Countries

In an impassioned op-ed, Venezuelan economist Victor Álvarez argues that his country should follow the example of Norway and enact legislation to create a Sovereign Wealth Fund – to protect the country’s oil and mineral revenues both from the boom and bust myopia of its own governments and the ambition of the US to use Venezuela to subsidise its own industries.

Sue Branford reviews Alex Ungrateeb Flynn's book Pathways to Utopia - Time and Transformation in the Landless Workers' Movement of Brazil.

Tony Corden reviews Katia Chornik’s book about the relationship between music, politics, memory, and human rights.

Indigenous leader Auricélia Arapiun describes the occupation of the Cargill terminal, in Pará, which forced the government to concede after 33 days, repealing the controversial decree 12.600, which provided concessions to developers hoping to turn the Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins tributaries of the Amazon into waterways for the export of soya and the other fruits of extraction.

Debates on impunity for people convicted of heinous crimes against humanity are acquiring a new urgency in Chile, where the Senate has approved a measure which would allow convicted prisoners over the age of 70 to serve their sentences under house arrest, or have them suspended. Trials and judgements reached in Germany and Holland may provide relevant parallels.

Indigenous activist Haizel explains to LAB contributor Isàlia McIntyre how strengthening Maya identity supports resistance to megaprojects harming communities across the Yucután.

Venezuelan poets in exile tell Piotr Kozak about their experiences of leaving their home country, their conflicted feelings towards it, and the promise and sadness of their lives abroad.

The US attack on Venezuela has halted vital oil shipments to Cuba as a tightening US embargo is strangling the island's economy. Lack of fuel is collapsing the energy grid, halting all but essential transport and threatens to destroy the vital tourism industry. Cubans are resilient, but can they survive this crisis?

COP30 in Belém raised hopes that the Amazon would finally move to the centre of global climate action. While governments agreed to expand adaptation finance and launch new forest-protection initiatives, binding commitments on deforestation, fossil fuels and Indigenous land rights remained absent. As Brazil hosted the climate summit in the heart of the rainforest, the gap between diplomatic ambition and enforceable protection became stark.

In an impassioned article, LAB author Marcos Colón denounces the double-standards afflicting the mainstream press in Brazil, prompt to condemn those who defend the Amazon, its rivers and people as radicals and vandals, while they hail the confidence, predictability and business-friendly character of projects to dredge rivers and construct massive ports for exporting soya.