🇬🇾/🇻🇪 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his Guyanese counterpart Irfaan Ali met at the airport in Kingstown alongside representatives from CARICOM, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), Brazil, Colombia, and the United Nations.

An article by Venezuela Analysis.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/16/venezuela-and-guyana-to-maintain-direct-dialogue-amid-essequibo-dispute/

In the 65th issue of the People’s Health Dispatch, we continue to cover the health siege in Palestine, the shortage of health workers in South Africa, outlooks for health policy reform in Poland, and much more. Click 👇🏾https://tinyurl.com/peopleshealthdisp65

On December 14, journalists, writers, activists, and students gathered at the Press Club of India for a panel discussion on the memoir of Prabir Purkayastha, a veteran activist and the founder and editor-in-chief of Newsclick.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/18/prabir-purkayastha-fighting-the-good-fight-from-the-emergency-to-today/

“Moral decay,” as Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) put it, is possibly the best way to summarize the past weekend of Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) attacks on health in the Gaza Strip.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/19/world-faces-days-of-moral-decay-as-israel-bulldozes-hospital-grounds-detains-more-doctors/

On a recent visit to China, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov stated that this year the use of the Russian ruble and Chinese yuan in trade between the two countries has already reached 95%.
An article by Brasil de Fato.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/19/dedollarization-95-of-trade-between-china-and-russia-is-no-longer-done-in-us-currency/

Al Awda Health and Community Association and the People’s Health Movement (PHM) have launched a campaign calling for the release of Dr. Ahmed Muhanna, the director of Al Awda’s hospital in the area of Tal Al-Zaatar in Jabalya, northern Gaza.

Dr. Muhanna was detained by Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) following a raid on Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalya that began on December 17. While other staff members were detained by Israeli soldiers, they were released after several hours of questioning. On the other hand, Dr. Muhanna was not released, and his current status remains unknown.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/19/palestinian-and-international-networks-demand-israel-release-hospital-director-dr-ahmed-muhanna/

MVIWATA or the National Network of Farmers Groups in Tanzania just concluded its 30th-anniversary celebration and 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM). Fraternal organizations from all over the world traveled to Njombe to participate in the meeting. MVIWATA was formed in 1993 for farmers to unite and face the challenges presented by neoliberalism.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/19/celebrating-its-30th-anniversary-mviwata-vows-to-strengthen-peasant-solidarity-in-tanzania/

The High Court of Justice in London has decided to hear what could be Julian Assange’s final appeal against his extradition to the United States. A statement released by Wikileaks on Tuesday, December 19, announced that the High Court has confirmed a two-day hearing on February 20-21, 2024.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/20/uk-court-to-hear-assanges-final-appeal-against-extradition-in-february/

On December 18 and 19, 141 members of the two houses of India’s Parliament were suspended by the Speaker of the House, Om Birla. Each of these members belong to the parties that oppose the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

An article by Vijay Prashad.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/20/the-suffocation-of-democracy-in-india/

December 19 marked the 5th anniversary of the start of the December Revolution in Sudan. What did this process mean for the people of Sudan and what were they fighting for?
Eugene Puryear of Breakthrough News spoke about the significance of the revolution today as Sudan faces a prolonged, bloody civil war.
Check out the full video on our Youtube.

Missed the show on Friday?

Join Vijay Prashad, Zoe Alexandra and Prasanth R on our latest podcast episode of Give The People What They Want!

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/peoples-dispatch/episodes/Give-The-People-What-They-Want--Gaza-death-toll-continues-to-rise--Mileis-anti-people-reforms-e2dgb3p/a-aaoud8h

🇨🇩 Incumbent president Félix Tshisekedi is seeking a second five-year-term, standing against 18 other candidates in Wednesday’s elections.

44 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) were eligible to cast their ballots on December 20, as the country held its presidential, parliamentary, and municipal elections.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/20/as-the-drc-holds-another-election-the-fight-of-the-congolese-people-is-still-for-liberation/

Trade unions and left-wing groups in Italy are organizing to resist recent attempts by deputy prime minister and transport minister Matteo Salvini to break strikes and workers’ protests.

In the past one month or so, Salvini has issued several decrees to cut short 24-hour strikes to just 4 hours, in a blatant challenge to the country’s trade unions and workers’ rights.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/20/italian-workers-resist-salvinis-strike-breaking-methods/

🇦🇷 Thousands of Argentines demonstrated, this Wednesday December 20, “against the economic austerity measures” implemented by Javier Milei’s government.

The major slogans of the mobilization were in rejection of economic adjustment and austerity, the agreement with the IMF, and the new restrictions on the right to protest.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/21/thousands-take-to-the-streets-in-argentina-in-the-first-mobilization-against-mileis-government/

🇻🇪 Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who has been unjustly imprisoned in the United States since October 2021, was finally released from US custody on December 20.

Saab was sanctioned amid intensified US attacks against Venezuela, which was attempting to push forward multiple options to advance a coup d’état against the democratically elected government of Nicolás Maduro.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/21/us-releases-detained-venezuelan-diplomat-alex-saab/

The Israeli military continues its intense bombardment of the Gaza strip, killing and injuring dozens of Palestinian civilians, as its genocidal war on Gaza entered its 75th day.

The genocidal Israeli war continues as the United Nations Security Council once again postponed a crucial vote on a ceasefire resolution, now scheduled to be held on Thursday December 21, reportedly over disagreements regarding the text of the resolution. The United States, Israel’s primary global backer, reportedly raised objections to the text calling for “an urgent and sustainable cessation of hostilities”. On December 8, the US vetoed the UNSC resolution calling for a ceasefire, standing alone, despite widespread demands for a ceasefire from its own population.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/21/israel-continues-bombardment-of-gaza-as-unsc-delays-ceasefire-vote/

🇵🇸 Hundreds of human rights organizations and activists issued a joint call on Wednesday, December 20 asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to immediately issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials accused of being involved in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

Addressed to Karim Khan KC, the ICC prosecutor, the letter underlines that the warrants are necessary to prevent the “continuing commission by Israeli officials of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians.”

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/21/human-rights-groups-demand-icc-issue-arrest-warrants-against-israeli-officials/

Join Vijay Prashad, Prasanth R, and Zoe Alexandra as they bring you the most important developments in the world last week.

👉 https://www.youtube.com/live/E6vzl8uZmO4?si=DH08TxxnV_O3UB1f

French President Emmanuel Macron and the neoliberal Renaissance (RE)-led government worked with the conservative Les Republicans (LR) to push a controversial immigration law in the French Parliament on December 19.

Leftist and anti-racist groups in and outside the parliament, meanwhile, expressed outrage at the passing of the bill in the National Assembly.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/22/macron-makes-the-far-rights-anti-immigrant-program-his-own/

🇯🇵/🇰🇷 In yet another ruling, on Thursday, December 21, the South Korean Supreme Court upheld two rulings by lower courts that ordered Japanese companies to pay compensation to 11 Korean forced labor victims under Japanese colonial rule.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/21/south-koreas-top-court-upholds-compensation-for-victims-of-japans-forced-wartime-labor/

Yemen’s Supreme Political Council member, Mohammad Ali al-Houthi on Friday, December 22, decried the so-called international maritime coalition announced by the US to allegedly protect trade in the Red Sea.

Al-Houthi said that the US-led coalition has nothing to do with the protection of freedom of navigation as claimed, but is an attempt to protect the interests of Israel.

Al-Houthi also claimed that contrary to the US propaganda, the Red Sea route is open for everyone except those ships heading to Israel.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2023/12/22/us-led-maritime-force-will-not-stop-yemens-houthis-from-enforcing-blockade-against-israel/