Category Archives: International

On November 5th, the Nicaraguan people went to the polls in huge numbers and voted for a new President, Vice President, and deputy representatives to various legislative bodies. After the ballots were counted in this historic election, Daniel Ortega was … Continue reading →

AN OVERWHELMING WIN By now you surely know that President Chavez won re-election in Venezuela for another six-year term. What you might not realize is how decisive the victory was. Chavez won 63% of the vote, which was more than … Continue reading →

The destructive and lethal forces unleashed this past summer by the United States and Israel upon Lebanon are not surprising in light of their historical roots in at least four patterns of conflict: First, the unwillingness of Israel and its … Continue reading →

In 1979, a popular revolution in Iran toppled a ruthless dictator backed by the United States and replaced him with a regime that gave supreme political authority to a traditionally-trained scholar of Islam, something unprecedented in Islamic history. Suddenly Islam … Continue reading →

This December, ten years will have passed since Peace Accords were signed between the government of Guatemala and the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity (URNG). This document was the formal means to ending 36 years of bloody civil war in the … Continue reading →

In what can only be characterized as arrogance and impunity, we are learning that Coca-Cola and Pepsi have continued to sell soft drinks in India with dangerously high levels of pesticides—three years after even the government of India confirmed that … Continue reading →

In the fall of 2001, been invited to give a lecture on human rights in Thailand. I was eager to see Thailand where I had friends, but I also wanted to use the occasion to visit Vietnam. The latter country … Continue reading →

Dear Friends and Family, I hope this letter finds you well. I have just finished my third month of human rights accompaniment here in Guatemala and I feel myself full of stories and thankful for this space to reflect on … Continue reading →

    , Carlos Euceda visited our community where he spoke and granted interviews. Carlos is a Lenca Indian. He is concerned about the lands that he and his people inhabit in Honduras. And he is trying to … Continue reading →

Bill Taylor is a longtime activist in Urbana- Champaign. He has made remarkable contributions to this community and beyond. He was a founder of, and long time programmer on, WEFT. He is also a co-founder of the Kalyx Center, an … Continue reading →

Mohammad al-Heeti, owner and manager of the popular World Harvest international food store at 519 E. University Avenue in Champaign, was born in Heet, Iraq, a small and very old city on the Euphrates River, west of Baghdad. This past … Continue reading →

We understand that the US forces have wanted to control everything, out of their fear for the Saddam and Baathist loyalists. They dissolved the Iraqi army, fired all the police and many government workers and sent them all home with … Continue reading →

SUBJECT: HELLO SWEET FAMILY Hi parents and sis, Let me back up and let you know where I have been. We left Saturday morning around 7am for Santa Anita. This is a community of former refugees. Many fled to Mexico … Continue reading →

Managua, March 10, 2003 I sat and watched Claudia, a small pregnant woman of about twenty with two children at home. After asking how and why she had refused a large bribe from her former employer, Yu Jin, I realized … Continue reading →

One thing that I remember of the Spanish people, when I was here 15 years ago as a young American study abroad student, was their attention to political matters. I never was part of one, but they seemed to have … Continue reading →

As the war in Iraq progresses, I feel the need to share with you, my friends and family, a little bit about what it feels like to live outside of the US during this frightening time. Here in Guatemala, there … Continue reading →

For the past half-decade Thailand’s Pak Mun Dam has been recognized by environmental and human rights groups as a posterchild of insensitive, inequitable, top-down development strategy. Despite civil society’s criticism, however, thousands of local villagers still squat in a makeshift, … Continue reading →