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State Violence

Chile: Political Parties Urge Dissolution Of Carabineros

February 9, 2021 Telesur English. , ,
Chile's political parties and social leaders on Monday demanded the dissolution of the Military police (Carabineros) three days after an agent shot dead juggler Francisco Martinez, 27, during an identity check. "We demand the Senate to debate on the re-foundation of Carabineros," Progressive Party (PRO) Senator Alejandro Navarro tweeted, recalling that police brutality is part of the "nefarious legacy" of Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship (1973-1990). Chile's Communist Party (PC) Secretary Eduardo Artes also demanded the resignation of President Sebastian Piñera, "who has defended the Carabineros despite the brutality with which they have responded to the people's protests."

The Foreign Roots Of Haiti’s ‘Constitutional Crisis’

February 8, 2021 Mark Schuller, NACLA.org. , , ,
As per usual, news on Haiti in the United States remains limited, except for during periods of “crisis.” As if on cue, U.S. media began reporting on Haiti’s “constitutional crisis” this week. Sunday, February 7 is the end of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse’s term, according to the constitution. He refuses to step down. This week, the opposition called for a two-day general strike, uniting around a transition with the head of Haiti’s Supreme Court stepping in. Most reporting failed to note the international role, and particularly that of the United States, in creating this “crisis.” And nearly all focused only on one segment of the opposition: leaders of Haiti’s political parties.

Scheer Intelligence: The Egregious Price America Exacts For Integrity

February 5, 2021 Robert Scheer, ScheerPost.com. , , , ,
“George and Mary Oppen were branded enemies of the state,” writes Joel Whitney in a recent essay for The Poetry Foundation titled “The Violent Years.” “Their FBI files document just how deep their activism went, and the price they paid for it.” The author of “Finks: How the C.I.A. Tricked the World’s Best Writers” has long been interested in the links between the world of literature and the U.S. surveillance apparatus that grows more unwieldy by the day. As he finished his most recent book tour for “Finks” just as Donald Trump and neo-fascism were on the rise, he tells Robert Scheer on this week’s installment of “Scheer Intelligence,” Whitney kept hearing a few lyrical lines ringing through his mind.

On Contact: Radical As Reality Itself

January 31, 2021 Chris Hedges, RT. , , ,
On the show this week, Chris Hedges talks to Michael Smith about civil rights attorney Michael Ratner's recently published memoir, "Moving the Bar – My Life as A Radical Lawyer". Smith was a close friend and collaborator of Ratner's for over three decades. Michael Ratner was one of the most important civil rights attorneys in our era. He spent his life fighting on behalf of those who state and empire sought to crush, from the leaders of the prison uprising at Attica to Muslim prisoners held in Guantanamo, to Julian Assange.

Nigeria: End SARS And Fanon’s Mission

January 28, 2021 Kehinde Alonge, Red Pepper. , , ,
‘Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it,’ wrote Frantz Fanon. It has been 60 years since Nigeria achieved its independence from Britain, yet these words reverberate both as anthem and creed in all corners of Nigeria today. In October 2020, thousands of Nigerian youth from across the country chose to take a stand against the extra-judicial killings committed by the Nigerian police branch known as SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad). Amidst a global pandemic and an economic recession, Nigerians stood firm in their resolve to fulfill the mission of their generation – ending police violence and corrupt governance, by any means necessary and, in many cases, at the cost of their own lives.

Arrest Warrant Issued For Ex-Florida Data Analyst Rebekah Jones

January 18, 2021 Josh Fiallo, TampaBay.com. , , ,
The state has issued an arrest warrant for ex-Florida data scientist Rebekah Jones. Jones announced Saturday on Twitter that she learned of the warrant and plans to turn herself in on Sunday. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement confirmed there is a warrant for Jones’ arrest but said it cannot disclose what charges she faces until she is in custody. Agency spokesman Gretl Plessinger said in an email to the Tampa Bay Times that “agents have been working with her attorney to have her turn herself in.” Jones once managed Florida’s COVID-19 dashboard. Then she was fired in May from her position as the geographic information system manager for the Florida Department of Health’s Division of Disease Control and Health Protection.

Killer Cops: Police Killed Over 1,000 Americans In 2020

December 30, 2020 Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. , , ,
American law enforcement officers have killed well over 1,000 people in 2020. Between January 1 and December 15 of this year, the Mapping Police Violence project has recorded 1,066 people nationwide killed at the hands of the police, an average of around three killings per day. Despite the fact that 2020 has brought with it a pandemic forcing Americans to stay off the streets (and, presumably, out of trouble) as much as possible, there have only been 17 days recorded this year where the police did not kill someone. The project also compiled statistics on the racial backgrounds of the victims. Black people are three times more likely than white people to be slain by police, and more likely to be unarmed when it does happen.

How The Intifada Changed The Political Discourse Around Palestine

December 18, 2020 Ramzy Baroud, Mintpress News. , , ,
December 8 came and went as if it was an ordinary day. For Palestinian political groups, it was another anniversary to be commemorated, however hastily. It was on this day, thirty-three years ago, that the First Palestinian Intifada (uprising) broke out, and there was nothing ordinary about this historic event. Today, the uprising is merely viewed from a historic point of view, another opportunity to reflect and, perhaps, learn from a seemingly distant past. Whatever political context to the Intifada, it has evaporated over time. The simple explanation of the Intifada goes as follows: Ordinary Palestinians at the time were fed up with the status quo and they wished to ‘shake off’ Israel’s military occupation and make their voices heard.

How Bolivia Beat A Military Coup

December 5, 2020 Ollie Vargas, Double Down News. , , ,
The return of Evo Morales was possibly the most important moment in Bolivian history. This time last year, far-right protesters kidnapped Patricia Arce, the mayor of a small town called Vinto. They made her walk over broken glass. They cut her hair and doused her in petrol and red paint and told her they were walking her to her death. And they were trying to get her to resign and to condemn Evo Morales. She refused to do both and so they tortured her. After the coup took power, she was persecuted. She had 17 criminal charges hanging over her.

Ethiopia: The TPLF’s Precipitous Fall

December 1, 2020 Dr. Fikrejesus Amahazion, Black Agenda Report.   , , ,
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is facing a “final and conclusive” offensive against it by Ethiopian federal forces. On Tuesday, November 17, Dr. Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, declared that, “The three-day ultimatum given to Tigray special forces and the militia to surrender to the national defence…ended today. Following the expiration of this deadline, the final critical act of law enforcement will be done in the coming days.” The dire situation that the TPLF now finds itself in reflects just how precipitous its fall from power has been.

Nigerians Reject US Imperialism With #EndSARS Protests

November 26, 2020 Jacqueline Luqman, The Real News. , , ,
Massive and intense protests against the controversial Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS unit, have been going on for at least four weeks now in Nigeria, but tensions between the SARS unit and the Nigerian people have only boiled over from older longstanding issues. Now, it seems that these current protests are not just against the controversial unit itself, but are also a wholesale rejection of US imperialism and the influence of US policy that many outside of Nigeria may not even be aware of. I’m joined by Abiodun Aremu, secretary for the Joint Action Front in Lagos, Nigeria, to talk about these issues.

Colombia’s National Strike

November 23, 2020 Adriaan Alsema, Columbia Reports. , , ,
A year after Colombia’s biggest anti-government protests in four decades, President Ivan Duque has gone from being an unpopular fraud to being accused of terrorism. Duque and his Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo may not know it yet, but the protests marked the beginning what doesn’t only seem to be the end of them, but also of their far-right party, the Democratic Center. The National Strike of November 21 last year also made it clear that the country’s youth will define the 2022 elections.

CORE Nigeria: “We Will Fight For Our Total Liberation”

November 22, 2020 Baba Aye, Progressive International. , , ,
Nigeria - On 3 October, a young man was killed by the police in Ughelli, a town in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. A video of this incidence was circulated by residents of the city on WhatsApp and also posted on Twitter. This sparked the #EndSARS revolt of youths in the country, which was drowned in blood with the massacre of at least 36 people on 20 October. The bulk of these was at the Lekki tollgate, in Lagos state – one of the two main centres of the uprising in that mega-city where one-tenth of the country’s population resides.

Nigerian Government Revealing Its True Character In Response To Youth Protests

November 16, 2020 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. , , ,
Youth protests against police violence in Nigeria, the #EndSARS movement, gained international attention with solidarity protests around the world. To

Trump Applauds Escalating Far-Right Violence

November 3, 2020 It's Going Down. , , ,
As Trump laid bare his plan to declare himself the winner of the 2020 election and begin a legal fight challenging the legitimacy of millions of mail-in ballots, across the US, this weekend saw Trump supporters engage in acts of physical violence, targeted racist and anti-Semitic attacks, and campaigns of clear voter suppression and intimidation. These acts are only the latest in a string of racist incidents, from Trump operatives attempting to stop Black people from voting, militia plots to murder Democratic governors, pro-Trump far-Right groups threatening to blow up polling stations
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