American and British media agencies are celebrating the nomination and ascension by Myanmar politician Aung San Suu Kyi of her driver (see image below) and aid as “president,” as well as her pledge to “rule above” the president – effectively rendering the office as symbolic and subordinate to the unelected Suu Kyi.

Coffee is one of the most valuable commodities exported by the global South (seconded only by oil and illegal drugs), generating billions of dollars in corporate profit each year. And yet, despite the expansion and increased visibility of fair-trade coffee, the majority of the world’s coffee families live in relative poverty.