From the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Feb. 1: On January 7, employees of Radio Cadena Mi Gente, a progressive radio station based in San Salvador, received death threats via telephone calls made to the… Read moreEl Salvador: repression escalates; national police director runs for prez
Mexico formally protested use of tear gas by the US Border Patrol, the Exterior Secretariat sending a letter to the US Embassy requesting a probe of an incident last month in which Cristian Saldana, 15, was struck in the nose… Read moreMexico protests US tear gas attacks
In a “megamarcha” against the dropping of trade barriers under the terms of NAFTA, thousands of small farmers filled the streets of Mexico City’s historic district Jan. 31. A caravan of 100 tractors that traveled 2,000 kilometers from Ciudad Juarez… Read moreMexico City “mega-march” against NAFTA
Mexico’s federal Public Security Secretariat (SSP) announced the detention of 13 “delinquents” at Rancho San Isidro, in San Andrés Larráinzar, a highland municipality in conflicted Chiapas state Jan. 30. The SSP said 45 stolen vehicles were confiscated, as well as… Read moreCrime, water wars rock Chiapas Highlands
On Jan. 25, seven adherents of the People’s Front in Defense of the Land (FPDT) from the central Mexican village of San Salvador Atenco were liberated from the Mexico State prison at Molino de Flores, after a federal judge cleared… Read moreMexico: Atenco activists freed
The Ontario Provincial Police are investigating a reported assault on two officers at the disputed Culbertson Land Tract quarry near Deseronto, which is under occupation by Mohawk protesters. Sgt. Kristine Rae, spokesperson for Eastern Region OPP headquarters, said the assault… Read moreClash with Ontario Provincial Police at Mohawk-occupied quarry
A Brazilian judge banned Rio de Janeiro’s Unidos do Viradouro samba school from parading in the upcoming carnival with a float depicting victims of the Holocaust and a Hitler figure. “Carnival should not be used as an instrument of hatred,… Read moreBrazilian courts censor protest against anti-Semitism —at Jewish behest
South African police raided the Central Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg, which was serving as a sanctuary for some 1,000 Zimbabwean refugees, arresting scores of suspected “illegal immigrants” Jan. 31. Bishop Paul Verryn accused the police of using excessive force… Read moreSouth Africa raids church sanctuary for Zimbabwean refugees
United Nations “peacekeepers” in the disputed African territory of Western Sahara have vandalized ancient rock paintings, a UN official told the London Times. The paper published photos of the paintings at the archaeological site of Lajuad, some 6,000 years old—defaced… Read more“Peacekeepers” in Western Sahara deface ancient rock paintings
Some 200 Afghans protested at the UN office in Kabul Jan. 31 against the death sentence passed against Perwiz Kambakhsh, a reporter convicted of blasphemy. The protest was organized by the small Solidarity Party of Afghanistan. The upper house of… Read moreAfghanistan: civil society stands up to political Islam
Israel’s High Court of Justice Jan. 30 ruled that the blocking of power and fuel to the Gaza Strip is legal, as the remaining supplies still meet the humanitarian needs of the population. A three-justice panel, headed by Supreme Court… Read moreIsrael’s high court upholds choking of Gaza
Wanted al-Qaeda figure Abu Laith al-Libi was killed in Pakistan by a CIA air-strike, anonymous officials told CNN. Al-Libi was said to have been behind several attacks on US forces in Afghanistan, including the February 2007 bombing at Bagram Air… Read moreAl-Qaeda superstar bites it: CIA
