INTL Latin America and the Islands: Politics, Economics, and Military- May 2020

Plain Jane · Apr 30, 2020

April's thread:

INTL - Latin America And The Islands: Politics, Economics, Military- April 2020

March thread is here : https://www.timebomb2000.com/xf/index.php?threads/latin-america-and-the-islands-politics-economics-and-military-march-2020.568963/ Main coronavirus thread for March is pages 538-1012 approximately here...

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Main Coronavirus Thread:

CORONA - Main Coronavirus thread

“Everybody calls me when they can’t get masks,” said Mr. Bowen of Prestige Ameritech. “When everything goes back to normal, everyone goes back to the foreign masks.” In a nutshell. We are in this situation by our own hand.

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As virus cases surge, Brazil starts to worry its neighbors

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Brazil’s virtually uncontrolled surge of COVID-19 cases is spawning fear that construction workers, truck drivers and tourists from Latin America's biggest nation will spread the disease to neighboring countries that are doing a better job of controlling the coronaviru

apnews.com

As virus cases surge, Brazil starts to worry its neighbors
By ALMUDENA CALATRAVA and MICHAEL WEISSENSTEINtoday

1 of 6
Cemetery workers wearing hazmat suits complete the burial of Ana Maria, a 56-year-old nursing assistant who died from the new coronavirus, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Ana Maria's daughter Taina dos Santos said that the situation in the Salgado Filho public hospital where her mother worked is complicated and that some health workers have to buy their own protective gear. "She gave everything to her job until the very end," said the 27-year-old daughter. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Brazil’s virtually uncontrolled surge of COVID-19 cases is spawning fear that construction workers, truck drivers and tourists from Latin America’s biggest nation will spread the disease to neighboring countries that are doing a better job of controlling the coronavirus.
Brazil, a continent-sized country that shares borders with nearly every other nation in South America, has reported more than 70,000 cases and more than 5,000 deaths, according to government figures and a tally by Johns Hopkins University — far more than any of its neighbors. The true number of deaths and infections is believed to be much higher because of limited testing.

The country’s borders remain open, there are virtually no quarantines or curfews and President Jair Bolsonaro continues to scoff at the seriousness of the disease.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

The country of 211 million people surpassed China — where the virus began — in the official number of COVID-19 deaths this week, prompting Bolsonaro to say: “So what?”

“I am sorry,” the far-right president told journalists. “What do you want me to do?”

In Paraguay, soldiers enforcing anti-virus measures have dug a shallow trench alongside the first 800 feet (244 meters) of the main road entering the city of Pedro Juan Caballero from the neighboring Brazilian city of Punta Porá, to prevent people from walking along the road from Brazil and disappearing into the surrounding city.

Paraguay has fewer than 250 confirmed coronavirus cases and its borders have been closed since March 24, with enforcement particularly focused on the largely open frontier with Brazil.

Argentine officials say they are particularly worried about truck traffic from Brazil, their top trading partner. In provinces bordering Brazil, Argentina is working to set up secure corridors where Brazilian drivers can access bathrooms, get food and unload products without ever coming into contact with Argentines.

“Brazil worries me a lot,” Argentine President Alberto Fernández told local news outlets Saturday. “A lot of traffic is coming from Sao Paulo, where the infection rate is extremely high, and it doesn’t appear to me that the Brazilian government is taking it with the seriousness that it requires. That worries me a lot, for the Brazilian people and also because it can be carried to Argentina.”

One of eight known cases in the Argentine state of Misiones is that of a 61-year-old truck driver who apparently caught the disease in Sao Paulo and then returned to Argentina, where he died after infecting his wife. Argentina has about 4,000 cases and more than 200 dead, according to the Johns Hopkins tally.

Even officials in the United States, which has registered more than 1 million cases and more than 60,000 deaths, have expressed concern about Brazil.

Florida, which has a large population of people of Brazilian heritage, could face a threat of air travelers from Brazil carrying the coronavirus to the state, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis told President Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday.

“We could be away on the other side doing well in Florida, and then you could just have people kind of come in,” DeSantis said.

Full Coverage: Virus Outbreak
The governor said Trump’s ban of flights from China helped control the virus in the western U.S. Trump asked him if that meant “cutting off Brazil.”

DeSantis replied that one possibility was “not to necessarily cut them off” but to require airlines to test passengers before they board planes bound for Florida.

Authorities in Colombia are also worried, said Julián Fernandez Niño, an epidemiologist at National University in Bogota.

“In a globalized world, the response to a pandemic can’t be closed frontiers,” he said. “Brazil has great scientific and economic capacity, but clearly its leadership has an unscientific stance on fighting coronavirus.”

In Uruguay, President Luis Lacalle Pou said the spread of the virus in Brazil was setting off “warning lights” in his administration and authorities are tightening border controls in several frontier cities.

Thirty workers recently crossed from Brazil to the Uruguayan border city of Rio Branco to help build a cement plant. Four tested positive for the virus, prompting Uruguay to place the whole crew in quarantine.
Officials in some Uruguayan border towns have discussed setting up “humanitarian corridors” through which Brazilians could safely leave the country.

Even socialist Venezuela, where the health system has been in a yearslong state of collapse, has said it’s worried about neighboring Brazil.

“I’ve ordered the reinforcement of the frontier with Brazil to guarantee an epidemiological and military barrier,” President Nicolás Maduro said on state television last week.

Bolivia’s government, a right-wing ally of Bolsonaro’s, declined to comment on its neighbor’s anti-virus measures, but Defense Minister Fernando López promised this month to strongly enforce the closure of the border.

“If we keep being flexible on the border, our national quarantine will be useless,” he said.

____
Associated Press writer Almudena Calatrava reported this story in Buenos Aires and AP writer Michael Weissenstein reported from Havana. AP writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela; Alan Clendenning in Phoenix; Cesar Garcia in Bogota, Colombia; Paola Flores in La Paz, Bolivia; and Guillermo Garat in Montevideo, Uruguay, contributed to this report.

jward · Apr 30, 2020

WorldPoliticsReview
@WPReview
1h

The COVID-19 pandemic is shaping up to become the key line in Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s political obituary.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1255943767112155137

View: https://twitter.com/WPReview/status/1255943767112155137?s=20

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro Is Writing His Political Obituary With COVID-19
Frida Ghitis Thursday, April 30, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has so far proven to be a boost for many autocratic leaders around the world, who have managed to exploit the crisis to expand and tighten their hold on power. But the situation is different for at least one far-right demagogue, for whom the pandemic is shaping up to become the key line in his political obituary: Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro.

The political future of a president who has been called the “Trump of the Tropics” now hangs in the balance as Bolsonaro continues to actively exhort Brazilians to reject public health measures, even as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country climbs rapidly. In recent days, Bolsonaro has lost two of the most popular members of his Cabinet in circumstances that left him politically wounded. Now, the Supreme Court is looking into allegations—from Bolsonaro’s own justice minister—that the president meddled with the police and obstructed justice, a move that could ultimately sink his presidency.
Each day, it seems, brings a new development in the troubles swirling around Bolsonaro. Some are not directly related to the pandemic—like his move to appoint a new, politically pliant head of the national police, allegedly to protect his family from accusations of corruption. But his evident mishandling of the coronavirus crisis has put his incompetence and demagoguery in full view, magnifying the impact of scandals of his own making. The possibility that Bolsonaro will end up being impeached and removed from office is now very real.
Like many populists, Bolsonaro spent months denying and downplaying the threat posed by the virus. He called COVID-19 a “measly cold,” uttering a slew of nonsensical arguments, including the claim that Brazilians are uniquely protected because they can swim in raw sewage and “don’t catch a thing.”

He was one of the last populist leaders anywhere to acknowledge the threat of the coronavirus. But even then, in a televised speech in late March, he rejected the widely accepted prescription of social distancing and quarantine-like measures. In terms similar to those used by President Donald Trump in his rambling and incoherent White House appearances, he has said the measures against the virus cannot be worse than the illness. Just days ago, Bolsonaro joined a controversial pro-military demonstration against the stay-at-home orders that he has been unable to thwart.
By now, it is obvious that Bolsonaro was wrong in dismissing the risk of the pandemic. The deaths of more than 5,000 Brazilians have been officially attributed to COVID-19, and Brazil has the second-highest number of reported cases of the virus among countries in the Western Hemisphere, after the United States.
The situation would be even more dire had it not been for other government officials, along with Brazilian citizens themselves, who rejected Bolsonaro’s quack views and moved to follow the recommendations of public health experts. They did it as Bolsonaro accused the media of “tricking” the public to stoke panic and recommended unproven malaria drugs, just as Trump did. State governors defied Bolsonaro. Brazil’s most populous states, following the experts’ advice, ordered quarantines, and the public sided with them.

Then Bolsonaro locked horns with his own health minister, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who had become a focus of national admiration with his own regular, public briefings. The situation became untenable when Mandetta publicly called for a unified public message, essentially suggesting that Bolsonaro should fall in line. The president fired Mandetta in mid-April, a shocking move in the midst of a public health crisis. By then, Mandetta’s approval rating had soared to 76 percent, more than double Bolsonaro’s dismal 33 percent.
But that was just the beginning. Brazilians were even more shocked when Justice Minister Sergio Moro—a star in Bolsonaro’s Cabinet—resigned in protest last week, accusing the president of firing the country’s top police chief in an effort to protect his sons from criminal investigation and gain access to classified information. Moro’s resignation could not have been more dramatic, since it came in an extraordinary speech in which he detailed the devastating accusations.

Bolsonaro's mishandling of the coronavirus crisis has put his incompetence in full view. The possibility that he will end up impeached and removed from office is now very real.

That it was Moro who lodged the accusations magnifies their impact immeasurably. The now-former justice minister had near-mythical status in the country, having led the sprawling anti-corruption investigations known as Operation Car Wash that rocked Latin America and resulted in the imprisonment and resignation of presidents, ministers, members of Congress and prominent figures in countries across the region, including Brazil.
By appointing Moro justice minister, Bolsonaro had cemented the central theme of his election campaign: that he would battle entrenched corruption. Now Moro accuses him of being at least as corrupt as any of his predecessors.
Police have Bolsonaro’s sons in their sights. Flavio and Carlos, both politicians, are under investigation for embezzlement, with new and damning stories surfacing in the media regularly. In the most recent bombshell, the daily Folha de Sao Paulo reported that police have accused Carlos Bolsonaro of running a fake news ring to disseminate misinformation. The president denies all the accusations.

Bolsonaro also denies Moro’s accusation that he fired the national police chief so he could appoint someone who would acquiesce to illegal requests. As president, he said he has the right to hire anyone he wants as head of the national police. But Moro provided the press with screenshots of messages he received from Bolsonaro that back his claims.
The question now is what will happen to Bolsonaro. The Supreme Court is launching an investigation into Moro’s allegations that the president was engaging in obstruction of justice. The popular pot-banging demonstrations in cities and towns across Brazil, which started as a protest against the government’s inaction on COVID-19, have turned into a ritual call for Bolsonaro’s impeachment, and they are gaining strength.
Bolsonaro appeared in public on April 19 to support a pro-military protest in Brasilia where some of his backers urged him to reinstate a 1968 law that allowed the president to dismiss the Congress and essentially become a dictator. Bolsonaro has been an avowed admirer of Brazil’s past military dictatorships and has taken care to maintain close relations with the military, which he sees as a good insurance policy.

But the military was reportedly uncomfortable with the recent demonstration, which was strategically staged in front of the army’s headquarters. Former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso tweeted his criticism of Bolsonaro, saying it was “deplorable” that he joined anti-democratic protests. “Time to unite,” he wrote, “against all threats to democracy.”
For Brazil’s Congress, the notion of toppling a president is not unfamiliar. In 2016, it removed President Dilma Rousseff from office after she was impeached—nominally over allegations that Rousseff cooked the government’s books to hide a deficit, amid the backdrop of staggering corruption.
Unlike Trump, if Bolsonaro is impeached, he will almost certainly be removed from office. He will have himself—and the pandemic—to blame.
Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist. A former CNN producer and correspondent, she is a regular contributor to CNN and The Washington Post. Her WPR column appears every Thursday. Follow her on Twitter at @fridaghitis.

posted for fair use

Brazil’s Bolsonaro Is Writing His Political Obituary With COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic has so far proven to be a boost for many autocratic leaders around the world, who have managed to exploit the crisis to expand and tighten their hold on power. But the situation is different for at least one far-right demagogue, for whom the pandemic is shaping up to...

www.worldpoliticsreview.com

Plain Jane · May 1, 2020

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

LatAm Bailout Veteran Says Emerging Market Crisis Is The "Worst He's Ever Seen"

by Tyler Durden
Thu, 04/30/2020 - 22:00
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With the Nasdaq set to erase all of its 2020 losses after strong earnings from the tech giants, and stocks generally surging on the assumption that, as UBS put it, "lockdowns are lifted by the end of June and do not need to be re-imposed", especially with today's favorable if conflicting remdesivir news, it is easy to forget that emerging markets are facing their private hell as a result of widespread economic shutdowns, poor healthcare conditions which will only exacerbate the coronavirus pandemic, the dollar's relentless strength, and trillions in dollar-denominated debt maturing in the next few years which the chronically strong US dollar will make prohibitively impossible to repay.

But don't take our word for it: according to Bill Rhodes, CEO of Rhodes Global Advisors and a veteran of countless international bailouts in the 1980s and 1990s, the debt crisis that’s erupted across the world’s emerging markets is "the worst he’s ever seen."

Rhodes, 84, is perhaps the world's foremost expert on emerging markets in peril: the former Citigroup executive is a veteran of the 1980s Brady Plan that re-set the clock for Latin America’s struggling economies by creating a new debt structure for developing nations that’s largely in place to this day.

"It’s going to be difficult,” Rhodes said in an interview with Bloomberg discussing the coming EM crisis. "You need to have some sort of coordination between the private and the public sectors."

Pedestrian walks through the deserted Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires on March 20. Photographer: Sarah Pabst/Bloomberg
The problem: three decades after a coordinated rescue of emerging markets orchestrated by US Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady (the person responsible for the term Brady Bonds) the global pandemic is again challenging the world for a solution, and this time a raft of private bondholders must also be on board. More than 90 nations have already asked the IMF for help amid the pandemic.
The first challenge is that the $160 billion debt renegotiated during the Brady Plan pales next to the $730 billion that the Institute of International Finance says must be restructured by the end of 2020; the final number could be far greater.

Adding to the difficulties of the next global bailout, unlike 1989, when the loans were mostly held by banks and defaults had already happened, now it’s split between hundreds of creditors ranging from New York hedge funds to Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and Asian pension funds. Getting them all in the same room will be a challenge, forget about getting them all to agree on one outcome.

Following in the footsteps of forbearance protocols enabled across the US, academics and officials are pushing for steps that would allow developing nations to pause bond payments through at least 2020, if not even longer, until the coronavirus fades and economies stabilize enough to analyze debt sustainability. And since one's debt is always someone else's asset, that proposal is upsetting creditors on Wall Street who depend on those funds to keep their portfolios afloat and to generate current income.

Meanwhile, G-20 leaders and multilateral organizations are already working toward relief for nations to stay current on debt. The IMF and Paris Club asked the Washington-based IIF to coordinate a standstill, and the United Nations is calling for a new global debt body.

The other big challenge is that bureaucrats have to not only reach a solution, they have a strict time limit in which to do so: dollar-denominated debt from 18 developing nations already trades at spreads of at least 1,000 basis points over U.S. Treasuries. While the top three insolvent outliers - Venezuela, Argentina and Lebanon - were grappling with their own problems before the pandemic, others are fast approaching those levels amid currency sell-offs and record-shattering outflows.

Rhodes' dire warning echoes that of another EM expert: Anna Stupnytska, Fidelity International’s head of global macro and investment strategy, told Bloomberg "I’m really worried about emerging markets," adding that Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, India and Indonesia may be among the most vulnerable to a virus-related crisis. She expects the coming months to be critical.

Stupnytska, who isn't expecting a V-shaped economic recovery anywhere, said that weak public health systems, political worries and doubts on central bank independence are "really unhelpful" for EM nations, and that other than parts of Asia, large sections of developing nations are yet to see a peak in coronavirus cases.

So we are potentially looking at some emerging markets crisis even over the next few months."

With the clocking ticking, some sort of forbearance on debt payments - currently the most popular idea to help emerging markets - has to be agreed upon and soon; it would also need to extend beyond 2020, according to Anna Gelpern, a law professor at Georgetown University who spent six years at the Treasury. A coordination group could offer standardized terms to all of a country’s creditors that automatically push out payments, however how all creditors will get on the same page is unclear. After all, with memories still fresh of the massive profits Elliott Management earned by holding out on the Argentina debt restructuring early this century, what is to prevent all creditors to pursue this path?

Bloomberg agrees, noting that "it will be no easy task to convince private creditors, especially those with large emerging-market exposure, to take a hit by deferring debt payments."

Zambia has started talks to postpone its arrears, while Argentina has proposed a plan to restructure its debt that includes a three-year payment moratorium. Neither country has found much traction with its creditors who demand a payment and in full upon maturity.

"Countries that look to markets and are willing to engage market participants have found success in bridging the Covid financial shock," said an optimistic Hans Humes, CEO of Greylock Capital Management, which has been involved in most emerging-market restructurings over the past quarter-century. Many would disagree with his cheerful assumption.

Then again maybe creditors will find it in their bank accounts, if not hearts, to grant a reprieve: bondholders already granted Ecuador a delay on coupon payments until August, which may save the government as much as $1.35 billion this year, as it deals with one of the region’s worst virus outbreaks and a sell-off in oil.

Alternatively, "the time and resource costs of pursuing market debt relief may outweigh the benefits,” especially if a country plans to default anyway, Goldman's Dylan Smith wrote in an April 17 note. Plus, "it is not clear that the fiduciary duties of large bondholders toward their investors would allow them to provide lenience to debtors, even if they privately support the initiative."

And you thought OPEC deals were complicated.

Lee Buchheit, a four-decade veteran of the restructuring world, said forcing each nation to renegotiate on its own would only exacerbate the pain. "Here we have a planet-wide phenomenon that is going to make a number of countries have to face unsustainable debt positions."

Plain Jane · May 1, 2020

Bullets, virus: Fears multiply for Colombia's ex-rebels

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — On the day that Colombia announced its first case of the new coronavirus, Astrid Conde’s body lay in a morgue with four gunshot wounds to the chest, the latest casualty in a scourge of violence against former rebel soldiers.

apnews.com

Bullets, virus: Fears multiply for Colombia’s ex-rebels
By CHRISTINE ARMARIOyesterday

1 of 5
Relatives and friends of slain Astrid Conde, a former rebel of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), carry her coffin during her funeral in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, March 8, 2020. Conde was gunned down while walking her German shepherd in a park near her home in a rough Bogota neighborhood on March 5. (AP Photo/Ivan Valencia)
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — On the day that Colombia announced its first case of the new coronavirus, Astrid Conde’s body lay in a morgue with four gunshot wounds to the chest, the latest casualty in a scourge of violence against former rebel soldiers.

Lockdowns prompted by the pandemic may have slashed overall crime in Colombia, but the killings of ex-combatants like Conde have continued, and the COVID-19 crisis itself is putting yet more strain on the already fragile implementation of the historic 2016 accord that ended a half-century of conflict.

Conservative politicians are eyeing the possibility of diverting funds originally destined for the accord to pandemic response instead. Nascent projects aimed at providing ex-combatants with a livelihood are up against a recession. And illegal armed groups still rule rural areas, continuing to threaten and murder those who challenge them.

Twenty-three ex-combatants have been killed thus far in 2020, almost double the number seen at this point the previous year, according to United Nations data. Five of those slayings have come since March 24, when President Ivan Duque ordered the entire nation on lockdown.
MORE ON THE PANDEMIC:

“Now when you go out, you don’t know what will kill you – a bullet or coronavirus,” said Luz Marina Giraldo, whose ex-combatant husband was shot to death last year.

Conde was gunned down while walking her German shepherd in a park near her home in a rough Bogota neighborhood on March 5. Her blood was still visible on the paved path the next day as news of the slaying filled the airwaves.

That afternoon, with the arrival of COVID-19, radio stations quickly shifted their focus. Outside the morgue, men gathered around a newsstand to smoke and discuss whether they should buy face masks. Two days later, Conde was buried in a cemetery where some families are so poor they write the names of their dead on tombs with a marker.

“What happened to Astrid is more evidence that a genocide has begun against us,” said Adela Perez, an ex-combatant who attended the funeral.

Deaths of former guerrillas who surrendered their arms to end Latin America’s longest-running conflict peaked last year and are now at 197. That violence is considered one of the most crucial concerns about the accord’s implementation. Supporters of the accord say that if Colombia cannot protect those who voluntarily give up their weapons, it raises serious questions about the long-term success of the peace process.

“She trusted in the peace process,” said Juan David Bonilla, Conde’s lawyer. “So much so that she trusted even in the banality of daily life.”

Analysts warn that the quarantine could actually be putting ex-combatants further in harm’s way. By staying inside – in one place – they might be easier for criminal groups to track down.
Full Coverage: Colombia

“In rural areas, it feels much more dangerous,” said Manuel Antonio González, an ex-combatant whose rebel son was killed before the pandemic. “People aren’t moving, but these groups can move however they want.”

The majority of the deaths are taking place in conflict-ridden areas where armed groups compete over drug routes. Analysts say some are being killed after rejecting attempts by dissident rebels to recruit them. Former rebels believe some of the attacks come from right-wing paramilitaries who want to crush their adversaries, peace accord or no. In at least one case, military officers have been charged in an ex-rebel’s death.

Colombia’s chief prosecutor blames drug trafficking groups for 75 percent of the crimes. Authorities say they’ve made “advances” in solving nearly 45 percent of 228 homicides, attempted murders and forced disappearances of ex-combatants. But to date only 23 people have been sentenced.

Many of those are the so-called “material authors” of the crimes – hitmen – who, as is alleged in Conde’s case, were contracted to do the crime.

According to an initial police report, Jhonatan Sneider, 28, was approached by a man in a white Toyota who goes by the name “Trivilin” three days before the killing and offered 15 million pesos — worth about $4,300 at the time – to kill her.

To date, he is the only person who has been arrested in her death.
“We don’t know who is behind this,” Bonilla said.

Like many ex-combatants, Conde joined the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia when she was still a teen, a friend said, though the circumstances of her recruitment are not known. She became part of the guerrillas’ communications team and later had a son with a commander who is now a prominent rebel dissident.

Female guerrillas were largely prohibited from having children, but exceptions were sometimes made, on condition that once born, infants would be turned over to a relative or friend.

Conde did not see her son for years, and after being captured in 2012, told fellow inmates she was happy that behind bars, at least he got to visit.

She was charged in connection with a rebel attack on a military base that left 19 dead and released after the signing of the peace accord.

“For the first time in a long time, she got to feel like a mom,” Perez said. “Such a simple thing, but that the war robbed from us.”

Several friends said Conde was fully committed to peacetime life. Now in her mid-40s, she was studying to get her high school diploma and taking odd jobs like cleaning apartments. The government had recently approved funding for her project to raise cattle in the countryside near her family.

Before her death, she told her son she’d seen strange men watching her enter her apartment building, but brushed it off.

At Conde’s funeral, relatives gathered around her mahogany coffin draped with a spray of white roses. A priest read from a red leather Bible and a young man sang “Do what you want with me,” while playing a keyboard. Afterwards, her family boarded a bus to the cemetery where above-ground crypts are discolored by pollution and graffiti.

Their vehicle came to a stop at the entrance, where they were greeted by a message spray-painted in red on the cemetery’s outer wall.
“Only the dead know the end of war,” it read.

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Plain Jane · May 1, 2020

Bolivian Parliament approves law calling for elections in 90 days, defying interim government

Bolivia's opposition-controlled parliament approved a law Thursday night that calls for presidential elections within 90 days, prompting outcry from the country's interim president who has put the country under mandatory lockdown due to coronavirus.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 1, 2020 / 7:43 AM / UPDATED 15 MINUTES AGO
Bolivian Parliament approves law calling for elections in 90 days, defying interim government

Daniel Ramos
2 MIN READ

LA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia’s opposition-controlled parliament approved a law Thursday night that calls for presidential elections within 90 days, prompting outcry from the country’s interim president who has put the country under mandatory lockdown due to coronavirus.

Assembly members from Movement Towards Socialism (MAS), the political party of former long-term leftist leader Evo Morales, backed the measure, which establishes that the general elections must occur by August 2.

The ballot, initially meant to be held on May 3, is a re-run of a fraught October election last year that sparked widespread protests and violence, and eventually led to Morales’ resignation.

The May 3 date was postponed in March due to the global coronavirus pandemic and a mandatory quarantine in Bolivia that is to last until May 10. The electoral tribunal had proposed a new election date between June 7 and September 6.

Interim president Jeanine Anez, who is a candidate in the upcoming elections, accused Morales and MAS presidential candidate Luis Arce of putting the lives of Bolivians at risk in an attempt to regain control of the country, which is under mandatory quarantine.

“In Bolivia, voting is mandatory and forcing almost 6 million people to move on the street in a single day and in the midst of a pandemic will bring thousands and thousands of infections, and that can generate hundreds of fatalities,” Anez said in a statement.

The Bolivian Constitution allows the president of Parliament, MAS member Eva Copa, to enact a law if it is determined the executive branch rejects it without solid arguments.

Bolivia has more than 1,100 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 62 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.

Reporting by Daniel Ramos; writing by Cassandra Garrison, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 1, 2020

Maya villages in Guatemala spurn U.S. deportees as infections spike

Guatemala's indigenous Maya towns are spurning returned migrants, threatening some with burning their homes or lynching as fear spreads about more than 100 deportees from the United States who tested positive for the new coronavirus.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 1, 2020 / 9:07 AM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Maya villages in Guatemala spurn U.S. deportees as infections spike

Sofia Menchu
7 MIN READ

QUETZALTENANGO, Guatemala (Reuters) - Guatemala’s indigenous Maya towns are spurning returned migrants, threatening some with burning their homes or lynching as fear spreads about more than 100 deportees from the United States who tested positive for the new coronavirus.

In one city in the Guatemalan highlands, home to a large indigenous population, residents tried to burn down a migrant shelter. In some villages, locals are rebuffing the recently returned and threatening relatives of the deportees with expulsion from their homes.

To date, Guatemalan health officials have said that nearly one fifth of the 585 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Central American country can be traced to people deported from the United States, most of them on two flights in a single day.

That has fueled an angry backlash against migrants as they make their way home.

Carlos Cumes, an 19-year-old whose American dream ended a few weeks ago with his deportation, saw his luck sour again when he returned to the village of Santa Catarina Palopo, hoping to reunite with his family. The village, on the shore of the volcanic Lake Atitlan, is a center for the Kaqchikel Maya whose women wear traditional blue and purple dress.

Walking the final leg to his parents’ home, Cumes was confronted by an angry group of locals who had seen televised footage of him being transported toward the village in an ambulance earlier in the day.

He was showered with insults and accused of bringing the disease with him, despite having undergone four days of medical observations in the capital and carrying a document from the health ministry pronouncing him symptom-free of coronavirus.

But none of that allayed the mob’s worst fears.

They threatened to set my family on fire,” said Cumes. “I was really afraid and I could only think about leaving the village so that I wouldn’t cause any more trouble.”

“If I had stayed, they would have burnt my house down and who knows what else,” Cumes said in a telephone interview from Guatemala City, where he is observing a mandatory 15-day period of isolation.

Some of his own relatives, he said, also turned their back on him.

Biting poverty has made Guatemala one of the main sources of migrants to the United States in recent years, along with neighboring El Salvador and Honduras.

The confirmation by President Alejandro Giammattei that 103 Guatemalans deported from the United States on three flights since late March have tested positive for the virus has fostered popular anxiety and the volatile mood in the impoverished highlands, home to many migrants.

Until recently Guatemalans looked favorably on migrants, due in part to the vital remittances they provide to many families, fear of them has grown dramatically in just a short time.

“Only a few months ago, most people were very happy (with migrants) because they came bringing remittance checks, but now they treat them like criminals,” Giammattei said in a national broadcast on April 19.

Mob justice is not uncommon in the mostly indigenous region and although Guatemala suspended most flights from the United States in mid-April in response to the infections, deportations from Mexico continue apace, stoking residents’ fears.

The U.S. Immigration and Enforcement Agency (ICE) has said deportees were screened before the flights for elevated temperatures and symptoms associated with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Yet migrants returned by the United States to Colombia, Mexico, Haiti and Jamaica have also tested positive for the virus in recent weeks, raising broader concerns over the deportation program.

Following reports of infected deportees, the agency said it would acquire 2,000 coronavirus tests per month to screen migrants on outgoing flights, even though it likely would not have enough tests for all deportees.

The United States has sent three “humanitarian” flights carrying children since Guatemala imposed its ban, as Central American countries are under pressure from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to continue receiving flights.

A plane with 89 Guatemalans, a dozen of them minors, arrived in the country on April 30, according to the Guatemalan government. An ICE spokeswoman said all the passengers on board were tested for COVID-19 prior to removal and all the tests were negative.

Two Democratic U.S. Senators, Richard Durbin from Illinois and Bob Menendez from New Jersey, said they would be sending a letter to the Trump administration on Friday demanding testing for all migrants before they are deported.

MAKE THEM LEAVE!’
This month, in the highland capital of Quetzaltenango, a couple of buses carrying 80 migrants deported from Mexico had barely arrived at a make-shift shelter when a rumor began circulating that some sick migrants had fled the shelter and were at large in the community.

Upset residents descended upon the shelter demanding that the deportees be taken away, and the local governor rushed to the scene in an effort to ease the tension.

He publicly confirmed all the deportees had been accounted for and none were on the loose.

The crowd, nonetheless, continued to shout: “Make them leave!”

“‘Mr. Governor, think about our kids,’” Governor Julio Queme recalled the residents pleading, speaking to Reuters in a later interview. He said some of the outraged locals were brandishing sticks.

Still others threatened to burn down the shelter, and only dispersed after Queme warned they could be detained for violating Guatemala’s curfew, which starts at 6:00 p.m.

But the worry remains among many that returned migrants will infect more locals unless aggressive measures are taken.

“It’s scary if any migrants were to escape (the shelter) or if the people who work there were to get infected and go back to their homes and infect everyone else,” said Roberto Gomez, a 60-year-old local who says he rarely leaves home due to the risk of contracting the coronavirus.

In another nearby, mostly Maya town called Paxtoca, local officials have prohibited the entry of deported migrants, after a neighboring village last month saw two deportees returned from the United States who later tested positive for coronavirus.

“This decision was made to protect the health of all our neighbors,” said Paxtoca Mayor Santiago Perez.

Prior to the pandemic, many deported Guatemalans could expect to be welcomed back home by balloon-toting family members at an air force base in the capital where most would arrive.

Today, that scene is a distant memory.

“I don’t know if I should go back to my village or not,” said Cumes, who celebrated his birthday on Friday and added that he has faithfully complied with his mandatory isolation.

“I’m really scared,” he said. “I’m confused and I don’t know what to do.”

Reporting by Sofia Menchu; Additional reporting by Diego Ore in Mexico City and Mica Rosenberg in New York; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Dan Flynn and Daniel Wallis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 2, 2020

Incredible story about the recent attempt to take down Venezuela's Maduro here:

INTL - Ex-Green Beret led failed attempt to oust Venezuela’s Maduro

Some 300 heavily armed volunteers planned to sneak into Venezuela and ignite a popular rebellion that would end in President Nicolas Maduro’s arrest MIAMI (AP) — The plan was simple, but perilous. Some 300 heavily armed volunteers would sneak into Venezuela from the northern tip of South...

www.timebomb2000.com

Plain Jane · May 2, 2020

Rights groups call for probe into Venezuela prison riot that left 46 dead

Human rights groups on Saturday called for an investigation into a prison riot in western Venezuela that left 46 people dead and 75 injured, and questioned authorities' explanation that the incident was linked to a failed escape attempt.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 2, 2020 / 12:36 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Venezuelan prison riot leaves at least 46 dead, 60 injured: lawmaker, NGO

2 MIN READ

CARACAS (Reuters) - A prison riot in the western Venezuelan state of Portuguesa has left at least 46 people dead and 60 injured, according to a rights group and an opposition lawmaker.
Beatriz Giron, director of the Venezuelan Observatory of Prisons which advocates for inmates’ rights, said 46 bodies had been identified after the incident on Friday at the Los Llanos penitentiary. The South American country’s prisons are infamous for extreme levels of violence and poor conditions.

The country’s prisons minister, Iris Varela, told local newspaper Ultimas Noticias on Friday that the incident resulted from an escape attempt and that the prison director had been shot and wounded. She did not give a death toll, and Venezuela’s information ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Maria Beatriz Martinez, an opposition lawmaker from Portuguesa, said the riot followed came after a ban on inmates’ family members bringing them food during visitation, which is common in Venezuelan prisons. The visitation restrictions are part of the country’s effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in its overcrowded prisons.

Such restrictions have prompted riots in prisons in several countries, including Italy. In Argentina, prisoners rioted last month demanding some inmates be freed due to fears of infection.

Reporting by Deisy Buitrago and Vivian Sequera; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Daniel Wallis
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Melodi · May 3, 2020

One of my "signs" that epidemic was getting "bad" would be:

When cruise ships were not allowed to land (happened already).

Followed by migrants being shot at (sort of happened in Greece but that is a special situation engineered by Turkey the age-old enemy so I'm reluctant to count it)

When fear caused locals to lock, bury, or burn people in their homes who are believed to be infected - (happened already in China, now starting in Latin America).

When third world Countries panic and start shooting down US/European/Other large Countries planes or shooting at ships BELIEVED to be carrying either deportees, migrants, or infected persons - right out of the sky. Not happening in normal times but during panic periods it only takes one terrified person with the right surface to air weapon to pull it off.

This last one hasn't happened yet in the first world but it is likely to, which is the other reason the US and other large countries may have to do something short term to feed and at least treat infectious diseases in some of those folks illegally in their territories.

jward · May 3, 2020

This sounded worth watching- not in a good way

EndGameWW3

@EndGameWW3

URGENT .. MEMBER OF US SPECIAL FORCES SENDS A MESSAGE TO VENEZUELA NEXT TO NIETO QUINTERO

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1257086340258291713

View: https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3/status/1257086340258291713?s=20

Might be fake news, though, there sure has been an metric tun of that going around lately!

Plain Jane · May 4, 2020

Venezuelan authorities detain U.S. citizens allegedly involved in incursion

Venezuelan authorities have detained two U.S. citizens working with a U.S. military veteran who has claimed responsibility for a failed armed incursion into the oil producing country, President Nicolas Maduro said on Monday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 4, 2020 / 4:01 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Venezuela makes eight new arrests, alleges U.S. supported incursion

Vivian Sequera, Brian Ellsworth
4 MIN READ

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities said eight people involved in a “mercenary incursion” were detained on Monday along the country’s coast, adding the suspects were part of a U.S.-backed plot that the government said it foiled a day earlier.

The government of President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday said mercenaries had attempted to enter the country on speed boats from neighboring Colombia, an announcement that opposition leaders quickly dismissed as a staged incident.

An American man named Jordan Goudreau who leads a Florida-based security company called Silvercorp USA on Sunday released a video identifying himself as an organizer of the invasion, alongside dissident Venezuelan military officer Javier Nieto.

Silvercorp’s website describes Goudreau as a “highly decorated Special Forces Iraq and Afghanistan veteran.”

A Venezuelan state television anchor on Monday showed photos including a shot of a group of men laid out on the ground with their hands behind their backs, adding that the group was traveling near the town of Chuao area in central Aragua state.

The group was “caught by popular force, by fishermen,” the anchor said.

Socialist Party No. 2 Diosdado Cabello posted a video of men in black with balaclavas pulling a shirt-less man from a helicopter, who they identified as part of the group captured.

“Without a doubt, the imperialists directed this attack against our fatherland,” Cabello said on Twitter, in reference to the U.S. government.

Washington has imposed tough economic sanctions against Venezuela in an effort to oust Maduro and accuses him of rigging elections in 2018.

Maduro’s government says the United States wants to control Venezuela’s massive oil reserves.

A U.S. official, who asked not to be named, said the U.S. government had no involvement with the incident. Another source familiar with U.S. intelligence analysis and reporting also said that U.S. agencies have nothing to do with any military incursions in Venezuela.

Aragua Governor Rodolfo Marco posted four photos of the detained men on Twitter and said “the capture of these mercenaries was achieved through social intelligence and the civic-military police unit.”

The images show men lying on their stomachs, some without a shirt and others in shorts. A police vehicle is also seen in an area near a fish market and in another image is a fishing boat.

Neither the official television station nor the governor offered more details.

Chief Prosecutor Tarek Saab said on Monday that five people have been detained for the raid in Macuto.

In the video released on Sunday, Goudreau said fighters on the ground continued to carry on operations in different parts of the country, one of whom he identified as “Commander Sequea.”

That appeared to be in reference to Antonio Sequea, who was identified on Monday by state television as one of the eight people arrested.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido cast doubt on the government’s version of Sunday’s events, insisting Maduro is seeking to distract from other problems in recent days including a deadly prison riot and a violent gang battle in Caracas.

His communications team on Monday issued a statement denying press reports Guaido had hired Silvercorp to remove Maduro by force, adding that Guaido and his allies “have no relationship with or responsibility for the actions of the company Silvercorp.”

Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Brian Ellsworth in Caracas, additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Mark Hosenball in Washington, Editing by Marguerita Choy and Lisa Shumaker
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 4, 2020

Melodi- Have you heard anything from your friends in Venezuela about the episode in posts 7, 10, and 11? This seems wierd.

Plain Jane · May 4, 2020

Mexico urges U.S. to probe of 'all' officials with ties to ex-minister

Mexico's president on Monday urged Washington to investigate "all" officials, including members of elite U.S. law enforcement agencies, with ties to a former Mexican security minister accused of taking bribes from a top drug gang.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 4, 2020 / 5:09 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
Mexico urges U.S. to probe of 'all' officials with ties to ex-minister

3 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s president on Monday urged Washington to investigate “all” officials, including members of elite U.S. law enforcement agencies, with ties to a former Mexican security minister accused of taking bribes from a top drug gang.

The arrest of ex-Security Minister Genaro Garcia Luna in Dallas late last year sent shockwaves across Mexico, where he had spearheaded a militarized assault on powerful drug gangs beginning under former President Felipe Calderon in 2006.

Garcia Luna was subsequently indicted on charges of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, the gang once led by drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.

Speaking at his regular morning news conference, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called for a wide-ranging inquiry, suggesting that such an investigation could uncover wrongdoing by more than just one official.

“The U.S. government, now that it has begun an investigation, should delve deeper and also investigate officials” with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Lopez Obrador said.

The investigation should cover “all those who intervened during this period, because without a doubt, there was cooperation,” the president added.

Lopez Obrador suggested that an inquiry could uncover “criminal association” among officials from both governments.

His call was prompted by a question about comments by former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Roberta Jacobson to Mexican magazine Proceso published at the weekend in which she suggested both governments knew about possible corruption by Garcia Luna.

“The information we obtained - in the State Department - was drawn from U.S. officials, but it came from Mexicans, they were the ones who received and had most information about Garcia Luna’s corruption,” Proceso quoted her as saying.

Jacobson afterwards clarified on Twitter that she had never seen any “corroborated” evidence of Garcia Luna’s involvement in drug trafficking and that “in an environment of many rumors, one is always cautious about working with officials.”

A former FBI official in Mexico and an ex-CIA official both worked at a security company run by Garcia Luna until 2018.

Earlier this year, a U.S. judge signaled that the drug corruption trial of the former minister will likely be prolonged due to its “complex” nature.

Reporting by Raul Cortes; Editing by Marguerita Choy
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 4, 2020

This situation in Venezuela just keeps getting wierder.

Venezuela: 2 US 'mercenaries' among those nabbed after raid

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said authorities arrested two U.S. citizens among a group of “mercenaries” on Monday, a day after a beach raid purportedly aimed at capturing the socialist leader that authorities say they foiled.

apnews.com

Venezuela: 2 US ‘mercenaries’ arrested in anti-Maduro raid
By SCOTT SMITH and JOSHUA GOODMAN59 minutes ago

1 of 4
Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek William Saab holds up twitter posts during a press conference regarding what the government calls a failed attack over the weekend aimed at overthrowing President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 4, 2020. The twitter posts are between two members of the opposition, Humberto Calderon and Yon Goicoechea. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan authorities say they’ve detained two U.S. citizens accused of involvement in a deadly beach invasion aimed at arresting socialist leader Nicolás Maduro and have mobilized more than 25,000 troops to hunt for other rebels operating in the country.

Venezuelan state television didn’t identify the Americans, but Florida-based ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau said Monday that he was working with the two men in a mission launched a day earlier aimed at “liberating” Venezuela. Goudreau has claimed responsibility for Sunday’s operation, which Venezuelan authorities say left eight people dead

He identified two former U.S. veterans taken into Venezuelan custody as Luke Denman and Aaron Berry. The two served in Iraq and Afghanistan with him in the U.S. military, Goudreau said.

A Venezuelan also detained, identified as Josnars Adolfo Baduel, says in a video played on state TV that two U.S. citizens were among those nabbed. Baduel is shown speaking to a security force officer in a video posted on the Twitter account of powerful socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello.

The Associated Press could not independently verify that the Americans had been captured.
Goudreau said the men were part of an alleged mission called “Operation Gideon” launched before dawn on Sunday that entailed landing boats onto a beach near the Venezuelan port city of La Guaira.

Goudreau has said he signed a contract with the U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó to overthrow Maduro, which Guaidó has denied. Goudreau says the opposition politician never fulfilled the contract, but the former Green Beret pushed ahead with an underfunded operation with just 60 fighters, including the two U.S. veterans.

Goudreau said he last communication with the Denman and Berry when they were adrift in a boat “hugging” the Caribbean coast of Venezuela. They were still in their boat following an initial confrontation with the Venezuelan Navy early Sunday that left eight Venezuelans dead.
“They were running dangerously low on fuel,” Goudreau said. “If they had gone onto landfall, they would have gone to a safe house.”

Goudreau says the two were waiting for a boat on the Caribbean island of Aruba with emergency fuel to help extract them.

Venezuelan officials said they detained eight “mercenaries” on Monday. That included a National Guardsman Capt. Antonio Sequea, who participated in a barracks revolt against Maduro a year ago. Goudreau said Sequea was a commander working with him on the ground in Venezuela.

Venezuelan state TV showed showed authorities handling a a shirtless Sequia in handcuffs.
Maduro ally and Attorney General Tarek William Saab said they’ve arrested 114 people suspected in the attempted attack and they are on the hunt of 92 others.

Officials in Venezuela’s government accuse Colombia and the United States of organizing and carrying out attack aiming to overthrow Maduro.

Both U.S. and Colombian officials have denied the Venezuelan allegations.

“I’ve tried to engage everybody I know at every level,” Goudreau said. “Nobody’s returning my calls, It’s a nightmare.”

The three-time Bronze Star U.S. combat veteran claims to have helped organize a seaborne raid from Colombia early Sunday on the Venezuelan coast, which the government said it foiled, killing eight insurgents and arresting two others. He said the operation had received no aid from Guaidó or the U.S. or Colombian governments.

Goudreau said by telephone Monday that 52 other fighters had infiltrated Venezuelan territory and were in the first stage of a mission to recruit members of the security forces to join their cause.

Plain Jane · May 5, 2020

Brazil's indigenous people call for WHO emergency fund to fight coronavirus

Indigenous leaders in Brazil asked the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday to set up an emergency fund to help protect their communities from the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 5, 2020 / 12:16 AM / UPDATED 5 HOURS AGO
Brazil's indigenous people call for WHO emergency fund to fight coronavirus

3 MIN READ

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Indigenous leaders in Brazil asked the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday to set up an emergency fund to help protect their communities from the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

Many of Brazil’s 850,000 indigenous people live in remote Amazon areas with little access to healthcare, and indigenous groups say the government of President Jair Bolsonaro has not included the communities in national plans to fight the virus.

In a letter to WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus they asked for help to provide personal protective equipment that is unavailable to health workers in tribal reservations and villages.

“It is a real emergency,” Joenia Wapichana, the leader of the appeal to the WHO and the first indigenous woman elected to Brazil’s Congress, told Reuters.

“Indigenous people are vulnerable and have no protection.”

The number of indigenous people in Brazil killed by the virus has risen to 18, said indigenous umbrella organisation APIB, though the government has only officially reported six.

That is because the indigenous health service Sesai only reports deaths in tribal villages and not those of tribe members who have moved to urban areas.

By Sunday, 107 indigenous people in the Amazon were confirmed to be infected, with the majority, or 59, in the upper reaches of the Amazon river near the border with Colombia and Peru, APIB said.

The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab) has complained about Sesai’s lack of testing and absence of care for people living outside their traditional villages in cities such as Manaus, where virus cases have overwhelmed the hospital system.

Bolsonaro’s new health minister, Nelson Teich, has said protecting indigenous people is a priority. The government’s indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, has stopped Christian missionaries from evangelizing isolated tribes during the epidemic to avoid contagion.

The appeal by indigenous groups came a day after an open letter to Bolsonaro from dozens of international artists, musicians and actors urging him to protect Brazil’s indigenous people.

Signers included artists Ai Weiwei and David Hockney, musicians Sting and Paul McCartney, actors Glenn Close and Sylvester Stallone, and film and TV host Oprah Winfrey.

The “extreme threat” faced by indigenous people in Brazil was amplified by invasions of protected tribal lands by illegal miners, loggers and cattle ranchers, the letter warned.

“These illicit activities have accelerated in recent weeks, because the Brazilian authorities charged with protecting these lands have been immobilized by the pandemic,” it added.

(Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus: open tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7 in an external browser.)

Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Melodi · May 5, 2020

Plain Jane said:
Melodi- Have you heard anything from your friends in Venezuela about the episode in posts 7, 10, and 11? This seems wierd.

No I haven't, but it is the sort of thing that they are not likely to talk about either.

V the Priest is online several times a week now but his sermons are all aimed at providing "hope" and praying for the sick, the medical workers, etc - he is very careful and is using his on-line "persona" of the fat-jolly Priest in the Coyboy hat to make people laugh (and he's a dead ringer for his Dad, a locally famous TV actor, and comedian).

If he visited in person he could give me an ear full I'm sure but not over the net.

H - I haven't heard from at all, but since he's in charge of the Institute of Anthropology he has to be careful too.

B- Is in the US but has gone quite other than "pray" themes because she's not going to endanger her husband.

But if I do hear anything (and last time things got bad enough that V and H BOTH posted some things that were rater anti-current government) I will let everyone here know.

In some ways the DEAD SILENCE on my Facebook feed, other than V saying Mass is very telling...

Plain Jane · May 5, 2020

In fight over Brazil leader's virus test, crisis looms

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he twice tested negative for the coronavirus but many, including a federal judge, are demanding he share the actual results.

apnews.com

In fight over Brazil leader’s virus test, crisis looms
By DIANE JEANTETtoday

1 of 9
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro signals thumbs up to his supporters during a protest against his former Minister of Justice Sergio Moro and the Supreme Court, in front of the Planalto presidential palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, May 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro says he twice tested negative for the coronavirus but many, including a federal judge, are demanding he share the actual results. Still, the leader has refused.

The surreal standoff is the latest flashpoint in a broader battle between a president who has repeatedly tested the limits of his power and democratic institutions. There are concerns that as Bolsonaro pushes back, it could spark a constitutional crisis.

Bolsonaro has consistently downplayed the coronavirus pandemic and has fiercely criticized efforts by governors and mayors to impose measures to control the virus’ spread, instead advocating for most people to get back to work.

But the courts have repeatedly curtailed him — on this issue and others: They ruled that governors and mayors have the power to determine shutdown measures. They overturned the president’s decree allowing religious gatherings and are trying to force the release of his COVID-19 test results to put to rest speculation he may have lied. They struck down his pick for federal police director and on Saturday suspended his decision to expel 30 Venezuelan diplomats from the country.

Bolsonaro’s supporters have denounced the decisions as part of a plot to derail his presidency, and the president himself says he is a victim of meddling by obstructionist judges.

“Enough with the interference. We’re not going to allow any more interference!” Bolsonaro said on Sunday. “Patience has run out. We’re going to take Brazil forward.”

Analysts say the court decisions impose constraints on a populist who is testing democratic guardrails and has shown he is not afraid to take his legal battles to the street when he is unhappy with the courts.

Bolsonaro and his base have frequently lambasted the courts when they limit his power. They have decried, for instance, one justice’s recent decision to block the nomination of a new chief of the federal police, seen by many as too close to the Bolsonaro family.

Even some critics, including former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, believe the Supreme Court overstepped in that instance.

The highest court also approved the opening of an investigation into whether the appointment constituted illegal political interference.

The fight over his coronavirus test results has produced a particularly unusual chapter. Concerns about Bolsonaro’s health began in March, when the president returned from the U.S., and local media reported in the weeks that followed that more than a dozen members of his delegation tested positive for the coronavirus.

Initial unconfirmed reports indicated Bolsonaro had tested positive himself but then he announced on social media his results had come back negative. He has refused to produce the actual document, citing medical privacy.

Last week, a federal judge in São Paulo ordered Bolsonaro to present the results in response to a request from the O Estado de S. Pãulo newspaper. Bolsonaro’s attorney-general instead sent a summary of the results, the office said in a statement. The judge again insisted on the actual results, and a separate judge on Saturday gave Bolsonaro’s team five days to comply.
Bolsonaro has also further muddied the waters recently. Following the lawsuits, he said last week he had “perhaps” contracted the virus without knowing it.

All the while, Bolsonaro has kept appearing in public without a mask, addressing crowds and shaking well-wishers’ hands — on one occasion, after wiping his nose.

Bolsonaro’s support among a core base has long seemed nearly unshakable. While a positive result might not challenge that, it would likely erode support from moderates – the portion of people who are not die-hard but believe his policies are reasonable, said Lucas de Aragão, partner at the Brasilia-based consultancy Arko Advice.

“All this creates an environment of institutional crisis,” said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in São Paulo. “Constitutional crises are complicated because when institutions no longer resolve controversies and conflicts, then who does? The use of force?”

As the political and economic crisis deriving from the pandemic deepens in Brazil, Bolsonaro might try to further discredit democratic institutions, looking for someone to blame to weather the storm, analysts said.

“This is why he is bashing the governors and judiciary,” said de Aragão. “The Bolsonaro government and his most influential advocates are always looking for a common enemy, because this creates a sense of community among supporters.”

Some of that can already be seen unfolding. Over the weekend, Bolsonaro’s core base made the hashtag #CoupFromTheSupremeCourt trend on Twitter in Brazil. Meanwhile in the capital of Brasilia on Sunday, protesters shouted slogans such as: “Careful, Justices, your robes will turn into handcuffs.”

“We want our president to be able to govern,” Bia Kicis, a lawmaker who appeared next to Bolsonaro on Sunday, said in a live broadcast on the president’s Facebook page. “Our people are not going to let (Supreme Court) Justices, with the stroke of a pen, prevent our president from governing!”

Experts said the president was playing a dangerous game by taking his legal battles to the streets. “Why not appeal? Why go to the streets?” asked Melo. “This is populism. It’s not understanding the constitutional appeals process in the country.”

Melodi · May 5, 2020

And just as the keystone cops "Bay of Pigs 2.0" I mentioned was rumored to be happening the other day and has now failed is over (or seems to be)...the power is now out again all over Caracas and other parts of Venezuela...things that make you go hum....

TVV Noticias

@TVVnoticias

#Ahora Reportan fallas eléctricas en Caracas, Miranda y otros estados de Venezuela. Envíanos tu reporte si tu zona también se vio afectada por esta avería. (ciudad y hora) #TVVNoticias #TVV
Translated from Spanish by

#Ahora They report electrical failures in Caracas, Miranda and other states of Venezuela. Send us your report if your area was also affected by this breakdown. (city and time) #TVVNoticias #TVV

Melodi · May 5, 2020

This story is starting to hit the English Language sites now...

Large power outage currently ongoing in Venezuela. Most of Caracas is currently without power. #Venezuela
Quote Tweet

NetBlocks.org

@netblocks
· 59m
Confirmed: A power outage has knocked out internet connectivity in multiple states of #Venezuela from 3:40 p.m. local time; real-time network data show significant impact with national connectivity down to ~60% of ordinary levels; incident ongoing #5May #Apagón #SinLuz

Show this thread

9:18 PM · May 5, 2020·Twitter for iPhone

https://twitter.com/EndGameWW3

Plain Jane · May 5, 2020

This is starting to sound like a corny film with crazy billionaires and all.

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Trump Denies US Involvement In Venezuelan 'Coup Plot' After American Mercenaries Captured

by Tyler Durden
Tue, 05/05/2020 - 16:20
Twitter Facebook Reddit Email Print

update: President Trump has addressed the bizarre headline-grabbing development which has jolted Venezuela back center-stage in the news and in Washington.

JM Rieger

✔@RiegerReport
https://twitter.com/RiegerReport/status/1257698358560522242

REPORTER: What happened in Venezuela, sir? Apparently a couple of Americans were detained.

TRUMP: … Nothing to do with our government, but I just got information on that. … We just heard about it. But whatever it is, we’ll let you know.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuelas-maduro-says-two-americans-captured-in-failed-invasion-attempt/2020/05/04/11630f82-8e6b-11ea-9322-a29e75effc93_story.html …

180
11:47 AM - May 5, 2020
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139 people are talking about this

On Tuesday afternoon Trump told reporters at the White House he had no knowledge or involvement in the latest failed plot to oust Nicolas Maduro, which resulted in the capture and detention of two American former special forces soldiers - dubbed "mercenaries" by Maduro - who were involved in an apparent 'invasion' from the sea, likely launched out of neighboring Colombia. Per the AFP:

President Donald Trump denies US government involvement in what Venezuela’s president says was an attempted overthrow in which two Americans were arrested.
“It has nothing to do with our government,” Trump tells reporters at the White House.

CBS News

✔@CBSNews
https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1257618542494711808

Venezuela says 2 Americans arrested over plot to topple leader https://cbsn.ws/2W5NVgV

57
6:30 AM - May 5, 2020
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60 people are talking about this

Two Americans identified as Luke Denman, 34, and Airan Berry, 41, are still reportedly in Venezuelan detention and have been paraded in front of state TV.

Maduro has since accused both Trump and Colombian President Ivan Duque of being behind the plot, the AFP reports further.

An astounding and unexpected development which is about to launch US regime change efforts in Venezuela straight back into the headlines. The Maduro government says it has captured two Americans who were leading a 'Rambo-style' armed coup effort. CNN reports:

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says two American "mercenaries" have been apprehended after a failed coup attempt launched over the weekend.
In a live address on state television late Monday, Maduro brandished what he claimed were the US passports and drivers licenses of the two men, along with what he said were their ID cards for Silvercorp, a Florida-based security services company.

Luke Denman, 34 (left) and Airan Berry,41 (right), being paraded in front of Venezuelan state TV cameras after their arrests Monday.
Silvercorp, it must be remembered from our reporting days ago based on the Associated Press, is a Flordia-based private security firm founded by a former Green Beret soldier who hooked up with Venezuelan military officer defectors for a half-baked 'armed invasion' of the socialist country in order to overthrow Maduro.

Airing photos of the men on state television, Maduro further described the pair were playing "Rambo" illegally in his country. And further:

Footage posted on Maduro's official Twitter account shows several unidentifiable men in a boat with their hands in the air and a helicopter overhead. The men in the boat were not identifiable in one video, but a separate photo more clearly depicted two men who Maduro claimed were American.

One of the now detained men apparently even had a US military ID on him:

Jack Murphy@JackMurphyRGR
https://twitter.com/JackMurphyRGR/status/1257495056254197760

My bro, who takes their ****ing mil ID card with them on a merc job to dispose of a foreign government? https://twitter.com/telesurenglish/status/1257491923109109760 …
teleSUR English@telesurenglish
Replying to @telesurenglish
.@NicolasMaduro: Among the terrorist captured today they were 2 U.S. military officials from Texas. According to a member of the band they are "intermediaries with Trump's head of security". Their names are Luke Denman and Aaron Barry, members of the company Silver Corp.

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In total Maduro said 13 “terrorists” had been captured by authorities in connection with a bid to invade the country and stoke insurrection on Sunday.

Maduro paraded what were described as passports and other identification cards of Airan Berry and Luke Denman, described as employees of Silvercorp.

Crucially, the family of one of the detained Americans has confirmed to the AP on Tuesday he is currently missing.

Per the NY Times: "Kay Denman, the mother of one of the captured Americans, told The Associated Press that the last time she heard from her son was a few weeks ago when he texted her from an undisclosed location to ask how she was coping with the coronavirus pandemic. She said she never heard her son discuss Venezuela and only learned of his possible capture there after his friends called when they saw the reports on social media."

Melodi · May 5, 2020

The US government has "plausible deniability" only in the sense that anyone with half a brain that has studied Latin American history and/or knows some of the sorts of folks that went into Exile in Miami, Spain or Bogata have known was bound to happen at some point (and probably with these exact results).

I'm not talking about the "average" or even "upper-middle-class" type of professional person that left and went into exile over the years, I'm talking the Old Elites and New Rich Millionaires that were vastly wealthy under the old system and understandably want it back (a lot of it was simply seized by the government).

A "mercenary" type of "invasion" has been speculated about for 20 years or so, though things got a lot more serious (in terms of rumors) once Maduro starting losing his grip on power (he isn't Chavez and he has the charisma of a goldfish).

jward · May 6, 2020

The Invasion of Venezuela, Brought To You By Silvercorp USA
May 5, 2020

By Giancarlo Fiorella

The video begins with Jordan Goudreau posing confidently, flanked by a man wearing an armour plate and a Venezuela flag wrapped around his shoulder. The man introduces Goudreau in a stern tone. Goudreau begins to speak with the terseness of a battle-hardened warrior as he confirms that an amphibious operation into Venezuela is underway. Goudreau begins by saying:

At 1700 hours, a daring amphibious raid was launched from the border of Colombia deep into the heart of Caracas. Our men are continuing to fight right now. Our units have been activated in the south, east and west of Venezuela. Commander Nieto is with me—is co-located—and commander Sequea is on the ground now, fighting.

It is the afternoon of Sunday, May 3, 2020, and Goudreau is confirming that a botched attempt to infiltrate Venezuela with a team of expatriate soldiers (and later, two U.S. citizens) on a hopeless mission to topple the government of President Nicolas Maduro is his doing. By the time the video was first shared on Twitter, eight of Goudreau’s men were dead and two others captured as the boat they were on was intercepted at sea by the Venezuelan authorities. A second boat, soon on its way to Venezuela, would also be intercepted at sea the following day, resulting in the capture of eight of Goudreau’s men, including two American citizens.
Over a period of 48 hours starting on the morning of May 3, Goudreau’s Silvercorp USA would-be mercenary force would make headlines across the world as the spectacular failure of the operation came to light.

Mr. Goudreau Goes To Colombia
Goudreau’s name appeared in relation to Venezuela on May 1, in an article published by the Associated Press. The article outlines Goudreau’s involvement in a far-fetched scheme to help raise a mercenary army with Cliver Alcalá, a former major general in the Venezuelan army and lifelong supporter of former president Hugo Chavez who had been living in exile in Colombia since 2018.
The article explains that the goal of this force would be to infiltrate Venezuela and spark a rebellion that would topple Maduro from power. Under the best light, the article paints Goudreau, a former U.S. Army special forces operative and three-time Bronze Star recipient, as a misguided entrepreneur who saw an opportunity to make a lot of money for Silvercorp USA, his private security company, by signing a contract with the Venezuelan opposition to train Alcalá’s men. As the article makes clear, the plot was so far-fetched that opposition leader Juan Guaido’s intermediates eventually cut contact with him, and some who knew Goudreau in Colombia said that he was “in way over his head” (the article is jaw-dropping and you should read it).

Goudreau featured on the Silvercorp USA home page (Source: Silvercorpusa.com)
Aside from introducing Goudreau and his misadventures in Colombia to the world, the article brought to light the plot that he and Alcalá had plotted to infiltrate Venezuela with former Venezuelan soldiers. There is evidence that the Venezuelan government was aware of the plot as early as March 24, but if they had been blind to the scheme, they would have found out about it in the article on May 1. And, with Alcalá in detention in the United States on drug trafficking charges since late March, any move now, when he had maximum visibility, would have been ill-advised for Goudreau.
Yet that’s when these just slightly amphibious raids began.

Silvercorp USA And Jordan Goudreau
Goudreau’s Florida-based private security firm, Silvercorp USA, was established in March 2018, just weeks after the Parkland school shooting that left 17 dead and another 17 wounded. The first Instagram posts from Silvercorp USA show a bizarre montage of school shootings, followed by a narration from Goudreau.
Goudreau, speaking over B-roll footage and clips of the aftermath of school shootings, describes how Silvercorp provides training to law enforcement and teachers to respond to active school shooters. Silvercorp later expanded its ambitions to “embed counter-terror agents in schools disguised as teachers” (their “School Protection Solution”), provided “private security” in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, and apparently worked as security at Trump rallies. In a video on the Silvercorp website, Goudreau can be seen wearing an earpiece and apparently providing security at a Trump rally in Charlotte, NC at Bojangles Coliseum from October 26, 2018:

An Instagram post from Silvercorp also shows Goudreau at this rally, with the geotag of Charlotte, NC:

Goudreau is visible in videos showing the rally, walking the aisles behind Trump during his speech:

Silvercorp USA also apparently provided security for a Trump rally in Houston on October 22, 2018, but there are no clear photographs showing Goudreau at work.
All of this does not mean that Goudreau is part of the Secret Service. Trump famously employs private security for himself and during his rallies, and Silvercorp were likely contracted for this rally in Charlotte.

Goudreau and Silvercorp likely provided security at other Trump rallies, including one in Pennsylvania on 10 March 2018. If you can spot Goudreau or other Silvercorp staff providing security at a Trump rally, please send your findings in the comments, or tweet at us.

Operation Gedeon, Or Goudreau’s Boat People
In the early morning hours of Sunday, May 3, reports began to surface on Twitter of military activity out at sea off the coast of Macuto, a small city on Venezuela’s coast just north of Caracas. In one video shot before the sun had come up, a man films what looks like police vessels out at sea. There is a helicopter flying the area, and gunshots can be heard.
Shortly after 7:30 AM, Minister of the Interior Nestor Reverol gave a televised address during which he said that “terrorist mercenaries” had attempted a “maritime invasion” of the country, and that they had come from Colombia. Shortly thereafter, news would break that eight of the men on the boat had been killed and two had been captured alongside weapons and equipment:

Images of some of the equipment and weapons seized in the Macuto operation (Source: @RCamachoVzla)
The news from Minister Reverol was received with a healthy dose of skepticism by many Venezuelans, given the Maduro government’s long track record of blaming everything from power outages to its financial woes on the Colombian government.
All doubts about the veracity of the Maduro government’s claims regarding the failed incursion were laid to rest in the afternoon when a Venezuelan digital news outlet (@FactoresdePoder) published a video in which Goudreau claimed responsibility for the “amphibious raid”, and hinted that other operations were ongoing. Goudreau was joined by a man calling himself Javier Quintero Nieto, who said that the goal of the operation was to detain the leadership of the Maduro government and liberate the country’s political prisoners.

Goudreau and Quintero appeared in a video claiming responsibility for the failed raid on Sunday, May 3 (Source: @FactoresdePoder)
The same news outlet shared images of a contract that appears to have been signed by both Goudreau (on behalf of Silvercorp) and opposition leader Juan Guaido on October 16, 2019 — worth a staggering $212.9 million dollars. Pages 1 out of 8 and 8 out of 8 are missing from the set that the outlet shared, and so we do not know for certain every piece of information that was included in this document, including exactly what services Silvercorp would provide.

Images of an alleged contract between Silvercorp and the Venezuelan opposition leader worth $212.9 million for undisclosed services (Source: @FactoresdePoder)
Shortly thereafter, Goudreau was interviewed by Venezuelan journalist Patricia Poleo for Factores de Poder. In the bizarre interview, Goudreau said that despite having signed a contract with Guaido, “the opposition hurt us more than they helped us” in part because they never paid him. Goudreau said that the opposition failed to even pay him the $1.5 million retainer that he had asked for, but that he nevertheless decided to continue to render the services of his company because he is a “freedom fighter” and “this is what [freedom fighters] do.”
When he was pressed by Poleo to explain why launching an amphibious operation across open waters instead of attempting to infiltrate via the border with Colombia, Goudreau replied:

Are you familiar with Alexander the Great? The Battle of Gaugamela. Completely outnumbered. He struck to the heart of the enemy, and he won.

Goudreau ended the interview by saying that there were more “cells” active in the country, that the operation was ongoing, and that he was in communication with people inside the country who were telling him that they wanted to join the rebellion that he was attempting to start.

Airan And Luke
On the evening on Sunday, May 3, the Silvercorp Twitter account tweeted that a “strikeforce incursion” into Venezuela was still underway despite the losses earlier that day. The tweet also revealed that two members of this strike force were U.S. citizens, while also trying to get the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump:

Confirmation of the participation of two U.S. citizens in the operation came from the @Carive15 Twitter account, which Javier Quintero confirmed is the official portal of the operation. The account tweeted out an image of three haggard-looking men aboard a boat, two of whom are looking at the camera:

The tweet reads: “An allied unit has fallen. The BRAVE NORTH AMERICAN ALLIES LUKE AND AARON [sic] have just been arrested by the NARCO-REGIME. They are more Venezuelan than any coward from the regime. (Picture taken at 7:30 AM [and shared via] satellite communication) (Source: @Carive15)
The men also appeared in images shared by the Venezuelan authorities after their capture, including in this videowhich shows some of the captured would-be infiltrators.

Speaking during a televised address on Monday, May 4, Maduro showed the passports and other pieces identification of the pair. Screenshots of that section of his speech were shared by @TeleSurEnglish. These pieces of identification show that the men’s names are Luke Alexander Denman and Airan Berry.

Four screenshots from Maduro’s May 4 address showing some of the Luke and Airan’s identification (Source: @Telesurenglish)
Diosdado Cabello, the vice president of the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela(PSUV), shared a video on his Twitter account on the afternoon of May 4, showing Adolfo Baduel, one of the men captured alongside Denman and Berry. In the video, Baduel says that he was accompanied by two U.S. citizens who said that they “work with the chief of security of Donald Trump”, seemingly confirming Silvercorp USA’s previous work as security at Trump rallies.

Unfinished Business
The afternoon of May 4 ended with the Venezuelan government claiming to have arrested two more individuals in connection to “Operacion Gedeon”, this time on land in the city of Puerto Cruz. The two men were allegedly arrested alongside a cache of equipment related to the operation, including armor plates and communications equipment. @RCamachoVzla tweeted some images of the haul:

Images of some of the equipment seized in Puerto La Cruz (Source: @RCamachoVzla)
One image in particular raised many more questions than it answered, as it shows an Airsoft rifle:

An Airsoft rifle pictured among the cache of equipment captured by the Venezuelan authorities in Puerto La Cruz (note the orange tip). Note also an Amazon Kindle among the equipment that was seized (Source: @RCamachoVzla)
The logo on the weapon appears to be associated with the G&G Airsoft company as seen in this promotional video (kudos to Twitter user @AbraxasSpa for making this connection):

A logo on the weapon (Source: @RCamachoVzla)

The G&G Airsoft logo (Source: YouTube)
In an interview published on May 4, Javier Quintero claimed that “Operacion Gedeon” was still ongoing despite its early losses, and that there were more teams inside and outside Venezuela “awaiting instructions”. He acknowledged Goudreau’s participation in the operation. As of publication, there have been no new reports of arrests or any other action related to this operation.
President Maduro claimed in a televised speech on the night of May 4 that the involvement of U.S. citizens in the plot to overthrow him was evidence that the Trump administration was directly involved in the plan. There have been no public comments on these unfolding events from the U.S. government so far.

posted for fair use

The Invasion of Venezuela, Brought To You By Silvercorp USA - bellingcat

The video begins with Jordan Goudreau posing confidently, flanked by a man wearing an armour plate and a Venezuela flag wrapped around his shoulder.

www.bellingcat.com

jward · May 6, 2020

Deven_Intel
@Deven_Intel
40m

Secretary of State Pompeo says the #UnitedStates will use all tools at it's disposal for bringing home two Americans being held captive by the #Maduro regime in #Venezuela.

Melodi · May 6, 2020

jward said:
Deven_Intel
@Deven_Intel
40m

Secretary of State Pompeo says the #UnitedStates will use all tools at it's disposal for bringing home two Americans being held captive by the #Maduro regime in #Venezuela.

Good luck, Venezuelan TV is having a field day with this and even an all-out war declared in Venezuela would be unlikely to get these guys out alive (if that happened).

As it is, I am not sure what kind of a chance they stand in any case; the prisons have been torture chambers long before Chavez ever left his military posting.

I had a student once who had been tortured, it was a most interesting "English Conversation class" I can tell you - these days between the current government, shortages and the Pandemic; they won't even have to kill the guys directly, just throw them in jail (where there is no food) and let them starve to death (and I'm not kidding).

They "might" get released if Maduro gets some sort of backroom deal, but right now they are the "best" news the Bus Driver has had to parade out for a long time...

Plain Jane · May 6, 2020

Sources: US investigating ex-Green Beret for Venezuela raid

MIAMI (AP) — A former Green Beret who has claimed responsibility for an ill-fated military incursion into Venezuela is under federal investigation for arms trafficking, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials.

apnews.com

Sources: US investigating ex-Green Beret for Venezuela raid
By JOSHUA GOODMAN19 minutes ago

1 of 3
This photo released by the Venezuelan Miraflores presidential press office shows President Nicolas Maduro speaking over military equipment that he says was seized during an incursion into Venezuela, during his televised address from Miraflores in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, May 4, 2020. Maduro said authorities arrested two U.S. citizens among a group of “mercenaries” on Monday, a day after a beach raid purportedly aimed at capturing the leader that Venezuelan authorities say they foiled. (Miraflores press office via AP)
MIAMI (AP) — A former Green Beret who has claimed responsibility for an ill-fated military incursion into Venezuela is under federal investigation for arms trafficking, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials.

The investigation into Jordan Goudreau is in its initial stages and it’s unclear if it will result in charges, according to a U.S. law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The probe stems from a frenzy of contradictory comments Goudreau has made since a small cadre of volunteer combatants he was advising on Sunday launched an impossible raid aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Members of the U.S. Congress are also asking the State Department about its knowledge of Goudreau’s plans and raised concerns that he possibly violated arms trafficking rules.
MORE STORIES:

An AP investigation published prior to the failed raid places Goudreau at the center of a plot hatched with a rebellious former Venezuelan Army Gen., Cliver Alcalá, to secretly train dozens of Venezuelan military deserters in secret camps in Colombia to carry out a swift operation against Maduro. The U.S. has offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction. He was indicted by the Trump administration in March on narcoterrorist charges.

The men were being readied for combat at three rudimentary camps in Colombia with the help of Goudreau and his Florida-based company, Silvercorp USA, multiple Maduro opponents and aspiring freedom fighters told the AP. But the plot seemed doomed from the start because it lacked the support of the Trump administration and was infiltrated by Maduro’s vast, Cuban-trained intelligence network, the AP found.

The law enforcement official said Goudreau’s comments suggests his work on behalf of the volunteer army may have violated laws that require any U.S. company supplying weapons or military equipment, as well as military training and advice, to foreign persons to seek State Department approval.

Experts agree.

“Goudreau’s public comments alone show he was exporting his lethal expertise into a foreign country,” said Sean McFate, a former U.S. Army paratrooper who worked as a private military contractor and is the author of a book, “The New Rules of War,” on the foreign policy implications of privatized warfare. “This is a serious violation.”
Full Coverage: Venezuela
Goudreau declined to comment Tuesday. The State Department said it is restricted under law from confirming licensing activities.

The law enforcement official said Goudreau’s possible involvement in weapons smuggling stems from the March 23 seizure by police in Colombia of a stockpile of weapons being transported in a truck. Alcalá claimed ownership of the cache shortly before surrendering to face U.S. narcotics charges in the same case for which Maduro was indicted.

The stockpile, worth around $150,000, included spotting scopes, night vision goggles, two-way radios and 26 American-made assault rifles with the serial numbers rubbed off. Fifteen brown-colored helmets seized by police were manufactured by High-End Defense Solutions, a Miami-based military equipment vendor owned by a Venezuelan immigrant family, according to Colombian police.

High-End Defense Solutions is the same company that Goudreau visited in November and December, allegedly to source weapons, according to two former Venezuelan soldiers who claim to have helped the American select the gear but later had a bitter falling out with Goudreau amid accusations they were moles for Maduro. The AP could not independent verify their account.

Company owner Mark Von Reitzenstein has not responded to repeated email and phone requests seeking comment.

Two former law enforcement officials said an informant approached the Drug Enforcement Administration in Colombia prior to the weapons’ seizure with an unsubstantiated tip about Goudreau’s alleged involvement in weapons smuggling. The anti-narcotics agency, not knowing who Goudreau was at the time, didn’t open a formal probe but suspected that any weapons would’ve been destined for leftist rebels or criminal gangs in Colombia — not a ragtag army of Venezuelan volunteers, the former officials said on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. One of the officials said the information was later passed on to the Department of Homeland Security.

The DEA said it does not comment on ongoing potential investigations.

Authorities in Colombia are also looking into Goudreau as part of their investigation into the seized weapons shipment, a Colombian official told the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing case.

Meanwhile, officials in U.S. Congress are expressing concern. Democratic congressional staff contacted the State Department multiple times on Monday seeking information about any possible contacts with Goudreau or knowledge of his activities, and whether his work may have violated International Traffic in Arms Regulations, according to a staffer on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private outreach.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday reiterated President Donald Trump’s claims a day earlier that there was no direct U.S. government involvement in Goudreau’s brazen operation.

“If we’d have been involved, it would have gone differently,” he joked. “As for who bankrolled it, we’re not prepared to share any more information about what we know took place. We’ll unpack that at an appropriate time, we’ll share that information if it makes good sense.”

Goudreau, a three-time Bronze Star recipient, has insisted that his work providing only strategic advice to the combatants doesn’t require special licensing. Still, he acknowledged sending into battle two special forces buddies associated with Silvercorp and who are now in Venezuelan custody.

“You’ve got to introduce a catalyst,” he said in a phone interview with the AP Monday from Florida. “By no means am I saying that 60 guys can come in and topple a regime. I’m saying 60 guys can go in and inspire the military and police to flip and join in the liberation of their country, which deep down is what they want.”

Goudreau has said he was hired by Juan Guaidó, who the U.S. considers Venezuela’s rightful leader. To back his claim, he’s produced an 8-page agreement he signed with what appears to be the signature of Guaidó. The opposition leader has refused to say whether the signature on the “general services agreement” is authentic.

On Wednesday what some 60 nations recognize as Venezuela’s legitimate government denied having signed any “alleged contract” and insisted it has no ties or commitments to Silvercorp. In a statement it accused Maduro of infiltrating the so-called “Operation Gideon” and using a “false document as justification to try and kidnap and illegally detain the interim president Juan Guaidó.”

Contradictions abound in Goudreau’s account as well. In a televised interview with “Factores de Poder,” a Miami media outlet popular with Venezuelan exiles, he claims he never received a “single cent” for his work yet continued to prepare the men for battle, in the process going deep into debt. JJ Rendon, a Miami-based adviser to Guaidó, said he gave Goudreau $50,000 as requested to cover some expenses. Goudreau acknowledged the payment to the AP and other media.

A person familiar with the situation said the agreement was signed by Rendon and another U.S.-based aide to Guaidó, lawmaker Sergio Vergara, in October. Guaidó at one point briefly greeted Goudreau via video conference — as evidenced by an audio recording made on a hidden cellphone by Goudreau and which he shared with the Venezuelan journalist.

“Let’s get to work!” said a voice that appears to be Guaidó in the leaked recording. He makes no mention of any military incursion.

A few days later, the team cut off contact with Goudreau, realizing he was unable to deliver what he had promised and because they were not getting along, the person said. An attempt to reactivate the accord fell through in November because the opposition had abandoned support for a private military incursion, the person said. The last contact with Goudreau was a few weeks ago when a lawyer on the veteran’s behalf wrote Rendon seeking to collect a promised $1.5 million retainer. Goudreau, through intermediaries, made it known that if they didn’t pay up he would release the agreement to the press, the person said.

It’s unclear how the weapons were smuggled into Colombia. But Silvercorp in December bought a 41-foot fiberglass boat, Florida vessel registration records show, and proceeded in February to obtain a license to install maritime navigation equipment. On his application to the Federal Communications Commission, he said the boat would travel to foreign ports.

The boat next appeared in Jamaica, where Goudreau had gathered with a few of his special forces buddies looking to participate in the raid, according to a person familiar with the situation on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive dealings.

But as they were readying their assault, the boat broke down at sea on March 28 and an emergency position-indicating radio beacon was activated, alerting naval authorities on the island of Curacao. Goudreau had to return to Florida, prevented from rejoining his troops prior to the landing because of travel restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“He would have 100% gone out in a blaze of gunfire because that’s who he is,” said the person.
—-
AP Writer Scott Smith in Caracas, Venezuela, Matthew Lee in Washington and investigative researcher Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report.

Plain Jane · May 7, 2020

Now it is Trump's fault....?

Zerohedge

ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero

www.zerohedge.com

Captured US Mercenary Says In Video 'Confession' Trump Ordered Plot To "Abduct" Maduro

by Tyler Durden
Wed, 05/06/2020 - 21:25
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The nutty 'Bay of Pigs invasion Venezuela edition' which appears to have been an utter failure and half-baked scheme nearly from the start just took a few more bizarre turns.
Two days after Venezuelan armed forces captured two US former special forces soldiers turned mercenaries along with others that made up a Venezuela 'defector force' allegedly trying to 'invade' the county to topple Nicolas Maduro, state TV has aired a "confession" video featuring 34-year old captured American Luke Denman.

Luke Denman shown on Venezuelan state TV after being arrested.
In the heavily edited and scripted "confession" Denman says the mission to orchestrate a coup in the socialist country went straight to the top - ordered by President Trump himself. There were also plans to "abduct" Maduro himself and fly him out of Venezuela and into US custody.

As The Guardian describes of the video:

An American mercenary captured after a bungled attempt to topple Nicolás Maduro has claimed he was on a mission to seize control of Venezuela’s main airport in order to abduct its authoritarian leader – and he alleged that was acting under the command of Donald Trump.
...In a heavily edited video confession, broadcast on Wednesday by the state broadcaster, VTV, Denman said he had flown to Colombia in mid-January, where he was tasked with training Venezuelan combatants near Riohacha, a city 55 miles west from the Venezuelan border.
From there Denman – who said he had never previously set foot in either South American country – claimed the group planned to journey to Caracas to “secure” the city and the nearby Simón Bolívar international airport, before bringing down Maduro.

The group of a least a dozen men, who were trained by Florida-based private security firm Silvercorp, reportedly tried to sneak into Venezuela via fishing boats, but were caught soon after stepping foot on land.

Camila@camilateleSUR
https://twitter.com/camilateleSUR/status/1258085749607600131

BREAKING: Venezuela's government releases the confession of Silvercorp mercenary Luke Alexander Denman.

Live now on @teleSURenglish

1,644
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Denman further describes in the video his task was to "secure the airport" to pave the way for a broader US military invasion force:

Denman said his mission had been to secure the airport, set up a perimeter, communicate with its tower and then “bring in planes” including “one to put Maduro on and take him back to the United States”.
“I thought I was helping Venezuelans take back control of their country,” Denman added.
There was no sign that any lawyers were present during Denman’s alleged confession or that he was not speaking under duress.

The Maduro government is hailing this as a major victory over Washington coup plotting, however on Tuesday President Trump formally denied that the US had anything to do with it.

“It has nothing to do with our government,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Luke Denman, 34 (left) and Airan Berry, 41 (right), being paraded in front of Veneuzlean state TV cameras after their arrests Monday.

https://twitter.com/camilateleSUR/status/1258085749607600131
But Maduro and his top officials have alleged the mission came straight from both Trump and the Colombian president.

The Venezuelan president is further saying he'll seek the extradition of the ex-Green Beret said to have overseen the mission, since back in the United States, Silvercorps founder Jordan Goudreau.

The fiasco prompted a formal denial of involvement or knowledge from US-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.

Max Blumenthal

✔@MaxBlumenthal
https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1257423667375616002
Replying to @MaxBlumenthal

The leader of this bungled assault, Jordan Goudreau, falsely claimed to his ragtag army that he had provided security to Trump. The closest he got was a brief relationship with Keith Schiller, who was Trump's personal bodyguard. https://twitter.com/camilateleSUR/status/1257416021826318337?s=20 …
Camila@camilateleSUR

Two U.S. citizens are among those captured by Venezuelan authorities, says Josnars Adolfo Baduel, alias Simón. He says that they work with the U.S. President's security detail.

184
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As we previously reported, Goudreau orchestrated the plot alongside a high ranking Venezuelan military defector, who hooked up with the mercenary firm Silvercorps in Colombia last year.

In the wake of the botched 'invasion' and 'overthrow' attempt, which many on social media are hilariously mocking under the #BayofPigletshashtag, Goudreau has positively admitted to being behind it.

Goudreau reportedly ran the secret training camps in neighboring Colombia, with the aim to infiltrate the group into Venezuela in order to fuel momentum for a broader 'armed popular uprising' à la covert CIA-style Syria regime change ops.

After leaving the Army in 2016, Goudreau worked as a private security contractor in Puerto Rico and set up Silvercorp US in 2018. Image via SilvercorpsUSA/Daily Mail.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday backed Trump's denial of US military or intelligence involvement: “If we had been involved, it would have gone differently,” Pompeo said. “As for who bankrolled it, we’re not prepared to share any more information about what we know took place. We’ll unpack that at an appropriate time. We’ll share that information that makes good sense.”

And concerning the captured Americans: “We will start the process of trying to figure a way - if in fact these are Americans that are there – that we can figure a path forward. We want to get every American back. If the Maduro regime decides to hold them, we’ll use every tool that we have available to try and get them back. It’s our responsibility to do so,” the Secretary of State said.

Melodi · May 7, 2020

Whatever these guys confess to (and I think they are idiots but probably not angels) remember what I said about torture being a long tradition in Venezuela.

People will say ANYTHING under torture, that's been known for thousands of years; do I think these guys are "innocent" heck no.

Do I think their direct commander was Donald Trump - probably not, though I'd be shocked if the State Department didn't know about this keystone cop operation, they usually take care to have at least a degree or two of separation from stunts like this so they can claim they had no part in it?

This method of "dealing" with regimes and situations the US doesn't like in Latin America goes back over 100 years and counting; sometimes like the "creation" of Panama the US interference is in your face with warships, but most of the time it is indirectly by paying off "Local partisans" and "mercs."

Usually, the attempts at interference are not quite this stupid but the Cuban mess was two or three generations ago in terms of the memory hole.

Plain Jane · May 7, 2020

In clash with riot police, Hondurans block burial of coronavirus victim

Residents of an impoverished part of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, clashed with riot police on Thursday after blocking the burial of a person suspected of having died from the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters witness.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 7, 2020 / 7:14 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO
In clash with riot police, Hondurans block burial of coronavirus victim

Jorge Cabrera
2 MIN READ

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Residents of an impoverished part of the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa, clashed with riot police on Thursday after blocking the burial of a person suspected of having died from the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters witness.

The Central American country has so far reported 1,461 coronavirus cases, many of them in the capital, and 99 deaths. Residents said their neighborhood lacked adequate sanitation for such burials.

Riot police fired tear gas when the residents armed with rocks burned tires and blocked a road leading to the Amor Enterno Cemetery with stones and construction material in the La Era neighborhood, the witness said.

“There’s no water here. Here we’re hungry but what they bring us is disease and death,” a woman who did not give her name told local television. “We’re not going to let them pass. We’re afraid.”

Raul Mejia, who led the police forces, told television: “We were ordered to withdraw. We don’t want to cause harm to the residents.”

Mejia said there should be a separate cemetery for people dying from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Honduran authorities had imposed a curfew in mid-March, suspending schools, universities, non-essential public services and private businesses in an attempt to curb the spread of the pandemic. It is scheduled to end on May 17.

Reporting by Jorge Cabrera and Gustavo Palencia; Editing by Peter Cooney
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

jward · May 8, 2020

CNW

@ConflictsW
1h

Large Venezuelan military search operation underway near Colonia Tovar in Aragua, they’re reportedly trying to track down 20 members of operacion Gedeon #Venezuela

CNW

@ConflictsW
2m

The local governor has told all citizens in the area to remain at home while the search operations are ongoing

jward · May 9, 2020

Venezuela charges two ex-US soldiers with 'terrorism, conspiracy'
Luke Alexander Denman and Airan Berry are among 31 people captured by Venezuelan military over failed armed incursion.

43 minutes ago

The alleged conspirators face 25-30 years in prison [Defence Ministry of Venezuela/Anadolu]
more on Latin America

Venezuela has charged two former United States soldiers with "terrorism" and "conspiracy" for allegedly taking part in a failed armed incursion aimed at toppling President Nicolas Maduro, according to officials.
Luke Alexander Denman and Airan Berry were among 31 people captured by the Venezuelan military who said they thwarted an attempted invasion by mercenaries in the early hours of Sunday morning.
More:

Prosecutor General Tarek William Saab said on Friday they had been charged with "terrorism, conspiracy, illicit trafficking of weapons of war and (criminal) association", and could face 25-30 years in prison.
Several attackers were reportedly killed in the ill-fated incursion.
Saab said Venezuela had requested an international arrest warrant for the capture of Jordan Goudreau, a former US Army veteran who leads a Florida-based company that says it offers paid strategic security services. Goudreau said in media interviews he organised the operation in Venezuela.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab holds a news conference in Caracas

Saab claimed Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido was behind the mission [Manaure Quintero/Reuters]
Maduro has accused US President Donald Trump of being directly behind the invasion, which came at a time of high tension between Washington and Caracas, and Saab said on Friday the Venezuelans involved would be tried for "conspiracy with a foreign government".
Trump rejected the accusation, telling Fox News on Friday: "If I wanted to go into Venezuela, I wouldn't make a secret about it."
"I'd go in and they would do nothing about it. They would roll over. I wouldn't send a small little group. No, no, no. It would be called an army," he said. "It would be called an invasion."
Green Berets
Venezuela announced on Monday it arrested the two former US special forces soldiers and on Wednesday Maduro, who showed the pair's passports on state television, said they would be tried.
The US army has confirmed they were former members of the Green Berets who were deployed to Iraq.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the US government would "use every tool that we have available to try to get them back".

Report: Venezuela opposition plotted Maduro overthrow (02:55)

In announcing the arrests, Saab claimed Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido, who is backed in his challenge to Maduro's authority by the US and more than 50 countries, was behind the mission.
Saab accused Guaido of signing a $212m contract with "hired mercenaries" using funds seized by the US from the state oil company PDVSA.
Guaido has denied having any involvement in the incursion.

Inside Story

Was the US involved in a coup attempt in Venezuela?

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Venezuela troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons

Venezuela charged two former US soldiers with ‘terrorism and conspiracy’ for allegedly taking part in failed operation.

www.aljazeera.com

Plain Jane · May 9, 2020

This will be interesting because Argentina is just beginning its winter season.

Argentina extends quarantine for capital, relaxes elsewhere

Argentina extended until May 24 a quarantine for its capital Buenos Aires but relaxed the restriction aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus elsewhere in the country, President Alberto Fernandez said on Friday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 8, 2020 / 9:20 PM / UPDATED 7 HOURS AGO
Argentina extends quarantine for capital, relaxes elsewhere

Maximilian Heath
2 MIN READ

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina extended until May 24 a quarantine for its capital Buenos Aires but relaxed the restriction aimed at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus elsewhere in the country, President Alberto Fernandez said on Friday.

The lockdown, which was due to expire on Sunday, will remain in place in the capital and its outskirts, Fernandez said in a televised address.

Fernandez said he was “extremely proud” of Argentines for observing the strict social isolation measures, which he said had helped the government achieve its aim of flattening the curve of cases and deaths.

Argentines have been sealed in their homes since the quarantine was first announced on March 20 but since last month have been allowed to take short walks outside their homes during the day.

Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta told the same news conference that children would now be allowed to go out for exercise accompanied by their parents at weekends.

Argentina has been under national quarantine for seven weeks and the government has extended it three times previously.

As of Friday, the country had registered 5,611 confirmed cases of the virus and 293 deaths.

Reporting by Maximilian Health, writing by Cassandra Garrison and Aislinn Laing; Editing by Sandra Maler
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 9, 2020

Three nurses murdered in Mexico as coronavirus reaches peak transmission

Three nurses, all sisters, were found dead with signs of strangulation in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, officials said on Friday, an apparent triple murder that follows a series of assaults on health workers in the coronavirus pandemic.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 8, 2020 / 7:56 PM / UPDATED 9 HOURS AGO
Three nurses murdered in Mexico as coronavirus reaches peak transmission

2 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Three nurses, all sisters, were found dead with signs of strangulation in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila, officials said on Friday, an apparent triple murder that follows a series of assaults on health workers in the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials said they were investigating a crime but that the motive was not clear. Health workers have faced increased aggression in Mexico in recent weeks over fears of contagion.

Javier Guerrero, a top official for Mexico’s main public health service IMSS in Coahuila, described the deaths of the three nurses as murders. They “happened at a moment when our health workers are the most important element to face the health crisis.”

Coahuila State Attorney General Gerardo Marquez said two or three criminals might have been involved but no arrests have been made. It was not immediately clear when the sisters died.

“Until now there is no evidence that suggests this was because of their jobs in the health sector,” he said. “It’s very regrettable for society - and I reiterate the state’s commitment to find those who are guilty and bring them to justice.”

Mexico’s health ministry calculates transmission of the virus to peak this week in Latin America’s second largest economy.

On Thursday, Mexico reported 1,982 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 257 additional fatalities, the most lethal day since the pandemic reached Mexico.

The new figures bring the total number of confirmed cases to 29,616 and 2,961 deaths. However, the government has said the real number of infections is significantly higher and that deaths are also undercounted.

Reporting by Sharay Angulo and Stefanie Eschenbacher; editing by Grant McCool
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 10, 2020

Venezuela says troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons

Venezuela's military said it seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found on Saturday while patrolling the Orinoco river, several days after the government accused its neighbor of aiding a failed invasion.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 9, 2020 / 2:09 PM / UPDATED 8 HOURS AGO
Venezuela says troops seize abandoned Colombian combat boats, weapons

2 MIN READ

CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela’s military said it seized three abandoned Colombian light combat vessels that soldiers found on Saturday while patrolling the Orinoco river, several days after the government accused its neighbor of aiding a failed invasion.

In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the boats were equipped with machine guns and ammunition, but had no crew, adding they were discovered as part of a nationwide operation to guarantee Venezuela’s “freedom and sovereignty.”

According to a preliminary investigation the boats were dragged away by strong river currents, Colombia’s Navy said in a statement.

Colombia’s Navy said it is talking with its counterparts in Venezuela to recover the boats.

In televised comments Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the military would return the boats if the Colombian government made an official request for them.

Venezuela will make an official complaint to the United Nations accusing Colombia and the United States of violating international law for the failed invasion attempt, Maduro added.

On Wednesday, Venezuelan state television broadcast an interrogation video of a former U.S. soldier, in which he said a Florida security firm had hired him to train dissident Venezuelan troops in Colombia for an operation to seize control of Caracas’ airport and capture Maduro.

Authorities said they arrested the man, Luke Denman, along with a second U.S. citizen and 11 others, as they attempted to enter Venezuela by boat on Monday from Colombia. The government said a separate raid attempt the day before left eight people dead.

Maduro on Wednesday accused Colombian President Ivan Duque of enabling the operation, which Duque denied.

Reporting by Corina Pons and Angus Berwick; Additional reporting by Oliver Griffin in Bogota; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Chris Reese
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 11, 2020

Avianca airline seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — One of Latin America's largest airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday in New York, saying the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated its business.

apnews.com

Avianca airline seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
yesterday

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — One of Latin America’s largest airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday in New York, saying the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated its business.

Avianca Holdings said in a statement that the move is aimed at continuing operations and preserving jobs when it is able to resume normal opeations following a global health emergency that has grounded 90% of global air traffic. It said its own consolidated revenues had been slashed by 80%.

“The effects of the COVID-19 have brought us to face the most challenging crisis of our 100 years history as a company,” said Anko van der Werff, CEO of Avianca Holdings.

The airline said it is in conversations about assistance with governments in countries where it operates, particularly Colombia, its home base.

The airline says it carries 30 million passengers a year and is direclty or indirectly responsible for 21,000 jos in Latin America, incliuding 14,000 in Colombia.

jward · May 11, 2020

RegimeWatch

@RegimeWatch
30m

#Venezuela Guaido Has Accepted The Resignation Of Two Advisors In The Legitimate Government Both Based In The US. The Two Aides Were Behind The Failed So Called "Coup" Where 8 Men Died and nearly 50 people have been arrested in Venezuela for their alleged connection to the plot.

Plain Jane · May 12, 2020

'Express burials' cast doubt on Nicaragua's virus figures

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Roger Ordoñez was hospitalized with breathing problems last week. When his son Enrique came to visit the next morning, the 69-year-old retiree was already being buried by government workers in protective white full-body suits in a cemetery on the outskirts of...

apnews.com

‘Express burials’ cast doubt on Nicaragua’s virus figures
By GABRIELA SELSER13 minutes ago

1 of 9
A woman wears a mask against the spread of COVID-19 disease, as she attends a funeral at the Central cemetery of Managua, Nicaragua, Monday, May 11, 2020. President Daniel Ortega's government has stood out for its refusal to impose measures to halt the new coronavirus for more than two months since the disease was first diagnosed in Nicaragua. Now, doctors and family members of apparent victims say, the government has gone from denying the disease's presence in the country to actively trying to conceal its spread. (AP Photo/Alfredo Zuniga)
MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Roger Ordoñez was hospitalized with breathing problems last week.

When his son Enrique came to visit the next morning, the 69-year-old retiree was already being buried by government workers in protective white full-body suits in a cemetery on the outskirts of Chinandega, a city of 133,000 people in northwest Nicaragua.

The hospital warned the Ordoñez family to self-quarantine for two weeks but said their patriarch did not have the novel coronavirus, even though they were shown no test results.
President Daniel Ortega’s government has stood out for its refusal to impose measures to halt the coronavirus for more than two months since the disease was first diagnosed in Nicaragua. Now, doctors and family members of apparent victims say, the government has gone from denying the disease’s presence in the country to actively trying to conceal its spread.

“I begged the doctor to tell me what happened to him,” Enrique Ordoñez said. “I needed to know if he was infected. I have an 18-month-old girl, my mother has a variety of ailments and we need to know if it was COVID.” His father’s death certificate lists respiratory insufficiency and atypical pneumonia as the cause of death.

The government says this country of 6.5 million people has seen 25 coronavirus cases and eight deaths since its first case was diagnosed. Businesses and government offices remain open and the government has actively promoted sporting events and other mass gatherings.
On Tuesday, Dr. Ciro Ugarte, director of health emergencies at the Pan American Health Organization, said that the agency is worried because of a “high” number of patients being hospitalized for severe respiratory infections in Managua and Chinandega and an increasing number of pneumonia deaths in Nicaragua.

The nongovernmental organization Citizen Observatory made up of health workers and activists, said it had identified 1,033 suspected COVID-19 infections in the country through Saturday.

Nicaraguan epidemiologist Alvaro Ramírez, currently living in Ireland, said the number is already far higher and coming days “will be decisive” for Nicaragua.
He calculates that in two weeks Nicaragua could have some 18,000 infections, of which 890 would be serious.

Plainclothes police and government supporters have detained journalists outside a hospital in Managua and in a cemetery in Chinandega in the past week.

But in Chinandega the pandemic is becoming difficult to hide. White-suited men in pick-up trucks with coffins in the bed have become a more common sight in recent days, residents say. And it seems everyone knows someone who got sick.

A Chinandega doctor, who requested anonymity to avoid retaliation, said she knew four people who had died, including one of her patients, who was buried within two hours of dying.
“Everyone they consider a suspected patient who has died of atypical pneumonia they send for immediate burial,” she said.

Diagnoses are made based on symptoms and X-rays of patients’ lungs, because tests for the virus are tightly controlled by the Health Ministry and difficult to obtain.
An informal network of medical colleagues in the city had tallied 25 suspected COVID-19 deaths through Sunday, she said.

Ordoñez, an appliance sales executive, said his father suffered from chronic ailments, including hypertension and respiratory problems, but that last week from one day to the next he suddenly struggled to breath. He took him to the hospital Thursday evening and he died that night.
“The hospital organized everything,” Ordoñez said. He had shown up early Friday morning to ask about his father’s condition, but they told him he was already being buried.

“I tried to identify the grave the best I could, because there are other bodies there,” he said. “But we can’t raise our voices much. Fear is pervasive in our country.”

If something else killed him, then why did the hospital bury him without letting his family be present and why did doctors tell Ordoñez to self-quarantine for two weeks, he wondered.
Neighboring Honduras and El Salvador have taken strict measures to try to slow the virus’ spread. Honduras has about 2,000 confirmed infections and El Salvador has about 1,000. Costa Rica has more than 800.

A request for comment from Vice President Rosario Murillo, the government’s spokeswoman and Ortega’s wife, was not answered.

But it appears the government is beginning to recognize what is coming.

At the end of April, the Health Ministry called a meeting of all the hospital directors and top-level health officials at ministry offices.

“They told them this is getting serious, that every hospital needs to prepare,” said Róger Pasquier, president of the Nicaraguan Anesthesiology Association. “This call is very late. They didn’t take isolation measures, they haven’t protected health workers, there aren’t sufficient beds in any Managua hospital, nor any regional hospital.”

“Contrary to what is shared officially, I know through my medical colleagues that we have a great number of people sick in Managua, Masaya, Matagalpa and Chinandega, where there is an outbreak that could be very dangerous,” Pasquier said.

Many doctors fear speaking publicly, because of government retaliation. Pasquier said he was speaking freely “because I’m not being political; we just want to save lives in a dramatic moment for the world.”

A doctor at another hospital for the National Police in Managua said there were 18 patients there with suspected COVID-19 infections. None had been tested, but were diagnosed based on symptoms and lung x-rays, said the doctor who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak.

José Antonio Vásquez, president of the Nicaraguan Medical Unit, an organization of doctors that formed after the protests of April 2018, said the group had identified 42 doctors, nurses and technicians who have suspected infections.

In Chinandega, fear has deepened in recent days, a combination of more frequent sightings of the white-suited men in pickups and recent deaths of a couple of well-known local figures. The area has sea connections to El Salvador and a corridor for truck cargo with Honduras. Local officials have said nothing.

The local doctor said it appeared as though from Friday to Monday more than half of the city’s formal businesses had closed. Doctors, nurses and technicians at the public hospital have been infected due to a lack of protective equipment and early recognition.

“If we manage to survive this, it’s because God is great,” the doctor said. “There’s no other explanation.”

“There’s a lot of nervousness here,” said university student Pablo Antonio Alvarado, mentioning a couple acquaintances in Chinandega he heard were infected. “They say we’re the epicenter of the pandemic, like Wuhan in China.”

He described the white-suited men riding with coffins in pickups as looking like “astronauts.” The Chinandega doctor said they were hospital orderlies given the task of quickly disposing of the dead.

Ordoñez was left with more questions than answers about his father’s death. “The doctor told me (the virus) was dangerous,” while also insisting the elder Ordoñez didn’t have it, he said.
“I didn’t bury him, they buried him,” Ordoñez said. “And before, they had buried others, at dawn, because beside him there were seven or eight more graves.”

__
AP writer Christopher Sherman in Mexico City contributed to this report.

Plain Jane · May 13, 2020

Brazil's coronavirus cases pass Germany's as Bolsonaro fights to open gyms

Brazil's confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus passed Germany on Tuesday, as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fought states over his wish to reopen gyms and beauty parlors even as his country becomes a new global hotspot for the pandemic.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 12, 2020 / 5:02 PM / UPDATED 11 HOURS AGO
Brazil's coronavirus cases pass Germany's as Bolsonaro fights to open gyms

Pedro Fonseca, Lisandra Paraguassu
4 MIN READ

RIO DE JANEIRO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil’s confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus passed Germany on Tuesday, as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro fought states over his wish to reopen gyms and beauty parlors even as his country becomes a new global hotspot for the pandemic.

Brazil has confirmed 177,589 cases since its outbreak began in late February, passing Germany’s 170,508 confirmed cases and drawing nearly even with France’s tally of 178,225 confirmed and probable cases.

Europe is beginning to lift lockdowns as the death toll in the region eases, but the outbreak is still accelerating in Brazil, where Bolsonaro has played down the risks of the disease and criticized state governments’ isolation orders.

Brazil recorded its deadliest day yet, with 881 confirmed deaths in 24 hours from the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the virus.

Bolsonaro has ratcheted up his dispute with state governors this week, with a decree classifying businesses such as gyms and hair salons as “essential” services, exempt from lockdowns. The right-wing president has argued that the economic damage from closing businesses is worse than the disease.

“Governors who do not agree with the decree can file lawsuits in court,” Bolsonaro wrote on social media. He later threatened to take his own legal actions against them if they do not comply.

At least 10 governors said they would not follow the decree.

“Bolsonaro is walking toward the precipice and wants to take all of us with him,” Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel said on Twitter.

Bolsonaro’s popularity has suffered since the crisis began, polls show. Disapproval of the president rose to more than 55% in a survey released on Tuesday, from 47% in January.

An investigation authorized by the Supreme Court into Bolsonaro’s alleged efforts to meddle with police investigations has also eroded his support, distracted from the country’s pandemic response, and rattled markets.

Bolsonaro won election in 2018 on pledges to clean up politics and make sweeping market-friendly reforms to restore economic growth after a deep recession – plans derailed by the pandemic.

Sources told Reuters the government will soon slash its 2020 economic outlook dramatically, predicting a more than 4% drop in gross domestic product, down from a prior forecast for flat growth.

Brazil has passed France and Germany in confirmed cases even as its testing lags far behind both.

As of Monday, Brazil had processed nearly 338,000 novel coronavirus tests in three months at official labs, said the Health Ministry. Another 145,000 tests are in analysis or the backlog.

By contrast, Germany’s certified labs tested more than 330,000 samples last week alone and have the capacity to test around 838,000 samples per week. France has also invested in testing to boost capacity to around 700,000 tests per week.

Brazil’s health ministry had confirmed 12,400 deaths from the virus as of Tuesday.

A coronavirus mortality model from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) predicts over 88,000 deaths from the coronavirus in Brazil by August.

Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, Jake Spring and Marcela Ayers in Brasilia, Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro and Eduardo Simoes in Sao Paulo; Writing by Jake Spring; Editing by Brad Haynes, Richard Chang and Rosalba O'Brien
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 13, 2020

Mexico signals auto industry return on eve of restart plan

Mexico's government gave the green light on Tuesday for the key automotive industry to restart production after weeks of disruption by the coronavirus pandemic, a decision that should pave the way to reopen North American supply chains.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 12, 2020 / 9:47 AM / UPDATED 10 HOURS AGO
Mexico signals auto industry return on eve of restart plan

Diego Oré, Dave Graham
4 MIN READ

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico’s government gave the green light on Tuesday for the key automotive industry to restart production after weeks of disruption by the coronavirus pandemic, a decision that should pave the way to reopen North American supply chains.

The government’s health committee, which issues binding sanitation rules, said it agreed to add makers of transport equipment, a category that includes automotive and aerospace industries, to the list of activities considered essential.

The decision came ahead of an announcement on Wednesday by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who is expected to give more details about how suspended business operations and other activities would reopen in coming weeks.

“Tomorrow we will lay out the plan to return to the new normal,” Lopez Obrador said at a regular news briefing. “It’s not going to be a return to normal,” he added, “because there have been changes.”

On Twitter, the health committee said mining and construction had also been deemed essential activities. The industries will all have to follow health measures ordered by authorities, it added.

Mexican auto output fell nearly 99% in April, and the government is under pressure from the United States to synchronize its restart with American companies that rely on supply chains from south of the border.

The virus outbreak in Mexico is several weeks behind the U.S. epidemic however, and health authorities have been cautious to avoid moving too fast and putting more lives at risk.

Mexico’s Social Security Institute said 555,247 people registered with it lost their jobs in April, while Mexico’s daily death toll on Tuesday was its highest yet from the outbreak.

“TRAFFIC LIGHT”
It was not immediately clear if industries would face further restrictions.

An official speaking on condition of anonymity said the announcement meant the auto industry was now able to restart. In practice, it will probably mean beginning on May 18, according to sources from the automotive industry and the government.

U.S.-based carmakers are also targeting a May 18 restart.

In addition, municipalities free of the virus adjacent to others without it will be allowed to start lifting curbs on school and work, the committee said.

Finally, a “traffic light” system would regulate the restart state-level activites from June, it added.

The pandemic has brought key industries to a juddering halt in Mexico, which has registered nearly 4,000 deaths from the pandemic and is poised for an economic contraction of up to 10% or more this year, analysts say.

Mexico, which sends about 80% of its exports to U.S. markets, became the United States’ biggest trade partner last year, with two-way commerce worth well over $600 billion.

Lopez Obrador signaled last week that industry would restart first, to be followed by service activities such as tourism.

Mexico has been studying the experience of other countries emerging from strict lockdowns and the government believes highly mechanized factories offer better conditions to control contagion risk, officials say.

Still, it has stepped up efforts to coordinate re-opening with the United States to win economic benefit from a U.S. recovery, said another Mexican official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“We want to reboot with the United States,” the official said.

The government had already said curbs could start to be eased in some places on May 18, while harder-hit areas may have to wait until next month.

Data from the Tecnologico de Monterrey university shows some central states with heavy automotive operations, such as Guanajuato and San Luis Potosi, have logged far fewer cases per head than the national average.

A similar picture emerges in three key mining states, Zacatecas, Durango and Sonora, as well as the western state of Jalisco, an electronics manufacturing hub.

For an interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus, click: tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7

Reporting by Dave Graham; Additional reporting by Sharay Angulo, Anthony Esposito and Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Dan Grebler and Clarence Fernandez
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 14, 2020

Colombia bombing kills ELN rebel commander, three others

A commander from Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels known for his management of illicit finances has been killed along with three others in a military bombing, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 14, 2020 / 4:57 PM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Colombia bombing kills ELN rebel commander, three others

2 MIN READ

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A commander from Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) rebels known for his management of illicit finances has been killed along with three others in a military bombing, the Defense Ministry said on Thursday.

The bombing in the Montecristo rural area of Bolivar province was a joint operation between the air force, army troops and the police, Defense Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo said.

“Alias ‘Mocho Tierra’ was considered a high-value target and was involved in the planning and execution of terrorist acts against the civilian population and the armed forces,” Trujillo said.
The leader, whose identity was not disclosed, was an ELN member for nearly three decades and participated in a 1999 kidnapping of airline passengers.

He was in charge of drug trafficking and illegal mining in the region that generated monthly revenues of about 4 billion pesos ($1 million), Trujillo said.

The ELN, considered a terrorist group by the United States and European Union, declared a unilateral ceasefire during April in what it said was a humanitarian gesture amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The group renewed attacks following the ceasefire, with the army blaming it for a series of bombings against oil pipelines.

The ELN, which has some 2,000 combatants, has repeatedly requested peace talks with the government of President Ivan Duque, who has refused to begin negotiations unless the group halts all kidnappings, forced recruitment of minors and the use of landmines.

The guerrillas have held unsuccessful talks with previous governments, but Duque called off dialogue after a rebel attack on a police academy in January 2019 killed 22 cadets.

(This story was refiled to delete Wednesday from second paragraph.)

Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Plain Jane · May 14, 2020

As lockdown hurts, desperate Venezuelans turn to cow blood soup

Since Venezuela went into its coronavirus lockdown, dozens of needy people have been lining up at a slaughterhouse in the western town of San Cristobal to pick up the only protein they can find for free: cattle blood.

www.reuters.com

NEWS
MAY 14, 2020 / 12:05 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
As lockdown hurts, desperate Venezuelans turn to cow blood soup

Anggy Polanco, Vivian Sequera
5 MIN READ

SAN CRISTOBAL/CARACAS (Reuters) - Since Venezuela went into its coronavirus lockdown, dozens of needy people have been lining up at a slaughterhouse in the western town of San Cristobal to pick up the only protein they can find for free: cattle blood.

Mechanic Aleyair Romero, 20, goes twice a week. He lost his job at a local garage and says boxes of subsidized food from the government of President Nicolas Maduro arrive too slowly.

“I have to find food however I can,” said Romero, holding a coffee thermos dripping with blood the slaughterhouse gives away.

Though cow’s blood is a traditional ingredient for “pichon” soup in the Venezuelan Andes and neighboring Colombia, more people have been seeking it out since the COVID-19 crisis.

In a proudly carnivorous nation, few are happy about eating more blood instead of meat - a kilo of which costs about two times the monthly minimum wage.

Increased consumption of cattle blood is, like stripped mango trees, a striking symbol of hunger as Venezuela’s economy, already suffering six years of hyperinflationary implosion, has been nearly shuttered in response to the pandemic.

Though numbers of reported deaths and cases from the virus appear modest, Venezuelans are suffering from the economic shutdown and delays in the state food distribution program known as CLAP, for years the most important source of food for many.

The situation is hitting the provinces hardest because distribution is tilted toward major cities including Caracas, according to nutrition-focused charity Citizenry in Action.

The government has for years given the capital priority access to services including water and power.

In Caracas, 26.5% of families receive CLAP boxes, compared with only 4% of families in areas such as “Los Llanos” (The Plains) region, Citizenry in Action says.

It’s not the virus that’s going to kill them, it’s hunger,” said Edison Arciniegas, director of the group.

Even before COVID-19, the United Nations called Venezuela one of the world’s 10 worst humanitarian crises in 2019, noting that 9.3 million of the 30 million population consume insufficient quantities of food.

Some 5 million people have migrated as a result, it says.

‘SURVIVING ON BLOOD’
Maduro’s leftist government blames the problems on U.S. sanctions meant to force him from power, and says international aid agencies exaggerate the extent of migration. The information ministry did not reply to a request for comment.

Official figures show Venezuela has 440 cases of coronavirus and 10 deaths - though critics believe there are more.

Soup kitchens describe a big increase in use since the quarantine began in mid-March and delays in food box deliveries, which in many cases come every six to seven weeks rather than monthly as promised at the start of the programs in 2016.

The government sends boxes “whenever it wants,” said Romero.

At a soup kitchen in the poor Caracas neighborhood of Carapita run by the Feeding Solidarity group, workers say they were accustomed to providing meals for 80 children but under quarantine are now also feeding some 350 adults.

Upon receiving a bowl of soup and a ham-and-cheese sandwich, some mothers remove part of the ham and cheese for their children to have for breakfast the following day. They, too, complain the state food boxes are slow and meager.

“It’s not enough for us to get through this,” said Ysimar Pernalete, 38, a mother-of-two, of the CLAP boxes.

“How can you tell a child ‘I don’t have anything to give you’? You give them rice without anything else and they cry.”

The government in 2016 began distributing food directly to millions of Venezuelans in what authorities said would prevent merchants from overcharging for good.

Critics call it a social control mechanism that allows the government to limit dissidence and protest.

At the San Cristobal municipal slaughterhouse, thirty to forty people arrive every day to request cattle blood, according to one employee, who recalled that blood would be thrown away back in more prosperous times.

“We’re going hungry,” said Baudilio Chacon, 46, a construction worker left unemployed by the quarantine measures as he waited to collect blood at the slaughterhouse.

“We are four brothers and a 10-year-old boy, and we’re all surviving on blood.”

Writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

INTL Latin America and the Islands: Politics, Economics, and Military- May 2020

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