News – Page 18 – CounterVortex

PERU: COCALEROS CLASH WITH COPS

from Weekly News Update on the Americas On May 29 in Tocache province, in the Huallaga valley of San Martin in north central Peru, at least 3,500 campesino coca growers (cocaleros) armed with sticks surrounded a group of 230 police… Read morePERU: COCALEROS CLASH WITH COPS

BOLIVIA: PRESIDENT OUSTED AGAIN

from Weekly News Update on the Americas PROTESTS TOPPLE PREZ–AGAIN Indigenous and campesino protests that had shaken Bolivia since May 16 continued on June 6 around demands for the nationalization of natural gas resources and the seating of a constitutional… Read moreBOLIVIA: PRESIDENT OUSTED AGAIN

IRAQ: MEMOGATE AND THE COMFORTS OF VINDICATION

Yeah, Bush Lied–So What Do We Do About It? by Bill Weinberg Two years and counting after the invasion, a year after the official transfer to Iraqi “sovereignty,” and two months after the formation of an elected government, Iraq remains… Read moreIRAQ: MEMOGATE AND THE COMFORTS OF VINDICATION

LEBANON’S POST-ELECTORAL CROSSROADS

Michel Aoun and the Sectarian Shadow by Bilal El-Amine The last round of the staggered parliamentary elections ended with a bang June 26 in the north of Lebanon. Most of the final results were predictable: the Harriri-Jumblatt alliance will control… Read moreLEBANON’S POST-ELECTORAL CROSSROADS

CENTRAL AMERICA: TERROR TARGETS ANTI-CAFTA RESISTANCE

from Weekly News Update on the Americas GUATEMALA: CAMPESINO LEADER KIDNAPPED An unidentified group of armed men intercepted and abducted Maria Antonieta Carrillo, a local leader of Guatemala’s Campesino Unity Committee (CUC), on May 28 in the village of La… Read moreCENTRAL AMERICA: TERROR TARGETS ANTI-CAFTA RESISTANCE

COLOMBIA: PARAMILITARY AMNESTY PASSES, NEW AID PENDING

from Weekly News Update on the Americas AMNESTY LAW PASSES On June 20, the last day of ordinary sessions for the Colombian Congress, the Senate approved the “Justice and Peace” law, which paves the way for a “demobilization” and amnesty… Read moreCOLOMBIA: PARAMILITARY AMNESTY PASSES, NEW AID PENDING

ECUADOR: STRIKERS SEIZE OIL WELLS

from Weekly News Update on the Americas On May 21, residents of the northern Ecuadoran provinces of Sucumbios and Orellana began an open-ended civic strike to demand improvements to roads, schools, housing and health care in the region, which borders… Read moreECUADOR: STRIKERS SEIZE OIL WELLS

PERU: COCALEROS, PEASANT ECOLOGISTS STAGE STRIKES

from Weekly News Update on the Americas HUALLAGA VALLEY: COCALEROS CLASH WITH COPS On May 29 in Tocache province, in the Huallaga valley of San Martin in north central Peru, at least 3,500 campesino coca growers (cocaleros) armed with sticks… Read morePERU: COCALEROS, PEASANT ECOLOGISTS STAGE STRIKES

BOLIVIA: GAS BILL PASSES, PROTESTS EXPLODE

from Weekly News Update on the Americas PREZ FAILS TO EASE PROTESTS Some 15,000 campesinos, students and other protesters filled the Plaza Murillo in La Paz on May 30 to demand nationalization of Bolivia’s natural gas resources and the seating… Read moreBOLIVIA: GAS BILL PASSES, PROTESTS EXPLODE

PLASTIC TOTALITARIANISM

Bankruptcy, “Anti-Terror” Laws Make Americans Captive Wards of Credit Industry by Chesley Hicks “Bankruptcy should always be a last resort in our legal system. If someone does not pay his or her debts, the rest of society ends up paying… Read morePLASTIC TOTALITARIANISM

INDONESIA: THE TSUNAMI’S DEADLY FALLOUT

Pentagon Exploits Humanitarian Mission to Rebuild Military Ties by John M. Miller In the immediate aftermath of the massive tsunami that swept through the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, George W. Bush, safe on his Texas ranch, offered a paltry… Read moreINDONESIA: THE TSUNAMI’S DEADLY FALLOUT

COLOMBIA: PEACE INITIATIVES UNDER ATTACK

Uribe’s “Counter-Guerilla” Campaign Targets Indigenous Models for Demilitarization by Bill Weinberg The carnage in Iraq has pushed several other US military commitments from the headlines. Afghanistan, with 18,000 US troops, jumps to mind. But nearly forgotten is Colombia, where the… Read moreCOLOMBIA: PEACE INITIATIVES UNDER ATTACK