Lula Bows to Wall Street: Brazil’s New “Leftist” President Moves Right to Keep U.S. Happy

By Asad Ismi Forty years after Brazil’s last leftist government was overthrown in a U.S.-backed military coup, the left appeared to have regained power there on January 1 when Luiz Inacio (“Lula”) da Silva, the candidate for the left-leaning Workers’ Party (PT), was inaugrated as President. Lula won the national elections last October in a […]

Nigeria’s Corporate Killers

By Asad Ismi Multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria are complicit in human rights violations according to a recent report released by Human Rights Watch. The report titled “Nigeria: The Niger Delta: No Democratic Dividend,” points out that “…oil companies are seen by the residents of the Delta [Nigeria’s main oil producing area] to have […]

The Ravaging of Africa: Western Neo-colonialism Fuels Wars, Plundering of Resources

By Asad Ismi The G8 Summit held in Kananaskis in June, pledged $6 billion dollars a year in so-called aid to Africa by 2006. The low figure caused Phil Twyford of Oxfam to say “We’re extremely disappointed by this wasted opportunity. They’re offering peanuts to Africa and recycled peanuts at that.” In 1999, debt service […]

A U.S.-Financed Military Dictatorship: Pakistan has Long, Bloody history as Terrorist Arm of U.S.

By Asad Ismi The United States’ choice of Pakistan as an ally in its “war on terrorism” provides the spectacle of the two leading terrorist states on Earth “fighting terrorism.” The U.S. has killed more than eight million people in the Third World since 1945, while Pakistan slaughtered almost three million Bengalis in the Eastern […]