Americas

Brazil’s Leaders Set Lower and Middle Classes Against Each Other

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 9, 2014 "In Brazil there is a saying: 'A good thief is a dead thief,' " journalist Nicole Froio writes at The Guardian. "These words have never been more relevant in today's Brazilian class-ridden landscape, where prejudice, violence and racism run free." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Brazil’s ‘Rolezinhos’ Want a Place at the Table

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Feb 8, 2014 Huge numbers of youths from Brazil's new middle class -- raised in shanty towns but educated in public universities -- are congregating in shopping malls where they feel closest to the consumerist dream. And due to police repression, they're becoming spontaneous expressions of public hope, frustration and yearning. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Mexico’s Laws on Gay Rights Are Having a Tough Time Keeping Up With Its People’s Views

Staff / Truthdig Jan 29, 2014 When two men can still get escorted from a Guadalajara nightclub by policemen with machine guns for sharing a kiss, it's apparent Mexico has quite a ways to go when it comes to gay rights. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Is Argentina Entering an Economic Crisis?

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jan 25, 2014 Argentinians are fearing a new financial collapse as the peso suddenly dropped this week. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Take a Guess at How Many People Collectively Are as Wealthy as Half the World. It’s Less Than That

Staff / Truthdig Jan 22, 2014 We've all heard that 1 percent of the global population owns 50 percent of the earth's wealth, and yet, now that the actual number of people has been calculated by the relief organization Oxfam, it's hard not to cringe at the fact. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Ecuador Guarantees the Constitutional Right to Health and Education for All Its Citizens

Staff / Truthdig Jan 17, 2014 Ecuador has progressed leaps and bounds in the past two decades, and is placing education and health at the top of its agenda. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

The Sad, Outrageous Case of the Cuban Five

Bill Blum / Truthdig Jan 9, 2014 The federal prosecution of the group of intelligence officers known as the Cuban Five was a travesty of justice that needs to be remedied. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

The CIA and NSA Helped Colombia Target and Kill FARC Leaders

BLANK Dec 22, 2013 A clandestine program that began under the Bush administration and continues under the Obama administration led to the killings of at least two dozen leaders of the rebel group, The Washington Post reports. How did the U.S. justify involving itself in assassinations by another government? The same Office of Legal Counsel that OK'd the use of torture said it could. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Venezuelan Socialism Vindicated in City Elections

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 17, 2013 "Chavismo," the left-wing movement that blossomed around deceased Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez over the past decade, "comfortably" won municipal elections throughout the country this month, "consolidating President Maduro's leadership, and further enhancing Venezuelan democracy," writes a leader of the populist Venezuela Solidarity Campaign. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Story of a Death Foretold

By Marie Arana Dec 14, 2013 It has been 40 years since the CIA helped oust a democratically elected government in Chile, leaving President Salvador Allende sprawled on a couch with part of his skull gone. Oscar Guardiola-Rivera tells the story of "that other September 11."Forty years after the CIA left Chilean President Salvador Allende sprawled on a couch with part of his skull gone, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera tells the story of "that other September 11." Dig deeper ( 7 Min. Read )

President Obama Shook Raul Castro’s Hand: Big Whoop

Peter Z. Scheer / Truthdig Dec 11, 2013 Thousands of words are being generated over an incidental greeting between two world leaders. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Uruguay Likely to Become the First Nation to Legalize Marijuana

Staff / Truthdig Dec 8, 2013 On Tuesday, Uruguay's Senate will vote on a law that would allow for regulated distribution, production and sale of weed; income inequality in the U.S. is at its highest since 1928; meanwhile, Europeans are starting to believe that legalizing prostitution isn't effective. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )