DefendEmbassyProtectors: Embassy Protectors Will Not Be Able to Tell Jury Guaido Is Not President, or Mention International Law On February 4, the judge ruled the courtroom cannot state that Nicolas Maduro is the lawful president of Venezuela, not the coup leader Juan Guaido. Even though everyone, including the judge and prosecutors, knows that Guaido has not served one nanosecond as president since his self-declared presidency one year ago, the jurors will not be allowed to be told that critical fact. They will be led to believe that Guaido’s fake ambassador Carlos Vecchio is real.This is important in the Embassy Protectors’ case because the government’s excuse for entering the embassy to make false arrests was based on Carlos Vecchio, a fake ambassador of a fake president, giving them permission and ordering the eviction of the protectors.
Venezuelanalysis: Interview with Embassy Protection Collective: ‘We Are Not the Ones Who Violated the Law’ “This trial is the state’s challenge to peace, justice and anti-imperialist activists because it was the first time US citizens entered a foreign embassy to protect it from a US-led [attempted] coup. The government wants to send a message to anyone who stands in the way of regime change efforts that they will be punished for doing so.”
Granma: 58 years later, Cuba Continues to Resist U.S. blockade A heroic example of what a people can do. Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla likewise posted a message stating: “58 years after its imposition, the U.S. blockade against Cuba constitutes the most unjust, severe and prolonged system of unilateral coercive measures ever applied against any country. It is genocidal, violates the human rights of an entire people, and must end.The blockade persists and harms families, but it has failed to achieve its central objective of defeating the Cuban Revolution. The unity, perseverance and dignity of our people, our unbreakable spirit has resisted all coercion and pressure.”
See also Cubavsbloqueo.cu/en
TortillaConSal: “Nicaragua – the April Crisis and Beyond”, a film by Dan Kovalik and German Gutierrez documentary here:Nicaragua: The April Crisis and Beyond
Orinoco Tribune: Nicaragua Will Launch a “Women for Life” Campaign Rosario Murillo, Vice President of Nicaragua: “The relaunching of our Women’s Police Stations, from the Women’s Institute, the Procurator for Woman, the Reconciliation Commission, from the General Attorney’s Office and all the authorities that have a duty to protect the lives of us women, women for life, women to life, women who are talented, intelligent, effective, not only guaranteeing as we have the first places in the world in gender equity at the institutional level, but guaranteeing that we walk towards a Nicaragua free of violence towards women because we know how to be absolutely responsible, the state, all institutions, the mayors and each one of us, promoting dignity and law, respect in our family and communities”
Washington Post: Trump meets with Venezuelan opposition leader, but his interest in the issue has waned excerpt: President Trump met with Juan Guaidó for the first time, ending weeks of speculation that he would snub the man the United States and dozens of other countries recognize as the legitimate president of Venezuela. A scheduled opportunity for reporters to ask questions as the two sat down in the Oval Office was canceled by Trump press officials without explanation. Trump’s public interest in the issue has waned, and he has mentioned the young opposition figure less and less frequently as the months have gone by. Guaidó is also facing defectors within his own ranks, and a movement divided over the way forward, with some embracing Maduro’s call for new parliamentary elections but not the new presidential vote that Guaidó and the United States have demanded.
Alan Macleod: Trump State of the Union address: Democratic “Resistance” Give Trump’s Venezuela Aggression a Standing Ovation In a show of bipartisan support for regime change congressional Democrats applauded along with their Republican colleagues after Trump used his State of the Union address to praise Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who heads a failed U.S-backed coup against his country’s elected president. Guaidó received an extended bipartisan standing ovation. It was one of the few times that House Speaker Pelosi and Democrats stood to applaud during Trump’s speech.
Telesur: Russian FM to Visit Venezuela to Help Counteract Sanctions “The agenda includes a discussion of steps … to counteract illegal unilateral sanctions that worsen the socioeconomic situation in Venezuela,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Lavrov will travel first to Cuba, who is also under an inhuman economic blockade, before making his way to Caracas for an official visit.
TeleSur: Venezuela Commemorates 28th Anniversary of National Dignity Day February 4
In his speech, President Maduro said that a group of mercenaries financed and trained by the government of the President of Colombia, Iván Duque, had been sent to the nation to carry out attacks against military units and ships. Maduro also revealed that recently a United States warship tried to enter the Venezuelan waters, but was deterred by the Bolivarian Republic’s military.
Code Pink’s Teri Mattson interviews Bolivian journalist Ollie Vargas on Bolivia Code Pink’s “WTF is Going On in Latin America” Bolivian journalist Ollie Vargas joined us from Bolivia to discuss post November 10 coup conditions in the run-up to the May 3 Presidential Elections. Ollie has been in Bolivia since early December reporting for MIntPress News.
Back issues of Venezuela-ALBA Weekly in 2018-2020 are here
Delegations
Code Pink Delegations to Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Colombia
Canadian Che Guevara Voluntary Work Brigade to Cuba, April 27-May 10
Human Rights Delegation to Honduras, May 7-17
Events
Washington, DC February 7 Fundraiser for Embassy Protectors Facing Trial
Columbia, MD February 16 Friends of Latin America Report Back from Nicaragua
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) conference. NYC. February 21-23
Join the International Days of Action against Sanctions and Economic War March 13-15 National Conference for the Normalization of US-Cuba Relations, NYC March 21-22
Sites to Follow Venezuela, Bolivia:
