Southeast Asia
Vietnam tilts to US in Pacific ‘Great Game’
Vietnam's paramount leader Nguyen Phu Trong meets with Obama at the White House, as the US and China play a dangerous game of chicken over disputed islands.
Tag: FTAs
The Amazon
China pushes trans-Amazon railway project
China's Premier Li Keqiang, on a tour of South America, is plugging a transcontinental railway project that would cut through the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
Central America
Honduras: AFL-CIO blames trade policies for crisis
The AFL-CIO once backed US government meddling in Honduras, but a new report from the labor federation is a scathing indictment of US "security" and "free trade" policies.
Central America
Central America: US pushes new ‘Plan Colombia’
The US is now seeking $1 billion from Congress for its plan to step up the failed "war on drugs" and failed neoliberal economic programs in Central America.
Watching the Shadows
Obama’s sixth year: a World War 4 Report scorecard
World War 4 Report offers its annual annotated assessment of Obama's moves in dismantling, continuing or escalating the apparatus of the Global War on Terrorism.
Central America
Central America: refugee ‘crisis’ plan gets a debut
Using the pretext of last spring's uptick in immigration by Central American children, the US is pushing for still more of its failed "drug war" and "free trade" policies.
Central America
Latin America: GAO reports on FTA labor violations
The US has been requiring its "free trade" partners to meet certain labor standards. A US government report raises questions about the policy's effectiveness.
The Andes
Protest Ollanta Humala in New York City
Peru's President Ollanta Humala will be honored by the free-trade-boosting Americas Society on Thursday night. New York activists will be there to protest.
Central America
Guatemala: activists defeat ‘Monsanto Law’
In the latest defeat for GMOs in Latin America, Guatemala's congress rolled back a CAFTA-mandated law to protect hybrid and GM seeds as "intellectual property."
Mexico
Mexico: wages stay down in stalled economy
Two decades after NAFTA went into effect, Mexico has one of the worst-performing economies in the region. A warning for other countries on "free trade" deals?
Mexico
Subcommander Marcos ‘ceases to exist’
A new communique from the Zapatistas' Subcommander Marcos states that he is stepping down as the public voice of the indigenous rebel army in Mexico's Chiapas state.
Oceania
Rival trade pacts vie for Pacific hegemony
China is proposing a Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) in a race with the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.