There are doubtless many good reasons to oppose Henrique Capriles Radonski, the bourgeois politician who is challenging Hugo Chávez for Venezuela’s presidency. His Jewish background is equally assuredly not among them.
Carlos Pérez, one of four El Universo newspaper managers convicted of libel against Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, was granted asylum by Panama. El Universo is appealing to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Human Rights Watch called for the reduction of overcrowding to improve poor prison conditions in Latin America following a prison fire in Honduras. The fire killed more than 300 inmates while injuring dozens more.
Argentina’s confederation of transport workers (CATT) has instructed its members not to work on British ships or aircraft arriving in the country, as a show of support for the Argentine government’s claim of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands.
Amnesty International released a report accusing the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) in Libya of allowing the abuse and torture of supporters of former leader Moammar Qaddafi by unofficial militias that control detention facilities.
As we have pointed out over and over, a driver’s license in New York City is literally a license to kill. Meanwhile, police crack down on the solution. From Transportation Nation, Feb. 15: NYPD Issued Almost 50,000 Bicycle Tickets in… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT
Honduras is in shock after a fire at a triple-capacity Comayagua prison left at least 360 dead, many burned or suffocated to death in their cells. Reports said guards hurled keys away before fleeing, abandoning the prisoners.
Accused Indonesian terrorist Umar Patek went on trial for the 2002 Bali bombing and other attacks. He was arrested in Abbottabad, Pakistan, just a few weeks before US special forces killed Osama bin Laden in the same town.
The Defense Department announced that military commission charges have been brought against Guantánamo Bay detainee Majid Shoukat Khan. He is the second to face a military tribunal under President Barack Obama.
Protesters took to the streets of Tehran one year after opposition leaders were put under house arrest for supporting Iran’s last protest wave. An Iranian patrol boat meanwhile had a “close encounter” with a US fleet in the Strait of Hormuz.
French officials said Tuareg guerillas of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) killed some hundred residents at a village they occupied in northern Mali. Over 50,000 have fled fighting in the remote Saharan region.
The National Transitional Council has lost control of Libya’s west to a new federation of militias that accuses the NTC of trying to “hijack the revolution.” Sufis celebrated the birth of the Prophet in Tripoli despite threats and attacks from Salafists.
