March 30, 2008, 12:22 am
Jose Luis Rodrigues Zapatero, the leader of the Spanish SocialistWorkers Party (PSOE) was returned to power in the elections held 9th of march 2008. However neither the Socialist party of Zapatero nor the opposition Popular Party (PP) were able to win a clear majority. What was the platform the socialist party took to Spanish citizens? and what is likely to face the Zapatero government in the coming years?
To give us context on the Spanish elections we spoke with Pablo Ouziel who is an activist, freelance writer and sociologist based in Spain. He has written for diverse media including Znet, Palestine Chronicle, Thomas Paine¹s Corner and Atlantic Free Press.
March 23, 2008, 3:04 am
Internal politics in Venezuala:
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Hugo Chavez has dramatically impacted the population in Venezuala through his program ‘Socialism in the 21st Century’ and his criticism of neo-liberalism and US foreign policy in Latin America.
We spoke with Frederico Fuentes, an Australian journalist who writes for the Green Left Weekly and Venezuala Analysis.
March 23, 2008, 12:07 am
The recent Colombian military incursion into Ecuador has set of a round of diplomatic acrobatics, with the Latin Group Summit unanimously denouncing the move as a violation of national sovereignty. Hugo Chavez and Venezuela played a key role in solving the crisis, deploying tanks to the Colombian-Venezuela border.
We spoke to Robert Naiman, a Senior Policy Analyst and National Coordinator at Just Foreign Policy. Naiman has worked as a policy analyst and researcher at the Center for Economic and Policy Research and Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch. He has masters degrees in economics and mathematics from the University of Illinois and has studied and worked in the Middle East. Naiman edits the Just Foreign Policy daily news summary and writes a blog on Huffington Post.
March 16, 2008, 12:42 am
Kim Bullemoore is a volunteer for the International Womens Peace Service and a journalist for Green Left Weekly. Here, she speaks to the Backstory team about the situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
March 16, 2008, 12:29 am
60 years ago the state of Israel was carved out of the middle-east by colonial powers delivering the Zionist movement their god-given homeland. In the process, many thousands of Arabs were pushed aside to make way for Israeli settlers. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd motioned to celebrate the state of Israel this week in Parliament, but to the dissatisfaction of many groups and individuals, he failed to mention the plight of Palestinians, or Israel’s consistent disregard for both human rights and international law.
We spoke to Paul Heywood-Smith who is chairperson of the Friends of Palestine Association about why he thinks the speech was both unnecessary and insensitive.
March 9, 2008, 9:55 pm
Kosovars just voted for independence from Serbia. But, not everyone thinks that’s a good idea.
We spoke with Kim Bytyci and George Szamuely.
March 9, 2008, 12:47 am
Following the splintering of the military, East Timorese politics has been turbulent to say the least. We have recently witnessed two unsuccessful assasination attempts on both Jose Ramos Horta and Xanana Gusmão, raising serious questions about the future for our neighbor in the pacific.
Paris Dean and Jake Wishart spoke to regular columnist and veteran journalist Mike Aarons, author of ‘East Timor: A Western Tragedy.’
March 2, 2008, 8:05 am
The Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI) force has been in place since 2003. Sent to quell violence erupting ver issues of independence and land rights between the islands of Guadalcanal and Malaita, the RAMSI force has had an unsettled tenure. With a new federal government in Australia are we likely to see any difference in the way the RAMSI force operates.
We spoke with Tim Anderson, lecturer at the School of Political Economy, Sydney University and a member of the Committee of Management of AID/WATCH.
March 2, 2008, 8:01 am
Arch enemy number one for the US government, Fidel Castro, hasstepped down as the leader of Cuba and handed over to his Vice President and brother, Raúl. So, what for Cuba now?
We spoke with Saul Landau,scholar, author, commentator, and filmmaker on US foreign and domestic policy issues.