Massive UN Vote in Support of Lifting US Embargo on Cuba

UNITED NATIONS - The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly for the 17th year in a row in favor of lifting the 46-year-old US trade embargo on communist-ruled Cuba, as Havana hoped for better ties with a new US administration.

Some 185 of the assembly's 192 members approved a resolution, which reiterated a "call upon all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures (such as those in the US embargo) in conformity with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law."

Latin America Experts Urge Obama to Break With Past

NEW YORK - Will Washington's policy towards Latin America be genuinely different from past U.S. administrations if Barack Obama is elected as the next president in November? To some experts on Latin America, the answer is no. Others believe that the U.S. role would be far more positive.

Colombia Says Police Fired on Indigenous Protesters

BOGOTA - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe acknowledged on Wednesday police had opened fire on indigenous protesters during demonstrations for land rights and against a free trade agreement with the United States.

At least two indigenous protesters died during marches earlier this week. The government says tests show they were killed when a home-made bomb exploded as they handled it while community leaders say the men were shot by security forces.

Obama and The Americas

Will a probable Obama presidency herald the birth of an Obama doctrine replacing the Monroe doctrine - in terms of a new, more equitable relationship between the US and Latin America?

Economist Mark Weisbrot is not so sure. He tells Pepe Escobar, Obama in his foreign policy will be mostly absorbed by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and by intractable Middle East problems.

US Trade Decree Upsets Bolivians

LA PAZ, Bolivia - The decision by the Bush administration to suspend trade preferences that benefit Bolivia has left workers here worried about the potential for widespread layoffs at a time when the nation is struggling to cope with the international financial crisis.

US officials said 20,000 to 30,000 Bolivians might lose their jobs as a result of the suspension of preferences, which are important for such Bolivian exports as textiles and jewelry.

Latin Leftists Gloating Over 'Comrade' Bush's Bailout

CARACAS, Venezuela - They don't call him President Bush in Venezuela anymore.

Now he's known as "Comrade."

With the Bush administration's Treasury Department resorting to government bailout after government bailout to keep the U.S. economy afloat, leftist governments and their political allies in Latin America are having a field day, gloating one day and taunting Bush the next for adopting the types of interventionist government policies that he's long condemned.

Treatment of Cuban Five: 'It's A Form of Torture'

It is nearly 10 years since Olga Salanueva and Adriana Perez last saw their husbands. René González and Gerardo Hernández are in jail in Marianna, Florida, and Victorville, California, members of the so-called Miami Five, all serving sentences stretching to double life for "conspiracy to act as a non-registered foreign agent".

Battle for The Amazon

Brazil's new environment minister, Carlos Minc, announced this week that he will be pressing for criminal charges against 100 of the worst individuals or companies responsible for most of the deforestation since 2005. New figures just released show that the rate of deforestation has increased by 133% since last month in the nine states of the Amazon region, which is an increase of 228% compared to a year ago.