South America

from rinf, 13 January 2009: "Declassified U.S. documents show that the CIA and former U.S. ambassadors were fully aware, as far back as 1990, that the military in Colombia — the third largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel and Egypt — were committing extrajudicial killings as part of “death squad tactics.” They also knew that senior Colombian officers encouraged a “body count” mentality to demonstrate progress in the fight against left-wing guerrillas. In an undetermined number of cases, the bodies presented as casualties in the counterinsurgency war were actually civilians who had nothing to do with the country’s decades-old armed conflict..." more

from email, 5 January 2008: "During mid-December a large number of people working under temporary contracts in governmental offices lost their jobs due to orders “from above” that mandated a drastic reduction in the inflated state payroll due to the economic crisis. On the other hand a report by the NGO CECODAP counted 174 children dead by gunshots in one year in their neighborhoods, which testifies about the violence we live with in this country, symptom of our social crisis..." more

from various sources, 12 December 2008: The jury at the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes today rejected Scotland Yard's claim that he was lawfully killed as part of an anti-terrorism operation. Banned by the coroner, Sir Michael Wright, from returning a verdict of unlawful killing, the five men and five women decided on an open verdict – the most critical that was available to them. In a series of answers to a list of crucial questions, they dismissed the testimony of the senior firearms officer who shot De Menezes – suggesting they did not believe the officer was acting in self-defence.. more

from various sources, 25 November 2008: "Throughout its history, capitalism has functioned through geographical displacement of crisis – attempting to offload the worst impacts onto those outside the core. This article presents a short survey of what this crisis might mean for the Global South..." more

posted 12 November 2008: "In this month’s Underreported Struggles: 400,000 Guatemalans Reject Development Model, Philippines Indigenous People Unite for the Land, Riot Police Target Algonquin Blockade, Chagos Islanders Denied the Right of Return, and 17 other stories that you probably haven’t heard about..." more

from email, 14 October 2008: The family of Jean Charles de Menezes were sickened to discover further cover up by police officers surrounding his death during today's evidence given at the inquest into Jean Charles' death. An officer, known only as 'Owen' due to being successfully granted anonymity for the inquest, admitted to deleting a section of notes which would have been potentially vital evidence to any investigative proceedings. more

from email, 12 October 2008: Venezuela, Anarchist journal El Libertario #54 - Editorial - "This editorial from El Libertario (#54, September-October 2008, Venezuela) examines – from the current Venezuelan perspective – how authoritarian power builds its own security upon the destruction of collective security. Civil insecurity is a problem that has certainly been inherited by the so-called Bolivarian government, the product of, among other things, an immense social debt with large sectors of the population, getting worse to the point of being considered the mayor problem experienced everyday by the people of Venezuela..."" more

from email, 13 September 2008: 10 years ago on September 11th, Claudia Lopez a woman, student and anarchist dancer was killed by the police during a protest commemorating the coup of 1973. Under the slogan of Black September the youth combatants fight in her name, and in the name of all those killed under democracy, against the bastards who killed them, making sure that the world remembers that we are living in a war. - On September 2nd 2008 combative youth took the streets to stop traffic on Jorge Alessandri Avenue out side of the UMCE University. They fought police for hours with rocks and molotov cocktails more

from email, 23 April 2008: The profile of anarchism in Venezuelan history has been less pronounced than in other parts of Latin America, where it has vigorously manifested itself through collective struggles, publications, personalities and ideological debate. It is, however, worth pointing out that it has also influenced our social and cultural evolution. more