Page 265 – Toward Freedom

Conceived without the participation of civil-society groups, the chief goal is to advance elite US and Northern Triangle business interests.

It took a few tries before the taxi driver taking me to meet Lorena Cabnal found his way to her address. We drove up and down streets along the outskirts of Guatemala City, directions made confusing by the profusion of closed-off neighborhoods. Here, residents simply block streets and put up barriers to prevent cars from circulating, paying a guard to monitor who goes in and out. These aren’t the private gated communities of the rich, but rather survival strategies of the poor and working class in Central America’s largest metropolis. read more

Commandos Without Borders: America’s Elite Troops Partner with African Forces But Pursue U.S. Aims

Nick Turse December 20, 2016 Nick Turse

How U.S. military engagement will proceed under the Trump administration remains to be seen. There is good reason to believe that Special Operations Command Africa will continue its border-busting missions across that continent. That, in turn, means that Africa is likely to remain crucial to America’s nameless global war on terror.

How Realistic is China’s Political Confidence?

Immanuel Wallerstein December 20, 2016 Immanuel Wallerstein

Every country has mixed feelings about its future, but some are more self-confident than others. At the present moment, there are very few countries in which self-doubt does not seem greater than self-confidence. This seems to me true of the United States, both western and eastern Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and most of Africa and Latin America. The biggest exception to this global worry and pessimism is China.

Native Waters, Native Warriors: From Standing Rock to Honduras

Beverly Bell December 14, 2016 Beverly Bell

Source: Truthout

Around the globe, land has become gold-standard currency. As a result, Indigenous and other land-based peoples face threats to the natural commons on which they live, produce food and sustain community, culture and cosmovision.

In some places, organized Indigenous movements have stood up and fought off extraction and corporate development, winning protection of waters, forests, territories and more. In most places, the resistance has been met with assassination and violent repression by state security forces and corporate-financed hit squads. read more

Latin American Political Leaders Brace Themselves as Trump Inches Closer to the White House

Ryan Mallett-Outtrim December 14, 2016 Ryan Mallett-Outtrim

Donald Trump could be the first US president in decades to alienate both sides of Latin America’s political divide. Leaders from the region’s left and right initially welcomed his victory, with some on the right seeing him as a possible bulwark against the Pink Tide. Meanwhile, progressives initially expressed hope Trump would strike a less interventionist stance. Yet as Trump inches closer to the White House, both the left and right are increasingly bracing for disappointment.

The Business of Bombs and Politics: How the British-Saudi Connection Fuels War in Yemen

Daniel Read December 14, 2016 Daniel Read

A coalition of states led by Saudi Arabia is conducting an extensive and ongoing aerial bombardment of its smaller and far weaker neighbor, Yemen. Both the US and British governments have drawn fire for their role in supplying Saudi Arabia with weapons systems, munitions and tactical expertise. In the process, the US and Britain have become associated with the mass civilian hardship that has become a hallmark of the Yemen conflict.