CounterVortex

Africa

Nigeria: Biafra headed for new genocide?

Up to 20 were reported killed when Nigerian army troops raided the home of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The raid follows deadly clashes between Igbo IPOB militants and ethnic Hausa and Fulani residents in several areas across Nigeria's southeast. President Buhari accuses the IPOB of a "deliberate and sinister agenda to provoke soldiers into killing innocent people."

Iraq

Kirkuk at question in Kurdish independence vote

Baghdad and Iraq's Kurdistan Region are at odds over the referendum on Kurdish indpendence to be held this month. A particular sticking point is the inclusion of oil-rich Kirkuk in the vote—not within the Kurdistan Regional Government's formal borders, but under its de facto control since Kurdish forces occupied the city with the collapse of the Iraqi army during the ISIS offensive of June 2014.

The Amazon

Brazil: massacre of ‘uncontacted’ group reported

Prosecutors in Brazil have opened an investigation after reports that illegal gold-miners on a remote Amazon river massacred members of an "uncontacted" indigenous band. Two gold-miners have been arrested in the case. The killings allegedly took place last month in the Vale do Javari Indigenous Territory, known as the "Uncontacted Frontier," as it shelters more isolated peoples than anywhere else on Earth.

Mexico

Mexico: cartels kill another journalist

Yet another Mexican journalist was slain as the cartels continue to exact vengeance on any who would dare to report on their reign of terror and corruption. Cándido "Papuche" Ríos, who covered the nota roja (crime and police beat) for local newspaper Diario de Acayucan, was gunned down in a rural town in Veracruz state.

The Andes

Colombia: government seeks to restrict ‘consultas’

Community leaders throughout Colombia have spoken out against a proposal by the central government to limit the power of consultas populares, or popular referenda, to bar oil and mineral projects at the municipal level. Some are questioning the constitutionality of the government's plan to "fast track" a sweeping reform of the Organic Law of Territorial Ordering (LOOT) that would strip municipalities of the ability to restrict subsoil exploitation.

The Andes

Colombia: still no peace for social leaders

The wave of deadly attacks on social leaders across Colombia persists in spite of the peace process. Human rights group Global Witness, which annually releases a report on the world's most dangerous countries for environmental defenders, this year names Colombia as second only to Brazil. The group counts 37 environmental activists slain in Colombia in 2016, compared to 26 in 2015. In the first six months of 2017, the figure was already up to 22.

The Andes

Colombia: FARC becomes legal political party

Before an audience of thousands in Bogotá's Plaza Bolívar, the FARC announced its transformation into a new political party with the same acronym: the Popular Alternative Revolutionary Force. But the US State Department is actually blaming Colombia's peace process for the surge in coca production in the country, saying the FARC encouraged peasants to plant more so as to reap promised government subsidies for conversion to legal agriculture.

The Andes

Colombia: historic ceasefire with ELN guerillas

The Colombian government signed a ceasefire with the National Liberation Army (ELN) after a third round of peace talks in Ecuador's capital Quito. The first-ever bilateral ceasefire in the 53-year history of the guerilla organization came two days before Pope Francis is to arrive in Colombia. As part of the deal, Colombia's government pledged to suspend military operations against the group, improve conditions for imprisoned ELN members, and protect human rights defenders.

The Andes

Venezuela massacre latest sign of prison crisis

At least 37 were killed as a prison in southern Venezuela's Puerto Ayacucho exploded into rebellion. The country's prison system, built to hold some 16,000, is now estimated to house some 50,000. Harsh conditions and endemic violence in Venezuela's prisons have led to repeated protests by inmates and their families—indicating that the supposedly "scoalist" country is not immune fom the pathologies of US-led hemispheric "war on drugs."

Southern Cone

Argentina: protests over ‘disappeared’ activist

Tens of thousands of Argentines held protests across the country, demanding answers one month after the disappearance of an indigenous rights activist. Demonstrators held photos of Santiago Maldonado, who was last seen when border police evicted a group of indigenous Mapuche from lands in the southern Patagonia region. In Buenos Aires, protesters converged on the Plaza de Mayo, iconic for its role in the struggle to demand justice for the "disappeared" under the military dictatorship.

North America

Federal judge halts Texas anti-sanctuary law

A federal judge in San Antonio issued a preliminary injunction against most of SB4, the anti-Sanctuary Cities law that would have effectively forced every police agency in Texas to allow its officers to question the immigration status of anyone stopped for any reason. It would have also have forced agencies to send information on undocumented detainees to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Cuba Verde Revisited

Cuba became a living experiment in a post-petrol future for humanity after the collapse of the Soviet Union meant a cut-off of subsidized oil. This prompted a big push for self-sufficient and ecological models—bicycle transportation and urban farms in Havana,… Read moreCuba Verde Revisited