Democracy Now! April 16, 2012

April 16, 2012 from Democracy Now! via Creative Commons License BY-NC-ND

US policy on Cuba, the drug war, and economy all come under fire at Colombian summit. President Obama refuses to back growing call for drug legalization to stem spreading violence in Latin America. And housework as work: Selma James on unwaged labor and the decades-long struggle to pay housewives. Plus headlines and more.

(more) (less)

In This Video

Ann Romney

Ann Lois Romney is the wife of American businessman and politician Mitt Romney, who was the Republican nominee in the 2012 U.S. presidential election. From 2003 to 2007 she was First Lady of Massachusetts while her husband served as governor of the state. She was raised in Blo... Explore this topic

Hilary Rosen

Hilary Beth Rosen is an American lobbyist and Democratic pundit. She worked for the Recording Industry Association of America for 16 years where she was CEO from 1998 to 2003. In June 2010, during Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Rosen worked to help British Petroleum. She works f... Explore this topic

Housewife

A housewife is a woman whose main occupation is running or managing the family's home—caring for and educating her children, cooking and storing food, buying goods the family needs in day to day life, cleaning and maintaining the home, making clothes for the family, etc.—and w... Explore this topic

Selma James

Selma James, is a co-author of the women's movement classic The Power of Women and the Subversion of the Community, co-founder of the International Wages for Housework Campaign and coordinator of the Global Women's Strike. Explore this topic

Politics of the United States

The United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States, Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments. The executive branch is head... Explore this topic

Mitt Romney

Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election. Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by his parents Lenore and Geo... Explore this topic

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II (/bəˈrɑːk huːˈseɪn oʊˈbɑːmə/; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama served as a U.S. Senator representing the state of Illinois from January 2005 to Novemb... Explore this topic

Women's Rights

Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls of many societies worldwide. In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed. They differ from bro... Explore this topic

Women

Female (♀) is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces ova (egg cells). The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male. A female indivi... Explore this topic

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States along with the Republican Party. Since the 1930s, the party has promoted a socially liberal and progressive platform, and its Congressional caucus is composed of progressives, libe... Explore this topic

Also See

6th Summit of the Americas

Colombia

Cartagena

Watch Next

34:50

Inside Story Americas: Did the US Election Mark a Fundamental Shift to the Left?

Al Jazeera English | Nov 9

Some are painting the the US elections as a major victory for a progressive vision of America. President Barack Obama was re-elected despite attemp...