Broken in ukraine. Violent clashes have left at least 50 people dead. We will speak with nyu professor Stephen Cohen on the latest violence, the roots of the conflict, the secret u. S. Role backing deposition. Venezuela, which is also in a state of appeal as antigovernment protesters take to the streets to oppose hugo chavezs successor Nicolas Maduro. As the u. S. , mexico, and canada hold a major summit in mexico, u. S. Border patrol agent shoots and kills a man youre the border in san diego after the agent was hit in the face with a rock. Rocks are considered the full force. If we look at other zones of conflict around the globe, we have brokerdeals to try to get rock throwing and lethal force taken out of the system, but we dont do that here the u. S. Mexico border. We can actually fire at rock throwers. All of that and more coming up. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In ukraine, shortlived truce between the government and opposition protesters has broken down amidst the bloodiest period in the monthlong uprising. At least 21 people have died just today in clashes between protesters and Security Forces. Clear thato be very as we work through these next several days in ukraine, that we are going to be watching very carefully and we expect the Ukrainian Government to show restraint, to not resort to violence in dealing with Peaceful Protesters. We have said we also expect Peaceful Protesters to remain peaceful. We will be monitoring carefully the situation, recognizing along with our European Partners and the International Community, there will be consequences of people step over the line. Or on ukraine after headlines. The trial opens today in egypt for three to 10 al jazeera journalists who are accused of terrorism related charges. Peter greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed were arrested in late december. Their case has grown on global condemnation against egypts militarybacked regime for clamping down on freedom of speech. Peters brother spoke to reporters on wednesday. L with then a cel other two journalists. Tough. Ditions are pretty i think probably the most difficult thing for him is the mental challenge of staying positive and focused and not allowing the conditions is living under to become overwhelming and depressing. In total, 20 journalists are said to go on trial today including eight who are in custody. In a victory for opponents of the Keystone Xl Oil pipeline, a judge in nebraska has voted the states approval of the pipeline route. District court judge Stephanie Stacy struck out in a 2011 law that allowed governor Dave Heineman to approve the pipelines route through nebraska, singh the decision should have been left up to a state commission. The pipeline would funnel Tar Sands Oil from canada to the u. S. Gulf coast, but critics say it would fuel Climate Change and threaten the health of communities in its path. Obama has yet to issue a decision on whether to approve the pipeline. Federal prosecutors have issued more than 20 subpoenas to North Carolinas Environmental Agency as part of a criminal probe into a coalash spill by duke energy. Set the subpoenas follow reports the agency block lawsuits against duke energy, where the North Carolina governor worked for 28 years. Earlier this month, a leaking pipe caused one of the worst coal ash spills in u. S. History. On tuesday, state regulators announced they had found a second leak containing unsafe levels of arsenic at the same site. Meanwhile, yet another coal waste spill was reported in west virginia. State regulators said snow melting in to waste ponds cause contaminated water to overflow into a nearby creek. The Obama Administration has approved a 6. 5 billion loan in guarantees to back construction of the nations first new Nuclear Power plant in more than 30 years. The plan is crawling under construction in waynesboro, georgia. The announcement comes as the administration investigates a radioactive leak at a Nuclear Waste site in new mexico. , core proceedings against human rights activist Zainab Alkhawaja were postponed on wednesday to march 3. She could return to prison after she was released on sunday following nearly a year behind bars. She spoke to democracy now on tuesday. We are calling for a country isre every bahraini respected and treated equally. We won a country where we feel we have rights and dignity, where people cant step all of us, cant torture and kill and get away with these things. Were living in the country basically where the criminals are the most powerful people in the country and where a lot of us feel proud when we are in jail because we know in bahrain when you go to jail, it is because she did something right, not wrong. The prodemocracy uprising in bahrain markets third anniversary last friday. To see the full interview with Zainab Alkhawaja, go to democracynow. Org. U. S. Regulators have announced they will not appeal a court ruling that struck down rules promoting equal access to the internet. Instead, the federal to medications Commission Says it will rewrite the regulations on net neutrality, which were sent providers to provide all content at equal speeds. A court rejected the rules last month after a legal challenge by verizon. A trove of newly released documents has raised new questions about ties between the campaign of Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott walker and his former post in county office. Governor walker served as Milwaukee County executive wall running for governor in the 2010 election. Beenf his aides have criminally convicted of conducting Campaign Business on the taxpayer dime. Documents unsealed wednesday reveal just how closely walker and his aides blurred campaign and official business. They link walker to a secret email routing system used by his county staff and show he directed county staff to hold daily strategy calls with campaign aides. The revelations come as walker eyes of potential president ial bid in 2016. A member of the jury in the trial of michael dunn for killing africanamerican teenager jordan davis during a dispute over loud music says she believes dunn got away with murder. At theho is white, shot vehicle carrying davis and his friends 10 times. He then fled the scene, went to a hotel with his fiancee and ordered pizza. He never called police. The jury deadlocked on a murder charge saturday, but convicted him of three counts of attempted murder, meaning he faces a minimum of 60 years in prison. Only asidentified valerie was interviewed by abc. You think michael dunn had options . Yes. What were his options . Roll up your window, but your card reverse, ignore the taunting, back up to the front of the store, move over to another parking space. The juror said three out of her 12 fellow members ultimately felt michael dunn was justified in killing jordan davis. Dunn claimed davis had a gun, but police never found one. A man charged under new york state terrorism laws in the case that raised claims of entrapment has accepted a plea deal to serve 16 is in prison. Jose pimentel was arrested in 2011 and accused of being an al qaeda sympathizer who is trying to build a bomb. The federal authorities declined to join the case saying Jose Pimentel did not appear predisposed or capable of carrying out an attack. Defense attorneys say he was entrapped by informants who gave him food, shelter, and marijuana. He pleaded guilty just days before his trial to avoid a possible life sentence. The state of new york as a group has agreed to limit its use of solitary confinement and prisons. System willison become the largest in the country to ban solitary confinement as a disciplinary measure for those under 18. The deal also curbs the use of solitary confinement for pregnant and developmentally disabled prisoners. Donna lieberman said authorities in texas has suspended the license of the houston doctor who has provided abortions for 40 years after he failed to comply with the states new antichoice law. Dr. Theodore haring had failed to meet the laws requirement to obtain a meeting privileges at a nearby hospital. Critics say such privileges are medically necessary and can be impossible to obtain because abortion providers dont admit enough patience to meet hospital minimums and because some hospitals oppose abortion. In related news, doctors at the only remaining Abortion Clinic in north dakota have obtained hospital admitting privileges, which are also required under the states law. A mother pennsylvania meanwhile is facing multiple criminal charges for ordering medications to induce abortion on the internet and giving them to her 16yearold daughter. Denver whelan said she could not find a nearby Abortion Clinic and did not realize she needed a prescription for the medications. The use of selfinduced medication abortions appears to be on the rise in states where restrictions are making harder to access legal abortion. News from russia, a video released wednesday shows members of the russian protest whipped byriot being Security Forces as they try to film a music video in sochi. I have marks. I have a bruise here. My finger nails are broken. In my eyes and nose i have tear gas. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. A shortlived truce has broken down in ukraine history battles have erupted between antigovernment protesters and police. Last night the countrys embattled president and the Opposition Leaders demanding his resignation called for a truce and negotiations to try to resolve ukraines political crisis. The truce only lasted a few hours. The last three days have been the bloodiest period of ukraines 22 year postsoviet history with over 50 people dying including at least 21 today. The truce ended today when armed protesters attempted to retake independence square. Oh size have accused the other of using ammunition. The cranium paramedic described paramedic a described the scene. Somebodies are at the concert hall and summer at the barricades. There might be around 15 or 20 debt. It is hard to count. Know, three dead people are at the city hall and two more debt or at the main post office. There are so many of the concert hall, that we do not even take them. The Ukrainian Parliament and cabinet buildings have reportedly been evacuated because of fears they could be stormed by protesters. The ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych is meeting with the Foreign Ministers from germany, poland, and france. He Obama Administration stepped up pressure on the Ukrainian Government wednesday by announcing a visa ban on 20 members of the Ukrainian Government. The u. S. Is also threatening to place sanctions on the Ukrainian Government. The protest began in late november after president Viktor Yanukovych reversed his decision to sign a longawaited trade deal with the European Union to forge stronger ties with russia instead. To talk about the latest in ukraine, were joined by Stephen Cohen, Professor Emeritus of russian studies and politics at New York University and princeton university. His most recent book is, soviet fates and lost alternatives from stalinism to the new cold war. It is now out in paperback. His latest piece in the nation is called, distorting russia how the American Media misrepresent putin, sochi and ukraine. So talk about the latest, professor. Where to begin. Were watching history being made, but history of the worst kind. That is what im telling my grandchildren watch this. What is happening there, lets take the big picture and in the small picture. The big picture is, people are dying in the street every day. The number 50 is certainly too few. They are still finding bodies. Splitting apart. It is not one country, despite the u. S. Media. Historically, ethnically, religiously, it is two countries. We now have reliable reports the antigovernment forces in the streets and there are some very nasty people among them are seizing weapons and western cranium military bases. We clearly have the possibility of a civil war. In the longerterm outcome i want to emphasize this because nobody in the United States was to Pay Attention to it. The outcome may be the construction, the emergence of a new cold war divide between west and east, not this time as it was for our generation in faraway berlin, right on the borders of russia, right to the heart of slavic civilization. If that happens, if that is the new cold war divide, it is permanent instability and permanent potential for real war for decades to come. That is what is at stake. One last point, also something that nobody in this country wants to talk about, the western authorities who bear some responsibility for what has happened and, therefore, also have blood on their hands, are taking no responsibility. Uttering benign statements. Because of their vacuous nature, they are encouraging and rationalizing the people of ukraine who are throwing molotov cocktails, now have weapons, are shooting a police. We would not permit that any western capital, no matter how righteous the cause. But it is being condoned by the European Union and washington as defense unfold. We say the western countries who bear some responsibility, in what sense . Clearly, there is in an effort by the u. S. And europe ever since the collapse of the soviet union to pull the former soviet states into their economic sphere, but is that what youre talking about . I mean that look at it through moscows eyes. The Clinton Administration in u. S. Led weste has been on a steady march. Oward postsoviet bush further expanded nato all the way to russias borders. Then came the funding of what are called ngos, but our Political Action groups. Then came the decision to build Missile Defense installations along russias borders, allegedly against iran, a country which has another Nuclear Weapons nor any missiles to deliver them with, but then comes American Military outpost in the former soviet republic of georgia which led to the war and now at the gates of ukraine. That is the picture as moscow sees it. It is rational. It is reasonable. It is hard to deny. As for the immediate crisis, who precipitated this crisis . The American Media says it was putin and the president of ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych. But it was the European Union backed by the u. S. , democratic elected president of a profoundly divided country ukraine said you must choose between europe and russia. That was an ultimatum to yanukovich. Putint moment, what did say . Why does ukraine have to choose . He said, we are prepared to help ukraine avoid economic collapse along with the west. Lets make it a package to ukraine. It was rejected in brussels and washington. Int precipitated the protest the streets. Since then, the dynamic that any of us who have ever witnessed these kinds of struggles in the streets unfolded as extremists have taken control on the movement from the socalled moderate ukrainian leaders. The moderate ukrainian Leaders Within the western Foreign Ministers are traveling to kiev to talk, they have lost control of the situation. By the way, people ask, is it a revolution . Once i never revolution is the first victims of revolution are the moderates. Then it becomes a struggle between the extreme forces on either side. That is what we are witnessing. Lets go to the Opposition Leader who admitted earlier today the opposition does not have full control of protesters in independence square. The only chance is to stop the riot police, stop the protesters, to impose demilitarized zone, and to move these conflicts from the streets to the parliament. Are the protesters out of control . I would be very frank, that the government doesnt control the riot police and it is through difficult for the opposition to control maidan. There are a number of forces who are uncontrolled. [indiscernible] ukraine is in a big mess. A moderate. Who wants to be president . President obama is in mexico for the big mexico, canada, u. S. , talking about ukraine. Ukraine, alongto with our European Partners, we will continue to engage all sides and we continue to stress to president yanukovich and the Ukrainian Government that they have the primary responsibility to prevent the kind of terrible violence that we have seen, to withdraw why police, to work with the opposition, to restore security and human dignity, and move the country forward. And this includes progress toward a multiparty, technical government that can work with the International Community on a support package and adopt reforms necessary for free and Fair Elections next year. Ukrainians are proud and resilient people who have overcome extraordinaire challenges in their history and that his pride and strength i hope they draw on now. That as president obama. Me tot are you asking comment on, what he just said . Shame. Shame. He is saying the responsibility for restoring pieces on the Ukrainian Government and it should withdraw its Security Forces from the streets. Let me ask you, is in Washington People throwing molotov cocktails are marching on congress and these people are headed for the ukrainian congress, if these people had barricaded entrance to the white house and are throwing rocks at the White House Security guard, would president obama withdraw his Security Forces . Do you know what this does . Lets escape partisanship here. Eyes are at stake. This incites these kinds of statements that obama made. It rationalizes what the killers industries are doing. Licenseem western because he is not saying to the people in the streets, stop this, stop shooting policeman, stop attacking government buildings, sit down and talk. The guy you had on just before, a socalled moderate leader, what did he just tell you . Control of the situation. You just confirmed what i said. We deplore to say with the people in the streets are doing when they attack the Law Enforcement and we also dont like the people who are writing on buildings jews live here. I was on your broadcast, you found some guy somewhere who said there was none of this. All right. What percent . Lets say five then percent. I think theres more, but lets say 5 . We know when the moderates lose control of the situation, they dont know what to do, the country descends in chaos. Is tough,pulation resolute, armed, wellfunded and knows what it wants to make history. We see it through europe and asia. This is reality. Where washington and brussels are on this issue, they wont step up and take the responsibility. Even in most recent history, whether you look at libya or the situation in syria where those president s warned there were extremist elements inside a broader Popular Movement that were eventually going to gain control, this seems like a replay in terms of what is going very,e in ukraine, but a as you say, right Wing Movement not only right wing, but a fascist movement with a history. Ukraine has had a history of fascist movement going back to the days of nazi germany. Lets ask a question, who has been right about interpreting recent events . Lets go to the arab spring. Obama and washington said this is about democracy. This is great. Russia said, wait a minute. If you destabilize, even if there are authoritarian leaders in the middle east, youre not going to get Thomas Jefferson in power. Youre going to get jihadists, very radical people in power altar the middle east. Looking back, who was right or wrong about that narrative . Have a look at egypt. Have a look at libya. Who was right . Can russians ever be right about anything . Now theyre saying what you just said about ukraine, that the Peaceful Protesters, as we keep calling them i think a lot of them by the way, there were hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands of decent liberal progressive, honorable people in the streets, but they lost control of the situation. That is the point now. The russians are saying, look, youre trying to depose yanukovich who is the elected government. Thanks. I the way, there is a president ial election in the year. The russians are saying, wait until the next election. Throughverthrow them what are you doing to the possibility of democracy not only in ukraine, but throughout this part of the world . And secondly, who do you think is going to come to power . Please, tell us. And we are silent. I want to go to the famous leaked tape. Apologized after she was caught cursing the European Union in elite audio recording posted to youtube. They captured and intercepted they captured and intercepted conversation. She expresses frustration over europes response to the political crisis in ukraine, using frank terms. While the assistant secretary of state victoria nulands, the about the eu dominated the News Headlines because she cursed, there were several other very interesting parts of her conversation with the u. S. Ambassador to ukraine. That is the u. S. Ambassador to ukraine speaking with victoria nuland. The significance of what she is saying . She had gone to ukraine, and feeding protesters on the front lines. Well, here again, the american political Media Establishment including the right and left and the center because theyre all complicit in this focused on the too sensational aspect of the conversation. She said eff the European Union and never once had, oh, my god, she said the word. And who leaked it . They said, it was the dirty russians. But what are they doing . The highestranking state Department Official who presumably represents the Obama Administration and the American Ambassador in kiev, to put it in blunt terms, plotting a coup detat against the elected president of ukraine. , yousaid, amy im a juan may hypothetically say, that is a good thing. We dont care if he was elected democratically, he is corrupt and he is all of those things. Lets depose him. In the United States should stand up and say, that is what we do. We get the bad guys. We assassinate and overthrow them. In washington and brussels, theyre talking about democracy theyre not talking about democracy, theyre talking about a coup. And we as american citizens should be allowed to choose which policy we want him up they conceal it from us. Im extremely angry the people in this country who say they deplore this sort of thing have fallen silent. Lets listen to little bit more of the leaked conversation between the sms are to ukraine jeffreypyatt and Jeffrey Pyatt and victoria nuland. That was victorino and, the top u. S. Diplomat for europe, speaking with Jeffrey Pyatt, the u. S. Ambassador to the ukraine. Stephen cohen, this chess game theyre conducting here . Explaining names. Who are they . Notice the intimacy with which the americans deal with the two socalled moderates. And these are big shots. Klitsch, heavyweight champion of the world. His residence has been germany. He pays taxes in germany. He is a project of merkel. He represents the german interests. Im sure he is faithful to ukraine, but he is a problem. As other guy she calls yats a representative of the fatherland party. Washington likes him a lot. You can see what theyre saying. We dont quite trust klitsch. If you want to get as a terror, that is the tug between washington and berlin. Theyre not happy with merkel. They think germany has gotten too big for its britches. Klitsch, the boxer,merkel is backing him. On ukraine names. ,he leader of the Freedom Party but a large woman of that party for the put it candidly, is crazy fascist. Theyre prepared to embrace this guy. This is a guy, by the way, senator john mccain in november and december went to kiev and embraced. Either john mccain did not know who he was, or he did not care. The United States is prepared to embrace that guy, anything to get rid of yanukovich because they think this is about putin. Obama,here you president again, speaking yesterday in mexico. To see these as some cold war chessboard in in competition with russia. Our goal is to make sure the people of ukraine are able to make decisions for themselves about their future, that the people of syria are able to make decisions without having bombs going off and killing women and children or chemical weapons or thes being starved because desperate wants to cling to power will stop crooks who benefits from the instability, professor cohen . Is he concerned about this . Of course he is concerned. The post wrote in order to an editorial yesterday. That duringerstands the sochi olympics, the last thing putin wants is violence in ukraine. He is furious at the president of ukraine. He read him the riot act on the phone last on, what is he gain control of the situation . Putin is not responsible for this. Can we speak about obama . Very quickly. I grew up in the segregated south and voted for him twice. That is not leadership. As the falsification of what is happening in you came in the ukraine and make the situation worse. He needs to talk about what is happening in the streets. Is it conceivable if the ukraine citizen to further civil war that russia might intervene . It is conceivable. Say heich you might oppose impose martial law now because youre not in control of the situation. Yanukovich isnt sure he controls the army. He just fire the head of the army. U. S. , would rush intervene or nato intervened . Nato is all over the place. Would nato sent troops in . Is that, yes, you think they would . I dont know. And were not going to be told, just like were not being told in these private conversations about deposing the president of ukraine. And if the russians leak them, doesnt count. And harley protest given the scandal of the nsa recording scandals. This is a low point in statecraft. After snowden after snowden, i mean, what did Tennessee Williams used to say, the audacity, the mendacity of it all . Dont they trust our government to tell us a little bit of truth . Stephen cohen, thank you for being with us. Professor emeritus of russian studies and politics at New York University and princeton university. His most recent book is out in paperback called, soviet fates and lost alternatives from stalinism to the new cold war. His latest piece in the nation is, distorting russia how the American Media misrepresent putin, sochi and ukraine. We will be back in a moment. [music break] this is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Hit eight team. We have just come of age. Democracy now is 18 years old this week and people are sinning in from all over the world, pictures of themselves holding up signs we need democracy now because. You can send your image. People also sending and videos. Now that we are 18, we are of legal age. We turn to venezuela were at least six people have died in recent days in a series of antigovernment protest. On wednesday, a local beauty queen died of a gunshot wound. The protest come less than year after the death of hugo chavez and present the biggest challenge to venezuelas new president Nicolas Maduro. Earlier this week, rightwing Opposition Leader Leopoldo Lopez turned himself in to the National Guard after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest. They accused him of inciting deadly clashes. On monday, Nicolas Maduro ordered the expulsion of three u. S. Consular officials while claiming the United States has sided with the opposition. For more we go to philadelphia to speak with george ciccariellomaher the author of im at author of, we created chavez a peoples history of the venezuelan revolution. What is happening in venezuela today . Well, theres a great deal happening. I think you have your finger on the fact this is a crucial test it the maduro government and is our obligation to put it in Historical Context to understand who is acting. There is an unfortunate tennessee to follow twitter there is an unfortunate tendency to follow twitter or online for the arab spring, every time we see protesters in the streets, it andt retweeting feeling sympathetic without knowing the back story. We are obligated to do that here. Once we look into the back story, what we see is yet another attempt and a long string of attempts of the venezuelan opposition to oust a democratically elected government, this time taking advantage of student ostensiblyn against against security and economic difficulties to do that. Proto Leopoldo Lopez . What do you know about his history . He represents the far right of the venezuelan political spectrum. In terms of his political history, he is educated in the u. S. From prep school through graduate school at the Harvard Kennedy school. He dissented from the first president of venezuela Stephen Cohen are purportedly from boulevard. He is a representative of this. Raditional lyrical clash hecifically, his first party came to power as a representative of was formed at the intersection of corruption and u. S. Intervention for corruption by his mother purportedly funneling funds from Venezuelas Oil company into this new party and on the other hand, funding from the usaid, from u. S. Government institutions to socalled Civil Society organizations. Thehavez came to power, traditional parties in venezuela collapsed about the domestic opposition and the u. S. Government needed to create some other vehicle through which to oppose the chavez government, and this party that Leopoldo Lopez came to power through is one of those vehicles. This is where he is coming from. In this moment, even as former compatriot from that party capri unifiedo was the president ial candidate in april, has realized the line of taking street action to oust a democratic government is simply not going to work and Leopoldo Lopez as well as other far right have gone all in with his attempt to oust the government. Shortly after Leopoldo Lopez plus arrest, his Opposition Party released a video of him speaking that was a poorly filmed before he surrendered to venezuelan government troops. This is part of what he said. I would like to tell all venezuelans that i do not regret what we have done thus far. Like the call we put out for the protests, which is what weve been doing for some time. But on february 12, the day of use, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of venezuela not only in caracas like in the past, but in all of venezuela. In the cities and the towns. Were 10 or 50 or 1000 or even 70,000, but the people came out. The people woke up. Venezuela today, more than ever, needs youth are watching this and that every one of us takes on the commitment to want change. At that commitment cannot be passive. That commitment has to be active. So that is Leopoldo Lopez. President maduro has thrown out three consular officials saying theyre involved with supporting the opposition. Can you talk about this, george ciccariellomaher . The obama government continues to fund this operation, even more than did the bush regime. If you look at the budget, obama specifically requested funding for the venezuelan opposition groups, despite the antidemocratic activity in the past and that lopez and others were involved in signatories of in 2002 and engaged in violent actions that they were brought up for in 2002. Her lopez to claim now he is an act democracy the streets is quite laughable. He is trying to seize control of this opposition away from the more moderate elements. The interesting question, mainly the fact the venezuelan government, if we listen to the words of Leopoldo Lopezs wife, her recent statements, the venezuelan government acted to protect the life of lopez who was under certain threats to his life. In the venezuelan government, if we look at the way lopez was arrested, was much more generous than lopez has been in the past during the coup when he led the sort of witch hunts for chevys to ministers who are brought out and beaten publicly on the way to being arrested. You may wonder, lopez was allowed to speak the other day when he was arrested. Is the ask, why government being so gentle with this leader . They may prefer him as the leader of the opposition because he is someone who simply cannot be elected president in venezuela because he really does represent the upper crust of venezuelan elites. The pictures were getting in the commercial media here in the u. S. Is of a venezuela that is spiraling out of control with rising crime, scarcities of food, high inflation. What is your assessment of the actual situation in the country right now . Toto be perfectly clear, due scarcity has been a problem and insecurity is a massive problem in venezuela. Been a scarcity has problem and insecurity is a massive problem in venezuela. Also to the action of various other actors, in the case of crime, the infiltration of mafias has been a powerful force in recent years. In the case of scarcity, the role of the capitalist in withholding and hoarding goods as well as currency speculation has been a massively Destructive Force that really echoes the kind of chile scenario of helping to destroy an economy as a preparation for the government being overthrown. The reality is, these two factors which the students are claiming are driving these protests, they dont explain why these protests are merging now. Crime is actually going down as we speak. Food scarcity is not nearly as bad as it was earlier in the year. What explains what is going on now, this is after the december elections in which the opposition fared poorly, this is the moment in which the right wing has said enough. Once again, with enough, were done with elections and were going to try to go to the streets and toppled the government. In the meantime, the venezuelan movements, the popular organizations that are the foundation of this government, this was never about chavez the individual or about maduro the individual, but about millions and millions of venezuelans were building a better democracy, a deeper and more direct democracy who are Building Social movements and organizations and Workers Councils and Student Councils and Peasant Councils as well as local communes. These people are continuing to struggle and continuing to build. Why theyre surly coming out to defend the maduro government, their focus on a much broader horizon. Largelytraction that is confined to the wealthiest areas of caracas, the sort of everly hills of caracas, is not going to push them away from that task. And the u. S. Role . To fund. S. Continues this opposition. I think we will find out afterward, as we usually do, to what degree the u. S. s hand has been involved in the atrocities. But this is a miscalculation by the opposition. We know this is an opposition that has been in direct contact with the embassy. It is against the broad backdrop of u. S. Intervention and the funding of the venezuelan opposition, the action of autonomous venezuelan opposition that is going to once again, it looks like, terrorism apart. George ciccariellomaher, thank you for being with us, author of, we created chavez a peoples history of the venezuelan revolution. Teaches Political Science at Drexel University in philadelphia. We will be back in a moment, going to the border, tucson, to ofk about the latest killing a person on the border by Border Control agents. Stay with us. [music break] odetta on september 11, 2002, singing and our Old Firehouse studios rocking the exact time that United Airlines flight 175 crashed into the south tower of the world trade center. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. While the United States, mexico, canada held a major summit in mexico on wednesday, u. S. Border policies are back in the spotlight after u. S. Border patrol agent shot and killed a man near san diego, california on tuesday. Officials say the agent was pursuing a group of people suspected of crossing the border from mexico when a man threw a rock at him in the agent opened fire from the killing him. The agent suffered minor injuries and a client hospital care. A september report released by the department of homeland securitys Inspector General showed u. S. Border agents have been involved in 20 the tallies its 2010, 8 of which nearly half involved rock throwing. An uncensored copy of the report obtained by the center for investigative reporting showed it featured a recommendation from a think tank that agents use restraint when dealing with rock throwers. But in the copy that was publicly released, that recommendation was blacked out. For more weird joined by john carlos frey, Investigative Reporter muslim reported on immigration and more recently on killings of migrants at the u. S. X ago border. His work is supported by the Investigative Fund at the nation institute. Talk about the killing on the border. Quick the most recent report that i have read and report that comes out of those that are investigating and the Sheriffs Department in the area say Border Patrol agent was in pursuit of a migrant separated from his partner, was by himself. The suspected migrant started throwing rocks. Or is even allegation he threw a basketball sized rock toward the agent. Im not quite sure how you can do that. The agents fired twice, striking the migrant and killing him. This seems to be a pattern. Obviously, the migrant cant speak for himself as to what happened. But agents are allowed to use deadly force when being confronted with rock throwing. That seems to be what happened here. And how is the Border Patrol justifying its rejection of recommendation on policies were shooting of unarmed migrants . If you take a look at the recommendations, they are quite sane. The think tank the Police Executive research forum, a group of Law Enforcement officers, professionals who recommend to us Border Patrol agents, not necessarily to take away any sort of use of force when confronted with rock throwers, the to tap it down, to deescalate the situation, to move from the area, to visibly moved from the region where rocks are being thrown or take force. R use nonlethal Border Patrol decided to deny all of those. They would still like to be abuse deadly force. They claim in the past 10 years there have been about 6000 confrontations with rock throwers, but there never has been an agent killed by rock throwers. So the use of deadly force seems a bit excessive if agents themselves have never been killed by rocks. If you go to any major Law Enforcement agency in the country and the u. S. , killing or Shooting Rock throwers using guns to shoot rock throwers would be for been by Police Agencies across the country. It is interesting Border Patrol claims it is a necessity for them. It is also interesting this is taking place against the backdrop of the tres amigos summit with canadian, mexican, and american leaders. The three north american leaders expected to announce an easing of Border Controls for Corporate Executives and at the same time you have this killing of a migrant on the border. John carlos frey . It is also interesting the circumstances under which these happen. I am not denying Border Patrol agents have a dangerous job and they need to at times possibly use their weapons, but it always seems when the conditions or when the details are suspicious, Border Patrol agent can claim rock throwing. Im actually in tucson right now taking a deeper look into a 16yearold who was killed about a year and a half ago, shot 10 times in the back by Border Patrol agent for allegedly throwing rocks. If you go to the area where the young man was killed, it is next to impossible or him to have been able to throw a rock. He wouldve had to throw it through an almost impenetrable border fence. These claims are not policies the u. S. Actually supports in other zones around the world israel and palestine we are between those two countries askedisraeli troops are to fire rubber bullets as opposed to lethal weapons. We are not really abiding by our own policies across the globe. For some reason, we can do that here the u. S. Mexico border. This summit, the impact in mexico and on the government of Enrique Pena Nieto that the failure to move Immigration Reform here in the United States, what impact that is having in mexico . Know, we expect mexico to be our partner and expect mexico to be a friend and neighbor, are thirdlargest trading partner, but there seems to be a push against mexicans themselves coming to the United States. I hate to claim racial bias here, but i believe if immigration were reform was about a Different Group of people or country, we might be able to move it forward. There really is sort of a bias against spanishspeaking or brown people coming to the United States. Orseems to be a xenophobia perceived threat that these people are going to be taking over with their culture, their language. Especially along the southwest is where i see it the most. We have a fortified militarized zone where we have drones flying over, 700 to 800 miles of border fence, a militarystyle equipment and footing where we are actually not shooting people actually in mexico, shooting across the border, so there is this real perceived push back against mexico. I think trying to find a way to alleviate this less than neighborly policy is where we really need to start before Immigration Reform is even a possibility. If mexico is considered criminal, it is going to be really difficult for congress Stephen Grant any sort of legal status. John carlos frey, thank you for being with us and for all of your work as an Investigative Reporter who has long reported on immigration and more recently on the killings of migrants at the u. S. Mexico border. Thank you for joining us from tucson. As we wrap up today, on this yesterday,rs ago february 19, 1996, that was the firsten democracy now aired for the first time. If you are tuning in then, this is what you would have heard. This is democracy now from pacifica radio, i am amy goodman, in washington. Today, live free or die. A look at the Political Landscape in New Hampshire were the republican revolution has taken its toll. All coming up on democracy now today is president s day and tomorrow is the New Hampshire primary. Welcome to the Maiden Voyage of democracy now audiences inour california, texas, new york, pennsylvania, washington, d. 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