A coalition of fishing people, unionists, cab drivers and students blocked roads and bridges for 13 days to demand more resources for Chile’s isolated southern AysĂ©n region.
Unionists are pointing to lax standards since privatization of Argentina’s extensive state-owned rail system as lying behind the horrific accident onf a Buenos Aires commuter line that killed 51 passengers and injured more than 700.
Thousands of Puerto Ricans marched to protest right-wing governor Luis Fortuño’s plan for a 92-mile, $450-million natural gas pipeline cutting through the island. Pipeline opponents fear explosions and damage to farmland, forests and archeological sites.
Mining supporters held a “protest” after authorities violently dispersed roadblocks set up by locals opposed to the Bajo de la Alumbrera gold mine. The pro-mine “protest” appears to have been organized with the support of the ruling Justicialist Party.
With little fanfare, the Mexican government is now starting to end the ban on the commercial development of transgenic corn. Monsanto and other GMO multinationals are set to go, with lands set aside in Sinaloa and other northern states.
The Puerto Rican Civil Rights Commission has reportedly concluded that the killing of Puerto Rican nationalist leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios by the FBI was illegal and should be investigated—contradicting the findings of the US Justice Department.
Mexico’s Supreme Court ordered the release of seven indigenous Tzotzil Maya men who had been convicted of homicide and other crimes in the December 1997 massacre of 45 indigenous campesinos at Acteal, Chiapas.
Former soldiers of the disbanded Armed Forces of Haiti (FAd’H) have reportedly been occupying old military bases and training camps for several weeks—as right-wing President Michel (“Sweet Micky”) Martelly broaches plans to revive the FAd’H.
Police in northwestern Argentine province of Catamarca used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse some 100 local residents who were blocking a road to protest open-pit mining—the latest in a wave of such actions in the South American country.
A pact between indigenous leaders and the government of right-wing president Ricardo Martinelli ended more than a week of massive protests over mineral and territorial rights that led to at least two deaths and dozens of arrests.
Norma Andrade, a prominent activist who has waged a campaign for justice in the unsolved murders of hundreds of women in Ciudad Juárez, may seek asylum outside Mexico after being wounded in two separate attacks in two different cities.
Honduran police detained 13 campesinos leaders in the conflicted Lower Aguán Valley as talks about financing a proposed settlement for long-term land disputes broke down. Venezuela has proposed funding to purchase lands for campesino communities.
