Central America

Honduras: unions start open-ended strike

The three main Honduran labor federations held a march in Tegucigalpa marking the start of an open-ended general strike against the coup-installed de facto government.

The Caribbean

Haiti: maquila workers march for wage hike

Haiti’s President René Préval refused to promulgate a new law raising the minimum wage. prompting workers to shut down the Sonapi factory complex on Port-au-Prince’s northern outskirts.

The Caribbean

Dominican Republic: medical workers extend strike

The Dominican Republic’s National Union of Nursing Services (UNASED) announced that Dominican medical workers will continue a strike that started last week to demand higher wages.

The Caribbean

Cuba: US activists defy embargo

Groups that protest the US ban on travel to Cuba returned to the US without incident after their latest visits, the first since US president Barack Obama took office.

The Andes

Venezuela and Colombia at brink of war—again?

At the South American summit in Quito, Hugo Chávez warned that the “winds of war are beginning to blow” on the continent—a day after accusing Colombian troops of a border incursion.