Latin America

By Laura Carlsen | – (FPIF) – There’s nothing “uncontrollable” about people applying for asylum. All the U.S. has to do is meet its obligations under international law. Donald Trump has once again torpedoed the U.S. relationship with Mexico — its third-largest trade partner, closest neighbor and, actually, an ally — by announcing his decision […]

Latin America

We are here because you were there: Refugees at the US-Mexican Border

H. Patricia Hynes

(Informed Comment) – Why would so many Guatemalans make the arduous journey to the US-Mexican border seeking refuge, knowing the hatred heaped on them by the Trump Administration? A short list of our long history of corporate exploitation and military aggression in that country might explain. In 1928 the American United Fruit Company (present-day Chiquita […]

Costa Rica

Is Costa Rica’s ambitious Decarbonization Program a Model for the US Green New Deal?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last week, Costa Rica’s president, Carlos Alvarado, announced one of the more ambitious plans for a transition of a country to Net Carbon Zero proposed anywhere in the world. While many countries have made strides toward reducing their carbon dioxide production from electricity generation, Costa Rica is now addressing transportation, […]

Latin America

Venezuela crisis: Trump threats to Maduro evoke bloody history of US intervention in Latin America

The Conversation

By Joseph J. Gonzalez | – Violence erupted at the Venezuela-Colombia border over the delivery of humanitarian aid to Venezuela, killing four people and injuring 24 on Feb. 22. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that his “days are numbered,” and Trump officials reiterated that the U.S. is considering all […]

Venezuela

The Trojan Horse of US “Aid” to Venezuela

H. Patricia Hynes

(Informed Comment) – Hope and US Aid at the Border: the title of a recent New York Times video deodorizes the US attempt to overthrow President Maduro of socialist Venezuela and replace him with a hand-picked member of the Venezuelan elite, capitalist class. As the major media presents it, the US is altruistically rushing to […]

Donald Trump

Trump Hawks don’t Care about Democracy, they Want a Brutal Coup for Venezuelan Oil

Peter Certo

(Otherwords.org) – Do we think people who armed death squads and started wars really want to “bring democracy” to Venezuela? By Peter Certo | January 30, 2019 For some months now, Venezuela’s socialist government has lurched through a series of escalating crises — hyperinflation, mass protests, political violence — while both the government and its […]

Featured

Turkey, NATO ally, Rejects US “Coup Attempt” in Venezuela

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is no surprise that Iran should be supporting the Venezuelan government of Maduro, given that both typically take anti-imperialist stands. What is astonishing is that NATO member Turkey has piled on the criticism, along with the Turkish press. It is s sign of US-Turkish relations being at their nadir. […]

Venezuela

Pompeo taps Iran-Contra Death Squad Backer to ‘Restore Democracy’ in Venezuela

AFP

Washington, D.C. (AFP) – Top US diplomat Mike Pompeo on Friday tapped Elliot Abrams, a central figure in Ronald Reagan’s controversial anti-communist campaigns in Central America, as a new envoy to “restore democracy” in Venezuela. Pompeo announced the appointment of Abrams two days after Washington declared head of state Nicolas Maduro to be illegitimate and […]

Brazil

Corrupt Gov’t Kept slashing Nat’l Museum, Now Brazilian History up in Smoke

AFP

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Brazilian officials on Monday blamed years of government cutbacks for an inferno that gutted the treasured National Museum, described by President Michel Temer as a “tragic” loss of knowledge and heritage. Even before the embers had begun to cool Monday, grief over the huge cultural loss gave way to anger […]