CLASS

By Andres Schipani
BBC News, La Paz
In the early 19th Century, Bolivian women fought alongside men for the country’s independence from colonial Spain. They stormed into battle on horseback, seized cities and were on the frontline.
But their presence on the battlefield did not translate into presence in the political life of their nation. [...]

While most international news organizations took obedient dictation of the Honduras coup regime’s claims of more than 62 percent voter participation in the November 29 “elections,” authentic journalist Jesse Freeston did what real reporters are supposed to do: He went directly to the source, asked questions, took notes, and videotaped the evidence.
Freeston today publishes this [...]

Source:NACLA
For the first time since Chile’s return to democracy, the country’s ruling political coalition may lose the presidency. The centrist “Concertación” coalition is being challenged from both the left and the right, facing perhaps its toughest electoral battle yet. Previous elections have been mostly battled out between a consensus Concertación candidate and a right-wing opponent. [...]

The Honduran Armed Forces are in the street, as thousands of citizens mobilize peacefully to defend democracy and the presidency. Repression is feared.
WHAT HAPPENS IN HONDURAS TODAY WILL HAVE AN IMPORTANT IMPACT ON THE FUTURE OF THE COUNTRY, AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Democratic rule is on the line, a military coup is feared, but tens of thousands [...]

In El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, of the former rebel FMLN party, has won the country’s presidential    election, ending two decades of conservative rule. Funes won 51 percent of the vote to 49 percent for Rodrigo Avila of the ruling right-win  ARENA party. Avila conceded defeat late Sunday.
The FMLN was a coalition of rebel guerrillas [...]

From Venezuela’s Communal Councils, to Brazil’s Participatory Budgeting; from Constitutional Assemblies to grassroots movements, recuperated factories to cooperatives across the hemisphere- This documentary is a journey, which takes us across the Americas, to attempt to answer one of the most important questions of our time: What is Democracy? Directed by Sílvia Leindecker & Michael Fox. [...]