Benjamin Dangl
Common Dreams
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Past articles by Benjamin:
Ballots Defeat Bullets: MAS Wins Historic Mandate in Post-Coup Bolivian Election
Against all odds, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party won the October 18th elections in Bolivia with 55.1% of the vote. This is better than even Evo Morales did in 2005 with 53.75% support. It gives MAS President-elect Lucho Arce one of the biggest mandates in Bolivian history, and is in part a major endorsement of MAS policies and its 14 years in power. | By Benjamin → Read More
Bibles at the Barricades: How the Right Seized Power in Bolivia
Following Áñez’s seizure of power, Bolivia has endured the worst state violence and political persecution it has seen in decades... Returning to La Paz, Bolivia after last November’s coup was like returning to the scene of a crime. Since Bolivian President Evo Morales was removed from power, right-wing interim President Jeanine Áñez has led the country with an iron fist. → Read More
The Five Hundred Year Rebellion: Indigenous Movements and the Decolonization of History in Bolivia
After centuries of colonial domination and a twentieth century riddled with dictatorships, indigenous peoples in Bolivia embarked upon a social and political struggle that would change the country forever. As part of that project activists took control of their own history, starting in the 1960s, by reaching back to oral traditions and then forward to new forms of print and → Read More
"The Worst Option is War": US Intervention in Venezuela Will Only Deepen the Country’s Crisis – Countercurrents
The men directed by President Donald Trump to “handle” the situation in Venezuela are not clear-headed diplomats capable of working for peace and democracy. They are war criminals and should be behind bars. The Trump administration is currently working to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the name of freedom and democracy. Yet Washington’s efforts will only lead to bloodshed… → Read More
Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 promises to deepen economic and environmental crises
While oil companies would reap benefits from the deal, workers at home and abroad would suffer → Read More
NAFTA 2.0 promises to deepen economic, environmental crises
Asian news hub covering geo-political news and current affairs across Asia → Read More
Why Trump’s NAFTA 2.0 Is a Win for Big Oil — But a Huge Loss for Workers and the Environment
While oil companies would reap benefits from the deal, workers at home and abroad would suffer. After the U.S., Canada, and Mexico agreed to a new trade deal to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) late Sunday night, Trump heralded the new deal as “truly historic news for our nation and the world.” → Read More
The renegade president brings his war to the United Nations
When President Trump began his speech to the UN General Assembly Tuesday, he started out in true fashion by touting his own record, saying, “my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” But the bravado backfired, drawing audible laughter from the audience. “I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay,” the ruffled president said. The… → Read More
The Renegade President Brings His War to the United Nations
Trump is out of touch—and it shows. When President Trump began his speech to the UN General Assembly Tuesday, he started out in true fashion by touting his own record, saying, “my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”But the bravado backfired, drawing audible laughter from the audience.“I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay,”… → Read More
Anarchism in Latin America: Striking and Dreaming from Tierra del Fuego to Tijuana
Anarchism in Latin America provides a panoramic view of anarchism across fourteen countries in the region, from general strikes in Chilean ports to worker-theorists in Cuban tobacco factories. It offers a rich window into nearly one hundred years of anarchist organizing and agitating, and amplifies the voices of anarchists long gone, who were writing on the docks and factory lines, reading their… → Read More
Occupy, Resist, Produce: A History of Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement
Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) is one of Latin America’s largest social movements. For decades the MST has operated under their slogan "Occupy, Resist, Produce” to settle landless farmers on unused land in Brazil, where roughly 3% of the population owns over 2/3 of arable land. “In whatever society, and even more so in Brazil, social change doesn’t depend on the government but on the… → Read More
Oxfam Report Reveals Global Economy's "Perfect Storm" for Making 1% Even Richer
Forida is a 22-year-old sewing machine operator in a clothing factory in Dahka, Bangladesh. She often works 12-hour days producing clothes for brands such as H&M and Target. Sometimes, during busy production cycles, the hours are even longer. → Read More
It's Boom Times for Billionaires
Around the world, the labor of poor people fuels the rising concentration of wealth. Forida is a 22-year-old sewing machine operator in a clothing factory in Dahka, Bangladesh. She often works 12-hour days producing clothing for brands such as H&M and Target. Sometimes, during busy production cycles, the hours are even longer. → Read More
The Billionaire Boom: 82% of Global Wealth Produced Last Year Went to Richest 1%
A new report from Oxfam reveals how the global economy empowers the richest 1% while hundreds of millions of people struggle to survive. “The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,” said Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of Oxfam. “The people who make our clothes, assemble our phones and grow our food are being exploited to ensure a… → Read More
‘De-certifying’ the Iran Deal May Be Trump’s Most Reckless Decision Yet
Iran is complying with the nuclear deal. Trump, on the other hand, is risking a war — and torching U.S. credibility. → Read More
Profiting from America’s Longest War: Trump Seeks to Exploit Mineral Wealth of Afghanistan
October 7th marked sixteen years since the start of the US War in Afghanistan – America’s longest war. In an effort to justify the continued and expand → Read More
Profiting from America’s Longest War: Trump Seeks to Exploit Mineral Wealth of Afghanistan
October 7th marked sixteen years since the start of the US War in Afghanistan – America’s longest war. In an effort to justify the continued and expanded presence of US troops in the country, President Trump is seeking a plan to have US companies extract minerals from resource-rich Afghanistan.Afghanistan’s deposits of iron, copper, zinc, gold, silver, lithium and other rare-earth metals are… → Read More
Profiting from America’s Longest War: Trump Seeks to Exploit Mineral Wealth of Afghanistan
October 7th marked sixteen years since the start of the US War in Afghanistan – America’s longest war. In an effort to justify the continued and expanded presence of US troops in the country, President Trump is seeking a plan to have US companies extract minerals from resource-rich Afghanistan. → Read More
Pruning-Hooks Made Out of Swords: The Case for a US Department of Peace
A look back to the history and political vision of the demand for such a department offers methods for transforming our militaristic culture, and provides a political toolbox for peace rather than perpetual war. → Read More
“Pruning-Hooks Made Out of Swords:” The Case for a US Department of Peace
We are living in an Age of War. Yet a look back to the history and political vision of the 224-year-old demand for a US Department of Peace offers alternatives to perpetual war. → Read More