PROGRAM NOTES 09/04/26-
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This weeks show features stories from RADIO DEUTSCHE-WELLE, FRANCE 24, NHK JAPAN, and RADIO HAVANA CUBA.

From GERMANY- Last Friday the Trump administration announced plans to take about 20% of Venezuelan oil reserves or 65 billion barrels. John Feeley is a former US Ambassador to Panama and currently Executive Director of Media Integrity Of The Americas. He said that the takeover was a big announcement that is basically an exaggeration to please the MAGA supporters and distract from the tension about fuel prices. Alejandro Betancourt is an oil oligarch and looks to be the private business partner to conduct the deal. Feeley says that the Venezuelan people will be the losers in whatever comes to pass from these announcements.

From FRANCE- Press reviews have returned to France 24 and here is one about Alejandro Betancourt the notoriously corrupt oil baron swinging the oil deal for the US in Venezuela. Then a report on the signing of a separate oil deal between Chevron and other US firms with the Venezuelan government installed after the US kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. Then an opinion piece from the Nepali Himalayan Times lambasting Western hypocrisy around the climate crisis which created the devastating floods in Nepal.

From JAPAN- An update on the situation in Nepal. Ukrainian President Zelensky has warned the world that Russian airspace will be effectively closing because of increasing drone attacks. Japanese Defense forces are showing off their new aerial combat drones. Leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held a summit and issued a declaration supporting Iranian sovereignty and territorial integrity. Iranian officials accuse the US military of attacking dozens of people at a wedding, killing 4 and injuring 67.

From CUBA- Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernandez de Cossio denounced the the US government is funding press articles to justify a military aggression against Cuba. A second deportation flight was sent to Haiti. Cuba criticized the continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon, where more than 4300 have been killed since March. Israeli air attacks continue killing civilians including children in Gaza.

"In the United States today, the Declaration of Independence hangs on schoolroom walls, but foreign policy follows Machiavelli."
--Howard Zinn