Foreign Digest Updates: Venezuela, Italy, Russia

Venezuela

            There have been more protests in Venezuela against the authoritarian and corrupt Socialist regime.  There have been efforts by the leader of the democratic opposition in the national assembly, who has invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president, to coordinate the arrival of humanitarian aid to the suffering Venezuelan people, and more defections of Venezuelan troops.  Millions of Venezuelans have fled to neighboring Latin American States.  At the end of last week, there was a blackout across most of Venezuela, which caused several deaths.  Power outages in the oil-rich State are frequent. 

Italy

            Italy has postponed its decision on whether to proceed with the high-speed train link from Turin to Lyon, France.  The European Union has backed the ongoing project, but the populist Italian Government has been divided over whether to finish the project, at least in a less-costly way.  The EU has warned that it will demand the return of funds if the project is not completed while France is reminding the Italian Republic that the two neighbors have signed a treaty to complete it.  Socialists, anarchists and environmentalists oppose the project, while local officials and the main center-right and center-left parties support it.

            The Deputy Prime Minister, who leads the far-right junior partner of the coalition government, is trying to relax the implementation of the requirement of schoolchildren to be vaccinated.  Opposition to vaccination or at least to mandatory vaccination is popular among the far-left and far-right and is amplified by Russian propaganda and disinformation.  As a result of fewer vaccinations, there have been outbreaks in Europe and the American States of diseases that had previously nearly been eradicated.  For example, there has been an outbreak of measles in Italy.

            The United States is discouraging its ally Italy from becoming the first European State to sign onto Communist China’s New Silk Road initiative that aims to expand Chinese influence through upgraded infrastructure for roads, railroads and navigational routes.

Russia

           There was a protest by thousands of Russians in Moscow today in opposition to the tyrannical Russian Federation regime of Vladimir Putin of cyber censorship by establishing an independent Russian internet.  There have been protests over the last several months, despite mass arrests of protestors, against authoritarianism, corruption and Russian support for Syrian tyrant Bashar Assad.