Mexico
Mexico: Peña Nieto sends a message, jails union boss
The government arrests famously corrupt union boss and power broker Elba Esther Gordillo. Is the new president trying to clean house–or show who's the boss?
Southern Cone
Argentina: provincial court blocks Monsanto facility
Monsanto encounters resistance in Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, where environmentalists and residents have at least temporarily blocked construction of a plant.
The Caribbean
Haiti: still defiant, Duvalier finally goes to court
Duvalier finally showed up in court and answered some questions. “Everything was going well when I was here,” he said. “When I came back, I found a broken and corrupt country.”
The Caribbean
Haiti: homeless camp destroyed before summit
Three years after the earthquake thousands of displaced people still live in tent cities–and landowners and the government continue to evict and harass them.
The Caribbean
Puerto Rico: thousands protest airport privatization
Puerto Ricans marched on San Juan’s Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport to protest plans to privatize the facility through a 40-year lease to an international consortium.
Venezuelan indigenous leader Sabino Romero assassinated
Sabino Romero, cacique (traditional chief) of the Yukpa indigenous people, who long opposed extractive industries in Venezuela’s Sierra de Perijá, was assassinated March 4 in a road ambush. Said human rights group PROVEA in a statement: “Sabino Romero had suffered a constant ciminalization by… Read moreVenezuelan indigenous leader Sabino Romero assassinated
The Andes
Venezuela: indigenous leader assassinated
Sabino Romero, cacique (traditional chief) of the Yukpa indigenous people, who opposed extractive industries in Venezuela’s Sierra de Perijá, was assassinated in a road ambush.
Planet Watch
Court upholds statutory protection for polar bears
A US appeals court upheld the listing of polar bears as a “threatened” species under the Endangered Species Act due to the threat to their habitat from global warming.
UAE begins trial of 94 charged in coup plot
The United Arab Emirates began the trial of 94 charged with plotting to overthrow the government. The defendants are members of al-Islah, a nonviolent political association.
New York City
WHY WE FIGHT
From Gothamist, March 4: Baby Whose Parents Were Killedin Williamsburg Hit-And-Run Has Died The infant who was delivered prematurely after his parents were killed in a Williamsburg hit-and-run has died, according to Orthodox community leader Isaac Abraham. The child had been listed… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Ecuador: indigenous march for water rights
April 2010 indigneous march in Quito against President Rafael Correa’s proposed law on water resources, which was rejected as giving too free a hand to mining and other extractive industries. Correa asks where Marx ever criticized the “mega-mining” projects he has… Read moreEcuador: indigenous march for water rights
Central America
Honduras: Lenca communities on ‘maximum alert’
Lenca indigenous communities in Honduras have declared a state of “maximum alert,” pledging to resist hydro-electric and mineral development projects slated for their lands.