The US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces heard arguments in the appeal of Army Spc. Charles Graner, sentenced to 10 years for abuses committed at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison.
Cuban president Raúl Castro led some 800,000 in the traditional May Day march to Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución, saying survival of the socialist system will require “extraordinary sacrifices.”
As has become traditional, rival Mexican union confederations celebrated International Workers Day on May 1 with separate rallies in Mexico City’s huge Zócalo plaza.
In Panama, Honduras and Guatamala, workers marched to oppose neoliberal economic policies, while marchers in El Salvador demanded the new FMLN government “comply with the change.”
While May Day marchers in Ecuador generally supported the government—and those in Colombia opposed it—Venezuela saw separate marches by supporters and opponents of Hugo Chávez.
Latin Americans generally used the traditional International Workers Day marches on May 1 this year to protest around national issues.
This year’s May Day mobilization in Bolivia comes amid mounting social conflicts, with protesters on the left and the right launching road blocks, hunger strikes and other direct actions.
The oil industry—through its media flacks and bought politicians—is mobilizing to assure that the Gulf of Mexico disaster will not result in an offshore drilling moratorium.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan have posted a video claiming responsibility for the attempted Times Square car-bomb attack. Police say they dismiss the claim.
Our April Exit Poll was: “Is the new healthcare bill a small step for social justice, or big one towards corporate totalitarianism?” We received the following two rather diametrically opposed responses: From JG in New York City: A small step… Read moreThe healthcare bill and corporate rule: our readers write
Police clashed in Athens May 1 with thousands of protesters marching against new austerity measures the Greek government is to adopt. A general strike is called for May 5.
Conservationists fear the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will affect migratory bird populations from Alaska to South America.
