“We found that a few hundred natives living off their land and fighting for it could tie down thousands of American troops... and provoke a segment of our population to take the view that what happens in the Far East is none of our business.”
...more than four years have passed since the police shot Amílcar Pérez-López a few blocks from my house in San Francisco’s Mission District. He was an immigrant, 20 years old, and his remittances were the sole support for his mother and siblings...
It was 7 AM April 30th in Caracas when I awoke to hear gun shots outside my hotel. Our group, seven US citizens and one Canadian, had been in here since April 27 attending a housing conference and looked forward to the next day’s May Day celebration.
U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó launched an attempted coup. Dozens of people were injured in the bedlam that ensued. Guadió was hoping enough military leaders would defect, toppling the government of Nicolás Maduro. It flopped.
Reader Comments: Eyewitness Reports from Caracas, Venezuela; Impeachment debate; Anita Hill; Ilhan Omar; Higher Minimum Wage; Walt Whitman; Pete Seeger Tribute; Hubble Measurements; Racism and Women's Suffrage; lots of Announcements and more....
The current crisis is not simply the story of a brave opposition and a brutal Ortega. It is a long-simmering conflict among different groups that has been carefully manipulated to put Nicaragua firmly and securely back under U.S. hegemony.
The pattern is similar to events in Libya, Syria and Venezuela, where extreme right-wing political minorities conspired with foreign elites to overthrow the national status quo.
It is difficult to say how much López Obrador could, or would, do if elected, given the forces arrayed against him, both at home and from the north. But if there is a reform candidate and party in the race, it is López Obrador and his Morena party.
Obama's plan to bomb Syria with cruise missiles will do nothing to hasten the end of the conflict. Instead, it will likely prolong it. The US couldn't end the Iraqi civil war despite having over 100,000 boots on the ground. It is highly unlikely that Washington can end this one from 30,000 feet. The "limited" Tomahawk Cruise missile strikes with "no boots on the ground" are quickly expanding to "a broader strategy" to arm and strengthen opposition rebels.
The deepening violence of the Syrian civil war is also in some measure a consequence of Libya: Qaddafi's disbanded army and unguarded weapons moved southward in Africa, but they also moved eastward to Asia. The state terror of the most "surgical" air war leaves in its wake many thousands of stateless terrorists.
Spread the word