Venezuela-ALBA Weekly 10.11.2019 Ecuador anti-neoliberal uprising shakes up South America

Ecuador Revolt

Anti-Lenin Moreno protests against his painful IMF neoliberal measures continue to shake up Ecuador Protests against IMF austerity reached their eighth day in Ecuador, as civil society groups denounced the increased police violence, with the country’s Public Defender office confirming that five people have been killed so far.

‘Lenin Moreno is Out of Reality’, President Maduro President Maduro’s pronouncement occurred after Lenin Moreno blamed him for the Ecuadorean popular protests and dared to call Maduro an “authoritarian bastard.” .The Venezuelan President recalled that Latin America is currently the scene of the dispute between two different visions of the economy. “We have two models: the IMF model which privatizes everything and takes away the people’s rights to health, education and work; and the humanist-progressive model which is emerging in Latin America and has the Bolivarian Revolution at the forefront.”

A Silenced Unrest in Ecuador? The Media’s Culpability There is virtually no coverage of the massive resistance to Moreno in Ecuador in the corporate media in the US. We know all too well how the coverage would be if this was say Venezuela or Bolivia.

Progressive Governments and Social Movements Back Ecuador anti-neoliberal Protests Social organizations like Brazil’s MST, Argentina’s Movement for the People, Colombia’s National Indigenous Organization (ONIC), along with Presidents Maduro and Evo Morales expressed their solidarity with the protesters.

Indigenous Protesters Take Eight Police Officers Hostage Amid Ecuador Unrest

‘Absolute chaos’ as thousands protest in Ecuador’s capital, braving tear gas and clashes with police

Venezuela

The Latest on the Diplomatic War Against Venezuela Trump administration, as well as its allies in the Lima Group and the Venezuelan opposition, were set to intensify the diplomatic war on the Venezuelan government at the UN General Assembly.Their plan had several goals: increase the number of countries that recognize Juan Guaidó (the president of the National Assembly who was anointed interim president of Venezuela by the Trump administration); link Venezuela to Colombian guerrilla groups; and convince more countries to impose sanctions. There was even a plot to revoke Venezuela’s status at the United Nations.

USAID allocates $98 million more for regime change operations in Venezuela The U.S. Agency for International Development sealed a multi-million dollar agreement with the Venezuelan opposition on Tuesday. The $98 million deal signed in Washington will go towards medium- and long-term projects involving non-governmental organizations as well as to the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Venezuela Receives $4 billion in Russian Investment, arrests more corrupt government figures the new agreements open the way for “the participation of Russian firms in every field of [Venezuela’s] strategic production,” including transport, oil, mining, petrochemicals, and national defence. They also reportedly include the transfer of technology to local industries. Russia agreed to supply Venezuela with 1.5 million flu vaccines and 5 million other assorted treatments, including insulin, while in agriculture Maduro spoke of “highly advanced projects” that will reportedly be carried out with “the direct presence of Russian investment and technology.” Russian grain exports to Caracas are also due to triple from 254,000 tonnes in 2018 to 600,000 in 2019.

Code Pink: No U.K. Sanctions on Venezuela! Ask Britain to Return Venezuela’s Gold

Ron Paul Institute: Trump Triples Down on Venezuela Regime Change, Even as he Faces One Himself Leaving aside the giant flaming hypocrisy of promoting “democracy” by hand-picking another country’s leader, banning its elected government and endorsing a military coup, what does one do when the project keeps failing? Triple down, obviously. Being an empire means never having to admit a mistake. Without an ounce of self-awareness, the Democrats are now accusing Trump of endangering democracy while Republicans are accusing Democrats of a coup. Yet both parties seem to be perfectly fine with both – so long as it’s the US doing it, and elsewhere.

Letter urging Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to help support dialogue and end murderous sanctions in Venezuela We hope that in the future you will refrain from taking sides, as Nancy Pelosi has done, in the internal conflict in Venezuela and call for continued dialogue between both camps, as Mexico, Uruguay, Norway, Switzerland, the UN Secretary General and the Vatican have done. We also hope that you will do everything in your ability to put an end to the administration’s deadly sanctions, which amount to economic warfare against the citizens of Venezuela. We urge you to introduce legislation to lift these sanctions in tandem with your progressive colleagues in the house.

Bolivia

Bolivia and Nicaragua Launch Large Reforestation Plans Bolivia began ‘Plan Paradise’ to restore flora and fauna in the Chiquitania area near Brazil that was devastated by forest fires. Nicaragua is also launching reforestation plans, announcing they are restoring 140,000 hectares of forest in areas that had been cleared for pine wood.

Tom Whitney: Upcoming elections to test Bolivia’s socialist government Between 2005 and 2018 extreme poverty dropped from 39% to 15.2%, the minimum monthly salary rose from $54 to $305, mortality rates during the first five years of life fell 61%, the infant mortality rate fell 56%, and life expectancy at birth increased by nine years, The Gini index, which measures income inequalities, demonstrates the greatest equalization trend in Latin America. 100% of older citizens receive pensions (the regional average is 59%). The government provides direct payments to all pregnant women, to all families with infants, and to families with school-age children – for the sake of school supplies and transportation.

Nationalization Added 670,000 Jobs to Bolivia’s Economy Extreme poverty in Bolivia has been reduced from 38.2% in 2005 to 15.2% in 2018. A report by the think tank CELAG says due to the nationalization of strategic industries, $74 billion of additional revenue was generated and up to 670,000 jobs created since 2006. Three million Bolivians have been lifted out of poverty, one-third of the population.

Nicaragua

Nicaragua and the Neocolonialist Faux Revolutionaries Ever since a social democrat faction split from the FSLN in 1994, many Western progressives and radicals have persistently attacked Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista Front for National Liberation (FSLN). Up until 2005, some former leading FSLN figures who left the party could perhaps legitimately claim to uphold the ideals of the FSLN’s historic program. But from 2005 onwards, all the ex-Sandinistas worked together with Nicaragua’s US controlled right wing opposition.the government’s most recent National Human Development Plan which has updated the historic FSLN program and makes nonsense of the central motif of almost all left-wing attacks on the FSLN, namely that under Daniel Ortega the FSLN in the current international context has betrayed its original revolutionary ideals.

Cuba

Hostile Measures Imposed on Cuba since June 2017

Cuba Manages Fuel Shortage With Venezuelan, Russian Cooperation Since late September, Venezuela has sent at least eight tankers to Cuba carrying about 3.83 million barrels of crude oil and fuel, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon and PDVSA. Venezuelan crude oil exports to Havana increased by almost 143,000 barrels per day, which has allowed that there are no longer long lines at gas stations, although diesel is still scarce. Currently, domestic oil production meets about 40% of the Island’s needs, and 60% is met with imported fuels, from Russia, Venezuela, Algeria and other allied countries. Despite growing international cooperation, Cuba experiences difficulties due to U.S. economic and financial blockade.

Events

Sept 20- Oct 14 Speaking Tour: Cuba, An Economy Under Siege: with Cuban economist Dr. Jourdy James Heredia

Wed October 16: Venezuela Embassy Protectors to Speak in Berkeley

October 19, NYC: Holding the Future Hostage: A Conference on Hybrid Wars, Sanctions and Solidarity

October 22 Columbia, Maryland, Camilo Mejia on Nicaragua Regime Change

October 26, Vancouver: 8th International Che Guevara Conference

Third Anti-imperialist Solidarity Conference for Democracy and against Neoliberalism.

Havana, November 1-3, 2019 (click here for how to go)

Halifax, Oct 31-Nov. 2: The Cuban Revolution at 60 International Conference

Delegations

National Network on Cuba delegation to November Solidarity Conference

Cuba: Building Relations with Cuban Labor: November 2019 Trip to Cuba