Image is of a colectivo: an armed group, usually operating in impoverished areas, which act to support and defend the socialist government of Venezuela. They are often derided as vigilante terrorist groups which prop up the government, because cops are only bad when they are socialist and not murdering minorities, I suppose.
Maduro’s party, the PSUV, has won the election after a staggering amount of propaganda by the opposition, who said their polls suggested they were going to win and that Maduro’s loss was inevitable. The reaction across Latin America is what one would expect. Left-leaning leaders are generally respecting the results and congratulating Maduro, while those on the right and/or are US puppets (such as in semirecently-couped Peru) are calling for recounts, or even that the election was illegitimate. The US itself is also unhappy about the results. We shall soon see if their unhappiness boils over into yet another coup attempt.
Personally, I think they should have ran Guaido again.
Thank you to @Redcuban1959@hexbear.net for the election coverage here, and everything else they do in the news megathread.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you’ve wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don’t worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Venezuela! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
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The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week’s thread is here.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel’s destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia’s youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don’t want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it’s just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists’ side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR’s former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR’s forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster’s telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a ‘propaganda tax’, if you don’t believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Supreme Leader of Iran, Sayyed Ali Khamenei:
The criminal, terrorist zionist entity has brought upon itself the severest punishment with this attack.
Avenging the blood of Haniyeh is Iran’s duty because he was martyred on our land.
70 people reacted with the 🥱 emoji on Telegram, but 180 people with the 🔥 emoji. Can my fellow newsheads read these tea leaves and explain them to me?
Some of those yawning are not pro-Israel rather they are unsatisfied with IRI scale and ways of retaliation.
There are many reasons to support Maduro regardless if he legit won, my favourite one is that most argentina-nationalized venezuelan migrants voted for Milei, so I want those dipshits to keep crying
And european succdems get to cry a little more while they wank licking america’s boots.
Hungary blocks the EU from releasing a joint pro-coup statement on Venezuela. Only statement will be from the unelected commissioners, judging someone’s elections.
Hungary’s veto underlines a fundamental flaw in EU foreign policy whereby decisions — including potential future sanctions on Venezuela — must be unanimously agreed among the bloc’s 27 member countries. This has led several countries, such as Germany, to advocate taking foreign policy decisions by a qualified majority. The Hungarian government couldn’t be immediately reached for a comment on the motivation for its veto.
Some people are saying this is fake news, but besides one newspaper, no other said it was fake.
Hungarian Foreign Ministry press secretary said it was fake news
I fucking hate the EU. They want to sanction Venezuela, while they fuckin support Israel where, at the the same time there’s a riot for the right to gang rape prisoners of war.
The EU is the second-largest arms supplier to Israel after the US. According to figures from the European External Action Service’s COARM database, between 2018 and 2022, EU member states sold arms worth 1.76 billion euros ($1.9bn) to Israel.
Arms have continued to flow from EU countries to Israel even after the International Court of Justice made an interim ruling in January that the Israeli army was plausibly committing genocide. The EU has a system in place to implement arms embargoes but has refused to apply to Israel, leaving member states to slowly implement measures under pressure from civil society with scant political will to do so and falling far short of what is required.
Sure you fuckin wankers, put an arms embargo on … checks notes… Venezuela? Wtf?! You pieces of shit
The arms embargo will do nothing to Venezuela. Chavez was smart enough to change all their American and European made guns, vehicles and equipment to Chinese and Russian made stuff back in 2010.
I mean, yeah… it’s the principle that the EU is berating Venezuela and then they put an arms embargo on a country not comitting genocide while they send arms to an apartheid state committing genocide
And then they pretend they care about human rights
Absolutely crazy upside down world the liberals live in. It’s like a parallel universe.
At this point it seems like it should have been obvious that Maduro should have adopted Leninist praxis instead of parliamentarism
Defeated candidate in Venezuela was CIA operative in Operation Condor in El Salvador
Article
A far-right candidate, González Urrutia, now portrayed as a ‘democrat’ by certain media, was in the 1980s an operative in El Salvador of Operation Condor, under the command of the CIA, torturing and murdering in favor of US intervention, denounces former MP Nidia Díaz.
“We can’t forget the nefarious role played by Edmundo González Urrutia (the current far-right candidate for the presidency of Venezuela) in El Salvador when he was the second-in-command at the Venezuelan embassy, together with Ambassador Leopoldo Castillo, known as El Mata Curas (The Priest Killer),” said Salvadoran lawyer and leader Nidia Díaz, in an article reproduced by several websites on the continent.
According to the former member of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and member of the Central American Parliament, “the hidden face of Edmundo González” needs to be illuminated so that we know who he is.
“This happened between 1979-1985, as part of the Condor Plan in El Salvador, the counter-insurgency project that Republican Ronald Reagan pushed against the people of El Salvador to prevent the revolutionary forces from advancing, since the factor that prolonged the civil war was the US intervention.”
“The mission of Ambassador Castillo and Edmundo González was to be an agent of death. In the documents declassified by the CIA in February 2009, Castillo was mentioned as co-responsible for the intelligence services that coordinated, financed and gave the order for the execution of Operation Centaur,” he denounced.
hey do you have a link to the article?
Article is in Spanish. I couldn’t find any article in english, most articles are either in Spanish or Portuguese. But it seems some FMLN ex-guerrilas and a catholic priest spoke about this.
Translation (Huge Article)
One cannot forget the nefarious role played by Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia (candidate for the presidency of Venezuela for the extreme right) in El Salvador, when he was the second in the Venezuelan Embassy, together with Ambassador Leopoldo Castillo, known as the Matacuras.
This happened between 1979 and 1985, as part of the Condor Plan in El Salvador and the counterinsurgency project promoted by the Republican Ronald Reagan against the Salvadoran people to prevent the revolutionary forces from advancing, since the factor that prolonged the civil war was the US intervention.
The mission of Ambassador Castillo and Edmundo Gonzalez was to be agents of death. In declassified CIA documents, in February 2009, Castillo was mentioned as co-responsible for the intelligence services that coordinated, financed and gave the order for the execution of Operation Centauro, which consisted of a series of violent actions by the Salvadoran army and the “death squads” to physically eliminate the religious communities gathered around the search, consistent with the theology of liberation, for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the war.
“In the years when Castillo and Gonzalez were in charge of the embassy, the army and the squads left 13,194 civilians murdered, among them St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, four Maryknoll nuns and the priests Rafael Palacios, Alirio Macias, Francisco Cosme, Jesus Caceres and Manuel Reyes. And although he was no longer a diplomat, he was still working as an advisor to intelligence structures (pentagonito) when the six Jesuits and two female workers were assassinated on November 16, 1989.”
The crimes supported by the management of Leopoldo Castillo and collaborators such as Edmundo Gonzalez are considered “crimes against humanity” and, therefore, are imprescriptible.
The day will come when they will have to be held accountable to Spanish and Salvadoran justice for their participation in the extermination of religious men and women and peaceful communities that stood on the side of peace during the war that ravaged El Salvador. The terrible aftermath of their actions
Bloodthirsty past of Edmundo Gonzalez revealed
He was recruited by the CIA, sent to the Venezuelan embassy in El Salvador when Leopoldo Castillo was ambassador, and death squads were unleashed against religious and children.
Edmundo González Urrutia, the candidate of the right wing, participated in the financing and logistics of brutal acts in El Salvador, when he was an official of the Venezuelan embassy in that country, at the time when Leopoldo Castillo was the ambassador.
This was revealed on Wednesday, by the first vice-president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Psuv), Diosdado Cabello.
The past of Edmundo González was made known by a former Colombian official, María Catalina Restrepo Pinzón de Londoño, through a letter sent to Cabello, who read it in the program.
“Under Castillo’s command and Gonzalez Urrutia’s advice, the infamous death squads were unleashed. The reports from those days are chilling: from massacres of innocent civilians, to the persecution and assassination of teachers and community leaders. Not to mention the ruthless attacks against religious and children,” reads part of the missive.
It adds that “Edmundo was supremely committed to these atrocities, being an active part of the financing and logistics of these brutal acts. The situation was so serious that the Church itself and some international organizations were raising their voices against the violence, which was known to have the unrestricted support of the same embassy where this second-rate official worked”.
“The reality is that these types of stories remind us of the importance of looking critically at the past and the characters who, although in ‘secondary’ roles, played a crucial part in events that changed the lives of thousands. Edmundo, although perhaps a bit player on paper, was a key player in one of the darkest pages of Central American history. It is not surprising, therefore, that he is now the U.S. government’s candidate of choice”,
Highlights the letter from the former Colombian official.
Captured by the CIA
The document indicates “that on November 24, 1976, Gonzalez Urrutia joined the Venezuelan embassy in the United States as a civil servant, in the middle of the development of Plan Condor; there he was captured by the CIA”…", and later, in July 1981 he was transferred to the Venezuelan embassy in El Salvador, whose ambassador was Leopoldo Castillo.
Massacres
It is worth mentioning that the participation of the Venezuelan opposition journalist Leopoldo Castillo in the massacre of the six Jesuit priests and two female collaborators murdered in 1989 is still being investigated.
According to several sources, in his capacity as Venezuelan Ambassador to El Salvador, Castillo would have supported and collaborated in the murder of Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Martín-Baró, Juan Ramón Moreno, Amando López, Joaquin López, Elba and Celina Ramos.
Castillo currently resides in Miami, he is related to the extreme right, as well as his participation in the School of the Americas and his links and collaboration with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Source: CubaDebate
Chavez should have gone full Leninist with democratic centralism, the global north sanctions Venezuela anyway
When a EU-lib tries to talk to you about Venezuela in the next couple of weeks, just send them this picture and tell them to fuckoff talking about South America
Is the without precedent part true? If so, any idea to the significance?
Suni and Shia divide is highly exaggerated as part of Western agenda. Both Suni and Shia are very well aware of this and are self-consious in avoiding controversies and praising similarities.
The divide and differences is an essential part of Western narrative to explain away instabilities that they cause in Middle East as conflicts between sects and religions.
The president of Iran, Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian, wrote in his user account on the X social network:
Today, dear Iran is mourning its partner in sorrow and joy, the eternal and proud companion of the path of resistance, the brave leader of the Palestinian resistance, the martyr of al-Quds, Haj Ismail Haniyeh. Yesterday I raised his victorious hand and today I have to bury him on my shoulders.
Martyrdom is the art of men of God. The bond between the two proud nations of Iran and Palestine will be stronger than before, and the path of resistance and defense of the oppressed will be followed stronger than ever. The Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity, honor and respect, and make the terrorist invaders regret their cowardly action.
“Indeed, Allah is the Most Merciful and Vengeful”
Source: https://xcancel.com/drpezeshkian/status/1818549280694477182
The guy who invested 700K in Intel yesterday lost 200K in one day lol
That was me 😔 please don’t make fun
this is a clear signal to triple down on margin. you’re not leveraged enough and other people will make more money and then they’ll be fitting you with a shock collar, instead of you fitting them with a shock collar. borrow as much as you can and buy buy buy
Worth a read, US general wants a Marshall Plan for Latam to combat China. Mainly mentions Belt and Road as the threat they’re worried about.
spoiler
A top U.S. military general wants a “Marshall Plan” for Latin America but is likely more concerned about China’s encroachment into America’s backyard with “dual use” infrastructure than about what poor people in the Global South actually need.
But then again, Gen. Laura Richardson, SOUTHCOM commander, is a military officer,not a diplomat or humanitarian program lead at USAID. Richardson told an audience at the Aspen Security Forum last week that the U.S. has been MIA in the region while Russia and especially China has been exploiting the post-COVID economic downturn with both military outreach (Russia recently in Cuba) and development projects (Beijing’s Belt and Road).
That is why Washington needs to offer its own “Marshall Plan” to Latin America, which it views as it its own sphere of influence. She said 22 of the 31 countries in the region have signed on to the Belt and Road development program.
“How are we competing Team USA and Team Democracy with the tenders that are coming out from [other] countries? How are we getting our U.S. quality investment and talking about our U.S. companies investing in the region? We have a lot of companies in the region. I don’t think we’re branding Team USA as we should. It should be better. We’ve got to be bragging about what U.S. quality investment does,” she said.
The Marshall Plan, proposed by Secretary of State George C. Marshall in a speech at Harvard University in 1947, was launched by President Harry S. Truman in 1948 to help Europe rebuild after World War II. The plan provided $13.3 billion in aid to 16 countries through 1951, about $150 billion in today’s dollars.
“I really believe that economic security and national security are going hand-in-hand here in this hemisphere,” she said. Security of course, is the optimal word here. "If (Belt and Road is) for doing good in the hemisphere, then I’m all for it. But it makes me a little suspicious when it’s in the critical infrastructure … deep water ports, 5G, cybersecurity, energy, space … I worry about the dual use nature of that,” Richardson said.
“These are state-owned enterprises by a communist government and I’m worried about the flipping of that to a military application very quickly if something were to happen, maybe in the Indo-Pacom region,” she said.
Therein lies the crux of the situation. On one hand she is absolutely right. As in Africa, Global South countries are reacting to economic outreach from China and Russia because a) they need it and America (private nor public) isn’t in the game and b) help from China and Russia doesn’t appear to come with as many strings as U.S. assistance might demand. She may also be on point that there are a dearth of high-level visits and attention to the region, giving the very real impression that Latin America is an afterthought.
But we should also ask why the military is taking the lead on asking the real questions here. Where are the diplomats? Is this just another argument for putting more military eyes and assets in the region?
Richardson is right to raise the issue: it is past time that Washington stop whining about China’s influence and apply some elbow grease to nurturing productive relations with its neighbors that aren’t just about military or political ideological influence. In other words, a two-way street, that if paved well, will mean security and prosperity for everyone. But we should also ask why the military is taking the lead on asking the real questions here, and who, in the end will be providing the answers.
If the US says you should be worried about Belt and Road for its military uses then you should be MORE worried about any US competitor to that given the history of the US in the region.
The mercenary thinks her masters still operate off a Keynesian conception of society and economics
Nah this particular general I’ve heard speak before and she is ALL about exploitation of resources in the region, preventing China’s access and ensuring america’s exploitation of it. She is 110% evil as shit. I can’t stand her. And I say this as someone who thinks Milley for example at least had his head screwed on properly.
What she has cooking here isn’t remotely in good faith, it’s a strategy she sees as militarily necessary because they’re losing ground to China.
