More than 100,000 Costa Ricans marched against the pending Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in the capital, San José, Sept. 30, chanting “Costa Rica is not for sale!” Some were dressed as skeletons, or wore masks of President Bush… Read moreCosta Ricans march against CAFTA
From Rights Action via Upside Down World, Sept. 20: Communities affected by Canadian-US transnational mining corporation Goldcorp’s (formerly Glamis Gold) San Martin open pit gold mine in the Siria Valley [of Honduras] are denouncing the company’s plans to release water… Read moreHonduras: Canadian mining company threatens campesino lands
A striking schoolteacher named Wilfredo Lara was killed Aug. 27 while participating in a road blockade at Macuelizo, in Santa Bárbara department of western Honduras. An angered motorist, who apparently opened fire on the blockade with a handgun and hit… Read moreHonduras: teacher killed in protest
The Sept. 9 election to replace Guatemalan President Oscar Berger featured more body bags than tangible ideas to improve the country. Now facing a Nov. 4 runoff election, voters are left with the tired choice between a military strongman and… Read moreGuatemalan elections: back to the future?
From the Guatemala Human Rights Commission-USA (GHRC-USA), Sept. 11: José Emanuel “Pepe” Méndez Dardón, son of longtime human rights defender Amílcar Méndez, was shot to death in Guatemala City on the afternoon of August 17 by assailants with high caliber… Read moreGuatemala: son of human rights defender murdered
From CISPES via Upside Down World, Sept. 11: Eight members of the Salvadoran General Hospitals Union (SIGEESAL) were illegally arrested on September 4 for participating in a demonstration against the privatization of the national health system back on July 6…. Read moreEl Salvador: anti-privatization protesters jailed
On Sept. 13 Costa Rican vice president and planning minister Kevin Casas took a leave of absence pending an investigation by the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) into charges that he used public resources improperly to support a campaign in favor… Read moreCosta Rica: CAFTA scandal hits veep
From the University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program via the Rainforest Foundation, Sept. 7: On September 4, 2007, Hurricane Felix hit land on the Northeast Coast of Nicaragua as a level 5 hurricane. Initial reports have told… Read moreEmergency fund appeal for devastated Nicaraguan indigenous community
Two residents, including an 11-year-old boy, are dead following riots at the village of Cubulco in Guatemala’s Baja Verapaz department. Protesters torched the home of the mayor, Rolando Rivera, and the village remains occupied by a large detachment of the… Read moreTwo dead in Guatemala riots
In the three days from Aug. 4 to Aug. 6, unknown assailants carried out three attacks against activists for the leftist Gathering for Guatemala (EG) party and two of its candidates in Sept. 9 national and local elections. The EG’s… Read moreGuatemala: activists killed as vote nears
El Salvador is sending its ninth contingent to join the US-sponsored occupation of Iraq on Aug. 7. The first Salvadoran troops joined the occupation in August 2003. The new contingent will have some 300 members, from the army’s elite Cuscatlan… Read moreEl Salvador sends more troops to Iraq
Human bones, organs and tissues will be considered commodities if the pending Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) is ratified, Costa Rica’s Foreign Trade Ministry has acknowledged. The admission came in a statement released from Minister Marco Vinicio Ruiz to… Read moreCAFTA to make human organs commodities
