North Africa
Mali: shrines destroyed; intervention approved
Islamist militants in Timbuktu destroyed more Sufi shrines days after the UN Security Council approved an intervention force to retake Mali’s breakaway north.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: opposition to appeal constitution vote
Egypt’s opposition will appeal the referendum that appears to have voted in a new constitution backed by ruling Islamic parties, asserting the vote was marred by fraud.
Palestine
General strike on West Bank
Palestinian Authority employees, who held a general strike last week, will shut down the West Bank again this week to protest non-payment of their salaries due to Israeli sanctions.
Mexico
Chiapas: Abejas mark 1997 Acteal massacre
Followers of the indigenous pacifist group Las Abejas held a ceremony at the hamlet of Acteal in the Chiapas Highlands to remember the 1997 massacre there and demand justice.
Zapatistas march on San Cristóbal de Las Casas
Thousands of Maya followers of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) marched, masked but unarmed, on the towns of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Ocosingo, Las Margaritas, Palenque, Altamirano, in Mexico’s southern state of Chiapas, marking the turning of the Maya calendar Dec. 21…. Read moreZapatistas march on San Cristóbal de Las Casas
Mexico
Chiapas: Zapatistas mark Maya calendar change
Thousands of Maya followers of the Zapatista rebel movement marched, masked but unarmed, on towns in Mexico's Chiapas state, marking the turning of the Maya calendar.
Mexico
Mexico: prison seized by army after uprising
A prison in northern Mexico’s Durango has been siezed by the military after an armed uprising by inmates left nine guards and 14 prisoners dead.
The Andes
Ecuador: urban guerilla suspects freed
Ten men arrested on “terrorism” and “subversion” charges in Quito were freed after a prison hunger strike. Three women in the group remain behind bars, refusing food.
The Andes
Ecuador: pipeline protests in Guayaquil
Residents and officials in Ecuador’s port Guayaquil are protesting a planned gas pipeline that would run through densely populated areas, charging inadequate safety studies.
The Andes
Aymara dissident denounces Evo Morales in Geneva
Rafael Quispe of the Bolivian Aymara organization CONAMAQ denounced President Evo Morales before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva for violating indigenous autonomy.
The Andes
Peru’s Congress marks Putis massacre
A ceremony was held on the floor of Peru’s Congress to commemorate the 1984 massacre of over 100 campesinos by army troops at the village Putis, in Ayacucho region.
The Andes
Peru: Conga mine opponents threatened
Two leading opponents of the Conga mine project in Peru’s northern Cajamarca region had their homes broken into, and a third’s vehicle was vandalized.