2020-06-18: News Headlines

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-18). Alleged election fraudster to preside Colombia's senate while in court. colombiareports.com Controversial Senator Arturo Char will have a tough year presiding over Colombia's senate while trying to prevent the Supreme Court from destroying President Ivan Duque's coalition. The conservative Radical Change…

Ricardo Vaz and Lucas Koerner (2020-06-18). Venezuelan Oil Output Continues Decline as Refinery Resumes Operations. venezuelanalysis.com Venezuelan crude exports on track for 70 year low as Washington continues to target tankers and shipping companies.

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-18). Colombia's potential cocaine production reached all-time high in 2019: UN. colombiareports.com Colombia's potential cocaine production reached a new high in 2019 despite a drop in registered hectares of coca, the base ingredient of the illicit drug, according to the United Nations….

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-18). Pablo Escobar's involvement in 1985 palace of justice siege another urban myth? colombiareports.com The popular belief that late drug lord Pablo Escobar ordered and financed the 1985 guerrilla attack on Colombia's Palace of Justice increasingly appears to be a far-right urban myth. The…

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-18). Colombia's coronavirus aid used to pay pack election contributions? colombiareports.com Colombia's Inspector General said Tuesday he was investigating $12.5 million (COP47 billion) in coronavirus aid funds ended up in the pockets of elections campaigns sponsors. The granting of government contracts…

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-17). US monitors urge Colombia to accelerate slowed down peace process. colombiareports.com Scholars monitoring Colombia's peace process urged the government of President Ivan Duque to accelerate the country's peace process that has slowed down under his watch. The Kroc Institute of the…

en.mehrnews (2020-06-17). Maudro warns EU not to interfere in Venezuela's internal affairs. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 17 (MNA) — President Nicolas Maduro has warned the European Union (EU) against interfering in Venezuela's domestic affairs.

RT (2020-06-17). Trump saw Venezuela as 'really part of the US,' thought invasion was 'cool' — but backtracked because of Putin, Bolton claims. rt.com US President Donald Trump thought it would be "cool" to invade Venezuela but was persuaded not to by "Soviet-style propaganda" from Moscow, claims former national security adviser John Bolton in book excerpts leaked to the press. | Trump said invading Venezuela would be "cool" and described the South American country as "really part of the United States," according to the Washington Post, one of three publications that were given access to some content from Bolton's memoir, 'The Room Where It Happened.' | | So Bolton says in his boo…

Zero Hedge (2020-06-17). IRGC Gears Up For 'Routine' Fuel Shipments To Venezuela, Defying Trump. iranian.com Here we go again — Iran is prepping a round two of major sanctions-busting gas delivery to fuel-starved Venezuela, which is of course rich on heavy crude oil but currently lacks the capacity to refine it based on its derelict and badly in need of repair facilities. Amid continued White House threats of military intervention to uphold a sanctions …

Ricardo Vaz and Lucas Koerner (2020-06-17). US Rejects Venezuela Legislative Elections as TSJ Intervenes in Two Opposition Parties. venezuelanalysis.com The new leadership of Democratic Action and Justice First confirmed that their parties will contest the National Assembly later this year.

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-17). Colombia projects 41,000 coronavirus deaths before end of 2020. colombiareports.com Colombia's government informed the Constitutional Court that it expects the coronavirus to kill more than 41,500 citizens before the end of the year, local media reported Tuesday. Between March 6…

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-17). US deports Medellin Cartel founder Carlos Lehder to Germany. colombiareports.com US authorities deported Carlos Lehder, one of the co-founders of the Medellin Cartel, to Germany where he arrived on Tuesday. The 70-year-old Lehder, who has both a Colombian and a…

Ricardo Vaz and Lucas Koerner (2020-06-16). Venezuelan Attorney General Orders Arrest of Tupamaro Party Leader, Indicts FAES for Extra-Judicial Killings. venezuelanalysis.com Jose Pinto called the death a "false positive" orchestrated by the party's enemies.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-06-16). Colombians mobilize against hunger and state negligence. peoplesdispatch.org Thousands mobilized against state negligence, repression and the precarious conditions that communities are forced to endure amid the global health crisis. The protests were attacked by the police and ESMAD agents…

_____ (2020-06-16). Colombia: US Troops In Country Seek International Conflict. popularresistance.org Colombian senators on Wednesday saidthat U.S. troops that arrived in the South American country in early June are allowed to associate with illegal groups and seek an eventual international confrontation. | The Democratic Congressman Ivan Cepeda revealed that the current manuals of the U.S. special forces (SFAB) that arrived in Colombia "mention the function of advising non-governmental militias and illegal partners." | "We can end up like Libya, a destroyed state that has become a field for the multinational oil companies," the opposition congressman added. | The arrival of U.S. military personnel in the country…

_____ (2020-06-15). President Maduro: United States Is Living An Anti-Racist Spring. popularresistance.org President Maduro said that the US is experiencing an anti-racist spring, in reference to the massive protests for the murder of George Floyd. | "People on the street are saying who Donald Trump is every day," said the Venezuelan president during his participation on Monday in the TV show "Between Values," in which he also asserted that the American people "live an anti-racist spring". | On the other hand, he stressed that historical figures such as Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are more present today than ever among Americans who fight for their rights. "They are the martyrs for a future hope, for a new societ…

teleSUR (2020-06-15). Colombia: 200 FARC Ex-Combatants Killed Since Peace Agreements. telesurenglish.net The Alternative Revolutionary Force of the Commons (FARC) party denounced Monday that the ex-combatant Mario Tellez Restrepo was murdered in North Santander, Colombia, marking 200 killed ex-fighters since the peace agreements were signed on Sept. 26, 2016. | RELATED: | Restrepo, a father of three, was working on the field when he was shot down by people who have not been identified yet. This killing marks the 26th alone in 2020 so fa…

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-15). Three years after Bogota bombing, victims' families still waiting for justice. colombiareports.com Three years after Colombia's prosecution decided to blame innocent civilians for a terrorist attack on a Bogota shopping mall, the victims' families are still waiting for a real investigation. The…

teleSUR (2020-06-15). Bank of England Infringes Human Rights: Venezuelan Central Bank. telesurenglish.net The Bank of England (BoE) is "putting lives at risk" by denying access to gold reserves, Legal representatives of the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) denounced Monday. | RELATED: | BoE refuses to release around US$1.13 billion of gold reserves which the South American nation could use to fight the health emergency derived from the COVID-19 outbreak. Venezuela is seeking to get a court order for the urgent release of abo…

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-15). Colombia exceeds 50,000 coronavirus cases, 1500 deaths. colombiareports.com Colombia's health authorities have confirmed more than 50,000 total coronavirus infections and 1,500 Covid-19 deaths in total and 75 deaths on Sunday alone, the deadliest day of the pandemic so…

Adriaan Alsema (2020-06-15). The endless excuses of Colombia's VP about convicted narco brother. colombiareports.com Newspaper El Tiempo on Monday highlighted how "painful" it was for Colombia's vice-president to conceal the fact she bailed out her brother after his 1997 arrest in Miami for drug…