President Trump yesterday issued an executive order freezing all Venezuelan assets in the United States and prohibiting transactions with the country. The Wall Street Journal reports that the action amounts to a total economic embargo. The move puts Venezuela on par with North Korea, Syria, Cuba, and Iran as the only countries subject to such stringent US sanctions and is a direct challenge to Russia and China, which continue to trade with Venezuela.
The Treasury Department yesterday labeled China a currency manipulator after the yuan weakened to less than seven to the dollar, pushing the trade dispute between Washington and Beijing to its most severe point yet. The US action came after China said it would institute a moratorium on the purchase of US farm goods. US stock markets fell three percent yesterday. Richard Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst and founder of the organization Democracy at Work. Prof. Wolff’s latest book is Capitalism's Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown, joins the show.
Two more shooting victims died yesterday in El Paso, bringing the total to 22 dead and dozens wounded in the worst anti-Latino attack in US history. Democrats and Republicans, however, are deeply divided on how to respond. And President Trump plans to visit the city tomorrow. Brian and John speak with Juan Carlos Ruiz, cofounder of the New Sanctuary Movement.
Protests were held today across Pakistan to protest India’s constitutional changes that stripped Kashmir of its special status in a bid to fully integrate the Muslim-majority state into India, a move that involved the imprisonment of all top regional political leaders and the deployment of large numbers of additional troops. Kashmir is claimed by both countries and is a frequent flashpoint for violence. Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek joins the show.
Toni Morrison, a giant of American literature who is perhaps best known for her 1988 novel Beloved, which explored the African American experience past and present, died today at the age of 88. Morrison was the recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and the author of many books, including his most recent “Jazz and Justice: Racism and the Political Economy of the Music” newly available from Monthly Review Press, joins Brian and John.
Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Brian and John speak with financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey.
Today’s regular segment that airs every Tuesday is called Women & Society with Dr. Hannah Dickinson. This weekly segment is about the major issues, challenges, and struggles facing women in all aspects of society. Hannah Dickinson, an associate professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and an organizer with the Geneva Women’s Assembly; Nathalie Hrizi, an educator, a political activist, and the editor of Breaking the Chains, a women’s magazine; and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell join the show.
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