2020-04-14: News Headlines

Nomaan Merchant (2020-04-14). Privately-run immigrant jails denying detainees masks, dodging responsibility. peoplesworld.org HOUSTON (AP)—Elsy was on the phone in an immigration detention center when guards showed up with face masks and forms to sign. The asylum-seeker from El Salvador and others had resorted to tearing their T-shirts into face coverings after a woman in their unit tested positive for COVID-19. But the guards would not give out …

Dennis Broe (2020-04-14). 'Ozark' and middle-class life under pressure; Dr. Freud in 'Vienna Blood'. peoplesworld.org The third season of the Netflix popular and critical hit Ozark has the show going ever darker. It's beginning to make Breaking Bad seem like a sit-com. In the first season, there seemed to be a way out for the accountant Marty Byrde, participating in money laundering for a Mexican drug cartel and having to …

Staff (2020-04-14). "Terrified to Go to Work": Hundreds of Workers in Meat & Poultry Plants Test Positive for COVID-19. democracynow.org We look at the spike in coronavirus infections at meatpacking plants. In just one case, Smithfield Foods shut down a plant responsible for 5% of U.S. pork production after more than 350 workers at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, deaths of slaughterhouse workers have been reported in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Colorado. Many meat processing facilities employ large numbers of immigrants, including undocumented workers. We speak with Wenonah Hauter, executive director and founder of Food & Water Watch, and with Magaly Licolli, executive director of Venceremos, an advocacy group for poultry plant…

teleSUR (2020-04-14). El Salvador Extends State of Emergency Due to Covid-19. telesurenglish.net The Salvadorean Legislative Assembly extended the state of emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic until April 16, a new reported has revealed. | RELATED: | During the extension, the deputies will draw up a new legal project that is in line with the real needs generated by the pandemic. | The legal body will also review fundamental issues to be monitored during the exceptional situation caused by the virus, such as human rights and complian…

Women's March (2020-04-14). The Undocumented Community during COVID-19 by Women's March (webinar). indybay.org Online…

Staff (2020-04-14). Hundreds of Workers in Meat and Poultry Plants Test Positive for COVID-19. truthout.org We look at the spike in coronavirus infections at meatpacking plants. In just one case, Smithfield Foods shut down a plant responsible for 5% of U.S. pork production after more than 350 workers at the facility tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, deaths of slaughterhouse workers have been reported in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Colorado. Many meat processing facilities employ large numbers of immigrants, including undocumented workers. We speak with Wenonah Hauter, executive director and founder…

Ben Norton (2020-04-13). As Nicaragua confronts Covid, its US-backed opposition exploits the pandemic to create chaos. thegrayzone.com Nicaragua's right-wing opposition is waging an information warfare campaign to undermine the elected Sandinista government, spreading fake news on coronavirus,…

Ben Norton (2020-04-08). Billionaire-backed Human Rights Watch lobbies for lethal US sanctions on leftist governments as Covid crisis rages. thegrayzone.com Regime change-hungry HRW is proudly taking credit for crushing new US sanctions on Nicaragua while pushing to escalate Washington's economic…

Staff (2020-04-07). Deaths of Inequality: AOC on Black and Latinx Communities at Epicenter of Epicenter of the Pandemic. democracynow.org As COVID-19 deaths spike in African-American and immigrant communities, almost a third of New York City's infections are in Queens, one of the most diverse places in the world, and many in the hardest-hit neighborhoods are undocumented and working-class. We speak with Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents the neighborhoods at the epicenter of the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, about how the Trump administration's response to the pandemic is causing "deaths of incompetence," "deaths of science denial" and "deaths of inequality."

Jessica Corbett (2020-04-04). Millions of Women in Mexico Join "Day Without Us" Strike to Protest Gender-Based Violence. zcomm.org "In Mexico it's like we're in a state of war; we're in a humanitarian crisis because of the quantity of women that have disappeared or been killed"

Staff (2020-04-03). Protect Immigrant Communities: Fear Mounts of Deadly COVID-19 Outbreak in U.S. Border Camps, ICE Jails. democracynow.org The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has joined thousands of medical professionals and immigration rights groups to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement release all prisoners from immigration jails as the coronavirus continues to spread. Meanwhile, immigration advocates are working to prepare crowded encampments of asylum seekers across the U.S.-Mexico border for a potentially catastrophic outbreak of COVID-19. Since the implementation of the Trump administration's "Remain in Mexico" policy, tens of thousands of asylum seekers from regions like Central America and Africa have been stranded in Mexican bord…