VII Summit Of The Americas: The New York Times Versus Reality

By Rodrigo Acuña

New Matilda

23 April 2015

Given the roasting the United States recently received by numerous Latin American presidents at the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama, it may have been no coincidence Uruguayan author Eduardo Galeano passed away shortly after.

In his acclaimed book the Open Veins of Latin America (1971), which was banned by several US-backed dictatorships in South America during the 1970s and ‘80s, Galeano passionately denounced the history of Spanish and US imperialism south of the Rio Grande.

Posted on May 25, 2019 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under New Matilda and tagged Panama Eduardo Galeano Summit Of The Americas Cuba.

Whose Che?

By Rodrigo Acuña

New Matilda

9 October 2007

It is 40 years since Ernesto “Che” Guevara - the Argentine revolutionary who had helped Fidel Castro overthrew the US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 - was captured with the aid of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and executed by the Bolivian military.

Ceremonies commemorating Guevara's death have been held throughout Latin America, with the largest taking place in Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Nicaragua and, ironically, Bolivia - a country whose population once denounced Guevara to local troops as he attempted to ignite another revolution.

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under New Matilda and tagged Cuba Che Guevara Fidel Castro.

Latin America: Pilger goes Latino

By Rodrigo Acuña

New Matilda

27 September 2007

In his first feature film The War on Democracy, journalist John Pilger aims to expose Washington's foreign policy in Latin America, and does not pull any punches.

Through a series of interviews with activists, scholars and incumbent and retired Washington officials, and not the least with the “ordinary” people of Latin America, Pilger seeks to illustrate some of the current changes taking place in the region following the coming to power of current Left-wing governments.

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under New Matilda and tagged John Pilger Hugo Chávez Human Rights US interference.

A Narco-Terrorist State

By Rodrigo Acuña

New Matilda

18 April 2007

A recent article by Paul Richter and Greg Miller in the Los Angeles Times has again brought international attention on Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Vélez. At the centre of the LA Times article is a leaked report from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which claims that Colombian army chief General Mario Montoya and a paramilitary group carried out an operation against Marxist rebels in 2002, that left 14 people dead and ‘dozens more disappeared in its aftermath’.

Given the nature of the activities of paramilitary groups in Colombia and Uribe’s ‘long and close association’ with Montoya, the revelation adds to a scandal which, Richter and Miller say, ‘already has implicated the country’s former Foreign Minister, at least one State Governor, legislators and the head of the national police’.

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under New Matilda and tagged Colombia Álvaro Uribe Human Rights Crime.

Apologists for State Terrorism

By Rodrigo Acuña

New Matilda

20 December 2006

It is a truism that all evaluations of history are tainted by one’s vision of how the world should work. Another truism is that a lack of primary sources can often leave certain grey areas in the historical record.

Sometimes, however, events or eras are roughly clear and some degree of consensus is achieved.

General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile (1973–1990) is one such case. In particular, the illegitimacy of his regime and its vast human rights violations against anyone broadly on the political Left or who opposed his regime. Most serious Latin American studies scholars and journalists would agree that Pinochet brutally overthrew a government which, despite many faults, was democratically and legitimately elected.

Dissent from a consensus, of course, always exists and on 15 December, The Australian published a strange article by James Whelan, a neo-conservative journalist who for many years has written works which present the Pinochet era in a favourable light. Whelan’s piece was revisionism of the worst kind.

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under New Matilda and tagged Chile Coup d'état Human Rights.

The Mystery of the Missing Ballots

By Rodrigo Acuña

New Matilda

13 September 2006

This week, one of the largest cities in Latin America is almost at a standstill as tensions rise over what many are calling a fraudulent election. Yet with notable exceptions, the international press have ignored the crisis.

Since the 2 July Mexican presidential election, which was won by National Action Party (PAN) candidate Felipe Calderón under controversial circumstances, the historical Zócalo Plaza and other prominent areas of Mexico City have been occupied by hundreds of thousands of supporters of rival candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PDR).

Obrador's supporters claim that he was robbed of electoral victory through fraud, while Obrador himself has declared he will set up a parallel government if votes are not recounted in full.

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Rodrigo Acuña and filed under New Matilda and tagged Mexico Election Human Rights.