Benjamin Dangl, Author at Toward Freedom

New Politics in Old Bolivia: Public Opinion and Evo Morales

Benjamin Dangl November 28, 2007 Benjamin Dangl

Evo Morales, Photo: ABI

Nearly two years into the presidency of Evo Morales, government officials and leftist social organizations are determined to break with the past and transform the nation. The opposition calls it a civil war. The government calls it a revolution. Other Bolivian activists and analysts call it business as usual. A look at public opinion and recent conflicts in Bolivia exposes the challenges facing Bolivia's first indigenous president.

The U.S. ‘War on Drugs’ Is an Assault on South America’s Poorest

Benjamin Dangl September 27, 2007 Benjamin Dangl

Leonilda Zurita Drying Coca

For many farmers in Bolivia, the alternative to growing coca leaves is unemployment and hunger. "We need to take care of our coca as if it were a child so that the whole family can survive," coca farmer Leonilda Zurita said. "The coca gives us food. It takes care of our education and healthcare because here education and healthcare are not free."

Argentina’s Bonfire of Memory

Benjamin Dangl August 7, 2007 Benjamin Dangl

Pinochet and Videla

Guitar strumming and singing starts and stops with the passage of wine and steak. The gaiety of this party in Argentina is in contrast with the topic of conversation. Some of the partygoers are sons and daughters of dissidents persecuted in the dictatorship and they talk about disappearances and torture as if it all took place yesterday. The past keeps seeping into view, like the persistent smoke from the barbecue.

Tank in Asunción, Paraguay - Photo: Nadir.org

Paraguay: A Laboratory for Latin America’s New Militarism

Benjamin Dangl August 1, 2007 Benjamin Dangl

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 the continent represent a new style of militarism in Latin America.

Nationwide Protests Rock Peru, Bush Seeks Allies in Latin America

Benjamin Dangl July 19, 2007 Benjamin Dangl

National protests rock Peru as President Alan Garcia navigates through an increasingly tumultuous labor and teacher uprising. Rejections of a free trade agreement with the US and neoliberal economic policies are at the heart of the national uprising which has left three people dead and several wounded.

Pirates in Paradise: Reviews of Seven Books for Summer Reading

Benjamin Dangl July 2, 2007 Benjamin Dangl

Statistics show that across the globe over one billion people stare into computer screens at internet websites each day. This means that it's now more rebellious than ever to read a book. Here are seven reasons to leave the computer screen and read about pirate governments, a rainbow gathering in Croatia, coup d'etats in hot climates, media coverage of cults in Waco and counter-revolution in Nicaragua.