Ring of Fire (9/22/05)
The old conference hall on the second floor of the cheap hotel in downtown Quito is packed with representatives from Ecuador’s indigenous groups. There is a hum of muffled conversation and the smell of wood […]
Year: 2005
Bush Brings the False Intelligence Game to South America (9/6/05)
On August 23, the Rev. Pat Robertson called for the US government to suspend the Fifth Commandment and assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. While the Bush White House quickly distanced itself from the suggestion, the […]
Report from Nicaragua (8/12/05)
FSLN temporarily blocking CAFTA from reaching National Assembly On Aug. 3 two committee reports on the Dominican Republic and Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) were submitted to the leadership of the National Assembly. The […]
Reporting from Latin America, An interview with Benjamin Dangl (8/8/05)
In this interview Benjamin Dangl talks about his work reporting from Latin America, and discusses the social movements, grassroots media projects and natural resource struggles in the region. Tell us a little about yourself and […]
Biotech Crops in Latin America (6/27/05)
The ever-growing global controversy over genetically engineered (GE) crops is particularly intense in Latin America, which has become the biotech industry’s brave new frontier. In fact, South America alone has most of the world’s GE […]
The Free Software Challenge in Latin America (5/10/05)
In 2002, then-U.S. ambassador to Peru, John Hilton, delivered a threatening letter to the Peruvian congress using his public office to act on behalf of a very powerful American private interest. The letter, which was […]
A Selection of News and Views on the Passage of CAFTA (8/01/05)
The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was passed in Congress by 2 votes on Wednesday, July 27th around midnight. Here’s a selection of articles on the passage of CAFTA, the trade agreement itself and […]
CAFTA Deserves a Quiet Death (6/27/05)
While the Bush Administration still aspires to ward off defeat, it is becoming increasingly clear that its failure to pass the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) represents the latest in a series of setbacks […]
Bad and Getting Worse: Labor Rights Sold Out With CAFTA (5/31/05)
"The government says that here in Guatemala, workers’ rights are respected, but this isn’t the case." – Vidalia Garcia Hernandez Imagine for a moment that you are stepping into the shoes of a Guatemalan maquila […]
CAFTA’s Hollow Reforms (5/23/05)
In Guatemala sexual harassment is not illegal. In El Salvador and Honduras hundreds of thousands of children work illegally. The minimum wage for a Nicaraguan manufacturer worker is $55.74 a month, less than what a […]