Archives – Page 149 – Upside Down World

Latin America Changes: Hunger Strikes in Bolivia, Summits in the Caribbean

April 15, 2009 Benjamin Dangl 0

Morales on Hunger Strike

After Bolivia beat the Argentine soccer team led by legendary Diego Maradona by 6 to 1, Maradona told reporters, "Every Bolivia goal was a stab in my heart." Bolivia was expected to lose the April 1 match as Argentina is ranked as the 6th best soccer team in the world, and Maradona enjoys godlike status among soccer fans. This story of David and Goliath in the Andes is just one of various events shaking up the hemisphere. […]

False Charges on San Salvador Vendors Dismissed

April 14, 2009 Peter Gabny 0

Photo by Ricardo Chicas Segura

The 14th Court of Peace in San Salvador released Roberto Alexis Víchez Osegueda, Adalberto Martínez Mejía, Carlos Alexander Soriano, Alfredo Mauricio Rivas Campos y José María Elizondo on Tuesday and dropped charges by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) that they had been selling child pornography. Family members believe police instigated the vendors’ wrongful arrests. […]

Mining Co. Bailout Eclipses Environmental Disaster in Peru

April 13, 2009 Milagros Salazar 0

(IPS)The Peruvian government refused to bail out the U.S. mining and metallurgical company Doe Run, which has caused severe pollution in the highlands city of La Oroya, from its severe financial troubles, but private banks did. An economic solution thus prevailed over the urgent need to protect the health of residents of La Oroya, who have no choice but to continue breathing the toxic fumes of the company’s large multi-metal smelter. […]

Interview with Brazilian Squatter Activist Nete Araujo

April 9, 2009 Rowenna Davis 0

Nete Araujo

Nete Araujo is no conventional grandma. At just 34 years old, she wears sweetheart purple nail varnish and bright white trainers. And instead of spending her days making tea and handing out cake, this nana chooses to pass the time occupying abandoned buildings in São Paulo. […]

Empire and Latin America in the Obama Era

April 9, 2009 Manuel Pérez-Rocha 0

Barack Obama’s rise to the U.S. presidency has left most Latin Americans suspended between skepticism and hope. That’s bound to make the V Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, to be held on April 18 and 19, especially interesting. […]

Scorched Earth: The Rio Negro Massacre at Pak’oxom, Guatemala

April 8, 2009 James Rodríguez 0

In 1976, a former President of Guatemala signed the first loan accord with the Inter-American Development Bank for the construction of the Pueblo Viejo-Quixal hydroelectric plant. The project included the “flooding of the Chixoy River basin and much of its valley, forcibly disappear[ing] 23 villages, 45 archaeological sites, numerous crop areas and natural resources.” […]

The Revolution Will Not Be Destabilized: Ottawa’s Democracy Promoters Target Venezuela

April 7, 2009 Anthony Fenton 0

Part of the ‘hidden wiring’ of the US-Canada relationship is premised on the belief that there is a role for Canada in places where the US carries a lot of counter-productive baggage. New records obtained by The Dominion show just how actively intertwined Canada’s foreign policy is with the US-led ‘democracy’ promotion project in Venezuela. […]

El Salvador Elections: The Ghosts of Izalco

April 2, 2009 Emily Achtenberg 0

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U.S. Military Funded Mapping Project in Oaxaca: University Geographers Used to Gather Intelligence?

April 1, 2009 Cyril Mychalejko and Ramor Ryan 0

"War was God’s way of teaching Americans geography," once wrote Ambrose Bierce, an American journalist and social critic. Today, a University of Kansas (KU) professor may be using geography to teach Americans war. […]

Photo Essay: Salvadoran Presidential Elections

March 31, 2009 Justin Riley 0

By 8.30 pm on arguably the most contested and historically important elections in Salvadoran history, it was apparent that Mauricio Funes of the FMLN, the 1980s armed-leftist-guerrilla-group-turned-political-party, had won. Starting June 1st, El Salvador will be governed by a leftist government for the first time in history, and also for the first time, Salvadorans will have a peaceful, democratic transfer of power.

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