Latin America - Culture and Politics
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Fight for the Forest 2nd Edition
"They would have to kill us all to destroy our movement and they can't. I don't get that cold feeling anymore. I am no longer afraid of dying."-Chico Mendes, November 1988 Chico Mendes, the charismatic founder of the Brazilian rubber tappers union, was murdered by a hired assassin on 22 December 198...
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The Dominican Republic
"The Dominican Republic is the land Columbus loved best" runs the advertising slogan. In celebration of the 500th anniversary of the explorer's arrival on the island of Hispaniola, the government has spent a reported US$40 millions on building a bizarre commemorative lighthouse. In the process, it h...
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Brazil: War on Children
"Brazil: War on Children" is a journey through the underworld of Brazil's ten million street children. The author interweaves first-hand reportage, interviews and statistics to paint a picture of life for the children. He discovers a world of pimps, muggers, prostitutes and petty criminals; homeless...
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Columbus
In "Columbus: His Enterprise", Hans Koning describes the personality and motivation of a man who changed the course of hisotry. Exploding the myth of the Great Navigator, the author reveals how Colombus accidentally found a continent and systematically pillaged its resources. This controversial book...
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Grenada: Revolution In Reverse
The US invasion of Grenada in 1983 was seen as a victory for freedom. By the early 1990s, however, the story of post-invasion Grenada had become one of disillusionment and cynicism. This work reveals the extent of the US failure, economic and political, and its impact on the island's people.
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Haiti
Almost 200 years ago, the Haitian people launched a revolution which ended slavery and established the world's first independent black republic. But it was a country 'born in ruins'. Once a source of plunder for the French colonial power, the national economy has since been a source of personal enri...
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Honduras
Honduras has been called the 'Pentagon Republic' because of the vast military complex the US has constructed on its soil. But lack of national sovereignty is not new to Honduras. When strong local elites failed to emerge after Independence, the US banana companies soon dominated political and econom...
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The Dance of the Millions
Phillip O'Brien, James Painter
The Dance of the Millions provides a comprehensive account of the Latin American debt crisis. It examines why the bank loans came about in the first place, how most of them were used, and why they suddenly dried up in the 1980s. It argues that the role played by the IMF and the World Bank as the fin...
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Cuba the Test of Time
As Cuba enters its fourth decade of revolution, much has been achieved in health, education and culture. Yet, economic and political obstacles to the island’s development remain. US-orchestrated embargo and destabilisation, together with frequent policy switches, have created a society where nobody...
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Panama
How did Manuel Noriega, the CIA's most important agent in Central America, become the US administration's most wanted criminal? Why did 22,000 US troops invade Panama, to arrest a man who had been a staunch ally of the US? Was his involvement in the drug trade the real reason for General Noriega's d...