In a dramatic end-of-year diplomatic move the U.S. and Venezuela engaged in a high profile prisoner exchange. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro released 10 Americans who had been detained in the country on various charges, including two accused of participating in a failed coup to overthrow the Caracas government, in exchange for America’s release of Alex Saab, a close business associate of Maduro. Venezuela also freed 20 Venezuelan political prisoners, and handed over into U.S. custody a fugitive defense contractor, Leonard Glenn Francis, also known as “Fat Leonard,” who was at the center of a $35 million Pentagon bribery scandal.
(“Venezuela Hands Over ‘Fat Leonard’ Mastermind in US Navy Scandal,” Washington Post, Dec. 20, 2023; “Western Hemisphere Relations Move From Idealism to Realpolitik,” Foreign Policy, Dec. 21, 2023)
In northern Ontario, a dramatic disparity in the quality of life exists between white Canadians and indigenous First Nations people. In Terrance Bay a paper mill provided jobs with well-furnished homes, but just 25 miles away in Pays Plat, the indigenous community suffers from extreme poverty where people lived for many years in tar paper shacks without electricity or running water. According to the Guardian, there is a long legacy of poverty, drug abuse and mental illness in Pays Plat.
(“The Crown Promised Riches to First Nations of Canada—Over 150 Years On, They Could Finally Get Billions,” Guardian, Dec. 15, 2023)
A Texas promoter of a multibillion-dollar plan to drill thousands of gas wells in New York state’s Southern Tier to store carbon dioxide and extract methane gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, is trying to convince landowners to sign a lease allowing his company to drill wells on their land for a flat $10 and the prospect of future payouts. Barn Raiser media reports that the scheme takes advantage of a new federal tax credit offered to companies that use drilling technology for carbon capture and extract methane.
(“A Texas Corporation’s Multi-Billion Dollar Plan to By-Pass New York’s Fracking Ban,” Barn Raiser Media, Dec. 18, 2023)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
