Archives

Argentina: The People’s Summit against the FTAA

November 7, 2005 Cory Fischer-Hoffman 0

The Argentine beach town of Mar del Plata became a symbolic site in the historical struggle between neo-liberalism and social movements in Latin America last week, when President Bush and the 34 other presidents participated in the IV Summit of the Americas. They were met by hordes of protestors against Bush and his free trade agenda. As Argentine President Nestor Kirchner hosted the official Summit of the Americas behind miles of fences, the People’s Summit brought together social movements, labor unionists, piqueteros, non-profits, and community groups from Argentina and the across the Americas to create a more just and humane form of Latin American political, economic and social integration.

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Students Occupy Army ROTC Building in Puerto Rico

November 6, 2005 Benjamin Dangl 0

On November 3, thirty students from diverse organizations making up the umbrella group Filiberto Ojeda Rios Contingent – in honor of the independence leader murdered by the FBI last September 23 – took over the Army Reserves Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) building in the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez and demanded that the ROTC leave the campus and that the FBI leave the country. After occupying the building, students hung a banner out the window with the image of Ojeda Rios printed on it.

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U.N. Undermining Human Rights Work in Guatemala

November 2, 2005 Grahame Russell 0

Almost one year after the U.N.’s ten-year peacekeeping mission in Guatemala closed its doors, the world body has decided to return to the country to address the chronically bad human rights situation in Guatemala by establishing the Guatemalan Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OACNUDH). […]

The Uncertainty of Elections in Bolivia

October 31, 2005 Boris Rios 0

Evo Morales

According to the Bolivian constitution, interim president Eduardo Rodriguez must hold national elections within a timeframe of no more than 180 days from the start of his presidency last June. The realization of these elections, however, remains up in the air due to a recent ruling by Bolivia‘s constitutional court. Conflicts surrounding the distribution of congressional seats are now putting elections, scheduled for December 4th, at risk and bringing the country to the brink of a new crisis.

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Venezuela: The Building Of A People’s Democracy

October 26, 2005 Greg Rosenthal 0

Following the example of Cuba’s humanist approach to guaranteeing its people the right to quality education and healthcare, Venezuela has embarked upon a historical mission to eliminate poverty in a country where nearly 70% of the population is poor. As Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez consistently reiterates, the only way to end poverty is to empower the poor and marginalized. […]

A Leak in the Ecuadorian Oil Adventure

October 24, 2005 Karoline Nolsø Aaen 0

While rivers are being polluted, rainforests cut down and the health of citizens severely threatened by the oil industry, this black gold continues to flow through Ecuador. I am in the northern part of the Ecuadorian Amazon, visiting oil fields and researching the contamination of rivers, soil and forest in order to gain insight into what problems confront the Amazon. The area is ruined. Where there were once primary rain forests there are now oil plants, oil roads and a myriad of pipelines.

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Without a Boss: A Worker-Run Textile Factory in Montevideo, Uruguay

October 19, 2005 Diego Rosemberg 0

The story is very similar to that of Brukman.* A factory of suits and coats owes large amounts of back pay to its workers. After several attempts at negotiation the seamstresses decide to take the factory. They occupy it once, and are thrown out. They return to enter, this time with tactics straight out of a movie, and they are tossed into the street again. The third time is victory. Now they produce 2,500 garments a month.

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