World News & Views

The Prisoners of Conscience Committee delegation from the United States returned recently from a fact-finding mission in El Salvador. We were in three cities - San Salvador, Suchitoto and Sansonate - and we talked to former combatants, government officials, union leaders, community leaders, members of street organizations, former political prisoners and more. One of my favorite groups that we met was Radio Zurda, a collective of youth who do a political radio show heard in El Salvador and Honduras, targeted towards a youth audience.

In a country where racism is still alive, it is important for White America not only to see, but also to understand Black America's story as well. For too long only a partial testament has been given to the adversity that affects millions of our people on a daily basis. Someone should take the time to find the "why." It is this question that millions of people never ask. Did CNN's "Black in America" answer it?

A chorus of extraordinarily influential voices is calling for the freedom of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, the epitome of the Haitian genius for political organizing with superhuman courage and integrity, who was disappeared one year ago. Here are several of those voices: Mumia Abu-Jamal, Selma James, Pierre Labossiere, Kevin Pina, Michele Pierre-Antoine and President Bertrand Aristide.

David Josue of the Haitian Lawyers' Leadership Network addressed the Brazilian Parliament on the U.N. troops led by Brazil and their violation, disregard and almost depraved indifference to Haitian life, liberty and civil and human rights. To standing ovations, he demanded the withdrawal of the U.N. troops led by Brazil out of Haiti.

When I arrived in Rhodesia, 1968 had already been a momentous year in the United States. U.S. setbacks in Vietnam had led Lyndon Johnson to announce his withdrawal from the 1968 presidential campaign. Days later, on April 4, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated on June 5. Meanwhile, Black Power activists in the United States, led by young Blacks like me, were urging Black Americans to be proud of our African heritage. I felt lucky to be in Africa.

In Haiti, they have a name for hunger. It's called Clorox hunger - meaning something that eats you from the inside. But it's an imposed hunger, an imposed starvation on the people of Haiti. It has a history. Until the 1980s, Haiti was self sufficient in rice production. But with the lowering of tariffs, Haitians got what we call "Miami" rice. Haiti was flooded with cheap rice imports and Haitian peasants couldn't compete.

Banco de Venezuela is one of the most important banks in Venezuela, with a 12 percent share of the market in loans and obtained profits of US$170 million in the first half of 2008, a 29 percent increase on 2007, when its profits had already increased by 20 percent. It has 285 offices and 3 million customers. Banco de Venezuela was nationalized in 1994 after a massive banking crisis which bankrupted 60 percent of the banking sector, only to be privatized in 1996 and bought by the Spanish multinational banking group Grupo Santander for only US$300 million. In only nine months Grupo Santander recovered its original investment.

When Election Day arrives in November, the state of Virginia will likely play a huge role in determining whether Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain is the next president of the United States. Unfortunately, the vote tally from the Old Dominion will be illegitimate because the state will disenfranchise nearly 350,000 individuals who are barred from voting because of felony convictions.

On Oct. 1, the much-anticipated United States Africa Command (Africom) was officially launched. This military reorganization of U.S. forces to oversee developments in the entire continent has been met with strong objection from the major political states and regional blocs there.

The Army Times reports that the 3rd Infantry's 1st Brigade Combat Team is returning from Iraq to defend the Homeland as "an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks." But at the same time, the Bush administration may be seeking a justification to establish martial law and intervene militarily within the USA.

On the 10th anniversary of the lynching of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, Brandon McClelland, a 24-year-old Black man in nearby Paris, Texas, was dragged to his death on Sept. 16 by two White men. On Oct. 5, parts of Brandon's skull were still on the ground and local officials were still denying this lynching was a hate crime.

Four tropical storms in a month killed between 500 and 1,000 Haitians and left hundreds of thousands homeless. Because preparedness under Aristide had been abandoned and the U.N. won't help, damage and suffering are much worse than necessary.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the green heart of Africa. The country has the second largest rainforest in the world. It is resource rich but plagued with humanitarian crises resulting from the plundering of the DRC's mineral resources are severe.

Every single eligible citizen who is 18 years old on Election Day has the constitutional right to vote. A right that cannot be restricted because of tricks, wealth, property ownership, fiscal judgment, gender, national origin or race. That's the law, but ...

In the 19th Century, the robber barons simply walked into government buildings and capitals with satchels swollen with money. They literally bought off politicians to do their bidding. They do the same thing today, but with a little more finesse.

Who's on welfare now? For years, the rich have condemned and criminalized women of color who survive dire poverty with a little cash assistance from the government. But now, big business wants to cut into the welfare line.

Rappers, producers, spoken word performers and graf artists, age 18-30, who want to express why they're voting this election and what issues matter most to them can submit music, a video or graphic arts piece to VoteHipHop.org.

Greg Palast and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. believe that the 2008 elections have already been stolen. What's an American to do given these circumstances? They suggest: "Steal it back!"

I want a leader who can love us. And, truthfully, by our collective behavior, we have made it hard to demand this. We are as we are, imperfect to the max, racist and sexist and greedy above all; still, I feel we deserve leaders who love us. We will not survive more of what we have had: leaders who love nothing, not even themselves.

Haiti is now forced by the World Bank and its bloodsucking siblings like the IMF to pay more than $1 million a week to satisfy debts incurred by the Duvaliers and the post-Duvalier tyrannies. Haiti must repay this debt to prove its fitness for "help" from the Multilateral Financial Institutions (MFI).