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Today's
Stories
December
4 / 6, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
Politicize the CIA? You've Got to
be Kidding
December
3, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Lie Then Escalate
Ben
Tripp
Fun With Boycotts: How to Shop in a
Time of Crisis
Joe
Allen
Murder in El Salvador: the Assassination of Teamster Organizer
Gilberto Soto
Matthew
B. Riley
Human Rights Court Fails Lori Berenson
Meir
Shalev
In the End, It is the Violin that Wins
Bob
Wing
The White Elephant in the Room: Race and Election 2004
Christopher
Brauchli
When McCain Bit His Tongue
Sasan
Fayazmanesh
The EU, the US, Israel and Iran
December
2, 2004
Tito
Tricot
No Justice in Chile: I'm a Torture
Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free
Behzad
Yaghmaian
The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration
Dr.
Susan Block
Lana and Me: Meetings with Remarkable Apes
Frank
/ Chowkwanyun
Liberalism and Its Bounds
Lee
Sustar
Standoff in Ukraine: the Bad v. the Corrupt
Patrick
Cockburn
Another Grim Record in Iraq
Mark
Engler
Seattle at Five
Michael
Donnelly
Something Stinks in South Bend: the Firing of Tyrone Willingham
Nate
Collins
The Bay Area Mall on an Ohlone Burial Grounds
Saul
Landau
The Assassination of Danilo Anderson
December
1, 2004
Phillip
Cryan
Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias
in Wire Coverage of Colombia
Dave
Zirin
What's the Matter with "Leon"?:
Budweiser's Racist Commercial
Ghali
Hassan
Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation:
200 Children Die Every Day
Donna
J. Volatile
Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy"
Patrick
Cockburn
How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency
Nick
Meo
Chemical War Over Afghanistan
Mike
Ferner
The Battle of Toledo
Mokhiber
/ Weissman
Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising
Kathy
Kelly
Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes
of the UN in Iraq
November
30, 2004
Jennifer
Van Bergen
The Veil of Secrecy
Toni
Nelson Herrera
Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence
Patrick
Cockburn
The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq
Chuck
Munson
WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization
Movement
Adam
Williams
Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana
Gregory
Elich
A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for
North Korea
Website
of the Day
Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!
November
29, 2004
Dave
Lindorff
Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of
the CIA?
Omar
Barghouti
"The Pianist" of Palestine:
Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint
Mike
Whitney
The US Media and Fallujah: How to
Market a Siege
Uri
Avnery
The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me
Some Credit!"
Matt
Vidal
Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers
Patrick
Cockburn
An Interview with Iraq's Foreign
Minister
Alan
Farago
Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters
Justin
Huggler
Bhopal 20 Years Later
Antony
Loewenstein
How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy
Gary
Leupp
Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real
Issue
Website
of the Day
Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone
November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
November
26, 2004
Peter
Feng
Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine?
Greg
Moses
It's the White Vote, Stupid
Liaquat
Ali Khan
The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry
of Immigration
Dave
Lindorff
Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the
Way
Gary
Corseri
When Black Friday Comes...
Paul
Craig Roberts
Whatever Happened to Conservatives?
Website
of the Day
Iraq Pipeline Watch
November
25, 2004
Willliam
Loren Katz
Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks
to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today"
Mitchel
Cohen
Why I Hate Thanksgiving
Mike
Ferner
An Uncommon Mom
November
24, 2004
Gila
Svirsky
License to Kill: the Example of Violence
is Set by the State
Winslow
T. Wheeler
The
Other Mess in Congress
Christopher
Brauchli
The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay
Dave
Lindorff
Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony
Ron
Jacobs
The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem
Ken
Sengupta
Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah
Diana
Barahona
The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader
John
L. Hess
Safire the Shameless
Jason
Leopold
Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal?
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear
War
Map
of the Day
Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860
November
23, 2004
Forrest
Hylton
Bush and Uribe at the Beach
November
22, 2004
Dave
Zirin
Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage
in Detroit
Paul
Craig Roberts
On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again?
Michael
Mandel / Gail Davidson
Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada
Kathie
Helmkamp
Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill
Ken
Sengupta
The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place
in Iraq"
Mike
Whitney
Greenspan's Hammer
Roger
Burbach
Why They Hate Bush in Chile
Website
of the Day
Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?
November
20 / 21, 2004
Alexander
Cockburn
The Poisoned Chalice
Todd
May
Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear
Abbas
Ahmed Ibrahim
The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account
Kevin
Zeese
Mishandling Nader
Landau
/ Hassen
After Arafat
Tom
Barry
The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley
Fred
Gardner
Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd
Justin
E.H. Smith
Triumph of the Will: the Sequel
Carl
Estabrook
Where We Are Now
Gary
Leupp
Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue
Dave
Lindorff
Apocalypse Soon
Jenna
Michelle Liut
Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower
and Lives
Mickey
Z.
The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William
Blum
Greg
Moses
The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America
Sharon
Smith
Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now?
Ron
Jacobs
Sandwiches and Car Bombs
Ben
Tripp
Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days
Richard
Oxman
Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules!
Gilad
Atzmon
Politics and Jazz
Poets'
Basement
LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon.
Website
of the Day
Voice of the Forest
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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Weekend Edition
December 4 / 6, 2004
Continental Drift
Latin
America Shifts Left
By
LAURA CARLSEN
On his first trip abroad since re-election,
George W. Bush was greeted by thousands of Chileans, protesting
his trade and military policies and telling him to go home.
The protests at last week's
APEC meeting were not just a manifestation of the historic anti-American
response to an imperial president. The anti-Bush demonstrations
in Santiago highlighted a new political trend in Latin America--where
many countries are moving to the center-left, just as the United
States takes a sharp turn to the right.
With all eyes focused on the
presidential elections in the United States, key elections in
Latin American countries went almost unnoticed over the past
weeks. The results in Uruguay, Venezuela, Chile, Nicaragua, and
to some extent Brazil, showed a shift toward the center-left
or a consolidation of left-leaning leadership.
The victory of Tabaré
Vázquez in Uruguay was the first sign. Vazquez's Broad
Front brought an end to 170 years of political power shifting
back and forth between the rural elite in the Blanco Party and
the urban elite in the Colorado Party. Vazquez's win was not
a surprise. The Broad Front has governed Montevideo since 1990
and polls showed him in the lead. But his victory demonstrated
the steady accumulation of power and credibility that the left
has built up over the past three decades. The equally impressive
failure of the two conservative parties to solve growing problems
of poverty, inequality, and corruption also contributed mightily
to Broad Front's win.
The gains of Chilean President
Ricardo Lago's progressive coalition in the municipal elections
of October 31 was yet another sign of the problems that the Latin
American right has had in maintaining or building political force.
The elections are viewed as a precursor the presidential elections
in 2005. With the right winning only 39% of the mayoral races
to the progressive alliance's 45%, the prospects for a progressive
victory in 2005 look increasingly favorable. The two main contenders
for the progressive candidacy, former Defense Minister Michele
Bachelet and former Foreign Relations Minister Soledad Alvear,
now seem well-positioned for a successful presidential bid.
In Brazil's first-round elections
on October 3, Lula's Workers Party (PT) garnered most votes and
now governs in more cities than any other party, including nine
state capitals. But the Oct. 31 second-round loss of Sao Paulo
to the social-democrat candidate and the loss of Porto Alegre--after
16 years of being a PT showcase and center of the World Social
Forum--mitigated any conclusion that the PT had received a resounding
vote of confidence. Although the majority clearly support the
center-left over the right, the nation continues to be living
a political experiment with contradictory and unpredictable results.
Finally, Nicaragua's municipal
elections provided yet another sign of a turn in the tides. The
Sandinistas, who were voted out of government in 1990 and have
repeatedly lost to the right since then, swept municipal elections
against a divided right and easily maintained control of the
nation's capital. In Venezuela, a somewhat vote-weary nation
gave President Hugo Chávez a mandate with 20 of 22 governorships,
a fact that no doubt galls key figures on the Bush team who consider
Chávez a major threat in the region.
No to Privatization
and Free Trade
Besides voting for center-left
parties and candidates, Latin American societies are also beginning
to demonstrate their rejection of the dominant economics in many
other ways. In Uruguay , voters rejected any privatization of
the water system, while efforts to hold referendums rejecting
free trade agreements have gained momentum in Ecuador and Peru
. Popular demonstrations against privatizations, free trade,
and military intervention, as well as local struggles for autonomy
and resource control, are mounting.
Many factors have converged
to push Latin America to the left. Foremost is the failure of
the neoliberal economic model to improve standards of living.
Signs that patience has run out have become common--from the
street chants of angry Argentines that "they've all got
to go! to widening citizen movements against free trade. The
economic crisis in Uruguay in 2002, precipitated by the financial
free-fall in neighboring Argentina , played a big role in Vazquez's
triumph.
Another reason is that center-left
forces have adopted more conciliatory attitudes toward the market
economy, in some cases embracing it enthusiastically. Traditional
ideological differences have blurred in the new context of economic
integration, which now seems inevitable to many Latin Americans,
even many on the left.
In contrast to former times,
most of modern left does not envision storming the palace. Vázquez
calls his platform the "cautious revolution or the "agreed-on
transition. Even the FSLN has left its radical past behind and
worked to mend fences within Nicaraguan society, while the Chilean
progressive alliance has turned out to be one of the region's
most vocal champions of free trade--to the chagrin of much of
the traditional left. Brazil 's workers, government, meanwhile,
is walking a tightrope between conservative economic policies
and commitments to its grassroots constituencies and leftist
origins.
Even so, Latin America's center-left
shares some major differences with precepts of the Bush administration's
foreign policy. Among shared key principles are commitments to
social justice, an active role of the state, and national sovereignty.
In the name of defending national sovereignty, center-left forces
are seeking greater control over natural resources, and they
are now confronting corporations that have gained ground through
investment-protection clauses and increased access that resulted
from neoliberal economic restructuring. Also, Washington 's increasing
proclivity for unilateralism and its plans for global hegemony
are most often viewed as a threat, spurring initiatives for more
independent regional integration and cooperation. Uruguay 's
incoming government, for example, has announced its intention
to immediately re-establish ties with Cuba and to stick to its
principles of non-intervention and regional solidarity.
Continental
Drift
For the Bush administration,
it can either accept Latin America 's bid for greater policy
independence or attempt to divide the continent into simplistic
categories of "unconditional allies that it will favor and
"dangerous foes that it will seek to undermine.
So far, Bush's new foreign
policy team does not bode well for the accommodation route. As
a Russian scholar, Condoleezza Rice was intellectually raised
on the Cold War and has insisted on recuperating the ideological
offensive of that era.
A new kind of continental drift--this
one born on political currents--appears to be distancing the
north and south in the Americas. The U.S. government can either
choose to respect the innovative attempts by southern nations
to meet the region's economic and political challenges, or it
can force the north-south fault lines to widen. The latter course
could be cataclysmic.
Laura Carlsen is Director of the Americas Program
for Interhemispheric Resource Center. She holds a BA in Social
Thought and Institutions (1980) from Stanford University and
an MA in Latin American Studies (1986) from Stanford. She received
a Fulbright Scholarship to study the impact of the Mexican economic
crisis on women in 1986 and has since lived in Mexico City. She
can be reached at: laura@irc-online.org
Weekend Edition
Features for November
27 / 28, 2004
Peter
Linebaugh
Torture & Neo-Liberalism with
Sycorax in Iraq
Alexander
Cockburn
What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa?
Fred
Gardner
Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court
Kathy
Kelly
What We Can Control
Diane
Christian
The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts"
Gary
Leupp
One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea
Lenni
Brenner
Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York
Times
Ron
Jacobs
Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of
the AMS Clerics
Joshua
Frank
An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd
Toni
Solo
The Murder of Danilo Anderson
Saul
Landau
Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica
JoAnn
Wypijewski
Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are
No Cure for Homophobia
Justin
Taylor
Empire's Lawless Opportunities
Amos
Harel
The Case of Captain R.
Walter
A. Davis
Tabloid Justice
Stephen
Hendricks
God's Kind of Men
Poets'
Basement
Albert, LaMorticella and Ford
|