Prime minister Boris Johnson has come under fire for his comments about the decline of coal mining in the UK. On the surface, it might seem hypocritical for those on the left, and especially environmentalists, to mourn the shutting down of coal pits. But a more nuanced analysis shows that there is, in fact, no contradiction.
Category Archives: The Canary
There’s no contradiction in environmentalists mourning the loss of the UK’s coal mines
Filed under The Canary
Damning open letter calls on Joe Biden to lift Cuba embargo
The US government and allies in the right-wing Cuban exile community have been seizing on recent protests in Cuba to further their regime change strategy. And, as would also be expected, the corporate-owned media has largely been parroting this line. Moreover, it’s been leaving out crucial facts that undermine Washington’s narrative.
The most prominent aspect of this lying by omission is a consistent failure to name the biggest cause of suffering for Cubans. And that’s overwhelmingly been a crushing set of US-imposed economic sanctions. Now, a number of NGOs and prominent academics have signed a damning open letter to the US government. It’s calling on president Joe Biden to finally lift sanctions against Cuba.
Filed under The Canary
Biden’s first Guantanamo transfer is too little, too late. We need to shut it down!
US president Joe Biden recently made the first transfer of a Guantanamo Bay detention center detainee since he entered the White House in January. To be clear, this should be welcomed. Guantanamo Bay has become perhaps the most enduring symbol of the excesses and kneejerk trampling over civil liberties that followed the September 11 attacks.
But we also need to state: this is too little, too late. Biden should not just be releasing all Guantanamo detainees but shutting the place down altogether. Moreover, the failure of former president Barack Obama to shut it down exposes how both major US parties cannot be trusted on civil liberties issues.
Filed under The Canary
As case of stolen Venezuelan gold reaches court, the UK still backs coup leader Juan Guaidó
As The Canary has extensively reported, since January 2019 Venezuela has been subjected to a US-backed coup attempt. The putsch began when a previously unknown member of Venezuela’s legislature declared himself ‘interim president’. He was quickly recognized as the oil rich South American country’s legitimate leader by the US and most of its Latin American and Western European allies, including the UK government of then-prime minister Theresa May.
As part of the coup attempt, the Bank of England unilaterally froze assets belonging to Venezuela. But the beleaguered nation will soon have the opportunity to recoup its stolen property in court. And as the case’s hearing approaches, the UK government has made one last desperate move. Evidently, it hopes to salvage whatever’s left of its international credibility by avoiding the likely embarrassment of having to hand it back to its rightful owner.
Filed under The Canary
US response to protests in Cuba, Colombia and Brazil reveals its self-serving hypocrisy
Cuba has recently seen a wave of protests erupt throughout the country. Inevitably, the US is using the protests as fresh justification for heightening its decades-long policies of regime change and coercive sanctions. Some are even calling for direct military intervention into the Caribbean island nation.
On the surface, it might appear perfectly reasonable that the US respond to a wave of protests in a nearby country. But the reality is that the US’s aggressive policies toward Cuba, along with its history of intervention all across Latin America, means that it has zero credibility.
Moreover, a regional comparison with other Latin American countries shows that Washington is highly selective in how it responds to anti-governmental protests. And this ‘selective indignation’ shines a revealing light on the self-serving hypocrisy that lies behind its entire foreign policy stance.
Filed under The Canary
In 60 seconds Kier Starmer shows he knows nothing about Northern Ireland’s peace agreement
Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party is already hanging by a thread. Polls have consistently shown him way behind the Tories. And recent by-election results have been disappointing, to say the least. Now, his performance on a BBC Newsline interview has revealed either his shocking ignorance about the peace agreement in Ireland or his lack of concern for its terms. And it would be difficult to know which would be worse.
Filed under The Canary
Good riddance to Donald Rumsfeld – liar, warmonger, corporate lackey extraordinaire
One of the founding fathers of US neo-conservativism has died. There’s a saying that ‘we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead’. But while this might be a reasonable rule of thumb for civilians, if applied to public figures it would preclude a proper examination of their impact while in public life. Worse still, doing so could mean shielding serious crimes from the critical examination and condemnation that they rightfully deserve.
Filed under The Canary
Lifting sanctions on Venezuela could signal regime change by different means
Western governments have recently expressed a willingness to “review” sanctions against Venezuela’s democratically elected government. Of course, this should be welcomed given the huge harm that sanctions have caused to Venezuela’s civilian population. But, as always, we must be skeptical of these governments’ motives. This latest move could simply be the next chapter in the ongoing regime change saga.
Filed under The Canary
Despite global opposition, the US stays adamant on Cuban embargo
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has voted on a motion to condemn the decades-long US embargo against Cuba. The vast majority of the world’s nations supported the resolution. But two countries voted against it. It will come as a surprise to no one which two countries they are.
Filed under The Canary
Here’s what the corporate-owned media won’t tell you about the arrests in Nicaragua
Nicaragua has been under heavy fire from the corporate-owned media lately. The government of Daniel Ortega has arrested several opposition figures in the midst of an upcoming election. The US government and corporate media have been expressing their outrage about what they consider to be the growing dictatorial nature of the Ortega ‘regime’.
But there is more to the story than they let on. A deeper investigation shows that the situation is not as clear-cut as they make out. And as is so often the case with Latin America, it falls to independent media to add some nuance and balance to the flagrantly right-leaning and pro-Washington coverage of the corporate-owned press.
Filed under The Canary
