Journalist, author - Cold War Puerto Rico, Game Changer, Collateral Damage, Over The Line. Contributor @tribunemagazine @Jacobin @TheNation. Also on Substack.
Powys, Wales
Joined November 2022
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Histories of 'McCarthyism' ignore Puerto Rico - and yet J Edgar Hoover was so obsessed with defeating its independence movement that he mounted more Smith Act prosecutions there than in any US state except California and New York.
Check it out here: steve-howell.com/cold-war-pu…
Steve Howell retweeted
🏥At the Holguín Pediatric Hospital, the night wears on and newborns sleep in their incubators. Suddenly, the power goes out. Darkness covers everything—but not the instinct of two nurses who, without hesitation, rise in unison.
Diana and Liliannis don't need to think. One turns on the rechargeable lamp; the other grabs a manual Ambu-type resuscitator and begins pumping air into the lungs of Leonardo, a baby connected to a ventilator that has just stopped. Their hands hold the thread of a life that has barely begun.
The incubator maintains the temperature, but it needs electricity. When it fails, time condenses and every second weighs like fear and responsibility.
While the blockade complicates spare parts and fuel, these workers sustain the lives of those who cannot wait. There are no sophisticated alarms—only one made by hand from radio parts and steady hands.
Steve Howell retweeted
If a Russian attack really was imminent, we would be withdrawing our forces from faraway places and concentrating them where the supposed threat is.
But we aren't - in fact, we've just sent RAF planes to help the authoritarian Saudi regime fight a war in Yemen.
They take us for fools.
Source: Strategic Defence Review (2025).
Britain must be ready for war within 1,000 days, Defence Secretary warns
lbc.co.uk/article/defence-pr…
Steve Howell retweeted
We're excited to officially endorse @PattyforIL, the next U.S. Representative from Illinois' 4th congressional district!
Patty is committed to Puerto Rico's decolonization and independence. We look forward to working with her in Congress to fight for a free and just Puerto Rico!
Steve Howell retweeted
It's been a lucrative week for BAE shareholders.
Around £5 billion has been added to the market value of the arms maker, thanks to:
- A government brokered arms deal with Poland,
- An extra £10bn for the Ukraine war,
- Another £5bn diverted from public services to fund UK arms spending.
Total arms spending in this Parliament will be more than £350bn - exceeding the Cold War level in real terms.
And that doesn't include the £35bn for Ukraine.
It's been a lucrative week for BAE shareholders.
Around £5 billion has been added to the market value of the arms maker, thanks to:
- A government brokered arms deal with Poland,
- An extra £10bn for the Ukraine war,
- Another £5bn diverted from public services to fund UK arms spending.
Total arms spending in this Parliament will be more than £350bn - exceeding the Cold War level in real terms.
And that doesn't include the £35bn for Ukraine.
Steve Howell retweeted
Does anyone else think this out of order?
Burnham and Healey boast that they told Zelensky the details of the Budget's £10 billion package for Ukraine before the Cabinet, before the House of Commons and before the British people.
This surely must be unprecedented?
Steve Howell retweeted
Budget woe for us, boom-time for bankers.
Lloyds bank has just announced a 99% increase in its profits.
In the third quarter, its profits rose to £2.33bn, compared to £1.17bn last year.
In the 9 months of the year so far the bank has made a profit of £6.62bn - up 42%.
Source: investegate.co.uk/announceme…
Steve Howell retweeted
The Budget confirms that £4.7 billion of the government’s £15 billion defence investment funding requirement will be met through the reprioritisation of capital budgets and the Treasury’s capital reserve.
Of this, £3 billion will come from a further one per cent reduction in departmental capital budgets between 2027–28 and 2029–30.
This means the government is explicitly redirecting resources away from other, useful investment priorities to meet its military spending commitments.
#Gunsnotbutter
Budget woe for us, boom-time for bankers.
Lloyds bank has just announced a 99% increase in its profits.
In the third quarter, its profits rose to £2.33bn, compared to £1.17bn last year.
In the 9 months of the year so far the bank has made a profit of £6.62bn - up 42%.
Source: investegate.co.uk/announceme…
Steve Howell retweeted
Sophy Ridge: "Burnham.. promised to end 40 years of neoliberalism.. that wasn't a budget to end 40 years of neoliberalism, right?"
John Healey: "I would say that's wrong"
Who knew you could dismantle decades of neoliberalism by making gherkins a tiny bit cheaper?
Steve Howell retweeted
How is there a "black hole" in the public finances, yet we've got £10 BILLION to prolong the war in Ukraine?
Burnham - unlike the leaders of Finland and Norway yesterday - has done nothing to give impetus to diplomacy.
He may have made Zelensky's day but Ukrainians want peace.
🚨 NEW: John Healey has announced Ukraine will receive £10bn in additional economic and military support
"We called him this morning... he told us we made his day"
#Budget
Does anyone else think this out of order?
Burnham and Healey boast that they told Zelensky the details of the Budget's £10 billion package for Ukraine before the Cabinet, before the House of Commons and before the British people.
This surely must be unprecedented?
Steve Howell retweeted
I asked Grok how many nurses could be funded by yet another £10billion being sent to fund the Ukraine war.
This is quite staggering.
#NoWar
Steve Howell retweeted
We have to start talking about a different kind of society, because every single penny that’s going on defence, that’s killing people around the world, is impoverishing us here at home.
Our full response to today's Budget [1/2]
Steve Howell retweeted
The final outcome of Israel's election is unclear, but whoever forms the next government, our task remains the same:
To build the movement for Palestine, advance campaigns for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, and end Britain's complicity in Israel's genocide and apartheid 🧵
Steve Howell retweeted
John Healey’s commitment to funding the Defence Investment Plan and increasing military spending to 3.5% by 2035 and 3% by 2030 made his first Budget one for war and austerity, not for the right of working class people to live decent lives.
#WelfareNotWarfare #WagesNotWeapons
As ever, war is a racket.
When you read the small print of Healey's £10.5 billion for Ukraine, less than 5% goes to air defences this winter.
The rest locks Ukraine into longer term dependency, including £3 billion that conveniently will boost the profits of the arms industry.
