| As US Rubio
Announces Cut to Censorship at
State UN Continues to Ban Press
in Litmus Test
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY
/ UN
GATE,
April 16– While the UN in New
York continues to ban US-based
Inner City Press and not
answer its questions, on April
16 US Secretary of State Marco
Rubio "announc[ed] the closure
of the State Department’s
Counter Foreign Information
Manipulation and Interference
(R/FIMI), formerly known as
the Global Engagement Center
(GEC). Under the
previous administration, this
office, which cost taxpayers
more than $50 million per
year, spent millions of
dollars to actively silence
and censor the voices of
Americans they were supposed
to be serving." And that is
true, today, at the UN in New
York. Litmus test 2025.
Earlier in the
year as Secretary Rubio headed
south including to El
Salvador, the issue arose
whether the Administration
will use its leverage in the
International Monetary Fund to
allow President Bukele to
resume his pro- cryptocurrency
policies.
On January
31 US Special Envoy Mauricio
Claver-Carone, previously the
head of the Inter-American
Development Bank, took three
media questions about the
trip.
The
Miami Herald asked about
Venezuela, and Richard
Grenell's upcoming trip there.
PBS asked about Panama (the
answer touched on China's
incursions) and the Washington
Reporter asked about Colombia.
Transcript will go here
Afterward
Inner City Press asked in
writing, "will the US take any
action on the IMF's
restrictions on President
Bukele's well-publicized
desire for El Salvador to be
(even) more involved in
Bitcoin, given the
Administration's position on
digital assets? Also, any
comment on Honduras president
Castro canceling her CELAC
meeting, and which countries
the US thinks may have opposed
it. And anything State / the
new USUN under Elise Stefanik
will do on these topics at the
UN, which I cover closely from
outside."
We aim to
have more on this, and about
this trip. For now, on
February 3, Spokesperson Tammy
Bruce said that "Rubio met
today with Salvadoran
President Nayib Bukele in San
Salvador. President Bukele
agreed to take back all
Salvadoran MS-13 gang members
who are in the United States
unlawfully. He also promised
to accept and incarcerate
violent illegal immigrants,
including members of the
Venezuelan Tren de Aragua
gang, but also criminal
illegal migrants from any
country and to house in his
jails dangerous American
criminals, including U.S.
citizens and legal residents.
Secretary Rubio also raised
strategies to counter the
influence of the Chinese
Communist Party in the
hemisphere." And in the UN?
Watch this site.
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
SDNY Press Room
500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA
Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station,
NY NY 10013
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2025 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
