On January 11, the Salvadoran government under President Nayib Bukele ordered the arrest of five prominent anti-mining activists and water defenders from the north of the country. Social organizations around the world have taken notice. More than 250 organizations from countries across the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia signed a statement calling for the government to drop the charges.

The imposition of patented transgenic seeds onto rural communities has had a catastrophic impact on human livelihoods and biodiversity protection. In many countries, seeds have traditionally been the collective property of farmers—however, these farmers’ right to control their own seed supply is being attacked by corporate forces which have captured capitalist states around the world.

Although the absurdity of the Juan Guaidó era is drawing to a close, one can be certain that Ottawa will seek new ways to promote the opposition in the upcoming presidential elections in 2024, which will surely see the Venezuelan right adopt new tactics in their unceasing quest to overturn the Bolivarian Revolution.

In his new book, Jonathan Crary’s overarching argument is that the internet complex is undergirded by a globe-spanning system of social, economic, and political organization that he labels “scorched earth capitalism”—essentially the neoliberal, technoscientific model exported around the world during the “globalization” era of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Since the 1990s, the US and Canada have supported a program of neoliberalization in Panama, which has led to a decreased role for the state, an increase in the influence of transnational companies in the Panamanian economy, and a turn toward commodity exports including agricultural goods and minerals. This shift resulted in more investment from US and Canadian companies.

As Afghanistan struggles to manage the manifold social and economic crises resulting from decades of war and subsequent Western sanctions, the Canadian government is still preventing charities from delivering much-needed shipments of food and medical aid to the country’s suffering population. Today, a staggering 95 percent of Afghans are not getting enough to eat.

Ottawa’s response to the ouster of left-wing Peruvian President Pedro Castillo last week matches its reaction to similar crises throughout Latin America, in which the right-wing earns Canada’s complete support and progressive forces, be they political leaders or popular social movements, are either demonized or ignored.

The UN itself has condemned Canada’s treatment of Indigenous land defenders and called on the government to stop criminalizing their activities in defence of Indigenous cultures and ecological integrity. These actions are especially important to consider in the midst of COP15, as Indigenous territories account for roughly 22 percent of the world’s land but hold 80 percent of its biodiversity.

As Venezuela emerges from crisis, everyone in the global left should keep an eye on the communes. Currently, there are almost 50,000 registered communes in Venezuela, concentrated in the countryside and the sprawling urban barrios. They are a force for progressive change and an example for anyone who wants to imagine a more socially just and economically sustainable future.

The right-wing Greek colonels seized power in Athens on April 21, 1967, shortly before a scheduled election that would likely have brought Andreas Papandreou of the social democratic Centre Union to power. Following the coup, Greece became the second openly fascist member of NATO, and it was supported by alliance powers including Canada.