Category Archives: International

Bill Taylor: Local Activist with an International Reach

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

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Reports from the WTO Protests in Cancun, Mexico

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

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A Visit to Baghdad

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

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Letters from Guatemala

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

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The Neoliberal Noose Hanging Nicaragua

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

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Wartime Reflections from Spain

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

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View from Guatelamala

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

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A Development Distaster: The Pak Mun Dan In Thailand

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

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The World Summit in Johannesburg: Notes from the Field

On the drive from the Johannesburg airport to the wealthy white suburb of Sandton – host to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the largest international conference ever – colorful billboards cajole Summit delegates to taste and enjoy the … Continue reading

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Letter from Guatemala, August 24, 2002

Dear Friends and Family, It has been a while since I have had the chance to write. A lot has been going on down here and with me personally and I haven’t had much opportunity to sit at a computer … Continue reading

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The Ogoni Struggle in Nigeria

Nigeria was a colony of Great Britain from the turn of the twentieth century until 1960. It is about 1/3 larger than the state of Texas, but is by far the most populous country in Africa with over 120 million … Continue reading

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Challenging the Media Monopoly: Introducing the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center’s public i

This inaugural issue of the public i represents the birth of the only news-focused, collectively-run, non-profit newspaper in Urbana-Champaign. Continue reading

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