Seven years after being launched by the Venezuelan and Cuban governments, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Americas (ALBA) has become an important voice on the global stage willing to stand up and denounce capitalism.
ALBA has grown to include eight Latin American and Caribbean countries (Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
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It鈥檚 another statistic showing up the criminal absurdity of Plan Colombia and Washington鈥檚 鈥渨ar on drugs.鈥
Last year, according to recent United States Drug Enforcement Administration sources, Peru produced about 325 metric tonnes of pure cocaine, surpassing Colombia鈥檚 output of 275 tonnes.
For the first time since the early 1990s, Peru has emerged as the world鈥檚 leading cocaine producer. Bolivian production is also reportedly up.
In its traditional, folk medicinal form, coca is a blessing that dispels ailments such as indigestion and altitude sickness with remarkable efficacy.
United States Undersecretary of State James Steinberg, speaking in Bogota on October 26, claimed the future relationship between Washington and its most favoured client in Latin America, Colombia, would be based on 鈥渞eciprocity and mutual respect鈥.
The stated purpose of Steinberg鈥檚 visit was to 鈥渞e-launch the agenda鈥 of US-Colombian relations鈥 by initiating a 鈥淗igh-Level Partnership Dialogue鈥.
The statement below was released by Friends of the Earth International on November 16 and is reprinted from www.foe.org.
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Friends of the Earth International is inspired and energised by the unfolding of world-historic, transformative events. From the popular uprisings in Northern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula to the indignados of Europe, from the encampments of the #occupy movement to the student movements in Latin America and Britain, people from all over the world are calling for economic and socio-political justice.
The shocking image of a campus cop at the University of California (UC) Davis coldly circling in front of a line of seated protesters, taking aim and pepper-spraying them at point-blank range has now been seen around the world.
On November 25, a group of around 50 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists protested against Israel's apartheid separation wall near the village of Bil'in in the West Bank. Weekly protests in the village have been taking place for six years. Residents also protested the arrest of Ashraf Abu-Rahma, a young activist from the village, who has been detained for three weeks.
The South Korean government is building a naval base on Jeju Island, officially named the 鈥淚sland of World Peace鈥. The base will be one of the largest in the world.
A November 8 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations鈥 nuclear regulatory authority, has been used by the United States and other Western powers as a pretext for a new round of economic sanctions against Iran and the ramping up of belligerent rhetoric.
鈥淭he phraseology is ponderous but the message is clear,鈥 BBC diplomatic and defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus explained on November 8. 鈥淚ran, the IAEA believes, may well have been working on research for a nuclear bomb to arm one of its long-range missiles.鈥
The November 20 Spanish election went as the polls had forecast: the Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) government was massacred, with its lowest vote in 34 years. The right-wing Popular Party got a 186-seat absolute majority in the 350-seat parliament and left and left-nationalist forces emerged stronger, led by the United Left (IU) and Amaiur, the Basque left-nationalist coalition.
A new uprising has exploded in Egypt since police attacked protesters in Tahrir Square on November 19. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets in Cairo and other cities to demand the end of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) that has governed Egypt since dictator Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in February. Dozens of people have been killed by the police and military and much larger numbers injured.
A 鈥渃ontrolled burn鈥 by the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) got way out of control in south-west Western Australia on November 23, turning into a raging bushfire that destroyed thirty homes and was still not under control days later. Suburbs affected include Gnarabup and Prevelly. Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes.
The ban on marriage between persons of the same sex is an assault on the basic human dignity of same-sex attracted people. It subjects them to a damaging social stigma, has now recognised.
The document surveys 10 recent psychiatric studies that explore the consequences of the marriage ban on test-samples of thousands of everyday people.
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