One Planet ... because countries and corporations share their information, allocate their resources, and plot their responses on a global scale. So should we.

In March, at a meeting of indigenous people in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the Secoya voted to cancel a one-year contract allowing the Occidental Petroleum Company of Los Angeles to drill for oil in their ancestral homeland. Last year, a group of Secoya "leaders" signed the original agreement with Occidental, without the authorization of the Secoya community. The lands Occidental wanted to drill also belong to the Siona, another indigenous group, who had refused to enter discussions with Occidental; but the Secoya "leaders" nevertheless signed on their behalf, too. What did Occidental offer in return for the rights to drill? The usual promises: jobs, schools, building materials, school supplies, etc. What did Occidental actually deliver to the Secoya? Zinc roofing, cooking pots, a few nails, some barbed wire, and cheap outboard motors. It's no wonder the Secoya are pissed. In Ecuador, where indigenous groups theoretically own title to their ancestral lands, but not to anything below the surface, this is a brave move.--Maria Tomchick

Puerto Rico's massive, two-day general strike on July 7-8 received no press coverage here. Over half a million workers and students blockaded schools, government buildings, airports, docks, trucking companies, public transportation, and many private businesses. The strike was originally called to protest the sale of the national phone company to a GTE-led consortium for the bargain-basement price of $1.9 billion. Nationalized in 1974, the Puerto Rico Telephone Company was turned around from an inefficient subsidiary of ITT that provided service only to a few rich customers, into a profitable government entity that quickly became the most modern and reliable utility on the island. The income from the phone company provides $100 million per year for government programs, subsidizes free phone service for public schools, supports public television and radio, and provides funding for a whole host of civic groups. A telephone call on a pay phone in Puerto Rico still costs only a dime.

Puerto Ricans were justifiably angry that their phone company, which generates $1.2 billion per year in revenues, would be sold so cheaply to GTE. The underlying reasons for the strike, however, were to protest a whole series of privatizations undertaken by Puerto Rico's governor, Pedro Rossello. Rosello is a fan of U.S. statehood for Puerto Rico. He's hoping that a massive round of privatizations will persuade the U.S. Congress that Puerto Rico is 100% pro-U.S. and persuade U.S. businesses to support statehood. On the other hand, U.S. businesses have already made a killing in Puerto Rico and want to maintain the status quo; Puerto Rico's "commonwealth" status has made it easy for U.S. companies to ignore minimum wage laws. The general strike galvanized thousands of people and served to link the privatization of public assets with the exploitation of Puerto Rican workers.--M.T.

Another general strike--this one in Zimbabwe--also didn't make the news here. A combination of austerity measures imposed by the IMF and World Bank, corruption within President-for-life Robert Mugabe's government, and the tidal wave of global recession led to a jump of 35 percent in food prices in January, which sparked food riots in the capital of Harare. Over 2,000 people, mostly poor urban women, were arrested for looting. Gangs of young male soldiers responded by ransacking houses (supposedly in search of stolen goods) and beating female elders. In March, university students and faculty went on strike and shut down Zimbabwe's higher educational system, demanding an increase in student stipends that had been frozen at $44 per semester since 1996. Finally, on March 24-25, nearly 90% of Zimbabwe's workforce went on a mass "holiday" called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. This general strike cost major businesses nearly $44 million. It also sparked wildcat strikes on several large plantations, where agricultural workers make only $1.22 per day. And it caused Bill Clinton to drop a scheduled visit to Harare during his whirlwind African tour. Trust the U.S. government and press to flee from a real example of democracy in Africa.--M.T.