Daily Archives: December 17, 2020

2020-12-17: News Headlines

Alan MacLeod (2020-12-17). US Embassy Caught Scrubbing Tweets Urging Venezuelans Not to Vote. globalresearch.ca The United States embassy for Venezuela has been caught deleting tweets undermining the integrity of the "Tomorrow in Venezuela there will be …

Ann Garrison (2020-12-17). "The Planet's Problem from Hell": Will Joe Biden Appoint Samantha Power to Head USAID? globalresearch.ca Just when it seemed that Joe Biden's coming administration couldn't be more of ahorror show,

teleSUR (2020-12-17). Colombia Approves Gender Parity in Electoral Lists. telesurenglish.net Colombia's Senate on Wednesday passed a bill set to reform the Electoral Code in order to promote gender parity in public office. | RELATED: | The Senate approved an article that orders parties to present candidates' lists made up of 50 percent women and 50 percent men. | Besides allowing the use of manual and mixed electronic votes in 2023, the reform extends the election day until 5: 00 p.m and allows the early…

Manuela Solé (2020-12-16). Venezuela's Maduro Proposes Joint ALBA Covid-19 Vaccination. venezuelanalysis.com The Venezuelan president announced a strict quarantine for January.

Max Blumenthal (2020-12-16). Rafael Correa on Venezuela, Assange, and 'preventing the total destruction of our homeland'. mronline.org Max Blumenthal interviews former Ecuador President Rafael Correa, who was in Venezuela to observe its legislative elections and show support to a government under sustained economic and political attack by the U.S.

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-16). Three peasant leaders arbitrarily detained in Colombia. peoplesdispatch.org Three well-known peasant and social leaders were arrested by officials of the National Police and the Attorney General's office in the last 24 hours in Colombia. At around 3am on December 16, peasant leader Robert Daza was arrested in the municipality of Pasto in the southwest department of Nariño. Less than 12 hours before his arrest, at around 5pm on December 15, Teófilo Acuña was arrested in the municipality Barranco de Loba of the Bolívar department, and Adelso Gallo was detained in the city of Villavicencio in the department of Meta. | Daza, Acuña and Gallo are all spokespersons of the Agrarian, Peasant, Eth…

_____ (2020-12-16). Venezuela Advances In Case Against The US Before International Criminal Court. popularresistance.org The International Criminal Court (ICC), in its annual report, confirmed the deposit of evidence by Venezuelan authorities regarding the lawsuit (Venezuela II) against United States officials for committing crimes against humanity as a result of the blockade and the coercive measures imposed on the Caribbean country. | The information was released by the Foreign Affairs Minister of Venezuela, Jorge Arreaza, who indicated that the ICC continues to study the demand made by the Venezuelan government. | "In her annual report, the #CPI Prosecutor confirms that she received the voluminous report from Prosecutor G @Tarek…

news.un (2020-12-15). UN documents 375 killings in Colombia in 2020, urges Government action. news.un.org The United Nations has recorded the deaths of 255 people in 66 massacres in Colombia this year, as well as the killing of 120 human rights defenders, the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Tuesday.

John Pilger (2020-12-15). The Most Lethal Virus is Not COVID. It is War. counterpunch.org In the midst of the greatest health emergency in modern times, with more than 4 million surgical procedures delayed by the National Health Service, Boris Johnson has announced a record increase of £16.5 billion in so-called defence spending — a figure that would restore the under-resourced NHS many times over.

Federico Fuentes (2020-12-15). Socialist election win masks deeper problems. mronline.org With a majority of the opposition boycotting and an abstention rate of almost 70%, the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) obtained 69% of the vote in the country's December 6 National Assembly (AN) elections.

Zoe PC (2020-12-15). Elections and building socialism under hybrid war: A Venezuelan perspective. peoplesdispatch.org Hernán Vargas of the Movimiento de Pobladores y Pobladoras discusses the legislative elections in Venezuela held on December 6 and what they mean for politics in the country…

WSWS (2020-12-15). Spectacular Native American rock art newly discovered in the Colombian Amazon. wsws.org The extensive rock face murals made by Native American groups are truly impressive and have the potential to contribute much to our knowledge of these cultures, but some claims about their age and content may be premature.