Since the November 20 presidential and legislative election in Haiti, protesters have taken to the streets daily decrying an electoral coup. And now, just days after Haitians marked the 214th anniversary of Haiti's independence, Haiti's electoral council ignored challenges of massive fraud in the election to declare Jovenel Moise the winner.
Jovenel Moise is a businessman who was handpicked by outgoing Haitian President Michel Martelly; Moise has never held electoral office. Meanwhile, candidates challenging the election results – including Dr. Maryse Narcisse, the candidate of the Lavalas Party – are refusing to accept the results. Lavalas has called for continued mobilizations against the electoral coup, but protesters are being met with violence by United Nations-trained Haitian police. We get the latest update from Pierre Labossiere of the Haiti Action Committee.
On December 23, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for 2017, which includes the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act. This gives a green light for the U.S. to further consolidate its propaganda machine and gives a clear path for the State Department to block alternative narratives that contradict the U.S. point of view or U.S. interests. Is this the Ministry of Truth that George Orwell wrote about? Our guest is Rick Sterling, investigative journalist and author of The War Against Alternative Information" on Consortium News.
And for our Weekly Earth Watch, Ruddy Turnstone of the Global Justice Ecology Project joins us to discuss the huge $66 billion Bayer-Monsanto merger, a deal which will make Bayer the worlds largest supplier of seeds and pesticide.