Geography Archives: Americas

The Sudan Liberation Army signed a peace agreement with Khartoum.  Now, only the Justice and Equality Movement is left (Lydia Polgreen and Joel Brinkley, “Biggest Rebel Faction in Darfur Poised to Sign Peace Deal,” New York Times, 4 May 2006). Will the “30 Days for Darfur” campaign, “inspired by a meeting between Rabbi [David] Saperstein […]

En ce Premier Mai 2006,  des milliers et des milliers de Latinos se sont absentés du travail et de l’école, ont manifesté dans les rues des principales villes américaines et ont fait grève de consommation pour protester contre le projet de loi HR 4437 sur le contrôle de l’immigration illégale et faire reconnaître leur apport […]

When is a “West Point” graduate no longer a “West Point” graduate?  That’s easy, according to the legal experts at the United States Military Academy.  Any time you have an organization using the term, West Point, of which they do not approve.  In fact, according to a letter received by us from these authorities, any […]

[This essay is the second installment of “Stolen Birthright: The U. S. Conquest and Exploitation of the Mexican People” by Richard D. Vogel. Read the first installment here.] La guerra de Estados Unidos en México La guerra de Estados Unidos en México de 1846-1848 fue la primera guerra estadounidense de agresión en contra de una […]

Dear New Yorker Magazine: You’ve got your nerve, printing Seymour Hersh’s article, “The Iran Plans: Would President Bush Go to War to Stop Tehran from Getting the Bomb?”  I have just thrown my April 17 issue of your so-called publication across the room, breaking the little shepherdess in my Hummel collection — so you owe […]

May Day in North Carolina, USA.  The weather is perfect.  A march for immigrant rights begins this afternoon — part of the nationwide movement to prevent the passage of a legislation that would make it a felony offense to be in the US without papers or to help anyone that is here without said papers.  […]

Un espíritu del pasado está penando en América.  Pero ese espíritu no es un fantasma — es la emergencia de millones de mexicanos y méxicoamericanos, descendientes de los desterrados, a quienes se les negaron sus patrimonio en el suroeste de los Estados Unidos, y quienes están creciendo en poder y tienen hambre de justicia. La […]

Faced with an explosion of pro-democracy strikes and mass demonstrations, Nepal’s King Gyanendra was forced to reinstate parliament last week. Gyanendra had abolished parliament in October 2002 and seized absolute control in February 2005, but his attempts to regain his grip through repression last month only sparked further rebellion. On April 28, the Seven-Party Alliance […]

[John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt’s essay “The Israel Lobby” (London Review of Books 28.6, 23 March 2006) rekindled the smoldering controversy over the relations among US foreign policy, Israel, and the Israel lobby in the United States.  Norman G. Finkelstein‘s comment on the controversy below provides a very useful analytical perspective on the subject. — […]

The “Save Darfur” rally today was aired on C-Span.  The rally was small — only several thousands according to Reuters (“Thousands March to Stop Darfur Killing,” 30 April 2006).  And the crowd in attendance was overwhelmingly white.  But, boy, it was a professionally-staged photo op, with celebs, politicos, and exiles from Sudan at the podium […]

On April 30, 1970, Richard Nixon told the world that US forces were invading the country of Cambodia.  Within twenty-four hours of his announcement, the streets of many cities and towns around the United States and elsewhere were filled with angry protests against the US action.  On May 4, National Guard troops opened fire on […]

On March 6, over 50 union members from several unions and activist allies picketed the headquarters of the AFL-CIO in Washington, DC., to demand that the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center immediately break off all ties with the misnamed National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The NED is a leading component of the US Government’s efforts to maintain […]

Yoshie Furuhashi, “Who Wants Peace in Darfur?” (30 April 2006) It’s embarrassing that America — and the world — will be witnessing a PRO-WAR rally in Washington, D.C. on April 30 (a project of SaveDarfur.org) that is far more highly publicized than an anti-war one (that appears to be poorly organized) in New York City […]

  NATIVO LÓPEZ is president of the Mexican American Political Association and a spokesperson for the Great American Boycott 2006 — a national day of action for immigrant rights on May 1.  Nativo talked about the huge protests against anti-immigrant legislation and plans for May 1 with SARAH KNOPP, a teacher in Los Angeles and […]

“I don’t think the issue of enrichment right now, emotional as it is, is urgent. . . . So, we have ample time to negotiate a settlement by which, as I said, Iran’s need for nuclear power is assured and the concern of the international community is also put to rest.” “We have done our […]

The opening of the 39th Parliament of Canada on 3 April 2006 quickly revealed what should now be plain to all.  Under the Conservative Party leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canadians are faced with a government with an unambiguous right-wing agenda.  The outlines of the “Harperism” project can readily be discerned: there is a […]

We mince no words.  Time is of the essence.  Iraq is a human and political catastrophe, stark testament to the deceitful behavior of the Bush administration.  The dangers are clear and present, and too many human beings are dying for an ignoble cause.  The preemptive war launched against Iraq on March 20, 2003 stands illegal […]

Any serious and honest survey of the Maoist movement would convey the truth that its main agenda has been to establish essential democratic institutions that devolve political and economic power to the masses.   In every negotiation with the King and the parliamentary forces, the Maoists have asked for an unconditional constituent assembly, during whose election […]

  The view south-east across the bay from the hills of Las Hadas, the hotel zone in Manzanillo is especially beautiful in the evening as the sun sets and the white painted hotels and restaurants stretching for several miles sparkle in the sun, behind the curving beach.  It’s a major Pacific port for Mexico and […]

As labor activists from around the country and world converge on Dearborn, Michigan in early May for the Labor Notes Conference, it’s worth reflecting back on a year that has brought back hopes for a revitalization of the labor movement. Several months ago, the Wall Street Journal described an increase in strikes in the United […]