When we published yesterday the news that President Donald Trump and his wife Melania have contracted the novel coronavirus, some responses I saw were vile. I saw Twitter responses that were inappropriate to repeat around children (and decent adults, too!) and I saw snark in the other socials from supposed Orthodox Christians! no less, that basically wished for the President’s death under the virus.
Photo: Rainforest Trust
As of September 29th, Brazil’s Bolsonaro government has fired the civilian-run National Institute for Space Research (INPE), which has monitored the Amazon rainforest for the past three decades. INPE is being replaced (drumroll please) by the Brazilian military as the new watchdog over the world famous rainforest. Voila, worldwide concerns about deforestation are… ah… indeterminate, vague, unspecified.
President Trump spoke about seven minutes in his video speech at the United Nations General Assembly opening-day speeches, the same day America’s death toll from the coronavirus hit 200,000. JOHN PENNEY
Amazon Day, a day of celebration for over 100 years on September 5th, has passed. Amazon Day commemorates the year 1850 creation of the Province of Amazonas, encompassing 60% of Brazil and extending into Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and French Guyana.
Meanwhile, illegal fires in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest rage on, and on, and on stronger than ever. Nowadays, in spite of the spirit of Amazon Day, suicidal spates of lawlessness rule Brazil’s precious rainforest.
Lieut. Gen. Ricard Costa Neves, center, the force commander of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, May 2020. He is one of a succession of Brazilians to have led the UN operations there militarily. The authors reflect on Brazil’s long, extensive role in the UN but lament President Bolsonaro’s hostility toward it now. KEVIN JORDAN/MONUSCO
Greta Acosta Reyes (Cuba), Neoliberalism, 2020.
Dear Friends,
Greetings from the desk of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
Beirut, mon amour.
A look at the social and economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with a specific focus on the incompetent state responses of the UK, Brazil and the United States.
Featuring an interview with anarchist writer Peter Gelderloos, author of Diagnostic of the Future: Between the Crisis of Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy.
This could be the stuff of fiction. But then again, many legal principles began, at some point or rather, in the sludge of speculation before hardening into legal briefs and prosecutorial documents. Holding heads of state to account for crimes against their people remains a perennial project with a patchy record. This is particularly the case when it comes to[Read More...]
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro continues to occupy international news headlines, for the wrong reasons as a result of exploitative politics. True to his word to open up Brazil to multinational companies, in particular the Amazon which he considers an untapped resource as yet, Bolsonaro has embarked upon a series of decisions which spell disaster for the environment and indigenous communities.
