Americas Archives - Page 120 of 160

Latin America Changes: Hunger Strikes in Bolivia, Summits in the Caribbean

Benjamin Dangl April 16, 2009 Benjamin Dangl

Latin American Presidents Gather

After Bolivia beat the Argentine soccer team led by legendary Diego Maradona by 6 to 1, Maradona told reporters, "Every Bolivia goal was a stab in my heart." Bolivia was expected to lose the April 1 match as Argentina is ranked as the 6th best soccer team in the world, and Maradona enjoys godlike status among soccer fans. This story of David and Goliath in the Andes is just one of various events shaking up the hemisphere.

Uncovering Haiti’s Hidden History

Judith Scherr April 2, 2009 Judith Scherr

A congressional bill that would create a truth commission to explore the U.S. role in the 2004 regime change in Haiti is languishing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee with only 12 co-sponsors. But Rep. Barbara Lee's (D-Calif.) H.R. 331 has sparked hope among some Haitians who think the bill might pass under a friendly Obama administration and bring needed change to the indebted island nation.

U.S. Military Funded Mapping Project in Oaxaca

Cyril Mychalejko and Ramor Ryan April 1, 2009 Cyril Mychalejko and Ramor Ryan

War was God’s way of teaching Americans geography," once wrote Ambrose Bierce, an American journalist and social critic. Today, a University of Kansas (KU) professor may be using geography to teach Americans war.

The Bush Family of Secrets: Truth or Reconciliation?

Russ Baker March 18, 2009 Russ Baker

Prescott & George H. W. Bush

They are really coming. Official investigations of the George W. Bush administration are on the way. Karl Rove and Harriet Miers have just agreed to limited testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, which is looking into the seemingly politically-motivated firings of seven U.S. Attorneys. Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers and Patrick Leahy, his senate counterpart, have additional potential improprieties in their sights, and they are not alone.

Decolonization’s Rocky Road: Corruption, Expropriation and Justice in Bolivia

Benjamin Dangl March 16, 2009 Benjamin Dangl

El Alto Anniversary Event. Photo: Quintana/ABI

After the nationalist confetti of the January 25th constitutional referendum blew away, and the busted water balloons and foam of Carnival washed down the streets with the rain, political scandals filled the Bolivian airwaves. Besides the challenges of applying the changes in the new constitution, recent cases of government corruption, shaky relations with Washington and political unrest show that the road to the December general elections is likely to be a rocky one.

Guadeloupe: A People Arise

Dimitris Fasfalis March 11, 2009 Dimitris Fasfalis

Protests in Guadeloupe

Since January 20, Guadeloupe has been providing a tremendous lesson in social resistance to the local bosses and the French government. Its people have responded to the growing insecurity with an historically unprecedented general strike. What is behind this mobilisation? The answer would seem to lie in the capacity of the social movement to embody the people's aspirations for emancipation.