Crackdown on immigration – US visa bond program affects Malawi and Zambia travelers…
As of August 20, 2025, the US requires B1/B2 visa applicants of Malawi and Zambia to post a bond of up $15, 0000 to ensure that they will not overstay. The amount of the bond is determined at the time of interview and visitors are restricted to just three ports of entry: John F. Kenndy International, Boston Logan International and Washington Dulles International Airports. If visa holders of the designated countries comply with their visa conditons, the bond will be refunded. However, it should be noted that if a visa holder stays beyond their designated stay, even if based on a claim such as asylum. The bond will be forfeited.
US State Dept. site at: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/News/visas-news/countries-subject-to-visa-bonds.html
Pres. Mnangagwa attends 2025 International Conference on African Development in Japan:
President Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe, while attending the 9th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Yokohama, met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to strengthen bilateral ties and to seek Japan’s support for Zimbabwe’s 2027–2028 bid for a non-permanent UN Security Council seat. Zimbabwe’s bid already endorsed by SADC and the AU. Discussions centered on expanding economic cooperation, with Japan pledging food aid, agricultural infrastructure support in demined areas, and collaboration on stabilizing Zimbabwe’s petalite (a source of lithium) trade. TICAD, which has shifted from aid to partnership and “co-creation,” aligns closely with Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 development goals in infrastructure, industrialization, agriculture, health, and peace, offering Harare a key platform to advance its economic and diplomatic ambitions.
TRINIDAD PM SUPPORTS U.S. WARSHIPS IN CARIBBEAN WATERS….
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago (a southern Caribbean Island 8.6 miles off the northeastern coast of Venezuela), supports U.S. military warship deployment into the Caribbean “to destroy terrorist drug cartels”. She stated she will not be “engaging” with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on this matter.
As per the Jamaica Observer August 2025: “Prime Minister Persad Bissessar also said that she wanted to “make it very clear” that if the Nicolas Maduro regime in Venezuela “launches any attack against the Guyanese people or invades Guyanese territory and a request is made by the American Government for access to Trinidadian territory to defend the people of Guyana, my government will unflinchingly provide them that access,” she said.”
Canadian Network on Cuba condemn U.S. imperialist aggression in the Caribbean
The Canadian Network on Cuba strongly condemn the recent U.S. military strike in the Caribbean that killed 11 people aboard an alleged “drug boat.” This act is not only a criminal assault on the sovereignty of Venezuela but also an attack on the entire Latin American and Caribbean region. It represents yet another chapter in Washington’s imperialist strategy of domination, cloaked in lies and false pretexts, to destabilize governments that refuse to bend to U.S. hegemony.
The truth is clear. As Pino Arlacchi, former Under Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has documented, Venezuela has one of the strongest records in South America in the fight against drug trafficking—comparable only to Cuba’s. During his tenure at UNODC, there was “simply no need” to visit Venezuela because the country was not a hub for drug trafficking. The 2025 UNODC World Drug Report confirms this reality: Venezuela is not a major transit or production centre, and only a minimal fraction of Colombian cocaine passes through its territory. By contrast, countries like Colombia, Guatemala, and Ecuador are the true epicenters of regional drug trafficking networks—yet Washington remains silent because these governments either serve U.S. interests or sit atop negligible oil reserves.
The Cuban government has rightly denounced the militarization of the Caribbean by the United States as a grave threat to the sovereignty and peace of the region. The deployment of warships, nuclear submarines, and massive firepower under the false guise of combating narcotics and irregular migration is an outrageous show of force. It flagrantly violates the CELAC declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace. Washington’s claims linking Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro to international drug cartels are baseless fabrications, comparable to the infamous lie about weapons of mass destruction used to justify the catastrophic invasion of Iraq. The so-called “Cartel de los Soles” is nothing more than Hollywood-style fiction—an invented narrative that has never been substantiated by UNODC, the DEA, or European law enforcement agencies.
The reality that U.S. leaders refuse to acknowledge is that the United States itself is the largest market for narcotics in the world, hosting the vast criminal networks that traffic, distribute, and launder drug money with near impunity. The drug crisis is a U.S. problem, not a Venezuelan one. Nearly 100,000 Americans die each year from opioid overdoses—a tragedy tied not to Venezuela but to the greed of U.S. pharmaceutical companies.
This strike, carried out in defiance of international law, is nothing less than state terrorism and a violation of the right to self-determination of the peoples of the Americas. It is a continuation of the Monroe Doctrine—a policy of domination and plunder that has caused untold suffering in the region for two centuries.
We call on the international community, governments, and peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean to reject this reckless aggression, to reaffirm the region as a Zone of Peace, and to denounce the lies that Washington manufactures to justify its crimes. Peace, sovereignty, and justice—not imperialist militarism—are the only path forward for our peoples.
Namibia’s commitment to human rights and self-determination continues…
Namibia continues its ongoing commitment to human rights and self-determination under the leadership of its new President, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, the first female leader in the southern African region.
This month, July 2025, Namibia as part of The Hague Group committed to an arms embargo against Israel. It was also one of the countries that vocally supported South Africa bringing Israel before the International Criminal Court.
On May 28th Namibia held a National Day of Remembrance of the Genocide committed by Germany against the Herero people. The demand for real reparations is being pushed by the government.
On the economic front, Namibia continues its integration with other countries and expands its own capacity in partnership with China.
Happy Birthday Assata Olugbala Shakur……….
July 16th marked the birthday of our revolutionary fighter, Assata Shakur. Her full name is Assata (“she who struggles”) Olugbala ( “for the people” ) Shakur (“the thankful one”). Born in 1947, Shakur was raised in Jamaica, Queens and later in Wilmington, North Carolina. Her political life included a variety of struggles including the black liberation movement, the student rights movement, and the movement to end the war in Vietnam. She joined the Black Panther Party and by 1969 the organization was a prime target of the FBI’s COINTEL program. J. Edgar Hoover called it “greatest threat to the internal security of the country” and vowed to destroy it and its leaders and activists. In 1973, Shakur was pulled over by an officer, shot twice, and charged with murder. She spent 6 and a half years in prison until 1979 when she escaped and fled to Cuba, where she resides now. Assata’s legacy is in line with the best of a black political tradition that seeks to transform the immediate conditions in which one finds themselves, combined with an internationalist lens that informs practice and analysis.
In honor of our great revolutionary, on July 11th, D12 hosted a film screening and discussion of “Eyes of the Rainbow” a powerful documentary about Shakur directed by Cuban filmmaker and screenwriter Gloria Rolando.
Lesotho declares national state of economic emergency due to US tariff threat…
This month, July 2025, Lesotho, a land-locked country of approximately 2.3 million people located in southern Africa declared a two-year economic emergency over US threats to impose a 50 percent tariff on its exports to the US. While imposition of the 50 percent rate has been paused, the uncertainty and threat has caused buyer orders to fall, factories to close and unemployment. Denim is one of the major textiles Lesotho exports to the US. Approximately 40,000 people could lose their jobs.
As of July 30, Lesotho, unlike many countries, have not received a letter laying detailing new tariffs. This means that Lesotho is facing the 50 percent rate as the pause expires on August 1. A letter detailing new tariffs would provide some answers but would also raise some difficult challenges. For example, the US will demand that its goods be imported to Lesotho to address the trade imbalance. However, Lesotho is an underdeveloped country and therefore the price of those goods would be far above what the citizens can afford.
Update on Haitian Immigration issues by Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees:
Last week, we celebrated a legal victory: a federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to illegally cut short Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians. The decision protects hundreds of thousands of families from losing their legal status overnight—and it happened because people organized, resisted, and showed up.
But even as we win, we prepare for government appeals and Supreme Court decisions that seek to undermine our rights.
The travel ban has been revived—this time with a full ban targeting Haiti. CHNV and CBP One, humanitarian parole-based applications greatly affecting our community, have been terminated and people are being pushed out of legal status. Employers are already firing workers en masse. ICE is showing up in shelters, schools, and hospitals. Deportations are being fast tracked.
The U.S. has also built what’s been named “Alligator Alcatraz”—a massive detention complex in rural Florida designed to imprison immigrants on the sacred homelands of First Nations, including the Muscogee people. Isolated from legal support, families, and public oversight—it’s a modern-day concentration camp for Black and Brown refugees, migrants and asylum seekers.
Haitian Woman for Haitian Refugees is a Brooklyn-based organization that has been working for over thirty years to respond to the needs of Haitian refugees and immigrants fleeing persecution.
BRICS 2025 welcomes one new member and ten new partner countries.
The BRICS 2025 summit (Rio de Janerio, Brazil, July 6-7) welcomed the Republic of Indonesia as a new member and ten new partner countries – Nigeria, Cuba, Vietnam, Uganda, Belarus, Bolivia, Khazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, and Uzbekistan.
The 2025 Leader’s Declaration reiterated the urgent need to reform the Bretton Woods Institution as the global economy is changing. Emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) must be given a voice to reflect their growing influence and participation in the global economy. Furthermore, the Declaration demanded increased regional diversity and representation of EMDEs in the leadership of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group and an increase in women at the managerial level.
While strongly supporting Ethiopia’s and Iran’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Declaration voiced serious concerns about unilateral tariffs and non-tariff measures which are inconsistent with WTO rules.
The Declaration condemned the imposition of illegal sanctions as they have far-reaching negative implications for human rights, development rights, health and food security, and disproportionally affect the poor and people in vulnerable situations. The leader’s called for the elimination of all illegal sanctions.
The Declaration condemned the military attack on Iran and reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to an independent Palestinian State.
The Declaration also reiterated that the principle “African solutions to African problems” should continue to serve as the basis for conflict resolution on the African continent.
The Declaration can be found at: https://brics.br/en/documents/presidency-documents/250705-brics-leaders-declaration-en.pdf/
China is becoming Cuba’s main benefactor…
China is surpassing Russia as the main benefactor of Cuba. Russia has historically promised support to the Industrial health of Cuba but has failed to deliver on these promises. Some of the proposed projects include the reopening of a large steel mill as well as the revitalization of agricultural productive capacities. Unfortunately, these projects have not seen completion which can be largely attributed to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Meanwhile, China has underwritten 55 solar parks in Cuba in which development and land preparation has begun. One of these parks is estimated to provide 51 megawatts of power. Another 37 are planned to be built by 2038 providing 2,000 megawatts which amounts to ⅔ of current demand. Developing sustainable power infrastructure is a major challenge for the Cuban people given that this year alone the island has experienced 4 power outages. This sort of support is necessary given the viscous economic attacks the Cuban people have endured for so long.
The Cuban people have had their development stifled by a decades long blockade that began in 1959. The most recent developments include the Trump administrations’ renewal of Cuba’s place on the State Sponsors of Terrorism list at the beginning of 2025 and the recent presidential memorandum that was announced on June 30th. The memorandum calls for an all out intensification of the economic strangulation that currently exists as well as undermining the Cuban government and its people through support of the private sector and political dissidents.
Trump announces trade deal with Vietnam…
President Trump says the U.S. has made a trade deal with Vietnam as part of his push to renegotiate tariffs with dozens of different countries around the world. It comes as the president’s self-imposed deadline for those tariff negotiations is just a week away.
In a social media post, Trump said tariffs will now be 20% on goods from Vietnam and 40% on goods shipped through Vietnam. While Trump wrote that Vietnam will pay these tariffs, that is untrue. U.S. businesses importing goods from Vietnam will be paying the taxes to the government.
He said that in return, Vietnam would “give the United States of America TOTAL ACCESS to their Markets for Trade,” meaning that “we will be able to sell our product into Vietnam at ZERO Tariff.” He specifically cited SUVs as a product that would be exported in larger numbers to Vietnam. However, the White House has not released further details on this agreement…
However, with significant trade imbalance favoring Vietnam raising concerns in Washington — the U.S. trade deficit reached over $123.5 billion in 2024 and $39.1 billion in the first quarter of 2025, U.S. officials have been pressing Vietnam to address non-trade barriers, combat fraud, and curb illegal transshipments. They also urge Vietnam to further open its market to U.S. goods and services.
By Nga Pham and Danielle Kurtzleben
Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/07/02/nx-s1-5422252/trump-trade-deal-vietnam-tariff
