Class and Quarantine in Venezuela: A Conversation with Anacaona Marin of El Panal Commune

What is your interpretation of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the Venezuelan pueblo?

These are times that call for reflection but also for action. As part of the popular movement, we cannot be merely passive spectators when we face a pandemic or, for that matter, when the pueblo faces any crisis… Che said: “We must act as we think.”

When faced with situations such as pandemics, invasions, or natural disasters, all subjects seem to coincide: Anybody can become a victim. However, you just have to scratch the surface to see something else: Although the virus itself is blind to social class, the social distancing measures have hugely different effects for the rich and for the poor.

It’s urgent that social leaders, organizations, and the government recognize this. We must acknowledge that there are economic and historical features of this crisis. We must understand how it affects the working class, people from the barrios – all those folks who have no savings, who live from one day to the next.

Class and Quarantine in Venezuela continue….

Venezuela’s Coup 2019

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Continue: Mar 01-19Feb 10-28Feb 01-09Jan 25-31

Rejecting Demand to Leave Venezuela, Russia’s Lavrov Says ‘Whole World Dotted’ With US Soldiers
By Eoin Higgins – Common Dreams – April 04, 2019
Pointing to “the map of the U.S. military bases” around the world as evidence of American imperialism, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday his country has no plans to remove the small number of troops it has stationed in Venezuela despite Trump administration demands to withdraw.

Venezuela and Russia Work on Schemes to Break US Blockade
By TeleSur – April 04, 2019
During the XIV High Level Business Commission Forum in Moscow, Russia, representatives of the Venezuelan and Russian government are working on new ways to circumvent a U.S. imposed blockade which is seeking to isolate Venezuela both, financially and economically.

Like Libya and Syria, Venezuela Is Not “Just About Oil”
By Andre Vltchek – Mint Press News – April 03, 2019
‘All three countries stood at the vanguard of promoting and fighting with determination for such concepts as “pan-Africanism”, “pan-Arabism” and Patria Grande – essentially Latin American independence and unity.’

Guaido’s Parliamentary Immunity Revoked as Maduro Sacks Electricity Minister
By Paul Dobson – Venezuelanalysis – April 03, 2019
Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly (ANC) has lifted the parliamentary immunity of the self-declared “Interim President” Juan Guaido, opening the door for criminal charges to be brought against him.

China Slams Reports of Sending Troops to Venezuela as Fiction
By TeleSur – April 03, 2019
The Spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Geng Shuang, told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that all reports claiming Beijing sent troops to Venezuela are untrue.

Venezuela Leaves OAS April 27, Trump ‘Runs Over’ Member States
By TeleSur – April 03, 2019
Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations and alternative representative to the Organization of American States (OAS), Samuel Moncada, says that his nation will leave the OAS April 27 in defiance of the “racist ‘Monroe Doctrine'” and United States President Donald Trump’s continued attempts to “run over the countries of the continent” with the help of OAS leadership.

US Orgs to Congress: End Trump’s Crusade For War in Venezuela
By TeleSur – April 02, 2019
More than 40 organizations from throughout the United States are demanding their Congress put an end to U.S. intervention in Venezuela saying that, in particular, the illegal and “extensive economic sanctions, imposed unilaterally by the Trump government since August 2017, have caused great hardship and loss of life” in the South American country.

Honduras has an actual dictatorship and humanitarian crisis – Thanks to a US-backed coup
By The Grayzone – YouTube – April 02, 2019

While the Trump administration oversees a coup attempt in Venezuela, Honduras is suffering from an actual dictatorship and humanitarian crisis, after a 2009 US-backed right-wing coup destabilized the country. Lucy Pagoada speaks about the resistance to imperialism.

Why Moscow Sent Its Military Personnel to Venezuela
By Vladimir Frolov – The Moscow Times – April 02, 2019
While Russia is under no obligation to defend Venezuela (although state-owned Rosneft has about $9 billion invested there), the country is important to the Kremlin’s narrative of Russia’s return to the global stage as a great power that shapes a new multi-polar world order and has the capability to check destabilizing American unilateralism.

Washington Concerned Over Maduro’s Stay in Power
By TeleSur – April 02, 2019
Maduro’s stay in power has Washington as well as various regional neighbor countries worried about the situation. It seems that Venezuela’s neighbors followed a false promise to get rid off the Venezuelan President rather quickly. According to the report, allies of the U.S. are disappointed with the result and are now questioning their decision to recognize Juan Guaido as interim president.

Russia Opens Military Center in Venezuela, Defying U.S. Threats
By Tom O’Connor – Newsweek – April 02, 2019
Russia continues to defy the U.S. in Venezuela as one of Russia’s largest state-run holding conglomerates opens a helicopter training center in an undisclosed location within the country. The U.S., meanwhile, continues to threaten Moscow, calling for it to leave the socialist-led Latin American country while Washington and its allies seek regime change.

Venezuela’s Constituent Assembly Removes Guaido’s Immunity
By TeleSur – April 02, 2019
The ANC-ratified decision was made following a request issued by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Monday.
The National Constituent Assembly (ANC) of Venezuela approved on Tuesday a decree to lift parliamentary immunity and the continuation of the prosecution of self-proclaimed opposition deputy, Juan Guaido.

Why the British Said No to Europe

How Severe Is Venezuela’s Crisis?

European Union’s Imperial Overreach
The European Union’s haughty and hasty expansion into low-wage Eastern Europe may be its undoing, as the Brexit vote shows popular resistance to the westward migration of workers that followed, writes Jonathan Marshall.

Why the British Said No to Europe
The majority vote by Britons to leave the European Union was an act of raw democracy. Millions of ordinary people refused to be bullied, intimidated and dismissed with open contempt by their presumed betters in the major parties, the leaders of the business and banking oligarchy and the media.

Basta Ya, Brussels! British Voters Reject EU Corporate Slavestate

Goodbye to All That: Why the UK Left the EU
So what started as a gamble by David Cameron on an outlet for domestic British discontent, to be used as a lever to bargain with Brussels for a few more favors, has metastasized into an astonishing political earthquake about the dis-integration of the European Union.

Despite the Vote, the Odds Are Against Britain Leaving the EU
The Brexit vote shows that a majority of the British voters understand that the UK government represents interests other than the interests of the British people. As difficult as the British know it is to hold their own government to account, they understand they have no prospect whatsoever of holding the EU government to account. During their time under the EU, the British have been reminded of historical times when law was the word of the sovereign.

EU parliament leader: we want Britain out as soon as possible
President Martin Schulz says speeding up of UK exit being considered after ‘continent taken hostage because of Tory party fight’

World’s 400 Richest People Lose $127 Billion on Brexit: Chart

END OF THE EU? Germany warns FIVE more countries could leave Europe after Brexit
FIVE European countries may seek to follow Britain’s lead in leaving the EU in a Brexit domino effect, Germany has warned.

‘Once occupation ends, terrorism will disappear’: Abbas speech in EU parliament enrages Israel

Putin calls out NATO’s ‘insecurity agenda’
Russia’s repeated – and rebuffed – calls for security cooperation proves it is not Russia, but NATO which is the source of Europe’s instability and geopolitical tension.

Policy by Waging Undeclared War Against Russia?
Washington’s NATO buildup on Russia’s borders, its refusal to cooperate with Moscow in Syria and Ukraine, and its anti-Putin propaganda form an ominous pattern.

Tomgram: Nick Turse, Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics… and U.S. Africa Command

United States bombings of other countries