What's up with Veles? From fake news to bogus debit cards, puppies and kittens?!

 In 2016 the city of Veles North Macedonia was the epicenter of fake news posts on Facebook etc. "Pope Endorses Trump", etc. Before I came here,  I talked to several reporters from Buzzfeed and other outlets who covered this story, always suspicious that the Russians were probably behind it. But no one found any evidence of that. 

But last night I met two Macedonian investigative journalists at an embassy party and there is much more to the story. It wasn't just a bunch of hungry teenagers trying to make some clickbait cash.

Read more here: https://irl.mk/the-secret-players-behind-macedonias-fake-news-sites/


But I buried he lede: Veles is now the hotspot for Trump souvenirs, including bogus debit cards that many Americans have bought, thinking they could access funds from Trump. But surprise!! The cards got them nothing. 

 https://www.rferl.org/a/macedonia-fake-news-sites-us-election-conservatives/30906884.html

I have a student from Veles and I am going to try to convince her to pursue this story more. In the meantime, we took a drive through Veles last weekend and you can certainly see why young folks would do almost anything to make a living. Looks like the US rustbelt at tis worst. 








There were a few pockets of prosperity in the center of the city -- 




and the restroom that I used in a trendy restaurant had a sense of humor.




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