Venezuela: Why Was the Pemon Massacre Ignored by Mainstream Media Outlets?

The Venezuelan military opened fire on indigenous Pemon people near the Venezuelan-Brazilian border last week; yet, the incident was largely ignored by the mainstream media.

The international mainstream media is generally eager to report on stories involving indigenous populations who are being discriminated against or abused by the powerful: governments, multinational corporations, wealthy landowners, farmers, oil pipelines. The Standing Rock protests in North Dakota were a classic example of this. The incident pitted a Native American tribe attempting to protect their ancestral land against the alleged environmental ravages of the Dakota Access Pipeline, a massive project designed to transport oil beneath the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, from the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota to southern Illinois.

For anyone who thinks that the twenty year political project of Chavismo served to further the interests of the poor and weak, the Pemon represent a striking counter-example. They, along with several other indigenous tribes mainly in remote eastern Venezuela, have suffered greatly during the six disastrous years of Maduro’s rule.

Despite the proclamations of an army of pro-Maduro propagandists who deemed the humanitarian aid to be merely a pretext for military invasion, the Pemon enthusiastically welcomed the efforts of the United States, Colombia, Venezuela, in conjunction with British billionaire Richard Branson, to bring supplies of much-needed food and medicine into Venezuelan territory.

When members of the Pemon tribe observed a Venezuelan military convoy speeding towards the Brazilian-Venezuelan border, with the intent of preventing the entrance of humanitarian aid, they decided to take matters into their own hands. In the southeastern Venezuelan village of Kumaracupay, 40 miles from the border, they attempted to block Highway 10, and prevent the arrival of the soldiers.

They were met with live ammunition from the Venezuelan military.

https://panampost.com/david-unsworth/2019/03/01/venezuela-why-was-the-pemon-massacre-ignored-by-mainstream-media-outlets/

Argentina: Economy Falls and Unemployment Rises at Start of 2019

Argentine president Mauricio Macri is facing bad economic news as he gears up for his reelection bid.

The administration of Mauricio Macri is facing yet another economic crisis. During 2018, the economy fell by 2.6% and the private sector lost 191,300 jobs. This situation confirms what is readily perceived on Argentine streets: shops that close their doors, companies that are merging or leaving the country, and a loss of jobs.

The economic situation of those who can continue to operate and those who maintain employment is not good. Profit margins are shrinking, merchants complain that it is impossible to transfer to the prices the increased costs ​​with respect to the inputs and the merchandise, and workers perceive month by month that inflation and devaluation are eating away at their salary. While the private sector continues to pay for the adjustments that the public sector should make, the state maintains its privileged economic status. It has not been subjected to an adjustment or correction.

https://panampost.com/marcelo-duclos/2019/02/28/argentina-economy-falls-and-unemployment-rises-at-start-of-2019/

India, Pakistan exchange heavy border fire

NEW DELHI: Tensions between India and Pakistan raged Saturday as heavy firing by their armies killed at least seven people on either side of their fiercely disputed Kashmir border.

The nuclear-armed rivals fired mortars and artillery at each other despite the release of an Indian pilot who had been shot down by Pakistan but then sent back as a “goodwill gesture”.

In a fearsome 24 hour spell, two soldiers and two civilians died on the Pakistan side, its military said.

On the Indian side, a woman and her two children died after their house was pulverised by a mortar shell.

Indian army chief Bipin Rawat dashed to Udhampur in his country’s sector of Kashmir on Saturday to review border security.

Across the region villagers huddled in makeshift bunkers while police ordered non-essential traffic off roads, an AFP reporter said.

At least 12 civilians have been killed on either side of the frontier since the start of the week.

https://www.thesundaily.my/world/india-pakistan-exchange-heavy-border-fire-XE633264

China’s currency becomes key issue in US trade talks

PARIS: US officials have said any trade deal with China will include a provision to prevent manipulation of the exchange rate to help exporters but Beijing’s currency regime reflects a complex reality.

US President Donald Trump, who has accused the Asian giant of artificially undervaluing its currency for competitive purposes, last week said “we have a deal” with China on the currency.

And White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Thursday said the draft documents would prohibit currency manipulation and oblige authorities in Beijing “to report any interventions in the market”.

But at the centre of the issue is a paradox: China does not necessarily want a weak currency, and the downward pressure on the yuan is in large part caused by US economic conditions, like rising interest rates.

https://www.thesundaily.my/business/china-s-currency-becomes-key-issue-in-us-trade-talks-HE633584

Mystery surrounds break-in at N.Korea embassy in Spain

A week after a break-in at the North Korean embassy in Madrid, Spanish authorities were on Friday still trying to shed light on the mysterious theft of computers and office equipment.

Ten men burst into the embassy on February 22 brandishing fake handguns, according to sources close to the enquiry cited by Spanish media.

The intruders then tied up and gagged several embassy employees before making off with documents, computers and telephones. They escaped in two embassy vehicles with diplomatic plates which were later abandoned.

According to the El Pais newspaper, investigators have not ruled out "political espionage".

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/03/103_264688.html

>>5474824

>Keep a tight eye on PRC and NK news anons. War is real.

I read it everyday and post a lot of it.

Italian police arrest Camorra 'superboss' in Naples

Marco Di Lauro was caught in an apartment with his wife

Italian police have arrested top mafia fugitive Marco Di Lauro, the fourth son of Camorra boss Paolo Di Lauro and the only one still at large, officials said on Saturday.

Di Lauro, 38, was arrested without a fight at an apartment in the Chiaiano district in southern city Naples where he was with his wife, Italian news agencies reported.

An international arrest warrant was issued for him in 2006, and he was second on Italy's most-wanted list after notorious Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Dinero.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini hailed a "very important operation, no respite for criminals."

Di Lauro had been on the run since he escaped a massive police swoop in 2004 known as the "night of the handcuffs".

An informant said in 2010 that Di Mauro was responsible for at least four murders.

Marco's father Paolo Di Lauro was head of the Camorra clan that operates in Naples' impoverished Scampia and Secondigliano neighbourhoods.

At least 130 people were killed in a bloody turf war there after the Amato-Pagano clan split from the Di Lauro clan in 2004.

https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20190302/world/italian-police-arrest-camorra-superboss-in-naples.703408

Turkey sentences ex-opposition MP to four years in jail

A Turkish former opposition lawmaker was sentenced to four years and two months in jail on Friday for allegedly helping a group blamed for the 2016 failed coup, local media reported.

The Istanbul court found Eren Erdem guilty of "helping an armed terror organisation deliberately and willingly without being a member", NTV broadcaster reported.

The former MP for Istanbul from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) was arrested last June over his alleged links to the US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen.

Turkey accuses Gulen of ordering the 2016 attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, charges denied by the preacher.

https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20190301/world/turkey-sentences-ex-opposition-mp-to-four-years-in-jail.703374

Footage emerges of police confronting Pell over sexual abuse

77-year-old is facing up to 50 years in jail

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Friday, March 1, 2019, 10:09 by AFP

Footage emerges of police confronting Pell over sexual abuse

77-year-old is facing up to 50 years in jail

The first video has emerged of police confronting disgraced Australian Cardinal George Pell in 2016 with allegations he sexually abused two choir boys.

A Melbourne court on Friday released footage of Australian police interviewing the then Vatican number three in a room in Rome.

Facing accusations he exposed himself to the boys in the sacristy of Saint Patrick's cathedral in Melbourne in 1996 and 1997, Pell interjects immediately: "Oh, stop it."

"What a load of absolute, disgraceful rubbish. Completely false. Madness," a cross-armed Pell says.

https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20190301/world/footage-emerges-of-police-confronting-pell-over-sexual-abuse.703322

At least 50 people missing after pipeline explodes in Nigeria

A local official says more than 50 people are missing after a leaking oil pipeline exploded and caused a stampede in southern Nigeria.

The Nembe Chiefs Council spokesman, Chief Nengi James-Eriworio, tells The Associated Press that the blast early Friday caused massive oil spillage in the Nembe kingdom in Bayelsa state.

The Nembe trunk line is operated by the Port Harcourt-based Aiteo Group and carries crude to the Bonny export terminal. The pipeline is jointly owned by Agip, Oando and Shell Petroleum Development Company.

Aiteo is yet to comment on the explosion. It is not immediately clear if the pipeline has been shut down.

The Niger Delta is highly polluted. Nigerian oil companies usually assert that the majority of oil spills are caused by sabotage, theft and illegal refining.

https://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2019/03/02/At-least-50-people-missing-after-pipeline-explodes-in-Nigeria.html