WTF is Going on in Latin America & The Caribbean

EPISODE: Save the Planet: Nicaragua & the Climate Crisis

GUEST: Javier Gutierrez, Secretary of the Presidency of Nicaragua for Climate Change and Vice-Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

On the heels of COP27, we present an encore broadcast from August 2021 discussing climate change with guest Javier Gutierrez, Secretary of the Presidency of Nicaragua for Climate Change and Vice-Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.

This episode is a thorough presentation of the effects of climate change on food production, extreme weather conditions, insect borne illnesses, and migration, as well as, a scientific discussion as to what is happening to the planet as a whole.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Watch via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-y3txWsliCY

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean is a Popular Resistance broadcast in partnership with CODEPINK, Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas.

EPISODE: Bolivia’s Right-Wing Orchestrates a Civil Strike

GUESTS: Camila Escalante and Ollie Vargas of Kawsachun News and the podcast Latin America in Review

BACKGROUND:

In the last 21 days former coup leader and current governor of the Department of Santa Cruz, Luis Fernando Camacho, has been allowed “to carry out a coup d’état in the city of Santa Cruz,” in the words of Pedro Damián Dorado, vice president of the association of municipalities of the department by the same name. Constant media misinformation is the glue that holds together Camacho’s base, which can be counted in the nearly 230,000, mostly middle-class people who turned out for his latest political meeting. In late October, Camacho launched the shutdown of the city for the foreseeable future. It is Bolivia’s largest and most prosperous metropolis – and the economic motor of the country. Camacho is a very rich man and to preserve the wealth of the few, he is once again acting as a threat to Bolivian democracy.

But, the story from the grassroots has shifted radically since the de facto coup regime that came to power three years ago and lasted less than a year. When the far-right of Camacho declared a total strike and work stoppage in the city of Santa Cruz three weeks ago, the masses refused to comply. 

 FOLLOW OUR GUESTS:

Camila Escalante: https://twitter.com/PrensaCamila

Ollie Vargas: https://twitter.com/OVargas52

Kawsachun News:

https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews

https://kawsachunnews.com

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

What’s Happening in Bolivia: CEPR’s Recent Work

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean is a Popular Resistance broadcast in partnership with CODEPINK, Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas.

EPISODE: Colombia & Venezuela, Brother Nations Reunite

GUEST: Daniel Kovalik

Dan is an American lawyer and Human Rights advocate who currently teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. From 1993 until 2019 he served as in-house counsel for the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO. While with the USW, he worked on Alien Tort Claims Act cases against The Coca-Cola Company, Drummond and Occidental Petroleum – cases arising out of egregious human rights abuses in Colombia. Dan is the recipient of the David W. Mills Mentoring Fellowship from Stanford University School of Law as well as the Project Censored Award for his article exposing the unprecedented killing of trade unionists in Colombia,

He has written extensively on the issue of international human rights and U.S. foreign policy including several books of which is “The Plot To Overthrow Venezuela, How The US Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil”

Dan is also a Senior Research Fellow with The Council on Hemispheric Affairs which is a broadcast partner of this program

BACKGROUND

Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro met in Venezuela’s capital Caracas on Tuesday, November 1, two months after formally re-establishing diplomatic relations and a month after resuming trade between the two neighboring countries. (3 months after the inauguration)

This was the first time that Petro and Maduro met since the mending of bilateral relations in late August. It was a historic meeting as it marked the further strengthening of the diplomatic ties between Colombia and Venezuela, which got increasingly worse with the intensification of attacks against Venezuela by the US and the support this campaign received by then far-right Colombian president Iván Duque.

Colombia and Venezuela officially broke diplomatic relations in February 2019 after Duque recognized the US-backed self-proclaimed “president” Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

FOLLOW OUR GUEST:

Twitter

Facebook

ADDITIONAL LINKS

The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela, How the US is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil

War and Human Rights Abuses: Colombia & the Corporate Support for Anti-Union Suppression 

La Carga Historica y Politica del Ecuentro entre Petro y Maduro

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean is a Popular Resistance broadcast in partnership with CODEPINK, Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas.

EPISODE: Brazil’s Lula da Silva: A Victory of an Immense Democratic Movement

GUEST: Michael Fox who is an independent journalist and the podcast host of Brazil on Fire a NACLA and Real News production

BACKGROUND

Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva was elected the next president of Brazil, in a stunning comeback following a tight run-off race on Sunday, October 30. His victory is one of an Immense Movement returning democracy to Latin America’s largest country, after four years of Jair Bolsonaro’s far-right administration.

The 76-year-old politician’s win represents the return of the left into power in Brazil, and concludes a triumphant personal comeback for Lula, after a series of corruption allegations lead to his imprisonment for 580 days. The sentences were later annulled by the Supreme Court, clearing his path to run for reelection.

“They tried to bury me alive and I’m here,” he said in a jubilant speech last Sunday.

He will take the reins of a country plagued by gross inequality that is still struggling to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Approximately 9.6 million people fell under the poverty line between 2019 and 2021, and literacy and school attendance rates have fallen. He will also be faced with a deeply fractured nation and urgent environmental issues, including rampant deforestation in the Amazon.

This will be Lula’s third term, after previously governing Brazil for two consecutive terms between 2003 and 2010.

FOLLOW OUR GUEST:

Twitter

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Brazil on Fire

Latin America's Turbulent Transitions: The Future of Twenty-First Century Socialism

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean is a Popular Resistance broadcast in partnership with CODEPINK, Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas,

TODAY'S EPISODE: The Impending U.S. Invasion of Haiti

GUEST: Jemima Pierre of Black Alliance for Peace

Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies and Department of Anthropology, University of California Los Angeles

Jemima Pierre is a sociocultural anthropologist whose research and teaching interests are located in the overlaps between African Studies and African Diaspora Studies and engage three broad areas: race, racial formation theory, and political economy; culture and the history of anthropological theory; and transnationalism, globalization, and diaspora. She is the author of The Predicament of Blackness: Postcolonial Ghana and the Politics of Race.

BACKGROUND:

On Monday, October 17, Thousands of protesters across Haiti demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. The protest started hours before the United Nations Security Council held a split vote over sending an international force to Haiti to help with deteriorating security and a surge in cholera after powerful gangs took over the main port and blocked fuel deliveries.

The government had been awaiting a response to Henry’s recent request for the international community to help set up a “specialized armed force” to quell the violence, which has worsened in the power vacuum created by the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

The United States and Mexico said on October 17 that they are preparing another UN resolution that would authorize “an international assistance mission” to help improve security in crisis-racked Haiti so that humanitarian aid desperately needed by millions of people can be delivered.

Petrol stations remain closed, hospitals have slashed services and businesses, including banks and supermarkets, have cut their hours as everyone across the country runs out of fuel.

FOLLOW OUR GUEST:

Jemima Pierre: https://twitter.com/grosmorne29

Black Alliance for Peace:

https://blackallianceforpeace.com/

https://twitter.com/Blacks4Peace

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

An Open Letter to His Excellency, Mr. Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), President of Mexico, on the Renewal of the UN Occupation of Haiti

The Black Alliance for Peace Opposes Biden Administration’s Security Council Resolution on Haiti and Calls for its Veto

Frederick Douglas and America Empire in Haiti

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean: Another Shock for Haiti

WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean: Haiti Strikes! An Update on the Situation

In partnership with Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com

Note: this episode is bilingual (Spanish and English). For full English translation, please view at: https://youtu.be/AvzCWjqiRQE

Additional note: the first few minutes of this broadcast were disrupted by anti-government trolls. The disruption has been left in the recording so as to demonstrate some of the obstacles faced while reporting a non-US narrative from Venezuela.

TODAY'S EPISODE: Alex Saab: A Kidnapped Diplomat

This is a special episode featuring the screening of the documentary film by the same name followed by a discussion/Q&A session with our guests:

Camila Fabri Saab, wife of Alex Saab and

Carlos Ron, Venezuela’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America

BACKGROUND:

Alex Saab is virtually unknown in the United States, where he is currently languishing in a Miami prison, but he has been vital to Venezuela’s ability to survive the brutal economic war being waged by the U.S. He is a political prisoner whose case has parallels to that of Julian Assange. Both have been subjected to extraterritorial reach by U.S. authorities, as neither are U.S. citizens, and their alleged crimes took place outside of the country. Assange is in jail for telling the truth. Saab is in jail for helping feed Venezuelans

The documentary Alex Saab, A Kidnapped Diplomat, directed by Venezuelan journalist and documentary filmmaker Karen Méndez, focuses on the illegal detention of Saab, first in Cape Verde and since October 2021 in the United States.

FOLLOW OUR GUESTS:

Camila Fabri Saab: https://twitter.com/CamillaFSaab

Carlos Ron, Venezuela Vice-Minister of Foreign Relations, North America

https://twitter.com/CarlosJRonVE

TAKE ACTION:

Sign the Free Alex Saab Petition

https://www.codepink.org/freealexsaab

In partnership with Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com

Guests:

Camila Escalante of Kawsachun News

Craig Jardula of the ConvoCouch

Both of our guests were on the ground in Brazil to observe the first round presidential elections held Sunday, October 2

Background:

Brazil's presidential election is headed for a run-off vote, electoral authorities said on Sunday, October 2, after President Jair Bolsonaro's surprising strength in the first round spoiled rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's hopes of winning outright.

With 99.7% of electronic votes counted, Lula was ahead with 48.4% of votes versus 43.3% for Bolsonaro, the national electoral authority reported. As neither got a majority of support, the race will go to a second-round vote on Oct. 30.

Several opinion surveys had shown Lula, who was president from 2003 to 2010, leading the far-right Bolsonaro by 10-15 percentage points ahead of the October 2nd vote. The much tighter result dashed hopes of a quick resolution to a deeply polarized election.

Follow our Guests:

Craig Jardula

https://www.facebook.com/craig.jardula

https://twitter.com/yopasta

Camila Escalante

https://www.facebook.com/aCamilaThreat

https://twitter.com/camilapress

https://twitter.com/PrensaCamila

The ConvoCouch:

https://twitter.com/theconvocouch

Kawsachun News:

https://twitter.com/KawsachunNews

In partnership with Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com

In this episode, we are in conversation with three Colombians living in the North America diaspora about their impressions of Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s address to the United Nations on Tuesday, September 20

Guests:

Raul Burbano, Executive Director Common Frontiers, Toronto

Yhamir Chabur, Troika Kollectivo, Queens

Samantha Wherry, CODEPINK Latin America Coordinator, Wash DC

Background:

On Tuesday September 20, the first day of the United Nations General Assembly, Colombian President Gustavo Petro made his first address to the body. The speech sharply deviated from those of his conservative predecessors. Petro did not shy away from calling out global North countries for their role in the destruction of the environment and in the perpetuation of the War on Drugs, as a symptom of their capitalist greed. He accused “You are only interested in my country to spray poisons on our jungles, to take our men to jail and put our women in exclusion. You are not interested in the education of the child, but in killing the jungle and extracting coal and oil from its entrails. The sponge that absorbs the poison [the rainforest] is useless, they prefer to throw more poisons into the atmosphere.”

This is Petro’s first trip to the United States since he was inaugurated on August 7. He was received on Sunday night, September 18, by hundreds of supporters in Queens, NY who showed their support to his administration’s commitment to working for peace and ensuring the wellbeing of the Colombian people.

Follow our Guests:

Raul Burbano:

https://www.facebook.com/raul.burbano.1

Yhamir Chabur:

https://www.facebook.com/ychabur

https://www.instagram.com/yhamirchabur/

Samantha Wherry:

https://www.facebook.com/samantha.wherry.1

Additional Links:

General Assembly of the United Nations-General Debate (Colombia) H.E. Mr. Gustavo Petro Urrego, President

In partnership with Common Frontiers, Council on Hemispheric Affairs, Friends of Latin America, InterReligious Task Force on Central America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com

GUESTS:

Patricio Zamorano, Co-Director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs which is also a WTF broadcast partner. Patricio is Chilean born and has been living in the US for 20 years. He voted at the Chilean Embassy in Washington DC on Sunday.

Alondra Carrillo Vidal, member of the Chilean Constitutional Convention and spokesperson for Coordinadora Feminista 8M

BACKGROUND:

On Sunday, September 4, Chileans overwhelmingly voted against a proposed new constitution rejecting what would have been one of the world's most progressive charters.

While nearly 80% of Chileans voted to draft a new constitution in 2020, nearly 62% of voters rejected the new text with 99.74 percent of ballot boxes counted.

Karol Cariola, spokeswoman for the approval campaign, conceded defeat late on Sunday night in downtown Santiago but said the mandate to draft a new text remains in force.

President Gabriel Boric, whose government is largely tied to the new text, said cabinet changes were coming and the government would work to draft another constitution.

The proposed text that voters rejected was a response to widespread violent protests that gripped the nation in late 2019 and focused on social rights, the environment, gender parity and indigenous rights, a sharp shift from its market-friendly constitution dating back to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

FOLLOW OUR GUESTS:

Patricio Zamorano https://twitter.com/ZamoranoInfo

Javiera Mazi https://twitter.com/JavieraManzi

In partnership with Common Frontiers Council on Hemispheric Affairs Friends of Latin America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com

Guest: Franco Metaza,Director-General for Foreign Affairs of the Argentina National Senate.

Franco is a political activist of Argentina. He is involved in the Peronist-Kirchnerista movement of “La Campora”.

He has a degree in Government and International Relations. He did his degree thesis on the Mercosur Parliament.

He has held different positions related to international relations in the General Secretary of Argentina Presidency, Chamber of Representatives and the National Bank of Argentina.

He participated in several G20 summits leading the youth delegation from his country (Mexico 2012, Russia 2013, Australia 2014).

He is currently pursuing a PhD in Defense

Background:

On August 22, an Argentine federal prosecutor requested a 12-year prison sentence for Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the country's former president and current vice president, on corruption charges related to public works. He also requested a lifetime ban on Fernandez de Kirchner from holding public office.

Prosecutor Diego Luciani accused Fernandez de Kirchner of defrauding the state and involvement in a scheme to divert public funds while president between 2007 and 2015.

The sentence will be known in months, according to local media, although Fernandez de Kirchner could appeal it to higher courts, which would take years to reach a final verdict.

On Twitter, Fernandez de Kirchner, who testified in court in 2019, said she was facing a "media-judicial firing squad" and "not a constitutional court."

The former president added that she was not given an opportunity to testify on new elements of the case and would present her defense on social media on Tuesday.

Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez condemned the decision on Twitter, describing the decision in a statement as a case of judicial persecution.

"None of the acts attributed to the former president have been proven," the statement said.

ADDITIONAL LINKS:

Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner: Derecho de Defensa. Causa Vialidad.

https://youtu.be/aNtbi1tSiWo

FOLLOW OUR GUEST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FMetaza

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CFKArgentina

In partnership with Common Frontiers Council on Hemispheric Affairs Friends of Latin America Massachusetts Peace Action and Task Force on the Americas, WTF is Going on in Latin America & the Caribbean broadcasts weekly on CODEPINK YouTube Live. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Telegram and RadIndieMedia.com