latin america

July 19, 2011 – Monthly Review Press has kindl

By Felipe Stuart Cournoyer and John Riddell

Message to my readers and friends

By Esteban Morales. Translation by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews

July 7, 2011 -- This is to let you know that last week I was summoned by the Appeals Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba to a meeting in which I was informed of their decision to nullify the separation order from the party given last year by the Playa Municipality Committee and to return my card and full membership.

I'd like to seize the opportunity to state how grateful I am for all the support I have received in the last few months from friends, intellectual colleagues and people I've never met who got in touch with me through different ways, made statements about this issue, or simply stopped me in the street for an update on my situation.

I also want to thank my family for their support in these difficult and yet extremely enlightening days. I will keep on working as hard as I have on the topics I have been writing about in my blog. I'm looking forward to your attention.

Small business in Cuba.

The tide of rebellion and revolution now sweeping Latin America is posing a serious challenge to imperialism’s brutal global rule. For anyone who wants an end to war, exploitation and oppression, Latin America’s struggles to create alternatives are crucially important.

Australia's leading socialist newspaper Green Left Weekly is strongly committed to supporting the growing “people’s power” movement in Latin America. Through our weekly articles on developments in the region, GLW strives to counter the corporate media’s many lies about Latin America’s revolutions, and to give a voice in English to the people’s movements for change.

Photo by Roberto Suarez.

Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) with US President Ronald Reagan.

By Barry Healy

June 7, 2011 – Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal -- As part of its attempts to turn back the clock in the Catholic Church the Vatican drew 1.5 million of the devout to Rome on May 1 for the beatification ceremony of Karol Wojtyla, Pope John Paul II. John Paul II may become the fastest declared saint in history.

The Vatican is also pushing the canonisation of Pius XII, who was pope during World War II.

While attention has been drawn to John Paul II’s woeful record on the issue of sexual abuse within the church little has been said about the reasons for the rush to beatification and sainthood.

Ollanta Humala.

By the Center for Economic and Policy Research

June 6, 2011 -- Center for Economic and Policy Research, via MRZine -- Ollanta Humala's apparent presidential electoral victory in Peru represents a consolidation of the gains made by left-leaning leaders in South America over the past decade, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) co-director Mark Weisbrot said.

"Democracy, national and regional independence, and economic and social progress have gone hand-in-hand with South America's leftward political shift over the past decade", said Weisbrot. "This election continues these trends, for sure."

The workers at Grafitos del Orinico are proud of their collectively run factory. Photo by Ewan Robertson.

Zelaya: "Without democracy there are no human rights ... No blood was shed in vain because we are in an ongoing struggle."

Hugo Chavez: "Mel Zelaya has returned to his homeland, a great victory of the Honduran people, down with the dictatorship, long live the people's power ... "

The government of Hugo Chavez has used Venezuela's oil wealth to radically improve the wellbeing of the people.

A statement by the Australia-Venezuela Solidarity Network

May 28, 2011-- AVSN -- On May 24, the United States' State Department unilaterally imposed sanctions against Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), accusing it of undermining the US sanctions against Iran by sending two cargo ships delivering US$50 million worth of reformate -- a blending component used to improve the quality of gasoline. The sanctions, which will last for two years, prevent PDVSA from entering into contracts with the US government, and bar it from import-export finance programs and obtaining licences for US oil processing technology.