“HOUSTON, May 8 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge threw out all charges against anti-Castro Cuban exile and former CIA operative Luis Posada Carriles on Tuesday, allowing him to go free … [Keep reading >>]

Update below

The Southern Poverty Law Center has just released a report titled, Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States.

Federal and federal/private programs have tried since at … [Keep reading >>]

The BBC is reporting that Chavez’s May Day speech will announce Venezuela’s immediate withdrawal from the IMF: “President Chavez has spoken of his ambition to set up what he calls … [Keep reading >>]

Reporting for the Houston Chronicle, Susan Carroll describes the short ’street life’ of Gabriel Cardona, hired by a drug cartel to get competitors assessinated: “Cardona’s mother said she hasn’t seen … [Keep reading >>]

Writing for Al Jazeera, Mariana Sanchez describes the misery to ordinary citizens as the result of the rush to increase oil revenues in Ecuador: “Maria Garofalo, a mother of six, … [Keep reading >>]

Every year Tom Engelhardt of TomDispatch comes out here for a month to teach a course at the School of Journalism at UC Berkeley. And every year he publishes a … [Keep reading >>]

Writing in Pakistan’s Dawn (scroll down), Mahir Ali assesses the Bush trip to Latin America as the clearest possible evidence of his own diminished authority: “Castaneda and Bush wouldn’t agree, … [Keep reading >>]

Writing in Newsday, Gregory Weeks assesses the aftermath of the Bush junket: “Bush hardly could be more unpopular in Latin America and is arguably the least popular U.S. president ever … [Keep reading >>]

Popular as ever, President Bush tours Mexico… … [Keep reading >>]

It’s hard to imagine, from our comfortable lives, what Rufina Amaya witnessed, what she experienced during the witnessing; it’s hard to imagine even one day of her life afterwards, … [Keep reading >>]

As reported by the BBC, the Bush and Chavez road shows are drawing large and enthusiastic but not always supportive crowds: “Mr Bush’s presence in Latin American states has been … [Keep reading >>]

Writing in the Guardian, Philip Agee gives props to the resilience of the Cuban revolution: “In the end efforts to isolate Cuba have failed. Last September Cuba was elected, for … [Keep reading >>]

Bush loves Lulu but Brazilians are more than dubious about the affair.

Protesting Bush in Brazil

And see the posts below:

Bush in Brazil: Bio-Fuel Controversy

Bush in Brazil: Dueling Visits

… [Keep reading >>]

The Houston Chronicle’s Cragg Hines reports on the strange dance of Bush and Chavez, both of whom are making state visits across Latin America at the same time: “But how … [Keep reading >>]

The BBC was on hand to witness the protesters on hand to welcome Bush to Sao Paulo: “Many of the demonstrators are angry at the war in Iraq and the … [Keep reading >>]

Writing in the Guardian, Isabel Hilton examines the political pitfalls of Bush’s trip to Latin America, especially his dysfunctional relationship with President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia: “Bush’s best friend is … [Keep reading >>]

As reported in Al Jazeera, Brazil’s Lula has both criticized the ‘rich’ nations on climate change and demanded that they stop telling Brazil what to do with their own resources: … [Keep reading >>]

As reported by Chris Hawley and Sergio Solache in Phoenix’s Arizona Republic, a new wave of drug-related Mexican violence is being exacerbated by thousands of US assault weapons whose production … [Keep reading >>]

The Charleston (WVA) Gazette laments that changes now taking place in Cuba are likely to occur without any meaningful US influence: “Any hope White House leaders might hold about influencing … [Keep reading >>]

The BBC’s Nick Caistor looks ahead to 2007 and emergence of much of Latin America from a neo-liberal stranglehold: “In Nicaragua, the once-revolutionary Daniel Ortega will, like Brazil’s Lula, … [Keep reading >>]