Tag: autonomy

Oceania

Korea nuclear crisis spurs Guam independence bid

Amid all the hype over North Korea’s threats to fire a nuclear missile at Guam, just a few media accounts have made note of how Guamians themselves are reacting. Guam is usually seen in the US only as a strategic Pentagon outpost. But with a referendum on independence in the offing, growing sentiment on the island holds that the only thing Guamians are getting out of their current US territorial status is being made a nuclear target.

Southern Cone

Argentina: protests over ‘disappeared’ activist

Tens of thousands of Argentines held protests across the country, demanding answers one month after the disappearance of an indigenous rights activist. Demonstrators held photos of Santiago Maldonado, who was last seen when border police evicted a group of indigenous Mapuche from lands in the southern Patagonia region. In Buenos Aires, protesters converged on the Plaza de Mayo, iconic for its role in the struggle to demand justice for the "disappeared" under the military dictatorship.

Syria

Syria: Rojava flashpoint for Russo-Turkish war?

Days after again vowing that Ankara will not tolerate a Kurdish state in Syria, Turkey beefed up artillery and tanks along the border, signaling an imminent offensive to take the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin. This could be the start of a wider Turkish offensive—reportedly to be dubbed “Euphrates Sword”—to reduce or expunge the Kuridsh autonomous zone of Rojava and establish a Turkish “buffer zone” in Syria’s north. Ominously, Russia has meanwhile mobilized troops to Afrin, to back up the Kurdish militia that controls the enclave.

Iraq

Yazidis declare autonomous nation of Ezidikhan

In an historic step for the beleaguered Yazidi people of northwestern Iraq, the Supreme Spiritual Council of the Yezidi Nation has proclaimed the establishment of the "Provisional Government of the Autonomous Nation of Ezidikhan." The provisional government arrives just three years after the Yazidi people faced a genocidal assault that brought them to the edge of extinction, following the seizure of their territory by ISIS.

Syria

Syria: regime rejects Rojava elections

The Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northern Syria has set dates for local council and regional assembly elections—a move immediately rejected by the Bashar Assad regime. Deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad told reporters from Damascus that the elections “will be a joke. Syria will never ever allow any part of its territory to be separated… Those who will move in those directions know what price they have to pay.”

Planet Watch

Victory for Inuit sea rights in Canadian high court

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously in favor of the Inuit community of Clyde River, Nunavut, which has for the past three years fought to stop seismic testing in their Arctic waters. The Court found that the Inuit were not properly consulted on the oil exploration project off Baffin Island. The decision nullified a seismic testing permit issued by the National Energy Board.

Syria

Syria: new popular uprising against al-Qaeda

Residents of Saraqeb town in Syria’s Idlib province rose up and drove off fighters of the local al-Qaeda affiliate after jihadists fired on protesters. The incident began when Saraqeb residents held self-organized elections for the town council, and raised the Free Syria flag from the radio tower in celebration. Tahrir al-Sham fighters responded by tearing down the flag, trampling it, and firing in the air in a display of defiance. This sparked a general uprising against the group’s presence in Saraqeb.

The Andes

Peru: Cuzco unrest over airport plan

Protesters blocked the train line to the Inca archaeological site of Machu Picchu, stranding thousands of tourists during a 48-hour paro (civil strike) by residents of Peru's Cuzco region. British-owned PeruRail company said service was being suspended because of the blockades. At issue is a planned new airport for the Cuzco area, that was suspended in March due to controversies surrounding the construction contract.

The Andes

Colombia: still more ‘consultas’ reject extractivism

More localities in Colombia are formally rejecting mineral and oil exploitation within their territories through popular consultas (consultations, or referenda), in a growing challenge to extractive industries in the country. Two victories were reported as "no" votes prevailed overwhelmingly in the municipalities of Arbeláez, Cundinamarca department, and Pijao, Quindío. Celebrations broke out in the streets as the results were announced.

Iraq

Iraq: will fall of Mosul widen war?

The full liberation of Mosul from ISIS has been declared, but at a terrible cost in human lives—and multiple contradictions among the alliance assembled to take the city could open a new war in Iraq's north.

The Andes

Colombia: high court upholds indigenous justice

Colombia's Supreme Court nullified a prison term imposed on an indigenous leader for the detention and flogging of an army soldier who had entered his people's territory in 2008.

Iraq

Syria: will fall of Raqqa widen war?

With the Syrian Kurds now facing open war from both Turkey and the Assad regime, the imminent taking of Raqqa portends a multi-sided scramble for former ISIS territory.