On Jan. 11 lawyers for three Puerto Ricans with subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury in New York that morning announced that the date had been postponed until sometime in February. Social worker Christopher Torres and filmmakers Tania… Read moreGrand jury testimony in Macheteros probe postponed
On the morning of Jan. 10 some 200 members of the farmers’ group El Barzón Popular took over the toll booths on the privately owned Mexico City-Toluca highway and allowed motorists to ride for free for about three hours. El… Read moreMexico: Barzonistas liberate highway
On Jan. 10 a group of about 20 rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released two hostages in the southeastern department of Guaviare in an arrangement worked out with Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez Frias and Colombian ex-senator… Read moreColombia: two FARC hostages freed
Yemen has called on the US to free all detainees at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, saying the move would generate global good-will towards Washington. “I hope that the United States releases all those held at Guantánamo, based on the… Read moreYemen to Washington: close Gitmo
From Witness Against Torture, Jan. 11: Over 80 Arrested in Guantánamo Protests at Supreme Court WASHINGTON, DC – Early this afternoon, over 80 activists organized by Witness Against Torture delivered a message to the U.S. Supreme Court demanding the shut-down… Read moreProtests mark sixth anniversary of Gitmo prison camp
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued an internal memo on Jan. 9 setting a new policy, effective immediately, on the sedation of detainees. The agency “may only involuntarily sedate an alien to facilitate removal where the Government has obtained a… Read moreICE says it won’t sedate deportees
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
