SOUTHCOM to Conduct Flight Over Guyana - US Embassy in Guyana

In collaboration with the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) will conduct flight operations within Guyana on December 7. This exercise builds upon routine engagement and operations to enhance security partnership between the United States and Guyana, and to strengthen regional cooperation.

In addition to this exercise, USSOUTHCOM will continue its collaboration with the GDF in the areas of disaster preparedness, aerial and maritime security, and countering transnational criminal organizations.

The U.S. will continue its commitment as Guyana’s trusted security partner and promoting regional cooperation and interoperability.

Lula will not attend Milei's inauguration

The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party), will not attend the inauguration of Javier Milei as President of Argentina on December 10, as confirmed to the portal G1 by the Secretariat of Social Communication of the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil. Vice-President Geraldo José Alckmin (Socialist Party of Brazil) will not attend either.

The official sources quoted by the portal also added that Brazil will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira.

Wait, sudan is still doing their weird military vs military civil war

I numbered the following Guardian summary to be easier to comment on. What a horror show.

The summary has lots of links if you're interested.

---

tl;dr

2. The cumulative total is 17,177 deaths and 46,000 injured

3. Nowhere is safe.

5. Israel is attacking a hospital. I put this in a comment already.

7. In the West Bank - Israel is shooting people in the head and torso instead of the legs.

8. Unbearable, unsustainable, no safe place

9. Netanyahu warned Hezbollah.

10. Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, said that Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip is "genocide".

11. No progress on a new humanitarian pause.

12. Biden's going to use the US's veto at the UN when they call for ceasefire.

13. The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said Israel should "behave differently".

14. On October 13th Israel killed a Reuters journalist

16. Four arms factories in UK closed due to protesters. Other activity happening in France, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Summary of the day so far | The Guardian

It’s 10pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

1. Israel’s military has continued its heavy bombardment amid intense fighting in Gaza as its war with Hamas hit the two-month mark. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they had struck about 250 targets in Gaza over a 24-hour period, ending on Thursday morning. At the northern end of the Gaza Strip, there was heavy fighting in the Jabaliya refugee camp.
    
2. At least 350 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the course of 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry said in its latest update on Thursday. The cumulative total is 17,177 deaths and 46,000 injured since the war began on 7 October, according to the ministry’s tally. About 20 people were killed in airstrikes that hit two homes in the residential part of Rafah in southern Gaza, according to witnesses. Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt, is where the IDF has told people to relocate to avoid areas likely to be bombed.
    
3. Israeli forces have given contradictory recommendations to Gaza civilians on where to seek refuge and humanitarian relief. Those who have fled to an IDF-declared “humanitarian zone” at al-Mawasi in the south-west corner of the Gaza Strip have depicted a desperate scene with no shelter and barely any food. The IDF, meanwhile, has not ruled out bombing the area.
    
4. The UN aid chief has said there are “promising signs” that the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel could soon be opened to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. “It would be the first miracle we’ve seen for some weeks, but would also be a huge boost to the logistical process and logistical base of a humanitarian operation,” Martin Griffiths told reporters on Thursday. His comments came after a senior Israeli official said that Israel will open the crossing for the inspection of humanitarian aid trucks for the first time since the outbreak of the war.
    
5. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has described reports of Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza being besieged as “extremely concerning”. On Wednesday, a hospital spokesperson said the facility was “besieged” by Israeli forces, adding that 95 employees and 38 patients were still inside the hospital.
    
6. The IDF said it killed two senior officials in Hamas’s intelligence division in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip this week. In a statement, the IDF said Abed al-Aziz Rantisi and Ahmed Ayush were killed in a strike on a Hamas intelligence command room “a few days ago”. Separately, the IDF said the son of Israeli cabinet minister Gadi Eizenkot was killed in fighting in northern Gaza.
    
7. The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said there had been a “clear shift” in the injuries of Palestinian gunshot victims in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. MSF staff in West Bank hospitals have noted that victims are now being shot more often in the head and torso rather than the limbs, according to the organisation’s international president, Christos Christou. Meanwhile, Belgium will deny entry to Israeli settlers from the occupied West Bank involved in violence against Palestinians, the country’s deputy prime minister, Petra De Sutter, has said.
    
8. MSF head Christos Christou has also warned that Gaza faces a catastrophe extending far beyond a humanitarian crisis, describing the situation in the densely populated enclave as chaotic. “My teams on the ground keep saying to me that it is unbearable. It is unsustainable...There is no safe place,” he said.
    
9. Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Hezbollah against escalating the fighting after an Israeli man was killed by a guided-missile attack fired from Lebanon on Thursday, according to Israeli reports. “If Hezbollah chooses to start an all-out war then it will by its own hand turn Beirut and southern Lebanon, not far from here, into Gaza and Khan Younis,” the Israeli prime minister said.
    
10. The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has said that Israel’s attacks on the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip amounted to “genocide”, and urged the bombing be stopped as soon as possible. His comments came as he spoke to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in a meeting on Thursday at a meeting in the Kremlin, in which Putin said it was vital to discuss the issue of Palestine.
     
11. The White House has said Israel and Hamas are not close to another deal on a new humanitarian pause. Discussions are happening “literally every day” on a possible new agreement, the White House’s national security council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Thursday. The Pentagon said the US military has resumed its flights of surveillance drones over Gaza to aid the search for hostages taken by Hamas.
     
12. The Biden administration geared up for a showdown at the UN security council in the next 48 hours at which it may feel impelled to use its veto to protect Israel by rejecting calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The United Arab Emirates, the only Arab country on the 15-strong security council, said it would table a resolution on Thursday for debate on Friday after the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and most Islamic states called for the ceasefire.
     
13. The UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, has said Israel should “behave differently” in southern Gaza than it has in the north. Cameron, in an interview with CNN, said he agreed with comments by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, that Israel “cannot have a repeat of what happened in the north in the south in terms of harm being done to civilians”.
     
14. Israeli tank shells fired in quick succession killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six others as they filmed in Lebanon on 13 October, investigations by their employers have found. Human rights groups have called for a war crimes investigation into the attacks.
     
15. The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, has described a decision by António Guterres to invoke article 99 of the UN charter as “the right thing to do”. The UN chief infuriated Israel on Thursday by invoking the article to notify the security council that the crisis in Gaza represented a threat to world peace. It was the first time he had invoked the article since he became secretary general in 2017.
     
16. Four arms factories in the UK producing parts for Israeli fighter jets have been forced to close by protesters operating under the banner Workers for a Free Palestine. The blockades have been organised in coordination with workers in France, Denmark and the Netherlands, who are also blockading arms factories.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/10/hong-kong-holds-patriot-only-election-after-shutting-out-opposition

Patriots are in control

Neo-Guaido (María Corina Machado) defends Venezuela's position:

"Now, in my opinion, the country must "present an impeccable defense" of "the rights" it has over the territory in question before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which declared itself competent to rule on the case this year, with a team made up of the "best specialists" to "demonstrate that the Essequibo belongs to Venezuela".

Giora Eiland, retired Israeli general and former national security advisor, writing today in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot:

"The State of Gaza's weakness is its lack of resources. It has no energy, no food and not even water. As such, it can be easily defeated by means of an economic blockade. Hamas is pleased to see its subjects getting killed by IDF fire. But it is afraid of hundreds of thousands of starving and hopeless civilians rising up in rebellion. That is an outcome that can be achieved by creating a severe shortage in medical treatment, food, cooking gas and fuel."

No comment necessary

Nitter

https://nitter.net/dana916/status/1732186124343292296

Updates on the actions of the Venezuelan government as a result of the Esequiba referendum.

I don't think there will be an invasion, per se. I think it will be a soft annexation. Venezuela will start doing government-y things there like building roads and providing aid to the people living there. If Guyana tries to stop them, Venezuela may retaliate.

That's my theory, anyway.

Ukro-nazis, while whining about how short-changed and poor they are, waste more money to remove more statues of communist heroes and liberators.

This time they targeted, his rank would be in English, Lieutenant General Mykola Shchors for his role in liberating Ukraine from the fascists of Symon Petliura's Ukrainian "People's Republic", the perfidious Polish reactionaries, and marauding murderous divisions of the imperialist Kraut Kaiserreich during the Civil War.

Rest in power, comrade Shchors

Death to the fascists.

Gotta keep the genocide / ethnic cleansing machine going at top speed.

US State Department to bypass congressional review period to send Israel thousands of munitions, source says - cnn.com

The US State Department transmitted an emergency declaration to lawmakers late Friday night for the sale of thousands of munitions to Israel, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told CNN. The move bypasses the standard 20-day period that congressional committees are typically afforded to review such a sale.

The declaration followed a request by the State Department earlier in the week for Congress to approve the sale of 45,000 shells to Israel for its Merkava tanks. The source added that the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which have oversight over military sales, had been under “pressure” from the State Department to approve the request quickly amid Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

The committees typically have 20 days to review foreign military sales, allowing lawmakers to raise questions about a transaction and delay it if needed. But late Friday night, the State Department transmitted an emergency declaration to the committees for 13,000 of the tank shells, worth about $106 million, for immediate delivery to Israel, the source said Saturday.

“Effective immediately, the items can be transferred,” the source said. “No further information, details or assurances were provided.”

The administration’s move to transfer some of the munitions comes as the US is under growing domestic and international pressure to support a ceasefire in Gaza, and place conditions on some of the weapons it is providing to Israel.

“As a matter of policy, we do not confirm or comment on proposed defense transfers or sales until they have been formally notified to Congress,” a State Department spokesperson told CNN when asked about the request.

Reuters first reported the initial administration request for 45,000 shells.

Bolivia joined Mercosur today

Venezuelan Govt. Congratulates Citizens on Referendum Results

The consultative referendum constituted "a great victory of national unity, in which there are no winners or losers, but an extraordinary triumph of Venezuela," said the Venezuelan Public Prosecutor's Office in a statement.

The All Venezuela campaign command congratulated on Monday the Venezuelan people for the results achieved in Sunday's consultative referendum, in a day it considered extraordinary, different and atypical.

Héctor Rodríguez, responsible for broad alliances and micro-campaigns of the group, highlighted in a press conference that the popular consultation culminated yesterday in "an extraordinary day of national unity" and thanked the more than 10 million 500 thousand Venezuelans who turned out to vote.

The sovereignty of the country won because we gave "a clear message of national unity for the defense of integrity" and remarked that the campaign taught "much more about our history, rights, geography, territory and integrity."

The governor of the state of Miranda pointed out that now the obligation of all citizens and institutions is to "absolutely obey" the mandate given by the Venezuelan people yesterday.

Furthermore, the secretary of spokesperson and social networks of the Venezuela Toda campaign command, Génesis Garvett, signified the message of "unity and peace" given to the world with the results of the referendum, the seventh since the arrival of the Revolution.

A statement issued by the Public Ministry, read on Monday by the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, pointed out that the consultative referendum constituted "a great victory of national unity, in which there are no winners or losers, but an extraordinary triumph of Venezuela."

He stressed that this Sunday's electoral act "opens a new era" and constitutes a transcendental event for the western hemisphere, and also highlighted its "civility and neatness."

Moreover, in an official statement last night before a crowd at the National Stadium in Providence, the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, said that no propaganda or "lie will put fear in my heart or the hearts of Guyanese" and assured that the people "will not allow themselves to be trampled."

The President urged to "honor the order" of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of last week, in which the UN tribunal asked both parties to refrain from any action that could "aggravate or widen the territorial dispute" over Essequiba Guyana.

In its resolution, approved unanimously by the judges, the ICJ also notified that Caracas "shall refrain from taking any action that could modify the situation currently prevailing in the disputed territory" and that "Guyana administers and exercises control over that area."

Venezuela reiterated in a communiqué that it will firmly maintain its unwavering defense of international legality and of the Geneva Agreement as "the only legal instrument" that allows for reaching a practical and satisfactory solution for both parties, through friendly, political and peaceful negotiations.

Your Thursday Briefing

Sweden and the US have signed their first ever defense cooperation agreement.

Italy has terminated its participation in the Belt and Road agreement, set for official expiration in March 2024. More than half of the EU's members are still part of the Belt and Road.

An audit on Volkswagen's jointly owned plant in Xinjiang has found no indications of forced labour. The audit found that employees were qualified, had worked for the company for years, had a low work intensity, and are paid above the region average.

Russian oil revenues are now higher than they were before the Ukraine War began. Far from the sanctions curtailing Russian oil exports, they have instead provided the impetus for the creation of an alternative financial architecture of the oil and maritime trade in a way that is probably irreversible, in the typical mythical sense of "trying to prevent something happening only makes it happen faster."

A freighter collided with a floating bridge in the Suez Canal, but unfortunately has not disrupted maritime traffic.

Japan's PM, Kishida, is stepping down as the chief of his faction, Kochikai, in the ruling LDP amid a growing scandal.

The former leader of the “armed wing” of the US and French-backed coalition which drove President Aristide from power in 2004, Guy Philippe, was returned to Haiti on a U. Department of Homeland Security-chartered flight to Port-au-Prince in November; he has bitterly denounced President Henry's government as "US tools", proposing that instead of foreign intervention, Haitians should organize themselves alongside the police and army to reestablish security.

Ukraine's Defense Minister, Umerov, has met with Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon to discuss the long term vision of Ukraine and the future of aid packages from the US.

All of the V-22 Ospreys in Japan have been grounded for a week for investigations after a CV-22 crashed off the coast of Japan, killing 8 American airmen.

German service union negotiated an atrocious contract for employees of federal states (like Bavaria). This is 4 years in a row it went like that. Wage gains are far below inflation.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MarxistCulture/comments/189xky9/cuban_comrades_in_donbass/

Cubans in donbass

Would trump being re-elected actually be good for Palestine vis-à-vis American liberals doing orange man bad discourse enough to convince themselves that his support of i****l is bad and wrong?

Peruvians, Let's Keep the Flame of Hope Alive: Pedro Castillo

"Persevere in our struggle to free our homeland from the criminal claws threatening our future," the former president said.

On Thursday, former Peruvian president Pedro Castillo demanded his immediate release and reinstatement, marking one year since his provisional detention on charges of rebellion and conspiracy.

On Dec. 7, 2022, Castillo announced the dissolution of Congress and the establishment of a government to rule by decree. This move received no support from any party or the military.

Subsequently, he was removed by the Legislature and arrested while heading to the Mexican embassy. Castillo was later sent to prison with a provisional detention valid up to 2025.

Since then, his defense lawyer has filed five habeas corpus petitions with the Constitutional Court in an attempt to achieve his release.

During a public hearing on Dec. 4, Castillo requested the nullification of the proceedings against him. The Constitutional Court is expected to rule on the petitions filed by his lawyers.

Castillo emphasized that he never took up arms and his actions were not coordinated with anyone. He also asserted that his removal resulted from a conspiracy between the Congress and the Prosecutor's Office, which was investigating him for alleged corruption.

"A year ago, Peru witnessed the kidnapping I suffered at the hands of criminal groups that now exercise corrupt control over our country. They usurped my people's will by snatching away their votes. These groups massacred the people when they rose in protest."

"Peruvians, let's keep the flame of hope alive, persevere in our struggle to free our homeland from the criminal claws threatening our future. Here, no one gives up! Freedom and reinstatement!" Castillo posted on social media.

On Thursday, hundreds of Peruvians took to the streets to protest against President Dina Boluarte, who was appointed a year ago by Congress after Castillo's removal.

Lima and other cities in the southern part of the country witnessed protest marches, occurring one day after the release of former dictator Alberto Fujimori and the suspension of Prosecutor Patricia Benavides.

The president of Guyana, Irfaan Ali gives an exclusive interview to Globo:

"We expect Brazil to play a leading role, a significant role in ensuring that this region remains... What Guyana wants, Guyana's only ambition is for this region to remain a region of peace and stability, where we can all coexist in harmony," said the Guyanese president.

Ali says he sees Brazil's support for Guyana and classifies the Brazilian government's response to the impasse as "very mature" - on Sunday (3), President Lula (Workers' Party) said he hoped both sides would have "common sense".

"As you know, before the referendum I had a conversation with President Lula. President Lula and the Brazilian government sent a team of envoys to Venezuela to talk to President Maduro. We see the Brazilian government taking measures to secure its territory."

The fact that Brazil has a good relationship with Venezuela is not a cause for concern for Guyana, says the president.

"Brazil has a good relationship with us too and we expect Venezuela to act with principle. We spoke with President Lula and the foreign minister (Mauro Vieira) and they both assured us that Venezuela will be on the right side of the law ... So we have confidence that Brazil will act responsibly, in a way that befits a country that shows maturity and leadership."

'Venezuela is very unpredictable'

Asked about a possible military invasion by the Venezuelans, Irfaan Ali said that "Venezuela is very unpredictable".

The Guyanese president recalled that the plebiscite on the annexation of Guyana's territory took place despite a ban by the International Court of Justice.

"They sent a message to the International Court of Justice that they are not concerned about an international order and the order of the Court. When dealing with a state like that, you have to ensure that you are on the side of caution, you have to ensure that you have all the systems in place for any eventuality, because there is no rationality, there is no rational behavior," argued Irfaan Ali.

The Empire Aims to Deprive Us of Our Land: President Maduro

"The U.S. empire, the remnants of the British empire, and the right-wing aim to deprive us of our land," he denounced.

On Thursday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro denounced that forces opposed to the Bolivarian nation are trying to strip his country of the Guayana Esequiba territory.

"This land was not gifted to us by the U.S. empire. On the contrary, the U.S. empire, the remnants of the British empire, and the right-wing aim to deprive us of our land," he said during an event in which the Great Venezuela Housing Mission handed over the 4.8 millionth house.

Referring to statements made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Maduro warned that his words reflect "a discourse against Venezuela by supporting the 1899 Arbitral Award, which they imposed with the British empire."

"The U.S. government is biased against Venezuela... They aim to dismember the country into 20 pieces and steal the wealth that belongs to Venezuelan men and women."

The Bolivarian leader also announced that his administration will honor the Guayana Esequiba communities with the construction of 120 houses in San Martin de Turumban, on the edge of the Cuyuni River.

Meanwhile, Vice President Delcy Rodriguez urged Guyana's President Irfaan Ali to desist from his illicit and illegitimate actions, comply with the 1966 Geneva Agreement, and respect the results of the Essequibo referendum held on December 3.

She recalled that Venezuela does not recognize the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in the resolution of the Essequibo territorial controversy, highlighting that Venezuelan diplomacy's historical stance was unanimously supported by the people in the consultative.

On Thursday, Venezuelan Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez rejected the conduct of U.S. military exercises in Guyana.

"This unfortunate provocation by the United States in favor of ExxonMobil's praetorians in Guyana is another step in the wrong direction. We warn that they will not divert us from our future actions for the recovery of the Essequibo," he said.

Lots of second guessing of actually existing socialist states. 🤔