[Had they been Cuban, the hunger strike by 31 Chilean Mapuche would have hit the headlines of the "free press" all over the world, but… the Mapuche are not Cuban. To read the original Spanish version of the article click here.]

[As profound as any of their other poetic slogans, the Zapatistas’ initial battle cry of "Enough already!" defines the urgency with which we must approach the climate crisis.]

[The imprisonment of a Colombian academic says much about the country's "democracy".]

[Venezuela’s nationwide electricity rationing plan is one example among a handful of controversial government decisions in which the problems that prompted the government to act have dampened some Chávez supporters’ enthusiasm. As Chávez completes 11 and a half years in office, his government faces challenges unmatched since 2002 and 2003, when the opposition used disruptive tactics in an attempt to remove him from office. The fervent rhetoric from both Chavistas and the opposition, meanwhile, has intensified the nation’s polarisation, belying the complexity of the issues at stake.]

[29,000 dead, human rights leaders murdered, the constitution violated – the price of President Calderón's popularity bid.]

[Uribe's insane efforts to bring about a war with Venezuela, underscores the ‘predicament’ the U.S. finds itself in: faced with the rebellion of its Southern neighbours, unable to win politically, and incapable of offering anything such as development, progress, investment or even the American Way of life (which is crushingly coming to an end in the United States itself), has decided to resort to war to maintain its backyard under subjection. Latin America has opted for democracy, social progress, national sovereignty and peace. On this occasion even the staunchest pro U.S. Colombian oligarchy have sided with the South, not the North. We shall see who beats the other in the historic arm-wrestling underway.]

[For years the relationship between Venezuela and Colombia has been fraught. And in recent weeks things had grown worse. The latest fallout was sparked by allegations that Colombian rebel fighters, the FARC, have camps in Venezuela, a claim Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, denies. But now Chavez and Juan Manuel Santos, Colombia's new leader, appear to be rebuilding relations.
On Tuesday, they met in the Colombian town of Santa Marta and agreed to restore diplomatic relations and vowed to step up security along their borders. But will it last? How fragile is the peace? And how does the US view this rapproachment? 'Inside Story', with presenter Nick Clark, discusses with Jill Hedges, the senior editor for Latin America of Oxford Analytica, Roberto Navarrete, the editor of www.alborada.net, and Juan Carlos Hidalgo, the project coordinator for Latin America at the CATO Institute.]

[In 2005, the U.S. funded an effort to change Brazilian law so as to strengthen the opposition to the Workers' Party. Washington has a big stake in this election, as it seeks to reverse the changes that have made Latin America - formerly the United States' "backyard" -- more independent than it has ever been in its history. José Serra is making that stake bigger every day.]

[The recent decision in Costa Rica to allow a massive build-up of US military presence has less to do with drug trafficking than US imperial strategy.]

[Is a new power bloc taking shape in the Americas that could challenge the hegemony of the US?]