CounterVortex

VENEZUELA: THE MYTH OF “ECO-SOCIALISM”

Ecological Contradictions of the Bolivarian Revolution by Maria Pilar Garcia Guadilla, El Libertario Venezuela is a country with a mining and extractive industry economy, whose model development has been based on the exploitation of oil and other non-renewable resources that… Read moreVENEZUELA: THE MYTH OF “ECO-SOCIALISM”

MEXICO’S OTHER DISAPPEARED

Demanding Justice for Missing Migrants from Frontera NorteSur A Mexican lawmaker is demanding that government authorities pay more attention to a case of 31 missing migrants. Juan Fernándo Rocha Mier, a state legislator for the National Action Party (PAN) in… Read moreMEXICO’S OTHER DISAPPEARED

THE CLIMATE JUSTICE GROUNDSWELL

From Copenhagen to Cochabamba to Cancún by Karah Woodward, The Indypendent TIQUIPAYA, Bolivia — Bolivian President Evo Morales spoke for many developing nations last December when he rejected the United Nation’s Copenhagen Accord as “an agreement reached between the world’s… Read moreTHE CLIMATE JUSTICE GROUNDSWELL

MURKY WATERS FLOW FROM PERUVIAN ANDES

Peasants Protest Irrigation Megaproject by Milagros Salazar, Tierramérica The Olmos megaproject, which will divert water from the Huancabamba River through a trans-Andean tunnel to desert land along Peru’s northern coast, is being presented as a catalyst for farm development, but… Read moreMURKY WATERS FLOW FROM PERUVIAN ANDES

POGROMS, PARANOIA AND POLLING IN INDIA

A Muslim Woman Confronts Her Fear of Voting—Eight Years After the Gujarat Massacres by Subuhi Jiwani, Sarai Reader The dot on my index finger nail has been moving stealthily towards the edge. It is the show-sign of patriotism. I have… Read morePOGROMS, PARANOIA AND POLLING IN INDIA

WORLD WAR 4 REPORT IS BACK…FROM BOLIVIA

Dear readers: After a month-long semi-hiatus while I was traveling overseas—including on assignment in Bolivia—our Daily Report is resuming full publication. I was in Bolivia to cover the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth,… Read moreWORLD WAR 4 REPORT IS BACK…FROM BOLIVIA

SOMALIA: WHERE FUN IS FORBIDDEN

from IRIN NAIROBI—Living in a war-torn city is hard enough for Mogadishu’s youngsters, but even those few opportunities for entertainment they used to enjoy have now been banned. Listening to music, watching football or films can earn one up to… Read moreSOMALIA: WHERE FUN IS FORBIDDEN

THE MEXICAN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY GAP

by Kent Paterson, Frontera NorteSur Mexico and the border are once again big news. Stories fill the press about Michele Obama and Hilary Clinton traveling south of the border to show their support for an embattled government. Report after report… Read moreTHE MEXICAN HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY GAP

IGNORING THE GRASSROOTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Powerful Popular Movements Invisible to Mainstream—and “Progressive”—Media by David L. Wilson, World War 4 Report During several days in early August 2009, thousands of Haitian workers walked off their jobs at assembly plants near the airport in northern Port-au-Prince and… Read moreIGNORING THE GRASSROOTS IN LATIN AMERICA

HONDURAS AND THE POLITICAL USES OF THE DRUG WAR

by Nikolas Kozloff and Bill Weinberg, NACLA News Charges of complicity in narco-trafficking make for useful propaganda in Latin American political conflicts. Illegal drugs are such a major part of the region’s economies—right up there with oil, tourism, and legal… Read moreHONDURAS AND THE POLITICAL USES OF THE DRUG WAR

AFGHANISTAN: WOMEN’S RIGHTS TRAMPLED DESPITE NEW LAW

from IRIN As the world marks International Women’s Day, ambivalence, impunity, weak law enforcement and corruption continue to undermine women’s rights in Afghanistan, despite a July 2009 law banning violence against women, rights activists say. A recent case of the… Read moreAFGHANISTAN: WOMEN’S RIGHTS TRAMPLED DESPITE NEW LAW

THE TRAUMAS OF IMMIGRAITON LAW

by Kent Paterson, Frontera NorteSur It began as an ordinary academic presentation. Backed by a power-point, sociologist Alison Newby showed a crowd at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces how more than 400 public and privately-contracted immigrant detention… Read moreTHE TRAUMAS OF IMMIGRAITON LAW