(2020-06-04). Leading by Example: Cuba in the Covid-19 Pandemic. counterpunch.org The response of socialist Cuba to the global SARS-CoV2 pandemic has been outstanding both domestically and for its international contribution. That a small island nation, subjected to hundreds of years of colonialism and imperialism and, since the Revolution of 1959, six decades of the criminal United States blockade, can play such an exemplary role is due to Cuba's socialist system.
(2020-06-04). Operating Outside the Rule of Law: Washington Pressures International Criminal Court. globalresearch.ca There is apparently no limit to what the United States and Israel can get away with without any consequences. The United States has been waging devastating economic warfare against Iran and Venezuela while also blaming China for a global health …
(2020-06-04). [Commentary] Governments and international institutions should urgently attend to the unjust disparities that COVID-19 is exposing and causing. thelancet.com During the COVID-19 pandemic, world leaders should pay more attention to those populations living in the poorest conditions, such as the homeless, those in prisons, poor ethnic & racial minorities, and millions of distressed migrants and refugees in unsanitary camps, settlements, shelters or detention centres. These vulnerable groups are most likely to suffer the consequences of inadequate and equitable access to testing, treatment and medical care [1]. Socio-economic circumstances determine the distribution of health conditions in populations and the severity of outcomes.
(2020-06-04). The UN's Anti-Poverty Proposal for Latin America: a "Basic Emergency Income" counterpunch.org The economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on Latin America could be potentially devastating, according to a new Special Report by the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The report, based on the available data in mid-April, has estimated a -5.3 percent drop for the region's GDP growth in 2020 —
(2020-06-04). The OAS Picks Sides in Haiti … Again. cepr.net Haitian president Jovenel MoàØse, governing without parliament after terms expired in January without new elections taking place, is facing increasing questions over when, exactly, his own presidential mandate ends. MoàØse assumed the presidency after 2015 presidential elections, which had to be rerun after the discovery of widespread irregularities that undermined the credibility of the vote. …
(2020-06-04). Defending Land and Water From Mining Profiteers in the Time of Covid-19. counterpunch.org Over the years, the mining industry has taken advantage of dictatorship, disasters, and a variety of distractions to expand operations in Latin America. In the time of Covid-19, with entire populations under lockdown and economies falling apart, mining companies have also hopped on the pandemic profiteering bandwagon. The potential implications are wide-reaching. In Latin America,
(2020-06-03). Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective wins legal victory in face of hostile Obama-appointed judge & govt prosecution. thegrayzone.com The sentencing of the final four from the Venezuelan Embassy Protection Collective marked another defeat for Juan Guaidó and his…
(2020-06-03). CoronaShock and the Hybrid War against Venezuela. mronline.org 
CoronaShock is a term that refers to how a virus struck the world with such gripping force; it refers to how the social order in the bourgeois state crumbled, while the social order in the socialist parts of the world appeared more resilient.
(2020-06-03). U.S. campaign against Cuba's medical brigades targets healthcare, not 'forced labor'. mronline.org 
For decades, Cuba has sent tens of thousands of its medical professionals abroad to work in countries where natural disasters or poverty have left people without healthcare. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the catastrophic U.S. response to it, the absurdity of a propaganda war against Cuban medical missions has become more obvious …
(2020-06-03). Big banks profit from COVID-19 as food, shelter, even water at risk for millions. workers.org 
On top of COVID-19, another epidemic — one of growing hunger, evictions and foreclosures — now looms over millions of poor people in the United States. They are disproportionately Indigenous, African Americans, Latinx and other people of color. Many live far from big population centers. From March to the end . . . |
(2020-06-03). The UK Compared With Other Countries on the Pandemic. counterpunch.org As I write (the weekend of 30-31 May), the UK's death toll from the COVID-19 pandemic has reached 38,489. Even the rightwing Financial Times regards this figure as an under-estimate, and says the actual toll is 60,300. The Murdoch-owned Sky News reports that the UK's population-adjusted COVID19 death toll has now overtaken Italy's: UK: 543
(2020-06-02). Top Venezuelan opposition leaders blame The Grayzone and Nicolas Maduro for US uprising against police brutality. thegrayzone.com Unhinged right-wing Venezuelan opposition leaders point to Max Blumenthal's t-shirt as evidence of a devious plot by the government of…
(2020-06-02). Nobel Peace Prize Campaign for Cuban Physicians grows across the globe. peoplesdispatch.org 
Cuban doctors' solidarity, once again, has gained international attention. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 1,800 Cuban healthcare professionals have been sent to dozens of countries. In response to the initiative, a Nobel Peace prize campaign to honor the physicians have been gaining more support each day. | Launched by the French organization "
(2020-06-02). Nicaragua — False Witness, False Memory. COVID-19 and Nicaragua's Community Approach to Health Care. globalresearch.ca On Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The standard Western canonical sources of record, namely international institutions, non-governmental organizations and media outlets, practically universally contend that all three countries are authoritarian or even tyrannical regimes, denying their peoples' basic democratic rights. The …
(2020-06-02). US Sanctions Shipping Companies, Torpedoes Venezuela Oil-for-Food Deal. venezuelanalysis.com Washington is cracking down on swap deals that provide Venezuela with food, fuel and other vital imports in exchange for crude oil.
(2020-06-01). Public Health Interventions for Lowering Dietary Sodium Intake. jamanetwork.com The link between dietary sodium intake and hypertension has been well established, with reductions in dietary sodium intake being associated with decreases in blood pressure and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization recommends reducing sodium intake (limit sodium intake to <5 g [87 mmol] per day for adults) as one of the most cost-effective measures that countries can take to improve general population health outcomes.
(2020-06-01). Venezuela Inaugurates New Fuel System, Increases Local Production. venezuelanalysis.com The new model features dual prices, dollar payments and private import permits, ending the state's 50-year monopoly on fuel supply.
(2020-05-29). An Impending Crisis: COVID-19 in Haiti, Ongoing Instability, and the Dangers of Continued U.S. Deportations. cepr.net Prepared remarks by Jake Johnston to Congresswoman Frederica S. Wilson's forum on COVID-19 and ICE's deportation of detainees to Haiti First, I want to thank Congresswoman Wilson for convening this forum and for her leadership on this issue. The introduction of legislation mandating a halt to these deportations is a concrete and necessary step. I'd …
(2020-05-28). Latin America and Caribbean: Millions more could miss meals due to COVID-19 pandemic. news.un.org Some 14 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean could experience severe food insecurity this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to projections released on Thursday by the World Food Programme (WFP).
(2020-05-28). Venezuela Cuts Back Oil Production, Mulls Gasoline Price Hike. venezuelanalysis.com Four Iranian tankers carrying fuel and additives have arrived in recent days.
(2020-05-27). In 2007, acclaimed US physician Paul Farmer pushed for Cuban Medical Brigades to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. zcomm.org Today Code Pink is making a push for that. It would be a lock in a civilized world. Click below to here to read Farmer's letter. In it, he glowingly sums up his decades of working closely with Cuban doctors in Haiti.
(2020-05-26). Desafiando las sanciones de EEUU, primer buque iraní llega a Venezuela. liberationnews.org 
La presencia militar de los Estados Unidos en aguas del Caribe no disuadió a Irán mientras el "Fortuna", el primero de sus cinco gigantes buques petroleros llenos de gasolina y suministros de refinería llegó a las aguas de Venezuela el sábado 23 de mayo.
(2020-05-26). Defying U.S. sanctions, first Iranian tanker reaches Venezuela. liberationnews.org The enhanced U.S. military presence in Caribbean waters did not deter Iran as the first of its five giant tankers full of gasoline and refinery supplies reached Venezuela's waters late Saturday, May 23.
(2020-05-25). Venezuelan Government Seizes AT&T Assets, Looks to Re-establish DirecTV Cable Service. venezuelanalysis.com The Texas-based multinational abandoned the country last week citing legal pressure caused by US sanctions.
(2020-06-04). Across Colombia, Red Flags of Despair Fly as Harsh COVID Lockdown Is Extended for a Third Time. anti-empire.com 
Bogota, Colombia — Red flags hang draped from the doors, rooftops and windows of Bogota's impoverished southern neighborhoods. They symbolize the suffering wreaked by a now thrice-extended house-arrest and quarantine policy purportedly aimed at containing the Coronavirus. While the pandemic has infected only a few thousand people out of a population of more than thirty million in Colombia, the quarantine has caused prolonged unemployment, a wave of housing evictions, and rioting; fueling scourges like domestic violence while pushing many to the edge of starvation. | Colombia's tragedy mirrors those of the m…
(2020-05-26). Tankers to Venezuela Are Part of Iranian Strategy to Mess With Trump in an Election Year as Payback for Soleimani. anti-empire.com 
Editor's note: Very interesting information. This helps explain why the Imperial navy has been conducting
| Iranian tankers were 2200 km from the US coast when the Iranian-flagged "Fortune", followed by "Forest", entered Venezuelan waters, challenging the US embargo and the US's threats. The Islamic Republic was broadcast…
(2020-06-01). Thierry Deronne :"The Revolt That Is Happening in the United States Is the Same One That Founds the Resistance of the Venezuelan People" ahtribune.com 
Mohsen Abdelmoumen: What is the current situation in Venezuela? | Thierry Deronne: The daily problems derived from the US blockade and sabotage, such as the lack of water, gas, electricity, petrol, or the price war of a predominant sector, which have brutally reduced the purchasing power, have not caused the popular revolt that the United States is hoping for. On the one hand because the government continues to invent restraint barriers, allowances, food at low prices, on the other hand because the population has been in a resistance school for at least six years, helps each other and adapts very quickly. The…
(2020-05-26). Why Did Russia Refuse Venezuela's Request but Iran Accepted It? ahtribune.com 
Iranian tankers were 2200 km from the US coast when the Iranian-flagged "Fortune", followed by "Forest", entered Venezuelan waters, challenging the US embargo and the US's threats. The Islamic Republic was broadcasting loud and clear a strong message. | The first message was dispatched to the US administration after Gulf and Arab Leaders conveyed a direct message to the Iranian leaders: "Washington is determined to stop the Iranian tankers sailing to Venezuela". Iran responded to all messages received that "its five tankers will sail to Venezuela and if any of these tankers is intercepted, Iran will respond in…
(2020-06-02). Is the Republican Party Fascist? mronline.org 
Donald Trump is the culmination of how the Republican Party has been developing for years. Together they threaten to establish an authoritarian state in the service of big capital. They endanger the lives, health, and living standards of the working class and the rest of the population. But supporting the Democratic Party is not the …
(2020-06-04). Protectors Of The Venezuelan Embassy Victorious After Federal Charges Are Dropped. popularresistance.org Federal charges against the four protectors of the Venezuelan Embassy, who defended the building in Washington DC against violent opposition crowds for several weeks between April 10 and May 16 of 2019, were completely dropped in a case that was brought directly by prosecutors of the Trump administration. | After several months of proceedings that produced a mistrial in February 2020, the four activists expressed in a public statement that "Today's sentence marks yet another victory in the effort to protect the Venezuelan Embassy. The Embassy Protection Collective broke through the blockade and got supplies to th…
(2020-05-24). Iranian Fuel Tanker Reaches Venezuela, Defying US Threats. venezuelanalysis.com The five Iranian tankers are estimated to carry enough gasoline to supply Venezuela for 50 days.
(2020-05-22). Cuba has maintained a lower infant morality rate than Canada since 2009. zcomm.org According to UNICEF's latest figures which can be downloaded here. I should add that UN agencies like UNICEF are not biased in favor of states like Cuba that the US has been trying to destroy for decades.
(2020-05-21). Trump Claims to Have Venezuela 'Surrounded' as Iranian Tankers Approach. venezuelanalysis.com Venezuela's armed forces will escort the vessels upon reaching territorial waters.
(2020-05-21). US Blocks UNSC Draft Resolution Denouncing Paramilitary Incursion into Venezuela. venezuelanalysis.com Russia, China and other countries criticized violations of Venezuelan sovereignty.
(2020-05-20). AT&T Shuts down DirecTV in Venezuela over Sanctions. venezuelanalysis.com The National Assembly will investigate the "rash decision" that affects 600 workers and two million households.
(2020-05-20). Venezuela Sues UK over Frozen Gold Reserves, Loses CITGO Appeal. venezuelanalysis.com The US $1 billion worth of gold would be used in the fight against COVID-19.