2020-03-22: News Headlines

RT (2020-03-22). Bogota prison riot over coronavirus leaves 23 dead and 83 injured — Colombian justice ministry. rt.com At least 23 people have died and dozens more are injured following a riot over coronavirus in La Modelo prison in the Colombian capital Bogota, the country's justice ministry has said. | Seven prison guards were injured during the outbreak of violence on Saturday night, which took place as prisoner protests over sanitary conditions erupted into bloodshed. Two of the guards are in a critical condition, Minister of Justice Margarita Cabello Blanco said on Sunday. | The South American country is imposing a nationwide lockdown on Tuesday night in a bid to tackle the spread of the Covid-19 illness. A total of 231 p…

teleSUR (2020-03-22). Prison Protests Due to Overcrowding Ends in 23 Dead, 83 Wounded. telesurenglish.net At least 23 prisoners died and 83 were wounded in the La Modelo Prison in Bogotá during the riots last night, the Colombian Ministry of Justice reported on Sunday. According to the Ministry, several prisoners protested the overcrowding of these facilities amid fears of the coronavirus spreading. | RELATED: | "The result of the escape attempt in La Modelo was 23 dead and 83 wounded, of which 32 are in hospital centers,"

Nino Pagliccia (2020-03-22). The IMF Abandons Venezuelans to the Threat of the COVID-19 Pandemic on a Political Decision. globalresearch.ca No government that had to bow to the power of a financial institution like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) knows the harsh consequences to which it will have to submit. That includes the Venezuelan government. And yet last March 15 …

Fight Back (2020-03-21). U.S. Teamsters get warm welcome at Venezuela's Canaima laptop plant. fightbacknews.org Caracas, Venezuela – A Freedom Road Socialist Organization labor delegation toured the Canaima laptops and tablets factory in Caracas, Venezuela on March 12. The Canaima plant is located within walking distance of the bridge where U.S. puppet Juan Guaido launched a failed coup d'état April 30, 2019. Upon arrival, leading representatives of the Canaima assembly plant greeted the American Teamsters with genuine smiles and warm handshakes. | A Venezuelan educator and Canaima spokesperson, Oscar Martinez, explained the assembly plant's purpose, "Our goal is to produce a laptop or tablet for every school-aged child i…

Aaron Maté (2020-03-20). Expert: US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela during pandemic could be genocidal. thegrayzone.com Intensified US sanctions on Iran, Venezuela during the COVID-19 pandemic could amount to genocide, a former UN expert warns. Iran…

Nino Pagliccia (2020-03-20). Sanctions: Unilateral Coercive Measures for Regime Change in Venezuela. globalresearch.ca In discussing the issue of "sanctions" there are two main points that need to be made. One is the use of the correct terminology when referring to the government actions that the US, Canada and the EU take in order …

teleSUR (2020-03-20). Latin American Leaders Demand Continent's Debt to Be Condoned. telesurenglish.net Ecuador's former President Rafael Correa, Bolivia's former Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera, Colombia's former presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, and other progressive intellectuals Friday called on the international community to make multilateral financial institutions and other private creditors sensitive to the ongoing economic situation and forgive the Latin American countries' sovereign external debt. | RELATED: |

teleSUR (2020-03-20). Venezuela Guarantees Medicines to Fight Coronavirus. telesurenglish.net The President of Venezuela, After the national social quarantine was decreed, the Venezuelan authorities have highlighted the importance of complying with this measure to prevent new cases of contagion in the territory, which so far has reported 42 infected people. | "We have the treatments, we have all the medicines we need for the treatments, we have…

Ben Norton (2020-03-17). Italy and UK rely on help from Cuba, China, Venezuela to fight coronavirus — as US steps up brutal sanctions. thegrayzone.com Italy requested doctors from China, Cuba, and Venezuela to contain the coronavirus, while Cuba rescued a ship of British citizens….

Leonardo Flores (2020-03-17). US ramps up sanctions devastating Venezuela's health sector as coronavirus spreads. thegrayzone.com Promising to "smash" Venezuela's government during a "maximum pressure March," Trump has imposed crushing sanctions that force Venezuela to spend…

Fight Back (2020-03-17). Venezuela: American Teamsters tour printing factory. fightbacknews.org Maracay, Venezuela — The Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) labor delegation toured a large printing factory on March 13 in Maracay, Venezuela, about two hours outside Caracas. As the delegates bus pulled up to the factory gates, a huge sign welcomed them, "We don't speak ill of Chavez here!" The head of the factory and a group of workers excitedly gathered around to greet the American members of the Teamsters union. | In a bold and historic move, this factory was taken over by the workers themselves during the presidency of Hugo Chavez in 2005. The previously laid off workers formed a new team…

Lucas Koerner (2020-03-15). Corporate Media Condone Destruction of Venezuela's Voting Machines. fair.org The vast majority of Venezuela's voting machines were incinerated on March 7 in a fire that engulfed the main warehouse of the National Electoral Council. Corporate outlets followed the familiar script of blaming the victim, repeating the US State Department talking point that the Venezuelan electoral system is "rigged" and floating outlandish conspiracy theories.

Joe Emersberger (2020-03-13). No, Venezuela does not have a six child per family policy. zcomm.org I respect UK journalist Andrew Buncombe. As I noted for FAIR last year, he was one of the few corporate journalists who reported on a study linking Trump's financial sanctions on Venezuela to thousands of deaths by the end of 2018. Since 2018, Trump has repeatedly intensified the sanctions and threatened Venezuela with military action,

Venezuela Analysis (2020-02-06). Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law" theantimedia.com In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.