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Reports on the threatened coup in Venezuela have mostly overlooked the gross belligerence of the Trump administration. Global Left Midweek brings you news and opinion from the left press, including translations from Spanish by Portside.

This draws on articles about the 1991 Gulf War the author wrote which drew on the writer's extensive research for her 2008 novel, "When You Come Home" (Curbstone)-- which chronicles the lives of young veterans returning home from Desert Storm.

Reader Comments: GOTV Phonebanks for People of Color Voters; Voter Suppression, 2018 elections; Trump Conspiracy with Saudis; Migrant Caravan; Syrian Civil War; Marx in Music; Solidarity with Cuba; Announcements - New York and Berkeley; and more ...

There is a new ménage-à-quatre in the region, bringing Israel, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and the United States ever closer. And...an unexpected fifth player lurking in the shadows: Russia.

Maybe Trump really thinks sanctions will produce a "better" Iran deal. More likely, they're designed to justify conflict - an unwinnable conflict that will destabilize the Middle East and the world’s economy, and pour more of this country’s resources into yet another quagmire.

Everything else that Trump has or hasn’t done about Russia, any sanctions, any tariffs, any expelled diplomats, absolutely pales in comparison to the huge boost in oil revenues he provided to the Russian economy by backing away from the Iran nuclear deal.

This is not “democracy promotion," it is regime change, by any means necessary.

On Friday, a group of members of Congress published a letter opposing the threatened sanctions. It began, “We write to express our deep alarm regarding the escalating political, economic and social crisis in Venezuela and urge you to work with our regional partners to help prevent a civil war. We strongly recommend that you support negotiations mediated by respected external actors such as Pope Francis, who enjoys credibility with broad segments of Venezuela’s people.

A federal judge rules that the Dakota Access pipeline did not receive an adequate environmental vetting. The rulling in favor of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Wednesday, handing the tribe its first legal victory in its year-long battle against the Dakota Access pipeline.