Vijay Prashad (2020-12-10). We Don't Listen to the Dying Government of Donald Trump. dissidentvoice.org Madhuri Shukla (USA), Wring, 2020 The night before the National Assembly elections in Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro spoke to a group of visitors at Miraflores Palace in Caracas. He recounted how he had been a member of the Constituent Assembly, which was formed in 1999 and set up the legal framework for Venezuela's political system. …

_____ (2020-12-10). Elections And The Path To Socialism In Venezuela. popularresistance.org On December 6, Venezuelans elected a new National Assembly with a left political majority. This election, which was well-run and legitimate despite what the imperialist media and countries say, reconstitutes the Venezuelan parliamentary body with participation from both the ruling and opposition parties. It marks the end of an era during which the National Assembly was a tool of the right wing agenda and US regime change efforts. To facilitate understanding of the current election and political climate in Venezuela, Vijay Prashad of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and Paul Dobson of Venezulanalysis…

news.un (2020-12-10). $1.44 billion plan to respond to Venezuela refugee and migrant needs. news.un.org In a $1.4 billion appeal launched on Thursday, the UN migration organization IOM and the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned that the pandemic has strained the capacity of Latin American and Caribbean countries to look after Venezuelan nationals.

Workers World Party (2020-12-10). PDF of December 10 issue. workers.org Download the 12-page PDF. Capitalist COVID catastrophe FIGHT or DIE! Message from Peltier; Reparations now! Justice for Breonna denied again; Disability rights; Workers demand justice; DEA surveillance; Editorial: New president — same wars; Commentary: Becoming a cadre; GLOBAL: China: global vaccines, science; India: worker & farmer uprising; Cuba; France; Palestine; Venezuela. . . . |

Leonardo Flores (2020-12-10). Low Turnout, but Free, Elections in Venezuela Are a Blow To Regime Change. mintpressnews.com After four years of sanctions, sabotaged industries, attempted coups, an assassination by drone attempt, a mercenary incursion and paramilitary attacks, among others, Venezuela managed to survive the Trump administration's maximum pressure.

Orinoco Tribune (2020-12-10). Evo Morales: In Venezuela there was a Democratic 'Fiesta' on December 6. mronline.org "There is peace, tranquility and yesterday there was a great democratic 'fiesta'," the former president of Bolivia and international observer of Venezuela's elections, Evo Morales, emphasized this Monday.

Peter Bolton (2020-12-10). US secretary of state's comments on Venezuela election strike to the heart of US hypocrisy. thecanary.co Venezuela recently held

Fight Back (2020-12-10). Colombia closes airspace to international observers to Venezuela elections. fightbacknews.org Caracas, Venezuela – 60 international observers of the Venezuelan election were stuck at the airport December 8, for a flight to Mexico. The flight kept getting delayed and delayed. After six hours of waiting, people were sleeping on the floors, tables and couches. Then the head of Conviasa's national flights spoke to the observers in the airport and said that Venezuela asked Colombia permission to have observers fly over Colombia to return home. Colombia approved it. Two hours before the flight was going to leave, they denied the flight route. He said, "This has happened many times. They do this to try to contro…

Cira Pascual Marquina (2020-12-10). Two Chavista Blocs, Two Voices: Venezuelan Parliamentary Candidates Speak. zcomm.org On Sunday Venezuelans will choose their new National Assembly and they have many options…

teleSUR (2020-12-09). Venezuela: Capriles Says Opposition Has No Leadership or Unity. telesurenglish.net In the wake of a blowout victory for the PSUV-GPP coalition this December 6, having received nearly 70% of the vote, opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who himself did not run for a legislative seat, said that the opposition must continue on the electoral, rather than the violent path. He states that peace and reconciliation are what the Venezuelan people seek in this difficult socio-economic conjuncture. | As far-right opposition politician and self-proclaimed opposition leader and president Juan Guaido leave the National Assembly when the PSUV-GPP coalition assumes leadership of the legislative body on Jan…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-12-09). Assassination of social activists continues in Colombia. peoplesdispatch.org The assassination of social activists in Colombia continues at a horrifying rate. Community leaders, environmentalists, land defenders, human rights activists and former combatants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerilla group are relentlessly being targeted by illegal armed groups operating in the country. | Between November 30 and December 7, six Indigenous leaders, two Afro-descendant leaders, two environmentalists and one social leader were murdered. Additionally, in a massacre in Santander de Quilichao, on December 5, another Indigenous leader and one ex-combatant of the FARC were kille…

Lyn Neeley (2020-12-09). Venezuelan court convicts the CITGO Six. workers.org Venezuela's Supreme Court sentenced six top CITGO oil executives to prison for corruption, embezzlement, money laundering and conspiracy on Nov. 26. The former executives went behind the back of the Venezuelan state and signed an agreement with two U.S. based-international financial companies — for which they were detained in Nov. . . . |

A Guest Author (2020-12-09). Embassy Protection Collective help monitor Venezuelan elections. workers.org By Jose Szepara On Dec. 6, Venezuelans will turn out to vote in the country's National Assembly elections, and the world waits with bated breath as observers from all over the world wait for the final results. Election monitoring groups have made their way to Venezuela to act as impartial . . . |

Eds. (2020-12-09). Venezuela's PSUV retakes control of National Assembly despite low turnout. mronline.org With 99 percent of the votes counted, the PSUV has won 68 percent with a 30.5 percent participation rate.

Manuela Solé (2020-12-09). International Observers Present Report on Venezuelan Parliamentary Elections. venezuelanalysis.com The Latin American Council of Electoral Experts (CEELA) endorsed the legitimacy of Venezuela's National Assembly elections.

Stephen Lendman (2020-12-08). Bolivarian Social Democracy Triumphs in Venezuelan National Assembly Elections. globalresearch.ca On Sunday, Venezuelans voted to elect 277 National Assembly members for five-year terms from January 5, 2021 to January 5, 2026. | An unprecedented total of 14,400 candidates from 107 political parties ran for office. | Two Bolivarian blocs were heavy favorites …

Media Lens (2020-12-08). Stuck in a Lift with John Pilger: News and How to Use It by Alan Rusbridger. dissidentvoice.org Noticing the way journalists seemed unable to resist commenting on our work, even if it was just to slag us off, Glenn Greenwald tweeted us in 2012: 'You are really deeper in the heads of the British establishment-serving commentariat than anyone else — congrats.' ((Greenwald, Twitter, 12 September 2012.)) If that was true then, our relationship …

Elijah Magnier (2020-12-08). Venezuela, a population difficult to defeat: Lessons for the Middle East. thealtworld.com At the "Escuela Técnica Comercial Manuel Palacio Fajardo De Caracas Venezuela" in an area called 23 Enero, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza came to vote. The people of the neighbourhood stood in line waiting their turn after being disinfected by the sanitary officers. A few guards were in the background, not interfering with the self-organisation of the population. The Minister Arreaza was later joined by the daughter of Comandante Hugo Chavez, Maria Gabriel, who also came to vote at the same school where the late Chavez used to vote. | It is indeed a normal scene here to see people from all walks of…

Ralph Nader (2020-12-08). Action for Change Starts in Congress. counterpunch.org We know their names! We've given immense power to Five Hundred and Thirty-Five People to do good or bad. One Hundred Senators and Four Hundred and Thirty-Five Representatives. Unfortunately, some 1500 corporations control most Members of Congress. Think about all the dreams for a better world that could come to be realized if our elected officials

Margaret Flowers (2020-12-08). Venezuela Votes to End Neocolonialism, Create Its Own Path. dissidentvoice.org On December 2, the Embassy Protection Collective (EPC) members, who were arrested in May 2019 when the United States illegally invaded the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC, completed their probation, ending the risk of the 30 days in prison that was being held over their heads. I am one of the four who were arrested. …

Lucas Leiroz de Almeida (2020-12-08). Relations Between Colombia and China Are on the Rise. globalresearch.ca China is about to accomplish a historic act in Colombia. In 1942, when Bogotá had 380,000 inhabitants, a project was launched to build the urban metro. After more than 75 years and with 8 million people, the work finally seems …

Zoe PC (2020-12-08). Venezuelan elections: What lies ahead? peoplesdispatch.org The legislative elections in Venezuela saw the ruling Great Patriotic Pole emerge victorious. The new Assembly has a number of challenges with far right-wing sections under Juan Guaidó continuing to foment discontent, and the country facing an economic crisis…

Mehr News Agency (2020-12-08). MP hails Venezuelan's 'transparent' Assembly elections. en.mehrnews.com TEHRAN, Dec. 08 (MNA) — Felicitating Venezuelans for their successful election, Iranian MP Amouei hailed Arreaza, the former Vice President of Venezuela for his cooperation and hospitality toward the Iranian nation.