Mnar Adley (2021-12-05). Camila Saab Speaks Out: Wife of Venezuelan Diplomat "Kidnapped" by US Gov't Talks to MintPress. orinocotribune.com While Washington cannot choose the president of Venezuela, it can make life impossible for officials, such as Alex Saab, who attempt to defy its sanctions regime. | On Wednesday, November 24, MintPress News Editor in Chief Mnar Adley sat down to speak with Camila Saab, the wife of imprisoned Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. | Saab was on a diplomatic mission to Iran in June 2020, where he was tasked with securing deals for food, medicine and personal protective equipment. His plane stopped off in Cabo Verde — a group of islands off the west coast of Africa — for a routine refueling. | He would never fin…

Staff (2021-12-05). New US Military Provocation: Colombia Gets US Armored Vehicles. orinocotribune.com Colombian Defense Minister, Diego Molano, received from the US Ambassador to Colombia, Phillip Goldberg, the keys to 20 armored vehicles of model ASV M1117 Guardian which, the minister assured, will be deployed at Colombia's border with Venezuela. | These 20 vehicles make up the first batch of 145 military vehicles that Washington is donating to the Colombian army. | "This effort allows us to have more equipped troops, soldiers who fulfill their mission to face threats," said Molano at the Buenavista Military Cantonment in La Guajira, about 30 kilometers from the border with Venezuela's Zulia state, in a clear ac…

Staff (2021-12-05). Minister Plasencia to Washington: 'You Cannot Torpedo Mexico Talks and Then Urge Its Resumption. orinocotribune.com Venezuela's Foreign Affairs Minister, Félix Plasencia, responded this Friday, December 3, to the US Undersecretary of State, Victoria Nuland, that it has been the government of President Nicolás Maduro that has repeatedly promoted dialogue with the opposition, even at times of greatest political tension that was fostered by the Venezuelan extreme right supported precisely by Washington. | On Thursday, December 2, in a new interventionist act, Washington urged the administration of Nicolás Maduro to return to the negotiating table in Mexico. "Met yesterday with Venezuela's Unitary Platform to reaffirm US support f…

Dakotah Lilly (2021-12-05). The Socialist Leader America Loves to Hate Wins Again. What now? orinocotribune.com By Dakotah Lilly — Nov 26, 2021 | Recent elections in Venezuela saw Nicolás Maduro's leftist ruling party win 20 out of 23 governorships. The US predictably cries foul, but I witnessed voting that was perfectly free and fair. | Western This smear is in direct contradict…

Michelle Begue (2021-12-05). See what food challenges astronauts face in space. america.cgtn.com A Colombian Company was one of the winners in Phase 1 of NASA's deep space food challenge. Companies competing in the challenge must be able to offer a solution to feeding at least four astronauts on a three-year space mission. Find out more.

Christian Pena (2021-12-05). Colombia's Peace Is Unfinished Business. america.cgtn.com During Colombia's internal armed conflict more than 6,000 people were murdered, that's according to the country's Justice Department. Michelle Begue reports.

Staff (2021-12-04). Twitter Removes 277 Venezuelan Accounts for Supporting Nicolás Maduro (Social Media Censorship). orinocotribune.com Twitter is back at the center of the global controversy over freedom of expression. On this occasion, the US company undertook the task of censoring thousands of accounts for their supposed security violations and breach of regulations and for an alleged "disclosure of state-linked information." | Hay un dataset de 277 cuentas de Venezuela.

scorinoco (2021-12-04). Peru and the Washington Summit. orinocotribune.com By Gustavo Espinoza Montesinos — Nov 24, 2021 | The White House usually has two attitudes towards elected governments in Latin American countries. When it comes to "friendly governments," that is, the ones genuflecting to the Empire's mandate, it extends its hand, offers them support, and guarantees them permanent assistance. | When, on the contrary, oppositional administrations arise, it rejects and disqualifies them, as is happening right now with Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, or Bolivia. In the Peruvian case, a special phenomenon occurred. | It may be remembered here that in November last year, in the elect…

_____ (2021-12-04). Nick Estes In Conversation With Jorge Arreaza. popularresistance.org Jorge Arreaza is the Minister of Industries and National Production in Venezuela. Red Nation Podcast co-host Nick Estes spoke to him in Caracas in late November 2021.

Staff (2021-12-04). CNE Discusses Procedure to Include Venezuelan Migrants in Electoral Registry. orinocotribune.com Ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela has started to discuss how to incorporate Venezuela's migrant population into the electoral registry. | At a conference held on Friday, December 3, CNE rector Roberto Picón explained that the incorporation of migrants into the registry involves a series of technical and political procedures ranging from the normalization of consular relations with some countries, and the updating of host country immigration records, to an actual voter registration. | In his opinion, the first step need to be taken within the political a…

Staff (2021-12-04). President Maduro Calls for Joint Effort to Improve Drinking Water Service. orinocotribune.com On Thursday, December 2, President Nicolás Maduro announced that, in the first semester of 2022, together with the newly elected governors and mayors, his government will commit to a series of maintenance works directed towards optimizing the drinking water services in all of Venezuela's communities. At an event held at the José Joaquín "Papá" Carrillo Sports Complex, in the state of Miranda, President Maduro declared that "we are going to solve the water issues so that it functions properly, at 100%, without any excuses, without bureaucracy, without indolence." | The president pointed out the need "to change eve…

Xiaolu Sun (2021-12-04). See what Colombians have to say about Disney's "Encanto" america.cgtn.com The Disney movie "Encanto" is based on Colombian culture. In Bogota, theater goers expressed their initial approval of the feature film. See what this means for generations who are seeing themselves represented on the big screen more accurately.

teleSUR (2021-12-04). Colombia: Activists Ask Reopening of Forced Disappearance Cases. telesurenglish.net On Friday, the Orlando Fals Borda (OFB) Collective published a report denouncing 8,288 cases of forced disappearance between 1958 and 2016 in the Meta, Guaviare, and Casanare departments. | RELATED: | The report showed that the decade with the highest rates of forced disappearances in these three departments occurred between 2000 and 2009 with 92 cases and 101 victims totalizing 70 percent of victimization. | Th…

Ana Perdigón (2021-12-04). Venezuela Supports CELAC-China Cooperation — President Maduro Calls CELAC Vanguard of Patria Grande. orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Félix Plasencia ratified Venezuela's commitment to strengthening bi-regional cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean, to face current post-pandemic challenges. | During his speech at the Third Meeting of Ministers of the CELAC-China Forum this Friday, December 3, Plasencia highlighted the Asian giant's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as a promoter of cooperation of China with Latin America and the Caribbean. | The Venezuelan foreign affairs minister stressed that it is essential to translate into concrete projects the special declaration of the Third Minist…

Ana Perdigón (2021-12-04). Washington Cartel: Clíver Alcalá No Longer a Drug Trafficker According to OFAC. orinocotribune.com This Thursday, December 2, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) withdrew from its list of drug traffickers the name of Clíver Alcalá Cordones, fugitive from Venezuelan justice, despite the fact that he is allegedly detained in the US on charges related to drug trafficking. | Clíver Alcalá was inserted into the OFAC list in 2011, after being accused of abusing his position in the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) to exchange arms for drugs with Colombian paramilitary and drug traficking gangs. | The US government had offered $10 million for the capture of Alcalá, who finally had to turn h…

teleSUR, jaa, MER (2021-12-04). Comisión de la Verdad repudia desaparición de dos líderes en Colombia. telesurtv.net Los líderes comunitarios fueron vistos por última vez el pasado 28 de noviembre.

_____ (2021-12-03). Why We Should Oppose The Democracy Summit. popularresistance.org The exclusion of certain countries from the U.S. "democracy summit" is not a side issue. It is the very purpose of the summit. And excluded countries have not been excluded for failing to meet the standards of behavior of those that were invited or the one doing the inviting. Invitees didn't even have to be countries, as even a U.S. backed failed coup leader from Venezuela has been invited. So have representatives of Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, DRC, Zambia, Angola, Malaysia, Kenya, and — critically — pawns in the game: Taiwan and Ukraine. | What game? The weapons sales game. Which is the whole point. Look…

teleSUR (2021-12-03). Vaccine Hoarding Favored Appearance Of Omicron: ALBA Recalls. telesurenglish.net On Friday, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) Secretary-General Sacha Llorenti pointed out that the hoarding of COVID-19 vaccines prompted favorable conditions for the appearance of the Omicron strain. | RELATED: | "The appearance of Omicron was a foreseeable consequence of the hoarding of vaccines by some northern countries," Llorenti said, adding that "not giving priority to vaccinate all vu…

Ana Perdigón (2021-12-03). 21N Elections: Scrutiny of Vote Count for Indigenous Representatives Concludes. orinocotribune.com This Thursday, December 2, Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that it had concluded the tabulation of the voting minutes issued in the elections to choose Indigenous representatives for legislative councils and municipal councils. | The voting minutes were issued in each of the 74 authorized voting centers in eight states of the country. | "The Ad Hoc commission for the 2021 elections…

Staff (2021-12-03). Opposition Deputy José Brito Asks CNE to Repeat Elections in Pariaguán, Anzoategui State. orinocotribune.com This Thursday, December 2, José Brito, a deputy representing Justice First in Venezuela's National Assembly, asked the National Electoral Council (CNE) to repeat the regional and municipal elections in Pariaguán (Anzoátegui State) after the disqualification of the victor Tomás Bello. | In the company of the candidate for the Democratic Alliance for mayor of the Miranda municipality of Pariaguán, Tomás Bello, Brito went to the headquarters of the CNE to challenge the electoral process of that jurisdiction. He denounced that, following the disqualification of the elected candidate, a substitution of candidates was…

Staff (2021-12-03). Opposition's Presumed Candidate for Barinas State Re-election. orinocotribune.com With the opening of the new electoral process in the state of Barinas, following the controversial decision issued by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) that confirmed the disqualification of Freddy Superlano as the opposition (MUD) candidate—even when Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) forecast his victory—it is presumed that they will nominate his wife, Aurora Silva de Superlano, to run as candidate for governor. | The CNE authorities have already announced that the period for political organizations to present their offers is underway. For their part, regional media reported on the possib…

Toward Freedom Editor (2021-12-03). Why Does Independent Media Matter? A Webinar on Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras and the Black Liberation Struggle. towardfreedom.org Toward Freedom hosted a webinar December 2 to welcome new editor, Julie Varughese, who reported on her time covering Nicaragua's November 7 elections. Regular contributors Danny Shaw and Jacqueline Luqman discussed the Pink Tide in Latin America, Haiti and how Hollywood depicts the Black liberation struggle.

Mary Triny Mena (2021-12-03). Venezuela rolls out COVID-19 vaccination program for kids aged 2-11. america.cgtn.com Venezuela is rolling out a COVID-19 vaccination program for children as young as two- years-old, but the decision to vaccinate children is still controversial. There are questions about the safety of the vaccines the Venezuelan government has authorized, and about the decision to allocate scant …