Agile Ecuador government riles friends and foes
Pursuing social justice and national independence, the government of President Rafael Correa has gained new adversaries while prodding old foes. Having won a 57 percent majority in a run-off vote, Illinois-trained economist Correa, candidate of the populist Alianza Pais party, became president in January 2007.
Afghanistan: Peace group projects a way out
Ex-presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, visiting Afghanistan this week, predicted the situation there will get worse before it gets better, “just like the surge in Iraq was.” But in the war’s eighth year, observers warn that a “troop surge” won’t reverse Afghanistan’s slide into chaos, violence and poverty.
World Notes: December 13
India: Russia aids nuclear development Somalia: Slaughter, suffering continue Italy: Historic rescue underscores risks Colombia: Gov’t evidence evaporates Cuba: Scientists, industry respond to world vaccine needs Gaza: Siege builds
World Notes
UN: Call for action on women’s rights EU: Drug firms block generic sales Afghanistan: Karzai rethinking troop presence Cuba: International relations surge Korea: North-South relations prove fragile Chile: Massive strike underscores worker strength
Americans favor ending blockade against Cuba
Spurred by President-elect Barack Obama’s successful campaign and the prospects for stronger Democratic control of Congress, a new crop of analyses, statements and resolutions is emerging against Washington’s nearly half-century-long blockade of Cuba.
Cutting cane in Colombia, workers win sweet victory
Colombian sugar cane production is confined to 500,000 acres in Valle de Cauca and Cauca, departments situated in the country’s southwest. From legalized slavery on, Afro-Colombians have done most of the cutting. Recently they’ve worked 12-14 hour days, every day, under contract with facade cooperatives, an arrangement allowing landowners and refinery operators to avoid paying for tools, transportation and workers’ retirement costs. After deductions, cutters earn less than Colombia’s minimum wage of $222 per month.
By bus, canoe and burro, Communists gather for Bogota meet
“From the four cardinal points of the country, some by bus, others in canoes, on burros, and by airplane they came to Bogota,” Juan Cendales wrote on rebellion.org. “They got their bags ready, went over their ideas, and reaffirmed dreams and hopes,” before heading for the 20th Congress of Colombia’s Communist Party, Nov. 14-16.
WORLD NOTES: November 22
Gaza: Collective punishment remains Malaysia: Rights protests grow Nicaragua: Sandinistas win city elections Switzerland: Gender gaps shrink Zambia: Change in the wind Cuba: New cooperation with Russia
Update: Articles and resources on the economic crisis
What will be impact of the Wall Street bankruptcies, bailouts and blunders on working people in this country and worldwide? What's the solution to the crisis?
Cuba survives third major hurricane, this time Paloma
Aida Perez, 44 years old, was waiting out Hurricane Paloma with her two daughters in a dormitory at the University of Camaguey inland, along with 900 others from Santa Cruz del Sur, a small city on Cuba’s southern coast. Her house was probably gone, she told an AP reporter, “But what’s important is that we are alive.”
