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What Is Happening at the Venezuelan Embassy Is an Outrage 

BREAKING: Police have begun evicting representatives of the international NGO Code Pink who have barricaded themselves in the embassy.

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Police Illegally Evict Embassy Occupants in Washington D.C

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BREAKING | After the electricity was shut off in the Venezuelan embassy in Washington D.C. May 8, co-founder of Codepink, Medea Benjamin tweets the water was also just shut off.

Codepink: 'US Govt Turns Off Water in Venezuela Embassy'

After several weeks of protecting the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, the 'U.S. government' has shut off the water to try to 'smoke out' Maduro supporters: Codepink. 

Activists inside the embassy pointed out that the US is employing similar tactics to suppress the Embassy Protection Collective as it uses against Venezuela.

The Real News Network interviewed Anya Parampil, a journalist with The Grayzone, live from the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C. where activists with the Embassy Protection Collective are preventing the Venezuelan opposition from taking over the embassy

THEREALNEWS.COM

Anya Parampil from Inside the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, D.C.

"The Real News Network will be interviewing Anya Parampil, a journalist with The Grayzone, live from the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, D.C. where activists with the Embassy Protection Collective are preventing the Venezuelan opposition from taking over the embassy."

DC's power company, PEPCO, cut the electricity to the Venezuelan Embassy Wednesday evening, even though the bill was paid in full. Secret Service and opposition protesters continue to harass the Embassy Protection Collective, which is trying to make sure that the embassy is not turned over to Venezuela's unelected parallel government representatives.

-21:12

NEWSCLICK.IN

Authorities Cut Power at Venezuelan Embassy in US | NewsClick

Activists inside the embassy pointed out that the US is employing similar tactics to suppress the Embassy Protection Collective as it uses against Venezuela.

Determined to avoid another war, a group of US peace activists sought and received permission from the legitimate Venezuelan government to form an Embassy Protection Collective
by Medea Benjamin
Published on Tuesday, May 07, 2019
by Common Dreams




On May 1 our peaceful presence was violently besieged by angry Guaido supporters. (Photo: Codepink)

Right here in Washington DC an unprecedented showdown is unfolding. Venezuelan supporters of self-declared interim president Juan Guaido have been trying to take over the Venezuelan Embassy. This goes against international law, the wishes of the government in control in Venezuela, and the dogged determination of a group of US citizens called the Embassy Protection Collective, who have been living in the Embassy since April 15.

A takeover of the embassy of a sovereign nation whose government holds power and is recognized by the United Nations would be illegal according to the 1961 Vienna Conventions on Diplomatic Relations, which says that diplomatic premises are inviolable and the receiving State must protect the premises against any “intrusion, disturbance of the peace or impairment of its dignity.”

This has nothing to do with whether one likes Nicolas Maduro or considers the Venezuelan elections fair. My Saudi friends in Washington DC hate Mohammad Bin Salman—a man who has NEVER been elected by anyone—but the US government would never let them take over the Saudi Embassy. Chinese dissidents say that “winners” of Chinese rigged elections—with only the Communist Party allowed to exist—should not be recognized by the rest of world, but they would never get access to the Chinese Embassies. Likewise for dissidents from Egypt, Honduras, Syria, Zambia, Congo, Romania, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc.—all countries with highly questionable elections, to put it mildly.

The inflammatory act of handing over the Venezuelan Embassy to Guiado supporters would also have the potential to dramatically escalate the conflict between the United States and Venezuela.

The inflammatory act of handing over the Venezuelan Embassy to Guiado supporters would also have the potential to dramatically escalate the conflict between the United States and Venezuela. If the Trump administration were to allow this, the Maduro government would likely reciprocate by taking over the US Embassy. This could be just what warhawks John Bolton and Elliot Abrams are looking for as a justification for a US military intervention.

Determined to avoid another war, a group of US peace activists sought and received permission from the legitimate Venezuelan government to form an Embassy Protection Collective. Since April 15, a group has been living in the Embassy, sleeping on couches and floors, while outside supporters have been providing supplies and joining them for meals and educational events.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE

EXCLUSIVE: The Secret Service has said that it will not prevent those in the building from accessing food or supplies, but on Monday morning that proved to be a lie.

MINTPRESSNEWS.COM

Secret Service Blocking Food From Reaching Activists Inside Venezuelan Embassy

The Secret Service is now denying the entry of food to Embassy Protection Collective activists who are holed up inside the Venezuelan Embassy.

For weeks, a group of US citizens calling itself the “Embassy Protection Collective” has stymied the opposition’s plans to seize the embassy, denying its leadership the veneer of legitimacy it has been desperately seeking.

MINTPRESSNEWS.COM

DC Embassy Protectors Force Guaido’s Shadow Ambassador to Flee in Failure as Coup Flops in Venezuela

US activists forced Juan Guaido’s shadow ambassador, Carlos Vecchio, to flee from a rally that was supposed to mark his triumphant entry into the Venezuelan embassy in Washington

MintPress News has been at the embassy in D.C. since Wednesday, recording livestream reports and publishing articles featuring the voices of activists on the front lines in the fight against US imperialism that seeks to overthrow the Democratically elected leader of Venezuela and install a right wing government friendly to US economic interests.

MINTPRESSNEWS.COM

Violent, Bigoted Supporters of Juan Guaidó Attempt to Invade Venezuela’s D.C. Embassy

The violence and bigotry of the opposition has made the embassy protectors even more resolute in their cause.

www.handsoffvenezuela.org 

Texas explorer completes deepest ocean dive in history

By Danielle Haynes



The expedition team believes it identified three new marine

 animal species during the expedition. Photo courtesy 

of Five Deeps Expedition

May 13 (UPI) -- A Dallas-based explorer has set a record for the deepest dive ever made in a submersible -- in the world's deepest ocean trench, his organization announced Monday.

Victor Vescovo reached a depth of 35,853 feet on April 28 during a dive to the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest known point on earth. The dive was 52 feet deeper than any previous manned dive, Vescovo's Five Deeps Expedition said

VIDEO

The last visit to Challenger Deep also set a depth record at 35,787 feet. That journey was made by filmmaker James Cameron in 2012

During the April 28-May 5 expedition to the Mariana Trench, the team also completed a dive to the bottom of Sirena Deep, about 128 miles away from Challenger Deep. The team spent hours at the bottom of the ocean at these locations, collecting samples, including the deepest piece of mantle rock ever collected.


RELATED Climate change triggered South American population decline 8,000 years ago, study says

Five Deeps Expedition believes it has identified at least three new species of marine animal, including a long-appendages amphipod.


"It's almost indescribable how excited all of us are about achieving what we just did," Vescovo said. "This submarine and its mother ship, along with its extraordinarily talented expedition team, took marine technology to an unprecedented new level by diving -- rapidly and repeatedly -- into the deepest, harshest area of the ocean.


"We feel like we have just created, validated, and opened a powerful door to discover and visit any place, any time, in the ocean -- which is 90 percent unexplored."



The Pacific Ocean dive is the fourth in Five Deeps Expedition's plan to dive to the bottom of each of the world's five oceans. The group is using a submersible called Limiting Factor to complete its challenge.


The team next plans to conduct dives in the Tonga Trench in the South Pacific Ocean.

Study: More people displaced by fighting, disasters than ever before


Displaced Malian citizens are seen in the village of Koygouma, Mali, on May 6 as a United Nations delegation visits. Photo byNicolas Remene/EPA-EFE
May 10 (UPI) -- More people have been displaced in their home countries by events like war, violence and natural disasters than at any other time in history, a new report said Friday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council said in its Global Report on Internal Displacement that 41.3 million people were displaced in 2018 -- an increase of about 1 million over the previous year.

The report, produced by the NRC's Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, said there were 28 million new displacements connected with conflict, general violence and disasters like earthquakes and weather events. The data covered persons displaced in their own countries, but not refugees.

Ongoing conflicts in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Cameroon and Nigeria accounted for nearly 11 million of the new displacements. The report said many who tried to return home found their homes destroyed, local infrastructure damaged and basic services out of order.

"This year's report is a sad reminder of the recurrence of displacement, and of the severity and urgency of [the displaced's] needs," Alexandra Bilak, the center's director, said in a statement. "Many of the same factors that drove people from their homes now prevent them from returning or finding solutions in the places they have settled."

The study said displacement in urban areas is on the increase, with noted examples including Syria's Dara'a, the Yemen port city of Hudaydah, and the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

Syria has been engaged in civil war and the Yemeni government has been fighting Houthi rebels for several years. Libya has suffered from persistent internal conflict that led to the death of longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

"The findings of this report are a wake-up call to world leaders," NRC Secretary-General Jan Egeland said in a statement. "Millions of people forced to flee their homes last year are being failed by ineffective national governance and insufficient international diplomacy."

Friday's report comes amid numerous efforts worldwide to return refugees to their native countries. The Middle East and North Africa offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in December they hope as many as 250,000 Syrians can return sometime this year, as fighting there has slowed.

Iuventa Crew Receives Human Rights Award in Switzerland

Iuventa crew

BY MAREX 2019-05-13 21:37:32

The crew of the rescue ship Iuventa operated by the German NGO Jugend Rettet has been honored by the Swiss Paul Grüninger Foundation with a human rights award for saving the lives of around 14,000 of men, women and children in the central Mediterranean.

The award is seen as a statement against the criminalization of those helping people at sea and comes whilst the crew is under criminal investigations in Italy for “aiding and abetting illegal immigration.” They face up to 20 years in prison and fines of 15,000 Euro ($16,900) per saved person.

The Iuventa was the first rescue vessel seized in Italy in August 2017. Captain Dariush was master of the Iuventa for three voyages off the Libyan coast: “We’re being charged for saving lives. This is absurd,” he said. “It is European politicians who block any safe way for people in need, so we had to act.” 

The award in Switzerland puts the topic back on the agenda, says Dariush. “This is important because it’s not us who suffer most from the process, but it is the refugees and migrants who suffer and whose lives are at risk.”

One of the crew volunteers Zoe said: “I myself almost drowned once off the coast of Malta. I will never forget this feeling of helplessness, not knowing whether someone will discover my head in the waves.” After seeing pictures of people drowning on television in 2016, she volunteered and at age 20 was one of the youngest crew members. 

The crew says: “Although we have to stand trial, it is us who accuses Europe. We accuse European politicians of turning their backs on people in need. We accuse the E.U. of collaborating with regimes who violate human rights.”

The Italian public prosecutor’s office has been investigating the crew for almost two years. Covert investigators claim to have observed the Iuventa crew cooperating with smugglers. However, the NGO claims that scientists at Goldsmiths, University of London have said there is no evidence for this. “They have compared the accusations of the Italian police with all available data, meteorological measurements, logbooks and recordings of the Reuters agency. In their study for Forensic Architecture, they conclude that the allegations are false.”

The trial is expected to begin in autumn, and it is expected that charges will be brought against the 10 crew members. It is a precedent for Europe, says lead lawyer Nicola Canestrini: “This trial will show whether Europe can continue to stand for fundamental rights and solidarity in the world.” 

Grüninger was a Swiss police officer who permitted safe entry to 3,600 mostly Jewish refugees into Switzerland in 1938 and 1939, thus saving them from certain death in concentration camps. He was convicted and fired from his job. In 1990, long after his death, his family received compensation and created the foundation.

The prize money of 50,000 Swiss francs ($50,000) should make a substantial contribution to the defense of the rescuers, says the U.K-based charity Human Rights at Sea. The legal costs for the case are estimated to be at least 300,000 Euro ($337,000) , and another 200,000 Euro ($225,000) will be spent on campaign and travel costs for the crew.