Archive for ‘Latin America & Caribbean’

19/02/2022

Effects of Colonialism ‘Still Being Felt to this Day’ 

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — The consequences of colonialism are “still being felt to this day”, Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray told the Special Committee on Decolonization on Friday [18 February 2022]. 

UNHCR/Hélène Caux | A man identified as Oumar, who was at risk of statelessness, holds his father’s identity card from French colonial times.
 
Speaking on behalf of Secretary-General António Guterres, he also reminded the participants of the challenges which face the so-called Non-Self-Governing Territories which remain around the world.

Global cooperation is central to addressing its impacts”, he underscored, urging the Committee, also known as C-24, to “commit to making 2022 a year of recovery for everyone”. 

15/02/2022

Attacks on Democracy in the United States

Human Wrongs Watch

By John Scales Avery, Ph.D. – TRANSCEND Media Service*

The Republican Party Has Become Irresponsible

John-Scales-Avery

John Scales Avery

In recent years, and especially since Donald Trump’s term as president, the Republican Party has become irresponsible.

Republican Senators and members of the House of Representatives no longer act to promote whatever is best for their country and the planet. Instead they block whatever the Democratic Party tries to achieve.

The Republican Party is aided by Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema who, although the are nominally Democrats, act as destructively as though they were Republicans. Manchin is paid to do this by giant coal corporations, while Sinema gets her blood money from big pharmaceutical firms.

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15/02/2022

Inequality Kills One Person Every Four Seconds

Human Wrongs Watch

Feb 14 2022 (IPS)* – Inequality is deadly… It contributes to the deaths of at least 21,300 people each day—or one person every four seconds. This is a “highly conservative estimate” for deaths resulting from hunger, lack of access to healthcare and climate breakdown in poor countries…
13/02/2022

From Chile to China: The Global Battle against Desertification

Human Wrongs Watch

10 February 2022 (UNEP)* —  Yacouba Sawadogo, 76, has been a farmer for much of his life, tending a plot of land in a semi-arid stretch of central Burkina Faso. But in the 1980s, that way of life almost came to an end.

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Photo: Reuters Connect / 10 Feb 2022

Severe droughts triggered soil erosion and land degradation, crippling farms across Burkina Faso and much of Western Africa.

“People were leaving, and the animals and trees were dying,” Sawadogo recalled. “We had to look at a new way to farm.”

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11/02/2022

War Abroad, War at Home

Human Wrongs Watch

By David Adams | Transition to a Culture of Peace – TRANSCEND Media Service*

There is an old expression that “the chickens have come home to roost.” The wars that the American Empire waged abroad have come to the continental USA. For more than a century the US has waged war, overtly or covertly throughout Latin America.

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And in recent decades throughout the Middle East. Not to mention its so-called Cold Wars with Russia and now China. But now the invasion of the Capitol one year ago has signaled the beginning of a second civil war at home.

This new, second civil war is now being widely recognized in the media. See, for example, the article in the Guardian : “The next US civil war is already here – we just refuse to see it.”

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11/02/2022

UN’s Investigative Arm Launches Survey to Probe Racism and Discrimination in World Body

Human Wrongs Watch

Credit: United Nations

In a circular to staffers worldwide, the JIU says it is conducting “a system-wide review of measures and mechanisms for preventing and addressing racism and racial discrimination (RRD) in the institutions of the United Nations system.”

The survey will examine the various forms of RRD at the individual, institutional, and structural levels and the measures and mechanisms in place, including cultural and contextual factors that facilitate or constrain efforts by organizations.

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11/02/2022

Many Good Reasons Why to Eat More Pulses – And Perhaps Less Meat!

Human Wrongs Watch

 
Pulses provide nutrients and energy and they help prevent diseases like diabetes and coronary conditions. The United Nations declared 10 February World Pulses Day.

Pulses provide nutrients and energy and they help prevent diseases like diabetes and coronary conditions. The United Nations declared 10 February World Pulses Day.

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09/02/2022

The Blockade against Cuba Turns 60

Human Wrongs Watch

By Rosa Miriam Elizalde | Globetrotter – TRANSCEND Media Service*

It’s easy to say, but it’s been six very hard decades that began with disconcerting lightness and the belief that the United States government’s blockade of Cuba would not last long—a couple of years, maybe.

A mural in Cuba against the U.S. blockade. | Photo: Reuters

On February 2, 1962, U.S. President John F. Kennedy called his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, and gave him an urgent task: “I need a lot of [Cuban] cigars.” “How many, Mr. President?” “About a thousand,” Kennedy replied.

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09/02/2022

Cyberbullying a Top Concern on Safer Internet Day

Human Wrongs Watch

8 February 2022 (UN News)*With more children and young people spending time online, cyberbullying is the top concern for their safety when using the internet, according to a survey carried about by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) on two social media platforms.

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© UNICEF/Patricia Willocq | Two children play outside while their parents participate in a workshop about online security and positive parenting practices in Guatemala.
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In the lead up to Safer Internet Day this Tuesday, 8 February, the UN agency polled its followers on Twitter and LinkedIn to find out what worries them most about children being active online.
08/02/2022

Spate of Water Projects in Mexico Ignore Impacts

MEXICO CITY, Feb 7 2022 (IPS)* – The Mexican government is prioritizing the construction and modernization of mega water projects, without considering their impacts and long-term viability, according to a number of experts and activists. | En español
With a storage capacity of 580 million cubic meters and an irrigation target of 22,500 hectares, the Picachos dam in the state of Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico, will also generate 15 megawatts of electricity. CREDIT: Conagua

With a storage capacity of 580 million cubic meters and an irrigation target of 22,500 hectares, the Picachos dam in the state of Sinaloa, in northwestern Mexico, will also generate 15 megawatts of electricity. CREDIT: Conagua

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