Facing the most serious civilizational threat ever, what is the South African government doing? The new Infrastructure Development Act pushed into law by economic development minister Ebrahim Patel will fast-track carbon-intensive mega-projects on behalf of mainly...
oil
Venezuela after Chávez| by Alejandro Bendaña
Even with the death of Venezuela's Chávez, his continuing legacy – 'chavismo' or the Bolivarian revolutionary process – is here to stay. Twenty years of social, political and ideological change are not easily reversible. Chavismo represents a process of revolutionary...
Newsbriefs
International The Citizens' Revolution advances in Ecuador The radical social and economic reforms of President Rafael Correa, known as the Citizens' Revolution, received an overwhelming stamp of approval by the Ecuadorian people when he won more than 60% of the votes...
Chavez: Lessons for SA
Fidel Castro said of Chavez, "If you want to know what kind of man he was, look who was crying at death and who was celebrating". The torrential hatred directed at Chavez from the metropoles of global power is hardly surprising. Perhaps more than any other, the...
The Revolution Begins Today | by Daniel Chavez
By definition, a revolution is a collective process, not a one-man endeavour. While the social and political legacy of Hugo Chávez is remarkable, the Bolivarian Revolution has been intrinsically tied to him as the leader. With Chávez's death, the Boliviarian...
Chronicle of a Death Foretold: The Post-Chávez Venezuelan Conjuncture | by Jeffery R. Webber
On live television, Venezuelan Vice-President Nicolás Maduro choked on his words. Hugo Chávez, the improbable President, born in the rural poverty of Sabaneta, in the state of Barinas, in 1954 had died of cancer.[1] To his wealthy and light-skinned enemies he was evil...
Chávez’s Legacy | by Mark Weisbrot
Bertrand Russell once wrote about the American revolutionary Thomas Paine, "He had faults, like other men; but it was for his virtues that he was hated and successfully calumniated." This was certainly true of Hugo Chávez Frias, who was probably more demonized than...
Where Is Everybody? | by Tom Engelhardt
Two Sundays ago, I traveled to the nation's capital to attend what was billed as "the largest climate rally in history" and I haven't been able to get the experience -- or a question that haunted me -- out of my mind. Where was everybody? First, though, the obvious...
What the frack: will shale gas develop or retard the Karoo? | by David Fig
The South African government lifted the moratorium on fracking on 7 September, opening the way for exploration of what's been sold as a massive shale gas resource beneath the beautiful, sparsely populated Great Karoo. Fracking (short for hydraulic fracturing) is a...






