Elite police units raided properties across New Zealand Oct. 15, apparently seizing weapons in what the media are calling “anti-terrorist” sweeps targeting Maori activists. An armed roadblock was set up around the inland Maori settlement of Ruatoki on the North… Read moreNew Zealand: Maori activists arrested in “terrorist” sweeps
Heavy rains have caused floods and landslides throughout Central America, leaving at least 18 dead, thousands displaced and many roads impassable and communities cut off. Fourteen were killed in Costa Rica Oct. 11 when a mudslide brought down a hillside… Read moreDeadly floods leave thousands displaced in Central America
At least 21 Afro-Colombian barequeros, or small-scale miners, are dead and 28 others injured after a hillside collapsed Oct. 13 following several days of heavy rains on the banks of the Rio Cauca, near Suarez, Cauca department. The open-pit mine… Read moreColombian gold miners killed in landslide
An Oct. 13 New York Times story, “Energy Crunch Threatens South American Nations,” poses the problem in terms of “growth…outpacing fuel supplies”—but actually sheds much light on the continent’s political fault lines, which persist despite the predominance of populist or… Read moreEnergy populism divides South American nations
From the Colombia Support Network (CSN), Oct. 12: The Colombia Support Network (CSN) has received word from the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó that two members of the Peace Community, Arley Tuberquia and Martha Basquez, were detained by… Read moreColombian peasant pacifists detained by Israeli authorities
Pakistani soldiers and tribal fighters in North Waziristan are observing an unofficial ceasefire while tribesmen bury their fallen killed in air raids. At least 250, including dozens of soldiers, have died and thousands have fled in five days of fierce… Read moreAir raids, insurgency rock Waziristan
Former Buenos Aires provincial police chaplain Christian von Wernich was sentenced to life imprisonment Oct. 9 for crimes against humanity committed under the 1976-83 military dictatorship. Human Rights Secretrary Eduardo L. Duhalde hailed the verdict as “historic and strictly legal.”… Read moreArgentina’s Father von Wernich gets life in “dirty war” killings
Egyptian police detained at least 40 after thousands of angry Bedouins stormed government buildings in north Sinai Oct. 7 to protest police inaction after a shooting by a rival clan. The ruling National Democratic Party headquarters in the city of… Read moreEgypt: Bedouin sweeps follow Sinai unrest
After a divisive and well-financed campaign, Costa Rican supporters of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)—which reduces trade barriers between Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the US—appeared to have won a narrow… Read moreCAFTA winning in Costa Rica?
At least 10 people were injured and 55 arrested during an 24-hour general strike Oct. 2 in the Dominican Republic called by the Alternative Social Forum (FSA), a coalition of grassroots organizations. The groups were demanding higher wages for civil… Read moreAnother general strike in Dominican Republic
The National Front of Struggle for Socialism (FNLS) in the western Mexican state of Michoacán issued a statement demanding the “presentation with life” of Francisco Paredes Ruiz, a comunero (communal farmer) from Zirahuén and former member of the Armed Revolutionary… Read moreCampesino militant “disappeared” in Michoacán
From Amnesty International, Sept. 25: The authorities in Germany have decided not to seek the extradition of 13 US citizens suspected of being involved in the abduction and rendition of German citizen Khaled el-Masri. The 13 includes at least 10… Read moreGermany drops extradition request of CIA agents
