US Political Prisoner Alex Saab
National Lawyers Guild International Calls for the Immediate Release of Venezuelan Diplomat Alex Saab The NLG International calls for the immediate release of Venezuelan Special Envoy Alex Saab, imprisoned in a Miami federal prison by the US in a violation of diplomatic norms and protections. The arrest, extradition and continued imprisonment of Saab is a reflection of the extent to which the U.S. government will go in order to enforce its unilateral coercive measures and economic sanctions against Venezuela, Iran and other targeted nations. Saab now faces one US charge, conspiracy to launder money. This recalls the long history of the use of conspiracy charges by US prosecutors, particularly in political cases.
Code Pink (Leonardo Flores): “It can’t be illegal to help a people” – The persecution of Alex Saab Saab is virtually unknown in the US, where he is currently languishing in a Miami prison, but he has been vital to Venezuela’s ability to survive the brutal economic war being waged by the US. He is a political prisoner whose case has parallels to that of Julian Assange. Both have been subjected to extraterritorial reach by US authorities, as neither are US citizens, and their alleged crimes took place outside of the country. Assange is in jail for telling the truth. Saab is in jail for helping feed Venezuelans.
Kawsachun News: Venezuela National Assembly President Jorge Rodriguez answers US lies that Alex Saab is a USDrug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Informer When asked by a reporter following a press conference, Rodríguez called it strange the US would claim that Alex Saab has “collaborated” when it’s widely known that the diplomat was savagely tortured; “two of his teeth were knocked out; they kept him incommunicado, on the floor full of worms. He was also kidnapped 24 hours before the elections which the criminal president who submitted to the designs of Washington was going to lose.” “It’s a lot like this whole Ukraine tale. The invasion of Ukraine was yesterday, and the troops are here and they are coming (…) Now they come out with this line about Alex Saab. If that’s the case, why did they knock out two of his teeth by beating him savagely back in Cape Verde?”
Venezuela
Venezuelanalysis: Venezuela Declares War on Corruption
Orinoco Tribune: Venezuelan Army driving out Colombian Paramilitaries from Border Areas Major General Vladimir Padrino López reported that “the Bolivarian National Armed Force has dealt heavy blows to the mafias and gangs that deal in drug and human trafficking, and which belong to the Colombian Armed Terrorist and Drug Trafficking Groups [TANCOL].” He warned that these gangs trained in Colombia are trying to export the Colombian armed conflict into Venezuela. “We have seen how there have been intentions to internalize the Colombian conflict in our country, to ‘colombianize’ Venezuela through a paramilitary war and economy.”
Orinoco Tribune: Venezuela Expresses Total Support for Russia on Ukraine Tensions Russia has the full support of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in the fight it is putting up to dispel the threats from NATO and the Western world,” said the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
TeleSur: Argentine Army Planned an Invasion of Venezuela in 2019 A new journalistic investigation revealed that Argentina’s army contemplated the invasion of Venezuela, between April and July 2019, under the government of former President Mauricio Macri, who supported the U.S. military strategy to overthrow President Nicolás Maduro. Regarding the Argentine participation in the plans against Venezuela, Admiral Craig Faller, head of the Southern Command, visited Buenos Aires and before cadets of the Joint War College of the Armed Forces warned against the threat of China and Venezuela.
Documentary: Venezuela: Creativity Against All Odds (2021) Interviews with Venezuelans from different walks of life about their work in recuperating the economy in face of the US economic war.
PeoplesDispatch: ALBA Movimientos to hold third Continental Assembly in Argentina, April 27-May 1 Over 150 delegates from people’s movements, trade unions, and left political formations from across Latin America and the Caribbean will gather in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, from April 27 to May 1. Our assembly should first respond to a central question: how do we bring the peoples of the continent together to fight for a common project, with the forces that we have in this moment; and how do we build a correlation of forces to defeat imperialism and work towards the triumph of the people for a second and definitive independence in Our America.” Over the four days of the Assembly, delegates will debate the pressing tasks of the platform within the current context, strategies for expansion, and methodologies for taking the work forward.
Nicaragua
Dissident Voice (Stan Smith): The Gains of Nicaraguan Women During the Second Sandinista Government After the 1979 Sandinista victory, living conditions for women drastically improved, achievements the period of neoliberal rule (1990-2006) did not completely overturn. Throughout the second Sandinista period (2007- today), the material and social position of women again made giant steps forward.The greatest advance has been made by poor women in the rural areas and barrios, historically without safety, electricity, water and sanitation services, health care, or paved roads.
Webinars
February 19: The US War on Venezuela
February 20: Nicaragua Joins the New Silk Road
March 18-20 International US-Cuba Normalization Conference
Delegations
Friends of the ATC delegations to Nicaragua 2022
International May Day Brigade to Cuba April 24- May 8
Che Guevara Volunteer Work Brigade from Canada April 26 – May 10
Latin American School of Medicine Scholarships
Pastors for Peace delegations to Cuba 2022
Pastors for Peace 32nd Friendship Caravan to Cuba July 16-30
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