police state

Central America

Panamanian workers on indefinite strike

Panamanian construction workers, teachers’ unions, and popular organizations launched an indefinite strike to protest the government’s proposed reforms to the pension system and to demand an end to US interference in the country. Protestors, led by the construction union SUNTRACS, were met by police repression in various parts of the country, including tear gas aimed directly at students. In addition to fears that reforms to the country’s social security system will lead to its privatization, the country’s grassroots organizations believe that President José Raúl Mulino has undermined Panamanian sovereignty by not being firm enough in his negotiations with the Trump administration over control of the Panama Canal. (Image: SUNTRACS)

The Caribbean

Growing climate of fear in Trinidad & Tobago

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged political candidates in Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) to reaffirm their commitment to press freedom ahead of the upcoming elections, following a sharp drop in the country’s security ranking on RSF’s World Press Freedom Index. Rising crime and the declaration of a state of emergency have caused the country’s security score, ranking the level of safety for journalists, to fall from 6th to 24th in 2024. By the end of 2024, the traditionally stable country’s murder rate had surged to one of the highest per capita in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 624 homicides in a population of just 1.5 million people. Most killings were linked to organized crime, as more than 100 gangs are believed to be active in the two-island nation. (Photo: Christianwelsh via Wikimedia Commons)

Europe

Crimean Tatar activists get prison after ‘illegal’ trial

Six Crimean Tatar men received long prison terms from a Russian court, following a trial considered “illegal” by the Ukrainian government and human rights groups. The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down 14-year sentences to Khalil Mambetov, Refat Seydametov, Osman Abdurazakov, Leman Zekeriayev and Ekrem Krosh. Ayder Asanov was given 11 years. Although accused of “participation in the activities of a terrorist organization” and “preparation for the violent seizure of power” under the Russian Criminal Code, the charges concern their involvement in Hizb ut-Tahrir, a transnational Muslim civic organization that is banned in Russia but is legal in Ukraine and most countries around the world. Additionally, the nonviolent activities in question took place in Crimea, which Russia has illegally occupied and declared annexed since 2014. Kyiv, and governments around the world, recognize Crimea as part of Ukraine. (Photo: Crimean Solidarity via KHPG)

Central America

MAGA-fascism and the struggle in El Salvador

US-directed repression and counter-insurgency in El Salvador in the 1980s allowed the imposition of “free trade” or “neoliberal” regimes in the generations since then—ultimately culminating in the adoption of CAFTA. This, in turn, has exacerbated the expropriation of the traditional lands of the peasantry by the agro-export oligarchy. It also led to the hypertrophy of the narco economy and a new nightmare of violence, which Nayib Bukele has exploited to establish a new dictatorship. This dictatorship is now openly in league with Donald Trump, and has in fact become critical to his fascist agenda. In Episode 275 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks down El Salvador’s historical role as a laboratory of genocide and police-state methods for US imperialism, and the imperative of trans-national resistance. (Map: University of Texas)

Europe

Russia: youth gets prison for poetic anti-war protest

A court in St. Petersburg sentenced 19-year-old activist Daria Kozyreva to two years and eight months in prison for “discrediting the armed forces” by publicly posting 19th-century Ukrainian poetry in protest of Russia’s war in Ukraine. On the second anniversary of the start of invasion last February, Kozyreva taped a piece of paper bearing a quote from Testament, by Ukrainian national poet Taras Shevchenko, onto his statue in a St. Petersburg park. The excerpt read: “Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants’ blood / The freedom you have gained.” (Photo: Mediazona via Novaya Gazeta)

Watching the Shadows

Trump-Bukele detention deal heads for clash with courts

The Trump administration’s deportation policies took center stage this week as Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele visited the White House, courts continued challenging the legality of the deportations, and a Maryland senator travelled to El Salvador in an attempt to make contact with a man known to have been wrongfully deported. With Trump now openly defying the federal courts—and, in fact, seeking to expand indefinite detention of deportees in El Salvador’s prison system—the long-awaited showdown between the executive and judiciary appears to have arrived. (Photo: WikiMedia via Jurist)

East Asia

Demand China release detained Taiwanese publisher

Human Rights Watch expressed deep concern over the continued detention of Taiwanese publisher Li Yanhe in China since 2023, citing violations of freedom of expression and the right to a fair trial. For nearly two years, no official information was released about his case until Chinese authorities revealed in March that he had been secretly sentenced to an unspecified term. Li, who writes under the pen name Fu Cha, is editor-in-chief of Gusa Publishing, a Taiwan-based company known for producing books that critically examine the Chinese Communist Party and cover politically sensitive topics such as the Tiananmen Square massacre and human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Li was born in China, but moved to Taiwan in 2009 to establish Gusa Publishing. In 2023, he obtained Taiwanese citizenship, a process that required him to return to mainland China to formally cancel his household registration. During his visit to Shanghai, he was detained by Chinese police on allegations of “engaging in criminal activities to incite secession.” (Image: Gusa Publishing)

Watching the Shadows

MAGA-fascism and the dark side of 420

April 20 has become a national day of celebration for the hedonistic cannabis subculture, but it has also long been marked by the radical right and Nazi-nostalgists around the world for unsavory reasons. It now emerges that Trump’s Inauguration Day executive order declaring a state of emergency on the southern border also set a deadline of April 20 for a joint Pentagon-Homeland Security recommendation on whether to invoke the Insurrection Act. This has sparked much speculation that Trump will immediately do so, declaring martial law and consolidating a dictatorship… this weekend. How likely is this, and is the date a mere coincidence? In Episode 274 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg breaks it down. (Image: APE)

Greater Middle East

Amnesty International protests Turkish repression wave

Amnesty International called for an end to unlawful violence against protesters and detention of activists and journalists by police in Turkey. The country has seen mass protests in the wake of the arrest of opposition presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu. Authorities have confirmed the arrest of 1,133 protesters, and at least eight journalists, since the start of the protests last week. Upon review of video footage, Amnesty secretary general Agnès Callamard noted police interactions with peaceful demonstrators involving use of batons, pepper spray, tear-gas, water-cannon and plastic bullets, as well as the kicking of people on the ground. Callamard stated that such use of force has resulted in numerous injuries and hospitalizations, and called for a prompt investigation of the violence. (Photo: ToprakM via Wikimedia Commons)

South Asia

Call for UN to intervene in Balochistan repression

The international Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC) called upon UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urgently intervene in the repression of peaceful protests in Pakistan’s conflicted Balochistan province. The group urged the UN to secure the immediate release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other members of the Baloch Yekjehti Committee, a local rights group. Dr. Baloch and several of her comrades were detained at a protest in provincial capital Quetta against enforced disappearances. Urging global action to hold Pakistan accountable, the BHRC described the arrests as “a blatant violation of fundamental freedoms and democratic principles.” (Image: BYC)

Europe

Proposed EU migrant rules ‘cruel and unrealistic’

Human Rights Watch criticized the proposed European Union “Returns Regulation” for undocumented migrants as “cruel and unrealistic” for allowing longer detention and harsher treatment. The European Commission seeks to establish standardized procedures so that returns of migrants can be more efficient while still respecting fundamental human rights. However, the proposed regulations broaden the criteria for mandatory forced return of undocumented migrants. HRW argues that this could allow the prolonged detention of vulnerable individuals, including unaccompanied children, if origin countries refuse to cooperate. HRW also raised concerns that the third-country “return hubs,” which would serve to transfer migrants, fail to guarantee safe and sustainable shelter. (Photo: Sara Creta/TNH)

Greater Middle East

Amnesty International condemns arrest of Istanbul mayor

Amnesty International condemned the Turkish government’s detention of over 100 individuals, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, calling it a severe escalation in an ongoing crackdown on the political opposition. Amnesty decried “the weaponization of vague anti-terrorism allegations to detain and prosecute opponents.” The timing of the crackdown is notable, as it comes just before the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) is to select its presidential candidate. İmamoğlu was expected to be chosen, but the government actions, including the closure of transportation routes in Istanbul and the cancellation of İmamoğlu’s university degree, have thrown this into doubt—and added fuel to the fire of public dissent. Article 101 of the Turkish constitution mandates that those seeking the presidency must hold higher education qualifications. (Photo: Hunanuk via Wikimedia Commons)