North America
Hanukkah Jew-bashing —in NYC
Gee, good thing we don’t have to worry about anti-Semitism anymore. From AP via
Author: Bill Weinberg
The Andes
Bolivia: new charter advances —and polarizes
Meeting in Oruro rather than its official seat of protest-wracked Sucre, Bolivia’s Constituent Assembly approved all 411 articles of the new constitution in a marathon 16-hour session dominated by the ruling Movement to Socialism (MAS) and its allies—and boycotted by… Read moreBolivia: new charter advances —and polarizes
Mexico
Mexico: Calderón sends more troops to US border
Marking his first year in office, Mexican President Felipe Calderón said Dec. 1 that fighting the war on drugs and organized crime remain his highest priority. The speech came as the death toll in 2007 narco violence topped 2,000—making it… Read moreMexico: Calderón sends more troops to US border
Mexico
Mexico: narcos declare open season on musicians
Three popular Mexican musicians met violent deaths in six days this week. José Luis Aquino Lavariega, 33, trumpet-player with the band Los Conde, was found Dec. 5 under a bridge in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, bound with a plastic bag over… Read moreMexico: narcos declare open season on musicians
Afghanistan
Pakistani Baluch activists arrested in London
Faiz Mohammed Baluch and Nawabzada Herbiyar Marri, two exiled human rights activists from Baluchistan, were arrested Dec. 4 by London Metropolitan Police in a supposed anti-terrorist operation code-named “Super-Sweep.” Fellow rights campaigner Peter Tatchell said: “I know one of the… Read morePakistani Baluch activists arrested in London
South Asia
India: reporter who uncovered Gujarat conspiracy faces threats
Ashish Khetan, the journalist who secretly taped Hindu rightists boasting of their role in the mass murder of Muslims in the 2002 Gujarat pogroms, says he now fears for his life and is frustrated by the lack of response. Khetan’s… Read moreIndia: reporter who uncovered Gujarat conspiracy faces threats
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Brits kill children —again
However ugly the Taliban may be, there is a truly perverse sense of deja vu in watching British troops battle Pashtun insurgents. This would actually be “fourth time as farce,” given that there were three Anglo-Afghan Wars in the “Great… Read moreAfghanistan: Brits kill children —again
Mexico
Mexico: police attack student highway occupation in Guerrero
More than 100 of Mexico’s elite Federal Preventative Police attacked student protesters from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero state, Nov. 30. Fifty-six were detained, and two gravely injured. The students were staging a protest occupation of a toll booth at La Venta, outside… Read moreMexico: police attack student highway occupation in Guerrero
Mexico
Mexico: steps towards justice in Atenco case
Federal judicial authorities in the State of Mexico have granted an amparo, or order of protection, to 27 residents of San Salvador Atenco village, giving immunity from arrest until charges against them are reviewed. The Ninth District court in Nezahualcóyotl… Read moreMexico: steps towards justice in Atenco case
Mexico
Chiapas: scapegoat freed in Viejo Velasco massacre
Diego Arcos Meneses, arrested over a year ago in the massacre at the rainforest settlement of Viejo Velasco on what Amnesty International called “fabricated and deficient” evidence, was freed Dec. 4 by order of state authorities in Chiapas, Mexico. Amnesty… Read moreChiapas: scapegoat freed in Viejo Velasco massacre
Mexico
Chiapas: paramilitary violence continues
Land conflicts between communities loyal to the Zapatista rebel movement and the state’s traditional political machine continue to generate violence in Chiapas, Mexico. The Zapatista Good Government Junta (JBG) Corazón del Arcoiris de la Esperanza announced that on Nov. 24,… Read moreChiapas: paramilitary violence continues
Mexico
Chiapas: accused mastermind in Acteal massacre dies
Antonio Vázquez Secum, named by Mexico’s Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) as the author of the December 1997 Acteal massacre, died Nov. 17 at his home in the village of Quextic, Chiapas. Secum, who was over 70 years old,… Read moreChiapas: accused mastermind in Acteal massacre dies