A market-centered model and growing inequality led to rightwing ascendance. This moment calls for a new regional solidarity

The second world war ended with an agreement of coexistence that included the creation of the UN multilateral system and a development model that combined the state, the market and democracy as an arena for political dispute. In Latin America, this was reflected in the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) model, which promoted protectionism and addressed social issues through fiscal targeting.

But in the last quarter of the 20th century, the same postwar organizations imposed a new, market-centered model. Value was replaced by price, trade liberalization was prioritized and social issues were subordinated to the laws of the market. The concentration of capital and the delegitimization of democracy broke the previous consensus. Although progressive governments emerged, they were unable to contain the rise of the new autocratic right, supported by de facto powers such as the media, the church, the military and the technocracy. The crisis of representation led political parties to abandon their bases, leaving room for “anti-politicians” who found a platform in mainstream media.

Ernesto Samper Pizano was president of Colombia from 1994 to 1998

Continue reading...

Fearing heat-related deaths in prisons that push past 100F, many advocate for AC to be installed in five dozen facilities

As scorching temperatures continue across the US during these summer months, families of those in Texas prisons – alongside lawmakers – are advocating for air conditioning to be installed in more than five dozen prisons so those incarcerated don’t sweat to death.

In July and August, temperatures inside these prisons can easily surpass 100F, leaving people like Jonathan to wonder what this year’s hottest months will look like for his wife, who calls him almost every day from the Lane Murray Unit, a women’s prison in Gatesville, Texas.

Continue reading...

New financial rules for college sports theoretically give football players newfound compensation, but the terms of the deals don’t account for injury

Revenue sharing is now a feature of college athletics. Thanks to the house settelement signed in May, schools are permitted to spend $20.5m annually across sports, including through expanded scholarships and direct payments (of which it appears football will generally receive approximately 75%). This would seem to mitigate the longstanding problem of exploitation in college football.

However, in a sport still defined by extreme injury, recently disclosed provisions in the new Florida State University (FSU) revenue-sharing contract show that schools appear to simply be finding new ways to extract value from players, as ever at startling personal cost.

Continue reading...

The popular Craigslist tradition is seeing a revival from Reddit and TikTok users, hoping a chance encounter turns into more

Layla Rivera was at work when her boyfriend texted: someone on Reddit was looking for her.

In the comments of a post on the subreddit r/warpedtour, attendees of the punk rock and emo music festival searched for their missed connections – ephemeral friends or hookups they met onsite and would like to see again. Rivera could tell that one message, addressed “to Leila/Layla (the short girl with the red top)”, was almost certainly written by a man she encountered while watching the band Sweet Pill at Warped Tour’s Washington DC stop in June.

Continue reading...

Commissioners for the city of Miami rewrote their election laws to push the off-year 2025 local races to 2026 without input from voters. The decision has sparked outrage

Candidates for local office in Miami have been prepping mailers, gathering volunteers, raising money and hitting the street for the last year, with voters expecting to see a robust campaign to replace the city’s term-limited, scandal-chased mayor.

Last week, Miami’s city commission told those voters they’ll have to wait an extra year. In a 3-2 vote, the commission changed the city’s election bylaws to push the municipal races back to 2026.

Continue reading...

In a new series on undocumented workers, construction laborers tell the Guardian fear is fueling wage theft and workplace abuse

As the Trump administration ramps up its crackdown on immigration, undocumented workers in the construction industry claim raids and arrests have emboldened some contractors to cut pay and increase hours.

Rogelio, a tile setter, works for various contractors in the the Tucson, Arizona region. He is undocumented, and did not provide his full name.

Continue reading...

In the first footage of him to be released publicly in 25 years, Abdullah Ocalan said the P.K.K. insurgency against Turkey would be replaced by politics.

President Trump has achieved much of his agenda, leaving the fate of the economy squarely in his hands.

(Domino)
After winning multiple Grammys and Brits, the Isle of Wight band explore love and sexuality on their second LP – but there’s still room for some barbed put-downs

Moisturizer concludes with a track called U and Me at Home. In it, Rhian Teasdale sings about the pleasures of doing nothing over guitars that bend in and out of tune in the style patented by My Bloody Valentine. Nothing much happens in the song – there’s some discussion about possibly getting a takeaway, and a brief nod to the “happy comatose” effects of weed – but it does feature a few lines that function as a kind of Wet Leg origin story. “Maybe we could start a band as some kind of joke,” sings Teasdale. “Well, that didn’t quite go to plan … now we’ve been stretched across the world”.

You don’t need to be a member of Wet Leg and aware of the circumstances of their formation – apparently the result of a conversation between Teasdale and guitarist Hester Chambers while on a ferris wheel – to feel slightly surprised at their continued success and how hotly anticipated their second album has turned out to be. Their breakthrough debut single Chaise Longue was a great song, but it carried a hint of the left-field novelty hit, the kind of funny-weird track that temporarily ignites indie disco dancefloors and festival audiences before it and its authors recede swiftly into memory: the latest addition to a pantheon that includes Electric Six’s Gay Bar, Liam Lynch’s United States of Whatever, and – one for readers of a certain age – the Sultans of Ping’s Where’s Me Jumper? But that wasn’t what happened at all.

Continue reading...

The city's mayor says the fire is "decreasing" but is still not completely under control.