Latin America
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Noam Chomsky on WikiLeaks, Obama’s Targeted Assassinations and Latin America’s Break from the U.S.
As the United States carries out another deadly drone strike in Yemen, Noam Chomsky compares the counterterrorism policies of the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. "If the Bush administration didn’t like somebody, they’d kidnap them and send them to torture chambers," Chomsky says. "If the Obama...May 14, 2012 | Story -
Latin America v. Obama: U.S. Policy on Cuba, Drug War, Economy Under Fire at Colombian Summit
Historian Greg Grandin analyzes the U.S.-Colombia "free trade" deal and the deepening split between much of Latin America and Washington following the Summit of the Americas in Colombia. The summit, which was marred by a U.S. prostitution scandal, concluded Sunday without agreement on the key questions of whether Cuba...April 16, 2012 | Story -
Obama Refuses to Back Growing Call for Drug Legalization to Stem Spreading Violence in Latin America
While the presidents of Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica and El Salvador have voiced support for an end to the drug war, President Obama rejected their calls for drug legalization during high-level talks at the Summit of the Americas in Colombia. Obama warned that legalization could lead to greater problems, but he expressed willingness...April 16, 2012 | Story -
U.S. Faces Challenge to "Drug War" as Latin American Countries Mull Decriminalization, Legalization
As Vice President Joe Biden wraps up a trip to Central America insisting the drug war must continue, a growing number of Latin American leaders are calling for the decriminalization or legalization of drugs. "This debate now is no longer going to be suppressed," says Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of...March 09, 2012 | Story -
Documentarians Take On Power and Corruption: An Interview with the Sundance Institute’s Cara Mertes
The Sundance Institute’s Cara Mertes describes how the independent film festival supports documentarians, including one who drew the ire of Dole Food Co. for showing how plantation workers in Nicaragua successfully sued for its continued use of a pesticide that can cause sterility and possibly cancer. [includes rush transcript]January 27, 2012 | Blog Post -
Lori Berenson Allowed To Come to U.S. For Holidays With Her Son; Hear 1999 Interview with Democracy Now!
The once-imprisoned U.S. activist Lori Berenson will be allowed to travel to New York City from Peru to spend the holidays with her toddler son for the first time since her arrest in 1995. Click here to listen to Amy Goodman’s exclusive interview in 1999 with Berenson in the Socabaya Prison.December 19, 2011 | Blog Post -
Naomi Klein on Occupy Wall Street & Chile: Courage to Ask Questions We Don’t Have Answers For
In part two of our conversation with journalist and author Naomi Klein, she discusses how her book, "The Shock Doctrine," focuses in part on Chile, where the 1973 coup led to the privatization of education and now Chilean students are protesting in the streets. Klein talks about their demands and dismisses the critique...October 06, 2011 | Blog Post -
Court Ruling Backs Ecuadorian Effort to Hold Chevron Accountable for Amazon Pollution
A U.S. appeals court has ruled oil giant Chevron cannot escape an $18 billion fine for massive pollution of the Amazon rain forest. Amazonian residents won the damages in an Ecuadorian court earlier this year, and Chevron says it will appeal the decision. It is the latest development in a complex, 18-year legal battle that has...September 20, 2011 | Story -
Genocide-Linked General Otto Pérez Molina Poised to Become Guatemala’s Next President
A retired military general has won the first round in Guatemala’s presidential election, leading to a runoff election in November. If elected, General Otto Pérez Molina would become the first former military official to win the presidency since the end of the military dictatorships in 1986. Human rights groups have accused...September 15, 2011 | Story -
"Granito: How to Nail a Dictator": New Film Tracks Struggle for Justice After Guatemalan Genocide
A new documentary links Guatemala’s turbulent past with those who are active players in its present. The film, "Granito: How to Nail a Dictator," which is part political thriller and part memoir, spans four decades, following several people as they search for the details that can be used to hold accountable those...September 15, 2011 | Story -
Epitaph for Another 9/11: Renown Writer Ariel Dorfman on 1973 U.S.-Backed Coup in Chile
"That September 11, that lethal Tuesday morning, I awoke with dread to the sound of planes flying above my house. When, an hour later, I saw smoke billowing from the center of the city, I knew that life had changed for me, for my country, forever." Those are the words of our guest, Chilean-American author Ariel Dorfman,...September 08, 2011 | Story -
Guatemalan Soldiers Sentenced to 6,060 Years in Prison for Role in 1982 Massacre
On Tuesday, a national court in Guatemala handed down the first convictions for a notorious massacre. It was 1982 when Guatemalan soldiers attacked the village of Las Dos Erres and killed more than 200 people — many of them women, children and the elderly — who were assaulted and beaten before they were shot or bludgeoned...August 04, 2011 | Story -
Failed Education Reform in Chile Prompts Hunger Strikes, Protests by Thousands of Students
In Chile, tens of thousands of students have been protesting across the country for the last several weeks demanding comprehensive educational reforms. Students have expressed frustration at President Sebastián Piñera’s failure to respond to their demands. Last week, high school students in the port city of Antofagasta...August 04, 2011 | Story -
Climate Chaos: Christian Parenti’s New Book Exposes How Global Warming Could Lead to Global Warfare
Extreme weather from Texas to Somalia may indicate that a new era of climate war is upon us. Just this month, massive floods have shut down two nuclear power facilities in Nebraska. In New Mexico, the nation’s top nuclear weapons lab in Los Alamos is being threatened by an uncontrolled wildfire. Meanwhile, the United Nations...June 30, 2011 | Story -
“Harvest of Empire”: New Book Exposes Latino History in America as Obama Campaigns for Latino Vote
President Obama’s trip to Puerto Rico was announced at a time when he is making a concerted push to win the Latino vote in 2012. Earlier this month, Obama gave a major address to a mostly Latino audience in El Paso, Texas, calling for immigration reform. Juan Gonzalez joins us to discuss the history of Latinos in the United...May 25, 2011 | Story -
As Obama Completes First Latin America Tour, Anniversary of Slain Salvadoran Archbishop Romero Evokes Legacy of U.S.-Backed Crimes
President Obama has returned from his first trip to Central and South America since taking office. Obama faced protests in Brazil, Chile and El Salvador as he sought to boost regional trade and improve security ties. In El Salvador, hundreds of demonstrators called for Obama to renegotiate or dismiss the Central American Free...March 24, 2011 | Story -
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff: From Imprisoned Guerrilla Fighter to "The Most Powerful Woman in the World"
Brazil has made history with the swearing-in of its first female president. On Saturday, Dilma Rousseff received the presidential sash from outgoing President Lula da Silva at a ceremony in the capital Brasília. In the 1960s, Rousseff was a guerrilla resisting Brazil’s military dictatorship. She was imprisoned and tortured...January 03, 2011 | Story -
Brazil Elects Dilma Rousseff, First Female President
Brazil has reached a new milestone with the election of its first-ever female president. On Sunday, Dilma Rousseff defeated rival José Serra with 55 percent in a runoff vote. Rousseff was outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s chosen successor after serving the last five years as his chief of staff....November 01, 2010 | Story -
Latin American Historian Greg Grandin on Colombia After Álvaro Uribe
Colombia and Venezuela are expected to reestablish trade and diplomatic ties after their leaders meet today to defuse a simmering crisis. Colombia’s new president Juan Manuel Santos, who was inaugurated Saturday, will meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Santa Marta, Colombia, the site where South American liberation...August 10, 2010 | Story -
Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker Oliver Stone Tackles Latin America’s Political Upheaval in "South of the Border", US Financial Crisis in Sequel to Iconic "Wall Street"
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Oliver Stone has taken on three American presidents in JFK, Nixon and W. and the most controversial aspects of the war in Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. He looked at the greed of the financial industry in the Hollywood hit Wall Street and its forthcoming sequel. In South of the Border,...June 21, 2010 | Story
By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan
Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, spoke Wednesday at the Pentagon, four stars on each shoulder, his chest bedecked with medals. Unlike Allen, many decorated U.S. military veterans left the streets of Chicago after the NATO summit without their medals.
In an extended interview, David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, discusses the history of the company, why they put sustainability and social justice ahead of profits, the organic and GMO labeling movements, the U.S. war on hemp, and why they refuse to sell out. [includes rush transcript]
Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth examines why the U.S. has not pressured Bahrain to release pro-democracy activists. He also discusses Syria and the conditions in Israeli jails and courts that prompted 1,550 Palestinian prisoners to go on a hunger strike. [includes rush transcript]




