Portside

Despite the Trump sanctions that have included placing a number of hotels on a prohibited list for Americans, construction cranes tower over Havana neighborhoods near the sea, and government-owned and joint venture hotel projects are moving forward.

It was 7 AM April 30th in Caracas when I awoke to hear gun shots outside my hotel. Our group, seven US citizens and one Canadian, had been in here since April 27 attending a housing conference and looked forward to the next day’s May Day celebration.

U.S.-backed Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó launched an attempted coup. Dozens of people were injured in the bedlam that ensued. Guadió was hoping enough military leaders would defect, toppling the government of Nicolás Maduro. It flopped.

Reader Comments: Eyewitness Reports from Caracas, Venezuela; Impeachment debate; Anita Hill; Ilhan Omar; Higher Minimum Wage; Walt Whitman; Pete Seeger Tribute; Hubble Measurements; Racism and Women's Suffrage; lots of Announcements and more....

This is the story of Venezuela in black and white, the story not told in The New York Times or the rest of our establishment media. This year’s so-called popular uprising is, at its heart, a furious backlash of the whiter (and wealthier) Venezuelans

Reader Comments: Trump Shutdown; What LA Teachers Won; Impeach Trump; Roger Stone; Venezuela - Opposition to Coup Attempt; Resources to fight; Elizabeth Warren; Angela Davis Re-Awarded; Resources; Announcements - Black history and today; and more....

Now two Guatemalan children have died under Border Patrol custody. The agency’s role in Latin American oppression has a long history. It has has operated with near impunity, becoming arguably the most politicized branch of federal law enforcement...

Reader Comments: Green New Deal; Trump as Grifter; Nuclear Disarmament Movement Today; GM and Amazon; Chicago Teachers Win Charter Strike; Universal Health Care; Today in History - U.S. Invades Panama under George H.W. Bush; and more....

Reader Comments: George H.W. Bush's Ignored Legacy; Midterm election analysis; New York's two-tier minimum wage; Migrant Caravan; Sex, families, socialism; Political Culture of Fascism; Books for Children; Heather Booth film; Announcements; more...

The current crisis is not simply the story of a brave opposition and a brutal Ortega. It is a long-simmering conflict among different groups that has been carefully manipulated to put Nicaragua firmly and securely back under U.S. hegemony.