Miami spy case seen as political ploy
On Jan. 6, federal authorities arrested husband and wife Carlos Alvarez and Elsa Prieto, professors at Miami’s Florida International University (FIU). Proponents of dialogue between Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits, the couple frequently take student groups to Cuba. Alvarez, 61, is an associate professor of educational leadership. Prieto, 55, is a coordinator for the university’s counseling program.
NATIONAL CLIPS
S. CHARLESTON, W.Va.: City says ‘bring troops home now’ DENVER: Bush seeks campaign money, finds protesters Nationwide: End the death penalty! BIRMINGHAM, Ala.: Pipe workers fight for retiree benefits
LETTERS
Extradite Posada Carriles; Like a tree Fault capitalism; Scary Silence; Reality time?; Chutzpah
NATIONAL CLIPS
HUNTSVILLE, Texas: State executes Frances Newton ATLANTA: Civil rights groups sue to protect voting rights RICHMOND, Va.: Mountaintop mining back in court JACKSON, Miss.: Justice Dept. smears environmental groups
Contra figures resurface to target Venezuela
His “crimes” include acting as a democratically elected president of a sovereign Venezuela; rejecting the principles embodied in the Monroe Doctrine (i.e., “Latin America is the U.S.A.’s backyard”); challenging neoliberal doctrines that serve the interest of global corporations rather than social development; seeking to solidify the economic and political integration of South America based on the principles of equal exchange and mutually beneficial cooperation; and using Venezuela’s oil income to benefit the majority of Venezuelans rather than an elite few.
Social Security, organizing head labor agenda
LAS VEGAS — A campaign to defend Social Security, patterned after labor’s massive 2004 election mobilization, was formulated at the annual winter AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting here Feb. 28–March 3. The campaign plan includes strong media and grass roots components.
40 years after Selma's Bloody Sunday
The struggle for voting rights continues Reps. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) defended the legacy of martyrs who died for voting rights when they blocked, for a few hours, Jan. 6, the certification of Ohio’s Electoral College votes to force a debate on the widespread vote suppression and irregularities on Nov. 2.
Economist exposes Colombias misery
CHICAGO — Hector Mondragon is not your typical economist. He doesn’t have a desk job as an adviser to a big bank or multinational corporation, nor is he a government bureaucrat. Neither does he hold a comfortable position teaching macroeconomic theory at a university, although he’s well qualified to do so. click here for Spanish text
Colombia deports 4 unionists
Aidan White, general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, condemned the Colombian government last week for deporting four senior international trade unionists from the international airport in Bogotá in early November.
