06/08/22 06/08/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i want to be very clear about what happened tonight. the right wing billionaires outspent us three to one. amy: san francisco voters recall progressive district attorney chesa boudin, who aimed to reform the criminal justice system but was faced with

well-funded attacks from the real estate industry. meanwhile, in los angeles, the mayoral race is down to a billionaire versus longtime progressive lawmaker karen bass. we will get the latest. in president biden heads to los angeles for the summit of the americas as mexico skips the event, joined by, among others, honduras, guatemala, bolivia, and mexico come to protest the exclusion of cuba, venezuela, and nicaragua. >> there could not be a summit of the americas if all the american continent countries do not participate. amy: meanwhile, biden will be meeting with all right brazilian president jair bolsonaro at the summit. we will speak with salvadoran american journalists roberto lovato and venezuelan american been touched professor alejandro velasco. we will also hear from a member of an indigenous delegation from ecuador's amazon who has been

excluded from the summit in los angeles and get an update on the search for british journalist dom phillips and bruno pereira who have gone missing after receiving death threats for their work. >> even if i don't find the love of my life alive, they have to be found. please intensify the search. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. voters on tuesday went to the polls for primaries in seven states -- california, iowa, montana, new mexico, south dakota, new jersey, and mississippi. in one of the closely watched races, voters in san francisco recalled chesa boudin as district attorney of san francisco. boudin is a progressive prosecutor who aimed to reform

the criminal justice system, but he faced mounting attacks by the real estate industry, republicans, and some democrats. in los angeles' mayoral race, billionaire real estate developer rick caruso and former congressmember karen bass are headed to a runoff in november after placing first and second in tuesday's primary. caruso is a republican-turned-democrat who sits on the board of the ronald reagan presidential library. he spent at least $39 million of his own fortune on the race. bass is attempting to become the first female mayor of los angeles and the city's second black mayor. meanwhile, in montana, donald trump's former interior secretary ryan zinke is in a close race in a republican primary to win back his old house seat. we'll have more on the primaries after headlines. bipartisan negotiations on new federal gun laws are continuing in the senate, but several key

proposals are already off the table, including a new federal ban on assault weapons. new background checks and restrictions on high-capacity ammunition magazines. instead, lawmakers are focusing on school safety and mental illness. on tuesday, congress heard testimony from the son of 86-year-old ruth whitfield who was gunned down by a white supremacist last month at a buffalo grocery store with nine other black shoppers. garnell whitfield urged congress to act. >> ask yourself, is there nothing that we can do? is there nothing you are personally willing to do to stop the cancer up white supremacy and domestic terrorism that inspires? because if there is nothing, respectfully, senators, you should yield your positions of authority to others that are

willing to lead on this issue. my mother's life mattered. my mother's life mattered. your actions here today will tell us how much it matters to you. amy: meanwhile, the oscar-winning actor matthew mcconaughey spoke at the white house press briefing on tuesday. mcconaughey is a gun owner from uvalde, texas, the site of last month's school massacre where 19 students and two teachers were shot dead. >> we need background checks. we need to raise the minimum age to purchase an ar-15 rifle to 21. we need a waiting period for those rifles. we need red flag laws and consequences for those who abuse them. these are reasonable, practical, tactical regulations.

responsible gun owners are fed up with the second amendment been abused and hijacked by some deranged individuals. amy: met mcconnaughhay and his wife spent a week in his hometown of uvalde after the massacre, meeting with the loved ones of the massacre victims. on tuesday, former congressmember gabby giffords -- who was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011 -- spoke at the opening of a temporary memorial for victims of gun violence at the national mall in washington, d.c. >> stopping gun violence takes courage. the courage to do what is right, the courage -- icing great courage. now is the time to come together, be responsible. emme kratz, democrats, everyone. we must never stop fighting. fight. fight.

fight. be bold. be courageous. the nation is counng on you. thank you very much. amy: gabby giffords turns 52 years old today. last night she was in new york for the premiere of the new documentary "gabby giffords won't back down." the previous film, "my name is polymer" one of peabody work tuesday. you can see our coverage at democracynow.org. in tempe, arizona, three police officers have been placed on leave after they ignored an unhoused man's pleas to help him from drowning in a lake. the incident began when police responded to a reported disturbance involving 34-year-old sean bickings and a companion near tempe town lake last month. after the police arrived, bickings climbed a metal fence to reach the water. he soon began struggling in the water. according to a police transcript, bickings said, "i'm drowning." an officer responded saying,

"i'm not jumping in after you." bickings responded by saying, "oh, god. please help me. help me." tempe's city manager and police chief have called his drowning a tragedy. meanwhile, in north caroli, a county has agreed to pay a $3 million settlement to the family of andrew brown, jr., a black father who was fatally shot by police last year. three sheriff's deputies opened fire on him in his driveway while serving an arrest warrant. an autopsy confirmed brown died of a gunshot wound to the back of his head. andrew brown, jr. was the father of seven children. italy's foreign minister is warning millions of people could die of hunger if ukraine's ports are not reopened. italy is hosting a meeting of mediterranean nations to discuss the global food crisis. this comes as the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov is in turkiye for talks. lavrov said the ports can't be

reopened until ukraine removes mines it placed off its coast. both ukraine and russia have been accused of placing mines in the black sea. turkiye has offered to provide naval escorts to ships carrying grain from ukrainian ports. meanwhile, the united states has accused russia of trying to sell grain stolen from ukraine to drought-stricken nations in africa. in other developments, russian media is reporting that more th ukrainian fighters who 1000 surrendered in mariupol have now been transferred to russia. more leaders have latin american countries have announced they will not attend the summit of the americas taking place in los angeles. the summit has been mired in controversy after the biden administration refused to invite cuba, nicaragua, and venezuela. on monday, mexico's president andrés manuel lópez obrador announced he would boycott the talks over biden's decision. we will have more on this story later in the program.

an internal u.s. government report has found the state department and pentagon have failed to assess how many civilians are being killed with u.s.-made weapons in the u.s.-bked saudi-led war yemen. the report was written by the government accountability office but remains classified. the saudi-led air campaign has killed nearly 15,000 people in yemen, striking homes, hospitals, and other civilian targets. this comes as president biden is facing mounting questions over his plans to travel to saudi arabia next month to meet with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman. on tuesday, white house press secretary karine jean-pierre defended biden's planned trip. >> the saudi arabia has been a strategic partner of the united states for eight decades. every president since fdr has met with saudi leaders. the president will meet with any leader if it serves the interest of the american people. he believes engagement with saudi leaders clearly meets that

test as has every president before him will stop amy: in other news from the region, the fbi has seized the electronic data of retired marine four star general john allen as part of a probe into whether allen lied about his role in secretly lobbying for qatar. he retired from the marines in 2013 and became the president of the brookings institute in 2017. the lebanese military says that it arrested 64 people on tuesday as they attempted to sail from northern lebanon to europe to seek refuge. the group was made up of people from lebanon syria, and palestine. they were taken into custody before their boat could set sail from a point near the lebanese city of tripoli. this comes just weeks after a boat carrying more than 60 capsized off the coast of tripoli, killi at least seven and leaving many others missing. many have fled lebanon since the untry's economicollapse gan in 201 leading to sere shorges in fuel, medicine, and food. a federal judge has ordered louisiana's new congressional

map be redrawn. the judge accused republicans of racial gerrymandering by packing black voters into a single district in a move that would likely lead to the state having just one black member of congress. louisiana has become the 18th state to enact a trans athlete band. the measure to bar trans girls and women from competing on school sports teams became law. -- law after the state's democratic governor, john bel edwards, chose not to veto the legislation. the bill called the "fairness in women's sports act" says that schools must designate teams based on "biological sex" -- defined as the sex listed on a person's birth certificate at the time of their birth. treasury secretary janet yellen testified before the senate finance committee on tuesday and warned inflation will remain high. >> we currently face macro economic challenges, including unacceptable levels of inflation , as well as the headwinds

associated with the disruptions caused by the pandemics effect on supply chains and the effects of supply-side disturbances to oil and food markets, resulting from russia's war in ukraine. amy: her comment comes as the world bank has one stagflation in the global economy could have potentially destabilizing consequences in some countries including rising risk of malnutrition and even famine. meanwhile, u.s. federal reserve chair jerome powell has faced some criticism after recently saying one of goals in combating inflation was "to get wages down." workers at a starbucks in memphis, tennessee, have voted to unionize after the workers united union won an election to represent the store's baristas on tuesday. this is the same store that fired seven union activists, known as the memphis 7, who were trying to organize back in february. the store is now one of the approximately 115 starbucks locations that have voted to unionize in recent months.

this is nikki taylor of the memphis 7. >> we just won after a fight that most took my know me come out. i want to say thank you to our supporters across the nation. all of our supporters here in the city of memphis. we are unionized, baby. amy: to see our interview with another member of the memphis 7, you can go to democracynow.org. 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 democracy now! 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: voters went to the polls tuesday for primaries in seven states, but we begin today in california with two closely watched races.

in san francisco, voters backed dutch supported a multimillion dollar funded effort to recall progressive prosecutor chesa boudin as district attorney of san francisco. boudin aimed to reform the criminal justice system but he faced mounting attacks by the real estate industry. boudin told supporters tuesday night he would not stop fighting for restorative justice. >> this recall started, my wife valerie said to me, i know we are going to win. she is right. she is always right. [cheers] and the reason i knew and i know today that she was right is because this was never about one vote counts, it was never about one election night party, it was never about specifically which person gets to be under the office of the district attorney. this is a movement, and on a

moment, in history. i want to be very clear about what happened tonight. the right wing billionaires outspent us three to one. the exploded environment in which people are appropriately upset. they created a dynamic where we were shadowboxing. voters were not asked to choose between criminal justice reform and something else, they were given an opportunity to voice their frustration and outrage and they took that opportunity. amy: meanwhile, in los angeles, the mayoral race is now down to a billionaire and a longtime progressive lawmaker. billionaire real estate developer rick caruso and former congressmember karen bass are headed to a runoff in november after placing first and second in tuesday's primary. caruso is a republican-turned-democrat who sits on the board of the ronald reagan presidential library. he spent some $40 million of his

own fortune on the race and could spend more in the general election. congressmember bass -- former congressmember bass is attempting to become the first woman and the first black woman to lead the second-largest city in the united states. >> tonight the city will see it is hard to defeat a people powered campaign. it is hard to defeat passionate door knockers no matter how much money is spent. and it is hard to defeat folks who are committed to a cause, not just a candidate. amy: that is mayoral candidate karen bass addressing supporters last night in los angeles. for more, we go to san francisco to speak with lara bazelon, professor at the university of san francisco school of law where she is director of the school's criminal & juvenile justice, and racial justice law clinics. she is also chair of san francisco da chesa boudin's innocence commission, which she

wrote about in a san francisco chronicle piece headlined "my team set an innocent man free under chesa boudin's guidance. let us keep working." can you talk, professor, about what happened last night, about the whole recall effort that succeeded in ousting chesa boudin as the da of san francisco? >> yes. good morning, amy. i think what happened was th perfect storm because you had, as chesa said, millions of dollars, i think over $7 million been ported to the effort to recall him. i thk that money bought a lot of ads and messaging around this idea that everything that san franciscans are feeling about thing and say, rising burglary and auto crime had to do with chesa boudin. and if they could vent their

frustrations and recall him, they were going to wake up the next day magically with some kind of a beer outcome. and i think that msaging is false and that san franciscans are going to be pretty disappointed to find out their wicking up today with this, or come the same ossly incompetent police department that has a 9% clearance rate, and this -- messengers telling them returning to tough on crime policies are going to be the answer to the narrator problems the city faces, many of which are not in a pretty of the district attorney's office. juan: professor, this whole issue of getting tougher on crime, the perception increases in crime. what are the crime statistics in terms of san francisco in recent years? and my understanding is there has been a sharp drop in the number of arrests the police have been conducting in recent years. >> i will take the last part of

that question first. that is correct. the clearance rate, which means the arrests they are able to bring to prosecution has dropped to below 9% for most crimes. this is about 1% for auto burglaries, which perhaps is the most triggering issue for san franciscans. what that means is if i were to go out and commit one of these crimes -- and i don't intend to -- i have somewhere between a 91% and 99%hance of not even beinarrested. the da cannot prosecute people who the police do not arrest. i feel like if we are going to have an honest conversation about crime, the conversation would stop there and the buck would stop with the mayor, who appointed the police chief. broadly speaking in terms of his crime rising in san francisco, is a mid bag. some crimes have dropped and others have risen but not at all in the exponential way we hav seen in cities, for example, like sacramento, has had a huge

spike in murds and violent crime. our seven relatively small. it is less about the actual statistics than about how people feel. that is wt i continuto hear in the weeks leading up to the recall is friends and neighbors and the pediatrician, whoever, telling me i had been a victim of crime or i know someone who had their car broken into and i don't feel safe. i think that was the message -- that is the thing that resounded and resonated with voters becausthat is something that is a feeling. statistics are important, but at the same time, when you tell someone you don't have a reason to be that worried because property crime is only up by 1%, that is not going to resonate with summit who just had their car broken into. juan: we mentioned the role of the real estate industry, but what about the police themselves? weren't date essentially sworn enemies of chesa boudin?

to what degree did the police unions play a role in this election? >> the police units played a huge role. i want to back up because you did mention some of the special interests. one thing that chesa boudin did was this acute -- institute wage theft. thosare things that happen routinely in the tech industry. he made enemies wit very deep pockets. yes, go back to the dysfunctionality and the police department. that is been a long-term problem. it is interesting. some will tell you, oh, there's no point i arresting because he won't prosecute as if he will prosecute as if you would not prosecute a serious violent crime or send somebody to version for less serious crime. it is not true but they have been peddling that message for decades, really, when kamilah harris was the da, they told people, you're not going to rest because san francisco juries don't convict. as for the poa, they have been a swarm in any of cha boudin from the beginning -- sworn

enemy of chesa boudin since the beginning. one thing i think they did that was smarter is they stayed behind the scenes because they are detested in the city of san francisco. amy: chesa boudin has been under pressure from the beginning. they first attempted to get enough signatures to recall him before they did not do that and they have done this. so the power of money right now in elections in california. of course it is the case of the country. in a moment, we want to talk about karen bass and who she is up against, a billion a republican turned democrat but before we end on this issue, i want to ask you about the innocence commission that chesa boudin set up, how unusual it is. you're also an expert in restorative justice. >> thank you so much for asking. this is perhaps the achievement that he is the most proud of and i know i am, too.

we are known as a liberal city but the entire history of san francisco, there has ner been a collaborative exoneration of an innocent person. what i mean is traditionally when people claim to be wrongfully convicted, the da's response is a triple down and insist they were guilty and cost taxpayers a many millions of dollars. there was a conviction review unit that was supposed to be evaluated objectively. they had exonerated no one. his response was degraded independent commission -- there are five of us and it is my honor to cheer it. we work pro bono and reinvestigate these cases from the ground up. we interview witnesses, retained exrts and look into their opinions. at the end of that, we transmit our findings to the da. it is the da's decision. our first case concluded in april and named walking who is

some rated after spending 32 years in prison for murder that another man committed. this is one of the many rerms that ihink is so important and really only me about because san franciscans had the vision and courage to elect someone who is truly progressive. as i said in my op-ed, i am worried our work is on the chopping block. i'm worried whoever comes in what either disband us or stuck us with people who really are not interested in doing that job. and that concerns me and makes me deeply sad. juan: i wanted to ask you, this whole issue of the recall movement in california, famous for recalls, what is the impact of these recall movements in terms of the democratic process? of someone who is elected to office having to constantly battle to be thrown out?

>> in my opinion, they are toxic. when we enacted this mechanism, it was supposed to be a bulwark against fraud and malfeasance. it has been weaponize. at this point we're using it to recall judges who hand out sentencing decisions we don't like, go after the governor out of frustration over his covid policies, to go after this da, potentiay to go after the district attorney in los angeles -- i know we will be talki about the potical climate there and it is similar. the message to elected officials, they have to watch them back at all times and hold her finger up to the wind at all times. that is really disheartening because what we want our people who run on a platform and deliver on that platform, which is precisely what chesa boudin did and look at this outcome. amy: we want to get to los angeles. the mayoral race will pit two democrats against each other. well, karen bass is longtime

democrat, former congress member versus a republican rick caruso, billionaire who just became democrat. he spent $40 million just on the primary. he is on the board of the reagan library. can you talk about the significance of what is happening and the power of money? >> i don't think you can overstate the significance of money. we just talked about the $7 million that was dumped into the recall in san francisco. mr. caruso come as you say he was a republican until about five minutes ago, dumped $40 million of his own money into trng to withe mayoral race. i don't think anyone believes he would be in the position he is in without that money and using that money to sell a similar tough on crime we need to end progressive reform message. at this point, he is leading in the polls against karen bass, who i think was expected to walk

away from the whole thing in the lead. it will be interesting to see what the political climate is like in november when they go head to head. and when they do, he will have this astronomical financial advantage. amy: and of course -- juan: in terms of the key situation there in los angeles will be how latino voters decide between the two candidates because kevin de leon had a remarkably poor showing come about 7% of the vote, but clearly, he still has influence and he hasn't yet announced to he is supporting in that race? >> that is right. that is a critical votinglock. i think they will be fighting over trying to get the support of that voting bloc. it is not monolithic. it is a tricky balance. america we want to thank you,

lara bazelon, professor at the university of san francisco school of law and chair of the innocence commission. next up, president biden is headed to the summit of americans today as mexico, the mexican president skips the event, joined by hundreds, el salvador, guatemala, bolivia, to protest the excursion of cuba, venezuela, nicaragua. we will be back with more. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to los angeles, where leaders from across the western hemisphere have gathered for the ninth summit of the americas. the first time and echoes hosting the summit since 1994 and a first since the pandemic. migration and displacement have taken center stage in

discussions, with the united states leading efforts aimed at preventing asylum seekers from reaching its southern border with mexico. vice president harris announced 1.9 lien in private investment dollars funding to central and machinations, calling it an attempt to stem migration from the region. the money is made to so-called boost job opportunities for people to be able to stay in their home countries. but critics have argued u.s. aid is rarely used to improve living conditions in central america and other regions, fuels government corruption, and is instead allocated to law enforcement and the militarization of borders. a caravan of thousands of asylum seekers departed the southern mexican city of tapachula this is an asylum seeker from monday. colombia. >> god willing to the united states, god willing. >> why are you and it is caravan? >> brother, we've been here for almost a month and they have not solved anything regarding the

humanitarian visa. we want to feature for our family. we are not violent. we just want a better future for our families. >> are you where the summative americas is being held? >> yes, that is why we went out today. it is complicated, my friend. we just want them to give us permission across america without any problems. amy: this comes as leaders of a number of latin american countries have announced it will not attend the summit of the americas. due to the u.s. refusal to invite cuba, nicaragua, and venezuela. on monday, andrés manuel lópez obrador announced he would boycott the talks in the president of bolivia, honduras, guatemala, and el salvador said they will not attend the summit. this is mexican president amlo. >> i believe in the need to change the policy imposed for centuries of exclusion, funding to dominate without any reason

and not respecting independence. there cannot be a summit of the americas of all the american countries do not participate. amy: president bynum far white result -- far right brazilian president jair bolsonaro. to attend the summit. well, for more we're joined by two guests. roberto lovato is an award-winning salvadoran-american journali and the author of "unforgetting: a memoir of family, migration, gangs, and revolution in the americas." he's participating in the alternative people's summit for to moxie in l.a.. alejandro velasco is an associate professor at nyu, where he is a historian of modern latin america. he is former executive editor of the nacla report on the americas, and the author of "barrio rising: urban popular politics and the making of modern venezuela." welcome to both of you. coming back to democracy now! i want to begin with alejandro

velasco. you have this summit, the first since the pandemic, where the biden administration laid down the role no venezuela, cuba, or nicaragua at the summit. so country after country is boycotting. they will have low-level people but the presidents of bolivia, el salvador, honduras, of mexico -- which is a huge blow biden biden to president -- are now saying they will go. talk about the significance of this and the exclusion of these countries. >> it demonstrates a large part and unsurprising but disappointing continuation of policy of the u.s. toward latin amica. throughout the history of the summit of the americas going to 1994, the u.s. has really used this as a way to either drive wedges between itself and the region or as the region turn

left over the early part of the 21st century and early 2000's use this as an opportunity to create distance from the u.s. the fact there are these tension between latin america and united states is not surprising, however, what is surprising is the extent to which countries like mexico are taking a very strong stance in boycotting and insisting, especially given the magnitude bilateral relation issues that are at stake. i should also mention even though some countries are attending like chile, the president said he's doing so under protest and will indicate loudly the exclusion of these countries is indeed a sign of disrespect of the united states toward the region. in the issues that are on the table in terms of democracy, summer, should be discussed democratically, not through

exacting these kinds of boycotts. juan: professor, in terms of the embarrassment to president biden, here we are talking about a president who has probably visited the latin america more than any leader in recent years -- i think 16 times when he was vice president -- and his top aide for latin america policy has said that u.s. relations with mexico are among the most important that the united states has and yet now we see biden going to a summit -- it is really a demi summit or mi summit because so many countries haven decided not to participatei. your sense of what the message is here that latin america is sending? >> the message latin america is sending is regardless of the positioning, have countries on the left like castro in honduras

and certainly amlo in mexico saying we will not stand for this kind of position. even countries on the right like guatemala, they are also not attending because they have other kinds of views than the united states. there is a message of taking -- stating independent ground. i think partly what's this demonstrates is the disappointment on the part of some in latin america that biden is contending some of the trump era policies their largely dominated not by letter concerns or concerns about latin america, but domestic concerns like florida and texas and others were the right is driven policies toward exclusion of certain countries of the region, vis-à-vis the united states. and the idea biden might reverse some of those trump-era policies

[indiscernible] out of has happened. to some extent, large extent with the biden administration policies, contending subjugation , basically, of domestic concerns much more important bilateral regional once that otherwise may have been at stake. juan: i would like to bring in roberto lovato as well. in terms of the early part of this administration, president biden announced the $4 billion aid package for central america hoping to stem the continued flight of central americans here, but here we are looking at a situation where just in the past year, the united states has allocated about $50 billion for ukraine in military and humanitarian assistance to the

ukraine people. ukraine has about -- actually, little less population size and the countries of central america. your sense of how u.s. dollars show the priorities the country has in terms of foreign policy? >> i just want to say even before it started, the summit of the americas without a doubt is a failure of hemisphere proportions and global embarrassment. the united states and for the biden administration. the absence of hundreds of millions [indiscernible] the leaders of hundreds of nights of people absent at the summit shows the biden administration's talk about this being the most diverse summit ever is a farce. in terms of where the money goes and u.s. policy vis-à-vis ukraine versus central america and latin america, a lot of us

in the central american communities kind of noticed when ukrainian children and mothers came fleeing extreme violence and legitimately asking for political asylum, they were received with open arms. they were not caged and separated like children from guatemala, el salvador, and honduras were and are still being abused and it places like texas. vice president harris was charged with dealing with immigration, dealing with latin america. let's look at what -- she announced a billion-dollar program that was supposed to stem migration. what it has gotten her is every president that she met with during her trip or on skype or in meetings is absent at the summit.

you have this ridiculous idea of a u.s.-led america, latina, america -- concept of america and i think beyond all this, the larger issue of the decline of u.s. hegemony and the reconfiguration of power on a global and hemispheric scale, especially when you look at, for example, the power of china to use its banks, its building infrastructure throughout south america, especially brazil, and its trade partnership with countries throughout the hemisphere are creating i think an opportunity for latin america to play u.s. and china against each other to their benefit. that is part of what we're seeing here and it is speeches like amlo's who, by the way, has its own contradiction. even though he makes nice speeches, look at what he's doing to central americans and

haitians, for example. it is not as pretty ashe speeches sound. it is an interesting summit that could benefit latin america. amy: roberto, i'm looking at a piece out from ap that says biden became concerned even his brilian counterpart bolsonaro was going to skip this week's summit so he dispatched a close advisor. according to bolsonaro's aide, the gesture was met with a demand. bolsonaro said he would attend the summit of the americas only if biden granted him a private meeting and also refrain from confronting him over some of the most contentious issues between the two men. he did not want any criticism over deforestation of the amazon or warnings about the questioning of the resilient electoral systems reliability as he prepares to campaign for another term. can you comment on the significance of this? also thank you well meet -- biden won't allow cuba, nicaragua the same time he is

preparing to meet with mohammed bin salman in saudi arabia? >> one of the purposes of the summit of the americas is "formant democracy and of the region" and bill democratic structures. i would be remiss if i did not mention a fellow journalist dom phillips has disappeared in brazil and bolsonaro did not send a helicopter, did not send a military to find him and in indigenous researcher that is with phillips. one of the measures -- is he going to ask about dom phillips in the meeting? ask about the indigenous people killed? the number of indigenous people killed brazil has risen

exponentially under bolsonaro and on biden's watch and biden said nothing. all the while they are criticizing and excluding nicaragua, venezuela, cuba. amy, i have talked about mass graves on your show for quite some time. i visited mass graves in el salvador. i visited mass graves on different countries throughout the hemisphere, putting mexico. if you look -- i look at mass graves as a measure of democracy in the americas. let's look at one town in mexico where the 43 students disappeared by forces trained in part by u.s. funding and training. that one town has within a square mile more mass graves than all of cuba, venezuela combined.

i challenge any of my fellow journalist in latin america to prove me wrong on that. i have been doing this for some time. biden has also invited the president of haiti who has been implicated in the murder of his predecessor because this is the idea of democracy that is being touted at the summit of the americas. colombia, ivan duca has blood on his hands over the last couple of years and assassinations of social movement leaders, indigenous people and others critical of the colombian government, which is now hopefully going to take a turn left. most recent polls are saying the possibility of the left

candidate, the former guerrilla candidate in a colombia, make when stepped this is art of the increasing leftward turn of the americas rising up from below which is why we are doing the people's summit for democracy were social movement leaders in the united states -- juan: will have a minute or so and i want to bring in alejandro velasco. you are originally from venezuela. united states and the european union still officially recognize juan why don't as the president of venezuela -- juan guido as a president of venezuela. how has this affected the situation and how latin american countries regard the u.s.? >> this is an indication, what roberto was talking about, it is not the disconnect between a fiction or façade of the summit

and reality on the ground. the reality on the ground in venezuela is that juan guaido in the interim government that he represents actually has very little standing come even within the opposition there's tremendous amounts of dissension and discontent within the opposition toward guaido. to the extent the biden administration continues to prop up guaido is an indication not only has very little sense of what the reality is on the ground, but policy toward the region -- i should correct, lots of countries in the european union, even though there he absent, does recognize guaido, any have distance themselves from them. the biden administration continues please trump era policies with no sense of changing them to attend to what

is happening in the region rather than perpetuating policies that have clearly failed. amy: we want to thank you, alejandro velasco, nyu historian of modern latin america, and roberto lovato, salvadoran-american journalist. as we continue the issue of the summit come as presidents biden and bolsonaro are at the summit of the americas, members of an indigenous delegation from the amazon rainforest are also in los angeles, calling for the protection of the amazon and the people who live there. on tuesday, i spoke to one of them who says he has been blocked from entry, domingo pease, an achuar leader from ecuador and territories coordinator fothe amazon cred headwaters initiative for the confederation of indigenous nationalities of the ecuadorian amazon, which represents 11 indigenous nationalities from the amazon. >> we attempted to attend summit of the americas on the first

day. neither myself were allowed in. we are here because we're here to send a message to the world, to the developing world about the importance of protecting the amazon rain forest as an incredibly important ecosystem for the planet, for the well-being of the planet. amy: domingo, because the president ecuador is there and also president bolsonaro, the far right president of brazil is there, the amazon of course and ecuador and brazil, what message do you have for them and also for president biden and for the rest of the world? you may have been denied entry at the beginning of this assignment, but now you have a global stage at democracy now! >> thank you for this question. this is my message to our president and brazil's

bolsonaro. all the people on plan earth are aware othe climate crisis. every single human being is concerned abou our fute. despite that, the predent continues to expand licenses to draw oil a extractive projects and some of the most intangible indigenous territories. he must stop giving more licenses for oil drilling and it amazon territory. he must respect us. you must consult indigenous communities because we are organized across peru and ecuador. this is affecting a huge area of the forest on an area we call the sacred headwaters where 30 nations have come together across the ecuador and peru to permanently protect this area for all of humanity. this bow derse bring force we wa to protect for life. our present needs to act with conviction encourage to move beyond the extractive models that has destroyed our homelands. we also call on president bolsonaro the become more humane , to respect indigenous peoples

rights, and to respect the rights of nature. our community's believe rivers, tes, every being visible or not is a living thing deserving of respect and rights. we are all in this together. the future of humanityo end amazon, the amazon is the heart of the plaintiff. we cannot continue to destroy the forest and expect to survive so wcall on president bolsonaro, we call on ecuador's present to act on behalf of future generations with courage, with their hard to come into stop expansion of disruptive economies and to really embrace fully a new path fward that is to the benefit of all life. we are running out of time we must protect the rain forest. we must respect human rights and the rights of nature. amy: domingo peas with the amazon sacred headwaters initiative for the confederation

of indigenous nationalities of the corridor amazon. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break] amy: this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. as brazilian president jair bolsonaro attends the summit of the americas, fear is growing

over the safety of british journalist dom phillips and bruno pereira, a protector of brazilian indigenous communities, after the pair were reported missing sunday in brazil in one of the most remote areas of the amazon. phillips is a longtime freelance reporter and pereira is a former brazilian government official. the two were last seen while traveling by boat in the northern brazilian state of amazonas near the border with perú. phillips was doing research for a book on the amazon and was in the region to interview indigenous leaders patrolling the area for illegal miners and fishers. pereirhad recely receid deatthreats over hisork. ichollod the muers of local jonalists rking inhe amazon in cent yea. perei's partr toldhe são paulo newspaper -- "i have a three-year-old son and one who is two. all i can think about right now is that he comes up safe, for the sake of the boys." dom phillip's wife alessandra sampaio appealed for help in finding her husband. >> we demand the competent

organisms to intensify the search because we still have a small hope of finding them. even if i don't find the love of my life alive, they have to be found. please intensify their search. before i did not want to speak because the whole family was very surprised. we did not know how to react. please, i make this call to intensify the search. thank you. and because the brazilian government has that it is trying to find phillips and pereira but i-37 failing to act quickly. on tuesday, jair bolsonaro appeared to blame the two men for the on disappearance sang "two people in about an region like that completely wild, and advisable adventure. anything can happen. maybe there was an accident. maybe they were executed." for more, we're joined by ana alfinito, brazil legal advisor for amazon watch. in this last few minutes we have, can you tell us what you know where they were last seen?

the significance of their work and what you're calling for? >> good morning. good morning, amy. what we know is bruno pereira and dom phillips were last seen anna river community. they were doing the work defending the territorial rights of indigenous peoples in this region. they had been working -- bruno is one of the most experienced specialists in brazil. he has worked for a long time in this region. a longtime public servant. he h been the to suprt the territial surillance of ingenous groups. he was joined by dom pllips, journalist, a longtime correspondent of several international medias where they

were working to denounce, register the attacks against indigenous territorial rights in the region. they were last seen on sunday in this community when they were heading back to a city. there was supposed to arrive on sunday in the city but never arrived. the search operations against them are being carried out since thenespecial by the union of indigenous peoples. who have been calling on, together with other organizations, desperately calling on governments to send resources and to send people for this operation because we know every second counts so we can find them alive and well. juan: could you tell us who are the patrol teams and also could you comment on president bolnaro's resnse saying it

could have been an accident or they could've been executed but it wasn't advisable to go in the area where they went? >> of course. it is important to understand what the patrol team is against the backdrop of indigenous policy in brazil under the bolsonaro government. the bolsonaro government is dismantling all structures of indigenous policies in brazil. his government has been underfunding all sorts of enforcement operations. so today, the government is no longer carrying out environmental enforcement of indigenous lands. there has been increased pressure from illegal markets within these lands. so if you look at -- this is the second largest indigenous territory in brazil. it's a territory with the highest concentration of isolated indigenous peoples in

the country. so this region is a heritage of humanity in environmental and cultural terms. but unfortunately, under the bolsonaro government, federal government has been doing nearly nothing to protect these lands. quite on the contrary. it has transformed the federal indigenous agency into an anti-indigenous bureaucracy that has been attacking indigenous rights, criminalizing indigenous leaders, and it is against this backdr that indinous groups on the site and other lands have been by themselves organizing to protectheirerritory. this is what the surveillance groups are about, to rister, to denounce the invasion of the territories, and demand that government do its part to remove illegal occupants, illegal fishing people from indigenous lands. it is in this context of supporting the surveillance groups that dom phillips and

bruno pereira have disappeared. we know they have been receiving threats. amy: three seconds. we want to thank you, ana alfinito, brazil legal advisor for amazon watch. speaking to usaaaaaaaooooooo7ú ñ (sophie fouron)

it took us four days to get here, not because it's a long trip, but because we had to wait for the weather to clear up. look at the weather again. we're in the middle of the atlantic, north atlantic. we're in the faroe islands. there are 18 different islands. they're part of denmark, but they're their own country. 49 000 people live here, in the faroe islands. everyone seems to know everyone. it's a very small, close-knit community. on this specific island, there are four adults and four kids. lots of animals: