Los Angeles Review of Books: On the Front Lines of Climate Change

Categories Central America, climate justice, social movements, solidarity
Los Angeles Review of Books: On the Front Lines of Climate Change

I reviewed Todd Miller’s new book Storming the Wall for the Los Angeles Review of Books. “In 2015, as European nations repelled African and Middle Eastern migrants arriving on their shores, the United States was engaged in its own naval operations to ward off mass migration from the Caribbean. With current White House Chief of Staff John Kelly then at the helm of US Southern Command, more than 500 members of the joint military and homeland security task force ran a simulation designed to “prevent…Continue Reading “Los Angeles Review of Books: On the Front Lines of Climate Change” →

Univision: As path to U.S. border gets tougher, more Central Americans seek asylum in Mexico

Categories borders, Central America, mexico
Univision: As path to U.S. border gets tougher, more Central Americans seek asylum in Mexico

In the first nine months of 2016, over 4,000 Hondurans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Nicaraguans opened asylum cases in Mexico, authorities note. That’s more than the total number of applicants from 2010 to 2014. MEXICO CITY – Mario Rodríguez, 20, is sorting donations at the Mexico City migrant shelter where he lives: toothpaste, pens and pencils, t-shirts. Friendly but soft-spoken, he wears a flat-brim cap, t-shirt and sweatpants. Rodríguez arrived in the city just a week ago, after fleeing violence in his hometown in the Honduran…Continue Reading “Univision: As path to U.S. border gets tougher, more Central Americans seek asylum in Mexico” →

The Carrot, the Stick, and the Seeds: U.S. development policy faces resistance in El Salvador

Categories Central America, food justice, social movements, solidarity
The Carrot, the Stick, and the Seeds: U.S. development policy faces resistance in El Salvador

When I visited the Bajo Lempa region of eastern El Salvador this year, my new acquaintances taught me a joke. “Why aren’t there coupes de états in the United States?” they asked me. “I don’t know, why?” To find out why, read my recent article for the Americas Program. When the U.S. Ambassador in El Salvador required the country to re-evaluate a program distributing local seeds to farmers in order to receive development aid, people took note. Yet this is just the latest problem facing the…Continue Reading “The Carrot, the Stick, and the Seeds: U.S. development policy faces resistance in El Salvador” →