Trump/Biden Debate Immigration: US Foreign Policy as a Driver Is Ignored

Roger D. Harris Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! – Emma Lazarus’s inscription on the Statue of Liberty The contestants squared off in the first of…

How Venezuela Is Overcoming the US Blockade

Roger D. Harris The future of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution, a target of US imperial power since its inception in 1998, may be decided on July 28, the date of their presidential election. Incumbent President Nicolás Maduro and seven other presidential candidates pledged to abide by the choice of the electorate. Edmundo González, promoted by the…

The Biggest Obstacle to Free and Fair Elections in Venezuela is the US: Prospects for the Presidential Contest Under Conditions of Blackmail

Roger D. HarrisThe United Socialist Party (PSUV) held a rally on Saturday in Guanare, Portuguesa state. (@partidoPSUV) For all the hullabaloo about “free and fair elections” in Venezuela by the US government, its sycophantic corporate press deliberately ignores the elephant in the room – namely, the so-called sanctions designed to make life so miserable that…

US Congress Makes Downpayment on World War III: US President Proclaims Enduring Peace

Roger D. Harris President Biden on Wednesday announces the signing of a $95 billion military assistance package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Ukraine says the aid is critical as it seeks to regain momentum on the battlefield from Russia. Evan Vucci/AP The US Congress authorized a $95 billion military aid package for continuing the wars…

US Reimposes Illegal and Inhumane Oil Sanctions on Venezuela: The New York Times Runs Cover

Roger D. Harris A minute after midnight on April 18, the US reimposed coercive economic measures designed to cripple Venezuela’s oil industry. Later that day, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a new sanctions bill on Nicaragua. Meanwhile, Cuba protested the US’s six-decade blockade as talks resumed between the two countries on migration. At…

The North American Peace Movement at an Inflection Point

Roger D. Harris The North American peace movement is contesting ongoing US wars in Ukraine and Palestine and preparations for war with China. Out of the fog of these wars, a clear anti-imperialist focus is emerging. Giving peace a chance has never been more plainly understood as opposition to what Martin Luther King, Jr., referred…

Biden’s State of the Union Address Exposed by US Intelligence Threat Assessment

Roger D. Harris President Biden used the bully pulpit of the annual State of the Union Address to describe a world that significantly differed from the picture presented just a month earlier in the Annual Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community. Information fed to the general public is deliberately spun to sell the imperial…

Washington Promotes Opposition Candidate Setting the Stage for Delegitimizing the Venezuelan Presidential Election

Roger D. Harris Image: HFAC Roundtable: “The Fight for Freedom in Venezuela: A Conversation with María Corina Machado” Despite continuous US-led hybrid warfare to overthrow the socialist project, this month marks the 25th anniversary of the Bolivarian Revolution. The Venezuelan government of President Nicolás Maduro has successfully forced the US to de facto engage with…

Why the US is Reimposing Sanctions on Venezuela

Roger D. Harris Even the US business magazine Forbes expressed surprise at the reimposition of US sanctions on Venezuela’s gold sales and its threat to do the same with oil. The oil sanctions especially, if reinstated, would precipitate higher gas prices and further debilitate the Venezuelan economy, forcing more people to leave the country out…

US Military Projection in Latin America and the Caribbean Intensifies

Roger D. Harris Upon assuming the US presidency, Joe Biden asserted in his first major foreign policy address, “America is back!” For Latin America and the Caribbean, this has meant an “aggressive expansion” of the US military in the region. In just the last year, US Marines and special forces landed in Peru in May…

Zionism – An Ideology for the Self-Loathing

Roger D. Harris When I told my grandmother that I was going to visit Europe for the first time, she exploded, “Oy vey!” Raising her voice, she exclaimed: “There’s nothing there! NOTHING! Just poverty and filth.” Collecting herself, she added: “You like foreign food? There’s better in New York.” For her generation of Jews, there…

Humor in the Headlines Over China in Latin America

Roger D. Harris A string of countries in Central America have established diplomatic relations with Beijing, breaking ties with Taiwan  | Washington Post “As China arrives with a splash in Honduras, the US wrings its hands” Washington Post, October 2, 2023 In a break from its hysterical coverage of the existential threat posed by Donald…

The Havana Syndrome Case Cracked

Roger D. Harris Even before the attack on the homeland of the weather balloons, the Havana Syndrome tested America’s mettle. The Havana Syndrome was first reported in Cuba in 2016. The mysterious malady initially afflicted US embassy staff in Havana, especially those attached to intelligence missions. It then spread to Canadian embassy officials. The sudden…

Washington’s “Democracy Promotion” Spectacularly Fails in Venezuela

Roger D. Harris The Los Angeles Times reports that “the audacious gamble by the U.S. government to…restore democracy” suffered a “spectacular failure” in Venezuela. What this State Department stenographer masquerading as a newspaper considers a “democratic” setback consisted of failing to impose unknown US security asset Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s president. This man just got the boot from his own…

Latin America and Caribbean Year 2022 in Review: Challenges for a Pink Tide Surging Over a Volatile US Hegemony

Roger D. Harris 2023 marks the 200th anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine. This imperial fiat arrogates to the US the unilateral authority to intervene in the affairs of sovereign states in the Western Hemisphere and to exclude any other power from meddling in what is viewed as Washington’s backyard. Two centuries later, the doctrine faces a…

The Volatility of US Hegemony in Latin America

Roger D. Harris (L to R) Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Lula da Silva and Rafael Correa. Mauricio Lima/ AFP. Part I: The Pink Tide Latin America and the Caribbean have again began to take on a becoming pink complexion, all the more so with June’s historic electoral victory in Colombia over the country’s long-dominant US-backed…

NATO in the Amazon: Petro Plays with Fire

Roger D. Harris So Com commander Laura Richardson meeting with Colombia President Gustavo Petro NATO recently expanded to Sweden and Finland, has been de facto incorporated in Ukraine, and may extend to Georgia. Now, NATO’s entry into the Amazon is in the works under the aegis of newly elected President Gustavo Petro of Colombia. NATO is a primary…

Why Are Colombian Election Candidates Auditioning in Washington?

Roger D. Harris Staging a vice-presidential candidates debate in the run-up to Colombia’s May 29th national elections was entirely appropriate.  Nevertheless, the location of the event in Washington and its promotion by US-state functionaries requires some explanation. Because of its venue and sponsors, the affair had elements of an audition or a vetting process overseen by the US government….