02/02/2026
JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE. Tuesday, February 3, 3 PM in Providence
Stand with the RI Anti-War Committee to demand that the current CEASEFIRE holds in Israel’s assault on Gaza. Call for a halt to U.S. aid to Israel and instead, provide sufficient humanitarian aid for the Palestinians. No more attacks on Lebanon, Venezuela and Iran. We meet every Tuesday and Friday at 3 PM (winter hours) at the intersection of Francis and Gaspee Streets across from the Providence Place Mall. Bring friends, signs and banners. Share our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1171323868324013/1171323894990677.
Help spread the word.
Insidious. The Trump administration continues to worm its way into the affairs of other countries, always with the threat of military action, but primarily by economic means that can prove to be just as harmful, if not more so.
Last week, after pressure from the U.S., Panama’s Supreme Court annulled the contract of a Chinese company to run the two ports at each end of the Panama Canal. The Chinese government wants to retain some ownership of the ports, but Trump has made it clear that he wants Chinese influence out of Latin America. The Chinese company, C.K. Hutchinson, has been operating the ports since the late 1990s. The struggle for U.S. control of the world’s shipping routes will intensify.
On Monday, India agreed to a deal with the U.S. that it will stop buying Russian oil. In return, the U.S. will drop tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to 18%. India will drop all tariffs on imported U.S. goods. In addition, India pledged to buy $500 billion worth of U.S. goods and increase its purchases of U.S. oil and possibly oil from Venezuela. In both these deals, the U.S. appears to have come out on top. The key to understanding how the U.S. keeps getting the better of its trading partners is that the American share of the world consumer market is 29%. This makes it a highly prized target of exporting countries who are loath to risk losing it.
Last Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that would place tariffs on any country that sends oil to Cuba. The order largely targeted Mexico which was the last country to continue exporting oil to Cuba. The Cuban economy is dependent on imported oil and has suffered greatly since the U.S. successfully cut off the oil that was supplied by Venezuela.
The Trump administration is running the U.S. as if it were a criminal enterprise. Americans have to ask themselves if this is how they want the U.S. to interact with the rest of the world. In seeking economic domination over the world, the U.S. is casting aside any concerns about health, education, renewable energy and other issues that are vital to the sustainability of the planet and its people.
