https://znetwork.org/category/place/latin-america/ Independent Left News, Analysis, Vision and Strategy Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:50:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://znetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Z_logo_512-32x32.png https://znetwork.org/category/place/latin-america/ 32 32 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-decapitation-that-failed-venezuela-after-the-abduction-of-president-maduro/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-decapitation-that-failed-venezuela-after-the-abduction-of-president-maduro/#respond Fri, 20 Feb 2026 17:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294981 The response within the US political establishment to the attack on Venezuela has been striking. Without the slightest cognitive dissonance over President Maduro’s violent abduction, Democrats call for “restoring democracy” – but not for returning Venezuela’s lawful president. So why didn’t the imperialists simply assassinate him? From their perspective, it would have been cleaner and more cost-efficient. [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-decapitation-that-failed-venezuela-after-the-abduction-of-president-maduro/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-cuban-revolution-holds-out-against-us-imperialism/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-cuban-revolution-holds-out-against-us-imperialism/#respond Wed, 18 Feb 2026 17:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294865 In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-cuban-revolution-holds-out-against-us-imperialism/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mano-dura-comes-to-costa-rica/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mano-dura-comes-to-costa-rica/#respond Mon, 16 Feb 2026 18:18:14 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294791 On Sunday, February 1, Costa Ricans went to the polls to elect a new president and fifty-seven members of congress. The election, which was framed as a referendum on the outgoing administration of Rodrigo Chaves, delivered a resounding victory to his chosen successor, Laura Fernández, who secured over 48 percent of the vote. The campaign [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/mano-dura-comes-to-costa-rica/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/peter-thiel-is-unleashing-a-neocolonial-billionaire-fantasy-in-honduras/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/peter-thiel-is-unleashing-a-neocolonial-billionaire-fantasy-in-honduras/#respond Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:34:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294799 In April 2025, Peter Thiel’s Palantir made headlines after documents were released detailing its partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to create ImmigrationOS, a massive database of information gathered from a variety of sources including the IRS, in order to surveil, detain, and deport immigrants. Thiel is not new to spearheading endeavors that aim to [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/peter-thiel-is-unleashing-a-neocolonial-billionaire-fantasy-in-honduras/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/usa-is-using-hunger-as-a-weapon-to-try-to-collapse-cuba/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/usa-is-using-hunger-as-a-weapon-to-try-to-collapse-cuba/#respond Sun, 15 Feb 2026 19:03:18 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1294774 The Donald Trump administration has imposed an extreme oil blockade to prevent Cuba from getting fuel from any country. Marco Rubio wants to collapse the economy, causing millions of civilians to starve and suffer in order to overthrow the revolutionary Cuban government. Ben Norton explains the monstrous history of US imperialism and its siege of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/usa-is-using-hunger-as-a-weapon-to-try-to-collapse-cuba/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/anti-fascist-pride-pushes-against-precarity-violence-in-argentina/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/anti-fascist-pride-pushes-against-precarity-violence-in-argentina/#respond Sun, 15 Feb 2026 13:54:19 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294744 The transfeminist movement in Argentina demonstrated the power that comes from uniting struggles during the second Anti-Fascist and Anti-Racist LGBTIQNB+ Pride March, which took place on February 7. The march was held days before a controversial labor reform proposed by Javier Milei was approved by the Senate this week amid further protests. On Saturday, at [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/anti-fascist-pride-pushes-against-precarity-violence-in-argentina/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-gaza-to-cuba-how-canada-remains-the-worlds-most-tactful-bystander/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-gaza-to-cuba-how-canada-remains-the-worlds-most-tactful-bystander/#respond Sat, 14 Feb 2026 17:04:56 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294729 The world is witnessing yet another manufactured humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in plain sight in Cuba. This crisis is not the result of any internal collapse or mismanagement. It is the deliberate outcome of United States policy, a policy of collective punishment designed to impose economic suffocation on an entire population to extract political change. President [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/from-gaza-to-cuba-how-canada-remains-the-worlds-most-tactful-bystander/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-nuestra-america-flotilla-is-sailing-to-cuba/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-nuestra-america-flotilla-is-sailing-to-cuba/#respond Fri, 13 Feb 2026 19:26:54 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294684 The Trump administration is tightening the noose around Cuba. In late January, the White House signed a new executive order escalating the siege — authorising sanctions, interdictions, and tariffs on any country that supplies the island with fuel. Washington calls it “maximum pressure.” In practice, it means oil tankers seized at sea, flights cut, financial [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-nuestra-america-flotilla-is-sailing-to-cuba/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/an-amnesty-is-neither-weakness-nor-oblivion/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/an-amnesty-is-neither-weakness-nor-oblivion/#respond Thu, 12 Feb 2026 16:50:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294642 On 20 May 2017, during a violent protest planned by sectors of the Venezuelan opposition, 21-year-old Orlando Figuera was attacked by a mob that accused him of being a Chavista. After being stabbed, he was doused with gasoline and set on fire in front of everyone present. Young Orlando was admitted to a hospital with multiple wounds [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/an-amnesty-is-neither-weakness-nor-oblivion/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/bad-bunny-good-neighbor/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/bad-bunny-good-neighbor/#respond Wed, 11 Feb 2026 17:36:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294600 For thirteen minutes on the most-watched stage in American culture, Bad Bunny made the United States feel expansive, uncontained, Caribbean rhythm–centered, and alive with a sense of belonging that crossed borders without asking permission. As a Venezuelan-American, I felt chills from the very first second to the last. I was a child again, asleep across [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/bad-bunny-good-neighbor/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/suffocating-an-island-what-the-u-s-blockade-is-doing-to-cuba/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/suffocating-an-island-what-the-u-s-blockade-is-doing-to-cuba/#respond Wed, 11 Feb 2026 17:35:34 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294598 Marta Jiménez, a hairdresser in Cuba’s eastern city of Holguín, covered her face with her hands and broke down crying when I asked her about Trump’s blockade of the island—especially now that the U.S. is choking off oil shipments. “You can’t imagine how it touches every part of our lives,” she sobbed. “It’s a vicious, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/suffocating-an-island-what-the-u-s-blockade-is-doing-to-cuba/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-do-minnesota-and-venezuela-have-in-common/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-do-minnesota-and-venezuela-have-in-common/#respond Mon, 09 Feb 2026 18:02:05 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294540 Former President Donald Trump has begun to speak openly about placing the federal government in charge of overseeing elections in as many as 15 states where, he claims, corruption is rampant. What might Minnesota and Venezuela have in common under this framing? The answer points toward an emerging imperial logic of rule—one that increasingly displaces [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-do-minnesota-and-venezuela-have-in-common/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-after-the-coup/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-after-the-coup/#respond Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294439 President Donald Trump implemented his National Security Strategy’s Donroe Doctrine by carrying out a coup in Venezuela. His aim is to carve out an exclusive sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere, impose imperial rule over its countries, and push out rivals, especially China. In the first move of this strategy, Trump concocted false allegations [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-after-the-coup/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-pirate-of-the-caribbean/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-pirate-of-the-caribbean/#respond Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:52:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294415 I have now been here a week and I think that I have absorbed enough to attempt a little analysis, as opposed to the simple impressions I gave shortly after arrival. Those impressions remain valid however: this is not a repressive state. I was on the Randy Credico show live on WBAI New York on [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trump-pirate-of-the-caribbean/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-venezuela-poses-an-unusual-and-extraordinary-threat-to-the-u-s-agenda/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-venezuela-poses-an-unusual-and-extraordinary-threat-to-the-u-s-agenda/#respond Thu, 05 Feb 2026 16:51:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294407 U.S. President Donald Trump has not shied away from admitting his thirst for Venezuelan oil. On 16 December 2025, in the leadup to the 3 January bombing of Caracas and kidnapping of the country’s president and first lady, Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, he claimed ownership over Venezuela resources, stating that “America will not… allow a hostile [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/how-venezuela-poses-an-unusual-and-extraordinary-threat-to-the-u-s-agenda/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/drugs-right-under-their-noses/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/drugs-right-under-their-noses/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2026 19:00:37 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294354 In Central America there are 2 countries that have played an important role in international drug smuggling. Those 2 countries are Honduras and Panama. Something else these countries also share in common is that they have both hosted US military troops and bases for decades. Most Americans are unaware that the US has a fairly [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/drugs-right-under-their-noses/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-ultimatum-to-cuba-no-fuel-until-surrender/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-ultimatum-to-cuba-no-fuel-until-surrender/#respond Wed, 04 Feb 2026 18:48:58 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294369 Cuba stands on the precipice of a severe fuel shortage, a crisis with the potential to paralyze its economy and inflict greater and more profound suffering on its 11 million people. This is not an accident of geography or a failure of planning. It is a direct, calculated result of the United States government’s actions, [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/trumps-ultimatum-to-cuba-no-fuel-until-surrender/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/bitcoin-country/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/bitcoin-country/#respond Tue, 03 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294330 Juan Hernández arrived at the Jan. 7 press conference in a uniform that became commonplace in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic: full-body white medical protective gear, including a cap, mask and safety goggles. When it was his turn to speak, he read a statement calling for dialogue to negotiate fair severance packages or the reinstatement [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/bitcoin-country/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-and-iran-oil-and-survival/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-and-iran-oil-and-survival/#respond Mon, 02 Feb 2026 17:00:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294283 Venezuela, under threat following the attacks of January 3, and in perspective alongside the historical mirror that is Iran, allows us to study the models of classic oil nationalism and pragmatic resistance. But beyond the economy, some analysts have put forward the theory that Venezuelan and Iranian oil is not just a business, but vital [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-and-iran-oil-and-survival/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/us-imperialism-madurismo-without-maduro-and-venezuelan-sovereignty-after-january-3/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/us-imperialism-madurismo-without-maduro-and-venezuelan-sovereignty-after-january-3/#respond Sat, 31 Jan 2026 12:55:13 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294233 The US government’s January 3 military assault on Venezuela and kidnapping of then President Nicolás Maduro and National Assembly deputy Cilia Flores, sent shockwaves through the region. It has also sparked intense discussions about why and how it was able to occur, what the new Delcy Rodríguez government represents and what it all means for [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/us-imperialism-madurismo-without-maduro-and-venezuelan-sovereignty-after-january-3/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/latin-america-pushes-back-against-u-s-intervention/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/latin-america-pushes-back-against-u-s-intervention/#respond Fri, 30 Jan 2026 16:34:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294182 When Senator Tim Kaine told Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a recent Senate hearing on Venezuela that the administration’s announcement of a new Monroe Doctrine “does not land well in the Americas,” he was putting it mildly. I just returned from an emergency gathering in Bogotá on January 24-25 with about 90 delegates from [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/latin-america-pushes-back-against-u-s-intervention/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/being-there-in-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/being-there-in-venezuela/#respond Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:12:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1294001 I have now been in Caracas for 48 hours and the contrast between what I have seen, and what I had read in the mainstream media, could not be more stark. I drove right through Caracas, from the airport through the city centre and up to posh Las Mercedes. The next morning I walked all [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/being-there-in-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-supreme-courts-quiet-war-on-cuba/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-supreme-courts-quiet-war-on-cuba/#respond Sun, 25 Jan 2026 15:59:32 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293947 As President Donald Trump gestures toward regime change in Cuba, the US Supreme Court, with Trump’s urging, has agreed to hear lawsuits that could help corporate interests recoup hundreds of millions of dollars in long-expropriated Cuban assets if the United States seizes control of the nation. One of those lawsuits involves an oil giant claiming damages from Cuban [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-supreme-courts-quiet-war-on-cuba/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-revival-of-regime-change/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-revival-of-regime-change/#comments Fri, 23 Jan 2026 17:30:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293850 The Trump administration’s exercise in armed regime change in Venezuela should have come as no surprise. The U.S. naval buildup in the Caribbean and the attacks on defenseless boats off the Venezuelan coast — based on unproven allegations that they contained drug traffickers — had been underway for more than three months. By the end of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-the-revival-of-regime-change/feed/ 1 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/#respond Fri, 16 Jan 2026 16:58:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293560 Beyond the seizure of Venezuela’s oil and mineral resources, the January 3 invasion is inscribed within the epochal crisis of global capitalism. Historians will likely look back at the January 3, 2026 attack on Venezuela, the kidnapping of its president, and the takeover of the country as marking the definitive crack up of the post-WWII [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/the-global-meaning-of-the-u-s-attack-on-venezuela/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-war-is-peace/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-war-is-peace/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:59:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293508 After declaring his second presidential victory on 6 November 2024, Donald Trump said of his first term: ‘You know, we had no wars for four years. We had no wars. Except we defeated ISIS, we defeated ISIS in record time. But we had no wars. They said, “He will start a war.” I’m not going to start [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/venezuela-war-is-peace/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-empire-strikes-back-trump-venezuela-and-ice/ https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-empire-strikes-back-trump-venezuela-and-ice/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:57:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=video&p=1293480 In this livestream, Yanis Varoufakis and entrepreneur and commentator Arnaud Bertrand unpack what just happened in Venezuela, why it matters far beyond Latin America, and what people can do when “might makes right” is being sold as order. We also look at Europe’s response, the oil angle, and the wider shift towards more force, fewer [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/zvideo/the-empire-strikes-back-trump-venezuela-and-ice/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-authoritarians-play-victim-from-minnesota-to-tel-aviv-it-is-an-admission-of-violent-intent/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-authoritarians-play-victim-from-minnesota-to-tel-aviv-it-is-an-admission-of-violent-intent/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:49:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293486 Fascists and various authoritarian personality types have a proclivity for playing the victim. Anyone who calls into question their brutal tactics is a terrorist/terrorist supporter who not only places them in mortal danger (i.e., As a rule, clad in body armor, heavily armed, and traveling in a belligerent pack) but the security and welfare of [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/when-authoritarians-play-victim-from-minnesota-to-tel-aviv-it-is-an-admission-of-violent-intent/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/greenland-really/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/greenland-really/#respond Thu, 15 Jan 2026 16:48:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293495 It is hard to understand why Donald Trump is so anxious to acquire Greenland even if it takes military force. When he suggested this during his first administration, one of his Cabinet secretaries mused, “You just sit there and be, like, ‘Well, this isn’t real.’” Now, somehow, it is. Venezuela shows us that, other than a [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/greenland-really/feed/ 0 https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-venezuela-have-to-do-with-taiwan/ https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-venezuela-have-to-do-with-taiwan/#respond Wed, 14 Jan 2026 16:55:00 +0000 https://znetwork.org/?post_type=znetarticle&p=1293471 The New Year did not begin with hope or joy, except for the arms dealers. More precisely, for the military-industrial-media-academic-NGO complex that feeds on permanent war. Orders are flowing, profits are booming, and blood has once again become a growth sector. For any normal society, pirates belong in adventure films, not in the civilian power [...]]]> https://znetwork.org/znetarticle/what-does-venezuela-have-to-do-with-taiwan/feed/ 0