Reality in Writing : Caribbean Political Economy

NACLA.org April 18, 2013 Set against the backdrop of a deeply polarized election campaign over the future of the post-Hugo Chavez era, it became clear late Sunday night that Nicholas Maduro would become the next President of Venezuela—albeit with a very narrow margin. When the final vote count came in, it was announced that Maduro had won with 50.7% of the vote, with his opponent Henrique Capriles taking 49%. In the absence of any unforeseen situations, Maduro is scheduled to be officially sworn in on Friday. Given the 1.7% margin of victory, Capriles is alleging widespread irregularities and is demanding a manual recount of all votes. Until this happens, Capriles has publicly stated that he will regard Maduro as “an illegitimate president.” Secretary of State John Kerry was quick to jump on the opposition bandwagon, telling a hearing of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee that "We think there ought to be a recount. . . . Obviously if there are huge irreg

April 11, 2013 NACLA.org In the most trying of times, it is often said that it becomes much easier to tell real friends from the fake. Since the announcement by United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki Moon, claiming that the U.N. has legal immunity when it comes to their role in introducing cholera to the country, the Haitian people are currently learning that, outside of Cuba, even supportive words are hard to come by within the rest of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). By now it has become widely accepted that the U.N. was responsible for introducing cholera into Haiti during October 2010 via negligent screening protocols and waste management at their base in Mirebalais. Prior to the arrival of the U.N. troops in Mirebalais, Haiti had not suffered an outbreak of cholera in their recorded history. Numerous independent medical studies  have established that Nepalese troops were the source of the outbreak—with this much being admitted by U.N. Special Envoy for Haiti

April 9, 2013 Rabble.ca Sunday's revelation that the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) will be bringing in "temporary guest workers" to replace some of its Canadian employees captured headlines, sparking outrage and surprise, and leading many to threaten a bank boycott and move their accounts elsewhere. The outrage is certainly understandable -- as one would think that RBC, with its more than $2 billion in first quarter profits , could afford to retain these workers -- but the surprise isn't.  Without being condescending, I have five words for those who greeted this news with disbelief and shock: this is how capitalism works. Or, as RBC CEO Gord Nixon recently wrote in a more sanitized and politically correct manner, it simply falls in line with the bank’s dedicated commitment to " operational effectiveness ." Before proceeding any further, it is important to inject into this conversation -- which can quickly descend into xenophobia and anti-immig