2020-02-21: News Headlines

RT (2020-02-21). Venezuela declares an energy emergency. rt.com Nicolas Maduro has declared an energy emergency in Venezuela in order to protect the nations oil and ensure energy security. | "I declare an emergency situation in the oil industry by constitutional and presidential decree in order to take urgent and necessary measures to ensure the country's energy security and protect the industry from imperialist aggression," Maduro said. | "Clause 2 creates a plenipotentiary presidential commission for the protection, restructuring and reorganization of the national oil industry." | Tomando como base la actual coyuntura geopolítica de permanente agresión contra Venezuela,…

The Canary (2020-02-21). Windrush draft 'branding Home Office institutionally racist was watered down'. thecanary.co A warning not to water down a review into the Windrush scandal has been issued after it was reported that a portion branding the Home Office "institutionally racist" was stripped out. | The delayed independent review was commissioned after people with a right to live in the UK were wrongfully detained or deported to the Caribbean. | The Times reported sources saying the phrase "institutionally racist" was included in an earlier draft of the Windrush review led by Inspector of Constabulary Wendy Williams, but had subsequently been removed. | Labour MP David Lammy, a vocal campaigner over the scandal caused by the…

Center for Biological Diversity (2020-02-21). Congress Introduces Bill to Save Monarch Butterflies in West. indybay.org Western Population Has Declined by 99%, Extinction Looming…

Ed Rampell (2020-02-20). Pan African Film & Arts Festival returns to L.A. peoplesworld.org LOS ANGELES—One of the top ways to celebrate Black History Month—and the moviegoing experience in general—is to attend the Los Angeles-based 28th Annual Pan African Film & Arts Festival. PAFF focuses on Black-themed films, ranging from studio pictures to indie productions, with works from Hollywood, the USA, Mother Africa, the Caribbean, Melanesia (the Black South …

Ken Stone (2020-02-20). Oppose Trudeau's Hosting of the Lima Group in Gatineau. globalresearch.ca On February 20, the Trudeau government will host another meeting of the anti-Venezuelan "Lima Group" at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, 100 Laurier St, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0M8. A protest will commence at its main entrance at 1 pm. | The …

news.un (2020-02-20). Haitian leaders urged to end political impasse. news.un.org Leaders in Haiti must step up and end the political impasse between President Jovenel MoàØse and a surging opposition movement that has paralyzed the island nation since July 2018, the top UN official there said on Thursday in a briefing to the UN Security Council in New York.

WSWS (2020-02-20). US slaps sanctions on Russian oil company trading with Venezuela. wsws.org The unilateral sanctions are aimed at tightening the US blockade of Venezuela's crisis-ridden economy.

Susan Price (2020-02-20). Venezuela files ICC lawsuit over US sanctions. greenleft.org.au

The Canary (2020-02-19). Otter genome sequenced to help conservation efforts. thecanary.co The genetic code of the otter has been sequenced in a move it is hoped will help protect the charismatic British mammals from environmental threats.The sequencing and release of the first high-quality Eurasian otter genome — all of the DNA that makes up the animal's chromosomes — has been done by scientists at the Wellcome Sanger Institute near Cambridge.It is hoped the move, in partnership with the Cardiff University Otter Project, will help understand the biology of otters better, see how toxic chemicals in their environment affect them and help with conservation efforts.Britain's otter population cra…

Staff (2020-02-19). Latinx Group Mijente Backs Bernie Sanders in First-Ever Presidential Endorsement. democracynow.org In its first-ever presidential endorsement, the Latinx and Chicanx organization Mijente endorsed Bernie Sanders on Tuesday ahead of the Nevada caucuses. The group tweeted its decision, saying, "We know that in 2020, Trump's potential re-election is a life-or-death threat for us, for our people, and for our planet. This moment demands a historic mobilization. That's why Mijente is uniting with the movement to elect @BernieSanders." A video accompanied the announcement. After the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the electorate is overwhelmingly white, Nevada is the first election with a diverse population.

Fight Back (2020-02-18). Afro-Venezuelan socialist youth leader's message to the people of the U.S. fightbacknews.org In January, Fight Back! reporters participated in the World Anti-Imperialist Gathering in Caracas, Venezuela. While there, they interviewed delegates from Venezuela and from several other countries. In this interview, Ender Sabalsa, a leader of the youth sector and the Afro-descendent sector of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), gives his message to the people of the United States. | Ender Sabalsa: Revolutionary greetings to everyone reading this and to all the peoples of the world. My name is Ender Sabalsa. I'm a member of the youth sector of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). I'm also…

Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers (2020-02-17). Mistrial Is Another Blow to US Coup In Venezuela. dissidentvoice.org Last week we, along with Adrienne Pine and David Paul, were unsuccessfully prosecuted by the Trump administration for our protection of the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, DC from April 10 to May 16, 2019. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision and so we remain innocent of the charge of interfering with the …

Fight Back (2020-02-17). Un mensaje al pueblo estadounidense de un joven venezolano afrodescendiente socialista. fightbacknews.org En enero unos periodistas de °Lucha y Resiste! participaron en el Encuentro Mundial Antiimperialista en Caracas, Venezuela. Allí hicieron entrevistas con delegados de Venezuela y de varios otros países. Esta es una entrevista con Ender Sabalsa, un líder de la Juventud PSUV (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela) y del sector afrodescendiente en que él comparte un mensaje al pueblo de los Estados Unidos. | Ender: Un saludo revolucionario a todos los que nos están viendo y a todos los pueblos del mundo. Mi nombre es Ender Sabalsa, milito en la juventud del Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, del sector afro…

Leonardo Flores (2020-02-15). Mistrial in Trump admin's biased case against Venezuelan embassy protectors is win for sovereignty. thegrayzone.com The Trump administration's case against Venezuelan embassy protectors was severely biased, but ended up with a hung jury. The mistrial…

Alan Macleod (2020-02-14). Mistrial Declared in Kafkaesque D.C. Trial of Venezuela Embassy Protectors. mintpressnews.com Judge Beryl Howell has declared a mistrial following a hung jury in the case of the four Venezuela Embassy Protectors charged with "interfering with the protective function of the State Department."

Anya Parampil (2020-02-12). Did Venezuelan coup leader Ricardo Hausmann stage fake IDB resignation to keep cushy Harvard job? thegrayzone.com Caught in a conflict of interest with his employer at Harvard, Ricardo Hausmann publicly resigned his job as Guaido's Inter-American…

Lucas Koerner (2020-02-12). Left Media and Venezuela: An Exchange. fair.org Critique, Solidarity and Movement Building: A Reply to Lucas Koerner: | by Gabriel Hetland FAIR.org ( Lucas Koerner's recent piece for Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, "How Western Left Media Helped Legitimate US Regime Change in Venezuela" (

Venezuela Analysis (2020-02-06). Embassy Protection Collective: "We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law" theantimedia.com In this exclusive interview, VA talks to the activists who defended the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington DC ahead of their trial.

Joe Emersberger (2019-12-20). Notes on a private TV newscast in Bolivia. The contrast with Venezuela is clear as day. zcomm.org In August, I took detailed notes a news broadcast on one of Venezuela's largest TV networks. I summarized these notes in an interview I did with the Real News Network making the point that Venezuela's private media (which reaches 60-90% of households) is remarkably free — most especially when you consider the US is openly

Joe Emersberger (2019-12-16). Francisco Rodriguez answers some questions I asked about Venezuela. zcomm.org Venezuelan economist Francisco Rodriguez, formerly of Torino Economics, answered a few questions of mine about his country. He was the economic adviser to Henri Falcon, the second place finisher in the May 2018 presidential election. His updated estimate for 2019 is that Venezuela's real GDP will contract by 25% . That's horrific, but less severe