08/30/23 08/30/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! pres. biden: big pharma is charging americans three times what they charge other countries simply because they could. i think it is outrageous. amy: despite lawsuits from big pharma, the biden administration has announced medicare will begin negotiating to bring down the costs of 10 prescription drugs, including ones used to

treat diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. we will get the latest. plus, we will go to the dominican republic to look at the dire living conditions for haitian migrant workers on sugar plantations. >> they realize the cheap labor of haitian seasonal workers is beneficial to the dominican economy that culminated in pounds of sugar plantation workers. these plantations have exploited the cheap labor and forced haitian seasonal workers into a modern form of slavery. amy: and we will speak to democratic congressmember greg casar, just back from a congressional trip to colombia, brazil, and chile, which will soon mark 50 years since the u.s.-backed military coup. casar is calling on the biden administration to declassify more documents about the u.s. role in the coup.

all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. soldiers in gabon declared they are seizing power and nullifying recent elections as they took to national television earlier today. >> the general elections of august 26, 2023 as well as the truncated results are canceled. the borders are closed until further notice. all institutions of the republic are dissolved. amy: earlier in the day, gabon's national election authority announced president ali bongo ondimba has been re-elected for a third term in after saturday's election which was marred by delays and decried by opposition leader albert ondo ossa as a fraud. bongo, who reportedly is being held under house arrest, has already served two seven-year terms. his family has been in power for

over half-a-century. critics accuse bongo of not using the west african nation's oil and natural resource wealth to improve the lives of one-third of the population living in poverty. the french oil giant total energies is gabon's -- gabon freed itself from french rule in 1960. as soldiers drove through the capital libreville, residents took to the streets to cheer them on. if successful, it would be the eighth coup in west and central africa since 2020. hurricaneidlai -- hurricane idalia made landfall as a category 3 storm, with winds of 125 miles per hour. more than 100,000 customers have lost power when the storm hit florida's coast. 30 of the state 67 counties were

issued at least partial evacuation orders as of early this morning as officials warned residents of catastrophic storm surges of up to 12 to 16 feet. >>. few people can survive being in the path of a major storm surge and the storm will be deadly if we don't get out of harms way and take it seriously. amy: the biden administration released a list of the first 10 prescription drugs medicare will now be able to negotiate prices on which could lead to a savings of some $100 billion over the next decade. the price negotiation was established as part of 2022's inflation reduction act and is a massive blow for big pharma, which has been fighting the plan in courts in at least eight lawsuits. the drugs are used to treat diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, among other conditions. the white house said senior citizens paid $3.4 billion in out-of-pocket costs for the 10 medications in the past year.

this is president biden. pres. biden: for years, big pharma blocked us. they kept prescription drug prices high to increase profits, extend patents to suppress competition instead of innovating. playing games with pricing so they could charge whatever they can. but this is finally, finally, finally been enough votes to be big pharma. amy: the negotiated prices will not take effect until 2026 and some drugs will remain exempted from further negotiations, including those which were approved by the fda less than nine years ago. in uganda, two men are facing what are believed to be the first charges of aggravated homosexuality after a draconian new anti-lgbtqia law was passed earlier this year, which also punishes consensual same-sex relations. the charges could lead to life

in prison and even the death penalty. the law has been widely condemned by rights groups, the u.n., and other countries. earlier this month, the world bank said it is suspending new loans to uganda over the law. meanwhile, in nigeria, over five dozen people were arrested at a gay wedding in the south of the country monday. same-sex marriage is illegal in nigeria and punishable by up to 14 years behind bars. more than 30 african nations ban same-sex relationships. in the democratic republic of the congo, army officials are reporting at least 14 people are dead after militia fighters attacked a village in the northeastern part of the country. military officials have blamed the militia for the attack. more than 120 armed groups have been in conflict in the region, many over control of land and mines while others are fighting to protect their communities. the danish government has proposed a new bill that would ban the burning of the quran under penalty of fines or up to

two years in prison. this comes after recent public desecrations of the quran by far-right protesters in denmark and sweden, setting off international condemnation and demonstrations across the muslim world. this is denmark's justice minister. >> when individuals demonstratively quran, it is a basic mockery of unsympathetic action. it harms denmark and risks the security of danes out in the world and at home. amy: in bahrain, at least 800 prisoners have been on hunger strike for over three weeks protesting human rights violations and worsening conditions. prisoners have denounced arbitrary solitary confinement, cell lockdowns of 23 hours a day, and no access to medical care and education. this is the biggest hunger strike led by political prisoners in the gulf nation's history, with hundreds of others also taking to the streets in

solidarity with the strikers at the prison, the largest in bahrain. officials have reportedly agreed to increase the duration of visitations and said they're looking into raising the time prisoners are allowed outdoors. many of them were arrested, tortured, and imprisoned following the 2011 massive uprisings during the arab spring. in pakistan, and appeals court to see suspended former prime minister imran khan's three-year prison sentence on corruption charges. if the court decides to set aside his conviction, he will be allowed to run for office for elections scheduled in november. but despite being granted bail, he will remain in detention at least for now over another criminal case involving the leak of classified information. dozens of charges were brought against khan since he was removed from office in a no-confidence vote in april of last year. khan has denounced the charges as politically motivated. admits mounting u.s.-china

tensions, lawmakers in 33 states have introduced legislation this year to prohibit chinese entities and even chinese citizens from buying agricultural land or property near military bases. a dozen of those bills have passed into law putting foot is controversial sb 264, which has been challenged by group of chinese citizens. "the washington post" reports that while most of the legislation making its way through statehouses also names countries like iran and north korea, china is the clear target. rights groups and some political leaders say such restrictions will further stoke anti-asian sentiment. "there is ignorance out there that causes people to think that because you are chinese you are part of the chinese government," said former texas state representative martha wong to "the post." a new report finds air pollution reduces global life expectancy by 2.3 years, slightly more than

being a smoker. the study by the energy policy institute at the university of chicago concludes fine particulate air pollution from vehicles, industrial emissions, wildfires, and other sources are "the greatest external threat to public health." in south asia, air pollution cuts life expectancy by an average of five years, with the air quality in new delhi leading to a loss of life of more than 10 years on average. in greece, firefighters are battling a massive wildfire in the northeast evros region for the 12th straight day. the blaze has destroyed an area greater than new york city in what has become the largest ever recorded wildfire in the european union. greek officials said the fire was still out of control around the dadia national park. this is the head of conservation at wwf greece. >> because of the very height of

diversity, it was one of the most import protected areas increase. at the moment, at least 30% of the fire -- amy: here in the united states, wildfires in southwestern louisiana killed two people scorched roughly 60,000 acres as of tuesday. governor john bel edwards said the fires are the worst louisiana has experienced since at least the second world war amid a record-breaking drought. meanwhile, in maui, the search for wildfire victims on land has ended, with the search now moving to the ocean. the official death toll has reached 115 people. many are still missing. the environmental protection agency rolled back parts of the clean water act, which protect millions of acres of wetlands, in order to comply with a supreme court ruling. the right-wing-dominated court ruled in may that wetlands must have a continuous surface connection to streams, oceans,

rivers, and lakes to be subject to federal regulations on pollution. up to 63% of wetlands will be affected. the white house said the supreme court ruling "jeopardizes the sources of clean drinking water for farmers, businesses and millions of americans." and the committee on the rights of the child said monday governments must address the climate crisis and other environmental emergencies to "ensure that children are protected from foreseeable premature or unnatural death and threats to their lives and enjoy their right to life with dignity." the formal opinion issued by the u.n. body could be a boon to multiple lawsuits brought by youth around the world over their government's inaction and contribution to climate change. next month, the european court of human rights will hear a climate case from a group of young people in portugal against 32 countries. to see our interview with a youth activist in montana after the montana case was won in a

lawsuit brought by montana youth, 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, with cohost juan gonzález in chicago. hi, juan. juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: the biden administration has taken a step to rein in the soaring costs on prescription drugs in the united states. on tuesday, the white house released a list of the first 10 prescription drugs medicare will -- can negotiate lower prices for. the list includes medications to treat diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. the vita administration also added some insulin products, which surprised many. the white house says this could lead to a savings of some $100 billion over the next decade. the move is seen as a major blow

to big pharma, which has been fighting the plan in courts, filing at least a lawsuit since the passage of the inflation reduction act last year which gave medicare the authority to negotiate drug prices. president biden spoke on tuesday. pres. biden: big pharma charges americans more than three times what they charge other countries simply because they could. i think it is outrageous. that is why these negotiations matter. reducing the cost of these 10 additional drugs alone will help more than 9 million americans. by september 2024, hhs, health and human services, negotiate prices. in january 2026, the new prices will go into effect. amy: independent senator bernie sanders responded to the news by saying much more needs to be done to stop big pharma from charging higher prices in the united states.

senator sanders pointed out one diabetes drug made by merck costs $547 in the u.s. but just $16 in france. joining us now is peter maybarduk, director of public citizen's access to medicines program. welcome to democracy now! talk about why this has taken so long but also why this is such a landmark announcement from president biden and vice president harris. >> it is terrible that medicare has not had the ability to negotiate prices until this point. it was a corrupt deal when the benefit was created nearly 20 years ago and arevalo -- pharma was against the reform because it was able to write out the possibility of negotiation. since that time, generation of health advocates have been

working to give the government the basic right to negotiate drug prices with a monopolist that our laws create and support . countries around the world have that right and not negotiating makes obviously are drug prices higher and tax dollars not go far. so this list, coming shortly after the one-year anniversary of the inflation reduction act, shows us where our government will begin negotiations based on some of the most -- the drugs that are most expensive to medicare. we expect the savings to be quite substantial, including six commonly used medications to support heart health and fight diabetes. my father-in-law takes four of these drugs. they are very important to seniors. it includes three very expensive rare disease drugs or drugs against arthritis and a blood cancer. with the inclusion of insulin is

a welcome surprise not just insulin but six insulin products sold by a drug company, something that people have been fighting for for quite some time. 1.3 million americans ration insulin. juan: peter, why so few drugs in the first batch that will be negotiated compared to the thousands of drugs that are out there? doesn't this take effect, people will only fill the impact in 2028? why so long a period of time? >> there's a statutory mandate the 10 drugs but they will add 15 drugs in the following year and another 15 in the year after that. the impact is going to grow substantially over a period of time. we would have liked to see the initial legislation be more aggressive and bring more drugs immediately to the negotiation portfolio. the da negotiates on behalf of

veterans already. but this is the deal that was cut. that impact is going to grow. the prices will take effect january 1, 2026. it does take some time. the in exchange of information this fall with companies. cmf will sit down with patient groups and hear their perspective. they are will be an initial price offer from the government in february and negotiations next summer. the inflation reduction act more broadly is having a positive impact on drug prices beyond the negotiation provisions. there measures to curb price spikes. aarp found for the top 25 medicare drugs, pharma has tripled the price of those since

they came on market. prices are going up, not down. the inflation reduction act also includes an has penalized so far about 40 companies for taking price spikes and ensuring that practice stops. ira is already holding prices in place for some drugs and over time we will see price reductions through the negotiation. as senator sanders mentioned, there's quite a bit left to do and more that needs to be done outside of ira. juan: did in the inflation reduction act have a cap on the amount of money that people would have to spend of their own pockets for drugs taken at home? >> there are out-of-pocket caps and coverage expansions that are part of the act and will support seniors with her drug costs, yes. amy: peter maybarduk, if you can respond to what some of the republicans have said?

i mean, across the political spectrum, this seems to be appreciated, to say the least, but the question is, like sanders has raised, senator sanders, why it is so limited? ahead of the midterm elections, congressman kevin brady said repealing the law could be a republican agenda item because those drug provisions are so dangerous by discouraging investment in lifesaving cures. is this discouraging investment in lifesaving cures or or is it just going to stock buybacks? >> much of it is going to buybacks. it is not discouraging investment. those critics are out of step with public opinion. recent polls show 83% of americans favor some warm up drug price negotiation. -- some form of drug price negotiation. the american people support

development to the tune of $42 billion a year to the national institutes of health. almost every single new drug that comes to market has benefited from taxpayer subsidies of the research and develop agenda. in addition to the many tax breaks. further, prices are not related to r&d cost. it is not as though the pharmaceutical companies look at their r&d costs and say, here is what it is going to take to recoup. they say, what is the most we can charge before the blowback becomes unsustainable? we have to recall these are drugs that are monopolized, patent-protected, and the companies will charge any environment without market competition as much as we collectively are willing to pay to care for our sick. negotiation to pay the price we find appropriate is sort of the least our government can do to

begin to reign in those sorts of abuses. amy: if you can talk about going back to that point about, for example, merck's diabetes drug costing $547 in the u.s. but just $16 in france. why is there this massive difference and also the fact this does not go into effect for another, what, almost three years, 2026? and our new drugs subject to this? >> one of the biggest shortcomings of the negotiation provisions for us is that drugs are not subject to negotiation until they have been on market seven to 11 years depending on the class of drug. now, pharmaceutical companies have been raising the price of new drugs, when a drug first comes to market, an average of 20% per year for the past 15 years.

so the launch price of drugs keeps getting higher. if we don't find a way to do with that problem, we can expect while the inflation reduction act will save a great deal of money, prices for new drugs will continue to go up. the government has tools to deal with that. many of us have championed executive action against the patent monopolies to say when a drug is outrageously expensive, the government has the right under current existing law to authorize generic competition with those drugs at any time and save a great deal of money. if we start to do that, then we will see the kind of downward pressure on prices, force some restraint in the boardroom, and would very nicely complement the inflation reduction act's provisions on negotiation and inflationary rebate. juan: peter, i americans spent

in 20 2000 billion dollars on medicines, half of the total expenditure on medicines in the entire globe. we watch tv and every day there so many drugs being peddled by the pharmaceutical industry that they're running out of names, to come up with names for these drugs. good you talk about this enormous marketing effort to push drugs on the american people? >> >> it is out of control. we hope your processes like ira we can start to get to more rational and transparent processes, reveal more information about price, better value if the government implements the act quite assertively, better value the medical innovations to make the biggest difference to health rather than medications that are primarily cosmetic or just to the same thing as the last five spins of drugs. but it is true.

we're paying five more than the rest of the world and there's no rational basis for it. there is no rational basis for the patented drugs anywhere in the world. this is the problem we get when we create legal monopolies and then do very little to constrain the price of those monopolies. it leads to treatment rationing. in the u.s., three and 10 people so fresh in their own access to medicines. it leads to tremendous preventable suffering and death around the world. amy: where it universal health care, single-payer health care, the movement for it stand today? that is the bigger question. >> the two processes -- we need both. you can have universal health care and still have drug monopolies. we are making important strides on universal coverage here and around the world, we need to see specific disciplines set on the

pharmaceutical corporations because we would not want them ripping off a single-payer either. at least through single-payer, and if you couple it with aggressive negotiation and other tools, you get that increased bargaining power. pharma exploits the relatively limited bargaining power of health systems that have many purchasers were no one knows what the other one is paying. unifying those could be quite helpful in pushing for transparency r&d costs and prices would help, too. amy: peter maybarduk, dank you for being with us director of , public citizen's access to medicines program. coming up, texas democratic congress member greg casar is just back from a congressional trip to colombia, so, chile which will soon mark half a century since the u.s.-backed lead to recoup. we will speak to him as president by just met with the costa rican president at the

white house. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. commemorations are being played in chile for september 11 two mark the 50th anniversary of the u.s. backed military coup that ousted president allende and the two a 17 year dictatorship led by pinochet. u.s. congressional allegation recently traveled to chile at at the anniversary. lawmakers call for the biden administration to declassify more documents on the u.s. role of the coup. congressmembers taking part in the trip were new york's alexandria ocasio-cortez, nydia velasquez, maxwell frost we spoke to yesterday, and joaquin

castro and greg casar, both from texas. the delegation also travel to brazil and: be a. greg casar joins us now from austin, texas so we are also speaking to you on the day after president biden met with the costa rican president at the white house to talk about issues including migration but we want to start where you were in latin america, particularly talk about what is happening in chile right now just ahead of that other september 11, september 11, 19 73, when the u.s. backed pinochet rose to power and the democratically elected president allende died in the palace. >> thank you so much for having me on. just got back from this trip to colombia, brazil, and chile. it was an important and historic trip, the first time anyone can remember that entirely latino

delegation of members of congress went down. many of the heads of state and ministers we met with were surprised, first of all, to have almost the meeting in spanish. a mix of portuguese and spanish. most importantly, i think an entirely progressive delegation that want to replace our old relationship with latin america that was based on cold war militarism and military interventionism and supporting coups and corporate extraction. to replace that old relationship was something new based on mutual respect and supporting democracy based on admitting to the heirs of our past, many of which have been horrible, and trying to kinda build a new path based on mutual survival of the climate crisis and lifting up of workers and addressing the root

causes of migration. they were powerful visits and especially in chile given the 50th anniversary coming up of the u.s.-backed coup and the support for pinochet who disappeared and killed so many people. juan: congratulations on the trip, but i'm wondering in terms of the choice of countries, especially when it comes to transnational migration, venezuela has become the main source now in south america and migrants to the united states. was her reason you did not choose to go to venezuela as well? >> we did meet with many of the top leaders in colombia and our attaché handle the issues in venezuela. the reason we visited these countries in particular is because they each had elected new progressive and left leaders. left leaders trying to defend and build their democracies,

start to build that kind of relationship. so we went to those three, but we spoke about the issues impacting venezuela in each and every one of those countries. for example, colombia, has housed millions of the venezuelans have been displaced in significant part due to u.s. policy in venezuela. so in each of those countries, we talked about how u.s. sanctions in venezuela are one of the country ridding factors to what is -- contributing factors to what is pushing people out and to risk their lives and then arrive in the united states. if we want to address, as you have written about so extensively, the root causes of migration, the harvest of our empire, then we need to talk about how we are going to provide hope and food to people in latin america rather than toppling governments and rather than starving everyday people. there is this myth are sanctions

are only targeted at certain leaders, certain elites. it has proven summative are sanctions are ultimately starving people in their home countries and causing forced migration. we should have a system of legal migration were people who want to see opportunity have the opportunity in a safe and orderly to migrate to the u.s., but we know so many people are being pushed out of their homes that never wanted to lead in the first place. juan: how do you hope the biden administration will change its policy in the region? what were you hearing from some of the leaders in those countries about what they would help the u.s. would do, especially now we are in the 200th anniversary of the monroe doctrine? >> i think chile is a perfect example of this. 50 years ago, the u.s. supported a coup of democratically elected leader president allende in

chile. the coup led to 17 years of dictatorship under pinochet. many of those documents about how the united states supported this coup and supported the dictatorship afterwards remain classified. we went to the museum of memory to call on these documents to be declassified. just a few days ago, the biden administration declassified some of those documents. the question is, why is that so important? talking with everyday people in chile, movement leaders, and elected officials, for them the day of that coup is probably the most important marker in their history that pretty much anybody can remember. just the way we talk about the way where were you when jfk was assassinated or where were you on september 11,2001, for them it is what happened on the day of that coup would summative people were exiled and 70 were killed.

many of those bodies are still not found. beginning to stand in chile say we have done enormous wrong and contributed to that we want to establish a new relationship, we want full transparency for what happened, we want to provide documents i can help family members find the bodies of their lost family members who " disappeared" but we know there were killed, we can start having relationship on how we can lift up workers in the clean energy economy. chile has some of the greatest lithium reserves. how do we protect indigenous communities while making sure chile workers can be unionized, provide lithium to a new clean energy battery economy in places like the u.s. were we are trying to onshore manufacturing and make sure we create union jobs. how do we lift up workers, reduce forced migration, and survive the climate crisis together? i think that is the relationship we want to have. you cannot just move on when you

have supported a military dictatorship and a coup. we need to reconcile for the past, trying to heal, and then work together to survive the climate crisis that will impact all of us. amy: when it comes to cuba, though you did not visit cuba, are you calling for the lifting of sanctions against cuba that has gone on for some 60 years, 50 years? >> yes, we did visit about sentience in both cuba and in venezuela. we went and met with many of the new young movement leaders who are in their 30's just like me, from a new progressive movement of people who care both about defending democracy and supporting working people. we know there has been enormous migration in decades from cuba. the u.s. embargo and sanctions

against everyday cuban people have not resulted in the policy outcomes that were sold to governments decades ago. instead, what it means is that united states farmers in places like texas that grow rice cannot sell their rice to people in cuba who are starving. also, many people in cuba and of having to buy their food from places like europe. it makes no sense because we should be making sure our foreign policy is based on feeding people, supporting stability, rather than what juan mentioned the monroe doctrine or cold war militarism that are based on trying to dominate other countries in the hemisphere that have not worked -- this is not just based on humanitarianism stop those are core values but don't help people in the united states, either.

i think that is a lot of what the conversation is been about, many of us who were born after the wall fell, many of us were born in 1989 or afterwards, not just the new elections in the united states but also latin america. this opens up a door for us to say those policies don't make sense. we don't want to relive or restart another cold war. what if we do something that is not based on corporate profits for the military-industrial complex and more based on lifting up the working people in each of our districts here in the united states and back in their homes in latin america? juan: you are joining us from your home state of texas. i want to ask about the latest news from the border. on monday, the texas military department confirmed a member of the texas army national guard discharged his weapon over the weekend during a border-related incident and had struck a person on the mexican side of the bridge of the americas.

can you talk about the situation along the border now, especially with the high profile actions of your governor there, governor abbott? >> governor abbott continues to pull dangerous stunts that have gotten innocent people killed in the river and on the border. i want to be really clear, what he is doing is diverting millions and billions of dollars away from texas schools come away from health care for pregnant moms here in texas. he is moving those dollars toward a horrible political stunt on the border. he is making it try to be as broken as possible, basically, for the fox news cameras, risking the lives of people, violating people's basic rights all to try to create a crisis rather than set up and support a legal, orderly, and safe system for people who are fleeing for their lives and fleeing from disaster.

this latest news is an example of that. where these national guardsmen are supposed to be providing supposedly some level of logistical support, but instead there are bullets flying. that is certainly not allowed and should not be a part of this. that is why i think the department of justice should be doing an independent investigation. so we know the details both of this incident but most importantly, about what is going on in general. yet these orange buoys being put in the shallow parts of the river so people have to go and swim in the deepest part where people can drown. we have this horrible barbed wire along the border. they are trying to militarize our border, trying to scare people rather than do what we should be doing which is having a legal, orderly, and safe system rather than a broken one. this is another example of right wing extremist and anti-immigrant politicians

lighting the house on fire and then going and trying to point the finger at those of us who are trying to care for immigrants. it is the arsonist trying to blame the firefighters for the flames and we cannot have that. we know in texas immigrants are a core part of our state, our economy, they are our neighbors. this continued attempt at blaming them is trendy just -- distract from governor abb ott's failures. amy: you are the youngest member of the austin city council and now have come to congress. the republicans are in charge and the agenda of the republicans right now, house speaker kevin mccarthy says they are moving on to try to lead an impeachment effort against president biden. another committee led by the ohio congressman jim jordan says they're going after fani willis.

the fulton county d.a. who has charged president trump and 18 others for rico conspiracy. that is their agenda. as a minority member of congress, how do you lead issues like these, whether you're talking about immigration, health care, u.s. policy toward latin america -- what difference can you make? >> that is such an important question and i'm glad we are looking at this trip to latin america. there are two things i think we really need to do. one, i think we need to deliver not just a negative message but also a positive vision for the country. an economic message and the message that shows there are lawmakers that are different, that actually want to solve these problems. the way our link it back to the strip in latin america come in chile there was a referendum to overthrow the dictatorship and get rid of pinochet.

the yes vote meant yes, keep the dictatorship and the no vote was to get rid of the dictatorship. many people who organized around the no vote. just talk about the horrors of the dictatorship, but what economic equality could look like, what racial justice could look like, what a fully inclusive democracy could look like stuff the slogan was "happiness will come. i think we face a similar challenge here where we have to talk about the militarization of the border rampant inequality, ceos ripping everybody off, but also vision of solving the problem. talking not just about a safe and orderly system at the border, but how we can address the root causes of migration and show people we are serious and there are lawmakers that want to solve that problem. rail not just against these needless impeachments and

attacks on people like the fulton county d.a., but talk about a criminal justice system that can treat people fairly. talk about how if we have actually economically progressive policies in this country we can guarantee everybody health care and negotiate prices not just down for 10 drugs but all drugs. even if it can feel a little hopeless right now, thinking of people in chile overcoming dictatorship, overcoming odds even greater than these, having a referendum where people were scared that if they were the working on getting rid of the dictatorship that their families could be disappeared and they themselves could be overheard but they overcame that, i believe we can overcome this. just like the texas capital behind the did not used to be filled with right wing trolls, it used to have leaders that people who brought roe v. wade as love the land to this entire country, texas right next door to the studio i'm sitting in an

used to be the studio and offices of johnson who signed the voting rights act and the civil rights act and undid so much of the segregation and right-wing control of the south. so i think a moment like this one, people have overcome even steeper obstacles but we have to have that positive vision. amy: texas congressmember greg, speaking to us from austin. coming up, we go to the dominican republic to look at the dire living conditions for haitian workers living on sugar plantations. back in 30 seconds. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "mama tingo" by dominican musician johnny ventura. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we turn now to look at the dominican republic and the plight of sugar plantation workers, including many haitian migrants who live under dire conditions. last year, the biden administration banned sugar imports from the one of the major dominican sugar companies, central romana, which sells its products in the united states under the domino brand. at the time, the u.s. government said it had uncovered "indicators of forced labor." one u.s. official decried the company's practices as "inhumane." many haitian migrants work 12 to 14 hours while making less than two dollars a day, living in

communities known as bateyes, some of which do not have running water or electricity. well, the puerto rican environmental group casa pueblo has been attempting to improve living conditions in the bateyes by installing solar panels in the communities. democracy now! correspondent juan carlos davila recently traveled to the dominican republic to talk with local residents living in the communities as the solar panels are being installed. these are some of their voices. >> i am dominican of haitian dissent. i'm the coordinator of the movement here in this region. in the past years, these two governments had a labor agreement with the neighboring country of haiti. the labor accords that they created brought seasonal farmworkers and cane cutters to the dominican republic to work as cutters and harvesters of sugarcane. the state realized the cheap

labor of haitian seasonal workers was beneficial to the dominican economy. this culminated in the construction of bateyes. towns of sugar plantation workers. they have exploited this cheap labor and forced haitian seasonal workers into modern arm of slavery -- modern form of slavery. if the sugar plantation cared about the life expectancy and dignity of workers, they would push to improve the workers quality of life. the workers who live here are the raw material of the company. as you can see, people in these bateyes have lived for more than 100 years without electricity. we are in the 21st century. this has made an already discriminated population even more vulnerable.

casa pueblo visited to strategize on how to implement solar energy for the bateyes here in the dominican republic, mostly in the east. the panels were also installed in the areas of -- the local government is not interested in improving people's quality of life. they're not interested in helping this population have access to education or to have a better life so the government can keep exploiting them. the company has profited on the cane cutters and seasonal farmworkers who have lent their hands, strength, and sweat to work the sugarcane fields. >> today we are working to change this reality without the help of politicians. or implementing a sustainable energetic model and establishing a new example of how bateyes

should be in the dominican republic. >> i am part of the recon movement. my parents are haitian. they are sugarcane cutters. they are sent to remote areas of the dominican republic to work. every person here works directly with the central romana. they face extremely dangerous working conditions. they pay pensions that they litter don't receive. they are forced to work even though they are sick, including people in their 60's and 70's. they have to keep cutting sugarcane because they don't get their pensions although they have paid for them. they don't have the right to good health care. they don't have access to public health services. dominicans don't welcome haitian s. they even kicked them out of hospitals. >> due to the slope of the

growth, to place the solar panel pointing this way because the sun will shine this way. i could not put them in the other direction because the panel will not receive sufficient direct sunlight. >> my name is franklin. i from the community. i'm a social activist and human rights defender. i am part of a recon movement, a movement of dominicans of haitian descent. as you can see, the bateyes are communities that don't have public services such as water or electrical services and other important resources. i mentioned the significance of saying that with this project bateyes are going to finally have access to electricity. people here have not even had the opportunity to learn how to use a commuter -- computer.

students don't have access to computers, tablets, or telephones and cannot access the web browser to find information. all of which are essential for the job market for school. we're solving that problem also by bringing solar energy panels. we are sending a strong message to corporations and local officials. amy: voices from haitian migrant sugar plantation workers in the dominican republic. a special thanks to juan carlos davila. these people live in communities lacking electricity but solar panels are now being installed by puerto rican environmental group casa pueblo, house of the people, which is a past winner of a goldman prize. we're now joined by executive director arturo massol-deya, who is back from the dominican republic, now in san juan, puerto rico. talk more about the conditions they faced, the companies there

working for like dominican sugar company central romano, which sells its products in the u.s. under the domino brand come and what you did in the dominican republic. >> this is an incredible situation. it is hard to believe people are living under the circumstances, especially legal migrants that were brought to the dominican republic to work on the formal economy. there producing sugar for their country and for exportation. yes, these people are working under forced conditions by design. when you get paid only four dollars or less, you are forced to work for longer times, forced to bring our family members to help improve your survival

income and yet they don't have minimal conditions for living standards. no running water, no electricity , and this is heartbreaking to see this happening. in addition, they don't recognize their legal status. no documents. they cannot migrate. they cannot move forward and improve their quality of life. what we decided to do was to engage. charity is not enough. we decided to take action in solidarity with the bateyes and we went to install two units in two separate bateyes, to install a freezer for their food so now they can produce ice to

save meet. they have a tv station. a small kind of cinema for entertainment for the community. now they can recharge their equipment and improved to show that the reality can be transformed right away, immediately. it is very easy. the right of energy has to be for everyone, especially in the caribbean in which climate adaptation is extremely important. juan: arturo, could you talk more about the role of the government of the dominican republic in terms of protecting the migrant workers or not protecting them? clearly, central romano is not only a major sugar producer but also the side of one of the most expensive resorts in the caribbean were tourists from europe and united states come to

the five star resort? >> they have the political and economical power to influence the government. and the government, sometimes they say they're going to be protecting the rights of this population and, yes, they have the immigration police abusing and creating intensive fear within everyone in the dominican republic, especially if you are from haiti. they are basically haunting people in that country. not from venezuela, not from other places, black people that they think -- they believe, they don't have documents and they are thrown into haiti. the government is not doing their part. they are not fulfilling the responsibility. there doing the opposite, contributing to these human violation crisis. the discrimination is not just

discrimination, juan, we're talking about extreme conditions of discrimination of this population. something needs to be done. we saw the embargo taken place last year from the u.s. from sugar being brought from the dominican republic. it is symbolic. it is not happening. it is not doing anything. the markets have been rearranged. now central romana is taking care of the domestic demands for sugar and other corporations are sending sugar to the u.s. like normal days. it is a joke. not even the local government, the u.s. government, they are packing up with their actions, what is going on with central romana and the discrimination to the haiti population. first, second, third, fourth generation of people that were born, raised, that have been

working for 40, 50, 60 years for central romana and yet they don't have the basic living conditions and they don't get recognized the right to be in the dominican republic, either. amy: finally, arturo, if you can comment, we just have 30 seconds, on having this access to sustainable power, not relying on the local government, and their privatization of power? >> well, i think the alternatives are out there but it seems like the government and the corporation wants to keep control. we are concerned about the security of the people from the community that participated in the installation of the solar panels. we want to hold accountable the government and the corporation for the safety of all of them.

we have to change this reality and the alternatives are accessible. amy: we want to thank you for being with us, arturo massol-deya, executive director of casa pueblo, just back from the dominican republic.

(sophie fouron) there's hardly ever anyone here. it's a tiny island. a bit like a treasure island. you have to wonder what the future of montserrat holds. the dot, the lovely dot on the map. they used to be 12,000 before the major volcanic eruptions. that changed the face of the island dramatically. when you're 4,000 on an island, there's something very charming about that. it has