Continued…Maduro’s economic planning involves nationalisations, price controls and extensive social programmes aimed at reducing poverty, inequality and national development. They have received resources and prioritise people over multi-national corporations. Could that also be fuelling the ‘serious concerns’ the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has about the election results?

Video Credit: Al Mayadeen Español

RIDING WHILE BLACK: RACIAL PROFILING IN AMERICA

Imagine you’ve just picked up your teenaged grandson and are driving along - when the cops pull you over. Were you speeding? No. The cops think your grandson might be robbing you!

Sounds absurd, right? Welcome to racial profiling in America. This is exactly what happened to Akil Carter in Wisconsin in 2018. He’s Black, his grandmother is White; he was in the back seat, she and a friend were in the front - and someone had called in an attempted robbery of two elderly ladies, by a Black suspect, in a car that matched theirs. The officers who pulled them over handcuffed Carter and held him in the back of their police car for six minutes while they tried to satisfy themselves that he really was a relative and not a criminal. Last year, a federal jury ruled that the officers had done nothing wrong.

Continued….. Fair enough, you might argue - it was the ‘concerned citizen’ that did the racial profiling, and the officers’ duty was to check. But studies have found that Black and Latino drivers in the US are more likely to be searched, ticketed and arrested during traffic stops compared with White drivers.

This can have tragic consequences. For example, in 1999, Amadou Diallo, an unarmed Guinean immigrant, was shot 41 times by NYPD officers - who mistakenly believed he was reaching for a gun.

But deadly racial profiling doesn’t just happen at traffic stops. In 2012, Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager, was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida by local ‘community watch’ member George Zimmerman, who claimed Martin looked ‘suspicious.’

There are countless other cases in all spheres of life. This clip contains video of Akil Carter’s arrest. Let us know your reaction in the comments.

Video credit: @cbseveningnews

OBI MIKEL: FOOTBALL STARS DISRESPECT AFRICAN ROOTS

Nigeria and Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel says footballers need to start respecting their African roots. Too often they refuse to play for their African country and instead dream of representing the likes of England or France.

The former tough-tackling midfielder challenged the growing list of unpatriotic stars on his Obi One podcast. And he does have point. Kylian Mbappe, for example, could be playing for Cameroon, not France. England’s Bukayo Saka could’ve opted for Nigeria. At the 2022 FIFA World Cup, over 50 players of African descent represented non-African nations.

Adding insult to injury, many players only consider playing for their African countries late in their careers as a fall-back option, but by that time they’re past their best.

We think Mikel is bang on target with his analysis, do you?

Video credit: The Obi One Podcast

MADURO WARNS ’CRIMINALS’
AFTER HQ TORCHED

The fallout from the disputed Venezuelan election is turning ugly, with opposition protesters allegedly resorting to arson - torching one of the ruling party’s regional HQs and a mayoral office. President Nicolas Maduro used an address to the nation to brand the perpetrators criminals, showing a video of the fire on his mobile phone. While the official election results gave him 51% of the vote, the opposition - relying on exit polls - say they won a landslide. It has the support of the West, including the US.

Anti-government protests in Venezuela led to deadly violence in 2014 and 2017, with dozens killed. Back then, several government and ruling-party buildings were also torched.

Continued……A particularly gruesome incident during the 2017 unrest involved Orlando Figuera - a young Black man - who was stabbed and set on fire by protesters. It’s thought he was mistaken for a Maduro supporter as relatively few Black Venezuelans support the opposition. He later died of his wounds.

Before the current ruling party came to power in 1999, Afro-Venezuelans were subjected to widespread racial and economic discrimination. In the 25 years that the party has been in power, it has implemented several programmes to reverse the negative impact of the centuries of racism against Venezuelans of African descent. It is for this reason that many of them support the ruling party.

What do you think Africans can learn from the most recent events in Latin America?

Credit: VTV

AFRICA HAS TO STAY POOR FOR WORLD TO BE RICH

The failures of Western-imposed economic policies in Africa make sense once you realise it is intentional sabotage. Here, Howard Nicholas, senior lecturer of economics at the International Institute of Social Studies, explains how an entire system exists to keep Africa poor so it will always remain a source of cheap raw materials and cheap labour. Africa subsidises the living standards of the rest of the world with almost none of its wealth benefiting Africans.

Take Niger, for example, where a significant amount of the uranium that France uses to power its electricity grid is from, yet the Sahelian nation is among the poorest in the world.

Continued….. This unfortunate situation is not limited to Niger but common across the continent. African countries produce most of the minerals and resources that the modern world needs to function, so how can Africa still be poor?

A lot has been invested to maintain the status quo. When Lumumba in DR Congo pledged to utilise Congolese resources to benefit Congolese people, the CIA, Belgium and Britain had him assassinated and placed the puppet Mobutu in his stead. Burkina Faso saw its ‘self-reliance’ and ‘self-sufficiency’ champion Thomas Sankara murdered by France and the puppet Compaoré installed. Similar events happened with Kwame Nkrumah, Maurice Bishop, Samora Machel, the list goes on.

Have a listen to Dr Nicholas’ remarks and let us know what you think.

Credit: CRITICAL COLLECTIVE

CHÀVEZ: U.S. CAN’T MEDDLE WITH UNITED GLOBAL SOUTH

Africa’s history is full of examples of progressive leaders and governments that were overthrown and sometimes killed in Western-instigated military coups. These include Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Patrice Lumumba. The overthrow of progressive leaders is a well-documented imperialist tactic that has been used all over the Global South in the past couple of decades. 

Venezuela is one country that has been a target of outside aggression for a long time. Currently, we are seeing attempts by the West to discredit the outcome of the 28th July elections - simply because they did not go in favour of the US-backed opposition.

This is not the first time such plots have been waged against the Latin American nation.

Continued…. Since 1999, when the late Venezuelan revolutionary Hugo Chàvez was elected president and embarked on a campaign to end the parasitic control of the country’s oil industry by US multinational firms, several coup attempts have been instigated against him and his successor, Nicolas Maduro.

They include the 2002 coup, which saw Chàvez momentarily removed from power by opposition and military figures. However, he returned to power 47 hours later after up to a million citizens marched on the presidential palace demanding his return.
 
In 2004, the opposition once again tried to remove Chàvez from power, this time through a ‘recall referendum.’ This attempt also failed as citizens overwhelmingly voted to keep Chàvez at the helm.

In this clip, taken during a rally that Chàvez addressed in the capital, Caracas, a few months before that referendum, he suggests that the US is plotting to overthrow not only himself but also other progressive leaders across the region. He urges the people of the Global South to unite, saying it’s the only way to defeat imperialism.

Presciently, he also says new revolutionary leaders will emerge across the Global South over time. Indeed, in the last few years, we have seen precisely that in places such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Video credit: VTV

U.S. LEAVING NIGER... FOR IVORY COAST?

So the US military has been sent packing by Niger. It seems the sides have agreed that Washington will wind down operations at its Air Base 201 in Agadez by 15th September. It’s America’s biggest drone base, so that puts an end to all those unmanned missions, you might think… but is the Pentagon really reducing its footprint in West Africa?

A recent Le Monde splash cites sources saying the Americans are eying a new military base in nearby Ivory Coast - and have received the green light.

Continued…. The US general responsible for West Africa ops has already denied this. Still, with arch-rivals China and Russia gaining friends and influence in the region, it’s hard to take his remarks at face value.

France is another power that’s got its tail between its legs in West Africa - having also been expelled from Niger, as well as from Mali and Burkina Faso. If the latter’s president, Ibrahim Traoré, is to be believed, Paris, too, has its eye on the Ivory Coast. In fact, he claims the French are already there (and in Benin!), using Abidjan as a centre to orchestrate covert operations to destabilise Burkina Faso. Traoré has vowed to share some serious evidence of this with the world “in days.”

While we wait for confirmation of what the French and Americans are really up to in West Africa, your thoughts and insights into the situation with the Ivory Coast are most welcome in the comments!

‘WE VOTED MADURO, THEY
WANT CHAOS’

Opposition protestors disputing the re-election of President Maduro have hit the streets in Venezuela, with scenes of unrest across the country. But his supporters are rallying behind him.

In this clip, a staunch Maduro backer says she won’t let the opposition overturn the county’s democratic process. She brands the protests illegitimate, aimed only at bringing chaos. She says this ‘fire’ will soon go out by itself… or be put out.

She’s up against the Western world, mind. They’ve all already rallied behind Venezuela’s opposition - and are blowing hard to fan those flames.

Do you think Venezuela is about to go up in smoke?

Video credit: @Con el Mazo Dando

‘ISRAELIS DEFENDING RAPISTS? THIS IS NUTS’

It was a shocking scene, Israelis breaking into a prison in support of guards accused of raping Palestinian inmates. Here, independent journalist Richard Medhurst struggles to comprehend the mentality of those involved.

In case you didn’t know, nine Israeli soldiers have been detained over allegations they sexually abused a Palestinian so badly he needed hospital treatment. However, instead of the horrific sex crime causing outrage, mobs were incensed the suspects had been questioned.

Continued……It’s been reported two members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, were also among the demonstrators. On top of that, when news broke of the arrests the protests were called for by right-wing lawmakers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu, Likud member Tally Govlit and Religious Zionism MK Zvi Sukkot.

The NGO Palestinian Prisoners Club estimates around 9,700 Palestinians are being held in Israeli cells, including dozens of children. Amnesty International says torture of inmates is ‘rampant’, and many are being held indefinitely.

Video credit: Richard Medhurst richardtmedhurst

ISRAELI LAWMAKER DEFENDS ‘RAPING’ PALESTINIAN PRISONERS

An Israeli lawmaker stunned the Knesset when he claimed soldiers should be allowed to ‘rape’ Palestinian prisoners. Hanoch Milwidsky, a Likud party member, was speaking after the arrest of nine reservists for sexually abusing a Palestinian inmate at the notorious Sde Teiman facility.
Fellow politicians were shocked by his remarks, with Ahmad Tibi, founder and member of the Ta’al party, getting into an angry exchange.

Despite his objections, many other lawmakers seem to side with Milwidsky. After news broke of soldiers being detained over the horrific incident, senior government officials called for protests in support of those accused. Mobs then stormed Sde Teiman and also the Bet Lid military facility where the soldiers had been questioned.

It’s reported the Palestinian victim was so badly injured, he needed hospital treatment. However, according to Milwidsky, ‘if he is a Nukhba, everything is legitimate to do’.

Video credit: חדשות 24