As a result of the decades-long neoliberal assault on the working class of the world, citizens are fighting back. This assault has taken place through institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, the EU and WTO, which demand austerity and “free markets,” a term which in the modern era has come to mean domination by multinational corporate interests. Populations in… Read more »
(BBC News) It’s been nearly two weeks since about 300,000 Chicago students have been to class. Even if they showed up, their 25,000 teachers wouldn’t be there. They’ve been on strike since 17 October, demanding pay raises, resource improvements, school staffing increases and even solutions to the city’s pricey housing. Weeks of negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and the… Read more »
(BBC News) Mr Fernández, 60, got more than the 45% of the vote needed to win, beating conservative incumbent Mauricio Macri. Raucous crowds gathered at Mr Fernández’s election headquarters to celebrate the result of Sunday’s poll. The vote was held amid an economic crisis that has left a third of Argentina’s population in poverty. Former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner,… Read more »
(Al Jazeera) Santiago – Chile has been gripped by protests against high living costs and inequality for nearly two weeks. Angry over President Sebastian Pinera‘s response to the protests, demonstrators are calling for him to step down. Although the country is no longer under a state of emergency, which was initially declared after the demonstrations began, protests have continued, with frequent clashes between police… Read more »
(Al Jazeera) Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro threatened on Wednesday to cancel the license of Brazil’s largest TV network, Globo, accusing it of “villainous journalism” after a report connecting him with a former police officer accused of killing Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman Marielle Franco last year. TV Globo reported on Tuesday that just hours before the March 2018 murder the suspect was… Read more »
Just recently in Ecuador, large scale, indigenous-lead protests broke out against a controversial loan from the IMF, which has required the Moreno government implement widespread austerity and a repeal of a fuel subsidy that largely benefitted the poor, which represent a large sector of Ecuadorian society. This was seen by elites in the country as well as the US and… Read more »
(The Guardian) On a muggy morning in eastern Havana, a bus crammed with more than 100 sweaty commuters pulls in to a bus stop. The doors open and more passengers press in before – inch by inch – the hydraulic doors groan shut, slowly shunting the new arrivals inside. “All the buses are coming like this,” said Roberto López, 66,… Read more »
(The Guardian) Barack Obama has urged Canadians to re-elect Justin Trudeau, an apparently unprecedented endorsement of a candidate in a Canadian election by a former American president. Obama tweeted on Wednesday that he was proud to work with Trudeau and described him as a hard-working, effective leader who takes on big issues like climate change. “The world needs his progressive… Read more »
(BBC News) Thousands of anti-government protesters in Haiti have clashed with police who stopped them marching on the home of President Jovenel Moïse. Weeks of protests over an economic crisis have been further inflamed by the killing of a prominent journalist who had been covering demonstrations. Néhémie Joseph was found dead in his car with gunshot wounds on Thursday. Protesters… Read more »
(NPR) Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno and leaders of the country’s indigenous peoples have reached a deal to cancel a disputed austerity package. The move follows nearly two weeks of violent, widespread protests. The unrest began after Moreno ended government subsidies that have helped keep fuel prices low in Ecuador for some 40 years. The move was part of a broader… Read more »