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US Sanctions

US Embassy Blocks Iraq-Lebanon Humanitarian Air Bridge

The US embassy in Lebanon has blocked the establishment of a humanitarian air bridge between Baghdad and Beirut, insisting instead that any humanitarian aid for those displaced by the Israeli war be delivered via Jordan “for inspection first,” according to a report by Lebanese daily Al Akhbar. Washington reportedly also threatened Lebanon's national airliner, Middle East Airlines (MEA), with sanctions if its planes were used to transport those wounded by Israel's terror attack that caused communication devices to explode across the country.

The Wondersome Effects Of Weapon Sales And Sanctions

In a world where everything is interconnected - economics, industrial production and global political competition - it becomes exceedingly difficult to use foreign policy instruments like weapon sales to proxies or sanctions. There will nearly always be some unforeseen backlash coming in an unexpected area that will hurt. The European sanction policies against Russia may be the prime example for this. But hostile U.S. policies towards China may, over time, cause much more damage. Not to China but the U.S. and its desired policy aims themselves.

Russian Media Demands $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 From Google

Russian news broadcasters are owed an unbelievable sum from US tech giant Google over their loss of access to YouTube, RBK news outlet reported, citing sources with knowledge of the matter. According to the report, the total amount Google owes the 17 Russian broadcasters has reached $20.6 decillion as of October 28. The staggering figure stems from a host of lawsuits filed against Google, in which a number of Russian news channels accused it of unlawfully blocking their content on the video hosting platform. In October 2022, the Moscow Arbitration Court ordered Google to restore YouTube access to the blocked Russian channels.

SADC Calls For ‘Unconditional Lifting’ Of ‘Illegal’ US Sanctions On Zimbabwe

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has condemned the US-imposed unilateral sanctions on Zimbabwe as “illegal” and a violation of the “basic human rights of ordinary Zimbabweans”. It has also once again called for their “immediate and unconditional removal.” The regional intergovernmental organization with 16 member states has been observing every October 25 as the SADC Anti-Sanctions Day, after the date was thus designated by the heads of the SADC states at its 39th Summit in August 2019. “These sanctions have not only affected the people of Zimbabwe and their Government, but the entire region.

What Venezuelans Think About Their Presidential Election

It’s been nearly three months since the Venezuelans went to the polls on July 28, and there is still contention domestically and abroad regarding the winner of the presidential election. This is not unexpected. The US has not recognized the legitimacy of the previous two presidential elections in Venezuela and had announced way before this election that if Washington’s chosen candidate lost, it could only be because of fraud. The official Venezuelan electoral authority (CNE) declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro the winner with 52% of the vote. The nearest contender, the US-backed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, got 43% of the vote.

Cuba Under Intensified US Sanctions Confronts Its Greatest Challenge

Despite draconian coercive measures by the US – overwhelmingly condemned every year by the UN General Assembly, with the next vote slated for October 29-30 – the Cuban Revolution has had extraordinary successes. This small, impoverished, formerly colonized island nation has achieved levels of education, medical services, and performance in many other fields, including sports, that rival the first world, through the application of socialist principles. Cuba has rightly become a model of internationalism and an exemplar of socialism. As a consequence, every US administration for over six decades has targeted this “threat of a good example.”

US Government Announces Entry Ban On Rafael Correa

On October 9, the US State Department published a statement declaring former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, as well as his former vice-president Jorge Glas, as ineligible to enter the country. According to the United States, the measure was taken due to the alleged “involvement in significant corruption during their time in public office”. In 2020, Correa and other politicians close to his party were sentenced to prison in Ecuador for allegedly committing acts of corruption. Correa was not arrested and imprisoned because he was living in Belgium, a country that has, on several occasions, ruled out apprehending and deporting him for the charges he faces in Ecuador.

Developing Countries Demand Withdrawal Of Sanctions By US, Allies

In the 57th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held in Geneva on Friday, September 13, China and several other developing countries from across the world denounced all forms of illegal unilateral coercive measures by the US and its allies, demanding their immediate and unconditional withdrawal. The interactive session was held to discuss the latest report submitted by Alena Douhan, the UN special rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures, to the UNHRC on September 9. Representatives from various countries agreed that these unilateral sanctions, as they are commonly referred to, violate basic principles of the UN charter by interfering in other countries’ internal matters and incapacitating governments in the developing world in carrying out basic developmental work.

Venezuelans To Vote On Continuing The Bolivarian Revolution

The future of Venezuela’s 25-year-old socialist movement will be decided in the upcoming July 28 election. Venezuelans will go to the polls knowing that a vote for incumbent President Nicolás Maduro means no relief from US unilateral coercive measures. These so-called “sanctions” have been central to Washington’s regime-change campaign explicitly designed to asphyxiate the Venezuelan economy and turn the people against their government; what Venezuelanalysis calls “a war without bombs.” Venezuela, with some 930 unilateral coercive measures imposed on it by the US, is the second most sanctioned country in the world after Russia.

US Exploits Animosity Towards Migrants To Demonize Socialist Countries

The Republican party has been waging a blatantly racist campaign to criminalize migrants. Instead of pushing back on that narrative, the party that purports to be for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Democrats) is exploiting this racist anger to discredit a country it has targeted for regime change—Nicaragua—apparently for not sufficiently suppressing the rights of migrants. As Congresswoman Maria Salazar (R-FL) told a Biden administration representative at a recent hearing, “We agree on the end goal.” This is part of a relentless campaign to punish countries that dare to resist Washington’s agenda with suffocating unilateral coercive measures (aka “sanctions”).

A Foreigner’s Take: Elections In Iran Represent The True Spirit Of Democracy

Big posters of candidates running for Iran’s presidency have appeared on lampposts around the busiest corners of the capital city. There is a thrill and palpable excitement in the air. The upcoming presidential election has taken center stage in the country’s political discourse, with people engaged in animated discussions in bazaars, state-of-the-art malls, traditional tea shops, modern cafes, and around the carts of vegetable vendors where women buy “sabzikhordan.” As people discuss issues ranging from economic growth, relations with the West, the lifting of US sanctions, the crisis in West Asia, unemployment, etc., the presidential candidates have been busy campaigning to woo voters with blueprints of their policies if elected to office.

US Imposed Sanctions On Georgia And Nicaragua For Laws that Copy US Laws

Politicians in the small Caucasian nation of Georgia have been sanctioned by Washington for “undermining democracy” and depriving Georgian people of “fundamental freedoms,” simply because its parliament has passed a law to control foreign influence over Georgian politics. Politicians in another small country, Nicaragua, were subjected to U.S. sanctions for doing the same. Although the two countries are very different, there are striking similarities in the ways that Washington and its allies have striven to undermine their sovereignty. In both cases, legislation to limit foreign influence followed coup attempts against popularly elected governments. The governing Georgian Dream Party, having won three elections since 2012, has survived two U.S.-orchestrated coup attempts since 2020.

How Venezuela Is Overcoming The United States Blockade

The future of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, a target of US imperial power since its inception in 1998, may be decided on July 28, the date of their presidential election. Incumbent President Nicolás Maduro and seven other presidential candidates pledged to abide by the choice of the electorate. Edmundo González, promoted by the US, and another candidate have not signed the pledge, consistent with the far right only accepting contest results where they win. Likewise, a bipartisan and bicameral resolution was introduced on June 18 to the US Congress not to recognize a “fraudulent” Maduro victory.

Venezuela Edges Closer To Losing CITGO As Corporations Submit Offers

The second and final round of bidding in a court-mandated auction of Venezuela’s US-based oil subsidiary CITGO has concluded. Several corporations submitted binding offers by a June 11 deadline as part of a process organized by a Delaware District Court to satisfy a number of claims against the Caribbean nation totaling US USD 21.3 billion. In October 2022, Judge Leonard P. Stark set in motion the sale of shares belonging to PDV Holding (PDVH), CITGO’s parent company. The process was brought forward by Canadian miner Crystallex. The auction procedure will pay 18 creditors, which are looking to collect on international arbitration awards on a “first come, first serve basis,” based on when the court approved their writs.

The US List Of Countries Allegedly Sponsors Of Terrorism

In the US State Department’s toolkit, unilateral coercive measures (UCMs) are used to blackmail, bully and intimidate States that do not readily accept US hegemony. Placing a country in the US list of countries sponsors for terrorism is intended to lend some phony legitimacy to UCMs imposed against targeted States. Unilateral Coercive Measures are not “sanctions”, since the US has no legal or moral right to sanction or “punish” other states.  Nor do the American UCMs satisfy the legal criteria to be considered “retorsion” or “countermeasures” for purposes of the International Law Commission’s code on State responsibility.