2020-06-29: News Headlines

Ben Norton (2020-06-29). Trump used looted Venezuelan public money to build border wall with Mexico. thegrayzone.com An estimated $24 billion of Venezuelan public money has been looted, and the Trump administration has used at least $601…

Steve Ellner (2020-06-28). Trump's Second Thoughts on Juan Guaido are Not Enough. zcomm.org After the president's change of heart on Venezuela, and the waning of Juan Guaidó and his party, the entire Washington political establishment have a lot of explaining to do…

en.mehrnews (2020-06-28). Gasoline export to Venezuela trade deal: oil min. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) — Stressing Iran has not given gasoline to Venezuela for free, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said that exporting gasoline to Venezuela was a trade deal.

en.mehrnews (2020-06-27). Trump's talks offer with Venezuela, Iran doesn't mean policy shift: Argentinian Prof. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Jun. 28 (MNA) — The head of the International Relations Area for the Observatory of International Trade at the National University of Lujan in Argentina believes that US hostile policies toward Iran and Venezuela will continue despite Donald Trump's willingness to talk with Tehran and Caracas.

Danny Shaw (2020-06-26). Colombia's Other Pandemic: Unchecked State Violence in the Time of COVID-19. counterpunch.org The human rights group Indepaz reports that 800 activists have been killed in the past three and a half years in Colombia, since November 24, 2016, the date the government signed "the Peace Accord" with the FARC.[1] Taking advantage of society's fear and distraction, and the demobilization caused by the novel coronavirus, state and paramilitary

_____ (2020-06-26). The 'New' American Mercenary: A Pocket History. popularresistance.org Though the bizarre story has been subsumed by other events, last month's aborted invasion of Venezuela should've hardly shocked anyone. The United States has long used mercenaries to do its bidding. They have provided Washington distance and deniability for unsavory operations. During the Cold War, the U.S. hoped this would limit domestic and international protest. Policymakers also discerned mercenary alternatives to bloody, expensive quagmires like the Vietnam or Iraq Wars. Traditionally, most of these hired guns were foreigners — ex-soldiers of declining European empires. | Much of this parallels the lat…

W. T. Whitney (2020-06-26). US Must Return Its Political Prisoner Simón Trinidad to Colombia. counterpunch.org Murderous violence and oligarchy were in charge in Colombia during the 20th century. Colombians by the millions were marginalized, impoverished, and/or displaced from small land holdings. Violence and the failings of liberal democracy turned Simón Trinidad into a revolutionary. Few in the United States and Europe know about him. Colombia's allies in both places overlook

David Smilde (2020-06-26). Joe Biden Should Not Try to Out-Hawk Trump on Venezuela. commondreams.org Thousands gather in Caracas to protest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. April 2019 (Photo: Helena1 / Shutterstock.com) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/screen_shot_2020-06-26_at_11.10.04_am.png