Benjamin Dangl, Author at Toward Freedom

U.S. Bases in Colombia Rattle the Region

Benjamin Dangl March 22, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

On the shores of the Magdalena River, in a lush green valley dotted with cattle ranches and farms, sits the Palanquero military base, an outpost equipped with Colombia's longest runway, housing for 2,000 troops, a theater, a supermarket, and a casino. Palanquero is at the heart of a ten-year, renewable military agreement signed between the United States and Colombia on October 30, 2009, which gives Washington access to seven military bases in the country.

Celebrating Compromises in Uruguay: Mujica Inaugurated as President

Benjamin Dangl March 4, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

José Mujica

The smell of fried food and sausage sandwiches filled the Montevideo air as José "Pepe" Mujica assumed the presidency of

Uruguay

on Monday, March 1st. Street vendors lined the inauguration parade route selling Uruguayan flags to a boisterous crowd which cheered, "Olé, olé, olé, Pepe, Pepe." Mujica, a former Tupamaro guerrilla who was imprisoned and tortured under the country's dictatorship, stood in front of the multitude with his wife and vice president as he led the crowd in singing folksongs that were outlawed during military rule.

Coca Leaves, Chicha and Beer Globalization in Latin America

Benjamin Dangl February 22, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

On a pleasant autumn day in 1890 the Cuauhtémoc brewery was founded in Monterrey, Mexico. This brewery, which also specialized in ice production, went on to become Mexican Economic Development Inc. (FEMSA), brewing such beers as Dos Equis, Tecate and Sol. Recently the Dutch brewing giant Heineken bought FEMSA, bringing over half of the world's beer production into the hands of just four mega-corporations. One Mexican columnist wrote of the merger in La Jornada, "Just a bit more globalization and we will all be lost."

Beer Battles: Workers in Belgium Take on Brewing Giant

Benjamin Dangl February 4, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

Brewery Workers at Road Blockade*

For two weeks in January Belgian brewery workers blocked roads, set fire to beer crates, kidnapped managers and handed out free beer as part of their tactics against job cuts proposed by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer. The company announced the cuts in spite of profits of $1.55 billion in the third quarter of 2009. "This is the ugly face of capitalism," Roger Van Vlasselaer, the leader of a major Belgian union said.

Profiting From Haiti’s Crisis

Benjamin Dangl January 18, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

In front of National Palace after Earthquake

US corporations, private mercenaries, Washington and the International Monetary Fund are using the crisis in Haiti to make a profit, promote unpopular neoliberal policies, and extend military and economic control over the Haitian people.

Bolivia’s Next Steps

Benjamin Dangl January 11, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

Published in The Nation on December 16, 2009

A rainbow of campaign posters covered the stairways and tinted glass walls in the Bolivian Congress building. After arriving in the crowded office lobby of leftist Congressman Gustavo Torrico, I sat for hours next to union leaders and other rank-and-file constituents, waiting to speak with the politician.

Torrico was meeting with members of the Bolivian Workers Center, one of the largest unions in the country. When I finally sat down on the couch in his dimly lit office, the smiling Congressman explained one of the key reasons for the success of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), the party he and indigenous President Evo Morales helped construct. read more