ROB WARZYNIAK recalls the emblematic 1906 book, The Jungle, in its analysis of the crisis presently engulfing the US Food and Drug Administration
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Death squads in Colombia - paid for by big business
OLIVER DODD exposes the role of wealthy groups, including multinationals like Coca Cola and United Fruit, in sponsoring paramilitary murder in Latin America
Welsh wanderings showcase fiery destruction, alternative water ways and revive memories of a local mining legend, writes MARK SEDDON
As thousands die in the eastern DRC, a global health emergency is being starved of funds, says S KRISHNASWAMY
MAT COWARD explains how in the 17th century a row over whether to kneel at communion became a battle over religion, class and royal power
Renewed illusions in social democratic reformism are sprouting as a result of Andy Burnham’s rhetoric, but material conditions are already intruding into the debate, argues NICK WRIGHT
Andy Burnham could learn a few lessons from a previous Labour government in the pre-privatisation era on how to tackle water shortages, writes KEITH FLETT
THROUGHOUT Colombia’s half-century civil war, wealthy social sectors, especially landowners, have sponsored the formation of private armed groups to act as a counter-measure against the labour movement to protect their interests.
These paramilitaries have generally employed violence and terror as a conscious weapon against civilians. The objective has been to make workers too afraid to join trade unions and to stand up for their economic and political rights.
This belief that violence against the labour movement has a strategic utility led to the use of barbarous tactics. Pregnant woman’s foetuses were ripped out with machetes, to prevent the child from growing up as a socialist. Cannibalism and mass-rape have been employed to devastate communities, depopulate land and open the way for capitalist investment.
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