Search Results for chile

Left-leaning Latinos Fuel Resistance
CARACAS — Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was scheduled to speak at the UN in late September. But he abruptly cancelled his US trip. The main reasons given were security concerns and a lack of enthusiasm for UN summits. "A dialogue of the deaf,” Chavez called them, arguing that the world body is fundamentally undemocratic and should be democratized.

Meanwhile, weeks of rising anger and police violence in Bolivia climaxed in a September 29 general strike by unionists, backed by peasants, students, and merchants. Two days later, miners joined, paralyzing production. As a result, President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned and fled to Miami. The confrontation, inspired by Evo Morales, popular leader of Indian coca farmers, involved a deal that would have sold Bolivian natural gas to the US and Mexico, via a Chilean port. read more

Castro Assassination Plot Derailed

PANAMA CITY — Four Right-wing Cubans were arrested Nov. 17 after an alleged attempt to "eliminate" Fidel Castro during an Ibero-American Summit. But extradition is apt to be rejected, in part because Cuba has previously refused to send Panamanian criminals home. In general, Panama also refuses to extradite anyone who might face the death penalty if returned.

No firearms were found when the four were arrested, but a cache of plastic explosives was discovered a few days later, buried near the international airport. Panamanian authorities think the plot was to bomb Castro’s motorcade during a drive to an engagement at the University of Panama. Cuba suspects that the men, who had tens of thousands in cash, planned to shoot down Castro’s plane. read more

Blocking the Free Trade Express
TORONTO — On Nov. 4, a banner was hung outside the Toronto Metro Convention Center, where Latin American trade ministers were meeting to discuss the southern expansion of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The protest, organized by the Native Forest Network, was one of hundreds of events around the world during an International Day of Education and Action expressing opposition to the World Trade Organization (WTO), expansion ofNAFTA, and a proposed Global Free Logging Agreement (GFLA). read more

Angola and Zambia Move Toward War

LUSAKA – A year ago, Zambia and Angola were whispering about war. Now theyre shouting, as Angola accuses its neighbor of helping to arm Jonas Savimbis UNITA rebel movement. In Lusaka, Zambias overcrowded capital, headlines about a possible invasion hit the streets every other day. One such story, which said Angolas military power is three times that of Zambias, led to the arrest of staff members at The Post and subsequent espionage charges. read more

 Global Tax Gets Another Look

LONDON – Proposals to pay for international aid, peacekeeping, and other humanitarian causes through global taxes have long been shunned by the US Congress. Suggestions range from an international lottery to a tax on the arms trade. But one idea – a tax on foreign currency transactions – may have a better chance after the currency fluctuations that crashed the “Asian miracle.”