In the case of both the U.S.-Mexico border and the Darién Gap, the point has never been to entirely halt undocumented migration, without which the U.S. economy would naturally be up a creek. Rather, the aim has simply been to render the trajectory so absolutely hellish that the folks who eventually do make it to the land of the free are not tempted to expect too much in the way of basic rights. More The post A Reporter’s Journey through the Darién Gap: A Q&A with Belén Fernández appeare...| CounterPunch.org
In the run-up to a special session of the UN General Assembly at which at least seven Western states have announced their intention to extend diplomatic recognition to the State of Palestine, numerous respected and knowledgeable commentators are declaring that a "two-state solution" is no longer possible and that advocating and pursuing it is a waste of time. While, even more so today than ever before, it is virtually impossible to imagine achieving any measure of justice for the Palestinian ...| CounterPunch.org
Make it make sense: a president pining for a Nobel Peace Prize now commands a lustily rebranded “Department of War,” primed to “go on offense.” A man who condemns “stupid wars” sicks the U.S. military on drug cartels and America’s streets, cheered on by a tasteless meme (“Chipocalypse Now”) trumpeting invasion. More The post Trump Is Already at War appeared first on CounterPunch.org.| CounterPunch.org
It was a moment somewhat like this, 30 years ago, that turned me into a biblical scholar. In the lead-up to the passage of the 1996 Welfare Reform Act, political and religious leaders quoted scripture to justify shutting down food programs and kicking mothers and their babies off public assistance. Those leaders, many of them self-described Christians, chose to ignore the majority of passages in the Bible that preached “good news” to the poor and promised freedom to those captive to injus...| CounterPunch.org
It’s been thirty-three years since I walked the streets of Takoradi—over three decades that feel less like time passed than the tide gone out. And now, out of nowhere, fresh footage arrives of low-bellied tankers at dawn, gliding past the harbour walls Guggisberg built more than a century ago, my laptop beaming as if the ships not just carrying oil and cargo, but precious moments there. More The post Ghana: Echoes of Tomorrow appeared first on CounterPunch.org.| CounterPunch.org
The politicization of intelligence is nothing new, but Donald Trump is finding new ways to pursue it. The United States has gone to war with phony intelligence on major occasions, including the Mexican-America War, the Spanish-American War, the Vietnam War, and the Iraq War. Too many directors of the Central Intelligence Agency have been directly involved in politicizing intelligence, including Richard Helms, James Schlesinger, William Casey, Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Mike Pompeo, Geo...| CounterPunch.org
In military coups, the generals take over from one day to the next. Civilian presidents, when they declare martial law, assume emergency powers and start immediately ruling like dictators. But the more common method of destroying a democracy these days is through death by a thousand cuts. Elected leaders only gradually undermine democratic institutions and accumulate more executive power. One day, voila, the democracy is fatally compromised, and no one can point to a single act that transform...| CounterPunch.org
One of President Trump’s first executive orders since returning to the presidency in January was the designation of certain drug cartels as “terrorist” organizations. In doing this, Trump signaled a renewed war on drugs with the possibility of the United States military acting unilaterally throughout Latin America. More The post U.S. Attacks on Venezuela Are a Threat to All of Latin America and the Caribbean appeared first on CounterPunch.org.| CounterPunch.org