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Monday, September 21, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
/ARTS WEEKLY/ FILM-BRAZIL: Motorcycle Ride with Che
''Forget about me when I turn 18 because I'm going to do the same as Che,'' a 12-year-old boy in Brazil tells his mother after seeing ''The Motorcycle Diaries'', a film about the revolutionary leader Ernesto Guevara as a twenty-something - which has won applause from audiences in movie houses across the country.RIGHTS-BRAZIL: New Hot-Line to Combat Abuses
Abuses including killings and torture by a police force that ''is not yet democratic,'' the persistence of slave labour, and degrading prison conditions are several of the severe human rights challenges facing Brazil.ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: The Scent of Biodiversity
Many fisherfolk on the Brazilian Amazon island of Marajó suffer hunger during the rainy months of ''big waters'' in the first half of the year, when the fish disappear.POLITICS: Brazil, India and China – To the G8?
China, Brazil and India, three major players in the developing world, may be invited to join the ranks of the world's most powerful group of nations, the Group of Eight (G8), according to diplomatic sources here.DEVELOPMENT: NGOs Want Bigger Role in a Stronger UNCTAD
Civil society representatives said they are frustrated and concerned about the path of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a critical assessment that contrasts with the rosy evaluation made by the leaders of the U.N. body, which concluded its eleventh ministerial sessions here Friday.DEVELOPMENT: ‘New Trade Geography’ May Democratise Int’l Arena
What occurs in the larger developing countries - China, India and even Brazil - increasingly impacts the industrialised world, which will have to do more to include their poorer peers in international decisions if they are going to have legitimacy.TRADE: Coffee Crisis a Forgotten Issue on Global Agenda
In Haiti a woman must work three days harvesting coffee in order to earn the three dollars Europeans spend on an espresso, says Luc Saintville, a technician with the humanitarian watchdog Oxfam International who is assisting coffee growers in his Caribbean country.TRADE: Poorest of Poor Countries Ask for Help
The most vulnerable countries need to be given specific attention in all global forums because they are not receiving the official development assistance (ODA) that wealthy countries promised and are finding it difficult to take advantage of the expansion of international trade.DEVELOPMENT: An Unlikely Alliance to Pursue Biotrade
An apparently incongruous alliance between an oil company and a programme for sustainable use of biodiversity was announced at the eleventh sessions of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) taking place here this week.DEVELOPMENT: Brazil’s Lula Stakes Bets on South and Anti-Hunger Fight
Rich countries will not make trade concessions merely because the countries of the South demand them - what is needed is a political force that can change the face of international relations, said Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as he explained his foreign policy to social activists Tuesday.TRADE: Convergence on Agriculture Matters
The ''Five Interested Parties'' - P5, the leading actors in international agricultural trade - have achieved a ''convergence'' that officials and activists alike agree could prove an important step towards a global agreementTRADE: Convergence on Agriculture Matters
The ''convergence'' achieved by the informal group that has been dubbed the ''Five Interested Parties'' (P5) - the leading actors in international agricultural trade - marks historic progress, says Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.DEVELOPMENT-TRADE: Coherence Is the Word, Says U.N. Chief
Coherence is the theme of this meeting, and ''countries which press others to liberalise trade should be willing to do the same themselves,'' said U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as he officially inaugurated the eleventh ministerial sessions of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development here Monday.
The Scent of Biodiversity
The Amazon's plants and fruits are serving as the raw material for Brazil's perfume and cosmetics industry. Exports for this sector, which promotes environmental preservation and fair trade, are growing 20 percent a year.TRADE: Nations of the South Unite in Face of Pressure
Further consolidation of the unity of nations of the South was the principal outcome of the ministerial meeting of the Group of 20 developing countries (G20) opposed to distortions of agricultural trade in the WTO, held in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo.DEVELOPMENT: NGOs Want Trade Put to Human Rights Test
''We don't want an UNCTAD instrumental to World Trade Organisation agreements,'' is the message that hundreds of non-governmental organisations and social movements will tell the government officials gathered for the eleventh United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.DEVELOPMENT: G77 Doggedly Follows Its 40-Year-Old Principles
Defence of multilateralism remains a priority of the Group of 77 developing countries (G77), but there are challenges, old and new, said the bloc's chairman Friday, marking its 40th anniversary with a special two-day ministerial meet in this Brazilian city.DEVELOPMENT: Time Has Come for South-South Trade
Trade expansion for developing countries has only just begun and potential for reciprocal exchange within the South is "enormous" said government and business sector representatives participating in an international forum on regionalism and South-South cooperation Wednesday in this Brazilian city.TRADE: UNCTAD and Civil Society in Dialogue, but Differences Remain
Civil society will be an opposing but cooperative presence at the eleventh United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XI) next week in Sao Paulo, not mere naysayers, according to activists.TRADE: ‘Incoherent’ Rules Put Poor Nations at Disadvantage
Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali have achieved high quality cotton production at lowest cost, but what was supposed to be a success turned into a catastrophe because of the "incoherence" of international trade.BRAZIL: Inmates’ Families Want to Know if Loved Ones Are Still Alive
Dozens of Brazilian families still do not know if their menfolk - husbands, sons or brothers - are still alive in Benfica jail in Rio de Janeiro, where a prison rebellion left at least 31 inmates dead last weekend.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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