CEPR: New Study Estimates Over Half a Million People Die Each Year Due to Unilateral Economic Sanctions A new study in the British medical journal The Lancet finds that unilateral economic sanctions lead to about 564,000 excess deaths around the world each year. Most of the sanctions-related deaths in the five decades after 1970 were children under the age of five. This human toll is roughly equivalent to total deaths from wars, including civilian casualties. Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said, “And sanctions are widely misunderstood as being a less lethal, almost nonviolent, policy alternative to military force.” The use of economic sanctions has grown substantially in recent decades,” with “25% of all countries … subject to some type of sanctions by either the USA, the EU, or the UN in the 2010–22 period, by contrast with an average of only 8% in the 1960s.”
Ubai al-Aboudi Vijay Prashad: The global economic benefit from the genocide of Palestinians The recent report by UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese revealed the web of global corporations that prop up and profit from Israel’s genocidal policies against the Palestinian people. Among the implicated are familiar names: Amazon, Blackrock, Google, Lockheed Martin, and Volvo. Each of these firms, and many universities (particularly the Massachusetts Institute for Technology), have differential investments in the displacement of Palestinians and their replacement by Israeli settlers. On January 12, 2024, Palantir formed a partnership with the Israeli military industry to assist in the genocide. A full list of these arms companies is maintained by the American Friends Services Committee (AFSC). The AFSC section on Amazon says: “Israeli military intelligence uses AWS [Amazon Web Services] servers to store masses of intelligence information on almost everyone in Gaza. Since 2021, Amazon has been providing cloud services to the Israeli government under Project Nimbus, a USD 1.2 billion contract it shares with Google. It provides cloud services to all branches of the Israeli government, including the military, the Israeli Security Agency (Shabak/”Shin Bet”), Police, and Prison Services; weapons manufacturers Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael; and government agencies related to Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank.
Ultimas Noticias: President Maduro: There is No Better Way to Celebrate Chávez’s Birthday Than With People Mobilized “Honor and glory to our Commander Hugo Chávez, a man destined to be the great redeemer of the humble people, the Bolivarian people. He was the great resurrector of the Liberator Simón Bolívar…There is no better way to celebrate Commander Hugo Chávez’s 71st birthday than with yesterday’s great victory, Sunday, July 27. We won 285 municipalities, 85% of Venezuela. We are a true force, an empowered people…while the opposition went from 125 to 50 mayoralties. They lost 75.”
TeleSur: Chavez and the Resurrection of a People Hugo Chávez led aunique process, a revolution that changed the Constitution of a country. However, this revolution took place peacefully and through voting, permanently changing the social and political reality of Venezuela. His legacy with the Venezuelan people ranges from nationalization of the means of production, such as oil and gas, to agrarian reform, the end of illiteracy, infant mortality, and hunger. Among the main transformations promoted by his government is the idea of participatory democracy and popular power, creating a new concept of politics: the mission of creating a Communal State. Venezuela is today the country in the world with the highest number of elections and popular consultations for its people.
Another important legacy of the Comandante is the recovery of Simón Bolívar’s thought: removing it from academic debate and placing it in political reality. Chávez criticized the influence of the USs and defended the need for a world with multiple centers of power, where different visions and interests are considered.
Co-President Daniel Ortega on anniversary of Hugo Chavez birth: Chavez too is alive, he is risen, he is in all of us, he is in all of our Peoples Hugo Chavez “was born on July 28th 1954 and today we are commemorating his birth, but we are also commemorating another year of his life, because heroes never die, they always live on, they always fight on… Having known Comandante Hugo Chávez, from the very first moment I sensed in him firmness, tenderness and a Heart as great, as big, as good, as that of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and I would say that on that day, on this day, a Saint was born in Venezuela…He is the noblest Saint I have ever known, in the conversations we had, there was nothing of evil, there was nothing of hurting others. No! What he wanted was for us to unite and to help each other, and that Venezuela was willing to help in any way it could, so that the economies of the most impoverished countries in this Region could develop.”
Co-President Rosario Murilla: Remembering Chávez is to live out the Courage that characterized him “We who had the Honor and Pride of knowing and interacting with Comandante Chávez, got to know his Heart, that first of all he is in the Heart of the People and is the Heart of the People, but also that his Heart was immense, reaching out and reaching every one of us. And every time he came to Nicaragua, he lavished Love, Tenderness, Soul-to-Soul Communication with this People which is also his own. And not only was. But is now, because he lives on here.”
Isaac Christiansen: Attacking the Cuban Medical Brigades: The Desperation of the Empire The US continues to slander and discredit the Cuban Revolution, claiming on multiple occasions and against all evidence, that the Cuban medical missions are a form of “forced labor.” Over the years, Cuban medical internationalism grew even larger than the international assistance provided by the World Health Organization. In 2017, the World Health Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization awarded the Henry Reeves Brigade at the World Health Assembly. According to the WHO and PAHO, by 2017, the Henry Reeves’ Brigade had treated more than 3.5 million people and had saved around 80,000 lives. 57 Henry Reeves Brigades had provided assistance to more than forty countries and treated 1.26 million people infected with covid. If the value of Cuban medical assistance were to be calculated for the more than 180 countries that have benefited from Cuba’s internationalist assistance for just the period between 1999 and 2015, the amount would come to around $71.5 billion dollars or approximately 6.6% of Cuba’s annual GDP. In addition to these figures, Cuba graduated over 73,000 foreign health professionals. This medical assistance has saved the lives of approximately 5.8 million people. Now, 245 US doctors graduated from ELAM. It is clear that the US government’s zeal to sabotage Cuba’s international medical collaboration constitutes an attack against the health of the planet’s most vulnerable populations, in addition to basing itself on shameful slanders. While the US sends weapons to Israel to murder the people it is starving in Gaza, Cuba sends doctors to the world.
Mision Verdad: Venezuela on the Verge of Eradicating Hunger Imposed by the US Blockade Venezuela is once again on the verge of eradicating hunger. This was recognized by the FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP, and WHO in their annual report on The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2025. This scourge had disappeared in Venezuela since 2006, thanks to the policy of former President Chávez. Since the imposition of illegal coercive measures (euphemistically referred to as sanctions) by the US and its allies in 2014, hunger reappeared, part of the war to stifle the economy, prevent the supply of essential goods, and negatively impact food security and sovereignty.
It was in 2015 when undernourishment reappeared in Venezuela and reached its peak in 2019. Hunger has been reduced from 17.6% to 5.9% in the last three years, from 5 million to 1.7 million people. This illustrates the concrete achievements in the national food sector, figures that confirm that Venezuela has firmly stood up to the war against hunger and is winning it.
Orinoco Tribune: President Maduro Personally Awards Iranian Broadcaster Who Defied ‘Israeli’ Missile Strike Live on Air Maduro personally presented the Simón Bolívar National Journalism Award 2025 to Iranian Public Broadcasting presenter Sahar Emami. She was broadcasting live last June when the Israeli colony bombed the station’s studios. The award was presented in person July 31, at the Sarría Rebelde commune in Caracas. “I present this award to you [Emami],” President Maduro said, “in the name of all the women of Venezuela, all the social communicators of Venezuela, and our people. By giving it to you, I give it to the heroic and victorious people of Iran. Iran can always count on Venezuela.”
TeleSur: Claudia Sheinbaum Achieves 80% Approval, Reflecting Strong Popular Support for Progressive Social Policies in Mexico Ten months into her presidency, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum enjoys an 80% approval rating, driven by robust support for social programs, healthcare, and women’s rights. The results signal growing public trust in her progressive leadership amid challenges like insecurity and corruption. Claudia’s soaring approval ratings confirm her as a central figure in Latin America’s leftist resurgence, emphasizing social programs, popular participation, and anti-imperialist sovereignty.
Orinoco Tribune: Venezuela Survey: 68% Report Active Commune Where They Live According to the Ministry of Communes, there were 3,663 registered communes in the country as of December of last year. The official number of community councils is 49,183 nationwide.
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Upcoming Events
August 24, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar. Learn about SINAPRED, Nicaragua’s National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters, and how it contrasts with the US system.
August 29-31 (Detroit): Peoples Conference for Palestine
August 30-Sept. 1 (Portland): International Migrants Conference
September 7 (Britain): Viva la Solidaridad! Stand with Latin America Against Trump
September 12 (Toronto): Defend the Human Rights of Latin American Migrants!
September 21, 3 pm ET: Nicaragua Webinar on Nicaragua’s and Venezuela’s remarkable housing programs, with Sofia Clark and Elizabeth Santos from Venezuela’s FundaVivienda
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Delegations to Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela:
Venezuela
December delegation to Venezuela for the World Summit for Mother Earth-Global Ecosocialists
Cuba
Witness for Peace delegations to Cuba
November 15-23: Cooperatives & 10 Best Practices in Cuba
Friendly Planet delegations to Cuba
Nicaragua
Casa Ben Linder Email casabenjaminlinder@gmail.com to apply:
November 2025: Salud & Solidaridad: Hands-On Healthcare in Nicaragua
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