Cuba: Détente or Monroe Doctrine Imperial Plot?

By Dady Chery Haiti Chery Although the Cuban Revolution is 57 years old and is usually blamed for Cuba’s isolation, it has been 88 years since the last visit to the island by a US head of state. United States … Continue reading →

Biodiversity and Sustainability Closely Linked to Language and Culture

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. As linguistic and culturally diversity disappear, so too does biological diversity. This is because the world’s indigenous cultures know best how to create the conditions to maintain species and keep ecosystems functioning in areas where humans also live.

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Gee-Whiz Science or Biopiracy?

By Sifelani Tsiki, The Herald | Editorial comment by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food companies have made millions on plant species that have been used for generations by indigenous groups, without any benefit accruing to local communities in the countries of origin.

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Human Trafficking Gang Busted By Zimbabwe and Zambia

By Majie Sayila, The Times of Zambia | Staff, The Herald Online. Forty-one Bangladeshis were arrested between Zimbabwe and Zambia as these countries tightened the fight against human trafficking. Fifteen who were smuggled into Zambia from the Democratic Republic of Congo were fined for unlawful presence in the country. The driver of the truck in which they were ferried was committed to the High Court for sentencing after he admitted to the offense of smuggling persons, which carries a minimum sentence of 15 years.

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Alice Walker Interview on Why She Declined to Publish ‘The Color Purple’ in Israel

By Alice Walker, PACBI. Recently I wrote a letter to Yediot publishers in Israel declining an offer they’d made to publish my novel The Color Purple…. I accepted the invitation to be interviewed by an Israeli paper because I feel it is important to speak directly to the Israeli people; both Jewish and Arab.

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Tunisian Pirate Party Inaugurated

By Monia Ghanmi, Magharebia | Nate Anderson Ars Technica | Haiti Chery. Tunisian bloggers have formed the first anti-censorship political party in Africa and the Arab world: the Tunisian Pirate Party. “The ideology of this party is freedom and use of the internet as infrastructure and democracy, because free Internet is an indicator of democratic nations.” – Slim Amamou

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Privatization of Water: Benign as Lucifer

By Richard Raznikov, The Rag Blog | Democracy Center | Haiti Chery. About 20 years ago, it dawned on the bankers and some major corporations that if oil was a lucrative commodity, water would be even more so…. The trick was how to take it away from the people and sell it back to them.

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Foreign Aid, Foreign Wastes

Data from USAID | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. A policy of tied aid has until now required that USAID funds be spent on goods and services exclusively from U.S. companies. A new policy will allow USAID to buy many goods and services from developing countries, but not food, motor vehicles, or U.S.-patented pharmaceuticals.

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The Giving Moringa Tree | Árvore milagrosa como um supermercado ao ar livre

By Kristin Palitza, IPS | Informações de Envolverde | Holistic Health | Haiti Chery. Moringa oleifera is a fast-growing, drought-resistant tree that produces leaves full of nutrients and medicines, and pods full of protein. The seeds can purify water and furnish cooking oil, and the flowers are decorative and medicinal. Moringa already grows in most of the South where it is often called Malunggai. In Haiti, it is called Benzolivier.

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Occupy Oakland Plans Monday Jan 23rd Support of Dock Workers Against Union-Busting Coast Guard

By Editors, Occupy Everything. On Monday Jan 23, 2012, the Occupy Oakland Labor Solidarity Committee and the Committee to Defend the ILWU will protest the use of armed Coast Guard cutters and helicopters to escort a grain ship to a terminal being picketed by the ILWU.

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Pirate Party: a Global Civil Rights Movement

By PP International. Pirate Parties are in place or being formed in over 50 countries. See the Principles of Pirate Party.

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Disastrous ‘Durban Package’ Accelerates Onset of Climate Catastrophe | Le ‘paquet’ désastreux de Durban accélère la catastrophe climatique

By Nnimmo Bassey and staff, Friends of the Earth International via Common Dreams. The UN climate talks in Durban take the world a step back by undermining an already inadequate system. The developing countries’ promised reductions are greater than those of the industrialized world, which is responsible for 75 percent of the total human emissions in the atmosphere. (English | French)

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Forest-Dependent Communities Lobby for End of REDD+

By Kristin Palitza, IPS. DURBAN, South Africa – The UN program to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD+) has been touted as a global scheme to conserve forests but is just a way to pour a lot of money into forests so international investors make big profits.

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Resistance is Fertile: Palestine’s Eco-War

By James Brownsell, Al Jazeera | Haiti Chery. As Israeli civil and military forces uproot olive trees and replace them with eucalyptus on 12 km along the edge of the Gaza Strip, Palestinians gardeners and their supporters plant many more olive trees.

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