The town of Vicam in the northwestern Mexico state of Sonora was the site of the Meeting of Indigenous Peoples of America, which brought together some 1,500 representatives of indigenous groups from the US, Canada, Mexico, Central America and South… Read moreMexico: Sonora hosts indigenous encuentro
As has become traditional, thousands of indigenous people held meetings and staged protests in Latin America to mark the anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ first landing in the Western Hemisphere in 1492. Oct. 12 is officially known in much of the… Read moreGuatemala: indigenous protests on Oct. 12
On Oct. 14, Iranian authorities arrested Emaddedin Baghi, a prominent activist who who heads the Committee for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights and has campaigned against the death penalty “He is charged with spreading propaganda against the regime and publishing… Read moreIran arrests anti-death penalty activist
Mexico’s Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), now convening an international forum on indigenous rights at Vicam, Sonora, are protesting comments by Supreme Court Justice Aguirre Anguiano dismissing the rebel movement as “folklore.” The statement came in a case brought by… Read moreMexico: high court justice dismisses EZLN as “folklore” group
On Oct. 12, the Regional Court in Ostrava, Czech Republic, awarded compensation of CZK500,000 (US$260,000) to a Romani woman, Iveta Červeňáková, 30, for having been sterilized against her will. Ostrava City Hospital is to pay the damages. According to Kumar… Read moreCzech courts indemnify Romani woman for forced sterilization —at last
Elite police units raided properties across New Zealand Oct. 15, apparently seizing weapons in what the media are calling “anti-terrorist” sweeps targeting Maori activists. An armed roadblock was set up around the inland Maori settlement of Ruatoki on the North… Read moreNew Zealand: Maori activists arrested in “terrorist” sweeps
From NY1, Oct. 15: Toddler Dies In Livery Cab Accident In East Harlem A two-year-old child was killed in a car accident at the corner of 111th Street and Fifth Avenue in East Harlem Friday afternoon. Police say a livery… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Heavy rains have caused floods and landslides throughout Central America, leaving at least 18 dead, thousands displaced and many roads impassable and communities cut off. Fourteen were killed in Costa Rica Oct. 11 when a mudslide brought down a hillside… Read moreDeadly floods leave thousands displaced in Central America
At least 21 Afro-Colombian barequeros, or small-scale miners, are dead and 28 others injured after a hillside collapsed Oct. 13 following several days of heavy rains on the banks of the Rio Cauca, near Suarez, Cauca department. The open-pit mine… Read moreColombian gold miners killed in landslide
An Oct. 13 New York Times story, “Energy Crunch Threatens South American Nations,” poses the problem in terms of “growth…outpacing fuel supplies”—but actually sheds much light on the continent’s political fault lines, which persist despite the predominance of populist or… Read moreEnergy populism divides South American nations
From the Colombia Support Network (CSN), Oct. 12: The Colombia Support Network (CSN) has received word from the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó that two members of the Peace Community, Arley Tuberquia and Martha Basquez, were detained by… Read moreColombian peasant pacifists detained by Israeli authorities
Forgive our cynicism but it smells to us like a quick cash-in (albeit a year late, so as not to seem unseemly) on the Da Vinci Code hype. The official website of the Holy See has a link right on… Read moreVatican opens Knights Templar archives
