Rights Action
May 11, 2020
Covid19 update #4
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Covid19 is not the problem
https://mailchi.mp/rightsaction/covid19-is-not-the-problem
Covid19 is a serious health challenge to humans. However, the real problems multiplying and worsening the impact of Covid19 are deeply entrenches systems of human inequality, discrimination and violence.
The unequal, unjust Nation State system itself - dominated economically, politically, militarily by rich and powerful nations - is a part of the problem.
The G7, IMF, World Bank, WTO, etc., and global companies, investors and stock markets that dominate the unequal, unjust global economic order are part of the problem. The dominant economic system based always on ‘more’ - more production, more extraction, more sales, more consumption, more profits, more Mother Earth degradation, more waste and contamination - is the problem.
Covid19 is exposing the faultlines of deeply entrenched systems of human exploitation and inequality, violence and injustice inside borders and between borders.
White flag movement in Guatemala, signaling hunger
- Here: Another batch of arbitrarily selected stories.
- Below: How to donate to Rights Action’s Covid19 Response Fund
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"Do with it what you will. Cry over it. Get angry. Forget it.
But don't say in years to come that you would have lived your life differently
if only you had heard this story.
You have heard it now."
(Thomas King)
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Living under bridges in Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Por Claudia Mendoza, April 29, 2020
View: https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaM74/videos/10220585318515625/
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U.S. indictment of Juan Carlos “el tigre” Bonilla on drug-trafficking charges is tip of the Honduras impunity iceberg
by Karen Spring, Honduras Solidarity Network, April 30, 2020
https://www.aquiabajo.com/blog/2020/4/30/us-indictment-of-el-tigre-bonilla-just-the-tip-of-the-impunity-iceberg
The U.S. and Canadian-backed President of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, is directly mentioned twice in this indictment against Honduras’ former head of National Police.
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President Trump said Honduran military-backed dictator Juan Orlando Hernandez told him hydroxychloroquine works great
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALWq-iRdwIE#action=share
JOH is the narco-trafficking head of a repressive regime supported by U.S. & Canada since 2009 coup ousted Honduras’ last democratic gov't.
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US is illegally sending people seeking asylum to Honduras
30 April 2020, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/start-sending-people-seeking-asylum-honduras-200430210600835.html
Critics slam new US-Honduras deal, which was released the same day the US indicted a Honduran ex-national police chief.
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Critical, But Expendable - Migrant Agricultural Workers In Canada
May 2, 2020, Chris Ramsaroop and Kevin Edmonds
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20200502/chris-ramsaroop-and-kevin-edmonds-critical-expendable-migrant
On April 21, news broke of a COVID-19 outbreak at Greenhill Produce, a farm located in Southern Ontario, Canada, staffed by migrant workers mostly from Jamaica, Mexico, and Guatemala. At the time of writing, it has been confirmed that 43 workers on the farm have tested positive for the virus. This, unfortunately, did not come as a surprise because without any changes to workers’ rights and protections, such as the right to refuse unsafe work, the Canadian and Jamaican governments and the agricultural industry are knowingly placing migrant workers in situations that are ripe for the spread of disease.
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40 workers at Kent Bridge, Ont. greenhouse test positive for COVID-19
CBC News, Apr 27, 2020
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/kent-bridge-greenhouse-covid19-1.5546188
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Unwelcomed in US - and at home: Deported Guatemalans face threats
by Jeff Abbott, 27 Apr 2020
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/unwelcomed-home-deported-guatemalans-face-threats-200427143917256.html
Guatemalans deported by the US are threatened and shunned after officials say dozens test positive for the coronavirus.
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White Flags As Guatemalans Grow Hungry
May 7, 2020, by Vaclav Masek
https://latindispatch.com/2020/05/07/white-flags-as-guatemalans-grow-hungry/
A drive down 7A Avenida in Guatemala City’s Zone 1 leads to the historic city center. Government-enforced lockdowns due to COVID-19 have rendered the area a ghost town, with the only people around waving white flags.
The white flags, which signify lack of food, have become commonplace in major thoroughfares around the capital.
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First ICE detainee dies from COVID-19 after being hospitalized from Otay Mesa Detention Center
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/immigration/story/2020-05-06/first-ice-detainee-dies-from-covid-19-after-being-hospitalized-from-otay-mesa-detention-center
Hospitalized and on a ventilator for a little over a week, a detainee from Otay Mesa Detention Center on Wednesday became the first in immigration custody nationwide to die from COVID-19. Carlos Ernesto Escobar Mejia died around 2:15 a.m., according to his sister, Maribel Escobar. Her brother, known to her by the nickname “Netio,” would have turned 58 later this month, Escobar said. She remembered her brother as very kind, someone who helped people, in particular doing everything he could to support their sister Rosa, with whom he lived in the Los Angeles area.
“Why is there so much injustice in this world?” Rosa said in Spanish, crying in an interview in the days before her brother’s death.
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Closed vicious circle of global inequality and injustice
Nate wrote: First let’s enable genocidal dictators and business elites to massacre and brutalize people in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras ... then, 40 years later, lets illegally detain the survivors, who should have been refugees, and let them die of Covid in a private jail... AHHH! I can't read this shit anymore man, I'm going to have a heart attack.
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Nicaragua in times of coronavirus: Amazement and suspicion
By Magda Lanuza, translated by Tom Ricker, April 25, 2020
https://www.quixote.org/nicaragua-in-times-of-coronavirus:-amazement-and-suspicion/
Below we share a reflection on COVID-19 in Nicaragua. The country has seen very few confirmed cases compared to other countries in the region. While opposition figures have simply said the government is lying about the numbers, this hardly explains the difference – which goes far beyond anything the government could actually hide if it wanted to. So understanding what is happening in Nicaragua is very important.
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Pandemic could mean 260 million people worldwide ‘marching toward starvation’
April 22, 2020
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/pandemic-could-mean-260-million-people-worldwide-marching-toward-starvation
The United Nations World Food Program warned this week that as a result of Covid19, the number of people facing food crisis could double -- to 260 million worldwide.
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Ecuador’s Death Toll During Outbreak Is Among the Worst in the World
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/23/world/americas/ecuador-deaths-coronavirus.html
Raul Burbano wrote: Ecuador is suffering through one of the worst outbreaks of coronavirus in the world. Sadly it's capacity to cope was decimated last year when the government dismissed 3,500 medical workers as part of IMF-backed austerity measures, and expelled hundreds of Cuban doctors who were working in under-serviced neighborhoods under pressure from the Trump administration.
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Peru’s ‘open-for-global-business’ regime prioritizing global extraction industry
Peru mines set to restart; to hit 80% production in a month - industry official
By Marco Aquino, May 7, 2020, Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-peru-mining-exclus/exclusive-peru-mines-set-to-restart-to-hit-80-production-in-a-month-industry-official-idUSKBN22J266
Peruvian miners are set to restart operations in coming days and ramp up to around 80% of normal production levels within a month, a senior official at the country’s mining industry group told Reuters, as the world’s No. 2 copper producing country looks to rebound from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
MiningWarch Canada comments: This news from Peru while just yesterday mineworkers went on strike at Chinalco's Tunshuruco project in Junín, Ecuador (expansion of its Toromocho project) after a new COVID-19 case in the 600-person camp (http://conflictosmineros.org.pe/2020/05/07/junin-trabajadores-de-chinalco-paralizan-actividades-ante-contagio-de-covid-19/)
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The Fight To Save Bolivia’s Lithium
https://www.kawsachuncoca.com/index.php/2012-12-24-07-26-10/agencia-abi/item/1052-the-fight-to-save-bolivia-s-lithium
In an interview with Kawsachun News, union leader Ramiro Huayta reveals how Bolivia’s post-military coup regime – supported by the U.S., Canada and ‘Lima Group’ regimes in Latin America - is scheming to turn Bolivia’s lithium resources back over to global companies and investors. Bolivian social and Indigenous movements are working to defend the natural resource that lies in their territory.
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American billionaires have gotten $280 billion richer since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
https://www.fastcompany.com/90494347/american-billionaires-have-gotten-280-billion-richer-since-the-start-of-the-covid-19-pandemic
Though the coronavirus itself may not discriminate in terms of who can be infected, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from a great equalizer. In the same month that 22 million Americans lost their jobs, the American billionaire class’s total wealth increased about 10%—or $282 billion more than it was at the beginning of March.
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Ariel Gold אריאל @ArielElyseGold
Number 1 in coronavirus. Number 1 in war spending.
SIPRI @SIPRIorg
Who were the five biggest military spenders in 2019? 1) USA 2) China 3) India 4) Russia 5) Saudi Arabia. Together they accounted for 62% of global military spending. Read more: http://bit.ly/3ayfseU
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New Details Emerge Linking US to Latest Coup Attempt in Venezuela
May 04th, 2020, By Alan Macleod
https://www.mintpressnews.com/new-details-latest-us-hatched-coup-attempt-venezuela/267224/
There is strong evidence to suggest that the U.S. and Canadian recognized “president” of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, and the U.S. government were involved in the failed – and deadly attack on Venezuela.
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Canadian citizen Jordan Goudreau directly involved in ilegal, armed attack in Venezuela
Por Leonora Chapman | [email protected], 7 de mayo de 2020
https://www.rcinet.ca/es/2020/05/07/ex-boina-verde-canadiense-implicado-en-intento-de-golpe-en-venezuela/
Will the Attorney General of Canada open a criminal investigation into the actions of Jordan Goudreau for international terrorism related crimes?
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“A very Canadian coup”
By Pierre LeBlanc, Orinoco Tribune, April 14, 2020
https://www.newcoldwar.org/a-very-canadian-coup/
In times of Covid19, an important reminder about Canada’s actual foreign policies.
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Defeat of a Dirty Military Incursion into Venezuela on a Sunday Morning
By Vijay Prashad, Paola Estrada, Ana Maldonado, and Zoe PC
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/05/05/defeat-of-a-dirty-military-incursion-into-venezuela-on-a-sunday-morning/
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Trudeau should lift punishing sanctions that harm vulnerable nations
By Linda McQuaig, May 6, 2020
https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/05/06/trudeau-should-lift-punishing-sanctions-that-harm-vulnerable-nations.html
“Ottawa’s sanctions appear primarily aimed at appeasing the U.S., which ruthlessly enforces sanctions against regimes it wishes to destabilize or overthrow. Washington also punishes countries and companies that don’t co-operate with its sanctions.
“Ottawa’s willingness to fall in line behind Washington is reflected in the fact it doesn’t impose sanctions against U.S allies Saudi Arabia or Israel, despite Saudi Arabia’s brutal murder of dissident Jamal Khashoggi and Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank. Even Israel’s announcement that it plans to annex the West Bank in July has produced no sanctions or criticism from Canada.
“Trudeau’s decision to continue sanctioning 20 nations seems quite out of sync with the spirit of the times, when it’s hard to find a TV commercial that doesn’t proclaim the sentiment that “we’re all in this together.”
“That spirit of international togetherness has been amply demonstrated by Cuba, which sent Cuban doctors to Italy to help its overwhelmed health care system and has offered similar medical help to First Nations in Canada. When 36 Cuban doctors arrived in Milan last month, a grateful Italy thanked them and Italians at the airport cheered. Meanwhile, Canada, in the spirit of the international togetherness, rebuffs Cuban doctors, ignores the UN and imposes sanctions on some of the world’s poorest nations.”
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Self-Centered Rich Country Response to Pandemics and Crises is Wrecking Poor Countries
by Tamara Pearson, April 17, 2020
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/04/17/the-self-centered-rich-country-response-to-pandemics-and-crises-is-wrecking-poor-countries
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We are not “all in this together”
There should be no “going back to normal”
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Recommended daily news:
Democracy Now’s “Coronavirus Report”
www.democracynow.org
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Rights Action’s COVID-19 Response Fund
https://mailchi.mp/rightsaction/rights-action-covid19-response-fund-update
Rights Action continues to prioritize getting emergency funds to partner group in Guatemala and Honduras. Their Covid19 response work is about saving lives. The funds we are sending are drops in a bucket, and they are important. Our work is also to contribute to discussion and hopefully empower political activism premised on the basic notion that: We are not “all in this together” / There should be no “getting back to normal”.
Tax-Deductible Donations (Canada & U.S.)
Make check to "Rights Action" and mail to:
- U.S.: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
- Canada: (Box 552) 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
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