Reagan's Bloody Legacy in Central America, A Death Squad in the US?, Exxon Exec Admits to Climate Disinformation, Neo-Nazi Infiltrates Medicare for All Movement, Slow Motion Coup in Peru, And More!
Vice President Kamala Harris said her focus in on the “root causes” of immigration during her visit last week to the U.S.-Mexico border. In my column for The Bucks County Courier Times and Intelligencer this week I wrote about one of those root causes — U.S. foreign policy in the region. If you missed it check it out here:
U.S. history shows root causes of Central American migration
Let me also suggest a few books on this topic:
Central America’s Forgotten History: Revolution, Violence, and the Roots of Migration by Aviva Chomsky
Empire’s Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Making of an Imperial Republic by Greg Grandin
The Long Honduran Night: Resistance, Terror, and the United States in the Aftermath of the Coup by Dana Frank
Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala by Stephen Kinzer
Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America by Walter LaFeber
The State of the Nation
‘Right-Wing Death Squad’: Active-Duty Marine Plotted to Bomb DNC, Murder Black People. The unsealed FBI search warrant which revealed this information underscores why we must take the threat of white supremacist violence very seriously. The Daily Beast reports, “An active-duty U.S. Marine came under federal investigation for allegedly plotting with at least two others to assassinate minorities, drug users, and employees of the Democratic National Committee with explosives, rocket launchers, and automatic rifles.” Read the full article for all of the details HERE.
Greenpeace UK released this video exposing an ExxonMobil executive admitting on camera the oil giant aggressively fought climate science by using front groups and joining shadow groups in order to maximize profits for shareholders, even if the planet burns to hell as a result.
Keith McCoy is a senior ExxonMobil lobbyist on Capitol Hill, who thought he was being head-hunted when he made these revelations, also admitted the oil company hides behind trade bodies to avoid public scrutiny on the Hill.
“There’s nothing illegal about that,” said McCoy.
Maybe that’s the problem.
McCoy names 11 senators who he says are “crucial” to ExxonMobil: Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Senator Joe Manchin, Senator Kyrsten Sinema, Senator Jon Tester, Senator Maggie Hassan, Senator John Barrasso, Senator John Cornyn, Senator Steve Daines, Senator Chris Coons, Senator Mark Kelly and Senator Marco Rubio.
"We demand Congress immediately investigate Exxon and fossil fuel companies' climate crimes, and make polluters pay for their destruction," said Lindsay Meiman of the climate activist group 350.org
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, says he will hold a hearing this fall about "climate disinformation & the coordinated attack on scientific truth among polluters and their lobbyists."
A screwup of epic proportions. That is the only way to describe the national progressive organization March for Medicare for All scheduling Matthew Heimbach, “a notorious neo-Nazi who founded the now-defunct Traditionalist Worker Party,” as keynote speaker for an event in Indiana.
After the event was publicized on Instagram with one of the country’s most widely recognized and public faces of hate, backlash on social media ensued and the group eventually decided to cancel the event.
March for Medicare for All called it a"learning experience for the organizers," noting that "this isn't the first time fascist entryist tactics have seriously infiltrated & disrupted left wing organizations."
I think some Republicans are mistakenly watching The Handmaid’s Tale as a utopian how-to guide. This is one possible explanation for why Republicans in the Missouri statehouse not only want to take way women’s choice and access to abortion services, but also birth control. Read the write up in Vogue: The Anti–Birth Control Movement Is the New Anti-Abortion Movement.
Some good news locally. The Bucks County Courier Times is reporting that the county will add 7 ballot drop boxes in time for November’s election. We can all thank the work of Bonnie Chang and her fellow activists at Bucks Voices. Chang said that not adding more ballot boxes would amount to voter suppression. If you missed my interview with Chang, check it out:
Meet a Progressive: Activism You Can Dance to with Bonnie Chang
Beyond the U.S. Bubble
A Mexican Indigenous Water Defender was assassinated. Mexican officials from the border state of Sonora confirmed that a badly decayed corpse is that of Tomás Rojo Valencia, who disappeared almost four weeks ago. As the Associated Press reported: “Rojo Valencia disappeared May 27 following tensions over Yaqui roadblocks protesting gas ducts, water pipelines and railway lines that have been run across their territory without consulting them or giving them much benefit. Rojo Valencia served as the Yaquis’ spokesman during past conflicts over land and water rights.”
The “Peruvian Rasputin” is back to help his former boss’s daughter seize power. Vladimiro Montesinos, who is actually in a maximum security jail serving multiple sentences for human rights crimes, corruption and arms and drugs trafficking, somehow got access to a phone and in one recording suggested electoral tribunal officials be bribed to overturn the election of socialist candidate Pedro Castillo and hand the presidency to Keiko Fujimori.
In addition, a couple of weeks ago over 80 retired military officers urged the Peruvian Armed Forces not to recognize Castillo as president if he’s formally declared the winner.
“What we are seeing is a slow-motion conspiracy to prevent Castillo from becoming president,” Jo Marie Burt, a senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America, told The Guardian.
Thanks for reading! I look forward to your feedback and suggestions. And most importantly, keep organizing!