Nine years ago, crowds in Havana, Cuba were cheering as then US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro agreed to normalize US-Cuban relations after 55 years of America’s economic blockade. But today as tough sanctions re-imposed by Donald Trump continue under Joe Biden, Cuba’s economy is spiraling downward and Cubans are migrating to the US in large numbers.
(“Cuba’s Humanitarian Crisis,” The Nation, Jan. 6, 2024)
The New York Police Department is spending over $390 million dollars to encrypt police radio communication, provoking a backlash from journalists and civil liberties activists. Reporters and citizens alike have been able to listen to police communications since the 1930s. Tuning into police radio has aided journalists in exposing incidents of police violence, such as the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, and the officer shooting deaths of Sean Bell in 2006 and Amadou Diallo in 1999.
(“NYPD Faces Backlash as it Prepares to Encrypt Radio Communications,” Guardian, Jan. 3, 2024)
More than 60 years after Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta founded the United Farm Workers union, agricultural workers—especially migrants—in the U.S., face dangerous working conditions and wage theft, due to lax enforcement of labor regulations.
(“Federal Investigations into Labor Law Violations by Fall to Record Low,” Barn Raiser Media, Jan. 8, 2024)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
