Guillermo Andrés Ospina, Jorge Hernández Tinajero, Martin Jelsma
16 April 2018
Report
Poppy cultivation in Mexico and Colombia is part of a local economy geared almost exclusively toward the illegal market abroad: it is driven by demand for heroin, primarily in the United States.
Building on previous TNI research and publications, this report analyses the causes and consequences of the declining opium cultivation and production in Myanmar and the surrounding regions.
Information on an EU Commission proposal that has been leaked to the signing organisations shows once again how undemocratic EU trade policy can be. Indeed, the EC is proposing to split the EU-Mexico Global Agreement in three parts: Political and Cooperation; Investment agreement; and Trade Agreement. Splitting the agreement will allow for faster ratification by greater democratic deficit: the parliaments of the member states will not be asked for approval of the trade part of the agreement anymore.
This Webinar aims to open a dialogue among European and Mexican members of Parliament and civil society to promote a collective reflection on the main challenges the new agreement presents for human rights and the environment.
Transnational Institute (TNI), Institute for Policy Studies
25 January 2017
Declaration
The Institute for Policy Studies and Transnational Institute welcome the Dutch trade minister’s call for a reset of trade negotiations to better link the trade and investment agenda to equitable and sustainable development objectives. At the same time, we urge all stakeholders involved in the EU-Mexico FTA negotiations to replace the current far-reaching liberalisation and deregulation agenda with an agreement that regulates investment in accordance with human rights, social standards, environmental protection, climate conservation and other sustainable development objectives as overriding principles. Read the letter, which includes our concerns and recommendations, below:
The outcome of the Colombian presidential elections will have dire political consequences, visible even before the new president took office last August 7.
Getting to the Briceño region in the heart of Antioquia requires an excellent vehicle, and a lot of time and luck. The week before our journey there in mid-July, heavy rains wiped out part of the road between Briceño and Pueblo Nuevo, stranding folks on one side or the other. We were lucky on the day of our journey – no rain. But it took a six-hour drive to get from Medellín to Briceño, and another three hours of sometimes harrowing curves to Pueblo Nuevo. The dirt-road drive itself was a stark reminder of the challenges Colombia faces as it seeks to eliminate 50,000 hectares of coca this year through the crop substitution program, Programa Nacional Integral de Sustitución de Cultivos de Uso Ilícito (National Comprehensive Program for the Substitution of Illicit Crops), known by the acronym PNIS.
Resistance to privatisation has turned into a powerful force for change. (Re)municipalisation refers to the reclaiming of public ownership of services as well as the creation of new public services. In recent years, our research has identified more than 1,400 successful (re)municipalisation cases involving more than 2,400 cities in 58 countries around the world.
During 8-10 May 2019, representatives from Kayan, Kayah, Pa-O, Shan, Lahu and Kachin opium farming communities came together to discuss their challenges in life and find ways to solve their problems.
Register now to attend the four-day online conference on shifting narratives around public services, spending and production (PSSP). Confirmed speakers include: Mariana Mazzucato, June Sekera, Abby Innes and Isabel Ortiz among others.
Martín Álvarez-Mullaly, Iñaki Barcena, Lucía Bárcena, Lucía Benavides, Lorenzo Bozada, Cristina Caldera, Alan Carmona, Refugio Choreño, Peter Clausing, Thomas Dürmeier, Sofía Enciso, Graciela González, Ralf Häußler, Julisa Hernández, Fabiola Lara, Martin Mantxo, Julia Martí, Cindy McCulligh, Alejandra Méndez Serrano, Laura Méndez Rivas, Rocío Montaño, Bettina Müller, Cecilia Olivet, Mercedes Páramo, Mayra Peña Contreras, Manuel Pérez-Rocha, Olivier Petitjean, Federico Pohls Fuentevilla, Alejandra Ramírez Varela, Patricia Rendón, Giovanna Segura, Sabrina Spitznagel, Mónica Vargas, Oswaldo Villegas, the teams from Taula per Mèxic, the teams from Multiwatch, the offices of MEP Leïla Chaibi, the offices of Senator Patricia Torres Ray (Minnesota, USA)
11 October 2021
Report
This report examines how, in the past 30 years, Mexico has become one of the main industrial paradises on the planet. Find out in which ways the country serves as one of the most advanced laboratories for free trade and deregulation.
Support for public services and limits on private profit is at an all-time high in the wake of the pandemic. How do we ensure this prioritisation of public needs and goods becomes permanent? What are the best models of democratic and participatory public services? Join a webinar with trade unionists and activists in Italy, Nigeria and India advancing bold new visions for a public future.
From Austria to Chile, Lagos to London, people are demanding policies that democratize economies and keep public resources in public hands. In just the last decade, more than 2,400 cities in 58 countries have brought privatized resources back under public control. Laura Flanders reports from Amsterdam at The Future is Public, a conference co-hosted by TNI that brings together hundreds of organizers, scholars, and government officials who are working to democratize their municipal and national economies.
On 17 June, the second round of presidential elections for the 2018-2022 period will be held in Colombia. After the first round, the candidates still in the race are Gustavo Petro, representing Colombia Humana, a coalition of democratic and progressive forces, and Iván Duque for the Centro Democrático, an extreme right-wing party led by former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez.
The real-world examples in this book demonstrate that a political economy that curbs the power of big finance and serves people and planet is possible. The ideas shared here are timely and urgent—a call to readiness before the next financial bubble bursts.
The Future is Public report is about more than just numbers. A growing international movement is building democratic public services for the social, ecological and economic challenges of our time.
Covid-19 has once again demonstrated the significance of safe, accessible and affordable water for all. It has also highlighted enormous disparities in service provision while at the same time dealing a blow to public water and sanitation operators around the world due to massive drops in revenues, rapidly rising costs and concerns about health and safety in the workplace. This book provides the first global overview of the response of public water operators to this crisis, shining a light on the complex challenges they face and how they have responded in different contexts. It looks specifically at ‘public’ water and asks how public ownership and public management have enabled (or not) equitable and democratic emergency services, and how these Covid-19 experiences could contribute to expanded and sustainable forms of public water services in the future.
