Geography Archives: Americas

THREE days ago the news was made public that the Attorney General of Colombia, Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado, had removed the eminent Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba from her post and barred her from political office for 18 years, because of her alleged promotion of and collaboration with the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). Faced with […]

  The article “Palestinian Economic Dependency on Israel,”1 published on the Alternative Information Center’s website on 23 September 2010, briefly mentioned official development assistance (ODA) to Palestinians.2  This article will elaborate more fully on foreign aid to the Palestinians, particularly in relation to the Israeli economy. Trade Deficit The Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) has an […]

Indigenous brothers of the world: I am deeply concerned because some are attempting to use certain indigenous leaders and groups to promote the commodification of nature and in particular of forests through the establishment of the REDD (Reduction of Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) mechanism and its versions REDD+ and REDD++. Every day an expanse […]

  On Oct. 2, tens of thousands of people from across the United States — members of civil rights organizations, labor unions, community groups and religious institutions — will rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to demand “Jobs, Justice and Education!”  (See www.onenationworkingtogether.org.) As part of this effort, the peace movement is mobilizing […]

As I was concluding some Reflections on the dismissal of Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba, incredible news began to arrive from Ecuador.  I’ve spent hours listening to it.  Minute by minute, ferment is growing. At 5:12 PM, Cuban time, condemnations of the coup are proliferating.  The most prestigious Latin American leaders, such as Chávez and Evo, […]

Admiral Jorge Gross, chief of Joint Task Force 2 of the Ecuadoran Armed Forces, said that the armed forces are gradually taking control of the situation in the country.  He announced that during the five days of the state of emergency his task force will have the responsibility to maintain order in the Ecuadoran territory. […]

General Ernesto González, Chief of the Joint Command of the Armed Forces of Ecuador: “The Armed Forces of Ecuador, as determined by the Constitution, is an institution to protect the rights, guarantees, and freedoms of Ecuadoran citizens.  Therefore, we respect the state of law.  We, the Armed Forces, are an institution organized by, led by, […]

  As’ad AbuKhalil, or Angry Arab as he is more commonly known after his blog The Angry Arab News Service, is in real life a most friendly and forthcoming man.  A Lebanese-born author of four books on the Middle East, he is professor of political science at California State University and is visiting professor at […]

Michael Norton (of Harvard Business School) and Dan Ariely (of Duke) have released results (pdf) from a series of experiments they did in 2005 on the subject of wealth inequality.  They asked individuals in a nationally representative online panel to (1) estimate the current US distribution of wealth and (2) “build a better America” by […]

With the economy suffering from near double-digit unemployment, public debate is dominated by concerns over the budget deficit and national debt.  This discussion is unfortunate both because there is no reason for people to be concerned about the deficit at present, and more importantly, because it discourages action on the unemployment crisis that is devastating […]

Yesterday’s election for 165 representatives in the National Assembly is significant but unlikely to bring about major change in Venezuela, despite the opposition having done better than expected.  As this article goes to press, the pro-government United Socialist Party won 94 seats, with 60 for the opposition Democratic Unity, five for other parties, and the […]

Periods of economic recession are known to foster protectionist tendencies.  This has been especially marked after the global crisis, when trade openness has become a useful battering ram in the developed world, skillfully used by policy makers and employers to pass the buck on to the threat posed by foreign producers.  The significantly increased threat […]

Yesterday I said what I would do if I were Venezuelan; I explained that it was the poor who were most affected by natural disasters and I gave the reasons why. Further on, I added: “…where imperialism dominates and the opportunistic oligarchy receives a lucrative slice of national goods and services, the masses have nothing […]

Paper prepared for the American Sociological Association Meetings in Atlanta, August 16th, 2010. There are many explanations for the crisis of capital that began in 2007.  But the one thing missing is an understanding of “systemic risks.”  I was alerted to this when Her Majesty the Queen visited the London School of Economics and asked […]

Hugo Chávez’s party the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) obtained 95 deputies in the 165-member unicameral National Assembly — in other words 58% of the seats.  The opposition captured 64 seats, 39% of the National Assembly, denying the Chávez government and its supporters the two-thirds majority that they sought.  In the Latin American Parliament […]

Caracas, 27 September, AVN — The opposition parties have suffered a loss of 20 seats in the National Assembly compared to the last elections in which they participated, said Roy Chaderton, a United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) member elected to the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino). Interviewed by TeleSur, Chaderton stressed that the opposition are […]

Nationalization and Workers’ Control: Achievements and Limitations The economic, social and political situation in Venezuela has changed a lot since the failure of the constitutional reform in December 2007, which acted as a warning to the Chávez government.1  This failure had the effect however of reviving the debate on the need to have a socialist […]

Tomorrow is an important day for Venezuela.  The elections to choose 165 members of parliament are taking place, and around this important event an historic battle is being waged. But at the same time, news about the weather is unfavorable.  Heavy rains are drenching the land that was the birthplace of the Liberator. Excessive rains […]

  Excerpt: To know that the United States is undergoing a highly orchestrated curtailment of personal and political liberties, one need not look further than police treatment of protesters in the streets.  Those who speak out against government policies increasingly face many of the same types of weaponry used by the U.S. government in its […]

  Statements of condemnation cannot take away immense sadness. . . . “Mr. President, another mayor got murdered, and he’s the tenth this year.” “Sure, sure, but we’re on the right track.” Eduardo Soto is a Mexican cartoonist.  Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi (@yoshiefuruhashi | yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).  According to La Jornada, more than 100 mayors, […]