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Democracy Watch News www.DemocracyWatchNews.org
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Democracy Watch News is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation news service that builds networks of independent correspondents, editors, & news-production teams around the world to cover democracy, human rights, press freedom, Media responsibility, open governance, & sustainable public-policy.
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Ecuador and Mexico A Break in Relations and a Propaganda Strategy
Roberto Diaz @RRomanen &@dieresis_u on X, reports about the break of international relations between Mexico and Ecuador, and the effect it had in the Latin American region and internal politics struggles in both countries.
#LatinAmerica #Mexico #Ecuador #LatinAmerican #Democracy #DanielNoboa #AMLO #America #Geopolitics
Recorded April 27th 2024.Duration 7:19
On the night of Friday, April 5th, the Mexican embassy in Quito was raided by the Ecuadorian police, after Mexico granted political asylum to former Ecuadorian vice-president Jorge Glas. This action by the Mexican embassy was made after the Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa declared Mexican ambassador Raquel Serur persona non-grata, Ecuador’s government urged her to leave the country in the quickest time possible. The Mexican embassy was left under control of chief of mission Roberto Canseco, who was physically subdued by Ecuadorian police forces during the raid. Consequently, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador ordered the formal rupture of relations with the South American nation.
In response to this event, several countries came out in support of Mexico and condemned President Noboa's actions, which openly violated the Vienna Convention, where diplomatic missions of any country are declared as extensions of the respective countries and are granted immunity from the host country laws. The list of supporting nations includes Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Cuba, Honduras, Panama, and Peru; the latter had already severed diplomatic relations with Mexico in 2023. Additionally, there was a formal rupture of diplomatic relations with Nicaragua and Venezuela. In the northern hemisphere, the United States and Canada also spoke out against the raid on the Mexican embassy, as did the European Union, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia.
What reason did President Noboa have for raiding the embassy? The protocol for international political asylum, as outlined in Article 3, states that the granting country cannot provide asylum to an individual who is being prosecuted for common crimes in the requesting country. —That would be the legal justification for the raid. —However, the same article states that the evaluation of charges against the asylum seeker is the exclusive responsibility of the granting state. Therefore, the raid could not be justified, and on April 11th, the Mexican government formally filed a lawsuit against the Ecuadorian government in the International Court of Justice.
Meanwhile, in Ecuador, the majority party in parliament, the RC party Citizen Revolution distanced itself from agreements with the ruling coalition regarding security matters, following the attacks by criminal gangs in Quito, where criminals seized a television station and the University of Quito. As a result, Noboa's government lost its majority in the National Assembly.
The arrest has sparked speculation on social media and among various analysts, suggesting that the event was used as a political maneuver to sway the outcome of the referendum held on Sunday, April 22nd. Voter turnout reached 73% of the population, with a 60% approval rating for security reforms; 9 out of the 11 reforms proposed. Reforms regarding arbitration and hourly hiring were rejected by the population.
In 2025, Ecuador will have a new electoral process, where President Daniel Noboa will seek his reelection. He was elected only to cover the remaining term of his predecessor Guillermo Lasso's, after Lasso dissolved the congress and called for extraordinary elections. In a movement called as “Muerte Cruzada”
In Mexico, on the other hand, Ecuador's blow against Mexican diplomacy was favorably received by the Mexican opposition, such as Senator Lilly Tellez from the PAN party, who posted a statement on X, expressing her standing on Ecuador’s side. Also was opposed by Mexi -
Mexican President Vs The Media
Roberto Díaz reports https://twitter.com/dieresis_u. On February 22, 2024, during the presidential morning conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as AMLO, revealed a letter sent to him by the Mexico, Central America, and Caribbean bureau of the U.S. newspaper The New York Times. In the letter, the president was asked to respond to a series of questions sent by the newspaper's editor, Natalie Krittoef, with the intention of clarifying alleged illicit financing in his 2018 campaign.
During the press conference, the Mexican president read the letter containing the editor's phone number, which could be considered a violation of Mexico's journalist data protection law. It is worth mentioning that in recent weeks, there have been four attempts to link AMLO to organized crime—a report by DW, another by Pro-Publica, another by Insight Crime, and another by Latinus—all just four months before the presidential elections in Mexico, where all polls indicate the candidate from his political party, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, as the winner. It should be noted that all investigations have resulted in no substantiation.
On February 23, there was an interesting response from Univisión correspondent Jésica Zermeño, who, when questioned about the leak of an editor's phone number that was not private and was already publicly available on LinkedIn, the president's response about a "higher moral law" superior to the law established in the Mexican constitution was enough, fueling an already polarized relationship between his administration and the media.
Even though in 2023, according to the NGO Reporters Without Borders, four journalists were killed and 34 disappeared, making Mexico the second most dangerous country for journalism outside of Gaza, the media has tried to link López Obrador's presidency to the killings. Mainly denouncing "La Mañanera," the morning press conferences, to denigrate often biased work, as was the case with the misinformation spread by Diario de Yucatan about a supposed heart attack suffered by the president, further diminishing a critical stance on the search for evidence to justify the editorial lines pursued by different media outlets which supported the desinformation.
"If she has so much of a problem, she should change her number," was the response given by President AMLO regarding the issue, ignoring that things were only going to get more complicated from there on.
Communication experts, analysts, and national and international journalists, came to the defense of editor Natalie Krittoef due to the phone number leak. It should be noted that while the case of editor Natalie Krittoef went viral and at the same time generated sympathy, a second leak occurred of phone numbers linked to journalists attending "La Mañanera." These were later exploited by trolls and bots on social media to increase hate speech and threats against independent journalists who weren’t antagonistic with the AMLO’s administration.The inaction of organizations such as Article 19 in these cases was already expected. While the organization expressed concern about data leaking from more than 300 journalists attending "La Mañanera," an incident that was revealed on January 26 of this year, for the second leak, they stood silently.
Finally, the propaganda campaign "Change the Number," a campaign carried out by female journalists and actresses very active in the Mexican opposition such as Areli Paz, Paula Ordorica, Azucena Uresti, Lourdes Mendoza, and Denisse Dresser, where through a message on social networks, the journalist said, they were going to leak her number so that people could call them. For those who called expecting to get in touch with the journalists, they only found a pre-recorded message about the number of journalists killed in Mexico. Additionally, two of the profiles of the journalists who promoted this campaign, Denisse Dresser, and Azucena Uresti, were sel -
End Veteran Medical Debt
It is a misconception that our veterans receive free or affordable healthcare. As much as $6 Billion in veteran and military medical debt is burdening our bravest.
https://endveterandebt.org/ is the parent initiative Jerry Ashton’s group of several campaigns to mitigate the harms that can impact veterans including risk of suicide, unemployment, addiction, and poor health. https://endveterandebt.org/campaigns.
One campaign that this report focuses on is the campaign to End Veteran Medical Debt. Ways you can support this campaign are detailed. They include Signing a petition, contacting your congressperson, and following on Facebook and Twitter.
Jerry’s group has been also working for years on retiring medical debt for the general public with RIP Medical Debt.org. To date, that initiative has retired about $10 Billion in medical debt; erasing that burden from the lives of 7 million americans.
Duration:13:35 Recorded 2023-11-09
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Genocide in Balochistan part 4 of 4
This concludes our four part report on the genocide in Balochistan.
The Baloch problem started in 1833 when the British basically wanted to expand their imperial empire to Afghanistan. And there are two routes to Afghanistan. One is through Balochistan, one is through the Khyber Pass. And they tried it through that route, the other route, and they faced basically drastic humiliation. So the British played the game of basically, I want to lay a railway line, I want to lay a telegraph line along what is now the border between Pakistan and Iran, which was inside Balochistan. And then in 1928, basically Iran took that part and made it part of Iran. And In 1967, Pakistan was formed. Then the other part of Balochistan, in 1947, March 1948, Pakistan mobilized troops, backed fully by the British at the time, and occupied us.
Genocide, a term that evokes images of immense human suffering and the darkest chapters in history, has been an ongoing tragedy in the region of Balochistan. Balochistan, a vast and resource-rich province straddling the borders of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, has been plagued by a long-standing conflict marked by human rights violations and systematic targeting of its Baloch population. More information
Several members of the Baloch community describe what is happening to people in Balochistan now. “Pakistan is currently engaged in a sinister war against killing Baloch people; that is understandable, because Baloch people are asking for their party to be independent.” The capital of Pakistan, Karachi, is in the Balochistan area. The deep sea port in Karachi on the Arabian Sea is crucial to the Pakistan economy. China’s completion of its Silk Road project needs this port. Balochistan predates the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
Journalism is a dangerous profession in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. According to a report by Freedom Network, an independent national media watchdog, at least 53 journalists were murdered in Pakistan from 2012 to 2022. Only in two cases have convictions been obtained. Most journalists concede that “We write what the authorities want us to write. We can’t present the real facts.” Some examples of this violence are detailed in this report.
#Balochistan #Genocide #Pakistan #Iran
Recorded 2023-08-08 Duration 52:26
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Genocide in Balochistan part 3 of 4
This part 3 of 4 begins with a recounting of threats for journalists.
The Baloch problem started in 1833 when the British basically wanted to expand their imperial empire to Afghanistan. And there are two routes to Afghanistan. One is through Balochistan, one is through the Khyber Pass. And they tried it through that route, the other route, and they faced basically drastic humiliation. So the British played the game of basically, I want to lay a railway line, I want to lay a telegraph line along what is now the border between Pakistan and Iran, which was inside Balochistan. And then in 1928, basically Iran took that part and made it part of Iran. And In 1967, Pakistan was formed. Then the other part of Balochistan, in 1947, March 1948, Pakistan mobilized troops, backed fully by the British at the time, and occupied us.
Genocide, a term that evokes images of immense human suffering and the darkest chapters in history, has been an ongoing tragedy in the region of Balochistan. Balochistan, a vast and resource-rich province straddling the borders of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, has been plagued by a long-standing conflict marked by human rights violations and systematic targeting of its Baloch population. More information
Several members of the Baloch community describe what is happening to people in Balochistan now. “Pakistan is currently engaged in a sinister war against killing Baloch people; that is understandable, because Baloch people are asking for their party to be independent.” The capital of Pakistan, Karachi, is in the Balochistan area. The deep sea port in Karachi on the Arabian Sea is crucial to the Pakistan economy. China’s completion of its Silk Road project needs this port. Balochistan predates the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
Journalism is a dangerous profession in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. According to a report by Freedom Network, an independent national media watchdog, at least 53 journalists were murdered in Pakistan from 2012 to 2022. Only in two cases have convictions been obtained. Most journalists concede that “We write what the authorities want us to write. We can’t present the real facts.” Some examples of this violence are detailed in this report.
#Balochistan #Genocide #Pakistan #Iran #HumanRights
Recorded 2023-08-08 Duration 43:46
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Genocide in Balochistan part 2 of 4
Genocide, a term that evokes images of immense human suffering and the darkest chapters in history, has been an ongoing tragedy in the region of Balochistan. Balochistan, a vast and resource-rich province straddling the borders of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, has been plagued by a long-standing conflict marked by human rights violations and systematic targeting of its Baloch population. More information
Several members of the Baloch community describe what is happening to people in Balochistan now. “Pakistan is currently engaged in a sinister war against killing Baloch people; that is understandable, because Baloch people are asking for their party to be independent.” The capital of Pakistan, Karachi, is in the Balochistan area. The deep sea port in Karachi on the Arabian Sea is crucial to the Pakistan economy. China’s completion of its Silk Road project needs this port. Balochistan predates the creation of Pakistan in 1947.
Journalism is a dangerous profession in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. According to a report by Freedom Network, an independent national media watchdog, at least 53 journalists were murdered in Pakistan from 2012 to 2022. Only in two cases have convictions been obtained. Most journalists concede that “We write what the authorities want us to write. We can’t present the real facts.” Some examples of this violence are detailed in this report.
#Baluchistan #Genocide #Pakistan #Iran #BritishImperialism #HumanRights
Recorded 2023-08-08 Duration 36:34
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#Mexico #Canada #USA stories/events affecting #democracy #humanrights #journalism #opengov #environment.
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Democracy Watch News is currently produced by volunteers. Please donate, we are now a 501c3 charitable nonprofit in the USA. Donations are tax deductible.
Please share with your networks.