Nation-states in the Global South have historically contributed the least to carbon-dioxide emissions but are especially vulnerable to the consequences of climatic shifts because of the damage wrought by extractive industries and the limited resources to cope with such damage.

The election of Pope Francis has brought many issues to the fore that represent not just the complexity of a person, but the complexity of the Catholic Church. This was especially true at the time the most controversial chapters in his history were being written.

New media forms are being applied by diverse actors, slowly tipping the balance of media power in favor of the active, engaged citizen across the continent.

Writing for The New York Times’ Economix blog on March 15, Simon Johnson, a former chief economist for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), provides a well-argued defense of populism. But by offhandedly dismissing Latin American populism, his comentary examplifies the imperial double standard that keeps even “pro-populist” commentators from seeing the reality in developing countries.

For the last two decades, the dominant narrative justifying the U.S. military’s activities in Latin America has been the war on drugs and the fight against “narco-terrorists.” In the last ten years, however, the U.S. military has undertaken several unrelated activities including low-profile tests of military equipment; humanitarian assistance that the military itself acknowledges has intelligence-gathering purposes; and training to suppress social protest. This article was originally published in the May/June 2011 issue of the NACLA Report on the Americas.

During President Barack Obama's five-day trip to Latin America from March 19-23, many throughout the hemisphere waited to hear whether Obama would demonstrate the new era of “mutual interest and mutual respect” with the region that he had promised during his campaign. What they heard was mostly “más de lo mismo” (more of the same), dressed up in a language of “partnership” and cooperation.