The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
In Bahrain, brutal repression of pro-democracy protests continues. At least 31 people have been killed, four of them after they were arrested. Approximately 600 people have been picked up in raids conducted by the authorities. Many of those taken into custody face torture.
Saudi troops have been dispatched to Bahrain to help the Al Khalifa monarchy suppress the pro-democracy uprising.
There has been limited international condemnation of the suppression of the pro-democracy movement in...
Greg Grandin -
Tensions over Middle East policy are increasing, despite Barack Obama's recent visit to Latin America
At some point in the run-up to Barack Obama’s just concluded tour of Latin America, which included stops in Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador, the US press decided that coverage of the trip would focus on expected friendly meeting with Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's recently inaugurated president.
The Washington Post, the New York Times, and National Public Radio, along with a host of...
President Barack Obama came to the White House on a wave of popular discontent with the way the country was being run. His election cry "change we can believe in," inspired millions of Americans to head to the polls.
Now after two years in power much of that initial optimism and euphoria has dissipated.
America remains largely an unequal society socially, economically and racially. The rich have got richer and the number of poor has steadily climbed. The country remains at war in...
Chris Hedges -
Jess Goodell enlisted in the Marines immediately after she graduated from high school in 2001. She volunteered three years later to serve in the Marine Corps’ first officially declared Mortuary Affairs unit, at Camp Al Taqaddum in Iraq. Her job, for eight months, was to collect and catalog the bodies and personal effects of dead Marines. She put the remains of young Marines in body bags and placed the bags in metal boxes. Before being shipped to Dover Air Force Base, the boxes were...
Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has decided to return to Haiti this week ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff election. Aristide has lived in exile in South Africa since 2004, when he was ousted in a U.S.-backed coup. Despite U.S. pressure on the governments of Haiti and South Africa not to allow him to return, Aristide and his family are planning to leave on Thursday.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now is in South Africa to cover Aristide’s return trip to Haiti. She...
Is Pretoria blocking ousted president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s return to Haiti? Speculation is rife amongst civil society groups that influenced by US interests; this may indeed be the case.
The Haitian government has issued a passport for Aristide’s return to his home country, but Pretoria appears to be stalling on releasing the exiled president, claiming that they are waiting for “ideal conditions” to arrange his departure from South Africa.
The American...
