Free trade deals like CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) have had a devastating impact on El Salvador’s small farmers and have helped push 100,000 Salvadorans per year to immigrate to the United States. read more »

Evo Morales swept into power in 2006 promising to transform South America’s poorest nation. Now, he faces a recall vote as his country fractures along racial, geographic and class lines. read more »

For more than a year the U.S. economy has been reeling from the housing and credit crises, but now it’s staggering from the blow of rising energy and food prices. The impact of $4-a-gallon gasoline is rippling outward as Americans cut spending of all sorts. Every month it seems as if another major economic sector hits the skids: first it was housing and construction, then automobiles and airlines, then tourism and, finally, back to housing with the implosion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. read more »

Eight things we need to do prevent Oil Shock read more »

ALTAMIRA, Brazil—In this sweltering urban outpost on the banks of the Xingu River, one of the major tributaries of the Amazon River, a large official-looking billboard looms over one of the main streets downtown. Two hands are clenched in a friendly handshake, next to a colorful sketch of an unobtrusive dam traversing the crystalline waters of the river. “United For Progress,” it reads, “United for Belo Monte Dam.” Despite the cheerful propaganda, not everybody in town appears to be as optimistic. “Out Belo Monte!” and “Death to the Monster Dam!” are just a few of the slogans splashed as graffiti across the city that tell a very different story. read more »

Despite roaring inflation, one thing is becoming cheaper: your life. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided that when doing a costbenefit analysis to issue life-saving regulations, a “statistical life” should be worth $6.9 million, instead of the previous $7.8 million. read more »

On June 3, the House of Commons passed a non-binding measure, led by members of the top opposition parties, to grant residency to conscientious objectors and end deportation proceedings against them. The resolution supported the Dec. 6, 2007, recommendation by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, that called for the government to immediately implement an asylum program for war resisters. read more »

The National Movement in Defense of Oil (Movimiento Nacional en Defensa del Petróleo or MNDP), headed by former presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador, formally presented a resolution to the Mexican Congress on June 3. It calls on the Congress to organize a Nationwide Referendum to let the people vote on the six privatization planks in the energy “reform” plan initiated by Mexican President Felipe Calderón. read more »

As passed by the House, Plan Mexico would provide $116.5 million over the next two years for training and equipment for the Mexican military and “strengthening of military-to-military cooperation between the United States and Mexico.” read more »

U.S. Casualties Plummet as Iraqi Death Toll Soars; Bolton Dodges Citizen's Arrest for War Crimes; Protests grow in Iraq Against Deal for Permanent Bases; Australia Withdraws Iraq Troops, Targets Afghanistan. read more »