(2019-12-07). 'I had a sombrero on': Andy Ruiz explains HUGE weight difference ahead of Anthony Joshua rematch. rt.com 
Ahead of the fight of his life on Saturday night against Anthony Joshua, Andy Ruiz has been forced to address concerns about his weight but blames his increased mass on, among other things, the sombrero he wore on the scales. | Ruiz will become the heaviest man to fight in a heavyweight world title fight since 7ft tall Russian Nikolai Valuev when the first bell sounds in Riyadh but has been forced to allay concerns as to his weight after registering a considerable 283lbs during Friday's weigh-in – some 15lbs heavier than in their first meeting. | However, the Mexican-American fighter isn't blaming his balloone…
(2019-12-06). 'Vicious Circle,' Mexican writer José Agustín's 1972 play in brilliant translation. peoplesworld.org 
Usually I go to the theatre to review plays. This one I have not seen, but read. My Spanish is pretty good, but it's mostly an academic, formal language learned at university. I read José Agustín's highly vernacular play Círculo Vicioso in a fine, modern and sassy translation by Eric W. Vogt, published in 2017 …
(2019-12-06). 'Scrooge would be proud': Trump pulls food stamps from 700,000 people. peoplesworld.org 
First it was banning Muslims from entering the country. Then it was ripping screaming toddlers from their mothers' arms at the U.S.-Mexico border. Then it was throwing poor people out of public housing for flimsy reasons. And starting in April, it may be letting people starve. Welcome to TrumpWorld, where people whom right-wing nativist GOP …
(2019-12-06). AMLO asked me nicely: Trump says he will NOT declare Mexican cartels terrorists just yet. rt.com 
US President Donald Trump said he will hold off on designating Mexican drug cartels as terrorists at the request of the country's president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, adding that they will "deal decisively" with them together. | Calling Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, "a man who I like and respect, and has worked so well with us," Trump said that he will "temporarily" hold off on the terrorist designation despite all the necessary work already being completed. ….will temporarily hold off this designation and step up our joint efforts to deal decisively with these vicious and ever-growing organizations
"Look at the camera," a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) | officer told me as I approached the primary inspection point at the Paso del | Norte port of entry. | "Is that the face recognition technology?" I asked. "If so, I want to opt-out." | "Look at the camera." | "I want to opt-out." | "Look at the camera." | On the evening of November 25, 2019, I crossed from Mexico into the United States. Signs in the port noted the new use of face recognition technology and United States citizens' option to "undergo alternative procedures." After handing over my U.S. passport card, and despite my repeated protests…
(2019-12-05). Filmmakers Sue to Shield Visitors to U.S. From Social Media Vetting. theintercept.com A filmmaker working on a documentary that's critical of U.S. policies. A writer who operates a pseudonymous Twitter account to evade an authoritarian regime in their home country. An activist who uses Facebook to organize protests at the U.S.-Mexico border. | These are the kinds of people who might not want U.S. immigration agents poring over their social media profiles before deciding whether they should be allowed into the country. Yet that's exactly what the State Department now requires as part of the Trump administration's "extreme vetting" of millions of visa applicants. As of May, people who need a visa to…
(2019-12-04). U.N. Report Finds Over 7 Million Children Worldwide Are Being Held in Various Kinds of Detention. democracynow.org 
A damning United Nations report says that 7 million children are deprived of their liberty worldwide, from children imprisoned on the U.S.-Mexico border to the missing children of ISIS fighters. The Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty says that at least 410,000 of those children are detained in jails and prisons, where violence is "endemic." The study also found that the number of children detained in the context of armed conflict has dramatically risen. The global study was published in November, on the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the landmark international treaty affi…
(2019-12-04). Moving Jobs to Mexico Was a Feature, Not a Bug, of NAFTA. fair.org 
The Washington Post ( 11/21/19) tells readers that "NAFTA was meant to expand trade…but it also proved disruptive in terms of…relocating businesses and jobs. | The Washington Post ( 11/21/19) gave readers the official story about NAFTA, diverging seriously from reality, in a piece on the status of negotiati…
(2019-12-04). Is Trump's New Drug Cartel Terrorism Designation Masking a More Sinister Agenda? mintpressnews.com 
Everybody in Latin America knows what happens to leftist heads of state who challenge the power of the local elites and of the US government.
(2019-12-03). Race Looms Ever Larger as Death Sentences Decline. theintercept.com 
As he was strapped to the gurney in the Texas death chamber, Henry Martinez Porter prepared to deliver his last words. The execution had been scheduled for midnight. Porter, convicted of fatally shooting a Fort Worth police officer who pulled him over, swore that he'd acted in self-defense; he was shot in the side during the altercation. But two different juries sent him to die. | "The only thing that convicted me was that I am a Mexican and that he was a police officer," Porter said. "People hollered for my life, and they are to have my life tonight." Yet people never hollered for the life of a cop who killed a…
(2019-12-03). Headlines for December 3, 2019. democracynow.org House Democrats May Widen Impeachment Inquiry, Trump Lashes Out at Macron Amid NATO Summit, Rep. Duncan Hunter Pleads Guilty to Campaign Finance Violations, Supreme Court Hears Arguments over Arsenic Pollution in Montana, Half a Million Forced to Evacuate as Typhoon Kammuri Slams Philippines, Amnesty Says Over 200 Killed in Iran's Crackdown Against Nov. Protests, 7 Men Sentenced for Murder of Honduran Environmental Activist Berta Cáceres, Honduran TV Host José Aritas Murdered in Puerto Cortés, Guatemala: Ex-Military Official to be Tried for Genocide Against Ixil Mayans, White House Quietly Releases $105 Million i…
(2019-12-02). Nicaragua Marked Next For US "Liberation", Trump Blames "Vicious World" For Khashoggi Murder & More. thelastamericanvagabond.com Welcome to The Daily Wrap Up, a concise show dedicated to bringing you the most relevant independent news, as we see it, from the last 24 hours (12/1/19). As always, take the information discussed in the video below and research it for yourself, and come to your own conclusions. Anyone telling you what the truth …
(2019-12-01). Plan Cóndor 2.0: Tras el golpe en Bolivia, Trump declara a Nicaragua 'amenaza a su seguridad nacional' y apunta hacia México. thegrayzone.com Luego de presidir el golpe en Bolivia, los Estados Unidos declararon a Nicaragua como una "amenaza a la seguridad nacional"…
(2019-12-01). The Sanctuary Strategy. progressive.org Policies and activism that work to shelter undocumented immigrants have spread across the country—and are remarkably effective.
(2019-11-28). Operation Condor 2.0: After Bolivia coup, Trump dubs Nicaragua 'national security threat' and targets Mexico. thegrayzone.com After presiding over a far-right coup in Bolivia, the US dubbed Nicaragua a "national security threat" and announced new sanctions,…
(2019-11-25). In Nicaragua, She Dodged Bullets. Now She's Stuck at the Border. aclu.org 
(Ciudad Juarez, Mexico) The sting of tear gas was still in Julia's eyes when she ran into a public park in the center of the Nicaraguan city of Estelí on June 20, 2018. Earlier that day, she'd wrapped her face in a blue-and-white bandanna — the colors of the Nicaraguan flag — and joined a student-led march against the government of President Daniel Ortega, whose proposed cuts to social benefits were sparking tense street demonstrations across the country. [Note: 'Julia' is a pseudonym; the ACLU is protecting her identity for her safety.] | As the students marched through the streets, paramilitary p…
(2019-11-04). Venezuela, El Salvador Break Relations as Maduro Applauds 'New Anti-Neoliberal Wave'. venezuelanalysis.com Guatemala's president-elect has similarly pledged to break with the Maduro government upon assuming office in January.
(2019-10-14). Venezuela Denies Guatemalan President-Elect Entrance, Congratulates Ecuadorian People on IMF Defeat. venezuelanalysis.com President Nicolas Maduro also called on Chavista forces to prepare to "rescue" the National Assembly in the upcoming elections.
