Image copyrightAFPImage captionThe opposition has planned to deliver foreign humanitarian aid on 23 February
In the humble neighbourhood of El Valle, in south-western Caracas, several hundred residents are gathered round in a community square, waiting for a meeting to start.
One of the organisers picks up the microphone and starts addressing the crowd.
"Why are you all here?" he asks them. "For Venezuela," they readily reply in unison before starting to sing the national anthem.
"Glory to the brave nation, which shook off the yoke," they all chant. "Off with the chains! Off with the chains!"
The anthem may reference Venezuela's colonial history, but the wording is particularly fitting for today's politics too.
Venezuelans are joining in the modern-day fight to shake off President Nicolás Maduro's administration, a government that many blame for strangling the economy and people's lives.
This meeting - and many similar events across the country - is being held ahead of a deadline set by opposition leader Juan Guaidó for humanitarian aid to be brought into the country from abroad.
Mr Guaidó, head of the National Assembly and self-declared interim president, and his supporters are trying to gather a million volunteers.
A shipment of humanitarian aid by the United States that flew out of Miami landed in this Colombian border city on Saturday as part of efforts in response to the humanitarian crisis in neighboring Venezuela.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Department of State coordinated the shipment, which was transported on three military planes from an air base in Homestead. The C-17 planes arrived in Cúcuta in afternoon, where they were met by USAID Administrator Mark Green and representatives appointed Venezuelan leader Juan Guaidó, the president of the National Assembly who is now recognized as interim president by the U.S. and nearly to 60 other countries.
Trump plans to address the Venezuelan crisis during a gathering in Miami on Monday.
The three planes carried around 180 tons of aid. Flights will continue next week, Steve Olive, assistant administrator for Latin America at USAID, told el Nuevo Herald. An el Nuevo Herald reporter was one of only a handful of journalists who accompanied the flight.
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article226330885.html#storylink=Olive said USAID plans to participate in the distribution of the aid inside Venezuela, “once it is safe” to do so. USAID officials are coordinating daily with Guaidó’s team and relying on them to identify groups inside Venezuela that could distribute the aid to those in need. But so far, he said, there’s fear among these groups that they could be targeted by the Maduro regime.
Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) both vow to push back if the Trump administration moves to prevent allocated foreign aid dollars from being spent. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
The Trump administration is exploring how it can keep more than $3 billion in foreign aid from being spent, but the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee say they’ll fight to keep the assistance to other countries in place.
What’s the deal?
In early August, the Office of Management and Budget asked the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to provide a breakdown of foreign aid projects that had already been approved by Congress but not yet funded.
OMB chief Mick Mulvaney is reportedly behind the move, which would largely entail withholding payments to the United Nations.
According to the Washington Post, the OMB’s instructions were sent in a memo — the contents of which were leaked to several outlets.
The memo purportedly states administration plans to eliminate what it considers unnecessary international assistance, saying, “If Congress fails to take action to release the funds, they will remain on hold until the end of the fiscal year … then be returned to the Treasury.”
If successful, it wouldn’t be the first time the Trump administration has moved to trim payments to other countries. In December, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced that America would cut its contribution to the global body by $285 million. In May, Haley said America would also be capping its bankrolling of the organization’s peacekeeping operations.
So, what’s the problem?
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) vowed Thursday to push back if the administration seeks to freeze the funds.
“I don’t know how they can do that legally, but we certainly look forward to seeing how to counter that, if that’s the case,” Corker said at a hearing.
During the same panel discussion, ranking Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.) threatened to hold up the confirmation of future President Donald Trump appointees if the Mulvaney plan moved forward.
“If they do it in the way that they’re going to … in essence it effectuates a cut without Congress being able to act, then I have to look at the nominations in a whole different light,” Menendez said.
Corker later told the Post that rescinding the funds from other countries would be “a step of bad faith.”
The OMB refused to address the matter. One official told Politico, “We do not comment on alleged leaks and will not discuss deliberative and pre-decisional information.”
President Trumpblasted Pakistan in his first tweet of 2018, saying its leaders have given the U.S. “nothing by lies & deceit.”
“The United States has foolishly given Pakistan more than 33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years, and they have given us nothing but lies & deceit, thinking of our leaders as fools,” he said Monday morning.
“They give safe haven to the terrorists we hunt in Afghanistan, with little help. No more!” he added.
The New York Times reported late last week that the Trump administration might withhold $225 million in aid over frustration with Pakistan's handling of terror networks.
Administration officials told the newspaper that a final decision is expected in the next few weeks.
Pakistan's defense ministry fired back at Trump in a tweet later Monday, saying it has received nothing but "invective & mistrust" from the U.S.
U.S. officials have long accused Pakistan of being slow to stamp out terrorist groups within its borders.
In August, Trump unveiled a new U.S. strategy for the war in Afghanistan aimed at defeating the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network, an affiliated group that operates in Pakistan.
Trump said then that Pakistan "gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence and terror." He also vowed the administration would be tougher on the country.
In July, the Pentagon withheld $50 million in funding for Pakistan after Defense Secretary James Mattis told Congress he would not certify that the country has done enough to fight the Haqqani Network.
The UK's aid budget will be shifted to projects that promote its interests, the foreign secretary has said.
Boris Johnson said the money will be "more sensibly distributed" to support foreign policy aims such as denying safe havens to Islamist militants.
His comments came as Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, said the UK will provide a £21m boost to an emergency aid fund.
The UK currently spends £13bn on aid each year.
Speaking to the Times newspaper, Mr Johnson said "the old jam jars are being smashed" and money would be diverted to support government aims, including combating terrorist groups in Africa.
It would also go to help refugees in Yemen and Rohingya Muslims fleeing across the Burmese border into Bangladesh, he added.
The government is committed to spending 0.7% of national income on overseas aid but some politicians oppose such spending.
Conservative backbench MP Peter Bone has said the target "means that important things at home like social care are struggling," while Ukip have called for the aid budget to be cut by 80% and focus only on emergency responses and eradicating disease.
Labour backs the 0.7% target, saying global poverty reduction is itself in the UK's interest.
For years there have been calls from some MPs for Britain's foreign aid budget to be cut, and the subject provides a steady stream of headlines in the right-leaning press.
Priti Patel said too much of Britain's aid money was wasted, or spent poorly, when she was international development minister.
The government recently suspended a £12m aid programme to Syria after a BBC investigation revealed the cash was at risk of going to jihadist groups.
And before the 2017 General Election there were suggestions that Theresa May was planning to revise the 0.7% spending target, but eventually it remained unchanged.
Mrs May says she is "proud" of the UK's record on foreign aid while Labour, the Lib Dems and SNP are also committed to keeping the 0.7% target.
Mr Johnson's promise to spend foreign aid more wisely may improve confidence, but for the harshest critics it will not go anywhere near far enough.
Many will continue to argue that in a time of economic difficulties for the UK, money spent abroad could be used to help tackle health and social care funding problems at home.
Mr Johnson said the UK would gain more control of its aid spending after Brexit.
About £1bn of the money the UK pays to the EU budget counts as part of the foreign aid budget.
The EU spends that money on humanitarian aid and on emergency responses to world crises, as well as on projects in countries close to the EU and those hoping to join in the future.
Ms Mordaunt said that the extra £21m for the United Nations' Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was needed because 2018 could be "even bleaker" than this year, with its "harrowing" humanitarian crises.
The money will hep to provide millions of people with food, clean water, sanitation and vital health services.
Where does UK aid go?
As of April 2017:
More than 40% of the budget went to multilateral organisations, such as the United Nations, who fund big projects like disaster relief
The remaining 60% goes directly to developing countries
The Department for International Development says the biggest regional beneficiary is Africa, which received a total of £2.54bn from the UK last year
Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan and Syria, were each given more than £200m
The Obama administration has awarded $270,000 to an Islamic charity that has been outlawed by some governments for its support of the terror group Hamas and other jihadist organizations, according to grant documents.
The Department of Health and Human Services has provided a $270,000 grant to Islamic Relief Worldwide, a charity that has repeatedly been linked to terrorism financing and support for Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, according to recent grant information.
The grant was awarded as part of a larger project to provide health services in Nairobi, Kenya, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the grant.
Some terrorism experts have expressed concern that the administration is providing funds to Islamic Relief given its past ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, ties that have led some governments to outlaw the charity.
The United Arab Emirates and Israel both banned the charity in 2014 after investigations revealed that Islamic Relief had ties to Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, and other entities engaged in terror financing, according to reports.
An investigation by the Israeli government led to accusations that the charity was providing material support to Hamas and its operatives.
The charity “provides support and assistance to Hamas’s infrastructure,” Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs determined in 2006. “The IRW’s activities in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip are carried out by social welfare organizations controlled and staffed by Hamas operatives.”
The charity further “appears to be a hub for donations from charities accused of links to al Qaeda and other terror groups,” according to an investigation conducted by the Gatestone Institute.
The charity’s “accounts show that it has partnered with a number of organizations linked to terrorism and that some of charity’s trustees are personally affiliated with extreme Islamist groups that have connections to terror,” according to the investigation, authored by terrorism analyst Samuel Westrop.
An audit of the organization’s accounts showed that it had donated thousands of dollars to a charity established by a terrorist affiliated with al Qaeda, according to Westrop.
Israeli authorities arrested the charity’s Gaza coordinator, Ayaz Ali, in 2006 due to his alleged work on Hamas’s behalf.
“Incriminating files were found on Ali’s computer, including documents that attested to the organization’s ties with illegal Hamas funds abroad (in the UK and in Saudi Arabia) and in Nablus,” Israel’s foreign affairs ministry said at the time. “Also found were photographs of swastikas superimposed on IDF symbols, of senior Nazi German officials, of Osama Bin Laden, and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, as well as many photographs of Hamas military activities.”
The charity attempted to mend its image in 2014 by performing an internal audit. However, experts criticized the effort as unreliable.
“The information provided by [Islamic Relief] on its internal investigation is insufficient to assess the veracity of its claims,” the watchdog organization NGO Monitor wrote in a 2015 analysis. “NGO Monitor recommends that a fully independent, transparent, and comprehensive audit of IRW’s international activities and funding mechanisms be undertaken immediately.”
Patrick Poole, a reporter and counter-terrorism analyst for Unconstrained Analytics, noted that USAID, a taxpayer funded organization, also has donated funds to Islamic Relief.
“Time and again we see federal agencies and departments using taxpayer money to support the enemies of the United States and our allies,” Poole said. “USAID is a persistent culprit in this regard. In 2005 it took an act of Congress, led by the late Rep. Tom Lantos [D., Calif.], to stop USAID from funding Hamas institutions in Gaza. Now we see them doing the same thing, but only using a middleman.”
The Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to a request for comment on the grant.
Keep these in mind as you contemplate the direction of the American government over the past 50 years and especially since the Obama election.
The Goals of Communism
(as read into the congressional record January 10, 1963, from "The Naked Communist" by Cleon Skousen)
1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.
2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.
3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.
4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.
5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.
6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.
7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.
8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.
9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.
10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.
11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)
12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.
13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.
14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
18. Gain control of all student newspapers.
19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.
25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.
30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."
31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.
34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.
36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.
38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.
39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.
43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.
44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.
45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.
AFP
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