Archives – Page 134 – Upside Down World

Amid Repression, Mobilizing Against the Coup Continues in Honduras

December 15, 2009 Dawn Paley 0

TEGUCIGALPA-Hundreds of Hondurans marched in the capital city on Friday, demanding the return of elected President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales, who was deposed in a coup d’état on June 28.The hundreds of people who marched in Tegucigalpa showed no fear in the face of deadly repercussions. “Since June 28 we’ve been in the streets,” said Dionisia Diez, who at 76 years is known as the grandmother of the resistance movement. “We’re mobilizing for the restitution of our president.” […]

Critiquing the Trajectory of the Zapatista Movement

December 15, 2009 Ramor Ryan 0

It has been noted, perhaps somewhat unfairly, that by this stage there are probably more books and papers written about the Zapatistas than there are actual Zapatista milicianos. Niels Barmeyer’s new work, Developing Zapatista Autonomy: Conflict and NGO Involvement in Rebel Chiapas adds to this cannon, but distinguishes itself by coming from the perspective of a militant anthropologist, an embedded solidarity activist investigating— from below—the inner workings of the EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation) and the solidarity and NGO organizations surrounding it. It also distinguishes itself by being more critical than most, certainly of those ostensibly coming from a sympathetic position. […]

Honduran Coup Regime Erects Superficial Reality Around Elections

December 10, 2009 Belén Fernández 0

Porfirio Lobo

A few days prior to the November 29 elections in Honduras, Francisco Varela—the homeless man regularly stationed outside the drive-through of one of the ubiquitous Espresso Americano establishments in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa—acquired a campaign T-shirt for National Party presidential candidate and soon-to-be victor Porfirio (Pepe) Lobo. […]

On Presidents and Precedents: Implications of the Honduran Coup

December 10, 2009 Joseph Shansky 0

The Nov. 29 election passed with predictable results. For most Hondurans, Election Day in Honduras was never seen as a turning point. Rather, it followed a familiar rhetoric that democracy can be always gained, or restored, in the ballot box. That this simple action could clean up the violent elimination of democratic order is a profound lie. […]

Ecuador Uses WTO Rules to Make Medicines More Accessible

December 9, 2009 Cyril Mychalejko 0

`People before Profits!´ In the United States the motto can be seen on signs at protests or health care rallies, though it is a plea historically ignored by lawmakers in Washington. But in Ecuador, President Rafael Correa has translated this phrase into policy. […]

Democracy in Honduras: Chronicle of a Death Foretold

December 7, 2009 Benjamin Dangl 0

Lobo and Clinton

Before right wing candidate Porfirio Lobo was pronounced the winner of the November 29 elections in Honduras, one senior US official spoke anonymously to reporters of his administration’s position on Honduras: "What are we going to do, sit for four years and just condemn the coup?" Instead, Washington offered its pivotal blessing for the elections, allowing a bloody dictatorship to paint itself in a democratic light. […]

Peru: Violence Targets Anti-mining Activists

December 7, 2009 Jennifer Moore 0

Over the weekend, a reported 2,000 campesinos turned out to mourn the death of two men in the remote rural province of Huancabamba where campesinos have been opposing a Chinese and UK owned mine for the last six years. The Rio Blanco project is principally owned by the Chinese Zijin Consortium together with the UK’s Monterrico Metals. […]

The Speed of Change: Bolivian President Morales Empowered by Re-Election

December 7, 2009 Benjamin Dangl 0

Celebrations in La Paz

Bolivian President Evo Morales was re-elected on Sunday, December 6th in a landslide victory. After the polls closed, fireworks, music and celebrations filled the Plaza Murillo in downtown La Paz where Morales supporters chanted "Evo Again! Evo Again!" Addressing the crowd from the presidential palace balcony, Morales said, "The people, with their participation, showed once again that it’s possible to change Bolivia We have the responsibility to deepen and accelerate this process of change." […]

Turning Activists Into Voters in Uruguay: The Frente Amplio and José Mujica

December 3, 2009 Benjamin Dangl 0

Torrential rain didn’t keep voters away from the polls on Sunday, November 29th when José "Pepe" Mujica was elected president with 52% of the vote. The 74-year-old Agricultural Minister spent 14 years in jail for his participation in the Tupamaro guerilla movement, and has pledged to continue the policies of his predecessor, current left-leaning president Tabaré Vásquez. Mujica also promised that while president, he would return to his farm outside the capital city at least 5 hours a week to tend his flowers and vegetables. […]

Behind Bars in Honduras: An Interview with a Women’s Rights Leader Before the ‘Free’ Election

December 2, 2009 Tamar Sharabi 0

Merlin Eguigure helped organize an event on Nov. 25 for the UN International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The next day while leaving a restaurant in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, members of COBRA, the special police force, ambushed her. They searched her car and detained her and two companions for having spray paint in the car. But her real crime is being a part of the “Movement of Women for Peace Visitacion Padilla” and a ‘Feminist in Resistance,’ and for speaking out against the coup regime that took power on June 28. […]