Multiple ethnic struggles in Indonesia made headlines over the New Year’s weekend. On Jan. 2, local police announced they have detained at least one man in connection with the New Year’s Eve bombing at a Christian market in Palu, Central… Read moreIndonesia: corporate-military terror in West Papua revealed
Following a meeting with representatives of Haitian political parties on Dec. 30, Max Mathurin, president of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), announced the postponement of the presidential and legislative elections previously scheduled for Jan. 8. “Following our work schedule, some… Read moreHaiti: vote postponed a fifth time
On Dec. 24 a hired killer shot to death Kaiowa Guarani indigenous leader Dorvalino Rocha at his community’s makeshift roadside encampment in Antonio Joao municipality, in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state. The killer shot Rocha in the chest after… Read moreBrazil: Guarani leader murdered
On Dec. 21, police agents from Chile’s militarized Carabineros Special Forces attacked the Mapuche community of Juan Paillalef in Cunco commune in the 9th region (Araucania). The attack came as community members were protesting a decision by the Ministry of… Read moreChile: Mapuche community attacked
The "Other Campaign," a tour of Mexico by leaders of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), set off from the Chiapas village of La Garrucha on New Years Day—the anniversary of the Zapatistas' 1994 uprising. Rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos, at… Read moreZapatistas begin national tour; violence continues in Chiapas
On December 16 the Mexican League for the Defense of Human Rights (LIMEDDH) reported that a campesino active in the environmental movement in the southern state of Guerrero, Diego Bahena Armenta, hasn’t been seen since November 8, when he was… Read moreMexico: peasant ecologist kidnapped in Guerrero
A group of 25 US Catholic peace protesters held a three-day fast starting on Dec. 12 near the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to protest the situation of 500 male Muslim detainees held there for three years as… Read moreUS protesters fast at Gitmo
Iraq’s largest oil refinery has been shut down following death threats to tanker drivers. The threats followed a steep government-ordered rise in the price of petrol earlier this month. The oil ministry said the shutdown at the Baiji refinery was… Read moreIraq: oil sector crisis deepens, ethnic cleansing continues
A disturbing clip from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Chavez makes anti-Semitic slur Venezuela’s president said in his Christmas speech that “the descendants of those who crucified Christ” own the riches of the world. “The world offers riches to all. However,… Read moreAnti-Semitism in Venezuela?
From the front page of the New York Times, Dec. 28, via Bellaciao: Defense lawyers in some of the country’s biggest terrorism cases say they plan to bring legal challenges to determine whether the National Security Agency used illegal wiretaps… Read moreNSA spying scandal raises challenge in terror cases
From the Financial Times, Dec. 28: Colombian insurgents have killed 28 soldiers in the deadliest attack on the military since President Alvaro Uribe was elected three years ago, setting the stage for heightened tensions ahead of elections in May. The… Read moreFARC wipes out 28 troops on coca-eradication mission
From the New York Times, Dec. 28, via IHT: A recent series of indictments and revelations about corrupt federal agents has rocked the attorney general’s office here and undermined one of President Vicente Fox’s few solid accomplishments: the creation of… Read moreNarco scandals shake elite Mexican federal police force
