The Digger

ITALY broke ranks with the EU on Thursday night, declaring that it “does not recognise the self-proclaimed president Juan Guaido” in Venezuela. The declaration came after the European Parliament voted to recognise Mr Guaido, an MP of the Popular Will party who declared himself president of Venezuela on January 23 despite not having participated in any election. Italy’s Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Manlio di Stefano of the Five Star movement, said Rome was “totally against” a group of countries “determining the internal policies” of a sovereign state: “This is called the principle of non-intervention and is enshrined by the United Nations.” After the United States recognised Mr Guaido as president instead of Venezuela’s elected leader Nicolas Maduro, a range of Latin American and EU countries followed suit, although the UN security council declined to endorse his claim on Thursday. Venezuela’s legitimate government continues to be recognised by a majority of coun...

Yellow Vests, Italian Budget  Battles & Silent Labor Unions   "While organized labor restrains itself, both right- and left-wing populists take the helm on EU on economic issues, many claiming they are not anti-European as such, but merely determined to stop the austerity policies that have done so much harm to the population." Excerpts: " Since mid-September, the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, has been battling with Italy over its budget.  The populist government in Rome—led by the  Five-Star Movement , orM5S, and the  League —have decided to stimulate the economy by giving money to the poor, lowering taxes and increasing public investment. With an assist from financial markets that are penalizing Italian government bonds, the Commission has been threatening an “excessive deficit procedure” if Italy doesn’t reduce spending and resume measures to balance its budget. In theory this austerity policy will make the country more sta...