Category: Democracies

The Voice of Berta Cáceres

March 20, 2016

Berta Cáceres united sectors and issues, across borders. And by bringing paths together, she was building a broad road to freedom. That is the road she has left to her children, and to the many others who will follow in her footsteps.

Bolivia: The Risks of Co-opting Social Movements

March 10, 2016

The protest in El Alto, Bolivia that left six dead, in which MAS militants attacked city hall using the excuse of a student-parent protest, warrants reflection on the cooptation of social movements by the state.

On the Occasion of the Pope’s Visit, Remembering Don Samuel Ruiz

February 16, 2016

In another gesture that showed that this Pope is not the traditional Vatican company man, the Argentine pope visited the grave of Don Samuel Ruiz, the Bishop of San Cristobal de las Casas, who took up the indigenous cause for justice as his own and as an obligation of the church. Who was Samuel Ruiz?

The New South American Political Map

February 13, 2016

The election results in Venezuela and Argentina, the Brazilian crisis, and the erosion of the “citizens’ revolution” in Ecuador are part of a change in political climate that puts the transformative processes underway on the defensive.

The Extraordinary Disappeared

February 11, 2016

What is extraordinary is not the crime. The crime of disappearance is part of the structural violence that has become daily life in Mexico. What is extraordinary is the families’ fight for their missing loved ones. These men and women are an example of courage and good citizenship for the whole country.

Clinton Team Drives Foreign Policy Wedge into Democratic Race

January 22, 2016

Just two days after the candidates showed little daylight between their positions on global issues during the Sunday debate, the Clinton team struck out at Sanders on foreign policy. How much daylight is there between the two leading candidates?