(2021-12-19). Venezuela and Belarus Sign Bilateral Agreements in Strategic Areas. orinocotribune.com This Friday, December 17, the governments of Venezuela and Belarus signed several agreements at the closing event of the Eighth Meeting of the Venezuela-Belarus high level mixed commission, in order to consolidate strategies for the benefit of both nations and for strengthening cooperation relations. At the Simón Bolivar room of the Miraflores Palace, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, stressed that Venezuela "is taking a successful step in the right direction, with the pace, speed and intensity that is needed," by signing agreements that will allow the development of different sectors of the national ec…
(2021-12-19). Filipino Communists: Mobilize the people in the wake of typhoon Odette's destruction. fightbacknews.org Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 18 statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines | The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) extends its sympathies to the millions of people who suffered the devastation wrought by supertyphoon Odette in Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao regions and in Palawan island. Thousands upon thousands of homes, agricultural fields, fishing boats, and other sources of livelihood were destroyed or severely damaged. | The toiling masses are the most grievously affected, especially the fisherfolk, the small peasants and fa…
(2021-12-19). Bolivian government creates trust for reparations to victims of 2019 state violence. peoplesdispatch.org The trust will provide loans to the relatives of the deceased and living victims of the human rights violations committed during Jeanine àÅñez's de-facto rule, with a 10-year repayment policy and an annual interest rate of 0.5%…
(2021-12-19). Communique from Mapuche Political Prisoners of Elicura Imprisoned in Lebu. itsgoingdown.org | On January 29, 2020 in so-called Chile, police violently raided five houses in the Valley of Elicura, in the Lavkenche territory of Wallmapu, detaining six Indigenous Mapuches. Another Mapuche was detained almost a year later and linked to the same case. The seven have been charged with a death at Playa Blanca, in the Mapuche territory of Lake Lanalhue, land usurped by the forestry businessman Hector Garcia. | The seven Mapuche political prisoners from Elicura are part of a larger Mapuche movem…
(2021-12-19). Venezuela Has Carried Out Largest Drug Seizure in 10 Years. orinocotribune.com This Saturday, December 18, Venezuelan National Anti-Drug Superintendent, Richard López Vargas, highlighted that Venezuela has seized 51 tons of illicit drugs so far in 2021, the highest amount in the last 10 years. | "A significant quantity, 51 tons, were seized in 5,334 procedures by law enforcement agencies," he informed. "The last time this figure was superceded was in 2011; which means that today represents the largest seizure in the last 10 years." The superintendent explained this during the first edition of the 2021 Citizen Security Expo, which is being held in the Military Circle, Los Próceres, in Caraca…
(2021-12-19). Venezuela: What Country Will it Be? orinocotribune.com By Marco Teruggi — Dec 8, 2021 | The economic and financial catastrophe that relentlessly devastated the Venezuelan population during the last few years seems to be easing, while the government of Nicolás Maduro encourages the return of the old entrepreneurial forms of accumulation. Harassed by the imperial powers, the recent elections revealed a decrease in the hard core of the Chavista hardliners and at the same time revealed the fragmentation of the opposition. From Caracas, a chronicle brimming with questions, about the country that mocks forecasts and closed conclusions. | "This was the richest country,…
(2021-12-18). The Dangerous Ignorance of Germany's New Foreign Minister. moderndiplomacy.eu Germany's new Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock came into office on December 8th without her knowing that America's stationing missiles in Ukraine on Russia's border, and only a 7-minute flying distance away from Moscow, would be even more unacceptable to Moscow than, in 1962, would have been, to Washington, the Soviet Union's stationing missiles in Cuba, …
(2021-12-18). News on China | No. 80. dissidentvoice.org Nicaragua switches allegiance from Taiwan to China; free online tutoring for students; China observes the National Memorial Day for the victims of the
(2021-12-18). Britain's legacy of brutal slavery in Barbados. mronline.org 
Yes, the British Empire is indeed one colony smaller as Barbados formally declared itself independent of its colonial rulers after 400 years yesterday in a big ole fancy ceremony attended by all kinds of dignitaries.
(2021-12-18). EU summit threatens Russia. wsws.org The escalating coronavirus pandemic and threats against Russia were the focus of the EU summit that met on Thursday in Brussels.
(2021-12-18). La revuelta popular argentina de 2001 y su impacto en América Latina. globalizacion.ca Veinte años después del 19 y 20 de diciembre de 2001 en la Argentina vale la pena recordar el impacto que tuvo la revuelta popular en América Latina y el Caribe. Hoy soplan otros vientos en la región, pero el…
(2021-12-18). Ethical aspects relating to cyberspace: Web ideologies. moderndiplomacy.eu The ethos of web culture is based on the principles of: unlimited and unrestricted freedom of information, privacy, general availability, quality of information, no harm, limitation of the excessive use of web resources and the principle of inviolability of intellectual property. The actual implementation of these principles is possible through a number of institutional measures: …
(2021-12-18). 100+ Firms in Africa, Asia & Latin America Can Make mRNA Vaccine If Tech Shared. zcomm.org If mRNA technology could be shared with the listed companies, "we could vaccinate the world in as close to six months from now"
(2021-12-18). Biden Backs Out of Negotiations to Compensate Separated Migrant Families. truthout.org 
Human rights advocates were incensed Thursday after lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice informed representatives for hundreds of families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border that they were walking away from talks over compensating the families, as President Joe Biden had promised. | Instead of settling more than 900 claims, the administration
(2021-12-18). Leaked email exposes union-management conspiracy to defeat Kellogg's strike as Sanders attempts to deflect anger towards Mexico. wsws.org The entire bargaining committee should be kicked out in light of this exposure, and a new bargaining committee elected consisting of the most trusted rank-and-file workers from the shop floor.
(2021-12-18). Mexico City struggles to care for waves of migrants. america.cgtn.com 
Millions of migrants from the Caribbean and Central America are sheltering in Mexico, many temporarily, as they make their way to the United States. The waves of people heading north are straining the resources of cities along the way.
(2021-12-18). 56 Migrant Deaths in Chiapas Were Due to Border Crackdown, Not An "Accident" truthout.org 
This unspeakably tragic event is being widely reported as "
(2021-12-18). How Can Some Progressives Get Basic Information about Nicaragua so Wrong? dissidentvoice.org 
On November 7, Nicaragua held elections in which current president Daniel Ortega received 75% support and, as a result, begins a new term of office in January. Not surprisingly, the US government described the election as a "sham." Of more concern is that many on the left seem to agree. William Robinson's NACLA article, "Nicaragua: …
(2021-12-18). Nicaragua: la costa caribeña / Parte 3: Visión de un sandinista sobre la autonomía/ 'Unidad, diversidad, interculturalidad'. workers.org 
Por Johnny Hodgson La siguiente es la tercera parte de una presentación realizada por Johnny Hodgson, Secretario Político del Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional para la Región Autónoma de la Costa del Caribe Sur (RACCS) el 6 de octubre en Managua, Nicaragua, a una delegación estadounidense compuesta por Coleen Littlejohn, . . . |
(2021-12-18). El progresismo en su laberinto. globalizacion.ca El Grupo de Puebla nació para juntar líderes progresistas al momento del reflujo de la "primera ola" mientras algunos gobiernos de derecha (Argentina, Brasil, Ecuador, Colombia) destruían la Unión de Naciones Suramericanas (UNASUR) y los cimientos de la integración regional….
(2021-12-18). Attacks on Brazilian scientists grow amid COVID-19 pandemic. wsws.org The Brazilian and international working class must oppose attacks on scientists whose work has helped educate the public and expose the criminal politics of the world's ruling elite during the greatest global health crisis in a century.
(2021-12-18). Joà£o Pedro Stedile on Bolsonaro and Brazilian elections in 2022. mronline.org 
Brazilian peasant leader Joà£o Pedro Stedile discusses the different dimensions of the worst crisis in the country's recent history, as well as the priorities for movements in 2022.
(2021-12-18). Only One Chávez and Only One Salvador. orinocotribune.com By Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein — Dec 15, 2021 | From Venezuela to Chile, from Caldera to Boric | The current situation in Chile seems to me more and more strikingly similar to that of the early 90's in Venezuela. At that time, here—just as in Chile today—30 years of post-dictatorship were being experienced. Both countries—at the time—were presented as a "model of democracy to follow" and "example for the world" based on the "success" of the two-party representative democracy system in which the economy was put at the service of a minority of the population. | "It is not thirty pesos,…
(2021-12-18). Chile: Choice between far-right or leftist presidential candidates. america.cgtn.com 
Chileans go to the polls on Sunday to decide their next president. The run-off is between ultra-conservative candidate Jose Antonio Kast and 35-year-old leftist Gabriel Boric. It's the first time since the return to democracy in 1990 that Chileans will vote for candidates outside …
(2021-12-18). Castillo government unleashes police against mining protest in Peru. wsws.org The peasant blockade of the giant Chinese-owned Las Bambas copper mine in Peru's southern Andes is creating a growing crisis for the Castillo government.
(2021-12-18). Massive Blackout Affects Caracas and Several Regions of Venezuela, Labeled as New Attack — Service Restored 100%. orinocotribune.com 
Caracas, December 17, 2021 ( Several parishes in Caracas, as well as various parts of the states of Zulia, Mérida, Carabobo, Miranda, Lara, Aragua, Apure, Anzoátegui, Vargas, Bolívar, Nueva Esparta, Barinas, Trujillo, Sucre, Táchira, Falcón, Yaracuy, and Portuguesa were affected by the blackout. | The b…
(2021-12-18). Venezuela's Appeal to the UN about Refugees (+ Vuelta a la Patria). orinocotribune.com With the ratification of the Vuelta la Patria repatriation program as an effective measure to guarantee the safe return of refugees, the government of Venezuela urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support the program which has already aided in the return of thousands of Venezuelan nationals from various countries. | Héctor Constant Rosales, Venezuelan representative to the UN and other international organizations based in Geneva, Switzerland, raised his concerns about the politicization of the migration issue during a high-level…
(2021-12-18). Tales of Resistance: Guaidó's Pie. orinocotribune.com By Jessica Dos Santos — Dec 14, 2021 | Venezuela Analysis columnist Jessica Dos Santos takes aim at self-proclaimed Juan Guaidó's antics and how his "circus" goes on. | A few days ago I was out grocery shopping when I heard a man tell his friend that Venezuela was the only country in the world with two presidents but where everything was still screwed up. | This has become a running joke among Venezuelans. However, some three years ago, when Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself "
(2021-12-18). It's all in the flag: Bussa's Rebellion and the 200-year fight to end British rule in Barbados. mronline.org 
Prince Charles, as a representative of Queen Elizabeth II, was in attendance, providing a royal seal of approval. Barbados gained its independence in 1966, though the new nation kept ties to its former overlords by keeping Elizabeth II as a symbolic head of state.