democracynow--2020-07-22--"Silence the Guns": Africa's CDC Head on Delayed Pandemic, Health Equity & Dangers of War

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Juan González .
As COVID-19 cases skyrocket in South Africa , the World Health Organization warned this week the spike in infections could signal an impending acceleration of the coronavirus across Africa .
This is Mike Ryan , executive director of health emergencies , speaking Monday .
AMY GOODMAN : As South Africa ’ s case numbers rise , countries across Africa also are seeing a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases in Kenya increased by more than 30 % in the past week .
Numbers are up by 50 % in Madagascar .
69 % in Namibia .
This comes after Africa had so far escaped the worst of the coronavirus pandemic , with countries such as Rwanda implementing stringent public health policies to prevent the spread .
The death rate in Africa has also been low .
For more on COVID-19 in Africa , we go to Addis Ababa , Ethiopia , where we ’ re joined by Dr. John Nkengasong , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Disease Control and Prevention , formerly with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States .
Dr. Nkengasong , it ’ s great to have you with us .
Thanks so much for taking the time , in this time of crisis and pandemic , to speak to us .
Explain the issue in Africa right now .
We have seen it as so far being spared from the — well , what the United States is going through .
But is that a matter of lack of testing , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believe , truly low on infections and deaths ?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG : Thank you for having me on your show , first of all .
And we have always been very clear that the pandemic in Africa was a delayed pandemic , that the continent wasn ’ t spared , but rather that because of the aggressive measures that were put in place very early on due to strong leadership from the different countries and a strong , coordinated approach from the African Union and the president of South Africa , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ African Union , that helped to blunt the pandemic .
And I think it was always clear in our mind as the Africa CDC that this pandemic was going to gather momentum .
And here we are with the situation , that is — I ’ ll call it the second phase of that , where countries are beginning to see dramatic increases in the number of cases .
An example is the South Africa you just mentioned .
So , a pandemic is heterogeneous .
We should be very careful the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still have over 40 countries with less than 10,000 cases , and then South Africa is constituting more than half of our 750,000 cases on the continent .
But the general trend is in the upward swing mode .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Dr. Nkengasong , in terms of the prior experience of public health officials in Africa in combating other health threats and pandemics or epidemics , like Ebola and HIV/AIDS , what — has the public health infrastructure , as a result , been more prepared this time around for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , yes .
If you look at the countries like Sierra Leone , Liberia and Guinea , where they were heavily hit by the Ebola outbreak in 2014 , you see that , I mean , they have , after that period , developed their national public health institutes .
They strengthened their community health workers program , that is extremely important for contact tracing .
And that has helped those countries , especially in what I call the phase one of the response .
I mean , absolutely no doubt about that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of diseases has also heightened because of Ebola and HIV there .
If you look at South Africa , I mean , I know that the situation in South Africa is changing dramatically , but we should always remember that their initial response was very critical .
Otherwise , we would probably be at a million or more than a million cases in South Africa .
So , that experience that Africa is used to fighting HIV , tuberculosis , malaria , Ebola is very important .
But we should also remember that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is different from Ebola .
The transmission patterns is different .
It ’ s affecting everybody at the same time .
It ’ s not restricted like Ebola was in DRC or in West Africa .
And it ’ s very different from HIV .
So , I think we are learning .
The continent is adopting new strategies .
We are learning that this is a very different enemy we have to fight .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Doctor , what about the whole issue of testing accessibility for COVID-19 ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Are there particular countries that are more ahead in this area ?
And what do you see as what needs to be done ?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG : That ’ s a very good question .
I mean , the continent has come a long way .
Let ’ s be very clear .
We are extremely challenged with the issues of testing , not because the continent doesn ’ t know how to test , but just because we didn ’ t have the reagents specific for COVID .
If you all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ countries had the capacity to test for COVID on the continent .
Again , we ramped that up very quickly , the capacity , by training a large number of countries in Senegal and South Africa .
And within three weeks , starting the end of February to March , we were able to ramp that up very quickly to about 43 countries .
Today , as a continent , we have tested about 7 million , or conducted about 7 million COVID tests .
And if you compare that with just two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still under half a million tests .
So I think the testing has picked up .
But we are not yet there .
I mean , as a continent of 1.3 billion people , we should be testing about 12 million COVID — conducting about 12 million COVID tests a month .
So I think we still have a long way to go in order to catch up and be where we have to be .
So , testing still remains a challenge .
The appropriate testing , though , is also important @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is good , but it ’ s very tedious .
It requires a long turnaround time .
The type of tests that we need are those point-of-care tests , that we can easily decentralize into the communities and do the testing , followed by the contact tracing , isolation of patients and then taking care of them , for those that are infected .
And that is why we ’ ve launched the initiative called the Partnership to Accelerate COVID Testing on the continent , that is underpinned by the ability to test @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I think we are slowly catching up on the goal of testing 10 million people .
As I indicated , we ’ ve conducted about 7 million tests .
The Africa CDC continues to roll out testing reagents to many countries .
So I think we are slowly catching up on testing , but , again , it has been a serious challenge for us .
AMY GOODMAN : Dr. Nkengasong , I wanted to ask you about the importance of the World Health Organization and President Trump pulling the United States out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my second question about global cooperation and how important that is .
Right now we have had the United States joining with Britain and Canada saying Russian hackers are stealing vaccine information , and now you have the indictment of two Chinese people in the United States who President Trump says has also hacked vaccine information .
But why are we talking about this ?
What about global cooperation on this critical issue , where this is really open-source , so we come up with a vaccine that works for everyone ?
Both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ global cooperation ?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG : So , let me start with the cooperation piece .
If you look at the Joint Continental Strategy that Africa has put forward , it is underpinned by the need for strong cooperation , the need for strong collaboration , the need for strong coordination and communication .
Those are the four Cs that guide our continental strategies , which was in those at the highest level of the continent since February .
So I think the continent recognizes that the victory , the global victory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by global solidarity , because this is a global crisis .
And no country will be considered free of COVID if any country in the world is considered — still has COVID infections there .
And again , the continent of Africa of 1.3 billion can not be excluded in the equation in this whole discussion of eliminating COVID in the world .
So , I think , again , we strongly adhere to the principles of coordination , cooperation and collaboration to seek solutions that will help us move [ inaudible ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the world .
I think we ’ ve seen how — the damage that COVID has imposed on our economies , on our lifestyles , and the number of deaths that COVID has cost us .
So , again , this is not a fight that any single individual or region of the world will win without a global coordination and solidarity .
With respect to WHO , I think our position is very clear , that the world has always been a safer place , global health problems have always been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and strong leadership of the United States and of the World Health Organization .
Absolutely no doubt about that .
The HIV/AIDS crisis , we begin to turn the fight against HIV/AIDS only when the United States launched the president ’ s initiative against HIV , called PEPFAR , in 2002 , 2003 .
And the continent of Africa has benefited from that effort .
I think the United States has invested over $ 70 billion to $ 80 billion in fighting HIV/AIDS on the continent , which the continent is extremely appreciative @ @ @ @ @ @ @ global fund was established in 2001 , 2002 , and it has been a game changer .
It ’ s probably a good example of how we should coordinate efforts to fight against COVID-19 , which is the greatest challenge the world is having in the last 100 years .
So , I think a strong WHO and a strong United States leadership is the key ingredient for us to come out of this extremely devastating crisis , Earth crisis .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : And , Dr. Nkengasong , in terms of this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now we ’ ve seen a key feature of international trade agreements , where the pharmaceutical companies and other corporations push the importance of intellectual property protections , obviously for patents , especially of medicines .
Do you believe , given this crisis , that there should be a suspension of this race to control a particular vaccine , and , in essence , make it available generically from the start , to at least stem this epidemic , with possibly five or 10 years down the line companies then trying to benefit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG : That ’ s a very important question .
I think we as the Africa Centres for Disease Control and the African Union Commission issued a statement in that regard just a few weeks ago — to be very specific , on the 25th of June — where we convened a continental international conference on COVID vaccine .
And that meeting was chaired by president of South Africa , His Excellency President Ramaphosa , and the chair of the African Union Commission , His Excellency Moussa Faki .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that we have to discuss the issues related to intellectual property .
We have to discuss issues related to access to vaccines , almost in a timely fashion , variable for a continent of 1.2 , 1.3 billion .
And exactly what we — in that communiqué , we touch on the Doha Declaration , which speaks to this intellectual property you just mentioned .
I think we are always reminded , always reminded of what happened in 1996 , when the HIV drugs were available and it took us about seven years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ became accessible to the continent of Africa .
I think if that situation plays out now , you can see that the future of the continent will be completely underbalanced .
You see that the development of the continent will be underbalanced .
So , I think , again , we are calling for a global solidarity to make sure that just speaking about access to vaccines in developing world , and in Africa , in particular , is just not a nice word to say .
It ’ s not just a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s a reality .
And we are developing our own strategy called African access vaccine strategy , underpinned by access and development of the vaccines for the continent .
AMY GOODMAN : Dr. Nkengasong , we just have a minute , but I wanted to ask you about the connection between COVID transmission and war .
In our headlines , we just read about U.S. soldiers around the world , and particularly in Japan .
There ’ s an outbreak of COVID-19 — what this means for local populations .
You have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Spanish flu , and how this can be dealt with — war , conflict and pandemic .
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG : I think there is always that strong interrelation between war or crisis and disease outbreak or pandemic , our ability to control that .
It is not chance that the Spanish flu in 1918 happened just after the Second World War — sorry , after the First World War .
So I think it ’ s very clear that these two are very , very interrelated .
And I am @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with so many hot spots , where you have conflicts going on , will sooner or later be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic , and it will become extremely challenging to fight the war against COVID in those regions .
So , I think you begin to face a double war in a single country or in an entire region .
We must put that into our continental strategy to be able to make sure that we ’ re prepared to root out COVID when they finally get into these conflict regions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end , it will be that this is the time for us to silence the guns , silence all the guns everywhere in Africa , so that we can fight this common enemy .
AMY GOODMAN : Dr. John Nkengasong , thank you so much for joining us , director for Africa ’ s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention , trained as a virologist who used to work at the Centers for Disease Control .
When we come back , as the pandemic surges throughout the United States , we look at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ workers , meatpackers , farmworkers , so hard hit .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : Music by the mbira musician and teacher Cosmas Magaya of Zimbabwe , who died earlier this month of COVID-19 .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González. As COVID-19 cases skyrocket in South Africa, the World Health Organization warned this week the spike in infections could signal an impending acceleration of the coronavirus across Africa. This is Mike Ryan, executive director of health emergencies, speaking Monday.
DR. MIKE RYAN: I think what we’re starting to see is a continued acceleration of transmission in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. And I think that has to be taken very, very seriously. South Africa may unfortunately be a precursor. It may be a warning for what will happen in the rest of Africa. … Many of those countries exist in the midst of fragility and conflict. Many of them need external help and support.
AMY GOODMAN: As South Africa’s case numbers rise, countries across Africa also are seeing a spike in numbers. Al Jazeera reports cases in Kenya increased by more than 30% in the past week. Numbers are up by 50% in Madagascar. 69% in Namibia. This comes after Africa had so far escaped the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, with countries such as Rwanda implementing stringent public health policies to prevent the spread. The death rate in Africa has also been low.
For more on COVID-19 in Africa, we go to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where we’re joined by Dr. John Nkengasong, the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, formerly with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States.
Dr. Nkengasong, it’s great to have you with us. Thanks so much for taking the time, in this time of crisis and pandemic, to speak to us. Explain the issue in Africa right now. We have seen it as so far being spared from the — well, what the United States is going through. But is that a matter of lack of testing, or are the numbers, do you believe, truly low on infections and deaths?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG: Thank you for having me on your show, first of all.
And we have always been very clear that the pandemic in Africa was a delayed pandemic, that the continent wasn’t spared, but rather that because of the aggressive measures that were put in place very early on due to strong leadership from the different countries and a strong, coordinated approach from the African Union and the president of South Africa, in his capacity as the chair of the African Union, that helped to blunt the pandemic. And I think it was always clear in our mind as the Africa CDC that this pandemic was going to gather momentum.
And here we are with the situation, that is — I’ll call it the second phase of that, where countries are beginning to see dramatic increases in the number of cases. An example is the South Africa you just mentioned. So, a pandemic is heterogeneous. We should be very careful the way we look at the numbers. We still have over 40 countries with less than 10,000 cases, and then South Africa is constituting more than half of our 750,000 cases on the continent. But the general trend is in the upward swing mode.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dr. Nkengasong, in terms of the prior experience of public health officials in Africa in combating other health threats and pandemics or epidemics, like Ebola and HIV/AIDS, what — has the public health infrastructure, as a result, been more prepared this time around for COVID?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG: Somehow, yes. If you look at the countries like Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, where they were heavily hit by the Ebola outbreak in 2014, you see that, I mean, they have, after that period, developed their national public health institutes. They strengthened their community health workers program, that is extremely important for contact tracing. And that has helped those countries, especially in what I call the phase one of the response. I mean, absolutely no doubt about that.
The overall awareness of the threat of diseases has also heightened because of Ebola and HIV there. If you look at South Africa, I mean, I know that the situation in South Africa is changing dramatically, but we should always remember that their initial response was very critical. Otherwise, we would probably be at a million or more than a million cases in South Africa.
So, that experience that Africa is used to fighting HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, Ebola is very important. But we should also remember that this is a different virus. This is different from Ebola. The transmission patterns is different. It’s affecting everybody at the same time. It’s not restricted like Ebola was in DRC or in West Africa. And it’s very different from HIV. So, I think we are learning. The continent is adopting new strategies. We are learning that this is a very different enemy we have to fight.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Doctor, what about the whole issue of testing accessibility for COVID-19? What’s it been like? Are there particular countries that are more ahead in this area? And what do you see as what needs to be done?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG: That’s a very good question. I mean, the continent has come a long way. Let’s be very clear. We are extremely challenged with the issues of testing, not because the continent doesn’t know how to test, but just because we didn’t have the reagents specific for COVID. If you all recall, in February, just two countries had the capacity to test for COVID on the continent. Again, we ramped that up very quickly, the capacity, by training a large number of countries in Senegal and South Africa. And within three weeks, starting the end of February to March, we were able to ramp that up very quickly to about 43 countries.
Today, as a continent, we have tested about 7 million, or conducted about 7 million COVID tests. And if you compare that with just two to three months ago, we were still under half a million tests. So I think the testing has picked up. But we are not yet there. I mean, as a continent of 1.3 billion people, we should be testing about 12 million COVID — conducting about 12 million COVID tests a month. So I think we still have a long way to go in order to catch up and be where we have to be. So, testing still remains a challenge.
The appropriate testing, though, is also important. The so-called polymerase chain reaction-based testing is good, but it’s very tedious. It requires a long turnaround time. The type of tests that we need are those point-of-care tests, that we can easily decentralize into the communities and do the testing, followed by the contact tracing, isolation of patients and then taking care of them, for those that are infected. And that is why we’ve launched the initiative called the Partnership to Accelerate COVID Testing on the continent, that is underpinned by the ability to test, to trace and to treat. I think we are slowly catching up on the goal of testing 10 million people. As I indicated, we’ve conducted about 7 million tests. The Africa CDC continues to roll out testing reagents to many countries. So I think we are slowly catching up on testing, but, again, it has been a serious challenge for us.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Nkengasong, I wanted to ask you about the importance of the World Health Organization and President Trump pulling the United States out of it. And that leads to my second question about global cooperation and how important that is. Right now we have had the United States joining with Britain and Canada saying Russian hackers are stealing vaccine information, and now you have the indictment of two Chinese people in the United States who President Trump says has also hacked vaccine information. But why are we talking about this? What about global cooperation on this critical issue, where this is really open-source, so we come up with a vaccine that works for everyone? Both of those issues, WHO and vaccine global cooperation?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG: So, let me start with the cooperation piece. If you look at the Joint Continental Strategy that Africa has put forward, it is underpinned by the need for strong cooperation, the need for strong collaboration, the need for strong coordination and communication. Those are the four Cs that guide our continental strategies, which was in those at the highest level of the continent since February. So I think the continent recognizes that the victory, the global victory, against COVID has to be guided by global solidarity, because this is a global crisis. And no country will be considered free of COVID if any country in the world is considered — still has COVID infections there. And again, the continent of Africa of 1.3 billion cannot be excluded in the equation in this whole discussion of eliminating COVID in the world. So, I think, again, we strongly adhere to the principles of coordination, cooperation and collaboration to seek solutions that will help us move [inaudible]. This is a war of survival for the world. I think we’ve seen how — the damage that COVID has imposed on our economies, on our lifestyles, and the number of deaths that COVID has cost us. So, again, this is not a fight that any single individual or region of the world will win without a global coordination and solidarity.
With respect to WHO, I think our position is very clear, that the world has always been a safer place, global health problems have always been solved adequately, only with the leadership and strong leadership of the United States and of the World Health Organization. Absolutely no doubt about that. The HIV/AIDS crisis, we begin to turn the fight against HIV/AIDS only when the United States launched the president’s initiative against HIV, called PEPFAR, in 2002, 2003. And the continent of Africa has benefited from that effort. I think the United States has invested over $70 billion to $80 billion in fighting HIV/AIDS on the continent, which the continent is extremely appreciative. Through solidarity and cooperation, the global fund was established in 2001, 2002, and it has been a game changer. It’s probably a good example of how we should coordinate efforts to fight against COVID-19, which is the greatest challenge the world is having in the last 100 years. So, I think a strong WHO and a strong United States leadership is the key ingredient for us to come out of this extremely devastating crisis, Earth crisis.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And, Dr. Nkengasong, in terms of this issue of global solidarity, for years now we’ve seen a key feature of international trade agreements, where the pharmaceutical companies and other corporations push the importance of intellectual property protections, obviously for patents, especially of medicines. Do you believe, given this crisis, that there should be a suspension of this race to control a particular vaccine, and, in essence, make it available generically from the start, to at least stem this epidemic, with possibly five or 10 years down the line companies then trying to benefit, once the world situation has stabilized?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG: That’s a very important question. I think we as the Africa Centers for Disease Control and the African Union Commission issued a statement in that regard just a few weeks ago — to be very specific, on the 25th of June — where we convened a continental international conference on COVID vaccine. And that meeting was chaired by president of South Africa, His Excellency President Ramaphosa, and the chair of the African Union Commission, His Excellency Moussa Faki. The essence of that meeting was clear, that we have to discuss the issues related to intellectual property. We have to discuss issues related to access to vaccines, almost in a timely fashion, variable for a continent of 1.2, 1.3 billion. And exactly what we — in that communiqué, we touch on the Doha Declaration, which speaks to this intellectual property you just mentioned.
I think we are always reminded, always reminded of what happened in 1996, when the HIV drugs were available and it took us about seven years, up to 2002, before it became accessible to the continent of Africa. I think if that situation plays out now, you can see that the future of the continent will be completely underbalanced. You see that the development of the continent will be underbalanced.
So, I think, again, we are calling for a global solidarity to make sure that just speaking about access to vaccines in developing world, and in Africa, in particular, is just not a nice word to say. It’s not just a feel-good word to say, but it’s a reality. And we are developing our own strategy called African access vaccine strategy, underpinned by access and development of the vaccines for the continent.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Nkengasong, we just have a minute, but I wanted to ask you about the connection between COVID transmission and war. In our headlines, we just read about U.S. soldiers around the world, and particularly in Japan. There’s an outbreak of COVID-19 — what this means for local populations. You have talked about that connection, going back to the Spanish flu, and how this can be dealt with — war, conflict and pandemic.
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG: I think there is always that strong interrelation between war or crisis and disease outbreak or pandemic, our ability to control that. It is not chance that the Spanish flu in 1918 happened just after the Second World War — sorry, after the First World War. So I think it’s very clear that these two are very, very interrelated.
And I am very concerned that a continent of us, with so many hot spots, where you have conflicts going on, will sooner or later be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will become extremely challenging to fight the war against COVID in those regions. So, I think you begin to face a double war in a single country or in an entire region. We must put that into our continental strategy to be able to make sure that we’re prepared to root out COVID when they finally get into these conflict regions. But, very importantly, to end, it will be that this is the time for us to silence the guns, silence all the guns everywhere in Africa, so that we can fight this common enemy.
AMY GOODMAN: Dr. John Nkengasong, thank you so much for joining us, director for Africa’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, trained as a virologist who used to work at the Centers for Disease Control.
When we come back, as the pandemic surges throughout the United States, we look at the impact on Latinx workers, apparel workers, meatpackers, farmworkers, so hard hit. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: Music by the mbira musician and teacher Cosmas Magaya of Zimbabwe, who died earlier this month of COVID-19.


democracynow--2020-07-22--COVID-19 Lays Bare South Africa's Rampant Inequality & Fault Lines of Post-Apartheid Society

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : We turn now to South Africa , where skyrocketing COVID-19 infections have made the country fifth in the world for coronavirus cases , overwhelming an already fragile hospital system and signaling a dangerous turn for the African continent , which has so far avoided the worst of the pandemic .
South Africa recorded nearly 382,000 cases as of Wednesday , a number that ’ s certain to be an underestimate .
So far , the death rate in South Africa has remained @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with nearly 5,400 reported fatalities .
But South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the number of deaths could reach 50,000 .
The virus poses a particular threat to poor South Africans , who are less able to socially distance and access adequate medical care .
Half of South Africans live in poverty .
One-third of South Africans are unemployed .
At least 3 million people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic .
In response to the rising numbers , the president has banned alcohol sales , mandated mask-wearing and imposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Africa took aggressive action to curb the virus in March , implementing a shutdown , then rolled back restrictions , facing an economic crisis .
This comes as a University of Oxford vaccine trial has shown promising results .
But researchers say the study will face a challenge in South Africa , where scientists are trying to sign 2,000 people up for a vaccine trial while the numbers surge .
This is the head of the trial in South Africa speaking to CNN .
AMY GOODMAN : For more , we go to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re joined by the South African human rights lawyer and HIV/AIDS and social justice activist Fatima Hassan .
She ’ s founder and director of Health Justice Initiative , an organization focused on public health law and equity , previously served as special adviser to South Africa ’ s former minister of health .
Her recent op-ed in the Daily Maverick is headlined “ A Covid-19 vaccine : When 'solidarity ' meets nationalist profiteering.
” Welcome to Democracy Now !
, Fatima .
It ’ s great to have you with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ start off by talking about the scope of the crisis , the pandemic , in South Africa , and then particularly what ’ s happening around this Oxford vaccine trial that needs something like 2,000 volunteers , but finding those who are COVID-free is very difficult ?
FATIMA HASSAN : So , first , thank you , Amy and Juan , for having me on the show .
It ’ s great to be on .
So , I think the first issue with the trial is that what ’ s significant is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to offer solidarity and participate in the trial , which is being led by Oxford University through South Africa ’ s Wits University .
The difficulty , of course , is , one , trying to secure a sufficient number of volunteers for the trial , with — as you correctly point out , within a climate where the numbers of people living with COVID are increasing , and we also estimate that that is a significant undercount because our testing strategy has been hampered by the lack of available testing kits , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and , in effect , it amounts to rationing at the moment .
The second issue with the trial , which actually is — you know , involves , quite significantly , a pharmaceutical company called AstraZeneca .
And the issue around AstraZeneca ’ s relationship with Oxford , the relationship with the South African government , as in the contractual relationship , including Wits University , and clinical participants in other parts of the world , in Brazil , as well , is unclear .
We ’ re calling for transparency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the one hand , if we are going to participate in a trial that is trying to ensure equitable access to a vaccine , if it is successful , then , certainly , there has to be a framework where equitable access can actually be achieved .
And we certainly don ’ t want to be in a situation like we were during the HIV/AIDS crisis , where wealthier countries are able to access a vaccine much sooner , or some countries in Africa are able to access life-saving vaccination and treatment , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : I ’ d like to ask you specifically about this issue .
You mentioned trials in Brazil , as well .
Is there a situation already developing where the testing of vaccines is occurring in the Third World , but the initial beneficiaries of many vaccines will be in the advanced , developed countries ?
FATIMA HASSAN : So , certainly , there ’ s a concern that there are countries that have volunteered to participate in the trial , including in the Global South , but the terms and the conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the trial is successful , is uncertain and unclear .
I think what is , you know , concerning is that people are labeling it the “ Oxford trial , ” but we know that there ’ s deep involvement of AstraZeneca , and the terms and conditions between Oxford University and AstraZeneca is not available .
And this , you must remember , is only one of a possible 126 vaccine candidates .
About 20 to 22 are in the second phase of clinical testing , and there ’ s very few @ @ @ @ @ @ @ still will go to phase three .
So , you know , the participation of the Global South in one or two of these trials is significant , because we need to do that .
We need to participate .
We need to offer our solidarity .
We need to find a solution to this crisis .
However , the chances are that like HIV/AIDS , like a lot of life-saving medication and treatment , we ’ re going to be last in the line , unless we can guarantee and ensure that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ equitably available to all people in all parts of the world .
There is a campaign , which is being led in the U.S. , called Free the Vaccine .
Our president , Cyril Ramaphosa , as head of the AU , has supported the people ’ s vaccine .
But , you know , what we ’ re saying is that all of these are really beautiful and lovely words and statements , but they don ’ t sort of create any enforceable guarantees , because , like with HIV/AIDS , what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the benevolence and the charity of this particular industry , that is investing millions and millions of dollars in the development of a vaccine , then that won ’ t guarantee access for the Global South .
JUAN GONZÁLEZ : Well , Fatima Hassan , I wanted to ask you — in terms of the situation in South Africa itself with the pandemic , you ’ ve said that your country has used a First World response for a Third World country .
Could you talk about the situation right there in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I think the situation is worsening .
I think we ’ re in a crisis .
Our health system , really , in my view , both the public health service and the private health service , is taking significant strain .
Frontline workers are getting sick , are getting exposed repeatedly to COVID , are at risk .
They don ’ t have sufficient supplies of PPE due to global hoarding .
We don ’ t have sufficient supplies of testing , again due to the global geopolitical situation and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on holding their patents or only giving partial licenses to other companies that could produce those testing kits .
So , the situation is one where more people are getting infected .
We believe that the death count is underestimated .
A lot of people are dying alone at home without a COVID test .
People are still struggling to get death certificates .
So , you are dealing with a public health crisis in the middle of a global pandemic where inequality is soaring as a result of COVID and as a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lockdown .
What we have in South Africa at the moment is increasing joblessness with increasing COVID infections .
And the people who are most at risk are low-income workers who are required to reopen the economy , who have to rely on public transport , who have to go to work , who have to serve people who want to have the luxuries of a normal society .
So I really think it ’ s our inequality reckoning moment .
All of the fault lines of South Africa ’ s post-apartheid democracy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is actually coming to the fore .
The interaction between what we ’ re seeing in relation to COVID and the morbidities that are playing out — the interaction between COVID and the comorbidities of people living with HIV , people living with TB , people living with cancer is significant .
And I think that ’ s another reason why our healthcare system is also taking strain .
What is important and I should point out is that unlike HIV/AIDS , our government ’ s initial response , and up until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and evidence .
But that science and evidence is a First World science and evidence .
It ’ s designed for countries where people can stay at home and can work from home , where they have secure employment .
It ’ s designed for countries where there ’ s sufficient socioeconomic rights protection and benefits if you are unable to go to work .
It ’ s designed for countries that can socially distance , where you don ’ t have thousands of informal settlements that are densely populated .
It ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s proper sanitation , where there ’ s running water for every single person in that country , where there ’ s secure food supplies .
So , like I said earlier , I think the fault lines of inequality in South Africa is coming to the fore , and the crisis of our health system , which , as you ’ ll recall , because of apartheid , is a dualized healthcare system that is basically based on race and class , where the rich can afford really high-quality private healthcare and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but inconsistent access to healthcare services — we already have multiple provinces that are really taking strains .
These are provinces we call the neglected provinces , where the health systems have basically collapsed , where the national government is probably going to have to intervene and step in and take over the running of those health departments .
AMY GOODMAN : Fatima Hassan , I want to thank you so much for being with us , South African human rights lawyer , HIV/AIDS and social justice activist , founder and director of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ special adviser to South Africa ’ s former minister of health .
We ’ ll link to your piece in the Daily Maverick headlined “ A Covid-19 vaccine : When 'solidarity ' meets nationalist profiteering.
” When we come back , we go to Ethiopia to speak with the head of the Africa ’ s Centres for Disease Control .
Stay with us .
AMY GOODMAN : “ Stand Together , ” an African anthem of solidarity against COVID-19 .
It features a wide swath of African musicians from around the continent , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Cameroon , Angola , Ethiopia and Morocco .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to South Africa, where skyrocketing COVID-19 infections have made the country fifth in the world for coronavirus cases, overwhelming an already fragile hospital system and signaling a dangerous turn for the African continent, which has so far avoided the worst of the pandemic. South Africa recorded nearly 382,000 cases as of Wednesday, a number that’s certain to be an underestimate. So far, the death rate in South Africa has remained low, even as case numbers soar, with nearly 5,400 reported fatalities. But South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the number of deaths could reach 50,000.
The virus poses a particular threat to poor South Africans, who are less able to socially distance and access adequate medical care. Half of South Africans live in poverty. One-third of South Africans are unemployed. At least 3 million people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic.
In response to the rising numbers, the president has banned alcohol sales, mandated mask-wearing and imposed a curfew. This comes after South Africa took aggressive action to curb the virus in March, implementing a shutdown, then rolled back restrictions, facing an economic crisis.
This comes as a University of Oxford vaccine trial has shown promising results. But researchers say the study will face a challenge in South Africa, where scientists are trying to sign 2,000 people up for a vaccine trial while the numbers surge. This is the head of the trial in South Africa speaking to CNN.
SHABIR MADHI: It might well be that we fail, not because a vaccine doesn’t work in protecting people, but simply because the force of exposure is so tremendous. So this is really going to test the mettle of this vaccine.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Cape Town, South Africa, where we’re joined by the South African human rights lawyer and HIV/AIDS and social justice activist Fatima Hassan. She’s founder and director of Health Justice Initiative, an organization focused on public health law and equity, previously served as special adviser to South Africa’s former minister of health. Her recent op-ed in the Daily Maverick is headlined “A Covid-19 vaccine: When 'solidarity' meets nationalist profiteering.”
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Fatima. It’s great to have you with us. Why don’t you start off by talking about the scope of the crisis, the pandemic, in South Africa, and then particularly what’s happening around this Oxford vaccine trial that needs something like 2,000 volunteers, but finding those who are COVID-free is very difficult?
FATIMA HASSAN: So, first, thank you, Amy and Juan, for having me on the show. It’s great to be on.
So, I think the first issue with the trial is that what’s significant is that the president and the government agreed to offer solidarity and participate in the trial, which is being led by Oxford University through South Africa’s Wits University. The difficulty, of course, is, one, trying to secure a sufficient number of volunteers for the trial, with — as you correctly point out, within a climate where the numbers of people living with COVID are increasing, and we also estimate that that is a significant undercount because our testing strategy has been hampered by the lack of available testing kits, so the criteria for testing has changed, and, in effect, it amounts to rationing at the moment.
The second issue with the trial, which actually is — you know, involves, quite significantly, a pharmaceutical company called AstraZeneca. And the issue around AstraZeneca’s relationship with Oxford, the relationship with the South African government, as in the contractual relationship, including Wits University, and clinical participants in other parts of the world, in Brazil, as well, is unclear. We’re calling for transparency in those agreements, because, on the one hand, if we are going to participate in a trial that is trying to ensure equitable access to a vaccine, if it is successful, then, certainly, there has to be a framework where equitable access can actually be achieved. And we certainly don’t want to be in a situation like we were during the HIV/AIDS crisis, where wealthier countries are able to access a vaccine much sooner, or some countries in Africa are able to access life-saving vaccination and treatment, and others are not.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I’d like to ask you specifically about this issue. You mentioned trials in Brazil, as well. Is there a situation already developing where the testing of vaccines is occurring in the Third World, but the initial beneficiaries of many vaccines will be in the advanced, developed countries?
FATIMA HASSAN: So, certainly, there’s a concern that there are countries that have volunteered to participate in the trial, including in the Global South, but the terms and the conditions for what access would mean, if the trial is successful, is uncertain and unclear. I think what is, you know, concerning is that people are labeling it the “Oxford trial,” but we know that there’s deep involvement of AstraZeneca, and the terms and conditions between Oxford University and AstraZeneca is not available. And this, you must remember, is only one of a possible 126 vaccine candidates. About 20 to 22 are in the second phase of clinical testing, and there’s very few, a handful of candidates, that still will go to phase three.
So, you know, the participation of the Global South in one or two of these trials is significant, because we need to do that. We need to participate. We need to offer our solidarity. We need to find a solution to this crisis. However, the chances are that like HIV/AIDS, like a lot of life-saving medication and treatment, we’re going to be last in the line, unless we can guarantee and ensure that the vaccine is freely available, is equitably available to all people in all parts of the world.
There is a campaign, which is being led in the U.S., called Free the Vaccine. Our president, Cyril Ramaphosa, as head of the AU, has supported the people’s vaccine. But, you know, what we’re saying is that all of these are really beautiful and lovely words and statements, but they don’t sort of create any enforceable guarantees, because, like with HIV/AIDS, what they realize is that if you rely on the benevolence and the charity of this particular industry, that is investing millions and millions of dollars in the development of a vaccine, then that won’t guarantee access for the Global South.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Well, Fatima Hassan, I wanted to ask you — in terms of the situation in South Africa itself with the pandemic, you’ve said that your country has used a First World response for a Third World country. Could you talk about the situation right there in South Africa?
FATIMA HASSAN: So, I think the situation is worsening. I think we’re in a crisis. Our health system, really, in my view, both the public health service and the private health service, is taking significant strain. Frontline workers are getting sick, are getting exposed repeatedly to COVID, are at risk. They don’t have sufficient supplies of PPE due to global hoarding. We don’t have sufficient supplies of testing, again due to the global geopolitical situation and the reliance on pharmaceutical companies that still insist on holding their patents or only giving partial licenses to other companies that could produce those testing kits. So, the situation is one where more people are getting infected. We believe that the death count is underestimated. A lot of people are dying alone at home without a COVID test. People are still struggling to get death certificates.
So, you are dealing with a public health crisis in the middle of a global pandemic where inequality is soaring as a result of COVID and as a result of the socioeconomic effect of the lockdown. What we have in South Africa at the moment is increasing joblessness with increasing COVID infections. And the people who are most at risk are low-income workers who are required to reopen the economy, who have to rely on public transport, who have to go to work, who have to serve people who want to have the luxuries of a normal society.
So I really think it’s our inequality reckoning moment. All of the fault lines of South Africa’s post-apartheid democracy, and its inequality and its violence, is actually coming to the fore. The interaction between what we’re seeing in relation to COVID and the morbidities that are playing out — the interaction between COVID and the comorbidities of people living with HIV, people living with TB, people living with cancer is significant. And I think that’s another reason why our healthcare system is also taking strain.
What is important and I should point out is that unlike HIV/AIDS, our government’s initial response, and up until today, has been rooted in science and evidence. But that science and evidence is a First World science and evidence. It’s designed for countries where people can stay at home and can work from home, where they have secure employment. It’s designed for countries where there’s sufficient socioeconomic rights protection and benefits if you are unable to go to work. It’s designed for countries that can socially distance, where you don’t have thousands of informal settlements that are densely populated. It’s designed for countries where there’s proper sanitation, where there’s running water for every single person in that country, where there’s secure food supplies.
So, like I said earlier, I think the fault lines of inequality in South Africa is coming to the fore, and the crisis of our health system, which, as you’ll recall, because of apartheid, is a dualized healthcare system that is basically based on race and class, where the rich can afford really high-quality private healthcare and the poor have to rely on high-quality but inconsistent access to healthcare services — we already have multiple provinces that are really taking strains. These are provinces we call the neglected provinces, where the health systems have basically collapsed, where the national government is probably going to have to intervene and step in and take over the running of those health departments.
AMY GOODMAN: Fatima Hassan, I want to thank you so much for being with us, South African human rights lawyer, HIV/AIDS and social justice activist, founder and director of Health Justice Initiative, previously served as special adviser to South Africa’s former minister of health. We’ll link to your piece in the Daily Maverick headlined “A Covid-19 vaccine: When 'solidarity' meets nationalist profiteering.”
When we come back, we go to Ethiopia to speak with the head of the Africa’s Centres for Disease Control. Stay with us.
[break]
AMY GOODMAN: “Stand Together,” an African anthem of solidarity against COVID-19. It features a wide swath of African musicians from around the continent, including Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Cameroon, Angola, Ethiopia and Morocco.


democracynow--2020-07-22--Headlines for July 22, 2020

Headlines for July 22, 2020

The United States recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday , the highest figure in nearly two months .
On Tuesday , President Trump held his first televised briefing on the pandemic since April .
After months of downplaying the pandemic and claiming it was dying out , Trump admitted the crisis will continue to worsen .
President Donald Trump : “ It will probably , unfortunately , get worse before it gets better — something I don ’ t like saying about things , but that ’ s the way it is .
It ’ s the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You look over the world , it ’ s all over the world.
” Trump did not invite doctors Anthony Fauci or Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force to speak at the briefing .
Trump falsely claimed the United States has a lower fatality rate than “ almost everywhere else in the world.
” The United States actually has the world ’ s 10th-highest rate of reported deaths and by far the most total deaths and infections .
The U.S. death toll has now topped 142,000 , and nearly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ though both numbers are believed to be undercounts .

The United States recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday, the highest figure in nearly two months. On Tuesday, President Trump held his first televised briefing on the pandemic since April. After months of downplaying the pandemic and claiming it was dying out, Trump admitted the crisis will continue to worsen.
President Donald Trump: “It will probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better — something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is. It’s the way — it’s what we have. You look over the world, it’s all over the world.”
Trump did not invite doctors Anthony Fauci or Deborah Birx of the White House Coronavirus Task Force to speak at the briefing. Trump falsely claimed the United States has a lower fatality rate than “almost everywhere else in the world.” The United States actually has the world’s 10th-highest rate of reported deaths and by far the most total deaths and infections. The U.S. death toll has now topped 142,000, and nearly 4 million Americans have been infected, though both numbers are believed to be undercounts.


democracynow--2020-07-23--Paramilitary-Style Tactics in Portland Mirror Decades of U.S. Violence on the Border & Abroad

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
The War and Peace Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
We turn now to the harrowing scenes of paramilitary-style units in the streets of American cities , like Portland , Oregon , where heavily armed federal agents with no agency markings have snatched people off the streets , forced them into unmarked vans .
The developments have shocked mainstream America .
This is MSNBC host Brian Williams .
AMY GOODMAN : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the violent presence of federal border agents is not unfamiliar to many Black and Brown Americans , especially those who live along the border .
The brutality now seen on U.S. streets is also all too recognizable to global communities who have faced the terror of U.S.-trained military forces , sometimes death squads , from Iraq to Kenya to Guatemala .
The scene unfolding in Portland , Oregon , has also drawn comparisons to U.S.-backed death squads that terrorized Latin America for decades .
For more , we ’ re joined by two @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of sociology at the University of California , Los Angeles , UCLA , where she focuses on state and gender-based violence in Central America and immigration enforcement in the U.S. , originally from El Salvador .
Also with us , reporter Todd Miller , who has covered border security and immigration for over a decade .
He ’ s the author of Empire of Borders : The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World , also author of Border Patrol Nation : Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security .
We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Professor Menjívar , let ’ s begin with you .
If you can respond to what ’ s happening in Portland , Oregon ?
As you heard Brian Williams say , I mean , this may be familiar to others .
He talked about Chile .
He talked about Mussolini .
But here in America ?
You know a different picture of this country , and also back to where you came from , in El Salvador , intimately connected to the United States , especially in the 1980s , sadly , through @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weapons that might come from the United States .
CECILIA MENJÍVAR : Yes .
Thank you .
Thank you for the questions , because what is happening in Portland , and probably in other cities in the United States , was , as Brian Williams said , the order of the day for most of Latin America during the 1970s and ’ 80s .
And , for instance , the image of an unmarked van taking people from the streets and taking them who knows where , it brings back memories to Latin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and friends and co-workers for a long period of time .
So this is something very familiar , very close to Latin Americans throughout the region , because these were strategies of state violence and state control that were implemented throughout the region during the military dictatorships of the ’ 70s and ’ 80s .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : Well , I ’ d like to bring Todd Miller into the conversation .
Toddy , you are the author of a book called Empire of Borders : The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about that specific — your subtitle , The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World , and then specifically how the role of the CBP changed after 9/11 ?
TODD MILLER : Sure .
One , in terms of the expansion of the U.S. border around the world , I — even thinking specifically about the specific force that was in Portland and with the BORTAC unit of the U.S. Border Patrol that was pulling people off the streets , over the years , in doing research , I ’ ve come @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one occasion was in Guatemala , and I was going to a military base to meet with a commander of a new Border Patrol force that they were forming there .
And my whole purpose of going there was to see how much the United States was behind the creation of that border force .
And so , I got there late , but I tried to convince the soldiers at the gate of the military base if I could still meet with the commander .
And while I was waiting there , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me and asked me if I was from BORTAC .
I went , “ What ?
” And he said , ” BORTAC.
” And I couldn ’ t believe my ears , really .
BORTAC , nobody — hardly anyone in the United States even knew who BORTAC was , but here I was , 1,500 miles away from the U.S. southern border , a soldier in Guatemala who knew who BORTAC was .
And I got the meeting with the commander , and the commander then verified that BORTAC had been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ done trainings there , that the United States Embassy funding was behind the creation of the new Border Patrol , and this one ’ s called the Chortí in Guatemala .
And that was just one example of many examples of this expansion of the U.S. border abroad , what they call externalization or the extension of the zone of security , if you want to use the kind of “ statespeak ” that ’ s being used .
And Guatemala is one example of , to much to my surprise , over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world where the U.S. Border Patrol , specifically BORTAC even , are going and doing trainings , sending resources , creating border patrols , teaching other countries how to patrol their borders , and this whole idea of pushing out the U.S. borders , so — according to the mission of stopping people from coming to the United States long before they get to U.S. shores .
And this is something that ’ s been happening for quite a while .
It ’ s been happening for decades , in many ways @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , you could go back to documents of INS , the Immigration and Naturalization Service , going to Mexico and saying , “ We ’ ll stop people coming from different countries in Central America from crossing the Mexican border.
” And so that ’ s an example of how far it goes back .
But the programs really shifted post-9/11 .
There was really a huge emphasis put on this extension of the border .
And you could really see where the core of this comes from , from the 9/11 Commission @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there is one quote in particular that ’ s really revealing , and it says , “ The American homeland is the planet , ” so the idea that the American homeland is everywhere , and thus there ’ s the underlying logic of this expansion of the United States going to over a hundred countries and using the same units that are now found in Portland , Oregon , or possibly in Chicago today or in other cities around the United States .
AMY GOODMAN : What gives these federal agents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ agencies so much power ?
You ’ ve got Portland , Oregon , which falls within 100 miles of the border with Canada .
You ’ ve called about — you ’ ve talked about these Constitution-free zones and how it relates to border security , both the north , the south .
But now Trump is saying he ’ s sending it to , well , many cities where there are Democratic mayors , particularly women and women of color who are mayors .
TODD MILLER : Yes .
So , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ essentially U.S. Border Patrol agents .
And U.S. Border Patrol agents , as you just mentioned , Amy , they work in what are known the 100-mile zones , or , as the ACLU put , Constitution-free zones .
So , if one can imagine , you know , the contours of the United States — right ?
— along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border , the 5,000-mile U.S.-Canada border , along the coasts , and if you imagine a band , like an orange band or something like that , along the contours @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the U.S. population .
Two hundred million people are covered in what is known as the Constitution-free zone , where the U.S. Border Patrol works with extraconstitutional powers .
And in that sense , on the southern border , the idea of the U.S. Border Patrol agents snatching people off the streets or snatching people in the desert or snatching people in the various checkpoints that they can put up in these 100-mile zones happens every day , happens all the time .
In a sense , it ’ s like the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Portland or Chicago , but , as you mentioned , fit within the Constitution-free zone or the border jurisdiction .
And Portland , close to the Canadian border and also along the coast — so , along the coastlines , that ’ s also in those sorts of jurisdictions .
And then , when you look at BORTAC , which is , you know , the special forces unit of the U.S. Border Patrol , the ones that are doing the paramilitary-style tactics , they are the Border Patrol on top of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ terms of being militarized , weaponized .
They were formed in 1984 to quell uprisings in detention centers for the Immigration and Naturalization Service .
And then they had a presence in 1992 in Los Angeles , when there was unrest after the Rodney King incident .
And it goes on and on .
There ’ s a long history of BORTAC being involved in unrest , and it seems to be part of their purpose .
And so , as Border Patrol has expanded in astronomical fashion over the last 25 years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the expansion of BORTAC then happens , as well .
And so , in a way , it ’ s a surprise — in a way , it ’ s quite a surprise , like the clip from Brian Williams .
And then , in a way , it ’ s not a surprise at all to see that BORTAC is being a part of being put in places where they ’ re — where , you know , from — Washington might view as unrest — right ?
— but it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re going to be showing up in Chicago , that they ’ re going to be showing up in New York , in places that are in the 100-mile zones .
And I want to — as people are quite aware of , there was an announcement in March that BORTAC , or this Border Patrol unit , was going to join forces with Immigration and Customs Enforcement , in ICE , to do a show of force in the sanctuary cities — right ?
— the sanctuary cities , to then @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same cities that we ’ re seeing them being deployed right now .
So , in a way , it ’ s going hand in hand now with what was announced in March , with what ’ s been going on actually for years now .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : And , Professor Cecilia Menjívar , if you could also talk about the state violence that ’ s been deployed against immigrant communities along the border , and also what ’ s been happening in detention centers , where disappearances are routine often @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
My research has focused not at the border — excuse me — away from the border .
But I was doing — I was doing quite a bit of research in Arizona , in Maricopa County , during the time when the sheriff of Maricopa County used many similar techniques to terrorize the Latino population specifically .
And at that time , I was interviewing Central American immigrants in the area who pointed me in this direction .
They brought up to my attention the similarities between what they had lived during @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Salvador and what they were living in Phoenix during the reign of terror that the sheriff created in Phoenix , for instance .
And so , it was their experiences that brought to my attention the similarities between technologies of state violence and state terror used during the civil wars in Latin America and what immigrant — Latino immigrants , specifically , were living in cities in the United States , specifically , for instance , Phoenix , where that concentrated .
And in relation to detention centers and disappearances in detention centers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sent to detention facilities is that they are sent to very remote places .
They often lose contact with their families .
Their families don ’ t know where they are .
I have had immigrants calling me , asking me to help them locate their family members , because they don ’ t know where they are held , being held .
And so , this again brings back memories to when , in their home countries , they would go search for families who had been taken from their homes at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be disappeared .
And so , the same thing was happening here in — is happening here in the United States , with 638 detention facilities throughout the country .
Each state has at least two detention facilities dedicated to hold immigrants in detention .
And so , the parallels are so strong and so vivid that immigrants who have lived through both can very quickly point that out to one ’ s attention .
AMY GOODMAN : I can only think — Professor Menjívar , I can only think about the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his last homily , broadcast throughout El Salvador .
March 24th , 1980 , he was gunned down by a U.S.-backed death squad , and he was saying the words to the soldiers of El Salvador , “ I implore you , I beg you , I order you : Stop the repression !
” Professor Cecilia Menjívar , professor of sociology at University of California , Los Angeles , and Todd Miller , author of a number of books , award-winning journalist , including Empire of Borders : The Expansion of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does it for our show .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
Stay safe .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. We turn now to the harrowing scenes of paramilitary-style units in the streets of American cities, like Portland, Oregon, where heavily armed federal agents with no agency markings have snatched people off the streets, forced them into unmarked vans. The developments have shocked mainstream America. This is MSNBC host Brian Williams.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Overseas, if we saw these pictures, we’d call it something like a military junta. Under a Mussolini or a Pinochet, we would make nothing of it. It would just be a Wednesday.
AMY GOODMAN: “Just be a Wednesday.” But the violent presence of federal border agents is not unfamiliar to many Black and Brown Americans, especially those who live along the border. The brutality now seen on U.S. streets is also all too recognizable to global communities who have faced the terror of U.S.-trained military forces, sometimes death squads, from Iraq to Kenya to Guatemala. The scene unfolding in Portland, Oregon, has also drawn comparisons to U.S.-backed death squads that terrorized Latin America for decades.
For more, we’re joined by two guests. Cecilia Menjívar is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, where she focuses on state and gender-based violence in Central America and immigration enforcement in the U.S., originally from El Salvador. Also with us, reporter Todd Miller, who has covered border security and immigration for over a decade. He’s the author of Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World, also author of Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security.
We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Professor Menjívar, let’s begin with you. If you can respond to what’s happening in Portland, Oregon? As you heard Brian Williams say, I mean, this may be familiar to others. He talked about Chile. He talked about Mussolini. But here in America? You know a different picture of this country, and also back to where you came from, in El Salvador, intimately connected to the United States, especially in the 1980s, sadly, through soldiers, often U.S.-trained soldiers, carrying weapons that might come from the United States.
CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Yes. Thank you. Thank you for the questions, because what is happening in Portland, and probably in other cities in the United States, was, as Brian Williams said, the order of the day for most of Latin America during the 1970s and ’80s. And, for instance, the image of an unmarked van taking people from the streets and taking them who knows where, it brings back memories to Latin Americans who lived through disappearances of families and friends and co-workers for a long period of time. So this is something very familiar, very close to Latin Americans throughout the region, because these were strategies of state violence and state control that were implemented throughout the region during the military dictatorships of the ’70s and ’80s.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: Well, I’d like to bring Todd Miller into the conversation. Toddy, you are the author of a book called Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World. So could you talk about that specific — your subtitle, The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World, and then specifically how the role of the CBP changed after 9/11?
TODD MILLER: Sure. One, in terms of the expansion of the U.S. border around the world, I — even thinking specifically about the specific force that was in Portland and with the BORTAC unit of the U.S. Border Patrol that was pulling people off the streets, over the years, in doing research, I’ve come across them on several occasions.
And one occasion was in Guatemala, and I was going to a military base to meet with a commander of a new Border Patrol force that they were forming there. And my whole purpose of going there was to see how much the United States was behind the creation of that border force. And so, I got there late, but I tried to convince the soldiers at the gate of the military base if I could still meet with the commander. And while I was waiting there, one of the soldiers came up to me and asked me if I was from BORTAC. I went, “What?” And he said, ”BORTAC.” And I couldn’t believe my ears, really. BORTAC, nobody — hardly anyone in the United States even knew who BORTAC was, but here I was, 1,500 miles away from the U.S. southern border, a soldier in Guatemala who knew who BORTAC was. And I got the meeting with the commander, and the commander then verified that BORTAC had been there, the U.S. Border Patrol had done trainings there, that the United States Embassy funding was behind the creation of the new Border Patrol, and this one’s called the Chortí in Guatemala.
And that was just one example of many examples of this expansion of the U.S. border abroad, what they call externalization or the extension of the zone of security, if you want to use the kind of “statespeak” that’s being used. And Guatemala is one example of, to much to my surprise, over a hundred examples in countries all over the world where the U.S. Border Patrol, specifically BORTAC even, are going and doing trainings, sending resources, creating border patrols, teaching other countries how to patrol their borders, and this whole idea of pushing out the U.S. borders, so — according to the mission of stopping people from coming to the United States long before they get to U.S. shores.
And this is something that’s been happening for quite a while. It’s been happening for decades, in many ways. In the 1980s, in fact, you could go back to documents of INS, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, going to Mexico and saying, “We’ll stop people coming from different countries in Central America from crossing the Mexican border.” And so that’s an example of how far it goes back.
But the programs really shifted post-9/11. There was really a huge emphasis put on this extension of the border. And you could really see where the core of this comes from, from the 9/11 Commission Report. In the 9/11 Commission Report, there is one quote in particular that’s really revealing, and it says, “The American homeland is the planet,” so the idea that the American homeland is everywhere, and thus there’s the underlying logic of this expansion of the United States going to over a hundred countries and using the same units that are now found in Portland, Oregon, or possibly in Chicago today or in other cities around the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: What gives these federal agents, Todd Miller, and law enforcement agencies so much power? You’ve got Portland, Oregon, which falls within 100 miles of the border with Canada. You’ve called about — you’ve talked about these Constitution-free zones and how it relates to border security, both the north, the south. But now Trump is saying he’s sending it to, well, many cities where there are Democratic mayors, particularly women and women of color who are mayors.
TODD MILLER: Yes. So, the BORTAC unit is — they’re essentially U.S. Border Patrol agents. And U.S. Border Patrol agents, as you just mentioned, Amy, they work in what are known the 100-mile zones, or, as the ACLU put, Constitution-free zones. So, if one can imagine, you know, the contours of the United States — right? — along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, the 5,000-mile U.S.-Canada border, along the coasts, and if you imagine a band, like an orange band or something like that, along the contours, that is covering a huge chunk of the U.S. population. Two hundred million people are covered in what is known as the Constitution-free zone, where the U.S. Border Patrol works with extraconstitutional powers. And in that sense, on the southern border, the idea of the U.S. Border Patrol agents snatching people off the streets or snatching people in the desert or snatching people in the various checkpoints that they can put up in these 100-mile zones happens every day, happens all the time. In a sense, it’s like the extension of that border into places like Portland or Chicago, but, as you mentioned, fit within the Constitution-free zone or the border jurisdiction. And Portland, close to the Canadian border and also along the coast — so, along the coastlines, that’s also in those sorts of jurisdictions.
And then, when you look at BORTAC, which is, you know, the special forces unit of the U.S. Border Patrol, the ones that are doing the paramilitary-style tactics, they are the Border Patrol on top of the Border Patrol — right? — in terms of being militarized, weaponized. They were formed in 1984 to quell uprisings in detention centers for the Immigration and Naturalization Service. And then they had a presence in 1992 in Los Angeles, when there was unrest after the Rodney King incident. And it goes on and on. There’s a long history of BORTAC being involved in unrest, and it seems to be part of their purpose.
And so, as Border Patrol has expanded in astronomical fashion over the last 25 years particularly — 4,000 to 21,000 agents — the expansion of BORTAC then happens, as well. And so, in a way, it’s a surprise — in a way, it’s quite a surprise, like the clip from Brian Williams. And then, in a way, it’s not a surprise at all to see that BORTAC is being a part of being put in places where they’re — where, you know, from — Washington might view as unrest — right? — but it’s really people protesting, that they’re going to be showing up in Chicago, that they’re going to be showing up in New York, in places that are in the 100-mile zones.
And I want to — as people are quite aware of, there was an announcement in March that BORTAC, or this Border Patrol unit, was going to join forces with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in ICE, to do a show of force in the sanctuary cities — right? — the sanctuary cities, to then go after undocumented people in cities, the same cities that we’re seeing them being deployed right now. So, in a way, it’s going hand in hand now with what was announced in March, with what’s been going on actually for years now.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Professor Cecilia Menjívar, if you could also talk about the state violence that’s been deployed against immigrant communities along the border, and also what’s been happening in detention centers, where disappearances are routine often?
CECILIA MENJÍVAR: Right, yes. My research has focused not at the border — excuse me — away from the border. But I was doing — I was doing quite a bit of research in Arizona, in Maricopa County, during the time when the sheriff of Maricopa County used many similar techniques to terrorize the Latino population specifically. And at that time, I was interviewing Central American immigrants in the area who pointed me in this direction. They brought up to my attention the similarities between what they had lived during the civil wars in Guatemala and El Salvador and what they were living in Phoenix during the reign of terror that the sheriff created in Phoenix, for instance. And so, it was their experiences that brought to my attention the similarities between technologies of state violence and state terror used during the civil wars in Latin America and what immigrant — Latino immigrants, specifically, were living in cities in the United States, specifically, for instance, Phoenix, where that concentrated.
And in relation to detention centers and disappearances in detention centers, what happens to immigrants who are sent to detention facilities is that they are sent to very remote places. They often lose contact with their families. Their families don’t know where they are. I have had immigrants calling me, asking me to help them locate their family members, because they don’t know where they are held, being held. And so, this again brings back memories to when, in their home countries, they would go search for families who had been taken from their homes at night or from their places of work to be disappeared. And so, the same thing was happening here in — is happening here in the United States, with 638 detention facilities throughout the country. Each state has at least two detention facilities dedicated to hold immigrants in detention. And so, the parallels are so strong and so vivid that immigrants who have lived through both can very quickly point that out to one’s attention.
AMY GOODMAN: I can only think — Professor Menjívar, I can only think about the words of Archbishop Romero as he did his last homily, broadcast throughout El Salvador. March 24th, 1980, he was gunned down by a U.S.-backed death squad, and he was saying the words to the soldiers of El Salvador, “I implore you, I beg you, I order you: Stop the repression!” Professor Cecilia Menjívar, professor of sociology at University of California, Los Angeles, and Todd Miller, author of a number of books, award-winning journalist, including Empire of Borders: The Expansion of the U.S. Border Around the World.
That does it for our show. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. Stay safe.


democracynow--2020-07-23--"Her Front Teeth Were Knocked Out": Chicago Teen to Sue Police Officer Who Hit Her at a Protest

This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : This is Democracy Now !
The Quarantine Report .
I ’ m Amy Goodman , with Nermeen Shaikh .
We go now to Chicago , where protesters are demanding justice after police officers attacked a teenage activist last week during a demonstration in which people attempted to topple a statue of Christopher Columbus in Grant Park .
An officer punched 18-year-old Miracle Boyd in the face , knocking out several teeth .
Miracle is a recent high school graduate , an organizer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also reported being mistreated by police , who used chemical sprays and batons on protesters .
Police said 12 people were arrested .
This is Miracle Boyd speaking at a news conference Monday .
AMY GOODMAN : That ’ s Miracle Boyd speaking at a news conference on Monday .
This comes as President Trump announced he ’ s sending a “ surge ” of federal agents into Chicago .
Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded on CNN .
AMY GOODMAN : For more , we go to Chicago to speak with Sheila Bedi .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ She is the lawyer representing Miracle Boyd .
Professor Bedi , thanks so much for joining us .
Can you start off , before we talk about the “ surge , ” in talking about what exactly happened to Miracle ?
SHEILA BEDI : Thank you so much for having me .
So , Miracle Boyd is an activist , a freedom fighter .
She works for an organization called GoodKids MadCity , that really focuses on ending violence in the South and West Sides of Chicago .
And Miracle was at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doing what she does , which is documenting police violence , trying to ensure that the protest was going to occur without some of the violence that we ’ ve seen consistently during the uprisings in Chicago .
She was filming the arrest of a man , and an officer came up to her and slapped her because she was filming this arrest , and slapped her with such force that her front teeth were knocked out of her head .
And this is consistent with what we ’ ve seen from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ months in their response to these uprisings .
NERMEEN SHAIKH : And , Sheila Bedi , could you explain that in Chicago , head strikes , like the one Miracle Boyd was subject to , are considered a use of lethal force in Chicago ?
So , could you talk about that and what the implications of that are , and what exactly it is that Miracle Boyd is calling for — restorative justice ?
Explain what she ’ d like to see happen .
SHEILA BEDI : Sure .
So , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ federal consent decree .
And the decree makes it clear that head strikes , which is where police officers are using force to the head area , is a form of lethal force .
It ’ s a form of force that should only be used when lethal force can be justified , so if you ’ re dealing with somebody who ’ s suspected of a violent felony , if you ’ re dealing with somebody who is an immediate threat to a police officer or to somebody else .
That , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
But what we ’ ve seen throughout these protests is police officers using that kind of lethal force against protesters in an effort to try to quell the movement , in an effort to retaliate against protesters for the exercise of their First Amendment speech .
What Miracle is calling for at this time is for the officer to be fired .
The videotape is very clear : Miracle was not a threat .
Miracle was exercising her First Amendment .
This officer came up to her and used this lethal force @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of her First Amendment rights .
And the other thing that Miracle is asking for is for this officer to engage in a restorative justice process .
She ’ s not asking for the officer to be charged .
She ’ s asking for the officer to engage in a process where she can really explain to him what this has done to her , what this violence has done to her , how it ’ s affected her , the trauma that she is experiencing .
So , that ’ s her @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
AMY GOODMAN : And now if you can respond to what President Trump is saying he ’ s doing in Chicago ?
It looks like he ’ s particularly focusing — and he ’ s clearly said , you know , Democratic mayors — particularly focusing on cities that have mayors who are women and women of color .
SHEILA BEDI : I mean , no question about that .
During Donald Trump ’ s comments yesterday , he made it very clear that this action was about quelling the movement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the activists who have called for defunding the police , and that he ’ s tying intercommunal violence to those demands , which is just not supported by data , not supported by the facts .
It is also very clear that this request for the federal troops to come into Chicago was supported by the Chicago police union .
The police in Chicago have a long history of cooperating with the federal government to violate the rights of people in the Chicago community .
There ’ s a real concern that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ here , that the deployment of these troops , that that ’ s been done to try to quell these protests .
And that ’ s unconstitutional .
And that ’ s something that will absolutely be challenged in court .
You know , the issue that we have right now is that the Chicago Police Department has systematically attempted to chill the First Amendment rights of protesters .
And that has been happening on a regular basis .
It ’ s been happening in a very systematic way .
The overlay of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what that might mean for these protests .
AMY GOODMAN : Sheila Bedi , we want to thank you for being with us .
So , just to answer in a word , you ’ re suing on behalf of Miracle Boyd ?
When we come back , the harrowing scenes of paramilitary-style units in the streets of American cities may shock mainstream America , but the violent presence of federal border agents is not unfamiliar to many Black and Brown communities .
Stay with us .

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! The Quarantine Report. I’m Amy Goodman, with Nermeen Shaikh. We go now to Chicago, where protesters are demanding justice after police officers attacked a teenage activist last week during a demonstration in which people attempted to topple a statue of Christopher Columbus in Grant Park. An officer punched 18-year-old Miracle Boyd in the face, knocking out several teeth. Miracle is a recent high school graduate, an organizer with the group GoodKids MadCity. Journalists also reported being mistreated by police, who used chemical sprays and batons on protesters. Police said 12 people were arrested. This is Miracle Boyd speaking at a news conference Monday.
MIRACLE BOYD: I was attacked by CPD, who value a supremacist statue over my life, safety and well-being. … Christopher Columbus did not discover America! He was a rapist, murderer, thief and colonizer, who laid the groundwork for Indigenous genocide and the transatlantic slave trade of Africans. Yet the police is protecting a statue of a man who died more than 500 years ago. The police are not serving and protecting. There is no way I should have left a protest bruised and battered for exercising my freedom of speech and freedom to assemble. I am disgusted and never would have ever thought I’d become a victim to the biggest gang in America.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s Miracle Boyd speaking at a news conference on Monday. This comes as President Trump announced he’s sending a “surge” of federal agents into Chicago. Mayor Lori Lightfoot responded on CNN.
MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT: We do not want unconstitutional, secret federal agents coming into our cities, grabbing our residents and detaining them and violating their rights. I’ve drawn a very bright line there, and we’re not going to go back from that.
AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Chicago to speak with Sheila Bedi. professor of law at Northwestern University. She is the lawyer representing Miracle Boyd.
Professor Bedi, thanks so much for joining us. Can you start off, before we talk about the “surge,” in talking about what exactly happened to Miracle?
SHEILA BEDI: Thank you so much for having me.
So, Miracle Boyd is an activist, a freedom fighter. She works for an organization called GoodKids MadCity, that really focuses on ending violence in the South and West Sides of Chicago. And Miracle was at the protest on Friday, and she was doing what she does, which is documenting police violence, trying to ensure that the protest was going to occur without some of the violence that we’ve seen consistently during the uprisings in Chicago.
She was filming the arrest of a man, and an officer came up to her and slapped her because she was filming this arrest, and slapped her with such force that her front teeth were knocked out of her head. And this is consistent with what we’ve seen from the Chicago Police Department over the last three months in their response to these uprisings.
NERMEEN SHAIKH: And, Sheila Bedi, could you explain that in Chicago, head strikes, like the one Miracle Boyd was subject to, are considered a use of lethal force in Chicago? So, could you talk about that and what the implications of that are, and what exactly it is that Miracle Boyd is calling for — restorative justice? Explain what she’d like to see happen.
SHEILA BEDI: Sure. So, the city of Chicago is subject to a federal consent decree. And the decree makes it clear that head strikes, which is where police officers are using force to the head area, is a form of lethal force. It’s a form of force that should only be used when lethal force can be justified, so if you’re dealing with somebody who’s suspected of a violent felony, if you’re dealing with somebody who is an immediate threat to a police officer or to somebody else. That, of course, is not Miracle Boyd. But what we’ve seen throughout these protests is police officers using that kind of lethal force against protesters in an effort to try to quell the movement, in an effort to retaliate against protesters for the exercise of their First Amendment speech.
What Miracle is calling for at this time is for the officer to be fired. The videotape is very clear: Miracle was not a threat. Miracle was exercising her First Amendment. This officer came up to her and used this lethal force against her in retaliation for the exercise of her First Amendment rights.
And the other thing that Miracle is asking for is for this officer to engage in a restorative justice process. She’s not asking for the officer to be charged. She’s asking for the officer to engage in a process where she can really explain to him what this has done to her, what this violence has done to her, how it’s affected her, the trauma that she is experiencing. So, that’s her demand of this officer at this time.
AMY GOODMAN: And now if you can respond to what President Trump is saying he’s doing in Chicago? It looks like he’s particularly focusing — and he’s clearly said, you know, Democratic mayors — particularly focusing on cities that have mayors who are women and women of color.
SHEILA BEDI: I mean, no question about that. During Donald Trump’s comments yesterday, he made it very clear that this action was about quelling the movement, that this action was about specifically taking on the activists who have called for defunding the police, and that he’s tying intercommunal violence to those demands, which is just not supported by data, not supported by the facts.
It is also very clear that this request for the federal troops to come into Chicago was supported by the Chicago police union. The police in Chicago have a long history of cooperating with the federal government to violate the rights of people in the Chicago community. There’s a real concern that that is what is going to happen here, that the deployment of these troops, that that’s been done to try to quell these protests. And that’s unconstitutional. And that’s something that will absolutely be challenged in court.
You know, the issue that we have right now is that the Chicago Police Department has systematically attempted to chill the First Amendment rights of protesters. And that has been happening on a regular basis. It’s been happening in a very systematic way. The overlay of additional federal troops is deeply disturbing in what that might mean for these protests.
AMY GOODMAN: Sheila Bedi, we want to thank you for being with us. So, just to answer in a word, you’re suing on behalf of Miracle Boyd?
SHEILA BEDI: Miracle Boyd will be filing a civil rights lawsuit, that’s correct.
AMY GOODMAN: Sheila Bedi, professor of law at Northwestern University, lawyer representing Miracle Boyd.
When we come back, the harrowing scenes of paramilitary-style units in the streets of American cities may shock mainstream America, but the violent presence of federal border agents is not unfamiliar to many Black and Brown communities. Stay with us.