The Andes
Peru: strikes, protests and “cold war”
Peru’s President Alan García says his country has become a pawn in a continental “cold war,” alleging Venezuelan and Bolivian involvement in a wave of strikes and protests.
The Caribbean
Haiti: some unions back down on minimum wage
Maquiladora workers in Haiti agreed to accept a lower minimum wage increase in order avoid lay-offs. The sector has been hit hard by the world recession
Central Asia
Rights groups, Uighur diaspora demand truth in Xinjiang violence
Human Rights Watch is demanding an “international investigator” to probe the ongoing violence in Urumqi, as Uighur expatriates held angry protests at the Chinese embassies in Ankara and Oslo.
Southeast Asia
Philippines: more terror in Mindanao
A wave of terror attacks again left several dead in the southern Philippines region of Mindanao, including a blast at the Cotabato cathedral blamed on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Central America
Zelaya to Honduran armed forces: “Stop the repression!”
Deposed Honduran President Mel Zelaya, speaking from exile to his own armed forces, said: “In the name of God, soldiers of Honduras… I beg and command you: do not repress the Honduran people!”
Europe
Italy: anti-G8 protests rock Vicenza
Thousands of protesters opposing expansion of the US military base at Vicenza clashed with Italian police over the weekend as world leaders gathered for the G8 summit.
Central Asia
Xinjiang: 150 dead in Uighur unrest
Over 150 are dead and some 1,000 injured after Chinese security forces attacked a protest march by ethnic Uighurs, sparking widespread clashes in Kashgar, Xinjiang province.
Central America
Otto Reich behind Honduras coup?
Popular organizations in Honduras charge that ex-US under-secretary of state Otto Reich masterminded a campaign of “sabotage and disinformation” in the prelude to the coup d’etat.
Central America
HOND
Guatemala’s special anti-corruption Court for High Risk Crimes sentenced former vice president Roxana Baldetti to prison for 15 years and six months for her role in the so-called "Magic Water" scandal. The case concerned the awarding of an $18 million dollar contract to decontaminate Lake Amatitlán, an important water source for peasant communities. The contract went to Israeli firm M. Tarcic Engineering Ltd, which claimed it had a "special formula" that could clean the lake within months. An investigation revealed that the "formula" consisted of water, salt and chlorine. The Authority for the Sustainable Management of Lake Amatitlán (AMSA), establsihed to oversee the clean-up, documented illegal dumping of agricultural and municipal waste into the Río Villalobos, which empties into the lake. The UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) supported Guatemalan prosecutors in the conspiracy case against Baldetti. (Photo via EmisorasUnidas)
Central America
Honduras: Zelaya’s jet denied entry; military admits coup was “criminal”
The Honduran army placed military vehicles on the airstrip in Tegucigalpa to prevent President Mel Zelaya from landing—but the army’s top lawyer admitted that the military coup was illegal.
Central America
Honduran golpista: Obama a “little black man who knows nothing”
Honduras’ new foreign minister Enrique Ortez dissed world leaders who reject his coup-installed regime in contemptuous terms—calling Barack Obama a “little black man who knows nothing.”
Central America
OAS holds emergency session on Honduras; Ortega fears “blood-bath”
Meeting in Washington, the OAS again demanded the immediate return of Mel Zelaya to power in Honduras—while Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega said the Honduran military is preparing a “blood-bath.”