https://www.mintpressnews.com/empire-files-venezuela-sanctions/248151/
> US Sanctions Against Venezuela Force Abby Martin’s “Empire Files” to Shut > Down > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/empire-files-venezuela-sanctions/248151/> > > The U.S. government is not only seeking to punish the Venezuelan > government with its increasingly draconian sanctions, but is seeking as > well to cripple the teleSUR media network, despite the fact that it is > funded by several other countries. > by Whitney Webb <https://www.mintpressnews.com/author/whitney-webb/> > > August 23rd, 2018 > > By * Whitney Webb * <https://www.mintpressnews.com/author/whitney-webb/> > Whitney > Webb <https://www.facebook.com/whitneywebbwriter/?ref=page_internal> > @_whitneywebb > <https://twitter.com/_whitneywebb> > 6 Comments > > *LOS ANGELES — *Recent sanctions imposed on Venezuela by the Trump > administration have forced the *Empire Files* <http://theempirefiles.tv/> > program, hosted by American investigative journalist Abby Martin, to shut > down. The decision to officially announce the show’s end came after blocks > on wire transfers originating in Venezuela and sent to the U.S. were > recently imposed, thereby cutting off the show’s primary source of funding. > Issues with funding caused by the U.S.’ Venezuela policy had, however, been > a problem for some time, leading Martin and her staff to halt production in > late May. While Martin and her team had hoped conditions would improve, the > recent sanctions make that such a distant possibility that the decision to > shut down the show was made on Wednesday. > > *Empire Files*, which produces investigative journalism “from inside > history’s biggest empire,” is funded by a contract with the teleSUR > network, which receives the majority of its funding from Venezuela but is > also funded by the states of Bolivia, Nicaragua, Uruguay and Cuba. > > According to a statement > <https://mediaroots.org/us-sanctions-shut-down-the-empire-files-with-abby-martin/> > posted on *Media Roots*, wire transfers to the U.S. — not just from > Venezuela, but from all other countries that fund teleSUR — have been > severed. This suggests that the U.S. government is not only seeking to > punish the Venezuelan government with its increasingly draconian > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/venezuela-sanctions/243914/> sanctions, > but is seeking as well to cripple the teleSUR media network, despite the > fact that it is funded by several other countries. Indeed, other > U.S.-located journalists contracted by teleSUR, along with the *Empire > Files* team, have also come under financial attack. > > BREAKING: Empire Files statement on shut down under US sanctions: > https://t.co/pfWLqrVQ0L > > — The Empire Files (@EmpireFiles) August 22, 2018 > <https://twitter.com/EmpireFiles/status/1032155651152142336?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> > > Such financial attacks targeting the network have been on-going, as the > U.S. government has been blocking funding sent from teleSUR to its > employees located in the United States for over six months. For much of the > past year, the U.S.’ Venezuela policy caused payments to be both delayed > and sporadic, particularly after as the U.S. Treasury began to push > <https://www.voanews.com/a/united-states-advises-banks-watch-venezuelan-corruption/4037462.html> > American banks last September to “be on the look-out for suspicious > financial activity,” particularly “wire transfers” originating from > Venezuela. > > U.S. government attacks on the teleSUR network are unfortunate but > unsurprising, given the fact that teleSUR has long been a target of U.S. > government policy owing to its association with the Venezuelan government. > For instance in 2015, a failed coup plot in Venezuela that had been backed > by the U.S. included plans > <https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Venezuelan-Legislator-Gives-Details-on-Thwarted-Coup--20150213-0001.html> > to bomb teleSUR’s news building in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. > > More recently, U.S.-funded opposition forces in Venezuela attacked a > teleSUR news team, while another teleSUR reporter was shot in the back in a > separate incident. Martin herself was also threatened > <https://www.mintpressnews.com/venezuelan-opposition-threatens-to-lynch-american-journalist-abby-martin/228482/> > by violent U.S.-backed opposition protesters for her reporting on Venezuela > for the *Empire Files*. > > In a statement, Martin told *MintPress* that teleSUR has come under U.S. > attack because “it is one of the very few outlets in the U.S. that gives an > alternative to the corporate media propaganda about Venezuela while the > U.S. foments regime-change against its elected leadership.” > > She added that “the sanctions that have severed teleSUR’s finances are > another way for the U.S. government to shut down dissenting voices it deems > a threat, but this time in the shadows,” and thanked the show’s viewers for > “the outpouring of support” that she and her staff have received since the > show’s shutdown was announced. > > > *Empire Files** seeks alternative funding* > > Since the program first launched in 2015, the *Empire Files* has produced > over 100 documentaries, interviews, and other media content from around the > world, focusing on the costs of war, inequality and the far-reaching > influence of U.S. empire. Most recently, right before funds dried up, the > program had hired a staff of journalists within the besieged Gaza Strip. As > a result, the program currently has unreleased footage of recent events in > Gaza, including the Great Return March, as well as on-the-ground footage > from Colombian “peace zones.” > > Given the bleak financial outlook for the program and “no end in sight” to > U.S. financial attacks on teleSUR and Venezuela in general, Martin and her > team halted production of the series at the end of May, before Season Two > had concluded. In an effort to complete the post-production of already > recorded Season Two footage and to produce a planned third season, Martin > and the *Empire Files* staff have announced independent fundraisers in > order to keep the program alive. > > US sanctions knock off @AbbyMartin > <https://twitter.com/AbbyMartin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>'s 'The Empire Files' > which airs on Free Speech TV. Much of the program's funding comes from > Latin American broadcaster @teleSURtv > <https://twitter.com/teleSURtv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>, of which Venezuela > is the largest funder. https://t.co/F6DYOrTipg > > — WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) August 22, 2018 > <https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/1032386410299285507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw> > > For those interested in donating to the *Empire Files*, a GoFundMe page > <https://www.gofundme.com/keep-empire-files-going> has been set up to > help meet essential expenses. In addition, those wishing to donate > cryptocurrency can also donate BitCoin to the program’s wallet (information > at the end of this page > <https://mediaroots.org/us-sanctions-shut-down-the-empire-files-with-abby-martin/>) > or become a monthly subscriber to the program via Patreon > <https://www.patreon.com/empirefiles>. > > Top Photo | Journalist Abby Martin interviews Venezuelan opposition > protesters. (Photo: Facebook) > > *Whitney Webb is a staff writer for MintPress News and a contributor to > Ben Swann’s Truth in Media. Her work has appeared on Global Research, the > Ron Paul Institute and 21st Century Wire, among others. She has also made > radio and TV appearances on RT and Sputnik. She currently lives with her > family in southern Chile.* > > Stories published in our Daily Digests section are chosen based on the > interest of our readers. They are republished from a number of sources, and > are not produced by MintPress News. The views expressed in these articles > are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect MintPress News > editorial policy. > * Republish our stories! * MintPress News is licensed under a Creative > Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 International License. > 6 Comments > > - Abby Martin <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/abby-martin/> > - Empire Files <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/empire-files/> > - teleSUR <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/telesur/> > - us sanctions <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/us-sanctions/> > - Venezuela <https://www.mintpressnews.com/tag/venezuela/> > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. If you'd like to donate to News From Underground, please visit http://markcrispinmiller.com/donate - we appreciate your ongoing support. Ways to unsubscribe, 1) send a blank email to [email protected]. 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