Down the rat-lines they ran, headed for New York, London, & Milan.
But, no matter how fast they fled, the economy bled freely;
Pools of money streaming down the drain, stained and stinking,
As they stood watching the wretched ship reeling, and
Sinking, silently to the bottom of the sea.
Sunday past in Venezuela was doubly blessed; being both the birthday of the late Hugo Chavez, leader of the Bolivarian Revolution there, and the scene of the reelection of his successor, Nicolas Maduro to the Presidency. It was no sure thing, though in the end Maduro's nearly 7 percentage point lead won the day; but that doesn't mean the fight is over. Maduro is not Washington's man; nor is he the man for Washington's client states, who sicced their media machines and NGO democracy "guardians" on Venezuela before and during the election, and have continued now, hoping to thwart the victory after the count.
Dan Kovalik’s a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist, author, and filmmaker. He's also served as an elections and human rights monitor in South America before, though he was on assignment in Cairo Sunday, where we'll too talk to him from today.
Dan's book titles include: ‘Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture’ the “Plot to” series on American efforts to undermine the governments and economies of Iran, Venezuela, and Russia, ‘No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interest’, and ‘Nicaragua: A History of US Intervention & Resistance’. His latest is the recently released, ‘The Case for Palestine: Why It Matters and Why You Should Care’.
And; not content with the fires set in Gaza and the West Bank, Yemen, Iraq, Venezuela, and elsewhere, the World's greatest arsonists now seem determined to burn down Lebanon. Yesterday, the regional aggressor bombed again its northern neigbour, this time in Beirut's Haret Hreik neighbourhood, in an apparent attempt to assassinate Hezbollah military commander Muhsin Shukr. And last night assassinated Hamas leader, and lead peace negotiator, Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Hezbollah has promised to match attacks against it, and now people on both sides wait for Iran and the next bomb to drop in a disastrous escalation.
Laith Marouf is founder and Executive Director of FreePalestine.Video. He's a long-time multimedia consultant, producer, and frontline reporter who's been chronicling this burgeoning calamity from his base in Beirut. Free Palestine Video says its purpose is to provide coverage of the region, “…in the absence of media supporting the resistance forces in the English language due to the ban in the West.”
But first, Dan Kovalik and Venezuela's still standing Bolivarians.
Song: ‘Lines Are Drawn’
Artist: David Rovics
