Trump’s escalation against Venezuela is about more than oil, it is about regaining control over the ‘natural’ zone of influence of the United States at a moment where its hegemony is slipping, argues VIJAY PRASHAD
Mexico’s transformation advances
The left has established deep roots in Mexico, but with President Amlo stepping down and an election later this year, what does the future hold for the country’s ‘Fourth Transformation,’ asks DAVID RABY
SPEAKING AS EQUALS: Mexican Foreign Secretary Alicia Barcena makes a point during a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss US Mexican migration, in Washington last week
Evidence suggests Lammy’s proposals would come at a high cost: reduced fairness, diminished trust and greater racial inequality in the criminal justice system, argue TARA LAI QUINLAN and KATHARINA KARCHER
From the workhouses of the 1840s to today’s market capitalism, A Christmas Carol remains a sharp critique of charity rationed by class, says KEITH FLETT
The argument for a “significant expansion” of nuclear power will deliver soaring electricity prices that condemn underserved communities to unending hardship and poverty, argues LINDA PENTZ GUNTER
The new plan sets out an uncompromising bid for global dominance, casting even allies as obstacles to be subdued, writes DIANE ABBOTT
As we approach the half-anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, the community gathers to remember loved ones while grappling with mixed emotions surrounding the ongoing deconstruction of the tower and the hopeful plans for a memorial, writes EMMA DENT COAD
DESPITE the alarming advance of the far right in Argentina and Ecuador and its continued stranglehold on Peru, Mexico’s progressive stance grows stronger as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (Amlo) approaches the end of his six-year term and left presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum opens up a 30-point lead in the polls for the June 2 elections.
The right is divided and disorientated: there is no shortage of would-be Javier Mileis in Mexico, spouting extremist rhetoric, lies and insults, but their appeal is limited to the hard-core conservative vote. Their candidate, Xochitl Galvez, although a woman of popular origin, is hampered by her long career in the right-wing PAN (National Action Party; Partido Accion Nacional) and her repeated inconsistencies, alternating between radicalism and conciliation.
Denunciations of Amlo for “dictatorship” and “corruption” just arouse bemused contempt in most people who see the first honest and competent government in generations. With just over four months to the elections and eight months till the architect of this extraordinary positive transformation of national life retires from politics for good (Amlo insists that on October 1 he will retire to his home in Palenque and avoid political life completely), the idea of a return to the avarice, arrogance and hypocrisy of the old regime is inconceivable.
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A November 15 protest in Mexico – driven by a right-wing social-media operation – has been miscast as a mass uprising against President Sheinbaum. In reality, the march was small, elite-backed and part of a wider attempt to sow unrest, argues DAVID RABY
DAVID RABY reports on the progressive administration in Mexico, which continues to overcome far-left wreckers on the edges of a teaching union, the murderous violence of the cartels, the ploys of the traditional right wing, and Trump’s provocations
By taking a firm stance against the ‘Monroe Doctrine Mk II’ President Sheinbaum has won plaudits from across Mexican society, says DAVID RABY
Mexico’s unflinching stand has earned praise from across Latin America and the world, writes DAVID RABY