Latin American Publications!

Trump appears to be unfamiliar with the 1948 human rights agreement, which was signed by all nations, as he continues to ramp up war threats against the Venezuelan people.

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From Presstv via This RSS Feed.

U.S. President Donald Trump has opened a new online portal for the “Trump Gold Card,” a high-value residency initiative that offers benefits comparable to permanent residency for applicants willing to pay at least one million dollars.

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Trump announced the launch on Truth Social, writing, “THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TRUMP GOLD CARD IS HERE!”, and stating that the portal would go live later in the day. At the White House, he described the program as a “stronger pathway” than the existing green card system, adding that the Gold Card is “much better.”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the initiative seeks to prioritize applicants with higher earnings potential, claiming that current permanent residents earn less than the average U.S. worker and are more likely to seek public assistance. He stated that the new model aims to attract “the best.”

Trump launches “Trump Gold Card”, a new fast-track residency pathway requiring a $1M contribution + $15,000 fee

The White House says it will help retain top global talent, while critics warn it creates a wealth-based immigration system https://t.co/nNqWI4Z2mb

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 11, 2025

According to the portal, the Gold Card is available in three formats. The individual option requires a one-million-dollar payment, while the corporate version—aimed at companies retaining or relocating foreign talent—costs two million dollars. Both require a separate, non-refundable administrative fee of 15,000 dollars.

The administration also introduced the “Platinum Card,” a five-million-dollar premium tier described as offering additional benefits. In another post on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “America’s great companies can finally retain their valuable talent.”

While the White House promotes the initiative as a tool to draw investment and highly qualified professionals, legal specialists warn that it may face regulatory scrutiny and raise ethical concerns due to its resemblance to “golden visa” systems used in other countries.

The proposal was first presented as a potential replacement for the EB-5 visa, created under the 1990 Immigration Act. That program grants permanent residency to foreign investors who make a significant investment in a U.S. enterprise and generate at least ten full-time jobs for American workers or immigrants with work authorization.

The administration argues that the new card system modernizes investment-linked immigration, while analysts note that its future may depend on regulatory review and broader public debate over pay-to-enter residency schemes.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a record 901-billion-dollar National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026, strengthening Washington’s military commitments in Europe and Ukraine while cutting several domestic programs.

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The bill passed with 312 votes in favor and 112 against, and now moves to the Senate for debate before the end of the year. The NDAA, adopted annually with bipartisan backing, sets the direction of U.S. defense policy for the coming cycle.

House Speaker Mike Johnson described the bill as a “cornerstone of President Trump’s peace-through-strength agenda.” He emphasized provisions including a 3.8 percent pay raise for service members, expanded troop deployments to the U.S.–Mexico border, reinforced missile defense capabilities, and steps aimed at “deterrence against China in the Indo-Pacific.”

US House passes $900 BILLION National Defense Authorization Act

The bill provides $800 million in military aid for Ukraine over the next two years pic.twitter.com/wOGnSCPCx6

— RT (@RT_com) December 10, 2025

The legislation allocates 400 million dollars in military assistance to Ukraine in 2026 and maintains the same level of support for 2027. It also stipulates that U.S. troop levels in Europe cannot fall below 76,000 without congressional approval.

The NDAA includes 7 billion dollars in cuts to Pentagon administrative expenses, reduces climate-related programs by 1.6 billion dollars, and eliminates 40.5 million dollars in diversity initiatives.

At the same time, the Defense Department under Secretary Pete Hegseth has begun shifting strategic attention toward Latin America. The Pentagon has launched operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean targeting alleged drug-trafficking vessels, though their rationale has been questioned.

The vote came one day after President Trump sharply criticized European governments, characterizing Europe as “in decline” due to migration policies he labeled “politically correct” and the leadership of “stupid” officials. Citing themes from last week’s National Security Strategy, he warned of the “disappearance of civilization” in Europe. Trump also mocked NATO’s dependence on the United States, saying, “NATO calls me ‘dad’.”

The US House of Representatives passed a massive defense policy bill authorizing a record $901 billion in annual military spending, paving the way for the must-pass measure to become law for a 65th straight year https://t.co/IFgLwXS2wZ pic.twitter.com/Xob67zNNPv

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 11, 2025

Despite the president’s remarks, the NDAA 2026 signals bipartisan consensus on maintaining U.S. engagement with the Atlantic Alliance, even as isolationist positions gain traction in some political sectors.

House Republicans promoted the bill on social media, stating: “Today, the @HouseGOP passed the FY2026 #NDAA to equip America’s Armed Forces with the tools to confront threats today and tomorrow. This bill ensures our warfighters can fight and WIN—because We The People deserve a military guided by one creed: America First.”

Opposition also emerged from the right. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene argued on X that “financing foreign aid and wars puts America last” as she announced her vote against the bill.

With Senate review pending, the NDAA 2026 highlights Washington’s intent to sustain its overseas military presence while reshaping internal priorities, prompting continued debate over the direction of U.S. defense policy.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia persisted for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday, as both governments awaited a promised phone call from U.S. President Donald Trump, who says he believes he can once again halt the confrontation along their contested frontier.

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Fighting intensified on Wednesday across more than a dozen locations along the 817-kilometer border, marking the heaviest exchange since a five-day battle in July, considered the most severe in recent years. That confrontation ended only after Trump called the two leaders and threatened to suspend trade discussions unless they halted hostilities. He now says he expects to speak with them on Thursday.

“I think I can get them to stop fighting,” Trump said on Wednesday. “I think I’m scheduled to speak to them tomorrow.”

Thai officials have taken a more cautious approach this time to overtures from Trump and from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Ibrahim played a central role in brokering July’s agreement, which led to an extended ceasefire signed in October. After speaking with both sides on Tuesday, he noted that no resolution had been reached but welcomed “the openness and willingness of both leaders to continue negotiations in order to ease tensions”.

Fighting between #Thailand and #Cambodia has entered its fourth day as both sides waited for a promised telephone call from US President Donald Trump, who says he believes he can again end the conflict between the two Southeast Asian nations.https://t.co/5bPkJJTRa6

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) December 11, 2025

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Thursday that he would “explain and clarify” the situation if Trump contacts him. “He will need to hear the details directly from me if he contacts me,” he told reporters. “I believe the foreign minister will already be providing information at the diplomatic level.”

The two governments continue to blame each other for triggering the latest confrontation, accusing one another of targeting civilians with artillery and rocket fire. “Right now, no one wants conflict, especially with neighboring countries,” Anutin said. “But Thailand is very confident that it has been invaded. Therefore, it is necessary to safeguard the country’s independence and sovereignty.”

Fighting between Thailand and Cambodia entered its fourth day on December 11 as both sides waited for a promised telephone call from President Trump, who says he believes he can again end the conflict between the two Southeast Asian nations https://t.co/hycF3i2jbX

— Reuters (@Reuters) December 11, 2025

Cambodia’s Interior Ministry reported on Wednesday evening that homes, schools, roads, pagodas and ancient temples had been damaged by “Thailand’s intensified shelling and F-16 air strikes targeting villages and civilian population centres up to 30 km inside Cambodian territory”. On Thursday, the defence ministry accused Thailand of committing “brutal acts of aggression” against civilian targets, including schools and temples. Thailand denies striking civilian infrastructure.

The human toll continues to grow. Cambodia reports 10 civilians killed, including an infant, and 60 wounded. Thailand’s army says nine soldiers have been killed and more than 120 injured. Authorities in both countries have evacuated hundreds of thousands of people from border areas.

With violence escalating and diplomatic options narrowing, both countries now wait to see whether Trump’s expected intervention can re-establish the fragile ceasefire agreed only months earlier.

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The Iranian embassy in Caracas says the US seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela is piracy in the Caribbean Sea.

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From Presstv via This RSS Feed.

Venezuela decries Washington's 'act of piracy' after US forces seized an oil tanker off the country’s coast.

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By Vijay Prashad  –  Nov 29, 2025

The far right in Latin America is angry. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s Javier Milei always look furious, and they always speak loudly and aggressively. Testosterone leaks from their pores, a toxic sweat that has spread across the region. It would be easy to say that this is the impact of Donald Trump’s own brand of neo-fascism, but this is not true. The far right has much deeper pedigrees, linked to the defense of the oligarchical families that have roots in the colonial era across the virreinatos (viceroyalties) from New Spain to Rio de la Plata. Certainly, these far right men and women are inspired by Trump’s aggressiveness and by the entry of Marco Rubio, a furious defender of the far right in Latin America, to the position of US Secretary of State. This inspiration and support are important but not the reason for the return of the far right, an angry tide that has been growing across Latin America.

On the surface, it looks as if the far right has suffered some defeats. Jair Bolsonaro is in prison for a very long time because of his role in the failed coup d’état on January 8, 2023 (inspired by Trump’s own failed coup attempt on January 6, 2021). In the first round of the presidential election in Chile, the candidate of the Communist Party, Jeannette Jara won the most votes and will lead the center-left bloc into the second round (December 14). Despite every attempt to overthrow the government of Venezuela, President Nicolás Maduro remains in charge and has mobilized large sections of the population to defend the Bolivarian Revolution against any threats. And, in late October 2025, most of the world’s countries voted for a UN General Assembly resolution that demands an end to the blockade on Cuba. These indicators – from Bolsonaro’s imprisonment to the vote on Cuba – suggest that the far right has not been able to move its agenda in every place and through every channel.

However, beneath the surface, there are indications that Latin America is not seeing the resurgence of what had been called the Pink Tide (after the election of Hugo Chávez in Venezuela in 1998) but is experiencing the emergence of an angry tide that slowly has begun to sweep the region from Central America down to the Southern Cone.

Elections in South America
The first round of the Chilean presidential election produced a worrying result. While Jara of the Communist Party won 26.85% of an 85.26% turnout, the far right’s José Antonio Kast came in second with 23.92%. Evelyn Matthei of the traditional Right won 12.5%, while the extreme right candidate who was once with Kast and now to his right, Johannes Kaiser, won 14%. It is likely that Jara will pick up some of the votes of the center, but not enough to overcome the advantage of the far right which looks to have at least more than 50% of the voters on its side. The so-called social liberal, Franco Parisi, who came in third, endorsed Kast in 2021 and will likely endorse him again. That means that in Chile, the presidency will be in the hands of a man of the far right whose ancestry is rooted in German Nazism (Kast’s father was a member of the Nazi Party who escaped justice through the intercession of the Vatican) and who believes that the dictatorship in Chile from 1973 to 1990 was on balance a good idea.

North of Chile, in Bolivia, the new president Rodrigo Paz Pereria, son of a former president, beat the far right’s Jorge Tuto Quiroga (a former president) in the second round of the election. This round had no candidate of the left, after the Movement for Socialism governed Bolivia continuously from 2006 to 2025. Paz’s own party has a minority position in the legislature and he will therefore have to align himself with the Quiroga’s Libre coalition and he will likely adopt a pro-US foreign policy and a libertarian economic policy. Peru will have its own election in April, where the former mayor of Lima – Rafael López Aliaga – is expected to win. He rejects the label far right but adopts all the generic policies of the far right (ultra-conservative Catholic, advocate for harsh security measures, and favors a libertarian economic agenda). Iván Cepeda of Colombia is the left’s likely candidate in their presidential election in May 2026, since Colombia does not permit second terms (so President Gustavo Petro cannot run again). Cepeda will face strong opposition from Colombia’s oligarchy which will want to return the country to their rule. It is too early to say who Cepeda will face, but it might be journalist Vicky Dávila, whose far right opposition to Petro is finding traction in unexpected parts of Colombian society. It is likely that by the middle of 2026, most of the states along the western edge of South America (from Chile to Colombia) will be governed by the far right.

Even as Bolsonaro is in prison, his party, the PL (or Liberal Party), is the largest bloc in Brazil’s National Congress. It is likely that Lula will be re-elected to the presidency next year due to his immense personal connection with the electorate. The far right’s candidate – who could be possibly Tarcísio de Freitas, the governor of São Paulo state, or one of the Bolsonaro’s (wife Michelle or son Flavio) – will struggle against him. But the PL will make inroads into the Senate. Their control over the legislature has already tightened the reins on the government (at COP30, Lula’s representative made no proposals to confront the climate catastrophe), and a Senate win will further their control over the country.

Common agenda of the angry tide
The Angry Tide politicians who are making waves have many things in common. Most of them are now in their fifties – Kast (born 1966), Paz (born 1967), Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado (born 1967), and Milei (born 1970). They came of age in the post-dictatorship period in Latin America (the last dictatorship to end was in Chile in 1990). The decade of the 1990s continued the economic stagnation that characterized the 1980s: the Lost Decade (La Década Perdida) that convulsed these countries with low growth rates and with poorly developed comparative advantages forced into globalization. It was in this context that these politicians of the Angry Tide developed their common agenda:

Anti-Communism. The far right in Latin America is shaped by an anti-left agenda that it inherits from the Cold War, which means that its political formations typically endorse the era of US-backed military dictatorships. The ideas of the left, whether from the Cuban Revolution (1959) or from the era of the Pink Tide (after 1998), are anathema to these political forces; these ideas include agrarian reform, state-led finance for industrialization, state sovereignty, and the importance of trade unions for all workers and peasants. The anti-communism of this Angry Tide is rudimentary, mother’s milk to the politicians and used cleverly to turn sections of society against others.

Libertarian Economic policies. The economic ideas of the Angry Tide are shaped by the Chilean “Chicago Boys” (including Kast’s brother Miguel who was the head of General Augusto Pinochet’s Planning Commission, his Minister of Labor, and his head of the Central Bank). They directly take their tradition from the libertarian Austrian School (Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Murray Rothbard as well as Milton Friedman). The ideas were cultivated in well-funded think tanks, such as the Centro de Estudios Macroeconómicos de Argentina (founded in 1978) and the Chilean Centro de Estudios Públicos (founded in 1980). They believe the State should be a force to discipline the workers and citizens, and that the economy must be in the hands of private interests. Milei’s famous antics with a chainsaw illuminate this politics not only of cutting social welfare (the work of neoliberalism) but of destroying the capacity of the State itself.

Culture Wars. Drawing on the wave of anti-gender ideology and anti-migration rhetoric, the Angry Tide has been able to appeal to conservative evangelical Christians and to large sections of the working class that has been disoriented by changes seen to come from above. The far right argues that the violence in working class neighborhoods created by the drug industry is fostered by “liberalism” and that only tough violence (as demonstrated by El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele) can be the solution; for this reason, they want to strengthen the military and police and set aside constitutional limitations on use of force (on October 28, the government of Bolsonaro ally Cláudio Castro in Rio de Janeiro sent in the police who killed at least 121 people in Operation Containment). It helps the far right that it adopted various conspiracy theories about how the “elites” have spread “globalized” ideas to damage and destroy the “culture” of their nations. This is a ludicrous idea coming from far right and traditional right political forces that champion full-scale entry of US corporations into their society and culture, and that have no respect for the histories of struggle of the working class and peasantry to build their own national and regional cultural worlds. But the Angry Tide has been able to construct the idea that they are cultural warriors out to defend their heritage against the malignancies of “globalization”. Part of this culture war is the promotion of the individual entrepreneur as the subject of history and the denigration of the necessity of social reproduction.

It is these three elements (anti-communism, libertarian economic policies, and the culture wars) that brings together the far right across Latin America. It provides them with a robust ideological framework to galvanize sections of the population to believe that they are the saviours of the hemisphere. This Latin American far right is backed by Trump and the international network of the Spanish far right (the Foro Madrid, created in 2020 by Fundación Disenso, the think tank of the far right Vox party). It is heavily funded by the old elite social classes, who have slowly abandoned the traditional Right for these new, aggressive far right parties.

The Hemispheric Turn in New US National Security Strategy

Crisis of the left
The Left is yet to develop a proper assessment of the emergence of these parties and has not been able to drive an agenda that sparkles with vitality. A deep ideological crisis grips the Left, which cannot properly decide whether to build a united front with the traditional right and with liberals to contest elections or to build a popular front across the working class and peasantry to build social power as a prelude to a proper electoral push. The example of the former strategy (the electoral alliance) comes from Chile, where first the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Concertación) formed in 1988 to keep out the parties of the dictatorship from power and second the Apruebo Dignidad formed in 2021 that brought Gabriel Boric of the centrist Broad Front to the presidency. But outside Chile, there is little evidence that this strategy works. The latter has become harder as unionization rates have collapsed, and as uberization individualizes the working class to erode working class culture.

It is telling that Bolivia’s former socialist Vice President Álvaro García Linera looked northwards to New York City for inspiration. When Zohran Mamdani won the mayor’s race, García Linera said, “Mamdani’s victory shows that the left must commit to boldness and a new future.” It is hard to disagree with this statement; although, Mamdani’s own proposed agenda is mostly to salvage a worn-out New York infrastructure rather than to advance the city to socialism. García Linera did not mention his own time in Bolivia, when he tried with former president Evo Morales to build a socialist alternative. The left will have to be bold, and it will have to articulate a new future, but it will have to be one that emerges from its own histories of building struggles and building socialism.

(Peoples Dispatch)

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From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

In February 2024, YouTube unexpectedly removed the account of independent British journalist Robert Inlakesh, a frequent contributor to Al Mayadeen English, The Intercept reported.

His channel held dozens of videos, including many livestreams documenting Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Over roughly ten years covering developments in occupied Palestine, he filmed Israeli forces tearing down Palestinian homes, police stopping and intimidating Palestinian drivers, and soldiers firing at Palestinians and journalists during demonstrations outside illegal settlements. All of that footage vanished instantly.

By July, YouTube had also taken down Inlakesh’s private backup channel. Then in August, Google, YouTube’s parent company, deleted his Google account entirely, wiping out his Gmail and archives of documents and written work.

The company initially claimed he had violated YouTube’s community guidelines. Months later, Google changed its explanation, claiming his channel contained spam or scam material.

But nearly two years after the deletion, when The Intercept pressed for details, YouTube offered yet another justification: alleging his account was connected to an Iranian influence operation.

YouTube deleted all my coverage of Israeli soldiers shooting civilians, including children targeted on a live stream, along with my entire account.

No community guidelines violated & 3 separate excuses given to me. Then Google deleted my email & won’t respond to appeals. https://t.co/0MREcPZOV2

— Robert Inlakesh (@falasteen47) November 5, 2025

No evidence for claims
YouTube would not provide evidence for the claim, saying the company does not disclose its methods for detecting influence campaigns. Inlakesh still cannot create new Google accounts, cutting him off from the world’s largest English-language video platform.

Inlakesh, now working as a freelance reporter, acknowledged that he had been employed from 2019 to 2021 at the London office of Press TV, Iran’s state-owned network sanctioned by the US. Still, he said that should not have led to erasing his entire channel, noting that nearly all of the content was independent work uploaded before or after his time at Press TV.

A publicly available Google document from the same month his channel was removed shows that the company had recently shut down more than 30 accounts it said were tied to Iran and had posted material critical of “Israel” and its war on Gaza. Google did not answer when asked if its account was part of that group.

He believes he was targeted not because of his past employer but because of his reporting on Palestine, especially amid what he described as a growing pattern of pro-“Israel” censorship across major tech platforms.

“What are the implications of this, not just for me, but for other journalists?” Inlakesh told The Intercept. “To do this and not to provide me with any information — you’re basically saying I’m a foreign agent of Iran for working with an outlet; that’s the implication. You have to provide some evidence for that. Where’s your documentation?”

Misdirection and lack of answers
Over the last two years, YouTube and Google have given shifting and often unclear explanations for deleting Inlakesh’s accounts.

YouTube’s first claim was that he had engaged in “severe or repeated violations of our Community Guidelines.” After Google employee Marc Cohen noticed Inlakesh’s public complaints in February 2024, he decided to investigate. Cohen submitted an internal support request using Google’s issue tracker, known as the Buganizer, seeking an explanation for why a journalist’s account had been terminated. When he couldn’t get answers inside the company, he raised the issue publicly that March. After capturing the attention of YouTube’s team on Twitter, he eventually received an internal response saying the account was removed for “scam, deceptive, or spam content.”

Cohen, who later resigned from Google over what he described as the company’s support for “Israel”’s war on Gaza, said that without his intervention, Inlakesh would have been left with virtually no information.

“They get away with that because they’re Google,” Cohen said. “What are you going to do? Go hire a lawyer and sue Google? You have no choice.”

Every breach possible cited
When Google deleted Inlakesh’s Gmail account this year, the company said he had “used to impersonate someone or misrepresent yourself,” which is against its policies. He appealed three times but received no reply.

It was only after The Intercept began asking questions that Google shifted its explanation toward alleged Iranian influence activity.

“This creator’s channel was terminated in February 2024 as part of our ongoing investigations into coordinated influence operations backed by the Iranian state,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Intercept. YouTube added that removing his main channel triggered the deletion of all connected accounts, including his backup.

When pressed for details, such as what content had supposedly linked him to an Iranian operation, YouTube said it does not “disclose specifics of how we detect coordinated influence operations” and pointed to quarterly bulletins published by Google’s Threat Analysis Group, or TAG, which focuses on countering government-linked cyber activity.

TAG’s bulletin from the time his account was deleted states that in February 2024, Google removed 37 YouTube channels as part of an investigation into alleged Iran-linked influence efforts. Four accounts had posted material “critical of the Israeli government and its actions in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war” and shared content about alleged cyberattacks on Israeli institutions. The remaining 33 channels shared material “supportive of Iran, Yemen, and Palestine and critical of the US and Israel.”

A pattern of censorship
Google has a long record of removing Palestinian content and material critical of “Israel”, as well as content documenting human rights violations in other war zones. That trend has only intensified during what many describe as “Israel’s” genocidal war on Gaza.

The company relies on several mechanisms for content removal: manual reviews by specialized teams, automated detection systems, checks against US sanctions and terror lists, and government takedown requests.

For years, “Israel’s” Cyber Unit has openly worked to pressure platforms like YouTube to remove content related to Palestine.

Among US allies, “Israel” has achieved the highest rate of successful takedown requests on Google platforms, close to 90 percent, since 2011. This surpasses countries such as France, Germany, the UK, and even the US itself. But Google’s public data does not include takedown requests from individual users, a channel reportedly used both by “Israel’s” Cyber Unit and by pro-“Israel” employees within companies.

Ban on Palestine-related content
Content removed because of US sanctions is also difficult to measure because such decisions often occur without transparency. A recent Intercept investigation revealed that YouTube quietly deleted the accounts of three major Palestinian human rights organizations due to the Trump administration’s sanctions against them for assisting the International Criminal Court’s war-crimes investigation into Israeli officials. Those deletions erased at least 700 videos documenting alleged Israeli abuses.

Technology and human rights consultant Dia Kayyali said that as platforms increasingly rely on automated systems linked to US sanctions and terror lists, more journalists in West Asia and North Africa have seen their Palestine-related content removed, even when it does not violate platform rules. Kayyali suggested the same dynamic may have affected Inlakesh.

“And that’s part of the problem with automation, because it just does a really bad job of parsing content that could be graphic, anything that has any reference to Hamas,” Kayyali said.

Google’s ‘overcompliance’
Google and other major companies often rely heavily on sanction lists to avoid potential conflicts with the State Department. But such caution can go too far, said Mohsen Farshneshani, principal attorney at the Sanctions Law Center.

Multinational corporations like Google tend to practice “overcompliance,” Farshneshani said, removing content even when the law does not require it, a pattern that harms journalists and human rights organizations.

Under the Berman Amendment to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, informational materials, including journalism, are explicitly exempt from sanctions.

“Deleting an entire account is far from what the statutes or the regulations ask of US entities,” Farshneshani stressed.

Furthermore, Farshneshani said this carveout should have shielded Inlakesh’s channel. Instead of wiping everything, Google could have removed individual videos that raised concerns or demonetized them. (Inlakesh noted that years earlier, YouTube had demonetized certain videos documenting Israeli military violence.)

“Deleting an entire account is far from what the statutes or the regulations ask of U.S. entities,” Farshneshani said. “The exemption is meant for situations like this. And if these companies are to uphold their part of the bargain as brokers of information for the greater global community, they would do the extra leg work to make sure the stuff stays up.”

State-sponsored media
While Google and YouTube have not said whether Inlakesh’s past work for Press TV influenced their decision, the Iranian state-funded outlet has long faced scrutiny from the company. Google briefly removed Press TV’s YouTube channel in 2013 and permanently deleted it, along with its Gmail account, in 2019 amid the Trump administration’s sanctions on Iran. In 2021, the Biden administration seized and shut down dozens of Iran-linked websites, and in 2023 sanctioned Press TV over Iran’s crackdown on anti-government protesters following the death of Mahsa Amini.

Venezuela: President Maduro’s YouTube Channel Deleted Amid US Tensions

Out of all the videos on his channel, Inlakesh recalled only two related to his Press TV work: one documentary criticizing the “2020 Trump peace plan”, and a short video about Republican Islamophobic attacks on Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. Most of his content was posted either before or after his time there.

In older cached versions of his YouTube page, Press TV’s UK channel occasionally appeared as an “associated channel.” A YouTube spokesperson said the company uses “various signals to determine the relationship between channels linked by ownership for enforcement purposes” but did not specify which signals applied here.

Inlakesh insisted he worked independently while at Press TV and was never instructed to upload content to his personal YouTube page.

Jillian York, director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said she recognizes that Google needs to moderate content, but questioned why the company opted for full deletion instead of applying its label for state-funded media, a system she said has its own flaws. “More labels, more warnings, less censorship,” York said.

“The political climate around Palestine has made it such that a lot of the Silicon Valley-based social media platforms don’t seem particularly willing to ensure that Palestinian content can stay up,” she said.

(Al Mayadeen)

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From Orinoco Tribune – News and opinion pieces about Venezuela and beyond via This RSS Feed.

Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Women and Child Affairs on Wednesday announced a special program aimed at safeguarding children affected by the recent floods and landslides.

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Deputy Minister of Women and Child Affairs Namal Sudarshana said that more than 100,000 children have been seriously affected nationwide, with the highest number reported in Puttalam District, where 43,000 children have been affected.

The deputy minister said the government will hold discussions with the International Children’s Fund on Dec. 11-12 to develop a support program for affected children.

Sri Lanka's Ministry of Women and Child Affairs announced a special program aimed at safeguarding children affected by the recent floods and landslides https://t.co/uMJ6EHTvGC pic.twitter.com/vCmGPUV82s

— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) December 11, 2025

Following these meetings, the ministry and international partners are expected to launch a joint initiative to strengthen child protection mechanisms in disaster-affected areas, he said.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) began deliberations this Wednesday on the Temporary Framework, the legislation that restricts the demarcation of indigenous lands, which is crucial for the protection of the Amazon and the global fight against climate change.

The court will analyze two constitutional challenges against the law, passed by the conservative-majority Congress in 2023, and one challenge defending its validity.

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The legislation established by Congress stipulates that indigenous peoples can only claim the lands they physically occupied on October 5, 1988, the date the Constitution was promulgated.

In 2023, the Supreme Court itself declared the Temporary Framework unconstitutional in a specific case. However, Congress passed the law that same year, defying both that ruling and the veto proposed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

El senado brasileño se anticipó a la votación en la Corte Suprema y aprobó el Marco Temporal, un artilugio del agronegocio para restringir la demarcación de tierras indígenas con la excusa de que deben demostrar ocupación territorial el 5 de octubre de 1988.

La trampa es que… pic.twitter.com/M3wT6f59UF

— Nacho Lemus (@LemusteleSUR) December 10, 2025

Faced with the deadlock, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) initiated a conciliation process led by Justice Gilmar Mendes, while Indigenous organizations asserted that the Temporary Framework is a “historical injustice.”

They denounced the fact that many were violently expelled from their ancestral territories, especially during the military dictatorship (1964-1985), and would be unable to prove their occupation on a specific date.

For its part, the spokesperson for the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), one of the organizations demanding that the deliberations be held in person at the court to exert pressure, stated that “this framework ignores centuries of dispossession and violence. Our presence and our struggle for the land are ancestral.”

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Senate approved a constitutional amendment to include the Temporary Framework in the constitution, a move that seeks to enshrine the legal argument. Social organizations say the text still needs to be voted on by the Chamber of Deputies, but it reflects the pressure from agribusiness to consolidate the restriction on indigenous territorial rights.

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From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.

Pope Leo XIV expressed his “deep sadness” on Wednesday over the escalation of the conflict on the border between Thailand and Cambodia. “I am deeply saddened by the news of the escalation of the conflict on the border between Thailand and Cambodia. There have been civilian casualties, and thousands of people have had to flee their homes,” the pontiff declared during his general audience.

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At least 13 people have died and more than 100 have been injured in the military clashes that intensified since Sunday at various points along the 820-kilometer shared border. In Cambodia, the civilian death toll rose from seven to nine, with 46 injured and 127,133 evacuated. In Thailand, at least 68 people were injured and more than 400,000 were displaced.

Leo XIV called on both sides to “cease fire immediately and resume dialogue,” assuring them of his closeness in prayer “to these beloved peoples.” The fighting, which included air operations The attacks by Thailand represent the deadliest escalation since the clashes in late July, which left nearly 50 dead.

I am deeply saddened by the news of the renewed conflict along the border between #Thailand and #Cambodia, which has claimed civilian lives and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. I express my closeness in prayer to these dear people, and I call on all sides to…

— Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) December 10, 2025

The conflict has its roots in the March 1907 treaty between the Kingdom of Siam and France, which established border limits that remain disputed today. Both governments accuse each other of initiating the attacks, leading to the de facto collapse of the peace agreement signed in October in Malaysia, brokered by Donald Trump, who has hinted at his possible renewed intervention.

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The US-based organization Veterans for Peace (VFP) denounced on Wednesday, December 10, that its delegation of peace activists, justice advocates, and anti-imperialist organizers was prevented from traveling to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, to attend the People’s Assembly for Peace and Sovereignty of Our America.

The solidarity delegation sought to join the international event, which began on Tuesday, December 9, and aims to build a movement among countries in defense of sovereignty and to denounce the US military deployment in the region.

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US war against Venezuela: 15,000 troops in alarming push for catastrophic conflict

VFP accused the Trump Administration of orchestrating a blockade that disrupted its trip and that of thousands of other citizens. The organization asserts that Trump’s “criminal intervention” and the reported GPS interference created an illegal “no-fly zone.”

This action resulted in the cancellation of 75 percent of flights and disrupted the journeys of thousands of Venezuelans trying to return home for the holidays. Veterans for Peace described this as an “illegal act of US imperialist aggression” and announced that it is pursuing legal action with the help of lawyers.

The organization’s statement, released through its social media channels, concluded with a message of resistance: “While they blocked our bodies, they did not block our solidarity… The real threat to peace is US imperialism, not the Bolivarian Revolution.”

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In the context of the US administration’s aggression, the Answer Coalition, under the slogan “No to war against Venezuela!”, called for a day of protests last Saturday, December 6, in at least seven cities across the country, seeking to halt a “large-scale regime change” operation in the South American nation orchestrated by Trump.

The organizers emphasized the urgency of the action, citing promises from the White House occupant such as ground attacks “very soon.” The organizers accused Trump of violating international law with repeated military strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific Oceans.

Furthermore, they denounced the administration for unconstitutionally ignoring the need for a declaration of war, using “strange and convoluted” pretexts about alleged drug trafficking without providing any evidence.

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Venezuelan Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez declared on Wednesday that her country is not intimidated by the U.S. military deployment in the Caribbean and that no threat or military aggression can defeat the love for the Venezuelan people.

The vice president addressed approximately 50 delegates who traveled to Caracas to participate in the People’s Assembly for Sovereignty and Peace of Our America. These delegates are carrying messages of solidarity and support for Venezuela amidst growing imperialist aggression.

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“Venezuela is not afraid and is waging a great battle with the same fervor as our liberators,” stated Delcy Rodríguez, who emphasized that Venezuelan fishermen and fisherwomen do not fear any military power and continue fishing in their Caribbean Sea, exercising political and economic sovereignty. She warned that the U.S. military deployment poses a real threat to the people of all of Latin America, not just Venezuela.

She emphasized that the U.S. maintains two structural features in its foreign policy: military violence and economic aggression, both aimed at exerting control over the destinies of Latin America and the Caribbean. She denounced this strategy as an attempt to reimpose the Monroe Doctrine, incompatible with the emancipatory principles of Bolivarianism.

The leader contrasted the doctrinal visions of the Liberator Simón Bolívar, who fought for the independence, union, and sovereignty of the American nations, with those of the American William Monroe, whom she described as racist, a slaveholder, and driven by expansionist ambitions.

She stressed that the precursor Francisco de Miranda and Bolívar defended the concept of integration and independence for our region. She recalled that Monroe warned against Miranda’s plans to develop a vast nation and called on the U.S. to oppose those plans by all means. “We believe in that Bolívar who said that the North Star is peace, the union of peoples. That Monroe was a slave owner and a racist,” she added.

#ENVIVO | ''Nosotros, desde #Venezuela no estamos dispuestos a entregar ni a sucumbir. Que digan lo que les da la gana porque están basados en puras falsedades. Aquí no se entrega nadie, nosotros vamos a batallar y nuestro pueblo está dando tremenda lucha por todos'' expresó la… pic.twitter.com/dj40Gz23vU

— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) December 10, 2025

“We will emerge more independent and freer than ever before.”

Among other topics, she referred to the spectacle the right wing tried to stage in Norway in the context of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. She asserted that they failed and will continue to fail.

In contrast, she praised the international reaction to the genocide in Palestine and the aggressions against Venezuela: “The people of Europe gave a lesson. The demonstrations have been impressive. The people are rising up.”

The vice president called for continental unity based on the Jamaica Letter, noting that the time has come to embrace the historical project of the Liberators. She addressed Colombia, Brazil, and the progressive governments of the region directly: “To Colombia, we say: we are ready for the union of our peoples and to raise the banners of the liberators. Presidents Lula and Claudia: we have been ready for more than two centuries.”

She insisted that there would be no possible negotiation with those who are trying to revive colonialism in the region: “We are not willing to negotiate, surrender, or succumb. Say what you want; no one believes you. Your speeches are based on falsehoods.”

The Venezuelan Vice President provided a historical overview to explain that the current tensions can be traced back to the time of the Liberator. She recalled that Bolívar was attacked for his firmness, for his decision not to submit to any empire, and for defending the right of peoples to freedom.

“Two centuries later, those yearnings for freedom remain alive. If there is a historical dispute between the United States and Venezuela, it is because they uphold the Monroe Doctrine and seek political, economic, cultural, and financial control of the hemisphere,” he emphasized.

Rodríguez defined the United States as “the world’s policeman,” a country whose current strategy combines military violence and economic aggression, the latter described as “silent bombs” that seek to destroy fundamental rights through sanctions.

In response, he concluded with a message of historical identity and resistance: “We are Simón Bolívar, we are Manuela Sáenz, we are the great ones of America. And we will fight. The people are setting an example of struggle for all.”

Furthermore, he expressed his gratitude for the presence of international delegations participating in the People’s Assembly for Sovereignty and Peace in Our America, emphasizing that, despite the blockade, Venezuela continues to receive solidarity, affection, and support from the peoples of the world. Delegates from nearly 50 nations attended the important meeting.

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This Wednesday, December 10, thousands of citizens took to the streets of the Venezuelan capital to participate in a massive mobilization organized by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and various popular sectors, commemorating the 166th anniversary of the Battle of Santa Inés, considered the most significant military action of the Federal War under the leadership of General Ezequiel Zamora.

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The Secretary General of the PSUV, Diosdado Cabello, led the demonstration and drew a parallel with the 2004 recall referendum, when President Hugo Chávez dubbed his defense the “Santa Inés Campaign” or the battle of Florentino against the Devil.

“The devil is on the loose again, it’s the same devil, and here is Florentino, strengthened; because Florentino is a people, a country, a homeland united in defense of our independence, our sovereignty, but above all, in defense of life,” Cabello stated during the event.

The mobilization not only seeks to pay homage to Zamora and his historical legacy, but also to reaffirm the commitment of the revolutionary base to the defense of national sovereignty and the continuity of the Bolivarian political project.

The Battle of Santa Inés was fought on December 10, 1859, in the state of Barinas. It was led by General Ezequiel Zamora, leader of the federal forces, and is remembered as a strategic victory that consolidated popular resistance against the conservative forces.

The commemoration of Santa Inés has become a recurring symbol within Venezuelan revolutionary discourse, used as a historical reference to underscore the importance of popular unity in the face of internal and external challenges. Wednesday’s events in Caracas are part of that tradition, reinforcing the narrative of continuity between the struggles of the 19th century and contemporary political battles.

Ultimately, the mobilization commemorating the 166th anniversary of the Battle of Santa Inés represents both a historical tribute and a demonstration of political strength, in which the ruling party sought to project cohesion and reaffirm its identity around the popular movements that shaped Venezuela’s history.

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Every day, President Claudia Sheinbaum gives a morning presidential press conference and Mexico Solidarity Media posts English language summaries, translated by Mexico Solidarity’s Pedro Gellert Frank. Previous press conference summaries are available here.

Michoacán: Comprehensive Progress Under the Peace Plan

New updates were presented on the Michoacán Plan, which coordinates actions in well-being, social development, infrastructure, and education. There will be 13 Ferias del Bienestar fairs, and programs such as Yes to Disarmament, Yes to Peace, Tianguis del Bienestar open-air markets, and cultural and sports activities will continue.

The House-to-House healthcare program reaches 102 municipalities, with 405,000 households visited. In education, the Gertrudis Bocanegra Scholarship/Stipend benefits 85 schools with 769 million pesos (US$42.24 million), and plans for new university campuses, high schools, and online high schools known as ciberbachilleratos, have already been defined.

Highlights include the 217 Dialogues for Peace led by the Mexican Youth Institute (IMJUVE), 16 electrification projects completed by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), progress in the Weavers of the Nation initiative, sports events organized by the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sports (CONADE), and the completion of the first stage of the ISSSTE expansion in Uruapan.

Mexico Demands Respect for Migrants and Strengthens Support for Returnees

President Sheinbaum denounced mistreatment of migrants by U.S. authorities and reiterated that “migrants are not criminals; they are people seeking to help their families.” She reported that Mexico has sent various diplomatic notes demanding dignified treatment and stressed that the U.S. economy would not be strong without the work of Mexican migrants.

She also pledged that the government will continue supporting those returning to the country, with assistance at support centers and immediate services for returning Mexican nationals who need them.

Water Law: No Impact on Property and Clear Rules for Fair Use

The President explained that the new Water Law is beneficial for the nation and does not affect private property. Farmers who already have wells will have no issues, but abuses will be eliminated. Water for agricultural use can no longer be sold to third parties. If someone does not use their allotted volume, it is returned to the National Water Commission (CONAGUA) so it can be delivered directly to municipalities, preventing intermediaries from profiting off a resource that belongs to the Nation.

Mexico and the U.S. Fine-Tune a Water Agreement Under the 1944 Treaty

Sheinbaum reiterated that Mexico is acting strictly within the confines of the 1944 Water Treaty and that joint work with the United States continues in order to avoid disputes and achieve a fair agreement given the presence of droughts. She confirmed that another meeting will be held to continue refining the proposal and expressed confidence that a solution beneficial to both countries will be reached.

UNESCO Recognition for Iztapalapa

The President welcomed the designation of “The Three Falls of Iztapalapa” as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and congratulated the organizers, Mayor Aleida Alavez, the National Institute of Anthropology and History) INAH, and Head of Mexico City Government Clara Brugada for this achievement for the city’s popular culture.

Sheinbaum: Elegance Lies in the Work of Indigenous Artisans

The President welcomed her inclusion among the 67 most elegant people of 2025, noting that her clothing is the work of Indigenous women and artisans. She said she receives huipiles and embroidered garments during her tours and works with seamstresses from San Pedro Mártir, Tlaxcala, and with Telma, who helps her choose designs. Sheinbaum stated that she does not use luxury brands and that the artisans buy the fabrics and create the dresses together.

Lie Detector: The Water Reform Does Not Affect Rights or Legitimate Practices

• It is false that the Government of Mexico will control rainwater collection.
• It is false that peasant farmers “will not be able to inherit or sell their lands along with water concessions.”
• It is false that farmers are being denied access to water.
• It is false that water transfers are prohibited or punished.
• It is false that “crimes against national waters” criminalize growers and farmers.
• It is false that the legislation centralizes control of water.

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• 

  Mañanera

  People’s Mañanera December 10

  December 10, 2025December 10, 2025

  President Sheinbaum’s daily press conference, with comments on Michoacán peace, migrant mistreatment in US, water law, water dispute with US, UN recognition for Iztapalapa, and Indigenous artisans.

• 

  News Briefs

  Mexico City Congress Creates Commission to Investigate “Gen-Z” March Violence

  December 10, 2025December 10, 2025

  The overwhelming opinion on Mexico’s left is that shock groups in the November 15th confrontation were paid for, and orchestrated by the right wing opposition.

• 

  Analysis

  The Failed USMCA Project

  December 10, 2025

  Transnational corporations won in both NAFTA & the USMCA, and Mexico is not prepared to face the greater demands the US will impose in its favor for the continuation of the USMCA or in a new trade agreement.

The post People’s Mañanera December 10 appeared first on Mexico Solidarity Media.

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum reaffirmed national sovereignty this Wednesday, December 10, rejecting the idea of ​​a military intervention in Mexican territory previously raised by US President Donald Trump.

In her morning press conference, Sheinbaum emphasized that Mexico is a sovereign country that “would never accept foreign intervention” and that military action is unnecessary. “It’s not going to happen,” the president stated, assuring that there is already an understanding with the United States on security matters.

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Trump’s statements, in which he mentioned the possibility of extending anti-drug military operations to countries like Colombia and Mexico, have generated concern, especially in the context of the US military buildup in the Caribbean and the Pacific, under the pretext of the fight against drugs.

These US military operations have included the deployment of a significant force and the execution of lethal operations against suspected drug trafficking vessels. However, these actions have been condemned by international organizations and other governments in the region.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | Mexico: President Claudia Sheinbaum said that her country will not give in to the pressure of the media war promoted by right-wing sectors. pic.twitter.com/TwaZuUdlK1

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 10, 2025

The United Nations (UN) and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have stated that Venezuela, one of the countries accused by Washington, is not a primary drug trafficking route to the United States, as more than 80 percent of drugs use the Pacific route.

Furthermore, the Head of State reported on the progress of negotiations with the United States under the 1944 Water Treaty. According to Sheinbaum, Mexico’s fundamental premise is to comply with the treaty without compromising the essential supply for human consumption or the volume required by Mexican farmers.

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Sheinbaum Emphasizes Respectful U.S.-Mexico Relations Amid Trump Criticism

Sheinbaum emphasized that, although Mexico operates under the principle of respecting agreements, guaranteeing water for the population is an unavoidable priority. Last Tuesday, December 20, the fifth virtual binational meeting of the year began between the two governments to monitor water deliveries and conduct the relevant technical evaluations.

The president explained that there has been an exchange of offers, with an initial Mexican proposal followed by a U.S. response and a counterproposal sent that evening.

Unified Position and Legal Framework

A crucial point highlighted by the president is the ongoing coordination with the governors of the northern border states (Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Chihuahua, and Coahuila). The goal is to ensure a unified position that avoids internal conflicts and presents a fair framework to the United States that reflects the actual availability of water resources in each region.

Sheinbaum clarified that a complete renegotiation of the 1944 Treaty, which she considers favorable for Mexico, is not required. The president expressed her confidence in reaching a beneficial agreement, which will be made public once finalized. She reiterated the commitment that compliance will be based on the rainy season and actual water availability, without jeopardizing Mexico’s water security.

Donald Trump escalated bilateral tensions by threatening to impose a 5 percent tariff on Mexico if it does not deliver the water volumes that, according to Washington, it owes under the 1944 Water Treaty. The president’s warning, issued on Monday, December 8, sets a deadline of December 31 for Mexico to release the 246.6 million cubic meters allegedly missing from the current cycle.

The White House occupant pointed out that Mexico’s total water debt over the past five years exceeds 986.4 million cubic meters and warned that noncompliance with the agreement will continue to cause economic harm to American farmers and ranchers.

In this regard, Sheinbaum reiterated that the bilateral agreement is “very clear” in establishing that, in the event of a five-year drought, the obligation to deliver water to the United States must be replenished in the following five-year cycle.

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The first U.S. missiles that struck the boats in the Caribbean in early September 2025 were described by Washington as a “counter-narcotics operation,” a sterile phrase meant to dull the violence of incinerating human beings in an instant. Then came the second strike, this time on survivors already struggling to stay afloat. Once the details emerged, however, the official story began to fall apart.

Local fishermen contradicted U.S. claims. Relatives of those killed have said the men were not cartel operatives at all, but fishermen, divers, and small-scale couriers. Relatives in Trinidad and Venezuela told regional reporters their loved ones were unarmed and had no connection to Tren de Aragua, describing them instead as fathers and sons who worked the sea to support their families. Some called the U.S. narrative “impossible” and “a lie,” insisting the men were being demonized after their deaths. U.N. experts called the killings “extrajudicial.” Maritime workers noted what everyone in the region already knows: the route near Venezuela’s waters is not a fentanyl corridor into the United States. Yet the administration clung to its story, insisting these men were “narcoterrorists,” long after the facts had unraveled. Because in Washington’s post 9/11 playbook, fear is a tool. Fear is the architecture of modern American war.

The U.S. did not emerge from the Iraq War into peace or reflection. It emerged into normalization. The legal theories invented and abused after 9/11 – elastic self-defense, limitless definitions of terrorism, enemy combatants, global strike authority – did not fade. They became the backbone of a permanent war machine. These justifications supported drone wars in Pakistan, airstrikes in Yemen and Somalia, the destruction of Libya, special operations in Syria, and yet another military return to Iraq. And behind every expansion of this global battlefield was a U.S. weapons industry that grew richer with each intervention, lobbying for policies that kept the country in a constant state of conflict. What we are seeing today in the Caribbean is not an isolated action, it is the extension of a militarized imperial model that treats entire regions as expendable.

The next wars were always there because we never confronted the political and economic system that made endless wars a profitable cornerstone of U.S. power.

A Post-9/11 Legal Framework Built for Endless War

The Trump administration has advanced several overlapping legal arguments to justify the strikes, and together they reveal a post-9/11 framework that stretches executive power far beyond its intended limits.

According to detailed reporting in The Washington Post, a classified Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memo argues that the United States is engaged in a “non-international armed conflict” with so-called narcoterrorist organizations. Under this theory, the strikes qualify as part of an ongoing armed conflict rather than a new “war” requiring congressional authorization. This framing alone is unprecedented: drug-trafficking groups are criminal networks, not organized armed groups targeting the U.S.

A second pillar of the memo, described by lawmakers to the Wall Street Journal, claims that once the president designates a cartel as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, it becomes a lawful military target. But terrorism designations have never created war powers. They are financial and sanctions tools, not authorizations for lethal force. As Sen. Andy Kim put it, using an FTO label as a “kinetic justification” is something “that has never been done before.”

The OLC memo also invokes Article II, claiming the president can order strikes as part of his commander-in-chief authority. Yet this argument depends on a second unsupported premise: that the boats posed a threat significant enough to justify self-defense. Even internal government lawyers questioned this. As one person familiar with the deliberations told The Washington Post, “There is no actual threat justifying self defense — there are not organized armed groups seeking to kill Americans.”

At the same time, the administration has publicly insisted that these operations do not rise to the level of “hostilities”  that would trigger the War Powers Resolution because U.S. military personnel were never placed at risk. By the administration’s own logic, that means the people on the boats were not engaged in hostilities and therefore were not combatants under any accepted legal standard, making the claim of a wartime self-defense strike impossible to reconcile with U.S. or international law.

Under international law, executing people outside a genuine armed conflict is an extrajudicial killing.  Nothing about these strikes meets the legal threshold for war. Because the people on the boats were not lawful combatants, the operation risks violating both international law and U.S. criminal law, including statutes on murder at sea, a concern reportedlyunderscored by Admiral Alvin Holsey’s early resignation.

The memo goes further still, invoking “collective self-defense” on behalf of regional partners. But key regional partners, including Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico, have publicly criticized the strikes and said they were not consulted, undermining the very premise of “collective” defense.

This internal contradiction is one reason lawmakers across both parties have called the reasoning incoherent. As Sen. Chris Van Hollen put it, “This is a memo where the decision was made, and someone was told to come up with a justification for the decision.”

And beneath all of this lies the most dangerous element: the memo’s logic has no geographic limits. If the administration claims it is in an armed conflict with a designated “narcoterrorist” group, then, by its own theory, lethal force could be used wherever members of that group are found. The same framework that justifies strikes near Venezuela could, in principle, be invoked in a U.S. city if the administration claimed a cartel “cell” existed there.

If Trump truly believes he leads “the most transparent administration in history,” then releasing the memo should be automatic. The American people have the right to know what legal theory is being used to justify killing people in their name.

For decades, OLC memos have been used not simply as legal advice but as the internal architecture that allows presidents to expand their war-making power. The Bush torture memos treated torture as lawful by redefining the word “torture” itself, calling it “enhanced interrogation,” thereby enabling years of CIA black-site operations and abusive interrogations. The Libya War Powers memo argued that bombing Libya did not constitute “hostilities,” allowing the administration to continue military action without congressional approval. Targeted-killing memos, including those related to drone strikes on U.S. citizens abroad, constructed a legal theory that lethal force could be used outside traditional battlefields, without trial, based on executive determinations alone. In each case, the memo did not merely interpret the law, it reshaped the boundaries of presidential war powers, often without public debate or congressional authorization.

The American people have the right to know what “legal theory” is being used to justify killing people in their name. Congress needs it to conduct oversight. Service members need it to understand the legality of the orders they receive. And the international community needs clarity on the standards the U.S. claims to follow. There is no legitimate reason for a president to hide the legal basis for lethal force, unless the argument collapses under scrutiny. A secret opinion cannot serve as the foundation for an open-ended military campaign in the Western Hemisphere.

The Older Foundation: A 200-Year Old Doctrine of Control

If the legal foundation comes from the post-9/11 era, the geopolitical foundation is older. Almost ancestral. For 200 years, the Monroe Doctrine has served as the permission slip for U.S. domination in Latin America.

The Trump administration went even further by openly reviving and expanding it through what officials called a “Trump Corollary,” which reframed the entire Western Hemisphere as a U.S. “defense perimeter” and justified increased military operations under the language of counter-narcotics, migration control, and regional stability. In this framework, Latin America is no longer treated as a diplomatic neighbor but as a security zone where Washington can act unilaterally.

Venezuela, with its vast oil reserves, sovereign political project, and refusal to submit to U.S. pressure, has long been marked as a target. Sanctions softened the terrain. Disinformation hardened public opinion. And now, military strikes near its waters test how far Washington can push without triggering public revolt at home. The term “narcoterrorism” is simply the newest mask on a very old doctrine.

The strikes in the Caribbean are not isolated. They are the predictable intersection of two forces: a post-9/11 legal regime that allows war to expand without congressional approval, and a 200-year-old imperial doctrine that treats Latin America as a zone of control rather than a community of sovereign nations. Together, they form the logic that justifies today’s violence near Venezuela.

The Label that Opened the Door

After 9/11, every administration learned the same lesson: if you label something “terrorism,” the public will let you do almost anything. Now, this logic is being used everywhere. The cruel, decades-long blockade on Cuba is justified by claiming that the island is a “state sponsor of terrorism.” Mass surveillance, border militarization, endless sanctions, all wrapped in the language of “counterterrorism.” And now, to authorize military action in the Caribbean, they simply take the word “narco” and attach it to the word “terrorism.” The label does all the work. The danger is not confined to foreign policy: after Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the same elastic definition of “terrorism” is now being used domestically to justify crackdowns on NGOs the administration claims are inciting “anti-American” political violence.

The only reason Trump has not launched a full-scale attack on Venezuela is because he is still testing the ground, testing resistance inside Venezuela, testing Congress, testing the media, and testing us. He knows nearly 70% of people in the United States oppose a war with Venezuela. He knows he cannot sell another Iraq. So he is probing, pushing, looking for the line we will not let him cross.

We are that line.

If we do not challenge the lie now, if we do not demand release of the memo, if we stay silent, “narcoterrorism” becomes the new “weapons of mass destruction.” If we allow this test case to go unanswered, the next strike will be a war. We are the only ones who can stop him. And history is watching to see whether we learned anything from the last twenty years of fear, deception, and violence.

Because the next wars were always here, looming. We just need the clarity to see them and the force to stop them before they begin.

Michelle Ellner is a Venezuelan-American photographer and Latin America campaign coordinator with CODEPINK. Born in Venezuela, she holds a bachelor’s degree in languages and international affairs from the University La Sorbonne in Paris. She worked with community-based programs in Venezuela and served as an analyst of U.S.-Venezuela relations.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Venezuelanalysis editorial staff.

Source: Code Pink

The post The Next Wars Were Always Here: How Post 9/11 Law and the Monroe Doctrine Converged in the Caribbean appeared first on Venezuelanalysis.

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President Claudia Sheinbaum reported this Wednesday that Mexico has received 152,592 people deported by the United States since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s administration.

“Since January 20, there have been 152,592 people deported; 140,706 Mexicans and 11,886 foreigners,” the head of the Executive Branch stated during her usual press conference at the National Palace.

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The president reiterated her rejection of the raids against migrants implemented in the neighboring country to the north and said that she has personally expressed this disagreement to her US counterpart and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“We have issued numerous diplomatic notes regarding specific cases and the general treatment of migrants, particularly Mexicans. Through all diplomatic channels, we have expressed our disapproval of this form of migrant detention,” she stated.

The President of #Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, said that she has used all diplomatic channels to express her disapproval of the mistreatment of Mexican migrants in the #US. She also defends migrants and insists that they are not criminals, but honest people who contribute to the… pic.twitter.com/EyRxzqiSkX

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 10, 2025

The president emphasized that Mexican nationals in the United States are not criminals, but honest people whose purpose is to support their families in Mexico and contribute to the country’s economy and society.

She reiterated the strengthened measures to support migrants in the event of detention, including legal counsel and instructions from consulates to provide ongoing accompaniment to ensure respect for their human rights.

She also mentioned the “Mexico Embraces You” repatriation strategy, through which the government provides comprehensive support to those arriving in the country, including health services, transportation to their places of origin, job opportunities, and access to social programs, among other resources.

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Former Bolivian President Luis Arce Catacora (2020-2025) was arrested this Wednesday in La Paz, according to former Minister of the Presidency María Nela Prada, who denounced the operation as a “completely illegal kidnapping.”

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In a video posted on social media, Prada said that Arce was arrested while “alone” and that the arrest occurred without official notification or the presence of family members.

#Bolivia | Former Government Minister Maria Nela Prada denounces the arrest of former President Luis Arce (2020-2025).

According to unofficial reports, Arce was detained in the Sopocachi neighborhood of La Paz and taken to give his statement at the offices of the Special Force… pic.twitter.com/j1Pwg1wjFx

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 10, 2025

“I want to denounce before the Bolivian people and the international community that former President Luis Alberto Arce Catacora was just kidnapped in Sopocachi,” the former Minister of the Presidency stated. The statement adds that the action was carried out “completely without following the proper procedures.”

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“Our country reiterates its willingness to continue working to strengthen ties of friendship between the two countries and establish bilateral cooperation,” said the island’s Foreign Ministry on the social network X.

The two countries established diplomatic relations on December 10, 1997 and their links show positive results.

Scholars from that Southeastern country have been graduated of medicine in the Caribbean island and has always suported the Antille nation’s resolutions at the United Nations against the US blockade.

abo/rc/bbb

The post Cuba and Malawi celebrate the establishment of diplomatic ties first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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“Taking into account the complex situation in the country, the Political Bureau agreed to adjust the work program of the XI Plenary of the Central Committee of the Party to a session and hold it on Saturday, December 13 by means of videoconference,” he wrote on the social network X.

This decision will help to ensure greater retention of the main cadres at the grassroot, informing and managing the solution of those problems that cause profound impact on the quality of life of the people and in the reduction of financial and material expenses.

abo/rc/bbb

The post Cuban Political Bureau adjusts program of Central Committee Plenary first appeared on Prensa Latina.

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The US is increasingly using its economic and technological superiority to pressure other countries.

This impact is exerted not only on US geopolitical opponents, but also on its closest partners and allies in NATO, highlights the defense intelligence agency document quoted by the media.

The inclusion of Washington as a risk factor in the annual threat assessment marks a turning point in the official position of Copenhagen, traditionally one of the closest allies of the United States in Europe.

The report argues that US pressure actions represent a challenge to Denmark’s sovereignty and strategic interests, in a context of global competition for technological and economic leadership.

The decision of the Danish military intelligence falls within a period of strategic reassessment in several European countries, concerned about the impact of extraterritorial sanctions, trade disputes and the technological policies of the United States in its national security and economies.

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The Ministry for Transport reported on its Instagram account that the boat set sail on December 9 with “household goods and construction materials”.

The institution also specified that this aid will allow recovery after the ravages caused by Hurricane Melissa, and “within the framework of @albatcp in order to promote cooperation between the nations of the region”.

This is the fifth shipment that the Bolivarian Republic dispatched to Cuba after Hurricane Melissa penetrated on October 29 with category three of the Saffir-Simpson scale into Cuban territory.

Venezuela sent a first shipment of humanitarian aid with 26 tons by air the day after the hurricane; on November 8, the ALBA ship transported five thousand tons and a brigade of electrical workers.

On November 10, 22 Venezuelan specialists from the electricity, transport and public works sectors traveled to Venezuela, and that same day the second ship set sail with just over 2,500 tons of humanitarian aid.

A third ship carrying more than 7,110 tons of humanitarian aid sailed on November 28 from the international port of La Guaira, in the homonymous state, north, with 76 food containers, backhoe loaders, supplies for the recovery of housing and roads.

The executive secretary of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty, Rander Peña, then declared to the press that more than 12,000 tons of supplies sent to Cuba included food, appliances, mattresses, medicines, construction and electrical materials, toys, among others.

In his Telegram account, the Deputy Foreign minister for Latin America said that sending a ship with vital supplies to the Cuban people honors the centenary of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and his eternal teaching, and stated that “solidarity is not about giving what you have extra but sharing what you have”.

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Over the last year, Argentines have been defending their right to high-quality education.

In April 2024, an image swept across Latin America: the streets of Buenos Aires and every major Argentine city filled with students, professors, union members, and citizens.

RELATED:
Retirees and People with Disabilities Protest in Argentina Against Milei’s Vetoes

The Federal University March was more than a protest against austerity. It was the roar of a nation defending one of its most cherished social pacts: the right to free, high-quality public education.​

President Javier Milei’s educational reforms, rooted in radical free-market principles, represent a strategic effort to transform the right to free, high-quality public education into a commodity governed by market forces.

This is the “Chainsaw in the Classrooms”: a fierce ideological battle that pits the government’s neoliberal zeal against the principles of democracy, inclusion, and national sovereignty.​

The Austerity Axe: Restructuring via Defunding

The central pillar of Milei’s reform is not a sophisticated new law, but a brutal and simple arithmetic: defunding.

The administration froze operational budgets for national universities for 2024 and 2025 at the nominal levels of the 2023 budget.

In a context of triple-digit inflation, this became a major real-term cut, estimated between 35% and 50%, recasting what was labeled an adjustment as institutional sabotage.​

For public universities, which depend on the national government for 80% to 90% of their income, this means they can no longer guarantee basic functioning.

Institutions have been pushed into “survival mode”: delaying infrastructure repairs, cutting research funding, and witnessing the exodus of nearly 10,000 teaching staff, a forced brain drain that deliberately erodes the human capital of the public system rather than improving efficiency.​

El Gobierno de Javier Milei publicó este martes la «Ley de Libertad Educativa» con la que pretende reformar puntos esenciales de la educación, entre los que están la eliminación de su financiamiento progresivo hasta el 6 por ciento del PBI de #Argentina. pic.twitter.com/CaVoHE4sWk

— Director Atención Cliente Eléctrica Las Tunas (@JuanCarlos55811) December 10, 2025

The text reads, “The government of Javier Milei published this Tuesday the “Educational Freedom Law” with which it intends to reform essential points of education, including the elimination of its progressive funding up to 6 percent of the GDP of Argentina.”

The Veto Wars and Institutional Blockade

When the opposition-led National Congress attempted to halt this collapse by approving a bill to update university funding and staff salaries, President Milei responded with his veto pen.

He repeatedly rejected the University Funding Law, arguing that it would cause a “fiscal imbalance,” even though stabilizing the system required only around 0.14% of Argentina’s GDP.​

This strategy of defunding and legislative obstruction reveals the government’s deeper intent. In Milei’s radical free-market worldview, the State is a “criminal organization” to be dismantled from within, and public universities are dismissed as centers of “ideological indoctrination.”

By deliberately manufacturing crisis conditions, the administration seeks to delegitimize universities as public institutions and reduce them to empty shells, stripped of free research, social extension, and critical thinking, preparing the ground for privatization and the full marketization of education.​

Threat of the Educational Freedom Law

If the budget vetoes are the chainsaw that cuts off oxygen, the proposed Educational Freedom Law is the wrecking ball aimed at the foundations of the public system.

This bill, intended to replace the democratic and progressive 2006 National Education Law, is the clearest expression of the government’s radical project, as highlighted by critical outlets such as Página 12 and Barricada TV.​

The draft law elevates principles like “efficiency” and designates the family as the “natural and primary agent” of education, downgrading the State from guarantor of a social right to a mere subsidiary actor.

It redefines the education system as a “set of initiatives promoted by society and the State,” displacing the collective and democratic meaning of public schooling and weakening the notion of education as a universal right.​

Javier Milei fired 50,000 government employees, cut the government by 30%, & reduced the government ministries from 18 to 8.

All while lifting 2.4 million children out of poverty, killing inflation, & providing a fiscal surplus every month of 2025. pic.twitter.com/6baS7YfhIx

— Bryce M. Lipscomb (@BryceMLipscomb) July 22, 2025

Vouchers and Disinvestment

The legislative offensive is built on two key mechanisms of marketization:

• Voucher system The law proposes vouchers, bonds, or fiscal credits, a mechanism Milei repeatedly promoted during his campaign. This would convert institutional funding into “demand-based financing,” transforming students into “consumers” and forcing public and private institutions to compete for fiscal credits. Critics warn that this will create educational apartheid, accelerate the closure of under-resourced public schools, and consolidate a private, subsidized sector tailored to those who can navigate and top up the voucher market.​
• Eliminating the funding mandate The bill also seeks to scrap the 2006 mandate requiring the State to progressively increase education funding to 6% of GDP. The removal of this financial floor signals a permanent retreat of public investment, locking in crisis conditions and pushing families toward private alternatives as the only viable option.​

The ideological impact is profound: by prioritizing “individual and family freedom” over the collective good, the law dissolves social ties and equality, constructing a segmented education market. Critics argue that this regression effectively dismantles 150 years of Argentine educational history and redefines schooling as a commodity rather than a right.​

Destroying Argentine Science

Beyond the university gates, one of the most devastating consequences of the reform is the systematic destruction of Argentina’s scientific backbone, epitomized by the assault on the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

Milei’s government has repeatedly portrayed scientists as “parasites” and threatened to privatize the council, treating fundamental research as a wasteful expense.

Progressive media and academic voices increasingly describe the situation as a “cientificidio”: the deliberate dismantling of the science and technology sector.​

The financial strangulation of CONICET in 2025 has been particularly severe. The budget for the Science and Technology function has suffered a real-term cut estimated at up to 46% across 2024–2025, taking public investment in science to levels even lower than those seen during the 2002 crisis.

Salaries for researchers have lost more than 35% of their purchasing power, forcing many to take second jobs, the “Uberization of the scientist”, or to emigrate, triggering a rapid brain drain among the most qualified young researchers and undermining decades of public investment.​

Scientific Sovereignty under Attack

The government has also eliminated or frozen key funding streams, including long-awaited grants such as the PICT 2023 awards, and has redirected remaining resources toward immediately profitable applied research that serves the corporate sector.

Crippling CONICET is, in effect, an attack on national scientific sovereignty. A state that cannot fund its own scientists loses the capacity to innovate autonomously in strategic areas such as public health, energy, and aerospace technology.

By prioritizing short-term fiscal balance over long-term scientific development, the government locks Argentina into structural dependence on foreign technology and expertise, aligning the country with a primary-export, commodity-dependent economic model rather than a project of inclusive, sovereign development.​

Public Education as a Battle for Democracy

The scale of the government’s offensive has sparked a wave of resistance that confirms the vitality of Argentina’s popular struggles.

The confrontations of 2024 and 2025 have consolidated social and union movements as the main line of defense against the neoliberal project, turning education policy into one of the defining axes of national politics.​

Key actors have articulated a unified and militant response. The teachers’ union CTERA has forcefully rejected Milei’s model, denouncing the “gravísimo ajuste” and branding the Educational Freedom Law a “flat-earth project” that would destroy the education system, while warning that deep cuts to the National Teacher Incentive Fund (FONID) alone strip up to 20% from teachers’ salaries.

The student federation FUA has sustained mass mobilizations, framing the vetoes as an attempt to “discipline those who think differently” and defending university autonomy and public higher education as tools of working-class social mobility.​

The educational reform is therefore not a technical budget adjustment, but the ideological imposition of a radical model that seeks to strip the State of its role as guarantor of social rights.

Sources: Barricada Tv – Página 12 – TeleSUR – Izquierda Web – The Guardian

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The event, which brings together historians and researchers, had as its first act the presentation “From Mariana Grajales’ lineage”, by Doctor Damaris Amparo Torres, of the University of Oriente.

The historian from Santiago highlighted how often, the illustrious figure of Grajales has been treated in the bibliography “always in the shadow of her sons Maceo”, stressing the need to rescue her own leading role.

She pointed out that after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, essential works emerged that began to recognize her full legacy, such as the research “Mariana Grajales: 200 years in history and memory”.

With academic precision, Torres cleared up historical inaccuracies, stating that, against some accounts, Mariana Grajales was born in Santiago de Cuba on July 12, 1815, a fact corroborated by her baptism record found at the Churh of Santo Tomas Apostle.

She also refuted theories about Dominican origins, reaffirming her Cuban roots.

The expert narrated the resilience of a mestizo woman who, after widowing young, faced the discrimination of the time and forged a new family with the patriot Marcos Maceo, with whom she had ten children, most devoted to the struggle for independence.

“She is a woman who grows up and faces the whole situation of the time,” she stressed, despite not having been able to receive a formal education.

The formal inauguration of the Day was in charge of Fernando Miguel Manzo Alonso, president of the Union of Historians of Cuba (UNHIC) in Camagüey, a crucial province in the national history for having been the seat of the first Constitution of the Republic in Arms, in 1869.

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