On October 9, the Oregon AFL-CIO passed a resolution opposing the U.S.-Peru Free Trade Agreement and three other pending trade deals with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea. A state federation condemning a free trade deal would normally be an unremarkable event, except for the remarkable absence in the Peru case of a typically heavy-weight free […]
Geography Archives: Latin America
An October for Us, for Russia, and for the Whole World
It is no surprise that the imminent ninetieth anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia has become the object of widespread attention. The events of October 1917 were, indeed, an earthquake that shook the world, altering its economic, social and cultural foundations. Many media sources depict this world-historic phenomenon as a mere coup d’état, […]
A World at War
A savage war is being waged against the majority of the people on Earth by the governments of the North on behalf of their multinational companies. This war is not being fought with bombs or bullets; it is being fought through neo-liberal economic policies. Its weapons are not being delivered by stealth bombers; they are […]
Trapping Republicans: The New York State Driver’s License Controversy
City of Troy Rensselaer County New York My county clerk, Frank Merola, has been making a name for himself lately. Reacting to NY State Governor Eliot Spitzer’s change in the requirements for a NY State Driver’s license, which would drop the need for a social security number, Merola told the press “As long as I […]
Botero’s Abu Ghraib Series and the American Consciousness
In October 2006, internationally renowned Columbian artist Fernando Botero exhibited an important and jarring collection of new work at Manhattan’s Marlborough Gallery. A visible departure from his whimsical robust figures popular in the international art market, Botero’s Abu Ghraib series (2004-05) of paintings and drawings are overtly political, haunting and difficult to confront. The series […]
Haiti: A Modern Tragedy
AN UNBROKEN AGONY: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President by Randall RobinsonBUY THIS BOOK Randall Robinson has written the story of a great tragedy of recent times — the violent overthrow of Haiti’s elected president and government on February 29, 2004. An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a […]
Ecuador’s Ongoing Confrontation with the Forces of Neo-Liberalism
On Sunday, the 30th of September, yet another blow was struck against the advocates and beneficiaries of neo-liberalism in Ecuador and Latin America when Rafael Correa‘s coalition won the majority of seats in the Constituent Assembly. With this, Correa and his allies have secured the driving seat in the process of rewriting Ecuador’s constitution, which […]
The University in Chains
THE UNIVERSITY IN CHAINS by Henry A. GirouxBUY THIS BOOK Henry Giroux’s The University in Chains is a crisp, powerful book about the crisis in American higher education. Basically, the university has been buffeted by the three forces that have defined the US under the Bush administration (and, for that matter, for some time before): […]
Empire’s Contradictions, Our Weaknesses: The Empire Stumbles On
Today’s two most conspicuous global flashpoints — the Middle East and Latin America — have widely exposed the fact of US imperialism and highlighted some of its limitations. Adding the apparent cracks in US economic hegemony seems to indicate an empire in decline. Yet a more cautious assessment would recall that the earlier defeat in […]
Support the Fresenius Workers on Strike in Antalya, Turkey
12th September 2007 CALL FOR SOLIDARITY Dear sisters, You may have heard about the strike in Novamed in Turkey/Antalya. Novamed is one of the factories of Fresenius Medical Care located in Germany. All the workers who have gone on strike are female workers. Their working conditions are very bad and male-dominated (patriarchal). For example: female […]
Chávez Proposes International of Left Parties [Propone Chávez Internacional de partidos de izquierda]
Caracas, 25 ago (PL) Partidos y movimientos de izquierda de América Latina y el Caribe fueron convocados hoy por el presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, a realizar en 2008 una reunión para crear una organización internacional. Al hablar ante miles de aspirantes a miembros del Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV), Chávez precisó que recientemente conversó […]
Alliance of Hope: Read and Hear Tariq Ali’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN by Tariq AliBUY THIS BOOK The Pirates of the Caribbean identified by Tariq Ali in his slender volume titled the same are Evo Morales of Bolivia, Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, and of course, Fidel Castro, the “Old Man,” of Cuba. These three men and the movements they lead, according to Ali, […]
Paraguay: A Laboratory for Latin America’s New Militarism
Two soldiers in Paraguay stand in front of a camera. One of them holds an automatic weapon. John Lennon’s “Imagine” plays in the background. This Orwellian juxtaposition of war and peace is from a new video posted online by US soldiers stationed in Paraguay. The video footage and other military activity in this heart of […]
Profit without End: Capitalism Is Just Getting Started
Debates concerning the “Socialism of the 21st Century” are experiencing an upswing at the moment. However, this century will initially be rather one of capitalism than socialism. Not because there is once more an economic recovery. Prosperity and crisis alternate constantly in capitalism, but behind this up-and-down process are tendencies towards an extension and further […]
The Prophecy of Bolívar: US Interventions in Latin America [La Profecía de Bolívar: Intervenciones de EEUU en Latinoamérica]
“Estados Unidos parece destinado a plagar la América de miserias en nombre de la libertad”. Con esta profética frase de Simón Bolívar en 1826, el Libertador hizo la crónica anunciada de una historia de intervenciones, militares y políticas, disfrazadas unas y en forma abierta otras, con las cuales el gigante del norte impuso su dominio […]
The Fight of Our Lives: The War of Attrition against U.S. Labor
1. Introduction: The War We are in the fight of our lives. The hostile onslaught against U.S. labor that was launched after the Second World War and redoubled in the 1980s is entering a new phase that will profoundly influence the future of all working people in North America. How we respond to this latest […]
The Repressed History of the United States: Revolution, Egalitarianism, and Anti-imperialism [La historia reprimida de Estados Unidos: revolución, igualitarismo y antiimperialismo]
Recientemente, aprovechando un nuevo aniversario del nacimiento de George Washington, el presidente George W. Bush aprovechó para comparar la Revolución americana del siglo XVIII con la guerra en Irak. De paso recordó que el primero, como el último, había sido “George W.” La técnica de las asociaciones es propia de la publicidad. Según ésta, una […]
An American Student’s Perspective on the Venezuelan Revolution
I recently returned from an eleven-day trip to Venezuela, traveling with fellow students from Rutgers University. The country has been the scene of intense political strife and polarization throughout the nearly ten years that Hugo Chávez’s government has been in power, and during our stay we witnessed various aspects of this conflict. We arrived […]
Violence of the Master, Violence of the Slave [Violencia del amo, violencia del esclavo]
Por alguna razón, la frase “la violencia engendra violencia” se popularizó en todo el mundo al mismo tiempo que su significado implícito se mantenía restringido a la violencia del oprimido. Es decir, la violencia del amo sobre el esclavo es invisible en un estado de esclavitud, como en un estado de opresión la fuerza que […]
The US and the 21st Century
Introductory Note: This essay is an adaptation and reworking of a historic 1963 document of the Students for a Democratic Society. Its original was mimeographed in several thousand copies and distributed jointly by the SDS National Office and the newly-created Economic Research and Action Project (ERAP). America and the New Era was intended to be […]
