2020-01-20: News Headlines

William deBuys (2020-01-20). The Humanitarian and Environmental Disaster of Trump's Border Wall. counterpunch.org A new Wild West has taken root not far from Tombstone, Arizona, known to many for its faux-historical reenactments of the old West. We're talking about a long, skinny territory — a geographic gerrymander — that stretches east across New Mexico and down the Texan Rio Grande to the Gulf of Mexico. It also runs More

Fight Back (2020-01-20). Asarco strike nears day 100. fightbacknews.org Tucson, AZ – The nearly 2000 workers represented by eight unions at Asarco mining operations will soon reach Day 100 of their strike. This comes as a result of years of Asarco failing to offer a new contract, raise wages, or even negotiate. That is why back in October, these unions filed for an Unfair Labor Practice strike on the copper corporation. | Since then, the picket line at the five operations, four in Arizona, one in Texas, has been held solid by Teamsters, Steelworkers and other trade unionists. Besides the picket line, there have been press conferences, demonstrations outside the Mexican consulate, pro…

WSWS (2020-01-20). Asarco strike poses need for international unity of US and Mexican copper miners. wsws.org The copper and metal mining industry is dominated by global corporations, posing the need for workers to develop an international strategy to fight.

teleSUR (2020-01-19). Mexico's President Assures Continuation of Social Programs. telesurenglish.net Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday that his administration will continue to guarantee social programs that seek to improve the lives of all Mexicans. | RELATED: | Mexico Halts Migrant Caravan by Closing Border With Guatemala | During the inauguration of a new concrete road in the Mixe region in the state of Oaxaca, AMLO assure…

teleSUR (2020-01-19). Migrant Caravan Gathers on Guatemala Border To Enter Mexico. telesurenglish.net Thousands of Central Americans gathered Sunday at the border between Guatemala and Mexico, with the aim of crossing into Mexican territory on Monday. | RELATED: | Mexico's President Assures Continuation of Social Programs | The migrants gathered at the Tecun Uman camp in Guatemala have decided to regroup after small groups managed to cross the border into Ciudad Hidalgo in Mexico on Saturday. | According to Guatemala's National Institute of Migration, it is estimated that 821 Hondur…

Staff (2020-01-19). Illegal Crossings Plunge as U.S. Extends Policy Across Border. truthdig.com YUMA, Ariz. — Adolfo Cardenas smiles faintly at the memory of traveling with his 14-year-old son from Honduras to the U.S.-Mexico border in only nine days, riding buses and paying a smuggler $6,000 to ensure passage through highway checkpoints. | Father and son walked about 10 minutes in Arizona's stifling June heat before surrendering to border agents. Instead of being released with paperwork to appear in immigration court in Dallas, where Cardenas hopes to live with a cousin, they were bused more than an hour to wait in the Mexican border city of Mexicali. | "It was a surprise. I never imagined this would…

teleSUR (2020-01-18). Mexico Halts Migrant Caravan by Closing Border With Guatemala. telesurenglish.net In response to the arrival of the caravan of Central American migrants, Mexico temporarily closed its border crossings near the Guatemalan cities of El Ceibo and Tecun Uman on Saturday morning. | RELATED: | Mexico's President Offers 4,000 Jobs in Attempt to Stop Caravan | Previously, around 4,000 Hondurans had arrived in the country and were waiting on a bridge at Tecun Uman. Some of them began pushing and shoving before being driven back by Mexican security officials, who shut…

Staff (2020-01-18). With Passage of NAFTA 2.0, Congress Boosts Fossil Fuel Polluters in Mexico. truthout.org NAFTA 2.0 cleared another hurdle on January 16 as the U.S. Senate approved the trade deal with bipartisan support. | Officially called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the pact has some improvements but remains a handout to large corporations. | This is particularly evident in the USMCA rules related to investor rights. One of the most controversial aspects of the original NAFTA was that it allowed private corporations to sue governments in international tribunals, demanding co…

Peoples Dispatch (2020-01-18). A new Honduran migrant caravan leaves for the US. peoplesdispatch.org Thousands of Hondurans, every year, set off for the US on a perilous journey in order to escape violence, poverty and lack of opportunities and in search of better livelihoods…

Staff (2020-01-17). Interpretation Crisis at the Border Leads to Deportation of Mayan-Language Speakers Seeking Refuge. democracynow.org As the U.S. continues to use hostile policies to stop people from seeking refuge and asylum in the United States, we look at a key problem that is preventing migrants from getting due process, and in many cases getting them deported: inadequate interpretation for indigenous asylum seekers who speak Mayan languages. Guatemala has a population of 15 million people, and at least 40% of them are indigenous. In the past year, a quarter of a million Guatemalan migrants have been apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. At least half of them are Mayan. Many speak little or no Spanish. This is the focus of a new report in…

Pete Dolack (2020-01-17). Claims that the 'NAFTA 2' Agreement is Better are a Macabre Joke. counterpunch.org Democratic Party House representatives have voted by a wide margin to approve version 2 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. Even Rose DeLauro of Connecticut, in the past a strong leader within Congress in the fight against so-called "free trade" agreements, is on board with this one. Representative More

Staff (2020-01-17). Headlines for January 17, 2020. democracynow.org Senate Impeachment Trial Opens as Accountability Office Says Trump Broke Law by Withholding Aid, Pentagon Contradicts Trump and Says 11 U.S. Troops Injured in Iranian Strikes, Senate Votes to Approve USMCA, Report: Six Banks Reaped $18 Billion Last Year from Trump Tax Cuts, Guatemalan Protesters Demand Outgoing President Be Arrested for Corruption, Deported Immigrant Rights Leader Jean Montrevil Sues U.S. Government, FBI Arrests 3 Suspected Neo-Nazis Ahead of Pro-Gun Rally in Richmond, Virginia, Florida Supreme Court Upholds Law Limiting Voting Rights for People with Felony Convictions, Harvard Law Students Prote…

Staff (2020-01-17). 4 Years Seeking Justice: Daughter of Slain Indigenous Environmental Leader Berta Cáceres Speaks Out. democracynow.org In Honduras, a new report by the Violence Observatory at the Honduran National Autonomous University says that at least 15 women have been murdered in the first 14 days of this year. Violence against women, LGBTQ people, indigenous leaders and environmental activists has skyrocketed in Honduras under the U.S.-backed government of President Juan Orlando Hernández. The report comes nearly four years after the Honduran indigenous environmental activist Berta Cáceres was shot dead inside her home in La Esperanza, Honduras, by hired hitmen. Last month in the capital of Tegucigalpa, seven men were sentenced to up to 50…

Staff (2020-01-16). Headlines for January 16, 2020. democracynow.org House Lawmakers Deliver Articles of Impeachment to Senate, Ex-Giuliani Associate Says Trump Knew of Ukraine Pressure Campaign, U.S. Troops Resume Iraq Operations Despite Parliament's Expulsion Order, Afghan Reconstruction Watchdog Tells Congress of U.S. "Mendacity" and "Lies", Trump Signs "Phase 1" Agreement with China, Easing Trade War, Russian Government Resigns as Vladimir Putin Seeks to Retain Power Beyond 2024, At Least 21 Killed in Idlib Amid Syrian, Russian Airstrikes, Court Blocks Trump Order Allowing Local Leaders to Refuse Refugees, ACLU Sues to End Trump's Policy of Sending Asylum Seekers to Guatemala,…

Staff (2020-01-15). A Modest Improvement or a Deal to Be Rejected? Warren & Sanders Debate New NAFTA Rewrite. democracynow.org Progressive Democratic presidential candidates Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders clashed over their trade policy disagreements as they zeroed in on the U.S., Mexico and Canada trade agreement that is meant to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement. Sanders said the government can do much better. "The heart and soul of our disastrous trade agreements — and I'm the guy who voted against NAFTA and against permanent normal trade relations with China — is that we have forced American workers to compete against people in Mexico, in China, elsewhere, who earn starva…

Staff (2020-01-15). In First All-White Democratic Debate, CNN Didn't Ask a Single Question About Immigration. democracynow.org As the federal government plans to divert an additional $7.2 billion from the military budget for the construction of President Trump's promised border wall, and tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Central America, the Caribbean and other regions are stranded throughout the U.S.-Mexico border, CNN moderators failed to question Democratic presidential candidates on border and immigration issues. We speak to Julio Ricardo Varela, co-host of the Latinx political podcast "In the Thick" and founder of Latino Rebels. "Anyone who thinks that a wall is going to protect us, the statistics aren't there. … But that i…

Staff (2020-01-15). Headlines for January 15, 2020. democracynow.org House to Vote to Send Impeachment Articles to Senate, WaPo: Threatening Text Messages Show Yovanovitch Was Under Surveillance, War Powers Resolution Limiting Trump on Iran Could Pass Senate | , Six Democratic Candidates Took Stage in Des Moines, Iowa, 5,000 Puerto Ricans Still Homeless After 6.4 Magnitude Earthquake, HRW Blasts China for Human Rights Violations Against Uyghurs & Protesters | , 15 Women Murdered in Honduras in First 2 Weeks of This Year, American Citizen Moustafa Kassem Dies in Egyptian Prison After Hunger Strike, Seattle Bans Foreign-Influenced Companies from Political Spending, "Jeopardy!" Apolo…

Staff (2020-01-14). Central American Caravan for the Disappeared Seeks to Reunite Families. therealnews.com A caravan of Hondurans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans, heads north towards Mexico looking for lost and disappeared loved ones.

Joe Emersberger (2019-12-15). 128 Reuters articles on Bolivia since October 20, 2019 election with no mention of expert criticism of OAS audit UPDATED. zcomm.org Bolivia ¥s foreign minister says Mexico appeal to International Court 'a mistake' Bolivia's YPFB strikes transition deal with Petrobras to extend natural gas exports Bolivia is not a Mexican colony, acting foreign minister Longaric tells El Pais Mexico says Spanish diplomats' cars blocked by Bolivia at La Paz embassy Mexico appeals to international court as diplomatic Read more…

Paul Dobson (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.