Brazil: Lula Returns in Triumph

By Asad Ismi In what Time magazine called “the comeback of the century,” leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil’s most popular president (2003-2010), returned to power by winning the October 30, 2022 elections. Lula takes office this January. He defeated his neofascist opponent, incumbent Jair Bolsonaro, by more than two million votes (50.9% compared […]

Colombia’s Quiet Revolution

By Asad Ismi “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Guillermo Ramirez told me. He was explaining how Colombia’s affordability crisis led to the election in June of the first leftist government in the country’s 200-year history. Ramirez is Colombian–Canadian and a member of Colombia Action Solidarity Alliance (CASA), a Toronto-based activist group. […]

The Possibilities for Buen Vivir

By Asad Ismi You may have heard the term “Buen Vivir” when it was made part of the constitutions of Bolivia and Ecuador (in 2009 and 2008 respectively), the first countries to give rights to nature. Buen Vivir (BV) is an Indigenous-led philosophy and movement spreading throughout Latin America and beyond that presents an alternative […]