Last week saw yet another far right government ascend the World stage. Whether neo, crypto, or proto fascist, Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro represents a further ebbing of Latin America’s so-called Pink Tide movement.
It’s a trend that’s seen political reversals already in Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, Argentina, Chile, and Honduras, and now threatens the Sandinista and Bolivarian revolutions of Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The bitter fruits of this social change can be seen on the faces of the thousands currently fleeing Central America, desperate to escape the counter-revolution regimes put in place, ironically enough, through the agency of El Norte countries like ours, Canada.
Yves Engler is a Montréal-based activist, essayist, and author. His articles appear at Dissident Voice, The Palestine Chronicle, Rabble.ca, and Pacific Free Press among other places. The latest of his ten books, ‘Left, Right: Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada‘ is freshly off the presses and questions, Why, despite all evidence to the contrary, Canadians still suffer under the delusion that they and their nation’s government are “a benevolent force in the world”?
Yves will be at UVic tonight at 7pm in the Hickman Building for a presentation on, and book launch of ‘Left, Right, Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada’.
Yves Engler in the first half.
And; from GR’s wayback files, Michael Parenti from February 2003:
All that’s missing from media reports of the long-rumoured Battle of Civilizations, (coming to a TV screen near you) is Reason. Rarely mentioned, and presumably soon to be forgotten, is any information providing a context for the conflict in the middle east. Amid the rabid rhetoric emanating from the Bush administration and its media organs, you may be forgiven your struggle to make sense of it all. Michael Parenti is one of America’s most astute, and persistent critics of U.S. domestic and foreign policy. ‘Democracy for the Few’, ‘Against Empire’, and ‘History as Mystery’, are just a few of his many books.
Michael Parenti provides a bit of context for the coming storm and to discuss his newest book, ‘The Terrorism Trap: September 11 and Beyond’ in the second half.
And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin with some of the good things to do in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Yves Engler and marching to the Imperial beat.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/