EPISODE: Ecuador’s Presidential Election heads to a Second Round in October GUEST: Pilar Troya Pilar is an Ecuadorian feminist anthropologist. Her main areas of interest are social public policies, especially concerning gender equality and the feminist movement. She has served as an advisor to the Ministry of National Planning and as an advisor and Deputy Minister to the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology of Ecuador. She is a researcher at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. BACKGROUND: Luisa González, of the Movimiento Revolución Ciudadana party, on Sund ..read more

EPISODE: Nicaragua, A History of US Intervention & Resistance GUEST:  Author, Activist and Labor Attorney, Daniel Kovalik BACKGROUND:   The latest book by labor and human rights attorney, Daniel Kovalik, Nicaragua: A History of US Intervention & Resistance (2023, Clarity Press, 292 pages), is a worthy addition to the author’s collection of works on countries targeted by U.S. imperialism, such as Venezuela, Russia, and Iran. While giving readers a thoughtful and much fuller picture than one can glean from the corporate media, this volume tells an engaging tale based on pe ..read more

EPISODE: Sandinistas Speak. Nicaraguans Defend their Revolution This episode is bi-lingual with subtitles. PRODUCER and HOST: Ramiro Sebastian Funez Friday, June 30, WTF returned to Managua, Nicaragua to do follow-up study of Caribbean Coast government funded infrastructure projects and to celebrate the 44th Anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution on July 19. While on assignment, each week we will share with you segments of the documentary Nicaragua Against Empire. The film journals our March 2021 Sanctions Kill / Friends of the ATC, Nicaragua delegation In this episode, you hear directly fro ..read more

EPISODE: Nicaragua against Empire - Part II Managua Against Empire, an inside look at Managua, Nicaragua, from a revolutionary socialist perspective. PRODUCER and HOST: Ramiro Sebastian Funez Friday, June 30, WTF returned to Managua, Nicaragua to do follow-up study of Caribbean Coast government funded infrastructure projects and to celebrate the 44th Annivesrary of the Sandinista Revolution on July 19. While on assignment, each week we will share with you segments of the documentary Nicaragua Against Empire. The film journals our March 2021 Sanctions Kill / Friends of the ATC, Nicara ..read more

EPISODE: Mexico: Expanding Democracy and Defending Sovereignty GUEST:  José Luis Granados Ceja, journalist with Venezuelanalysis and The Mexico Solidarity Project BACKGROUND:   The international press is again bludgeoning Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, this time accusing him of attacking the country’s democratic institutions. It’s a baseless charge intended to undermine a government that refuses total obedience to US hegemony. On February 23, an electoral reform bill received its final approval in the Mexican Senate en route to being signed into law The Nati ..read more

EPISODE: Alex Saab, Three Years as a Kidnapped Diplomat GUEST:  Fiorella Isabel of The Convo Couch BACKGROUND: The case is a terrifying example of the US’s continuing commitment to illegal, unilateral intervention and ‘regime change,’ where no country is truly safe, writes FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ (link to full article below) From his article: “June 12, 2023 was the third anniversary of the illegal kidnapping and imprisonment by the US of Alex Saab. Because the brutality and cruelty of the US blockade was wreaking havoc on the economy and millions of the most vulnerable in Venezuela ..read more

EPISODE: Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Resigns to Run for President GUEST: Independent journalist Alina Duarte who joins us from Mexico City BACKGROUND: Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations, Marcelo Ebrard, one of the leading contenders to be the country's next leader, said on Tuesday he will resign to focus on winning the presidential nomination of the ruling MORENA party for the 2024 election. Ebrard, a former mayor of Mexico City, wants to succeed President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as the standard-bearer of the left of center National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), w ..read more

EPISODE: Isolationism Ends: Maduro Visits Brazil GUEST: Ricardo Vaz, political analyst and editor at Venezuelanalysis.com BACKGROUND:  Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro traveled to Brazil as part of an official visit to meet with his counterpart Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva where the pair discussed regional and international cooperation, including the potential entry of Venezuela into the BRICS bloc. The high-level meeting comes as part of joint efforts to strengthen their bilateral ties following the restoration of diplomatic and economic relations after years of tension ..read more

EPISODE: Ecuador’s President Dissolves National Assembly Triggering Early Elections GUEST: Author and Journalist Joe Emersgerger. You can find his work published at CounterPunch, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), MintPressNews and more. Also, be sure to read his book Extraordinary Threat: The US Empire, the Media and Twenty Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela BACKGROUND: Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree on May 17 bringing forward legislative and presidential elections and heading off an attempt by opposition po ..read more

EPISODE:   Whatever Happened to that Plane? U.S. Unilateral Sanctions and the Saga of Venezuela’s Emtrasur Cargo 747 GUEST: Orlenys Ortiz, citizen journalist joining us from Venezuela TRANSLATION: Carmelo Valasquez, Velasquez Translations, Buenos Aires, Argentina BACKGROUND: On May 3, 2023, the Argentinian press reported a US prosecutor requested the US Justice Department to order the definitive execution of the seizure order of Emtrasur’s Boeing 747-300. (Empresa de Transporte Aerocargo del Sur). The plane arrived in Argentina in June 2022 in what was supposedly a rou ..read more