Forida is a 22-year-old sewing machine operator in a clothing factory in Dahka, Bangladesh. She often works 12-hour days producing clothes for brands such as H&M and Target. Sometimes, during busy production cycles, the hours are even longer.
Author Archive | Benjamin Dangl
A Coup Over Land:The Resource War Behind Paraguay’s Crisis
Each bullet hole on the downtown Asunción, Paraguay light posts tells a story. Some of them are from civil wars decades ago, some from successful and unsuccessful coups, others from police crackdowns. The size of the hole, the angle of the ricochet, all tell of an escape, a death, another dictator in the palace by […]
Pachamama and Progress: Conflicting Visions for Latin America’s Future
Miners in Potosí, Bolivia set off sticks of dynamite as cold winter winds zipped through the city, passing street barricades, protests, hunger strikers, and an occupied electrical plant. These actions took place from late July to mid-August against the perceived neglect of the Evo Morales administration toward the impoverished Potosí region. This showdown in Bolivia […]
Turning Activists into Voters in Uruguay: The Frente Amplio and José Mujica
Torrential rain didn’t keep voters away from the polls on Sunday, November 29th when José “Pepe” Mujica was elected president with 52% of the vote. The 74-year-old Agricultural Minister spent 14 years in jail for his participation in the Tupamaro guerilla movement and has pledged to continue the policies of his predecessor, current left-leaning president […]
US Plans for New Bases in Colombia
It was a winter day in the Argentine city of Bariloche when 12 South American presidents gathered there on August 28. It was so cold that Hugo Chavez wore a red scarf and Evo Morales put on a sweater. The presidents arrived at the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) meeting to discuss a US […]
Dissecting Utopia: New Book Assesses Latin American Left
Patrick Barrett, Daniel Chavez, and Cesar Rodriguez-Garavito, eds., The New Latin American Left: Utopia Reborn, Pluto Press (2008), 320 pages. The conflict in Honduras has been an ongoing challenge for governments across the political spectrum in Latin America. In the years leading up to this tense and decisive event a number of leaders and social […]
Paraguay: Protests and Rubber Bullets Greet Return of Dictatorship Criminal
Workers and activists gathered in the central plaza of Asunción, Paraguay on May 1st to commemorate International Workers Day. Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo marked the day by raising the minimum wage by 5%, half of what many of the unions present were demanding. But another piece of news set the tone for this annual gathering: […]
Argentina Remembers: Mobilizations Mark 33rd Anniversary of Military Coup
The weekend that the hemisphere’s Presidents met in Trinidad at the Summit of the Americas marked the same weekend that Cuba defeated the US in the Bay of Pigs invasion 48 years ago. At the Summit, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega recalled the invasion in a speech that rightly criticized US imperialism throughout the 20th century. […]
Latin America Changes: Hunger Strikes in Bolivia, Summits in the Caribbean
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 […]
Beyond Elections in the Americas: An Interview with Michael Fox
Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas. Produced by Michael Fox and Sílvia Leindecker. Purchase from PM Press. The new documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas proves that democracy can and should be more than casting a ballot every four years. This empowering film gives hopeful and concrete examples from around the Americas […]
Beyond Elections in the Americas: An Interview with Michael Fox
Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas. Produced by Michael Fox and Sílvia Leindecker. Purchase from PM Press. The new documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas proves that democracy can and should be more than casting a ballot every four years. This empowering film gives hopeful and concrete examples from around the Americas […]
Decolonization’s Rocky Road: Corruption, Expropriation, and Justice in Bolivia
Over 3,000 Bolivian and Peruvian indigenous activists recently marched in El Alto in commemoration of the March 13th, 1781 siege of La Paz, Bolivia launched from El Alto by indigenous rebels Tupac Katari and Bartolina Sisa. The siege was against Spanish rule and for indigenous liberation in the Andes. At a gathering the night before […]
Mexico Unconquered: Reviewing a People’s History of Power and Revolt
John Gibler, Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt, 356 Pages, City Lights Publishers (January, 2009). Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world, calls Mexico home, as do millions of impoverished citizens. From Spanish colonization to today’s state and corporate repression, Mexico Unconquered: Chronicles of Power and Revolt, by John Gibler, is written from […]
Bolivia: Morales Enacts New Constitution in El Alto
Fog covered El Alto, Bolivia on Saturday morning as social movements from around the country marched into the city to mark the official passage of Bolivia’s new constitution. “This is the second independence, the true liberation of Bolivia,” Bolivian President Evo Morales said as he signed the new constitution. The new constitution was approved by […]
Bolivia Looking Forward: New Constitution Passed, Celebrations Hit the Streets
After Bolivia’s new constitution was passed in a national referendum on Sunday, thousands gathered in La Paz to celebrate. Standing on the balcony of the presidential palace, President Evo Morales addressed a raucous crowd: “Here begins a new Bolivia. Here we begin to reach true equality.” Polls conducted by Televisión Boliviana announced that the document […]
From Bolivia’s Streets: What Voters Think about the New Constitution
25 January 2009 Today’s referendum on Bolivia’s new constitution took place on a rare sunny day for this time of year in La Paz. Since traffic is prohibited on voting day, families taking advantage of the abnormally quiet streets walked their dogs, ate ice cream, and strolled into the local schools to vote. Across the […]
Bolivia: After Rallies for New Constitution, Morales Nationalizes Oil Company
Plaza Murillo, La Paz Cochabamba On Thursday, January 22, the last day of campaigning for the new constitution before the document is set to a vote on Sunday, January 25th, representatives from Bolivia’s diverse social movements convened in downtown La Paz. The rally, located in the Plaza Murillo, marked the end of over two years […]
Spilling Ink Instead of Blood: Bolivia Poised to Vote on New Constitution
Evo Morales a días del referéndum por la nueva constitución en “Bolivia Decide” Dozens of marches and rallies in support of Bolivia’s new constitution, to be voted on this Sunday, have filled the streets of the La Paz in recent days. On Tuesday, at a rally for the constitution and to celebrate Venezuela’s donation of […]
¿Sí o No? Bolivians Mobilize for National Vote on New Constitution
In the morning on Sunday, January 18, after a heavy rain fell on La Paz, Bolivia, the sun came out, drying the umbrellas of thousands of marchers winding through the city streets. The mobilization was in support of a new constitution, which is to be voted on this January 25. Eddie Mamani, a resident of […]
Firing the Boss: An Interview with Mark Meinster, Organizer of the Chicago Factory Occupation
On December 5, 2008, over 200 recently-fired workers at the Republic Window and Doors factory in Chicago occupied their plant, demanding that they be paid their vacation and severance checks. The occupation ended victoriously six days later when the Bank of America and other lenders to Republic agreed to pay the workers the approximately $2 […]
