Mass mobilization in Caracas rejects US threats of intervention
Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Demonstrators marched through central Caracas and demanded an end to military threats against Venezuela. For his part, Trump is keeping the lines of communication open with Caracas while increasing pressure on Chavista leaders.
On November 25, tens of thousands of Venezuelans marched to defend national sovereignty. The event, dubbed the “Great Civic-Military, Police March for our National Flag and the Sword of Bolívar”, brought together various groups of military personnel, police, and civilians who demanded an end to Washington’s pressure on the Caribbean country.
Since August, the Pentagon has deployed its troops in the Caribbean Sea to, according to the Trump administration, stop the entry of drugs which allegedly come out of Venezuela. At the same time, they have declared the Cartel de los Soles an international terrorist organization and identified the Venezuelan government leadership as part of that organization.
Read more: US deploys aircraft carrier and threatens invasion of Venezuela, while expanding “drug” war to Colombia
However, Caracas has categorically rejected the accusations, which, according to Chavismo, are a crude and false attempt to pave the way for the overthrow of President Nicolás Maduro and establish a puppet government allied with the demands and needs of the United States, which would be after Venezuela’s mineral and oil reserves, the largest in the world.
Tuesday’s demonstration took place in the center of Caracas, the country’s capital, and sought to showcase and strengthen the mass popular defense of Venezuela’s sovereignty in the face of possible US military intervention. “Bolívar is more alive than ever among us, the anti-imperialist Bolívar, the genius Bolívar…” said PSUV secretary and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
For several weeks, Chavismo has been preparing for a possible scenario in which it must face an invasion by the world’s largest military power. To this end, it has carried out coordination exercises between the organized bases of Chavismo, the National Bolivarian Militia, and the army and police.
In this regard, Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino emphasized that Washington’s recent actions are intended to cause fear and intimidate the Venezuelan people: “Bombers, ships, destroyers, submarines, all equipped with guided missiles; fighter planes approaching the coast, trying to intimidate a people.” Despite this, he affirmed that Venezuelan forces are ready to respond to any scenario.
During the mobilization, Maduro told attendees: “Venezuela faces a decisive moment for its existence… There is no excuse for anyone, whether civilian, politician, military, or police, to make excuses. Failure is not an option! Our homeland demands our utmost effort and sacrifice.”
Trump’s ambiguity
For its part, the Trump administration continues to maintain an ambiguous stance on the situation in Venezuela. On the one hand, it has ordered the Cartel de los Soles to be declared a terrorist organization, which, according to Washington’s official line, makes Maduro the leader of a terrorist group.
However, Trump is aware of the enormous political damage that an attack on Venezuela could cause his administration. Perhaps that is why he is not ruling out the possibility of forcing Maduro out through hard diplomacy, namely through the pressure his troops are exerting on Venezuela’s borders in the Caribbean Sea.
On November 25, Trump said: “If we can save lives, if we can do things the nice way, that’s fine… [But] if we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine too.”
Many have seen the upcoming visit to the Dominican Republic by Pete Hegseth, the US Secretary of War, as a new maneuver to strengthen their military positions. Dominican President Luis Abinader, an ally of Washington, reported that the purpose of the visit is to strengthen the joint fight against drug trafficking in the region, which can be interpreted as an alliance in preparation for a war scenario in the Caribbean Sea.
Similarly, the Chief of Staff of the United States, Dan Caine, has been touring the Caribbean. Caine is one of the architects of Operation Southern Spear, the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) mission launched on November 13, 2025 by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to “removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people.” Presumably, though it is not clarified, the operation is a continuation of the military deployment and pressure campaign that began in August which has seen 15,000 soldiers stationed in the Caribbean and the launching of attacks on dozens of boats, resulting in the extrajudicial killings of over 80 people in international waters who, according to Washington, were carrying drugs in their boats, although several human rights organizations have strongly questioned these claims.
For his part, Albert Ramdin, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, has called for a halt to a possible attack on Venezuela, despite his critical stance against the Chavista government: “We do not want any war in our hemisphere. Peace is, ultimately, what everyone in this hemisphere wants. No one wins in a war.”
Original article by Pablo Meriguet republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
With over 112,000 killed, new study links Gaza’s massacre to past genocides
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
A devastating new study has found that more than 112,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its assault in October 2023. This figure, drawn from the most extensive demographic analysis conducted to date, far exceeds the official death toll and reveals a pattern of killing that researchers say mirrors past genocides documented by the United Nations.
The study, carried out by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany and the Centre for Demographic Studies Spain, was published in the peer-reviewed journal Population Health Metrics. The researchers estimate that between 99,997 and 125,915 Palestinians died in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 6 October 2025, with a median estimate of 112,069.
The findings are based on a wide range of data sources, including hospital records, household surveys and public death notices, and take into account the thousands of unregistered deaths caused by families being buried under rubble or unable to reach medical care.
The researchers found that the overwhelming majority of deaths are among civilians. Children under the age of 15 account for an estimated 27 per cent of the dead, while women make up 24 per cent. Elderly people, particularly those over 60, are also heavily undercounted in official figures.
Gaza death toll could be over 186,000: Report
This distribution of deaths across women, children and the elderly, rather than combat-aged men, is not typical of warfare. It is, the authors note, consistent with what the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation has observed in previous genocides. The study states explicitly that the age-sex pattern of deaths in Gaza closely resembles those seen during genocidal violence, not battlefield engagements between military forces.
In addition to the sheer scale of the killing, the study found that Gaza’s life expectancy has collapsed. Before Israel’s onslaught, Palestinian women in Gaza could expect to live to the age of 77 and men to 74. By the end of 2024, these numbers had plunged to 46 for women and just 36 for men.
According to the researchers, this represents one of the most dramatic drops in life expectancy ever recorded, and reflects the unprecedented threat to life facing the entire population.
Crucially, the study’s findings contradict claims by Israeli officials and their allies that Palestinian health authorities have inflated casualty figures. While the Gaza Health Ministry had reported around 67,000 deaths during the same period, the Max Planck research indicates that this figure likely captures only a portion of the actual death toll.
Unlike the Ministry, which counts only confirmed deaths, the study incorporates those who were unrecorded due to the collapse of Gaza’s medical infrastructure or the total destruction of family units in Israeli airstrikes. Researchers stress that rather than being exaggerated, official numbers from Gaza are more likely conservative and incomplete.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
‘A worsening of a terrible norm’
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/worsening-terrible-norm
An elderly lady with her electric fire on at home in LiverpoolGovernment urged to tackle high electricity prices and boost insulation in next week’s Budget as elderly, low-income families and homeless people struggle to stay warm
CAMPAIGNERS and trade union leaders urged the government today to tackle high electricity prices and boost insulation in next week’s Budget.
The Energy Crisis Commission, which brings together representatives from Energy UK, the Confederation of British Industry, Citizens Advice and National Energy Action (NEA), highlighted the continuing struggles of households, especially the elderly, low-income families and homeless people, as temperatures drop.
The call came as an emergency severe weather plan was activated for the first time this winter in London, warning of pressure across the health and social care sectors.
While welcoming the government’s commitment to clean energy, the commission said the transition will stall unless ministers take meaningful steps to lower bills.
It warned that Britain remains critically exposed to further energy market volatility and price spikes due to its heavy reliance on gas.
The group urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to use the Budget to set out how the government will reduce the gap between electricity and gas prices, in order to support the energy transition.
It said ministers should also review how policy costs, which fund renewable energy projects and social schemes, are charged.
These are currently added to household bills, but the commission suggested moving them into general taxation or spreading them more evenly across energy types to ease costs for consumers.
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Continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/worsening-terrible-norm
Zack Polanski: ‘Labour Has Lost Its Soul On Immigration, Their Silent MPs Should Be Ashamed’
Finnbarr Webster via Getty Images
Writing for HuffPost UK, the Greens leader says only his party will stand up to the powerful and defend the 99%.
Last week, when Home Office Minister Mike Tapp fired off his crass “deport, deport, deport” tweet, he wasn’t trying to fix a broken system, he was talking directly to voters Labour have lost to Reform.
He thought he was being tough. And yes, I’m sure Labour strategists smirked. But millions of people across this country weren’t amused. They were horrified. Because this is not leadership. It is cruelty. Cheap, dangerous, divisive cruelty aimed at the people with the least power.
And when I called it out, Tapp threw more playground insults around and called me a communist. That’s McCarthyism. That bleak, paranoid era when smearing people replaced making arguments. That’s where Labour is now.
And of course, all of this bile comes as Westminster prepares for next week’s Budget. Another opportunity for Labour, Reform, and the Conservatives to talk about how they are standing up for ordinary people all while “asking” them to pay more and allowing the very wealthiest to get richer and richer. It’s grotesque.
I obviously disagree with them, but I get why so many people say they’re considering Reform. They can see a truth: the political establishment, of which Reform is part, has been ripping them off for years. Bills through the roof. Wages that don’t stretch. Young people locked out of housing. And into this frustration steps the far right, pointing the finger at migrants and asylum seekers. And instead of confronting that lie head-on, Labour has chosen to echo it.
This week, the Labour government decided, deliberately, to outbid Reform on cruelty. This is morally repugnant and complete political cowardice.
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Article continues at https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/zack-polanski-labour-has-lost-its-soul-on-immigration-their-silent-mps-should-be-ashamed_uk_691dce5ae4b0b763ab8cecbc
