Mexico
Matamoros mayhem goes unreported in Mexico
Shootouts in the streets of Matamoros have left at least 25 dead over the past two days—but local media outlets are too intimidated to even report on the violence.
Mexico
Mexican bicentennial celebrations clouded by narco crisis
Bicentennial celebrations were canceled in several municipalities across Mexico for fear of violence, as narco gangs escalate their brutal internecine warfare.
Mexico
Chiapas: Zapatista supporters attacked for building autonomous school
Thugs for local political bosses attacked Zapatista supporters and expelled them from their homes in the Tzeltal community of San Marcos Avilés, Chiapas, in retaliation for building a school.
The Caribbean
Cuba to impose austerity on workers?
Days after Fidel Castro told a reporter “The Cuban model doesn’t even work for us anymore,” the government announced plans to lay off more than half a million workers from the public sector.
The Andes
Quito denies Colombian guerillas launched attack from Ecuador
Quito’s Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño said that the dramatic attack by FARC guerillas on the border town of San Miguel in Colombia’s Putumayo department was not launched from Ecuador.
Mexico
Reynosa jailbreak: inside job?
In Mexico’s biggest jailbreak, 89 prisoners used ladders to scale the walls of the Execution and Sanction Center (CEDES) in the border city of Reynosa. Two guards disappeared along with them.
The Caribbean
Cuba solidarity activist Lucius Walker dies
Latin America solidarity activist Rev. Lucius Walker, 80, died of a heart attack at his home in Demarest, New Jersey. Walker, a Baptist minister, was also active in the US civil rights movement.
The Caribbean
Puerto Rico: independence leader Mari Brás dies
Puerto Rican politicians from across the spectrum praised leftist independence activist Juan Mari Brás, who died at 82 of lung cancer in his home in Río Pedras, San Juan.
Central America
Honduras: IMF ends boycott, resumes loans
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) made an agreement in principle in Tegucigalpa for a standby loan to the Honduran government. This gives the country immediate access to $196 million.
Central America
Honduras: army takes to the streets after massacre
Military units began carrying out street patrols in Honduran cities, mainly Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, in what the government said was an effort to help the police fight crime.
Mexico
Mexico: fighting breaks out at Cananea mine
At least three people suffered serious injuries and 26 were arrested when fighting broke out between striking miners and others at the giant Cananea copper mine in the northern Mexican state of Sonora.
Europe
Balkan Basketball War: flashpoint Kosova?
Albanians and Serbs clashed in the divided Kosova town of Mitrovica, apparently triggered by Albanians who were celebrating the defeat of Serbia’s national basketball team in a semi-final against Turkey.