Haiti spent more, in 2008 servicing the country’s debts than it did on health, education and the environment. In our article, Haiti—an un-natural disaster, we noted that the earthquake in Haiti, and similar disasters, are presented as unavoidable disasters; and that, to some extent, this is true. But we stated that it is not a coincidence that the number of victims is clearly related to the degree of their poverty. This was true regarding the Asian tsunami and the Katrina hurricane in New Orleans. Seumas Milne also says (Guardian, 21 January) that “It is uncontested that poverty is the...
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(Labor Notes) More than 250,000 miners and steelworkers from central to northern Mexico walked off the job March 1-3 in wildcat strikes at 70 companies that virtually paralyzed the mining industry. While the strike has ended, this may be the only first act in an unfolding drama that could challenge Mexican employers, the corrupt “official” unions, and the conservative Mexican government. The strike was a response to a government attempt to remove the Mexican miners union’s top officer, general secretary Napleón Gómez Urrutia, and replace him with Elías Morales Hernández, a union member who is reportedly backed by the...
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