Americans may believe the United States is set up for the middle class, and Europe is set up for the bourgeois. Or let’s put it this way: America is a great place to buy kitty litter at Wal-Mart and relatively cheap gas. But it is not designed for me, a professional without a lot of money. That’s who Europe is for: people like me.
Diallo Ibrahima traveled to France from his homeland of Mali with dreams of a decent life. Nine years later, he’s still waiting. “I came here to find a better life,” he said at Place de Bastille, in central Paris, where he and hundreds others had camped out for nearly a month. “And I still haven’t found it.”
Source: IPS News
(IPS) – Hoping for better opportunities than they can find at home, many families from Kyrgyzstan travel to find work. Neighbouring Kazakhstan has the strongest economy in Central Asia, and tobacco farms attract workers fleeing Kyrgyzstan’s high unemployment.
Upon arriving at their new employers’ farms, however, many find hardship and exploitation instead of the advantages they’d hoped for, as a new report by Human Rights Watch reveals.
Kyrgyz workers travel to Kazakhstan for the nine-month growing and harvesting season, often with their children in tow. Those interviewed by Human Rights Watch reported that they performed difficult physical labour far more hours per day than permitted under Kazakhstan’s labour laws, and received very little rest, often not getting time off for weekends or holidays.
Simon was 11 years old when soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) forced him into the military. “When the SPLA came to us, the older people ran away,” Simon, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, explained. “I didn’t run because I was a child. So they captured me. When I refused, they kept beating me. I didn’t want to go but they forced me to join the SPLA.” The SPLA, the predominantly Christian Black African south’s military, fought against the mostly Muslim Arab north in a two decade-long civil war that left two million dead.
Source: Tom Dispatch
To frustrated Americans who have begun boycotting BP: Welcome to the club. It’s great not to be the only member any more!
Does boycotting BP really make sense? Perhaps not. After all, many BP filling stations are actually owned by local people, not the corporation itself. Besides, when you’re filling up at a Shell or ExxonMobil station, it’s hard to feel much sense of moral triumph. Nonetheless, I reserve my right to drive by BP stations. I started doing it long before this year’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Source: Venezuela Analysis
Argentina made history yesterday morning after a vociferously debated proposal permitting same sex marriage passed the country’s Senate by a vote of 33-27.
The country now has the honor of claiming that it is Latin America’s first to end the institutionally discriminatory practice of prohibiting gay marriage. It is a measure that should be applauded by all those who are opposed to inequality and oppression based on sexual orientation.
Of course, the new law did not pass easily as opponents of the proposal were well organized and well funded. Leading the opposition were, predictably, the conservative elements of the Catholic Church whose influence in Argentina and Latin America continues to be enormous. But the fact that such a measure could pass in a country where 91% of the population considers itself to be catholic is an inspiration for Latin America and the rest of the world.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019