Latest Global South news: US plans to send soldiers to Haiti, protests in Ghana and Mexico, strike planned for Chile
Stay up to date on the global news stories the US- and Eurocentric media overlooks, with journalist and author, Tamara Pearson.
In this week’s overlooked, distorted, and ignored news about the Global South:
US interferes in Haiti, wants a “security mission” (invasion force) there in months - The US, backed by other countries, is using gang violence in Haiti as a pretence for military intervention there. On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said his country is ready to provide “financial and logistical” aid for the proposed Haiti deployment. He encouraged other countries to also pledge to send soldiers. Haiti’s political instability has been caused by over a century of US intervention, imperialism, and denying the country’s sovereignty. After Haiti’s president was assassinated in 2021, the US was involved in choosing his replacement. Ariel Henry is still in power and still unelected and lacks legitimacy. Gangs now control much of the capital, disrupt services, kidnap and displace people. But the US’s militarisation of Mexico and Central America, under the pretence of the so-called War on Drugs, has massively increased organised crime here, and foreign intervention in Haiti is not the solution. Some 4.7 million people in Haiti are facing acute hunger. Source, source, source, source,
Mexicans march against the invasion of organised criminals - Some 8,000 people in Siltepec, Chiapas marched on Tuesday for peace, following ongoing fighting between two cartels. The two groups, Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación, have spent the past two weeks blocking a key highway and causing food and fuel scarcity. The cartels compete to use the region to traffic migrants, store and transport drugs, and for money laundering. Source.
Ethnic Armenians leaving Azerbaijan en masse - After Azerbaijan defeated fighters in the Nagorno-Karabakh region, ethnic Armenians there are leaving and travelling to Armenia because they fear persecution in Azerbaijan. In 30 years, Azerbaijan and Armenia have fought two wars over the region. Some 120,000 people could move into Armenia and local officials report 50,000 have already done so. Source, source, source.
Over 100 die in wedding in Iraq - Officials are blaming a lack of safety measures and flammable building materials for a tragic fire that killed over 100 wedding attendees and left a further 150 injured. The US invasion of Iraq over 20 years ago left the country unstable, and corruption has flourished. In 2021, fires in two hospitals killed 174 people. Source, source.
More protests in Ghana against the high costs of living - People held a three-day protest in the capital. Ghana is grappling with a severe debt crisis, embarking on its 17th loan program with the IMF, which has raised concerns about the possibility of additional austerity measures. Food prices increased by 122% last year. Source.
Record hottest winter in Bolivia leads to drought for over half the country - Six out of nine departments in the country are experiencing drought and a lack of water is increasing the risk of and rates of disease. On Monday, Bolivia recorded its hottest ever September temperature of 40.3C (104.5F). Source.
Chilean government fires 6,500 healthcare workers, they will go on strike - Healthcare workers in Chile will go on a national strike on 2 October after many of their co-workers, hired during the pandemic, have been fired. Chile had staffing shortages well before the pandemic. Source.
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