06/01/16 06/01/16 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> thus far, 2016 is proving to be particularly deadly. 2500 lives have been lost. ofand the first five months 2014. amy: up to 1000 migrants are feared to have died in the mediterranean sea in recent days as multiple boats capsize on their way to europe. we will speak with seawatch, a volunteer-run german group that helps rescues refugees at sea. then why is the organization of american states threatening to

suspend venezuela while ignoring the recent ouster of dilma rousseff in brazil? >> the international right wing carried out a coup in brazil and the organization of american states went violent. right now they're threatening to intervene in our country. amy: we will get response from venezuela's ambassador to oas. and then, could the upcoming rio olympics help cement the coup in brazil? we will speak to sportswriters dave zirin and jules boycoff, both just back from brazil. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. presumptive republican presidential nominee donald trump has attacked the news media for pushing him to explain what he did with millions of dollars he claimed to have raised for veterans.

at a fundraiser in january, trump said he raised over $6 million for veterans' groups. last week, after the "washington post" said they could trace only about half of that, $3.1 million going to vet groups, trump donated $1 million of his own funds and started cutting more checks. on tuesday, trump outlined $5.6 million in donations to veterans groups so far. the associated press reports the biggest batch of checks appears to have gone out last week, amid the media scrutiny over the funds. at a news conference tuesday, trump lambasted the media, calling cnn's jim acosta "a real beauty" and abc news reporter tom llamas a "sleaze." >> i'm not looking for credit, but what i don't want is when i raise millions of dollars, have people say, like this sleazy guy right over here from abc, he is

a sleaze in my book. you are a sleaze because you know the facts and you know the facts well. amy: when a reporter asked if this is how trump would conduct a white house news conference, he said "yes, it is." in new york city, veterans rallied outside trump tower to denounce trump for using them as campaign props. perry o'brien, who served as a medic in afghanistan, criticized trump's rhetoric against -- rhetoric. >> i served with women and muslims and served with latinos -- all groups that donald trump has maligned and even threatened. all of those folks actually donned the uniform and serve their country. as far as we can see as veterans and the military committed to, donald trump only seems interested in serving himself. amy: meanwhile, the republican-led senate armed services committee is seeking to slash housing benefits for members of the military. the plan, tucked into the annual military spending bill, could cost military members hundreds of dollars a month.

the news over donald trump's veterans' donations has overshadowed the release of hundreds of pages of documents from trump university as part of an ongoing lawsuit arguing the defunct, for-profit school defrauded students. judge gonzalo curiel ordered the release of the documents, which include playbooks outlining how trump university staffers should play on people's emotions and weaknesses and urge them to amass credit card debt or rely on retirement funds to pay for classes. trump has attacked judge curiel, saying he "happens to be, we believe, mexican." curiel is an american citizen, born in indiana. up to 1000 refugees are feared to have drowned in recent days while trying to cross the mediterranean sea. the united nations says this marks one of the highest weekly death tolls since the migrant crisis began in 2014. unhcr spokesperson outlined the numbers.

>> thus far, 2016 is proving to be particularly deadly. some 2510 lives have been lost so far compared to 1855 in the same period in 2015, and 57 in the first five months of 2014. on a mediterranean white bases, among the dead are currently one in 81. this is the importance of dust highlights the importance of real,se and the need for safer alternatives for people needing international protection. amy: this comes as amnesty international warns the number of afghans internally displaced by the 15 year conflict has more than doubled since the beginning 100013, an average of people a day have been forced from their homes in afghanistan this year alone. in iraq, concerns are mounting over the fate of about 50,000 civilians trapped in the city of

fallujah, as iraqi forces fight to reclaim the city from isis militants. the norwegian refugee council has warned a "human catastrophe is unfolding," with civilians caught in the crossfire amid fierce fighting. isis seized fallujah in 2014. a decade earlier, fallujah was the site of one of the bloodiest chapters for u.s. troops in the iraq war. the u.s. push to recapture fallujah involved the extensive use of depleted uranium and white phosphorus, leaving a legacy of birth defects that continues today. the organization of american states has announced it will hold an emergency meeting to discuss whether to suspend venezuela for violating the oas charter. oas secretary-general said tuesday venezuela had suffered " grave alterations of democratic order" but supporters of the venezuelan president nicolas maduro have criticized the oas for targeting venezuela, not

brazil, or the democratically elected president dilma rousseff was recently removed from power in what many have described as a coup. president maduro has criticized oas for intervening in venezuelan politics and also criticize the u.s. legal system and voiced support for democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders. elections were free, they would not depend on an archaic system that is 200 years old and bernie sanders would be president of the united states. amy: we will be speaking to the venezuelan ambassador to the oas later in the broadcast. california governor jerry brown has endorsed democratic presidential candidate hillary onlyon, calling her the path for to win the presidency and stop the dangerous candidacy of donald trump. brown has previously criticized clinton and ran for the democratic nomination in 1992 against bill clinton.

this endorsement gives hillary clinton a key boost ahead of the june 7 california primary. when he ran for president, he never endorsed the man who beat him in the primary, bill clinton. the guardian reports the judge overseeing the military tribunal at guantanamo effectively conspired with prosecutors to destroy evidence related to the defense of khalid shiekh mohamed, the accused architect of the 9/11 attacks. a court document alleges the judge, army colonel james pohl, worked secretly in concert with prosecutors to approve the destruction of evidence and prevent mohamed's defense team from learning about the move. legal scholar karen greenberg told the guardian -- "this may well be the straw that breaks the camel's back in underscoring the unviability of the military commissions." in oklahoma, a former volunteer sheriff's deputy who fatally shot an unarmed african-american man while the man was restrained has been sentenced to four years in prison.

robert bates claimed he mistook his gun for a taser when he fatally shot eric harris last april. an internal report from 2009 revealed how bates, a wealthy donor to the sheriff's office, had been allowed to flout policies, patrolling in his own vehicle and conducting traffic stops on his own without adequate training. a leader of the independence movement in western sahara has died. mohamed abdelaziz was the leader and co-founder of the polisario front, which has demanded independence ever since morocco took over most of western sahara in 1975. in march, morocco expelled united nations staffers from western sahara after u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon visited the region and used the term occupation to describe morocco's relationship to western sahara. in vermont, a transgender man has died of his injuries after

being beaten at a homeless encampment in burlington. police say they are investigating the death of amos beede and whether it was in any way connected to his transgender identity. at least 11 other transgender or gender non-conforming people have been murdered this year following a record of more than 20 in 2015. and the death rate in the united states rose last year for the first time in a decade. researchers attributed the rare increase in part to a rise in deaths from alzheimer's disease, suicide and drug overdoses. , and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. up to 1000 refugees are feared to have drowned in recent days while trying to cross the mediterranean sea. the united nations say this marks one of the highest weekly death tolls since the migrant crisis began in 2014. unicef says many of the victims

were youth fleeing war and violence in their home countries. the majority of the refugees were from eritrea, nigeria, somalia, and south sudan. under a european union plan enacted in april, all refugees arriving in greece are deported back to turkey, forcing people to attempt the more dangerous route between libya and italy speaking tuesday, unhcr spokesperson william splinder talked about the sharp rise in migrant deaths. >> thus far, 2016 is proving to be particularly deadly. some 2510 lives have been lost so far compared to 1855 in the same period in 2015, and 57 in the first five months of 2014. on the mediterranean wide basis, there has been among the dead, currently one in 81. this highlights the importance

of rescue operations as part of the response to the movement of refugees and migrants in the mediterranean and the need for real, safer alternatives for people needing international protection. amy: on monday, the photo of a german volunteer from the group seawatch holding the body of a drowned child became the latest symbol of the migration crisis. we go now to speak with ruben neugebauer, seawatch spokesperson and crew member. seawatch, a german volunteer group that was formed to help migrants stranded at sea. ruben, welcome to democracy now! start out by explaining the scope of the crisis right now. >> good morning. what we have faced in the last week in the central mediterranean sea is not only a period of good weather leading to a lot of both living libya --boats leaving libya, it is

also the wrestler foreign policy. have a european union forcing people on small and unseaworthy boats, because there is no other legal way to get into the european union to seek asylum there. what we're having here right now is the latest russell of european policy. it is a system of letting people die willingly because we refuse any other safeway to get into the european union. amy: is that your sense that in the last few days, 1000 people have drowned crossing the mediterranean sea? yes, it looks like 1000 people have died. it is hard to get exact numbers with those kinds of tragedies because what we have faced is different incidents where big

wooden boats have capsized. in the beginning of such a tragedy come often you only often afew people, but lot of people are trapped below deck on the boats and only days after the tragedy, the real numbers will get known by the public and we have to fear that a lot of people died last week and also we have to fear that this kind of tragedies will occur again and again as long as people are forced onto those kinds of boats. amy: can you talk about the practice of water hosing, ruben? >> yes. what we have been facing, not in the central mediterranean sea, dnc isthe route of the the european union has --

aegean see, european union has shut down the routes. it is not a safe route, but at least it is not as dangerous as it is crossing over the central mediterranean sea. of course, it is not just telling refugees who are fleeing and itt to stay at home will work, therefore, the european union has set up a lot .f fortification measures in the case of turkey, the thepean union is letting turks do the dirty work. what members of our crew have witnessed is the practice of water hosing migrant votes with the practice -- both with the practice of using by the turkish coast guard to avoid refugees from crossing. for us, this kind of water hosing is absolutely

unacceptable. that is why we think this turkey deal also has to be stopped. anyhow, we are quite sure that what we need is a real safe passage, which doesn't force people on any votes at all. -- boats at all. amy: can you describe where the seawatchlunteer from found the drowned child that has become the latest symbol of the refugee crisis, the famous photo that has now gone out? baby wasoto of the made right off the libyan coast in the central mediterranean sea on friday the 27th. when our crew came to the spot of the huge tragedy were a big wooden boat had capsized leaving more than 350 people in the water. when our crew was called to get there, we tried to get there

immediately but on the way, we had to do another rescue operation because we found another boat in distress. the 126 peoplek on board and spent -- sent hours the boat ahead. it was recovering those who were still alive, but a lot of people had drowned when our speedboat arrived. later on, we were asked by the italian navy, which was with another ship, as well as to help recovering those who haven't made the journey and who drowned in that incident. volunteerssked for and our crew to help recover the bodies and they went with the speedboat and found that boy or that baby floating right under the surface. amy: and the decision to publish

that photo, ruben, which your group has described as a very difficult decision? yes, it is always a difficult decision to publish that kind of photo. but in this specific case, we thought the greatness of the situation simply forces us kind of to publish the picture because the european society has acknowledged that kind of picture because this picture is a result of the policy to shut down borders and force people onto that boat. do european union is using the -- fillingan the as it up with dead bodies to scare off those who might come after them. they let them die willingly will stop so the discussion should not be about whether we should publish that kind of picture, it should be about if we let those pictures happen.

amy: what do you think needs to happen right now? what we need right now, first with a clearssion mission for search-and-rescue, the ships that around there and doing a good job in rescue, often -- there often military ships that don't really have the search-and-rescue ability. dos is something we can right now starting from tomorrow. what we also need -- this is the only way to solve that kind of crisis -- is to have a safe and legal passage. if we would just allow those people to take a ferry as everybody else with european passport can do, we would have no smuggling business at all starting from the day that we would allow them to go on the not face suchld tragedies again. if we only have rescue efforts,

which the european union is already doing, we will face tragedies over and over again because also the rescue missions are quite dangerous, this is what we faced last week when those capsizings took place, even if rescue boats were around. amy: what do you think the united states should do? huge crisis.ing a we have war in a lot of places. we have poverty. -- also, i'mausing quite sure the climate change will cause more refugees which have to leave countries because of this very soon. what the united states can do, actually, is to do their best to of escapes some people have the opportunity to

stay in their home countries because nobody leaves voluntarily. also on the migrant crisis, i mean, the u.s. is a great country so, for sure, it is a problem that is not only to solve life you countries. -- solve by a few countries. it is tough for the whole world, most probably. what canada did last year when a similar picture was published was to offer some syrians a safe way out to canada. this is something the u.s. could do as well. amy: when we were covering the yuan climate summit in paris, we went to calais which have the largest refugee camp in paris. 6000 to 7000 people were there.

an afghan refugee explained why he fled europe and his country. >> it is like me. if i have problem in my country, i have to go forward. i don't have to go back and stop if i go back, i die. for this i go. are thinking like this. if i go back, i will die and have a very bad life. was the man i spoke to in the refugee camp, that the refugees themselves called "the jungle." the map of that one refugee camp red lights the bombing targets of the united states where the refugees came from -- afghanistan, iraq, somalia.

syria. can you talk about that connection to war, ruben? i mean, what we are facing is a lot of people that fleet for different causes, actually. so for sure, war is one of the lee. reasons people f as long as we have war, we will always have refugees coming. there's a quite clear connection between refugees that come. humanitarian organization, so for us, it .oesn't matter why people come we will -- no one deserves to die at sea.

for sure, or is one of the main reasons. amy: finally, ruben, talk about how your group seawatch got started. our group got started early last year when we were facing a lot of tragedies on the central mediterranean sea and also there was the anniversary of the fall of the wall on november 9, 2014. so we were celebrating the fall of the wall in berlin. it is the same time, building up another wall around europe and so we thought if we really remember what happened during the times of the berlin wall, we need to shut down this new wall. we thought about what we could do. stand thewe could not many people dying in the central mediterranean sea, so we went there with a ship simply to save

human lives. that is what we have done last year and out of that, the ngo was funded and now we are doing this job again. it looks like if we have to do it for some more time because there are no signs at the moment that the european union would change its politics to more human ones. so we have to fear we have to stay there for quite a long time. amy:, thank you for being with ruben neugebauer sea-watch spokesperson and crew , member. when we come back, we turn to the venezuelan ambassador to the ois. stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to latin america. the organization of american states has announced it will hold an emergency meeting to discuss whether one of its member nations should be suspended for violating the oas's democratic charter. you may be surprised by what country is being targeted. it's not brazil where democratically elected president dilma rousseff was recently removed from power in what many have described as a coup. instead the oas is going after , venezuela which is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in years. oas secretary general luis almagro said tuesday that venezuela had suffered "grave alterations of democratic order." in a letter almagro criticized , the government of venezuelan president nicholas maduro

writing -- , "they have forgotten to defend the general and collective long-term good, over short-term individual gain. immoral politics loses this vision because its only interest is staying in power." the oas secretary-general almagro also accused maduro of disrupting democracy by blocking the opposition-controlled congress and putting loyalists in the supreme court. the move by oas to seek suspension of a democratically elected government is unprecedented. in the past the democratic , charter has only been invoked following coups -- most recently in honduras after the 2009 coup. on tuesday, maduro criticized the oas for intervening in venezuelan politics. the international right-wing carried out a coup in brazil and

the organization of american states went silent. right now they're threatening to intervene in our country. the secretary-general of the organization of american states. theill give them battle in streets of latin america and the caribbean. we will fight the battle for venezuela, for independence, for peace. amy: meanwhile, henry lisandro ramos allup, the president of venezuela's opposition-controlled congress, praised oas's actions. >> neither the international community, including oas, will turn away or cover its eyes to the serious humanitarian crisis we are experiencing. it is not only lack of medical and food, it is a human rights violation. amy: to talk more about the situation in venezuela and the actions of the oas, we are joined now in washington, d.c., by venezuela's ambassador to the organization of american states ambassador bernardo alvarez. , from 2003 to 2010, he served as venezuela's ambassador to the united states. welcome to democracy now!,

ambassador. talk about the significance on invoking the democratic charter the secretary-general of the oas against venezuela, the first time ever. is that right? >> the thing is, he has done that on his own with not legal support to do it. the only way to invoke the democratic charter is one state, a member state will do it or there is another state that does it with a blessing of the government, of the country involved. or if there is no government in the country. -- it could go into the permanent council and ask for, you know, the collective appreciation of the situation. none of this is happening in venezuela. venezuela has not asked.

-- no request from the permitting council or from any state. i think this is a very diplomatic and basically a political move he is doing representing an alliance of right-wing people from latin america and venezuela and even the u.s. amy: explain exactly what it will now mean. , according tod article 20, he has said he wants to go to the permit counsel to present a report, as i said, thedy has asked them about report the situation of venezuela, and invoking the democratic charter. the democratic charter, as i said, could be invoked by

governments, by member states, not by the secretary-general of the organization. he can only do that if there is a major -- militarization of the democratic order or the constitutional order. basically, in the past, has been when there is no government. of course, also when there is a coup d'etat. it is a very strange situation. he has taken these and a very irresponsible way -- in a very irresponsible way, acting on his own with not commission from the permitting council. and what is more important, amy, when you see what he has done, he has taken a politicalization from the beginning. requesthe is asking a from the national assembly of venezuela. and international law, the power representing the state in the oas -- not the parliament.

he hasaying because requested by the parliament, then he wants to and vote the charter. -- invoke the charter. any provision of the charter of the oas. amy: in may, human rights watch wrote a letter to the head of the oas, urging the international body to invoke the democratic charter to press your country, venezuela, to restore judicial independence and the protection of fundamental rights. in the letter, human rights watch wrote -- since the political take over the supreme court in 20,004, the judiciary has ceased to function as an independent range of government. your response, ambassador? script.is the same

amy, when you see -- i don't recall even during my times here in bush, i don't remember a moment where there has been such a massive campaign -- media campaign against venezuela, accusing venezuela of everything. and this is the actions of the secretary-general are in the context of this. he has been basically -- there has been a lot of media and he has had a lot of media exposure regarding venezuela. and he is taking the position of the opposition in venezuela. imagine, those guys, the position they won an election -- they won the election last december. president maduro recognize that. after the national electorate council presented the results. and they say from the very beginning, the whole task of the

new national a similar was to get rid of president maduro in six months. so this is a very undemocratic way of acting, a very undemocratic behavior. but nobody says anything. this is the same opposition maduro to invoke the charter. again, it is illegal. just imagine the congress of the askinges to the oas and them to invoke anything against the government of the u.s. this is not the way to do it. as i said, he has taken political decision from the very beginning. he is not a diplomat. he is not a neutral player trying to mediate in a situation that might happen in a country. no, he is the one taking the position of the opposition. so he's another member of the opposition so he has disqualified himself to play any role regarding venezuela. in april florida republican

, senator and former presidential candate marco rubio took to the senate floor to call for an extension of the 2014 sanctions against key venezuelan officials. rubio also called on oas member states to put pressure on the organization to "recognize the humanitarian and political crisis in venezuela," citing u.s. support of their countries. >> right now we are about to give hundreds of millions of dollars to these countries in central america, in the northern triangle. the alliance for prosperity. i think that is a good idea. it we should ask them to support what we're trying to do or hope we will try to do at the oas. the same with haiti. we are poured billions of dollars into the reconstruction. we should use that as leverage to ask them to support something happening at the oas. what is happening in venezuela stepping short of a coup d'etat. the organization of american states, if it has any reason to exist anymore, should be to defend democracy in the region.

it is the reason why we have an organization of american dates. we will soon find out whether that organization is even worth continuing to exist. if it cannot pronounce itself collectively. on the outright violation of democracy and in a nation that purports to be democratic republic. senate agreed to extend sanctions against venezuelan officials for three years and president obama used his executive authority to extend the sanctions. in return, senator rubio stopped blocking obama's nomination of roberta jacobson as ambassador to mexico. jacobson had been instrumental in normalizing relations with cuba, which rubio had opposed. she was confirmed to the post at the end of april. do you think the obama administration is behind the oas's decision? when you listen to senator rubio, i understand is behind mr. almargro.

when the sanctions were imposed, he did not say anything. to sayd mr. almagro something, and he did not say anything. my feeling is there is a whole coalition of right-wing people that has been supported mr. almagro. mediatey, in the city, in the city, if you attack venezuela, there is no political cost. you might even get some applauses. the unfortunate result of that is a venezuela and the u.s. is countries and government get a part, but i feel there is a strong group of people that are behind mr. almagro and his attempt to destabilize venezuela and they're using the oas. either way, the oas has a horrible reputation in latin america. they are losing more reputation in latin america because what

they have been doing. nobody believes there is a coup to talk in venezuela. -- nobody believes there was a coup d'etat in venezuela. there was an election and venezuela recognized it immediately. there is not any of the provision of the democratic charter. i think it has been a big media and political, let's say, conspiracy, if you want, and trying to present venezuela is a country that is going to implode. and then there is the international intervention is needed. but on the other hand, we have a group of former presidents trying to create a dialogue between venezuela and the government and trying also to have a new recommendation regarding the economic situation . on the one hand, you have people trying to help and to enhance

and to support venezuela, to get along and this very difficult situation. on the other hand, countries, people using this different -- the vocal situation to try with the last push of what has been a policy against the destabilization of venezuela over the last 10 or 15 years. amy: last week, venezuelan opposition leader henrique capriles spoke to protesters outside venezuela's supreme court in downtown caracas. he said a recall referendum to end president nicolas maduro's term was possible this year. >> there is no sentence, no measure, nothing that will impede us from going to the national electoral council to demand the respect article 72 of the constitution, allowing for a referendum.ecall friends, the referendum is our right and it will take place this year in 2016.

amy: will there be a new election this year, bernardo alvarez? >> look, first, it is funny to see people who oppose the venezuelan constitution presented by president chavez are happy because they have this instrument. this is not for us, for me, and for the government to say, this is for the election council. -- it is notss of a political instrument. this is a serious matter because you are recalling the mandate of somebody who was elected by the there is a whole procedure. and if they go through this procedure, they might -- they have the right to recall referendum. it will happen, i don't know. this is for the electorate

council to say. the problem is, amy, remember what i said at the beginning of the year, they say, we need to get rid of the government of maduro this year or in six months. they have done a lot of things, asking for president maduro to resign, doing a constitutional amendment that they knew was going to apply to the next president, not to this president. it ise referendum -- if held before the end of the year, and if they win, president maduro has to leave in 30 days and there will be new elections. if the referendum is done january, february of next year, denis vice president has to then thethe term of -- vice president has to complete the term of president maduro. the referendum possibility is always there, but there is a process of activation of the referendum and they have to go through this process and it is for the electoral council of venezuela to determine that. amy: meanwhile, your country

venezuela is in a deep crisis, a deep economic crisis that has not been seen like this in years , triggered by low oil prices, a crisis and water shortages, blackouts, the a statement of a two day work week for government employees. can you describe the extent -- hospitals closing. what do you feel, ambassador, needs to be done? >> the thing is, you know, we have gone through a very difficult process. first, we lost 70% of the oil income, national income coming from oil. and we have reduced the import of venezuela by 60% over the past three years. it is a major, major adjustment. we have not done it in the traditional imf way. we have done it in a different way. , increasesmployment

of prices, and trying to put together a program to subsidize and to keep the majority of the social programs. it has not been easy because there is a lack of foreign exchange. what is the real situation right now is that all venezuelans, we have to come to the conclusion of the society that was basically on the -- taste on the oil income is over. and we need to take advantage of that for many years to do a master of dust massive redistribution of wealth. i think they recognize this and it has been done. now we are in a difficult process because this is a transition and you cannot solve that in one month. unfortunately, the prices of oil are stabilizing a little bit. and this is going to help us. this is a major challenge to go

to a more productive economy. this is the responsibility of the government. he is doing all he can right now, but it is also the responsibility of the country. and what we see is some sectors have been using this difficult situation to try, as i said, to do a final push to try to destabilize and get rid of president maduro and the legacy of president chavez. amy: finally, compare what is happening in venezuela with what is happening in brazil, the removal of the democratically elected president dilma rousseff and the response of the oas to each of your countries. >> week, you know, we respect all countries and we participate with other organizations. members --la and issued a communique from the

beginning and say what we have seen in brazil is a coup d'etat. as you have said, was ill has not raised the issue -- brazil has not raised the issue of the political situation in brazil in the oas. this is also what you can see as a double -- how you qualify the situations in countries and how you act in some countries and others, not. i think what is behind this is a huge lyrical and media campaign -- political and media campaign in trying to stabilize the government of venezuela. this is nothing new. they have been trying to do that since 50 years ago. i have not seen in the past such a huge campaign, but the reality is that venezuela -- i mean, it is in peace. we will try to get through this

in peace. in december, we will have elections for governors. done this more than 20 elections since chavez was elected. we have done 12, including one for president chavez that he won. i want to see countries that have done such a magnificent job regarding participation of people and using the instrument of the constitution -- this is a reality. and it is very far from what they have been trying to present or what mr. almagro wants to report that nobody asked him to do. amy: do you recall the removal of the president demo rousseff a coup? >> venezuela has done it. the other countries have issued a communique and they said

clearly for us, it was a coup d'etat what happened in brazil. amy: bernardo alvarez, thank you for being with us venezuelan , ambassador to the organization of american states. from 2003 to 2010, he served as venezuela's ambassador to the united states. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, we will talk about what has happened in brazil and what will the rio olympics mean? will be rio olympics shore up the coup government? stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. we turn now to the 2016 summer olympics in brazil. in early august, more than 10,000 athletes across the world will convene in rio de janeiro's olympic city for one of the most widely watched sporting events of the year. this comes as brazil is battling an economic recession, massive zika outbreak and its worst

, political crisis in over two decades. st month, the president of the brazilian olympic committee, carlos nuzman, insisted the country is ready to host the games. >> the olympic games along to brazil, along to real visionary and all brazilian people. i'm certain you are going to have spectacular games. are -- thethics olympics are estimated to cost brazil a staggering $10 billion at a time when the country is suffering its worst recession since the 1930's. hospitals have been shuttered and interim president michel temer has proposed a new round of austerity measures that include slashing education funds and abolishing pensions. protesters have vowed to flood -- many fear that the government -- d

meanwhile, some 77,000 people have been displaced from their homes. for more we're joined by two guests. dave zirin is a sports editor for the nation magazine. his recent article is called, "don't move the olympics, protest them." he is also the host of edge of sports podcast. this week he's debuting an updated version of his book, "brazil's dance with the devil: the world cup, the olympics and the fight for democracy." jules are joined by boykoff, the author of, "power games: a political history of the olympics." he teaches political science at pacific university in oregon. fulbright research fellow in rio de janeiro in fall 2015. in the 1980's and 1990's, he represented the u.s. olympic soccer team in international competition. we welcome to democracy now! dave, talk about the significance of these olympics. do you think they should be moved? >> i do not think they should be moved, partially because i have just come back from rio and talked to dozens and dozens of people who are looking forward

to using the olympic is a way to spotlight their grievances, whether it is grievances over the coup and a would call it a coup a president dilma rousseff, whether it is just about substandard health or education. 100 i was there, almost schools were protesting. or just the priorities you discussed, $10 million is one price tech for the olympics and also hearing as much as $20 billion. to have that take place at a time of education, health care are being cut in rio, i mean, people are, ok, the money has and spend. let's use this as a way to pull some of these criminals out of their corners so we can talk about the issues we are facing. amy: jules boykoff, can you talk about the police violence and the hyper security situation around the olympics? >> 85,000 security officials will decision on rio, deborah -- double the number in london for years ago.

there is a report recently that found one in five homicides is carried out by such security officials so it is reason for pause having that many people on board to police the games. second, attacking young people, young men of color by a large majority of these police. it is not exactly something we can feel good about and relax come it is a question of who is going to watch the watchers in rio. >> i was down there speaking to people in the favelas and political officials say the uptake and police murders is actually a function of the economic crisis because they've had to cut their numbers of police officers and what -- one said, bullets are less expensive than boots on the ground. so they go into communities, willing to kill somebody to scare people because the idea of community policing is not cost-effective in the climate right now. amy: what are the major sports stories you're covering, jules boykoff? yourself, and elite athlete that

was involved in previous olympics. >> a man known as the namar brazilian archery. he went to meet with indigenous peoples. there was a program in brazil to help indigenous archers develop their skills with professional bows they use for the olympics. he was great about that. firstly, none of them will make the squad in rio but he had smart things to say. one other athlete i'm excited about is lawrence hall stud, qualified for team great britain. you will be participating in fencing. yet a smart essay the other day and the guardian newspaper that suggested athlete should absolutely be speaking out in rio where the chasm between the promises on the front and and the fall through on the back and are a born. end are a born. amy: you were a contingent yourself. need not devote

ourselves to the death of complexity. we can appreciate the athletes and support them, especially when they have the courage to speak out in a progressive manner but we can at the same time critique the games ferociously when needed. >> watch the live fix, but do so with your eyes open. amy: you brought in a postcard. atthis is an anti-postcard .n by a political artist in rio this particular postcard is a postcard of a community that has been effectively torn down to the ground for the olympic park come at which is adjacent to it. it did not need to be torn down. it was torn down for a security parameter, for goodness sakes. this is a little piece on the top -- a piece of someone's home. this luxurious building behind it is a condominium built up part of the olympic justification in the top four will be the media center.

literally, they will be looking down on the record is of the olympics. amy: it is not as if protest were not happening under demo rousseff. you were there last time. can you talk about what you feel might happen with these olympics being held in brazil? >> there's a great deal of anger because of what has taken place to dilma and that activates another level of society that perhaps was not protesting around the world cup in 2014 because they felt to do so would destabilize the workers party government. you are seeing this kind of expanded to a degree. also what you're seeing in brazil, which i think is interesting, the emergence of black consciousness and away we have not seen before. there was never a civil rights movement in brazil, never jim crow segregation, yet it has this extensive legacy of slavery and racism. you are starting to see that the very influenced by the black

lives matter movement here in the u.s. dust several folks who said they would be on the streets during the games. amy: what about the zika virus? can these athletes go down there? scientist,litical not a medical scientist so i will not weigh in on the medical side but i will a that i am on my guard a little bit when your people talk about -- when i hear people talk about zika. usually, there are talking about tourists have the option or not to go to real. what we're talking about are people who are affected no matter what and do not have the option to leave. i think athletes individually have to face this choice, especially people thinking about pregnancy. amy: dave zirin, you recently wrote about the maturity -- the scrutiny forr corruption. talk about that with the mayor paes. be therdo paes will

political face of these olympics and he belongs to the same political party of michel temer who is now taken over the presidency and is the worst kept has eyes rio thatpaes on the presidency. he is coming to teach at columbia for a year. that is his plan. maybe you could come on democracy now! and we could both talk to him. i really do think there is a fight right now in rio for the narrative of what the olympics are doing. i sat down with paes and raise things like 77,000 people have been displaced. he looked at me and said, it is not true. nobody has in displaced. about the bike path that was raised and killed three people and he said, that was not an olympic issue. >> a special thanks to, "brazil's dance with the devil: the world cup, the olympics and the fight for democracy." and jules boykoff, his new book "power games: a political , history of the olympics."

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