Bolivian president Evo Morales, whose government has overseen improving living standards and a dramatic reduction in poverty while in power, has been re-elected. This is yet another blow for the ongoing US campaign to get rid of left-of-centre governments in Latin America and boost their austerity-supporting opponents.Read More »
Washington, DC — A new research report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) analyzes Bolivia’s economic changes since 2006 in the context of the Bolivian government’s main policy decisions. It finds that it has been policy choices, not merely a “commodities boom,” that have been the driving force in Bolivia’s surge to be the fastest-growing economy in South America over the past five years. Strong economic growth has allowed Bolivia to reduce poverty by 42 percent and extreme poverty by 60 percent since President Evo Morales took office in 2006.Read More »
Chile’s combative and vigorous popular rebellion is not merely due to the disproportionate increase in the Metro ticket in Santiago. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for a quarter century of crouched pinochetism that has continued there in strategic spaces, including economic, politics, media, and armed security forces.
In Chile, yes, there has been a sort of democratic scenography to disguise the fascism that really exists. The bloody repression from the very first moments of a totally peaceful protest, which only consisted first of skipping the turnstiles of the Metro by hundreds of teenagers and young people and, later on by thousands of people of all ages, warmed the temperature even more. The increase raised the price by 30 pesos, equivalent to 42 US cents per trip, and on a monthly average the cost per person has been calculated at about 14 percent of the minimum wage.
Blanca Eekhout is the Minister of People’s Power for the Communes and Social Movements of Venezuela and a woman linked to revolutionary militancy long before President Hugo Chávez came to power, whose team she was part of. Eekhout has been a member of parliament, leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and also held the position of minister of People’s Power for Women and Gender Equality, making her the ideal person to enlighten us on the role of women in the Communes, and beyond that, how the project of the Communal State is linked to feminist socialism.Read More »
Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Cuba’s resilience in the face of U.S. pressure as he hosted Miguel Diaz-Canel, his Cuban counterparts, for talks on October 29, 2019 (Tuesday) on expanding cooperation between the old allies.
President Putin told Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel that Russia has always remained supportive of Cuba.
“It’s not easy to solve economic and social issues in the conditions that Cuba finds itself in, but you have done it successfully,” he said. “We are glad to see the strengthening of the Cuban state.”Read More »
Major cities of the world are at risk of being submerged under rising sea levels over the next 30 years. This could put hundreds of millions of people at risk – their homes and jobs lost. A new study finds this. New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding.
A new digital elevation model known as CoastalDEM indicates that as many as 630 million people around the world live on land that lies below projected annual flood levels for 2100.Read More »
Following an unprecedented popular revolt for 13 days over decades of political corruption and economic turmoil in Lebanon, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has resigned on Tuesday.
After the announcement, the main protest square in central Beirut erupted into applause, less than an hour after counter-demonstrators ravaged the site and attacked protesters.
Cries of celebration and joy went up across Lebanon, one of the world’s most highly indebted nations with public debt at more than 150 percent of GDP, on Tuesday although most of the protesters said this was merely an initial victory in a long-term battle.Read More »
In a dramatic comeback, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, progressive and one of Argentina’s most popular presidents during her two terms in 2007-2015, has been voted back into office as vice president.
A large crowd of supporters burst into a roar outside the Frente de Todos (Everybody’s Front) party bunker in the Chacarita neighborhood of the capital city of Buenos Aires at 9 p.m. when preliminary official results gave the victory to presidential candidate Alberto Fernández and vice presidential candidate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Alberto Fernández is no relation of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.Read More »
Congratulations came from Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela and Cuba.
Presidents in Latin America and other parts of the world sent messages of congratulations to the Argentinian president-elect Alberto Fernandez, who will take office in December and expected to turn around the country on a left-wing course in an effort to end the country’s economic crisis and reverse austerity measures introduced by his predecessor Mauricio Macri.
Bolivian President Evo Morales, who had just been re-elected, said he looked forward to working with Alberto asserting that the “sister nations share the struggle for integration and sovereignty.”
[ Journal of People posts this speech here considering its significance]
Distinguished heads of state and government,
Delegates and guests:
With sincere emotion, I am grateful for the warm welcome given us by the people and government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, with whom we are joined by 27 years of uninterrupted relations. It has been a long but essential journey.
Journal of People 