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Africa: Food Versus Biofuels Debate Continues

Mantoe Phakathi December 2, 2010 Mantoe Phakathi

“We’re going to Cancún no better off than we were in Copenhagen,” said Thuli Makama, the director of Friends of the Earth Swaziland, as she prepared to leave for the climate negotiations in Mexico.

Makama is worried about one particular proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions: biofuels. She feels industrialised countries are promoting the production and use of biofuels to fulfill their energy needs, but this will leave more people in the developing world without food. read more

11 Years After the WTO Uprising: Seattle, Detroit, Cancun, Immokalee

David Solnit December 2, 2010 David Solnit

Eleven years ago yesterday, on November 30, 1999, a public uprising shut down the World Trade Organizationand occupied downtown Seattle.

That same week in 1999, three thousand miles away in Immokalee, Florida, farmworkers carried out a five-day general strike against abusive growers paying starvation wages. Two weeks ago, on November 16, 2010 those same growers — the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange representing 90% of the industry — publicly agreed to every one of the farmworkers “Fair Food” demands. read more

The Ambassador Has No Clothes: WikiLeaks Cable Lays Bare Washington’s Stance Toward Bolivia

Benjamin Dangl December 1, 2010 Benjamin Dangl

A classified cable from the US embassy in La Paz, Bolivia released by WikiLeaks lays bare an embassy that is biased against the Evo Morales government, underestimates the sophistication of the governing party’s grassroots base, and out of touch with the political reality of the country.

Haiti Elections: A Sham in the Time of Cholera

Isabel Macdonald November 29, 2010 Isabel Macdonald

In the midst of a cholera epidemic that has killed a reported 1,300 Haitians, the U.S., Canada and the United Nations insisted that Haiti’s elections go ahead yesterday, as scheduled. However elections might not be the most accurate term for the process by which a new Haitian president and lawmakers will be selected at the polls.

Video – Dancing with Dynamite in South America: Social Movements and States

Jesse Freeston November 23, 2010 Jesse Freeston

In this video interview, journalist Ben Dangl looks at Ecuador and Bolivia, where some of the most influential social movements have become vociferous critics of the governments they helped bring to power.

Burma: New phase for democracy struggle

Tony Iltis November 22, 2010 Tony Iltis

Source: Green Left Weekly

Burma’s November 7 elections — held under an undemocratic constitution in an atmosphere of repression and with the result crudely rigged — have been overshadowed by the release from house arrest of opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi on November 13.

Thousands of supporters lined the streets to her house and flocked to NLD offices to hear her speak.

Suu Kyi’s release has been compared to that of Nelson Mandela in 1990. However, unlike Mandela, Suu Kyi was not released from detention by a regime seeking negotiations. read more