WOMBLES - South America

Rio de Janeiro: Control of the poor seen as crucial for the 2016 Olympics

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:54:17 +0000

via no2010, 9 February 2010: "The prospect of the FIFA World Cup in 2014 followed by the Olympic Games in 2016 has reignited the debate about public security in a country where there is an undeclared war taking place in the favelas between the military police, paramilitary groups, and drug traffickers, but where the principal victims are the poor..." more

Colombia: A US-backed terror state

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:07:47 +0000

from greenleft, 17 December 2009: "By waging a brutal war against its own population on behalf of transnational interests, the Colombian state has earned the endorsement of successive Washington administrations. They have lavishly rewarded Colombia’s ruling elite with high praise and billions of dollars of military aid. The corporate media have also responded favourably, depicting Colombia as a democracy under threat from “dictatorial” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in need of US support... more

Venezuela: El Libertario - "Demarcation without land, criminalization and death for indigenous struggle"

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:10:20 +0000

from ainfos, 15 October 2009: "The editorial collective of El Libertario denounces the criminal attack that took place on October 13, 2009 against the Yukpa people in the Sierra of Perija in Western Venezuela, resulting in two indigenous persons dead and several wounded. The following article – about the tactic and strategy of “Revolutionary Venezuelan” Ethnocide - describes the events..." more

Petrol bomb attack on police station in Santiago, shots fired, one wounded, 2 arrested

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:10:04 +0000

from various sources, updated 10 September 2009: Action report and communique, internet translation of the statement from Revolutionary Students - "In several towns and areas we saw as the repressive organs of State have already begun to act against the next September 11. Already some people are beginning to cornering, to raid houses in the popular sectors, to carry out mass identity checks, to make tracking possible demonstrators, and so on..." more

Newswires: Honduras

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:17:25 +0000

Updated daily: Articles from external newswires filtered for the keywords: Honduras, Zelaya, Micheletti, Tegucigalpa... more

Newswires: Brazil

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:35:15 +0000

Updated daily:

Newswires: Peru / Amazon

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:19:01 +0000

Updated daily: Articles from external newswires filtered for the following keywords: Peru, Amazon, Lima, Awajun, Wambis, Bagua, Utcubamba, Pizango, Garcia, Andes... more

Newswires: Venezuela

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 16:00:51 +0000

Articles filtered from external newswires for the keywords: venezuela, caracas, chavez, libertario, bolivarian, chavista... more

U.S. escalates war plans in Latin America

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:03:39 +0000

from mw, 28 July 2009: "On June 29 US President Barack Obama hosted his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe at the White House and weeks later it was announced that the Pentagon plans to deploy troops to five air and naval bases in Colombia, the largest recipient of American military assistance in Latin America and the third largest in the world, having received over $5 billion from the Pentagon since the launching of Plan Colombia nine years ago..." more

US drug war money funded Peru indigenous massacre

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:08:47 +0000

from narconews, 23 June 2009: "US Government Trained the Police Department that Participated in the Operation and Invested "Heavily" in the Killer Helicopters... On June 5, the Peruvian National Police (PNP) massacred up to fifty unarmed Awajún and Wampi indigenous people in Bagua who had blockaded roads in protest of land reforms related to a recently implemented US-Peru free trade agreement..." more

El Libertario: Campaign against the assassination of workers in Venezuela

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:43:48 +0000

from ainfos, 20 June 2009: "This past May 5 union leader Argenis Vasquez, organizing secretary in the union at Toyota’s plant in Cumana, was gunned down by thugs as he left his house. This assassination occurred just after a month-long strike demanding improvements. The murdered worker was a leader of the protest and key in confrontations with the company and the management..." more

Peru: Police fire on unarmed indigenous tribes' oil and gas protest

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:26:10 +0000

from guardian, updated 17 June 2009: "Indigenous tribes who are protesting about oil and gas projects in the Amazon clashed with Peruvian security forces on Friday, leaving dozens dead and injured... Police in helicopters fired live rounds at peaceful protestors and dropped tear gas canisters, killing 22 protestors, indigenous leader Alberto Pizango told reporters in the capital Lima..." more

Colombia: Secret documents show US was aware of extra-judicial killings in 1990s

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:18:24 +0000

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

Venezuela: No concentration of power is ever revolutionary

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:26:46 +0000

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

The coroner gets his way: Open verdict at Menezes inquest. No pigs blamed...

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 15:38:17 +0000

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