People Before Profit blog

Crisis in Honduras: labor takes hold

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:57:00 +0000

The labor movement, responding to murders of peasant activists and to precarious living conditions, is leading popular mobilization in Honduras. Now a teachers' strike is targeting the government of President Porfirio Lobo, legacy of last year's U.S.-assisted, right-wing coup that removed President Manuel Zelaya.

Late this month, three members of the Unified Campesino Movement of Aguan (MUCA) were ambushed and murdered, allegedly by assailants hired by agri-business tycoon Miguel Facussé. The body of peasant leader Maria Teresa Flores, mother of 14 children, was found in the same region, a week after she'd been tortured and murdered. The shooting death August 25 of Israel Zelaya Díaz brought the total of journalists killed this year to nine.

In a radio interview, Berta Oliva, president of the COFADEH human rights group, revealed the existence of a common grave containing the bodies of 100 recently assassinated victims.

Prensa Latina reported that 50,000 Honduran have lost jobs this year and that 180,000 went jobless in 2009. Drought in southern Honduras has necessitated UN food aid. Teachers, up against a proposed General Education Law that would privatize education, are at the center of mounting turmoil.

They went on strike early in August, demanding the government pay back $242 million plundered from the teachers' pension fund after the coup, pay into the pension fund more than $200 million unpaid since 2007, and reverse the firings of workers at the National Autonomous University. On August 20, police attacked 25,000 teachers marching in Tegucigalpa, wounding several. Some 30,000 demonstrated on August 23. "We don't want public education to die," Edgardo Casana, president of the COPRUMH teachers' union, told reporters.

Meeting simultaneously in Honduras, unionists from 12 countries belonging to FELATRAC, the Coca Cola workers' federation, sent a letter to Latin American presidents. They backed the striking teachers' demands and urged the presidents to continue non-recognition of the Porfirio Lobo government and fight to keep Honduras out of the Organization of American States. In the letter, they blamed biofuel-producing landowners, Facussé chief among them, for 10 peasant murders this year.

Edgardo Casana, expressing gratitude for FELATRAC's support, noted, "In the end, the world acquires goods, capital, and wealth through the muscle power of workers."

In a dramatic display of worker solidarity, "hundreds of thousands" of Hondurans mobilized by the National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP) and the CUTH labor Federation marched on August 18 in support of the teachers. They demanded also a minimum wage increase; rejection of a proposed "public-private investment law," seen as a vehicle for privatization; and action against a pending "law on temporary employment" that assails social security.

Union leader and FNRP head Juan Barahona told reporters, "We are not going to rest until Honduras is re-founded." He anticipated an announcement soon as to whether or not FNRP had reached its target of securing one million signatures in favor of a Constituent Assembly. The FNRP web site on August 27 published "communication number one" of the "Regional Committee for the General Strike," now in the planning stages. At a press conference CUTH secretary general Israel Salinas declared, "We are living in a situation of ungovernability."

Setting the tone for worker mobilization is ex- President Manuel Zelaya. In an August 22 letter from exile in the Dominican Republic, the former lumber and cattle businessman denounced the 'insatiable appetite of a few" who are privatizing basic services. Addressed to "Worker Comrades of Honduras," the letter called upon unions and peasants to join indigenous and African-descended peoples in struggle for rights "delayed for centuries." Writing as the "Coordinator General of the FNRP," Zelaya accused the current regime of "turning back all the laws, decrees, regulations we took [as President] to benefit the people."

"We are all workers, all of us who work for salaries and other compensations," Zelaya explained. And "the working class, employed, unemployed, and underemployed, in rural areas and in cities, must feel itself unified and must identify with this struggle." He concluded: "Workers of my land, unity with the teachers or death!"

Honduran academician and veteran human rights activist Juan Almendares, quoted in a recent NACLA report, commented, "Today, the struggle is precisely about the neoliberal economic model, imperial globalization, and this whole campaign by financial capital to gain power over our lands, to take our resources."

Photo: Supporters of Honduras' ousted President Manuel Zelaya march in the capital city Tegucigalpa, June 28. (AP/Fernando Antonio)

Organized crime: part of the system in Guatemala

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:26:00 +0000

GUATEMALA CITY - Tens of thousands of Guatemalans are going hungry and hundreds of thousands of children suffer from malnutrition and even die of hunger, thanks to a system that keeps them submerged in extreme poverty. Alejandro Giammatti, ex-presidential candidate of the GANA ["Grand National Alliance"] party, acts as a faithful representative of this system, primarly at the service of big financial capital, both foreign and domestic. Giammattei has recently made a fool of himself by going on a hunger-strike in an attention-seeking effort to evade justice. The National Commission against Impunity in Guatemala [CICIG] has submitted evidence not only of Giammattei's involvement in criminal activities and human rights violations, but also of his links with gangs and organized crime, evidence that also suggests the involvement of an ex-government minister and of the ex-director of the National Civil Police (PNC).

Evidence has already been released detailing relationships between criminal gangs (here known as "maras") operating from within the country's prisons, and the highest government authorities in Guatemala. It is said that gangs pay a regular "quota" to all government officials, beginning at the cabinet level and including the chief of police and prison officials. It is alleged that individuals who were aware of these links have been systematically murdered, one by one, in order to erase any evidence of state involvement with organized crime under previous governments.

There are also allegations of criminal involvement on the part of powerful business leaders, members of the country's oligarchic class who have been accused of both directing and benefitting from organized criminal gang activity in Guatemala. It is said that these are the ones who hire paid thugs (being those who can afford such luxuries!) in order to repress social and people's movements, and who arrange the selective assassinations of the people's bravest leaders, seeking to maintain power through terror and intimidation by neutralizing struggles for popular demands.

Everything indicates that this is part and parcel of a neoliberal effort to weaken the state as much as possible, leaving it powerless to act against domestic and international financial gangsters who launder their criminal profits through the system's banks. These great tax-evaders oppose any fiscal reform that might allow the country to develop a social budget that might give the country modern hospitals that could save human lives and schools that could offer access to education to the entire population. They are the ones who will not allow the strengthening of public safety organizations, keeping them too weak to fight back against corruption and crime. They are the ones who oppose additional investment, seeking to avoid laying the foundation for economic and social development that might generate jobs, to fight unemployment and misery.

It is sad and even ridiculous that the same media outlets, columnists and institutions that have always called for the strengthening of a state of laws, for absolute respect for the law, and who have argued that each of us, without exception, ought to be subject to the rule of law, and that no individual is above the law, are now changing their tune. Now that representatives of a government that they were part of or felt part of are being investigated and/or jailed, they rush to defend the accused, spinning the facts and questioning the impartiality of a Supreme Court of Justice chosen in an electoral process that they, themselves promoted and watched over. Now they are even questioning the quality of the CICIG's investigative work, when just recently they were offering it their total confidence and support when they saw it as an ideal instrument for bringing down their political opponents.
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Guatemala, August 20, 2010

Pablo Monsanto is secretary general of the Alternative New Nation (ANN) Party, and signatory to the Guatemala Peace Accords. Republished from Alternativa Nueva Nacion, ANN with the author's permission.

Photo: A demonstrator carries a sign that reads in Spanish "Guatemala bleeds" during a protest against violence in Guatemala City, July 23. There are about 17 deaths per day in Guatemala City, a city of 2 million. (AP/Moises Castillo)

S. Africa gov’t urged to talk with unions

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:21:00 +0000

South Africa's communists called on the ANC (African National Congress) government and the country's unions over the weekend to "sit down and engage frankly" in order to resolve a three-week-long public sector strike.

The central committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) warned allies in the Tripartite Alliance (ANC, SACP, Congress of South African Trade Unions - COSATU) that "the longer it is prolonged the more everyone suffers and the danger of unbridgeable positions becoming entrenched."

Its leadership also said the demands of the strikers were legitimate.

Noting that the "wage gap in the public sector between the highest paid echelons and the lowest is 91 to 1," it urged ANC ministers to ensure that there is a "collective moratorium on salary increases" at the top.

The SACP CC also condemned "acts of gross indiscipline" on the part of some strikers, such as neglect of intensive care unit patients and physical threats against scabs, warning that this served to "detract from the legitimacy of the struggle."

Reposted from Morning Star.

Photo: Public sector workers march in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Aug. 26 in a mass demonstration for higher wages. (AP/Themba Hadebe)

Behind the massacre in Mexico

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:27:00 +0000

On Tuesday, August 24, Mexican Marines discovered 72 bodies of murdered immigrants (58 men and 14 women) at a farm near the town of San Fernando in the Northeastern state of Tamaulipas, about 120 miles south of Brownsville, Texas on the Rio Grande.

The victims, although not all have yet been identified by nationality, were not Mexican citizens, but themselves undocumented immigrants traversing Mexico together on the way to the United States.

Mexico's National Security Director, Alejandro Poiré, tentatively identified them as coming from El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador and Brazil, according to the newsmagazine Milenio.

Evidently a notorious drug gang called "Los Zetas" ("the Zs"), which according to Gustavo Castillo of the Mexico City daily La Jornada and others say controls San Fernando, had kidnapped the immigrants with the idea of enslaving them as part of their criminal operations, but the migrants refused. One of the migrants escaped to a nearby Marine post. After a firefight with the Zetas, the Marines found the corpses.

The original Zetas were started by rogue military officers trained at the U.S. Army School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Ga. At first they hired out as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel, but subsequently formed their own extremely violent cartel. They now contest the Gulf Cartel's control of the Northeastern border area.

That drug cartels kidnap undocumented immigrants and demand that their relatives in the United States or in Mexico pay ransom in exchange for their freedom (and their lives) is not new. This has happened with arrested undocumented Cuban immigrants, for example, with police buses being waylaid and the immigrants they were carrying turning up safe and sound on U.S. soil.

Non-Mexicans are somewhat more vulnerable than Mexicans in these situations as they are already in Mexico illegally. Corruption in Mexican police and immigration agencies makes the matter significantly worse; many non-Mexicans report that they are robbed, beaten and shaken down in their trip through Mexico. But Mexican citizens headed for the U.S. have been kidnapped for ransom also.

Reasonable people might see this latest bloody incident and a number of others like it as a sign that the country's war against drug cartels is spiraling out of control. But Mexico's conservative President Felipe Calderon caused jaws to drop by claiming that this mega-death incident proves that his strategy of militarizing the struggle against drug cartels is successful. According to his logic, groups like the Zetas are on the ropes in the drug war, and thus are forced to try out new rackets like kidnapping undocumented immigrants for ransom.

But even a busted cuckoo clock like Calderon gives the right time twice a year, and in this case he has made two eminently reasonable requests from the United States on which the government has simply not acted: To crack down on the some 7,000 gun shops that operate near the U.S.-Mexican border, which are a source of weapons with which the cartels often outgun Mexican police forces; and to do a better job of attacking our own country's massive appetite for the narcotics, which have made the cartels rich.

There are other things that can and must be done:

First, there has to be a comprehensive immigration reform in the United States that creates safe and legal mechanisms of immigration. If this is complete enough, it will put the kidnappers out of business.
Secondly, developing countries like the ones these immigrants come from need to be able to provide jobs and economic security for their poorest people.

Of the four countries that Poiré says were represented in the 72 fatalities, in fact three (Brazil, El Salvador and Ecuador) have left of center governments that are working to improve conditions for poor farmers and workers. The United States should be supporting these efforts.

Honduras was doing so also, but in June 28 its progressive government was overthrown by a military coup and since then landowners and employers have been doing what they can to reverse the previous government's pro-worker and pro-farmer policies, as well as unleashing repression. The United States has not, as far as anyone can tell, been putting pressure on the new Honduran government to reverse this.

Finally, fighting drug abuse and trafficking as a "war" has to be abandoned. Drug abuse has to be seen as a medical and social problem, and treated with medical help, counseling and educational efforts. This is how our tax money should be spent.

Photo: This image released by Mexico's Navy shows the site where 72 bodies were found in San Fernando, eastern Mexico, Aug. 24. (Mexico's Secretary Navy/AP)

Colombia’s Communists celebrate 80 years in fight for democracy, unity

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:56:00 +0000

On August 13, the Colombian Communist Party (PCC) celebrated its 80^th anniversary. Friends and allies spoke at festivities in Bogota, testifying to respect and gratitude the Party has earned for long, intense, and dangerous struggle. Party leaders touched upon tactics and political goals they depend upon as revolutionary socialists.

Harvard University graduate, economist, and academician Clara Lopez Obregon greeted hundreds of attendees in her capacity as president of the Alternative Democratic Pole, Colombia's left leaning electoral coalition known also as the "Polo." As quoted by the Communist Party's Voz newspaper, Lopez announced, "The best people, the most dedicated, the most honest, the most engaged are in the Communist Party."

She added that "Eighty years in the life of a people is not much time, but 80 years of struggle in the conditions in which the Colombian Communist Party has struggled are an eternity because of the difficulties, the stigmatization, and the persecution."

Carlos Gaviria also spoke for the Polo: "Colombia doesn't know how much the Communist Party has contributed to democracy." He lauded the PCC for "looking to implement the purposes of a just society [while] confronting persecution and intimidation." "That's no small thing," he said. As Polo presidential candidate in 2006, Gaviria garnered 2.6 million votes.

Fitting in as backdrop for the event were the deaths over many years of thousands of Party activists; decades of unrelenting struggle between rich and poor, between city and country; and steady militarization of Colombian society. That the Party's advance coincided with weakness and division plaguing the world socialist movement is noteworthy.

Party leaders' ideas of methods and guiding principles were on display. Senator Gloria Inez Ramirez, for example, maintained, "Unity for people's victory is fundamental," recalling that "The Communist Party has contributed to organization of the masses and creation of consciousness for revolutionary struggle."

The Senator, a Communist Party member, holds office under the aegis of the Polo, which, she said "epitomizes an ideology of unity that must be honored by leaders and activists alike." Ramirez censured examples of imperialist aggression, among them the U.S. blockade of Cuba and U.S. bases in Colombia

Party Secretary General Jaime Caycedo continued: "While it's a start," he said, "the ideology of unity by itself [does not represent] a full and completed program; it's only a declaration of intention." "Unity does not come about in a spontaneous manner, we have to build it. We have often claimed that unity of action is a matter of many factors, many mobilizations, and many variations of what comes out of popular struggle, sometimes spontaneously, sometimes less spontaneously. Meanwhile the question is: What type of unity of action do we need today? I think there is the need to apply a meaning much more qualified and considered, one in tune with processes of unity of action, which relate to the building of confidence at the same level for all...We ourselves have to get out there and put ourselves into mobilizations." In regard to the Polo: "We have to work there, because there is where they think of us as equals and an integral part of that process

Allies of many stripes attended the anniversary celebration. Groups present, in addition to the Polo, included: the Marxist-oriented Revolutionary Independent Labor Movement (MOIR, by its Spanish initials), its "Red Tribune" newspaper, the Workers' Party, the "Polo que Suma," the Maoist Communist Party, the MODEP human rights group, and the "Peace Program of the National Pedagogical University." Labor unions on hand were the ANTHOC hospitals workers union, the ADE and FEDCODE educators' unions, the Fensuagro agricultural workers' federation, and CUT, Colombia's largest labor federation.

Other prominent figures present were Senator Jorge Enrique Robledo representing the MOIR Party, the Communist Youth head Geovanny Libreros, and Carlos Lozano, director of the Party's weekly newspaper Voz. Lozano ran recently for Congress as a Polo candidate. Bogota Philharmonic instrumentalists, singers, and acting troupes provided entertainment.

At its annual festival in Bogota on July 18, Voz honored the 80th anniversary of the Party and 200 years of Colombian independence from Spain. With a nationwide circulation, "Voz," in existence since 1957, remains the most prominent leftist newspaper in Colombia. The Communist press began in Colombia in 1932.

Manuel Cepeda Vargas, Voz editor for 19 years and a former senator, had explained that "Voz is the Colombian Communist Party, and the Colombian Communist Party is Voz." Cepeda was assassinated in 1994.

Photo: Visitors crowd the left booth at Bogota's International Book Fair. (PCC)

Mexican Johnson Controls workers attacked, U.S. unions respond

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:23:00 +0000

The United Steel Workers and United Auto Workers unions in the United States and Canada, as well as the International Metalworkers' Federation, have issued a call to express solidarity for unionized workers at the Johnson Controls Interiors Plant in Puebla, Mexico.

In May, the newly organized Section 308 of the Mexican Mine and Metal Workers Union (SNTMMSM), often called "Los Mineros," succeeded in ousting a company union from the plant, and signed a contract with Johnson Controls.

Nevertheless, according to statements by the International Metalworkers' Federation, physical attacks have been launched against Mineros activists and leaders in that plant and another, also in Puebla.

The Mineros are besieged all over Mexico, but seem to be holding their own against attacks by government and industry. Their Section 62, at the famous Cananea copper mine, owned by the transnational Grupo Mexico, has been under siege for several years, and has been subjected to direct intervention at the mine by security forces of the successive Mexican governments of Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon. The Mineros' leader, Napoleon Gomez Urrutia, has been forced into exile in Vancouver, B.C. in Canada after being threatened with trumped-up corruption charges, but they continue to have support from their membership as well as in the wider society.

Johnson Controls is a venerable transnational which fore more than a hundred years has been producing a large variety of switches and other control mechanisms for the auto industry and others. It is said to have more than 130,000 employees worldwide.

The Mine and Metal Workers Union had replaced a company union, the COS, after a 3 day strike in May. Plant workers complain that during the first shift on August 16, unidentified persons were allowed by management to enter the plant, where they proceeded to threaten and assault workers. Two union activists, Candido Barruecas and Virgilio Melendez, were beaten to the point of needing hospitalization.

Also, outside supporters of the Mineros have been threatened, allegedly by members of the the CROM (Regional Confederation of Mexican Workers), which is one of the older labor federations in Mexico. In the 1920s, the CROM, under its flamboyant, gangsterish leader Luis Morones, acted as an enforcer for the political forces around President Plutarco Elias Calles. It was pushed into the background by another federation, the CTM, from the 1930s on, but still exists and has a history of acting as an enforcer for bosses and politicians. The CTM at a later stage also began to act in a subordinate role to the government.

The Mineros were originally a CTM union and also subservient to the demands of the Mexican state, but under Gomez Urrutia began to get better contracts from employers. This, and their leadership in a campaign for justice for victims of a major mine accident and their independent, left-tending political activism, seem to have driven some people in the Fox and Calderon administrations around the bend. In particular Calderon's labor secretary, Javier Lozano Alarcon, seems to see the Mineros in the same way that Captain Ahab saw the great white whale: He will go to any lengths to destroy them (and also destroy another militantly independent union, the SME, Mexican Electricians Union).

So the possibility of a political dimension to the problems at Johnson Controls can not be excluded.

To take action in response to these abusive acts against Mexican workers, go to the International Metalworkers' webpage.

Photo: United Steel Workers District 7 travel to Mexico in solidarity with Mexican trade unionists. (USW)

Unique chance to change the conversation between U.S. and Latin America

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 15:25:00 +0000

In South America, progressive advances continue, despite the coup in Honduras and electoral defeats in Panama, Costa Rica and Chile.

The situation in Colombia, and between Colombia and its left-wing neighbors, is of critical importance, and should engage the attention and activity of all progressive people in the United States.

Early this month, the right wing president and U.S. ally, Alvaro Uribe, prohibited by the courts from serving another term, had to hand over the presidency to his party ally, Juan Manuel Santos.

Santos, although also a conservative, has suggested that he wants to improve relationships with neighboring countries, especially Venezuela. He and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez met for three hours, diplomatic relations were restored, and now there are several bi-national commissions working to resolve issues in contention. Further, there have been very cautious suggestions that the new government may be willing to seek a peaceful resolution to its long-running wars with the two left-wing armed guerilla groups, the FARC and the ELN.

Shortly afterward, the Colombian Supreme Court ruled that a treaty whereby the United States military would be allowed to come into Colombia and use 7 military bases was null and void, because it was never ratified by the country's Congress. The bases are supposed to be used for drug interdiction and "humanitarian" missions but Colombia's neighbors suspect that they could be aimed at action against the left in and out of power.

Though the U.S. State Department quickly demanded that Colombia ratify the treaty, this is not guaranteed. Nor is it clear that, should this treaty be presented to the U.S. Senate for ratification, it would sail through. Right now the U.S. administration is pushing for Congress to ratify a new Free Trade Agreement with Colombia and is having a hard time of it, partly because of organized labor's complaints about the Uribe government's brutal repression of unionists.

The issue of the bases, along with the reconstitution of the U.S. Fourth Fleet in Latin American waters, the conduct of the U.S. government in the coup in Honduras, the sending of U.S. Marines to Costa Rica, and the continuation of the U.S. blockade against Cuba are sore points between the United States and the Latin American left in and out of power, which sees these things as proof positive that the Obama administration is continuing its predecessors' imperialistic policies.

But can the United States change its attitude toward Latin America?

In a recent column in the Washington Post (August 14), New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, whose mother was Mexican and who knows the Latin America situation, staked out a critical position to the left of that of the Obama White House and the Clinton State Department.

Richardson calls for a "more collaborative" relationship between the United States and its neighbors to the South. Although Richardson's proposals are hardly revolutionary (and some should be opposed, like immediate ratification of the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement), he is implying that at present, the relationship is less than ideally "collaborative", an idea that most Latin Americans would certainly agree with. Likewise, his concluding comment "Better hemispheric relations should be a foreign policy priority, not an afterthought," conveys a similar subtle criticism. This is a major Democratic Party figure hinting that the current Latin America policy needs to be changed and made less confrontational.

I don't want to sound over-optimistic. As long as international monopoly capital has the power to control and direct the policies of the United States (and other capitalist countries) what we old-fashioned Marxists call the "contradiction" between the rising aspirations of the workers other mass sectors of the poorer countries, and rapacious international capital will continue, whoever is in the White House.

But if the working class and masses in the United States mobilize in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in other countries, we can pressure whoever is in power in Washington D.C. to back off on the most aggressive forms of imperialist interference and control: Wars, coups' d'etat, economic blackmail and diplomatic bullying.

We can force our government to recognize that the dynamics in Latin America which brought people like Chavez in Venezuela, Lula in Brazil, Correa in Ecuador, Morales in Bolivia etc. into power are not going away, and that organizations like UNASUR and ALBA have to be treated as serious negotiating partners like China, and not like little brown ants at a picnic, to be swept away by a contemptuous brush of a hand. And, we might add, that a socialist Cuba is here to stay.

We can't wait for Obama, Clinton or even people like Richardson to take a corrective first step. We, ourselves, have to be the protagonists and have to demand it.

Photo: U.S. Colombia meeting in 2007.

World Notes: UN, Pakistan, Iran, Honduras, South Africa, Cuba

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:07:00 +0000

United Nations: Labor group reports bad news on young workers

The International Labor Organization issued a report August 12 indicating that at the end of 2009 81 million people between 15 and 24 years of age were unemployed, up from 11.9 percent in 2007 to 13 percent last year. The report highlights the social risk of unemployed youth, a "lost generation" who, discouraged during a time of economic crisis, have abandoned the labor market. In these circumstances, young people in underdeveloped countries are seen as particularly vulnerable to underemployment and poverty. In 2008, young workers constituted 24 percent of the world's working poor and 18.1 percent of the world total of unemployed people. The report, accessible at www.ilo.org, shows young females experiencing more difficulties in finding work than young men.

Pakistan: U.S. base is protected at people's expense

The Asian Human Rights Commission issued a statement August 20 condemning U.S. and Pakistani officials deemed as responsible for destroying a water bypass seven days earlier in Sindh Province. Pakistan's Army put Sports Minister Ejaz Jakhrani, elected from the area, in charge of the operation aimed at protecting the US - operated Shahbaz airbase from flooding. Water thus diverted inundated Jacobabad district, destroying hundreds of homes, drowning the town of Dera Allahyar, and forcing the dislocation of 800,000 people. It is alleged also that the base has been closed to relief agencies. With other airfields beneath water, that prohibition has hindered medical rescue missions and food supply flights from reaching areas of need. The statement is accessible at: www.ahrchk.net/

Iran: Nuclear power plant is fueled

On August 21, after decades of delay, the Russian - built Bushehr nuclear power plant began taking on fuel. International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors were on hand, although observers agreed the $1 billion plant poses no proliferation risk, especially as return of spent plutonium-containing fuel to Russia was written into the agreement. In June, Russia backed UN sanctions against uranium enrichment by Iran. Yet Iranian spokespersons claim enrichment would be aimed at producing fuel for electricity generation thereby removing dependency on Russian fuel. The Moscow Times reported the CEO of the Rosatom Corporation, builder of the power plant, as stressing international participation in the project. Supplies were "made from more than 10 countries," said Sergei Kirivenko.

Honduras: Land dispute pits rich versus poor

In July, soldiers harassed residents of Zacata Grande Island on behalf of Miguel Facusse. Thugs returned to the island in mid August, reinforcing demands that inhabitants leave. According to Rebelion.org, the real estate magnate, agribusiness mogul, and food manufacturer was targeting the ADEPZA cooperative, champion of land rights for families arriving on the sparsely populated island decades ago. Promising to build a school and deliver land to poor people, Facusse, whose ownership claims may be tenuous, promotes the island's exclusive Coyolito Club. Protests erupted in April following the killing in Colon of a peasant protesting Facusse's alleged illegal ownership of an African palm farm. Earlier he had suggested that confrontations reflect badly on "the image that Honduras projects to the world of the investors."

South Africa: Massive strike portends future divisions

According to www.iol.co.za, it was "South Africa's worst industrial action." One million public sector unions affiliated with the COSATU labor federation launched an indefinite strike on August 19 when governmental offers of a seven percent wage increase and a $90 monthly housing allowance were rejected. Unions are demanding an 8.6 percent wage hike and a $130 housing allowance. Violence spread, security forces were mobilized, hospitals were barricaded, and criminal courts moved into high gear. Labor support for the Jacob Zuma presidency has plummeted. Strikers condemn government spending on World Cup facilities and on infrastructure projects, reports Al Jazeera. With government debt rising, inflation is at 4.2 percent and one million jobs have been lost since 2008, when joblessness was already 25 percent. A labor court on August 21 banned essential services workers from striking.

Cuba: American Ballet Theater will visit

"We believe in the power of the arts to connect people and transform lives," said American Ballet Theater executive director Rachel Moore. She recently announced plans for the company to perform at Havana's International Ballet Festival in early November at the Karl Marx Theater. Later principal dancers will be offering additional performances. This, the U.S. troupe's first visit to the island in fifty years, comes two months after Alicia Alonso, Cuba's famous ballerina and director of its national ballet company, was honored in New York. AFP news speculates that the U.S. government will soon expand other educational and cultural contacts between the two nations subjected to a prolonged U.S. economic blockade.

Photo: Youth Fight For Jobs demonstration in the United Kingdom. (CC)

Wyclef Jean to challenge ballot ruling

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:49:00 +0000

Recording artist turned presidential aspirant Wyclef Jean is challenging last week's ruling by Haitian election officials disqualifying his run for the island nation's highest office. Jean was ruled off the ballot for failing to meet a five year residency requirement.

According to the New York Times, Jean, after initially accepting the ruling, changed his mind on Sunday saying, "We have met all the requirements set by the laws. And the law must be respected."

The rapper claims his status as an ambassador-at-large appointed by the country's president René Préval, exempts him from the residency requirement.

However Jean's challenge may be hard to pursue as there is no legal mechanism in Haiti for appeal.

Nineteen of 35 potential candidates were approved by the election commission.

While spurring some enthusiasm at home in Haiti and abroad, support for Wyclef Jean's bid is far from universal. His one-time band mate in the Fugees, Pras, is supporting another candidate, Michel Martel.

Others point out that the hip hop star supported the U.S.-backed coup against former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Charles Hinton of the Center for Research and Globalization writes, "Wyclef Jean supported the 2004 coup. When gun-running former army and death squad members trained by the CIA were overrunning Haiti's north on Feb. 25, 2004, MTV's Gideon Yago wrote, 'Wyclef Jean voiced his support for Haitian rebels on Wednesday, calling on embattled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down and telling his fans in Haiti to keep their head up as the country braces itself for possible civil war.'"

Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas Party has been banned from participating in the election.

Haiti's current leader, President Préval was initially part of the Lavalas movement but "turned against those who voted for him. " contends, Hinton. The writer continues, "He scheduled elections for 12 Senate seats in 2009 and supported the Electoral Council's rejection of all Lavalas candidates."

Aristide is currently living in exile in South Africa. Calls for his return enjoy support especially since the earthquake. "Titid -- known to the rest of the world as Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- was forced out of Haiti six years ago, but the suffering wrought by last month's devastating earthquake has intensified calls for the return of the Catholic priest who became the country's first democratically elected president," reports MJ Smith of AFP.

Most of the aid promised Haiti so far has not been delivered. As of June peoplesworld.org editor Teresa Albano writes most aid had not been delivered. "Although $5.3 billion in immediate aid was pledged to help Haiti after its Jan. 12 near-apocalyptic earthquake, only two percent, or $45 million, has been donated. Brazil was the first and only country to have donated --$40 million -- to the reconstruction effort."

Photo: Wyclef Jean/CC

UN focus on youth

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:41:00 +0000

UNITED NATIONS- On August 12, the UN launched the International Year of the Youth, aimed at alleviating the grinding poverty, record joblessness and problems affecting millions of young people across the globe while various affiliated agencies noted that, in many ways, the situation for young people worldwide has never been so bad.

August 12 is International Youth Day, and this is the 25th since it was first declared in 1985. The year's theme is "Dialogue and Mutual Understanding."

"87 percent of people 15 to 24 live in developing countries," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the body's General Assembly. "The global economic crisis has had a disproportionate impact on young people. The have lost jobs, struggled to find even low wage employment and see access to education curtailed."

The situation, which Ban called a "moral imperative and developmental necessity," was highlighted by an International Labor Organization report. Out of 620 million "economically active" people between 15 and 24 years of age, says the ILO, 81 million, or 13 percent, were unemployed in 2009, up a whopping 7.8 million from 2007, when 11.9 percent were without work.

The report suggests that, even though economies are beginning to stabilize, youth unemployment will likely grow through 2010 before a slight decline in 2011 and warns of the "risk of a crisis legacy of a ‘lost generation' comprised of young people who have dropped out of the labor market, having lost all hope of being able to work for a decent living."

Developed countries have seen the highest increase in youth unemployment ever recorded, and in most regions women continue to be the hardest hit. In a reversal, however, in developed countries and the European Union, men became unemployed far faster than women.

Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, leader of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), summed up the dire straights in which young people find themselves: "More than half of young people survive on less than $2 a day, living in poverty. Some 100 million adolescents don't attend school. Every year, 16 million adolescent girls become mothers. And 40 per cent of all new HIV infections occur among young people aged 15-24. In all regions of the world, youth unemployment is high, and many fall victims to exploitation and violence."

Ban said that the UN and youth partners would focus on dialogue across generations, cultures and regions.

While current trends are bad, UN officials are optimistic that this year's focus on youth can yield results-but only so long as UN member states work for them. Ban called for nations to increase funding for youth issues both within their own borders and for UN programs that affect more than one billion young people.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clf/4716775143/sizes/o/

UN water vote seen as triumph for Bolivia’s Morales

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:53:00 +0000

Bolivia's President Evo Morales won praise July 28 when the United Nations General Assembly approved a groundbreaking Bolivian resolution on the right of all human beings to water and sanitation. The vote was 122 to 0, with 41 abstaining.

The issue of water has great symbolic importance in Bolivia. The series of grassroots uprisings that culminated with the election of Evo Morales as president in 2006 began with the Cochabamba Water War of 2000. The rebellion was sparked by price increases imposed by a consortium (Aguas del Tunari) of mostly foreign businesses, including the U.S. Bechtel Corporation, which took over Cochabamba's water services when these were privatized as a condition for financial support from the World Bank. The mass movement physically drove the foreign companies out of Cochabamba. Similar uprisings happened in La Paz. Morales' MAS (Movement Toward Socialism) party gained strength through these protests.

Bolivia's victory over water privatization has jangled the nerves of transnational corporations who are invested in this field, because they rightly fear that other countries will follow suit. But the issue of access to clean water is becoming more urgent every year due to population growth, global warming and desertification, and the failure of a world economic system based on private profit to prevent millions of people from sliding into extreme poverty.

The resolution, presented by Bolivia and cosponsored by Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Bangladesh, Sadi Arabia, Democratic Republic of the Congo and others, includes the following:

1. It declares that the right of access to water and sanitation is an essential human right without which other human rights cannot be fully enjoyed.

2. It calls on all states and international organizations to use their financial, technological and other resources to support access to potable water and sanitation for their own inhabitants and to help developing countries to do the same.

3. It approves of the decision of the UN Human Rights Council to appoint an expert to study the issues surrounding the right of people to water and sanitation, as a part of the UN Millennium Goals (this is called the "Geneva Process").

Bolivia's delegate, Pablo Solon, pointed out that the right to water is mentioned in a number of UN documents including the Convention on Elimination on all Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women. As the General Assembly's summary of Bolivia's comments expresses it: "Each year, more than 3.5 million people died from diseases spread by contaminated water" which kills more children annually than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. Further, "a lack of sanitation affected 2.6 billion people or 40 percent of global population".

Although no countries voted against this resolution, 41 abstained, including wealthy countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands and Canada, as well as some African countries such as Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Tanzania and Zambia. So did former socialist countries such as Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and the Ukraine. Other countries abstaining included Japan, Greece, Israel and Turkey.

All the Latin American countries voted in favor of the resolution. Some wealthy European countries did so also, including Germany and France. The largest countries in the world by population other than the United States and Japan all voted in favor: China, India, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Russia, Nigeria and Mexico. The countries voting "yes" represent well over the majority of the world's population.

Abstaining countries, including the United States, explained their vote on the basis of disappointment that the General Assembly did not get a unanimous vote by consensus (which would have weakened the resolution), and that the Geneva Process, and the work of the "Independent Expert" appointed by the Human Rights Council was not allowed to finish before taking action (which would have prolonged the process). The vote might undermine the work of the Human Rights Council, the U.S. delegate suggested. The U.S. questioned whether a "right to water and sanitation" exists in international law. However, the German delegate, who voted "yes," felt that the resolution complements and enhances the work of the Independent Expert.

Governments sponsoring the resolution suspect that the wealthier countries fear that declaring access to water to be a basic human right will undermine privatization and also put the wealthy countries under pressure to waste less and help poorer countries more.

An official summary of the discussion can be read on the UN General Assembly website.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sacca/3471199535/ cc 2.0

China death toll continues

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 08:35:00 +0000

The toll of deaths in mudslides in Northwest China has reached 337 and keeps rising, as rescuers and diggers use their bare hands in a desperate search for more than 1,100 others that are still missing.

Three villages were overwhelmed by an avalanche of mud and rocks caused by heavy rain in different several of China. The latest deadly disaster has ocurred as China battles its worst flooding in a decade.

Rescuers noticed a sign of sign of life and pulled 52-year-old Liu Ma Shendeng from the rubble. He had been stuck for 60 hours. His nephew said Liu was disabled and bedridden, but somehow survived. Medics examined him briefly then took him away for immediate treatment. Elsewhere there were still families in despair.

The landslide tore through Zhouqu County in the middle of the night, leaving behind mud and rock several stories high. Some buildings, including the police department and part of a primary school, were crumbled to bits

The rescue operation has been very slow. Most of the town is covered in sludge. Heavy machinery sinks into the sludge as if it were quicksand, forcing rescuers to dig manually with picks, shovels and their bare hands. When rescue workers finally find a body, it takes hours to pull it out.

"It's very hard to locate the people washed away by floods. It's hard to say what their chances of survival are," He Youxin, an officer organizing rescue efforts in Zhouqu, told Xinhua news agency.

The situation became even worse by the blockage of the river upstream, which created a long lake that overflowed and sent massive waves of mud, rocks and water crashing down into Zhouqu. The government has been using explosives to break up the river debris, in an effort to release the water steadily and safely.

"A preliminary estimate is that 50,000 people have been affected by the disaster," State broadcaster CCTVsaid. "About half of the county seat was covered. 45 thousand people have been evacuated from the area."

Back on land, people who passed away are wrapped in blankets and carried out on stretchers or planks of wood. Bodies cover the streets which serve as a morgue where family members come to identify the dead.

For the survivors, the future is uncertain. "Now I have to rely on the government," says a man who lost his home and several family members. "I don't even have a pair of chopsticks to eat with."

Chinese rescue workers and residents dig in the mud for victims of mud slide that swept into the town of Zhouqu in Gannan prefecture of northwestern China’s Gansu province, Aug. 10. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

World Notes: Cuba, Bolivia, Australia, Kenya, UN, France

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 16:44:00 +0000

Cuba: Fidel Castro waits on Obama

Interviewed by visiting Venezuelan journalists on August 8, former President Fidel Castro discussed possible U. S. and Israeli nuclear war against Iran, his recurring theme recently. "Nobody else can pull the trigger," he said referring to President Obama, whom Castro pointed out "is not an assassin." The day before, he told National Assembly delegates that Obama represents the "one hope" and "will have to take this decision on his own." Castro predicted that war over Iran would cause millions of deaths on both sides, adding that as "fate would have it, the U. S. president would be a person of African and White, Mohammedan and Christian descent. He will not give such an order." Quoted by TeleSUR, Castro suggested, "Neither imperialists nor revolutionaries can reach their objectives through arms."

Bolivia: Improved economy permits new borrowing

The August 9 visit of World Bank official Felipe Jaramillo with President Evo Morales and his financial and development aides coincided with World Bank recognition of Bolivia as having risen to the level of "middle income countries" seen as worthy of increased international investment.

Four years of rising income derived from natural resources extraction has enabled the government this year to expand international borrowing to $10 billion, up from $2.6 billion borrowed over the previous four years. International lenders have granted longer terms for debt repayment and eased unilateral conditions marking previous agreements. Under the government's "National Development Plan," new funding will be divided among the "productive sector" - 17.5 percent, infrastructure - 44.2 percent, social projects - 29.3 percent, and "multi-sector" - 9.1 percent.

Australia: Uranium mining reopens wounds

"Why should we pollute our country for money," asked aboriginal leader Geoffrey Stokes recently. He was denouncing plans by BHP Billiton Corporation to open a $15.6 billion uranium mine in Western Australia. On taking power in Western Australia state two years ago, the right-wing Liberal Party abolished that state's prohibition against uranium mining. The Anti-Nuclear Alliance of Western Australia reports 100 corporations now are prospecting for uranium there. IPS news indicated that uranium mining has over decades proved devastating to aboriginal peoples and the environment. Observers say a Labor Party loss in upcoming federal elections may open up uranium exports to India, still not signed onto the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Australian uranium reserves are the world's largest.

Kenya: New constitution gains approval

By a 67 percent vote, Kenyans voted approval on August 5 of a new constitution supported by allies of President Mwai Kibaki and by forces loyal to Raila Odinga who suffered defeat in the chaotic 2007 elections. Odinga later joined the government as prime minister in a 2008 power-sharing arrangement mandating a referendum vote on a new constitution. Expanding women's rights, the new charter dealt with divisive issues like corruption and patronage, land ownership, and tribalism. It undertook to limit the power of the presidency by establishing a supreme court and a senate. Implementation will proceed over five years. Fears of violence similar to that marring the elections three years ago proved groundless, Al Jazeera reported.

United Nations: Climate agreement has grim prognosis

UN-sponsored climate talks ending August 6 in Bonn, Germany, went nowhere. Participants had hoped to shape a deal that would be acceptable at the climate summit set for Mexico in November. Disparate views between rich and poor nations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions shipwrecked an earlier summit in Copenhagen. Consensus on methods and objectives for reducing emissions is still lacking, the Associated Press reported. In fact, "No one expects an agreement to be completed in Cancun." Nations remain unable to commit to bringing emissions to 12-18 percent below 1990 levels, despite UN recommendations in 2007 that 25-40 percent reductions are required to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Another preparatory meeting is set for Tianjin, China, in October.

France: Expulsion of Roma follows European trend

In line with actions taken by other Western European countries, President Nicholas Sarkozy announced July 29 that 300 camps occupied by Roma people would soon be destroyed. Throughout Europe laws aimed at expelling Roma without documents are in preparation. Of 12,000 German Roma soon to be deported from Germany to Kosovo, half are children who grew up there. In Britain, forced evictions signal eventual deportations. Europe's 10 million Roma people constitute the region's largest ethnic minority. Many moved from Eastern Europe to the West following European Union expansion. Amnesty International, joined by other human rights groups, has leveled charges of human rights abuses. EU officials say legal protections do exist but are ignored by governments, reports the UK Guardian newspaper.

Photo: In this photo released by the state media Cubadebate web site, Cuba's former President Fidel Castro, center, speaks during an interview with a group of Venezuelan journalists in Havana, Aug. 8. In background, a painting depicting Cuban independence hero Jose Marti. (AP/Cubadebate, Roberto Chile)

Mexico's Supreme Court makes historic ruling on same-sex marriage

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Mexico's Supreme Court made a landmark ruling Tuesday, August 10, in a 9-2 decision that says each of the country's 31 states must honor same-sex marriages registered in the nation's capital, Mexico City.

Supporter's note that Mexico along with several Latin American nations recently are taking the lead when it comes to the equal rights of the gay and lesbian community.

Although several cities throughout Latin America today recognize some form of same-sex civil unions, only Uruguay and Argentina have legalized gay marriages nationwide.

Mexico City was one of the first Latin American capitals to fully recognize such marriages.

Last week Mexico's high court ruled that the law allowing same-sex couples to marry in the nation's capital was constitutional.

In the recent decision two on the high court voted against the ruling, arguing that it would damage the harmony of the federal system.

In December Mexico City's local assembly passed the law, which gives gay and lesbian couples full marital rights, including the right to adopt. The law was enacted in March and since then hundreds of same-sex couples have been married.

The same-sex marriage law in Mexico City states that couples who wed can jointly apply for bank loans, inherit wealth and be covered by their spouses' insurance policies.

However Tuesday's ruling does not obligate state governments to enact same-sex marriages but does require them to recognize the legality of such marriages performed in Mexico City. It's not clear to what degree of recognition must be granted to the couples and some of the provisions may end up applying only in the capital.

Yet gay and lesbian rights activists note the ruling sets a precedent and can potentially lead to Mexico giving same-sex couples full matrimonial rights nationwide in the near future.

The Supreme Court's decision was filed against a complaint from the attorney general's office, which had said that other jurisdictions should not be required to honor marriages that were performed in Mexico City.

That argument backfired.

"What's going to happen to a same-sex couple" who marry in Mexico City "when they cross the border" to another state, asked Justice Arturo Zaldivar, who voted with the majority, as noted in the New York Times. "Does this marriage disappear? They go on vacation and they're no longer married," he said during Tuesday's discussions.

The Supreme Court in Mexico is expected to make a ruling about the legality of allowing adoption by gay couples later this week.

The fight for same-sex rights grew strong opposition from the country's Catholic Church and state governments belonging to the right-leaning National Action Party, which governs nationally.

Activists and supporters of same-sex marriage hope the recent ruling sheds light on the importance of equal rights for the gay and lesbian community. They also believe the ruling will open doors for other cities and nation's around the world to follow suit.

Photo: Gay couples and supporters celebrate the ruling on same-sex marriage, outside the Supreme Court in Mexico City, August 5 (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

SOA Watch protests U.S. militarization and new Colombian bases

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 14:25:00 +0000

As resistance to U.S. militarization in Latin America and the Caribbean mounts, nine activists with the School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) on August 3 began demonstrations, projected to last one week, at the Tolemaida military base in Colombia. Their twelve foot banner proclaimed "U.S. Military out of Colombia."

SOA Watch was protesting the U.S.- Colombian agreement last year granting U.S. military use of that base and six others for ten years. SOA Watch founder Father Roy Bourgeois was on hand, along with activists previously jailed for civil disobedience at Ft. Benning, Georgia aimed at closing the School of the Americas, located there. The designation now is Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).

The next day, the Colombian groups Justice and Peace, the Movement of Victims of State Crimes, Mothers of Soacha (whose children were killed by the Colombian military), and SINALTRAINAL trade union joined the protesters. "Our delegation has been deeply moved by the strength and spirit of so many Colombians struggling for a just peace in Colombia," Roy Bourgeois told reporters. Together they were speaking "with one voice, against U.S. domination and militarization."

The U. S. activists' press statement said: "We recognize the unjust, deadly role our government has played throughout Latin America for decades." Lease of Colombian bases to the United States "threatens Colombian sovereignty, militarizes the region, and poses a threat to neighboring countries." And "Colombia's vast resources should benefit Colombians first - all Colombians - rather than multinational corporations."

According to the statement, "More than 65,000 Latin American soldiers have learned repressive counterinsurgency techniques [at SOA/WHINSEC, and] more than 12,000 Colombian graduates have brought those lessons home - with deadly, anti-democratic results."

Latin American opponents to U.S. bases in Colombia condemn U.S. strategic objectives displayed in military documents used in preparing the bases agreement. They include "full spectrum operations throughout South America" and targeting of "anti-U.S. governments" along with drug traffickers and guerrilla insurgents.

The Tolemaida protest represents a new orientation for SOA Watch. It now is taking on U.S. militarization in the region in addition to its historic project of closing down the SOA/WHINSEC. SOA Watch staged a weeklong planning session in Lara state, Venezuela in June to set plans and priorities. The present writer attended.

A summary of deliberations there called for "actions in our countries in support of the resistance in Honduras," yearly vigils continuing outside Ft. Benning, and simultaneous vigils outside U.S. military bases in Colombia and Honduras and "in front of U.S. embassies in our countries." Activists from Colombia, Honduras, Mexico, and Haiti will take part in vigils at Ft. Benning. SOA Watch plans an anti-militarization vigil in Haiti on January 11, 2011.

The meeting called also for SOA Watch joining "the Colombian resistance" in actions against foreign bases there. The protest at Tolemaida was the first of these. On August 23, SOA Watch activists will march outside the U.S. base at Palanquero with delegates at a Women and People's Summit of the Americas against Militarization in Colombia.

SOA Watch prioritized the recently launched Continental Campaign against Foreign Military Bases. Representatives will be present at the Social Forum of the Americas in Paraguay August 11 - 15 to lend support for that initiative. SOA Watch has joined the Continental Campaign's U.S. Working group.

The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) report "Military Assistance and Human Rights," released in July, documents human rights wastage stemming from U.S. military aid to Colombia. Participants in the SOA Watch strategizing meeting see that report as a call to action, if post-meeting communications are any indication.

FOR asserted that, "Many Colombian military units committed 56 percent more extrajudicial killings during and after the highest levels of U.S. assistance to those units." When U.S. support for Colombian military units was reduced, however, "the number of executions reportedly committed by units operating in the jurisdiction fell," also by an average of 56 percent. Couched in measured terms, the report cites the "Leahy Amendment, which prohibits assistance to any foreign security force unit if the State Department has credible evidence that the unit has committed gross human rights violation." Implementation of the Leahy Law requires, according to FOR, big cuts in U.S. military aid to Colombia. To review the report go here.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/upturnedface/306738030/sizes/z/

Appeal for support for Iran hunger strikers

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Hunger strikers in Iran's notorious Evin Prison, in the capital Tehran, are approaching their third week without food in protest at being transferred to solitary confinement, inhuman prison conditions and their violent treatment in prison.

In total 17 political prisoners have been on hunger strike since July 26. Those involved in the protest include student leader Abdullah Momeni, writer Keyvan Samimi and journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amooei.

On Wednesday this week, the tenth day of the hunger strike, relatives protested in front of the Office of the Prosecutor General in Tehran to demand the release of their loved ones and improved conditions for them. They carried photographs of the prisoners and posters demanding their release. Security forces attacked the gathering of the families and tried to disperse them. The security forces grabbed the posters, tore them and attacked the families. Some were beaten up.

Such action on the part of the security forces is part of the wider context of political repression in Iran since the June 12, 2009, presidential election. The crackdown on the opposition is reaching every area including political and religious groups.

According to confirmed reports, Hoda Saber, an activist of the National-Religious Movement, has been missing since July 24 and the security police and judiciary authorities of the regime in Iran have not yet taken responsibility for his arrest.

On July 25 the National-Religious website posted this news and wrote: "Hoda Saber, a National-Religious activist, has been missing since he left his workplace, most likely he has been abducted. He was summoned to prison three weeks ago on the phone to serve his sentence. However, his lawyer had contacted the court and requested to serve him a written summons. No written summons has yet been served."

Jamshid Ahmadi, assistant general secretary of the Committee for the Defense of the Iranian People's Right (CODIR), on Aug. 5 strongly condemned the action of the Iranian regime, stating:

"The regime has found itself unable to overcome the political crisis in the country and continues to target political prisoners in revenge. By persecuting political detainees the government hopes to be able to frighten the opposition spreading in Iranian cities and towns. The regime has chosen violent suppression as a response against peaceful and legitimate protest demanding basic human and democratic rights."

CODIR has protested against the upsurge of suppressive measures in Iran and has called on the Iranian regime to stop its murderous practices. It has called on international public opinion to condemn the persecution of political detainees in Iran and called on the regime in Iran to stop executions.

Mr. Ahmadi, went on to state "that it is only through a united and effective international campaign against both the persecution and execution of political prisoners in Iran that the current atrocities can be stopped."

CODIR is calling upon all democratic individuals and organizations, in particular the labor and trade union movement, to write protest letters to the Iranian diplomatic missions and embassies calling on the regime to halt the persecution of political prisoners and to demand that the Iranian regime,

• End the torture and execution of political prisoners in Iran
• Immediately and unconditionally release all political prisoners from detention
• Respect the international conventions guaranteeing human rights.

CODIR has said that it is against these and any other executions and rejects capital punishment under any circumstances.

Letters should be sent to:

Leader of the Islamic Republic
Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - End of Shahid Keshvar Doust Street, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail: info_leader@leader.ir
Via website: http://www.leader.ir/langs/en/index.php?p=letter (English)
Salutation: Your Excellency

Photo: CODIR

Melting glaciers aggravate Pakistan’s floods

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:05:00 +0000

Reports out of Pakistan now indicate that about 1,500 people have lost their lives and tens of thousands have been left homeless.

This year's monsoon, which began July 28, is said to have affected 3.2 million people in northwest Pakistan. The most urgent need is clean drinking water followed by food, shelter, sanitation and medicines. Homes, bridges, roads and agricultural land have been swept away leaving scores of families with no homes or livelihood.

The potential for disease is high among flood victims as there is no fresh water, and the threat of water born diseases is high.

The monsoon has permanently displaced hundreds of thousands of people, particularly children. Of the 3 million-plus affected by the floods, UNICEF reports that 1 million of them are children.

The government of Pakistan has stated they expect the need in the affected region to be significant for at least the next four to six months.

Pakistani Professor M. Iqbal Khan, a glaciologist, said he believes the melting glaciers are the main cause of the floods.

In an interview with the Associated Press of Pakistan, Khan said, "It is the glaciers, which are adding fuel to the fire and due to the melting of glaciers the flood situation is aggravated."

He goes on to say that the apparent gradual Himalayan glacial melt will continue to exacerbate future flooding.

Khan's glacial melt theory has been reiterated by recent National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) findings.

Humanitarian aid can be sent through any aid organizations of your choice, just specify Pakistan flood relief. The organizations already active in Pakistan are Save the Children, OXFAM, Greater Good andCARE.

Photo: A flood damaged the road from a 2006 flood in northwest Pakistan. (groundreporter/CC)

Iran, one year after the election

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:01:00 +0000

In June this year Amnesty International published From Protest to Prison - Iran One Year After the Election, which reviewed a year of arrest and detention of those who have spoken out against the government and its abuses.

As Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International's interim secretary general, stated,

"The Iranian government is determined to silence all dissenting voices, while at the same time trying to avoid all scrutiny by the international community into the violations connected to the post-election unrest."

The report focuses upon some key examples of arbitrary arrest and detention including:

Banned student Sayed Ziaoddin Nabavi serving a 10-year prison sentence in Evin Prison. A member of the Council to Defend the Right to Education, his sentence appears to be linked to the fact that he has relatives in the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a banned group, which the authorities claim was responsible for organising demonstrations.
Around 50 members of the Baha'i faith have been arrested across Iran since the elections, continuing to be unjustly cast as scapegoats for the unrest.
Iran's ethnic minority communities have faced arrest and detention, during and following the election. Four Kurds were among five political prisoners executed in May without the notifications required by law, in what was a clear message to anyone considering marking the June election anniversary with protest.

As Claudio Cordone has stated, the position of Amnesty International is very clear:

"What we are calling for is very simple: the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience and for others to be tried promptly on recognisably criminal offences, without recourse to the death penalty, in proceedings which fully meet international standards for a fair trial."

Iran has one of the highest rates of executions in the world. To date in 2010, Amnesty International has already recorded over 115 executions.

The report reinforces facts which have been highlighted by CODIR, Amnesty and other human rights organizations over the past year and presents a damning indictment of the Islamic Republic's failure to address basic human rights issues and the demands of civil society.

The intransigence of the regime was further highlighted in July with the international outcry which followed the sentencing to stoning of Sakineh Mohammedi Ashtiani, who had been accused of adultery. Commuting the sentence to death by hanging has not stemmed the tide of protest.

In a further development the lawyer defending Ashtiani, Mohammed Mostafaei, has been missing following his release from judicial questioning. The authorities have further responded by detaining the lawyer's wife and brother in law, prompting fears that they have been arrested to put pressure upon Mostafaei.

Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa director, has been quite clear about the intentions of the regime, stating:

"Mohammad Mostafaei is a thorn in the side of the Iranian authorities and we fear that he is being persecuted in an attempt to stop him carrying out his professional activities as a defense lawyer and in support of human rights."

As Amnesty International has pointed out, there is a longstanding pattern of harassment and imprisonment of human rights lawyers in Iran. In 2002, Nasser Zarafshan was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, partly on trumped-up charges of possessing a firearm and alcohol offences.

Abdolfattah Soltani was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in 2005 for disclosing public documents and "propaganda against the system." The sentence was overturned on appeal on 2007 but he was arrested again in 2009 and held for two months before being released on bail. Mohammad Olyaeifard, is serving a one-year prison sentence imposed for comments he made criticizing the judiciary after the execution of one of his clients, juvenile offender Behnoud Shojaee.

Other Iranian human rights lawyers such as Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and Shadi Sadr, recipient of various international human rights awards, now work outside of Iran, fearing to return.

In addition to this pattern of persecution against the legal profession the regime's campaign against journalists continues with the ongoing internment of Abdolrezo Tajik who, at the end of July, had been held for 50 days without charge. The International Federation of Journalists has issued a call for Tajik's release and IFJ General Secretary Aidan White has stated:

"The failure to produce evidence that he has broken the law and the fears that he is being abused in jail should be enough to indicate that there is a terrible injustice here. If there is no case to answer he should be freed immediately and all the allegations of ill treatment must be investigated."

This ongoing pattern of suppression reflects a regime which continues to resort to force to cover up its contradictions. Intolerance of open debate and free discussion are symptomatic of the tyranny which is Iran today.

The latest pronouncements from the leadership of the theocratic regime reinforce this picture. In late July the office of the Supreme Leader, Ayotollah Ali Khamenei, issued a statement which in effect states that everyone must obey Mr. Khamenei. For his authority to make such a statement Khamenei referred back to the Prophet Mohammed, stating:

"An injury to the obedience to the faqih and the supreme leader is an injury to the Islamic regime itself, and I would not tolerate it from any person or group. Fortunately today, with God's blessing, all individuals and groups following the line of the Imam are committed to their obedience of the faqih and the supreme leader. We hope that conditions for their disobedience never emerge."

This movement towards personal dictatorship reflects the lack of confidence the regime has in its structures for government. It also demonstrates the extent to which the regime has been affected by the events following June 12, 2009. The clerical establishment has been shaken and society in Iran is increasingly forming into two clear camps; those in favor of the medeival clericalism represented by Khamenei and those broadly in favour of the principles of the Green Movement, seeking modernization, peace and democracy.

This contradiction will not be resolved overnight and it is clear that the Iranian people, in spite of their suffering under the theocratic regime, may yet be in for a long haul before they achieve their goal. It is equally clear however that international solidarity in support of the Iranian people is more vital than ever and external pressure combined with the resolve of the Iranian people themselves will eventually move Iran into the 21st century.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46274960@N04/4772625954/ cc 2.0

Wyclef Jean to announce run for Haiti president

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:14:00 +0000

Haitian-born singer and producer Wyclef Jean is expected to announce his candidacy for president in the earthquake-hit Caribbean country on Thursday night, on Larry King's CNN show.

Haiti is scheduled to elect a new president Nov. 28. The poverty-stricken country is still recovering from a devastating earthquake that struck in January, killing up to 300,000 people and leaving 1.6 million homeless.

A three-time Grammy award-winner, Jean, who was named an official Haitian ambassador-at-large in 2006, told Time magazine the deadly quake and its aftermath motivated him to run.

"I knew I'd have to take the next step," he said. "The quake drove home to me that Haiti can't wait another 10 years for us to bring it into the 21st century."

He said there is no contradiction between his life as an artist and his ambition as a politician.

"If I can't take five years out to serve my country as president, then everything I've been singing about, like equal rights, doesn't mean anything," he said.

The son of a preacher, Jean, 37, was born outside Port-au-Prince and moved with his family to Brooklyn, N.Y., at age 9. He has maintained his Haitian citizenship, a prerequisite for running, and has always been a symbol of Haitian pride.

In the late 1980s, Jean along with his cousin Prakazrel "Praz" Michel and friend Lauryn Hill formed The Fugees, one of Hip-Hop's most popular groups. The group's 1996 album, The Score, sold more than 18 million copies worldwide, and won a Grammy for best rap album. However the band eventually split to pursue solo careers.

Jean's solo career launched with the album Carnival, which featured songs in Haitian Creole including the hit "Gone Till November." The following years saw four more albums by Jean and a wealth of collaborations with the likes of Missy Elliot, Mary J Blige, Bono and Shakira, to name a few.

In 2005 Jean set up his own humanitarian organization, the Yele Haiti Foundation (Haiti Freedom Cry), which has been funding scholarships for children in the country. Since the January earthquake it has raised more than $9 million in aid. The Yele Corps has also given Haitians jobs removing rubble and housing the displaced.

The charity - and Jean himself - came under fire earlier this year after he was accused of using money from the foundation for personal gain. Jean admitted the foundation had fallen behind with its taxes, but said: "I never, and would never, take money for my personal pocket when it comes to Yele."

Analysts predict Jean - who is very popular among Haitians, particularly youth - could easily win the presidency. Half of Haiti's 9 million people are under 25 years of age.

Jean told Time his secret weapon in the election campaign would be that Haiti's "enormous youth population doesn't believe in politicians any more."

Jean reportedly will campaign on positive but vague goals like improving education, creating jobs and rebuilding the country's infrastructure.

He will run as part of a coalition called Ansanm Nou Fo, translated as "together we are strong" in Creole.

Jean has said he hopes to build a bridge between the Haiti and the Haitian diaspora in the U.S. There is an estimated 800,000 Haitian expatriates living in the U.S.

Rumors have swirled for months that Jean would run. In recent weeks his Twitter feed has called for transparent elections, proposals for reducing Haiti's chronic poverty and demands to defend camps of the estimated 1.6 million people made homeless since the quake.

Haiti's next president faces an enormous task of rebuilding the country. Presidents have only rarely completed a constitutional five-year term - most in the country's history have been overthrown, assassinated, declared themselves "president-for-life" or some combination of the three.

Dozens of candidates are expected to compete for Haiti's presidency including Jean's uncle Raymond Joseph, who is the country's ambassador in Washington.

Speaking to Reuters, Jean says he's up for the job. Now is the time for action, he's said.

"So I would think with all my allies around the world that have loved my music, that have loved the message and the work we have done with Yele Haiti, they understand I can't just sing right now," he said.

"When I am looking back at my career, I've sung songs all my life and I've watched singers sing songs about certain changes that we want, we say, you know what, we're going to turn them into a reality."

Photo: Wyclef Jean discusses his visit to earthquake-stricken Haiti and how his organization, Yele Haiti, is helping with relief efforts, Jan. 18, in New York. (AP/Diane Bondareff)

A plea for Gerardo Hernandez

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 09:59:00 +0000

On their arrest in 1998, Gerardo Hernandez and four other Cuban Five prisoners spent 17 months in solitary confinement. They voluntarily gave up family and homeland to defend Cuba against terrorist attacks from Florida. Despite an appeals court invalidation of their trial as biased, subsequent appeals court rulings have kept them in jail for almost 12 years.

Gerardo's is a special case. Midway during his trial, U.S. prosecutors charged him with conspiracy to commit murder, alleging he informed Cuban authorities in 1996 that Brothers to the Rescue planes were heading toward Cuba, later to be shot down. But the Cuban government knew because Cuban radar showed the planes taking off from Florida, not because of Gerardo. According to appeals lawyer Leonard Weinglass, Hernandez "is the first person in U.S. history to be charged for the shoot-down of an aircraft by the armed forces of another country." Conviction on that count led to a second life sentence.

The U.S. government has prevented Gerardo's wife Adriana Perez and Olga Salenueva, wife of prisoner Rene Gonzalez, from visiting their husbands in jail.

From July 21 through August 3, jailers at Victorville Federal Prison in California confined Gerardo to the "hole," a punishment cell measuring 7 feet by 3 feet that he shared with another prisoner. He has no record of disciplinary violations. He ended up there following an FBI visit to the prison.

He was unable to confer with lawyers, make telephone calls, or write letters. He was deprived of wristwatch, portable radio, toilet supplies, and reading material. The temperature in his tiny cell hovered around 95 degrees. Ventilation was minimal.

Hernandez sought medical attention in April, but no doctor examined him until July 20. He suffers from high blood pressure and an unspecified bacterial infection. In the "hole" he was unable to take medications.

This is the third time confinement to a punishment cell coincided with an upcoming judicial appeal. This time, he was unable to collaborate with lawyers in preparing a habeas corpus appeal.

"That's equivalent to torture," Cuban National Assembly President Ricardo Alarcon told delegates on July 31. He called for protests to the U.S. Congress, human rights defenders, and opponents of U.S. aggression against Cuba. Alarcon urged worldwide actions on behalf of Gerardo Hernandez.

Hernandez was released from the "hole" yesterday, following protests from his attorneys and a letter and e-mail campaign on his behalf. His release was preceded by attorneys Leonard Weinglass and Peter Schey visiting the prison. Having found Hernandez all but overcome by the heat, Weinglass reported, "We sent a five-page letter to the prison containing all the errors that they made in putting him in isolation. The letter outlined their own regulations that they violated." An outpouring of international solidarity influenced the outcome, say observers.

Vulnerability of Hernandez and the other four prisoners to maltreatment makes it essential to put efforts to free the Cuban Five on a campaign footing. Public awareness of their case remains low. And Gerardo Hernandez warrants his own campaign. He alone of the Five still carries a life sentence, two prisoners last year having been resentenced. Plus he's the target of extra cruelty.

The Cuban Five have gained a following because of who they are: people who acted according to principle. Their example of sacrifice and devotion to a higher cause will not soon fade. They were defending their people's national independence and socialist revolution.

John Brown also ended up in state hands because he acted for justice and equality. His small band's attempted seizure of a federal munitions depot was intended as a first step toward revolt by slaves, and freedom. Weeks before Brown's execution in 1859, Henry Thoreau delivered his "Plea for Captain John Brown" in Concord, Mass. John Brown, he stated, "did not value his bodily life in comparison with ideal things. He did not recognize unjust human laws, but resisted them as he was bid."

"No man in America has ever stood up so persistently and effectively for the dignity of human nature," Thoreau said.

These are words fit for the Cuban Five. Their hold on our imagination gains strength. They will never be as famous in the United States as John Brown, and their struggle is entirely different, but they and he put ideals and ethics first. In the case of Gerardo Hernandez, the juxtaposition of persecution and principled action demands extra efforts.