mintpressnews--2020-02-03--The Old Puppets Return: Meet Bolivia’s Corrupt Washington-Backed Candidates

Elections are looming in Bolivia .
Despite closing ranks to force out Evo Morales ’ left-indigenous government , the different factions of Bolivia ’ s pro-coup right have fallen out with each other less than three months into their rule .
The crisis boiled over on January 26 , when Jeanine Anez , the self-declared ‘ interim ’ president , declared that she would stand as a candidate , despite pledging not to .
Her announcement triggered a rebellion within her own cabinet that she crushed by purging the dissenters .
However , the problem facing the Bolivian right is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their predicament , one must understand the two factors they all have in common .
Firstly , their direct and longstanding ties to the United States , most of them predating the November 10 coup .
Secondly , the vast and complex web of corruption that they have all had to pass through to get onto the ballot .
This article is the second installment of a two part series covering the coming election in Bolivia .
The first installment investigated the candidates taking on Bolivia ’ s U.S.-backed right-wing government .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ figures of the most unpopular governments has become a sort of right-wing political tradition .
This election , Carlos Mesa and Jorge Tuto Quiroga will be the torchbearers of that tradition .
Both have served as vice president and president during the neoliberal period and both presided over periods of profound crisis that came about as a result of trying to implement policies demanded by the United States .
Quiroga , running under the Libre 21 alliance , governed in the late 1990s and early 2000s under former military dictator Hugo Banzer .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quiroga is most notorious for the repressive violence he exacted against Campesinos in the Chapare region .
‘ Plan Dignidad ’ was drawn up with the U.S. and was aimed at eradicating the traditional coca crop and breaking the strength of Chapare ’ s union organization .
Quiroga placed Bolivia ’ s armed forces under the authority of DEA commanders who coordinated an extraordinarily violent ‘ war on drugs.
’ The first six months of Quiroga ’ s presidency saw about one death per week , and two injured per day as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coca farmers in the Chapare .
When he eventually reached an agreement with the coca growers union in 2001 , he was castigated by the U.S. embassy .
They said that instead of negotiations , “ a firm and continuous response would have weakened the political base of Evo Morales even more.
” The repressive tactics were resumed shortly after and the conflict was reopened .
Mesa , running under Citizens Community Alliance , was equally servile during his short period in power .
Mesa took office just after Quiroga and was elected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , months of anti-privatization uprisings had rendered the country ungovernable .
Mesa took the presidency by default when his partner Sanchez de Lozada was overthrown and had to flee to Miami by helicopter .
Mesa presents himself as the least authoritarian of the right-wing presidential candidates .
Yet , even he denounced the repression of his own government following the ‘ Black October ’ massacre of protesters in El Alto in 2003 .
However , his two years in power were a period of paralysis and it became clear that it would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ U.S. was demanding without the kind of violent crackdowns his predecessor had enacted .
There ’ s no clearer example of this than Mesa ’ s attempt to grant legal immunity to U.S. troops operating in Bolivia ( who were mostly coordinating repression in the Chapare region ) .
Mesa tried to enforce an agreement signed eight months earlier with the U.S. that would have ensured U.S. nationals could not be handed over to the International Criminal Court .
Many saw the move as a prelude to the arrival of even more U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as MAS lawmaker Gustavo Torrico recalled , Evo Morales ’ threats of mass protests managed to stop the proposal in its tracks .
“ Morales , as head of the MAS , asked for a meeting at the Palace ( and ) we went with Evo Morales , Antonio Peredo , Santos Ramírez , Edmundo Novillo and myself .
Evo confronted Carlos Mesa and said : ‘ I will not allow you to put military bases here , we ’ ll paralyze the country , we ’ ll set the country on fire @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ” Torrico said .
These were the kind of dilemmas Mesa faced daily during his presidency .
He didn ’ t want war on the streets , but how else could he fulfill U.S. demands on issues like privatization and legal immunity ?
Mesa eventually resigned in 2005 .
His infamous resignation speech could be characterized as the rant of an exasperated man .
Mesa spoke about how Evo Morales ’ proposed nationalization of natural gas ( which his government had privatized ) was ‘ impossible ’ simply because “ the US @ @ @ @ @ @ @ told us so.
” The Anez administration ’ s ties to the U.S. are openly admitted .
Evident in the dramatic speed with which Morales ’ progressive foreign policy was torn up .
Full relations were re-established with the U.S. and Israel and USAID was brought in to ‘ cooperate ’ in the elections and other government functions .
However , less known are Anez ’ s hiring choices .
One of the first advisors to be brought in to her inner circle was Erick Foronda , who was chief advisor to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ prior to taking on the role with Anez .
The cooperation continues as the electoral campaign gets underway .
Following the footsteps of many Bolivian rightists , Anez is now contracting the services of CLS Strategies , a U.S. political consulting firm , to provide “ strategic communications counsel ” during the coming elections .
CLS Strategies is the same firm used by the government in Honduras after that country ’ s coup against Manuel Zelaya .
Most of Bolivia ’ s right-wing candidates have a proven track record of allowing the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ policy .
The U.S. , however , doesn ’ t limit it ’ s cooperation to those who have governed .
Wikileaks cables show that over $ 4 million were funneled through USAID to Media Luna groups between 2006 and 2009 .
The Media Luna movement was a coup attempt led by right-wing groups in the eastern departments ( provinces ) of the country , particularly in Santa Cruz , which tried to secede from Bolivia so as to protect royalties from natural gas reserves that had just been re-nationalized against the will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unleashed a wave of racial violence against indigenous residents in those areas , as far-right protesters saw them as symbols of the indigenous government they so detested .
The most prominent leader of Media Luna was the Comite Civico Pro-Santa Cruz , whose former president , Fernando Camacho , is now one of the leading candidates in the coming election , running on a far-right religious platform representing the landowners who lead the Comite .
How Does One Become a Candidate in Bolivia ?
So who are the forces behind each candidate and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
‘ Interim ’ President Anez is standing with an alliance made up of her own party , the Democratas , the largest party in eastern departments like Santa Cruz and Beni .
She ’ s also running with Sol.Bo , the large patronage network around the Mayor of La Paz , Luis Revilla .
Sol.Bo originally backed Mesa but withdrew their support after it became apparent that they wouldn ’ t get the kickbacks and positions they wanted , particularly having Revilla on the ballot as vice president .
Anez is the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her .
The other candidates had to get their hands dirty in the black market in order to secure registered status ( personeria juridica ) with defunct but pre-existing parties .
Due to the rushed nature of the elections , there was no time for the bureaucratic process of registering new parties , such as collecting signatures and paperwork .
This forced any candidate who wanted to run to register via a pre-existing political party .
This inconvenience was no issue for the MAS , who have always been united in a single @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , constantly shifting alliances and defections mean that the only options are a set of old , U.S.-backed parties from the 1980s and 1990s that no longer have active members or parliamentary representation but are still registered with Bolivia ’ s electoral authorities ( TSE ) .
These parties include the MNR , ADN and UCS among others .
They have essentially become shell companies , selling their brand rights to aspiring candidates .
Evangelical preacher Chi Hyun Chung exposed this corruption after he placed third in the last election but didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Chung reported that these groups were asking for payments of between one million and 1.5 million U.S .
Dollars for the right to use their names .
He called on electoral authorities to intervene to end the practice .
It was in this murky auction that the other candidates registered themselves .
Far-right Santa Cruz leader Fernando Camacho , running under an alliance called Creemos , is actually registered with Bolivia ’ s election authority with the UCS , the party of a former beer magnate .
UCS received 0.4 percent of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president Quiroga ’ s alliance is called Libre 21 but is registered with the election authorities as the MNR , the once-powerful party that were his rivals when he last successfully ran for office .
MNR is now a defunct organization that received less than one percent of the vote in the October 2019 election .
Mesa registered with the same Comunidad Ciudadana alliance that he cited as his registered political party during his last run but is registered as a candidate with the FRI , a minuscule organization that hasn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ late 1970s .
The surprise entry is Norma Pierola , an oddball far-right lawmaker from the Christian Democrat Party registered using her own organization .
It isn ’ t known how much the others paid for the rights to register under the shell companies disguised as political parties .
Life on the Bolivian right is a series of backroom deals .
This is why Camacho and Mesa have been so absent from the media in recent weeks , negotiating this byzantine web of corruption requires vast amounts of time and energy .
Who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s hard to say which of Washington ’ s candidates is the most popular .
A recent poll commissioned by the conservative Pagina Siete , had Anez and Camacho ranked as leading candidates , though both scored significantly less than the MAS .
Mesa managed to unite a significant section of the vote during the October 2019 elections , but the coup saw more radical figures come to the fore .
In Santa Cruz , it ’ s unlikely that Mesa will get a large percentage once again .
Speaking to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Cruz ’ Comite Civico suggested that the region will likely opt for more radical candidates , saying , “ we have to analyze the variables that led to that vote [ for Carlos Mesa ] … people didn ’ t vote for Carlos Mesa , people voted for the one that could take out Evo Morales… Carlos Mesa was an instrument , people saw him as an instrument to take out the dictator , the tyrant.
” Whatever their differences , the reality is that they ’ re scrambling for the votes of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ analyst Andres Gomez pointed out that they ’ ll all struggle to make inroads into the social base of the MAS , which is overwhelmingly indigenous and working class .
The divisions within the right and the unity of the MAS would normally bode well for the return of Evo Morales ’ party , though this will not be a free or fair election .
Anez is already compensating for organizational weakness by tilting the playing field against the MAS .
The international community will need to pay close attention to Bolivia ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t fixed by Washington ’ s candidates .
Oliver Vargas is a British-Bolivian journalist covering the ongoing coup in Bolivia for MintPress News .
His writing has appeared in teleSUR , Redfish and The Grayzone among others .

Elections are looming in Bolivia. Despite closing ranks to force out Evo Morales’ left-indigenous government, the different factions of Bolivia’s pro-coup right have fallen out with each other less than three months into their rule. The crisis boiled over on January 26, when Jeanine Anez, the self-declared ‘interim’ president, declared that she would stand as a candidate, despite pledging not to. Her announcement triggered a rebellion within her own cabinet that she crushed by purging the dissenters.
However, the problem facing the Bolivian right is much larger than Anez. To understand their predicament, one must understand the two factors they all have in common. Firstly, their direct and longstanding ties to the United States, most of them predating the November 10 coup. Secondly, the vast and complex web of corruption that they have all had to pass through to get onto the ballot. This article is the second installment of a two part series covering the coming election in Bolivia. The first installment investigated the candidates taking on Bolivia’s U.S.-backed right-wing government.
The old puppets return
In Bolivia, the tendency to recycle senior figures of the most unpopular governments has become a sort of right-wing political tradition. This election, Carlos Mesa and Jorge Tuto Quiroga will be the torchbearers of that tradition. Both have served as vice president and president during the neoliberal period and both presided over periods of profound crisis that came about as a result of trying to implement policies demanded by the United States.
Quiroga, running under the Libre 21 alliance, governed in the late 1990s and early 2000s under former military dictator Hugo Banzer. A stalwart of the old establishment, Quiroga is most notorious for the repressive violence he exacted against Campesinos in the Chapare region. ‘Plan Dignidad’ was drawn up with the U.S. and was aimed at eradicating the traditional coca crop and breaking the strength of Chapare’s union organization. Quiroga placed Bolivia’s armed forces under the authority of DEA commanders who coordinated an extraordinarily violent ‘war on drugs.’ The first six months of Quiroga’s presidency saw about one death per week, and two injured per day as the ‘war on drugs’ intensified against coca farmers in the Chapare. When he eventually reached an agreement with the coca growers union in 2001, he was castigated by the U.S. embassy. They said that instead of negotiations, “a firm and continuous response would have weakened the political base of Evo Morales even more.” The repressive tactics were resumed shortly after and the conflict was reopened.
Mesa, running under Citizens Community Alliance, was equally servile during his short period in power. Mesa took office just after Quiroga and was elected vice president in 2002. By 2003, months of anti-privatization uprisings had rendered the country ungovernable. Mesa took the presidency by default when his partner Sanchez de Lozada was overthrown and had to flee to Miami by helicopter.
Mesa presents himself as the least authoritarian of the right-wing presidential candidates. Yet, even he denounced the repression of his own government following the ‘Black October’ massacre of protesters in El Alto in 2003. However, his two years in power were a period of paralysis and it became clear that it would be impossible to implement the neoliberal policies the U.S. was demanding without the kind of violent crackdowns his predecessor had enacted.
There’s no clearer example of this than Mesa’s attempt to grant legal immunity to U.S. troops operating in Bolivia (who were mostly coordinating repression in the Chapare region). Mesa tried to enforce an agreement signed eight months earlier with the U.S. that would have ensured U.S. nationals could not be handed over to the International Criminal Court. Many saw the move as a prelude to the arrival of even more U.S. troops and military bases. However, as MAS lawmaker Gustavo Torrico recalled, Evo Morales’ threats of mass protests managed to stop the proposal in its tracks. “Morales, as head of the MAS, asked for a meeting at the Palace (and) we went with Evo Morales, Antonio Peredo, Santos Ramírez, Edmundo Novillo and myself. Evo confronted Carlos Mesa and said: ‘I will not allow you to put military bases here, we’ll paralyze the country, we’ll set the country on fire, the gringos will not arrive,’” Torrico said.
These were the kind of dilemmas Mesa faced daily during his presidency. He didn’t want war on the streets, but how else could he fulfill U.S. demands on issues like privatization and legal immunity? Mesa eventually resigned in 2005. His infamous resignation speech could be characterized as the rant of an exasperated man. Mesa spoke about how Evo Morales’ proposed nationalization of natural gas (which his government had privatized) was ‘impossible’ simply because “the US, the World Bank and Spain have told us so.”
A legacy of servitude
The Anez administration’s ties to the U.S. are openly admitted. Evident in the dramatic speed with which Morales’ progressive foreign policy was torn up. Full relations were re-established with the U.S. and Israel and USAID was brought in to ‘cooperate’ in the elections and other government functions. However, less known are Anez’s hiring choices. One of the first advisors to be brought in to her inner circle was Erick Foronda, who was chief advisor to the U.S. embassy in Bolivia for 25 years prior to taking on the role with Anez.
The cooperation continues as the electoral campaign gets underway. Following the footsteps of many Bolivian rightists, Anez is now contracting the services of CLS Strategies, a U.S. political consulting firm, to provide “strategic communications counsel” during the coming elections. CLS Strategies is the same firm used by the government in Honduras after that country’s coup against Manuel Zelaya.
Most of Bolivia’s right-wing candidates have a proven track record of allowing the U.S. to dictate the most important areas of policy. The U.S., however, doesn’t limit it’s cooperation to those who have governed.
Wikileaks cables show that over $4 million were funneled through USAID to Media Luna groups between 2006 and 2009. The Media Luna movement was a coup attempt led by right-wing groups in the eastern departments (provinces) of the country, particularly in Santa Cruz, which tried to secede from Bolivia so as to protect royalties from natural gas reserves that had just been re-nationalized against the will of the eastern elites. The move unleashed a wave of racial violence against indigenous residents in those areas, as far-right protesters saw them as symbols of the indigenous government they so detested. The most prominent leader of Media Luna was the Comite Civico Pro-Santa Cruz, whose former president, Fernando Camacho, is now one of the leading candidates in the coming election, running on a far-right religious platform representing the landowners who lead the Comite.
How Does One Become a Candidate in Bolivia?
So who are the forces behind each candidate and how did they get on the ballot? ‘Interim’ President Anez is standing with an alliance made up of her own party, the Democratas, the largest party in eastern departments like Santa Cruz and Beni. She’s also running with Sol.Bo, the large patronage network around the Mayor of La Paz, Luis Revilla. Sol.Bo originally backed Mesa but withdrew their support after it became apparent that they wouldn’t get the kickbacks and positions they wanted, particularly having Revilla on the ballot as vice president.
Anez is the only candidate with genuine political forces behind her. The other candidates had to get their hands dirty in the black market in order to secure registered status (personeria juridica) with defunct but pre-existing parties. Due to the rushed nature of the elections, there was no time for the bureaucratic process of registering new parties, such as collecting signatures and paperwork. This forced any candidate who wanted to run to register via a pre-existing political party.
This inconvenience was no issue for the MAS, who have always been united in a single party. However, on the right, constantly shifting alliances and defections mean that the only options are a set of old, U.S.-backed parties from the 1980s and 1990s that no longer have active members or parliamentary representation but are still registered with Bolivia’s electoral authorities (TSE). These parties include the MNR, ADN and UCS among others. They have essentially become shell companies, selling their brand rights to aspiring candidates.
Evangelical preacher Chi Hyun Chung exposed this corruption after he placed third in the last election but didn’t make it onto the ballot. Chung reported that these groups were asking for payments of between one million and 1.5 million U.S. Dollars for the right to use their names. He called on electoral authorities to intervene to end the practice.
It was in this murky auction that the other candidates registered themselves. Far-right Santa Cruz leader Fernando Camacho, running under an alliance called Creemos, is actually registered with Bolivia’s election authority with the UCS, the party of a former beer magnate. UCS received 0.4 percent of the vote during the last election.
Former president Quiroga’s alliance is called Libre 21 but is registered with the election authorities as the MNR, the once-powerful party that were his rivals when he last successfully ran for office. MNR is now a defunct organization that received less than one percent of the vote in the October 2019 election.
Mesa registered with the same Comunidad Ciudadana alliance that he cited as his registered political party during his last run but is registered as a candidate with the FRI, a minuscule organization that hasn’t run its own presidential candidates since the late 1970s.
The surprise entry is Norma Pierola, an oddball far-right lawmaker from the Christian Democrat Party registered using her own organization. It isn’t known how much the others paid for the rights to register under the shell companies disguised as political parties.
Life on the Bolivian right is a series of backroom deals. This is why Camacho and Mesa have been so absent from the media in recent weeks, negotiating this byzantine web of corruption requires vast amounts of time and energy.
Divided They Fall
Who will be the one to beat? It’s hard to say which of Washington’s candidates is the most popular. A recent poll commissioned by the conservative Pagina Siete, had Anez and Camacho ranked as leading candidates, though both scored significantly less than the MAS. Mesa managed to unite a significant section of the vote during the October 2019 elections, but the coup saw more radical figures come to the fore.
In Santa Cruz, it’s unlikely that Mesa will get a large percentage once again. Speaking to MintPress News, the president of Santa Cruz’ Comite Civico suggested that the region will likely opt for more radical candidates, saying, “we have to analyze the variables that led to that vote [for Carlos Mesa]… people didn’t vote for Carlos Mesa, people voted for the one that could take out Evo Morales… Carlos Mesa was an instrument, people saw him as an instrument to take out the dictator, the tyrant.”
Whatever their differences, the reality is that they’re scrambling for the votes of the same urban middle class. Conservative analyst Andres Gomez pointed out that they’ll all struggle to make inroads into the social base of the MAS, which is overwhelmingly indigenous and working class.
The divisions within the right and the unity of the MAS would normally bode well for the return of Evo Morales’ party, though this will not be a free or fair election. Anez is already compensating for organizational weakness by tilting the playing field against the MAS. The international community will need to pay close attention to Bolivia’s elections to ensure they aren’t fixed by Washington’s candidates.
Feature photo | Bolivia’s right-wing opposition presidential candidate Carlos Mesa speaks during a press conference in La Paz, Bolivia, Oct. 21, 2019. Jorge Saenz | AP
Oliver Vargas is a British-Bolivian journalist covering the ongoing coup in Bolivia for MintPress News. His writing has appeared in teleSUR, Redfish and The Grayzone among others.


mintpressnews--2020-02-04--In Interview with Randy Credico, Investigative Journalist Stefania Maurizi Talks Assange, Source Pro

In Interview with Randy Credico, Investigative Journalist Stefania Maurizi Talks Assange, Source Protection and the Rise of Fascism

In the fourth installment of “ Live on the Fly – Julian Assange : Countdown to Freedom ” in collaboration with CovertAction Magazine , political satirist and civil rights activist , Randy Credico , spoke with internationally acclaimed investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi , in an exclusive , in-depth interview about source protection , Julian Assange , fascism , and the fight against power .
Maurizi currently works for La Repubblica after spending ten years with the Italian news outlet l ’ Espresso .
She ’ s also worked with WikiLeaks extensively for over a decade after receiving an unexpected phone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well before most people had even heard of WikiLeaks .
Prior to working with WikiLeaks , Maurizi was grappling with the same issue that plagues any responsible investigative journalist : Was she protecting her sources adequately ?
Source protection is as important now as it was ten , twenty or thirty years ago .
When Maurizi ’ s source stopped talking to her out of fear of being exposed , a natural reaction in a world seemingly hellbent on destroying whistleblowers , she knew she needed to be able to ensure the safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was still in its early stages , Maurizi was advised to look into them because they were publishing documents using cryptography as a tool for source protection .
Maurizi holds a degree in mathematics , so for her , it was a natural segue into cryptography , something she believes is critical in her work .
She started looking into who Julian Assange was and the work that he was doing .
WikiLeaks was officially launched in 2007 by Australian journalist , publisher and activist Julian Assange , with the purpose of providing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ activists to safely leak material : According to the WikiLeaks website , sources are in safe hands , “ We have a range of anonymization and encryption techniques , in order to provide protection against companies , minor states and finally , major state intelligence agencies ” and “ WikiLeaks combines the protection and anonymity of cutting-edge cryptographic technologies… ” In 2013 , Assange wrote : Cryptography , the enciphering and deciphering of messages in secret code or cipher , is a “ vital tool in fighting state oppression ” and it has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most explosive secrets in recent history .
Maurizi : In 2010 , the Council on Foreign Affairs wrote , “ WikiLeaks release of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents , and its collaboration with traditional news media like The New York Times for their publication have raised questions about the future of journalism.
” Ten years later , WikiLeaks didn ’ t just raise questions about the future of journalism , it changed it entirely .
In addition to the use of cryptography in journalism , leaks today have become commonplace , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can be attributed back to WikiLeaks .
On December 3 , 2010 , the Nieman Lab examined how the internet has changed the “ very nature of the debate ” over publishing secrets .
Nikko Usher , the article ’ s author , noted that WikiLeaks “ shows the power of one person to change the conversation , ” how their database provides far-reaching access to information where “ anyone can make their own interpretations , ” and the “ power of collaboration ” between corporate media and “ non-legacy forms of news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nine years later to the day , WikiLeaks Editor in Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson stood in front of the Australian National Press Club and spoke about how WikiLeaks had been “ out in front in understanding the implication of the internet for journalism…realizing new ways a ‘ networked fourth estate ’ could provide information to the public.
” There is no question that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks revolutionized journalism and how secret information is disseminated .
We now know the real number of civilian deaths in Iraq , abuse committed by private contractors , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Conventions and abused almost 800 prisoners “ as young as 14 and as old as 89 at Guantanamo Bay.
” After WikiLeaks published files such as Vault 7 , Maurizi said it was the “ first time factual information about something which is completely shrouded in secrecy ” became accessible .
As early as 2008 , the media reported that the U.S. military “ decried WikiLeaks as ‘ irresponsible ’ for publishing classified information ” and that they were a “ threat to the fabric of our society.
” A year earlier , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guantanamo Bay and “ lists of U.S. munitions in Iraq , including stores of banned chemical weapons.
” Although WikiLeaks ’ unorthodox brand of journalism and source protection has allowed them to expose extraordinary secrets such as war crimes , gross human rights violations , spying , corruption , tax evasion , censorship and even corporate malfeasance if not deliberate criminal behavior , it has put their co-founder in grave danger .
“ They want to act in secrecy .
Their power is shrouded in secrecy .
So they absolutely want to crush @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Julian Assange , ” said Maurizi .
Since 2006 , WikiLeaks has published over ten million pristine documents and material including the infamous 2010 Collateral Murder video that exposed U.S. troops gunning down innocent civilians in Iraq , including two Reuters journalists .
Assange was already on the U.S. government ’ s radar at the time of publication , trailed around the world by secret agents and then accused of sexual misconduct and rape in Sweden in the fall of that same year—allegations that even the GCHQ called a “ fit up.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , bailed out , and arbitrarily detained under house arrest for the next year and a half without charge while fighting extradition to Sweden .
After losing his appeal , and under the well-founded belief that Sweden would turn him over to the United States , Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London , seeking political asylum from the small Latin American country .
He remained in the embassy until his arrest in April 2019 , and Maurizi recounted how detrimental the confinement in the embassy was on his health : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him… he ’ s a very talented , smart guy , he has a lot of courage… you need to be really bold to publish documents about the Afghan War , ” she told Credico .
Maurizi also believes that Assange ’ s character has been “ demonized ” over the years , something the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture , Nils Melzer , has repeatedly reported on : On February 5 , 2016 , the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Assange had been arbitrarily detained by both Sweden and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ both countries to end his “ deprivation of liberty , respect his physical integrity and freedom of movement , and afford him the right to compensation.
” The U.K. appealed the decision , lost , and on December 21 , 2016 , the UN once again called on them to release him .
And yet , as Credico pointed out , Melzer ’ s words have “ fallen on deaf ears ” and “ They just ignore the UN decision , like it never happened , ” says Maurizi .
Maurizi ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work .
She spent ten years working for l ’ Espresso before moving to la Repubblica , where you can find a large collection of her work on Julian Assange , WikiLeaks , and Chelsea Manning .
Her search for adequate source protection eventually brought her into WikiLeaks ’ sphere and in July 2009 she got a late night phone call from the publishing outlet regarding documents they had received about her home country of Italy .
She ’ s also co-authored two books entitled , “ Dossier WikiLeaks .
Segreti Italiani ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” So what drives her work ?
According to Maurizi , during Benito Mussolini ’ s reign of terror , her family resisted the fascist movement , including her grandfather , who refused to join Mussolini ’ s Fascist Party .
The right-wing political party advocated Italian nationalism while organized armed squads called “ Black Shirts , ” terrorized their political opponents .
In 1925 , Mussolini declared himself dictator and under his power , the country allied with Nazi Germany during the Second World War .
Although Mussolini ’ s army of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ grandfather , one night , after his daughter fell gravely ill , he called for a doctor to attend to her but he refused to come .
Tragically , she died as a result .
Maurizi : What Maurizi would come to find out first hand is that the dismantling of democratic institutions didn ’ t die with Mussolini nor did the Stasi ’ s tactics with Nazi Germany .
During a press conference held last year with Assange ’ s attorney Jennifer Robinson and WikiLeaks Editor in Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide security within the Ecuadorian embassy , UC Global , had engaged in a large-scale surveillance operation of Assange — an operation later revealed to be conducted on behalf of the CIA while current U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was director of the agency .
Maurizi explained that she and others expected some level of surveillance/cameras in the embassy but , in no uncertain terms , did she or anyone else anticipate the degree to which UC Global spied on herself , Assange and his visitors .
Maurizi told Credico that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ opened her USB sticks and other electronic devices and they kept pictures of work reports that had been written up about her .
Listening devices were installed to spy on meetings between Assange and his attorneys and even his medical exams were secretly recorded .
“ They took my passport…they were aware I was a journalist , they were aware that others were lawyers , they were aware that others were doctors .
So they knew what they were doing.
” Maurizi went on to say : She doesn ’ t know if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ encryption on her electronic devices or download material but she says that she wants to find out because as a journalist it ’ s crucial to her work : “ It ’ s frightening what they ’ ve done , ” added Credico , who believes that Spain ’ s ongoing investigation into the spying operation which is being led by Judge Jose de la Mata could be used as groundwork to stop Assange ’ s extradition .
According to recent statements made by Assange ’ s Spanish attorney , Juan Branco , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ happening , “ We ’ ll use all this evidence to show that defense rights have been broken , that he should be freed , because of this only argument , it ’ s sufficient.
” By far , some of the most important work undertaken by Maurizi has been the filing of FOIA ( Freedom of Information Act ) requests in an effort to establish the true facts of the Assange case .
In 2015 , she realized at no point had any journalist attempted to obtain any documents related to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the state of journalism.
” Assange ’ s troubles began with the Swedish allegations and when he realized that he would be extradited to Sweden who would then likely turn him over to the U.S. , he sought political asylum from Ecuador .
Although he was under investigation , for years Swedish prosecutors refused to travel to London to take his statement nor did they charge him with a crime or close the case , leaving him to spend seven years in a tiny , cramped room within the embassy in legal limbo @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no dismissal .
“ It was a legal case that then became a legal and diplomatic quagmire , ” explained Maurizi .
It ’ s not uncommon for prosecutors to travel the globe to question individuals under investigation but in Assange ’ s case there was no interview and the investigation quickly came to a standstill .
Maurizi knew that something was wrong so she started filing FOIA requests , alone at first and paying legal fees out of her own pocket until she was able to obtain documents from Sweden .
Her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ given to her revealed that the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service had very much been involved in the Swedish investigation .
Not only did they advise Sweden to keep the investigation open despite their desire to close it , they told Swedish prosecutors to stand down from traveling to London , advising them that they should only question Assange after he was extradited .
As Maurizi points out , if this was just an investigation into alleged sex crimes , why did the U.K. have such a special interest in it ?
When she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , they told her that they had destroyed all of their documents .
Deeply concerning to Maurizi is the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service is in charge of deciding whether or not Assange is ultimately extradited .
A month ago , Maurizi filed a new FOIA case about Assange and the Crown Prosecution and is waiting on a decision .
In the meantime , U.K. authorities recently rejected her appeal for documents pertaining to Kristinn Hrafnsson , activist and WikiLeaks journalist Sarah Harrison , and others .
She says she ’ ll @ @ @ @ @ @ @ press to access the documents in London .
The Rise of Fascism as a Free Press Slowly Dies 90 percent of mainstream media is controlled by a handful of corporations who have given free rein to former intelligence agents whether it ’ s in the television studio or in the newsroom .
It ’ s true that a war is being waged upon a complacent public that has grown increasingly susceptible to information warfare .
But as leaks steadily increase , the silencing of whistleblowers along with corporate media ’ s steady stream @ @ @ @ @ @ @ deluge .
The rise of far-right governments , authoritarianism , and fascism , however , has put those who report on , or publish whistleblower material , directly in the crosshairs of those in power who not only want to crush the Snowdens , Mannings , and Assanges of the world , they want to wholly destroy oppositional , independent media and dissent .
After Ecuador ’ s President Lenin Moreno was elected on a liberal platform , he moved significantly to the right and then illegally yanked Assange ’ s political asylum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington .
Assange ’ s associate , Ola Bini , was also arrested shortly after Assange and is still languishing in an Ecuadorian prison , fighting for his freedom .
Bolivia and India are both ruled by far-right political parties intent on stifling dissent while U.S.-funded fascist battalions in Ukraine are literally training American white supremacists .
Meanwhile , embracing Israel ’ s apartheid state and extraordinarily brutal dark side has become a virtual prerequisite to run for office .
Journalist Glenn Greenwald , who in the past has worked with both Edward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brought up on trumped-up charges by Brazil ’ s far-right government , and last summer , an Australian journalist ’ s home was raided over “ alleged leaking of classified information.
” The search warrant allowed authorities to search the journalist ’ s computer and mobile phone .
We have the CIA collaborating with a security company to spy on and secretly record every moment of a publisher ’ s life within a diplomatic building on foreign soil , and now the U.K. , which is appallingly still led by Boris Johnson , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-security prison while the U.S. fights to extradite him .
At the same time , the Trump administration , including Attorney General William Barr , is putting increased pressure on tech companies such as Apple over encryption , going so far as to say that “ increased encryption of data on phone and computers and encrypted messaging apps are putting American security at risk.
” Although we should have learned our lesson after Mussolini and Nazi Germany , authoritarianism , fascism , and tactics used by the Stasi like systematic surveillance , searches @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the press and Zersetzung are still prevalent .
Lest we ’ ve forgotten the mistakes of the past , Credico reminded us about the brutal oppression Italians faced during the 1800s and 1900s , especially under Mussolini , one of the most horrific mass murderers in history .
Credico opened his show with “ Canto Di Matteotti , ” a song based on the life of the Italian , anti-fascist journalist Giacomo Matteotti , who was head of the Socialist Party under Mussolini ’ s reign .
After the 1924 election , Matteotti @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fascists for their strong-arm tactics , brutality , voter suppression and “ everything you would see in a third world country on election day.
” He was kidnapped and murdered a week later .
He was only 39 years old .
Despite Stefania Maurizi ’ s close proximity to Assange and WikiLeaks , she has never been arrested , confined , or questioned by authorities but is it only a matter of time ?
The last time Maurizi saw Assange as a free man was in September 2010 , and she says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a society where you can publish , you can reveal secret information about torture , secret information about crimes without ending in prison , without ending in prison for life , without being tortured like Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning , or without escaping to Russia like Snowden .
For me this is really important…this is what makes democracy different from regime.
” The show closed with “ Va , Pensiero , ” a chorus from Giuseppe Verdi ’ s revolutionary opera “ Nabucco ” that opened in 1841 and immediately became a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Risorgimento , an Italian political and social movement to unite Italy into one cultural and political entity .
According to Credico , the opera itself was an allegory for what was going on in Italy and the song was meant to deliver the people of Italy , the civilians , away from oppression .
Credico : Feature photo | Stefania Maurizi , left , and Julian Assange are pictured .
Graphic by Claudio Cabrera for MintPress News Jimmysllama is an independent researcher and writer who provides balanced , critical analysis with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Magnitsky Act , and WikiLeaks .
She is currently trying to stay warm in the Midwest .
You can read more of her work at jimmysllama.com and find her on Twitter at @ jimmysllama .

In the fourth installment of “Live on the Fly – Julian Assange: Countdown to Freedom” in collaboration with CovertAction Magazine, political satirist and civil rights activist, Randy Credico, spoke with internationally acclaimed investigative journalist Stefania Maurizi, in an exclusive, in-depth interview about source protection, Julian Assange, fascism, and the fight against power. Maurizi currently works for La Repubblica after spending ten years with the Italian news outlet l’Espresso. She’s also worked with WikiLeaks extensively for over a decade after receiving an unexpected phone call during the summer of 2009, well before most people had even heard of WikiLeaks.
Source Protection and Cryptography
Prior to working with WikiLeaks, Maurizi was grappling with the same issue that plagues any responsible investigative journalist: Was she protecting her sources adequately? Source protection is as important now as it was ten, twenty or thirty years ago. When Maurizi’s source stopped talking to her out of fear of being exposed, a natural reaction in a world seemingly hellbent on destroying whistleblowers, she knew she needed to be able to ensure the safety of her journalistic sources.
Although WikiLeaks was still in its early stages, Maurizi was advised to look into them because they were publishing documents using cryptography as a tool for source protection. Maurizi holds a degree in mathematics, so for her, it was a natural segue into cryptography, something she believes is critical in her work. She started looking into who Julian Assange was and the work that he was doing.
WikiLeaks was officially launched in 2007 by Australian journalist, publisher and activist Julian Assange, with the purpose of providing a platform for whistleblowers, journalists and activists to safely leak material:
Historically, the most resilient forms of open government are those where publication and revelation are protected. Where that protection does not exist, it is our mission to provide it.” – WikiLeaks
According to the WikiLeaks website, sources are in safe hands, “We have a range of anonymization and encryption techniques, in order to provide protection against companies, minor states and finally, major state intelligence agencies” and “WikiLeaks combines the protection and anonymity of cutting-edge cryptographic technologies…” In 2013, Assange wrote:
Cryptography was then the exclusive property of states, for use in their various wars. By writing our own software and disseminating it far and wide we liberated cryptography, democratised it and spread it through the frontiers of the new internet.” “Cryptography can protect not just the civil liberties and rights of individuals, but the sovereignty and independence of whole countries, solidarity between groups with common cause, and the project of global emancipation. It can be used to fight not just the tyranny of the state over the individual but the tyranny of the empire over smaller states.”
Cryptography, the enciphering and deciphering of messages in secret code or cipher, is a “vital tool in fighting state oppression” and it has allowed WikiLeaks to publish some of the most explosive secrets in recent history. Maurizi:
Thanks to WikiLeaks, it has been possible to reveal the true face of the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq (Afghan War Logs, Iraq War Logs Files and Collateral Murder), the identities of Guantanamo detainees (Gitmo Files), the scandals and embarrassing diplomatic deals contained in 251,287 U.S. diplomacy cables, such as pressure from the U.S. to neutralize Italian prosecutors investigating the extraordinary rendition of the Milan cleric, Abu Omar (Cablegate).”
In 2010, the Council on Foreign Affairs wrote, “WikiLeaks release of classified U.S. military and diplomatic documents, and its collaboration with traditional news media like The New York Times for their publication have raised questions about the future of journalism.” Ten years later, WikiLeaks didn’t just raise questions about the future of journalism, it changed it entirely.
Revolutionary Journalism
In addition to the use of cryptography in journalism, leaks today have become commonplace, as have media partnerships, all of which can be attributed back to WikiLeaks. On December 3, 2010, the Nieman Lab examined how the internet has changed the “very nature of the debate” over publishing secrets. Nikko Usher, the article’s author, noted that WikiLeaks “shows the power of one person to change the conversation,” how their database provides far-reaching access to information where “anyone can make their own interpretations,” and the “power of collaboration” between corporate media and “non-legacy forms of news content, production, distribution.” Exactly nine years later to the day, WikiLeaks Editor in Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson stood in front of the Australian National Press Club and spoke about how WikiLeaks had been “out in front in understanding the implication of the internet for journalism…realizing new ways a ‘networked fourth estate’ could provide information to the public.”
There is no question that Julian Assange and WikiLeaks revolutionized journalism and how secret information is disseminated. We now know the real number of civilian deaths in Iraq, abuse committed by private contractors, how the U.S. routinely violated the Geneva Conventions and abused almost 800 prisoners “as young as 14 and as old as 89 at Guantanamo Bay.” After WikiLeaks published files such as Vault 7, Maurizi said it was the “first time factual information about something which is completely shrouded in secrecy” became accessible.
As early as 2008, the media reported that the U.S. military “decried WikiLeaks as ‘irresponsible’ for publishing classified information” and that they were a “threat to the fabric of our society.” A year earlier, WikiLeaks had published U.S. operating manuals for Guantanamo Bay and “lists of U.S. munitions in Iraq, including stores of banned chemical weapons.”
You have to realize that we are in a situation which—The New York Times, for example…they didn’t want to publish James Risen’s revelations about the NSA spying on U.S. citizens. This is the reason why Edward Snowden didn’t provide his documents to The New York Times because he knew that The New York Times didn’t want to publish. So this is our media landscape…[WikiLeaks] takes the heat and that’s why the U.S. government wants absolutely to crush this organization.” – Stefania Maurizi
Although WikiLeaks’ unorthodox brand of journalism and source protection has allowed them to expose extraordinary secrets such as war crimes, gross human rights violations, spying, corruption, tax evasion, censorship and even corporate malfeasance if not deliberate criminal behavior, it has put their co-founder in grave danger. “They want to act in secrecy. Their power is shrouded in secrecy. So they absolutely want to crush WikiLeaks and they absolutely want to crush Julian Assange,” said Maurizi.
The Demonization of Julian Assange
Since 2006, WikiLeaks has published over ten million pristine documents and material including the infamous 2010 Collateral Murder video that exposed U.S. troops gunning down innocent civilians in Iraq, including two Reuters journalists. Assange was already on the U.S. government’s radar at the time of publication, trailed around the world by secret agents and then accused of sexual misconduct and rape in Sweden in the fall of that same year—allegations that even the GCHQ called a “fit up.” He was jailed briefly in the U.K., bailed out, and arbitrarily detained under house arrest for the next year and a half without charge while fighting extradition to Sweden.
After losing his appeal, and under the well-founded belief that Sweden would turn him over to the United States, Assange took refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London, seeking political asylum from the small Latin American country. He remained in the embassy until his arrest in April 2019, and Maurizi recounted how detrimental the confinement in the embassy was on his health:
It was really sad to witness how his health has been collapsing since 2010. I have seen this progressing, I’ve seen his health collapsing for the last ten years and so I realize how this confinement was devastating for his health. I realize how he was under enormous stress…how he was under tremendous pressure.”
“People don’t really know him… he’s a very talented, smart guy, he has a lot of courage… you need to be really bold to publish documents about the Afghan War,” she told Credico. Maurizi also believes that Assange’s character has been “demonized” over the years, something the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Torture, Nils Melzer, has repeatedly reported on:
[T]here has been a relentless and unrestrained campaign of public mobbing, intimidation and defamation against Mr. Assange, not only in the United States, but also in the United Kingdom, Sweden and, more recently, Ecuador.” According to the expert, this included an endless stream of humiliating, debasing and threatening statements in the press and on social media, but also by senior political figures, and even by judicial magistrates involved in proceedings against Assange.” “In the course of the past nine years, Mr. Assange has been exposed to persistent, progressively severe abuse ranging from systematic judicial persecution and arbitrary confinement in the Ecuadorian embassy, to his oppressive isolation, harassment and surveillance inside the embassy, and from deliberate collective ridicule, insults and humiliation, to open instigation of violence and even repeated calls for his assassination.”
On February 5, 2016, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Assange had been arbitrarily detained by both Sweden and the U.K. since 2010 and called for both countries to end his “deprivation of liberty, respect his physical integrity and freedom of movement, and afford him the right to compensation.” The U.K. appealed the decision, lost, and on December 21, 2016, the UN once again called on them to release him. And yet, as Credico pointed out, Melzer’s words have “fallen on deaf ears” and “They just ignore the UN decision, like it never happened,” says Maurizi.
Focused on Fighting Power
Maurizi’s fight for justice speaks through her exhaustive work. She spent ten years working for l’Espresso before moving to la Repubblica, where you can find a large collection of her work on Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and Chelsea Manning. Her search for adequate source protection eventually brought her into WikiLeaks’ sphere and in July 2009 she got a late night phone call from the publishing outlet regarding documents they had received about her home country of Italy. She’s also co-authored two books entitled, “Dossier WikiLeaks. Segreti Italiani” and “Una Bomba, Dieci Storie.”
So what drives her work? According to Maurizi, during Benito Mussolini’s reign of terror, her family resisted the fascist movement, including her grandfather, who refused to join Mussolini’s Fascist Party. The right-wing political party advocated Italian nationalism while organized armed squads called “Black Shirts,” terrorized their political opponents. In 1925, Mussolini declared himself dictator and under his power, the country allied with Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
Although Mussolini’s army of fascist thugs never killed Maurizi’s grandfather, one night, after his daughter fell gravely ill, he called for a doctor to attend to her but he refused to come. Tragically, she died as a result. Maurizi:
This is fascism. They didn’t tolerate dissent. They hated people who were not with them. So I grew this obsession about dissidence. All my work as a journalist is really focused on dissidence and fighting power.”
What Maurizi would come to find out first hand is that the dismantling of democratic institutions didn’t die with Mussolini nor did the Stasi’s tactics with Nazi Germany.
Surveillance In the Ecuadorian Embassy
During a press conference held last year with Assange’s attorney Jennifer Robinson and WikiLeaks Editor in Chief Kristinn Hrafnsson, it was revealed that a private company hired to provide security within the Ecuadorian embassy, UC Global, had engaged in a large-scale surveillance operation of Assange — an operation later revealed to be conducted on behalf of the CIA while current U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was director of the agency. Maurizi explained that she and others expected some level of surveillance/cameras in the embassy but, in no uncertain terms, did she or anyone else anticipate the degree to which UC Global spied on herself, Assange and his visitors.
A special thanks to @MintPressNews for publishing this story because there's so much important stuff here. Buckle up everyone, we’re going to be here awhile. #Assange https://t.co/M1t8YQA9Np — Llama (@jimmysllama) October 1, 2019
Maurizi told Credico that her cellphone had been unscrewed, they opened her USB sticks and other electronic devices and they kept pictures of work reports that had been written up about her. Listening devices were installed to spy on meetings between Assange and his attorneys and even his medical exams were secretly recorded. “They took my passport…they were aware I was a journalist, they were aware that others were lawyers, they were aware that others were doctors. So they knew what they were doing.” Maurizi went on to say:
This is really bad, we can’t tolerate this, Randy. We cannot tolerate that they do these kinds of things in our democracy. We expect this kind of situation, this kind of spying operation in authoritarian governments…you don’t expect this kind of problem if you go in an embassy in a democratic state.”
She doesn’t know if UC Global was able to bypass the encryption on her electronic devices or download material but she says that she wants to find out because as a journalist it’s crucial to her work:
For me, it’s crucial because I want to establish whether after 11 years of this kind of work to try to protect sources using cryptography, using advanced technology and techniques, I was actually able to protect my sources and my information… I want them to pay a price for what they did. This is completely unacceptable.”
“It’s frightening what they’ve done,” added Credico, who believes that Spain’s ongoing investigation into the spying operation which is being led by Judge Jose de la Mata could be used as groundwork to stop Assange’s extradition. According to recent statements made by Assange’s Spanish attorney, Juan Branco, it indeed looks like that will be happening, “We’ll use all this evidence to show that defense rights have been broken, that he should be freed, because of this only argument, it’s sufficient.”
Maurizi’s Groundbreaking Work
By far, some of the most important work undertaken by Maurizi has been the filing of FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests in an effort to establish the true facts of the Assange case. In 2015, she realized at no point had any journalist attempted to obtain any documents related to the case, admitting, “This is the state of journalism.” Assange’s troubles began with the Swedish allegations and when he realized that he would be extradited to Sweden who would then likely turn him over to the U.S., he sought political asylum from Ecuador.
Although he was under investigation, for years Swedish prosecutors refused to travel to London to take his statement nor did they charge him with a crime or close the case, leaving him to spend seven years in a tiny, cramped room within the embassy in legal limbo; no charges, no decision, no dismissal. “It was a legal case that then became a legal and diplomatic quagmire,” explained Maurizi.
It’s not uncommon for prosecutors to travel the globe to question individuals under investigation but in Assange’s case there was no interview and the investigation quickly came to a standstill. Maurizi knew that something was wrong so she started filing FOIA requests, alone at first and paying legal fees out of her own pocket until she was able to obtain documents from Sweden. Her hard work paid off. The material given to her revealed that the U.K. Crown Prosecution Service had very much been involved in the Swedish investigation. Not only did they advise Sweden to keep the investigation open despite their desire to close it, they told Swedish prosecutors to stand down from traveling to London, advising them that they should only question Assange after he was extradited.

As Maurizi points out, if this was just an investigation into alleged sex crimes, why did the U.K. have such a special interest in it? When she tried to approach the U.K. about it, they told her that they had destroyed all of their documents. Deeply concerning to Maurizi is the fact that the Crown Prosecution Service is in charge of deciding whether or not Assange is ultimately extradited.
That’s why I’m trying to get all of these documents, it’s absolutely crucial.”
A month ago, Maurizi filed a new FOIA case about Assange and the Crown Prosecution and is waiting on a decision. In the meantime, U.K. authorities recently rejected her appeal for documents pertaining to Kristinn Hrafnsson, activist and WikiLeaks journalist Sarah Harrison, and others. She says she’ll continue to pursue the right of the press to access the documents in London.
The Rise of Fascism as a Free Press Slowly Dies
90 percent of mainstream media is controlled by a handful of corporations who have given free rein to former intelligence agents whether it’s in the television studio or in the newsroom. It’s true that a war is being waged upon a complacent public that has grown increasingly susceptible to information warfare. But as leaks steadily increase, the silencing of whistleblowers along with corporate media’s steady stream of propaganda hasn’t stopped the deluge.
The rise of far-right governments, authoritarianism, and fascism, however, has put those who report on, or publish whistleblower material, directly in the crosshairs of those in power who not only want to crush the Snowdens, Mannings, and Assanges of the world, they want to wholly destroy oppositional, independent media and dissent. After Ecuador’s President Lenin Moreno was elected on a liberal platform, he moved significantly to the right and then illegally yanked Assange’s political asylum, throwing him to the dogs in Washington. Assange’s associate, Ola Bini, was also arrested shortly after Assange and is still languishing in an Ecuadorian prison, fighting for his freedom.
Bolivia and India are both ruled by far-right political parties intent on stifling dissent while U.S.-funded fascist battalions in Ukraine are literally training American white supremacists. Meanwhile, embracing Israel’s apartheid state and extraordinarily brutal dark side has become a virtual prerequisite to run for office.
Journalist Glenn Greenwald, who in the past has worked with both Edward Snowden and Stefania Maurizi, was recently brought up on trumped-up charges by Brazil’s far-right government, and last summer, an Australian journalist’s home was raided over “alleged leaking of classified information.” The search warrant allowed authorities to search the journalist’s computer and mobile phone.
We have the CIA collaborating with a security company to spy on and secretly record every moment of a publisher’s life within a diplomatic building on foreign soil, and now the U.K., which is appallingly still led by Boris Johnson, is holding him captive in a London high-security prison while the U.S. fights to extradite him. At the same time, the Trump administration, including Attorney General William Barr, is putting increased pressure on tech companies such as Apple over encryption, going so far as to say that “increased encryption of data on phone and computers and encrypted messaging apps are putting American security at risk.”
Although we should have learned our lesson after Mussolini and Nazi Germany, authoritarianism, fascism, and tactics used by the Stasi like systematic surveillance, searches, repression, terrorism, crackdowns on the press and Zersetzung are still prevalent. Lest we’ve forgotten the mistakes of the past, Credico reminded us about the brutal oppression Italians faced during the 1800s and 1900s, especially under Mussolini, one of the most horrific mass murderers in history.
Credico opened his show with “Canto Di Matteotti,” a song based on the life of the Italian, anti-fascist journalist Giacomo Matteotti, who was head of the Socialist Party under Mussolini’s reign. After the 1924 election, Matteotti openly declared it a fraud and slammed the fascists for their strong-arm tactics, brutality, voter suppression and “everything you would see in a third world country on election day.” He was kidnapped and murdered a week later. He was only 39 years old.
That was a journalist that spoke out and gave up his life. Julian Assange is a journalist that has spoken out and his life is in danger at this point. His liberty definitely is in danger and has been for ten years.”
Despite Stefania Maurizi’s close proximity to Assange and WikiLeaks, she has never been arrested, confined, or questioned by authorities but is it only a matter of time?
The last time Maurizi saw Assange as a free man was in September 2010, and she says, “I want to live in a society where you can publish, you can reveal secret information about torture, secret information about crimes without ending in prison, without ending in prison for life, without being tortured like Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning, or without escaping to Russia like Snowden. For me this is really important…this is what makes democracy different from regime.”
The show closed with “Va, Pensiero,” a chorus from Giuseppe Verdi’s revolutionary opera “Nabucco” that opened in 1841 and immediately became a theme for Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Risorgimento, an Italian political and social movement to unite Italy into one cultural and political entity. According to Credico, the opera itself was an allegory for what was going on in Italy and the song was meant to deliver the people of Italy, the civilians, away from oppression. Credico:
When I think of Julian Assange, that’s what he’s done. When you look at the work that he’s done, it’s about war. It’s about civilians, civilians being killed by this international war machine that starts right here in the U.S. That’s what he’s done, he’s spent his life trying to help children, civilians who are victims of war.”
Feature photo | Stefania Maurizi, left, and Julian Assange are pictured. Graphic by Claudio Cabrera for MintPress News
Jimmysllama is an independent researcher and writer who provides balanced, critical analysis with a focus on the Boston bombings, Magnitsky Act, and WikiLeaks. She is currently trying to stay warm in the Midwest. You can read more of her work at jimmysllama.com and find her on Twitter at @jimmysllama.


mintpressnews--2020-03-30--Biden’s Foreign Policy Teams Hints at War with China, Conflict with Russia

After closely conversing with senior foreign policy experts on Joe Biden ’ s team , Thomas Wright , Director of the Center on the United States and Europe for the influential think-tank the Brookings Institute , penned an unintentionally hair-raising article on what a Biden presidency would look like for the rest of the world .
He explains to his elite audience of Washington insiders that Biden ’ s prospective staff are “ worried about rising authoritarianism and see the world as a more geopolitically competitive place , particularly in U.S.-China relations , ” and see war and conflict with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Biden ’ s team believes the U.S. ’ entire industrial policy should be designed around how to “ compete with China.
” Their “ top priorities , ” Wright notes , are “ dealing with authoritarian governments include defending democracy and tackling corruption , as well as understanding how these challenges intersect with new technologies , such as 5G , artificial intelligence , quantum computing , and synthetic biology.
” Described by The Economist as “ American ’ s most prestigious think tank , ” the Brookings Institute is a non-partisan , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , D.C with massive operating revenue of over $ 117 million .
It is , in other words , likely to have extremely good information on the Biden team ’ s priorities , which , according to Wright , are working closely with Europe to quash the “ China challenge ” and to “ reform the global economy.
” He does note that there is some debate within the Democratic elite on China .
For instance , “ what level of sanctions should the United States impose ” on Beijing and “ how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for granted , it seems , is that that some level is necessary .
The questions of whether any sanctions are necessary , or even if they are legal , appear beyond doubt .
The People ’ s Republic is constantly denounced in Washington for its response to the Hong Kong protests , treatment of Uighurs and its supposed mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak .
The article presents President Obama ’ s “ pivot to Asia ” policy that saw China encircled with American military bases as half-hearted .
Biden Democrats consider “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threats a “ top priority.
” However , as media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting noted , “ modernization ” has long been a euphemism for “ massive military buildup.
” Therefore , it appears that China is well and truly in the crosshairs of a Biden presidency .
An increase in hostilities with Russia is also described as a near certainty .
Top Democrats claim that the likelihood is that President Biden will take office “ after significant Russian interference in the election , and therefore may need to impose tough @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gone from charging Putin for their loss in 2016 to pre-emptively blaming him in 2020 .
“ Democrats have also learned some lessons from Trump , ” Wright says .
Chief among them was that Trump arming Ukrainian forces – including Neo-Nazis – went reasonably well , which suggests more aggressive provocations against Moscow will be in order .
Indeed , a surprising amount of the article is devoted to praising Trump , claiming that “ catastrophe also did not strike ” when he bombed Syria , “ killing large numbers of Russian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , saw Trump ’ s strong-arming as a successful tactic and believe Democrats could do the same to “ prevent further erosion of democracy ” and to “ deter aggression.
” Pulling out of the Middle East Perhaps the most surprising prediction is that Biden ’ s team will consider the Middle East a far less important region than administrations that came before it .
It is an open question , apparently , whether the U.S. will maintain such a strong presence in the area , preferring to redeploy resources to China and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has anything to do with fracking bringing energy independence to America or the gradual shift away from fossil fuels .
Regardless of the reasoning , Biden ’ s team ’ s vision for 2021 closely mirrors the Pentagon ’ s .
As MintPress News reported last month , the Pentagon ’ s $ 705 billion budget request indicates “ a shifting focus from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a greater emphasis on the types of weapons that could be used to confront nuclear giants like Russia and China.
” The Pentagon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is trying to acquire “ more advanced high-end weapon systems , which provide increased standoff , enhanced lethality and autonomous targeting for employment against near-peer threats in a more contested environment.
” Biden is currently the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic nomination .
However , cognitive decline , a distinct lack of popular policy proposals and a new rape allegation against the former vice-president threaten to stop his momentum .
Enthusiasm , even among his supporters , is extremely low ; a new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 53 percent of Trump ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about him , with only 24 percent of Biden supporters said the same .
Worse still for the former Delaware senator , 15 percent of Bernie Sanders voters told pollsters they would vote for Trump if Biden was the nominee .
This news might come as some relief to Chinese or Russians who do not wish to be bombed like people across the Middle East were when Biden was vice-president .
However , American foreign policy is notoriously bi-partisan , indicating that those countries will likely be in the crosshairs whichever party wins @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Joe Biden , center , stands as an Army carry team moves the body of a US soldier killed in Afghanistan at Dover Air Force Base , Del , Nov. 15 , 2016 .
Steve Ruark | 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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Grayzone , Jacobin Magazine , Common Dreams the American Herald Tribune and The Canary .

After closely conversing with senior foreign policy experts on Joe Biden’s team, Thomas Wright, Director of the Center on the United States and Europe for the influential think-tank the Brookings Institute, penned an unintentionally hair-raising article on what a Biden presidency would look like for the rest of the world. He explains to his elite audience of Washington insiders that Biden’s prospective staff are “worried about rising authoritarianism and see the world as a more geopolitically competitive place, particularly in U.S.-China relations,” and see war and conflict with Beijing and Moscow as close to inevitable.
War with Beijing
Biden’s team believes the U.S.’ entire industrial policy should be designed around how to “compete with China.” Their “top priorities,” Wright notes, are “dealing with authoritarian governments include defending democracy and tackling corruption, as well as understanding how these challenges intersect with new technologies, such as 5G, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and synthetic biology.”
Described by The Economist as “American’s most prestigious think tank,” the Brookings Institute is a non-partisan, centrist behemoth at the heart of Washington, D.C with massive operating revenue of over $117 million. It is, in other words, likely to have extremely good information on the Biden team’s priorities, which, according to Wright, are working closely with Europe to quash the “China challenge” and to “reform the global economy.”
He does note that there is some debate within the Democratic elite on China. For instance, “what level of sanctions should the United States impose” on Beijing and “how far the U.S. should go.” Taken for granted, it seems, is that that some level is necessary. The questions of whether any sanctions are necessary, or even if they are legal, appear beyond doubt. The People’s Republic is constantly denounced in Washington for its response to the Hong Kong protests, treatment of Uighurs and its supposed mishandling of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The article presents President Obama’s “pivot to Asia” policy that saw China encircled with American military bases as half-hearted. Biden Democrats consider “modernizing the military” to reflect new threats a “top priority.” However, as media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting noted, “modernization” has long been a euphemism for “massive military buildup.” Therefore, it appears that China is well and truly in the crosshairs of a Biden presidency.
Cold War 2.0
An increase in hostilities with Russia is also described as a near certainty. Top Democrats claim that the likelihood is that President Biden will take office “after significant Russian interference in the election, and therefore may need to impose tough new sanctions.” Thus, Democrats have gone from charging Putin for their loss in 2016 to pre-emptively blaming him in 2020. “Democrats have also learned some lessons from Trump,” Wright says. Chief among them was that Trump arming Ukrainian forces – including Neo-Nazis – went reasonably well, which suggests more aggressive provocations against Moscow will be in order.
Indeed, a surprising amount of the article is devoted to praising Trump, claiming that “catastrophe also did not strike” when he bombed Syria, “killing large numbers of Russian mercenaries.” Policy thinkers, he claims, saw Trump’s strong-arming as a successful tactic and believe Democrats could do the same to “prevent further erosion of democracy” and to “deter aggression.”
Pulling out of the Middle East
Perhaps the most surprising prediction is that Biden’s team will consider the Middle East a far less important region than administrations that came before it. It is an open question, apparently, whether the U.S. will maintain such a strong presence in the area, preferring to redeploy resources to China and Russia. Unstated is whether this decision has anything to do with fracking bringing energy independence to America or the gradual shift away from fossil fuels.
Regardless of the reasoning, Biden’s team’s vision for 2021 closely mirrors the Pentagon’s. As MintPress News reported last month, the Pentagon’s $705 billion budget request indicates “a shifting focus from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a greater emphasis on the types of weapons that could be used to confront nuclear giants like Russia and China.” The Pentagon’s precise wording notes that it is trying to acquire “more advanced high-end weapon systems, which provide increased standoff, enhanced lethality and autonomous targeting for employment against near-peer threats in a more contested environment.”
Biden is currently the frontrunner for the 2020 Democratic nomination. However, cognitive decline, a distinct lack of popular policy proposals and a new rape allegation against the former vice-president threaten to stop his momentum. Enthusiasm, even among his supporters, is extremely low; a new ABC News/Washington Post poll shows 53 percent of Trump’s backers are “very enthusiastic” about him, with only 24 percent of Biden supporters said the same. Worse still for the former Delaware senator, 15 percent of Bernie Sanders voters told pollsters they would vote for Trump if Biden was the nominee. This news might come as some relief to Chinese or Russians who do not wish to be bombed like people across the Middle East were when Biden was vice-president. However, American foreign policy is notoriously bi-partisan, indicating that those countries will likely be in the crosshairs whichever party wins in November.
Feature photo | Vice President Joe Biden, center, stands as an Army carry team moves the body of a US soldier killed in Afghanistan at Dover Air Force Base, Del, Nov. 15, 2016. Steve Ruark | 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--2020-03-30--IMF Conditions Emergency COVID-19 Loan to Venezuela on Regime Change

Earlier this month , the International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) blocked a request from Venezuela for an emergency loan to deal with the COVID–19 pandemic on the grounds that President Nicolas Maduro “ lacked recognition.
” “ IMF engagement with member countries is predicated on official government recognition by the international community , as reflected in the IMF ’ s membership .
There is no clarity on recognition at this time , ” a spokesperson for the international banking organization said .
In fact , around 150 countries recognize Maduro , including the vast majority of UN member states @ @ @ @ @ @ @ endorsed him , even placing Venezuela on the Human Rights Council .
Crucially , however , the United States government has not .
Nevertheless , “ help ” might be on the way .
That is if U.S.-backed self-declared president Juan Guaidó is to be believed .
Yesterday he announced that he had secured a $ 1.2 billion dollar loan from the organization on one condition : that Maduro steps down and allows what he calls an “ emergency government ” to take control of the country .
Guaidó was recently given a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s pronouncement comes amid the news of a former military general , Cilver Alcala , confessing to organizing a military coup with Guaidó .
Alcala has placed himself under the protection of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency .
The Venezuelan government , meanwhile , has been more preoccupied with its response to COVID–19 .
The country has a relatively small 119 confirmed cases , with three deaths reported so far .
Even before any reported cases , Maduro declared a health emergency , canceling many foreign flights and prohibiting crowds .
On @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , public buildings like schools , theaters , and restaurants were shuttered , and wearing a mask in certain locations became mandatory .
The government organized a huge online database and website , where any person worrying they were showing symptoms could inform authorities .
Over 20,000 sick people were visited in their homes by medical professionals .
This was made possible by Venezuela ’ s Cuban-built nationalized healthcare system .
Thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S. , between 92 and 99 percent of whom voted against Maduro in the 2013 elections , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ birth in the knowledge that his response has been far more reassuring than Trump ’ s .
Although under punishing U.S. sanctions that American UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas estimates have killed over 100,000 people , the country has nevertheless been showered with help from its allies .
Cuba , for example , has sent 130 more doctors and 10,000 doses of lifesaving Interferon Alpha 2b , an antiviral known to help combat the virus .
And this weekend a huge shipment of Chinese supplies , including over 500,000 test kits , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thermometers , arrived in Venezuela .
Nevertheless , the economy is still in dire straits and has been for many years , not least because of sanctions and a refusal from the international finance industry to cooperate .
The IMF headquarters are located in central Washington , D.C. , barely a stone ’ s throw away from the White House .
The physical distance between the two buildings is reflective of how closely the IMF and the U.S. government work together .
Indeed , the United States holds unique veto power over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least 85 percent agreement .
But the U.S. holds 17.5 percent of the votes .
Critics of the organization , like Martin Honeywell , Andre Gunder Frank and Michel Chossudovsky , claim that its job is to carry out the financial interests of Washington by keeping developing countries poor , controlling them through “ financial terrorism ” ; plying countries with huge , usurious loans on the proviso that they privatize their assets , thus sinking their economies and making it impossible for them to accrue enough wealth to ever pay it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ecuador , who , by 2005 , was forced to spend 47 percent of its entire income paying back enormous interest on loans .
This ensured that countries in the Global South could not take an independent , progressive path .
The IMF worked closely with the U.S. government in 2002 in briefly overthrowing Maduro ’ s successor , Hugo Chavez .
Just hours after what appeared to be a successful coup , its Director of External Relations said they were willing to give new dictator Pedro Carmona unlimited funds : “ we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in whatever manner they find suitable , ” he said .
Carmona was deposed the next day .
Maduro , Chavez ’ s handpicked successor came to power in 2013 and was re-elected in 2018 in some of the most intensely internationally monitored elections in world history .
Despite the unanimous positive feedback from monitors , the U.S. government preemptively refused to recognize the results , eventually declaring Juan Guaidó , head of a small , far-right opposition party , the legitimate ruler of the country .
Guaidó has attempted to seize power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has not been successful .
A December poll found him to have a 10 percent approval rating and a 69 percent disapproval rating .
After an unsuccessful April coup attempt , a number of Guaidó ’ s co-conspirators fled to the US where they believed they would be treated well .
In fact , they were arrested for illegally entering the country and have been incarcerated in an ICE detention camp ever since .
Despite his own very low approval ratings , forces in Washington have not managed to dislodge President Maduro from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that he or the Venezuelan people will accept the IMF number crunchers ’ offer .
Beware of geeks bearing gifts .
Feature photo | Opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks to supporters in Caracas , Venezuela , Feb. 21 , 2020 , following his return from an international tour aimed at trying to shore up support from world leaders .
Ariana Cubillos | 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 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 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 .

Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) blocked a request from Venezuela for an emergency loan to deal with the COVID–19 pandemic on the grounds that President Nicolas Maduro “lacked recognition.” “IMF engagement with member countries is predicated on official government recognition by the international community, as reflected in the IMF’s membership. There is no clarity on recognition at this time,” a spokesperson for the international banking organization said. In fact, around 150 countries recognize Maduro, including the vast majority of UN member states. Indeed, the UN itself has endorsed him, even placing Venezuela on the Human Rights Council. Crucially, however, the United States government has not.
Nevertheless, “help” might be on the way. That is if U.S.-backed self-declared president Juan Guaidó is to be believed. Yesterday he announced that he had secured a $1.2 billion dollar loan from the organization on one condition: that Maduro steps down and allows what he calls an “emergency government” to take control of the country. Guaidó was recently given a column in The Economist magazine.
The IMF is refusing to give Venezuela a loan to buy medical eqipment to fight #COVID19 unless it overthrows its government and installs their preferred candidate. What a time to be alive. https://t.co/odrvdqfrR1 — Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) March 29, 2020
Guaidó’s pronouncement comes amid the news of a former military general, Cliver Alcala, confessing to organizing a military coup with Guaidó. Alcala has placed himself under the protection of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
The Venezuelan government, meanwhile, has been more preoccupied with its response to COVID–19. The country has a relatively small 119 confirmed cases, with three deaths reported so far. Even before any reported cases, Maduro declared a health emergency, canceling many foreign flights and prohibiting crowds. On the day of the first positive case, public buildings like schools, theaters, and restaurants were shuttered, and wearing a mask in certain locations became mandatory. The government organized a huge online database and website, where any person worrying they were showing symptoms could inform authorities. Over 20,000 sick people were visited in their homes by medical professionals. This was made possible by Venezuela’s Cuban-built nationalized healthcare system. Thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S., between 92 and 99 percent of whom voted against Maduro in the 2013 elections, are flocking back to their country of birth in the knowledge that his response has been far more reassuring than Trump’s.
Although under punishing U.S. sanctions that American UN Special Rapporteur Alfred de Zayas estimates have killed over 100,000 people, the country has nevertheless been showered with help from its allies. Cuba, for example, has sent 130 more doctors and 10,000 doses of lifesaving Interferon Alpha 2b, an antiviral known to help combat the virus. And this weekend a huge shipment of Chinese supplies, including over 500,000 test kits, 5 million facemasks, and 70,000 infrared thermometers, arrived in Venezuela.
Nevertheless, the economy is still in dire straits and has been for many years, not least because of sanctions and a refusal from the international finance industry to cooperate. The IMF headquarters are located in central Washington, D.C., barely a stone’s throw away from the White House. The physical distance between the two buildings is reflective of how closely the IMF and the U.S. government work together. Indeed, the United States holds unique veto power over the organization. All significant IMF actions require at least 85 percent agreement. But the U.S. holds 17.5 percent of the votes. Critics of the organization, like Martin Honeywell, Andre Gunder Frank and Michel Chossudovsky, claim that its job is to carry out the financial interests of Washington by keeping developing countries poor, controlling them through “financial terrorism”; plying countries with huge, usurious loans on the proviso that they privatize their assets, thus sinking their economies and making it impossible for them to accrue enough wealth to ever pay it back. An example of this was Ecuador, who, by 2005, was forced to spend 47 percent of its entire income paying back enormous interest on loans. This ensured that countries in the Global South could not take an independent, progressive path.
The IMF worked closely with the U.S. government in 2002 in briefly overthrowing Maduro’s successor, Hugo Chavez. Just hours after what appeared to be a successful coup, its Director of External Relations said they were willing to give new dictator Pedro Carmona unlimited funds: “we stand ready to assist the new administration in whatever manner they find suitable,” he said. Carmona was deposed the next day.
Maduro, Chavez’s handpicked successor came to power in 2013 and was re-elected in 2018 in some of the most intensely internationally monitored elections in world history. Despite the unanimous positive feedback from monitors, the U.S. government preemptively refused to recognize the results, eventually declaring Juan Guaidó, head of a small, far-right opposition party, the legitimate ruler of the country. Guaidó has attempted to seize power by force a number of times but has not been successful. A December poll found him to have a 10 percent approval rating and a 69 percent disapproval rating.
After an unsuccessful April coup attempt, a number of Guaidó’s co-conspirators fled to the US where they believed they would be treated well. In fact, they were arrested for illegally entering the country and have been incarcerated in an ICE detention camp ever since.
Despite his own very low approval ratings, forces in Washington have not managed to dislodge President Maduro from power. It is unlikely, therefore, that he or the Venezuelan people will accept the IMF number crunchers’ offer. Beware of geeks bearing gifts.
Feature photo | Opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks to supporters in Caracas, Venezuela, Feb. 21, 2020, following his return from an international tour aimed at trying to shore up support from world leaders. Ariana Cubillos | 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.