(2021-05-20). Massive 'National Strike' in Colombia meets violent repression. peoplesworld.org 
Colombia is afire with a National Strike mounted by working people, young people, and the excluded. They are protesting neoliberal reforms that diminish lives and hopes. Tax reform proposals from President Iván Duque's right-wing government triggered large demonstrations that began on April 28 and are continuing. Although the government quickly withdrew the tax proposals and …
(2021-05-20). The roots of Colombia's crisis 2021. mronline.org 
There has been a social explosion of the Colombian people against poverty and repression. President Duque's 'tax reform' package was the last straw that broke their patience. | May 20, 2021 | Newswire…
(2021-05-20). Colombian National Strike Makes Duque To Engage In Dialogue. telesurenglish.net After 23 consecutive days of protests against Colombia's President Ivan Duque, the National Strike Committee (NSC) on Thursday announced that it will hold new talks with the government in Bogota. | RELATED: | The Federation of Educators (FECODE), the Colombian Workers' Union (CUT), and the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) are some of the movements that will attend the meeting on behalf of the demonstrators.
(2021-05-20). Is Colombia's Military Displacing Peasants to Protect the Environment or Sell Off Natural Resources? counterpunch.org Colombia witnessed a series of mass protests at the end of April following a call for a national strike in the city of Cali. Still ongoing, the protests have many causes: an apparent "tax reform" that was going to transfer even more wealth to the 1 percent in Colombia; the failure of the most recent
(2021-05-20). United States Gives Former Deputy Guaidó Ultimatum to 'Remove' President Maduro. orinocotribune.com According to the ultra-conservative website PanamPost, Juan Guaidó is working on notice. The news outlet disclosed this Tuesday, May 18, that the US gave the "interim president" an ultimatum until December 1 of this year to "remove" President Maduro. If he is not able to do so within that deadline, his recognition by the US government and his access to the seized Venezuelan assets will be terminated. | This revelation has come out of a meeting between the US Ambassador to Venezuela who resides in Colombia, James Story, and the representatives of the so-called opposition G-4 in the Colombian capital, Bogotá. | The…
(2021-05-20). Port Resistance: The Autonomous Zone at the Heart of Colombian Protests. orinocotribune.com 
By Joshua Collins — May 17, 2021 | Meet the kids of Cali, who make up the soul of a national revolution |
(2021-05-20). Police Brutality Leaves 43 Citizens Killed in Colombia. telesurenglish.net The Institute for Development and Peace Studies (INDEPAZ) reported that 43 Colombians have died as a result of the actions that the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) and the Armed Forces have deployed to stop protests against President Ivan Duque. | RELATED: | Four of these murders were clearly recorded on video. This is the case of Nicolas Garcia, Marcelo Agredo, Santiago Murillo, and Brayan Niño, whose deaths inv…
(2021-05-20). And Now the Health Reform Bill has been Struck Down in Colombia: 'Mobilization Does Work'! orinocotribune.com 
On Wednesday, May 19, following 22 days of marches against the government of Iván Duque, the Colombian Congress shelved the recently proposed health reform bill. | With 27 votes in favor and 5 against, the seventh committees of the Senate and House of Representatives of the Congress of Colombia rejected reviewing the health reform bill proposed by the government of the country's president, Iván Duque. | "Attention, with 11 votes in favor and 2 against in the Senate, and with 16 votes in favor and 3 votes against in the House, Congress has just overthrown the health care reform," announced the Central Unitaria de…
(2021-05-20). Colombian Police Crack Down On Protests With Long-Range Weapons. telesurenglish.net Colombians on Wednesday denounced that the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) cracked down on peaceful protests with long and short-range weapons. | RELATED: | Videos posted on social networks show agents shooting at farmers in Bucaramanga. According to witnesses, at least 25 protesters were wounded. | In Caucasia, dozens of children, pregnant women, and elderly people had to take refuge from police brutality in La No…
(2021-05-20). The U.S. Must Stop Providing Weapons Used to Repress Colombia's Protests. commondreams.org ______________________________…
(2021-05-20). Colombia's anti-government protests swell to historic proportions. zcomm.org Colombia's anti-government protests grew to historic proportions in the capital Bogota…
(2021-05-20). Inflation in Venezuela at 24.6% in April, 10% Below April 2020 (Venezuelan Central Bank). orinocotribune.com 
Caracas, May 20 (Special for OrinocoTribune.com)—This Wednesday, May 19, the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) released the consumer price index (CPI) for April 2021, a statistic through which inflation levels in the country can be measured. | According to Venezuela's monetary authority, the index suffered a variation of 24.6%, which brings the total to 183.8% for the first four months of 2021, with 46.6% in January, 33.8% in February, 16.1% in March and 24.6% in April. | A comparison between April 2020 and April 2021 shows a small decrease in the inflation figures. In April 2020 an inflation rate of 27.5% wa…
(2021-05-20). Maduro's Administration Awards Housing to Family of Child Survivor of Accident Repatriated from Argentina. orinocotribune.com The Venezuelan government awarded a new home to the family of the baby boy Oliver Toro, who survived a fatal traffic accident in Argentina, in which his parents died. | Venezuelan Deputy Minister for Latin America, Rander Peña, informed that President Nicolás Maduro granted Oliver Toro's family a home so that the baby "grows up in a home full of love and happiness." | "After the tragedy suffered by the boy Oliver Toro in #Argentina where his parents and grandmother died, President Maduro reunited him with his family in Venezuela and gave a decent house where he can grow up in a home full of love and happiness. Go…
(2021-05-19). Chile and Colombia to Move Money Out of Militaries. counterpunch.org While the proposal for a global ceasefire during a disease pandemic has done the opposite of catching on, there are a few small signs of sanity and even of successful activism. While most big military spenders (including the super-mega-biggest one) have increased or kept their spending steady, the SIPRI numbers show a serious reduction from 2019 to
(2021-05-19). A Letter to Puerto Resistencia, Cali, Colombia. orinocotribune.com By William Ospina — May 16, 2021 | We have always been together, but it is only now that we are really together. We have always known each other, but it is only now that we are just starting to know each other. Who are these unyielding and emphatic girls and boys who are now speaking to us for the first time? They are what we once were, they dream what we once dreamt; they are doing at last what we had always wanted to do. They have been here for centuries and yet, they have just been born, and through their lips speak these seas and through their hands run these rivers, and they are of all races: they were…
(2021-05-19). Colombia's Rebellion against the Capitalist System. dissidentvoice.org 
Colombia has been burning with the flames of resistance ever since a national strike began on April 28, 2021. The initial impetus for the large-scale demonstrations came from a regressive tax reform. The tax bill came into being due to the necessity of the Colombian state to push down the rising fiscal deficit, which could …
(2021-05-19). Selective Assassinations: The US Agenda for Colombia. orinocotribune.com By Anahí Arizmendi — May 18, 2021 | The assassination of social leaders in Colombia is an expression of the crisis of the Colombian political system and the influence of US government interests on its political agenda, interests that erase the possibility of ever reaching a stable peace in the country. Deaths that were previously concentrated in marginalized, impoverished regions, and occurred either at strategic production and distribution points for drug trafficking networks, or in hydrocarbon extraction areas, have now spread throughout the national territory as a result of the protests against the neolib…
(2021-05-19). Colombian Minister of Defense Summoned for Censure Motion. telesurenglish.net The Colombian House of Representatives summoned the Minister of Defense, Diego Molano, to a censure motion debate on May 25 for the excessive use of force by the military and the police, in the context of the protests that the country has been experiencing since April 28. | RELATED: | The information came out through a communiqué from the board of the Colombian lower house, which informed that Molano will have to an…
(2021-05-19). Death of FARC-EP's Jesús Santrich: Breaking News, False Positive, Uribismo Media Smokescreen or Colombian Violation of Venezuelan Territory? orinocotribune.com The alleged death "in combat" in Venezuelan territory of the Colombian guerrilla commander Jesús Santrich could end up being "breaking news" for Semana news magazine, but it is more likely that it will end up ranking in the top ten of fake news—which is saying a lot because the story concerns Colombia, a country where fabricating fake news, mounting false flag operations, and producing smokescreens is already part of the daily modus operandi of the ruling elite, inextricably associated with its media apparatus. | The alleged news is trending on social media networks and remains as such although, after twelv…
(2021-05-19). Colombians Want a New Government — And an End to Neoliberalism. zcomm.org For weeks, Colombians have remained in the streets challenging their nation's violent social and economic model…
(2021-05-19). Jesús Santrich: The Laughter of a Bolivarian Cannot Be Easily Extinguished. libya360.wordpress.com Néstor Kohan JESàöS SANTRICH, a Colombian and Our-American revolutionary militant, has been annihilated. Honor to those who deserve honor. The shots and grenades that took his breath away were from the Colombian army, as was the knife or razor with which they mutilated his lifeless hand. The orders came from Iván Duque, the little pigeon…
(2021-05-19). OPINION: Colombia Is in Crisis, and Vaccine Nationalism Is Making It Worse. latinorebels.com Under the pandemic, the number of people living in extreme poverty had already grown by 2.8 million.
(2021-05-19). Colombia Rebel Group Claims Leader 'Jesús Santrich' Slain. latinorebels.com BOGOTàÅ, Colombia (AP) — A rebel leader who abandoned the 2016 peace accord with Colombia's government and had been at large for three years was killed by Colombian troops in Venezuela, his new armed group said Tuesday.
(2021-05-19). Venezuela Delivers 4th Report on Human Rights Cases in Venezuela to International Criminal Court. orinocotribune.com 
The Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, reported this Tuesday, May 18, that his office delivered a new report, the fourth, to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which adds to the information provided to the ICC prosecutor regarding controversial human rights cases in Venezuela. | "Once again we point out that we work blindfolded in terms of providing official information to the ICC," wrote Saab on his Twitter account, "but with a will to collaborate, based on the commitments assumed by the Venezuelan State in our visit to The Hague on #4Nov 2020. This fourth report presents a new list, an upda…
(2021-05-19). Venezuela: Lácteos Los Andes President Jailed on Corruption Charges. venezuelanalysis.com A worker from the dairy company denounced irregular practices during a live video conference with President Maduro, which prompted the investigation.