Traditional indigenous authorities from several communities in Oaxaca’s northern mountains met at Guelatao de Juarez Nov. 21 to formally inaugurate the Assembly of Zapotec, Mixe and Chinanteco Pueblos of the Sierra de Juarez, to support the popular struggle in the… Read moreOaxaca: Zapotecs build popular power in mountains
Approximately 30 armed men in civilian clothes, some with their faces covered, attacked the central camp of the Popular People’s Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) in the state capital at dawn on Nov. 21. The camp, outside the cathedral of Santo… Read moreOaxaca: more violence in capital, APPO seeks Papal mediation
The PRI-affiliated Organization for the Defense of Indigenous and Campesino Rights (OPDDIC), issued a letter demanding the EZLN dismantle its Good Government Juntas in the Lacandon Selva, with a barely-veiled threat of new confrontations if this fails to happen. In… Read moreChiapas: more attacks threatened against Zapatista communities
From Milenio, Nov. 20, via Chiapas95 (our translation): For the first time in more than three centuries, some 300 Lacandones have fled their communities for fear of new confrontations with residents of Viejo Velasco, who sympathize with the Zapatista National… Read moreChiapas: Lacandones flee jungle conflict zone
From El Universal, Nov. 20: The government on Saturday released a long-awaited report that for the first time officially blames “the highest command levels” of three former presidencies for the massacres, tortures and slayings of hundreds of leftists from the… Read moreMexico: “dirty war” report finds “crimes against humanity”
From AP, Nov. 20: OAXACA — Masked protesters armed with sticks, rocks and homemade gasoline bombs clashed with police and raided a downtown hotel Monday during a march by leftists seeking the governor’s resignation. The protesters began attacking police as… Read moreMore street fighting in Oaxaca
From AP, Nov. 21: BAGHDAD — Relatives and colleagues mourned the fatal shooting of popular actor Walid Hassan, remembering him Tuesday as giving hard-pressed Iraqis comic relief by poking fun at everything from politicians to long lines at gas stations…. Read moreIraq: jihadis can’t take a joke
From the pan-Arab Al-Bawaba, Nov. 22: Lebanon started three days of mourning on Wednesday following the assassination of an anti-Syrian Christian cabinet minister that his allies blamed on Damascus. Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated as he drove in a… Read moreLebanon: Pierre Gemayal assassinated
Since seizing power in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital, in June, the Islamic Courts Union has banned khat leaf, the mild stimulant which has been traditionally chewed by Somalis for centuries. Imports of khat from Kenya, a main supplier, are being intercepted… Read moreNext for Somalia: khat wars?
From AP, Nov. 20: MOGADISHU — Islamic fighters ambushed an Ethiopian military convoy on Sunday, killing six Ethiopian soldiers and wounding 20 others, witnesses said, in the first known fight between the rival forces maneuvering for control in Somalia. Two… Read moreEthiopia-Eritrea proxy war for Somalia: opening shots?
Despite the overwhelming presence of the Federal Preventative Police (PFP) in Oaxaca City’s historic center, prominent attorney and retired army lieutenant Marcos Contreras Mendoza was assassinated in a drive-by shooting just two blocks from the Santo Domingo Cathedral on the… Read moreOaxaca: violence continues, Ruiz invokes God, APPO goes national
From BBC, Oct. 17 (our commentary to follow): Humanity may split into two sub-species in 100,000 years’ time as predicted by HG Wells, an expert has said. Evolutionary theorist Oliver Curry of the London School of Economics expects a genetic… Read moreEvolutionary theorist: humanity may “split in two”
