December 2009 – Page 2 – Upside Down World

El Salvador – Hitmen Assassinate Prominent Woman Activist in Cabañas; Pro-Mining Violence Continues

December 27, 2009 Jason Wallach 0

Six days after heavily armed men took the life of a respected anti-mining activist in Cabañas, El Salvador, another prominent community leader has been assassinated. On December 26 at 3:30 pm Dora “Alicia” Sorto Rodriguez, 32, was killed as she returned from doing laundry at the river near her home in Cantón Trinidad, in the municipality of Sensuntepeque, Cabañas.”Alicia,” as she was known to friends, was eight months pregnant and carried her 2-year-old son in her arms as she was shot dead.

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Killing Activists in Honduras

December 23, 2009 Joseph Shansky 0

Walter Trochez

“As a revolutionary I will be today, tomorrow and forever on the front lines of my people, all the while knowing that I may lose my life." – Walter Trochez, 25, murdered in Tegucigalpa on 12/13/09

The bodies of slain activists are piling up in Honduras. While it’s being kept quiet in most Honduran and international media, the rage is building among a dedicated network of friends spreading the word quickly with the tragic announcement of each compañero/a. […]

Bicentennial and Breaking Continuity: Ecuador, Latin America, and Obama

December 23, 2009 Ronn Pineo 0

President Rafael Correa, elected in 2006, and reelected in 2009 under the new constitution, is leading Ecuador through what he calls a new “revolution,” one bringing the creation of “socialism for the twenty-first century.” I recently returned from Ecuador, on hand for a bicentennial meeting of historical scholars, and had the opportunity to meet with leading political advisors and talk with ordinary women and men about the changes coming to their country. I came away with one inescapable conclusion: United States policy is completely out of step with the needs and concerns of Ecuador and Latin America.
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Activista anti-minera Ramiro Rivera asesinado en Cabañas, El Salvador

December 23, 2009 CISPES 0

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Honduras: Violencia focalizada contra opositores

December 23, 2009 Thelma Mejía 0

(IPS) – En los últimos seis meses, la defensa de los derechos humanos en Honduras pasó de registrar el impacto de la descontrolada inseguridad ciudadana a centrarse en el asesinato, maltrato, tortura e intimidación contra […]

Bolivia: Native People Take First Steps Towards Self-Government

December 23, 2009 Franz Chávez 0

(IPS)-Indigenous people, who make up more than 60 percent of the population in Bolivia, South America’s poorest country, are taking their first steps towards self-government under their own cultural traditions that date back to pre-colonial […]

Action Alert: Demand an Investigation Into the Murder of Anti-mining Activist Ramiro Rivera Gómez

December 23, 2009 CISPES 0

Demand an investigation and an end to the murders! Ramiro Rivera Gómez, vice-president of CAC (Comité Ambiental de Cabañas/ the Environmental Committee of Cabañas) and a local leader in the community struggle against the environmentally-destructive […]

Brazilian Guarani Tortured and Murdered

December 22, 2009 Survival International 0

A Brazilian Indian has been murdered in the latest in a string of killings related to the theft of his tribe’s land.The man, Osmair Martins Ximenes, is a Guarani Indian from southern Brazil. Two other […]

Colombia: Chicha, Fashionable Survivor

December 21, 2009 Helda Martínez 0

(IPS) – Chicha, a traditional homemade brew produced all the way from Mexico to Chile since the days of the Inca, has largely been a rural drink over the centuries. But it is enjoying a […]

Honduran Coup d’état Finds Rival in Nicaragua

December 21, 2009 Belén Fernández 0

I was surprised to discover at the end of October while reading the newspaper in Honduras that a coup d’état had been detected in Nicaragua. According to the 21 October edition of the Honduran daily La Tribuna, former Nicaraguan president Arnoldo Alemán had applied the term golpe de estado to the recent ruling by the Nicaraguan Supreme Court of Justice that Article 147 of the national Constitution prohibiting the immediate reelection of presidents was "inapplicable" in the case of current President Daniel Ortega’s proposed candidature in 2011. […]