Pointing to Disastrous History of US Intervention, Sanders Warns Against Military Action in Venezuela
Jake Johnson, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2019-05-03
"I will do everything I can to see that U.S. troops do not get involved in a civil war in Venezuela." | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/abrams_pompeo_0.jpg…
commondreams.org/news/2019/05/03/pointing-disastrous-history-us-intervention-sanders-warns-against-military-action?cd-origin=rss

US sanctions killed more than 40,000 in Venezuela
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-03
US sanctions imposed on Venezuela in 2017 contributed to the deaths of more than 40,000 people last year, according to a new report — and this figure is set to rise due to the latest round of sanctions. | According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research report co-authored by economists Jeffrey Sachs and Mark Weisbrot, the 2017 sanctions deprived Venezuela of billions of dollars it needed to pay for essential food and medicine, leading to a rise in disease and mortality and the displacement of millions seeking to flee the worsening situation. | The report states: "The sanctions exacerbated Venezuela'…
greenleft.org.au/content/us-sanctions-killed-more-40000-venezuela

This Is Our Port! May Day 2019 Speakers At Oakland Howard Terminal
Labor Video Project | indybay.org | 2019-05-03
May Day protest at the Port of Oakland Howard terminal where A's billionaire owner John Fisher wants to build a new A's stadium and 4,000 $1 million dollar condos. The rally was initiated by ILWU Local 10…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/01/18823066.php

What Past Civil Wars Tell Us About the Future of Syria
Robert Fisk | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
When Syrian government soldiers first recaptured the small village of Deir Hafar from Isis in 2017, they found the black-painted but hurriedly abandoned Islamic "court" strewn with piles of documents. These hundreds of pages contained terrible proof of how the Syrian civilians there had behaved under at least three years of Isis occupation. I arrived in…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/what-past-civil-wars-tell-us-about-the-future-of-syria/

We thought it was merely a stone, but it carried away our wealth
Vijay Prashad | mronline.org | 2019-05-03
n Venezuela, the political leadership of the oligarchy beg for the men in green to set aside the Constitution, as Juan Guiadó and the Venezuelan right-wing opposition attempted a military coup in Venezuela this Tuesday. | Source…
mronline.org/2019/05/03/we-thought-it-was-merely-a-stone-but-it-carried-away-our-wealth/

Why Won't the Mainstream Media Call It a Venezuelan Coup?
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-05-03
By refusing to acknowledge efforts to oust Maduro for what they are, the political press has again proved itself a stenographer for power.
truthdig.com/articles/why-wont-the-mainstream-media-call-it-a-venezuelan-coup/

Venezuelan economist: 'Hyperinflation is a powerful imperialist weapon'
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-03
Much is made in the media of Venezuela's deep economic crisis. But why does Venezuela have the world's highest inflation rate and what impacts have the sanctions really had on the country? Green Left Weekly's Federico Fuentes spoke to Venezuelan economist Pascualina Curcio, from the Simón Bolívar University, to find out more. | Hyperinflation is a grave problem in Venezuela, but its causes are less clear. How do you explain it?: | The determinant cause of hyperinflation in Venezuela is the political manipulation by third parties of the exchange rate between the bolívar [Bs, Venezuela's local currency] and…
greenleft.org.au/content/venezuelan-economist-%E2%80%98hyperinflation-powerful-imperialist-weapon%E2%80%99

U.S. Government Plan, Dated 23 February 2018, for Coup in Venezuela, Now Leaks Out
Eric Zuesse | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-03
A detailed plan from "UNITED STATES SOUTHERN COMMAND" dated "23 FEBRUARY 2018" was issued with the title "PLAN TO OVERTHROW THE VENEZUELAN DICTATORSHIP 'MASTERSTROKE'" and is here presented complete. | This document was personally signed by Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, who …
globalresearch.ca/u-s-government-plan-dated-23-february-2018-coup-venezuela/5676380

Trump, Putin Discuss Nuclear Pacts, Mueller Report in Hour-Long Call
Staff | truthdig.com | 2019-05-03
WASHINGTON–President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than an hour Friday about nuclear weapons agreements, the conflict in Venezuela, North Korea and also briefly about special counsel Robert Mueller's just completed report on Moscow's interference in the 2016 election. | "They had a very good discussion. Spoke for a little over an hour," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at the White House. "They discussed nuclear agreements, both new and extended, with the possibility of having conversations with China on that front as well." | "There was a discussi…
truthdig.com/articles/trump-putin-discuss-nuclear-pacts-mueller-report-in-hour-long-call/

Media lies in service of war for regime change in Venezuela
wsws.org | 2019-05-03
As top Trump administration officials make increasingly explicit military threats, the corporate media acts as a propaganda service for imperialist intervention.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/05/03/pers-m03.html

Venezuela Repudiates Interventionist Position of Panama's Gov't
plenglish.com | 2019-05-03
03 de mayo de 2019, 15: 59 | Caracas, May 3 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza repudiated on Friday the position of Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela, for attacking Venezuela "to please its bosses from the North."
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=41582&SEO=venezuela-repudiates-interventionist-position-of-panamas-govt

Venezuela: Lopez Arrest Warrant Issued as Military Show Strength for Maduro
Paul Dobson | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-03
Venezuela's judicial authorities have issued a new arrest warrant for fugitive opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez following his escape from house arrest early Tuesday morning. | Caracas' Fifth Court revoked Lopez's house arrest Thursday and ordered his immediate detention, indicating that once …
globalresearch.ca/venezuela-lopez-arrest-warrant-military-show-strength-maduro/5676421

Pointing to Disastrous History, Sanders Warns Against Military Action in Venezuela
Jake Johnson | theantimedia.com | 2019-05-03
(CD) — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday condemned the Trump administration's threats to take military action in support of right-wing coup plotters in Venezuela. The Vermont senator joined the chorus of progressive members of Congress and advocacy groups warning that U.S. intervention would only worsen political turmoil in Venezuela–and could potentially spark an all-out civil war. "The Trump administration …

Pointing to Disastrous History, Sanders Warns Against Military Action in Venezuela

UN Stresses: 'Use of Force Isn't the Solution in Venezuela'
plenglish.com | 2019-05-03
United Nations, May 3 (Prensa Latina) The President of the UN General Assembly, Maria Fernanda Espinosa, believes that the use of force and violence is not the solution to what is happening in Venezuela, stressed her spokeswoman, Monica Grayley.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=41581&SEO=un-stresses-use-of-force-isnt-the-solution-in-venezuela

"Psychopath Capitalism": US Economic Terrorism and Genocide Against the People of Venezuela
Carla Stea | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-03
The U.S. maneuvers to destroy the Maduro government's UN accreditation, and replace it with their puppet Guaido are horrifying and Machiavellian, and, quite realistically, since the US has absolutely no scruples, nor any respect for international law, there is an ominous possibility that they may succeed.
globalresearch.ca/us-economic-terrorism-genocide-people-venezuela/5676366

Use of Spanish Embassy to Instigate Coup in Venezuela Criticized
plenglish.com | 2019-05-03
Madrid, May 3 (Prensa Latina) Venezuela"s Ambassador to Spain, Mario Isea, has stronglycriticized on Friday Leopoldo Lopez ¥s use of Spanish Embassy in Caracas since Tuesday to instigate a coup d ¥état against the Venezuelan Government.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=41580&SEO=use-of-spanish-embassy-to-instigate-coup-in-venezuela-criticized

US Imposes Illegal and Deadly Sanctions on Venezuela in David vs. Goliath Battle
Edward B. Winslow | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-03
"We are complicit in crimes against humanity when we know about them and when we don't stop them." — Jacob Appelbaum | The unilaterally issued economic sanctions that the US leveled against Venezuela in 2017 and this year violate international laws …
globalresearch.ca/us-imposes-illegal-deadly-sanctions-venezuela/5676365

German government backs attempted right-wing coup in Venezuela
wsws.org | 2019-05-03
In a joint press release with the far-right Brazilian government, the German Foreign Ministry gave its unconditional backing to the criminal attempted coup in Venezuela.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2019/05/03/maas-m03.html

Trump's "Troika of Tyranny" Meddles in Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua
Staff | truthout.org | 2019-05-03
Under the guise of protecting human rights, the Trump administration is illegally meddling in three countries it has dubbed the "troika of tyranny" — Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. National Security Adviser John Bolton claimed, "Miami is home to countless Americans, who fled the prisons and death squads of the Castro regime in Cuba, the murderous dictatorships of Chavez and Maduro in Venezuela, and the horrific violence of the 1980s and today und…
truthout.org/articles/trumps-troika-of-tyranny-meddles-in-venezuela-cuba-nicaragua/

San Diego PSL stands with workers everywhere on May Day
Michaela Malone | liberationnews.org | 2019-05-03
Carrying signs printed with the words "Hands Off Venezuela," members of the PSL and the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) also stressed the need for solidarity with working class Venezuelans…
liberationnews.org/san-diego-psl-stands-with-workers-everywhere-on-may-day/

Venezuela embassy protectors stand strong against coup supporters' attacks
Walter Smolarek | liberationnews.org | 2019-05-03
Despite escalating violence carried out by supporters of the coup attempt, anti-war organizers residing in the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C. are standing strong with the support of steadfast activists outside the building.
liberationnews.org/venezuela-embassy-protectors-stand-strong-against-coup-supporters-attacks/

Medea Benjamin Swarmed by Thug Friends of Trump, Biden, Pelosi
Register Peace & Freedom or Green | indybay.org | 2019-05-03
While Medea Benjamin of Code Pink was leaving the Venezuelan embassy in Washington DC where she was a protector of that embassy, she was swarmed by huge thugs trying to terrorize her with their size and noisemakers. See www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS1Ix6glsk4&feature=youtu.be…
indybay.org/newsitems/2019/05/01/18823079.php

Venezuela: Another coup fails
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-03
"Interim President" Juan Guaido and right-wing opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez spearheaded an unsuccessful coup attempt in Caracas on April 30. | The thwarted uprising started in the early morning hours when renegade military and intelligence officers reportedly released Lopez from house arrest. Lopez then joined Guaido and a handful of soldiers on the Altamira overpass in east Caracas, outside the Francisco de Miranda airbase, known as La Carlota. | Lopez and Guaido released videos on social media, call…
greenleft.org.au/content/venezuela-another-coup-fails

MintCast Episode 2: Failed Coup in Venezuela, Forgotten US Atrocities in the Koreas, and Joe Biden's Race Problem
Alan Macleod | mintpressnews.com | 2019-05-03
MintCast co-hosts Alan MacLeod and Whitney Webb discuss current events in Sri Lanka, France and Venezuela and also delve into U.S. efforts to hide the real history of the Korean War, as well as Joe Biden's history of teaming up with notorious American racists.
mintpressnews.com/mintcast-episode-2-failed-coup-venezuela-forgotten-us-atrocities-koreas-joe-bidens-race-problem/258154/

U.S. Lies to Justify Further Attacks on Cuba
Bertha Mojena Milián | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-03
In statements to the press on Wednesday afternoon, the Cuban Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director for the United States, Johana Tablada, reiterated that "Cuba does not participate with military troops or personnel in military operations in Venezuela" | *** | "There are no …
globalresearch.ca/u-s-lies-attacks-cuba/5676417

New Yorkers celebrate May Day
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2019-05-03
New York, NY – On May 1, hundreds of people in New York City celebrated on International Workers' Day. The day was kicked off in Harlem, where a rally for the laundry workers was held as they demanded better working conditions. The day continued at a Trump Tower on Wall Street. Hundreds gathered near the Stock Exchange under the banner "No walls in the workers struggle." | Speeches centered on the different struggles workers are currently facing in the United States and abroad. Many of the speakers also brought up Venezuela and how we need to keep fighting against U.S. intervention. | Once the program ended, th…
fightbacknews.org/2019/5/3/new-yorkers-celebrate-may-day

Venezuelan Authorities Prepare National Dialogue for the Weekend
plenglish.com | 2019-05-03
03 de mayo de 2019, 14: 04Caracas, May 3 (Prensa Latina) The preparatory meeting for a great national day of dialogue in Venezuela brought together in Caracas social organizations and authorities on Friday after the call made by President Nicolas Maduro.
www.plenglish.com/index.php?o=rn&id=41571&SEO=venezuelan-authorities-prepare-national-dialogue-for-the-weekend

Venezuela on the cusp of a coup: An eye-witness visitor reports
Maicol David Lynch | peoplesworld.org | 2019-05-03
CARACAS, Venezuela–"I don't care for Maduro as a leader, but I'm all for socialism!" This was the response I received time and time again from the so-called "opposition" to the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) headed by Nicolás Maduro during my 14-day visit in the country last month. I was sent to Venezuela as …
peoplesworld.org/article/venezuela-on-the-cusp-of-a-coup-an-eye-witness-visitor-reports/

Venezuela: Another Failed Coup Attempt
Peter Koenig | dissidentvoice.org | 2019-05-03
In the early morning hours of 30 April, 2019, the self-declared "Interim President", Juan Guaidó, launched what at first sight appeared to be a military coup — Guaidó calls it "Operation Freedom" (sounds very much like a Washington-invented title) — against the democratically elected, legitimate government of Nicolas Maduro. With two dozen of defected armed …
dissidentvoice.org/2019/05/venezuela-another-failed-coup-attempt/

'We saw this playbook in Iraq': Ilhan Omar shoots back at VP Pence in socialism spat
rt.com | 2019-05-03
Freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has fired back at Vice President Mike Pence, after Pence accused her of "choosing socialism over freedom" by opposing regime change in Venezuela. | …
rt.com/usa/458316-ilhan-omar-venezuela-pence/

Heavy water and uranium enrichment: US imposes additional nuclear sanctions on Iran
rt.com | 2019-05-03
The Trump administration will sanction any assistance to expand Iran's nuclear power plant at Bushehr and ban exports of heavy water and any further uranium enrichment, the State Department has announced. | …
rt.com/usa/458327-sanctions-nuclear-iran-uran/

Video: Turkey Sponsored Militants Claim Russians Killed in Hama, Attack Hmeimim Air Base
South Front | globalresearch.ca | 2019-05-03
On May 1, the Turkish-backed coalition of militant groups, the National Front for Liberation, claimed that its members had killed 4 Russian servicemembers with mortar shelling in the village of Braidij in northern Hama. | The reports came amid a new …
globalresearch.ca/militants-claim-4-russians-killed-hama-attack-hmeimim-air-base/5676340

Trump's Abortion Lies Are Going to Get Somebody Killed
Sonali Kolhatkar | truthdig.com | 2019-05-03
In examining the flood of lies that spills out of President Donald Trump's mouth on a daily basis, arguably the most egregious are his claims about abortion–and specifically, about so-called "late-term abortions." Trump has repeated several times in the past a myth created by anti-abortion activists. For example, during his State of the Union address in January, he said, "Lawmakers in New York cheered with delight upon the passage of legislation that would allow a baby to be ripped from the mother's…
truthdig.com/articles/trumps-dangerous-lies-about-abortion-are-going-to-get-someone-killed/

500,000 bees killed by Texas arsonist
Olivia Rosane | nationofchange.org | 2019-05-03
Police are looking for an arsonist who burned several beehives in | Alvin, Texas, leading to the deaths of more than half a million bees, CNN reported Wednesday. | The | hives belonged to the Brazoria County Beekeepers Association, which had | 24 colonies at the site in total. The hives were discovered burning | early Saturday morning by a sheriff's deputy, who extinguished the | flames. Some of the bee boxes had also been tossed into a pond on the…
nationofchange.org/2019/05/03/500000-bees-killed-by-texas-arsonist/

Sri Lanka: Behind the Easter Sunday bombings
susan_p | greenleft.org.au | 2019-05-03
On April 21 (Easter Sunday) hundreds of people were killed in bomb explosions at three churches, three hotels and a guest house in Sri Lanka. | The attacks were carried out by suicide bombers. Authorities blamed an extremist Muslim group called the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ – National Monotheism Society). Later, the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility. | Sri Lanka has had a violent history in the seven decades since its independence in 1948. But this history did not include any major conflict between Muslims and Christians. Both Muslims and Christians have in recent years come under attack from Buddhi…
greenleft.org.au/content/sri-lanka-behind-easter-sunday-bombings

What Officer Noor's Conviction Says About Racism in America
aclu.org | 2019-05-03
For the first time, Minnesota convicted a police officer for killing someone. That he was Black and the woman he shot was white must not be ignored. | On Tuesday, April 30, a Minnesota jury convicted police officer Mohamed Noor of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for shooting and killing Justine Damond, a white Australian woman. Damond had called 9-1-1 to report a possible sexual assault near her apartment and then approached Noor's squad car when he and his partner responded to the call. Noor killed Damond, and he deserved to be found guilty. His decision to shoot and kill an unarmed person wit…
aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police-practices/what-officer-noors-conviction-says-about-racism

Elections in Spain: Regime Maintenance Disguised as Democratic Vitality and the Possibility of Change
Thomas S. Harrington | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
In last Sunday's Spanish elections, Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Party (PSOE) considerably expanded its presence in the country's Parliament, while the Popular Party (PP), which for more than two decades has quite purposefully and successfully driven the country's arena of "thinkable thought" toward the hard right, had its poorest electoral showing in years. The other big…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/elections-in-spain-regime-maintenance-disguised-as-democratic-vitality-and-the-possibility-of-change/

Is 5G Worth the Risks?
Iishana Artra | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
In recent months there's been a lot of talk about 5G — the next generation of wireless technology. 5G is being touted as a necessary step to the 'internet of things' — a world in which our refrigerators alert us when we're low on milk, our baby's diapers tell us when they need to be…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/is-5g-worth-the-risks/

Trump vs. Congress and Our Constitution
Ralph Nader | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
Donald Trump is the most impeachable president in American history. Many Democrats, however, are running away from the word "impeachment" for tactical political reasons. Some Democrats say they have a sworn duty under the Constitution to present articles of impeachment for a vote in the House of Representatives, regardless of the refusal by the Republican…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/trump-vs-congress-and-our-constitution/

Lou Reed: That Which Does Not Kill Us Can Radicalize Us
Bruce E. Levine | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
While not as well-known as "Walk on the Wild Side" and "Perfect Day," and not one of the classics he wrote for the Velvet Underground (such as "Heroin" and "I'll Be Your Mirror"), Lou Reed's "Kill Your Sons," about his electroconvulsive "therapy" (ECT) as a 17-year-old, gives voice to an event that majorly radicalized him…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/lou-reed-that-which-does-not-kill-us-can-radicalize-us/

A Border Crisis of Our Own Making
Jean Stokan | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
For more than 30 years, I've led faith-focused delegations to Central America — and since 2016, to U.S.-Mexico border communities. We've taken nuns, bishops, rabbis, and grassroots congregants to learn about realities rarely covered in the news. This April our delegation visited El Paso, Brownsville, and McAllen, Texas, as well as Juarez and Matamoras, Mexico.
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/a-border-crisis-of-our-own-making/

The Ends of Arms Control
John Feffer | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
My first trip to Washington, DC to do something other than protest on the streets was to interview for a Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship, which brings young people to the nation's capital to work on arms control and disarmament. It was 1987, around the time that Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/the-ends-of-arms-control/

Someone Tell Krugman: We Don't Even Have a Paper Democracy
Paul Street | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
I am as horrified as Paul Krugman at the authoritarian threat posed by Donald Trump and his supporters, but in different ways, with a different understanding. Listen to Krugman's following dialogue with Anderson Cooper on CNN last week: Cooper:…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/someone-tell-krugman-we-dont-even-have-a-paper-democracy/

Big Corporations Pay No Income Tax, Unlike You
Pete Dolack | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
Telling you that Donald Trump lied, or that the one percent continue to succeed in their incessant class warfare, ranks in the astonishment department with being told the Sun rose in the east this morning. Do we really need more evidence? Necessary or not, more evidence continues to be delivered. The latest delivery comes courtesy…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/big-corporations-pay-no-income-tax-unlike-you/

Predator Cops, Guilty of Sex Crimes Against Women and Children, Are a Menace to Society
John W. Whitehead | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
"Sexual predation by police officers happens far more often than people in the business are willing to admit." –Former Seattle police chief Norm Stamper How could this be happening right under our noses? That's what readers wanted to know after my column went viral about the extent to which young children are being bought and…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/predator-cops-guilty-of-sex-crimes-against-women-and-children-are-a-menace-to-society/

Black Women Political Prisoners of the Police State
Linda G. Ford | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
The Rev. Joy Powell says she was "raped, railroaded and bamboozled" by police. Her crime? Being a poor black woman who faced off against the police–protesting their violent brutality against black people in Rochester, NY. Once she defied them, she was warned, then targeted and framed for serious crimes. A few weeks ago, Australian Julian…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/black-women-political-prisoners-of-the-police-state/

Dare to Know: the Paradox of Greek History
Evaggelos Vallianatos | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
Growing up in the 1940s in a Greek village was neither a baptism in Greek culture nor an indoctrination to nationalism. This was because "modern" Greece has been going through the suffering of centuries of foreign occupation and official neglect and often ignorance about the country's unrivalled ancient civilization. Greek history was interrupted by barbarian…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/dare-to-know-the-paradox-of-greek-history/

Roaming Charges: Biden in Plain Sight
Jeffrey St. Clair | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
Joe Biden will never again be more popular than he was the day before he entered the presidential race. Still his residual appeal, a misbegotten nostalgia for the Obama years, vaulted Biden 20 points ahead of his nearest Democratic Party rivals in a Quinnipiac poll taken a few days after Biden's announcement (in a creepy video) and his first campaign gigs, where, despite decades of service in the legislative ranks of Wall Street, he cunningly wrapped himself in the union label.
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/roaming-charges-biden-in-plain-sight/

To Be Hopeful in Bad Times
Kenn Orphan | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/to-be-hopeful-in-bad-times/

Environmental Crisis, Oil Geopolitics and the Trump Diversion
Rob Urie | counterpunch.org | 2019-05-03
America in 2019 is a very strange place. The problems of the age: looming environmental calamity, the threat of nuclear annihilation and accumulating class tensions, keep being shoved to the side through diversionary tactics. No sooner had a range of left programs been consolidated under the banner of a Green New Deal than establishment Democrats…
counterpunch.org/2019/05/03/environmental-crisis-oil-geopolitics-and-the-trump-diversion/