Posts by: Bret Gustafson

Close the NGOs: Asserting Sovereignty or Eroding Democracy?
Dec 31, 2013
Bret Gustafson
In past weeks, the governments of Ecuador and Bolivia moved to shut down or expel major NGOs (non-government organizations) that work on issues of the environment, extractivism, and indigenous rights. Is this a reasoned assertion of sovereignty against foreign intervention or a move against social movements and democracy through an attack on their bases of foreign support?
Fracking for Sovereignty? The Argentine Case
Dec 6, 2013
Bret Gustafson
Argentina's nationalization of YPF took a strange turn this year when the government signed a deal with Chevron to boost gas extraction through fracking. President Fernández and her team say this will lead the country to "energy sovereignty."  But what does energy sovereignty mean and what does fracking mean for popular democracy and real economic transformation?
Fuel Politics in Latin America: Where to Begin?
Nov 18, 2013
Bret Gustafson
Extractives in Latin America aspires to draw attention to reality as represented through Latin American eyes and voices. The politics we explore here may run the gamut from getting access to a canister of propane to cook dinner in Bolivia to the paradoxes linking Argentine nationalism, Chevron, and the U.S.-backed fracking push in the hemisphere.