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March 2013
April 2013
...special report Venezuela without Chávez;
Hollande's rapid conversion to neoliberalism; Régis Debray, why
France should leave Nato;
Naples, model for a Europe in decline?
Karachi, mirror of Pakistan's failed state;
Kenya, grandiose plans for a deep-water port; the high cost of
cheap meat; Guantanamo, the women who wait...
and more...
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Anything's possible now - Serge Halimi
Everything was becoming impossible. It was impossible to increase taxes because that would discourage "entrepreneurs". It was impossible to protect a country against commercial dumping by low wage countries, as that would contravene free trade agreements. It was impossible to impose even the tiniest tax on financial transactions; most states would need to support it in advance. It was impossible to reduce VAT, as Brussels would have to agree to that.
On 16 March, everything changed. Those (...)Translated by Barbara Wilson -
Venezuela after the death of Chávez
Red in a blue world - Renaud Lambert
President Hugo Chávez, who died on 5 March, started the movement that transformed Latin America. He began on the left and went further leftwards during his time in power, unlike most world leaders who took the opposite route.Translated by Stephanie Irvine -
Unity and succession* - Gregory Wilpert
Despite rumours that the Bolivarian coalition is beginning to fragment, it probably isn't doing any such thing: too many people have too much to lose.Original text in English -
The man the media loved to hate* - Steve Rendall
For the US media, Chávez was, from the start, a clown caudillo, a demagogue, a petro-dictator who made outrageous declarations, rigged elections and trashed the economy.Original text in English -
Hollande abandons the middle class
Neoliberality, inequality, austerity* - Martine Bulard
In under a year in office, President Hollande has abandoned all his election promises and turned towards the conventional, and rightwing, financial and social policy positions of his predecessor.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Fourth-rank power or independent deterrent?
Why France should leave Nato* - Régis Debray
A report by former foreign minister Hubert Védrine claimed French influence would not be improved by reversing Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to return to Nato's integrated command structure. In an open letter, former government adviser Régis Debray disagrees.Translated by George Miller -
Why Védrine said 'oui'*
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Scrabbling in the streets, sleeping in the poorhouse
Naples, dark city of the future* - Angelo Mastrandrea
Youth unemployment is 47%, over 75,000 jobs have disappeared, GDP has dropped by 10% and the many poor have lost the solidarity that used to sustain their lives. Besides inequality, there is corruption and vicious organised crime. Is this what Europe will become?Translated by George Miller -
Violent crime, extremism and divisions haunt Pakistan
In Karachi, life is cheap - Ashraf Khan
With legislative elections in May, tensions are rising in Pakistan. In Karachi, murder for profit or political gain is a commonplace, as are demands for protection money, energy blackouts, and ethnic and religious violence.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Waiting for the elections - Ashraf Khan
Translated by Krystyna Horko -
Kenya's grand Horn of Africa project
White elephant or port in the making? - Tristan Coloma
With Uhuru Kenyatta's contested victory in the March elections, Kenya's new leaders have inherited a grandiose project for a transport corridor linking South Sudan and Ethiopia to a planned deep-water port at Lamu. But will it ever see the light of day?Translated by Charles Goulden -
The Kenyatta challenge - Tristan Coloma
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What DNA tests on frozen lasagne can't reveal
The high price of cheap meat* - Agnès Stienne
A tiny percentage of the wrong animal passed off as beef in industrially processed food in western Europe? It's a small misdemeanour set against the misuse of the world's agricultural land to produce the luxury of meat.Translated by Stephanie Irvine -
Where blue water turns to brown
Desolation Island* - Klavdij Sluban
The Kerguelen Islands, almost in Antarctica, are among the most isolated places on Earth. That may sound romantic, but the leaden hand of French bureaucracy has imposed its own world of rules and regulations.Translated by Charles Goulden -
Families wait for prisoners never tried or convicted
Guantánamo widow - Victoria Brittain
Shaker Aamer, a UK resident, is a Guantanamo prisoner cleared release years ago but not actually let go. His wife Zinnira has waited for him for over a decade.LMD English edition exclusive
