International

January is a special month for the global left. Every year at this time, progressives and activists convene at the World Social Forum, usually in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In January 2005, I too was eagerly awaiting my first trip to the Forum, imagining a week of cross-cultural communication, strategic organizing, and inspiring celebrations. Although I didn’t know exactly what to expect, I did know one thing – the Forum would be an alternative to neoliberalism. So why did I walk away from Porto Alegre worried mostly about the similarities between the Forum and neoliberalism? And is there still reason to be worried, as the 2006 Forum approaches? […]

Panama’s agricultural minister resigned yesterday "to sound off an alarm" over the potential effects of agricultural policy changes the U.S. is pushing on his country.  Laurentino Cortizo said diminished regulations that are being negotiated could mean […]

China’s increasing ties with Latin America, and especially Cuba, could lead to increased calls for a greater U.S. military presence in the region. The Miami Herald reported in an article that China has become Cuba’s […]

A report published last week by human rights groups argues that U.S. military aid and programs in Latin America are a threat to democracy in the region. "Erasing the Lines" was prepared by the Latin America Working […]

"The United States makes no distinction between those who commit acts of terror and those who support and harbor them because they’re equally guilty of murder," said President Bush on Veteran’s day.  However, the 15,000 activists who congregated on November 18-20 at the School of the Americas (SOA) weeks later in Columbus, GA reminded the US president, and the rest of the world, of the U.S. government’s role in training and harboring terrorists throughout Latin America.

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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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]