Alba countries, Venezuela & ALBA Weekly Newsletter

Venezuela & ALBA News: Nicaragua Takes Germany to ICJ for Support to Israeli Genocide; New Campaign of Food Aid to Cuba; US Interference in Venezuela Elections; Delegations to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba

Nicaragua

Internationalist360: Nicaragua’s Case against Germany at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Nicaragua formally submitted an application at the ICJ against Germany, accusing the country of both failing to prevent a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, but also of having “contributed to the commission of genocide”. Nicaragua asked the ICJ to declare that Germany has failed to uphold its obligations under the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide in Gaza, by providing support to Israel and by cutting funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa). Nicaragua also called on the World Court to order Germany to halt its aid and support to Israel.

NicaNotes: UN Human Rights Council Again Supports US Regime Change Plans for Nicaragua But other commissions can become political platforms aimed at demonizing a particular government by crafting narratives that give the semblance of objectivity, while suppressing all evidence that contradicts the prevailing geopolitical consensus. The ultimate aim of such commissions is not to investigate or to provide advice or technical assistance, but to support a campaign of destabilization. They make it plausible to the world at large that the human rights of the population of the targeted country are being grossly violated and that the doctrine of “responsibility to protect” (known as R2P) should be activated.  In other words, regime change, even by force, would be preferable to inaction. This vulgar weaponization of human rights is a favorite device in the tool kit of some hegemonial states. A case in point is the work of the UN’s “group of human rights experts on Nicaragua” (GHREN), appointed to investigate alleged violations in the country in the period since April 2018.

Nicaragua’s Lautaro Sandino at UNAC anti-war conference Nicaragua’s representative in Washington speaks at the conference.

Cuba

Granma: Palestine in the Heart of Cuba in Solidarity “As long as the Palestinian land continues to be martyred, bled, destroyed to its foundations by the hatred of the Israeli occupier, we cannot tire of denouncing the crime and calling on the international community,” expressed President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

Peoples Dispatch: As the US deliberately starves the Cuban people, solidarity activists launch campaign to send flour In the wake of the US’ deliberate starvation of the Cuban people through sanctions, solidarity activists with the People’s Forum has organized a massive campaign to send 800 tons of wheat flour to the island. The People’s Forum is soliciting donations to help provide much-needed wheat flour to Cuba. “What would you do if your neighbor was starving? This is not a hypothetical. Right now the US government is deliberately starving the Cuban people 90 miles to our South. We all must act now.” The State Department claims that its blockade of Cuba exempts shipments of food, medicine, and other humanitarian goods. However, even US officials agree this does not reflect reality.

Acere: US Policy and Food Security in Cuba Cuba is facing an unprecedented food crisis. In March, protests broke out relating to food scarcity and inflation, as well as blackouts. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), “over the past 60 years, the comprehensive social protection programmes of Cuba have largely eradicated hunger and poverty.” The WFP, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Oxfam, UN Special Rapporteurs, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), the Congressional Research Service (CRS), and U.S. experts and officials, among others, have identified U.S. policy as a cause or exacerbating factor in Cuba’s food security difficulties.

Resumen Latinoamericano: Blockade and Subversion against Cuba: Fines to Banks and more than $50 Million for Interference Programs As if the persecution of Cuban finances were not suffocating enough, and in a clear sign of the global nature of that war, the US  imposed a few days ago a fine of $3.7 million on the Swiss bank EFG, accusing it of violating the relentless US measures against Cuba and against individuals from other blacklisted nations.A few months ago, sanctions had also been imposed on the US-based financial company daVinci for not complying with the blockade sanctions.Because of those precedents and others, and due to the qualification as a State that allegedly sponsors terrorism, numerous companies and financial entities in the world refused to operate with Cuba for fear of reprisals from the US government. Between March 2022 and February 2023, the number of foreign banks that for different reasons refused to carry out operations with Cuban banks amounted to 130 (75 from Europe, 21 from America and 34 from the rest of the world), with 267 operations involved.

Venezuela

Mision Verdad: Consensus in US Congress to Impose More Economic Warfare on Venezuela The Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives approved last week, with the votes of Republicans and Democrats, a bill to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela. While US congresspersons promote the bill to reactivate sanctions, the oil company Chevron announced its plans to resume drilling in the Orinoco Oil Belt, a key field where heavy crude oil is extracted, as recently reported by Bloomberg.

Ultimas Noticias: Mexico President AMLO: Venezuela and Cuba Have Global Far-Right Against Them “Now,  the entire right is against Venezuela. The entire right, the entire world, as they are against Cuba.” Venezuela Foreign Minister Gil responded on social media.“The words of the president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador, are extremely accurate. Venezuela not only has the entire fascist right of the world against it but is its own greatest threat due to our firm refusal to become a “backyard” or colony of any other nation with imperial pretensions,” The statements made by AMLO come just when several South American leaders have attempted to revive the so-called failed Lima Group, which tried to condemn Venezuela to regional isolation by far-right governments in Latin America under the direction of the US government.

Cuba Debate: All charges imposed by the US Justice against Alex Saab are withdrawn A Florida judge announced the withdrawal of all charges imposed by the US Justice against the Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who returned to Venezuela last December as part of a prisoner exchange agreed between Caracas and Washington. Judge Robert Scola specifies that under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure and with the authorization of a court, the US “dismisses without prejudice the accusation against the accused Alex Naim Saab Morán, under an executive grant of clemency” signed by President Joe Biden on December 15, 2023.

PSL: US wages campaign of slander against Venezuela’s election For the past 10 years, the Venezuelan people led by democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro have resisted one of the harshest sanctions regimes in history to defend the independence of their country and the process of socialist transformation called the Bolivarian Revolution. Under the ridiculous pretext of “protecting democracy” the Biden administration has revoked one of the licenses for the gold sector and is threatening to not renew the license on the oil sector when it expires on April 18. Their justification? Venezuela is not allowing the right-wing coup supporter and sanctions backer María Corina Machado to run in the elections due to a 15-year disqualification dating back to 2015.

Sputnik: Venezuela President Maduro denounces that the ICJ “has done nothing” to protect Palestine “It seems that the International Court of Justice does not see it, and if one day those organizations have been left naked, that they are at the service of imperial powers, it is at this historical moment in which the International Court of Justice has done nothing to protect the right to life of the Palestinian people,” Maduro expressed on April 3. The president condemned that this court of justice turned its gaze away from the massacre of the Palestinians. In this regard, Maduro demanded an end to “Israel’s genocide against the people of Palestine and that the International Court of Justice rule and stop the genocide.”

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Events

Delegations to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba

  • AFGJ Delegation to Venezuela July 21-31 Join us in Venezuela during its presidential elections to witness, experience and learn about popular democracy in action and celebrate 22 years of the Bolivarian Revolution since the attempted coup against President Hugo Chávez.

If you have events to publicize or find helpful articles for readers on the ALBA countries, please send them to [email protected],  or you can post them on Facebook here: Venezuela; Nicaragua; Bolivia; Latin America in general (here or here) Or send them to  [email protected]

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