Donald Trump, or more commonly known as Potus, say’s he’s driving it. To a certain extent he is correct. While American media insists the low oil prices are just the natural cycle of the market at work, it’s rather convenient for U.S. foreign policy. Russia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Iran all have economies centered around state-owned oil companies and oil exports, and each of these countries has suffered the sting of low oil prices. During the George W. Bush administration, oil prices were the highest they had ever been. The destruction of Iraq, sanctions on Iran and Russia, strikes and turmoil in Nigeria — these events created a shortage on the international markets, driving prices up. And this is when America discovered their grip on the oil markets and manipulated it.
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Permanent Representative of Russia to the UNSC on the topic of the situation in Venezuela (MUST SEE!)
THE SAKER—On January 26th 2019 the Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya, speaking at the 8452nd meeting of the UN Security Council on the topic of the situation in Venezuela, asked America (or more precisely – Mike Pompeo) a simple and rhetorical question: are you going to once again violate the UN Charter?
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Of Suspected Spies & Cathedrals… and Western Media Hypocrisy
FINIAN CUNNINGHAM—The case of Maria Butina appears to be a disturbing one of the American state framing up a Russian citizen to bolster a political agenda of alleged Russian interference in US elections. Her pre-trial detention in solitary confinement certainly amounts to a form of psychological torture to pressure a confession. Butina is facing several years in prison, despite many observers considering her to be innocent.
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The Rule of Law in Russia Under Putin
The 1993 constitution guarantees the presumption of innocence for criminal defendants as well as the right to counsel (Henderson 2011). During Putin’s first two terms as president, he introduced or oversaw the implementation of the rights of habeas corpus and trial by jury, and increased rights to exculpatory evidence (Petro 2018). After certain reforms made by Putin to the criminal code, acquittal rates in bench trials (only heard by a judge) doubled and acquittal rates in jury trials tripled, contributing to a 40 percent drop in the overall incarceration rate and a 95 percent drop in the juvenile incarceration rate since 2001 (Petro 2018).
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