Early in the morning on August 5th, one of the most notable left-wing political philosophers of the English-speaking world, Gerald Allan Cohen, (G. A. Cohen) or as he liked to be called by his friends, Jerry Cohen, died after suffering a massive stroke at the age of 68. Jerry Cohen was probably best known for […]
Geography Archives: Americas
South America, Central America, United States & Canada
Giorgio Agamben’s State of Exception
Giorgio Agamben. State of Exception. Translated by Kevin Attell. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. 104 pp. $15.00 (paper), ISBN 978-0-226-00925-4. State of Exception, a book written by Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, is the English translation by Kevin Attell of the monograph Stato di eccezione. Well known are the author’s works that […]
Honduras Coup: A Template for Hemispheric Assault on Democracy
The people of Honduras have now suffered more than 40 days of military rule. The generals’ June 28 coup, crudely re-packaged in constitutional guise, ousted the country’s elected government and unleashed severe, targeted, and relentless repression. The grassroots protests have matched the regime in endurance and outmatched it in political support within the country and […]
Slide Presentation and Discussion: Mohammad Javad Jahangir, The Invisible Crowd
Slide Presentation and Discussion: MOHAMMAD JAVAD JAHANGIR, THE INVISIBLE CROWD Presented by Mohammad Salemy Friday, August 14, 2009, 8:30 pm Little Mountain Studios 195 E. 26th Ave (at Main St.), Vancouver, B.C. Canada From Mohammad Javad Jahangir, The Invisible Crowd “Do not write the history of Iran in a foreign hand” DADABASE is pleased […]
Interview with Honduran Indigenous Leader Salvador Zuniga: “If They Get Away with This Coup, We Are Heading Back to Very Bloody Times in Latin America”
On July 29th, Tortilla con Sal managed to talk to Salvador Zuniga, a veteran leader of the indigenous peoples’ movement in Honduras. Zuniga talked about what is currently happening in Honduras. At the time of the interview, Zuniga and other leaders like Bertha Caceres and the Garifuna Miriam Miranda were in temporary encampments in Nicaragua […]
Petroleum and Energy Policy in Iran
Iran, a major oil producing and exporting country, also imports gasoline because of inadequate refining capacity and rising petrol consumption. This article examines the problems faced by an economy dependent on the export of crude oil and gas that are compounded by the dilemmas of rising domestic consumption, a significant decline in productive capacity, […]
We Say No to U.S. Military Bases in Colombia
Bogota, July 30, 2009 1. The government of Alvaro Uribe has announced a decision to grant the United States the use of military bases on national territory by way of an agreement that would place all of the Colombian land mass at U.S. disposal for all types of military operations inside and outside of […]
How Calderon Lost 15% of the Plan Mexico Funds . . . and Why He Must Lose the Rest
It’s been a busy and interesting week regarding developments in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the U.S. First, there were reports in the Mexican media on July 29 that an investigation by officials from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police into the murder of U.S. independent journalist Brad Will affirmed the conclusions drawn by the Mexican Federal Attorney […]
Food, Energy, and Venezuela
Should the neoliberal “free market” govern food production and distribution? Or can we learn from the efforts of Venezuela, under Hugo Chavez, to address food insecurity? Christina Schiavoni describes the transformation of that nation’s food and agriculture system. David Pimentel points out the colossal energy demands of the US system and proposes ways to reduce […]
Who Wants Sanctions on Iran?
In a recent congressional hearing, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman called the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act “a sword of Damocles over the Iranians” that will soon come down if President Obama’s diplomatic overture did not show signs of success by the fall. That sword is no mere metaphor and might kill more […]
August 11, 2009: Global Action Day for Honduras
To the sisters and brothers of all the regions of Via Campesina To the sisters and brothers of all social movements To all the people of the world Since the military coup — after more than 38 days of untiring efforts by thousands of farmers, women, indigenous people, teachers, students, unionists, and ordinary citizens […]
Anti-Venezuela Spokespeople Misrepresent Reality of Press Freedom in Venezuela
Denis MacShane attacks the British left for defending Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez against an onslaught from the media, “New Cold Warriors,” and right-wing demagogues throughout the world. His rhetorical trick is to tar the left with a new media law currently being debated in the Venezuelan Congress, which he says “would impose prison sentences of […]
Brazil Opposes Holding Elections in Honduras under De Facto Government
Brasilia, 4 August 2009, ABN — The government of Brazil rejected on Tuesday the idea of holding elections in Honduras under the de facto government headed by Roberto Micheletti, which was installed into power after the coup d’état on the 28th of June. That is the message sent by the principal international adviser to the […]
“Human Beings Are Members of a Whole”: Protecting the Iranian Civil Society
Human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, Other members uneasy will remain. If you have no sympathy for human pain, The name of human you cannot retain. — A poem by the Persian poet Sa’adi (1210-1290) gracing the entrance of […]
Honduran Resistance to the World: Organize a Boycott against the Military-Business Dictatorship of Roberto Micheletti
June 28th of the this year when the Honduran population was preparing to participate in a popular opinion poll about the installation of a fourth ballot box in which it would decide whether or not to convoke a Constitutional Assembly, thousands of military soldiers kidnapped the Constitutional President of the Republic, Manuel Zelaya Rosales, […]
The End of Chimerica?
Like the star gazers who last week watched the longest total solar eclipse of the 21st century, diplomatic observers had a field day watching the penumbra of big power politics involving the United States, Russia and China, which constitutes one of the crucial phenomena of 21st-century world politics. It all began with United States Vice […]
The World Left and the Iranian Elections
The recent elections in Iran, and the subsequent challenges to their legitimacy, have been a matter of enormous internal conflict in Iran, and of seemingly endless debate in the rest of the world — a debate that threatens to linger for some time yet. One of its most fascinating consequences has been the deep divisions […]
Reply to the Campaign for Peace and Democracy
The Campaign for Peace and Democracy1 has chosen to interpret our “Riding the ‘Green Wave’” article2 as a “vitriolic and dishonest attack” on its authors, and an “offensive impugning of [their] integrity.” In fact, it is nothing of the sort. Instead, it is concerned with issues of central importance to the left in the United […]
Responsibility to Protect?
On July 23, a debate concerning the Responsibility to Protect took place in front of the General Assembly of the United Nations. The responsibility to protect (R2P) is a notion agreed to by world leaders in 2005 that holds States responsible for shielding their own populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and related crimes […]
“Come Over and Help Us”: A History of R2P
Address to the United Nations General Assembly Thematic Dialogue on the Responsibility to Protect, the United Nations, New York, 23 July 2009 The discussions about Responsibility to Protect (R2P), or its cousin “humanitarian intervention,” are regularly disturbed by the rattling of a skeleton in the closet: history, to the present moment. Throughout history, there have […]
