In Brazil, fighting the spread of Covid-19 also means fighting President Jair Bolsonaro, who continues to deny the seriousness of the virus. In this context, Brazil’s vulnerable populations - including indigenous peoples - are even more affected.

In this text, Nahla Chahal, editor-in-chief of Assafir Al-Arabi, presents the dilemmas that the forces of radical change in the Arab world have been facing for decades. These dilemmas are particularly acute today in Iraq and Lebanon.

Two months after the signature of the Riyadh Agreement between Yemen’s internationally recognised government (IRG) and the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC), what is the situation on the ground? Coming 13 months after that of the UN-Sponsored Stockholm Agreement, it is appropriate to assess and compare their achievements, particularly as both were publicised as major steps forward in bringing the Yemeni war to a conclusion and seem to be facing similar fates.

Colombia is going through a cycle of protests, led mainly by urban youth. Although it is too early to pronounce on the changes and continuities, with an almost non-existent left and an ultra-right against the ropes, this wave could end up strengthening new figures of the progressive center.

A few weeks before 22 February, when the regime has plugged the "hole" in the presidency, writings are already decreeing the "failure" of the Hirak, which is accused of having been too "radical" or not radical enough, of having refused to "negotiate", of not having "structured" itself, of not having "representatives". Others point to the lack of "ideological purity" of a movement that includes a fairly wide range of the country’s ideological and political currents.

Those in a hurry to decree the failure of Hirak are often the ones looking for the "invisible" hands pulling the strings. But by dint of being shaped by a perverse system, one ends up not seeing what is visible: a society that has set itself in motion to reappropriate a state that has been privatized for too long to the benefit of small groups and to the detriment of the majority. This movement is invaluable and it will not stop.

The latest US aggression in Iraq and the threats to bomb Iran are a sign of a bad start in this new year. The assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, as well as the execution of fighters of the Iraqi Kata’ib Hezbollah militia, opens the door to a larger-scale conflagration. The Iraqi government is demanding the departure of the 5,000 American soldiers still present in the country. Teheran is taking the nuclear road again while bombing American military bases in Iraq. Everyone is holding their breath.

Johnny Semaan - Syria
“Ifriqiya” is the old name for the South of Tunisia and a part of Algeria, from which the “dark continent” derived its appellation. Historical ties connect Tunisia and North Africa with the countries and communities of the sub-Saharan region. Those ties are economic (...)

Several countries in Latin America are currently experiencing very powerful class conflicts and extremely violent repression on the part of reactionary forces and the state. The following report is an overview by Franck Gaudichaud on the situation in various countries and the dynamics of their struggles.

As revolts erupt all over the world, governing today is more and more like waging an open or covert war against the uprisings of peoples and living beings, to maintain at all costs an increasingly discredited order. Anthropologist Alain Bertho returns here for Terrestres on this "crisis of governmentality" and on the long sequence of related revolts that caused it.

Bible in hand
Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Prize winner cleric, known for his anti-apartheid and human rights militancy in South Africa, said:
When missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, “Let’s pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the (...)

Venezuela is in a serious social, economic and political crisis. The death of Hugo Chávez, who had "rebuilt" the country in 1999, coincided with a catastrophic decline in oil prices, which accounted for 90% of the country’s exports and income. Meanwhile, the governance of his successor Nicolás Maduro has significantly aggravated the impacts of this crisis. With the threat of intervention by the United States, which would like to destroy this country in the name of "human rights" and "democracy", the situation is even more serious. Such an intervention would not only destroy the government, but would also crush an entire people and their progressive forces.

What should we see behind the massive mobilization that took place on Friday, February 22nd in Algeria? In this interview with Marwan Andalussi, economist Omar Benderra explains the context in which this unprecedented social movement is taking place.

In Brazil, fighting the spread of Covid-19 also means fighting President Jair Bolsonaro, who continues to deny the seriousness of the virus. In this context, Brazil’s vulnerable populations - including indigenous peoples - are even more affected.

Rampant populism, identity politics, widespread disinformation, xenophobia and Islamophobia that fuel growing far right extremist violence around the world have created one of the most complex security challenges in recent years. The US considers white supremacist violent extremism a major (...)