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Following the announcement by Fidel Castro on February 19 that he would not stand in the election by Cuba’s National Assembly (AN) for the position of president, the Western media coverage has ranged from grudging acknowledgement of Cuba’s social gains in the face of 50 years of US aggression, to outrageous claims of “dictatorship” and US government plans for a “transition” in Cuba.

Washington loves its boogeymen. They make uncooperative nations so much simpler to understand. When recent elections in Latin America brought a series of populist governments to power, pundits warned of the growing influence of Hugo Chavez, the Villain of Venezuela.

Facing imprisonment for treason in 1953, Fidel Castro famously remarked that history would absolve him of his rebellious actions against the decaying dictatorship of General Fulgencio Batista. The prophetic declaration marked a turning point in Cuba’s development, culminating in a full-fledged revolution six years later. As Fidel himself now fades into history, Cuba again appears on the verge of change. 

The bearded revolutionary, whose cigar-smoking guerrillas ousted U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959, has not appeared in public for 19 months since emergency intestinal surgery forced him to hand over power to brother Raul Castro on July 31, 2006.

Over the past year, President Correa has called for renegotiating Ecuador’s debt, opposed a free trade pact with the US, announced it’s revoking as many as 587 concessions for transnational mining corporations, and set up a constitutional assembly. Since being elected president, he has also pledged to shut down the sole U.S. military base in South America. Last year, Ecuador’s Cofan Indians filed a $12 billion lawsuit against oil giant Chevron for environmental and social destruction in the Amazon. Journalist Greg Palast speaks with President Correa in a wide-ranging and exclusive conversation.

The 6th Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America (ALBA), a joint Venezuelan-Cuban initiative based on fair trade as an alternative to the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas, concluded in Caracas on Saturday with the founding of a new Bank of ALBA and the signing of a series of economic and social agreements between the member nations. The Dominica also became the newest country to join the regional fair trade bloc.

In the closing weeks of 2007, a region in revolt against the economics of corporate globalization issued its most unified declaration of independence to date. On Dec. 9, standing before the flags of their countries, the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela, along with a representative from Uruguay, gathered in Buenos Aires and signed the founding charter of the Banco del Sur, or the Bank of the South.