cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41984694

Jan. 20, 2026
[from weekly newsletter about Cuba (with YouTube video links) from the Belly Of The Beast news/video collective.]

Donald Trump has boasted about the killing of 32 Cuban security personnel who died at the hands of U.S. Special Forces during the January 3 abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump called the Cubans “thugs and extortionists” who held Venezuela hostage for many years.

Yunio Estévez Samón, one of those killed in the U.S. attack, was neither a thug nor an extortionist. He was a 32-year-old cryptographer and a dedicated family man who has left behind a wife and three children. Belly of the Beast journalist Liz Oliva Fernández interviewed Claudia Rafaela, a close friend of Yunio’s, who talked about his death and the life he was building before it was cut short. See the interview.​

Meanwhile, last week in Havana, thousands of Cubans joined in mourning alongside the families of those killed in Venezuela. And many more took to the streets to denounce U.S. aggression in a massive pro-government march to the U.S. Embassy.

We are still in desperate need of your help. Everyone around us lives in safety, warmth, and happiness… but we have been deprived of that for two long years. We are trying to rebuild our lives from zero, but life in the tents makes everything harder.

Imagine living in winter inside nothing but a thin piece of nylon that cannot protect you from the freezing cold… Imagine wishing to eat something simple, but you can’t find it… or it exists, but the price is so high you can only look at it from afar… Imagine trying to stay strong for your children while everything around you falls apart.

Any donation — no matter how small — can help us take one step toward rebuilding our lives. Please… do not forget us. Your support means survival for us. https://gofund.me/00439328

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7394646

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/20973

Nearly half a million Cubans marched through the streets of Havana to honor the 32 Cubans who were killed in combat during the US military incursion into Venezuela on January 3, 2025.

The Cuban military personnel who were in Venezuela were carrying out collaborative activities previously agreed upon with the Caracas government. The thirty Cubans killed were personally protecting Nicolás Maduro before he was kidnapped by the US military and brought to the United States, where he is currently on trial.

In Cuba, the revolutionary government has given the remains of the 32 Cubans killed every possible honor. Several days of national mourning were declared on the Caribbean island, in addition to official tours in which the fallen were carried through the streets of Cuba before being laid to rest with all the country’s military tributes.

The large demonstration was led by Cuba’s highest authorities, including members of the government, representatives of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), senior officers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and various social and political organizations that accompanied the victims’ families in their grief.

Patriotic slogans marked the voice of the crowd that rejected the murder of their compatriots: “Down with imperialism,” “Cuba yes, Yankees no,” and “Justice for the fallen” were some of the cries heard in the streets of the Cuban capital.

Yudelkis Ortiz, one of the top representatives of the PCC, said in her speech in the Plaza de la Revolución: “These heroes have raised the name of Cuba to the heights of the firmament. To die for the freedom of a brother people is the highest form of living … Our heroes knew, as every Cuban knows in the depths of their conscience, that on this island we are not born to live on our knees, but to die standing up if necessary, defending justice.”

Díaz-Canel warns that they will not surrender

For his part, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel told hundreds of thousands of students, workers, scientists, and artists: “On January 3, 2026, in the darkest hour of the early morning, while its noble people slept, Venezuela was attacked in its entirety on the orders of US President Donald Trump. Once again, now in his homeland, Bolívar’s visionary statement that ‘the United States seems destined by providence to plague America with misery in the name of freedom’ was confirmed. And Ernesto Che Guevara’s warning that ‘imperialism cannot be trusted even a little bit, not at all’.”

On the death of the 32 Cuban soldiers, the Cuban president declared: “The sacred remains of our 32 compatriots arrived yesterday in their homeland, as eternal soldiers of the integration we owe ourselves. They are the only possible measure of the courage and character of Cubans loyal to a brotherhood forged since the time of Bolívar, exalted by Martí, and now legendary thanks to the close relationship between Fidel and Chávez, leaders of regional integration who in just a few years brought literacy, restored sight, and provided medical and educational services to millions of Venezuelans and other inhabitants of our Latin America and the Caribbean.”

He also emphasized that there was indeed combat between US forces and those stationed in Venezuela, despite attempts by much of the international media to promote the idea that there was no confrontation: “No matter how much they insist on glorifying their soldiers camouflaged with helmets and bulletproof vests, night vision goggles, overprotected by planes, helicopters, and swarms of drones amid intentional blackouts, the Delta terrorists’ assault was not the walk in the park they have sold to the world.”

“One day, we will know the whole truth, but even Trump has been unable to deny that several attackers were wounded. Our brave fighters, with conventional weapons and no vests other than their morale and loyalty to the mission they were carrying out, fought to the death and beat their adversaries,” said the first secretary of the PCC.

Regarding Washington’s actions and a possible attack on Cuba, Díaz-Canel stated: “The current US administration has opened the door to an era of barbarism, dispossession, and neo-fascism, regardless of what that may mean in terms of more war, destruction, and death … They would have to kidnap millions or wipe us off the map, and even then, they would be haunted forever by the ghost of this small archipelago that they had to pulverize because they could not subdue it. No, imperialists, we are absolutely not afraid of you. And we do not like, as Fidel said, being threatened. You will not intimidate us.”

The post “To die for the freedom of a brother people is the highest form of living”: Cuba honors 32 killed in Venezuela appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

From Peoples Dispatch via This RSS Feed.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/62040225

Israel’s prison system has become a “network of torture camps” targeting Palestinians, according to new findings released by B’Tselem.

The report details widespread abuse, deaths in custody and what the rights group describes as a deliberate state policy of violence.

It said on Tuesday that at least 84 Palestinians, including one child, have died in Israeli detention facilities since October 2023.

B’Tselem stressed that the real figure is likely far higher, as many cases remain unverified or concealed.

...

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/7394189

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/21152

On Saturday, January 17, the government of Iran claimed that the United States is making false accusations against the country in its latest attempt to “fuel tensions” in the region. It dismissed the US allegation of attacks on American bases in the region, warning that any move to militarily target Iran would be retaliated.  The comments were made by the spokesperson of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmail Baghaei, in a press conference in response to a post on the US Deparment of State’s Farsi page, claiming Iran is preparing to launch attacks on its bases in the region.

The US Department of State reiterated threats of striking Iran, saying that “all options remain on the table” and warning Iran not to “play games with president [Donald] Trump.” Trump has been issuing threats of strikes on Iran since the beginning of the year, after protests broke out in the country over economic suffering.

President Trump has also repeatedly threatened the Iranian government not to use force against protesters, whom he even encouraged to occupy institutions, promising “help on its way”. On Sunday, Trump went so far as to accuse Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei of misrule and excessive use of violence against the protesters to stay in power. He also repeated his call for change in the country’s leadership.

The US president’s open support for Iranian protesters and threats of military intervention has invited strong criticism from top Iranian officials, who have claimed that this encouraged the protesters to turn violent, attack public and private property, and to turn the movement into a regime-change mission.

On Saturday, Supreme Leader Khamenei reacted once again to the allegations, claiming that Trump was the main culprit behind the killings and destruction during the protests that took place over the last two weeks.  Although official data is yet to be released, it is speculated that hundreds of people were killed after the nationwide protests over growing economic hardship turned violent in the first two weeks of January.

Trump is responsible for the death and destruction in Iran

Speaking during a religious ceremony on Saturday, Khamenei said that “the US president is responsible for casualties, damages, and false accusations directed against the Iranian nation.” He claimed that the US has been trying to incite violence against the Iranian state for decades. Previously, this was done through misuse of the media and the backing of low-profile politicians. However, this time it was different, he said, as “the president of the US himself intervened, made statements, encouraged the rioters, and even spoke of providing military support.”

Read more: Iran condemns US attempts to exploit protests for political gain, as Trump seemingly backs off military threat

Khamenei said this approach was pursued because “the US cannot tolerate a country with Iran’s characteristics, capabilities, vastness, and scientific and technological progress.” He asserted that authorities would not lead the “country toward war, but we will also not let domestic and international criminals go unpunished.”

On Sunday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged that Iranians are facing economic hardship. In a post on X, he claimed that this is a result of sanctions imposed by the US and its allies. Pezeshkian also warned the US and Trump against attempting to target the Iranian supreme leader, claiming any attack on Khamenei would be treated as an attack on the whole country.

US withdrawal from Iraqi base welcomed

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Iraq on Sunday. During a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, he expressed satisfaction at the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq’s Ain-al Asad airbase after years of presence. He called it good for regional peace and stability.

As per the agreement reached with the Iraqi government in 2024, US troops pulled out of the airbase last week, handing over control to Iraqi troops. US forces first occupied the base after the 2003 invasion and until 2011. They reoccupied it in 2014 upon returning, in the wake of the emergence of ISIS in the country.

The presence of the US forces in Iraq has been one of the major points of contention with Iran, which has been campaigning for a complete withdrawal of US and foreign troops in the region, describing their presence as a threat to regional peace and security.  Iran has often claimed Ain-al Asad was used by the US to launch attacks inside the country. It had also fired several missiles on the base in January 2020, after the US assassinated General Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad.

Araghchi noted that stability in Iraq is a guarantee of security and peace in the region.

The post Iran rejects Washington’s “false accusations” and continued attempts to fuel tensions in the region appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.

From Peoples Dispatch via This RSS Feed.

Drop Site News
Jan 20, 2026

On Sunday, January 18, the text of a reported agreement between the Syrian central government based in Damascus, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began circulating on social media and local news channels.

The agreement was intended to be signed after a meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi in Damascus that would avert a long-feared, all-out war between the two sides.

It was wishful thinking. The meeting, and along with it the tenuous ceasefire, collapsed. The government had demanded full and immediate handover of SDF-held territory to its control, the disbandment of the SDF as an armed force, and liquidation of independent civil institutions—steps the SDF was unwilling to take. Instead, local Arab tribes formerly allied to the group, which had recently switched allegiances and joined the government, pressed forward with attacks on SDF positions. SDF officials accused Syrian government aligned forces of executing captives and vowed to resist the onslaught, with officials sharing a video that they said depicted the partial beheading of SDF fighters.

What Would a #Trump Deal With Cuba Look Like?
https://belly-of-the-beast.kit.com/posts/what-would-a-trump-deal-with-cuba-look-like

[weekly newsletter about #Cuba (with YouTube video links) from the #BellyOfTheBeast #news / #video collective.]
January 15, 2026

Also:

• #MarcoRubio: President of Cuba?
• No plans for invasion against “tough Cubans”
• Cuba ramps up combat training
• #Venezuela and Cuba reaffirm solidarity
• Cuba is not yet receiving more #Mexican oil
• US Ambassador to Cuba...or Miami?
• US sends hurricane aid to Cuba — two months later

#EndTheBlockadeEmbargo
#CubaSolidarity
#LetCubaLive
#EndSanctionsAgainstCuba #OffTheList
#VivaCuba #CubaSí #AbajoElBloqueo #SolidaridadConCuba
#LatinAmerica #Caribbean
#politics #USpol
@cuba

For months now, donations have been very limited. I am a mother of four children, and for years we have been living in a fragile tent that cannot protect us from the cold of winter or the heat of summer.

Every day, my only wish is to keep my children safe and warm. We are in desperate need of your help to survive. We rely completely on your donations to stay alive and to meet our most basic needs.

Any donation, no matter how small, can help us buy food, blankets, or clothes for my children. Please don’t forget us. You are our lifeline https://gofund.me/f6e9cc9d

Since December, Israel has undertaken groundwork for what seems to be a development site in east Rafah, within the Israeli military-controlled zone. It sits at the intersection of the Morag and Magen Oz corridors, close to the “yellow line.”

Our analysis of satellite imagery suggests that this area is being prepared for the construction of infrastructure, possibly as part of Phase 2 of Trump’s plan to build so-called “Alternative Safe Communities” to house tens of thousands of “non-Hamas affiliated” Palestinians within the Israeli-controlled area.

The area of interest is half a kilometer into Israel’s area of control, bound by two military corridors, and near the camp of the Israeli-affiliated “Counter-Terrorism Strike Force,” several military outposts, and former GHF sites. This environment suggests supervision and control, rather than humanitarianism.

The area of interest is on the northern edge of the planned “humanitarian city” in Rafah — a “secure” zone intended to concentrate Gaza’s population, that Israeli defense minister Israel Katz announced in July 2025.

For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We join its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability. And because of that, we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.

We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false, that the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient, that trade rules were enforced asymmetrically, and we knew that international law applied with varied rigor, depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.

This fiction was useful, and American hegemony in particular helped provide public goods, open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security, and support for frameworks for resolving disputes.

So we placed the sign in the window. We participated in the rituals, and we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality.

Hey Mark, quick question, would you be willing to be specific about the things you "avoided calling out"? Might it have any relevance to literally everything the US has done as its foreign policy? Would that apply to any recent genocides you might have avoided calling out? Or the meek statement on the abduction of Maduro?

Trump really has just revealed so much. Now the liberals are admitting what should have been obvious.

This is not naive multilateralism. Nor is it relying on diminished institutions. It is building the coalitions that work, issue by issue, with partners who share enough common ground to act together. In some cases, this will be the vast majority of nations.

And it is creating a dense web of connections across trade, investment, culture on which we can draw for future challenges and opportunities.Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu.

Great powers can afford to go it alone. They have the market size, the military capacity, the leverage to dictate terms. Middle powers do not. But when we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness.

We accept what is offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating.

This is not sovereignty. It is the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination.

In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice: to compete with each other for favour or to combine to create a third path with impact.

We should not allow the rise of hard power to blind us to the fact that the power of legitimacy, integrity, and rules will remain strong — if we choose to wield it together. Which brings me back to Havel. What would it mean for middle powers to “live in truth”?

It means naming reality. Stop invoking the “rules-based international order” as though it still functions as advertised. Call the system what it is: a period where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as a weapon of coercion.

It means acting consistently. Apply the same standards to allies and rivals.

When middle powers criticize economic intimidation from one direction but stay silent when it comes from another, we are keeping the sign in the window. It means building what we claim to believe in. Rather than waiting for the hegemon to restore an order it is dismantling, create institutions and agreements that function as described.

And it means reducing the leverage that enables coercion. Building a strong domestic economy should always be every government’s priority. Diversification internationally is not just economic prudence; it is the material foundation for honest foreign policy. Countries earn the right to principled stands by reducing their vulnerability to retaliation.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41982391

*Two more children die of hypothermia in Gaza as ceasefire violations continue. Countries respond to President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” invites. Israel demolishes UNRWA compound in occupied East Jerusalem. Israel conducts raid and imposes a curfew in Hebron. Expected storm threatens Palestinians in Gaza. Iran rejects President Trump’s claim of Iranian executions. Iranian official says 5,000 killed in protests. Iran releases footage of armed violence during protests. Pentagon puts troops on alert as Minnesota standoff escalates. Third death at Texas ICE tent camp in 44 days. NYC comptroller pushes to resume Israeli bond purchase. President Trump’s policy reversal hits the electric vehicle industry. Canada weighs sending troops to Greenland for exercises amid tariff stand-off between the U.S. and European Union. Fighting erupts on North Kordofan–Khartoum corridor; drone strikes in Darfur. UN Security Council hears ICC warning on Sudan atrocities. Saudi Arabia to buy Sudanese gold. A ceasefire and integration deal signed Sunday between Syria and the Syrian Democratic Forces collapses amid escalating clashes. Trump urges de-escalation between Damascus and the SDF. Curfew imposed in Syria’s al-Shaddadi after prison break. Russian strike disrupts power and water in Kyiv. Yemen accuses the UAE of running a secret prison near Mukalla. Museveni declared winner in Uganda election. Nigerian airstrikes kill dozens of militants in Borno. Deadly mall fire leaves dozens missing in Karachi. Islamic State claims responsibility for Kabul restaurant attack. Kashmir’s police are “profiling” mosques. The U.S. held talks with Cabello before and after Maduro’s kidnapping. Gang attacks kill nine police in Guatemala. DRC forces retake Uvira after M23 withdrawal. *

Around 34,000 people allegedly linked to IS were also being detained at al-Hol and another camp, Roj, the UN reported last August. The population of the camps, of which 60% were children, comprised 6,700 Iraqis, 15,500 Syrians and 8,500 citizens of other countries, including the UK.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/10440776

Skip to 9:00

The Bitcoin company exec really gets angry with a simple and reasonable question asked. He calls the host myopic and one of malicious intent.

Did you see it?

"Companies are just [there] to create value..."

What nonsense.

Israel’s aliyah and integration minister has said that Israel “ranks first” for British Jews and that the number of them migrating to Israel has risen significantly since 2023.

Ofir Sofer, who is in charge of attracting and integrating Jews to Israel from abroad, was speaking to Israeli radio station Kol BaRama on Monday.

Aliyah is a key concept in Israel, in which the state facilitates for Jewish people from around the world to move to the country - often by including financial incentives.

“Three years ago we were at 300 olim from England and today we are at 900,” he said, referring to Brits deciding to move to Israel.

In recent months, Israel’s public broadcaster aired several reports on Israel’s massive problem in exporting fruits, particularly to European markets.

The reports, which indicate what the growers themselves describe as a looming “collapse,” unwittingly testify to the importance of the continuing international boycott of Israel.

“They don’t want our mangoes,” a grower tells Kan 11. “In Europe, they talk to us only if they’re missing something. Only then do they buy from us. If they have an alternative, they avoid it.”

Ronen Alfasi says that most of the crops from his sector used to be exported to Asian countries, but mentions the “logistical problem against the Houthis” as the reason for which “all the logistical lines have changed.” Longer and more expensive routes were sought, Alfasi says, with containers arriving after 90 to 100 days late. “And they came with big quality problems,” he described.

The only remaining market that’s available, Alfasi says, is Russia. Even though he’s losing money as a citrus farmer, he’s exporting to Russia just to cover warehouse expenses.

https://archive.ph/xUGxp

The DEA has amassed a detailed intelligence file on Rodríguez dating to at least 2018, the records show, cataloging her known associates and allegations ranging from drug trafficking to gold smuggling. One confidential informant told the DEA in early 2021 that Rodríguez was using hotels in the Caribbean resort of Isla Margarita “as a front to launder money,” the records show. As recently as last year she was linked to Maduro’s alleged bag man, Alex Saab, whom U.S. authorities arrested in 2020 on money laundering charges.

Three current and former DEA agents who reviewed the records at the request of AP said they indicate an intense interest in Rodríguez throughout much of her tenure as vice president, which began in 2018. They were not authorized to discuss DEA investigations and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The records reviewed by AP do not make clear why Rodríguez was elevated to a “priority target,” a designation that requires extensive documentation to justify additional investigative resources. The agency has hundreds of priority targets at any given moment, and having the label does not necessarily lead to being charged criminally.

“She was on the rise, so it’s not surprising that she might become a high-priority target with her role,” said Kurt Lunkenheimer, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who has handled multiple cases related to Venezuela. “The issue is when people talk about you and you become a high-priority target, there’s a difference between that and evidence supporting an indictment.”

https://archive.ph/P3log

https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/norwegian-leader-says-he-received-trump-message-that-reportedly-ties-greenland-to-nobel-peace-prize