Latin America

The aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis has been marked by an outcry in Japan over radiation leaks, contaminated food and a government unable to put the public’s fears to rest.

“I accept this apology as a sign of a new time in Colombia, when democratic participation by all political forces will be possible,” leftwing legislator Ivan Cepeda said – and a ripple ran through the crowd in the packed gallery in Congress.

The son of a top dog in Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa drug cartel filed pleadings in a Chicago federal court accusing the U.S. government and its agencies of giving the cartel “carte blanche to continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs into Chicago and the rest of the United States”.

Despite challenges like high interest rates and high household electricity tariffs, the Brazilian economy has been growing at the highest rates seen in decades. Another problem that, although it has not stood in the way of growth, must be overcome is the costly use of roads for transporting farm products – an issue that is being addressed by the expansion of railway networks.

Ecuador sees the loans it has agreed with China as “good news,” because they are long-term, and all that is required in return is “oil, and not the horrendous adjustments imposed by the IMF (International Monetary Fund),” leftwing Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa told analysts critical of the size and high interest rates of the loans.

“Against the backdrop of the disastrous Fukushima nuclear plant accident, I will speak of the absolute need for Japan to not only work to ban nuclear weapons but also to completely eradicate dependence on nuclear energy,” Matashichi Oishi, 78, a radiation victim from Bikini Atoll told IPS.

During the social and economic collapse of 2002-2003, the Argentine state encouraged the formation of workers’ cooperatives, which helped mitigate the worst effects of the crisis, reduced hard-core unemployment, and now as independent, democratic, worker-controlled organizations are providing services to the public and private sectors.