(2021-07-03). [Editorial] Germany's election: transformation versus more of the same. thelancet.com Angela Merkel's 16-year reign as German chancellor will come to an end this year. This fact is the only certain outcome, among various possible party coalition options, when Germans vote in federal elections on Sept 26. 2021 is a particularly poignant and important year for an election in Germany, with a mixed picture of success in the COVID-19 pandemic, an unfinished history of migration, strong population feelings on climate change and sustainability, and continuing discussion on the role of the EU.
(2021-07-03). [Correspondence] The Beirut Port explosion: injury trends from a mass survey of emergency admissions. thelancet.com On Aug 4, 2020, 1807 h, one of the most powerful non-nuclear explosions in history rocked Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, with a population of 2 million. The Beirut Port ammonium nitrate explosion (BPANE) happened when a fire set off 2700 tons of ammonium nitrate, which had been stored inside the port for 6 years. Soon after the explosion, we surveyed all patient admissions to emergency departments to analyse the pattern of injuries caused by the explosion.
(2021-07-02). Dan Kovalik, Lawyer & Human Rights Specialist: Alex Saab Case Exposes Lawlessness of the United States. orinocotribune.com Dan Kovalik, lawyer, human rights activist and pacifist, asserted that "the story of Alex Saab is very important because it really exposes the lawlessness of the United States. The US put pressure on Cabo Verde to arrest, detain and extradite Alex Saab for the crime of helping Venezuela overcome sanctions that are in themselves illegal." | Kovalik, who is also a writer, again denounced the persecution of the Venezuelan diplomat for his only "crime"—doing humanitarian work for Venezuela. "And that is why the world has to know about this, they have to be aware, and they have to move to change US policy," he s…
(2021-07-02). The Triumph of Pedro Castillo Amid the Campaign to Undermine His Presidency. counterpunch.org The victory of Pedro Castillo, a rural teacher, in Peru's presidential elections will be recorded in the annals of history as one of the most significant events in the last 200 years of Peruvian history. With his pencil and megaphone in hand, Castillo embodies the impoverished and vulnerable inland populations of the country. During his
(2021-07-02). Prosecution Of Alex Saab Unjust, Illegal & Indefensible. popularresistance.org José António Dos Reis, former minister in Cape Verde, founder of the country's Movement for Democracy (MPD) ruling political party, and close to the current government, harshly criticized Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva (of the same political party) and the judicial authorities of Cape Verde for the illegal detention and abduction of the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab.
(2021-07-02). Prosecution of Alex Saab Unjust, Illegal & Indefensible: Cape Verdean Politician. orinocotribune.com José António Dos Reis, former minister in Cape Verde, founder of the country's Movement for Democracy (MPD) ruling political party, and close to the current government, harshly criticized Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva (of the same political party) and the judicial authorities of Cape Verde for the illegal detention and abduction of the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. | In his
(2021-07-02). Prosecution Of Alex Saab Unjust, Illegal And Indefensible. popularresistance.org José António Dos Reis, former minister in Cape Verde, founder of the country's Movement for Democracy (MPD) ruling political party, and close to the current government, harshly criticized Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva (of the same political party) and the judicial authorities of Cape Verde for the illegal detention and abduction of the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab. | In his article entitled "The Case of Alex Saab: Cape Verde Between Ambiguity and Schizophrenia" published by the online media outlet Santiago Magazine, the politician described the judicial process as "unjust, illegal, and indefensible," hi…
(2021-07-02). Headlines for July 2, 2021. democracynow.org Supreme Court Upholds Arizona Voter Suppression Law in Latest Blow to Voting Rights Act, Supreme Court Strikes Down California Donor Law in Major Win for Dark Money Groups, Trump Organization Charged with Criminal Tax Fraud, CFO Charged with Grand Larceny, WHO Warns Delta Coronavirus Variant Driving Massive Third Wave Across Africa, Venezuela Begins Administering Cuban-Made Abdala COVID-19 Vaccine, Extreme Heat Wave Scorches Canada, Nearly Wiping Out Canadian Town of Lytton, Pelosi Appoints Republican Liz Cheney to Select Committee to Probe Capitol Insurrection, Attorney General Merrick Garland Halts Federal Exec…
(2021-07-02). CIA Preparing a False Flag Operation from Colombia? libya360.wordpress.com Mison Verdad Colombian President Iván Duque and Craig Faller, head of the Southern Command (Photo: Presidency of Colombia). Colombia's role in the already permanent regime change operation against Venezuela is broad and eloquent. Some recent events in that country may be worthy of attention and analysis, however, all this would require a series of further…
(2021-07-02). Solidarity with socialist Cuba. workers.org 
Leading up to the annual vote in the U.N. General Assembly June 23 on Cuba's resolution to end the illegal 60-year U.S. blockade against the island, solidarity activists across the U.S. and Canada held a week of actions to pressure President Joe Biden and Congress. In New York City, a . . . |
(2021-07-02). Cuba's Vaccine Shield and the Five Monopolies that Structure the World. popularresistance.org To use the social wealth of a population, to teach science, and to establish a basic norm of scientific literacy are essential lessons of the pandemic. These are lessons well-learnt by the Cubans. This is why Cuba has, against all odds, developed five different vaccines. Abdala and Cuba's four other vaccines stand as a shield against COVID-19. These vaccines emerge out of the social productivity of socialist Cuba, which has not surrendered to the ugliness of the five monopolies.
(2021-07-02). Job Gains Driven by Growth in Sectors Hit Hard by Pandemic. truthout.org 
The June employment report showed very strong employment growth in the establishment survey, while the household survey showed little improvement from May. The 850,000 gain was the largest since an increase of 1,583,000 last August. By contrast, the household survey showed no change in the employment-to-population ratio or labor force participation rate. The unemployment rate edged up slightly, as employment in the household survey slipped by 18,000. | It is not unusual to see sharp monthly divergences between…
(2021-07-02). Venezuela immunizes its population against COVID-19 with Cuban vaccine. peoplesdispatch.org Last week, Venezuela signed an agreement with Cuba for the purchase of 12 million doses of Abdala, just three days after the country announced and celebrated the success of its locally developed anti-COVID-19 vaccine…
(2021-07-02). Campaign for the Elimination of Patents. orinocotribune.com By Pasqualina Curcio — Jun 28, 2021 | A debate has been going on worldwide about the exemption of COVID-19 vaccine patents. The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom, warned governments and pharmaceutical companies that "unless we eliminate the virus everywhere, we could end up back at square one." This statement is mainly due to the fact that the longer we take to vaccinate the world's population, the more likely the coronavirus will mutate and evade vaccines, making them less effective in containing the disease. A clear example has been Brazil, where several experts warn t…
(2021-07-02). Cuba's vaccine shield and the five monopolies that structure the World: The Twenty-Sixth Newsletter (2021). mronline.org In 1869, at the age of fifteen, José Martí and his young friends published a magazine in Cuba called La Patria Libre ('The Free Homeland'), which adopted a strong position against Spanish imperialism. The first and only issue of the magazine carried Martí's poem, 'Abdala'. | July 2, 2021…
(2021-07-02). Belarus seals off border with Ukraine as president warns of repeat of 1941. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Belarus seals off border with Ukraine as president warns of repeat of 1941 The government of Belarus announced today that it is completely closing its border with Ukraine, which for months have been targeting Belarus with accusations of plotting military aggression against it. Ukraine has a population of almost 45 million and a military trained …
(2021-07-02). New York Times Reveals its "Lethal Naivety," Alleges Venezuela's Arreaza. orinocotribune.com "The fate and life of the population near the border [between Venezuela and Colombia] is not exactly a concern, neither for The New York Times nor the governments of Colombia and the United States, and much less for human rights NGOs that some consider to be 'primary sources' for organizations with a global reach," said Venezuela's Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza in a statement addressed to the US media outlet The New York Times (NYT). | Arreaza's comments came in response to a piece published on April 26 that, according to the top diplomat, sought to maintain a slanderous narrative against Venezuela and its effor…
(2021-07-02). Trains and Population Density: U.S. and Europe. cepr.net There are lots of silly comments that pass for great wisdom in elite circles. Steve Rattner gave us one of my favorites in his NYT column warning President Biden against putting too much money into reviving our system of train travel. Rattner tells us: "America is not Europe, with its dense population centers clustered reasonably …
(2021-07-02). Where is Socialism in Venezuela? Lessons from the Cultural Revolution. counterpunch.org The Cultural Revolution in China raised a number of key questions about the construction of socialism and attempted (albeit with limited success) to solve them. For that reason, its legacy remains relevant to the present. Alain Badiou has claimed that we are still contemporaries of 1968. In effect, the questions raised at that time about how to build an egalitarian society
(2021-07-02). Three Officials in Guárico State Arrested for Alleged Corruption—National Land Institute (+ Arms Trafficking). orinocotribune.com Venezuelan Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, announced that the director of the National Land Institute (INTI) in Guárico state and two other officials of that organization have been apprehended for alleged links to acts of corruption. From the headquarters of the Public Ministry in Caracas, Saab explained that Pedro Carpio (director of the regional entity) and Miguel Aponte (coordinator in Zaraza) were brought in after being named in several complaints by other officials of that state, as well as the peasants of the area. | The process began "after a complaint made by the citizen Juan Rengifo, who reported t…
(2021-07-02). Members of Congress Urge Secretary Haaland to Use Emergency Authority to Save Western Monarchs. indybay.org WASHINGTON, June 29, 2021 — Fourteen members of Congress, led by Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland today to take immediate action to protect the western population of monarch butterflies from extinction using her emergency authority under the Endangered Species Act.
(2021-07-01). Biden Urged to Embrace Top Democrat's Call to End Deadly US Sanctions Against Venezuela. orinocotribune.com By Kenny Stancil — Jun 16, 2021 | "The terrible suffering and death that Venezuela has experienced in recent years is overwhelmingly a result of economic collapse and deprivation caused by U.S. sanctions." | Advocates for more a more humane U.S. foreign policy are urging President Joe Biden to embrace Rep. Jim McGovern's call for an end to "all secondary and sectoral sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the Trump administration." | "If something is a war crime when people are shooting and dropping bombs, it is an equally serious crime when there is technically no war taking place." | —Mark Weisbrot, CEPR…
(2021-07-01). Biden Administration with 'Solid Case' Expects Cape Verde to Decide Soon on Alex Saab's Illegal Detention. orinocotribune.com A new plot around the continuing illegal detention of the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab seems to be underway, judging from statements by Juan González, the Colombian adviser to US President Joe Biden, who serves as senior director of the White House National Security Council for the western hemisphere. | In an interview he gave to the Colombian radio station La W Radio, González remarked that he was certain that the US administration is on solid legal ground in its actions against Saab, despite the countless elements of illegalities in his arrest and detention in Cape Verde that have made numerous legal experts i…
(2021-07-01). Haitian Police Kill 15 Civilians Including Journalist & Activist Opposing MoàØse Regime—Mainstream Media Disinformation War. orinocotribune.com 
Caracas, July 1 (Special for OrinocoTribune.com)—A group of Haitian police officers killed at least 15 civilians in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday, June 30, in retaliation for the murder of a colleague that occurred on Tuesday night, Among those killed in the shootings by the police were journalist Diego Charles and activist Marie Antoinette Ducla…
(2021-07-01). Haiti: In This War of No One Against All. libya360.wordpress.com Lautaro Rivara The execution of a journalist and a feminist activist have shaken Haitian society, submerged in a spiral of political violence and criminality hitherto unknown. There is no one in Port-au-Prince who does not hear the gunshots. Nor is there anyone who does not grit their teeth, instinctively duck their heads and turn down…
(2021-07-01). Dozens killed in crackdown on Swaziland's pro-democracy protests and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org In today's episode of the Daily Round-up we take a look at the escalating crackdown on pro-democracy protestors amid an internet blackout in Swaziland, the killings of 15 people in Haiti amid a surge in gang violence, protests in Sudan against worsening economic conditions and the approval of a new IMF debt relief loan, and the destruction of Palestinian properties by Israeli authorities in Occupied East Jerusalem's Silwan area.
(2021-07-01). PDF of July 1 issue. workers.org 
Download the PDF. AMAZON UNION NOW editorial: Reparations! Bring Indigenous children home! Labor on the move: UAW referendum; CUNY Rising; Sleep-in at Ga. Dept. of Labor; Alabama miners on Wall St. Also: Pride in action; Tamir remembered; Rhode Island Juneteenth; Seattle blocks the boat; Cuba solidarity Commentaries: Building disasters; Real . . . |
(2021-07-01). One of the Things Chávez & Maduro did Right (The Orinoco Tribune Interviews Coauthors of "Extraordinary Threat") — (Video). orinocotribune.com 
Monthly Review's next up and coming book, Extraordinary Threat: The U.S. Empire, the Media, and Twenty Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela, coauthored by Joe Emersberger and Justin Podur, is a primer on the mechanics of regime change. Their book draws our attention to Venezuela as a case study from which we must learn a core lesson: Never underestimate the power of U.S. propaganda. | Perhaps as a result of the power of the American propaganda machine, many North Americans may be inclined to focus solely on the following question: What might Chávez, Maduro, or for that matter, Morales, have done differently? Emers…
(2021-07-01). In Defense of the Bolivarian Revolution. orinocotribune.com By Yanis Iqbal — Jun 29, 2021 | The Bicentennial Congress of the Peoples of the World was held in Venezuela's capital Caracas during June 21-24, 2021. More than 600 political leaders, intellectuals, activists and representatives of various progressive organizations, social movements and trade unions from across the globe assembled with the common aim of discussing and coordinating anti-imperialist and anti-neoliberal struggles. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, beginning in February, 2021, held virtual meetings with hundreds of delegates from over 80 countries and invited them to join the meeting. | The f…
(2021-07-01). United Nations votes to condemn the blockade of Cuba for the 29th time. liberationnews.org 
This article was originally published by the Cuba and Venezuela Solidarity Committee The Democratic platform in 2020 pledged to "move swiftly to reverse Trump Administration policies that have undermined U.S. national interests and harmed the Cuban people and their families in the United States, including its efforts to curtail travel and remittances." Not only hasn't …
(2021-07-01). Cuba's Vaccine Shield and the Five Monopolies that Structure the World. dissidentvoice.org 
RauÃÅl MartiÃÅnez (Cuba), Yo he visto ('I Have Seen'), n.d. In 1869, at the age of fifteen, José Martí and his young friends published a magazine in Cuba called La Patria Libre ('The Free Homeland'), which adopted a strong position against Spanish imperialism. The first and only issue of the magazine carried Martí's poem, 'Abdala'. …
(2021-07-01). Russia begins re-vaccinating already inoculated people as country seeks herd immunity to defeat ever-worsening Covid-19 pandemic. rt.com 
With Russian Covid-19 cases rising, it has been revealed that some of the country's regions have begun to re-vaccinate citizens who received their second jab more than six months ago and want to boost their level of antibodies. | The move to give Russians a third dose comes as the country seeks to reach herd immunity in the adult population. People who have been ill with Covid-19 should also get vaccinated half a year after they tested positive, the Ministry of Health has announced. | "This 'emergency' Covid-19 vaccination procedure, in accordance with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO)…
(2021-07-01). Venezuela's CNE Enables Opposition MUD Ticket, Guaidó Calls Election 'False Dilemma'. venezuelanalysis.com A number of opposition leaders welcomed the MUD card validation and the removal of regional "protectorates."
(2021-07-01). France ends Covid-19 restrictions on businesses as Delta variant spreads. wsws.org The murderous policy of Macron, shared by the entire European Union, is to allow the Delta variant to spread unchecked through the population.
(2021-07-01). South-South Solidarity to Challenge Vaccine Inequity. libya360.wordpress.com Jyotsna Singh Cuban scientists participated in the Summit for Vaccine Internationalism organized in June by PI. The Summit for Vaccine Internationalism organized by Progressive International in June sought to address the pressing issue of global vaccine inequality and come up with concrete solutions "Since this pandemic hit, most of us in the Third World have…
(2021-07-01). Unity? Opposition Leaders React to CNE Decision to Reinstate MUD as Valid Political Party for 21N Regional Elections (Adelante). orinocotribune.com Following the Venezuelan National Electoral Council's (CNE) decision to reinstate 20 political organizations, thus authorizing their participation in the regional and municipal elections on November 21, there have been several reactions from political actors of the so-called Democratic Unity Table (MUD). The CNE decision was reached on Tuesday, June 29, and applies to eight national and 12 regional organizations. | Jesús "Chúo" Torrealba, former executive secretary of the MUD, responsible for the legislative 2015 opposition victory, considered the decision as presenting a new opportunity for the opposition. He ur…
(2021-07-01). América Latina: 4,555 mujeres víctimas de feminicidio. globalizacion.ca América Latina y el Caribe es la región más violenta del mundo, ya que alberga solo al nueve por ciento de la población mundial, pero actualmente representa 34 por ciento del total de muertes violentas. Los países de la región,…
(2021-07-01). Sostener a los que innovan con ciencia y tecnología para Cuba y los cubanos. globalizacion.ca En la literatura especializada acerca de políticas para la ciencia y la innovación se suele identificar el concepto de "potencial científico" con la disponibilidad de recursos humanos, materiales e informativos para realizar tareas en el avance de la ciencia y…
(2021-07-01). Vaccines and the Blockade 'Virus'. orinocotribune.com By Ociel Alí López — Jun 27, 2021 | VA columnist Ociel López looks at some of the consequences of the recent payment block of Venezuela's COVAX vaccine purchase. | Héctor Constant Rosales, Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations, received a
(2021-07-01). Members of Congress Urge Secretary Haaland to Use Emergency Authority to Save Western Monarchs. indybay.org WASHINGTON, June 29, 2021 — Fourteen members of Congress, led by Reps. Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.) and Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), urged Interior Secretary Deb Haaland today to take immediate action to protect the western population of monarch butterflies from extinction using her emergency authority under the Endangered Species Act.
(2021-07-01). OPINION: Puerto Rico Needs Resilient Communications Infrastructure. latinorebels.com Four years after Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico is still in desperate need of disaster-proof communications systems…
(2021-07-01). How is U.S. pop culture used against Venezuela? mronline.org How does U.S. hostility against Venezuela reflect itself in pop culture? We investigate in our latest video with Tatuy Tv. | July 1, 2021 | Newswire…