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Showdown in the Andes: Bolivian Election Likely to Shift Latin America Further to Left

Benjamin Dangl December 12, 2005 Benjamin Dangl

Morales and supporters, ©jeremybigwood.net

In Washington he's been referred to as a "narco-terrorist" and a "threat to stability". In Bolivia he's simply called "Evo." For many in the Andean country, Presidential candidate Evo Morales represents a way out of poverty and marginalization. He has pledged to nationalize the country's natural gas reserves, reject any US-backed free trade agreement and join the growing ranks of Latin America's left-of-center governments. He makes the Bush administration nervous and corporate investors cringe. Yet when Bolivians head to the polls Morales is expected to win a majority. However, the range of scenarios that could result from the election suggests that the show may be far from over by the end of Election Day on December 18th.

Boy walks past anti-repression graffiti, Buenos Aires

Five Lessons Bush Learned from Argentina’s Dirty War and Five Lessons for the Rest of Us

Renate Lunn December 8, 2005 Renate Lunn

Boy walks past anti-repression graffiti, Buenos Aires

It began as a far-reaching war against a vague enemy. Any questions about the war were considered unpatriotic and dissenters risked being violently repressed by the government. The government helped the economic elite profit at the expense of the poor. When the regime was losing its grip on power, it turned to a conventional military war that became a disaster. This synopsis describes the Dirty War of 1976-1983 in Argentinaand the current US "War on Terror."

The Dirty War in Argentina is a complex story that can be viewed through a variety of lenses. During the six months I recently spent in Argentina, I found that the more I learned about the Dirty War, the more I was learning about the "War on Terror." To say that the current state of repression in the US is exactly like the Dirty War would be an insult to the 30,000 people who were disappeared and tortured in Argentina. The similarities between the two "wars," however, can indicate in what direction the US may be headed and how progressives can steer the country in another direction.

Burma’s War on its own People

Rene Wadlow December 7, 2005 Rene Wadlow

"We are faced with a country which is at war with its own people" - Justice Rajsoomer Lallah,
former UN Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Myanmar

The recent plea for UN Security Council Action on Burma from former Czech President Vaclav Havel and the retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has led to strong reactions from the Myanmar (Burma) military-led government. The Burmese government has wildly lashed out at everyone it considers to be a part of the opposition both in the country and in foreign governments and NGOs. The plea for action was accompanied by massive reports of slave labor, systematic rape, the conscription of child soldiers and the massive, deliberate destruction of villages, food sources and medical services, especially against ethnic minorities. Recent interviews have been carried out among the thousands of refugees who have fled to Thailand and a smaller number to Bangladesh.

Human Rights Violations in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Benjamin Dangl December 6, 2005 Benjamin Dangl

Ann Fagan Ginger works at the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, an organization which seeks to promote social change by increasing the recognition and use of existing human rights and peace law at the local, national, and international levels. She is also the editor of the book, "Challenging U.S. Human Rights Violations Since 9/11."

In this interview Ginger discusses the human rights violations which took place in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and how her organization has worked to expose these violations.

Taking on Torture

Shay Totten December 5, 2005 Shay Totten

Robin Lloyd

For years, Vermont filmmaker and activist Robin Lloyd has traveled throughout Latin America, observing firsthand the death and destruction left behind by U.S.-bred military policies promoting counterinsurgencies. More recently, she has been traveling the world as part of the Women's International League of Peace and Freedom, and continues to work as a filmmaker and publisher of Toward Freedom, a progressive-minded, international public affairs website. On Nov. 20, she took her longstanding opposition to U.S. policies of torture and became one of 40 people arrested at an annual protest against the U.S. Army's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), and expects to serve at least three months in a federal prison as a result and pay a fine of up to $5,000.

Baghdad: Life During Wartime

Brian Conley December 1, 2005 Brian Conley

[Photo: A man cleans up glass and blood after a suicide attack]

Two and a half years into the occupation, war still rages on in Baghdad, Iraq. Two of the deadliest attacks in the last month occurred at the Palestine Hotel and the Hamra Hotel. Although Westerners frequent these hotels, the casualties were almost exclusively Iraqis living and working in the area. Yet just a few hours after the attacks, citizens were back on the streets, as if nothing had happened.