South as mainly about the future of Europe rather than the future of the entire world. NC: This is just what Petro said.
4.The world economy is no longer US-dominated or Western-led and the Global South does have other options. NC: This is particularly true of Latin America. Brazil, of course, is a founding member of the BRICS group and its former President Dilma Rousseff is the new head of the BRICS Bank. The region’s trade with China has increased more than 26-fold so far this century. In fact, as Reuters reported in June last year, if you take Mexico’s huge trade balance with the US out of the equation, China has already overtaken the US as Latin America’s largest trading partner. And even Mexico is beginning to see a sharp increase in Chinese trade and investment.
5.The “rule based international order” is lacking in credibility and is in decline. NC: Indeed, the rise of CELAC itself is arguably a symptom of this decline. It was founded on December 3, 2011, in Caracas, by the “Pink Tide” leaders with the implicit goal of deepening Latin American integration while reducing the influence of the US on the politics and economics of the region. Mexico’s AMLO picked up the baton at the 2021 summit, expressing hopes that CELAC would eventually supplant the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) as the main institution for intra-regional relations. A year later, AMLO led a boycott of the OAS’ flagship biennial event, the Summit of the Americas, in response to Washington’s decision to exclude from the guest list the “antidemocratic” governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

There are other reasons why Latin America, as a whole, isn’t falling in line with the Collective West on Ukraine. For instance, Mexico has a long, albeit interrupted, history of neutrality dating all the way back to the early 1930s. Mexico’s constitution even includes a list of foreign policy principles such as a commitment to non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and promotion of collective security through active participation in international organisations. And AMLO is determined to honour those principles.

There are also stark economic considerations at play. As previously discussed here, Russia produces many of the fertilisers on which the huge agricultural industries of Brazil, Mexico and Argentina depend. Latin America was already in the grip of a major food crisis before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, largely but not only due to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting supply chain crisis.

Another consideration is the goodwill Russia was able to cultivate during the pandemic. Moscow’s vaccine diplomacy, like Beijing’s, helped to expand its role and influence in the region, while Pfizer was shaking down governments left, right and centre.

Lastly, fear has also played a part. Two of the region’s countries, Venezuela and Cuba, have already had their economies eviscerated by US sanctions and blockades. Like their counterparts in many other parts of the world, the governments of Latin America were justifiably terrified by the precedent the US and the EU tried to set by attempting to banish Russia, one of the world’s largest commodity producers and exporters, from the entire global financial system. If the ploy had worked, they knew they could be next in line. Thankfully, it didn’t.

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This entry was posted in Guest Post on July 21, 2023 by Nick Corbishley.

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[blindpig]

Peru: Social Movements Demand Resignation of De Facto President
JULY 23, 2023


A march in Lima demanding de facto President Dina Boluarte's resignation. Photo: Paolo Aguilar/EFE/File photo.

The National Unitary Coordination Platform of Struggle (CNUL), composed of several Peruvian social movements, called for a new march on Saturday to demand the resignation of de facto President Dina Boluarte.

The platform of social movements announced that Saturday, July 22, will be a day of peaceful struggle, with marches in working class neighborhoods of the northern, southern and eastern parts of Lima, and in other regions of the country.

On Wednesday, July 19, marchers from all over the country took over the capital and 59 other provinces, and the CNUL plans to continue the same during July 24-29.


La Coordinadora Nacional de Lucha de Perú anunció este jueves una nueva marcha nacional para el próximo 22 de julio. El movimiento mantiene las mismas exigencias. pic.twitter.com/M9dCuUx6tP

— RT en Español (@ActualidadRT) July 21, 2023

A meeting of trade unions, agrarian organizations, university student federations, and regional movements is scheduled for this weekend.

The CNUL congratulated the people for their mobilizations inside and outside Peru, and for demonstrating their support for the popular demands in this historic moment for Peru.

Mass protests have been going on in Peru demanding the resignation of de facto President Boluarte, the closure of the unpopular parliament, and the convocation of a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution.

At numerous places, there were clashes between the marchers and the police, who try to deny the legitimacy and legality of the protests.


¿Quién protesta en Perú?

El rechazo a la gestión de la presidenta de Perú Dina Boluarte alcanza el 79%.

Los peruanos volvieron a las calles en la #TerceraTomaDeLima para protestar contra la impunidad, la desigualdad o la crisis económica. /cc#ContextoDW pic.twitter.com/BJ2GMZRfhN

— DW Español (@dw_espanol) July 21, 2023

The CNUL also demanded freedom for political prisoners detained since December 7, 2022, when President Pedro Castillo was imprisoned and removed from office and replaced by the de facto authorities.

Another demand of the platform is retribution for those who were directly or indirectly responsible for the death of nearly 70 Peruvians during the protests, and moral and material reparations for the families of the victims.

A new demand that was raised during the third takeover of Lima was the defense of national sovereignty, and the withdrawal of the US troops that arrived in Peru to back up the Boluarte regime.

https://orinocotribune.com/peru-social- ... president/

President of Honduras Condemns Politicization of UN in Anti-Corruption Issue
JULY 22, 2023


The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro. Photo: Canal 8 Honduras.

The president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, condemned the politicization of the United Nations in her country, in response to the support of the UN representative in Tegucigalpa for the director of the National Anti-Corruption Council (CNA).

“The politicization of the United Nations in Honduras is unacceptable!” President Castro wrote in a Twitter post, after the UN representative in Tegucigalpa, Alice Shackelford, supported CNA director Gabriela Castellanos, who had left the country due to alleged threats on June 18 but had returned on July 20.


Upon her return, Castellanos held a press conference, where she was accompanied by representatives of the United Nations, the European Union, and several Honduran civil society organizations. At that press conference, she stated that she had returned to Honduras despite threats in order to send the corrupt to prison.

Former President Manuel Zelaya, advisor and husband of the current president, stated in this regard, “I am sorry to see that Alice Shackelford, who knows international law, lends herself to the perverse political game of the CNA against President Xiomara Castro.”

In response to the criticism, Shackelford wrote on Twitter, “We must listen to and involve all voices in a country’s dialogues for its sustainable development. The United Nations will always defend human rights defenders who are under threat, and will accompany and support their institutions and their valuable work.”


The threats against Castellanos allegedly came after she presented on May 24 a report entitled Concentration of Power, in which the CNA had pointed out that “strategic positions and those that require a counterweight, are being held by members of the same political organization and by members of the same family, causing institutional monopolization by a minority.”

In 2022, Castro asked the United Nations for its support to install an International Commission Against Impunity and Corruption in Honduras, in order to root out these scourges from the country that had suffered 13 years of a narco-dictatorship.

https://orinocotribune.com/president-of ... ion-issue/

CARICOM’s 10-Point Plan For Reparatory Justice Is Reasonable
JULY 22, 2023


Logo of the Caricom Reparations Commission. Photo: Caribbean Community/CARICOM.

By Andrew Korybko – Jul 20, 2023

The CELAC-EU joint statement from this week’s summit referenced the CARICOM reparations plan, which is fair and would be mutually beneficial for those European governments to which it pertains if they have the political will to seriously explore it.

This week’s CELAC-EU Summit resulted in a joint statement that saw both blocs compromise on their hardline stances towards reparations and Ukraine, respectively, which risked derailing their event earlier this month after the EU’s demand for CELAC to condemn Russia prompted CELAC to demand reparations. Of particular interest to outside observers is the way in which CELAC-EU worded their reference to reparations, which will be analyzed in this piece. Here’s what that part of their joint statement said:

“10. We acknowledge and profoundly regret the untold suffering inflicted on millions of men, women and children as a result of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

We underline our full support to the related principles and elements contained in the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action, including the acknowledgment that slavery and the slave trade, including the transatlantic slave trade, were appalling tragedies in the history of humanity not only because of their abhorrent barbarism but also in terms of their magnitude, organized nature and especially their negation of the essence of the victims, and that slavery and the slave trade are a crime against humanity.

CELAC referred to the CARICOM ten point Plan for Reparatory Justice.”

The Durban Declaration and Programme of Action can be read here, the essence of which was summarized in the second sentence of the CELAC-EU joint statement. It allows for countries to demand reparations from their former colonizers but does not obligate the offenders to comply. This declaration is more well known than the CARICOM ten-point Plan of Reparatory Justice, the first of which dates to 2001 and involved most of the world while the latter is from 2014 and only involved that bloc.

That second-mentioned reparations-related plan is worth paying more attention to because it provides a detailed plan of action and is actually quite reasonable. The issue of reparations is very polarizing in the West, where it is popularly conflated with direct payments to descendants of slavery. The vast majority of those who would foot the bill had nothing to do with this, however. Therefore, they regard it as unfair to be forced to pay for the crimes committed by a comparatively small number of their compatriots’ ancestors.

The CARICOM plan doesn’t demand direct payments from those European governments responsible for slavery in their region, thus making it much less polarizing than what some African Americans demand from the US government. Instead, the Caribbean countries are looking for sustainable development support for improving their people’s lives, which is fair and mutually beneficial. What follows is their demands in bullet point form, which can be learned more about at the official CARICOM site here:

“1. Full Formal Apology

2. Repatriation

3. Indigenous Peoples Development Program

4. Cultural Institutions

5. Public Health Crisis

6. Illiteracy Eradication

7. African Knowledge Program

8. Psychological Rehabilitation

9. Technology Transfer

10. Debt Cancellation”

To be absolutely clear, the only European governments that these demands should pertain to are those that were responsible for slavery in the Caribbean. Furthermore, it would be unfair to impose additional taxes on their society to pay for these reparations, which should be funded using the existing resources given to their Foreign Ministries for overseas development assistance. Private companies could also be encouraged to participate if they’re offered creative tax incentives, which should be seriously explored.

With this disclaimer in mind, it’ll now be explained why each reparations demand is mutually beneficial:

The previously slave-trading European countries will never enjoy goodwill in the Global South until those governments that are guilty of this historical crime offer full formal apologies, thus hamstringing their ability to compete with the Sino-Russo Entente for hearts and minds across this swath of the world.
Likewise, Europe’s reputation would improve if it brokered a pact between African and Caribbean countries over the voluntary repatriation of those latter’s citizens whose ancestors were sent to the region as slaves, which could serve as a highly symbolic form of North-South cooperation.
The European-supported rehabilitation of indigenous Caribbean communities could counteract the socio-economic risks of substance abuse and poverty that tend to disproportionately afflict historically victimized people, among other problems, thus serving to stabilize the countries in which they live.
As part of the first demand regarding a full formal apology for slavery, those European governments that are guilty of this historical crime should also construct cultural institutions where the victims’ descendants can learn about what happened to their ancestors, which could be part of their curriculum.
The public health of any region’s inhabitants is in the global interest, and European countries could show the world that they’re sincerely committed to this and thus improve their reputations by prioritizing efforts to reduce the incidence of hypertension and type two diabetes in the Caribbean.
Likewise, it’s also in the European countries’ reputational interests to combat illiteracy in this region too, even if they invest in related programs for ulterior reasons related to improving the quality of its labor and markets.
The demand for Europeans to support the Caribbean people’s African knowledge programs is a more detailed and inclusive aspect of the second demand regarding voluntary repatriation, which could boost the soft power of those states that participate in this highly symbolic form of North-South cooperation.
The European-supported psychological rehabilitation of those Caribbean people descended from slavery is similar to the third demand for rehabilitating indigenous communities, but this one specifically calls for bringing together fragmented communities, which can strengthen national and regional stability.
Technology transfers can help bridge the developmental gap between the Caribbean and Latin America while also enabling the first-mentioned to establish strategic niches that eventually lead to it playing an important role in the global economy on par with other regions.
And finally, the Caribbean countries shouldn’t remain shackled to debt schemes that only serve to keep them underdeveloped since this incubates socio-economic problems that could pose risks to regional stability, hence why it the previous slave-owning European governments should bail them out.
As was earlier mentioned, reparations are understandably a very polarizing issue in Western societies, but the CARICOM Plan is fair and would be mutually beneficial if those European governments that it pertains to agreed to participate in it. They would improve their reputations across the Global South while cultivating some promising economic partners, which is why policymakers should seriously consider commissioning studies to determine the costs as well as the most efficient way for implementing this.

https://orinocotribune.com/caricoms-ten ... easonable/

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Colombia reports 92 social leaders in the first months of 2023


According to the Ombudsman's Office, Colombia added 215 murders of leaders and human rights defenders in 2022. | Photo: API Agency
Posted 22 July 2023 (7 hours 44 minutes ago)

According to the Ombudsman's Office, the department of Cauca reports 17 leaders and human rights defenders assassinated.

The Colombian Ombudsman's Office reported on Friday that at least 92 social leaders and human rights defenders have been assassinated in the country in the first three months of 2023.

The Colombian Ombudsman, Carlos Camargo, indicated that the figure is a sample of the continuity of violence and attacks against leaders in the regions of the South American country.

Camargo pointed out that despite the more than 90 murders of social leaders, there has been a decrease compared to the same period in 2022, when there were 114 cases.

However, the ombudsman warned that the trend could increase, due to the regional elections that will be held in the country in October.


According to data from the Ombudsman's Office, in the first quarter of 2023, 22 community leaders, 20 community leaders, 16 indigenous people were murdered, which make up 63 percent of the murders registered by the state entity.

In addition, the department of Cauca was the most affected, with 17 cases, followed by Nariño and Antioquia.

"It is a shame for the State that apparently the fact that nearly a hundred homicides of social leaders and human rights defenders continue to be registered each semester has been normalized," the Ombudsman argued.

The Colombian defender regretted that the State does not observe forceful measures that guarantee the life of social leaders and human rights defenders.

The figures from the Ombudsman's Office contrast with that of the Institute for Development and Peace Studies (Indepaz), which in the same period of time has counted 82 murdered defenders.

According to the Ombudsman's Office, Colombia added 215 murders of leaders and human rights defenders in 2022.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/colombia ... -0002.html

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Admittedly he has a very tough row to hoe, I'm a little surprised that h was allowed to assume office and hasn't been assassinated (yet). But we must ask, has Petro made any difference, other than symbolic?

[blindpig]

Latin America Again Refuses to Fall In Line With the Collective West on Ukraine, This Time from Brussels
JULY 24, 2023


President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels (right) in Brussels on 17 Jul 2023. Photo: Simon Wohlfahrt/Bloomberg.

By Nick Corbishley – Jul 21, 2023

Another attempt by the Collective West to isolate Russia from the rest of the world — or the “Jungle,” as the EU’s chief “diplomat” Josep Borrell calls it — fails spectacularly.

Volodymyr Zelensky is accustomed to being the star guest, whether in person or on-screen, at just about every Western international summit, though his shine does appear to be fading. But at the summit that took place in Brussels early this week between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the president of Ukraine was nowhere to be seen. This was despite the best efforts of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is current holder of the EU Council’s rotating president, to get his name on the guest list.

At a bare minimum, Zelensky’s participation would have required the endorsement of the governments of Latin America’s three largest economies, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, all of which have taken a largely neutral stance on the war in Ukraine. Which is why it came as little surprise that the EU’s dogged attempts, not just during the two days of the summit but in the preceding weeks, to include in the final declaration a paragraph condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also come to nothing. The move faced opposition from a host of CELAC members including Brazil, Bolivia, Honduras, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua.

Another Failure By Collective West
Once again, an attempt by the Collective West to isolate Russia from the rest of the world — the so-called “Jungle,” as the EU’s chief “diplomat” Josep Borrell calls it — has failed. From AP:

European Union and Latin American leaders concluded a summit that was supposed to be a love-in after eight years of separation, but instead ended Tuesday with aggravation over the failure to unanimously support even a bland statement on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Europe’s fervent support of Ukraine clashed with the more distant or neutral approach pervasive in the 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. What should have been a mere detail in a landmark summit celebrating economic ties and fresh investment became its encompassing theme.

In the end, the heavily diluted paragraph (#15) not only did not mention Russia but merely expressed “deep concern” about — as opposed to “condemnation” of — the “ongoing war…, which continues to cause immense human suffering and is exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy, constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity and elevating financial stability risks.” And even then, Nicaragua, a close ally of Russia, refused to join the 59 other nations, including Cuba and Venezuela, in signing the statement.

In his closing statement at the Summit of the Peoples, a parallel event taking place in Brussels, Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, which will be hosting the next EU-CELAC summit, in 2025, pilloried the EU’s obsession with the war in Ukraine, which he described as “a far-removed issue” for Latin America and the Caribbean:

“The EU has basically focused on a topic that was of fundamental interest to itself, but which is far-removed for us: the war in Ukraine. [It wanted] to point to the construction of a block in the world, Latin America and the European Union, coalescing around Zelensky and support for a political, economic and military strategy, obviously. That was its priority.”

The President of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva also blasted the EU’s position on the conflict and lamented that “resources that are essential for the economy and social programs” are being channelled toward sustaining the war in Ukraine. He also suggested that both the EU and US sanctions against Russia contravene international law:

“Brazil supports all the initiatives proposed by the different countries and regions, demands a ceasefire, an end to hostilities and a negotiated peace. Using sanctions and blockades without the support of international law is something that merely serves to punish the most vulnerable segments of the populace.”

No Signs of Peace
At the beginning of this year, in his first month back in office, Lula laid out his government’s core positions on the NATO-Russia proxy in a phone conversation with Macron:

• Brazil acknowledges that Vladimir Putin’s Russia violated Ukrainian territory and this is illegal.
• But NATO’s behavior in recent years has not contributed to guaranteeing a relationship of trust with the Kremlin.
• Brazil defends the establishment of negotiations with Russia so that a ceasefire can be reached.
• Brazil will help to bring about peace, but will not contribute in any way to military operations.
• Brazil’s war is against an entirely different foe: poverty.

In her speech at the summit, the President of Honduras Xiomari Castro underscored the opportunities offered by the newly emerging multipolar world. Castro is the wife of Manuel Zelaya, who was removed in a Washington-sponsored military coup in 2009 that set in motion not only a decade of brutal political repression in the country but also, as Castro outlined, “a continent-wide persecution of our leaders, Lula Da Silva, Rafael Correa, Dilma Rousseff, Cristina Kirchner, Evo Morales, among others.”

As readers may recall, Castro’s government in March officially established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China after formally breaking ties with Taiwan. Like Lula, Castro also lamented the lack of progress toward peace in Ukraine:

The Ukrainian war must come to an end. The European Union-CELAC, we must find a way to achieve peace, we cannot live with the nightmare that hell could be unleashed upon all of us any day. Trillions of dollars in weapons are sent for war, but we are not capable of contributing to the integral development of humanity with the objectives of sustainable development, proposed by the UN.

Boric the Outlier
There were a few dissenting voices among the visiting delegates, most notably Chile’s President Gabriel Boric, who is the only head of state in Latin America to have invited Zelensky to address the nation’s parliament. In his speech at the summit, Boric pilloried his fellow CELAC members for refusing to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or acknowledge that the war was “against” Ukraine, not just “in” Ukraine:

“In this place, the situation in Ukraine has been under discussion. I think it is important that those of us from Latin America say clearly: what is happening in Ukraine is an unacceptable war of imperial aggression where international law is being violated… I understand that the joint declaration is blocked today because some do not want to say that the war is against Ukraine. Dear colleagues, today it is Ukraine, but tomorrow it could be any of us.

Of course, Boric’s words were music to the ears of EU leaders but elicited a subtle put-down from Lula. During his parting speech on Wednesday, Brazil’s three-time president attributed Boric’s impatient zeal to youth and inexperience. “I was once in a big rush like Boric,” he said, recalling that when he was invited to the G7 summit during his first year in office, he also wanted everything to be decided there and then.

On the topic of Ukraine, Lula said: “we all know what Europe thinks, we know what is happening between Ukraine and Russia and we know what Latin America thinks.” Lula described the summit’s final declaration as “extremely reasonable,” reiterating that Brazil wants peace, which is why he is talking not only to other countries in the region but also to China and Indonesia, with a view to building a coalition of countries “capable of convincing Russia and Ukraine that peace is the best way forward.”

People are “growing tired of the war,” Lula said. Interestingly, he also described the EU-CELAC summit, as a whole, as “extremely successful.” From the English language edition of El País:

“Of all the meetings in which I’ve participated with the EU, this has been the most successful of all,” said the politician. Lula is clear about the reason: “I have rarely seen so much political and economic interest from the EU countries towards Latin America.”

The appreciation of the president of Brazil, the main political and economic player in the region, leaves no doubt about the outcome of the summit. Nor is the Brazilian deceived about what took Europe from a very recent apathy to an utmost interest in the region: “Possibly due to the dispute between the United States and China, possibly due to China’s investments in Africa and Latin America, possibly due to the new Silk Road [the Chinese investment program], possibly due to the war [in Ukraine].” Regardless, Lula recognizes the concrete result: “The European Union showed great interest in investing by announcing an investment of €45 billion [$50.2 billion].”

Staying Neutral on Ukraine
EU leaders are probably somewhat less enthused, due to the refusal of Latin American countries to fall in line on Ukraine. Only one country in the region is actually applying the sanctions against Russia, according to the Spanish daily La Vanguardia. That country is Costa Rica.

Three countries voted in favour of Russia in the UN resolutions on the Ukraine conflict: Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Bolivia and El Salvador have abstained in some UN votes. Most other governments in the region have tried to maintain a largely neutral stance on the conflict, initially condemning the war while refusing to endorse sanctions on Russia. They include the region’s four largest economies, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia, which earlier this year categorically rejected US and EU requests to send weapons to Ukraine.

Latin American Presidents Will Speak in Defense of Sovereignty and Equality at CELAC-EU Summit


There are many reasons why most governments in the region are determined to maintain neutrality in the conflict. They include those outlined in an article by Krishen Mehta, “5 Reasons Why Much of the Global South Isn’t Automatically Supporting the West in Ukraine,” cross-posted on this site back in February:

1- The Global South does not believe that the West understands or empathises with their problems.
2- History Matters: Who stood where during colonialism and after independence? NC: This was a major bone of contention at the EU-CELAC summit. For example, the Spanish government has volunteered as a mediator between Europe and Latin America, but for many Latin American countries Spain was their colonial master for hundreds of years, acquiring vast wealth by plundering their resources and exploiting their lands and people. The European slave trade also forcibly transported millions of Africans into slavery in Latin America and the Caribbean. Then, of course, there’s the more recent role of the US, which has sponsored or organised dozens of hard and soft coups and military interventions over the past century or so.
3- The war in Ukraine is seen by the Global South as mainly about the future of Europe rather than the future of the entire world. NC: This is just what Petro said.
4- The world economy is no longer US-dominated or Western-led and the Global South does have other options. NC: This is particularly true of Latin America. Brazil, of course, is a founding member of the BRICS group and its former President Dilma Rousseff is the new head of the BRICS Bank. The region’s trade with China has increased more than 26-fold so far this century. In fact, as Reuters reported in June last year, if you take Mexico’s huge trade balance with the US out of the equation, China has already overtaken the US as Latin America’s largest trading partner. And even Mexico is beginning to see a sharp increase in Chinese trade and investment.
5- The “rule based international order” is lacking in credibility and is in decline. NC: Indeed, the rise of CELAC itself is arguably a symptom of this decline. It was founded on December 3, 2011, in Caracas, by the “Pink Tide” leaders with the implicit goal of deepening Latin American integration while reducing the influence of the US on the politics and economics of the region. Mexico’s AMLO picked up the baton at the 2021 summit, expressing hopes that CELAC would eventually supplant the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS) as the main institution for intra-regional relations. A year later, AMLO led a boycott of the OAS’ flagship biennial event, the Summit of the Americas, in response to Washington’s decision to exclude from the guest list the “antidemocratic” governments of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

There are other reasons why Latin America, as a whole, isn’t falling in line with the Collective West on Ukraine. For instance, Mexico has a long, albeit interrupted, history of neutrality dating all the way back to the early 1930s. Mexico’s constitution even includes a list of foreign policy principles such as a commitment to non-intervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, peaceful resolution of conflicts, and promotion of collective security through active participation in international organisations. And AMLO is determined to honour those principles.

There are also stark economic considerations at play. As previously discussed here, Russia produces many of the fertilisers on which the huge agricultural industries of Brazil, Mexico and Argentina depend. Latin America was already in the grip of a major food crisis before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, largely but not only due to the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting supply chain crisis.

Another consideration is the goodwill Russia was able to cultivate during the pandemic. Moscow’s vaccine diplomacy, like Beijing’s, helped to expand its role and influence in the region, while Pfizer was shaking down governments left, right and centre.

Lastly, fear has also played a part. Two of the region’s countries, Venezuela and Cuba, have already had their economies eviscerated by US sanctions and blockades. Like their counterparts in many other parts of the world, the governments of Latin America were justifiably terrified by the precedent the US and the EU tried to set by attempting to banish Russia, one of the world’s largest commodity producers and exporters, from the entire global financial system. If the ploy had worked, they knew they could be next in line. Thankfully, it didn’t.

(Naked Capitalism)

https://orinocotribune.com/latin-americ ... -brussels/

Guatemalans Call for ‘The Flowers March’ To Defend Democracy
JULY 26, 2023


Palin Mayor Alida Vicente (L) at a press conference, Guatemala City, July 23, 2023. Photo: Twitter/@andread_gtv.

“Criminal structures do not want to relinquish power,” said Alida Vicente, mayor of Palin, Guetamala. On Sunday, the Highlands Farmers Committee (CCDA), the Palin Indigenous Mayor’s Office, and students from the University of San Carlos (USAC) called for a “March of Flowers” to defend democracy in Guatemala.

This happens at a time when the Prosecutor’s Office is carrying out persecutory actions against the Seed Movement party (Semilla) which might jeopardize the holding of the presidential run-off scheduled for August 20.

The “Flowers March” seeks to oppose the “dark political landscape” that Guatemalan elites are trying to consolidate, said Vicente.

“In our country, we need to see a new dawn and a blossoming. We need to rebuild a new nation,” she said.

“Small mobilizations are no longer enough. We need a massive mobilization without partisan objectives and with clear objectives in defense of the common good,” added Vicente.

Since 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, progressive social and political organizations are marching from the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ) to the Constitutional Court (CC). Later, they will go to the Presidential House and, finally, to the headquarters of the Prosecutor’s Office.

In the first round of the presidential elections held on June 25, Bernardo Arevalo, a social democratic politician sponsored by the Seed Movement, came in second place, after Sandra Torres, who participated with the support of the National Unity of Hope.

https://orinocotribune.com/guatemalans- ... democracy/

Peru: Police Crack Down on Demonstrators Amidst Protests Against Boluarte Government
JULY 24, 2023


Aymara women denounce violent repression while resisting the Peruvian police in recent protests. Photo: EFE/Aldair Mejía.

Tear gas has been deployed against demonstrators entering Plaza San Martin in Lima. There are reports that police forces have physically assaulted Aymara women. One person has been seriously injured.

This Saturday, thousands of Peruvians faced severe police hostility while taking part in the great national march against the government of Dina Boluarte, marking the context of the third Seizure of Lima.

The demonstrators convened at various locations across Lima, including Dos de Mayo and Bolognesi Squares. From these points, they initiated a march towards the seat of the Congress, voicing slogans of discontent towards both the executive and legislative bodies.

Despite the peaceful nature of the protest, the Peruvian Police deployed tear gas against a group of demonstrators who were making their way from Abancay Avenue into San Martin Square. As a result, several individuals were adversely affected by the gas and required immediate assistance.

At least one person was reported to have suffered blunt force trauma from a tear gas canister, and they were promptly taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Additionally, during the protest, a demonstrator came forward to denounce uniformed officers for assaulting Aymara women. This incident was captured and documented through videos and images that circulated on various social networks.


Earlier, reports emerged on social networks detailing the arrest of a young university student, Franco Lucio, by uniformed officers. The incident occurred during a rally of demonstrators who had gathered in San Martin de Porres, at the heart of the Peruvian capital.




Heavy police presence was reported at the site from the early morning hours. Despite the authorities’ ban on protests at this location and the severe attack the protesters endured, demonstrators stood their ground and made efforts to maintain their positions in the aforementioned square.


During this Saturday’s marches, the demonstrators voiced their demands for several key issues. These included advocating for the advancement of general elections, the establishment of a constituent assembly to draft a Magna Carta that represents the aspirations of the majority, the prosecution of those accountable for the killings that occurred during the suppression of the protests, and the release of former president Pedro Castillo, who has been in detention since last December.

The mobilization, organized by the Coordinadora Nacional Unitaria de Lucha (CNUL), the Confederación General de Trabajadores del Perú (CGTP), and other social groups, was joined by people from outlying neighborhoods of the capital city and other regions, such as Huánuco, Pasco, and Juliaca (department of Puno).


The press media recently reported the arrival of a delegation from the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro river valley region (Vraem) in Lima to join the protests. This marks the third protest during this week.

Demonstrators interviewed by teleSUR have confirmed that the protests will persist through July 26, 27, and 28, coinciding with Independence Day and national holidays.

It was evident that these demonstrations are driven by the objective of restoring democracy in a country facing the challenges of an authoritarian government and the rise of Fujimorism.

Furthermore, the protesters emphasized that the Peruvian people’s struggle is centered around establishing a constituent assembly. The assembly aims to pave the way for a new Constitution, with the intention of overcoming a nation deeply impacted by socio-economic inequalities.

https://orinocotribune.com/peru-police- ... overnment/

[blindpig]

"The nobodies": women in struggle in Peru


“We love Peru, we are Peruvians. We are native peoples who have resisted 500 years, [of them] the 200 years of republican life.” | Photo: Peru correspondent
Posted 27 July 2023 (14 hours 31 minutes ago)

These seven months of struggle, plus everything that lies ahead, is for "Peru to be for all Peruvians" and for all the rights enshrined in the Constitution to be respected.

For 7 months and with no intention of leaving the streets, massive popular mobilizations have been taking place in Peru that have, from day one, the same demands: get Pedro Castillo out of jail, dissolve Congress and call a Constituent Assembly. Women have led the fight: Martha Mamani Huacca is one of them.

The journalist and president of the multi-state teleSUR, Patricia Villegas, describes her meeting with them in these terms: "I saw her walking through the streets of Lima, with her small hat and multicolored skirt. After a while, while she was haranguing from a monument, she was pulled by the public force".

Mamani recalls that when she was little she was abandoned by her parents, she grew up in a rural and impoverished area of ​​Peru and when she came of age, having gone to school to learn the basics, she ran to be mayor of her town.

Today he has two children, a small one who finds it difficult to hear, "because a lot of lightning strikes in his land," as he admits. Mamani is from the Puno region, in the south, an area where the repression by the Government of the designated president, Dina Boluarte, has claimed more lives, more than 50 according to Human Rights organizations.


In her appearance this Thursday night on the teleSUR program "Los Nadie" (The Nobodies), Mamami acknowledges the blows received by the police repression, which has increased since the beginning of the demonstrations last December, and in recent days it has been “very strong”.

"We have not been received by the government on duty and, instead, we have been repressed," he acknowledged.

He said he felt "sad" about the current situation his country is going through: "We love Peru, we are Peruvians. We are native peoples who have resisted 500 years, [of them] the 200 years of republican life.”

They have also resisted, she pointed out, the last 30 years [since Alberto Fujimori's coup d'état] because he established a “surrendering, looting” political system, the origin of the current situation, analyzed in depth by native peoples like the one she represents.

However, he explains, the fight that he is carrying out together with his people is worth it because "it is necessary to make our voices heard" against racism.

He denounced the groups of political power, in particular the judiciary, the economic and the media, whom he held responsible for the repression and the current crisis in his country.

He recognized that the Peruvian people, "absolute power" must remain standing.

It also explains that these seven months of struggle, plus everything that lies ahead, is so that "Peru is for all Peruvians" and all the rights enshrined in the Constitution are respected.

Mamani responded that what for her is the "internal flame that does not go out and that does not let her stay at home", as Patricia Villegas asked, is "her Aymara culture", which drives her to love her husband, as a woman. ; as a mother, to her son and, as a citizen, to her country.

He denounced everything that he has exposed, for example, the Covid-19 pandemic, in terms of health care, particularly in terms of racism against his people. That, he acknowledged, spurred her into the fight.



In short, he thinks that winning this fight would mean achieving "the true independence of Peru", because "it would be a transcendental fact" for its people "not to be subjected to Yankee imperialism." He denounced foreign politicians and interests that "never" have done anything for the Peruvian people.

She acknowledges that, although the objectives set do not look easy, in the midst of the repression by the Boluarte government, when it comes time to return home she is convinced that all this has not been in vain: "we are going to stand up."

In relation to the leadership that is emerging in Peru with President Castillo imprisoned, with ongoing trials, with his houses seized, he believes that it is coming out of the town itself, especially from organizations and movements that did not belong to the traditional parties.

It exemplifies, in this sense, that the forces are being organized in the so-called Unitary National Coordination of Struggle, where there are teachers', community, union, transport, and trade sector organizations.

He says that this coordinator has brought together the entire working class, after the political parties had failed to do anything in relation to the expectations of the people.

When asked how she heals from nostalgia, particularly from the absence of her son, she answers that "she believes that, from a distance, her status as a woman helps her cope with repression." In this sense, she recognizes that the origin of the forces for the fight is in the Pachamama, because "no one has the right to take away" what belongs to us.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/los-nadi ... -0034.html

Peru will live a new day of marches against Dina Boluarte


Protesters mobilize in the Peruvian capital against the designated president Dina Boluarte. | Photo: @cgt_peru
Posted 28 July 2023 (4 hours 36 minutes ago)

Social organizations arrived in the capital of Peru, to participate in the anti-government protests called for this July 28.

Despite the repression by the Peruvian police, social and trade union organizations called for mobilizations against President Dina Boluarte for this July 28 and 29 in the midst of the National Holidays.

As in previous marches and mobilizations, those calling for the new day of protests reported that they would demand the resignation of President Dina Boluarte and the closure of Congress on the same day that the designated president will address the country during the presentation of the balance of his first year in office.

Social organizations arrived in the capital of Peru to participate in the anti-government protests called for this July 28 in rejection of the recent election of the new board of directors of Congress, for which they are calling for its closure and the release of former President Pedro Castillo.



"If Mrs. Dina (Boluarte) does not resign, if Congress is not closed, the fight will continue," the National Unitary Coordinator of Struggle (CNUL) said Thursday at a conference to offer details and causes of the demonstration in Lima. .

Both this group and the General Confederation of Workers of Peru (CGTP), called to gather from 08:00 (local time), in Plaza Dos de Mayo, in the center of the Peruvian capital.



In Lima, hundreds of people marched through the historic center on Thursday to reach the Congress, but were repressed by the National Police in the protesters' attempt to reach the headquarters of the Congress.

Acts of repression were also recorded in the city of Arequipa where hundreds of people came out in an anti-government march.

The rallies and marches against Dina Boluarte took place in the regions of Áncash, Ayacucho and Puno.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/peru-viv ... -0006.html

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US Allies on Alert After Lithium-Rich Bolivia Inks Defense Deal With Iran
JULY 27, 2023


Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohamad Reza Qarai Ashtiani and his Bolivian counterpart Edmundo Novillo Aguilar signed a bilateral cooperation memorandum in Tehran on Thursday, July 20, 2023. Photo: The Cradle/File photo.

Washington’s allies have raised alarms about Iran’s growing cooperation with leftist governments in Latin America

Members of Bolivia’s far-right opposition and the Argentinian government are demanding that La Paz disclose the details of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defense and security affairs signed between Defense Ministers Edmundo Novillo y Mohamad Reza Ashtiani in Tehran last week.

“They say that [Iran] will give us drones. Others say they will give us missiles. All of this sounds strange, even more so considering it involves Iran … I can’t understand why Bolivia is getting involved in such a complex and difficult relationship,” said lawmaker Gustavo Aliaga, who belongs to the Comunidad Ciudadana (CC) party.

In 2019, CC leader Carlos Mesa supported the US-orchestrated coup that forced socialist leader Evo Morales to flee Bolivia, leaving it under the control of a far-right dictatorship that conducted multiple massacres of Morales supporters and sought to surrender the country’s massive lithium deposits to western transnationals.

The Argentinian foreign ministry also demanded explanations from La Paz on Monday under pressure from the Delegation of Argentinian Israeli Associations (DAIA), who said the MoU “risks for the security of Argentina and the region” due to Tehran’s ties with Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah.

In a press release, DAIA called on the Argentinian government “to condemn this agreement and demand Bolivia reconsider its decision.”

Buenos Aires blames Hezbollah and Iran for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center that left 85 dead. Both Tehran and Hezbollah deny the accusation.

The statements by the CC and DAIA came on the heels of a report by the neoconservative Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which claims that the deal between Tehran and La Paz includes the delivery of Iranian drones for the South American nation.

Last week, Iran agreed to help Bolivia combat drug trafficking along its borders and boost cooperation with the Bolivian army.

“[Due to] Bolivia’s critical needs in terms of border defense and the fight against drug trafficking, we will establish collaboration in equipment and specialized knowledge,” Ashtiani said following his meeting with the Bolivian defense minister last week.

For his part, Novillo said Iran is a “role model” for nations that seek freedom, highlighting the Islamic Republic’s “remarkable progress in science and technology, security, and the defense industry despite sanctions.”

Bolivia is the latest Latin American nation to ink a security agreement with the Persian nation, following in the footsteps of Nicaragua and Venezuela. Over the past year, the Islamic Republic has also made significant inroads with Brazil.

Iran and Bolivia also hold two of the largest lithium deposits in the world, with the Islamic Republic earlier this year announcing the discovery of a massive deposit holding a reported 8.5 million tons of the rare element. On the other hand, Bolivia has the richest known lithium deposits in the world, with an estimated 21 million tons.

https://orinocotribune.com/us-allies-on ... with-iran/

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Evo Morales: “If lithium were in the hands of the states, we would be a world power”
The pre-candidate for president of Unión por la Patria, Juan Grabois, and the former president of Bolivia call for the nationalization of natural resource

July 26, 2023 by Juan Manuel Erazo



The pre-candidate for president of Unión por la Patria Juan Grabois, and the former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, held an event where they spoke about strategic resources for the region and the electoral context. “By heritage, by history, we are anti-colonialist and therefore anti-imperialist,” affirmed Evo.

After the presentation of the national deputy for the Frente Patria Grande Natalia Zaracho, Grabois talked about Evo Morales’ administration and stated: “What we want to do from our candidacy is not very different from what Evo Morales did in Bolivia” and added: “It is the strategic control of natural resources, the land, roof and work policy that we spoke about with the Pope, an agrarian reform, an urban reform and a plurality in the labor system so that cooperativists, the private sector and the public sector with reasonable labor rights can be present.”

He also remarked on the “political revolution” that implies that in the Plurinational Assembly “the excluded will enter.” “This is what we need in all Latin America,” he assured.

Meanwhile, Evo Morales highlighted his program in 2005 and claimed: “Politically, the re-foundation; economically, the nationalization; and socially, the redistribution of wealth” and then commented on his experience when Juntos por el Cambio was governing Argentina: “Macri asked me ‘Evo, how much is going to be the growth this year?’ ‘5%,’ ‘What must be done to do that?’ ‘Nationalize natural resources.'” They also discussed the last coup in Bolivia and Grabois affirmed: “That coup smelled of lithium. It smelled of FTAA [Free Trade Area of the Americas], but not the one we defeated in 2005. The new FTAA, which has to do with water, lithium, fuels and food. Why did they overthrow Evo? Because he recovered water and got the UN to consider it a basic human right.” Grabois also remarked on the complicity of Gerardo Morales with said coup in the shipment of weapons.

“The lithium issue should not be a left or right wing policy, but a State policy,” said Evo, who added, “Our task is to establish economic sovereignty for Argentina. If there were unity between Bolivia, Argentina, and Chile and lithium were in the hands of the states, we would be a world power.”

In relation to the situation with the IMF, Morales recalled his experience, “In the Central Bank of Bolivia the [IMF] had its office,” and his response: “CIA out of the Palace, IMF out of the Central Bank of Bolivia.” He also positioned himself before the electoral scenario and assured: “In the elections, we are once again facing those who are the privatizers and those who are the nationalizers. We, the nationalizers, are going to continue winning massively.” Finally, the former Bolivian president agreed with Grabois, “By heritage, by history, we are anti-colonialists and therefore anti-imperialists. We do not just talk for the sake of talking, but we have done and demonstrated.”

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/07/26/ ... rld-power/

[blindpig]

Evo Morales: Capitalism Does Not Want the People in Politics
AUGUST 1, 2023


Former Bolivian President Evo Morales. Photo: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Karita.

The former president of Bolivia, Evo Morales, participated this Monday in the Congress of the Nueva Epoca [Congress of the New Epoch] which took place in the Bolívar Theater, in Caracas, where he said that the people have always tried to escape from capitalism.

“I am convinced that capitalism does not accept that there is another economic model that is better than the economic model of neoliberalism,” said Evo Morales. The peoples of the world, he added, “by heritage and by history, are anticolonialists and anti-imperialists.”

The event was attended by Venezuela’s Minister for Culture, Ernesto Villegas, who noted that the Congress of the Nueva Epoca is a space for encouragement and hope, “for confidence in the creative powers of the people, as well as for faith in a future of equality for all.”


Villegas added that the Venezuelan people defeated the contemporary promoters of the Monroe Doctrine: “with heroic resistance, those plans fizzled out.”

He recalled that the Bolívar Theater was filled with people wishing to return Chávez to the place where they had placed him in April 2002, the presidency, and wishing to support the struggle of the Bolivian people when they suffered an onslaught of fascism in 2019, which they overcame with political intelligence and determination.

“It is not everyday that a fascist coup like the one you experienced can be reversed by the weapons of peace, as the Bolivian people wielded and continue to wield,” said Villegas.

“Today, when we face the same challenges, we find ourselves in these spaces to listen to him [Evo Morales], so that these movements can hear his guiding word and his vision of the particular moment that humanity is facing,” Villegas said.

https://orinocotribune.com/evo-morales- ... -politics/

Interview with a Woman Involved in Peru’s Struggle
AUGUST 1, 2023


Martha Mamani Huacca. Photo: teleSUR.

“The strength for the struggle emanates from Mother Earth. No one has the right to take away what belongs to us,” Martha Mamani Huacca said.

On Thursday, Peru’s Martha Mamani Huacca was interviewed on Los Nadies (“the nobodies”), a television show hosted by teleSUR President Patricia Villegas.

Martha Mamani Huacca is one of the millions of anonymous women who have participated in the protests that erupted in Peru since December 2022 when the Congress ousted President Pedro Castillo, a humble rural teacher who remains imprisoned and accused of attempting a coup d’état.

“I saw her walking the streets of Lima, wearing her small hat and colorful skirt,” Villegas said, recalling her first encounter with this Peruvian Indigenous woman. “Then, while she was rallying people from a monument, Martha was assaulted by the police.”
Mamani Huacca was abandoned by her parents as a child and grew up in an impoverished rural area where the local school provided very basic education. When she came of age, she ran for the position of mayor in her locality.

Currently, this mother of two children lives in Puno, a region where security forces, under orders from President Dina Boluarte, harshly repressed citizens who were demanding Boluarte’s resignation, the closure of the Congress, the formation of a Constituent Assembly, and the release of President Castillo. The police brutality resulted in over 50 deaths.


Mamani Huacca acknowledges the beatings she endured during the police repression, which has intensified since the beginning of the protests in December 2022.

“The administration has not listened to us,” she said. “Instead, we have been repressed.”

Mamani Huacca expressed sadness about the situation her country is facing. “We love Peru, and we are Peruvians. We are Indigenous peoples who have resisted for 500 years,” she said, recalling that this popular resistance became more challenging since Alberto Fujimori’s dictatorship, as he established a “looting” political system.

“Nevertheless, the struggle is worth it because we need to make our voice heard,” she stated, emphasizing the fight against racism and the defense of all Constitutional rights.

Mamani Huacca accused the political and economic elites, as well as those who control the judiciary and the mass media, of being responsible for the country’s ongoing crisis.


She believes that the popular resistance seeks to achieve “true independence for Peru to avoid being subjected to Yankee imperialism.”

Although these goals are not easy to achieve due to state terrorism, “we will stand strong,” Mamani Huacca said, emphasizing that all the sufferings have not been in vain.

She considers that the deficient leadership of traditional political parties is being compensated for by the emergence of the Unitary National Coordinator of Struggle, which is uniting workers, teachers, transporters, traders, farmers, and residents.

When asked how she manages to overcome the sadness caused by her son’s absence, Mamani responded that “her condition as a woman helps her cope with the repression.”

“The strength for the struggle emanates from Mother Earth, the Pachamama. No one has the right to take away what belongs to us.”

https://orinocotribune.com/interview-wi ... -struggle/

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Ecuadorian Court Suspends Environmental Consultations on Mining


Conaie people protesting against mining in their territories in Ecuador. Aug. 2, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@teleSURtv

Published 2 August 2023 (7 hours 49 minutes ago)

"...a step to stop the penetration of mining companies in native peoples' territories..."

On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador decided to provisionally suspend the decree to carry out environmental consultations in areas of mining interest, after admitting the lawsuit of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities (Conaie) against the consultative process.

Conaie celebrated the decision of the Constitutional Court and assured that this is a step to stop the penetration of mining companies in native peoples' territories.

Conaie filed a request for precautionary measures on June 13 against Decree 754, issued in May 2023 by President Guillermo Lasso.


The @CorteConstEcu suspends the application of the #Decree754 of @LassoGuillermo. This is a victory for the social struggle and the unity of the peoples. Our territory, our right, our decision!
That regulation regulates the environmental project regulates environmental queries and productive projects in communities in the project influence area.

The temporary suspension implies for companies, as the miners, delaying constructions and projects until the legal vacuum is resolved.


#ATTENTION After several weeks of RESISTANCE the @CorteConstEcu suspended the #Decree754 The peoples in resistance will continue to fight until the repeal of 754 and free our territories from the mining threat

The Constitutional Court considered timid, imminent and potentially harmful application of the application of consultations, established in the contested decree impugned.

In its decision it underlined the seriousness of the damage that could be caused by carrying out consultation processes based on a norm that, according to Conaie, "would not have been consulted, that the Government would seek to impose by force and that does not observe constitutional standards and international instruments".

Community members of Las Naves and Sigchos reject mining in their territories and the #Decree754

For the indigenous movement, the challenged decree violated the rights of the communities to prior consultation, to participation in decisions, to regulatory adequacy, to justice and to the rule of law.

The Government's environmental consultation had generated resistance in indigenous areas such as the Andean areas of Las Naves and Sigchos, where the Government intends to grant mining concessions.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecu ... -0004.html

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Ecuadorian presidential candidate denounces threats against him


Through his social networks, the presidential candidate affirmed that despite the threats he will continue to fight for Ecuador. | Photo: The Universe
Published 2 August 2023

Earlier this week Fernando Villavicencio said he had received threats from the leader of the criminal gang "Los Choneros", linked to drug trafficking.

The candidate for the presidency of Ecuador for the Construye-Gente Buena alliance, Fernando Villavicencio denounced on Tuesday new threats against him and his campaign team, allegedly coming from the leader of a criminal gang linked to drug trafficking.

Through his social networks, the presidential candidate affirmed that despite the threats he will continue to fight for Ecuador.

In a statement, the center-right Construye-Gente Buena alliance reported that this would be the second threat received in less than 48 hours by Villavicencio's campaign team.


Earlier this week Fernando Villavicencio told local media outlets that he had received threats from the leader of the criminal gang "Los Choneros", linked to drug trafficking.

The Construye-Gente Buena alliance assured that despite the threats, the candidate will not suspend his campaign ahead of the elections on August 20.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/ecuador- ... -0044.html

Chilean teachers will start a 48-hour national strike


The teachers union announced that if they do not reach an agreement with the Government before August 17, they will discuss the start of an indefinite national strike. | Photo: @ColegioProfes
Published 2 August 2023

The president of the Chilean teachers' union indicated that the 48-hour strike is due to the lack of response from the Ministry of Education to an 8-point petition.

Teachers from Chile will begin a new 48-hour teacher strike this Wednesday to demand a response to a list of demands presented to the Government of the South American country.

The president of the College of Teachers and Professors of Chile, Carlos Díaz, indicated that the 48-hour national strike is due to the lack of response from the Ministry of Education to an 8-point petition.

Among the demands of the teachers' union are the repair of the "historical debt", the payment of overdue retirement bonuses, the cessation of labor burden and the creation of better conditions for their work.


Another point is the solution to the problem of student violence on school grounds.

The union leader said that a total of 130 buses will leave from various regions of the country bound for Valparaíso, to participate in the concentration in front of the Congress headquarters.


The Ministry of Education is expected to deliver a proposal to the College of Teachers before the start of the 48-hour teacher strike.

The teachers' union announced that if an agreement is not reached with the Education portfolio before August 17, the bases of the teaching staff will discuss the start of an indefinite national strike.

https://www.telesurtv.net/news/chile-pr ... -0006.html

Google Translator

[blindpig]

Presidential Candidate Murdered After Rally in Ecuador


Presidential candidate in Ecuador, journalist Fernando Villavicencio Valencia. Aug. 9, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@HugoGloss

Published 9 August 2023 (11 hours 59 minutes ago)

The attack occurred around 18:00 hours and several people were wounded.



The presidential candidate in Ecuador, journalist Fernando Villavicencio Valencia, was shot to death Wednesday in northern Quito by hired assassins.

Valencia, presidential candidate for the Construye lista 25 movement, was killed by hitmen and shot three times in the head. The attack took place in the coliseum of the Anderson school, in the north of the Ecuadorian capital, Quito, where the candidate was holding a rally of the political organization that supports him.

The attack occurred around 18:00, and several people were injured. The National Police mounted an operation to locate those responsible for the incident.

His uncle, Galo Valencia, confirmed what happened to former Assemblyman Villavicencio, who after the attack was taken to a hospital, seriously injured. "My nephew has just passed away here at the Women's Clinic", said Valencia when notifying about the confirmation of the medical team.


�� Fernando Villavicencio Valencia, candidato a la presidencia de Ecuador, fue asesinado durante un ataque de sicarios mientras salía de un acto político, según informó el medio local El Universo. Recibió tres disparos en la cabeza en el momento en el que ingresó a su vehículo. pic.twitter.com/Adamllik9B

— Diego Martini Lemos (@cabezamartini) August 10, 2023
The tweet reads, "Fernando Villavicencio Valencia, candidate for the presidency of Ecuador, was killed during an attack by hired assassins as he was leaving a political event, according to local media El Universo. He was shot three times in the head as he entered his vehicle."

Villavicencio's uncle present at the time of the attack said that "coming out (of the school where the rally was taking place) we received a burst of 40 shots, Fernando unfortunately received a shot apparently in the head."

Villavicencio was one of the candidates who received protection from the National Police. He had denounced a week earlier the alleged threats that his collaborators had received from an organized crime group, namely Los Choneros.

The presidential candidate was born in the province of Chimborazo on October 11, 1963. His political career began as a journalist and political activist when he denounced cases of corruption within Petroecuador.

In the 2017 elections he tried to run for the Creo and Suma alliance, but the National Electoral Council did not allow him to do so after a challenge raised by Gustavo Baroja, who denounced that Villavicencio was affiliated to Pachakutik.

The attack takes place 11 days before the elections in a country suffocated by an unprecedented crisis. During the campaign, the mayor of Manta, a key port for drug trafficking, and a candidate for the Assembly have been murdered.

After receiving the news of Villavicencio's murder, the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, expressed his solidarity and condolences to the presidential candidate's family. Lasso assured that, because of his memory and his struggle, the crime will not go unpunished. "Organized crime has gone too far, but the full weight of the law will fall on them," said Lasso.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Pre ... -0022.html

Ecuadorian President Decrees State of Emergency for 60 Days


President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso. Aug. 10, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/@teleSURtv 1

Published 10 August 2023 (5 hours 52 minutes ago)

"...the elections are not suspended. These have to be held, and democracy has to be strengthened..."

On Thursday, the President of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, decreed the state of emergency in the whole country for 60 days, after the security cabinet meeting due to the murder of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Accompanied by the president of the National Electoral Council, Diana Atamaint, the president announced three days of mourning for the memory of the presidential candidate of the Creciendo movement, Fernando Villavicencio.

"in light of the loss of a democrat and a fighter, the elections are not suspended. These have to be held, and democracy has to be strengthened. This is the best reason to go to vote and defend democracy, the life and integrity of the Ecuadorian family and the future of the country", Lasso said .


Message from the president @LassoGuillermo to the Nation.
According to the correspondent of the teleSUR news multiplatform in Ecuador, Elena Rodriguez, the head of state described the attack that ended the life of the presidential candidate as a political crime with a terrorist character.

"We are not going to hand over power and democratic institutions to organized crime, even if it is disguised as political organizations. We must banish hatred and revenge as a political practice," added the president.

The journalist pointed out that President Lasso indicated that those responsible for the crime left an explosive device at the site, which was later detonated by the authorities.


It is confirmed, there will be a press statement. President Guillermo Lasso and the president of the CNE, Diana Atamaint, will intervene. Questions will not be accepted.

The head of the CNE, Diana Atamaint informed that despite the murder of the presidential candidate of the Creciendo movement, the elections will be held on August 20 as scheduled.


The president of @cnegobec , Diana Atamaint confirmed that the date of the elections is immovable and that the electoral calendar will be fulfilled as planned.
She also indicated that the electoral schedule approved by the National Assembly and the country's authorities will not be altered.

Ecuador's Interior Minister, Juan Zapata, confirmed on Wednesday the assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio after he was shot after leaving a rally at the Anderson School, located in the north of Quito.

The attack occurred at approximately 18H00 (local time), in the middle of the campaign for the elections to be held next August 20.


After being shot several times, Fernando Villavicencio was taken to a medical center near the sector, where his death was confirmed.

A few days ago, Fernando Villavicencio had denounced that he and his work and security team were receiving threats from criminal groups linked to criminal gangs operating in the country.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ecu ... -0004.html

Lasso protests too much....Who benefits?

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Argentine Campaign Halted Due to Violent Death of Girl


The sign reads, "Justice for Morena," Buenos Aires, Argentina, Aug. 9, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @somoscorta

Published 10 August 2023

"Nothing will bring Morena back to life. However, this horrific crime, which shocks the entire community, will not go unpunished," said Buenos Aires Governor Kicillof.


On Wednesday, the violent death of an 11-year-old girl paralyzed the electoral campaign in Argentina, a country that is holding primary elections next Sunday.

Morena Dominguez was going to her school when she was attacked by two individuals on a motorcycle who wanted to steal her backpack. The girl was dragged along the ground and received a strong blow to the liver that caused internal bleeding. She later died at the Evita hospital in the city of Lanus in the province of Buenos Aires.

At the moment, there are seven people in custody, among whom is a 14-year-old minor who initially confessed to having participated in the attack but later changed his statement.

After the news about the attack on the Argentine girl broke, the main presidential candidates announced the suspension of various political activities that they had planned until Thursday, when the electoral campaign period closes.


Sergio Massa, the Economy Minister who is sponsored by Peronism for the presidency, suspended a political event in La Plata, the capital city of the Buenos Aires province.

"Given the painful crime of Morena, Union for the Homeland decided to suspend the campaign closing ceremony scheduled for tomorrow at the Argentine Theater. We stand in solidarity with her relatives and ask for justice," the ruling party tweeted.

"Nothing will bring Morena back to life. However, this horrific crime, which shocks the entire community, will not go unpunished," said Buenos Aires Governor Axel Kicillof, who will also contest the Open, Simultaneous, and Mandatory Primary Elections ( PASO), from which the candidates who will compete in the general elections on October 22 will emerge.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Arg ... -0006.html

If they did that in this country every time there was some horrid crime we'd never have elections...Not that I'm against elections, just the phony kind.