Salem-News.com Politics articles

U.S.: Hands Off Venezuela

What’s next — an invasion and occupation?

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - I am sure everyone would agree that Venezuelans deserve a better government.

Let’s face it, the late Hugo Chávez's vision of a modern day “Bolivarian revolution” — a Latin American political block with a socialist bent as an alternative to U.S. hegemony — has descended into repression and economic decline under Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Thanks to Trump, Iran has the Upper Hand

The US and Iran remain at an impasse--still with no active diplomatic channel.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - The assassination of General Soleimani is proving to be a resounding success for Iran.

It accomplished what the ayatollah could not: common ground between Iran and Iraq, Iraq’s invitation to the US military to leave the country; an end to Iranian popular protests against the regime’s economic policies, and instead broad support for retaliation against the US air strike; and further division in Washington over Trump’s Middle East policy, including renewed calls for restraining him from attacking Iran.

Trump Continues his Anti-Immigrant Politics

Trump opposes asylum-seekers, even those running from deadly situations.

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - At the eleventh hour, Trump suspended the tariffs saying that Mexico had agreed to new and broader concessions to curb migration, which included deployment of its National Guard throughout Mexico, giving priority to its southern border, and an expansion of a program to allow asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their legal cases proceed.

In the announcement of the tariff suspension, Trump failed to disclose that Mexico had already agreed to these “new and broader” concessions last December.

On the Virginia Beach Mass Shooting

Ignoring the gun violence problem is only making it worse.

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - I am saddened at the killing of 12 people in Virginia Beach by a disgruntled government employee who later died after a shootout with police.

“It’s not just mass shootings,” said U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), adding that each day in America gun violence occurs “on sidewalks and playgrounds and people’s backyards.

"It’s happening family by family across the country. And it doesn’t get the same headlines. And that is wrong.”

Turmoil in Venezuela

Venezuela is a country on the northern coast of South America.

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - Even with backing from the Trump administration, Juan Guaidó, the U.S.-recognized interim president of Venezuela, failed to oust Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.

It is difficult to reconcile our outrage over Russia’s interference in our elections with our present interference in Venezuela’s affairs.

India: Human Rights Defender Samiul Biswas in Judicial Custody

Samiul Biswas has been instrumental in documenting human rights violations along the India-Bangladesh border.

(YORK, UK) - According to the information received from Front Line Defenders, on 19 March 2019, the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court remanded human rights defender Samiul Biswas in custody at Krishnanagar District Jail.

Biswas had been arrested the previous day by the Border Security Force (BSF) of the Mahakhola Border Outpost near the India-Bangladesh border in West Bengal on charges of theft relating to his “possession” of Bangladeshi currency and a Bangladeshi SIM card, the evidence for which is believed to have been falsified.

Will Democratic Socialism be a Winner in 2020?

Socialistic programs provide safety nets when unregulated capitalism goes awry.

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - In his State of the Union address, President Trump decried socialism stating, “Tonight, we resolve that America will never be a socialist country.” I bet Trump could not explain what socialism is, nor for that matter, could many Americans.

Why does the word "socialism" cause fear and trembling too many Americans? Many probably think socialism equals that old bogeyman communism. However, communism is primarily a political system, a way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are used to make and transport products, and there is no privately owned property.

Jim Crow Jumps Into The Game

History in blackface slaps the present moment awake.

(SALEM / PeaceVoice) - What? The governor put that picture on his yearbook page? In 1984? The wave of outrage, the demand for his resignation — from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s own party, the Democrats — can’t be dismissed with a shrug and an apology.

His career may be over, thanks not simply to an act of youthful stupidity but to the context that made it possible: good old American racism.

Fair Trial: Asia Bibi Not Guilty of Blasphemy

The US has conveyed concerns about Christian persecution in Pakistan, while Pakistan simply denies it.

(ISLAMABAD) - The Supreme Court of Pakistan finally set aside a review petition of a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, accused of blasphemy, after she spent more than 8 years in prison, in solitary confinement.

The decision is being warmly welcomed by human rights activists in the local and international community. The judgement is unclear, however, regarding what action will be taken against those who falsely accused her of blasphemy and gave false testimonies to mislead the court and public.

More AIPAC Than J Street: Kamala Harris Runs to the Right on Foreign Policy

The California senator’s hardline positions on Israel-Palestine point to a dangerous disregard for international law.

(SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.) - California’s junior senator Kamala Harris is being embraced by many progressive Democrats, and she’s branding herself as a progressive.

Yet in the course of her little more than two years in the U.S. Senate, she’s taken some foreign policy positions that should give pause to supporters of human rights and international law.