Bolivia and the US agreed to restore diplomatic relations, three years after President Evo Morales expelled the US ambassador. But in announcing the move, Morales emphasized that the DEA would not be allowed back in his country.
After 40 days without food, 10 prisoners in Mexico’s Chiapas state ended a hunger strike, citing the threat to their health and the lack of any response to their demands. Supporters launched a protest vigil outside one prison, and blocked a nearby highway.
Mexico’s military and police commit widespread rights violations with “near total impunity,” Human Rights Watch says, documenting of numerous cases of torture, “disappearance” and extrajudicial killings since President Calderón took office.
Niger’s military clashed with a heavily armed convoy travelling though the desert from Libya. Authorities say the convoy is made up of fleeing Qaddafi loyalists escorted by local Tuareg fighters, with arms bound for the AQIM network.
Farmers staged sit-in protests at the regional offices of lawmakers of South Korea’s ruling party, demanding no ratification of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement. Days earlier, anti-FTA protesters stormed the parliament building in Seoul.
Oil prices rose as the IAEA released a report finding that Iran is capable of developing a nuclear weapon and Israel tested a long-range ballistic missile. The British armed forces are said to be preparing for military action against Iran.
Israel’s public sector workers walked out for four hours, shutting down trains, buses, airports, banks, government ministries and municipalities. Traffic jams clogged Tel Aviv, and the city’s stock exchange and Ben Gurion International Airport were closed.
Occupy Boston activists “stormed” the Israeli consulate in Beantown, chanting “Occupy Wall Street not Palestine.” The activists were protesting the interception of the Gaza-bound “Freedom Waves” flotilla by Israeli naval forces the day before.
Electoral violence was reported in the north as Sandinista candidate and incumbent President Daniel Ortega was re-elected to lead Nicaragua. Hugo Chávez hailed Ortega’s victory while the US State Department expressed concern about “irregularities.”
Retired military general Otto Pérez Molina emerged victorious from run-off elections for the presidency of Guatemala, vowing a crackdown on crime and drug-related violence. Pérez Molina is accused of having overseen genocide in the 1980s.
The future of Colombia’s FARC guerillas is in question following the death of leader “Alfonso Cano” at the hands of the Colombian army Nov. 4. Local media reports anticipate a power struggle between regional commanders.
The fear of being seen as “socialist” is deep seated. It is time to get over it, and reclaim the word, as gays did the word “queer.” The concept that the Earth and its wealth belong to society must be redeemed. Everything, ultimately, is riding on it.
