Apr 30
Yoani Sanchez is the new face of the Cuban opposition. Since the creation of her blog Generation Y in 2007, she has won numerous international awards: The Ortega y Gasset Journalism Award (2008), the Bitacoras.com award (2008), The Bob’s Award (2008), and the Maria Moors Cabot Award (2008) from the prestigious Columbia University in the United States. Similarly, the blogger was named among the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine (2008), along with George W. Bush, Hu Jintao and the Dalai Lama…
Apr 27
Humanitarian aid initiatives organized by Haitian communities offer respectful, democratic contrasts to the multi-billion dollar aid effort of the international community, much of which is wasted at best and destructive at worst. “Embedded in the local humanitarian responses is the model of a society premised on generosity and dignity,” says a report released today by Other Worlds…
“We’re looking for solidarity, not charity”, Dukens Raphael, secretary-general of the Confederation of Public and Private Sectors Workers of Haiti (CTSP).
Apr 27
From Cochabamba, Bolivia, where over 30,000 people converged on April 19-22 for the World Peoples Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth, involving thousands of grassroots leaders as well as some political leaders and government officials.
Today, our Mother Earth is wounded and the future of humanity is in danger. If global warming increases by more than 2 degrees Celsius, a situation that the “Copenhagen Accord” could lead to, there is a 50% probability that the damages caused to our Mother Earth will be completely irreversible. Between 20% and 30% of species would be in danger of disappearing…
Related items
Apr 27
Since the constitutionally-elected government of President Manuel Zelaya was overthrown by a military coup on June 28, 2009, Washington has dragged its feet and repeatedly has acted as an apologist in defending the Honduran de facto government of Roberto Micheletti and its successor, the elected government of Porfirio Lobo Sosa. Although the (U.S. based) National Democratic Institute at first characterized Lobo’s election as democratic; in fact balloting was boycotted by dozens of anti-coup candidates and was carried out under conditions of state-sanctioned violence….
Apr 25
Gender Justice in Trade Policy: The gender effects of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)
One World Action and the Commonwealth Secretariat recently published the report: Gender Justice in Trade Policy: The gender effects of Economic Partnership Agreements [1]. Based on the goods tariff liberalisation schedules agreed in Jamaica, Tanzania and Mozambique, this research provides the first detailed economy-wide analysis of the likely gender effects of EPAs…
Apr 23
PAPDA’s critique of the Haitian Government’s Emergency Food Production programme is correct: the programme will worsen the very problems it is supposed to address. Concerned Caricom citizens, with assistance from Bolivia and ALBA, can support Haitian farmers and grassroots organisations to build food production capacity while empowering people at the base and protecting Haiti’s soil, forests and water resources.
Apr 22
The South Centre’s latest publication analyses current weaknesses and imbalances in the global economy and in the major countries; and makes proposals on what needs to be done to achieve a global economic recovery. “Global economic prospects: The recession may be over but where next?” is written by the Centre’s Special Economic Advisor Yilmaz Akyüz (formerly Director of UNCTAD’s Division on Globalisation and Development Strategies). It throws interesting light on the global economic imbalances, the situation in the major countries, and what needs to be done, especially in terms of these countries’ macro-economic policies…
Apr 22
Esteban Morales is Professor of Economics and Political Science at the University of Havana, Honorary Director of the Center for American Studies at the University of Havana, and member of the Commission Against Racism and Racial Discrimination of the National Union of Cuban Writers and Artists-UNEAC. This article was first published in Spanish on the UNEAC website.
When we closely observe Cuba’s internal situation today, we can have no doubt that the counter-revolution, little by little, is taking positions at certain levels of the State and Government. Without a doubt, it is becoming evident that there are people in positions of government and state who are girding themselves financially for when the Revolution falls, and others may have everything almost ready to transfer state-owned assets to private hands, as happened in the old USSR…
Apr 15
The European Union (EU)’s interest and involvement in foreign direct investment (FDI) is by no means new. However, it has only been comparatively recently that one has been able to begin to distinguish the particularities of a specific EU approach to FDI, especially when placed within a broader developmental context. The approach has been most visible during the ongoing negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) grouping of States…
Apr 15
“The BRIC members have not injected nearly $100 billion into the IMF just to leave everything as it was before.”
Statement from Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, at the inuguration of the Summit of Brazil, Russia, India and China at their Summit in Brasilia on April 15, 2010
From Huffington Post, 15/4/2010
BRASILIA - The term “BRIC” was coined only ten years ago as an acronym meant to capture the new reality that Brazil, Russia, India and China together had come to account for 15 per cent of the world’s GDP. We are countries where everything happens on a large scale. We represent nearly one half of the world population, 20 per cent of its land surface and are rich in natural resources. Today, the BRICs have become essential players in major international decision-making…
