Black Agenda Radio for Week of August 7, 2017
U.S. Aims to Claim Venezuelan Oil
U.S. efforts to topple the socialist government in Venezuela are largely driven by Washingtonâs quest to control the global energy market. âThe energy question hovers above all others,â said Dr. Gerald Horne, the prolific author and professor of history and African American Studies at the University of Houston. âIt is felt among rightwing Texas oil men that if the United States can get a stranglehold over Venezuelan oil, then Texas and the U.S. will be in position to dominate what remains of the oil industryâ in the future, said Horne. âWashington feels it is on a rollâ with the rise of rightwing governments in Brazil and Argentina, said Horne.
Anti-War Coalition: Shut Down U.S. Global Empire of Bases
âAny campaign which is really talking about U.S. wars and U.S. intervention has to address the role of the foreign military bases and aircraft carriers, which are huge floating military bases,â said Sara Flounders, of the United National Anti-War Coalition. UNAC has been joined by other peace organizations in demanding closure of the approximately 1,000 overseas U.S. bases. This âinfrastructure of U.S. imperialism,â said Flounders, âexercises total control over the economies and social and political life of countries all over the world,â and âcompletely distorts life here in the United States.â
Sessions Blames Obama for Crime
Attorney General Jeff Sessions claims crime has gone up in some U.S. cities because the Obama administration was too lenient in sentencing offenders. But the facts donât back him up, according to Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, in Washington. âItâs discouraging that, in the 21st century, weâre making policy decisions based on sound bites and gut instincts rather than evidence,â said Mauer. âThere is no lack of evidence to show that mass incarceration has been counter-productive to public safety and devastating for low-income communities of color.â
Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network is hosted by Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey. A new edition of the program airs every Monday at 11:00am ET on PRN. Length: one hour.
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