Economy, trade & employment

'Gold, Oil and Avocados, A Recent History of Latin America in Sixteen Commodities' by Andy Robinson is a detailed account of export extractivism in Latin America, offering rich context.

Bolivia is a major importer of mercury on a world-scale. Pollution caused by the gold business has reached the most important urban areas of the country, while the authorities look the other way.

'Free trade and investment agreements are tools for the “deviation of power” away from communities and into corporate boardrooms. This is what the experience of people in Mexico teaches us.' This is the conclusion of a new report by GRAIN, a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems.

Glencore, owner of the vast Cerrejón coal mine in Colombia, is using the grotesque Investor State Dispute Settlement process to prevent the Colombian government from protecting its own citizens and environment. Jen Moore was part of an international delegation to study this problem.

Javier Milei's won a landslide victory in Argentina's presidential elections. He has promised to 'take a chainsaw' to the country's economy -- in dire trouble with inflation this year already at 143%. But can he convert a massive protest vote into real policies?