Geography Archives: Americas

  Excerpt: As envisioned by the Department of Defense (DOD), AFRICOM aims to promote U.S. strategic objectives and protect U.S. interests in the region by working with African states and regional organizations to help strengthen their defense capabilities so that they are better able to contribute to regional stability and security.  AFRICOM also has a […]

  Syria remains relatively calm as efforts to destabilise its government through orchestrated attacks by rebels fail. Life in the Syrian capital, Damascus, seems to be continuing as normal.  The streets and the mosques are crowded after the devout break their Ramazan fast in the evening.  The security presence is minimal.  In fact, there are […]

Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Cf. “Libya, Africa, and the New World Order: An Open Letter to the Peoples of Africa and the World from Concerned Africans” (MRZine, 27 August 2011). var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print

An interview with postal workers Jim Kaufman and Jeff Levitt from Albany, New York, about the alleged financial crisis of the Postal Service Jeff Levitt: It is an artificially created crisis.  It’s created by the Congress. . . .  In 2006, the Postal Service became an institution that is required to pre-fund future retiree health […]

The video is profoundly disturbing.  It shows four men, identified as Uruguayan troops from the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), apparently raping an 18-year old Haitian youth.  Two of them have the victim pinned down on a mattress, with his hands twisted high up his back so that he cannot move.  Perhaps the most unnerving […]

  The Foreign Ministry of Cuba has withdrawn its diplomatic staff from Libya, where foreign intervention and NATO military aggression has exacerbated the conflict and prevented the Libyan people from advancing toward a peaceful negotiated solution, in full exercise of their self-determination. The Republic of Cuba does not recognize the Transitional National Council, nor any […]

On Tuesday, June 14, the Guardian of London published “Left and Libertarian Right Cohabit in the Weird World of the Genocide Belittlers.”1  In this nearly 1,100-word commentary, the British writer George Monbiot attacked the two of us (among others) as “genocide deniers” and “revisionists” for our writings on the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.  Monbiot also […]

In the past two weeks, the world was captivated by the bitter confrontation between the Indian government and a short, bespectacled, seventy-four-year-old man called Anna Hazare, a self-styled anti-corruption crusader.  On August 16th, Hazare’s arrest and internment in Tihar jail, South Asia’s largest complex of high-security prisons, sparked candlelit marches across the country, leading a […]

  On November 1st, the citizens of Boulder, Colorado will vote on whether to create a city-owned electric utility to pilot leadership in renewables and the elimination of greenhouse gases in Colorado and the U.S. as a whole.  Preliminary polling indicates Boulder voters have done their homework and generally favor this 2-part ballot initiative by […]

Robert Samuelson urged President Obama to support the building of an oil pipeline to Canada which would facilitate the import of oil from Canadian oil sands.  One of his arguments is that: “TransCanada, the pipeline’s sponsor, says the project should result in 20,000 construction and manufacturing jobs.  Most would be American, because 80 percent of […]

  With the hammer of NATO against the Gaddafi forces, Uncle Sam seeks to unlock Libya for the TNC(s). . . . Gervasio Umpiérrez is a cartoonist based in Montevideo, Uruguay.  This cartoon was published on his blog on 23 August 2011; it is reproduced here for non-profit educational purposes.  Cf. “Libya’s economic freedom score […]

Brazil’s economy is slowing, but the government is increasing its primary surplus by cutting spending, which could slow the economy more.  In June, industrial production fell by 1.6 percent, and economic activity fell for the first time since 2008.  Although monthly figures are erratic and don’t necessarily indicate any trend, the overall picture raises questions […]

Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com). var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print

Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Cf. Associated Press, “AU: Libya Rebels May Be Indiscriminately Killing Black Workers, Mistaking Them for Mercenaries” (Washington Post, 29 August 2011). var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print

Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Cf. “Unasur repudia saqueo a embajada de Venezuela en Libia” (TeleSur, 25 August 2011).  See, also: var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print

Wanted1.7 Million Dollars for His Headfor his head only! Call Now! Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  Cf. As’ad AbuKhalil, “The Turns of History in the Middle East” (Angry Arab News Service, 25 August […]

Upon the US capturing Saddam Hussein out of a “spider hole” and parading his abject person on TV, Tariq Ali wrote: “My first reaction to the capture of Saddam Hussein was both anger and disgust.  Anger with the old dictator who could not even die honourably.  He preferred to be captured by his old friends […]

What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know about Capitalism is a short, accessible introduction to the ecological crisis that is intended for a wide audience — why did you decide to write a book like this, and why now? In the fall of 2008 I attended a conference where discussion of the environment was prominent, although […]

Regarding the recent events in Libya, Rafael Quintero, Undersecretary for Asia, Africa, and Oceania, reiterated Ecuador’s disagreement with disrespect for the territorial integrity of that country.  He expressed Ecuador’s insistence that international conventions be complied with, that human rights in Libya be respected, and that no attempt be made to take the Libyan case as […]

Victor Nieto is a cartoonist in Venezuela.  His cartoons frequently appear in Aporrea and Rebelión among other sites.  Cf. “Speaking from outside Britain, a senior official told me that — after the fall of the Qaddafi regime — NATO air patrols and a no-fly zone would certainly have to remain in place as a deterrent […]