Day: September 1, 2005

AN ACCIDENTAL DISSIDENT FROM THE BIN LADEN DYNASTY

BOOK REVIEW INSIDE THE KINGDOM My Life in Saudi Arabia by Carmen Bin Ladin Warner Books, 2004 by Chesley Hicks “Socially, Saudi Arabia is medieval, dark with sin and interdiction,” opens chapter seven of Carmen Bin Ladin’s chronicle of the… Read moreAN ACCIDENTAL DISSIDENT FROM THE BIN LADEN DYNASTY

CENTRAL AMERICA: BUSH SIGNS CAFTA; NAVAL MANEUVERS HELD

from Weekly News Update on the Americas Shortly before flying to his Texas ranch for a month-long vacation, on Aug. 2 US President George W. Bush signed the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) into law, following a 19-month… Read moreCENTRAL AMERICA: BUSH SIGNS CAFTA; NAVAL MANEUVERS HELD

VENEZUELA: OLIGARCHY STRIKES BACK AT CAMPESINOS

Peasants are stepping up pressure on Venezuela’s government to enforce the land reform law, decreed by President Hugo Chavez in November 2001. Over a million hectares of public lands were redistributed in the first three years of the law under… Read moreVENEZUELA: OLIGARCHY STRIKES BACK AT CAMPESINOS

COLOMBIA: INDIGENOUS, CAMPESINOS MASSACRED

from Weekly News Update on the Americas EMBERA INDIGENOUS MASSACRED On Aug. 17, hooded assailants armed with assault rifles arrived at the home of an indigenous Embera Chami family in the community of Ubarba, in the Nuestra Senora Candelaria de… Read moreCOLOMBIA: INDIGENOUS, CAMPESINOS MASSACRED

PERU: CAMPESINOS OCCUPY MINE CAMPS, CABINET RESIGNS

from Weekly News Update on the Americas HUANCABAMBA: TWO DEAD AT MINING CAMP In the pre-dawn hours of Aug. 1, some 3,000 to 6,000 residents of campesino communities in northern Peru seized control of the Henry Hills mining camp, owned… Read morePERU: CAMPESINOS OCCUPY MINE CAMPS, CABINET RESIGNS

ARGENTINA: PROTESTS HIT OIL SECTOR

from Weekly News Update on the Americas On Aug. 22, members of Argentina’s Union of Unemployed Workers (UTD) led by “Pepino” Fernandez occupied a gas plant belonging to the companies Plus Petrol and Panamerican in General Mosconi, near the Bolivian… Read moreARGENTINA: PROTESTS HIT OIL SECTOR

BOLIVIA: REGIONAL STRIKE OVER OIL DEAL

from Weekly News Update on the Americas On Aug. 4, residents of the southern Bolivian city of Camiri, in Santa Cruz department, lifted their general strike after Hydrocarbons Minister Jaime Dunn signed an agreement promising to speed up the re-establishment… Read moreBOLIVIA: REGIONAL STRIKE OVER OIL DEAL

ECUADOR: STRIKE HALTS AMAZON OIL PRODUCTION

from Weekly News Update on the Americas On Aug. 15, residents of the Amazon provinces of Sucumbios and Orellana in northern Ecuador began an open-ended civic strike–backed by local elected officials–to demand higher wages, more jobs and the construction of… Read moreECUADOR: STRIKE HALTS AMAZON OIL PRODUCTION

PEAK OIL AND NATIONAL SECURITY:

A Critique of Energy Alternatives by George Caffentzis The discussion of energy politics in the US is now dominated by two competing paradigms. One is promoted by the Bush Administration and its corporate allies; the other by a wide assortment… Read morePEAK OIL AND NATIONAL SECURITY:

IRAQI UNIONS DEFY ASSASSINATION AND OCCUPATION

by David Bacon BASRA, Iraq – The cracking towers and gas flares of the Al-Daura oil refinery rise above the neighborhood on Baghdad’s outskirts that bears its name. On February 18, Ali Hassan Abd (Abu Fahad), a leader of the… Read moreIRAQI UNIONS DEFY ASSASSINATION AND OCCUPATION

HISTORY OF WESTERN SAHARA

1400s: Nomadic tribes from Yemen invade the Sahara. Mixing with the local indigenous population of Saharan Berbers, they form the people who now inhabit the westernmost Sahara. 1884: Spain establishes a “protectorate” over what is now called the Western Sahara…. Read moreHISTORY OF WESTERN SAHARA

MIXING OCCUPATION AND OIL IN WESTERN SAHARA

by Jacob Mundy “We preferred that occupation,” Salim says, pointing to the Spanish news channel on his television, “to this one,” he says gesturing toward Moroccan settlers walking past his West Saharan shop window. Western Sahara is a disputed territory… Read moreMIXING OCCUPATION AND OIL IN WESTERN SAHARA