On today’s show, we look at the recent killing of Mexican photojournalist Rubén Espinosa in Mexico City. The murder shocked many in the journalism community, who considered Mexico City a safe-haven in an increasingly dangerous country for journalists. We speak to journalist Andalusia Knoll, producer of a recent documentary on the threats facing journalists in Veracruz, to learn more about who Espinosa was, and what the situation facing journalists in Mexico is like today.
We then go in-depth on the issue of U.S. military bases overseas with David Vine, author of the new book Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World, out this month. Vine recently took to the op-ed page of the New York Times to argue that many of these bases should be closed, as his research has shown that they are an economic burden and a security problem for the United States. He tells us just how big the U.S. overseas base empire is, what those bases mean for security, labor, and the environment, and argues that closing them would be easier than many think.
And finally, last week in Hawaii, what had been heralded as the “final round” of negotiations over the controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership broke down again, failing to produce an agreement. The failure of the talks was celebrated by some opponents of the deal, who worry about its impact on labor and the environment, as well as its ability to override local and national laws for the benefit of private corporations. But to find out just what this latest failure means, and what’s next for the TPP, we speak to Lori Wallach, director of the Global Trade Watch program at Public Citizen. Lori argues that the fight against the TPP must continue, and details how to get involved.
Originally aired on August 10, 2015 on WBAI. Listen to the full episode here: