Kathryn Ledebur, Joe Emersberger, Alan MacLeod, and more expert primary source information on the Bolivian coup. Ledebur is director of the Andean Information Network in Cochabamba and researcher, activist, and analyst with over two decades of experience in Bolivia.

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“A military coup” is happening in Bolivia, CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot says. “Nobody voted for Williams Kaliman, the commander of the Bolivian armed forces. Some of the major media are already burying the fact it was he who pushed Evo [Morales] out of the presidency. Bolivia no longer has an elected, legitimate government. …The latest OAS ‘audit’ repeats a major falsehood from their previous reports, pretending that there was an ‘unusual’ jump in Evo [Morales’s] vote margin towards the end of the quick count. But the change was in fact gradual, as later-reporting areas were more pro-Evo than earlier ones.”

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Hoh writes that Veterans Administration “data shows among veterans that had deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, those in the youngest cohort, i.e. those most likely to have seen combat, had suicide rates, again adjusted for age and sex, 4-10 times higher than their civilian peers. … “The answer to this question of veteran suicide is simply that there is a clear link between combat and suicide. This link has been confirmed over and over again in peer reviewed research by the VA and U.S. universities. In a 2015 meta-analyis by the University of Utah National Center for Veteran Studies, researchers…

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“The resolutions, namely ‘Further Practical Measures for the Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space,’ ‘No First Placement of Weapons in Outer Space’ and ‘Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures in Outer Space,’ respectively received 124, 166 and 166 votes in favor. …The first resolution urges the global community to continue undertaking efforts to maintain peace and improve security in the world and avoid a conflict in space. …The United States and Israel were the only two member states that voted against all three resolutions.”

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“The OAS is interfering in Bolivia’s elections process without explanation or justification. The OAS admitted in its preliminary report that it was possible for Morales to be elected in the first round, but said there should be a second round anyway. They’re saying in effect that Bolivian law doesn’t matter; the results were too narrow for their taste, so they wanted a second round. …The rapid count shouldn’t even be part of the story now that the full official count is completed and all the information is public. But confusion over the nature of the rapid count results and the…

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Late last month seven Plowshares activists, motivated by the biblical edict to turn swords into plowshares, were convicted on four counts for entering the first strike Trident missile arsenal based at Kings Bay, Georgia to “symbolically disarm” the weapons. They are known as the Kings Bay Plowshares 7. During the trial, the judge prevented the jury from hearing expert testimony, including a declaration from Daniel Ellsberg about necessity and justification defenses for the activists. Similarly, the judge prohibited the activists from talking about international law, including treaties the U.S. is party to as part of their defense, threatening them and their lawyers with being held in…

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“Schiff’s record on foreign policy, civil liberties, human rights and other key issues has often put him more in line with Republicans than with liberal Democrats. … It is ironic, therefore, that Trump and the Republicans are portraying him as some kind of left-winger. …while Schiff has emerged as a marquee foe of Trumpism, we should be aware that he remains deeply enmeshed with corporatism and militarism. …Contrary to the wishes of the majority of his liberal California constituents, Schiff effectively renounced the UN Charter and the Nuremberg Principles by voting to authorize it and lied about Iraq having ‘weapons…

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“After more than a year in power, the popular Prime Minister Imran Khan’s PTI (Movement for Justice) ruling government is confronting its most dangerous assault yet. Despite the country being dogged by unscrupulous, criminal, and illegal capital flight by the ruling elites of the country as soon as Khan took power, as well as a concerted campaign of economic warfare from foreign powers to compel the PTI government to accept an IMF loan package, Khan’s supporters knew that he would face such opposition, both internally and externally, and have steadfastly weathered a very difficult storm in Pakistan’s political economy.”

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In 1998, Denis Halliday, who had just resigned as assistant secretary general of the United Nations and the head of the UN “oil-for-food” program in Iraq, warned that the long-term U.S. policies of bombings and sanctions threatened the rise of a “Taliban-type” movement — in effect foreseeing the rise of ISIS even before the 2003 invasion. Said Halliday: “Whatever happens now, I would underline the importance of responding to the younger generation of leadership in Iraq. Let’s avoid the possibility of a Taliban-type of movement emerging in the country, brought on by the isolation and anger and alienation that sanctions…

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“A new report from Defending Rights & Dissent finds that nearly every major social movement of the past decade — including Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, Standing Rock protesters, environmental activists, and supporters of Palestinian rights — has been targeted by the FBI.​..’This report exposes FBI political surveillance as systemic and part of a wider pattern of abuse. [It] documents how the FBI frequently cites its counterterrorism authorities when spying on protest groups. It also documents how the groups targeted by the FBI are frequently peace, racial justice, environmental, and economic justice advocates.”

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