Belén Fernández

Belén Fernández was born in Washington, DC, in 1982, and earned her bachelor's degree with a concentration in political science from Columbia University in New York City.

Belén is a member of the editorial board for Jacobin Magazine. Her articles also have appeared in Al Jazeera, Al Akhbar English, AlterNet, CounterPunch, Guernica Magazine, London Review of Books Blog, Palestine Chronicle, Palestine Think Tank, Rebelión, Salem-News, Tlaxcala, The Electronic Intifada, Upside Down World, and Venezuelanalysis.com, among others.

After graduating from Columbia University with a political science degree in 2003, Fernández traveled throughout the Middle East, Latin America and Europe. Eventually, her travel notes turned into journalism, as her accounts of people she met and interviewed became stories for web publications. Frustrated by the gap between what she knew from her education and reporting, and Friedman's version of international affairs, she wrote a few short critiques of the Times' columnist in 2009. Then she undertook the systematic review of all his columns since 1995, selections from his writing as a reporter and his books that led to "The Imperial Messenger." In an email interview, she explained how that happened and why.

She is author of popular books: Coffee with Hezbollah and THE IMPERIAL MESSENGER

Belen blogs at http://belenfernandez-writings.blogspot.co.uk/