Colombia sends tanks to Venezuelan border

Venezuela condemned Colombia on Sunday night for sending tanks to the border in a “provocation” amid surging unrest in both countries.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry released a statement slamming the deployment of armoured vehicles “scant metres from the frontier” in Paraguachon, Guajira department, on the Caribbean coast.

The statement pointed out that in recent days Colombian authorities had “broadcast to the world that it they were preparing for waves of migrants from Venezuela to Colombia” fleeing violence in Venezuela.

Caracas said: "The provocation aims to divert attention from the political and social crisis” in Colombia’s in the Cauca valley, Buenaventura, where a mass civic strike entered its seventh day yesterday, despite troops being deployed on the streets.

Residents are demanding improvements to infrastructure and drinking water supply for the sake of their health.

The Cauca Valley Patriotic Union yesterday sent a message of solidarity to Venezuela “In its valourous resistance against the economic and terrorist war unleashed by that country’s extreme right opposition.”

And Colombia faces more unrest in the coming week.

The CUT [United Workers’ Central or Central Union of Workers] union federation has called general public employees strike and protests today [TUES] along with political, social and peasants’ organisations.

That follows last Tuesday’s 500,000-strong strike in demand of wage rises to compensate for inflation and “regressive tax reforms.”

Tomorrow [WED] groups affiliated under the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia (Onic) will march from the Popayan to Cali in the Cauca Valley.

And national marches in support of the peace process with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are planned for June 1.

A leaflet from the “Venezuela Resistance and Student Movement” circulated on social media (see below) called for an indefinite national general strike starting yesterday.

The authors blamed the government for the economic crisis — and warned businesses, bus and taxi drivers they would not be responsible for looting and arson if they continued doing business.

Nearly two months of opposition regime change riots across Venezuela have now left 53 people dead, according to news channel Telesur — ten more than 2014’s year of “Guarimba” bloodshed to the same end.

Only six of those are confirmed to have been killed by the security forces — while two officers have been killed.

On Sunday the Public Ministry ordered a probe into the latest deadly shooting of Edy Alejandro Teran a a protest in Tachira state on saturday night, that also left an 18-year-old boy and a woman injured.

The mystery of the Guanches

The origins and language of the indigenous people of the Canary Islands remain a mystery, writes Dr Sabina Goralski Filonov Translation by James Tweedie The guanches, the aboriginals of the Canary Islands whose origin, lost in the mists of time, still arouses intense and passionate debate and great controversy about their origins and the how the seven Canary Islands were populated – which according to some studies occurred between 10,000 and 8,000 years BC. Literally, the word ‘Guan’ means man or person and ‘Chenech’ or ‘Chinet’ is applied to the island of Tenerife, thus meaning a man or inhabitant of Tenerife – although according to Núñez de la Peña, the Spanish named them the Guanchos during the conquest of the islands. But with the passage of time, experts in the subject are questioning whether the word Guanche was used to designate the primitive inhabitants of all the islands in the pre-Hispanic period. The term ‘Guanche’ has also ceased to be applied to the di...

Venezuela condemns MUD silence over terror attack

Venezuela’s foreign minister condemned the opposition and their foreign backers for their silence over Tuesday’s helicopter attack on the capital. At a press conference on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada said Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition leader Henry Ramos’ only comment on social media was that the attack was “useless.” “Firstly that does not condemn it,” Mr Moncada said. “Secondly it appears he was condemning it because it didn’t have the desired effect, that is to say, that it would blow up the building.” And he asked why fellow Mud leader Henrique Capriles lacked the “moral courage to... repudiate a terrorist act.” The newly-appointed minster and former ambassador to Britain accused fellow members of the Washington-based Organisation of American States of “feigning ignorance” and so protecting the culprits. And he accused sections of the media of portraying the culprit — Police investigator and one-time action film star Oscar Perez — as a “Rambo ...

Los Gigantes Beach Landslide Tragedy - Three Days of Mourning for Victims

SHATTERED IDYLL: Los Guios beach in Los Gigantes in happier times. SANTIAGO del Teide council declared three days of official mourning after two women were killed in a landslide on Los Gigantes beach on November 1. by James Tweedie The local authority announced the period of mourning following an emergency council meeting on Monday November 2, called in response to the tragic deaths of 57-year old British holidaymaker Marion O’Hara and 34-year old Canarian hotel worker Maria Vanesa Arias Romera. Flags at Santiago del Teide town hall were flown at half mast for the period of mourning, and all official functions observed a minute’s silence in memory of the victims. The two women were killed when 130-foot wide stretch of the cliffs above the tiny Los Guios beach collapsed from a height of about 200 feet, burying them beneath rubble up to 15 feet deep, according to a spokesman for the Guardia Civil which was conducting the investigation into the accident. The landslide occurred about 3pm ...

Ex-pats hail extinction of ‘mammoth’ development

Socialists and conservatives unite to defeat CC plan for Las Teresitas beach Protesters outside the town hall SAN ANDREAS residents are celebrating victory after Santa Cruz council voted to deny permission for a controversial development on Las Teresitas beach. by James Tweedie The Association of Friends of Anaga, Las Teresitas and its Coast (Asociacion de Amigos de la Playa de las Teresitas, Anaga y su Litoral), which includes a number of ex-patriots, mounted a demonstration outside Santa Cruz town hall on Friday September 18 to urge opposition councillors to “keep their word” and support a Socialist Party of the Canaries (PSC) motion against the mammoth development. Some wore long paper ‘noses’ and chanted “concejal Pinocho” – councillor Pinocchio – to express their distrust of local politicians. A coalition of small businesses in Anaga, the Friends of the Port group and environmentalists Ben Magec – Ecologistas en Accion also supported the campaign against the scheme...

Venezuelan opposition declares "Zero Hour" for regime change

Venezuela’s opposition declared “Zero Hour” in its putsch against the socialist government on Monday — emboldened by US support. Leaders of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Mud) coalition gathered for the announcement of their takeover plan a day after their unauthorised referendum seeking a mandate for regime change. National Assembly vice-president and Popular Will (VP) acting leader Freddy Guevara said the Mud-controlled parliament would announce the results of the plebiscite on Tuesday. It asked voters to reject President Nicolas Maduro’s calling of a constitutional reform assembly demand the army support the opposition and back a “national unity government.” But before the announcement of the result Mr Guevara said the national Assembly would form a new government on Tuesday — a move beyond its constitutional powers — along with 1,020 local “Zero Hour committees.” He called a “national general strike” for Thursday while on Friday the assembly would again exceed its powe...

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