04/27/23 04/27/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> just three weeks ago, the oklahoma attorney general asked a's court to vacate richard glossip's conviction and death sentence because he could no longer stand by the case. yesterday, sam attorney general urged the pardon and parole board to vote for clemency and stop his upcoming execution. despite all of this, glossip is scheduled to die in a few weeks for a crime he has always

resisted and the evidence shows he did not commit. amy: is oklahoma preparing to execute an innocent man? the attorney general says his conviction should be vacated but the parole board has just denied glossip clemency. we will get the latest. in the monroe doctrine very visited -- revisited. 200 years ago, the united states declared all of latin america within its sphere of influence. we will look at a growing push for the u.s. to finally revoke the policy which has been repeatedly used to justify scores of invasions, interventions, and cia regime changes in the americas. >> now 200 years old has been used as a cover for the united states to impose its will on latin america, and that era is coming to an end with vibrant civil society demanding respect

and cooperation instead of domination. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. in sudan, fighting continues between the army and paramilitary rapid support forces despite a u.s.-brokered 72-hour ceasefire, with air strikes reported in the capital khartoum and deadly battles in darfur. residents and foreign nationals have become increasingly desperate to leave the most dangerous hot spots amid worsening shortages of food, water, and medical care. the white house said wednesday a second u.s. citizen, a doctor, was killed in the conflict. while the u.s. successfully evacuated its diplomatic personnel soon after fighting broke out april 15, an estimated 16,000 americans, many of them dual citizens, still remained in sudan this week, though it's unclear how many of them wished to leave.

concern is growing violence against the sudanese citizens will escalate after four nationals are evacuated. -- four nationals are evacuated. tens of thousands have fled sudan to neighboring chad, which already hosts more than half a million refugees. this is a sudanese mother who is now at a refugee camp in chad. >> armed men came to our content and as best to leave before we became collateral victims. under threat, we had to hurry to come here. i got separated for my seven children and i can't find them. you've seen those massacred by arab militias while they have done nothing. we are victims of this barbarism that we do not understand. amy: ukraine's government says one person was killed and 23 others wounded after russia's navy launched four missiles from the black sea, striking residences in the city of mykolaiv. elsewhere, a ukrainian journalist working for the italian la repubblica newspaper was shot dead wednesday on the outskirts of kherson in southern

ukraine. the newspaper reports russian snipers killed bogdan bitik, who was working as an interpreter, and wounded italian reporter corrado zunino. the committee to protect journalists reports at least 15 journalists have been killed in ukraine since russia invaded. on wednesday, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy held his first talks with chinese president xi jinping since russia's invasion of ukraine last year. china's foreign ministry said after the phone call, it would dispatch former chinese ambassador to russia li hui as a special envoy to kyiv to find a political settlement to the war. >> china always sets on the side of peace. china advocates political settlement to the crisis and promotes talks for peace. amy: officials with both nato and russia welcomed wednesday's phone call, but nato leader jens stoltenberg criticized china for not condemning russia's invasion.

in russia, jailed opposition leader alexei navalny said wednesday he's facing additional charges of terrorism in russia that could bring him a life sentence. navalny rejected the charges while speaking video video link before a moscow court. navalny's microphone was cut after he alluded to his time spent in solitary confinement. president joe biden has pledged to deploy nuclear-armed submarines to south korea and to include officials from seoul in nuclear planning operations targeting north korea. biden made the pledge wednesday as the white house hosted south korean president yoon suk-yeol for a state visit, marking 70 years of the u.s.-south korean alliance. this is president yoon. >> our two leaders have decided to significantly strengthen the extended deterrence of our two countries against north korea's moves -- nuclear and missile threat so we can achieve peace

and not based on the goodwill of the other side. amy: as part of agreement, not to pursue the development of a south korean nuclear arsenal. turkish authorities have arrested at least 110 pro-kurdish activists, journalists, and lawyers in a series of raids across 21 turkish provinces. the arrests come just weeks ahead of a may 14 parliamentary and presidential election, which could see president recep tayyip erdogan extend his 20-year rule. he canceled scheduled campaigns rallies this week for health reasons. turkey's government accused those arrested of having ties to the kurdistan workers' party, known as the pkk, which turkey claims is a terrorist group. on capitol hill, house republicans have narrowly approved a bill to raise the debt limit in exchange for a 13% cut in spending. the legislation also caps spending over the next decade, blocks the white house's student debt relief plan, slashes funding to the irs, and blocks

tax credits for renewable energy projects like wind and solar. it also imposes work requirements on able-bodied adults up to 55 years old in order to receive medicaid or snap, the supplemental nutrition assistance program. new york democratic congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez said wednesday congress should instead reverse trump-era tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy and are set to increase the federal deficit by $1.9 trillion over a decade. >> this isn't just about continued cuts to the poor and working-class, but we can raise revenue. tax cuts in 2017 passed by the other side of the aisle, we see wonderful tax cuts for yacht owners and private jets. but in two balance our budget now, we're talking about cuts to snap, to food out of babies mounds. instead of re-examining the

inequities within our tax system. amy: senate majority leader chuck schumer called the house bill dead on arrival in the senate. without a deal on the debt ceiling, the u.s. could default on its bills as early as june. the oklahoma pardon and parole board has denied clemency for death row prisoner richard glossip even though oklahoma's own attorney general has sought to vacate glossip's 1998 murder conviction. the pardon and parole board voted 2-to-2 to deny clemency despite widespread doubt over glossip's guilt. an execution date has now been set for may 18. we'll have more on this story after headlines. montana's republican-controlled house of representatives voted wednesday to censure the state's first and only openly transgender lawmaker zooey zephyr, banning her from the house floor, were bidding her from speaking. -- forbidding her from speaking.

zephyr will only be able to cast votes remotely for the remainder of the legislative session. the move comes a week after zephyr delivered a searing condemnation of a bill that would ban gender-affirming healthcare for youth and after her supporters led a protest inside the state capitol on monday. zephyr has since been largely silenced on the house floor after the republican house speaker demanded she apologize. zephyr did speak wednesday ahead of the censure vote. >> when the speaker asks me to apologize on behalf of -- what he is really asking me to do is be silent when my community is facing bills that get us killed. he is asking me to be complicit in this legislature's eradication of our community, and i refuse to do so and i will always refuse to do so. amy: tune in to democracy now! friday when representative zooey zephyr will join us on the show. along with tennessee state

representative justin jones. elsewhere, north dakota signed a new law that bans transgender people from using public bathrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identity. in missouri, a judge has temporarily blocked harsh new restrictions on gender-affirming care in response to a legal challenge by the aclu of missouri and others. and the u.s. justice department has sued tennessee over its law banning gender-affirming care for minors. in florida, disney is suing republican governor ron desantis for taking control over its self-governing district around the disney world theme park, accusing desantis of a "targeted campaign of government retaliation" in response to disney's opposition to florida's anti-lgbtq so-called "don't say gay" law. meanwhile, disney has begun laying off thousands more workers this week, including employees of disney properties and abc news and espn. the company has laid off some

4000 employees since last month. and here in new york, e. jean carroll took the stand wednesday in her civil lawsuit against donald trump for battery and defamation, telling a court, "i'm here because donald trump raped me." carroll has accused trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the 1990's and subsequently accusing her of lying about it. carroll told jurors, "he lied and shattered my reputation, and i'm here to try and get my life back." the judge in the case warned trump may have engaged in jury-tampering for posting on his truth social site that the case was a "made-up scam" and a "witch-hunt." and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by democracy now!'s juan gonzález in chicago. welcome juan. , juan: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world.

amy: we begin today's show in oklahoma, where the state's pardon and parole board has denied clemency for death row prisoner richard glossip even though oklahoma's attorney general has sought to vacate glossip's conviction. on wednesday, oklahoma's republican attorney general gentner drummond took the unusual step of joining glossip's defense team in arguing for clemency. but the pardon and parole board voted 2 to 2 to deny clemency despite widespread doubt over glossip's guilt. an execution date has now been set for may 18. this is part of what oklahoma's attorney general told the parole board. >> i want to acknowledge how unusual it is for the state to support a clemency application of a death row inmate. i am not aware of any kind in our history that an attorney general has appeared before this court. i'm not aware of any time when

justice would require it was to ultimately, that is why we are here. everyone in this room. we're here to see that justice is done. we may have different opinions on what justice looks like in this case and i fully respect those differences, but in the end, that is what we must have. for me is the state's chief law enforcement officer, i must be primarily considering what justice is with the state of oklahoma, and that is what is compellingly to devote countless hours of my time examining the facts in this case. it is that sense of justice that has compelled me to release materials to the defense team that have been long withheld. i was concerned enough by the research that i had observed that i should retain an independent counsel to conduct a comprehensive review. amy: that was oklahoma's attorney general gentner drummond urging the parole board in oklahoma to grant clemency to

richard glossip who has always maintained his innocence. his case dates back to 1997 when glossip was working as a manager at the best budget inn in oklahoma city when his boss barry van treese was murdered. a maintenance worker, justin sneed, admitted he beat van treese to death with a baseball bat but claimed glossip offered him money for the killing. the case rested almost solely on sneed's claims. no physical evidence ever tied glossip to the crime. and sneed, in exchange for his testimony, did not get the death penalty. we go now to oklahoma city where we are joined by the award winning investigative reporter liliana segura. she is a senior reporter for the intercept. she has closely covered richard glossip's case since 2015. welcome back to democracy now! explain how unusual what happened yesterday was and go more deeply into the glossip case. >> thank you for having me, amy.

your introduction did a really good job laying out some of the basics about this case. to be perfectly honest, i am still trying to process what happened yesterday because it was so unusual not only unusual but completely unexpected. three weeks ago, those of us following the case, those people involved in this case truly did not expect this clemency hearing would go forward. gentner drummond had taken the unusual step of filing a motion for the oklahoma court of criminal appeals, asking the court to vacate glossip's conviction and send it back to oklahoma city for a new trial. that the oh, city d.a. had made very clear -- oklahoma city d.a. had made clear this was a case that this was not going to be retried and richard glossip was in a position where he was able

to imagine a possible, eventual release, like outside prison walls. almost as quickly as that happened, things sort of changed all of the sudden. the court unexpectedly rejected the attorney general's motion and rather than intervene to stop the clemency hearing from going forward as governor stitt has done before, the clemency hearing did take place. on wednesday, yesterday morning, i attended a packed hearing where gentner drummond, along with the former prosecutor rex duncan who undertook an independent investigation into this case, both spoke about why they believe this execution should not go forward. rex duncan said this is a first for me, i'm not usually here to agree with the defense.

when the board members came back at the very end with the 2-2 vote which effectively denies clemency, everyone was shocked. it was a stunning moment. i think a lot of us are waking up this morning trying to grasp what happened. juan: could you talk about some of the details that have emerged through the years of destroyed evidence by the state, misstatements by key witnesses, what the basis of even the recommendation by the attorney general to -- for clemency, could you talk about the specifics? >> absolutely. let me just say because there's no way to cover it all, this is a case of twists and turns. if your viewers and listeners want to go deep into this case, i urge them to look at the coverage that my colleague jordan smith and i have produced going back to 2015. it is in one place at the

intercept. also there is a four-part documentary called "killing richard glossip" that goes into these questions. it is a large part the document he series, a very prominent right-wing lawmakers here in obama city have taken on this case as a campaign for them. to answer your question more directly, from the beginning, the evidence in this case was weak. as you highlighted, this story of richard glossip being the mastermind behind this case came solely from justin sneed. there were two trials. the first conviction in 1998 was overturned in 2001 on the grounds glossip received an effective assistance of counsel. one of the critical mistakes they made, their failure to show the jury an astonishing videotape which showed how two

oklahoma city police detectives had interrogated justin sneed and named glossip something like six times before justin sneed ever claimed glossip had put him up to this. the detectives were telling sneed, we know there's is more to this, he is setting you up, and eventually sneed goes along and helps create this narrative that has defined this case ever since. that was all known. that has been known for years and years. richard came close to be executed. at that time, witnesses came forward to say, wait a minute, justin sneed was portrayed as this hapless, clueless follower who did anything that richard glossip would say and that could not have been further from the truth. people that knew him and had met him in jail said sneed admitted, boasted even, he had gotten away with something that glossip was

facing the death penalty for. there is a lot that has been known. but in terms of the newest revelation, this has come out largely over the course of the past year. some years back, these right wing lawmakers or by parts agree but by conservative lawmakers in oklahoma were urging for the governor, the parole board to take a closer look at glossip's case. when those efforts failed, they sought a law firm that would seek an independent investigation. this was done by a law from that devoted countless hours, interviewed some 40 witnesses. dozens of people who never interviewed by the police, look at all of the records and received stuff that had never been turned over before. some of the explosive

revelations in the report that came out last year was, for example, justin sneed had actually sought to recant his testimony between the first and second trial. there are letters to his attorney asking how he can undo this deal he made, sort of expressing a sense of regret almost. this is also known -- years back, justin sneed's daughter came forward saying her father was regretting the fact he had helped send richard glossip to death row. these letters are what significant piece of evidence, also evidence was destroyed between the first and second trial. financial records or critical because -- were critical. glossip wanted to get rid of

barry van treese oh he could take over the motel, which was really these financial records that were not destroyed, the once we have seen, really go a long way in debunking that theory. one of the prosecutors of the second trial has since said over and over again this is horrifying to him that this should never have happened, should not have happened -- amy: we want to turn to richard glossip in his own words speaking remotely at his clemency hearing on wednesday. >> first, i want the van treese family to know how terrible i feel. what your family has gone through, no family should ever have to endure. i must say again for this hearing that i did not know about justin sneed's claims to commit any crimes against barry van treese.

i absolutely did not cause justin sneed to commit any crime against mr. van treese, let alone to murder him. i know in the chaos of mr. van treese's death, i made mistakes in how i responded. in deeply -- i am deeply sorry in my fear and confusion if i caused anyone any further harm. today i want to think many people have taken the time to look at this case and to take a stand about it. amy: that is richard glossip speaking at his clemency hearing. as we begin to wrap up, can you tell us what this pardon and parole board is? how does a divided vote lead to his death? and what about the governor's stance? >> to be honest, that is the question all of us are trying to understand. one of the next steps that glossip's lawyer is taking is to

challenge the very set up of -- it is critical to understand this is a five-member board. one of the board members recused himself because his wife prosecuted glossip and sent him to death row. that recusal is appropriate. what makes no sense is the resulting vote still requires -- this is four people. it requires three votes in favor of clemency. a 2-2 tie is weighted in favor of the no's, so that is being challenged. as far as the court's makeup, three of their board members are appointed by governor stitt and two others are by two different courts including the court of criminal appeals which has refused to look at the evidence of glossip's evidence. all of these are political but we were not expecting this outcome at all.

this is a severe blow and it was astonishing moment after this three hour hearing, to hear it result in that way. juan: i wanted to ask you, what -- the victim's family also spoke at the board meeting. can you talk about what they said? >> like i mentioned, richard glossip -- this is his ninth execution date but he have become extreme close in 2019. prior to that, there was a clemency hearing in 2014 where the widow of barry van treese spoke about the impact of her husband's murder. dad several young children. she said what victim family members often said, this was a loss that was indescribable, that severely impacted her family and continues to. she repeated a lot of what she

shared, as did other family members, but they also described a deep sense of betrayal at the idea of the state rather than arguing basically as it always does in favor of the execution, that the top law enforcement officer in the state was saying he did not want to see this execution proceed. that in some ways was understandable, but as your clip you played early on demonstrates, the job of the attorney general is not to satisfy the wishes and emotions of the victim's family, it is to do justice for the people of oklahoma. that includes richard glossip and his loved ones. that was a difficult thing to listen to because -- well, in that moment, we empathize of the pain of the victim's family, but i person was feeling like we were going to hear a vote in

favor of clemency. it is disorienting to find yourself your. amy: the state of oklahoma has -- is pushing through something like two dozen executions in the next few years, this being one of them? >> that had been the plan under gentner drummond's predecessor. gentner drummond, who came into office in january, one of his first moves was not only to launch this independent probe into richard glossip's case, but to slow down this frenzied cq should schedule -- execution schedule. there are still a lot of people in line to be executed after richard glossip over the next couple of years, but he explicitly said after attending the first execution of the year in january that this schedule was untenable, that it was taking a toll on the employees of the department of corrections who are tasked with carrying out

these executions, and that he wanted to slow down the executions. the oklahoma court of criminal appeals grudgingly allowed this change in the schedule, but yes, oklahoma continues to execute people and there i should say there are a lot of problems with the cases that will follow richard glossip's execution. amy: just richard glossip's case go to the supreme court? >> absolutely it will be before the court to review. amy: liliana segura, senior reporter for the intercept, has covered richard glossip's case since 2015. you can go to intercept's website to see all of the coverage. coming up, 200 years ago, the u.s. declared all of latin america within a sphere of influence. we will look at a growing push for the u.s. to revoke the monroe doctrine which has been repeatedly used to justify scores of invasions, interventions, cia regime changes in the americas.

stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "oh freedom" by harry belafonte. he died tuesday at the age of

96. to see our full show on harry belafonte in his own words, go to democracynow.org. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. this year marks 200 years since the united states effectively declared all of latin america and the caribbean within its sphere of influence. on december 2, 1823, president james monroe outlined what became known as the monroe doctrine. he warned other nations to stay out of the americas, saying -- "we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." over the past 200 years, the monroe doctrine has been repeatedly used to justify scores of invasions, interventions, and cia regime changes in the americas. this is vermont independent senator bernie sanders talking about the monroe doctrine last year shortly before russia invaded ukraine. >> mr. president, vladimir putin

may be a liar and a demagogue, but it is hypocritical for the united states to insist that we as a nation do not accept the principle of spheres of influence. for the last 200 years, our country has operated under the monroe doctrine, embracing the simple that is a dominant power in the western hemisphere, the united states has the right, according to the united states, to intervene against any country that might threaten our alleged interests. that is united states policy. and under this doctrine, the united states has undermined and overthrown at least a dozen countries throughout latin america, central america, and

the caribbean. amy: that was bernie sanders speaking last year. well, on saturday, american university in washington, d.c., will be hosting a one-day conference titled "burying 200 years of the u.s. monroe doctrine." democracy now!'s juan gonzalez will give the opening plenary. we are joined now by two other guests as well. nick estes, the indigenous writer and historian. he is a co-founder of the indigenous resistance group the red nation and a citizen of the lower brule sioux tribe. author of "our history is the future: standing rock versus the dakota access pipeline, and the long tradition of indigenous resistance." nick is joining us from minneapolis. in washington, d.c., medea benjamin, co-founder of codepink, co-author of the new book "war in ukraine: making sense of a senseless conflict." we welcome you both. medea, let's begin with you. talk about the whole push for this conference called burying

the monroe doctrine. >> codepink initiated this and got a group of partners around the country to join with us in recognizing the immense changes that are happening in latin america. the progressive governments that are coming into power all over the region, the vibrant civil societies that exist. yet the u.s. trying to continue to impose its will on latin america and the caribbean, whether it is there a continued military presence, through brutal economic sanctions imposed on cuba, nicaragua, venezuela, or through the u.s. companies that try to continue to exploit the mines, the logging, the lithium, the resources, the oil. so you have a real disconnect. we are saying it is time u.s.

policy recognizes that this is not the u.s. backyard. the u.s. is looking at latin american saying, my goodness, china's becoming a major trading partner with all of these countries of latin america and wants to push china way. that is not the attitude we want in u.s. policy. we want the u.s. to finally recognize the sovereignty of countries in latin america, the reality that latin america has changed, and it is time for a policy that is one based on mutual respect. juan: i would like to bring nick estes to the conversation writer, historian, and author of , "our history is the future: standing rock versus the dakota access pipeline, and the long tradition of indigenous resistance." i wanted -- give out the parallels between the monroe doctrine -- i wanted to ask you about the parallels between the monroe doctrine and the doctrine of discovery, which a lot of americans are not familiar with.

this was hundreds of years old, even as the monroe doctrine and essentially permitted or sanctioned the regarding of the native peoples of the americas as an inferior race. yet the pope managed this year to finally discard the doctrine of discovery. could you talk about that? >> coincidently in 1823, the year the monroe doctrine was enunciated, you also had a supreme court decision. the marshall court that decided that through the process of removal, of the influx of white settlers into the state of georgia, you have the cheese justice john marshall declaring the united states had inherited the doctrine of discovery or the discovery principle from

previous colonizing powers. in this case, he chases -- traces it back to the holy see or the catholic church. this sort of process of colonization and what could only be described as ideologies of brutality, really originates mostly from the founding fathers themselves. they use this doctrine, the doctrine of discovery as a made up excuse to colonize indigenous people. but if you go back to 70 like thomas jefferson when he was debating what this new empire of liberty would look like, he envisioned this empire expanding through the western hemisphere and having a global influence. during the debates about what the constitution would look like, there were two sort of primary enemies the united states was worried about in the 1880's when it was writing its constitution. that was the indigenous nations on the western frontier as well as competing european powers.

so when the u.s. begins to form its military, it uses the tax levy system to basically raise the standing army. this was an idea from alexander hamilton who saw the dual threats of european influence as well as indigenous nations on the western frontier. this begins the process of looking at, to quote the declaration of independence, the merciless indian savages on the western frontier but also looking at the rest of the hemisphere. the treaties that thomas jefferson signed or that he encouraged to be signed with indigenous nations essentially tried to find them to the u.s. so they could not make treaties with other european powers. that same principle applied to the western hemisphere. it is important to point out in 1823, the u.s. is a relatively small nation compared to its present-day form.

in 1823, the monroe doctrine is aligning itself with the doctrine of discovery as this imperialist, expansionist ideology that we can see the effects of today. amy: nick, and i should add, your professor at the university of minnesota in the american indian studies program, you have the pope renouncing the doctrine of discovery. what about congress, the monroe doctrine? >> yeah, it is important to point out the pope himself, when they repudiated the doctrine of discovery in the press release, they pointed out the holy see had essentially abrogated it by 1537 and they make this claim they have been recognizing indigenous rights ever since, which i think is a very dubious claim, especially given the recent discoveries of thousands of native children who died at the hands of the catholic church in these brutal residential

schools in canada and what is being uncovered in the united states. but for the doctrine of discovery to be actually excised from federal indian law would require something beyond the courts. when you travel throughout the world, when you talk about the federal indian law system, a lot of people are surprised united states is using this 15th century people bull to justify taking indigenous lands when most countries throughout the world have moved well beyond that. it will take more than just repudiation or words for the doctrine of discovery to be completely removed from that sort of -- the institution of federal indian law and policy but also with the monroe doctrine, you had john kerry kerry in 2013 saying the united states is moving beyond the monroe doctrine.

at the same time, have obama implementing sanctions on venezuela. which is it? you can have great words but the actions don't necessarily match those words. amy: i wanted to ask you a question, you're cohosting the show come as you have all these 27 years, but you are also the keynote speaker at the american university conference on bearing the monroe doctrine. among her books is the one that was just reissued in paperback that is a textbook in 70 classrooms across this country called harvest of empire. can you talk about the connection between the monroe doctrine of 200 years ago and the exodus of people to the united states and how the us government treats them? juan: it is precisely the implementation of the monroe doctrine and the creation of what essentially became the

birthplace of the american empire in latin america that resulted in so many people from latin america, to the united states in the, especially in the late 20th century and the beginning of this century. a lot of people don't understand that relationship. it is precisely those countries in latin america that the united states once intervened in, occupied, and executed regime changes in that have produced the most migrants to the united states so there is a direct relationship between the empire and the united states built latin america and the migration crisis that we continue to face here in this country. i don't think most americans really understand the enormous number of interventions that our

governments have perpetrated in latin america. you can think of 1965 when lyndon johnson sent in several thousand u.s. troops to occupy the dominican republic. at that time, johnson specifically said the u.s. has no intention of allowing another communist government to exist in the western hemisphere. first of all, the dominican revolution was not a communist revolution, it was against generals who had instituted a dictatorship. it was a democratic revolution. but the u.s. felt it had the right to invade the dominican and reorder that society based on the monroe doctrine. you can go into panama in 1989, guatemala nine 9054, the dominican republic even earlier in 1916, mexico, honduras,

nicaragua, all of these countries were invaded by u.s. military forces based on the established rights as far as washington understood that it could determine what was happening throughout all of its "backyard" or its empire will stop i think that is what is at stake that is to be finally announced, especially given the enormous changes in latin america, that latin america is no longer subservient to the united states in the way or its government is no log subservient to the u.s. and the way it has been in the past. amy: we first met in haiti, covering haiti. one u.s.-backed two after another. yet the occupation of haiti by u.s. forces back in 1950. juan: haiti, grenada. who remembers grenada? a tiny little country and yet the united states felt it had the right to essentially change

the government of grenada. there are so many countries in the western him is there that have experienced this. it is no wondered the governments themselves are standing up and say we do not need to allow this anymore. now you're having throughout the entire south america and central america and the caribbean, governments coming to power saying we need a new relationship and more equitable relationship with the united states. amy: medea benjamin, you're in washington, d.c., where the conference is going to be at american university. headquartered is the american states. can you explain the significance of this institution? >> this is an institution created in 1948 and it has always been dominated by the united states. it is supposedly for latin america, and caribbean, but it

is ironic the headquarters is right here in the united states. it is been away for the united states to exert its influence in latin america. it is seen by more and more of the progressive latin american countries as an old institution, a dinosaur that needs to either be significantly reformed or replaced. this is especially true after the oas was instrumental in the overthrow of the government in bolivia of evo morales and the head of the oas is seen as 70 throughout the region that is too close to the united states and does not represent the new america. that is why there is a lot of effort being put into strengthening the alternative, the community of latin america and caribbean states, and i think there is more and more of a recognition that oas should go by the wayside in history

because it does not represent the new latin america. i do want to say for people who want to join us, there's still room in washington, d.c. you can go to an americanpolicyform.org and you can register -- americanpolicyforum.org and you can register. juan: i wanted to ask about the enormous changes along --among the indigenous peoples of latin america. could you talk about the changes? much of latin american history is also the history of indigenous populations as well as of africans in the african slave trade. can you talk about the enormous changes that are occurring in latin america among the indigenous people? >> medea mentioned the 2019 u.s.

-backed coup that ousted indigenous president evo morales . we can look at bolivia is the project that it is, really as a beacon of hope for a lot of indigenous people in the americas to look beyond the sort of hegemonic, singular mode of liberal democracy that we see in the united states that does not really privilege plurality but privileges homogenate he. looking at the successes and how in 2010, had the peoples force that was passed that really recognize the rights of mother earth. that was really reflective -- reflected in the constitutional process that bolivia has undergone in the process of change it has undergone in the

last two decades. we can see even how the monroe doctrine attempts to strangle or choke out alternatives. in this case, it is an indigenous alternative for the hemisphere, not just a national project for bolivia. but it was looked at as a sort of international or hemispheric project for indigenous peoples. we see this same kind of process underway in a country like brazil where you're coming out of very brutal presidency under bolsonaro and the devastation of indigenous lands, the threat against indigenous rights. but then you see the indigenous movements really coalescing around this broader movement for progressive changes -- not just within the domestic policies of brazil is self, but also internationally and how working in cooperation with different nations and different movements

throughout the world, how to lessen the impact and in some instances stop the devastation of indigenous lands within that particular region. i also want to point out the indigenous movements in north america and the recognition that has been gained at the united nations would not have been possible without the support of countries from the global south as well as our indigenous relatives in the global south. so when we are talking about the monroe doctrine and we think about things like sanctions in venezuela, those sanctions target not just high-level government officials, they target every civilians and people. one aspect or one aspect of venezuelan society that is often forgotten is indigenous people within venezuela who were suffering the very aspects of the sanctions regime. so when we are talking about repudiating the doctrine of

discovery domestically within the united states or repudiating the monroe doctrine, we have those kinds of movements in mind and those kinds of aspects of our struggle that isn't just confined to securing gains for indigenous peoples in the united states but definitely part of the hemispheric approach. amy: nick estes thank you for ebbing with us, indigenous writer and historian, cofounder of the indigenous resistance group the red nation and a citizen of the lower brule sioux tribe. he is an assistant professor at the university of minnesota in the department of american indian studies. thank you for joining us. medea benjamin, please stay with us. after break, we will talk about the ore in ukraine. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "jamaica farewell" by harry belafonte. he died at his home on tuesday in new york at the age of 96. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. we end today's show looking at the war in ukraine. on wednesday, chinese president xi jinping spoke by phone with

the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy for the first time since russia invaded ukraine last year. the call comes two months after china put forward a 12-point peace plan to end the war. during wednesday's call, xi reportedly said negotiations are the only viable way out of the conflict. xi also offered to send a special envoy to ukraine to help resolve the crisis. to talk more about the war in ukraine and growing calls for negotiations, we are still with medea benjamin, co-founder of codepink. co-author of the new book "war in ukraine: making sense of a senseless conflict." co-author of a recent piece in the progressive headlined "pentagon leaks punch a hole in the u.s. propaganda war." we don't have much time but if you could talk about the significance of china's call with ukraine, zelenskyy speaking with xi and now sending this top envoy to kyiv, and if you can

talk about the latest news around ukraine right now? close we saw from the pentagon leaks how the u.s. is painting this rosy picture of the war in ukraine when the opposite is true. there is a grinding war of attrition that is heading toward a stalemate. it really is a stalemate and yet the u.s. is not participating in any of these efforts for peace talks. you see china taking the lead talking to both putin and now zelenskyy, an incredibly positive thing. it relates to our talk about latin america because we see lula is not only involved in this but is going around the world trying to create a peace club of nations to put pressure on all of the parties. but who is the odd man out? it is the united states that still refuses to get involved in the peace talks.

i had a chance to talk to nancy pelosi last night and said to her, look, the world is calling for negotiations and the u.s. keeps saying no. she said, we don't need negotiations, we need victory. we must do more to put pressure on our congress and on the white house to get involved in this growing call for peace talks. juan: medea, the fact that china has continued to have a relationship with ukraine? china is the biggest trading partner of ukraine and zelenskyy has refrained from openly criticizing china's stance. what do you see is the potential for chinese efforts trying to reach a peace or -- according to its 12 point plan, the possibility that succeeding?

>> the potential is tremendous because china has so much leverage with russia. russia is dependent on china now for buying its energy, for number one trading partner. so the idea that china can push putin to the negotiation table is very powerful. but he was going to push zelenskyy? yes, had a good meeting, good phone call with xi, but also there is the united states which is the number one supporter of ukraine's war at this point. if united states is not calling for peace talks -- in fact, the united states has been sabotaging peace talks all along. so that is why it is our responsibility -- the u.s. hides behind this idea that nothing about ukraine, without ukraine we cannot possibly push zelenskyy to the negotiating table, yet every time zelenskyy has been talking -- whether it is to erdogan in turkey, bennett

in israeli comment and now with china, the u.s. has sabotage that. we are the ones that are holding up the peace process. amy: i want to play the ukrainian president zelenskyy speaking wednesday after his call with the chinese president. >> today i had a long and mostly reasonable conversation with the leader of china. typically these types of talks are seen as a chance to create new opportunities. right now there is an opportunity to give you energy for the relations between the -- course crucial aspect of our conversation is discussing our views and restring a just peace. represented the ukrainian peace formula and its specific points. we continue our -- amy: i wanted to get your response to zelenskyy and this

newpiece you wrote in the progressive "pentagon leaks punch a hole in the u.s. propaganda war." this trove of documents, to say the least, copy biden administration unaware. what specifically the document set about the ukraine war? >> has said it is a stalemate. instead there are special forces from nato inside ukraine that we're not told about. this is in addition to all the cia personnel, the u.s. troops that are amassing around the borders. when we hear from the inside documents that this is an unwinnable war on the battlefield, we have to question why the u.s. is pushing ukraine to continue to allow these horrific battles to take place were so many soldiers are dying on both sides every day and how this could easily become a third world war or a nuclear war. i'm sure if you continue along this way, zelenskyy start asking

for nato troops. and then what will biden do? biden is stuck and he needs a way out. just like you said in the past putin needs a way out. everyone needs an offramp and the offramp has to come from the negotiating table. the chinese proposal is basically a set of principles to say let's sit down and start talking but if we, the american people, we have to put more pressure on our government war it is going to be a long war of attrition that could explode into a much, much more disastrous third world war. amy: medea benjamin, thank you for being with us co-founder of , codepink, co-author of the new book "war in ukraine: making sense of a senseless conflict." we will link to your new article "pentagon leaks punch a hole in the u.s. propaganda war." juan will be given the keynote address at 10:00 a.m. eastern time at american university,

talking about the search for new u.s. policy for a new latin america bearing 200 years of the monroe doctrine. joining him in the daylong conference will be medea benjamin, nick estes, and others. that does it for our show. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]

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