Politics

Photographs Courtesy of Lone OutPost, Inc.

Three decades ago, oil was discovered under parts of the moist tropical rain forest along the border of Peru and Ecuador and by the mid-70’s, Occidental Petroleum had found its way here.

Dr. Kasereka "Jo" Lusi risks his life tending to victims of war in some of the hardest-hit areas of the Congo. He performs operations in remote areas often under the crudest of conditions. And more than once, he's had to literally run for his life, as he's now become a target for guerillas. He does this work because he believes there's no greater act of love than putting his life on the line for the betterment of others.

Music heard in this story was by Anouar Brahem.

David Enders, an independent journalist and Pulitzer Center grantee, presented his reports on Iraq to multiple classrooms in the U.S. His work stirred much-heated debates on the country’s Iraq policy.

A group of indigenous Peruvians has filed a class action lawsuit against Occidental Petroleum, charging the company with contaminating their environment.

Mayans and Achuar leaders blame one California-based petroleum company for wreaking environmental havoc and leaving many people ill.

Government and militia factions have signed a peace deal to end a deadly conflict in eastern Congo.

"With over 80 percent of the country's known oil reserves, Basra holds the key to Iraq's economy. Without its revenues the central government in Baghdad would collapse. The struggle for power in Basra is central to the larger battle for control in the new Shiite dominated Iraq. This is a report from Basra by independent filmmaker Rick Rowley of Big Noise films." (Democracy Now!)

Listen to or watch the video here.

TRANSCRIPT:

Kelly Hearn tells the story of one trip into the Amazonian rainforest to give a big-picture look at the hydrocarbon industry's push into the Tropical Andes.

Basra is Iraq's economy – its Rumeila oil fields tap one of the largest pools of petroleum in the world, and without its revenues the central government in Baghdad would collapse. This wealth makes Basra the site of a battle for political control between the three largest Shiite parties in Iraq – al-Hakim's SIIC, Moqtada al-Sadr's 'Sadrist Current', and the Islamic Virtue Party, which controls the Basra governorate and is linked to the Oil Workers' Union.

Basra is Iraq's economy – its Rumeila oil fields tap one of the largest pools of petroleum in the world, and without its revenues the central government in Baghdad would collapse. This wealth makes Basra the site of a battle for political control between the three largest Shiite parties in Iraq – al-Hakim's SIIC, Moqtada al-Sadr's 'Sadrist Current', and the Islamic Virtue Party, which controls the Basra governorate and is linked to the Oil Workers' Union.