Tag Archives: caribbean

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Virus Deaths Down 17% in Americas, COVID-19 Not Yet Endemic, More

COVID-19 deaths decline 17% in the Americas, says health agency

People travel on a bus during the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) inside a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 27, 2021. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares

People travel on a bus during the vaccination campaign against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) inside a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 27, 2021. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares

BRASILIA, Nov 17 (Reuters) – COVID-19 deaths have decreased 17% in the Americas over the past week, but the most populous countries like the United States, Brazil and Colombia are seeing a leveling of new infections after weeks of declining trends, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

Mexico is reporting an increase in new deaths and in the Caribbean Trinidad and Tobago had a sharp rise in deaths as intensive care unit (ICU) beds fill with COVID-19 patients, PAHO said.

In an important milestone, half of the people in Latin America and the Caribbean have now been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, though coverage remains below 10% in Nicaragua and Haiti, PAHO Director Carissa Etienne said.

“The COVID pandemic is still very active in our region,” she warned in a webcast news conference.

Countries across Central and South America have seen a decline in new infections, except for Bolivia, it said.

As Uruguay and Chile have relaxed pandemic restrictions, COVID-19 cases have spiked, even with their high vaccination coverage, the health agency said.

Etienne urged people in the region to get vaccinated and stick to social distancing and mask wearing as the holiday season approaches.

Reporting by Anthony Boadle Editing by Bill Berkrot
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US: Vaxxing Kids Picking Up Pace

Coronavirus vaccine getting put into arm

 

© Associated Press – Lynne Sladky

The pace of vaccinating younger children against the coronavirus is speeding up. The White House said about 10 percent of children aged 5 to 11 will have received at least their first COVID-19 vaccine shot within the two weeks since it became available to the younger age group.

More than 2.6 million 5- to 11-year-olds are expected to have received their first dose by the end of the day on Wednesday, officials said during a briefing, citing the “strength” of the administration’s vaccination rollout for children, which has been fully operational for 10 days. There are 28 million children eligible.

White House coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients contrasted the timeline with the 50 days it took to reach 10 percent of adults with one COVID-19 shot.

Children’s vaccinations doubled in the first full week of the program, compared to the previous week, with 1.7 million kids getting their shots in the last week alone. The number of vaccination sites available to children also increased by 50 percent to 30,000 last week.

The numbers for kids come as the U.S. is set to hit a milestone of 80 percent of Americans aged 12 and older receiving at least one shot. According to Zients, 300,000 people are getting their first dose every day. The White House has pointed to the growing acceptance and uptake of vaccines as evidence that mandates work— many businesses across the country are requiring employees to be vaccinated.

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FAUCI: COVID NOT ENDEMIC TO  US, YET

Anthony Fauci said COVID-19 in the U.S. will eventually become endemic, but despite increasing vaccinations, it’s not there yet.

Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor, on Wednesday said the nation’s ultimate goal is not to eliminate COVID-19 but to reduce it to a level where it’s not dominating everyday life.

“I don’t think we’re going to eliminate it completely. We want control and I think the confusion is at what level of control are you going to accept it in its endemicity?” Fauci said during a White House briefing.

“We don’t know really what that number is, but we will know it when we get there. It certainly is far, far lower, than 80,000 new infections per day, and is far far lower than a thousand deaths per day, and tens of thousands of hospitalizations,” Fauci added.

Fauci said the key to reaching endemic levels is to get as many people vaccinated, and boosted, as possible.

“So even though there’s a wide bracket under control, we want to get to the lowest possible level that we can get. And rather than picking an arbitrary number, why don’t we get as many people as we can get vaccinated, vaccinated as quickly as possible, and get as many people who are eligible for boosters, getting boosted as possible,” Fauci said.

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Moderna pushes for boosters for all adults

 

© Getty Images

Moderna has submitted a request to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize booster doses of its coronavirus vaccine for all adults, seeking to expand the number of people eligible for a third shot.

The vaccine manufacturer announced that it asked the FDA to allow the 71 million adults initially vaccinated with Moderna’s shots to get a third dose. The 50 microgram dosage in Moderna’s booster is half of the 100 micrograms used for the first two shots for adults.

The FDA previously granted authorization last month for Moderna’s booster dose to be given six months after the second dose to people ages 65 and older and adults at high risk for severe COVID-19 due to underlying conditions or their living or work environments.

Booster debate: The debate over who should get boosters has been active for months, as the initial vaccine series is still considered effective against hospitalization and deaths. But recent research suggests boosters improve protection against infection.

The administration has faced criticism from the World Health Organization (WHO) for prioritizing getting more shots to vaccinated people while other countries struggle to get initial doses for their at-risk populations.

Upcoming: The request comes as the FDA is poised to authorize the Pfizer-BioTech vaccine for all adults ahead of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory meeting on Friday.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky will have the final say on whether all adult Pfizer-BioNTech recipients can get a third dose.

 

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On Heals of COP26 US Sells Oil, Gas Drilling Leases in Gulf of Mexico

Biden administration launching auction of more than 80m acres for fossil fuel extraction that experts call ‘incredibly reckless’

A man fishes near docked oil drilling platforms in Port Aransas, Texas.
A man fishes near docked oil drilling platforms in Port Aransas, Texas. Photograph: Eric Gay/AP

The US federal government is on Wednesday launching an auction of more than 80m acres of the gulf for fossil fuel extraction, a record sell-off that will lock in years, and potentially decades, of planet-heating emissions.

The enormous size of the lease sale – covering an area that is twice as large as Florida – is a blunt repudiation of Biden’s previous promise to shut down new drilling on public lands and waters. It has stunned environmentalists who argue the auction punctures the US’s shaky credibility on the climate crisis and will make it harder to avert catastrophic impacts from soaring global heating.

“Coming in the aftermath of the climate summit, this is just mind boggling. It’s hard to imagine a more hypocritical and dangerous thing for the administration to do,” said Kristen Monsell, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s incredibly reckless and we think unlawful too. It’s just immensely disappointing.”

There is no guarantee that all the leases will be taken up by oil and gas companies but the Department of the Interior, which oversees public lands and waters, has estimated there is as much as 1.12bn barrels of oil and 4.2tn cubic ft of gas available for extraction. A separate lease sale offered by the government in Alaska’s Cook Inlet will offer up another 192m barrels of oil and 301bn cubic ft of gas to drillers.

Combined, these leases would result in nearly 600m tons of planet-heating gases if fully developed over the next four decades, which is more than the total annual emissions of the UK.

The sale represents a “huge climate bomb”, according to Earthjustice, one of the green groups that has lodged a lawsuit claiming it lacks a proper environmental assessment. Biden has set a target for the US to cut its emissions in half this decade before getting to net zero emissions by 2050.

Critics say a worrying pattern has emerged during Biden’s tenure, with his administration handing out drilling permits at a rate of more than 300 a day since his inauguration, a faster pace even than under Donald Trump.

At the Glasgow talks, known as Cop26, the US also declined to sign on to an agreement to end coal mining, or to phase out gasoline and diesel cars. “It truly calls into question whether the Biden administration’s climate agenda is nothing but broken promises,” said Jeremy Nichols of WildEarth Guardians, an environmental group.

Biden struck a defiant posture against the fossil fuel industry when campaigning for the White House, stating in a Democratic primary debate last year that there will be “no more subsidies for fossil fuel industry. No more drilling on federal lands. No more drilling, including offshore. No ability for the oil industry to continue to drill, period, ends, number one.”

Once in office, Biden quickly moved to realize at least part of this vision, calling a temporary halt to the issuance of oil and gas drilling permits across America’s vast publicly owned lands and ocean territory pending a review into how they are conducted.

Experts have said that the development of new oil and gas fields must stop this year if the world is to avoid more disastrous heatwaves, floods and other climate impacts, with fossil fuel production on America’s public lands causing around a quarter of the country’s overall greenhouse gas pollution.

However, the oil and gas industries immediately objected to Biden’s move, claiming it imperiled jobs and risked pushing up energy prices, and a dozen states sued to lift the moratorium. In June, a federal judge in Louisiana agreed with the states and found that the government hadn’t taken the required steps to pause new leases.

This courtroom setback has forced the Gulf of Mexico sale, according to the Biden administration. A spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior said it is “complying” with the court ruling while also appealing it and devising a better system to measure the emissions impact of oil and gas lease sales.

Jen Pskai, Biden’s press secretary, said on Monday: “It’s a legal case and legal process, but it’s important for advocates and other people out there who are following this to understand that it’s not aligned with our view, the president’s policies, or the executive order that he signed.”

But legal experts say the court decision doesn’t, in itself, prevent the administration from stopping or delaying a scheduled lease sale, or from scaling it back.

“The Louisiana opinion doesn’t force the administration to move forward with any particular lease sale – the Department of Interior still has discretion over that,” said Max Sarinsky, a senior attorney at the New York University School of Law. “If they were to postpone, I’m almost certain they would be sued by oil and gas interests, but that’s another matter.”

To many living on the Gulf’s coast, the huge expansion in oil drilling, reaching down through up to two miles of ocean into the seabed, raises concerns over a repeat of the numerous oil spills that have caused varying degrees of devastation to coastal communities and wildlife.

“That’s a fear we live with,” said Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental group based in New Orleans. “There are spills every year and nothing is done to stop it – all the technology goes into how to drill further out, not to clean up spills or pipeline repair. The industry is like a cancer, it’s just relentless growth. It’s disappointing Biden won’t take a firmer stance.”

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SKN announced as a host for U19 World Cup

The West Indies will host the 14th edition of the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup for the first time ever, as the event which showcases the future stars of the game will see 16 teams travelling to the Caribbean to compete in 48 matches from January 14 to February 5 across four host countries.

The sixteen teams competing will see current holders Bangladesh, England, Canada and the United Arab Emirates form Group A, with debutants Uganda placed in Group B alongside India, South Africa and Ireland. Group C comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea and Group D sees host West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka. Scotland complete the tournament line up in Group D after New Zealand withdrew due to the extensive mandatory quarantine restrictions for minors on their return home.

The four host countries have been confirmed as Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago with 10 venues hosting matches. The format will see the top two teams from each of the four groups advance to the Super League while the remaining teams feature in the Plate across 23 days of competition.

The 48-match schedule will begin with hosts West Indies taking on Australia, with Sri Lanka facing Scotland in Guyana on January 14. The group stage will take place across Guyana, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago between January 14 and 22.

Trinidad and Tobago will host the Plate competition between January 25 and 31, with the Super League taking place in Antigua and Barbuda from January 26. The semi-finals will be played on February 1 across two venues; the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground and Coolidge Cricket Ground on February 2. The Final on February 5 will also be held at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground.

Cricket West Indies President Ricky Skerritt said: “CWI is looking forward to hosting this important global U19 cricket event, which is just around the corner, in January. In partnership with host territorial boards, cricket clubs, and Ministries of Sports, we have been hard at work preparing for this event over the past several months. However, amid so many Covid-related challenges, it has not been easy to finalise the venues and to work out all the related logistics.

“At the same time, our U19 head coach, Floyd Reifer, and his coaching staff have been busy preparing our team for competition, using innovative methods to keep them active even while they were restricted from travel. West Indies has a proud under-19 cricket history, with several bright talents blossoming into international stars over the years. We, therefore, expect our current team of under-19 players to do us proud in the 2022 tournament. I am also confident that our visitors will experience the best of our world-famous Caribbean culture and hospitality in Antigua & Barbuda, Guyana, St. Kitts & Nevis, and Trinidad & Tobago.”

ICC Head of Events, Chris Tetley said: “The ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup is such an exciting and special tournament, bringing together the future stars of the game and giving them an unrivalled experience of competing on the global stage.

“So many of the best players have competed at the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup including Virat Kohli, Babar Azam, Joe Root and Shimron Hetmyer and we are looking forward to the 2022 edition to see who emerges as the future stars.

“We are delighted that the West Indies will be hosting this event and we wish all the teams the very best in their preparations for the tournament and to Cricket West Indies in organising the event.”

The West Indies have won the title once in 2016, with India being crowned champions four times, Australia three times, Pakistan twice while England, South Africa and Bangladesh have won it once each.

There will be 16 warm-up matches taking place between January 9 and 12 in St Kitts and Nevis and Guyana.

CC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Groupings:

Group A – Bangladesh, England, Canada, United Arab Emirates

Group B – India, Ireland, South Africa, Uganda

Group C – Afghanistan, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Zimbabwe

Group D – Australia, Scotland, Sri Lanka, West Indies

ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup Venues:

St Kitts and Nevis – Warner Park Cricket Stadium , Conaree Cricket Center, (Sandy Point – Warm-up match venue only)

Guyana – Guyana National Stadium, (Everest Cricket Club – Warm-up match venue only)

Trinidad and Tobago – Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Queens Park Oval, Diego Martin Sporting Complex

Antigua and Barbuda – Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Coolidge Cricket Ground

ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup match schedule:

January 14 – West Indies v Australia, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana; Sri Lanka v Scotland, Everest Cricket Club, Guyana

January 15 – Canada v UAE, Conaree Cricket Center, St Kitts and Nevis; India v South Africa, Guyana National Stadium, Guyana; Ireland v Uganda, Everest Cricket Club, Guyana; Pakistan v PNG, Queens Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago

January 16 – Bangladesh v England, Warner Park Cricket Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis; Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Trinidad and Tobago

January 17 – West Indies v Scotland, Warner Park Cricket Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis; Australia v Sri Lanka, Conaree Cricket Center, St Kitts and Nevis

January 18 – England v Canada, Warner Park Cricket Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis; South Africa v Uganda, Queens Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago; Afghanistan v PNG, Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Trinidad and Tobago

January 19 – Australia v Scotland, Conaree Cricket Center, St Kitts and Nevis; India v Ireland, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago

January 20 – England v UAE, Warner Park Cricket Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis; Bangladesh v Canada, Conaree Cricket Center, St Kitts and Nevis; Pakistan v Afghanistan, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago; Zimbabwe v PNG, Diego Martin Sporting Complex, Trinidad and Tobago

January 21 – West Indies v Sri Lanka, Conaree Cricket Center, St Kitts and Nevis; South Africa v Ireland, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago

January 22 – Bangladesh v UAE, Warner Park Cricket Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis, India v Uganda, Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago; Pakistan v Zimbabwe, Queens Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago

Plate and Super League fixtures to take place between January 25 and February 4 at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground and Coolidge Cricket Ground in Antigua and Barbuda and Brian Lara Cricket Academy , Queens Park Oval and Diego Martin Sporting Complex  in Trinidad and Tobago.

February 1 – Semi-Final, Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua and Barbuda

February 2 – Semi-Final, Coolidge Cricket Ground, Antigua and Barbuda

February 5 – Final, Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground, Antigua and Barbuda

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Barbados Opens World’s First Digital Embassy

The Barbados government says it has established what is being referred to as the world’s first metaverse or digital embassy.

A statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said that the virtual embassy will be at the centre of activities to advance the growth of stronger bilateral relationships with governments globally.

“The government of Barbados is very pleased to announce the launch of its metaverse embassy initiative,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Jerome Walcott said, adding “this platform will be an important forum where Barbados will work with our traditional partners and new allies to deepen engagement in the diplomatic arena, and the investment, business, tourism and cultural sectors, and people-to-people interaction.

“Barbados looks forward to welcoming the world in its metaverse embassy,” he said.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade signed the agreement with Decentraland, one of the world-leading blockchain metaverse platforms, in an effort to outline the baseline development elements for its metaverse embassy.

The metaverse can be referred to as a 3D mixed or sci-fi concept that combines the real world with the digital world, in which people live, work and play.

Details of the metaverse embassy are yet to be made public, but it is understood the concept will provide for the identifying and purchasing of land, architecting of the virtual embassies and the development of facilities to provide services such as e-visas and teleportation.

In the statement, the ministry said that the government will continue to establish and maintain physical embassies and will use the metaverse embassy as an opportunity to “pioneer the evolution of global diplomacy beyond the physical world”.

Walcott said Barbados is welcoming the world’s diplomatic missions “to join us in establishing their embassies in the metaverse.

“Barbados is proud to lend our technical assistance and know-how to governments waiting to establish their own metaverse embassy.”

E-consular services will be a core feature alongside a virtual teleporter, which will be built in Barbados’ metaverse embassy, connecting all meta worlds as a gesture of diplomatic unification between technology platforms, said the island’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Gabriel Abed.

CMC

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Antigua: Parents, Students Protest Vaccine Mandate, Grenada’s Low Vax Rate

Loop News- Disgruntled parents and students protested outside Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Education this morning against the government’s decision to enforce a vaccine mandate in schools.

Currently, children between 12 and 18 years old, who are not vaccinated against coronavirus, cannot attend school.

But, an online platform is available for the students to continue their education.

Last week, the Ministry of Education said around 3,000 of the 8,000 students, who are eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, are unvaccinated.

One activist spoke to the media and said the children are suffering under the current policy.

“Our children are languishing for want of a good policy and a good system in Antigua and Barbuda. Remote learning is a national disaster and our children have not been able to get an adequate education as demanded by the Education Act of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.

“We have to stand up for our children. If we don’t stand up, we are going to have a set of children that are not educated, that cannot pass CXC, that cannot get good jobs and that just makes us beggars in Antigua and Barbuda.”

Grenada: Just over 29 per cent of total population fully vaxxed

Meanwhile, over in Grenada, only 29 percent of the total population has been vaccinated.

Grenada continues to be in a favourable place with regards to the number of COVID-19 cases being reported but there has been a slowdown in the number of people taking the vaccine.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Shawn Charles says Grenada’s test positivity is now less than one per cent (0.7 per cent). On November 15, Grenada recorded two new cases and currently has 63 active cases.

With regard to vaccinations, Dr Charles says overall 29.5 per cent of the total population is fully vaccinated.

Overall, 35 per cent of the population in general, has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, which means just over a third of the population has received at least one dose.

Dr Charles notes that recently the number of people presenting for vaccination has slowed as he explains that as the threat subsides people feel a bit more comfortable and do not see the need to be vaccinated.

He hopes that with time these individuals will have a change of heart and get vaccinated.

On the issue of booster or third vaccine shots, the Acting CMO reiterates Grenada is not opposed to it, however, the total number of vaccines available is not many.

He says there are less than 2,500 doses of Pfizer left, there are around 2,000 to 3,000 doses of AstraZeneca remaining and last week Grenada received a small shipment of Johnson and Johnson (2,000 doses) of which they have already started administering.

Dr Charles says it is difficult to offer boosters in the Pfizer vaccine right now as this is the vaccine that has the greater uptake. He states priority will be given to people who have not had their shot yet.

However, Dr Charles says of the AstraZeneca vaccines where uptake has been slower, they are offering from the doses a third dose to those persons who have received their first two doses and wish to have a third and fall within the criteria for it.

On another note, the Acting CMO is calling on Grenadians to continue to comply and wear their masks. He says masks are becoming a rarity and is cause for concern among locals who should set the example for visitors to the island.

Dr Charles reminds that Grenada was definitely affected by the Delta variant as of the 60 plus samples sent to check for variants, 92 per cent of those samples returned positive for the Delta strain.

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A&B’s Conrod Hunte Elected to UN Joint Inspection Unit

Antigua and Barbuda’s UN Ambassador Conrod Hunte was elected with overwhelming support from the United Nations Member States to serve on the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) for the term 2023-2027.

A release from Assistant Director of Communications Angelica O’Donoghue informed that the election took place at the UN Headquarters in New York on November 11 during the ongoing 76th General Assembly Session.

Antigua and Barbuda presented Ambassador Hunte’s candidature under one seat allocated to the Group of Latin America and Caribbean States (GRULAC). The election resulted in the twin island nation receiving 138 votes as opposed to the other candidate’s 45.

“This is the first time Antigua and Barbuda will serve on this prestigious committee and is the second highest position within the United Nations’ systems held by a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda,” the release added.

“The Joint Inspection Unit is based in Geneva and is the only independent external oversight body of the United Nations’ system mandated to conduct evaluations, inspections and investigations system-wide.

“Its mandate is to look at cross-cutting issues and to act as an agent for change across the United Nations’ system. JIU works to secure management and administrative efficiency and to promote greater coordination both between UN agencies and with other internal and external oversight bodies.”

Ambassador Hunte has more than 30 years’ experience in diplomacy, international affairs, renewable energy, UN oversight and management. He is also Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and is serving his last year as a member of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ) of the United Nations, a seat that Antigua and Barbuda occupies on behalf of Caricom.

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Rigged Election: Biden Bans Nicaragua Officials from Entering US

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WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden on Tuesday banned members of the Nicaraguan government from entering the United States as he issued a broad proclamation in response to an election that Washington has denounced as rigged in favor of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.

Biden’s travel ban applied to all of Nicaragua’s “elected officials,” apparently including Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, in addition to security force members, judges, mayors and others seen as undermining democracy in the Central American nation.

“The repressive and abusive acts of the Ortega government and those who support it compel the United States to act,” Biden said in the decree.

Biden’s order came just a day after the United States, Britain and Canada imposed targeted sanctions on lists of Nicaraguan officials in a concerted response to the Nov. 7 election that many countries have called a sham. read more

They took action after Ortega’s re-election to a fourth consecutive term after jailing political rivals and cracking down on critical media.

Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla leader, has derided his U.S. critics as “Yankee imperialists” and accused them of trying to undermine Nicaragua’s electoral process. Cuba, Venezuela and Russia have offered Ortega their backing.

Previous sanctions, asset freezes and travel bans on certain Nicaraguan officials imposed by Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, have failed to deter Ortega, and many analysts are skeptical whether new measures will have much impact.

Nicaraguan lawmakers attend a session where they approved a law that calls on President Daniel Ortega to denounce the democratic charter of the Organization of the American States (OAS), a move that one lawmaker said would be a prelude to Nicaragua leaving the body, in Managua, Nicaragua November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer
Nicaraguan lawmakers Maritza Espinales, Gustavo Porras and Gloria Dixon attend a session where they approved a law that calls on President Daniel Ortega to denounce the democratic charter of the Organization of the American States (OAS), a move that one lawmaker said would be a prelude to Nicaragua leaving the body, in Managua, Nicaragua November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo gesture during a march called “We walk for peace and life. Justice” in Managua, Nicaragua, September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas/File Photo

The Organization of American States (OAS) adopted a resolution on Friday saying Nicaragua’s election lacked “democratic legitimacy.” Twenty-five nations voted in favor and seven abstained, including Mexico, Honduras and Bolivia.

In his proclamation, Biden said he had determined it was in U.S. interests to bar entry to all those “who formulate, implement or benefit from policies or actions that undermine or injure democratic institutions or impede the return to democracy in Nicaragua.”

His order also bans their family members from the United States.

Biden’s proclamation cited security forces, saying they “abuse persons to further the Ortega government’s authoritarian agenda,” and said that municipal officers “directed violence against pro-democracy protesters.” It accused the judiciary of “aiding and abetting” politically motivated arrests.

U.S. officials have made clear that further sanctions are in the works and that the administration intends to use other provisions in a bill the president signed last week to further ratchet up pressure on Ortega.

For instance, Brian Nichols, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere Affairs, told a House of Representatives subcommittee on Tuesday the administration will seek to prevent Nicaragua from obtaining funds from international financial institutions where Washington has a vote.

The so-called RENACER Act also requires that the U.S. government report on alleged corruption by the Ortega family and calls for a review Nicaragua’s participation in the Central America Free Trade Agreement, which gives preferential treatment to exports to the United States.

Reporting by Matt Spetalnick and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Eric Beech and Sandra Maler

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WORLD VIEW: Rittenhouse Trial, China-US Ease Restrictions, Missing of Burkina Faso, India Smog, More

Nov 17, 2021

The Associated Press

The Rundown

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Colombian Troops Seeks to Stem Drug-Linked Venezuelan Border Violence

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  • New unit puts 14,000 soldiers on frontline against armed gangs
  • Border province Norte de Santander is new conflict epicenter
  • Chaos in Venezuela seen breeding violence in Colombia
  • Military surge does not answer social needs

NORTE DE SANTANDER, Colombia, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Camouflaged Colombian troops with guns and anti-COVID masks creep through dense vegetation in suffocating heat, ready for their many enemies crisscrossing the Venezuelan border.

The soldiers are part of a 14,000-strong military unit created last month to stem rising bloodshed in the northeastern province of Norte de Santander: Colombia’s new epicenter of conflict, fueled by rising cocaine production.

“Any of the illegal armed groups in this area involved in drug trafficking could attack us,” said their sergeant, a 20-year army veteran, speaking under the shade of a tree near a river dividing Colombia and Venezuela.

Vulnerable to mines, snipers and ambushes, 16 soldiers have died this year in around 30 attacks in Norte de Santander.

Nineteen members of illegal armed groups have also died and dozens of soldiers, rebels and gang members been injured, according to Defense Ministry figures.

The military surge and sacrifice may not be the right tactic though: eradication of coca leaves, the raw ingredient for cocaine, is actually falling amid resistance from locals who say they have few other viable options to live off.

Furthermore, Colombia’s army has a checkered history, at times committing rights abuses while opposing rebels, traffickers and criminal gangs for more than half a century.

President Ivan Duque’s government is furious with Venezuela, accusing President Nicolas Maduro’s administration of providing a safe haven for gangs over the border and conniving in drugs shipments to the United States and Europe for a cut of profits.

Venezuela’s collapsed economy and rampant crime also fan the border violence, Colombian officials say. Reuters showed in a recent investigation how the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) functions as a de facto local government and leading employer in some Venezuelan towns.

Caracas vigorously denies responsibility, saying Colombia’s right-wing “oligarchy” fails to curtail armed groups in a deliberate strategy to destabilize leftist-ruled Venezuela.

‘CONFLUENCE OF INSTABILITY’

Colombia hopes the troop buildup in Norte de Santander will provide a roadmap for pacifying other parts of a nation whose long civil war has now fractured into local battles against transnational insurgents and criminals.

“In Norte de Santander, there’s a confluence of various factors of instability,” General Luis Fernando Navarro, head of the armed forces, told Reuters in his Bogota office.

A porous frontier and weak law enforcement in Venezuela allow guerrillas from the ELN and dissident Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels – who reject a 2016 peace agreement – to strike and then flee across the border, he added.

About half the ELN fighters and 30% of the FARC dissidents operate from there, protected from bombing raids, Navarro said.

On the Colombian side, groups fight each other for control of rising coca production. One area, Catatumbo, now has capacity to produce 312 tonnes of cocaine per year, a quarter of Colombia’s output, according to U.N. data.

Murders in Norte de Santander rose to 576 last year, compared with 539 in 2019. Through September 2021, 436 people have been slain, according to the defense ministry.

Members of the Colombian military patrol between Colombia and Venezuela by an unofficial crossing, as Venezuela reopens its borders with Colombia after a nearly three-year closure due to political tensions, in Cucuta, Colombia October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Luis Jaime Acosta
Members of the Colombian military patrol between Colombia and Venezuela by an unofficial crossing, as Venezuela reopens its borders with Colombia after a nearly three-year closure due to political tensions, in Cucuta, Colombia October 7, 2021. REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita
Members of the Colombian military patrol between Colombia and Venezuela by an unofficial crossing, as Venezuela reopens its borders with Colombia after a nearly three-year closure due to political tensions, in Cucuta, Colombia October 5, 2021. REUTERS/Luis Jaime Acosta

Members of the Colombian military patrol between Colombia and Venezuela by an unofficial crossing, as Venezuela reopens its borders with Colombia after a nearly three-year closure due to political tensions, in Cucuta, Colombia October 7, 2021. REUTERS/Nathalia Angarita

Twenty-two human rights activists have been assassinated since the beginning of 2020, while fighting has displaced some 6,500 people, according to activist groups.

“What’s behind this overflow of violence is this whole criminal dynamic,” said Wilfredo Canizares, director of human rights group Fundacion Progresar.

In two brazen attacks in June, former rebels bombed a military barracks in regional capital Cucuta and a sniper tried to shoot down a helicopter carrying Duque and other officials.

A FARC dissident commander took responsibility for the attacks, saying they targeted the U.S. presence. read more

MILITARIZING ALONE ‘A FAILURE’

The recent capture of “Otoniel”, leader of a major gang called the “Gulf Clan”, may not stem violence by his group, which police say has alliances with criminals in more than two dozen countries. The arrest might even increase fighting, regional analysts say, as the gang retaliates against security forces or members fight for power among themselves.

Security consultant John Marulanda, a retired army colonel, said groups attack high-profile targets to draw authorities away from drug production zones and the routes to clandestine airstrips in Venezuela.

The military’s new Specific Command for Norte de Santander (CENOR) will bring together four previously separate units, which the army says will allow better, faster coordination of logistics and intelligence with more patrols, offensive operations and air support.

The military says increased troops – with on-the-ground U.S. military advisors – will go hand-in-hand with investments in roads, schools and other programs.

But there are detractors.

Activists say boots on the ground mean little without anti-poverty measures and more support for voluntary substitution of coca crops. “It’s proven it’s a failure to insist on militarizing territory as the only answer,” said Fundacion Progresar’s Canizares.

It is indefensible that murders, mass killings, displacements and drug trafficking continue despite a large, long-term military presence in the province, he added.

Farmers outside the municipality of Tibu, home to Colombia’s largest coca plantations, recently held 180 soldiers on an eradication mission hostage for several hours in protest at removal of a crop that is one of few ways to make ends meet.

And eradication efforts overall in Norte de Santander are floundering, falling to about 30 square km so far this year, from 95 in 2020, largely due to opposition from locals.

Figures from the military and defense ministry also show the number of clandestine labs – usually deep in the jungle – destroyed in the first nine months of 2021 was 458, compared to 694 in 2020.

Seizures of cocaine in Norte del Santander in 2021 – 24.8 tonnes – have outpaced 16.6 in 2020 and 22.4 in 2019. But the increase is partly due to more production, officials said, as well as improved U.S. satellite data.

As locals clamor for land titles, loans for crop-switching and more public works, authorities insist the security strategy will be backed by social investment.

For example, provincial governor Silvano Serrano, with help from the national government, is spending $8 million on a program to encourage cacao production. It will give farmers seeds, technical assistance and guaranteed, fixed-price sales.

Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

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Canada Floods Cut Rail Link to Vancouver Port; One Dead

By and

MERRITT, British Columbia, Nov 16 (Reuters) – Floods and landslides that have killed at least one person have cut all rail access to Canada’s largest port in the city of Vancouver, a spokesperson for the port said on Tuesday.

Two days of torrential rain across the Pacific province of British Columbia touched off major flooding and shut rail routes operated by Canadian Pacific Rail (CP.TO) and Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO), Canada’s two biggest rail companies.

“All rail service coming to and from the Port of Vancouver is halted because of flooding in the British Columbia interior,” port spokesperson Matti Polychronis said.

At least one person was killed when a mudslide swept cars off Highway 99 near Pemberton, some 100 miles (160 km) to the northeast of Vancouver.

Two people were missing and search and rescue crews were combing through the rubble, officials said.

Vancouver’s port moves C$550 million ($440 million) worth of cargo a day, ranging from automobiles and finished goods to essential commodities.

The floods temporarily shut down much of the movement of wheat and canola from Canada, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, during a busy time for trains to haul grain to the port following the harvest.

Drought has sharply reduced the size of Canada’s crops this year, meaning a rail disruption of a few days may not create a significant backlog, a grain industry source told Reuters.

Del Dosdall, senior export manager at grain handler Parrish & Heimbecker, said he expected some rail services could be restored by the weekend. Another industry source said he expected the shutdown to last weeks.

OIL PIPELINES SHUT DOWN

Floods have also hampered pipelines. Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) shut a segment of a British Columbia natural gas pipeline as a precaution.

A tractor makes its way through flood water after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier
Crowds gather along the Trans-Canada highway to view flooding after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods and shutting highways, in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier
A paddler kayaks on a flooded stretch of farmland after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods and shutting highways, in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier

Crowds gather along the Trans-Canada highway to view flooding after rainstorms lashed the western Canadian province of British Columbia, triggering landslides and floods and shutting highways, in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada November 16, 2021. REUTERS/Jennifer Gauthier

The storms also forced the closure of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which carries up to 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta province to the Pacific coast.

Copper and coal miner Teck Resources Limited (TECKb.TO) said the floods had disrupted movement of its commodities to its export terminals, while potash exporter Canpotex Ltd said it was looking for alternatives to move the crop nutrient overseas.

Directly to the south of British Columbia, in the U.S. state of Washington, heavy rain forced evacuations and cut off electricity for more than 150,000 households on Monday.

The U.S. National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a flash flood in Mount Vernon, Washington, “due to the potential for a levee failure.”

Some areas of British Columbia received 8 inches (20 cm) of rain on Sunday, the amount that usually falls in a month.

Authorities in Merritt, some 120 miles (200 km) northeast of Vancouver, ordered all 8,000 citizens to leave on Monday as river waters rose quickly, but some were still trapped in their homes on Tuesday, said city spokesman Greg Lowis.

Snow blanketed the town on Tuesday and some cars could be seen floating in the flood waters up to 4 feet (1.22 m) deep.

The towns of Chilliwack and Abbotsford ordered partial evacuations.

Abbotsford also issued an emergency warning on Tuesday night, asking all residents to evacuate the Sumas Prairie region immediately as deteriorating conditions posed a significant threat to lives.

Rescuers equipped with diggers and body-sniffing dogs started clearing mounds of debris that have choked highways.

The landslides and floods come less than six months after a wildfires gutted an entire town in British Columbia as temperatures soared during a record-breaking heat dome, raising new worries about climate change.

Reporting by Artur Gajda in Merritt and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Nia Williams in Calgary, Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru, Brad Brooks in Lubbock, Texas and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; editing by Ed Osmond, Jonathan Oatis, Aurora Ellis and Sandra Maler

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