https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/13/world/americas/mexico-beer-climate.html

This article details the effect of the heavy droughts in northern Mexico on the country’s beer industry which has become a target for climate activists in Mexico. Mexico’s beer industry largely operates in the drought-prone northern regions of Mexico where it can capitalize on its proximity to the United States. In fact, Mexico is the top global exporter of beer. At the same time, a quarter of Mexico’s states have experienced moderate to extreme drought and more than half of its municipalities are experiencing water shortages. As a result, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has expressed a plan to move the majority of the beer industry’s operators to southern regions where water is more abundant. As water shortages have worsened, cities have begun to pressure private companies to cede some of their water allotments to the city, while activists argue that federally granted water permits to industrial users have not adequately accounted for local needs, such as water access for households. Furthermore, a challenge to moving the industry south is a lack of infrastructure and railroad transportation. This article raises such questions as how the government of Mexico will continue to respond to water shortages, how this will affect various industries, such as the beer industry, and how people will react as climate change worsens. It connects to our course as it exemplifies the significant impact climate change can have on a country and the varying and interrelated responses, including activism, a heightened awareness, and rethinking development, that arises in response to such a challenge.

The election in Brazil has recently ended. The current right-wing President, Jair Bolsonaro, has lost to the former left-wing President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. After the election was over and Lula had been named the winner, the country was at a standstill for 48 hours. The reason for the standstill was due to Bolsonaro’s threats about how he would not lose this election. Supporters began causing chaos including blocking over 300 highways throughout Brazil. Bolsonaro would later hold a press conference and accept his defeat.

A big part of Lula’s win was his plan for the Amazon rainforest. During Bolsonaro’s term, he increased the deforestation rate by 60%, destroying efforts in battling climate change. Also due to Bolsonaro’s effect on the rainforest, he lost many foreign allies and damaged E.U. (European Union) relationships. Lula was successful in his last term at limiting climate change effects and working with international cooperations. Also, Lula plans to control deforestation in the Amazon rainforest again. Lula plans to take office on January 1, 2023 and will begin his plan to rebuild Brazil.

How Lula Won Brazil’s 2022 Election | Time

Liberal-aligned candidate Natasa Pirc Musar has come up on top in Slovenia’s recent runoff election, defeating former Prime Minister Anze Logar with a lead of 8% of the vote. Regardless of her political affiliation, she hopes to open dialogue among all Slovenians to help form their country into a strong example of democracy. She is the first woman of substantial state power in the recently-formed country since the separation of Yugoslavia. Initially, none of the seven candidates were able to achieve the 50% of the vote required to gain the presidential seat, leading to a runoff between the top two candidates. Within Slovenia, the president holds a significant amount of power in the decisions regarding who gets what seat in the government, including the Prime Minister and nominating people who will then have the change to ascent to high judiciary and parliamentary positions. Switching from the country’s previous centrist and right-aligned leaders, much of Slovenia’s infrastructure is sure to change over the course of the next few years.

As we talked about Global Capitalism on Monday, I found this article great for informational purposes as it’s related to our topic. The article starts talking about how the Westerners came to find out about an issue that is related to the nations that are in need in need of external financial assistance. China was found to be involved in the “debt trap diplomacy” which basically is explained as a ‘maneuver’ that seems to be beneficiary to the nation that is in need of financial assistance, but it does not end like that. Basically, China provides lots of financial assistance to nations that they might know or assume will not really be able to pay it back. As a result, China is able to secure ‘strategic international assets’ and have control over those nations in a way that will benefit them at some point in the future as China later ‘forgives’ these nations from paying back this loan which would make these nations owe China. As proof, the author brought up the fact that China has forgiven 23 interest-free loans from 17 African countries and restructured or refinanced around $21 billion of debt in Africa from 2000 until 2019. In the article, they give an example of a nation that has fallen into this trap, Sri Lanka. It is said that they have been irresponsibly handling their economy as they owe 81% of their external debt to US and European financial institutions, Japan and India. In the end, the author points out that these intentions of China or other economic powers that land lots of money cannot be 100% terrible intentions.

https://www.fairobserver.com/politics/corruption-debt-and-the-crisis-of-global-capitalism/

A news article from BBC News reports on a 32-year-old man named Anoop B. living in Kerala, India 2 months after winning 250m rupees (equivalent to $3.01m) in the government lottery. Although winning the lottery sounds like a dream come true, Anoop’s life was negatively affected. He was consistently asked to give others money, and most people were random strangers that weren’t family. One man sat in his house until Anoop promised to buy him a motorbike, while another group of people begged him to fund their film. Anoop lost many friends and some of his family members because he didn’t give them money. Although he is grateful for this money, he is still wary of taxes and his connections.

When I read this article, I immediately thought of the original caste system that was placed in India. The abundance of people that turned to hate Anoop because of his recent increase in wealth is an example of how there is still so much economic inequality in India, caused by the caste system. A lot of poor people are living in poverty in India, and the fact that the government handed Anoop 250m rupees is economically appalling. Anoop’s friends that turned on him exemplify that there is still a prominent difference between economic (and social) classes today, too. Even though there are different classes in every country, India’s original caste system has left everlasting economic effects on its country.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-63483369

BBC – 10/4/22 – Iran protests: ‘The people will fight until they succeed’

This news story from the BBC gives the perspectives of three Iranian women about the recent protests for more women’s rights in Iran. They mention what protesters have faced, including being hit by batons or being shot, and how their local areas have changed since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in Tehran. It has ignited a new wave of people to fight for new rights and freedoms. One of the women even mentions taking off her hijab when walking right in front of the police’s eyes. For a lot of them, it seems like a new era in which the people will keep fighting until the regime gives in. In the context of our study of the Middle East, this news story gives an example of some of the contemporary conflcts that are rooted in historical debates about religion, culture, and society in the region. The BBC news story, relying on the direct accounts of three women, deviates from how many have characterized recent developments in Iran or the Middle East in general in which there are ‘oppressive’ or ‘tyrannical’ governments at the heart of a region that have always been ‘unstable’. Although we do not want to minimize the actions of the more authoritarian regimes or the stories of the people living there, as historians we have to be aware of using a biased or skewed lens, especially when the ‘Orientalist’ view has taken hold in Euro-American politics and culture for a long time.