[captioning made possible by democracy now!] ♪ >> from new york, this is democracy now! >> out with corruption. out with drug trafficking and organized crime. numeral poverty and misery. the people will always be united. together, we are going to

transform this country. >> and hundred -- in honduras the country's first female president. we will go to honduras for the latest. then, nato foreign ministers meet in latvia as tension escalates between russia and ukraine with war on the horizon. and we look at the gas pipeline despite canada's crackdown. >> don't touch me. >> don't touch her. >> get your hands off of her. get your hands off of her. >> you are under arrest. >> all of that and more, coming up.

welcome to -- welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.o , the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. the world health oanization is warning the omicron coronavirus variants poses a very high risk to nations and could set off new waves of infection, especially in areas with low vaccination rates. on monday, the who director general thanked lears in southern africa for sounding the alarm over the new variant and called for a global treaty to prevent, prepare for, and respond to future pandemics. >> the world needs a new accord on pandemics. our current system this incentivizes countries from alerng others to threats that will inevitably land on their

shoulders. amy: the world health organization has criticized travel bans against southern africa. on monday, more than two million nurses from 28 countries filed a complaint with the united nations, demanding an investigation into wealthy countries that have blocked a proposed patent waiver for covid-19 vaccines. the nurses accuse the governments of protecting the profits of big pharmaceutical companies at the expense of public health. meanwhile, chinese president xi jinping has pledged to deliver 1 billion doses of covid-19 vaccines to africa on top of the nearly 200 million doses china has already supplied. only about 10% of africans have received one vaccine dose, compared with 64% in north america. here in the u.s., the centers for disease control has strengthened its recommendations to say that all u.s. adults should get a vaccine booster shot. meanwhile, pfizer said it will ask regulators this week to

approve booster shots to 16 and 17-year-olds. at the white house, president biden said the omicron variant was cause for concern, not panic. he said the white house would work with drug companies to reformulate vaccines to be more effective against the omicron variant. play sot pres. biden: so that we are prepared, if needed, my team is working with officials at pfizer, moderna, and johnson & johnson to develop contingency plans. amy: a federal court in missouri has temporarily blocked president biden's vaccine mandate for health care workers in 10 states. district judge matthew schelp, a trump appointee, ruled that legal challenges to the mandate are likely to succeed because congress had not granted the centers for medicare and medicaid services the power to enforce a vaccine mandate. defense secretary lloyd austin said monday the pentagon has opened a high-level inquiry into

the u.s. airstrike that killed dozens of wowomen and children near the syrian town of baghuz in march of 2019. this comes after a "new york times" investigation found the military spent two and a half years covering up the attack, even though the death toll was almost immediately apparent to military officials, with one legal officer flagging the attack as a possible war crime. u.s. military officials downplayed the death toll, delayed reports, and sanitized and classified evidence of civilian deaths. u.s. led coalition forces bulldozed the blast site, and top military leaders were reportedly not notified. iran has resumed talks in vienna, austria aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, after former president trump withdrew the u.s. from the multilateral agreement in 2018, while imposing harsh economic sanctions on iran. on monday, iran's top negotiator called the sanctions

"tyrannical, unlawful and cruel," insisting iran will never agree to a new deal unss the biden administration first lifts the sanctions. an australian government commission has revealed shocking details about australia's federal parliament, describing it as a toxic workplace rife with gender inequality, bullying, and sexual harassment and assault. the investigation was opened earlier this year amid allegations of sexual assault and rape inside the parliament building. on monday, sex discrimination commissioner kate jenkins announced her team's findings. >> 51% of all people in parliamentary rkplaces have experienced at least one instant that's one incident of bullying, sexual -- one incident of bullying, harassment, or actual or attempted sexual assault. amy: here in new york, opening statements began monday in the federal sex trafficking trial of

ghislaine maxwell, the british socialite who is accused of luring economically disadvantaged girls to be sexually abused by convicted predator and sex trafficker jeffrey epstein. prosecutor lara pomerantz told jurors starting in the 1990's, maxwell would recruit girls for epstein to sexually abuse, telling the girls they had been hired to give massages. pomerantz argued epstein and maxwell then devised a "pyramid scheme of abuse" and said the two were "partners in crime." at least four women who were sexually abused by epstein will be testifying during the trial, including a survivor who was 14 years old at the time. maxwell faces several charges , including sex trafficking of a minor. epstein died in prison. his death was ruled a suicide. cnn has announced it will review newly released information that

details how anchor chris cuomo helped his brother, disgraced new york governor andrew cuomo, strategize a defense against mounting accusations of sexual harassment. thousands of pages of new evidence and sworn testimony were released monday, showing andrew cuomo, who was found to have sexually harassed at least 11 women heavily relied on his , allies, including his younger brother, to manipulate the press and discredit his accusers. documents include text messages between chris cuomo and melissa derosa, a former top aide to andrew cuomo, suggesting the cnn anchor was instrumental in crafting his brother's defense strategy. minnis honda s minnesota congresswoman ill hunt omar and others -- minnesota congresswoman ilhan omar and others are calling on congress to hold lauren boebert accountable for comments. boebert called omar, one of the

first muslim women elected to congress, a member of "the jihad squad" and likened her to a suicide bomber. omar said, "there is only so much grace we can extend to others before hanging up." the national relations board has ruled that amazon fought a unionization campaign in out of earlier this year. the stage is set for a new union election sometime in the next several months. more than 70% of amazon workers who cast ballots in the union election in february voted against forming the union. the vote failed after an aggressive campaign of intimidation, interference, and surveillance by amazon managers. on monday, the nlrb ruled that

amazon work illegally with the u.s. postal service to install a collection box one day before voting was set to begin. amazon managers pressured workers to drop their ballots in the new collection box, casting doubt over the secrecy of the ection. trailblazing black former congresswoman carrie meek died sunday in her home. she was 95 years old. born in tallahassee, she was the daughter of a sharecropper and granddaughter of an enslaved woman. in 1993, carrie meek joined the u.s. house is one of the first black floridians elected to congress since the reconstruction era. she championed affirmative action, economic opportunities for low income people, and advocated for the u.s. to ease restrictions of migrants from haiti, where many of her constituents were from. emigrant justice advocates are denouncing brutal conditions faced by haitian asylum-seekers currently imprisoned at the torrance county detention facility in estancia, new mexico. at least 50 asylum seekers who were previously sheltering under a bridge in del rio, texas were

taken to torrance shortly after border patrol violently apprehended thousands of asylum seekers in september. most have been deported by the biden adminstration. advocates are demanding immigration and customs enforcement allow pro-bono lawyers provide the haitian asylum seekers with in-person legal consultations. that -- legal consultations, that information in be provided in haitian creole about the legal services, and that ice halt deportations until asylum seekers receive legal services. the asylum seekers have also detailed mistreatment and medical neglect at torrence. in the's, demonstrators marched -- in la paz, demonstrators marched against a military coup

in support of socialist president luis arce. the was led by former president march evo morales, who was overthrown in november 2019 following a u.s.-backed, right-wing military coup. this is president luis arce speaking yesterday. >> there will never be coups in our country. amy: barbados has officially removed queen elizabeth ii as its head of state, freeing itself from the british monarchy after nearly 400 years of colonization. in an overnight ceremony in the capital bridgetown, dame sandra mason was sworn in as barbados's first-ever president. >> with oneoice from this day and forever, we declare barbados a parliamentary republic. [applause] amy: fireworks adorned the sky

at midnight as barbados officially became the world's newest nation. ahead of the ceremony, barbados held a national service of thanksgiving, where barbados senator and reverend john rogers spoke. >> we survived a journey that many have not survived. 300 years of a plantation system that many have not survived. every child born in this country is a gift of god, especially preserved, specially protected. amy: prince charles joined monday evening's ceremony, where he formally acknowledged the "appalling atrocity of slavery" in the caribbean. barbadian singer, actress and fashion designer rihanna also also attended the ceremony, where she was declared a national hero by barbados's prime minister. those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!,

democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman, joined by one get a solace -- joined by juan gonzalez in new brunswick, new jersey. we begin today's show in honduras, where leftist presidential candidate xiomara castro appears poised to become the country's first female president, putting an end to over a decade of right-wing, neoliberal rule. while the official vote count has not been released, castro holds a commanding lead over nasry asfura of the right-wing national party, which has ruled honduras for 12 years following the 2009 u.s.-backed coup which ousted castro's husband manuel zelaya. xiomara castro claimed victory on sunday night. [applause] >> we are going to build a new era. out with the death squads. out with corruption.

out with drug trafficking and organized crime. no more poverty and misery. two victory. the people will always be united. together we are going to transform this country. amy: xiomara castro's apparent victory in honduras is seen as a blow to washington, which has embraced successive right-wing governments despite widespread accusations that honduras has become a narco-military regime. in april, a federal court in new york sentenced the brother of honduran president juan orlando hernandez to life in prison for drug trafficking. prosecutors also accused the president of being a co-conspirator in state-sponsored drug trafficking. this comes as hondurans continue to flee the dire social and economic conditions at home. we are joined now by two guests: suyapa portillo is a honduran scholar and associate professor at pitzer college in california,

and author of the new book "roots of resistance: a story of gender, race, and labor on the north coast of honduras." she joins us from claremont, california. and in the honduran -- of honduras." she joins us from claremont, california. and in the honduran city of comayagua, we are joined by faridd sierra, who is high school teach who has been closing following the elections. tell us more about this xiomara castro. faridd: it has brought hope to our whole country. people were tense. people were going to the stores, expecting something negative may have happened, and when the first ballot came out, people were relieved.

even though yesterday, there was a sense of hope in the country, which people had not felt in such a long time. juan: you talk about the environment sunday in the presidential elections. there were some reports of irregularities at polling places, some people suspecting the national party might even try to rig the vote. how was the atmospher faridd: there were some reports of some instances happening. where i live, each person is required to go to to the polling place where they are registered. for the most part, there were huge lines. people were really excited to go

vote. the place where i went, they were calm, they were quiet. there was that tension of not knowing what happens. by 8:00, there was fear that possibleraud hadappened. so people were excited, and at the same time, on saturday when i got there, there were huge lines. people were expecting that may the national party might be buying their way to power. juan: in terms of the lead up to the elections, during the campaign, there were several

incidents of violence. there was a mayoral candidate that was assassinated in october, and also a congresswoman that was beaten in her own home, wasn't she? faridd: yes, she was. there were several acts of violence that happened, especially once the primaries began in october. the u.n. human rights commission reported that 30 had been murdered in 60 incidents of aggressive acts since october of last year. amy: i wanted to bring suyapa -- i wanted to bring suyapa por tillo into the conversation,

honduran scholar and associate professor after college. we first spoke to xiomara castro in 2009, after the coup. it was an exclusive interview iphone just -- interview by phone just after the u.s.-backed coup as she tried to return 200s from nicaragua. -- two honduras from nicaragua. [speaking spanish] amy: what would you do if people came intyour house and you and your family, and then this aggressor wanted to sit down

with you and say be nice and stay out of the country? [speaking spanish] amy: imagine, they have violated the president's rights, imagined crimes against him, transferred him to another country. [speaking spanish] amy: and now they sit them down to negotiate with the criminals. so that was xiomara castro in

2009. in 2011, democracy now! flew back from nicaragua to honduras. i interviewed castro again, talking to her in a coffee shop in honduras, asking her about the possibility of her seeking office, about her becoming president. so you could run for president if you chose. >> that is very clear. the law does not stop it. the process of the same law establishes only one president can be president for four years. amy: you're saying that president zelaya did not serve out his full term. is there any sort of allowance made for that?

>> no, there is no established procedure to make that happen. amy: and of course, that is exactly what she omar castro -- what xiomara castro has done today, she has run for president. juan gonzalez raised the issue with then candidate hillary clinton a meeting she had with the new york daily news editorial board. he asked about clinton's decision not to declare zelaya's ouster in 2009 a coup. juan: there are concerns about roles that you played in that particular situation, not necessarily being in agreement with your top aides. >> let me try to put this in context.

the legislature, the national legislature in honduras and the national judiciary actually followed the law in removing president celaya -- president zelaya. i did not like the way it looked or the way they did it, but they had a very strong argument that they had followed the constitution and the legal precedent, and as you know, they really undercut their argument by spearheading him out of the country in his pajamas, where they send the military to take him out of his bed and get him out of the country. so this began as a very mixed and difficult situation. if the united states government declares a coup, you immediately have to shut off all aid, including humanitarian aid, the

agency for international development aid, the support that we were providing at that time for a lot of very poor people, and that triggers a legal necessity. there's no way to get around it. so our assessment was we will just make the situation worse by punishing the honduran people if we declare a coup and immediately have to stop all aid for the people, but we should slow walk and try to stop anything that the government could take advantage of without calling it a coup. amy: that is democratic presidential candidate hillary clinton, who was secretary of state, about why the u.s. had not been cleared what happened in honduras a coup. suyapa portillo, can you talk about this history that leads right into the massive flow of

migrants from honduras, asylum-seekers to the united states? suyapa: thank you so much, amy. listening to these comments brings chills up my back because as a scholar and a honduran, we follow all of those incidents day by day, moment by moment, waiting for the obama admistration to declare this a coup so that constitutional order could come back to the country, and of course, he did not have that courage. neither did secretary of state hillary clinton. the other thing i want to say is that this win for honduras is a testament to bottom up organizing, to people. without money, without any resources, facing exit us, facing my -- facing exodus, facing violence, took to the streets to say enough is enough. we are voting against a dictatorship and against the nationalist party, and voting

for the dead. many of the social media posts celebrating, almost in tear, saying we are voting for the dead, voting for those who perished since the coup d'etat. i find that the history of the united states has been a history of intervention. the 2009 coup under a democratic presidential administration was the most tragic event of the 21st century not just in central america, buin latin america. it is a shameful moment in the obama administration. it also demonstrates the u.s. lack of care for central america. that constitution was written during the cold war period under reagan. it was a constitution that was antiquated, that did not reflect the community now. linking honduras to venezuela is

irrelevant. honduras has a different history , a different colonization by united states politics since the early 20th century, and even before. so it did not make sense that the democratic party would not respect the rule of law in honduras. sadly, honduras has not recovered from the coup until now, and this is how people are seeing it come as a moment of hope. juan: i wanted to ask you, you mentioned the narco dictatorship. could you talk about these years of the national party rule in honduras subsequent to the coup? hernandez and his brother have been applicable by the federal government itself in trafficking. his brother convicted, and he

accused in actual federal papers, and yet this administration continues to back him, and the impa it had on the honduran people this more than a decade now. suyapa: i think what is really happening is that the united states allowed the nationalist party to take over in january 2010, six months after the coup. they saw that the liberal party was -- the coup came within the liberal party, so they supported it. when elections were held, there were 60% -- there was 60% absenteeism, so he was elected not by the people, basically. i don't know who voted for him. he continued, the party continued the same power, and there have been so many acts of corruption.

example, 90 million dolrs were stolen from the social security adminiration to run the campaign of one hernando hernandez -- of one fernando hernandez -- of juan fernando hernandez. medications were made out of flour. they weren't even real medications. just two weeks ago, if, member of mine died because there was no ventilators for covid. there was no ventilators, no medication. family members have to bring dictation from pharmacies into the hospitals, so the situation is dire. just people dying because of violence, because of narco trafficking, because of gun violence, but there's also people dying because the hospitals are not sourced with medication or ventilators. there was also the accusation of the new york federal court, that

there has been a firing of the supreme court magistrate and imposing these very conservative people. really, the most amazing things that have happened in honduras have been the last two cases that have been won by the people. but until 2020, 2021, there seemed to be no justice for honduras. it seems like the nationalist party kept corruption up to date. the most shocking thing is that hernandez allied with the trump administration. they work with whoever will give them what they want. the last thing that rubs people the wrong way was these laws that were passed earlier this year, one in trying the constitution that abortion is

illegal and gay marriage is illegal -- one enshrining in the constitution that abortion is illegal and gay marriage is illegal so that they could not be changed, and the other thing was the passing of the law of economic develop and, which meant that national lines could be sold to private investors for private cities. all of these corruptions being passed without discussion, without proper voting by congresspeople, really showed the honduran people just how cruel the nationalist party was and how they did not care about them, and i think that is how they voted in response to their actions. i could go on all morning about all of the acts of corruption, both significant and small act and regional issues happening

among the nationalist party. juan: i wanted to ask you also about the role of mills ally a -- of manuel zelaya, one of the few examples in history of someone elected as a conservative leader who becomes increasingly left-wing and progressive. could you talk about the relationship between him and his wife politically and whether there are differences betwn them? because she has been openly more democratic-socialist in her viewpoints. suyapa: definitely. i think he became politicized during the pink tide movement in latiamerica. he stated in various interviews when he came into power, the first group he met with was the businessman, and then they started to dictate, this is how the country is going to run.

i think he wasn't expecting that back in 2006. xiomara has emerged as a leader. when you play this videos of her coming back into honduras, that is the first lady defending the rights of the first family to come back into the country, and the xiomara you're seeing now has gone through these 12 years of what party embers call a dictatorship under the nationalist party. she has emerged as a progressive leader. i thing she is incredibly well prepared for this moment, and she has been able to amass a coalition that represents a very wide sector of society, which is i think why she was able to win this time. what will parties, including bierman to lists, including

social movement organizations. when she called for a permanent national dialogue, this has never happened in latin america. this idea that she is going to be in permanent dialogue with the honduran people, but also with the opposition. she said i have no enemies, i am willing to sit down and negotiate so that we can bring this country forward. i think that is a different xiomara than the 2019 xiomara. those are things she has been able to learn through the 2013 elections and other elections, the election of 2017. amy: i want to just end with faridd in honduras right now. what you see happening at this point, how the transition of power will happen, and when

hernandez is not president anore, does he lose all imnity? faridd: that is the big question everyone is king her what is going to happen to juan orlando? i do want to mention just one huge thing, is that the natnal party is still in control. they have until january that they are going to be in power, and we don't know what laws are going to be implement it, whether those will affect one orlando -- affect juan orlando. but i want to remind everybody that honduras has political prisoners. that includes those locked up for defending the -- and have

been locked up for two years, waiting for pretrial. even now, the trial begins on wednesy after two years, so we don't know what they are going to do between now and january and how that is going to affect lando, but there are political prisoners in honduras that they have locked up unfairly amy: thank you for being with us, speaking to us from the honduran city of comayagua. i want to also thank suyapa portillo, speaking to us from claremont, california. coming up, nato foreign mininisters meet in latvia as tension mounts between russia and ukraine. back in 30 seconds.

[♪♪] [music break] amy: "diamonds," by rihanna, the singer declared a national hero in barbados in the ceremony sunday night that marked barbados' new status as the newest nation in the world, after removing queen elizabeth

as its head of state. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org. secretary of state antony blinken has arrived in latvia for a meeting of nato foreign secretaries. the meeting comes as tension continues to mount between russia and ukraine. russia reportedly has amassed 100,000 troops on the ukraine border. fighting has also recently intensified in eastern ukraine between moscow-backed separatists and government forces. nato secretary general jens stoltenberg spoke friday ahead of the meeting. >> we will address russia's continuing military buildup in and around ukraine. this is the second time this year that russia has amassed a large concentration of forces in the region. this includes heavy capabilities like tanks, artillery, armored units, drones, and electronic warfare systems, as well as

combat ready troops. this military buildup is unprovoked and unexplained. it raises tensions and risks miscalculations. amy: russia has denied any plans to invade ukraine and has accused nato of trying to destabilize the region by sending troops closer to russia's borders. on monday, latvia called for a permanent u.s. military presence inside the former soviet republic. last week ukraine called for a constant presence of nato warships in the black sea. and poland recently called for more nato troops to be deployed to eastern europe. we are joined now by anatol lieven. he is a senior fellow for russia and europe at the quincy institute for responsible statecraft. he is the author of numerous books on russia and the former soviet republics, including "ukraine and russia: a fraternal rivalry."

his most recent book is "climate change and the nationstate: the case for nationalism any warming world." explain what is happening between ukraine and russia. anatol: russia is trying to send a message of its influx about opposition to nato membership for ukraine, and trying to extract concessions from ukraine, and more importantly, washington, about the reopening of political negotiations about the future of the separatist region in eastern ukraine. moscow wants to see a restarting of the minsk process of 2015, which led to a recommendation by france, germany, and oyster by the -- germany, endorsed by the states within the ukraine.

so this is russia just sending you message and trying to exert pressure. it does have to be said that woods this year from president putin -- that language this year from president putin and other officials has been a good deal harsher than it has been for several years now, so the possibility of war certainly cannot be excluded. juan: you mentioned france and germany. could you talk about how the european union sees the ongoing conflict and the differences between the european union and the united states, especially given europe's heavy dependence on russia for natural gas and energy? anatol: the differences are not that great. france and germany drew up this minsk agreement, but they have done nothing to push it forward since then. france and germany have opposed

or at least delayed nato membership for ukraine, but they have not opposed it permanently or categorically. the main point to keep in mind about nato and most probably the united states as well is that despite all this language of support for ukraine, it is in fact highly unlikely that nato would fight to defend ukraine. after all, we didn't in 2014, nor did we fight to defend georgia in 2008, despite many talks of support, commitment of these countries as nato partners of the west. and of course, that is also known in moscow, that there is a certain degree of emptiness about nato rhetoric on this. juan: and you said that the only country that might benefit from a war between russia and ukraine would be china. could you explain why?

anatol: well, a war between russia and ukraine, still more a crisis between russia and the west, because it would be another massive destruction of u.s. tension from the far east. if, god forbid, the united states actually got into a war with russia over ukraine, i think it is undeniable that china would immediately try to exploit this, possibly by an invasion of taiwan. so every country involved in such a conflict would suffer except the chinese, who frankly, would be laughing. amy: talk about why they would be laughing, and also, if you could comment on this latest news that the pentagon is going to focus on building bases in guam and australia to better prepare the military to counter china, and how that fits into this picture.

anatol: well, obviously, the more deeply the u.s. becomes militarily committed in europe, the more attention it pays to the possibility of war with russia, it is a massive destruction of u.s. attention, money, and forces. i am not saying the chinese are behind what the russians are doing. russia has very good reasons to try to deter the west from turning the ukraine into an ally against russia, but this is one reason why there are many elements within the american security establishment who would actually oppose any serious u.s. military commitment to ukraine, just as they opposed u.s. troops going to georgia in 2008, because it would be a colossal destruction from what they regard as the biggest challenge to the united states, which is china. amy: overall, what nato means

today at the summit in riga, latvia, and how you think tensions could decrease. anatol: russia perceives nato as an enemy. fair enough, nato perceives russia as an enemy, and is determined to prevent major countries on russia's borders from becoming members of nato. russia, in this way, is no different from the united states . your previous segment was about the history of u.s. coups in honduras and other parts of latin america to ensure that this area means in the american sphere of influence, or at the very least that external powers are excluded from that region. it is called the monroe doctrine. russia is no different in that regard. it doesn't mean that putin hopes for a new soviet union, but he does certainly want to keep nato out of that region, and is

prepared to fight, as he has shown in the past, to stop that happening. the problem about nato is that it talks the talk, but no serious person thinks that european countries, with the possible exception of poland, will go to war for ukraine. so this, as well as gas dependence, which you mentioned, is in the end a major card in russia's hand, and the very last resort. i'm not saying that the putin government once more -- government wants more, but it is schwandts war -- wants war, but it is prepared to go to war in the last resort. juan: you said friday that zelinski believes they are planning a coup against him in the coming days. your sense of the validity as to

whether there is any chance of a coup against zelinski? anatol: possibly, and of course, the russian secret services are very active in ukraine, but it is very difficult to say for sure what the truth of this is because it is so much to zelinski's advantage to portray internal opposition within the ukraine as russian inspired and as aiming at his undemocratic overthrow. zelinski is extremely unpopular now for failure to improve the economic situation, worsened by covid, of course, and contue to very high levels of corruption. so this could be just a very traditional gambit to try to deflect this unpopularity by blaming russia for the internal opposition. amy: final assessment of the u.s. and the role that it is playing?

so many have criticized biden for revving up cold war or hot war with china. you see a parallel with russia, with china taking a very different approach to the world? for example, we just reported headlines talking about one billion vaccines to places like africa. anatol: well, the problem is, i think, that america has got stuck on this path of nato expansion, although in fact, in private, very few american officials believe that ukraine can be a number of nato. in the process, the united states has also effectively abandoned the minsk process, which i mentioned, in that political sediment in ukraine guaranteeing autonomy for that region within ukraine. that remains not just the best, but in effect, the only way of

resolving the ukraine crisis politically. it would certainly be vastly to america's advantage to do that when, as we know, america is facing, as you suggest, not so much a military challenge from china, though that is there, but there is this question about whether china is providing a more positive model in certain respects in the world, and instead of trying to meet that challenge by -- well, look at the previous segment -- by paying close attention, for example, to the economic and social develop meant to america's neighbors in central america, there is this tradition of an intensely militarized response to every potential challenge or rivalry in the world.

amy: we want to thank you for being with us. next up, we look at land defenders continuing their fight against the coastal gas link pipeline. stay with us. [♪♪] [music break]

amy: this is the haida nation performing last week as they brought food and supplies to the wet'suwet'en land defenders in british columbia. we begin today's show with an update on the land defenders in canada who are facing the government crack. two people were arrested monday after blockading an access road used by coastal gaslink to build a 400-mile pipeline within wet'suwet'en land that violates both indigenous and canadian laws. this comes after canadian federapolice aested abt 30 w'suw'en mbers and supporrs atamps a roadocks ithe samerea last week, includi a viole raid thatnded a 5day blocde of the drilng site. onof thoserrested s cumentarfilmmakemichael toledano, who was detained for -- who shared this dramatic footage of the raid.

[barking] >> they are breaking down the door. breaking down the door. >> get off me. get off me and lower your gun. get your [beep] gun off me. >> they have reached the door. there are attack dogs here. >> standing there, right beside the door. >> they used axes to break down the door. >> and a chainsaw. >> and a chainsaw that they found. >> don't touch me. >> don't touch her. >> get your hands off of her. get your hands off of her. >> you are under arrest. >> i am building a documentary for cbc films.

>> you are under arrest. >> get that out of my face and backup. >> where members of the media. we are authorized to be here. >> you're under arrest. [barking] >> i am a member of the media. i am filming a document refer cbc films. you are twisting my wrist. we are members of the media. i have press conols --ress crentials. amy: aong those arrested whwe hearin ts video was molly, a tree ark of the plan. explain what happened in this

raid. we heard you saying get your gun off of me. molly: the police came, the specialized group to deal with specifically industry and indigenous land defenders, they surrounded and had canine units, semiautomatic weapons. they broke the door without a warrant, an arrest warrant or a search warrant, and came into the tiny house we were at and used axes and chainsaws and held us at gunpoint. they arrested seven people inside, and four people at the cabin that they later burned down. juan: could you talk about this branch of the royal canadian mounted police? they call the community

industry response group. what is this, a protection outfit? molly: yes, it is basically this rogue group of police that work for private industry. they are directed by private industry. the government has claed no oversight or direction towards this particular group of police that come in. this the third time they have violently rated wet'suwet'en territory. they don't have the same accountability as other police do, and they take direction, and they were using vehicles for the arrest. they were staying at camps. they put up an exclusion zone that they were letting only cdl through and blocking all wet'suwet'en. amy: if you could talk about why you are there, this bigger struggle that is taking place.

molly: the wet'suwet'en never surrendered, so still have titles to our lands. we never signed any documents to cede our land, and they say there is no pipeline to go through our territory. it is our sacred headwaters where the salmon spohn. it is the last clean drinking water source in our territory, and they are about to drill under it. juan: could you talk about their corporate connections? molly: they are owned by tc energy, partly owned by aim co., an investment firm in alberta that actually holds our cmp police retirement funds, and by kkr, a private equity firm in the united states as well. amy: and what are you demanding right now? molly: we are demanding that coastal gas line get off our

territory and that the government's come to the table with wet'suwet'en in respecting our title to the territories. this is a larger issue that could have easily been resolved if implementation of our title was recognized, if our government system was recognized. instead, the government is choosing to take direction from a private corporation to come in and destroy our lands and our waters, and they are using mitarized rcmp against unarmed indigenous women in removing us from the territory. one of the conditions of my release was that i am restrict it from accessing my territory. coastal gas wanted to ban me from my territory entirely which is a violation of law. they successfully banned my husband from our territory, other than to come directly to and from our home, which prevents us from hunting,

fishing, doing anything on our territory, getting firewood, and they banned everyone arrested from our territory, claiming that we don't have a community out here, that we don't have anything. amy: we have to leave it there, but we will continue to follow this struggle.