Latin America

( Tomdispatch.com ) – A few recent headlines reveal the painfully inhumane, dangerously volatile state of U.S. relations with its own home region, the continent of North America. A record-breaking 2.76 million border crossings from Mexico filled homeless shelters to the bursting point in cities nationwide in 2022. This year, the possible cessation of Covid […]

Brazil

Brazil’s Jan. 6: Right wing Mob invades Nat’l Congress, Tries to Stop Progressive Policies like Saving Amazon

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, denounced the invasion of the national Congress and some ministry buildings in Brasilia on Sunday by a far right wing mob as “reprehensible and anti-democratic coup attempt by conservatives in Brazil, incited by the leaders of oligarchic power, its spokespersons and […]

Africa

What Climate Debt Does the North Owe the South?

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Richer countries haven’t met their $100 billion promise to help poorer countries move beyond fossil fuels. Where’s the money going to come from? By John Feffer | November 30, 2022 To keep the planet from overheating, there’s just so much more carbon that humans can pump into the […]

Agriculture

Ending Amazon Deforestation: The Future of the World’s largest Rainforest

The Conversation

By Jennifer Weeks, The Conversation | – Brazil’s president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, was greeted with applause and cheers when he addressed the U.N. climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Nov. 16, 2022. As he had in his campaign, Lula pledged to stop rampant deforestation in the Amazon, which his predecessor, Jair Bolsanaro, […]

Brazil

At COP27, Lula puts Brazil at Forefront of Climate Battle, vows to stop Destruction of Amazon Rainforest

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The president-elect of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, addressed the COP27 climate summit in Egypt on Wednesday, announcing that “Brazil is back.” He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am here today to say that Brazil is ready to join again in efforts to build a healthier planet, a fairer […]

Brazil

Lula’s Triumph in Brazil is a Victory for the Amazon and for the Planet

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was elected on Sunday to his second (non-consecutive) term as president, in a victory for planet earth as well as for Brazil. He first served 2003-2010. Since 2019, Brazil’s president has been the far right demagogue Jair Bolsonaro, who just lost to the leftist da […]

Central America

‘Open-air Prison’ in southern Mexico traps thousands of Migrants

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Taylor Stevens | Cronkite Borderlands Project – ( Cronkite News ) – TAPACHULA, MEXICO – The desperation here is palpable. It fills the stifling air as migrants line up in the hot sun outside the National Migration Institute in hopes of receiving an interview, their children close at hand and their visa applications tucked […]

Cold War

I may have failed as a Tax Resister, but Corporate America is Hugely Successful at it

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com) – Every April, as income-tax returns come due, I think about the day 30 years ago when I opened my rented mailbox and saw a business card resting inside. Its first line read, innocently enough, “United States Treasury.” It was the second line — “Internal Revenue Service” — that took my breath away. […]

Latin America

In the new Great Game, can Venezuela negotiate an end to deadly US sanctions?

Ramzy Baroud

(Middle East Monitor ) – The tables have turned. A high-level US delegation visited Venezuela on 5 March, hoping to repair economic ties with Caracas. One of the world’s poorest countries, in part due to US-Western sanctions, Venezuela is, for once, in the driving seat and capable of alleviating an impending US energy crisis if […]