Instruction: Write an article about: US sanctions on Russia over Ukraine also target Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Cuba, Joe Biden, Juan Gonzalez, Nicaragua, Russia, sanctions, Ukraine, Venezuela

Output:
President Joe Biden’s top Latin America advisor, Juan S. Gonzalez, admitted that US sanctions against Russia aim to hurt Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba as well. The three socialist governments condemned NATO aggression for creating the crisis in Ukraine.

(Se puede leer este artículo en español aquí.)
President Joe Biden’s top Latin America advisor has admitted that US sanctions against Russia over Ukraine intentionally seek to hurt Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba as well.
The United States imposed a series of harsh sanctions on Russia following Moscow’s recognition of the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region on February 21, and its subsequent military intervention in Ukraine on February 24.
Juan S. González, Biden’s special assistant for Latin America and the US National Security Council’s senior director for the Western Hemisphere, made it clear that these coercive measures against Russia are also aimed at damaging the economies of Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba.
Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba have socialist governments that Washington has long tried to overthrow. All three currently suffer under unilateral US sanctions, which are illegal according to international law.
Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton, an architect of the Iraq War, referred to these three Latin American nations as the so-called “Troika of Tyranny.”
Biden’s advisor González did an exclusive interview with Voz de América, the Spanish-language arm of the US government’s propaganda outlet Voice of America, on February 25.
Voz de América published his comments in a report titled “US sanctions on Russia will impact Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba, White House estimates.”
“The sanctions against Russia are so robust that they will have an impact on those governments that have economic affiliations with Russia, and that is by design,” González explained.
“So Venezuela is going to start feeling that pressure. Nicaragua is going to feel that pressure, along with Cuba,” he added.
Biden’s Latin America advisor noted that Washington has imposed sanctions on 13 top financial institutions in Russia, including some of the largest in the country. He proudly said that these coercive measures will, “by design,” harm other countries that do a lot of trade with the Eurasian power.
González also used his interview with the US-funded Voz de América to reiterate Washington’s call for regime change against these three socialist governments in Latin America.
His comments were reported by the independent Bolivia-based news website Kawsachun News.
Biden advisor: U.S. sanctions against Russia are 'designed' to impact Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. pic.twitter.com/Zbqg3mgB2N
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) February 26, 2022

Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba have stood with Russia against NATO expansion and Western military encirclement.
President Nicolás Maduro said that Venezuela “laments the mockery and breaking of the Minsk agreements by NATO, promoted by the United States of America.”
Maduro stressed that Washington and NATO bear responsibility for the conflict, and “have generated strong threats against the Russian Federation.”
Venezuela rechaza el agravamiento de la crisis en Ucrania producto del quebrantamiento de los acuerdos de Minsk por parte de la OTAN. Llamamos a la búsqueda de soluciones pacíficas para dirimir las diferencias entre las partes. El diálogo y la no injerencia, son garantías de Paz. pic.twitter.com/Y7N1lwZfpi
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) February 24, 2022

Cuba blamed Washington for the crisis as well. Its Foreign Ministry stated, “The U.S. determination to continue NATO’s progressive expansion towards the Russian Federation borders has brought about a scenario with implications of unpredictable scope, which could have been avoided.”
Denouncing Western governments for sending weapons to Ukraine, Cuba declared, “History will hold the United States accountable for the consequences of an increasingly offensive military doctrine outside NATO’s borders, which threatens international peace, security and stability.”
The U.S. determination to continue NATO’s progressive expansion towards the Russian Federation borders has brought about a scenario with implications of unpredictable scope, which could have been avoided.1/5
Statement by the Revolutionary Government:?https://t.co/3iBcPD9j8x pic.twitter.com/MRgwRCWSMV
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) February 27, 2022

Nicaragua’s President Daniel Ortega condemned Washington for sponsoring a 2014  coup in Ukraine, and joined Russia in recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
The chairman of Russia’s State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, traveled to Nicaragua to meet with top officials from the Sandinista government, and thanked them for their support against NATO expansion and US threats.
???? #Nicaragua recibió a una delegación de alto nivel de #Rusia, encabezada por el Presidente de la Duma Estatal de la Cámara Baja, Vyacheslav Volodín. La visita tiene por objetivo fortalecer la cooperación y la solidaridad bilateral. pic.twitter.com/BMY1AjnviF
— JP+ (@jpmasespanol) February 24, 2022


Instruction: Write an article about: Analyst suffered 20 years in US prison for helping Cuba, still condemns ‘suffocating’ blockade. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Ana Belén Montes, blockade, Cuba, DIA, embargo, Puerto Rico

Output:
Former DIA analyst Ana Belén Montes was imprisoned for 20 years for sharing intelligence with Cuba that helped it prevent US attacks and sabotage. Upon being released, she condemned the “suffocating embargo” that makes Cubans “suffer.”

A former intelligence analyst who was imprisoned by the United States government for 20 years for sharing information with Cuba that helped it prevent US attacks against it was freed this January.
Upon leaving prison, she condemned the six-decade-long US blockade of Cuba and called for more attention to the hardships endured by the Puerto Rican people.
“Who in the last 60 years has asked the Cuban people if they want the United States to impose a suffocating embargo on them that makes them suffer?” she asked.

Ana Belén Montes had been an official at the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). She worked her way up the ranks of the organization, becoming its top Cuba analyst, before she was arrested in 2001.
In 2002, Montes was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
She was convicted of secretly giving sensitive intelligence to Cuba, helping its revolutionary government prevent US terror attacks and disrupt US sabotage operations.
At her trial, Montes declared, “I obeyed my conscience rather than the law… giving the island [Cuba] classified information to help it defend itself.”
“I believe our government’s policy towards Cuba is cruel and unfair, profoundly unneighborly, and I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system on it,” she said.
The US Department of Defense, where Montes worked, had a history of planning terror attacks on Cuba. In Operation Northwood in 1962, top US military officials discussed launching false-flag attacks on civilian targets in both Cuba and Florida and falsely blaming them on communists, to try to justify a US military invasion of the island.
Have you ever heard of Operation Northwood? It was a false flag operation concocted by the #US Joint Chiefs of Staff in March 1962, after the Chief of Operations of the ‘Cuba Project’, asked them for pretexts to justify #US military intervention in #Cuba. https://t.co/Gmg7LP1AzD pic.twitter.com/PPYpEj5P4m
— Helen Yaffe (@HelenYaffe) November 5, 2021

Montes is a national hero in Cuba, and many around the world considered her to be a prisoner of conscience.
On January 6, 2023, US authorities allowed Montes to leave prison, having served 20 or her 25 year-sentence. But she is not yet completely free; the US government is going to monitor Montes for the remaining five years, and all of her internet access will be closely followed.
Soon after her release, Montes published a statement stating, “I encourage those who want to focus on me to, instead, focus on important issues, such as the serious problems that the Puerto Rican people face, or the United States economic embargo against Cuba.”
“Who in the last 60 years has asked the Cuban people if they want the United States to impose a suffocating embargo on them that makes them suffer?” she added.
The international community overwhelmingly opposes the illegal US blockade against Cuba, and every year for decades more than 95% of member states at the United Nations have voted to condemn it.
The US State Department admitted in an internal cable in 1960 that its goal in imposing sanctions and eventually an embargo on Cuba was “to weaken the economic life of Cuba” and make “the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”

Montes is Puerto Rican, and upon being released she moved back to her homeland. There, she delivered these remarks (emphasis added):
I am happier than ever to touch Boricuan soil again. After two quite exhausting decades, and with the need to go back to earning a living, I would like to dedicate myself to a quiet and private existence. Therefore, I will not participate in any media activities.
I encourage those who want to focus on me to, instead, focus on important issues, such as the serious problems that the Puerto Rican people face, or the United States economic embargo against Cuba.
Who in the last 60 years has asked the Cuban people if they want the United States to impose a suffocating embargo on them that makes them suffer?
What also deserves attention is the urgent need for global cooperation that stops and reverses the destruction of our environment.
I as a person am irrelevant. I am not important, while there exist grave problems in our world homeland that demand attention and a demonstration of brotherly love.
Her lawyer, Linda Backiel, said that this would be Montes’ only public statement and that she would not grant interviews, asking for her privacy to be respected.
Addressing the court at her trial in October 2002, Montes delivered a passionate speech (emphasis added):
An Italian proverb perhaps best describes the fundamental truth I believe in: “All the world is one country.”
In such a “world-country,” the principle of loving one’s neighbor as much as oneself seems, to me, to be the essential guide to harmonious relations between all of our “nation-neighborhoods.”
This principle urges tolerance and understanding for the different ways of others. It asks that we treat other nations the way we wish to be treated – with respect and compassion. It is a principle that, tragically, I believe we have never applied to Cuba.
Your honor, I engaged in the activity that brought me before you because I obeyed my conscience rather than the law.
I believe our government’s policy towards Cuba is cruel and unfair, profoundly unneighborly, and I felt morally obligated to help the island defend itself from our efforts to impose our values and our political system on it.
We have displayed intolerance and contempt towards Cuba for most of the last four decades. We have never respected Cuba’s right to make its own journey towards its own ideals of equality and justice.
I do not understand why we must continue to dictate how the Cubans should select their leaders, who their leaders cannot be, and what laws are appropriate in their land.
Why can’t we let Cuba pursue its own internal journey, as the United States has been doing for over two centuries?
My way of responding to our Cuba policy may have been morally wrong. Perhaps Cuba’s right to exist free of political and economic coercion did not justify giving the island classified information to help it defend itself. I can only say that I did what I thought right to counter a grave injustice.
My greatest desire is to see amicable relations emerge between the United States and Cuba. I hope my case in some way will encourage our government to abandon its hostility towards Cuba and to work with Havana in a spirit of tolerance, mutual respect, and understanding.
Today we see more clearly than ever that intolerance and hatred – by individuals or governments – spread only pain and suffering.
I hope for a U.S. policy that is based instead on neighborly love, a policy that recognizes that Cuba, like any nation, wants to be treated with dignity and not with contempt. Such a policy would bring our government back in harmony with the compassion and generosity of the American people.
It would allow Cubans and Americans to learn from and share with each other. It would enable Cuba to drop its defensive measures and experiment more easily with changes. And it would permit the two neighbors to work together and with other nations to promote tolerance and cooperation in our one “world-country,” in our only “world-homeland.”


Instruction: Write an article about: Nicaragua expropriates OAS building, will replace it with ‘Museum of Shame’ documenting imperialist crimes. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Nicaragua, OAS, Organization of American States, Rosario Murillo

Output:
Nicaragua’s Sandinista government expelled the US-dominated OAS and expropriated its office building, where it will now create a public “Museum of Shame” to educate visitors about imperialist crimes committed against Latin America.

Nicaragua’s Sandinista government expelled the US-dominated Organization of American States (OAS) on April 24.
Nicaragua’s Foreign Ministry denounced the Washington-based organization as a “deceitful agency of the State Department of yankee imperialism,” calling it the US “Ministry of the Colonies,” which exists to support “interventions and invasions, legitimizing coups d’etat in various forms and modes.”
On April 26, the Sandinista government further announced that it had expropriated the building where the OAS had offices in the Nicaraguan capital Managua.
This office was declared public property, and will now be used to build a “Museum of Shame” that documents imperialist crimes committed against Nicaragua and Latin America.
“The real estate that was occupied by the deplorable OAS, the disgraceful OAS, has been declared of public use and will belong to the state of Nicaragua,” Vice President Rosario Murillo revealed in a speech on April 26,
“The Institute of Culture is going to develop the Museum of Shame,” Murillo said.
“What is more shameful than that Ministry of the Colonies?” the vice president added.
As Multipolarista has previously reported, the OAS was created by the US government in 1948 as a coalition of right-wing anti-communist regimes in the Americas. It was one of the first alliances of the cold war, created even before NATO in 1949.
Nicaragua’s brutal US-backed right-wing military dictatorship of the Somoza family was one of the founding members of the OAS. This dynasty was overthrown by the Sandinista Revolution in 1979.
Nicaragua’s Sandinista gov’t expels OAS, calling it US ‘colonial instrument’ of coups and invasions


Instruction: Write an article about: Peru coup: CIA agent turned US ambassador met with defense minister day before president overthrown. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: CIA, coup, Lisa Kenna, Mike Pompeo, Pedro Castillo, Peru

Output:
The US ambassador in Peru, Lisa Kenna, worked for the CIA for 9 years, as well as the Pentagon. One day before the coup against elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo, Kenna met with Peru’s defense minister, who then ordered the military to turn against Castillo.

(Se puede leer este informe en español aquí.)
The US ambassador in Peru, a veteran CIA agent named Lisa Kenna, met with the country’s defense minister just one day before democratically elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo was overthrown in a coup d’etat and imprisoned without trial.
Peru’s defense minister, a retired brigadier general, ordered the military to turn against Castillo.

The coup set off mass protests all across Peru. The unelected regime has unleashed brutal violence, and police have killed numerous demonstrators.
Meanwhile, the US government has staunchly supported Peru’s unelected coup regime, which declared a nation-wide “state of emergency” and deployed the military to the streets in an attempt to crush the protests.
Esto no es la Guerra de las Galaxias es Chorrillos, Lima pic.twitter.com/KFluRVJFAu
— HezSocial (@ZLaicos) December 15, 2022

Most governments in Latin America have criticized or even refused to recognize Peru’s unelected coup regime, including Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, Venezuela, Cuba, and various Caribbean nations.
The CIA has organized many coups against democratically elected left-wing leaders in Latin America, from Guatemala’s President Jacobo Árbenz in 1954 to Chile’s President Salvador Allende in 1973.
When the Donald Trump administrated nominated Lisa Kenna to be ambassador to Peru in 2020, the State Department released a “certificate of competency” that revealed that, “Before joining the Foreign Service, she served for nine years as a Central Intelligence Agency officer.”
This important fact is curiously absent from most of Kenna’s bios, including her page on the US embassy’s official website.

Under Trump, Kenna also served as executive secretary of the State Department and was “senior aide” to Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who previously headed the CIA.
In regard to his work for the notorious spy agency, Pompeo admitted in 2019, “I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole. We had entire training courses.”
At a Congressional nomination hearing in 2020, Kenna admitted that, as executive secretary, she saw “nearly all” of the memos that were sent to Pompeo, adding, “I am aware of the vast majority of” calls made to and by him.
Kenna also previously worked for the Defense Department and served State Department roles in Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Swaziland, and Pakistan.
When President Joe Biden entered in January 2021, he kept Kenna as ambassador in Peru.
The current US Ambassador in Peru. pic.twitter.com/iUAbnR6Hzp
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) December 13, 2022

On December 6, 2022, Kenna met with Gustavo Bobbio Rosas, a retired brigadier general from the Peruvian military who had officially been appointed as defense minister the day before. (A local media outlet reported that the meeting was on December 5, but that appears to have been an error.)
Peru’s Ministry of Defense published a photo of their friendly chat.
At the time of this meeting, it was known in Peru that the notoriously corrupt, oligarch-controlled congress was preparing for a new vote to overthrow democratically elected left-wing President Pedro Castillo.
Ahora ? | Ministro de Defensa, Gustavo Bobbio, se reúne con la embajadora de @USEMBASSYPERU, Lisa Kenna, para abordar temas de interés bilateral. ???? pic.twitter.com/9p7JuKNx75
— Mindef Perú (@MindefPeru) December 6, 2022

Article 113 of Peru’s constitution allows the unicameral congress to remove presidents simply by voting to declare that they have a “moral incapacity,” in a process known as “vacancy.”
Peru’s congress is well known for its extreme corruption. In the infamous “Mamanivideos” scandal, congress members from the far-right Fuerza Popular party were filmed bribing other congress members to vote against impeaching previous right-wing President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.
Fuerza Popular is run by the family members of Alberto Fujimori, the far-right dictator who ruled Peru with an iron fist from 1990 until 2000. With the support of the US government, Fujimori committed genocide, sterilizing approximately 300,000 Indigenous people, while killing, torturing, and disappearing large numbers of leftist dissidents.
The Mamanivideos scandal showed that it is quite easy for Peru’s rich oligarchs to buy votes in congress to overthrow democratically elected presidents.
And as soon as Castillo entered office on July 28, 2021, the congress tried to do exactly this.
Just one day after the US ambassador met with Peru’s defense minister, on December 7, 2022, the right-wing-dominated congress launched a parliamentary coup against Castillo, using article 113.
This was the third coup attempt in just over a year by Peru’s congress, which in September 2022 had a mere 7% approval rating.
Hoping to stop the coup, Castillo responded by trying to dissolve the congress. This is allowed in cases of obstructionism by article 134 of Peru’s constitution.
Defense Minister Bobbio immediately denounced the president’s actions. He published a video resigning from his position (that he had only held for three days).
Pronunciamiento| Presento mi renuncia de manera irrevocable a mi cargo de Ministro de Defensa. pic.twitter.com/efFC0cwZ34
— Gustavo Bobbio Rosas (@GustavoBobbio_) December 7, 2022

In the video, Bobbio told Peru’s armed forces not to support President Castillo and to oppose his attempt to dissolve the coup-plotting congress.
Bobbio claimed Castillo was launching a “coup attempt,” but in reality Bobbio was instructing the Peruvian military to support a coup against the democratically elected president, on behalf of a notoriously corrupt oligarch-controlled congress that had almost no support from the population.
While Bobbio ordered the military to rebel against the president, the US government promptly attacked Castillo.
Former CIA agent and current Ambassador Kenna tweeted, “The United States categorically rejects any extra-constitutional act by President Castillo to prevent the congress from fulfilling its mandate.”
Los Estados Unidos insta enfáticamente al presidente Castillo a revertir su intento de cerrar el Congreso y permitir que las instituciones democráticas de Perú funcionen según la Constitución. Alentamos al público peruano a mantener la calma durante este tiempo incierto.
— Lisa Kenna (@USAmbPeru) December 7, 2022

Kenna failed to mention article 134 of Peru’s constitution, which states:
The President of the Republic is authorized to dissolve the Congress if it has censured or denied its confidence to two Councils of Ministers [the official name of Peru’s cabinet]. The dissolution decree contains the call for elections for a new Congress.
When Castillo moved to dissolve the congress, he cited article 134 and he made it clear that it was only going to be a “temporary” closure. The president said new congressional elections would be held as soon as possible.
Kenna ignored all of this context. Instead, the ambassador declared, “The United States emphatically urges President Castillo to reverse his attempt to close the congress and allow the democratic institutions of Peru to function according to the constitution.”
By this, the CIA veteran meant that Castillo should simply allow the anti-democratic, oligarch-controlled congress to launch a coup against him.
The US embassy in Peru subsequently published an official statement echoing exactly what Kenna had said.
This was Washington’s green light for Peru’s corrupt, right-wing-dominated congress to overthrow President Castillo, and for the state security services to arrest him, without trial.
pic.twitter.com/cyDlKaxiC8
— Embajada EEUU Perú (@USEMBASSYPERU) December 7, 2022

Mere hours after Castillo was imprisoned, the oligarch-controlled congress appointed his vice president, Dina Boluarte, as leader of the country.
Boluarte promised on the floor of the congress that she would create “a political truce to install a government of national unity” – that is, a pact with the right wing.
Boluarte had been expelled in January 2022 from the leftist Perú Libre party that Castillo had campaigned with. She proudly declared that she “had never embraced the ideology” of the socialist political party.
The day after the coup, on December 8, the State Department gave its rubber stamp to Boluarte’s unelected regime.
“The United States welcomes President Boluarte and hopes to work with her administration to achieve a more democratic, prosperous, and secure region,” stated Brian A. Nichols, the US assistant secretary for western hemisphere affairs.
“We support her call for a government of national unity and we applaud Peruvians while they unite in their support of democracy,” the top State Department official added.
EE. UU. da la bienvenida a la presidenta Boluarte y espera trabajar con su administración para lograr una región más democrática, próspera y segura. Apoyamos su llamado a un gobierno de unidad nacional y aplaudimos a los peruanos mientras se unen en apoyo de su democracia. -BAN
— Brian A. Nichols (@WHAAsstSecty) December 8, 2022

In the mean time, the Peruvian people were filling the streets, condemning the coup against their elected president.
Peru’s police responded with violence, harshly cracking down, killing several protesters.
On December 14, the coup regime imposed a national “state of emergency” for 30 days, and said it might also declare a curfew.
At the same time, the coup regime also said it plans to sentence Castillo to 18 months in “preventative prison,” without a proper trial that resembles anything remotely like due process.
Just one day before the coup regime made these authoritarian announcements, former CIA agent and current US Ambassador met with Peru’s unelected leader, Dina Boluarte, and reiterated Washington’s wholehearted support.
La presidenta @DinaErcilia Boluarte recibió a la embajadora de @USEMBASSYPERU, Lisa Kenna, quien reiteró el pleno respaldo de su país a la institucionalidad democrática en el Perú y a las acciones del gobierno constitucional para estabilizar la situación social. ???? pic.twitter.com/30EqAa75lx
— Presidencia del Perú ?? (@presidenciaperu) December 13, 2022

Kenna praised the right-wing “unity government” that Boluarte pledged to form, adding, “We hope to strengthen our bilateral relationship.”
Me reuní con la presidenta Boluarte para reiterarle el compromiso de los EE.UU. con la defensa de la democracia y el respeto a las instituciones. Junto con la @presidenciaperu y el gobierno de unidad que se comprometió a formar, esperamos fortalecer nuestra relación bilateral.
— Lisa Kenna (@USAmbPeru) December 13, 2022

Brian Nichols, the top State Department official on Latin America, added with a touch of deep irony, “We support the Peruvian people and their constitutional democracy.” He urged protesters to “reject violence.”
On the same day, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia released a joint diplomatic statement with a completely contrary message, supporting elected President Castillo, saying he was the victim of “anti-democratic harassment.”
Apoyamos al pueblo peruano y a su democracia constitucional. Alentamos a los Peruanos a juntarse pacificamente en apoyo a las reformas que Perú necesita y a rechazar la violencia. Trabajaremos con @presidenciaperu para avanzar estas metas. -BAN https://t.co/AnrrDnxUzi
— Brian A. Nichols (@WHAAsstSecty) December 13, 2022

In a press briefing on December 13, the State department was asked about the protests in Peru.
State Department spokesman Ned Price – who, like Lisa Kenna, was also a CIA agent – emphasized Washington’s steadfast support for Peru’s coup regime.
“We do commend Peruvian institutions and civil authorities for safeguarding democratic stability,” he said, as Peru’s repressive police killed protesters.
Just witnessed a protestor shot in head by police outside our hotel in #lima. Not sure he survived. Police response becoming more violent tonight  #DinaBoluarte #sosperu #PedroCastillo #ProtestasContraElCongreso #protestasenlima #Peru #ahora pic.twitter.com/8HJe3cTxvC
— M M (@MMinperu) December 13, 2022

Instead of condemning the rampant police brutality, the US State Department blamed the protesters themselves. Price stated, “we are troubled by scattered reports of violent demonstrations and by reports of attacks on the press and private property, including businesses.”
“When it comes to Peruvian President Dina Boluarte, we of course do recognize her as such. We will continue to work with Peru’s democratic institutions, and we look forward to working closely with President Boluarte and all branches of the government in Peru,” the former CIA agent stressed.
State Department on Peru ?? (Tuesday's daily presser):
– Commends Peru's institutions and authorities "for safeguarding democratic stability"
– "troubled by (..) violent demonstrations" and "reports of attacks on the press and private property"
– recognizes Dina Boluarte pic.twitter.com/AVj3F1cOds
— Camila (@camilapress) December 15, 2022

In addition to serving as a CIA agent for nine years and current US ambassador to Peru, Lisa Kenna worked as a:
At a Congressional nomination hearing on July 23, 2020, Kenna boasted of her US-supremacist worldview, stating, “The longer I have been in public service, the more I am convinced that America is the world’s most exceptional nation.”
She also vowed, “I will maintain the United States’ vital relationship with Peru which has long been one of our closest partners in the region. Recently, Mission Peru has performed heroically to sustain our strong partnership and serve our fellow Americans in these challenging times.”
At the time of the hearing, Peru had a right-wing government, led by President Martín Vizcarra.
Kenna praised Peru’s conservative government, “as founder of the Lima Group,” for backing the United States in its right-wing coup attempt against Venezuela’s democratically elected President Nicolás Maduro, claiming, “The U.S. and Peru are also growing our shared support for a peaceful return to democracy in Venezuela.”
She also pledged in the hearing that, as US ambassador to Peru: “I commit to meet with democratically oriented opposition figures”; “We also commit to meet with independent, local press in Peru”; and “I am committed to meeting with human rights, civil society, and other non governmental organizations in the United States and in Peru.”
Clarification: This article originally reported that the meeting between the US ambassador and Peruvian defense minister was on December 5, two days before the coup, based on an article in a local newspaper, but that media outlet appears to have been mistaken, and the actual meeting was on December 6, the day before the coup.


Instruction: Write an article about: China agrees to help Nicaragua develop infrastructure, hospitals, renewable energy. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Belt and Road Initiative, China, Nicaragua

Output:
Nicaragua’s Sandinista government and China signed a comprehensive agreement to develop hospitals, renewable energy, medical equipment, roads, railways, and ports, as well as the water and public health systems, all overseen by state-owned companies.

The People’s Republic of China has come to an agreement with Nicaragua’s Sandinista government to develop infrastructure projects in the Central American country.
Top Nicaraguan officials announced on February 9 that they had signed a comprehensive memorandum of understanding with representatives from Beijing.
Under the agreement, China will help Nicaragua develop hospitals, renewable energy, medical equipment, roads, railways, and ports, as well as its water system and public health sector.

All of these projects will be overseen by state-owned Chinese companies, including the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), China CAMC Engineering (CAMCE), China State Construction Engineering (CSCEC), and Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina).
Numerous Nicaraguan governments institutions are participating in the projects, including the Energy and Mining Ministry (MEM), the Ministry of Health (MINSA), and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MTI), along with the state-owned water company ENACAL.
A Chinese representative coming to an agreement with Nicaragua’s state-owned water company, ENACAL
This memorandum of understanding comes just weeks after Nicaragua officially joined China’s massive global infrastructure campaign, the Belt and Road Initiative, in January 2022.
In late January, Nicaragua also announced that China had agreed to help the Central American country build thousands of houses for poor and working families, bolstering the Sandinista government’s already existing public housing program.
China signed an agreement with Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government to build tens of thousands of homes for poor and working families.
This is expanding Nicaragua's already existing Bismarck Martínez program, which has provided thousands of houseshttps://t.co/KsuhEH3XhP
— Multipolarista (@Multipolarista) January 29, 2022


Instruction: Write an article about: How Nicaragua’s Sandinistas boosted women’s empowerment, achieving 5th-highest gender equality on Earth. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: FSLN, Nicaragua, Sandinistas, women's rights

Output:
The Sandinistas’ ambitious program of women’s liberation transformed Nicaragua from having the 90th to the fifth-highest gender equality in the world. This is how they did it.

Domestic work is absolutely necessary, but often made invisible. Caring for family members, maintaining the home, cooking the meals, washing the dishes and clothes, bathing children – these are difficult forms of labor that are crucial for society.
When traditional gender roles are imposed on women, this grueling and frequently thankless domestic work falls on their shoulders. And if they live in poverty in formerly colonized nations, it becomes unending manual labor when their households have no electricity (consequently, no lights, no refrigerator, no labor-saving electrical devices), and no running water.
The burden of this gendered work often impedes the social participation, political engagement, and education of women.
In Nicaragua, before the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, men typically left all of this domestic work to women. When the Central American country was ruled by the US-backed dictatorship of the right-wing Somoza dynasty, it was not uncommon to hear of rampant abuse of women, or to encounter orphaned children whose mothers died in childbirth, given maternal mortality was so high.
After the victory of the Sandinistas, living conditions for women drastically improved. They then faced a temporary setback during the period of neoliberal rule (from 1990 to 2006), until the Sandinistas returned to power again in 2007.
Throughout this second Sandinista period, women have made giant steps forward in their material and social position.
The greatest advance has been made by poor women in rural areas and urban barrios, which historically had little to no safety, electricity, water and sanitation services, health care, or paved roads.
The liberation that Nicaraguan women have attained during the Sandinista era cannot be measured by the exact same criteria applied in the imperialist First World, because women’s liberation in Third World countries often involves matters that may not appear on the surface as women’s rights issues.
These include the paving of roads, improving housing, legalized land tenure, school meal programs, new clinics and hospitals, electrification, plumbing, literacy campaigns, potable water, aid programs to campesinos, and crime reduction initiatives.
Because half of Nicaraguan families are headed by single mothers, this infrastructure development promotes the liberation and well-being of women.
Government programs that directly or indirectly shorten the hours of household drudgery free women to participate more in community life and politics.
A country can have no greater democratic achievement than bringing about full and equal participation of women.
The headway made in women’s liberation under the Sandinistas can be clearly seen in the Global Gender Gap Index. In 2007, Nicaragua ranked 90th on the index. By 2020, the country had jumped to fifth place, behind only Iceland, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
How did the Sandinista Front make such enormous strides?
The progress women have made during the second FSLN era is reflected in their participation in government.
The 1980s Sandinista directorate contained no women. But in 2007, the second Sandinista government mandated equal representation for women, ensuring that at least 50% of public offices be filled by women, from the national level to the municipal.
Today, nine out of Nicaragua’s 16 national government cabinet ministers are women.
Women head the Supreme Electoral Council, the Supreme Court, the Attorney General’s office, and the Public Prosecutor’s Office. They account for 60% of judges.
Women make up half of Nicaragua’s National Assembly. They also represent half of mayors, of vice-mayors, and of municipal council members.
The vice president, Rosario Murillo, is also a woman, and has highly prioritized the empowerment and liberation of women.
Women in these high positions provide a model and inspire all women and girls to participate in building a new society with more humane relations.
After the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) returned to power in 2007, it launched many ambitious projects, including the Zero Hunger and Zero Usury programs. These have raised the socioeconomic position of women.
The Zero Hunger plan furnishes pigs, chickens, a pregnant cow, plants, seeds, fertilizers, and building materials to women in rural areas, to diversify their production, fortify the family diet, and strengthen women-run household economies.
The agricultural assets provided by the Nicaraguan government are put in the woman’s name, equipping women to become more self-sufficient producers. This gives them more direct control and security over food for their children, and breaks women’s historic dependency on male breadwinners.
The Zero Hunger program has aided 275,000 poor families, more than 1 million people (out of a total of 6.6 million Nicaraguans), increasing their own food security as well as the nation’s food sovereignty.
Nicaragua now produces roughly 90% of its own food, with most coming from small- and medium-scale farmers, many of them women.
Fausto Torrez, of the Nicaraguan Rural Workers Association (ATC), explained, “A nation that cannot feed itself is not free.”
The Zero Usury program is a Nicaraguan government-backed microcredit mechanism that now charges 0.5% annual interest, not the world microcredit average of 35%.
More than 445,000 women have received these low-interest loans, typically three loans each. The program not only empowers women but is also a key factor reducing poverty, unlocking pools of talent, and driving diversified and sustainable growth.
Some women receiving loans have turned their businesses into cooperatives, providing jobs to other women. Since 2007, about 5,900 cooperatives have formed, with 300 being women’s cooperatives.

Under the leadership of the Sandinistas, poverty in Nicaragua has been reduced from 48% in 2007 to 25%, and extreme poverty from 17.5% to 7%.
This tremendous decline in poverty has benefited women in particular, given that single mother households suffered more from poverty.
The Zero Hunger and Zero Usury programs have also helped decrease domestic violence, given that women in poverty suffer greater risk of violence.
Because most Nicaraguans live by small-scale farming or by small business, possessing the title of legal ownership is a major concern.
Between 2007 and 2021, the FSLN government gave out 451,250 land titles in the countryside and the city, with women making up 55% of the property-owners who benefited.
Providing women with the legal title to their own land is another important step toward their economic independence.
The Sandinista government funded the building or renovation of 290,000 homes since 2007, free of charge for those in extreme poverty, or with interest-free long-term loans. This aided more than 1 million Nicaraguans, particularly single mothers, who head half of all Nicaraguan families.
In 2006, only 65% of the urban population had potable drinking water; now 92% do. Access to potable water in rural areas has doubled, from 28% to 55%.
This frees women from the toilsome daily walk to the village well to carry buckets of water home to cook every meal, wash the dishes and clothes, and bathe the children.
Homes connected to sewage disposal systems have similarly grown from 30% in 2007 to 57% in 2021.
Today, 99% of the Nicaraguan population has electricity, compared to 54% at the end of the neoliberal era in 2006. Electricity significantly frees women’s lives from time-consuming tasks.
Street lighting in Nicaragua has more than doubled as well, increasing security for all.
Moreover, internet infrastructure now connects and unites most of the country, reducing people’s isolation and lack of access to information. Virtually everyone has a cell phone, and free internet is available in many public parks.
Nicaragua’s road system is now among the best in Latin America and the Caribbean. The Sandinista government has built more roads in the last 15 years than were built in the previous 200.
Outlying towns are now connected to the national network. Women in rural areas can now travel elsewhere to work, sell their products in nearby markets, attend events in other towns, and take themselves or their children to the hospital. This contributes to the fight against poverty and the fight for women’s liberation.
Better roads and housing, almost universal electrical and internet access, as well as indoor plumbing greatly lighten the burdens placed on women homemakers, and provide them with more freedom to participate in the world they live in.
The humanitarian nature of the FSLN governments, as opposed to the disregard by previous neoliberal regimes, is revealed by statistics on illiteracy.
When the Sandinistas revolution triumphed in 1979, illiteracy topped 56%. Within 10 years, they had reduced it to 12%.
Yet by the end of the 16-year neoliberal period in 2006, which dismantled the free education system, illiteracy had again risen to 23%.
Today, the FSLN government has cut illiteracy to under 4%.
The FSLN made education free, eliminating school fees. This, combined with the aid programs for poor women, has allowed 100,000 children to return to school.
The government launched a school lunch program, a meal of beans and rice for 1.5 million school and pre-school children every day.
Preschool, primary and secondary students are supplied with backpacks, and glasses when needed. Low-income students receive uniforms at no cost.
Now a much higher proportion of children are able to attend school, which provides more opportunities for mothers to work outside the home.
Nicaragua has established a nationwide free daycare system as well, now numbering 265 centers. Mothers can take their young children to daycare, freeing them from another of the major hurdles to entering the workforce.
Due to the vastly expanded and free medical system, the Zero Hunger, Zero Usury, and other programs, chronic malnutrition in children under age 5 has been cut in half, with chronic malnutrition in children 6 to 12 cut by two-thirds. Now it is rare to see kids with visible malnutrition, removing another preoccupation off the shoulders of mothers.
Nicaragua has also built a system of parks, playgrounds, and other free recreation where mothers can take their children.
Throughout the school system, the Ministry of Education promotes a culture of equal rights and non-discrimination. It has implemented the new subject “Women’s Rights and Dignities,” which teaches students about women’s right to a life without harassment and abuse and the injustices of the patriarchal system.
Campaigns were launched to promote the participation of both mother and father in a child’s education, such as emphasizing that attending school meetings or performances are shared responsibilities of both parents.
In stark contrast to Nicaragua’s neoliberal years, which oversaw a dismantling of the public medical system, and unlike other Central American countries and the United States, which have privatized healthcare for profit, the Sandinistas have established community-based, free, preventive health system.
Accordingly, life expectancy has risen from 72 years in 2006 to 77 years today – now equal to the US level.
Health care units in Nicaragua number more than 1700, including 1,259 health posts and 192 health centers, with one-third built since 2007.
The country has 77 hospitals, with 21 new hospitals built, and 46 existing hospitals remodeled and modernized.
Nicaragua also provides 178 maternity homes near medical centers for expectant mothers with high-risk pregnancies or from rural areas to stay during the last weeks of pregnancy.
The United States is the richest country in the Americas, while Nicaragua is the third poorest. Yet in the US, more than 100 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and fewer than 50% of rural women have access to perinatal services within a 30-mile drive from their home. This has disproportionately affected low-income women, particularly Black and Latino ones.
Nicaragua has equipped 66 mobile clinics, which gave nearly 1.9 million consultations in 2020. These include cervical and breast cancer screenings, helping to cut the cervical cancer mortality rate by 34% since 2007. The number of women receiving Pap tests increased from 181,491 in 2007 to 880,907 in 2020.
In the pre-Sandinista era, one-fourth of pregnant women gave birth at home, with no doctor. There were few hospitals and pregnant women often had to travel rough dirt roads to reach a clinic or hospital.
Now women need not worry about reaching a distant hospital while in labor, because they can freely reside in a local maternity home for the last two weeks of their pregnancies, where they are monitored by doctors.
In 2020, 67,222 pregnant women roomed in one of these homes, and could be accompanied by their mothers or sisters. As a result, 99% of births today are in medical centers, and maternal mortality fell from 115 deaths per 100,000 births in 2006 to 36 in 2020.
These are giant steps forward in the liberation of women.
Contrary to the indifference to women in the US, Nicaraguan mothers also receive one month off work before their baby is born, and two months off after. Even men get five days off work when their baby is born.
Mothers likewise receive free milk for six months. And men and women get five days off work when they marry.
Nicaragua’s law making abortion illegal, removing the “life and health of the mother” exception, was passed in the National Assembly under right-wing President Enrique Bolaños in 2006.
Before the legislation was approved, there had been a pressure campaign that was highly organized and funded by Catholics all over Latin America, as well as large marches over the previous two years in Nicaragua in favor of the law.
The legislation was supported by 80% of Nicaraguans, many of whom are religious. And the law was proposed immediately before the 2006 presidential election, as a vote-getting ploy by Bolaños.
The Sandinistas were a minority in the National Assembly at the time, and the FSLN legislators were released from party discipline for the vote. The majority abstained, while several voted in favor. The law has never been implemented nor rescinded.
Since the return to power of the Sandinistas in 2007, no woman or governmental or private health professional has ever been prosecuted for any action related to abortion.
Any woman whose life is in danger can receive an abortion in government health centers or hospitals.
It is popularly known that there are places that exist for women to quietly get abortions, and none have been closed or attacked.
Moreover, the morning after pill and contraceptive services are widely and easily available across Nicaragua.
Nicaragua has created 102 women’s police stations, special units that include protecting women and children from sexual and domestic violence and abuse.
Now women can talk to women police officers about crimes committed against them, whether it be abuse or rape, making it easier and more comfortable for them to file complaints, receive counseling for trauma, and ensure that violent crimes against women are prosecuted in a thorough and timely manner.
Women make up 34.3% of Nicaragua’s 16,399 National Police officers, a high number for a police department. New York City and Los Angeles police, for instance, are 18% women, and Chicago is 23%.
The United Nations found Nicaragua to be the safest country in Central America, with the lowest homicide rate: 7.2 per 100,000. This is down from 13.4 in 2006, and is less than half the regional average of 19.
Nicaragua also has the lowest rate of femicides in Central America: 0.7 per 100,000. This is another testament to the Sandinista commitment to ending mistreatment of women.
The FSLN government organizes citizens’ security assemblies to raise consciousness concerning violence against women and to handle the vulnerabilities women face in the family and community.
Mifamilia, the Ministry of the Family, carries out house-to-house visits to stress prevention of violence against women and sexual abuse of children.
Nicaragua is likewise the most successful regional country in combating drug trafficking and organized crime, freeing women from the insecurity that plagues women in nearby nations such as Mexico, Honduras, or El Salvador.
Nicaragua is a country that has accomplished a lot in liberating women from household drudgery and domestic slavery, because of state-led policies favoring the social and political participation and economic advancement of poor women.
Women have gained a police commissariat, legal recognition of their property, new homes for abused women and for poor single mothers, and economic programs that empower poorer women.
Half of all political candidates and public office holders are women, abortion is not really criminalized in practice, and extreme poverty has been cut by half, mostly benefiting women and children.
Domestic toil has been greatly reduced because of modernized national infrastructure, and women have convenient and free health care.
In their liberation struggle, Nicaraguan women are becoming ever more self-sufficient and confident in enforcing their long-neglected human rights. They are revolutionizing their collective self-image and ensuring their central role in building a new society.
The progress of women helps the working class and campesinos as a whole by improving the quality of life of all, and is a vital weapon in combating US economic warfare.
As Lenin observed, “The experience of all liberation movements has shown that the success of a revolution depends on how much the women take part in it.”
Nicaragua is one more living example that a new world is possible.


Instruction: Write an article about: US turns on Honduran narco-dictator Juan Orlando Hernández after long supporting him. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Barack Obama, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Iraq, Joe Biden, JOH, Juan Orlando Hernández, Manuel Noriega, Panama, Rafael Trujillo, Saddam Hussein

Output:
Washington ordered the extradition of Honduran ex-President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) for drug trafficking, but the Obama-Biden and Trump administrations spent years supporting him as he stole elections, and he rose to power thanks to a 2009 US-backed coup.

(Se puede leer este artículo en español aquí.)
The US government has turned on the right-wing former dictator of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, after it spent years supporting him.
Hernández is the latest in a series of brutal authoritarians who were key US allies until they outlived their usefulness, from Iraq’s Saddam Hussein to the Dominican Republic’s Rafael Trujillo to Panama’s Manuel Noriega.

This February, the United States requested the extradition of Honduran ex-president Juan Orlando Hernández on charges of trafficking cocaine and guns. Local authorities arrested him on February 15.
Hernández, who is popularly known by his initials JOH, served two terms in office, from 2014 to 2022. It was widely known that JOH used drug money to fund his presidential campaigns, and blatantly stole the 2013 and 2017 elections in broad daylight.
But while he was committing these crimes, Hernández enjoyed staunch support from the Barack Obama and Donald Trump administrations.
In fact, JOH only came to power in the first place because a 2009 US-sponsored military coup removed Honduras’ democratically elected left-wing president, Manuel Zelaya.
Washington overthrew Zelaya because he had been friendly to Venezuela’s socialist President Hugo Chávez, and he had integrated Honduras into anti-imperialist regional bloc the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA).
Following the 2009 coup, JOH’s right-wing National Party ruled the country with an iron fist. From 2010 to 2014, Hernández served as president of Congress. He was then catapulted to head of state through flagrant electoral fraud.
The 2013 Honduran elections were plagued by massive, systemic irregularities. And it was clear to the world that JOH stole the election in 2017, but the US State Department still congratulated him on his “victory.”
And the United States did more than just endorse JOH’s clearly fraudulent elections. Washington also approved billions of dollars of loans to his corrupt regime, which Hernández and his wealthy oligarchic backers promptly stole, trapping the country in unpayable odious debt.
Why? Because under JOH, Honduras was Washington’s closest ally in Central America. The country is home to the largest US military installation in Latin America, the Soto Cano base.
And, until his final few years, Hernández obediently served US foreign-policy interests, recognizing unelected coup leader Juan Guaidó as supposed “president” of Venezuela.
US President Barack Obama discusses the refugee crisis with Honduran narco-dictator Juan Orlando Hernández in 2014
After the US-backed 2009 coup, violence and organized crime skyrocketed. Honduras turned into one of the most dangerous countries on the planet.
As of 2021, Honduras still has the second-highest murder rate on Earth, surpassed only by its neighbor El Salvador.
Under JOH, Honduras also became the poorest country in Latin America. Poverty rose to a staggering 74% of the population.
This deadly combination of violence, organized crime, and poverty took a heavy toll on the Honduran people. It fueled large waves of migration north toward Mexico and the United States, unleashing a refugee crisis.
This Washington-created refugees crisis in turn provoked domestic problems in the United States. Politicians from both major parties recognized that something had to change.
US Vice President Joe Biden with Honduran narco-dictator Juan Orlando Hernández in 2016
By 2019, Juan Orlando Hernández became a further liability for Washington. His brother Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández was convicted in a New York federal court for trafficking nearly 200,000 kilograms of cocaine and machine guns into the United States.
Tony Hernández had been a congressman in JOH’s National Party, and used drug money to fund the right-wing party and rig elections for his brother.
The imprisonment of Tony Hernández, along with the increased US pressure on Honduras to halt northern migration, created a conflict between JOH and his sponsors in Washington. The once loyal US ally began to implement independent policies.
Honduras started to vote against US interests in the Organization of American States (OAS). Looking for new allies, the JOH government even improved relations with its neighbor Nicaragua, whose leftist Sandinista government is Washington’s top target in Central America.
By 2021, top US politicians and corporate media outlets tried to distance JOH from the US government by depicting him simply as a “Trump ally.”
JOH certainly was a Trump ally, but he had long benefited from bipartisan support from Democrats as well.
Participé como invitado especial en la reunión organizada por el Presidente de #EEUU Donald J. Trump para abordar el tema “Un llamado global para proteger la libertad religiosa”#HondurasEnLaONU pic.twitter.com/nAOftBG0wb
— Juan Orlando H. (@JuanOrlandoH) September 23, 2019

The Obama administration enthusiastically supported the Honduran narco-dictator. In fact, as vice president under Obama, Joe Biden worked closely with JOH.
Biden oversaw the Obama administration’s Central America policy, and Honduras was crucial in its plans.
JOH praised Obama publicly for his neoliberal strategy to bring more corporate investment to the region, called the “Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle.”
Felicito al Pte. Obama y V. Biden su decisión recibir la propuesta de nuestros países (Alianza p Prosperidad) y compartir esfuerzo conjunto.
— Juan Orlando H. (@JuanOrlandoH) January 30, 2015

Biden repeatedly met with JOH, and the narco-dictator tweeted, “Thank you Vice President Joe Biden for supporting Honduras.”
Gracias Vice Pte. @JoeBiden por respaldar a Honduras. pic.twitter.com/xY6Yo9HNOk
— Juan Orlando H. (@JuanOrlandoH) June 17, 2015

When JOH’s right-wing National Party was overwhelmingly defeated by the left-wing Libre Party and its candidate Xiomara Castro in a November 2021 election – the first truly free and fair vote since the 2009 US-sponsored coup – Washington threw its former asset under the bus.
After JOH left office on January 27, 2022, the Biden administration saw an opportunity to make an example out of a former ally, to try to cynically show the world it is supposedly dedicated to fighting corruption.
This February, Washington officially turned on JOH, first revoking his visa and then ordering his extradition to the United States.
Juan Orlando Hernández is the latest in a long line of repressive dictators that the United States supported and cultivated, only to later throw under the bus.
His story echoes those of numerous right-wing Latin American autocrats, from the Dominican Republic to Panama.
Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo oversaw one of the bloodiest regimes in the history of the region, killing, imprisoning, torturing, and disappearing tens of thousands of people, principally leftists and Haitians.
Trujillo enjoyed staunch US support for decades. But by 1961 he had outlived his usefulness, and the CIA was involved in assassinating him.
Closer to Honduras is the case of Panama’s former president Manuel Noriega, a former longtime CIA asset who was later overthrown in a murderous US invasion.
Noriega once collaborated with the CIA to help Washington fund its war on leftist revolutionaries in Nicaragua and El Salvador.
But he later became too independent from the United States. Noriega began to challenge Washington’s foreign-policy interests in the region, working with Libya and Cuba, and challenging US control over the geostrategic Panama Canal.
So Washington turned on its former ally. The United States invaded Panama in 1989, killing at least hundreds of civilians, with some estimates saying thousands lost their lives.
Over in West Asia, the history is very similar. Before he became public enemy number one in the 2003 invasion, or in the 1990 Gulf War, Iraq’s authoritarian leader Saddam Hussein was an erstwhile US ally.
The CIA helped orchestrate the Iraqi Baathist coup that Saddam later rode to power. After the putsch, the CIA even gave the aspiring dictator’s allies a list of Iraqi communists to kill. They were promptly murdered.
In the 1980s, the United States supported Saddam’s Iraq in its war on the new revolutionary government in neighboring Iran. The CIA even helped Saddam use chemical weapons on civilians.
Some of the world’s most notorious drug dealers have also benefited from the backing of US spy agencies.
Mexico’s infamous drug kingpin El Chapo Gúzman, the head of the feared Sinaloa Cartel, was reportedly protected by the CIA for years.
Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar collaborated with the CIA, too. His son Juan Pablo Escobar said the US spy agency used the cocaine smuggled by the leader of the Medellin Cartel in order to fund its war on socialists in Central America.


Instruction: Write an article about: China is helping Nicaragua’s Sandinista gov’t build houses for poor people. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Belt and Road Initiative, Bismarck Martínez, Bismarck Martínez Program, China, Daniel Ortega, FSLN, Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, Sandinistas

Output:
China signed an agreement with Nicaragua’s leftist Sandinista government to build thousands of homes for poor and working families, expanding the already existing Bismarck Martínez public housing program.

(Se puede leer este artículo en español aquí.)
The leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua has revealed that it signed an agreement with the People’s Republic of China to build thousands of houses for poor and working families.
Vice President Rosario Murillo announced the news on January 28.
China “has approved an important project of cooperation with our Nicaragua and the Nicaraguan people, a great housing program for families in all of the country,” Murillo said.
“The plan is for three years, benefiting tens of thousands of Nicaraguan families in 84 municipalities of the country, families that are going to receive a beautiful house, safe, dignified, with all of the basic services.”
The vice president said the designs for the houses are being developed in coordination with Nicaraguan ministries. She called them “works of brotherhood, solidarity, and common good.”
Murillo also announced other ongoing public infrastructure projects, including roads, sidewalks, and a new baseball stadium.
Houses built by the Nicaraguan government as part of its Bismarck Martínez Program
Although Nicaragua is a small country of roughly 6.5 million people, with very few resources as the second-least rich country in the western hemisphere, its leftist Sandinista government has dedicated itself to creating ambitious social programs, including free universal healthcare and education, jobs training, and poverty alleviation initiatives.
Nicaragua in fact already has a public housing campaign called the Bismarck Martínez Program. From the time it was launched in 2019 until 2021, the project delivered approximately 3,000 houses, as well as 30,000 land plots in urban areas.
In 2021, the government gave poor and working Nicaraguans another 3,000 houses as part of the Bismarck Martínez Program. This is in addition to granting land deeds to thousands of families, peasants, and farmers, so they cannot be displaced.
The man the program is named after, Bismarck Martínez, was a Sandinista activist who worked in the mayor’s office in the capital Managua. He was kidnapped, brutally tortured on camera, and killed by far-right extremists during a violent coup attempt in 2018, which was sponsored by the United States. The video of his gruesome murder went viral and inspired outrage across Nicaragua.
The Managua mayor’s office announced in September 2021 that it had plans to build 50,000 new homes in the following seven years as part of the Bismarck Martínez program. It also planned to distribute 50,000 more land plots to families.
But this was before the central government had restored relations with China and made plans to further expand this program with Beijing’s help.
Houses built by the Nicaraguan government as part of its Bismarck Martínez Program
The Nicaraguan government re-established official diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in December 2021.
Nicaragua had first broken ties with Taiwan and recognized China in the 1980s, following the 1979 triumph of the Sandinista Revolution.
But when the Sandinistas lost power in 1990, in an election unfairly compromised by US meddling, the right-wing president who took power, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, a representative of the most powerful oligarch family in the country, immediately cut ties with the PRC and recognized Taiwan again.
Since restoring ties in December 2021, Nicaragua and China have become close allies.
President Daniel Ortega revealed in a speech at his January 10 inauguration that Managua had signed agreements with Beijing to incorporate the Central American nation into the global Belt and Road Initiative.
Upon signing the deals with China, Ortega declared, “The United States does not accept that the end of its hegemony is a fact.”


Instruction: Write an article about: Exposed: US DEA used criminals to spy on, destabilize Venezuela, Mexico, Bolivia. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: AMLO, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Bolivia, CIA, DEA, drugs, Evo Morales, Mexico, Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela

Output:
Reports reveal that the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used known criminals to spy on and destabilize the left-wing governments in Venezuela, Mexico, and Bolivia.

Numerous reports in major media outlets have documented how the US government has used the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in order to spy on and try to destabilize left-wing governments in Latin America.
DEA meddling schemes have targeted Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, Bolivia’s former President Evo Morales, and Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
In these scandals, the DEA has collaborated with known criminals, including drug traffickers and money launderers, to launch sting operations against leftist politicians.

The Associated Press revealed this February that the DEA “sent undercover operatives into Venezuela to surreptitiously record and build drug-trafficking cases against the country’s leadership”.
Known as Operation Money Badger, it was launched in 2013 with the goal of ensnaring senior Venezuelan officials in corruption scandals.
The AP reported that the DEA “authorized otherwise illicit wire transfers through U.S.-based front companies and bank accounts”. It noted that “Colombian drug traffickers” were involved.
As its informants, the DEA recruited criminals. The AP wrote (emphasis added):
The DEA Miami Field Division’s Group 10 recruited a dream informant: a professional money launderer accused of fleecing $800 million from Venezuela’s foreign currency system through a fraudulent import scheme.
The informant’s illicit activity in Venezuela positioned him to help the DEA collect evidence against the chief target of the unilateral operation: Jose Vielma, an early acolyte of the late Hugo Chávez who in two decades of service to the Bolivarian revolution cycled through a number of top jobs, including trade minister and the head of Venezuela’s IRS.
Venezuela’s sovereign, democratically elected government had expelled the DEA, so this covert operation was a clear violation of Venezuela’s sovereignty. And the US government itself acknowledged that these activities violated international law, the AP reported.
The AP quoted a former DEA official who served in Venezuela who boasted, “We don’t like to say it publicly but we are, in fact, the police of the world”.
Operation Money Badger started under the Barack Obama administration, but was expanded under President Donald Trump.
The Trump administration launched a coup attempt in 2019, pressuring countries around the world to recognize US-appointed coup leader Juan Guaidó as the so-called “interim president” of Venezuela, despite the fact that he had never participated in a presidential election.
The US government imposed several rounds of crushing sanctions and an economic embargo on Venezuela, which devastated the country’s oil industry and starved Caracas of the export revenue it needed to fund social programs and the foreign currency it needed to stabilize its national currency, fueling hyper-inflation.

In 2020, the US government backed an attempted invasion of Venezuela. The attack, known as Operation Gideon, was led by two former US Army special operations commandos.
One of the top Venezuelan coup-plotters involved in the failed invasion later revealed that the putschists had been in touch with the CIA and other US government agencies.
CIA backed failed 2020 invasion of Venezuela, top coup-plotter says

The botched invasion was overseen by a US private security company called Silvercorp, which was based in Florida and run by a former U.S. Army Green Beret commando, Jordan Goudreau.
Goudreau had provided security for Donald Trump’s rallies. And he met with US government officials at Trump’s golf course in Doral, Florida to discuss the plans to invade Venezuela.
For his part, Trump boasted that he tried to “take over” Venezuela and pillage its massive oil reserves.
At a Republican Party convention in 2023, Trump stated, “When I left, Venezuela was ready to collapse. We would have taken it over; we would have gotten to all that oil; it would have been right next door”.
Trump boasts he wanted to take Venezuela’s oil after overthrowing its government

Trump’s neoconservative national security advisor, John Bolton, likewise bragged in a 2022 interview on CNN that he “helped plan coups d’etat” in Venezuela and “other places”.
Meanwhile, US-backed coup leader Juan Guaidó and his accomplices were widely accused of extreme corruption.
Even Guaidó’s erstwhile supporters in Venezuela’s right-wing opposition turned against him, accusing Guaidó and his allies of spending huge sums of humanitarian aid money on expensive nightclubs, hotels, cars, clothes, food, and alcohol.
Guaidó’s coup-plotting allies also used public assets that the US, UK, and EU stole from the Venezuelan government and people in order to pay their enormous legal fees.
Venezuela was by no means the only country in Latin America targeted by the DEA for destabilization.
In 2008, Bolivia’s democratically elected socialist president, Evo Morales, expelled the DEA.
Morales was the first ever Indigenous president of a country where the majority of the population is Indigenous.
He accused DEA agents of spying on his government and collaborating with violent right-wing opposition groups.
“There were DEA agents that were doing political espionage … financing criminal groups so that they could act against authorities, even the president”, Morales said, in comments reported by Reuters.
At the time, US officials rejected Morales’ accusations as a crazy conspiracy theory.
But in 2015, the Huffington Post revealed that DEA agents had in fact been spying on Morales and the Bolivian government, as part of an undercover sting called “Operation Naked King”.
To justify its meddling, the DEA misleadingly accused Morales of supporting the drug trade, because he legalized the production of coca, a plant that can be used for non-drug purposes, such as in teas and medicines.
Many poor farmers, especially in the Indigenous-majority areas that Morales was from and represented, relied on producing coca.
Vice News reported in 2016 that, after Morales legalized coca, “there is less violence, less cocaine, and even less coca in Bolivia than there was before”.
Morales blasted the DEA’s double standards, noting that it purchased 45,000 kilos of coca in 1992.
“During our government, the model of the fight against drug trafficking was applauded and recognized by the UN and EU”, Morales tweeted in 2020.
“Now, they submit themselves to the CIA and DEA to benefit the geopolitical interests of the US”, he added, condemning the then government of unelected far-right leader Jeanine Áñez of “submission” and “corruption”.
Durante nuestro gobierno, el modelo de lucha contra el narcotráfico era aplaudido y reconocido por la ONU y la UE. Ahora, se someten a la CIA y DEA para beneficiar a los intereses geopolíticos de EE.UU., y anuncian gastos millonarios sin fiscalización. Sometimiento y corrupción.
— Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) May 27, 2020

In 2019, Morales was overthrown in a violent coup d’etat. With US support, an unelected far-right regime came to power, which was led by Christian extremists who systematically discriminated against Bolivia’s Indigenous majority.
Bolivia’s US-backed coup regime also sought to privatize the South American nation’s massive lithium reserves. Bolivia is one of the world’s top producers of lithium, a crucial material needed for battery production.
When a Twitter user criticized billionaire Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2020 over his support for the putsch in Bolivia, the oligarch responded, “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it”.

In 2021, Morales stated that, “For the CIA and DEA the so-called ‘war against drugs’ is an excuse to attack progressive and anti-imperialist governments. It is a screen to cover their geopolitical interests”.
The former Bolivian leader, who was spied on and targeted in a sting operation by the DEA, pointed to a similar scandal that had been exposed in Mexico.
Para la CIA y la DEA la denominada "guerra contra las drogas" es una excusa para atacar a gobiernos progresistas y antiimperialistas. Es una pantalla para encubrir sus intereses geopolíticos. El caso denunciado por #México así lo demuestra.
— Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) January 16, 2021

Over decades, the DEA has repeatedly been implicated in illegal espionage operations in sovereign Mexican territory, targeting government officials and politicians, particularly those on the left.
This January, the US media outlet ProPublica published a thinly sourced article alleging, without concrete evidence, that allies of Mexico’s leading left-wing politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) took money from drug cartels to try to help him win the 2006 presidential election.
The report acknowledged, “The investigation did not establish whether López Obrador sanctioned or even knew of the traffickers’ reported donations”.
AMLO later won the 2018 election, and has since been one of the most popular presidents on Earth, governing for five years with consistent support from around two-thirds of the Mexican population, according to the US-based firm Morning Consult.
AMLO blasted the ProPublica article as “vile defamation” and “propaganda”, and he suggested that it sought to influence Mexico’s upcoming 2024 election. The candidate Claudia Sheinbaum, from AMLO’s left-wing Morena party, is leading in all of the polls, by a huge margin.
The ProPublica article offered no tangible evidence, just insinuations trying to link AMLO to organized crime. But it did disclose that, in 2011, on the eve of Mexico’s 2012 elections, “DEA agents proposed a sting in which they would offer $5 million in supposed drug money to operatives working on López Obrador’s second presidential campaign”.
That is to say, the DEA was blatantly meddling in Mexico’s internal politics to harm the left-wing candidate, as a presidential election soon approached.
ProPublica also admitted that US “Justice Department officials closed the investigation, in part over concerns that even a successful prosecution would be viewed by Mexicans as egregious American meddling in their politics”.
Mexico-based US journalist Kurt Hackbarth noted that the “only real revelation in this week’s ProPublica piece is the DEA’s plot to frame the AMLO campaign in the runup to the 2012 election”.
“Unlike Russiagate, here’s a bonafide attempt to intervene in a foreign election, freely admitted to”, he added.
The only real revelation in this week's @Propublica piece is the DEA's plot to frame the AMLO campaign in the runup to the 2012 election. Unlike Russiagate, here's a bonafide attempt to intervene in a foreign election, freely admitted to. Think it'll make headlines in the US? Na. pic.twitter.com/nJ261T3r3a
— Kurt Hackbarth ???? (@KurtHackbarth) February 2, 2024

In a follow-up Twitter thread, Hackbarth emphasized, “Let’s take a second and appreciate the implications of this. At the precise time Felipe Calderón’s Security Minister Genero García Luna was colluding with the Sinaloa Cartel – which the DEA saw and heard no evil about – they were instead focused on this stupid sting op on AMLO”.
Calderón, a conservative former president from Mexico’s right-wing PAN party, was a close US ally, so faced no serious consequences for his documented links to drug cartels.
????ANATOMY OF A HIT: Another clumsy attempt by the US to meddle in this year's Mexican presidential election. How does it work?
1.) THE SYNCHRONIZED SWIM: Spread your story at the same time across various media. (A little obvious, though, to do it at the exact same time, guys.) pic.twitter.com/t8jZMO2kh7
— Kurt Hackbarth ???? (@KurtHackbarth) January 31, 2024

AMLO, on the other hand, is an independent left-wing leader who has routinely criticized the US for violating his country’s sovereignty.
In 2023, the Mexican president sent the Joe Biden administration a letter formally condemning US “interventionism” in his country. Specifically, AMLO noted that USAID was funding right-wing opposition groups.
In another speech that year, AMLO condemned State Department criticism as hypocritical “meddling” and stated, “There is more democracy today in Mexico than in the United States… because here the people govern, and there the oligarchy govern”.
AMLO likewise held a huge rally in which he denounced Republicans Congress members who have called for the US military to invade their southern neighbor. While honoring the Mexican state’s nationalization of the country’s large oil and lithium reserves, AMLO declared, “Mexico is an independent and free country, not a US colony or protectorate!”
‘Mexico is not a US colony!’: AMLO condemns invasion threats, celebrates nationalization of oil, lithium


Instruction: Write an article about: US meddling in Colombia’s election, warns left-wing vice presidential candidate Francia Márquez. Use the themes and topics represented by the tags provided as guidance for the content. It's not necessary to include the exact tag words in the article, but the article should reflect the essence and context of these tags.

Input: Álvaro Uribe, Colombia, drugs, Francia Márquez, Gustavo Petro, Venezuela, war on drugs

Output:
The top vice presidential candidate for Colombia’s May elections, Francia Márquez, called out the US government for meddling in the electoral process. The left-wing activist criticized the war on drugs, militarization, and “free trade,” calling for land reform and reparations.

The vice presidential candidate for the leading ticket in Colombia’s May elections has accused the US government of meddling in her country’s internal politics to hurt the left wing.
Francia Márquez is an activist from the grassroots social movements of the Afro-Colombian community. She is the vice presidential candidate for the left-wing Pacto Histórico (“Historic Pact”) coalition, whose presidential candidate Gustavo Petro is leading by double digits in major polls in the weeks before the May 29 vote.
Márquez criticized the US ambassador to Colombia for publicly claiming that Russia, Venezuela, and Cuba are trying to sabotage her country’s election.
“Although [the US ambassador] did not mention the Pacto Histórico, although he did not mention Gustavo Petro, it is obvious that he was referring to our candidacy and our political campaign,” Márquez said.
“This is a direct intervention by the government of the United States through the ambassador in the elections,” she stressed.
She also called out the US government’s double standards, noting that Washington maintained “absolute silence” when the top general in Colombia’s military violated his country’s constitution and meddled in its electoral process by openly attacking the leading presidential candidate, Petro.
“I think they keep silent on certain things, but they speak out and publish statements on others, and I think that is not an impartial attitude. I think that that is a very negative message for Colombian democracy,” Márquez said.
She called for the US government to show “respect” and “neutrality” to Colombia.
The top VP candidate for Colombia's May 29 elections, Francia Márquez, is a grassroots activist.
In the heart of Washington, she criticized US meddling and the "ultra-right-wing" lobby, stressing Colombian social leaders are killed every day.
Read more: https://t.co/XMLwCNs79L pic.twitter.com/OlLhgcpibz
— Benjamin Norton (@BenjaminNorton) May 29, 2022

Márquez made these comments in the heart of Washington, DC itself, at an event organized by the United States Institute of Peace, an influential US government-affiliated think tank.
The institute’s May 13 forum featured vice-presidential candidates for Colombia’s May elections, and was livestreamed on the organization’s YouTube channel.
The event also featured prominent figures from the Woodrow Wilson Center and Atlantic Council, two highly influential US government-funded think tanks in Washington.
Francia Márquez speaking in Washington at the US Institute of Peace
Because Francia Márquez was speaking in the heart of Washington, she made sure to reassure the audience many times that a Colombian government under her leadership would seek to maintain close relations with the United States.
But despite her diplomatic reassurances, Márquez was strikingly blunt about her vision for a much more progressive Colombia.
She proposed a political model directly opposed to what she called the “ultra-right-wing” Uribista movement, which has dominated Colombian politics for two decades, since the rise to power of former president Álvaro Uribe, who is deeply involved in drug trafficking and paramilitary groups.
Márquez even called out Washington’s double standards toward her country.
She criticized the free trade agreement signed between the US and Colombia, noting it has weakened the South American nation’s economic sovereignty, hurt domestic agriculture, and made it reliant on food imports.
“I think there is a need to de a bilateral review of the deal, and an evaluation of the impact in these 10 years since the signing of the free-trade agreement between Colombia and the United States,” she proposed.
Márquez pledged her government would prioritize strengthening Colombia’s sovereignty, especially its food sovereignty by boosting internal agricultural production.
Warning about the horrific rates of violence in Colombia, especially targeting grassroots activists, Márquez likewise denounced the militarization of her country via Plan Colombia.
The US-sponsored war on drugs has been a failure, she emphasized, that “has served in Colombia to leave dead people in our lands and economic resources in the banks of the financial system.”
She argued that organized crime and the drug trade must be treated as social problems, with roots in poverty and a lack of opportunities.
Márquez said the country should move toward the legalization and commercialization of drugs, to remove this key generator of violence, while also strengthening the economy and providing jobs for people in the countryside.
Colombia needs much more “social investment,” Márquez stressed. She promised to spend more money on public education, healthcare, and programs to combat climate change.
In her remarks, Márquez called for “distributive justice” and “historical reparations” for marginalized communities in the country, such as Afro-Colombians and Indigenous peoples.
The vice-presidential candidate pushed back against the idea that “polarization” is the problem in Colombia, arguing that this narrative was created by the people who have governed for decades. The real issue, she said, is that Colombians have been oppressed by the wealthy economic and political elites.
She even announced that Colombia would re-establish formal diplomatic relations with Venezuela, if the Pacto Histórico wins the election.
Her running mate, presidential candidate Gustavo Petro, has been extremely critical of Venezuela in his public statements and speeches. But Márquez made it clear that Colombia would still have formal diplomatic relations with its neighbor, stressing that this is necessary to stabilize the region and strengthen the economy.
Given the environment, at a US government-sponsored think tank in Washington, surrounded by US government operatives, Francia Márquez was careful to emphasize that her administration would maintain good relations with the United States. But she was also willing to criticize Washington.
“We know about lobbies created by the ultra-right-wing here in the United States to, first of all, disinform,” she said.
Márquez noted that this ultra-right-wing has spread numerous false claims about her, Gustavo Petro, and the Pacto Histórico.
Among them, she explained, is “the story of ‘Castrochavismo,’ and making the United States believe that Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez coming to power is a threat for the United States and is a threat for Colombia.”
“I think that the real threat is in Uribismo, which has kept us subjugated for 20 years to an insecurity that has only resulted in deaths, that has only fueled the armed conflict,” Márquez argued.
“It was not Gustavo Petro, or Francia Márquez, or the Pacto Histórico that opposed peace in Colombia. It was not our movement that was opposed to peace in Colombia. Those who decided to tear peace to shreds in Colombia is this government.”
That government, led by current right-wing President Iván Duque, “comes here and speaks kindly in the United States. It comes here to push its politics,” she said.
But “the reality is that every day we are dealing with death in Colombia,” she contrasted. “The reality is that every day social leaders are buried. The reality is that every day youth are killed in Colombia. The reality is that femicide does not stop.”
Márquez continued: “And that is what has us worried, because that narrative has been echoed here. And we saw a statement by the ambassador of the United States government, of President Biden, say that they had information about possible funding and meddling by the governments of Russia and Venezuela in the elections in Colombia.”
The US ambassador, Philip Goldberg, warned in an interview on May 12 of potential “interference by Russians, Venezuelans, or Cubans in the elections.”
Márquez condemned these comments, stating, “Although [the US ambassador] did not mention the Pacto Histórico, although he did not mention Gustavo Petro, it is obvious that he was referring to our candidacy and our political campaign.”
“This is a direct intervention by the government of the United States through the ambassador in the elections,” she emphasized.
Márquez also criticized the US government’s double standards in its public comments on Colombian politics.
In April, the top general of Colombia’s military, Eduardo Zapateiro, who is closely affiliated with the right-wing, violated the neutrality that the armed forces are supposed to maintain by openly on Twitter attacking left-wing presidential candidate Gustavo Petro.
Márquez pointed out that the US embassy was silent about this flagrant military attack on the integrity of the elections.
I have “a worry about the US government’s silence about the armed forces in terms of the message sent by General Zapateiro, in the sense that that message violated the political constitution, in that military officers cannot participate in politics in Colombia,” she said.
“And there is absolute silence, no? I think they keep silent on certain things, but they speak out and publish statements on others, and I think that is not an impartial attitude. I think that that is a very negative message for Colombian democracy,” Márquez warned.
She then called for Washington to show more “respect” and “neutrality” in regard to Colombia.
“What are the values that I think should be strengthened in the relationship? First,” Márquez said, “is the value of respect, the value of recognition, the value of being able to build in the middle of difference.”
“For years in our country, difference was a reason to exterminate the other. Those who thought differently were killed. Those who raise their voice, in terms of difference as in opposition, are stigmatized, are threatened, are killed. That cannot be the logic of a democratic government,” she explained.
“I think that, on the contrary, democracy implies a discussion of difference and building with difference. And that I think is a value that must be rescued, that must be strengthened, in a relationship with the US government. I think it’s respect, no? And neutrality is important as well, in the sense of, if we don’t like views, well we have to build with diversity, with difference.”
Francia Márquez harshly criticized Colombia’s so-called war on drugs, which was sponsored by the United States.
“For years the relation” between the United States and Colombia “has been based more in terms of the war on drugs. And that I think has been a failed policy,” she said.
Márquez summarized the failure of this policy: “Drug trafficking, as we say colloquially, has served in Colombia to leave dead people in our lands and economic resources in the banks of the financial system.”
“I think a great challenge is first to recognize that the anti-drug policy has failed in Colombia,” she explained. “And strengthening that relation implies setting out another approach on how to deal with the problem of drugs in Colombia.”
“We have said, the approach is the path toward legalization, which involves changing the use of the coca leaf and marijuana in terms of industrial and pharmaceutical production, in food industry production, in textile industry production derived from the hemp of coca and marijuana.”
“And there is also the approach of racial justice, understanding that the profiling of the anti-drug policy, here in the United States, has been done from a racial perspective. It is black Americans who are put in prison here for consuming drugs. And in Colombia it is indigenous and black people, too, who are hurt by the anti-drug policy.”
“Having an approach of racial justice implies, in this path toward legalization, treating the problem of consumption as a public health problem, not as a problem of criminality. Because it is impoverished young people, who are racialized, who are stigmatized, who are targeted, who are persecuted for consumption, but it is not treated as a health problem.”
Part of the move toward legalization and formal commercialization of drugs would necessarily involve land reform, Márquez explained.
“We were talking about the need to move toward the legalization of drugs as a path to get rid of that incentive for violence, of drug trafficking as a motor that generates violence in Colombia, and creating economic conditions, strengthening the productivity of the Colombian countryside is a challenge.”
“That involves infrastructure. That involves recognizing the rights of the Colombian peasantry. That involves discussing the topic of land concentration.”
“I know there are sectors that don’t like that,” Márquez acknowledged. But she stressed that “the first point of the peace agreement about comprehensive agrarian reform, I think that will be a point that will help in terms of distributing the land for families to access it.”
“I think strengthening the productivity of the countryside, creating stabilization funds for the commercialization of products from the Colombian countryside, is going to contribute enormously to reducing the violence.”
“When there is more poverty and deprivation, there is more violence. People are not going to let themselves die; the people use what they have at hand. And sadly, the people who are more vulnerable end up in those dynamics of violence, as a form of survival in a country as unequal as ours.”
“So we need to deal with the structural situations that involve security, which is not simply an issue of a military perspective or police perspective.”
“For years the approach for how to deal with security in Colombia has been from a militarist perspective, from a policing perspective,” Francia Márquez explained. “So when they talk about insecurity, what they do is militarize the territories where that violence is generated.”
“And the experience has been that, with greater militarization there is greater violence, because of the corruption, because of the collusion between the armed elements of the state and organized crime,” she said.
“I think the main part of the question that we always ask is why, if there is such a militarized presence of the state, are these systematic and structural acts of violence committed all the time in those territories?”
What is needed is instead “an approach that understands calamities that generate the violence,” Márquez argued.
“For us, the violence cannot be stopped if hunger is not stopped. The violence cannot be stopped if there are not conditions of dignity for Colombians. And that involves strengthening production. That involves restoring national productivity, in both agriculture and nacional industry, the creation of jobs.”
“There are many youths who are being co-opted by armed groups, who first don’t have access to education, and second don’t have access to a dignified job in Colombia.”
Márquez named Colombian territories that she argued are “over-militarized,” where social movement leaders and youth are killed every day, such as Buenaventura and Cauca.
“We have major concerns about the security in our country, right now in the political struggle,” Márquez continued.
“Both Gustavo Petro and I have had our democratic rights limited in the campaign. At numerous times, we have had to stop the campaign, to not go to territories.”
The violence of paramilitary groups has affected “nearly all of the candidates,” she noted.
“Our country has suffered. We have enormous problems in our country. Our people are dying of hunger.”
She called for the Colombian government to abide by the peace agreement it signed with the former rebels of the revolutionary socialist group the FARC in 2016. The right-wing administration of current President Iván Duque has systematically violated the deal.
Márquez likewise said the government should have a peace dialogue with the ELN, another socialist guerrilla group.
She demanded an end to support for paramilitary groups, which have fueled the violence.
“Fear has silenced us in Colombia. It has not allowed us to express ourselves. It has not allowed us to participate,” Márquez said.
“We have had 213 years of a state that has served only the elites, who have governed us and excluded us, and not only excluded but have fueled a policy of violence against social leaders, against ethnic peoples, against the rights of women and youth.”
The first step toward transforming this political order “involves recognizing the historic structures of oppression and exclusion,” Márquez stressed.
“The moment has arrived for Colombia to be an autonomous people that can define itself.”