Since Ecuador's president Lucio Gutierrez was ousted from power in 2005, relations between Ecuador and the United States have deteriorated with the Andean nation鈥檚 increasing rejection of US hegemony.
The government of Rafael Correa, first elected president in 2006, has embraced regional integration, moving closer to its neighbours 鈥 in particular Venezuela and Bolivia 鈥 and further away from the US.
Economically, the Correa administration has pursued policies that break with the neoliberal doctrines Washington had imposed on Latin America.
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About 30 international guests and 120 shop stewards from the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) met over August 7 to 10 in Johannesburg to discuss building a new, left alternative to the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
This challenge to the ANC by the country鈥檚 largest trade union, with more than 440,000 members, has caused shockwaves throughout the country. An August 6 Times Live article said the process was 鈥渓ikely to lead to the birth of a workers' party that will eventually challenge [the ANC] for power鈥.
El Salvador approves progressive tax reforms
El Salvador鈥檚 National Legislative Assembly passed a package of tax reforms on July 31, on August 13. The laws aim to shifting the fiscal burden from the nation鈥檚 poor majority to the wealthy elite and ease the country鈥檚 dependence on international loans to finance important social investment.
The bill was approved despite a fierce campaign against it in the nation鈥檚 conservative media.
The morning after Lailat al-Qadr, the death toll in Gaza was approaching its first 1000.
Al-Qadr 鈥 the night before the last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan 鈥 is believed to be the night when the Quran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad.
I spent this special night with friends in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah after taking part in the 鈥48K March鈥 for Gaza. The march began in Ramallah and went to Qalandiya checkpoint.
Venezuela's communication minister Delcy Rodriguez has condemned 鈥渞acial discrimination鈥 in the United States. Responding to the police shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, Rodriguez said the incident was symptomatic of a broader problem.
She said: 鈥淚n the United States more than one third of the African American population has experienced some form of discrimination. The death of Michael Brown was not an isolated incident.鈥
Across Venezuela, commune activists are creating regional Presidential Councils of Communal Governance in order to play an greater role in the management of local and regional affairs in conjunction with national authorities.
Communes in Venezuela are made up of representatives of groups of smaller communal councils. These councils are direct participatory organisations that help manage community affairs. Communes cover a larger territorial area than communal councils and can receive public funds for larger scale projects and responsibilities.
As a Palestinian political activist living in present-day Israel, Tareq Yassin, 23, has grown accustomed to racist intimidation and threats of violence.
Yassin, secretary of the left-wing Hadash political party鈥檚 student wing at the University of Haifa, has been repeatedly targeted for his activism. Yet last month was the first time he was subjected to vigilante violence by right-wing Israelis.
Flashboys
By Michael Lewis
W. W. Norton, 2014
288 pp, $39.99
Michael Lewis's Flashboys has had a dramatic welcome in the United States. It swept to the top of the best seller list and was only knocked from its perch by Thomas Piketty鈥檚 Capital in the 21st Century.
It is revealing of the contemporary US mindset that Flashboys, which turns the machinations of Wall Street into a classic US-style morality play, should alternate with Piketty鈥檚 history of capitalist inequality.
In reality, Lewis has not produced new information.
In the past few weeks, several large protest movements have rocked the Untied States political establishment and the elites it represents. These social explosions seem limited and separate, but they symbolise the growing contradictions of US society and the possibilities of mass struggles in the near future.
For the fifth time since their election in September last year, thousands of Australians will take to the streets in protest against Tony Abbott Coalition's government.
These mobilisations have been critical to keep the pressure on the Labor Party, Greens and independents to stand firm in opposing the government's budget, which will bring austerity, cuts and privatisation.
As a result of this opposition, Treasurer 鈥淪mokin' Joe鈥 Hockey's budget has stalled.
The Socialist Alternative club at the University of Western Australia had its 鈥渃lub privileges鈥 suspended on August 13. In effect, this amounts to a suspension of the club's affiliation to the Student Guild, which could be a prelude to complete disaffiliation.
The issue seems to have flared over posters produced for a campus forum on the topic 鈥淲hy Israel is a terrorist state鈥. After initially approving the posters, and allowing them to be displayed in Guild areas on campus, on the day of the forum the Guild sent an email to the club saying that all the posters had been removed.
Save Medicare Sydney, a campaign group committed to defending universal public health care, is calling on the Australian Medical Association (AMA) and the Palmer United Party to reject any compromise over the federal government's proposed $7 GP co-payment.
The AMA released an alternative plan on August 21. It proposed a $6.15 co-payment, excluding concession card holders and children.
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