Second Coronavirus Aid Package Signed: Will GOP Outfox Pelosi in Negotiations?

"President Trump on Wednesday signed into law a multibillion-dollar
emergency aid package aimed at helping Americans impacted by the
coronavirus," The Hill reported Wednesday. It will go into effect in
15 days. The measure, which was previously approved by the House of
Representatives, passed the Senate Wednesday in a 90-8 vote. It
"includes provisions offering paid leave benefits for Americans,
bolstered unemployment benefits and free diagnostic testing for the
virus," The Hill noted. What does this mean for the US economy during
this coronavirus outbreak?

On Tuesday, "Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported
thirty-three people from the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) to
Mexico and possibly other countries," the Yakima Immigrant Response
Network wrote in a Thursday Facebook post. The network "reported the
on-boarding at Yakima Airport of thirty men and three women, all from
the NWDC in Tacoma, [Washington], a facility located in greater
Seattle, a region with the highest number of COVID-19-related deaths.
Despite Governor Jay Inslee’s recommendation to limit as much as
possible large gatherings under fifty people, to practice social
distancing at all times, and the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC)
recommendation to cancel all non-essential plane travel, especially
international travel, ICE continues its unnecessary forced
transportation of immigrants and migrants across the country and
beyond the US border, endangering the lives of detained people and
potentially further spreading the Coronavirus from the hardest-hit
metropolitan area in North America. These deportations reveal an
agency failing to respect the United States government’s efforts to
contain the novel COVID-19 pandemic. As ICE continues its assault on
immigrants and migrants, behaving as if this is a time for business as
usual — detaining, deporting, and denying entry to asylum seekers —
its actions now far exceed the domain of immigration enforcement."
What's going on here?

"Brazilians on Wednesday held what was described as the largest
protest against far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to date, but the
demonstration did not take place in the streets," Common Dreams
reported Thursday. What’s going on in Brazil? "Instead, voluntarily
confined to their homes to prevent the spread of the novel
coronavirus, millions of people in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro took
to their balconies and windows to demand Bolsonaro's ouster over his
handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, which the president continues to
downplay even after more than a dozen members of his inner circle
tested positive for the disease." What's the difference between what’s
happening in Brazil and what’s happening in Spain and Italy?

A Tuesday headline in The Grayzone reads: "US ramps up sanctions
devastating Venezuela’s health sector as coronavirus spreads." The
article says, "Promising to 'smash' Venezuela’s government during a
'maximum pressure March,' Trump has imposed crushing sanctions that
force Venezuela to spend three times as much as non-sanctioned
countries on coronavirus testing kits." What has happened to diplomacy
and soft power? Could this be considered virtual germ warfare?

GUESTS:

Joia Jefferson Nuri — Political strategist and CEO of In The Public
Eye Communications.

Ray Baker — Political analyst and host of the podcast Public Agenda.

Maru Mora-Villalpando — Nationally known immigrant rights activist,
co-founder of the Latinx organization Mijente and community organizer
with Northwest Detention Center Resistance.

Dr. Gerald Horne — Professor of history at the University of Houston
and author of many books, including "Blows Against the Empire:...