Transnational news - 14 May 2009

Editor's Picks

	In an election for the masses the rich will be the winners Praful Bidwai Identity, not economic need, is the prime mover as the great democracy of India goes to the polls. The affluent can rest easy. See also Isolating the BJP and What future for the third front?

Transnational agrarian movements: struggling for land and citizenship rights
Saturnino M. Borras Jr. and Jennifer C. Franco
Vía Campesina’s rise to prominence as a transnational peasant farmers movement fighting against neoliberal land policies has helped to generate new meanings of global citizenship giving concrete expression to the popular civil society saying of ‘not about us without us’.

	Who owns Fairtrade? (video) Pauline Tiffen Fairtrade is not ownable: it is an idea. It is a social movement that has managed to overcome the indifference to who made something and has become an economic force. However, it still has to make corporations change the unequal power relationship between the producer/seller and buyer. See: Full debate

	Angola, "Failed" yet "Successful" David Sogge While some governments and institutions express enthusiasm about Angola’s ‘miracle’; others talk of a “failed” state. As long as powerful and poorly-regulated offshore incentives continue to shape elite motivations and visions of Angola’s future, the prospects for transformation look anything but bright.

	End corporate dominance of the EU In the run-up to the European elections in June 2009, join the campaign launched by social movements calling on EU parliamentarians to commit to change in four key areas: Lobbying transparency and ethics, reforming financial architecture, just EU trade policy, and corporate accountability. www.electioncampaign.eu

New publication/Video

	Water: a common good, public management, and alternatives (video) Water justice activists gathered in Cochabamba, Bolivia in August 2008 to envision just and sustainable models of water stewardship and to build alliances that will bring these visions to fruition. A compelling visual insight into a dynamic international movement building practical alternatives to privatization.

Public service reform - But not as we know it! How democracy can transform public services
Hilary Wainwright with Matthew Little
This book is the story of how staff, trade unions and managers at Newcastle City Council joined forces to defeat privatisation of the IT department and went on to transform the department, saving money and making dramatic improvements to services – all without a single compulsory redundancy.
See also: Public spending, public control

Global perspectives

UN Climate Negotiations: analysis of latest positions
Oscar Reyes
A new global climate treaty is shaping up to have carbon trading at its centre, creating new loopholes to avoid cleaning up the climate.

The EU – ASEAN Free Trade Agreement debate(Video)
During TNI’s “Debating Europe Series,” Malaysian MP Mr. Charles Santiago outlines the costs to Asia of bilateral Free Trade Agreements with the EU and calls for a focus instead on regional trade and development

‘The small island 90 miles away has the right to choose its own destiny’ (part 5)
Interview by Saul Landau with Gerardo Hernandez, one of the "Cuban Five" in U.S. prison for counter-espionage (Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4)

The Dominican Republic: a time of ghosts
Fred Halliday
The Caribbean nation was briefly at the centre of world events in the 1960s amid an extraordinary contest for political power. After a long journey it may be time to write a fresh page.

The Leviathan has gone berserk
Boris Kagarlitsky
The case of police Major Denis Yevsyukov shooting at people in a supermarket draws attention to the level of state violence in Russia.
See also Case on killed wild rams: continuation

Fix the crisis, not the bank’s profits!
European Cross-Sectoral Network on the combined crises
Key policy demands focused towards the UN conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis (1-3 June 2009).
Action: Urge leaders to attend summit.

En español

Selección del editor

	Estrategia problemática en Afganistán y Pakistán Mariano Aguirre Obama sigue la línea de George W. Bush de la "guerra contra el terror" al plantear que el objetivo es impedir que Afganistán y Pakistán sean usados para amenazar a Estados Unidos y Europa. Su plan debería ser menos militar y más favorable a generar negociaciones y acuerdos.

Colombia y Ecuador: frente a frente en la Haya
Amira Armenta
A finales del mes de abril Ecuador presentó una Memoria ante la Corte Internacional de Justicia de La Haya dentro de la demanda a Colombia por las fumigaciones con glifosato en la frontera. ¿Por qué un asunto que parecería tan fácil de resolver ha terminado enredándose hasta el extremo de tener que recurrir a una corte internacional?

	Agua, Bien Común, Gestión Pública y Alternativas TNI, Public Water Network, RED vida Activistas por el derecho al agua de toda América se reunieron en agosto de 2008 en la ciudad boliviana de Cochabamba para idear modelos justos y sostenibles sobre la gestión del agua, y formar alianzas que lleven estas ideas a buen término.

Perspectiva global

Somalia: de piratas y paradojas
Pere Vilanova
El fenómeno de los piratas somalíes es la máxima expresión de hasta dónde lleva la descomposición de un Estado tan fallido que ni existe. Nos lleva más de mil millas mar adentro.

“Esa isla pequeña que esta a 90 millas tiene el derecho de elegir su propio destino” (parte 5)
Saul Landau conversó vía telefónica con Gerardo Hernández, uno de los Cinco antiterroristas cubanos presos en EE.UU. (Parte 1 - Parte 2 - Parte 3 - Parte 4)

Trabajo: reconocimiento y dignidad
Joan Subirats
El trabajo doméstico y/o reproductivo no remunerado, desarrollado básicamente por las mujeres, no genera ingresos ni permite la subsistencia económica autónoma. Se debe repensar la economía y los trabajos desde la experiencia de las mujeres.
Véase también: La gripe como síntoma