07/06/21 07/06/21 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the ruling on the berta cáceres, her mother and children and the lenca cmunity who have been fighting to protect the water sources come to light from extractive companies. amy: a former u.s.-trained

honduran military officer who helped run a dam company has been found guilty in honduras of plotting the 2016 assassination of lenca land and water defender berta cáceres. we will get the latest. then we air an explosive video from greenpeace of exxon lobbyists speaking in their own words about the oil giants efforts to block climate action on capitol hill. >> to be aggressively fight agnst some of the science? s. did we join some of these shadow groups to work agast some of the efforts? ye that's true. but there is thing illegal abouthat. we were lking outor our investments. we were looking out for our

shareholders. amy: greenpeace post as corporate headhunter's to get the lobbyist to speak. and we go to colombia where an international human rights commission has arrived to document the right-wing government's deadly crack down on protesters following a general strike in april. this comes as demonstrators are vowing to intensify their campaign. >> we brought down the tax reform, finance, and chancellor. we brought down a law project that was terrible for the health sector. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, mocracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the world health organization is warning countries against dropping public health measures like social distancing and masking as the highly infectious delta coronavirus variant continues to spread worldwide. this is mike ryan, the who

emergency director. >> i think overall, we have made a very premature rush back to full on maliseet. i think we will pay a price for th because we are not there with vaccinations. the variants are really there and we have not protected those people. amy: in indonesia, dozens of patients died saturday when a public hospital on the island of java right out of oxygen. indonesia has ordered a partial locked out amidst a rising cap in cases. fewer than 30% of russians are fully vaccinated, even the russia's highly effective sputnik v vaccine is widely available. the british prime minister boris johnson is planning to end all coronavirus restrictions on july 19. covid-19 cases have soared in recent weeks, even though more

than half the u.k. population is fully vaccinated. president biden said sunday the u.s. is for the darkest days of the pandemic behind it even as he warns of the threat of new coronavirus variants. biden spoke at a fourth of july celebration after his administration came up just short of the goal of administering at least one vaccine dose to 70% of u.s. adults. mr. biden: we all know powerful variants have emerged, but the best defense is to get vaccinated. my fellow americans, it is the most patriotic thing you can do. and u.s. cases have fallen to its lowest level since 2020. outbreaks in missouri and arkansas. the united nations is warning of a worsening famine in ethiopia's tigray region, where anti-government fighters have

beaten back an ethiopian military offensive after months of fighting that displaced an estimated 1.7 million people. this is u.n. aid chief ramesh rajasingham. >> more than 400,000 people are estimated to have crossed the threshold into famine and another 1.8 million people are on the brink of famine. some are suggesting the numbers are even higher. 33,000 children are severely malnourished and moreover, the food insecure to crisis will continue to worsen during the impending rainy season. amy: the conflict came amid a worsening drought fueled by the climate isis, and followed a locust infestation in 2020 that devastated crops across eastern africa. in honduras, former u.s. trained honduran military officer and businessman has been found guilty of plotting the 2016 assassination of the renowned environmentalist lenca land and water defender berta cáceres. the honduran supreme court ruled

unanimously monday that david castillo, the former president of the hydroelectric corporation desa, was a co-perpetrator in caceres' murder. cáceres was assassinated as she led the fight against the construction of desa's massive hydroelectric dam on a river in southwestern honduras that's sacred to the lenca people. bertha zúñiga cáceres, one of berta cáceres' daughters, celebrated castillo's guilty verdict. >> we are very satisfied because against all obstacles, is to system up impunity, we have managed to get the president of the company to be found guilty. he was a person that was detected by the economic groups of the oligarchs in this country. amy: we'll have the latest on monday's historic verdict in honduras and look at the life and legacy of berta cáceres after headlines. a hurricane watch is in effect for parts of florida's gulf

coast after tropical storm elsa brought heavy rains and flooding to cuba and the florida keys. elsa is the earliest-ever fifth named storm of any atlantic hurricane season, surpassing the previous record set just last year. this comes as much of the northern hemisphere continues to bake under record heat, fueled by the unfolding climate crisis. in india, tens of millions of people have been experiencing life-threatening heat with daily temperatures in new delhi consistently reaching more than 100 degrees fahrenheit. in iraq, protests have erupted in basra, baghdad, and other cities as widespread power outages darkened homes and cut off water supplies to millions of people, even as temperatures topped 120 degrees fahrenheit. in the gulf of mexico, an underwater natural gas pipeline near an oil platform ruptured off the coast of the yucatán peninsula on friday, creating a massive circular inferno on the surface of the ocean that was widely described as an eye of fire. mexico's state-owned oil company pemex said it took fire crews about five hours to extinguish the flames.

the fossil fuel disasterame on the same day that an explosion and fire at romania's largest oil refinery killed one person and injurefive oths. meanwhile, in thailand, an explosion at a chemical factory in the outskirts of bangkok killed one person and left at least 33 others injured on monday. thai officials evacuated thousands of people from a three-mile radius of the plant, which housed about 50 metric tons of hazardous chemicals. in tennessee, environmental activists are celebrating the cancellation of the byhalia connection pipeline, which would have carried crude oil over an aquifer that provides drinking water to 1 million people. the company dropped its bid to build the 50-mile pipeline through predominantly black communities in the memphis area amid intense community opposition. community leader justin pearson called the pipeline's cancellation an "extraordinary testament to what memphis and shelby county can do when citizens build power toward justice." the fight against the byhalia

pipeline drew the support of civil rights leaders, including reverend william barber, as well as former vice president al gore, who called the pipeline a "reckless, racist rip-off." in iowa, a federal judge has sentenced climate activist jessica reznicek to eight years in prison for damaging parts of the dakota access pipeline in 2016 and 2017. u.s. district court judge rebecca goodgame ebinger also ordered reznicek to pay nearly $3.2 million in restitution. in 2016, jessica reznicek and fellow activist ruby montoya set fire to five pieces of heavy machinery being used to construct the dakota access pipeline. the two then moved up and down the pipeline's length, destroying valveand delaying construction for weeks. their actions were inspired by the plowshares movement, which used nonviolent direct action to target nuclear warheads and military installations. reznicek told democracy now! in

2017 she was trying to prevent climate catastrophe while protecting water aquifers in her home state of iowa. >> i think that the oil being taken out of the ground and the machinery that does it and infrastructure which supports it, this is violent. these tools and these mechanisms, the industry and corporate power and government power have all colluded together to create -- this is destructive. it is violent and needs to be stopped. amy: israeli war planes bombed parts of the gaza strip on saturday in what israel's military called retaliation for incendiary balloons launched from the besieged palestinian territory. it was the latest violation of a tenuous ceasefire on may 21st that capped israel's 11-day assault on gaza, which killed at least 260 palestinians, including 66 children. in chile, an indigenous mapuche

woman has been chosen to lead the rewriting of the country's constitution. elisa loncón is a university professor and community advocate. she was picked by over half of the 155 delegates charged with drafting a new constitution that will replace the current document, created under the u.s.-backed dictator augusto pinochet. this is loncón speaking monday. >> have the responsibility of presiding over will transform chile. does not go against the rights of women and citizens, but look etc. mother earth and safeguards

water against being dominated. amy: in eswatini, human rights advocates are denouncing the brutal crackdown on protesters following days of massive demonstrations against king mswati iii. eswatini is africa's last absolute monarchy, where more than half of its citizens live in poverty. meanwhile, king mswati is known for his lavish lifestyle, including owning expensive cars and palaces. he is currently facing a shortage of gas, food, another resources. recent protests are the largest the landlocked nation has seen in its 53 years of independence. amnesty international reported at least 20 protesters have been killed by state security forces and dozens of others tortured, detained, or objective. reports of military and police firing live rounds have protesters as well as internet blackouts. we will have more on the uprising tomorrow on democracy now! in south florida, the death toll from the condominium disaster has risen. on sunday, search-and-rescue crews carried out a controlled demolition of the partially collapsed champlain towers south building in order to give surge to areas that were usually unable to reach.

meanwhile, the nearby city of north miami beach under the immediate evacuation of hassan gerald condominium friday after report determined the structure to be structurally and electrically unsound. in massachusetts, police arrested 11 heavily armed men following a nine-hour standoff that closed parts of interstate 95 on saturday morning. police first noticed a group of men in military-style gear as they refueled their vehicles with gas on the side of the highway. the men refused to put down their assault rifles or to identify themselves to officers. they were later identified as members of a group calling itself the rise of the moors, described by the southern poverty law center as an african american sovereign citiz movement with a history of violent confrontations with law enforcement. a local prosecutor said the men we on their way to maine from rhode island for "training." in sports news, outcry is mounting over the suspension of

u.s. olympic sprinter sha'carri richardson after she tested positive for marijuana. which is legal in 18 u.s. states, including her home state of oregon worshiper dissipated in the olympic trials. the 21-year-old won the 100-meter race at the u.s. track and field trials in oregon last month and has been a gold-medal favorite ahead of the tokyo olympics this summer. cannabis is on the world anti-doping agency's list of prohibited substances, even though medical research shows it has no performance-enhancing effects. this comes as the international swimming federation is facing backlash for banning the use of swimming caps at the tokyo olympics design for natural black hair, saying the caps do not "fit the natural form of the head." the caps are made by the black-owned british brand soul cap. meanwhile, republicans congressmember dan crenshaw of texas and arkansas senator tom cotton are calling for u.s. olympic hammer thrower gwen

berry to be banned from the tokyo olympics following berry's peaceful protest at an olympic trials medal ceremony last week, where she turned away from the u.s. flag during the national anthem. and renowned native hawaiian activist, author, and scholar haunani-kay trask died this week in in honolulu after battling alzheimer's for years. she was 71 years old. trask was a devoted native hawaiian community advocate and a longtime opponent of the united states' colonization of hawaii who denounced the destructive impacts the military and tourism industries had on their sacred land. this is trask speaking in 1993 in front of a crowd at the palace on the 100th anniversary of the illegal overthrow of the hawaiian kingdom. >> we are not americans. we will die as hawaiians.

we will never be americans. they took our land. they imprisoned our queen. they banned our language. they forcibly made us a colony of the united states. america always that their democratic. lies. that is a lie. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my co-host juan gonzález in new brunswick, new jersey. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: we begin in honduras where a former u.s. trained honduran military officer and businessman has been found guilty of helping to plan the 2016 assassination of berta cáceres, the renowned lenca land and water defender. the hundred supreme court's verdict monday was unanimous and came after a 49 day trial

against david castille. the former president of the hydroelectric corporation desa. at the time of her assassination, she was fighting the construction of desa's hydroelectric dam on the gualcarque river southwestern honduras. the river is sacred to the lenca people. in 2015, cáceres was awarded the goldman environmental prize for her ongoing resistance against the dam. in monday's ruling, the court said david castille used his military contacts and skills to surveil cáceres for years on behalf of desa. the court said castille obtain money to pay for cáceres' assassination and coordinated it with the former director of security who was in touch with the main hitman. cáceres was shot to death the night of march 2, 2016 come inside her home by seven hired hitmen who were later convicted.

following monday's verdict, her family surrounded by other honduran social leaders, held a news conference outside the honduran supreme court in tegucigalpa. this is one of berta's daughters . she is the general coordinator of the civic council of popular and indigenous organizations of honduras. >> recognize this as a step toward justice, as a victory for the communities around the world who have accompanied us for this process of solidarity. we urge the international and national communities to continue their efforts against impunity and to support the efforts of the social public organizations. in the words of berta cáceres,

justice is built of the grassroots from our daily work with the defense of our territories of the fulfillment of our life projects come and the constant fight against inequity and injustices. amy: after the statement, the crowd of dozens of supporters began chanting in spanish "berta did not die, she multiplied." and meiko david castille come he graduated from u.s. military academy at west point in 2004, will be sentenced in august and faces up to 30 years in prison. berta cáceres family and supporters continue to fight for the prosecution of others involved in her murder. monday's verdict came just days after the 12 anniversary of the 2009 u.s. backed coup in honduras which overthrew the democratically elected president

manuel zelaya and installed a right-wing regime. since the coup, violence against women, lgbtq plus people come indigenous and black leaders and environment activists have skyrocketed in honduras, forcing thousands to flee to the united states, particularly under the government of hernandez, key u.s. ally. for more we go to los angeles where we're joined by the honduran scholar suyapa portillo , associate professor at pitzer college and the author of the new book "roots of resistance: a story of gender, race, and labor on the north coast of honduras." professor, welcome back to democracy now! can you talk about the significance of their verdict and who exactly david castille is? >> thank you for having me. the significance of the murder is huge. this is the first case since the coup d'état that is been brought to justice that has been heard publicly not just by her nairn -- hondurans, withhe international community.

a stament the organizing against the coup that copinh has led and berta has led, has led against the coup government, particularly juan orlando herndez. it giv us hope tt in a mth or so at sentencing, we might see some rea justice. and al tre is a lileope thathe fily will be brought toustice a they arthe nders othe corpation. we wil see. this is the first time in 12 years that we ha seen any nd ofusti in hondur. the attorney said yesterday at the press conference, t courts had all of the evidence they needed to try this case in may 2016, ree mont after the rder of berta cáceres, but it took them almost five years to

bring this to justice and it was really due to that organizing on the grou that mobilized the international community, including actors from hollywood and other famous people speaking out about this internationally. i crops to copinh and their organizing on the ground. juan: professor, i wanted to ask you, youentioned -- most people in the united states have never heard of the family. can you talk about the family's role with desa and what evidence links them possibly to involvement in the killing of berta cáceres? also, the other elite families of honduras, how have they feared since the 2009 coup? >> the elite families of honduras, just to think honduras like el salvador and guatemala, small countries. maybe 20, 22 families in

honduras who own the country, basically. they have corporations. they vacation in miami. their sons and daughters study in the united states. they live a posh life. potentially joining the pinkeye that was known back then in 2009. they were concerned aut honduras potentially becoming a socialist country. the families in cahoots with the nationalist party, some of them were from liberal party, executed the coup d'état. the family is one of these -- many of these arabic families came to honduras in the early 1900s and have now become part of the under an elite. they own -- they hired former army military-trained folks like

castillo, david castillo who graduated from west point in 2004 it was a specialist -- what the case demonstrated, sinister way of which berta cáceres was being followed and he pretended to be friends with her, called her all the time to kind of connect with her and at other times, threatened her. berta said it many times to some of her allies who ended up testifying, this guy is following me and tracking me and this guy is going to try to kill me. juan: in terms of the u.s. role in honduras since the coup, clearly, the coup occurred against zelaya during the obama administration with hillary clinton as the secretary of state.

what has been the role of the united states since then? >> you know, i like to think about the united states -- this is in my book -- by looking back over 150 years of u.s. involvement in honduras and in the region of central america. i like to think of the united states never -- -- never leaving honduras after the cold war ended with the peace accords that some people say, honduras has always been a geopolitical area for the united states and certainly in 2009 when manuel zelaya was allying with hugo chavez in supporting cuba entering -- you remember that conversation. this was very threatening to hillary clinton. hillary clinton, who is a disciple of kissinger who many people credit with the dirty war in south america. so there were all of the sort of cold war people within the

democratic party that executed the coup d'état in 2009. of course, the obama administration refused to call it a coup as you remember. your reporting role in that moment was key because it was only independent media was calling a coup coup d'état effectively and it was not until 2011 when wikileaks sorted released cables from the u.s. embassy in honduras at the time of the coup that the administration had to admit -- they called it a diplomatic coup. honduran people knew it was a violent coup come a coup that over 2000 people were killed, over 4000 people civil rights violations. you had the death of a trans woman come

and many more since then. berta cáceres is someone that called out hillary clinton and the obama administration constantly and tried -- let us know that this is a historic role that served the united states, that honduras is opolitical. she's just a hundreds is a laboratory for what the u.s. wants to do in other countries, not just in america and effectively we have seen that. the role of the u.s. in honduras and the reason we are critical, it has been a racial capital system. over 100 years, given land for free. concessions of land in the north coast. they then sold when they left honduras just after hurricane mitch when they begin to sell pieces of atlanta national growers and other latin american growers from brazil or nicaragua. what is interesting about this, when, harris decides to come to

guatemala and talk about migration, the company she brings with them, what is nestlé, which is just as per map -- problematic in other parts of everett and asia that the u.s. state department is had extractive role come a role that has never been about respecting thsovereignty of honduras or other central american nations. this is more of the same. we are seeing more of the same. when i say i credit this winter being a local organizers and honduras, it i really important because it shows determination d despite against all odds, most of thospeople worng on the berta cáceres case have protective orders because they have received death threats for the work they do. the attorneys, the family. amy: we should mention another big news coming out of honduras, the inter-american human rights declared the honduran state was

responsible for killing the trans woman vicki hernandez you mentioned the night of the 2009 coup. and go back to our coverage at democracynow.org when juan, who also question hillary clinton about her support of the coup. we're going to in with the words of berta cáceres herself. she was assassinated a year after she won the goldman environmental prize for her work protecting indigenous communities and for her environment of justice campaign against the massive dam on the states they could gualcarque river. this is berta in 2015. >> in our worldviews, we're beings who come from the earth. from the water and from corn. the lenca aren't sessional guardians of the rivers, in turn protected by the spirits of young girls who teach us that

giving our lives in various ways for the protection of the rivers is giving our lives for the well-being of humanity and this planet. amy: the great environmentalist berta cáceres receiving her goldman environmental prize in 2015. in 2016, she was assassinated in her own home in honduras. this weekend, monday, david castillo was one of those found guilty of her murder. we also want to thank suyapa portillo, honduran scholar and associate professor at pitzer college and the author of the new book "roots of resistance: a story of gender, race, and labor on the north coast of honduras." when we come back, we air the explosive video from greenpeace of exxon lobbyists speaking their own words about the oil giant secretive efforts to block climate action on capitol hill and what senators and

congressmembers they have captured. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. democratic congressmember ro khanna, the chair of the house oversight subcommittee on the

environment, has announced plans to ask the ceo's of exxon and other fossil fuel companies to testify before the committee about their role in blocking congressional action to address the climate emergency. congressmember khanna made the request after greenpeace u.k. released a stunning video where two topobbyists discussed exxon's secretive efforts to fight climate initiatives in washingt. this is the video produced by unearthe an investative journalism unit at greenpeace u.k. >> the wins are such would be difficult to categorize them all. >> until february this year, he

was exxon's leading white use lobbyist stop underexpod recruitment consultants and told them we had a client who had admired their work. we interviewed them on zoom and asked him to tell us what they and the other lobbyists that exxon have been up to. exxon mobil is so powerful, the management suite at its global headquarters is known as the god pod. until recently, it was the biest, riche corporati in the history of the world. for decades, critics have claimed eon deployed cynil, aggressive lobbing techniques to pull the strings of government while runninglandestine mpaigns to block action on climate change. discrediopponents and distract attention from its pluting activities. but notne of it sving senior executives has ever come cln about thexxon plaook -- until now. here's what dan easley and keith mccoy told us. mrrecord revealed behind the scenes, the company has been working hardo undeine president bide's to trilon

doar infraructure pla thwhite hoe propos includ spending ndreds of billions on clean energy and transport as part of the most ambitious clean energy legislation ever proposed by a u.s. president and it would have been paid for by higher taxes on corporations like exxon. but these ambitious proposals are on the verge of being defeated. according to mr. mccoy come exxon has been working to scale back the legislation and stop exxon paying more tax. he told us which united states senators the company sought to recruit to their lobbying campaign -- and they are all republicans. >> president biden is talking about e big infrastructure package and he's going to pay foby increasing corporate taxes. a lot of the negative sff starts to come out because -- it doesn't make any sense for highway bill. why would you put in something

on emissions reductions on climate change to oil refineries in a highway bill? >> eon is even trying to get through to president biden through his friend senator chris coons. >> senator cruz from delawe, close relationship with senator biden.

>> dan easley left exxon earlier this year after nearly eight years bbying f the corporation. he described just how big a problem biden's original problem proposed for oil and gas companies. >> >> for years, on has claimed it

suppor a carbon tax when they cannot for the policy. is a price a lot of people. but does exxon really believe in a carbon tax or is it a ploy to make the company look responsible while giving them cover to aggressively oppose climate regulations that would hit their bottom line? >> what you said is interesting. basically,t is never going to happen, right?

>>, understand why a lot of u.s. while makers are talking about carbon tax? it unds pretty -- >> the cynical side of me, ey've got nothing else. it ian easy talking pnt to say,ook, i'm focarbon tax. that is the point. >> heetailed e succesof lobbying vtorieshe compa secured der trum thisncludeissuing thousas of new oilnd gas drilling permits, which critics argue a

incompatible with efforts to tackle climate change.

>> mr. mccoy told us how exxon aggressively fought to discredit climate science. he also told us how even now talking on solutions to global warming like renewable energy and electric vehicles is critically important to the work exxon does in washington, d.c.

>> for decades, the decisions made at exxon's god pod have impact on the lives of every american, maybe every human being on the planet. they held back action on climate change and used her power and money to ensure washington politicians were working for them, not us. now we have a better idea of what they did and how they did it and crucially, now we know

they are still doing it. exxon mobil released this statement. amy: that video produced by unearthed come investigative journalism project of greenpeace u.k. spoke to the two exxon lobbyists keith mccoy and dan easley after posing as corporate headhunter's. we go now to london where we are joined by charlie kronick, senior climate advisor at greenpeace u.k. quite something to get them so clearly putting this on the record, charlie. can you talk about what surprised you most and what you think is most significant about

the revelations as they try to sell themselves over the effectiveness of how they have captured so many u.s. senators, key among them, joe manchin? >> i think the most amazing and surprising thing about these revelations is is anyone still surprised at what exxon is doing? i think the reality is, almost nothing has changed in the exxon playbook in terms of their appearance to what to be seen to be credible on climate change while at the same time spending an amazing amount of time, resources, to slow down progress on climate change at a time we have zero time left for delay or debate on what should be done when. it is clear what needs to be happening now and it seems of until jen woods apology last week, committed to slowing down and stopping action and whatever they can to do that. juan: how to these revelations

from these interviews compare to previous exposés of exxon and lobbying efforts commit many over the years? >> this has been going on for decades ani think it is really important to highlight this is the ongoing activity of a company trying to slow down progress on climate change for decades. what is different, literally, it is from -- as both lobbyist said, they're quite comfortable using front groups and hiding behind whether they work think tanks, describing themselves as right-wing or freak market -- free-market think tanks or whether it was including things like american petroleum institute, always a lewis, nominator in terms of ambition for an industry. the api is seen as respectable, certainly has a huge presence in d.c. that kind of lobbying is been

going on for decades. what is unusual about this situation is they would absolutely -- i was going to state unapologetic, they were gloating at the level of success they're having on slowing down progress in the biggest challenge we are facing as a country, as a generation, as a world. amy: charlie kronick, thank you for being with us, senior climate advisor at greenpeace u.k. next up, we go to: be aware in international human rights commission has a right to document the right-wing government jelly crackdown on protesters following the general strike iapril. st with us ♪♪music brk]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. an international human rights commission has arrived in colombia to investigate the country's brutal crackdown on protesters following a general strike was called in april to protest the right-wing government of president iván duque. since the protests began, over 80 people have died -- many at the hands of the police and paramilitary forces. this is astrid torres, one of the organizers of the international commission. she is member of the corporation for judicial freedom based in

the city of medellín. >> the purpose of the international mission taking place in colombian right now is to be able to create a call for attention at the international level about the serious situation the country has been suffering due to the institutional violence of the national police have unleashed toward protesters unequal of you for more than 64 days now. amy: many of the colombian protesters in the streets have been young people who've lost their jobs or who couldn't afford to continue their education because their families have been deeply impacted by the economic crisis in colombia triggered by the covid-19 pandemic. this is father javier giraldo, a jesuit priest and veteran human rights defender in colombia. >> the secr of you people need tir barrideand the streets ve beenreat victimiz by lumbus enomic del. this is a group that doesn't

have autur and as they don't have anything to lose. amy: we go now to bogata, colombia, whe we are joined by mario murillo, an award-winning journalist and professor at hofstra university in long island, new york. he is in colombia reporting on the international commission. he has closely followed colombia for decades. his books include "colombia and the united states: war, unrest and destabilization." mario, thank you for joining us. you talk about the significance of the april uprising and the deadly crackdown by ivan duque a? >> thank you for having us. i think the significance of the uprising and the crackdown i that it is a continuation of a process going on pretty much since 2016 when the peace accords between the farc guerrillas was sned and th right-wing d everything in its power through its media, through

its politics, through its discourse to completely derail that peace process. and not withstanding the problems in many flaws in the accos, thereere some efforts to make some steps forward in terms of political participation, and a terms of land reform, in terms of substitution of coca in the countryside for present farmers -- a range of things that have been drilled completely by the dutch first the right-wing government before they took power in 2018 and then ivanka u.k. -- ivan duque. we've seen the popular sectors througho the entry that have been trying to push for some of the measures to be implement a from the peace accord, environment activist, human rights workers about participation of -- political participation, and indigenous

movement, and you had a segment on berta cáceres in honduras to start the show this morning. we have about 1100 berta cáceres es i nickel libya who have been targeted by dirty war -- i nickel love you have been targeted by dirty work, genocide. not refraining from using the term. at the same time, you have this elimination but you also have a situation where economically, socially it has been getting worse ever since 2016. partially because of the economic model that was never part of the negotiation. partially because of the covid crisis -- which i think was the explosion that led to the final explosion. but you have seen people basically from every different sector of colombian society,

students, women's groups, lgbtq movements, the indigenous movement -- basically saying they are placed in colombian society as the rich get richer and negative or targeted. there have been protests going on since 2016, different sectors. but what we see now in the uprising that started on april 28 and in many ways continues is a multisector explosion where the people are saying enoughs enough and using front line activists are basically saying, we do not have a future. we have nothing to lose. even our lives, we are willing to sacrifice our lives to put a change to the situation in colombian. juan: mario, i want to ask you, there's been a lot of stuff happened last week a new

colombian south america that did not get much coverage. the cia director, william burns, visited columbiana as well as president bolsonaro in brazil. president biden had a phone conversation with ivan duque and duque himself was supposedly in a target of an assassination attempt with people firing on his helicopter. can you talk about the military's role? >> that is a good point. first of all, you're right, those events happened and the were a blip on the radar screen in terms of u.s. media. it is important to talk about u.s. policy because it has been pretty consistent for th last 60 years or so, maybe more, going back to the 1940's. the destabilization initiative

to target the social movement, the popular movement in columbiana were driven by and directed by cia and u.s. policymakers, state department and u.s. embay here in columbiana. it is not change. now we have a democratic administration that perhaps the human rightsnitiates and demands t forward by colombian human rights leaders and organizers for years will be taken seriously. there is a discourse of human rights protection. biden during the heig of the prests coue of months ago -- about six weeks ago, positively stated we have to respect human rights and democratic mobilition, etc. on the other hand, is having conversations with full support, backing of the colombian security forces but the good

news, there was a measure led by a number of congressmembers, a measure passed recently that pointed to -- used 30% -- basically negated 30% of the military assistance to the national police, particularly a kind of swat police unit that essentially is a military unit targeting civilians directly. there is a commission here on the ground right now, next week or so, that is what they're looking at, how if the security forces have been doing what they're doing with complete impunity, as you pointed out, 80 people killed. if that happened iniran or venezuela, that would be front page news every day in the united states. but here it has happened and it

is just part of the situation and it colombian and there's nothing we can do about it. juan: colombian past a milestone more than 100,000 covid-19 deaths come south america as a whole is become a major epicenter of the pandemic in the world. how is the government dealing with the cid-19 pandemic? >> the covid-19 pandemic, a lot of people we have been talking to and has been pointed out, what led to the final explosion of social unrest. this was not a spontaneous eruption. the protest that started april 28, part of a process that really started back in november 2019 and continued moving forward. the covid pandemic when it first hit i nickel be a -- first hit in colombian, lockdown,

transportion sto people cap inside. the primary -- the people who suffer the most were people basically from the pork popular sectors, the wealthy here, they generally got out unscathed whereas masses of people lost everything and continue to lose everything. by the time 2021 came in, people were tired, and this is really when the protests came out. you want to the streets of bogotá, it is business as usual. the government h been reluctant to close down the economy again even though right now -- it is a second way that is consistently staying at that level, 400 people to 500 people dying today. translate that to the u.s.

population, that is about 3000 people dying. amy: i would to go back to the fatheravier gildo, a juit prie and han rights dender. >>e have snt is the grassrts lears who a being assainated, not gher classes. [indiscernible they are humble people who have a commitment to resistance. amy: in the last minute we have, can you talk about how the international commission of verification investigation will take and where it is going? >> international commission, there are about 40 people representing 11 different countries all over latin america, europe, canada, u.s., mexico. the plan -- well, the last few

days have been meeting with human rights groups here in bogotá, meeting with loca tivists wells naonal level activts who a pt of e moveme, studentovemen, womemovement lgb. startinghis afternoon, all th groupsill be baking tnto different regions, going t11 dierentegionshrought the countrwere somof the mt violenresponses to the protests taking place in cali, caribbean coast -- i will be heading to the coffee growing region and later we will be talking to front line activists. these are the people who are being targeted. it is not an accident they're being accused of terrorism, of vandalism, of causing violence because that has been the discourse of the right for decades here in colombia.

amy: we have to leave it there but we will continue to talk to you in colombia mario murillo