2020-03-31: News Headlines

Eds. (2020-03-31). Nicaragua and the COVID-19 pandemic. mronline.org While each country's experience facing the COVID-19 pandemic is different, some common fundamental factors can make the difference between widespread catastrophe and relative stability. Nicaragua has so far been among the most successful countries in Latin America in protecting its population from the virus while also maintaining normal economic life. As of March 28th, Nicaragua …

Labor Video Project (2020-03-31). Stop The Theft Of Our Water! Fighting Constellation Brands Brewery In Mexicali, Mexico. indybay.org The New York based. Constellation Brands has illegally built a $1.5 billion brewery in Mexicali, Mexico. that will steal water from the Colorado river. This will divert water from agriculture. and. the people. A. popular voted opposed. it and are demanding be stopped.

Staff (2020-03-31). The US Decries Political Persecution of Nicaraguans But Won't Grant Them Asylum. truthout.org The second time around, John Martínez-Picado knew what awaited him inside "El Chipote." It had been almost a year but the spiral-shaped prison with its overcrowded underground cells and concrete beds on the floor still haunted him. He hadn't forgotten the suffocating feeling — "as if you were going to have a heart attack," Martínez-Picado said. He also hadn't fully recovered from the trauma of being forced to witness guards torture his cellmates, pulling out their fingernails and cutt…

WSWS (2020-03-30). Trump administration and Mexican government collaborate to deny life-saving care to refugees with HIV. wsws.org HIV-positive immigrants seeking asylum in the United States, who face a growing shortage of key medication in Mexico to maintain their compromised immune systems, must now also contend with a growing coronavirus epidemic.

Brenda Norrell (2020-03-30). Navajo Nation reports two deaths and 92 cases of coronavirus. indybay.org Navajo coronavirus cases increased to 92 cases, with two confirmed deaths. There were 21 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours for Dine' living in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

teleSUR (2020-03-28). Costa Rica Asks IMF for Exceptional Assistance Due to Covid-19. telesurenglish.net Costa Rica's President Carlos Alvarado Friday asked International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and the United Nations for better financing conditions to face the pandemic's economic effects. He also proposed "exceptional and historic" measures to protect the poorest. | RELATED: | "In the current context, the terms of financial assistance should be exceptional in terms of interest, grace period, and payment time," A…

Ashoka Mukpo (2020-03-26). Asylum Seekers Stranded in Mexico Face a New Danger: COVID-19. aclu.org Since the Trump administration first unrolled its policy of

Staff (2020-03-24). "Humanitarian Solidarity": Even Under U.S. Sanctions, Cuba Sends Doctor Brigade to Italy and More. democracynow.org As Italy's death toll soars past 6,000, Cuba has sent medical brigades to combat COVID-19. Cuba has also deployed doctors to Venezuela, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Suriname and Grenada. "The arrival of a medical brigade from Cuba to Italy is pretty historic. You have a leading European nation accepting support in the form of a medical team from a small Caribbean island," says our guest, Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive at George Washington University. "It just goes to the history of Cuba's deep and long-lasting commitment to humanitarian solidarity with other cou…

Michael Edison Hayden and Hannah Gais (2020-03-20). As White House Contemplates Coronavirus Asylum Ban, Hate Groups Urge Trump to Seize the Moment. splcenter.org The Trump administration took steps to block asylum seekers from entering the U.S.-Mexico border amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This nativist policy course has been pushed by anti-immigrant pundits and hate groups from the time the crisis started to unfold.