Leftnews.org | News and Views from the Left

by Editors — last modified 2019-06-24T08:39:47-04:00
Contributors: Faiz Ahmed, JBB, Graham H. Cox, R. Dubois, JA Cox
The best of the political left-wing from around the web.

Ousted Honduran President Zelaya: The 2009 U.S.-Backed Coup Helped Cause Today’s Migrant Crisis | Democracy Now

— by Faiz Ahmed — last modified Jul 12, 2019 10:58 AM
"Ten years ago, John Negroponte, undersecretary of state, and President George W. Bush warned me and threatened me, when I was president of Honduras, saying that if had relations with Hugo Chávez, then I would have problems with the United States. Six months after that warning, I was removed from power and removed from this country. ... they made a mistake. And I’ll talk to you about the gangs, the maras, in just a moment, to your question. But if you think about the elite in the U.S. government, well, their view for this region is mistaken. They want to go back to the 1980s, which was marked by the Cold War, stigmatizing the opposition. They’ve created shock forces, psychological war, dirty war. Well, if they think that they’re going to be able to stop migration in this way, well, it’s only going to worsen."
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Syriza’s defeat shows the left needs a plan to hold on to power, not just win it | The Guardian

— by Faiz Ahmed — last modified Jul 12, 2019 10:42 AM
"But there are three broader lessons that a left serious about the prospect of government might learn. First, only propose an agenda to take on powerful interests if you have a strategy to fight them and fully intend to pursue it. ... Second, there is a limit to how much any election can achieve under neoliberal globalisation – because no matter who you vote for, capital and its proxies always get in. ... Finally, and consequently, the left cannot limit itself to an electoral strategy alone. Many major social and political advances, from civil rights, workers’ rights, feminism and even democracy itself, started as social movements to distribute and democratise power."
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Iran Remembers When U.S. Killed 300 of Its Citizens, Now Americans Should Too | Newsweek

— by Faiz Ahmed — last modified Jul 03, 2019 10:33 AM
"More than three decades later, many feel that justice was never served as, apart from quietly expressing regret and offering $213,103.45 in compensation per passenger the U.S. military has never admitted fault, nor disciplined any of its own for the deadly incident. "I will never apologize for the United States—I don't care what the facts are," then-Vice President George H.W. Bush told an August 1988 campaign rally less than a month after the incident, widely considered his response to the Iran Air Flight 655 downing. "I'm not an apologize-for-America kind of guy.""
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Venezuela lawmaker Juan Requesens charged over drone attack | BBC

— by Faiz Ahmed — last modified Jul 03, 2019 10:17 AM
"A judge in Venezuela has announced that imprisoned lawmaker Juan Requesens will face trial for allegedly trying to kill President Nicolás Maduro in 2018. Mr Requesens was arrested three days after a drone carrying explosives blew up at a military parade attended by Mr Maduro on 4 August. The opposition politician, who denies the charges, could face 30 years in prison if found guilty."
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Venezuela's June oil exports recover to over 1 million bpd: data | Reuters

— by Faiz Ahmed — last modified Jul 03, 2019 10:11 AM
"Venezuelan oil exports to China have risen consistently since the sanctions hit, the data showed. In February, the volume shipped was 233,000 bpd, and in June it almost tripled to 656,000 bpd. However, PDVSA’s exports to India, another large receiver, have declined to 200,000 bpd, while deliveries to Europe have remained around 85,000 bpd in recent months."
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