Naomi Klein on Haiti

Naomi Klein has an article in the Guardian about Haiti. It details some of the recent U.N. violence against Aristide supporters - a topic that's received little coverage. Klein reports that Aristide believes the drive for privatisation was the motive in ousting him. It's worth reading the account he provides Klein of reaching an agreement with the Clinton administration to return him to power in exchange for enacting neoliberal policies. When he failed to carry them out with sufficient fervor, Washington began funding the anti-democratic opposition groups.

US-Peru FTA would harm health care in Peru

A recent U.N. press release noted that the Peruvian Ministry of Health recently released:

a study on the potential effects of an eventual US-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
on access to medicines. The study revealed that between 700 to 900
thousand people would be left excluded from accessing medicines
without an increase in the budget of the Ministry of Health or an
increase in household income for the poor. The first year of the FTA
would require an additional increase in spending of US$ 34.4 million,
of which US$29 million would fall on families and the rest on the
Ministry of Health.

Does anyone believe that money will be available? The press release comments that "Over 50 per cent of Peruvians live in poverty, while almost 25 per
cent live in extreme poverty. And many Peruvians die from treatable
medical conditions due to difficulties in accessing drugs." Essentially then, the FTA appears to be a death sentence for an unknown number of people.

CAFTA impact on Mexican auto parts workers

The National Labor Committee has recently warned of the devastating impact the threat of CAFTA is having on auto parts workers in Mexico. It appears almost certain that a vote on CAFTA will be coming up in the House before the end of July and of course it has already passed in the Senate so if you haven't contacted your reps yet, do so.

Some Bolivia background

COHA has recently published an article
with some useful background on Morales and Bolivia. Some excerpts:

His fame was catapulted in the 2002 presidential race when the U.S embassy warned that if Morales was elected, the U.S. would cut off approximately $75 million in economic assistance and $48.5 million in counter narcotics aid to Bolivia. Washington’s interventionist strategy backfired, producing a public outrage that almost carried Morales to victory, with him losing the presidential election by only 1.5 percent of the popular vote.

...U.S. policymakers today are beginning to fear the further eclipse of American influence if Morales takes office in December. They also fear that under a Morales presidency, the new leader would waste no time in joining the de facto left-leaning South Atlantic Alliance consisting of Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay.
***

For nearly twenty years, the United States has pursued coca leaf eradication policies in rural Bolivia as a corollary to its heavily financed “War on Drugs.” These eradication efforts include initiatives that range from aerial herbicide spraying to crop replacement sustainability programs.
***

Opposition to this source-crop eradication strategy is rife among Bolivians, the majority of whom belong to indigenous ethnic groups. These bodies maintain that coca is an Andean product whose domestication and use have been a part of indigenous culture for thousands of years. They feel their right to cultural determination and political autonomy should take precedent over the addiction of Americans to a relatively new European concoction.
***

Despite the stringent legal framework established to impede coca production, yearly coca replanting rates have far exceeded eradication rates, and total coca crop growth in Bolivia has continued to increase since 2000.
***

Since the coca wars began in the late 1980s, clashes between security forces and peasant coca activists have left 57 coca growers dead and have paved the way for many human rights abuses. In 1995, in a dramatic move to step up the anti-drug war, security forces imposed a state of siege on selected rural villages and many peasant coca leaders were arrested without warrants. One thousand UMOPAR troops were dispatched to five small villages in the Chapare region, and the ensuing confrontation resulted in the deaths of six peasants and the wounding of ten others by the time the occupation had ended.
***

At present, 70 percent of the 8.4 million Bolivians live below the poverty line. Most rural communities lack electricity and running water, and the country’s rates of infant and child mortality are the highest in South America. Coca eradication strategies cost Bolivians a total of $500 million each year.

Note that Jim Shultz has recently commented in his blog that Evo has little chance of being elected president. True or not, it is clear that his election cannot by itself lead to a successful revolution in Bolivia.