July 25, 2020

'Act of genocide.' Eugenics program tried to 'breed out' Black people in NC, report says

BY HAYLEY FOWLER
JULY 22, 2020 05:43 PM , UPDATED JULY 23, 2020 01:26 PM

For more than four decades North Carolina’s statewide eugenics program forcibly sterilized almost 7,600 people — many of whom were Black.

That wasn’t a coincidence, according to a new academic paper.

Duke University professor William A. Darity Jr. co-authored a report published in the American Review of Political Economy that correlates 10 years of forced sterilizations in counties across the state with the number of unemployed Black residents, finding the program was all but designed to “breed (them) out,” according to a university news release.

“This suggests that for Blacks, eugenic sterilizations were authorized and administered with the aim of reducing their numbers in the future population — genocide by any other name,” the paper states.

From 1929 to 1974, North Carolina’s eugenics program sterilized close to 7,600 men and woman, making it impossible for them to reproduce or conceive, according to The Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation.

More:
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article244411987.html

July 25, 2020

After the HQ fire, will Trump deploy his 'personal militia' to protect AZ Democrats?

Opinion: It should come as no surprise that inflamed emotions can lead at some point to actual flames.

EJ Montini
Arizona Republic
Published 5:56 p.m. MT Jul. 24, 2020 | Updated 10:17 p.m. MT Jul. 24, 2020



Where was Donald Trump’s ‘personal militia’ when we needed them?

He seems to be perfectly content using federal officers as his own paramilitary, deploying them to cities where they are not wanted in order to divert attention from his abysmal handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

They’ve done nothing in those cities but exacerbate the problems that already existed, which also might be according to plan. Chaos seems to be Trump’s campaign strategy.

And all that discord now seems to have trickled down to our little burg.

In the form of a fire.

What you suspected turns out to be true.

I say “you” because I’m pretty sure when you heard about the late-night fire at Arizona's Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Phoenix your first thought was – arson.

More:
https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/ej-montini/2020/07/24/trump-deploy-his-personal-militia-protect-az-democrats/5508138002/

July 25, 2020

Nikki Haley's 'Groveling' Claim About Donald Trump Leaves People Bewildered

07/25/2020 03:01 am ET

The former U.N. ambassador’s spin on Trump’s decision to cancel part of the RNC because of the coronavirus raised more than a few eyebrows.

By Lee Moran

Nikki Haley attempted to rewrite the narrative on President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel the Jacksonville, Florida, element of the Republican National Convention in August over fears about the coronavirus.

And Twitter users weren’t buying it, accusing the former U.N. ambassador of “groveling” to the president.

Haley, also the former GOP governor of South Carolina who has been rumored as a potential replacement for Vice President Mike Pence on Trump’s 2020 ticket, tweeted Friday she was “proud of the selfless leadership” the president had shown in nixing the large-scale event that had been expected to attract tens of thousands of visitors.

Trump “has a great story to tell on how he turned out economy & foreign policy around,” Haley continued. “We look forward to sharing it in the next 100 days!”

More:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nikki-haley-donald-trump-convention-claim_n_5f1bd065c5b6296fbf42ff1d

July 24, 2020

Long Overdue for Latin America

JULY 23, 2020

by MEDEA BENJAMIN - STEVE ELLNER

U.S. policy towards Venezuela has been a fiasco. Try as it might, the Trump regime-change team has been unable to depose President Maduro and finds itself stuck with a self-proclaimed president, Juan Guaidó, who President Trump was reported to have called “a kid” who “doesn’t have what it takes.” The Venezuelan people have paid a heavy price for Trump’s debacle, which has included crippling economic sanctions and coup attempts. So has U.S. prestige internationally, as both the UN and the EU have urged lifting sanctions during the pandemic but the U.S. has refused.

This is only one example of a string of disastrous policies toward Latin America. The Trump administration has dusted off the 19th century Monroe Doctrine that subjugates the nations of the region to U.S. interests. But as in past centuries, U.S. attempts at domination are confronted at every turn by popular resistance.

Instead of continuing down this imperial path of endless confrontation, U.S. policymakers need to stop, recalibrate, and design an entirely new approach to inter-American relations. This is particularly urgent as the continent is in the throes of a coronavirus crisis and an economic recession that is compounded by low commodity prices, a belly-up tourist industry and the drying up of remittances from outside.

A good reference point for a policy makeover is Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy” in the 1930s, which represented an abrupt break with the interventionism of that time. FDR abandoned “gunboat diplomacy” in which Marines were sent throughout the region to impose U.S. will. Though his policies were criticized for not going far enough, he did bring back U.S. Marines from Nicaragua, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and scrapped the Platt Amendment that allowed the U.S. to intervene unilaterally in Cuban affairs.

More:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/07/23/long-overdue-for-latin-america/

July 24, 2020

Colombia seeks to end justice system investigating paramilitary crimes: report

by Adriaan Alsema July 23, 2020

Colombia’s prosecution reportedly wants to end the justice system that has revealed the involvement of politicians, military commanders and businessmen in paramilitary war crimes.

According to newspaper El Espectador, multiple sources from the office of the prosecution confirmed that Prosecutor General Francisco Barbosa is looking into ways to end the so-called “Justice and Peace” transitional justice system.

. . .

Businessmen accused of being involved in or even ordering paramilitary war crimes for profit, a practice called “para-economics,” have however enjoyed almost absolute impunity.

Many of these alleged war criminals have been aligned with the far-right Democratic Center party of President Ivan Duque, Barbosa’s long-time friend.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/colombia-seeks-to-end-justice-system-investigating-paramilitary-crimes-report/

July 23, 2020

US House threatens to cut aid for Colombia over failing peace policies, human rights violations

by Adriaan Alsema July 22, 2020

The United States House of Representative threatened to cut US support for Colombia over human rights violations and President Ivan Duque‘s failure to implement peace policies.

The House also demanded that the State Department guarantee Colombian officials involved in the illegal use of US spying equipment for criminal purposes would be brought to justice.

The House, which is controlled by the Democratic Party, also wants to suspend the disbursement of 20% of the Department of the Defense’s counternarcotics budget to Colombia until the South American Country’s Constitutional Court certifies Duque is complying with the peace process.

The Representatives additionally want verification Bogota is in compliance with agreements in the 2016 peace deal over the protection of ethnic minorities who have claimed to be the victim of extermination.

. . .

Democrats’ slap in Duque’s face

The conditions are a slap in the face for Duque whose political patron, former President Alvaro Uribe, is being investigated over illegal spying by the National Army.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/us-representative-conditions-aid-for-colombia-to-duque-adhering-to-the-law/

July 20, 2020

Colombia exceeds 9 million victims as country sinks deeper into armed conflict

by Adriaan Alsema July 19, 2020

The ongoing killing of demobilized members of the FARC and the AUC, the systematic assassination of Colombia’s social leaders and a thriving drug trade are sinking the country back into war.

Only a few FARC guerrillas have forgotten how their 1985 attempt to join politics and the demobilization of the AUC ended up in mass exterminations and a resurgence of armed conflict.

Prison: a good reason to oppose peace
President Ivan Duque and his far-right political party may be losing electoral force, but the Democratic Center party and its leader, former President Alvaro Uribe, are inciting violence more than ever and for good reason.

The demobilization of the AUC threw many dozens of Uribe’s allies in prison. The peace process with the FARC and ongoing criminal investigations into the former president’s drug ties and alleged war crimes leave the impression it is going to be their turn to go to jail next.

Drug trafficking and pandemic adding fuel to fire
At the same time, record cocaine production is providing more revenue than ever to arm illegal armed groups and submit Colombia to the same terror the country suffered in the worst years of the armed conflict.

More:
https://colombiareports.com/colombia-exceeds-9-million-victims-as-country-sinks-deeper-into-armed-conflict/

July 16, 2020

Businessman wins Dominican presidency in virus-marked vote

MartÍn JosÉ Adames AlcÁntara, Associated Press
Updated 7:45 am CDT, Monday, July 6, 2020

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A businessman who has never held elected office has won the presidency of the Dominican Republic, according to results Monday, ending a 16-year run in power by a center-left party.

Luis Rodolfo Abinader had won about 53 percent of Sunday's vote with most of the polling places reporting, topping Gonzalo Castillo of the Dominican Liberation Party, which has governed since 2004. Trailing far behind was three-time President Leonel Fernandez.

Castillo acknowledged “an irreversable tendency” in favor of Abinader and congratulated him, as did outgoing President Daniel Medina, who was barred by term limits from seeking a third four-year term.

The elections took place as the new coronavirus pandemic was sweeping across the Caribbean nation of some 10.5 million people. Abinader himself spent most of the past month in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 and the vote itself had been postponed from May due to the disease.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/article/Businessman-wins-Dominican-presidency-in-15388299.php

~ ~ ~




Amid Ukraine swirl, Giuliani’s work for candidate in Dominican Republic caused unease



Rudolph W. Giuliani, right, greets Dominican presidential candidate Luis Abinader during a news conference in Santo Domingo in February 2016. (Erika Santelices/AFP/Getty Images)
By
Joshua Partlow and
Josh Dawsey
Feb. 20, 2020 at 8:20 a.m. CST

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — The politics of this Caribbean island nation do not frequently capture the attention of the stewards of America's foreign policy, but Secretary of State Mike Pompeo phoned down last summer with a clear message.

Dominican President Danilo Medina’s supporters were pushing to change the country’s constitution to allow him to run for an unprecedented third term. In a call with the president, Pompeo emphasized the importance of “adherence to rule of law and the constitution,” according to a State Department readout.

That message was echoed a week later in person by President Trump’s personal attorney Rudolph W. Giuliani.
“If you want to change the constitution, change it for the future,” Giuliani told reporters during a July 2019 visit to Santo Domingo. “Don’t make it look like you’re changing it for you. Don’t change it for this election.”

Giuliani was not in the Dominican Republic as Trump’s representative. He was speaking as a paid consultant to an opposition presidential candidate, Luis Abinader, a businessman who had been protesting the possibility of a constitutional change allowing the incumbent to run again.

. . .

Giuliani’s presence in Santo Domingo annoyed rival Dominican presidential candidates who felt Abinader was trying to buy his campaign an American seal of approval, according to candidates and their advisers. And it concerned officials in the presidential palace who scrutinized Giuliani’s comments for signs he was speaking for Trump, according to a person familiar with the discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal talks.

. . .

“Why in the world would you care about my work in the DR except to once again try to suggest falsely that there is some question about it?” he asked in a text message. “Don’t you have anything better to do? Whatever I did in DR was perfectly lawful and appropriate.”

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/amid-ukraine-swirl-giulianis-work-for-candidate-in-dominican-republic-caused-unease/2020/02/19/82794c22-4c21-11ea-9b5c-eac5b16dafaa_story.html

July 15, 2020

Soft Power: Americans in Its Grip at Home Must Face the Mischief It Wields

JULY 14, 2020

by B. NIMRI AZIZ

I suspect most Americans would approve of what they understand to be this nation’s global cultural reach as expressed through its ‘soft power’. A term coined by an American political scientist, soft power “involves shaping the preferences of others through appeal and attraction”. Contrasted with coercive measures, it’s achieved largely through cultural means, although nevertheless a feature of foreign policy. Probably as old as politics itself.

Soft power politics are long-term, sociable and gentle. (Certainly nothing dangerous!) To say that they’re ideologically driven would be guileless. Some definitions are less circumspect, describing soft power as “using positive attraction and persuasion to achieve foreign policy objectives”. When at work domestically, it may be akin to kneeling-softly-on-the-neck, persuading Americans how this is a land of equality and unparalleled freedom.

U.S. citizens may even consider America’s soft power abroad with pride: “This is how we’re helping others– securing democratic principles, sharing advanced (sic) intellectual, medical and cultural resources. American films, so popular (and lucrative) globally, augmented by satellite-enabled news and entertainment channels are, I would argue, among the most effective examples of this power. Music and literature cannot be excluded too.

Boosting commercially-driven exports are government-funded programs like Peace Corps, high school scholarships, youth exchanges, anthropological research and conferences. All proceed at an undiminished pace, whichever party rules. These programs also carry that ‘cold light of reason’ imparted to foreign peoples held to be short on ‘objectivity’ or ‘reason’. Implicit in this largesse is an intellectual and aesthetic superiority on the part of the donor.

More:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/07/14/soft-power-americans-in-its-grip-at-home-must-face-the-mischief-it-wields-by-bnimri-aziz-july-11-2020/

July 15, 2020

The blinding of Gustavo Gatica and the return to unrestrained police state violence in Chile

By Mauricio Saavedra
15 July 2020

Eight months after university student Gustavo Gatica was blinded by riot police, not one officer has been arrested. In the case of factory worker Fabiola Callimpai, who was nearly killed by the impact to the head of a teargas canister, the Carabineros have not made public which officers were involved. These two cases are representative of thousands of human rights abuses committed in Chile since the eruption of massive demonstrations against social inequality last year. They reveal a level of impunity not seen since the 17-year military dictatorship, when thousands were arrested, tortured, killed and disappeared.

On July 6, the Investigations Police (PDI) made a perfunctory promise to the Human Rights Commission of the lower house of Congress that investigations into the two cases would be concluded in the “following days.” The PDI has been promising this undertaking since prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus in March, but continues to drag its feet as human rights groups and investigative journalists publish further damning evidence. The PDI works in coordination with the civilian Public Prosecutor’s Office, a toothless body when it comes to prosecuting Carabineros.

“The police have an obligation to communicate the results in order to lower the perception of impunity,” PDI director general Héctor Espinosa told the parliamentary deputies. “We are committed to the truth … I have absolute confidence that my institution will rise to the occasion in these two cases, because the country needs to know what happened.”



Lt. Col. Crespo pointing gun at a firefighter in Plaza Dignidad. (Credit: @frentefotografico)

Espinosa seemingly convinced the parliamentary human rights commission and its president Emilia Nuyado (Socialist Party), who openly praised the institution.

No class-conscious worker, youth or student—those who have borne the brunt of escalating human rights abuses—has any expectation that the thoroughly corrupt and brutal state repressive apparatus, which acts in the service of corporate and financial ruling elites, will be brought to justice. The Carabineros are an autonomous military unit barely answerable to civilian bodies and have from the outset lied, obfuscated and withheld information in these cases, as in so many others before and after them.

More:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/07/15/chil-j15.html