Latin America

Wagging the Dog: As Trump and Iran square off on Venezuela Oil Shipments, will US Go full Pirate of the Gulf?

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trita Parsi writing at Responsible Statecraft wonders if the Trump administration is planning to widen its piracy against Iranian vessels on the high seas as part of an October surprise. Trump had four Iranian oil tankers seized in August, alleging that they were heading for Venezuela. The problem? There is […]

Brazil

Not a Hoax After All: Macho Coronavirus Denialists Donald Trump and Brazil’s Bolsonaro were Exposed at Mar-a-Lago

Tori Avila

Sao Paulo (Special to Informed Comment) – Last weekend, President Donald Trump met with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for a private dinner in Mar-a-Lago, his personal residence in Palm Beach, Florida. It turns out to have been less a state dinner and more a disease vector. Ironically, both leaders had stubbornly refused to acknowledge the […]

Climate Crisis

The Contribution of Indigenous People to Fighting Climate Change is Hanging by a Thread in Bolivia

The Conversation

By Iokiñe Rodríguez and Mirna Inturias | – Earth’s forests oxygenate the atmosphere and store vast quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO₂). But research suggests that the health of these vast ecosystems in large part depends on the work of indigenous people. Indigenous territories and protected areas cover 52% of the Amazon forest and store […]

Brazil

Soleimani’s Killing is a Global Event: Brazil’s Politicians, Oil Markets Shaken by Mideast Instability

Tori Avila

Sao Paulo (Special to Informed Comment) – Recently, after the American military action that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Bagdad, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said that “Brazil supports any action against terrorism around the world, and so should the entire international community”, and also that “the country has absolutely no intentions to take advantage […]

Brazil

Statistic of the decade: The massive deforestation of the Amazon

The Conversation

By Liberty Vittert | – This year, I was on the judging panel for the Royal Statistical Society’s International Statistic of the Decade. Much like Oxford English Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” competition, the international statistic is meant to capture the zeitgeist of this decade. The judging panel accepted nominations from the statistical community and […]

Brazil

Beef and Oil: Are Brazil’s Bolsonaro and Saudi’s MBS a Match Made in Heaven?

Tori Avila

By Vitoria Avila Fioravanti | – Sao Paulo (Special to Informed Comment) – Beef, oil and veiling and a murdered journalist have catapulted the burgeoning relationship between Brazil and the controversial Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into the headlines for the first time this fall, though the two countries have had formal diplomatic relations since 1968. […]

Displaced and Refugees

Trail of Tears: Refugees at Our Southern Border

H. Patricia Hynes

“There were many trails of tears all over North America of indigenous peoples who were forcibly removed by government forces. The indigenous peoples who are making their way up from the southern hemisphere are a continuation of the Trail of Tears.” – Joy Harjo (Informed Comment) – Children, families and caravans of brown-skinned people arriving […]

Climate Change

How climate change is driving emigration from Central America

The Conversation

By Miranda Cady Hallett | – Clouds of dust rose behind the wheels of the pickup truck as we hurtled over the back road in Palo Verde, El Salvador. When we got to the stone-paved part of the road, the driver slowed as the truck heaved up and down with the uneven terrain. Riding in […]

Brazil

Burning Down the House: Far Right Nihilism in US, UK & Brazil Menaces the Planet

John Feffer

By John Feffer | – (Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Far-right governments in the U.S., UK, and Brazil are laying bare their nihilistic roots and full destructive potential. Doesn’t idiocy ever take a vacation? As August wound down, the populist troika of Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, and Jair Bolsonaro proved once again that the […]