Alan Macleod

Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. He completed his PhD in 2017 and has since authored two acclaimed books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. Follow Alan on Twitter for more of his work and commentary: @AlanRMacLeod.

Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador Dictatorship: Made in Israel

Nayib Bukele may be Palestinian, but the dictatorship he built in El Salvador is made in Israel. From weapons to spyware, Alan Macleod examines the Israeli support behind the man who calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator.”

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
President Nayib Bukele stands in front of red surveillance vortex; background shows Israeli flags, military scenes, and prisoners escorted by soldiers.

Nayib Bukele may be Palestinian, but the dictatorship he has built in El Salvador is very much made in Israel. From arming his security forces to supplying him with weapons and high-tech surveillance tools, MintPress explores the Israeli influence helping to prop up the man who calls himself “the world’s coolest dictator.”   Arming a

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Why Washington is Worried About Burkina Faso’s Young Revolutionary Leader

Ibrahim Traoré has kicked out French troops, defied US pressure, and embraced Pan-African self-reliance. His revolution is reshaping Africa—and Washington is watching.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod

Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré is remaking his nation, and in the process, making enemies in the West. Since taking power in 2022, the young military leader has expelled French troops, ejected Western corporations, and aligned his country with Russia, Cuba, and Venezuela. Promoting pan-African unity and national self-reliance while surviving coup

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Nayib Bukele: The Dark Side of the “World’s Coolest Dictator”

How the US helped Nayib Bukele turn El Salvador into the world’s largest prison state and why Donald Trump sees him as a model.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod

The Trump administration’s deal to send large numbers of people to prisons in El Salvador has thrust its president, Nayib Bukele, into the international spotlight. Bukele has been praised, especially in conservative media, as a dynamic and popular leader who has saved his country from the grips of gang violence. But beneath this polished image, he

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Facing Prison Time in Germany for Criticizing an Israeli Journalist: The Case of Hüseyin Dogru

Journalist Hüseyin Dogru faces prison time and could see his family deported over a viral sticker criticizing an Israeli reporter.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Baroque frame holding a protest sticker of Nicholas Potter, cradled in hands painted with the German flag

Amid a crackdown on pro-Palestine voices in Germany, a journalist regularly attacked as a Russian operative is facing up to three years in prison for defamation of an Israel-based journalist. Hüseyin Dogru, founder of red. media, has been charged with defamation for actions relating to a spat with Nicholas Potter, a German state-funded reporter

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Wiz Acquisition Puts Israeli Intelligence In Charge of Your Google Data

Google’s $32 billion purchase of Wiz hands its global data security to an Israeli firm founded and staffed by ex-military cyber spies from the IDF’s notorious Unit 8200.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Assaf Rappaport and Benjamin Netanyahu in front of a cloud data network background, Google’s Wiz acquisition and ties to Israeli intelligence.

Google recently announced it would acquire Israeli-American cloud security firm Wiz for $32 billion. The price tag — 65 times Wiz’s annual revenue — has raised eyebrows and further solidified the close relationship between Google and the Israeli military. In its press release, the Silicon Valley giant claimed that the purchase will “vastly

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With Yemen Attack, US Continues Long History of Deliberately Bombing Hospitals

This isn’t new. It’s policy. The U.S. has targeted hospitals across continents for decades.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
US bombing hospitals Feature photo

In repeatedly targeting and destroying a cancer center in Yemen, the United States has carried on a long pattern of bombing hospitals. On March 24, the United States carried out a premeditated attack on the Al Rasool Al-Azam Oncology Hospital in Saada, Yemen, turning it into rubble. At least two people were killed and 13 more injured. This

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Betar: the Far-Right Hate Group Helping Trump Deport Israel’s Critics

Betar US, a far-right pro-Israel group with a history of terrorism and incitement, is pushing to deport critics of Israel. Working closely with the Trump admin, it’s now targeting activists like Columbia’s Mahmoud Khalil. Alan Macleod investigates.

Alan Macleod
By Alan Macleod
Betar

A far-right, pro-Israel group with a history of support for terror and genocide is working closely with the Trump administration, preparing dossiers on thousands of pro-Palestine figures it wants deported from the United States. Betar U.S. is known to have had several meetings with senior government officials and has claimed credit for the arrest

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