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Latin America Experts Call on Clinton to Oppose Early Elections Option in Honduras:

By: Nikhil Aziz | Julho 9, 2009

Anything Less Than the Urgent Restoration of Zelaya to Office "Would be an usurpation of the will of the Honduran people" They State in Open Letter

Santa Cruz, CA - Over 35 scholars and experts on Latin America sent an open letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today urging against the idea of early elections in Honduras as a possible resolution of the current crisis resulting from the June 28 military coup d'etat. Stating that "Anything less than the urgent restoration of President Manuel Zelaya to office would be an usurpation of the will of the Honduran people," the signers urged Clinton to enact forceful sanctions on the coup regime to ensure Zelaya's prompt reinstatement.
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United States

Obama and Honduras: Si, Se Puede?

By: Nikhil Aziz | Julho 6, 2009

It has been said before that the real test as to whether President Obama’s foreign policy is going to be meaningfully different from past U.S. policies -- not just George W. Bush’s -- is in his relations with Latin America. Until last week many would have argued that the test primarily referred to U.S.-Cuba relations, or even relations between the U.S. and Venezuela. The line in the sand has, sadly, shifted since the coup in Honduras.
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Honduras: Crisis of Democracy & Human Rights

By: Nikhil Aziz | Julho 2, 2009

Last April my colleague Saulo Araujo (Program Coordinator for Brazil & Mesoamerica) and I visited Honduras. What impressed us the most was the strength and vibrancy of social movements, like our partners the Via Campesina (Central America) and COCOCH (the Honduran Coordinating Council of Peasant Organizations), and our allies like COPINH (Civic Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras) and OFRANEH (Honduran Black Fraternal Organization). And especially the strong and resilient women in the forefront of struggle. Afro-Hondurans like Leoncia and Wendy, Lencas like Pasqualita, and Mestizo women like Analina and Berta

At a candidates forum convened by the Via every single presidential candidate attended.
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Violence Sparked by US-Peru FTA Highlights the Need for Stronger Communal Resource Rights

By: Dory Dinoto with Saulo Araujo | Julho 1, 2009

The US-Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA), created in 2005 by the Bush and Garcia administrations, came into effect on February 1st, 2009. Since this time, several protests have been held within the country by indigenous groups, peasants and their supporters. At the heart of the protests are several laws, which have been enacted, and since revoked, by the Garcia administration under the FTA.
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Free Gaza Reports: We are NOT the “Story” – It’s Not Just Our 21 Kidnapped Passengers

By: Carol Schachet | Julho 1, 2009

Yesterday the Israeli Navy forcibly boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat Spirit of Humanity in international waters and kidnapped 21 human rights workers and journalists who were on their way to deliver much needed humanitarian and reconstruction supplies to Gaza. Those abducted by the Israeli Navy include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. Congresswoman and presidential candidate Cynthia McKinney.

Since their kidnapping, tens-of-thousands of people around the world have mobilized to demand their immediate and unconditional release. Although deeply grateful for international support, Free Gaza said the following:
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Let CAT Know What You Think

By: Carol Schachet | Junho 5, 2009

Grassroots International joins our ally Jewish Voice for Peace in calling on Caterpillar to respect human rights and end its business with the Israeli government. Please sign onto the petition and forward it to friends and family by June 9th. Jewish Voice for Peace will deliver the signatures at Caterpillar's annual shareholder meeting next week!

Here is the message that I received from Jewish Voice for Peace this morning:

"See if you can explain this… I can't.
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United States

Dairy Farmers Host Emergency Rally in Iowa

By: Carol Schachet | Junho 4, 2009

Even though I grew up in Missouri, my first introduction to agriculture did not occur until my college days in Northfield, Minnesota, in the early 1980s. Depending on which way the wind blew, my college (Carleton) was filled either with the toasted grain aroma from the Malt-o-Meal factory or the smell of the surrounding dairy farms. Sadly, the dairy farms began to lose out in more than just the scent in the air. I remember clearly my sophomore year when a big stoic man stood up at church and, with tears in his eyes, told us that the last of his dairy cows were sold in an attempt to pay off farm creditors. Thus began my awareness of corporate farming, agricultural and trade policy and their devastating impact on families and communities.
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Tell Congress: No Blank Check for Military Aid to Israel

By: Carol Schachet | Maio 27, 2009

President Obama's 2010 budget calls for $2.775 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Israel, an increase of $225 million compared to the 2009 budget. Send a resounding message to Congress that this appropriation for military aid to Israel is unacceptable.

Israel has consistently misused U.S. weapons to commit human rights abuses against Palestinians and systematic violations of international law. Some of those violations are documented every year in the State Department's own human rights reports. Even more are documented by the United Nations and respected human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
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Legislative activity heats up

By: Carol Schachet | Maio 20, 2009

Both the House and Senate are considering legislation with tremendous implications for farmers and agriculture across the globe. On the Senate side, the Global Food Security Bill, S.384 (also known as the Casey-Lugar Bill), calls for the United States to play a leadership role in implementing questionable food production strategies in developing countries. The bill mandates that massive investments in foreign assistance for agriculture shall include genetically engineered (GE) technologies. However, numerous studies and reports tell otherwise and warn of the dangers posed by GE technolgies, including soil erosion, cross-breeding, lower long-term yields and other environmental hazards.
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New Report on Biofuels Exposes $400 Billion in Taxpayer Subsidies

By: Lilian Autler | Maio 14, 2009

Our colleagues at Friends of the Earth and Earth Track recently released a report titled A Boon to Bad Biofuels: Federal Tax Credits and Mandates Underwrite Environmental Damage at Taxpayer Expense which examines the extent to which the biofuels industry is subsidized by federal tax credits and a federal renewable fuels mandate. The report finds that between 2008 and 2022, biofuels will receive more than $400 billion in subsidies. The report also shows that, rather than promoting the production of less harmful biofuels, many of these subsidies
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Brazilian Activist from MST Participates in the Brooklyn Food Conference

By: Saulo Araujo | Maio 7, 2009

The Food Sovereignty movement in the United States is well and alive. And thanks to the work of food cooperatives, community supported agriculture (CSA) and local farmers, little by little more neighborhoods and cities are joining this social movement that is reclaiming the right to quality food.

This past weekend, the movement's strengthen was displayed in Brooklyn, NY, where over 2,000 people met in one of the largest U.S. events for Food Sovereignty this year.

Participants in the Brooklyn Food Conference represented different places and backgrounds in the U.S. food movement. Event speakers included some of the leading voices in the United States, such as social activist Malik Yakini from Detroit, and Raj Patel, the author of Stuffed and Starved.
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United States

U.S. Family Farmers Mark April 17th With A Protest Against Commodity Speculation

By: Carol Schachet | Abril 16, 2009

Family farmers and other food justice activists will mark April 17, the International Day of Peasant's Struggle, with a protest against corporate speculation on agricultural commodities which is behind the global food crisis now threatening the livelihoods of millions of farmers. This action is in solidarity with La Via Campesina, the world's largest umbrella movement of family farmers, Grassroots International's ally the National Family Farm Coalition, rural workers and indigenous peoples.

Specific demands include:
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Why the Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act will Fail to Curb Hunger

By: Carol Schachet | Abril 16, 2009

"A new bill before the U.S. Senate stands to completely overhaul the way the U.S. offers agricultural development and food aid to the developing world. This bill, the Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act, aims to reform aid programs to include a stronger focus on long-term agricultural development and the restructuring of aid agencies to better respond to crises. While this renewed focus is commendable, the Lugar-Casey bill also mandates funding for genetically modified crop research as a major underpinning of its food security strategy. Just as food aid expands markets for U.S. grain even as it destroys markets and farm livelihoods abroad, the agricultural development aid in the Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act will open markets in Africa and elsewhere to the U.S.
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April Showers with Significant Trade, Food and Agricultural Policy Debates

By: Maria Aguiar | Abril 16, 2009

When it rains, it pours. This week has seen a deluge of global food and trade strategies, all of which may deeply impact food and agriculture policies for Grassroots International, our partners and our allies.
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United States

Grassroots International, 200 Civil Society Groups Urge Obama & Congress to Curb Food Speculation to Fight Global Hunger Crisis

By: Carol Schachet | Março 25, 2009

Today, a coalition of faith, hunger, international development, farm and food organizations – including Grassroots International – sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting decisive support for efforts to wring out excess speculation in agricultural futures markets that threatens the food security of hundreds of millions of people. The letter notes that "A significant part of last year's food price fluctuations were the result of excessive speculation in the commodities markets by the very hedge funds and investment banks that helped create the current economic meltdown."
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United States

Food Speculation Coalition Letter to President Obama

By: Carol Schachet | Março 25, 2009

The Honorable Barack Obama President of the United States The White House Washington, D.C. 20500
March 24, 2009

Dear Mr. President:

In 2008, the price of basic food staples rose by incredible proportions. Between May 2007 and March 2008, hard red winter wheat rose 137 percent, from July 2007 to June 2008 corn prices rose 98 percent. Other food commodities rose in a similar fashion putting daily sustenance out of reach for 200 million more people in the developing world.
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United States

The Inauguration in the Shadow of Gaza

By: Bill Fletcher Jr. | Fevereiro 1, 2009

Twelve days ago the United States, and the world, celebrated the inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama as the country's first African-American president. That the world celebrated as well was evident to many of us even then, but it's even more clear to me here in Belém, in the Brazilian state of Pará, where I am for the World Social Forum, where numerous people from around the world have repeatedly greeted those of us from the United States with a thumbs up sign and shouted "Obama!" celebrating not only his becoming president but, especially, the end of the Bush Administration. Bill Fletcher, Jr., a former Board member of Grassroots International, reflected on this historic moment in the shadow of Gaza - Nikhil Aziz.
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In a World of Crises, Disastrous Governance

By: Saulo Araujo | Janeiro 30, 2009

It has become clear that the numerous crises we face today are a result of disastrous global governance formulas that try to accommodate powerful interests, instead of addressing the real issues.

And these formulas are getting old. Discredited in the public eye, global institutions led by a handful of nations, and dominated by corporate agendas, are losing ground.
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We are all Palestinians: Voices from Latin America

By: Saulo Araujo | Janeiro 27, 2009

The surge in solidarity with Palestinian people in Gaza is still strong. And I hope it will never wind down. My inbox is flooded with op-eds and solidarity messages from all over Latin America. Indigenous communities from Mexico speak about the similarities between the unjust occupation of a sovereign territory and their situation as peoples whose right to land is ignored. Messages from Brazil call on people to increase support to Palestinian farmers.
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United States

Will the New “Green Economy” be Fueled by Unsustainable Agrofuels?

By: Maria Aguiar | Janeiro 16, 2009

In 2006 Grassroots International received a report from the Social Network for Justice and Human Rights (Rede Social), one of our Brazilian partners, about rapid expansion of agrofuels production based on large scale plantation-style cultivation of sugar cane for ethanol. We also heard from them about massive expansion of soy plantations and U.S.
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