Thousands of Mexican army troops and federal police have been mobilized to the Texas border in a new offensive against the “Zetas,” paramilitary wing of the powerful Gulf Cartel. Authorities pledge to hunt down the Zetas and raid their safe-houses…. Read moreMexico launches new army operation against “Zetas”
Police and striking miners clashed at Grupo Mexico’s Cananea copper mine in Sonora state Jan. 11 after Mexico’s Federal Conciliation and Arbitration Board (JFCA) declared a five-month-long strike there “non-existent” (illegal) and announced a provisional suspension of the National Syndicate… Read moreMexico: miners, police clash at Cananea
Wilber Funes, mayor of El Salvador’s Alegria municipality, assassinated Jan. 9. Photo: CISPES
On Jan. 7, some 100 campesinos successfully blocked the spraying of pesticides on soy fields in Ybypé community, Lima district, San Pedro department, Paraguay. Although riot police were mobilized to protect the fumigation tractors, the protesters convinced the officers of… Read moreParaguay: peasants protest pesticides
The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria released a report condemning pervasive sexual and gender-based violence that has occurred over the past seven years in the Syrian conflict. The report, based on interviews with more than 450 survivors and other affected individuals, details systemic rape, torture, and other acts of sexual violence perpetrated by Assad regime forces and affiliated militias at checkpoints, in detention centers, and during interrogations. (Photo: WikiMedia Commons)
From the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Jan. 11: FMLN mayor assassinated in Usulután Wilber Moises Funes, mayor of Alegria, Usulután, was assassinated on January 9 while visiting community projects in the Las Casistas area… Read moreEl Salvador: FMLN mayor assassinated
Iran is contesting Washington’s version of the Jan. 5 incident in the Strait of Hormuz. From the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 11: Iran releases its own tape on Hormuz ship incident BEIRUT — Iran released a videotape Thursday to support… Read moreStrait of Hormuz new Gulf of Tonkin?
Salvos of missiles fell on southern Israel Jan. 9 and Israeli aircraft hit a location in the north of Gaza Strip in response. Al-Quds Brigades, military wing of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the new missile strikes, saying they were… Read moreBush brings war to Israel, Palestine
Protests have been announced in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, California and Puerto Rico against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over subpoenas issued to activists in a grand jury investigation of the Boricua Popular Army–Macheteros. The protests will… Read moreNational protests against subpoena of Puerto Rican activists
On Dec. 31, Latino groups in Oregon turned in over 5,000 petition signatures to the state’s Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division in Salem, asking for a one-year delay in implementation of new rules that will require driver’s license applicants… Read moreOregon: immigrants protest license plan
In a Dec. 17 press release, Colorado’s Park County announced it would pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought in February 2005 by Moises Carranza-Reyes, who was held in federal immigration custody at the county’s Fairplay jail for seven… Read moreColorado: ex-ICE detainee wins settlement
On the morning of Jan. 3 a unit of 15 masked people armed with AK-47 rifles set fire to three backhoes belonging to the Constructora Torreblanca, a construction company building a highway in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero. “No… Read moreGuerilla attack, anti-NAFTA actions in Mexico
