August 25, 2021
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- US-Canada hybrid war against Venezuela ~ Webinar: Sept. 11, 12:00 CDT, 1:00 pm EST
- Hybrid War, Sanctions & US Regime Change in Nicaragua ~ Webinar: Sept. 1, 8pm ET / 5 pm PT
Rights Action denounces this on-going, violent imperialism of the US and Canada, two rich and powerful G7 countries.
The Hunger Games
Think The Hunger Games: the “capitol” exploiting and depending on and living off the resources and (almost) forced labor of the “districts”, using violence to quell any efforts at the profound reforms and transformations that many countries in the global south need and deserve.
We denounce this modern day US and Canadian imperialism in Nicaragua and Venezuela, even as we do not agree with every policy or decision of those governments. Our responsibility is to hold our governments (companies, investors, militaries) accountable for our harmful, illegal polices and actions.
Guatemala / Haiti / Honduras
We denounce these US and Canadian polices towards Nicaragua and Venezuela, as systemic human suffering and desperation continue to characterize the lives of the majority populations of Haiti, Honduras & Guatemala - countries that all suffered US and Canadian supported ‘regime change’ imperialist interventions (Guatemala, 1954. Haiti, 1991 & 2004. Honduras, 2009), countries that have been violently ruled by corrupt, anti-democratic, ‘open-for-global-business’ regimes ever since these coups.
Grahame Russell, Rights Action
[email protected]
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Partners in Crime: the US-Canada Hybrid War Against Venezuela
The United States and its allies, Canada and the EU, have carried out a 20 year assault on the legitimate government of Venezuela. Because China and Russia have promised to defend Venezuela from a US military invasion, the US has conducted a hybrid war against the country. The Obama decree that designated Venezuela an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the security of the USA” allowed Obama, followed by Trump and then Biden to by-pass regulations of war and any Congress oversight to try to overthrow the legitimate government of Nicolas Maduro with a series of economic measures and covert operations.
In this webinar, Mariá Páez Victor details this hybrid war and the implications it has had for Venezuela, for the US and its allies and for the region.
Mariá Páez Victor, PhD is a sociologist, born in Venezuela, now retired from university teaching who is dedicated to writing. As well, she is a frequent commentator on issues related to Latin American history and politics and she has participated in numerous events on TV, radio and in public meetings. In addition she has her own weekly radio program about Venezuela in the Spanish language community radio of Toronto.
Recommended reading
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Hybrid War, Sanctions & US Regime Change in Nicaragua
A bill in the House is set to impose devastating sanctions on the Nicaraguan people in a bid for regime change. Tell your Representative to stop the RENACER Act!
Does this sound familiar? The U.S. funds and trains opposition to a socialist government. Members of the opposition engage in a violent attempted coup, which the U.S. frames as a democracy movement. Then the U.S. increases the pressure by imposing devastating sanctions. They did it to Venezuela, now they’re doing it to Nicaragua. The good news is we have a chance to pump the brakes on this plan by stopping a bill in the House.
The RENACER Act is a proposed law that lays down a blue-print for regime change in Nicaragua by making the economy scream. It has already passed the Senate and will soon come to a voted in the House. If passed, it would give future adminis-trations the legal framework for imposing broad sectoral sanctions and the justification for more coup attempts.
The RENACER Act would order President Biden to review Nicaragua’s participation in CAFTA-DR, a free trade agreement signed with the U.S. in 2004. It would also impose restrictions on Nicaragua’s ability to get loans from financial institutions like the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, International Monetary Fund and others. A similar bill about Venezuela passed in 2014 enabled the Obama and Trump administrations to target Venezuela. We can’t let the same thing happen to Nicaragua.
The situation in Nicaragua is complex, and even among progressives, there are many different opinions about the Ortega government. But there is no doubt that the U.S. has been heavily involved in efforts to destabilize the country. In 2020, it was revealed that USAID was working on a plan for a “transition” that would privatize the economy, target former government officials and “reestablish” military and police forces. Since 2015, USAID has spent over $160 million supporting Nicaraguan NGOs. That’s an enormous amount of money to spend on a small country!
It’s clear that the U.S. government doesn’t have an interest in helping the Nicaraguan people. The country was blocked for months from receiving COVID relief funds, received only a tiny amount of U.S. help in the aftermath of hurricanes Eta and Iota, and is not on the list of countries set to receive vaccines from the U.S. Now there are new deadly sanctions potentially on the way and we have to do what we can to stop them.
Learn more about these issues by joining our Webinar, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 8pm ET / 5 pm PT, https://www.codepink.org/actionar_nicaragua
Vijay Prashad of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, Alex Main of the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Jill Clark-Gollub of Friends of Latin America will engage in a timely discussion of this proposed law and U.S. attempts at regime change. After the discussion, participants will contact their Representative and urge them to vote no on the RENACER Act.
In radical solidarity,
Leonardo, Medea, Teri and Michelle
Tell your Representative to stop the RENACER Act!
A bill in the House is set to impose devastating sanctions on the Nicaraguan people in a bid for regime change. Tell your Representative to stop the RENACER Act!
Information source about Nicaragua
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Rights Action (US & Canada)
Since 1995, Rights Action funds environment and land defense struggles in Guatemala and Honduras; funds victims of repression and human rights violations, health harms and natural disasters (Covid19, hurricanes, etc.); and works to hold accountable the U and Canadian governments, multi-national companies, investors and banks (World Bank, etc.) that help cause and profit from exploitation and poverty, repression and human rights violations, environmental harms, corruption and impunity in Honduras and Guatemala.
Why thousands of Hondurans & Guatemalans flee into exile year after year
The US and Canadian governments, Spain and EU, the World Bank and global businesses and investors (in the sectors of mining, dams, African palm, sugarcane, bananas, garment “sweatshop” factors, tourism, etc.) maintain full relations with anti-democratic, corrupt, repressive, ‘open-for-global-business’ governments in Honduras and Guatemala, contributing to and benefitting from exploitation and poverty, environmental harms, repression and human rights violations, corruption and impunity.
Act / Stir up the pot / Chip away: These are U.S. and Canadian issues!
Keep sending copies of Rights Action information (and that of other solidarity groups/ NGOs) to family, friends, your networks, politicians and media, asking: ‘Why do our governments, companies and investment firms help cause, benefit from and turn a blind eye to poverty, repression and violence, environmental and health harms that cause the forced migrancy / refugee crisis in Guatemala and Honduras?’
Tax-Deductible Donations (Canada & U.S.)
To support land and environmental defender groups and their human rights and justice struggles in Honduras and Guatemala, and to provide emergency (COVID and hurricanes) relief funds, 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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