Latin America

TeleSur | – – Obama will spend two and half days in Cuba, where he will meet with U.S.-backed activists and attend a baseball game. U.S. President Barack Obama, together with First Lady Michelle Obama and their children, walked through the streets of Old Havana Sunday as part of a historic three-day trip to Cuba. […]

Israel/ Palestine

Brazil opens Palestine Embassy after rejecting Israeli Squatter Envoy

contributors

TeleSur | – – The inauguration comes weeks after Brazil rejected Israel’s ambassador, a former leader of West Bank settlers. The Palestinian Authority inaugurated its first embassy in the Western Hemisphere in Brasilia Wednesday amid a diplomatic row between Brazil and Israel. Representatives of Arab countries and Arab Brazilians attended the event, hosted on land […]

Egypt

Mexican Tour Organizers, Buddhist Healers, Baffled by Egyptian Army Attack

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Gabriela Bejarano Rangel, the sister and daughter of the Mexican organizers of the tour to Egypt that met with tragedy Sunday, has been interviewed at Excelsior.com. The Egyptian military mistook the tourist convoy in the western desert near Siwa Oasis for terrorists and attacked them, killing […]

Christianity

As Glaciers Melt in Ecuador, Pope Francis challenges Technocrats, touts “Keeping” the Environment

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Pope Francis continues to preach environmentalism as he addresses crowds in Latin America, a challenging message in poor countries where over-exploitation of natural resources is a constant temptation. These are also countries and populations, however, most at risk from pollution and the ravages of climate change. […]

Israel/ Palestine

Venezuela to Boost Palestine to Full Embassy Status

contributors

By Ben Tavener – IMEMC/PNN – Venezuela will boost its diplomatic representation in Palestine to full embassy status, according to the Venezuelan minister for foreign affairs. “Following instructions from President Nicolás Maduro, we will raise our representation in the heroic Palestinian states to embassy level,” Delcy Rodríguez announced on social media Thursday evening. Venezuela is […]

Barack Obama

US history of coup-making Overshadows Obama’s outreach to Iran, Latin American Left

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – President Obama met with Cuban President Raoul Castro for an hour on Saturday, and the two made progress on plans to restore diplomatic relations. Before the meeting, Obama said, “I think that after 50 years of policy that had not changed on the part of the United States, […]

Crime

US “War on Drugs” ruined Mexico even worse than it did Afghanistan

contributors

By Rebecca Gordon | (Tomdispatch.com) – They behead people by the hundreds. They heap headless, handless bodies along roadsides as warnings to those who would resist their power. They have penetrated the local, state, and national governments and control entire sections of the country. They provide employment and services to an impoverished public, which distrusts […]

Iraq

How the Iraq Wars began with the Invasion of Panama

contributors

By Greg Grandin | (Tomdispatch.com) — As we end another year of endless war in Washington, it might be the perfect time to reflect on the War That Started All Wars — or at least the war that started all of Washington’s post-Cold War wars: the invasion of Panama. Twenty-five years ago this month, early […]

Featured

Cuba: Top 5 other Dictatorships with which US has Diplomatic Relations

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | — The US sanctions on Cuba were justified by their supporters with reference to the Communist government’s human rights record. That record, bad as it is, however, cannot explain the sanctions. They are rather pique that Cuba defied American hegemony and corporate domination. The sanctions have not overthrown the government of […]