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January 14, 2009

Revelations made by a determined community media reporter in Venezuela indicate that four leading figures of the opposition against President Hugo Chávez may have met with a U.S. official in Puerto Rico. The details of the meeting remain sketchy, but the brewing scandal is already stoking the flames of what promises to be one of the most heated electoral battles in Venezuelan history: the constitutional referendum on whether to allow elected officials, including Chávez, to seek multiple reelection.

January 13, 2009

This is the third installment of an ongoing debate between Human Rights Watch (HRW) and a group of academics over the organization's recent report, "A Decade Under Chávez: Political Intolerance and Lost Opportunities for Advancing Human Rights in Venezuela." The academics respond that HRW's defense of its report stonewalls and ignores their original criticisms.

January 12, 2009

Crossing the Guatemala-Mexico border region is perhaps the most dangerous leg of undocumented Central Americans' long journey to the United States. This border region also demonstrates in microcosm everything that's wrong with U.S. policy toward Mexico and Central America, where free trade, the drug war, US-backed militarization, and repressive immigration policies converge—making a bad situation worse for Central American migrants.

January 9, 2009

In this second installment of a two-part mini documentary series on border vigilantes, Glenn Spencer is mounting his last stand. The former oil-man moved to this Arizona border property from California six years ago to direct the non-official American Border Patrol in its efforts to mount an internet-based vigilante border security program he calls "Operation Virtual Vigilance." Spencer manages a sophisticated network of surveillance cameras that stream their video signals to the Internet in real-time.

January 7, 2009

In this first installment of a two-part mini documentary series on border vigilantes, Britt Craig works quietly and alone. Parked overlooking the U.S.-Mexico border near Campo, CA, he spends long nights in his modified Chevrolet truck on the look out for migrants or smugglers. Three years ago, Craig battened up his boat, a 30-foot cruiser that was his home in St Augustine, FL. He was heeding a call to join the nascent Minutemen Project near Douglas, AZ. He has not left the border since.

January 5, 2009

In December, NACLA published an open letter signed by over 100 experts on Latin America that criticized Human Rights Watch's recent report on Venezuela. In this response, Kenneth Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, says the academics' letter disseminates "unfounded allegations" by misrepresenting "both the substance and the source material of the report." Roth calls the letter "an unhelpful distraction, which ... can only serve to undermine legitimate efforts to promote human rights in Venezuela."

January 2, 2009

International observers have denounced recent activities of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) as designed to overthrow democratically elected presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Hugo Chávez of Venezuela. A similar strategy is underway to undermine the electoral process in El Salvador by striking fear and confusion into voters before legislative and presidential elections in 2009.

December 30, 2008

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, an opportune time for President-elect Obama to signal an end to the Cuban embargo. During the campaign, Obama promised to “turn the page and begin to write a new chapter in U.S.-Cuba policy.” Contrary to the Bush administration's policies, Obama said he would give Cuban-Americans “unrestricted rights” to visit family and send cash remittances to the island. But he stopped short on endorsing an end to the embargo.

December 26, 2008

A proposed gold mining project in northern Costa Rica has stirred grassroots opposition in this country, which has long prided itself as a world leader in "green" environmental policies. The Crucitas mine threatens two species facing extinction, and the government's approval of the project has led to a criminal investigation into whether Costa Rica's president knowingly violated local and international environmental laws.

December 22, 2008

Canada's role in the hemisphere is often portrayed by its officials as that of an understanding, well-intentioned partner. But Ottawa's aggressive pursuit of a free trade deal with the government of Colombia shows its policies toward Latin America run parallel to those of Washington, showing the same disregard for human rights and democratic accountability. In Latin America, Canada plays "good cop" to Washington's bullying.

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