Honduras Commemorates Tense Anniversary of Unresolved Military Coup

July 5, 2010 Adrienne Pine 0
The build-up to the anniversary of the June 28, 2009 military ouster of democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya has been the source of extensive public and private reflection in the country. Today—in stark contrast to previous years—human rights, militarization, the two-party system, neoliberal economic policies, and democracy are hotly debated in local and national meetings of the resistance, in mainstream and resistance newspaper editorials, in radio and television commentaries, in university conferences, bars, corner stores, and soccer fields throughout the country.

U.S. Social Forum a Mechanism for Change

June 29, 2010 Marc Becker 0

Fifteen thousand social movement activists descended on Detroit during the fourth week of June for the second United States Social Forum (USSF) to discuss and debate proposals for how to build a better world. Latin American solidarity activists held a minor but impressive presence. The Latin American Solidarity Coalition (LASC) pulled together an impressive listings of events. Together with other groups such as the School of the Americas Watch (SOAW) and a variety of Venezuelan and Cuban groups, solidarity activists had a notable presence.

[…]

The Coup Is Not Over: Marking a Year of Resistance in Honduras

June 28, 2010 Joseph Shansky 0

To this day, no U.S. State Dept. spokesperson has acknowledged the thousands of human rights violations committed under the Micheletti and Lobo governments. The US continues to maintain the absurd claim that reconciliation has come to the country, recently seen in Hillary Clinton’s efforts to persuade the OAS to re-admit Honduras. And on June 18, Llorens announced that the Honduran government would be receiving $20 million from the US to enhance “security”.

[…]

Building a Future in the Barrio of Chapellín: An Interview with Rosa María González

On Thursday, June 17, 2010, we made our way to the Caracas barrio of Chapellín. The barrio is a large, impoverished area developed through illegal land settlements over decades. We arrived at the Comuna of the barrio, a house taken over from drug dealers by local community activists, using finances from the Chávez government. Rosa María González, a leading activist in the Comuna, and spokesperson for Habitat and Land program in the barrio, took time out of her schedule to speak with us outside the house of the Comuna.

[…]

The Media Empire Strikes Back: Reviewing Reviews of South of the Border

June 27, 2010 Cyril Mychalejko 0

Oliver Stone’s new documentary about Latin America’s leftward political shift and its growing independence from Washington is being lambasted by the media. One spectacular example is courtesy of The Wall Street Journal’s Ron Radosh, who remarkably calls out Stone for not mentioning the economic successes of Chile under the brutal dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet during the 1970’s as a point of comparison to show how Venezuelan society under Chavez is suffering. […]

Honduras One Year Later

June 27, 2010 Belén Fernández 0
Although U.S. President Barack Obama warned in the immediate aftermath of the Honduran coup last year that its success would set a “terrible precedent” in the region, the U.S. in fact proved instrumental in legitimizing said precedent via a post-coup policy of noncommittal condemnation and sanctioning. Obama’s initial characterization of the coup as illegal quickly gave way to State Department dithering over whether the military removal of a president was really military in nature. 

Based Out in Latin America

June 24, 2010 Grace Livingstone 0

Foreign bases have been a mainstay of global US military domination for decades. But in Latin America they have been closing fast and a new deal to use seven Colombian military bases is, paradoxically, a sign of US weakness in the region.

[…]

Two Dead in Confrontation in Oaxaca, Near Site of Canadian Mine

June 22, 2010 Nancy Davies 0

Just two weeks prior to the July 4 state-wide election in Oaxaca, Mexico, an anti-mining and political confrontation took place. A battle broke out between PRIistas and residents of the villages El Cuajilote and Maguey Largo who oppose the exploitation of the mine “La Trinidad” located on communal lands in the municipality of Ocotlán, Oaxaca on June 19. […]

Reencounter of the Original Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala in Ecuador

June 21, 2010 Marc Becker 0

Representatives of the original peoples and nationalities of the Americas returned to Ecuador last week for the twentieth anniversary of a historic gathering that advanced hemispheric unity. The Continental Encounter of the Original Nationalities and Peoples of Abya Yala met from June 14 to 16. Abya Yala is a word for the Americas in the language of the Kuna people in Panama that has gained broad usage as an aboriginal term for the hemisphere. […]

Oliver Stone’s New Documentary Explains Progressive Governments in Latin America, Exposes Adversarial Media Bias

June 21, 2010 Tony Phillips 0
Stone takes us on a somewhat bewildering tour of South America, as viewers are provided two starkly different portraits of Latin American contemporary history as it unfolds. He does this by juxtaposing two diametrically opposed viewpoints: that of private media outlets in both the U.S. and in Latin America and those of leaders in the region, those responsible for creating the “pink-tide.”
1 120 121 122 123 124 252