mintpressnews--2020-06-12--Hawkish, Gov’t Funded Think Tank Behind Twitter Decision to Delete Thousands of Chinese Accounts

Social media giant Twitter announced yesterday that it had shut down over 170,000 accounts favorable to the Chinese Communist Party , as well as more than 1,000 Russian and 7,340 Turkish accounts it claimed were parroting Putin and Erdogan propaganda .
Is this evidence of massive Chinese infiltration and control over Western social media ?
Not quite .
Not making the headlines was the fact that virtually all the accounts communicated in Chinese dialects exclusively and the vast majority ( 95 percent ) had fewer than eight followers , with nearly four in five having no followers whatsoever .
Twitter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China , ” pushing “ deceptive narratives ” on the Hong Kong protests , praising China ’ s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and “ antagonizing ” the U.S .
If this is the basis for removal , it sets a potentially very dangerous precedent .
Despite the impression given in mainstream media , the medical community has effusively lauded Beijing ’ s “ leadership ” and “ commitment to transparency , ” in the World Health Organization ’ s words .
“ I have never @ @ @ @ @ @ @ epidemic response at this level in terms of all of government , ” said the organization ’ s Chief Executive Director for Health Emergencies , Michael Ryan , “ The challenge is great , but the response has been massive and the Chinese government deserve huge credit.
” Likewise , the editors of The Lancet , the world ’ s most prestigious medical journal , published a statement saluting the “ diligent , ” “ effective ” and “ rapid ” Chinese response and “ strongly condemn conspiracy theories ” pushed by U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the virus ’ origin was man-made .
Likewise , only around 58 percent of Hong Kong residents support the protests , with that number being far lower in Mainland China .
Is taking a different line on the protests or China ’ s COVID response to the Trump administration a violation of the rules ?
In the case of Facebook and Instagram and the killing of General Qassem Soleimani , the platforms explicitly said it was , and deleted a great number of posts and accounts .
Twitter worked closely with the Australian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making yesterday ’ s decision .
ASPI is a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank based in Canberra , and was denounced by Australia ’ s former ambassador in Beijing as “ the architect of the China threat theory in Australia.
” Senator Kim Carr claimed ASPI was working hand-in-hand with Washington , trying to push “ a new Cold War with China.
” Former Minister for Foreign Affairs , Bob Carr ( no relation ) , agreed , saying it pushed a “ one-sided , pro-American view of the world.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ case , judging by their website , which appears uniformly dedicated to demonizing China .
Perhaps most notable , however , is that ASPI is also funded by a myriad of weapons companies , including Raytheon Australia , Northrop Grumman , and Lockheed Martin , all of whom would greatly benefit from a war with China .
And as The Grayzone ’ s Ajit Singh pointed out , ASPI is headed by ultra-hawkish defense official Peter Jennings , who defended the Iraq War , supports regime change in other Middle Eastern states , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ setting the bar for military response too high ” .
While the exposure of minor Chinese manipulation of social media has made headlines , the news that a senior Twitter executive was unmasked as an officer in a British Army brigade dedicated to online and psychological operations was roundly ignored .
Only one mainstream outlet in the West covered the story at all , and that journalist was forced out only a few weeks later .
Despite supposed foreign interference in social media becoming the number one story between 2016-2019 , with many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Russia was responsible for Trump ’ s victory , concrete evidence of Western infiltration of these companies has garnered very little attention .
For example , Reddit ’ s Director of Policy is Jessica Ashooh , formerly a deputy director at the Atlantic Council , a NATO-cutout that also decides for Facebook what posts are verified and what posts are fake news and deleted .
The Atlantic Council ’ s board is a who ’ s who of ex-Bush administration officials and CIA heads , including Robert Gates , Leon Panetta , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Condoleezza Rice .
45 percent of Americans get their news from Facebook , with similar numbers in other countries as well , meaning it has essentially become a global public utility .
Thus , the CIA effectively decides what you and billions of others see – and don ’ t see – in your news feeds .
Google , too , is rushing to partner with the national security state ; in fact , it is a major part of its business model .
“ What Lockheed Martin was to the twentieth century @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Larry Cohen in their book , The New Digital Age , “ technology and cyber-security companies [ like Google ] will be to the twenty-first.
” Their book was heartily endorsed by Atlantic Council director Henry Kissinger .
The latest mass deletion of accounts will likely do nothing to assuage critics of online censorship who note that it always appears that big tech companies can only find evidence of online manipulation coming from exactly the countries that the United States is currently attacking , and never itself or its allies .
Washington @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Pentagon ’ s 2021 budget explicitly asking for extra funding to be ready for an aggressive war in Asia .
Joe Biden and Donald Trump have attacked each other for being “ soft ” on China , with both parties seemingly trying to shift the blame onto Beijing for what has become one of the worst COVID-19 responses in the world , leading to over 116,000 deaths .
As a result , public opinion on China has quickly soured ; only nine years ago , Americans had a strongly positive view @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dislike China and around 80 percent are ready to embrace a full-scale economic war against it .
If conflict with the world ’ s most populous nation is to occur , the information war must be won first .
It seems that it is well on the way to being achieved .
Feature photo | Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill , Sept. 5 , 2018 , in Washington .
Jose Luis Magana | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Social media giant Twitter announced yesterday that it had shut down over 170,000 accounts favorable to the Chinese Communist Party, as well as more than 1,000 Russian and 7,340 Turkish accounts it claimed were parroting Putin and Erdogan propaganda. Is this evidence of massive Chinese infiltration and control over Western social media? Not quite. Not making the headlines was the fact that virtually all the accounts communicated in Chinese dialects exclusively and the vast majority (95 percent) had fewer than eight followers, with nearly four in five having no followers whatsoever.
Twitter accused the accounts of “spreading geopolitical narratives favorable to the Communist Party of China,” pushing “deceptive narratives” on the Hong Kong protests, praising China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and “antagonizing” the U.S. If this is the basis for removal, it sets a potentially very dangerous precedent.
Despite the impression given in mainstream media, the medical community has effusively lauded Beijing’s “leadership” and “commitment to transparency,” in the World Health Organization’s words. “I have never seen the scale and commitment of an epidemic response at this level in terms of all of government,” said the organization’s Chief Executive Director for Health Emergencies, Michael Ryan, “The challenge is great, but the response has been massive and the Chinese government deserve huge credit.” Likewise, the editors of The Lancet, the world’s most prestigious medical journal, published a statement saluting the “diligent,” “effective” and “rapid” Chinese response and “strongly condemn conspiracy theories” pushed by U.S. officials like Senator Tom Cotton, that the virus’ origin was man-made. Likewise, only around 58 percent of Hong Kong residents support the protests, with that number being far lower in Mainland China. Is taking a different line on the protests or China’s COVID response to the Trump administration a violation of the rules? In the case of Facebook and Instagram and the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the platforms explicitly said it was, and deleted a great number of posts and accounts.
Pushing “a new Cold War with China”
Twitter worked closely with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in making yesterday’s decision. ASPI is a deeply controversial U.S. and Australian government-funded think tank based in Canberra, and was denounced by Australia’s former ambassador in Beijing as “the architect of the China threat theory in Australia.” Senator Kim Carr claimed ASPI was working hand-in-hand with Washington, trying to push “a new Cold War with China.” Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bob Carr (no relation), agreed, saying it pushed a “one-sided, pro-American view of the world.” This certainly seems to be the case, judging by their website, which appears uniformly dedicated to demonizing China.
Perhaps most notable, however, is that ASPI is also funded by a myriad of weapons companies, including Raytheon Australia, Northrop Grumman, and Lockheed Martin, all of whom would greatly benefit from a war with China. And as The Grayzone’s Ajit Singh pointed out, ASPI is headed by ultra-hawkish defense official Peter Jennings, who defended the Iraq War, supports regime change in other Middle Eastern states, and argued that “the West is setting the bar for military response too high”.
Australian Senator Kim Carr has slammed ASPI for seeking to “promote a new cold war with China” in collaboration with the US. In February, Carr highlighted that ASPI received $450,000 funding from the US State Department in 2019-20pic.twitter.com/2fsztK7wcb — Ajit Singh (@ajitxsingh) June 12, 2020
Big tech and the military industrial complex
While the exposure of minor Chinese manipulation of social media has made headlines, the news that a senior Twitter executive was unmasked as an officer in a British Army brigade dedicated to online and psychological operations was roundly ignored. Only one mainstream outlet in the West covered the story at all, and that journalist was forced out only a few weeks later.
Despite supposed foreign interference in social media becoming the number one story between 2016-2019, with many, including Hillary Clinton herself, arguing that Russia was responsible for Trump’s victory, concrete evidence of Western infiltration of these companies has garnered very little attention. For example, Reddit’s Director of Policy is Jessica Ashooh, formerly a deputy director at the Atlantic Council, a NATO-cutout that also decides for Facebook what posts are verified and what posts are fake news and deleted. The Atlantic Council’s board is a who’s who of ex-Bush administration officials and CIA heads, including Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, Michael Hayden, Colin Powell, and Condoleezza Rice. 45 percent of Americans get their news from Facebook, with similar numbers in other countries as well, meaning it has essentially become a global public utility. Thus, the CIA effectively decides what you and billions of others see – and don’t see – in your news feeds.
Google, too, is rushing to partner with the national security state; in fact, it is a major part of its business model. “What Lockheed Martin was to the twentieth century,” wrote Google executives Eric Schmidt and Larry Cohen in their book, The New Digital Age, “technology and cyber-security companies [like Google] will be to the twenty-first.” Their book was heartily endorsed by Atlantic Council director Henry Kissinger.
Facebook’s new double standard, a clear sign who calls the shots (US government). They added labels on Chinese and Russian funded media as “state-controlled” (which isn’t accurate) but no label on British & US funded media like BBC and Radio Free Europe. So fair. pic.twitter.com/gSYiU1LeFM — Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) June 11, 2020
The latest mass deletion of accounts will likely do nothing to assuage critics of online censorship who note that it always appears that big tech companies can only find evidence of online manipulation coming from exactly the countries that the United States is currently attacking, and never itself or its allies. Washington is currently ramping up hostilities with China, the Pentagon’s 2021 budget explicitly asking for extra funding to be ready for an aggressive war in Asia. Joe Biden and Donald Trump have attacked each other for being “soft” on China, with both parties seemingly trying to shift the blame onto Beijing for what has become one of the worst COVID-19 responses in the world, leading to over 116,000 deaths. As a result, public opinion on China has quickly soured; only nine years ago, Americans had a strongly positive view of the country. Today 66 percent dislike China and around 80 percent are ready to embrace a full-scale economic war against it.
If conflict with the world’s most populous nation is to occur, the information war must be won first. It seems that it is well on the way to being achieved.
Feature photo | Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Capitol Hill, Sept. 5, 2018, in Washington. Jose Luis Magana | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-06-12--Glen Ford: Having Not Yet Won Any Real Power Over Police, This Is No Time for a Truce

New York City ( BAR ) — The awesome power of massed , militant people in motion has been manifest since the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis .
Much of the world now knows Floyd ’ s name ; majorities of Americans say they support “ Black Lives Matter ” ; New York City ’ s mayor pledged to slash his cops ’ budget in deference to the Black Lives Matter demand to defund the police ; the Minneapolis city council has promised to move towards disbanding their police force , in the spirit of outright abolition @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control of police – previously rejected out of hand by most city councils – is now part of the “ mainstream ” political conversation .
So massive and swift has been the swing in popular sentiment against the police – the coercive organs of the State – that “ A & E has decided not to run new episodes of ‘ Live PD ’ this Friday and Saturday , while Paramount Network has delayed the Season 33 launch of ‘ Cops , ’ ” according to Variety magazine .
“ Movement ” politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , while electoral politics under a corporate duopoly system is the domain of the moneyed classes .
This is a lesson learned in the Sixties — a period when some years saw as many as 5,000 separate demonstrations .
The makeup of the U.S. House and Senate did not change dramatically during that tumultuous decade .
Political contributions kept most incumbents in office , year after year , as is the case today .
But , for a time , the lawmakers behaved differently — voting for civil rights and social justice measures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ confronted with masses of determined people in motion , who sometimes burned cities , Movement politics was finally quashed in the latter part of the Sixties by a combination of lethal force and political seduction .
A national policy of mass Black incarceration , supported by both corporate parties , criminalized Black people as a group , while federal and local police waged a murderous , dirty war to crush Black radicals .
On the seduction front , the Democratic Party opened its doors to a hungry cohort of Black politicians and aspiring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shift gears “ from the streets to the suites ” – the beginnings of today ’ s Black Misleadership Class .
By 1979 , after a decade of Black electoral victories in cities abandoned by whites , everyone was singing McFadden & Whitehead ’ s “ Ain ’ t No Stoppin ’ Us Now ” – but the mass movement had long been snuffed out .
The Black-white economic gap – which had briefly shrunken as a result of social justice victories in the Sixties — was beginning to widen , and mass @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But the Black political class and a small elite of entrepreneurs , professionals and entertainers were doing better than ever – and they were all-in with the Democratic Party , which soon succeeded in subverting virtually every civic organization in Black America .
The spoils of a long-dead mass movement of the streets had ultimately accrued to a tiny sliver of Black folks in suites .
For four decades , Black America was stalled in a political dead zone in which the only sustained politics was that which took place in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As servants of forces hostile to Black people , Black politicians consistently acted against the interests of their constituents , collaborating in the destruction of public housing and the gentrification of Black neighborhoods .
In the ultimate act of betrayal , the Black Misleadership Class lovingly embraced the Mass Black Incarceration Regime .
In 2014 , just two months before Michael Brown was gunned down by a cop in Ferguson , Missouri , 80 percent of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against a bill that would have halted the Pentagon ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dollars in military weapons and gear to local police departments .
The emergence of what came to be called the “ Black Lives Matter movement ” had no substantive effect on Black members of Congress .
In 2018 , 75 percent of them supported a bill that makes police a “ protected class ” and assault on police a “ hate crime.
” These are the same scoundrels that this week “ took a knee ” in the Capitol ’ s Emancipation Hall along with their boss , House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hold hearings on the Katrina catastrophe in 2005 for fear that the Democrats would lose white votes in 2006 for being too closely associated with Black people .
But , just as the U.S. Congress in the Sixties responded to mass movements in the street , so Pelosi ’ s Democrats offered legislation that “ forces federal police to use body and dashboard cameras , ban chokeholds , eliminates unannounced police raids known as ‘ no-knock warrants , ’ makes it easier to hold police liable for civil rights violations and calls for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ police forces who do not make similar reforms.
” These are palliatives that have only been offered because of the presence of masses of people in the streets .
Don ’ t thank the Democrats – the credit goes to the activists that have been disrupting the racist social order that both parties , including the vast majority of Black lawmakers , have maintained for the four generations since we last had a mass political movement .
Given the recent phenomenal rise in popularity of “ Black Lives Matter , ” which is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and overwhelming numbers of Blacks , the police reforms are likely to pass the House — and possibly even the Republican-controlled Senate , in some form .
But these measures do not empower the oppressed – they are only a response to the power that Blacks and our numerous non-Black allies have shown in the streets : the power to disrupt and shame the ruling order in the United States , and the threat of much more to come .
Having not yet won real power over the police – the coercive organs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the use of force — this is no time for a lull or a truce .
Rather , it is time to sharpen our political instruments and deepen the mass movement ’ s social penetration .
The objective is to seize and exercise people ’ s power in our communities , and to defend the people ’ s rights and interests – the opposite of the role played by the police , who defend property rights and white supremacy , whatever the cops ’ color or ethnicity .
Community control of police and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demands , Both are predicated on the right of the people to shape , control or abolish the coercive organs of the state , at least in their own communities .
Defunding of the police is about allocation of resources , not power , which is why New York Mayor Bill de Blasio , who has been repeatedly punked by his own cops , can claim to favor some level of defunding .
However , a significant section of “ Black Lives Matter ” – those under the influence of Alicia Garza and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resistant to community control of the police and only gives lip service to abolition as a goal for the far-off future .
We can expect that the contradictions between that faction of “ Black Lives Matter ” and other activists will deepen – maybe rather quickly – since the conflict is rooted in who ’ s paying the bills .
The lifeblood of social movements against white supremacism , capitalism , and imperialism is solidarity among all the victims of these isms .
Alicia Garza actively discourages Black solidarity with anybody outside the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a condition of her funding .
That ’ s why her Black Census project , which last year conducted the biggest survey of U.S .
Blacks in history , chose not to ask a single question on foreign policy .
Black Americans have historically been the most pro-peace , anti-militarism constituency in the nation and , besides Arab Americans , the most empathetic to the plight of Palestinians .
The Black Census is most useful as a domestic issues guide for Democratic politicians – which is how it is cleverly packaged .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Party – a disturbing situation , given her status in the “ movement.
” The Democratic Party is the movement ’ s greatest institutional political foe since it infests and dominates virtually all Black civic organizations .
( The Republican Party is not a factor in Black America ’ s internal workings . )
The Democrats are the Party of capital , of the bankers , the people displacers , the warmongers – and a Black Caucus that is allied overwhelming with the police .
However , Black America is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that reserves half of the duopoly for the White Man ’ s Party , the GOP .
Therefore , some genuine Black progressives , and even revolutionaries , have run for office , and won , as Democrats , for lack of any other viable platform .
Essentially , this very small cohort of righteous officeholders are anti-Democrats who fight the corporate Party machine at every juncture .
Among them are Charles and Inez Barron , the nominally Democratic husband-wife team representing a Brooklyn , New York , neighborhood in the city council @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alderman Jesse Todd , also a nominal Democrat .
Todd and the Barrons are members of the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice , Peace and Reparations ( as am I ) , which holds its annual Electoral School , via Zoom , June 13 and 14 .
The Coalition , made up of 15 organizations plus many individual activists , has promulgated a 19-point National Black Agenda for Self-Determination that puts forward principled , self-determinationist positions on the broadest range of issue-areas , including community control of the police .
Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ politics is simple : the Coalition will endorse no candidate for office who is not in accord with the National Black Agenda for Self-Determination .
The term “ Black Power , ” as we learned in the Sixties , can be misused in myriad ways .
Black Democratic Party loyalists claim that Blacks were empowered by voting for Joe Biden in huge numbers in the primaries , thus saving his presidential candidacy .
“ Hands that once picked cotton , now pick presidents , ” the Black Democrats exult as if power flows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In reality , Black voters gave the presidential nomination to a politician who claims he “ wrote ” the crime bill that resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of Black people ; whose opposition to single-payer health care guarantees that Black people will continue to die disproportionately from damn near all causes ; and who opposes defunding the police , a minimal demand of the current mass movement .
The oligarchs that rule the country and control both of its corporate parties and all of its major media want the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the electoral process , and that street activism , labor militancy , and community organizing are outside the realm of “ real ” politics .
The events of the past ten days have proven the opposite : that massive street actions and unrelenting people-pressure can yield far better results than decades of pulling levers for corporate duopoly candidates .
Feature photo | Protesters confront riot police during a protest over the murder of George Floyd in Los Angeles , May 29 , 2020 .
Photo | AP Glen Ford is the executive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He can be contacted at Glen.Ford @ BlackAgendaReport.com

New York City (BAR) — The awesome power of massed, militant people in motion has been manifest since the Memorial Day murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Much of the world now knows Floyd’s name; majorities of Americans say they support “Black Lives Matter”; New York City’s mayor pledged to slash his cops’ budget in deference to the Black Lives Matter demand to defund the police; the Minneapolis city council has promised to move towards disbanding their police force, in the spirit of outright abolition; and the grassroots demand for community control of police – previously rejected out of hand by most city councils – is now part of the “mainstream” political conversation. So massive and swift has been the swing in popular sentiment against the police – the coercive organs of the State – that “A&E has decided not to run new episodes of ‘Live PD’ this Friday and Saturday, while Paramount Network has delayed the Season 33 launch of ‘Cops,’” according to Variety magazine.
“Movement” politics is how the people flex their power, while electoral politics under a corporate duopoly system is the domain of the moneyed classes. This is a lesson learned in the Sixties — a period when some years saw as many as 5,000 separate demonstrations. The makeup of the U.S. House and Senate did not change dramatically during that tumultuous decade. Political contributions kept most incumbents in office, year after year, as is the case today. But, for a time, the lawmakers behaved differently — voting for civil rights and social justice measures they had not previously supported — when confronted with masses of determined people in motion, who sometimes burned cities,
Movement politics was finally quashed in the latter part of the Sixties by a combination of lethal force and political seduction. A national policy of mass Black incarceration, supported by both corporate parties, criminalized Black people as a group, while federal and local police waged a murderous, dirty war to crush Black radicals. On the seduction front, the Democratic Party opened its doors to a hungry cohort of Black politicians and aspiring businessmen who preached that the movement must shift gears “from the streets to the suites” – the beginnings of today’s Black Misleadership Class.
By 1979, after a decade of Black electoral victories in cities abandoned by whites, everyone was singing McFadden & Whitehead’s “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” – but the mass movement had long been snuffed out. The Black-white economic gap – which had briefly shrunken as a result of social justice victories in the Sixties — was beginning to widen, and mass Black incarceration ravaged the Black social fabric. But the Black political class and a small elite of entrepreneurs, professionals and entertainers were doing better than ever – and they were all-in with the Democratic Party, which soon succeeded in subverting virtually every civic organization in Black America. The spoils of a long-dead mass movement of the streets had ultimately accrued to a tiny sliver of Black folks in suites.
For four decades, Black America was stalled in a political dead zone in which the only sustained politics was that which took place in the Democratic Party half of the corporate duopoly. As servants of forces hostile to Black people, Black politicians consistently acted against the interests of their constituents, collaborating in the destruction of public housing and the gentrification of Black neighborhoods. In the ultimate act of betrayal, the Black Misleadership Class lovingly embraced the Mass Black Incarceration Regime. In 2014, just two months before Michael Brown was gunned down by a cop in Ferguson, Missouri, 80 percent of the Congressional Black Caucus voted against a bill that would have halted the Pentagon’s infamous 1033 program that funnels billions of dollars in military weapons and gear to local police departments. The emergence of what came to be called the “Black Lives Matter movement” had no substantive effect on Black members of Congress. In 2018, 75 percent of them supported a bill that makes police a “protected class” and assault on police a “hate crime.”
These are the same scoundrels that this week “took a knee” in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall along with their boss, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – the same Democratic leader that refused to hold hearings on the Katrina catastrophe in 2005 for fear that the Democrats would lose white votes in 2006 for being too closely associated with Black people. But, just as the U.S. Congress in the Sixties responded to mass movements in the street, so Pelosi’s Democrats offered legislation that “forces federal police to use body and dashboard cameras, ban chokeholds, eliminates unannounced police raids known as ‘no-knock warrants,’ makes it easier to hold police liable for civil rights violations and calls for federal funds to be withheld from local police forces who do not make similar reforms.”
These are palliatives that have only been offered because of the presence of masses of people in the streets. Don’t thank the Democrats – the credit goes to the activists that have been disrupting the racist social order that both parties, including the vast majority of Black lawmakers, have maintained for the four generations since we last had a mass political movement. Given the recent phenomenal rise in popularity of “Black Lives Matter,” which is now supported by a majority of Americans and overwhelming numbers of Blacks, the police reforms are likely to pass the House — and possibly even the Republican-controlled Senate, in some form. But these measures do not empower the oppressed – they are only a response to the power that Blacks and our numerous non-Black allies have shown in the streets: the power to disrupt and shame the ruling order in the United States, and the threat of much more to come.
Having not yet won real power over the police – the coercive organs of government that claim a monopoly on the use of force — this is no time for a lull or a truce. Rather, it is time to sharpen our political instruments and deepen the mass movement’s social penetration. The objective is to seize and exercise people’s power in our communities, and to defend the people’s rights and interests – the opposite of the role played by the police, who defend property rights and white supremacy, whatever the cops’ color or ethnicity.
Community control of police and outright abolition of police are wholly compatible demands, Both are predicated on the right of the people to shape, control or abolish the coercive organs of the state, at least in their own communities. Defunding of the police is about allocation of resources, not power, which is why New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has been repeatedly punked by his own cops, can claim to favor some level of defunding. However, a significant section of “Black Lives Matter” – those under the influence of Alicia Garza and her corporate philanthropic backers — is clearly resistant to community control of the police and only gives lip service to abolition as a goal for the far-off future. We can expect that the contradictions between that faction of “Black Lives Matter” and other activists will deepen – maybe rather quickly – since the conflict is rooted in who’s paying the bills.
The lifeblood of social movements against white supremacism, capitalism, and imperialism is solidarity among all the victims of these isms. Alicia Garza actively discourages Black solidarity with anybody outside the borders of the United States – doubtless as a condition of her funding. That’s why her Black Census project, which last year conducted the biggest survey of U.S. Blacks in history, chose not to ask a single question on foreign policy. Black Americans have historically been the most pro-peace, anti-militarism constituency in the nation and, besides Arab Americans, the most empathetic to the plight of Palestinians. The Black Census is most useful as a domestic issues guide for Democratic politicians – which is how it is cleverly packaged. Garza has chosen to be an asset to the Party – a disturbing situation, given her status in the “movement.”
The Democratic Party is the movement’s greatest institutional political foe since it infests and dominates virtually all Black civic organizations. (The Republican Party is not a factor in Black America’s internal workings.) The Democrats are the Party of capital, of the bankers, the people displacers, the warmongers – and a Black Caucus that is allied overwhelming with the police. However, Black America is a one-party polity, due to a system that reserves half of the duopoly for the White Man’s Party, the GOP. Therefore, some genuine Black progressives, and even revolutionaries, have run for office, and won, as Democrats, for lack of any other viable platform. Essentially, this very small cohort of righteous officeholders are anti-Democrats who fight the corporate Party machine at every juncture. Among them are Charles and Inez Barron, the nominally Democratic husband-wife team representing a Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood in the city council and state legislature; and St. Louis alderman Jesse Todd, also a nominal Democrat.
Todd and the Barrons are members of the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations (as am I), which holds its annual Electoral School, via Zoom, June 13 and 14. The Coalition, made up of 15 organizations plus many individual activists, has promulgated a 19-point National Black Agenda for Self-Determination that puts forward principled, self-determinationist positions on the broadest range of issue-areas, including community control of the police. Black Is Back’s approach to electoral politics is simple: the Coalition will endorse no candidate for office who is not in accord with the National Black Agenda for Self-Determination.
The term “Black Power,” as we learned in the Sixties, can be misused in myriad ways. Black Democratic Party loyalists claim that Blacks were empowered by voting for Joe Biden in huge numbers in the primaries, thus saving his presidential candidacy. “Hands that once picked cotton, now pick presidents,” the Black Democrats exult as if power flows from abject servitude to the corporate dictatorship. In reality, Black voters gave the presidential nomination to a politician who claims he “wrote” the crime bill that resulted in the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of Black people; whose opposition to single-payer health care guarantees that Black people will continue to die disproportionately from damn near all causes; and who opposes defunding the police, a minimal demand of the current mass movement.
The oligarchs that rule the country and control both of its corporate parties and all of its major media want the people to believe that politics is limited to the electoral process, and that street activism, labor militancy, and community organizing are outside the realm of “real” politics. The events of the past ten days have proven the opposite: that massive street actions and unrelenting people-pressure can yield far better results than decades of pulling levers for corporate duopoly candidates.
Feature photo | Protesters confront riot police during a protest over the murder of George Floyd in Los Angeles, May 29, 2020. Photo | AP
Glen Ford is the executive editor of the Black Agenda Report. He can be contacted at [email protected]


mintpressnews--2020-06-15--American Exceptionalism Is on the Ropes and the End of the Petrodollar Is Nigh

The pressure on the global economy imposed by the measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to erode whatever confidence the world still has in the U.S. dollar as a viable reserve currency .
A shortfall in U.S. domestic savings , dropping to 1.4 percent of national income , brought on by the drawn-out shutdowns and structural changes to the ways of doing business , such as the phasing out of brick-and-mortar business establishments and the substitution of human labor with robotics , may be the canary in the coal mine of the upcoming economic paradigm shift .
Among the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is in the offing is the state of currency speculation markets , which are progressively moving away from the dollar as illustrated by the $ 1.5 billion slash in short positions in the previous week , the largest in six weeks .
A more inconspicuous red flag might be the decreasing power of the U.S. Federal Reserve to affect markets as it has over its relatively short existence with a mere word here or the moving of an interest rate point there .
Just five days ago , Fed chair Jerome Powell declared @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banking system was “ so much better capitalized , so much stronger , better aware of its risks , better at managing its risks , [ and ] more highly liquid… ” , that it represented a “ source of strength ” in this environment of widespread economic pain .
In former years , just these words from the head of the U.S. central bank would have been enough to shore up any misgivings by market participants .
But exactly the opposite occurred .
A day after Powell ’ s remarks , “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Citigroup , Bank of America , and JP Morgan Chase all lost 13.37 percent , 10.04 percent , and 8.34 percent respectively amid a broader market decline that recorded a 5.89 percent drop in the S & P 500 .
The reason Powell ’ s words failed to have an effect can be traced to the underlying reality which is revealed by the $ 6.23 trillion in emergency repo loans that these “ highly liquid ” banks have received over the course of a few months .
Trump ’ s man at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ offer only election-year rhetoric , playing down the severity of the current crisis while the Fed rolls out the same bailout programs it used during the 2008 financial meltdown and has even added new ones , like the Main Street Loan Facility and the yet-to-be activated Municipal Liquidity Facility to support lending to city , state , and county governments .
The long-running deficit , last reported to be $ 498.4 billion , held by the U.S. ’ current account , facilitated by the dollar ’ s reserve currency status , is running @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” in the middle of a global shutdown , which could drive domestic savings far deeper into negative territory , spelling doom for the “ greenback.
” This is being exacerbated and , in real ways , driven by the Trump administration , which has shown a consistent trend towards isolationism and protectionist economic policies .
From the border wall rhetoric to trade wars , Trump is effectively setting up the implosion of the dollar and couching it as pseudo nationalistic populism .
The President ’ s base is being led down the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revitalized American industrial Valhalla as the virtual tentacles of an automated and digitized economy with little use for their labor encircles us .
In addition , the ongoing process of a China decoupling , an integral part of the petrodollar/reserve currency paradigm , will likely be the bookend for the dollar era should they decide to flood America with its own worthless money .
When Henry Kissinger made a deal with the Saudis to only accept dollars for their oil in exchange for a captive world market , the petrodollar was born and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s de facto reserve currency .
The system has been in place since the 1970s and has been enforced by market mechanisms , economic sanctions , and at the point of a gun .
It substituted an older , semi-global financial order based on gold , destroyed deliberately over several decades starting with the Great Depression and unfolding right up to the end of World War II .
The world ’ s financial order would , henceforth , be directly and indirectly tied to the single most important natural resource of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on earth , which had , since the end of the war , morphed into what Eisenhower had presciently warned about just a few years removed from the end of that conflict .
The Military Industrial Complex had already been gestating during the war itself , but when the U.S. dollar became the coin of the realm , its influence over world affairs grew exponentially and gave the American political establishment leverage to affect the fate of other nations to an unprecedented degree , as well as the power to its financial institutions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
As we near the 50-year milestone of this crucial shift in the global balance of power , its usefulness has begun to wane and a new system , virtually untethered from any fungible commodity or physical proxy , is being introduced by the very power structure it helped create .
Confident in its grip over the mechanisms of global commerce in both physical goods and information , the dollar is being retired in favor of a digital currency system – an exercise that requires sacrificing the tightly-managed reputation of the world ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disobedience now occurring in the streets of every major city of the United States also points in the direction of an inevitable crash of the dollar .
It is yet another symptom of America ’ s precipitous fall from the perch as the world ’ s police .
The domestic crisis now unfolding mirrors the diminishing prestige of the United States around the world .
Recent actions by the Trump administration against the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) and the Court ’ s response underscores the reality of what is on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation into U.S. actions in Afghanistan , Trump issued sanctions and visa restrictions against the ICC citing threats to “ U.S .
sovereignty “ .
The Court issued an official statement denouncing the measures as an “ attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court ’ s judicial proceedings ” , and publicly calling out the U.S. government for effectively attacking “ the interests of victims of atrocity crimes , for many of whom the Court represents the last hope for justice.
” Given the unprecedented nature of both the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as well as the immediate economic stress brought on by the forced shutdowns and accumulated decades of debt , a severe crash could mark the end of the petrodollar and , consequently , the end of global American hegemony before the end of the first half of the twenty-first century .
Feature photo | Demonstrators set fire to an American flag as they protest the murder of George Floyd , May 31 , 2020 , near the White House in Washington .
Alex Brandon | AP

The pressure on the global economy imposed by the measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic threatens to erode whatever confidence the world still has in the U.S. dollar as a viable reserve currency. A shortfall in U.S. domestic savings, dropping to 1.4 percent of national income, brought on by the drawn-out shutdowns and structural changes to the ways of doing business, such as the phasing out of brick-and-mortar business establishments and the substitution of human labor with robotics, may be the canary in the coal mine of the upcoming economic paradigm shift.
Among the visible signs that a global monetary reset is in the offing is the state of currency speculation markets, which are progressively moving away from the dollar as illustrated by the $1.5 billion slash in short positions in the previous week, the largest in six weeks. A more inconspicuous red flag might be the decreasing power of the U.S. Federal Reserve to affect markets as it has over its relatively short existence with a mere word here or the moving of an interest rate point there.
Just five days ago, Fed chair Jerome Powell declared in a press conference that the U.S. banking system was “so much better capitalized, so much stronger, better aware of its risks, better at managing its risks, [and] more highly liquid…”, that it represented a “source of strength” in this environment of widespread economic pain. In former years, just these words from the head of the U.S. central bank would have been enough to shore up any misgivings by market participants. But exactly the opposite occurred.
A day after Powell’s remarks, “every major Wall Street bank tanked.” Citigroup, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase all lost 13.37 percent, 10.04 percent, and 8.34 percent respectively amid a broader market decline that recorded a 5.89 percent drop in the S&P 500. The reason Powell’s words failed to have an effect can be traced to the underlying reality which is revealed by the $6.23 trillion in emergency repo loans that these “highly liquid” banks have received over the course of a few months.
Trumpian Chaos
Trump’s man at the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, also continues to offer only election-year rhetoric, playing down the severity of the current crisis while the Fed rolls out the same bailout programs it used during the 2008 financial meltdown and has even added new ones, like the Main Street Loan Facility and the yet-to-be activated Municipal Liquidity Facility to support lending to city, state, and county governments.
The long-running deficit, last reported to be $498.4 billion, held by the U.S.’ current account, facilitated by the dollar’s reserve currency status, is running head-on into “exploding government budget deficits” in the middle of a global shutdown, which could drive domestic savings far deeper into negative territory, spelling doom for the “greenback.”
This is being exacerbated and, in real ways, driven by the Trump administration, which has shown a consistent trend towards isolationism and protectionist economic policies. From the border wall rhetoric to trade wars, Trump is effectively setting up the implosion of the dollar and couching it as pseudo nationalistic populism.
The President’s base is being led down the primrose path with empty promises of a revitalized American industrial Valhalla as the virtual tentacles of an automated and digitized economy with little use for their labor encircles us. In addition, the ongoing process of a China decoupling, an integral part of the petrodollar/reserve currency paradigm, will likely be the bookend for the dollar era should they decide to flood America with its own worthless money.
A Short Exercise
When Henry Kissinger made a deal with the Saudis to only accept dollars for their oil in exchange for a captive world market, the petrodollar was born and United States’ currency became the world’s de facto reserve currency. The system has been in place since the 1970s and has been enforced by market mechanisms, economic sanctions, and at the point of a gun. It substituted an older, semi-global financial order based on gold, destroyed deliberately over several decades starting with the Great Depression and unfolding right up to the end of World War II.
The world’s financial order would, henceforth, be directly and indirectly tied to the single most important natural resource of the twentieth century and the strongest military power on earth, which had, since the end of the war, morphed into what Eisenhower had presciently warned about just a few years removed from the end of that conflict.
The Military Industrial Complex had already been gestating during the war itself, but when the U.S. dollar became the coin of the realm, its influence over world affairs grew exponentially and gave the American political establishment leverage to affect the fate of other nations to an unprecedented degree, as well as the power to its financial institutions to mold capital markets to their whim.
As we near the 50-year milestone of this crucial shift in the global balance of power, its usefulness has begun to wane and a new system, virtually untethered from any fungible commodity or physical proxy, is being introduced by the very power structure it helped create. Confident in its grip over the mechanisms of global commerce in both physical goods and information, the dollar is being retired in favor of a digital currency system – an exercise that requires sacrificing the tightly-managed reputation of the world’s only superpower.
Losing Face
The mass civil disobedience now occurring in the streets of every major city of the United States also points in the direction of an inevitable crash of the dollar. It is yet another symptom of America’s precipitous fall from the perch as the world’s police. The domestic crisis now unfolding mirrors the diminishing prestige of the United States around the world.
Recent actions by the Trump administration against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Court’s response underscores the reality of what is on the horizon. After the ICC initiated an investigation into U.S. actions in Afghanistan, Trump issued sanctions and visa restrictions against the ICC citing threats to “U.S. sovereignty“.
The Court issued an official statement denouncing the measures as an “attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court’s judicial proceedings”, and publicly calling out the U.S. government for effectively attacking “the interests of victims of atrocity crimes, for many of whom the Court represents the last hope for justice.”
Given the unprecedented nature of both the domestic and international conflicts now afflicting America, as well as the immediate economic stress brought on by the forced shutdowns and accumulated decades of debt, a severe crash could mark the end of the petrodollar and, consequently, the end of global American hegemony before the end of the first half of the twenty-first century.
Feature photo | Demonstrators set fire to an American flag as they protest the murder of George Floyd, May 31, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Alex Brandon | AP
Raul Diego is a MintPress News Staff Writer, independent photojournalist, researcher, writer and documentary filmmaker.


mintpressnews--2020-06-15--Trump Rips up Decades-Old WMD Treaty in Order to Sell Drones to Saudi Arabia

The Trump administration has decided to break the 33-year-old Missile Technology Control Regime ( MTCR ) treaty in order to sell high-tech American drones to whomever it wants .
First on that list , Reuters reports , are Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates , Jordan , and Romania , with sales to begin almost immediately .
The move will doubtless signal the end of the MTCR , a longstanding international agreement with 34 signatories designed to stop the spread of nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction .
Most of the developed world , including Russia , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , the Trump administration ’ s abrupt shift is another example of the policy of escalating the likelihood of international conflicts .
Last year , Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces ( INF ) treaty , an accord signed between President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev , stating that he would “ move forward with developing our own military response options.
” In April , the White House also destroyed the Open Skies Treaty , an agreement that allowed the world ’ s major players @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air , increasing knowledge and understanding of everyone ’ s capabilities , thereby limiting the risk of accidental nuclear war between the East and West .
And last month Trump indicated that he would let the New Strategic Arms Reduction ( START ) Treaty expire in January , allowing the U.S. to rapidly increase its supply of atomic weaponry .
This has already begun , as the first batch of low-yield nuclear warheads was delivered to the military in January .
Novel weapons like these were specifically mentioned in the Pentagon ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new weaponry to confront China and Russia .
Part of the move appears to be an attempt to force enemy states like Russia and China to react by developing their own nuclear arsenals , thereby crippling their economies through a costly military buildup .
“ We know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion .
If we have to , we will , ” Marshall Billingslea , the president ’ s Special Envoy , told a think tank in Washington , D.C. last month .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Scientists moved their famous “ Doomsday Clock ” – a measure of how close we are to the end of the world – to 100 seconds to midnight , the most perilous moment in human history , citing the “ dangerous rivalry and hostility among the superpowers increases the likelihood of nuclear blunder.
” The fact that world experts believe that we are closer to annihilation than even during the Cuban Missile Crisis gained only moderate public attention .
However , those in the know are deathly afraid .
An example of this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy journal Foreign Affairs , co-written by the ( American ) ex-Deputy Secretary-General of NATO , Rose Gottemoeller , describing Trump ’ s recklessness as “ a chilling sign of how dangerous the world has become.
” Things have become so serious that Gottemoeller even portrayed Vladimir Putin as a man of peace and one of the only adults in the room , not something NATO leaders are often prone to do .
On the decision to sell drones to Saudi Arabia , Heidi Grant , the Pentagon ’ s Director of Defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ machines would help the Kingdom fight terrorism and help stop threats reaching the United States .
However , others argue that Saudi Arabia is itself one of the leading terrorist states in the world .
Since 2015 , a Saudi-led coalition has been attacking nearby Yemen , creating what the United Nations has called the world ’ s worst humanitarian crisis , where 24 million people desperately need aid and nearly 10 million are suffering from “ extreme levels of hunger ” .
Yemen , the UN laments , has “ all but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The country ’ s Ministry of Agriculture estimates that there have been at least 10,000 airstrikes against farms , 800 against local food markets and 450 against food storage facilities in the last four years , meaning that much of its soil is now so toxic it can not sustain life .
The United States has supplied , trained , aided , and defended the Saudi attack , yet it has not been able to destroy the Houthi rebels , partially due to a lack of commitment from their forces .
Unmanned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In addition to pulling out of treaties , Trump has also threatened both Iran and North Korea with nuclear annihilation while also increasing its aggression in Latin America , supporting a successful coup in Bolivia and many unsuccessful ones against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela .
“ The novel coronavirus pandemic should serve as a powerful reminder of the fragility of the international system .
This is exactly the wrong moment to undermine or weaken other key components of that system , especially in the nuclear realm , ” Gottemoeller concluded .
Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increase the scope for U.S. arms manufacturers , regardless of the cost to the rest of the world .
Feature photo | President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a working breakfast on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka , Japan , June 29 , 2019 .
Susan Walsh | AP Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

The Trump administration has decided to break the 33-year-old Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) treaty in order to sell high-tech American drones to whomever it wants. First on that list, Reuters reports, are Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Romania, with sales to begin almost immediately.
The move will doubtless signal the end of the MTCR, a longstanding international agreement with 34 signatories designed to stop the spread of nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction. Most of the developed world, including Russia, has signed up to its principles. However, the Trump administration’s abrupt shift is another example of the policy of escalating the likelihood of international conflicts.
Last year, Trump unilaterally withdrew the U.S. from the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, an accord signed between President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, stating that he would “move forward with developing our own military response options.” In April, the White House also destroyed the Open Skies Treaty, an agreement that allowed the world’s major players to freely observe each other from the air, increasing knowledge and understanding of everyone’s capabilities, thereby limiting the risk of accidental nuclear war between the East and West. And last month Trump indicated that he would let the New Strategic Arms Reduction (START) Treaty expire in January, allowing the U.S. to rapidly increase its supply of atomic weaponry. This has already begun, as the first batch of low-yield nuclear warheads was delivered to the military in January. Novel weapons like these were specifically mentioned in the Pentagon’s latest budget report for the need for new weaponry to confront China and Russia.
Part of the move appears to be an attempt to force enemy states like Russia and China to react by developing their own nuclear arsenals, thereby crippling their economies through a costly military buildup. “We know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion. If we have to, we will,” Marshall Billingslea, the president’s Special Envoy, told a think tank in Washington, D.C. last month.
In January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved their famous “Doomsday Clock” – a measure of how close we are to the end of the world – to 100 seconds to midnight, the most perilous moment in human history, citing the “dangerous rivalry and hostility among the superpowers increases the likelihood of nuclear blunder.” The fact that world experts believe that we are closer to annihilation than even during the Cuban Missile Crisis gained only moderate public attention.
However, those in the know are deathly afraid. An example of this is an article in the U.S. foreign policy journal Foreign Affairs, co-written by the (American) ex-Deputy Secretary-General of NATO, Rose Gottemoeller, describing Trump’s recklessness as “a chilling sign of how dangerous the world has become.” Things have become so serious that Gottemoeller even portrayed Vladimir Putin as a man of peace and one of the only adults in the room, not something NATO leaders are often prone to do.
On the decision to sell drones to Saudi Arabia, Heidi Grant, the Pentagon’s Director of Defense Technology Security Administration, argued that the machines would help the Kingdom fight terrorism and help stop threats reaching the United States. However, others argue that Saudi Arabia is itself one of the leading terrorist states in the world.
Since 2015, a Saudi-led coalition has been attacking nearby Yemen, creating what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, where 24 million people desperately need aid and nearly 10 million are suffering from “extreme levels of hunger”. Yemen, the UN laments, has “all but ceased to exist” as a state. The country’s Ministry of Agriculture estimates that there have been at least 10,000 airstrikes against farms, 800 against local food markets and 450 against food storage facilities in the last four years, meaning that much of its soil is now so toxic it cannot sustain life. The United States has supplied, trained, aided, and defended the Saudi attack, yet it has not been able to destroy the Houthi rebels, partially due to a lack of commitment from their forces. Unmanned drones would likely significantly help the coalition.
In addition to pulling out of treaties, Trump has also threatened both Iran and North Korea with nuclear annihilation while also increasing its aggression in Latin America, supporting a successful coup in Bolivia and many unsuccessful ones against Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela.
“The novel coronavirus pandemic should serve as a powerful reminder of the fragility of the international system. This is exactly the wrong moment to undermine or weaken other key components of that system, especially in the nuclear realm,” Gottemoeller concluded. Trump, however, appears keen to greatly increase the scope for U.S. arms manufacturers, regardless of the cost to the rest of the world.
Feature photo | President Donald Trump meets with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during a working breakfast on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, June 29, 2019. Susan Walsh | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-06-15--Amid George Floyd Protests, Democrats Are Choosing a “Tough on Crime” Ticket

Amid an anti-police movement that has swept the country , the Democratic Party is choosing to run on a “ tough on crime ” ticket for November .
A new Reuters exclusive reports that California senator and former prosecutor Kamala Harris is the clear favorite for the job of vice-president in a Biden White House .
Bookmakers agree , putting Harris ’ chances at around 50 percent .
No other candidate , according to betting analyst Oddsmaker , has a better than one in ten chance .
The nationwide protests , sparked by the police killing of George Floyd on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Black Lives Matter , and the calls to defund or dismantle the entire policing system are growing louder .
In response , more than 30 states mobilized the National Guard to quash the unrest .
A recent poll found that 74 percent of the country , including 87 percent of Democrats , support the protests , with two-thirds backing Black Lives Matter .
Despite this , Biden is moving towards choosing a running mate that is most famous in activist circles for her conservative , “ lock them up ” stance when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Attorney of San Francisco , Harris strongly opposed marijuana legalization .
Under her jurisdiction , arrests and convictions for the drug increased , as did the percentage of black people arrested for its possession .
Yet during her unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination last year , she laughed and joked about illegally using marijuana herself .
During the Democratic debates , she was also accused by Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of blocking evidence that would have freed an innocent man from a death sentence .
Harris was also a vocal supporter of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeat offenders to prison for life .
When running for Attorney General , her position was to the right of her Republican opponent .
Nevertheless , many in the business world appear very excited about the potential pick .
“ She understands the moment , ” claimed Marc Lasry , Chairman of the Avenue Capital Group and a member of Biden ’ s national finance committee , “ They want someone who will galvanize people .
She seems to be that person.
” It seems unlikely , however , that either Biden or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Biden ’ s 1994 Crime Bill imposed the three strikes rule , leading to a great increase in the number of people in prison .
Between 1994 and 1998 , the total number of people in U.S. prisons rose by 19 percent and continued climbing for a decade longer .
Biden himself began his political career by opposing racial desegregation and bussing , something that Harris grilled him on in the Democratic debates .
“ There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school every day .
That little girl was me , ” she said directly to him .
“ Shoot them in the leg ” The former Delaware senator has categorically rejected calls to defund the police .
In fact , he is currently proposing giving them more money .
Scenes of police brutality across the nation shocked the world to the extent that other countries have halted the sale of tear gas and rubber bullets to the U.S .
Yet the extent of Biden ’ s criticism of law enforcement is that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than their torsos .
He has also called for a nationwide ban on chokeholds .
However , without penalties for using these holds , the legislation means little .
The NYPD has long banned chokeholds .
Yet Officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner in 2014 using one , the victim ’ s last words , “ I can ’ t breathe ” becoming a rallying cry for activists .
Pantaleo was not indicted and was only fired more than five years later .
Given their backgrounds , Biden and his vice-president are unlikely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Indeed , Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar , another frontrunner for the VP job , actively shielded killer police from justice .
In 2006 , while she was state prosecutor , Chauvin shot and killed a man while on duty and was not charged .
He would later go on to kill again .
MintPress News was the first outlet to break the story .
Since it emerged , Klobuchar has fallen from the favorite to a 25-to-1 outsider , according to bookmakers .
The increasingly likely choice of Harris represents a decision @ @ @ @ @ @ @ crime ” agenda for November and is unlikely to engage non-voters or the insurgent progressive wing of the party , whose candidate , Bernie Sanders , almost won the nomination himself .
It also risks being interpreted as tone deaf by many black constituents .
While Trump ’ s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests have allowed Biden to open up a wide lead over him in the polls , there remains a lack of public enthusiasm for the former vice-president .
Only 24 percent of Democrats say they are enthusiastic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president , which could lead to a very weak ground game come November .
However , with almost five months until the election and considering all that has happened in the first five months of this year , only a fool would feel certain of what is to come .
Feature photo | Democratic presidential candidates former Vice President Joe Biden , left , and Sen. Kamala Harris , D-Calif. shake hands , Sept. 12 , 2019 , after a Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston .
David J. Phillip | AP Alan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ News .
After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books : Bad News From Venezuela : Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age : Still Manufacturing Consent .
He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting , The Guardian , Salon , The Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

Amid an anti-police movement that has swept the country, the Democratic Party is choosing to run on a “tough on crime” ticket for November. A new Reuters exclusive reports that California senator and former prosecutor Kamala Harris is the clear favorite for the job of vice-president in a Biden White House. Bookmakers agree, putting Harris’ chances at around 50 percent. No other candidate, according to betting analyst Oddsmaker, has a better than one in ten chance.
The nationwide protests, sparked by the police killing of George Floyd on May 25, have been increasingly led by Black Lives Matter, and the calls to defund or dismantle the entire policing system are growing louder. In response, more than 30 states mobilized the National Guard to quash the unrest. A recent poll found that 74 percent of the country, including 87 percent of Democrats, support the protests, with two-thirds backing Black Lives Matter.
Despite this, Biden is moving towards choosing a running mate that is most famous in activist circles for her conservative, “lock them up” stance when it comes to crime.
A conservative “tough on crime” agenda
As District Attorney of San Francisco, Harris strongly opposed marijuana legalization. Under her jurisdiction, arrests and convictions for the drug increased, as did the percentage of black people arrested for its possession. Yet during her unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination last year, she laughed and joked about illegally using marijuana herself. During the Democratic debates, she was also accused by Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of blocking evidence that would have freed an innocent man from a death sentence. Harris was also a vocal supporter of the controversial three strikes law that sent repeat offenders to prison for life. When running for Attorney General, her position was to the right of her Republican opponent.
Nevertheless, many in the business world appear very excited about the potential pick. “She understands the moment,” claimed Marc Lasry, Chairman of the Avenue Capital Group and a member of Biden’s national finance committee, “They want someone who will galvanize people. She seems to be that person.”
It seems unlikely, however, that either Biden or Harris will galvanize protestors demanding racial justice. Biden’s 1994 Crime Bill imposed the three strikes rule, leading to a great increase in the number of people in prison. Between 1994 and 1998, the total number of people in U.S. prisons rose by 19 percent and continued climbing for a decade longer. Biden himself began his political career by opposing racial desegregation and bussing, something that Harris grilled him on in the Democratic debates. “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bused to school every day. That little girl was me,” she said directly to him.
“Shoot them in the leg”
The former Delaware senator has categorically rejected calls to defund the police. In fact, he is currently proposing giving them more money. Scenes of police brutality across the nation shocked the world to the extent that other countries have halted the sale of tear gas and rubber bullets to the U.S. Yet the extent of Biden’s criticism of law enforcement is that they should shoot protestors’ legs, rather than their torsos. He has also called for a nationwide ban on chokeholds. However, without penalties for using these holds, the legislation means little. The NYPD has long banned chokeholds. Yet Officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner in 2014 using one, the victim’s last words, “I can’t breathe” becoming a rallying cry for activists. Pantaleo was not indicted and was only fired more than five years later. Given their backgrounds, Biden and his vice-president are unlikely to enforce laws to prosecute the police.
Indeed, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, another frontrunner for the VP job, actively shielded killer police from justice. In 2006, while she was state prosecutor, Chauvin shot and killed a man while on duty and was not charged. He would later go on to kill again. MintPress News was the first outlet to break the story. Since it emerged, Klobuchar has fallen from the favorite to a 25-to-1 outsider, according to bookmakers.
The increasingly likely choice of Harris represents a decision to pursue a conservative “tough on crime” agenda for November and is unlikely to engage non-voters or the insurgent progressive wing of the party, whose candidate, Bernie Sanders, almost won the nomination himself. It also risks being interpreted as tone deaf by many black constituents. While Trump’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and the protests have allowed Biden to open up a wide lead over him in the polls, there remains a lack of public enthusiasm for the former vice-president. Only 24 percent of Democrats say they are enthusiastic about their party’s choice for president, which could lead to a very weak ground game come November. However, with almost five months until the election and considering all that has happened in the first five months of this year, only a fool would feel certain of what is to come.
Feature photo | Democratic presidential candidates former Vice President Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. shake hands, Sept. 12, 2019, after a Democratic presidential primary debate in Houston. David J. Phillip | AP
Alan MacLeod is a Staff Writer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017 he published two books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent. He has also contributed to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary.


mintpressnews--2020-06-16--Trump Hammers Cuba While Cuba Cures the Sick

A team of 85 Cuban doctors and nurses arrived in Peru on June 3 to help the Andean nation tackle the coronavirus pandemic .
That same day , Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced another tightening of the sanctions screws .
This time he targeted seven Cuban entities , including Fincimex , one of the principal financial institutions handling remittances to the country .
Also targeted was Marriott International , which was ordered to cease operations in Cuba , and other companies in the tourism sector , an industry that constitutes 10 percent of Cuba ’ s GDP and has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It seems that the more Cuba helps the world , the more it gets hammered by the Trump administration .
While Cuba has endured a U.S. embargo for nearly 60 years , Trump has revved up the stakes with a “ maximum pressure ” strategy that includes more than 90 economic measures placed against the nation since January 2019 .
Josefina Vidal , Cuba ’ s ambassador to Canada , called the measures “ unprecedented in their level of aggression and scope ” and designed to “ deprive the country of income for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its inception , the embargo has cost Cuba well over $ 130 billion dollars , according to a 2018 estimate .
In 2018-2019 alone , the economic impact was $ 4 billion , a figure that does not include the impact of a June 2019 Trump administration travel ban aimed at harming the tourist industry .
While the embargo is supposed to have humanitarian exemptions , the health sector has not been spared .
Cuba is known worldwide for its universal public healthcare system , but the embargo has led to shortages of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ patients with AIDS and cancer .
Doctors at Cuba ’ s National Institute of Oncology have had to amputate the lower limbs of children with cancer because the American companies that have a monopoly on the technology can ’ t sell it to Cuba .
In the midst of the pandemic , the U.S. blocked a donation of facemasks and COVID-19 diagnostic kits from Chinese billionaire Jack Ma .
Not content to sabotage Cuba ’ s domestic health sector , the Trump administration has been attacking Cuba ’ s international medical assistance , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ those who have traveled all over the world since the 1960 ’ s providing services to underserved communities in 164 countries .
The U.S. goal is to cut the island ’ s income now that the provision of these services has surpassed tourism as Cuba ’ s number one source of revenue .
Labeling these volunteer medical teams “ victims of human trafficking ” because part of their salaries goes to pay for Cuba ’ s healthcare system , the Trump administration convinced Ecuador , Bolivia and Brazil to end their cooperation agreements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the leaders of these countries for refusing “ to turn a blind eye ” to Cuba ’ s alleged abuses .
The triumphalism was short-lived : a month after that quote , the Bolsonaro government in Brazil begged Cuba to resend its doctors amid the pandemic .
U.S. allies all over the world , including in Qatar , Kuwait , South Africa , Italy , Honduras , and Peru have gratefully accepted this Cuban aid .
So great is the admiration for Cuban doctors that a global campaign has sprung up to award @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump administration is not just libeling doctors , but the whole country .
In May , the State Department named Cuba as one of five countries “ not cooperating fully ” in U.S. counterterrorism efforts .
The main pretext was the nation ’ s hosting of members of Colombia ’ s National Liberation Army ( ELN ) .
Yet even the State Department ’ s own press release notes that ELN members are in Cuba as a result of “ peace negotiation protocols.
” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called the charges dishonest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Colombian government ” that broke off talks with the ELN in 2019 .
It should also be noted that Ecuador was the original host of the ELN-Colombia talks , but Cuba was asked to step in after the Moreno government abdicated its responsibilities in 2018 .
The classification of Cuba as “ not cooperating ” with counterterrorism could lead to Cuba being placed on the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list , which carries tougher penalties .
This idea was floated by a senior Trump administration official to Reuters last month @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from 1982 to 2015 , despite that fact that , according to former State Department official Jason Blazakis , “ it was legally determined that Cuba was not actively engaged in violence that could be defined as terrorism under any credible definition of the word.
” Of course , the United States is in no position to claim that other countries do not cooperate in counterterrorism .
For years , the U.S. harbored Luis Posada Carriles , the mastermind of the bombing of a Cuban civilian airplane in 1976 that killed 73 people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet to even comment on the April 30 attack on the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. , when a man fired on the building with an automatic rifle .
While there are certainly right-wing ideologues like Secretary Pompeo and Senator Rubio orchestrating Trump ’ s maximum pressure campaign , for Trump himself , Cuba is all about the U.S. elections .
His hard line against the tiny island nation may have helped swing the Florida gubernatorial campaign during the midterm elections , yet it ’ s not clear that this will serve him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to conventional wisdom and polls , younger Cuban-Americans – who like most young people , don ’ t tend to vote in midterms – are increasingly skeptical of the U.S. embargo , and overall , Cuba isn ’ t the overriding issue for Cuban-Americans .
Trump won the Cuban-American vote in 2016 , but Hillary Clinton took between 41 and 47 % percent of that electorate , significantly higher than any Democrat in decades .
As an electoral strategy , these are signs that Trump ’ s aggression towards Cuba may not pay @ @ @ @ @ @ @ might not be just about votes but also about financing and ensuring that the Cuban-American political machinery is firmly behind Trump .
The strategy has certainly not paid off when it comes to achieving the goal of regime change .
The Trump administration is arguably farther from achieving regime change in Cuba now than the U.S. has ever been in over 60 years of intervention .
During Trump ’ s tenure , Cuba calmly transitioned from the presidency of Raul Castro to that of Miguel Díaz-Canel .
In 2019 , Cuban voters overwhelmingly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t signs of a country on the brink of collapse .
All Trump has achieved is making life more difficult for the island ’ s 11 million inhabitants , who , like people all over the world , have been battered by the economic impact from coronavirus .
Tourism has collapsed .
Income from remittances has tanked ( both because of new U.S. restrictions and less income in the hands of the Cuban diaspora ) .
Venezuela , once a major benefactor , is mired in its own crisis .
But Cuba @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to contract by 3.7 % before the pandemic hit , has been through worse , particularly during the 1991 to 2000 economic crisis known as the “ special period ” after the collapse of the Soviet Union .
A change in the White House would bring some relief , although Joe Biden has staked a rather ambivalent position , saying he would restore relations as President Obama did , but adding that he was open to using sanctions as punishment for Cuba ’ s support to the Venezuelan government .
It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and perhaps for four more years , the Trump administration will pummel its island neighbor .
Cuba will continue to seek global condemnation on the blockade ( the 2019 UN vote was 187 against vs 3 in favor—the U.S. , Brazil , and Israel ) and continue to show what a good neighbor looks like .
It responded to these latest provocations in the way that only Cuba does : with more global solidarity , sending Covid-19 healing brigades to Guinea and Kuwait a day after the June 3 round of sanctions .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cuban medical personnel caring for their sick .
That is the kind of goodwill that money just can ’ t buy and it greatly presents a stark contrast to the Trump administration ’ s shameful behavior during the pandemic .
Back in March , as Cuban doctors arrived in Italy , former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa tweeted : Feature photo | The first Cuban medical brigade of the Henry Reeve Contingent returns from Italy at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana , Cuba , June 8 , 2020 .
The Cuban doctors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to help with the COVID-19 emergency in the Lombardy region .
Ismael Francisco | AP Medea Benjamin is an author/activist , and cofounder of the peace group CODEPINK .
Leonardo Flores is a Latin American policy expert and a campaign coordinator with CODEPINK .
For more on the Nobel Prize for Cuban Doctors campaign , see www.cubanobel.org .

A team of 85 Cuban doctors and nurses arrived in Peru on June 3 to help the Andean nation tackle the coronavirus pandemic. That same day, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced another tightening of the sanctions screws. This time he targeted seven Cuban entities, including Fincimex, one of the principal financial institutions handling remittances to the country. Also targeted was Marriott International, which was ordered to cease operations in Cuba, and other companies in the tourism sector, an industry that constitutes 10 percent of Cuba’s GDP and has been devastated globally by the pandemic.
It seems that the more Cuba helps the world, the more it gets hammered by the Trump administration. While Cuba has endured a U.S. embargo for nearly 60 years, Trump has revved up the stakes with a “maximum pressure” strategy that includes more than 90 economic measures placed against the nation since January 2019. Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s ambassador to Canada, called the measures “unprecedented in their level of aggression and scope” and designed to “deprive the country of income for the development of the economy.” Since its inception, the embargo has cost Cuba well over $130 billion dollars, according to a 2018 estimate. In 2018-2019 alone, the economic impact was $4 billion, a figure that does not include the impact of a June 2019 Trump administration travel ban aimed at harming the tourist industry.
While the embargo is supposed to have humanitarian exemptions, the health sector has not been spared. Cuba is known worldwide for its universal public healthcare system, but the embargo has led to shortages of medicines and medical supplies, particularly for patients with AIDS and cancer. Doctors at Cuba’s National Institute of Oncology have had to amputate the lower limbs of children with cancer because the American companies that have a monopoly on the technology can’t sell it to Cuba. In the midst of the pandemic, the U.S. blocked a donation of facemasks and COVID-19 diagnostic kits from Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.
Not content to sabotage Cuba’s domestic health sector, the Trump administration has been attacking Cuba’s international medical assistance, from the teams fighting coronavirus today to those who have traveled all over the world since the 1960’s providing services to underserved communities in 164 countries. The U.S. goal is to cut the island’s income now that the provision of these services has surpassed tourism as Cuba’s number one source of revenue. Labeling these volunteer medical teams “victims of human trafficking” because part of their salaries goes to pay for Cuba’s healthcare system, the Trump administration convinced Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil to end their cooperation agreements with Cuban doctors. Pompeo then applauded the leaders of these countries for refusing “to turn a blind eye” to Cuba’s alleged abuses. The triumphalism was short-lived: a month after that quote, the Bolsonaro government in Brazil begged Cuba to resend its doctors amid the pandemic. U.S. allies all over the world, including in Qatar, Kuwait, South Africa, Italy, Honduras, and Peru have gratefully accepted this Cuban aid. So great is the admiration for Cuban doctors that a global campaign has sprung up to award them the Nobel Peace Prize.
The Trump administration is not just libeling doctors, but the whole country. In May, the State Department named Cuba as one of five countries “not cooperating fully” in U.S. counterterrorism efforts. The main pretext was the nation’s hosting of members of Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN). Yet even the State Department’s own press release notes that ELN members are in Cuba as a result of “peace negotiation protocols.” Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called the charges dishonest and “facilitated by the ungrateful attitude of the Colombian government” that broke off talks with the ELN in 2019. It should also be noted that Ecuador was the original host of the ELN-Colombia talks, but Cuba was asked to step in after the Moreno government abdicated its responsibilities in 2018.
The classification of Cuba as “not cooperating” with counterterrorism could lead to Cuba being placed on the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list, which carries tougher penalties. This idea was floated by a senior Trump administration official to Reuters last month. Cuba had been on this list from 1982 to 2015, despite that fact that, according to former State Department official Jason Blazakis, “it was legally determined that Cuba was not actively engaged in violence that could be defined as terrorism under any credible definition of the word.”
Of course, the United States is in no position to claim that other countries do not cooperate in counterterrorism. For years, the U.S. harbored Luis Posada Carriles, the mastermind of the bombing of a Cuban civilian airplane in 1976 that killed 73 people. More recently, the U.S. has yet to even comment on the April 30 attack on the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C., when a man fired on the building with an automatic rifle.
While there are certainly right-wing ideologues like Secretary Pompeo and Senator Rubio orchestrating Trump’s maximum pressure campaign, for Trump himself, Cuba is all about the U.S. elections. His hard line against the tiny island nation may have helped swing the Florida gubernatorial campaign during the midterm elections, yet it’s not clear that this will serve him well in a presidential year. According to conventional wisdom and polls, younger Cuban-Americans – who like most young people, don’t tend to vote in midterms – are increasingly skeptical of the U.S. embargo, and overall, Cuba isn’t the overriding issue for Cuban-Americans. Trump won the Cuban-American vote in 2016, but Hillary Clinton took between 41 and 47% percent of that electorate, significantly higher than any Democrat in decades.
As an electoral strategy, these are signs that Trump’s aggression towards Cuba may not pay off. Of course, the strategy might not be just about votes but also about financing and ensuring that the Cuban-American political machinery is firmly behind Trump.
The strategy has certainly not paid off when it comes to achieving the goal of regime change. The Trump administration is arguably farther from achieving regime change in Cuba now than the U.S. has ever been in over 60 years of intervention. During Trump’s tenure, Cuba calmly transitioned from the presidency of Raul Castro to that of Miguel Díaz-Canel. In 2019, Cuban voters overwhelmingly ratified a new constitution. These aren’t signs of a country on the brink of collapse.
All Trump has achieved is making life more difficult for the island’s 11 million inhabitants, who, like people all over the world, have been battered by the economic impact from coronavirus. Tourism has collapsed. Income from remittances has tanked (both because of new U.S. restrictions and less income in the hands of the Cuban diaspora). Venezuela, once a major benefactor, is mired in its own crisis. But Cuba’s economy, which was forecast to contract by 3.7% before the pandemic hit, has been through worse, particularly during the 1991 to 2000 economic crisis known as the “special period” after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
A change in the White House would bring some relief, although Joe Biden has staked a rather ambivalent position, saying he would restore relations as President Obama did, but adding that he was open to using sanctions as punishment for Cuba’s support to the Venezuelan government.
It’s clear that from now until November, and perhaps for four more years, the Trump administration will pummel its island neighbor. Cuba will continue to seek global condemnation on the blockade (the 2019 UN vote was 187 against vs 3 in favor—the U.S., Brazil, and Israel) and continue to show what a good neighbor looks like. It responded to these latest provocations in the way that only Cuba does: with more global solidarity, sending Covid-19 healing brigades to Guinea and Kuwait a day after the June 3 round of sanctions. A total of 26 countries now have Cuban medical personnel caring for their sick.
That is the kind of goodwill that money just can’t buy and it greatly presents a stark contrast to the Trump administration’s shameful behavior during the pandemic. Back in March, as Cuban doctors arrived in Italy, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa tweeted:
One day we will tell our children that, after decades of movies and propaganda, at the moment of truth, when humanity needed help at a time when the great powers were in hiding, Cuban doctors began to arrive, without asking anything in return.”
Feature photo | The first Cuban medical brigade of the Henry Reeve Contingent returns from Italy at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Cuba, June 8, 2020. The Cuban doctors had gone to Italy on March 22 to help with the COVID-19 emergency in the Lombardy region. Ismael Francisco | AP
Medea Benjamin is an author/activist, and cofounder of the peace group CODEPINK.
Leonardo Flores is a Latin American policy expert and a campaign coordinator with CODEPINK. For more on the Nobel Prize for Cuban Doctors campaign, see www.cubanobel.org.