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http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/mexico.oaxaca.ap/
POSTED: 0154 GMT (0954 HKT), October 27, 2006
Mexico shootouts kill journalist
OAXACA, Mexico (AP) -- Two shootouts left a U.S. journalist dead and several others injured in the Mexican city of Oaxaca, where protesters have barricaded streets and occupied government buildings for five months in a bid to oust the governor. The journalist was shot in the abdomen Friday and died later at a Red Cross hospital, said a police official who was not authorized to give his name.
A co-worker named Hinrich Schuleze identified the victim as a New York native who worked for Indymedia.org. However, Red Cross officials said the victim had no identification on his body.
The gunfire erupted in a rough Oaxaca neighborhood when armed men tried to remove a blockade set up by protesters who are demanding the resignation of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz, the police official said. Both sides fired but it was not clear who shot first, he said.
An Associated Press video taken at the scene shows people ducking for cover as shots rattle out from many directions. A group of six men are seen running through the street with the injured American.
Oswaldo Ramirez, a photographer for the Mexico City daily Milenio was shot in the foot at and taken to hospital, Milenio said on its Web site.
The second shoot-out erupted between protesters and an armed group outside the state prosecutors office and left three people injured, the police official said.
Protesters have taken over the historic city since June, building barricades, driving out police and burning buses. The protesters accuse the governor of rigging the 2004 election to win office and using violence against his opponents.
Friday's clash came a day after teachers agreed to end their five-month-old strike that has kept 1.3 million children out of classes in the state of Oaxaca -- a move that was expected to take the sting out of the protests. The teachers have been camped out in Oaxaca city's colonial center since May when they first walked out to demand higher pay and better working conditions.
After police attacked one of their demonstrations in June, they extended their demands to include a call for the resignation of Gov. Ruiz and were joined by leftists, students and Indian groups.
Police and armed gangs have led sporadic attacks on the protesters, and at least five people have been killed in violence related to the unrest. The lawlessness has led to armed groups of protesters and other residents patrolling the street, frequently capturing and beating suspected criminals.
On Thursday, just over 31,000 teachers voted to end their walkout, union secretary Ezequiel Rosales said. More than 20,000 voted to continue the strike. Union leaders said they planned to meet with Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal in Mexico City on Friday to hammer out conditions for their return to classes.
Rosales said the teachers would demand that the government guarantee the safety of returning teachers, who fear reprisals from Ruiz supporters. Union leaders also are seeking the release of four jailed protesters and the cancellation of outstanding arrest warrants against demonstrators.
Mexico's Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca said this week that he had issued arrest warrants for at least 10 protesters accused of damaging buildings and blocking streets.
Ruiz has repeatedly asked federal authorities to send troops to restore order, but the government of President Vicente Fox has insisted on trying to solve the dispute through negotiations. The conflict has been one of the biggest challenges for Fox, whose six-year term ends December 1.
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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/pictures/DAR23D.htm
28 Oct 2006
Members of the APPO carry an injured cameraman who was shot during a shooting in Oaxaca City
Source: Reuters
Members of the Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) carry Will Bradley Roland, a cameraman, who was shot during a shooting near a barricade in Oaxaca City October 27, 2006. Gunmen opened fire on protesters in Mexico's colonial city of Oaxaca on Friday, killing a U.S. journalist and wounding several people at road blocks set up by leftists pushing to topple a state governor. Roland, a cameraman working with Indymedia New York, was shot in the chest and died before reaching the hospital, the independent news group said on its Web site.
REUTERS/DANIEL AGUILAR
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U.S. journalist killed in Mexico's Oaxaca conflict
Source: Reuters
Members of the Popular Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) gather around Will Bradley Roland, a cameraman, who was shot during a shooting near a barricade in Oaxaca City October 27, 2006. Gunmen opened fire on protesters in Mexico's colonial city of Oaxaca on Friday, killing a U.S. journalist and wounding several people at road blocks set up by leftists pushing to topple a state governor. Roland, a cameraman working with Indymedia New York, was shot in the chest and died before reaching the hospital, the independent news group said on its Web site.
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Aztlannet_News/message/25852
Fri Oct 27, 2006 7:32 pm
10/27 America Watch Oxaca Alert! NYC IMC Reporter Killed!
10/27 OAXACA UNDER ATTACK: NYC INDYMEDIA REPORTER, BRAD WILL, SHOT; CONFIRMED DEAD!
Urgent Alert from Americas Watch: projects of Peace No War Network
http://www.AmericasWatch.net
http://www.PeaceNOWar.net
http://www.ActionLA.org
Indymedia volunteer killed in attack by Paramilitaries in Oaxaca
[Independent Media Center] Federal Police and Paramilitaries attack the barricades near Oaxaca's office of justice, in the Calicante municipality. There aresereveal injured and one person dead.
Indymedia New York's reporter, Will Bradley Roland, was shot in the chest and die before get the hospital, while Oswaldo Ramírez, photographer for Milenio Diario, has also been shot and is injured in the foot.
THIS IS WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR ABOUT BRAD FROM A PERSON WHO WAS THERE WITH HIM:
- He was at the Santa Lucia Barricade
- He was shot from a distance of 30-40 meters right in the pit of the stomach
- They say it was urban paramilitary priistas in plain clothes who shot him
- People then pulled him away to safety; its confirmed that he's dead; his body is at the red cross in oaxaca
- 3 additional dead (4 total); 1 member of radio universidad was injured, he went to the hospital in a volkswagen cuz no ambulances would come
More information: English report
CML - La Jornada - IMC México
Radio APPO steaming now | Live coverage at CML
Report:
OAXACA UNDER ATTACK: NYC INDYMEDIA REPORTER, BRAD WILL, SHOT; CONFIRMED DEAD
RADIO APPO TRANSMITS LIVE
http://www.jornada.unam.mx:8080/ultimas
http://nyc.indymedia.org/en/index.html
Download recording
Periodista muerto en Oaxaca
Calicanto, Oax. El camarógrafo Brad Will es auxiliado por periodistas luego que recibió un disparo en el pecho cuando cubría un enfrentamiento entre brigadistas de la APPO y presuntos guardias blancas en este municipio conurbado a la capital. Notimex
U.S. journalist killed in Mexico's Oaxaca conflict
October 27, 2006
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061028/wl_nm/mexico_oaxaca_dc_1
OAXACA, Mexico (Reuters) - Gunmen opened fire on protesters in Mexico's colonial city of Oaxaca on Friday, killing a U.S. journalist and wounding several people at road blocks set up by leftists pushing to topple a state governor.
Will Bradley Roland, a cameraman working with Indymedia New York, was shot in the chest and died before reaching the hospital, the independent news group said on its Web site.
Emergency services said the journalist died after being shot in the torso in one of two shootouts in the city.
Nine people, mostly protesters, have been killed in a conflict that began in Oaxaca state five months ago, when striking teachers and leftist activists occupied much of the state capital, a popular tourist destination.
Red Cross officials said several people were wounded in the shootings on Friday.
A Reuters photographer said protesters came under fire near barricades on the edge of the city, famous for its colonial architecture, thriving arts scene and indigenous culture.
This week, striking teachers voted to return to classes but many protesters say they will not back down until state Gov. Ulises Ruiz is ousted.
Critics accuse Ruiz of corruption and repressive tactics against dissenters, whose roadblocks have driven tourism from the city and hurt business.
President Vicente Fox has vowed to end the conflict before he leaves office on December 1. but negotiations to find a peaceful way out have so far failed.
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http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B6D558BE5-18DF-434E-9A77-E4A984735691%7D)&language=EN
October 27, 2006
Oaxaca to Rage until Governor Quits
Mexico, Oct 27 (Prensa Latina) After a series of agreed upon demands, including the resignation of Governor Ulises Ruiz, the conflict in the Mexican state of Oaxaca continues Friday, with most teachers wanting to get back to classes.
The State Assembly of section 22 of the National Education Workers Union (SNTE) announced Thursday they will hinder the inauguration of President elect Felipe Calderon if Ruiz does not quit before November 30.
The group also conditioned the restart of classes to guarantees, by the Government Secretariat, for the physical, labor, and administrative security of teachers, as well as the release of prisoners, and annulment of arrest warrants against leaders of the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca (APPO).
For that, a negotiating team will travel to Mexico City today to meet with Government Secretary Carlos Abascal, and present the list of demands.
Regarding this, a new assembly was convened for Saturday, when the Secretariat s reply will be analyzed, and only then, the gradual restart of the school year would be agreed.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601816.html
Thursday, October 26, 2006; 10:17 PM
Teachers in Mexican State End Strike
By REBECA ROMERO
The Associated Press
OAXACA, Mexico -- Teachers in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca voted Thursday to end a five-month-old strike, allowing 1.3 million children to return to classes and potentially taking the sting out of anti-government protests besieging this historic city.
The unrest was evident earlier in the day as protesters seized a city bus, forced passengers off and set it ablaze.
A women passes by cars in the center of Oaxaca City, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2006. With virtually no police in the streets, residents of this colonial town in rebellion are stepping in to fill the void _ often with brutal consequences. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo) (Eduardo Verdugo - AP)
Authorities have said they hope that the situation will improve when teachers return to work on Monday.
Just over 31,000 union members voted to end the walkout, union secretary Ezequiel Rosales announced in a meeting at a hotel. More than 20,000 voted to continue the strike.
Some striking teachers had already returned to their classrooms. In the days prior to Thursday's vote about 4,000 of Oaxaca state's 14,000 schools have reopened, according to union officials.
Striking teachers have been camped out in Oaxaca's colonial center since May when they first walked out to demand higher pay and better working conditions.
After police attacked one of their demonstrations in June, they extended their demands to include a call for the resignation of Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz. They were joined by leftists, students and Indian groups who accuse Ruiz of rigging the 2004 election to win office and sending groups of thugs to attacks his opponents.
Protesters built makeshift barricades, burned buses, chased the police out of town and took over radio stations. Police and armed gangs led sporadic attacks on the protesters and five people have been killed.
On Thursday, demonstrators retreated from a radio stations they seized in August, saying the government had disrupted the transmission and they were no longer able to broadcast.
However, the protesters that joined the teachers have formed a group called the Oaxaca People's Assembly, which has promised to continue efforts to oust the governor. The assembly Friday plans to blockade highways, beef up barricades and boycott commercial centers.
Ruiz has repeatedly asked federal authorities to send in troops, but President Vicente Fox has insisted in trying to solve the dispute through negotiations.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/27/world/americas/27nicaragua.html
Published: October 27, 2006
Nicaragua Passes Total Ban on Abortion
By MARC LACEY
MEXICO CITY, Oct. 26 — Nicaragua’s legislature on Thursday banned all abortions, eliminating exceptions for rape and when the life of the mother is threatened. The measure, expected to be approved by President Enrique Bolaños, was voted in 52 to 0, with 9 abstentions and 29 representatives not showing up to vote.
Nicaragua joins El Salvador and Chile as the only countries in the Western hemisphere to ban abortion without exception. But across Latin America, abortion is outlawed except in rare circumstances. It is readily available only in Cuba and a few English-speaking Caribbean countries.
The ban in Nicaragua comes two weeks before a hotly contested presidential election on Nov. 5, and opponents of the law say it was introduced now because no one dared to oppose it in the political climate.
“The presidential election is so polarized that the church saw this as an opportunity to force this issue now,” Dr. Mirma Cunningham, a former minister of health and member of the National Assembly, said in a telephone interview.
The measure was supported by Daniel Ortega, the front-runner in the presidential race. He favored the right to an abortion during his presidency in the 1980’s but has since embraced the Roman Catholic Church and has spoken out strongly against abortion.
Edmundo Jarquín, the candidate of the Sandinista Renovation Movement, a breakaway group challenging Mr. Ortega’s candidacy, is the only one of the four leading presidential candidates to oppose the ban.
When asked about the issue at a presidential debate in September, Eduardo Montealegre of the Nicaraguan Liberal Alliance, who is the candidate backed by Washington, recounted how his wife faced a difficult pregnancy nearly two decades ago but proceeded with it. Two of the three triplets she was carrying died but one survived and is now 18 years old. “That’s why I oppose abortion,” he said.
Health officials estimate that 32,000 illegal abortions are performed every year in Nicaragua, most of them unsafe. Advocates of the ban hope to reduce that number by making doctors and patients think about the consequences. Opponents of the law maintain that prohibiting the ending of problematic pregnancies will only lead to more clandestine abortions.
Nicaragua now allows abortions if three doctors agree that the mother’s life would be in danger. This amounted to a total of six legal abortions in 2002, the last year for which data is available. Health officials say that the number has remained in the single digits since.
Illegal abortions can be punished with jail terms of up to six years for the woman and the doctor. Lawmakers put off discussion of sentences under the new law, though far stricter terms are expected to be added.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/26/world/americas/26mexico.html?pagewanted=all
Published: October 26, 2006
With Beheadings and Attacks, Drug Gangs Terrorize Mexico
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
URUAPAN, Mexico — Norteño music was blaring at the Sol y Sombra bar on Sept. 6 when several men in military garb broke up the late night party. Waving high-powered machine guns, they screamed at the crowd to stay put and then dumped the contents of a heavy plastic bag on the dance floor.
“This is not something you see every day,” said a bartender, who asked not to be named for fear of losing his own head. “Very ugly.”
An underworld war between drug gangs is raging in Mexico, medieval in its barbarity, its foot soldiers operating with little fear of interference from the police, its scope and brutality unprecedented, even in a country accustomed to high levels of drug violence.
In recent months the violence has included a total of two dozen beheadings, a raid on a local police station by men with grenades and a bazooka, and daytime kidnappings of top law enforcement officials. At least 123 law enforcement officials, among them 2 judges and 3 prosecutors, have been gunned down or tortured to death. Five police officers were among those beheaded.
In all, the violence has claimed more than 1,700 civilian lives this year, and federal officials say the killings are on course to top the estimated 1,800 underworld killings last year. Those death tolls compare with 1,304 in 2004 and 1,080 in 2001, these officials say.
Mexico’s law enforcement officials maintain that the violence is a sign that they have made progress dismantling the major organized crime families in the country. The arrests of several drug cartel leaders and their top lieutenants have set off a violent struggle among second-rank mobsters for trade routes, federal prosecutors say. The old order has been fractured, and the remaining drug dealers are killing one another or making new alliances.
“These alliances are happening because none of the organizations can control, on its own, the territory it used to control, and that speaks to the crisis that they are in,” said José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos, the top federal prosecutor for organized crime.
Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca said a steadily rising tide of drug addiction within Mexico had spurred some of the murders, as dealers fought for local markets. At the same time, more and more honest police officers are trying to enforce the law rather than turn a blind eye to drug traffickers, often paying with their lives, prosecutors say.
But those assessments, other authorities say, are overly rosy and may explain only part of the picture. Some experts say the Mexican police forces, weakened by corruption and cowed by assassinations, are simply not up to the task of countering the underworld feuds unleashed by the arrests of cartel leaders over the last six years.
Many of the dead made their living in the drug trade and perished in a larger struggle for territory between a federation of cartels based in Sinaloa, on the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf Cartel from the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, federal prosecutors say.
The five men beheaded in Uruapan, in Michoacán, were street-level methamphetamine dealers, addicted themselves to the synthetic drug. They were linked loosely to the Valencia family, which once controlled most of the drug trade in the state and is a part of the Sinaloa group, the police say. The killers came from a gang called The Family, believed to be allied with the Gulf Cartel.
A day before, the killers had kidnapped the five men from a mechanic’s shop they had been using as a front for selling “ice,” as crystal methamphetamine is called on the street. They sawed their victims’ heads off with a bowie knife while they were still alive shortly before going to the bar, law enforcement officials said.
“You don’t do something like that unless you want to send a big message,” said one United States law enforcement official here, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The beheadings, in fact, have become a signature form of intimidation aimed at both criminal rivals and federal and local authorities. In the tourist town of Acapulco, killers from one drug gang decapitated the commander of a special strike force, Mario Núñez Magaña, in April, along with one of his agents, Jesús Alberto Ibarra Velázquez.
They jammed the heads in a fence in front of the municipal police station. “So you will learn to respect,” said a red note next to them.
“This year has been one to forget, a black year,” said Jorge Valdez, a spokesman for the Acapulco police. “It’s the most violent year in the last 50 years, and the acts are barbaric, bloody, with no trace of humanity.”
The violence is by no means limited to Acapulco. In mid-July, about 15 gunmen attacked a small-town police station in Tabasco State at dawn with grenades, a bazooka and machine guns in an attempt to liberate two of their gang members, who were arrested after a bar fight the night before.
Two police officers died in the assault. The authorities said the attackers were dressed in the commando outfits of federal agents and belonged to the Zetas, former soldiers who work for the Gulf Cartel.
One reason for the wave of law enforcement killings is that the Mexican police do a poor job of protecting their own. Arrests have been made in only a handful of the assassinations of police officers this year. The overwhelming majority remain unsolved because witnesses fear testifying against drug traffickers. Even seasoned investigators are afraid to dig too deep into the murders.
“There is an atmosphere that affects us, of distrust, of terror inside the police force,” said Jesús Alemán del Carmen, the head of the state police in Guerrero, where 22 law enforcement officials have been brutally assassinated this year.
One of the officers killed was Gonzalo Domínguez Díaz, the state police commander in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán. In February, he received a death threat from a local businessman who law enforcement officials say has links to the Valencia crime family.
The threat came just minutes after Commander Domínguez arrested two men on weapons possession charges. He arrived home that night pale and shaken, said his widow, Fanny Carranza Domínguez. His anxiety grew over time, after prosecutors released the men he had arrested, for a lack of evidence, his wife said.
In early May, he told his wife that he had heard on the street that gunmen were looking for him. “He said, ‘I know that if I arrest them I am risking my life,’ ” she recalled. “ ‘I bring them to the capital, and they let them go.’ ”
On May 8, a car cut off Commander Domínguez’s police car as he was driving home alone about 6:30 p.m. Within minutes, he was shot point blank in the head with a 12-gauge shotgun and twice in the chest with an AK-47. He never unholstered his sidearm. So far, prosecutors have made no progress in solving his murder. He was 47, the father of three.
“I think the commanders that haven’t been killed are in the game, and the ones that have been killed, it is because they attacked crime,” Mrs. Carranza Domínguez said.
“The prosecutor seems asleep here,” she added. “He doesn’t do anything but collect his salary and go home.”
Commander Domínguez was one of 16 state and federal police commanders assassinated this year across Mexico, along with 2 judges handling drug cases and 2 federal prosecutors. Local police chiefs have also been targets. Eight have been murdered, most of them in Michoacán.
Most were ambushed in their cars or outside their homes by men with machine guns. A few were kidnapped by men posing as federal agents. In these cases, the bodies were found later, shot full of holes, often showing signs of torture.
Commander Cándido Vargas, 40, the second in command of the state police in Uruapan, died that way in August. Prosecutors say he was walking to his car when he was surrounded by about 15 heavily armed men dressed in black commando outfits like those used by federal agents. It was 3:30 in the afternoon, and he was just 100 yards from the police headquarters.
The men hustled him into one of their vehicles and sped off. He was found the next day on a nearby ranch, shot 25 times. A sign next to his body read: “For playing with two bands.”
No one from the police department visited his wife and three children, who live in another town, to tell them of his death. “We found out through the newspaper,” said Paula Vargas, his wife of 23 years. “It was as if the whole world fell down on me.”
The state prosecutor in Uruapan, Ramón Ponce, says he has found no evidence of Commander Vargas’s being corrupt. Neither does he have any leads, he said. “The atmosphere is very tense,” Mr. Ponce said. “It’s very difficult.”
While attacks on the police have risen, they have been far outpaced by grisly gangland killings. In Michoacán, The Family is believed to be responsible for the beheadings of a dozen people besides the ones they delivered to the Sol y Sombra bar. The heads have often been accompanied by cryptic messages declaring the killings divine justice, accusing the victims of crimes, or daring their rivals to send more henchmen.
Nearly every day, new victims are found in states along the major drug shipment routes, especially Quintana Roo, Michoacán, Guerrero, Tamaulipas and Baja California. Most are bound, gagged and shot to death, their bodies dumped on lonely roads.
In the towns hardest hit by the gangland warfare, the fear is palpable. For two years now, Nuevo Laredo has been the main battleground for a fight between gunmen loyal to Joaquín (Chapo) Guzmán of Sinaloa and the remnants of the Gulf Cartel, whose leader, Osiel Cárdenas, is in prison awaiting trial.
“I wouldn’t be human if I said I wasn’t afraid,” acknowledged Elizabeth Hernández Arredone, a state prosecutor in Nuevo Laredo who has taped to her door a photograph of a female judge who recently disappeared.
The effects are everywhere. Many local journalists have stopped covering drug violence for fear they may become targets themselves. Tourists used to spill across the border from Laredo, Tex., to swig tequila, buy trinkets and run wild. Not anymore.
Church attendance is down, said the Rev. Alberto Monteras Monjarás of Santo Niño Church, because even a Sunday morning can be dangerous.
“People used to sleep outside on the porch if it got too hot,” he said. “Not anymore. You stay inside, and you put three or four locks on the door.”
+++++
Antonio Betancourt contributed reporting from Mexico City, and Marc Lacey from Nuevo Laredo.
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http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2119
Thursday, Oct 26, 2006
Venezuela and Guatemala Find No Compromise Candidate for UN Security Council
By: Steven Mather - Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas , October 26, 2006 (Venezuelanalysis.com)— Venezuela and Guatemala have failed to negotiate a way out of the impasse at the United Nations after the two Foreign Ministers, Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela and Gert Rosenthal of Guatemala, met today.
Voting in the contest for a seat as a non-permanent member of the Security Council was again suspended yesterday after 41 voting rounds. Venezuela has suggested the Dominican Republic as an alternative but Guatemala has yet to respond to that idea.
Prior to the meeting, Francisco Arias Cárdenas said Maduro was determined to find a solution, “We are looking for a favourable agreement, a dignified one. We want to send a lesson to those countries who try to impose their will on others that this is not the way to go”.
The six rounds of voting yesterday resulted in Venezuela scoring between 72 and 84 votes while Guatemala reached between 100 and 109 - much the same as the 35 rounds before that. That is, Guatemala is keeping a solid lead but failing to achieve the two-thirds majority required for a new non-permanent member to be selected by the UN General Assembly.
Venezuela has today suggested the Dominican Republic as an alternative. Guatemala has yet to reply to this suggestion but the President of the Caribbean country seemed positive about the idea. The Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez said yesterday that, “We are going to consider it as a possibility, it depends on Guatemala. It's important to have a different solution.”
Yesterday, Hugo Chávez said he thought Bolivia would be the ideal candidate, “I and the people of Venezuela would feel worthily represented by comrade Evo Morales and the people of Bolivia, who are a brother nation”, he said. Guatemala and the US flatly rejected that proposal. Morales and Chávez are close allies and both see themselves as struggling for an independent Latin America free from US influence.
The 35 members of the Latin American and Caribbean group at the UN had a meeting yesterday in an attempt to thrash out a compromise candidate. The disagreements between Veneuzuela and Guatemala seem to have forced the meeting to end without success, “Any consensus of the Latin American and Caribbean group is based on the agreement between the two candidates, and that is why the meeting of the candidates' foreign ministers is so important,” said Chilean Ambassador to the UN Heraldo Munoz yesterday.
However, if no agreement is forged the voting could, in theory, go on forever. The UN General Assembly announced yesterday that it had provisionally set aside time for additional ballots through the middle of November.
The current Latin American seat at the Security Council is taken up by Argentina. They will vacate it on December 31 where the new country will hold the seat for a period of two years.
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http://granmai.cubaweb.com/ingles/2006/octubre/juev26/45camera.html
Havana. October 26, 2006
Fidel gives camera to boy humiliated by the blockade
RAYSEL Sosa González received a digital camera on Wednesday night (Oct. 25), sent by President Fidel Castro, the daily Juventud Rebelde reported.
The boy received his gift publicly from the hands of Roberto González, deputy minister of health, at the school where Raysel attends seventh grade, Olof Palme Junior High, in the Havana neighborhood of La Lisa.
Jorge González, who leads the Coloring My Barrio Community Workshop, where Raysel cultivates his artistic talent, said that for four months, they had suffered together after the Japanese company Nikon shamefully refused to give Raysel the camera that was his prize for the 15th International Children’s Painting Competition on the Environment, because the camera had U.S. components.
“Today, justice has been done, and it has come from the most just man in the world,” the teacher affirmed.
Raysel, who was so surprised that he didn’t open his carefully gift-wrapped present for several minutes, said he was very happy about the camera sent by Fidel.
He said that he would like to see him when he gets better, give him a kiss on the cheek, and thank him for that warm gesture.
Raysel hasn’t yet decided what images his new camera will capture, but he will always remember this day, along with the pleasant knowledge of the solidarity given him by his classmates and neighbors, who a few minutes earlier had listened attentively to the detailed explanation from José Ramón Cabaña, an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, regarding the aggressive U.S. policy toward Cuba and its relentless blockade, which was used to try to deprive this young Cuba of his happiness.
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http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2118
Wednesday, Oct 25, 2006
Chavez and Supporters Condemn Destabilization Plans for Venezuelan Elections
By: Michael Fox – Venezuelanalysis.com
Venezuela's President Chavez speaks at his campaign rally to swear in campaigners.
Credit: Michael Fox - Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas, October 25, 2006 (Venezuelanalysis.com)— Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan officials, politicians and others denounced over the past week, what they believe are plans to destabilize the Venezuelan Presidential Elections, which is set to be held in less than six weeks, on December 3rd.
Last Sunday, President Chavez once again warned of destabilization activities and an assassination plot against him. Chavez further pointed out that the opposition has attempted to fix opinion polls to make it appear as though opposition candidate Manuel Rosales was gaining ground.
While the most reliable polls, including a recent survey from the University of Miami, consistently show Chavez with a 30% advantage over opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, other polls have been released over the last couple of weeks, which suggest that Rosales is actually tied or ahead of Chavez in the race for President.
“Operación Amanecer Rojo”
Lina Ron, head of the pro-Chavez, Popular Venezuelan Union (UPV) party, condemned the “electoral coup” Monday on VTV, which she said was taking place and consists of the goal to sabotage the elections through the manipulation of the polls and through the convoking of violent street demonstrations accusing electoral authorities of “fraud.”
Ron also condemned the existence of what she called “Operación Amanecer Rojo” (Operation Red Sunrise), which she said was designed by the United States, and includes the participation of paramilitaries paid by the State Department and the CIA. The Venezuelan National Assembly Commission of Foreign Affairs is currently analyzing these denouncements.
Maracaibo Destabilization Plan
Last Wednesday in an interview with Panorama, Maracaibo mayor, Giancarlo Di Martino, also condemned and outlined a destabilization plan that he had been made aware of, “with the goal of attacking the National Government and causing violence before the elections.” Di Martino acknowledged that the plan was brought to his attention by people at the University of Zulia (LUZ) and informants from Venezuelan Armed Forces at the Colombian border.
According Di Martino, “a student would be assassinated by paramilitaries” during one of a number of opposition marches that would be held at the University of Zulia a few days before the close of the electoral campaign in late November..
“The conspiracy is coordinated by the candidate Manuel Rosales together with the North American Government, in the figure of the CIA and the Dean Leonardo Atencio,” said Di Martino.
According to Di Martino, “the paramilitaries would follow the orders of Rosales and would be dressed as students. The death of the student would be blamed on the national guard or a metropolitan police official.”
“This would be an ideal scenario in order [for Rosales] to convoke his follows to civil disobedience and unleash a wave of undetainable violence from the University,” said Di Martino.
“Salvemos el Proceso”
The alternative media website, Aporrea, recently condemned “the manipulation of sectors of the opposition, who are working for the empire and for the group of Yankee psychological warfare advised by the CIA, a campaign that is being carried out in the internet with the sending of messages of intimidation and/or the utilization of false identities to emit judgments that have nothing to do with the true identification of the signer, with the only goal of creating an environment contrary and negative of the Government of President Chávez.”
According to the editors of Aporrea, an article was published titled “Salvemos el proceso” (“let’s save the process”), signed by an email account identified to be the leader of the Miranda Electoral Campaign, Fernando Bianco. However, in a phone call to Aporrea, Fernando Bianco “categorically denied that the article had been written by him.” Bianco further denied that he had a yahoo.com email account and resented that his name had been used to “carry out a proposal that doesn’t have anything to do with my convictions.”
Although the article was taken off the Aporrea website, it appears to have at least also been published with the Diario de Guyana, where it is still available on the website and where, by reading the comments, it appears to have succeeded in its mission to cause a wave a resentment against Bianco and the Bolivarian Process.
See Also:
Venezuelan Electoral Council Condemns Plan to Destabilize Elections
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2117
Chávez Holds Huge Lead in Venezuela Reelection Bid, Says U of Miami/Zogby Poll
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=2116
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/will-2006-be-the-year-of-_b_32473.html
October 25, 2006
Will 2006 Be The Year Of The Latino Voter?
by Chris Weigant
Immediately after the polls close (it seems), the mainstream media will inevitably name one particular group of voters the "deciding factor" in the election. We've already had "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads." Last time around it was "values voters." The question now is: will 2006 be the "year of the Latino voter?"
The discussion must begin with the admission that these media anointments are (to a debatable degree) a false construct of the media itself. Many have disclaimed the "values voters" announcement from 2004 as being an inaccurate label, or just lazy journalism. The term itself is ridiculous since 100% of voters would likely agree that they have "values" when they vote. It was used as shorthand, perhaps because "Evangelical Christian voters" didn't have the same ring (or might have been considered offensive). It's hard to divine what goes through the minds of the big media editors and producers who come up with these catchy labels.
But even admitting that the entire exercise may be closer to fantasy than reality, it's almost certain that it will be repeated this year. So pondering which group will be selected is indeed a legitimate question.
Some background on Latino voting is in order here. In the past few years, the Latino population in America has become larger than the African American population. Latinos are now the largest minority in America. However, due to historically low registration and voting rates, they are nowhere near as politically powerful as the African American community. Politicians feel free to ignore Latinos and their issues, because they don't vote.
This spring seemed to usher in an awakening within the Latino community, with millions of people attending street rallies in dozens of cities across America. "Today we march, tomorrow we vote!" their banners proudly proclaimed. But will they?
Hard data is difficult to find at this point. What indicators do exist are all over the map, making it impossible to predict results before the votes are actually counted. Some registrars are reporting an uptick in new registrations, while some counties report no more than usual for an off-year election. Many Hispanic-rights organizations have put a lot of time, energy and money into registration drives -- but some are reporting very limited success for their efforts. Latinos apparently have many excuses for not signing up; some are familiar to any American ("I'm too busy"), and some are particular to their own experiences of the powerlessness of voting in the countries they came from.
The most interesting anecdotal evidence to date is the fact that many Latino immigrants have settled in rural farm country -- traditionally a GOP stronghold. From the Associated Press:
"Of the 50 House districts nationwide with the fastest-growing immigrant communities, 45 are represented by Republicans. All but three of those lawmakers voted for a bill that would make illegal immigrants felons.
Overall, GOP districts added about 3 million immigrants from 2000 to 2005, nearly twice the number that settled in districts represented by Democrats, according to an Associated Press analysis of census data."
A surge in Latino voting in such districts may help to overcome the gerrymandering the GOP has done to create seemingly safe districts for themselves.
But Democrats shouldn't automatically assume that all new Latino voters will translate into Democratic votes. Even if Latino registration and voting rates were identical with African American voting, they would not vote as a bloc in the same way. The African American ethnic identity has a shared past of hundreds of years in America. Latino voters, on the other hand, come from many different countries (some recently, some not) and have very separate identities -- so much so that sometimes the only thing they share politically is a common language. A Puerto Rican in New York City has very little shared background with a Cuban in Miami, a Columbian in Colorado, or a Mexican in California.
It wasn't so long ago that the Republican Party was eagerly attempting to attract Latinos to their side. Latin American Catholics, the argument went, are very socially conservative on such issues as abortion, gay marriage and law-and-order concerns. Therefore, they are ripe for GOP recruitment. And George Bush got a lot of Latino votes in both presidential campaigns.
But the big thing Democrats have going for them is the seemingly irresistible temptation the GOP has for scapegoating illegal immigrants to gain short-term political points among other voters. The history of Proposition 187 in California bears this out. It passed, Pete Wilson got re-elected, but a decade later the state legislature is solidly Democratic and the state has voted reliably Democratic in recent presidential campaigns. Remember -- it wasn't that long ago that California voted for Ronald Reagan. Twice.
Immigrants of all types are different from the average American. Immigrants (for the most part) have an attention span longer than two weeks. Average Americans don't. [Think about it: no matter what horrendous news story is on TV every night (Hurricane Katrina, Mark Foley, Madonna's adopted child, whatever), after two weeks of hearing about it, don't most of us start to say, "Enough already! Let's move on to the next story!"] When immigrants are used as scapegoats to win elections, however, they remember it. When they vote -- even years later -- they are inclined to vote against the party that used such tactics.
So it remains to be seen how all of this will translate next month into actual numbers of bodies in the voting booth, or votes for one party or the other. Latinos may not vote this year any more reliably than they have in the past. They may not vote in expected patterns. But then again they may surge, and vote in such overwhelming numbers that they deserve the "deciding factor" label. There is evidence that seems to show the rise of Latino political power as a slowly-building marathon rather than a single-year sprint. Second-generation Latinos, many of whom are citizens by birth, seem much more enthusiastic about voting than their parents do. But such generational shifts in attitude take years to show up in results at the ballot box.
Democrats need to make a better case than they have to new Latino citizens, in order to gain a fast-growing section of the electorate as solid Democratic votes. For the most part, they have been content to sit on the sidelines and watch the Republicans shoot themselves in the foot (like tomorrow's signing ceremony for the 700-mile border fence law). Democrats need to strongly convince these new voters that Democrats are concerned about the same things they are in order to seal the deal.
As for this year, people should remember on election day that the "deciding factor" label isn't about the reality of the situation. It's more about the mainstream media's determination of what they think America's perception of that reality should be. It is impossible to tell whether 2006 will be labeled the year of the "Latino Voter." But even if it isn't, sooner or later Latino voters themselves will force the media to recognize their numbers.
If they actually get out and vote, that is.
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Liberation Now!!!
Peter S. Lopez ~aka Peta de Aztlan
Email= sacranative@yahoo.com
Sacramento, California, Amerika
Key Web Links=
¨ http://www.immigrantsolidarity.org/
¨ http://hispanictips.com/index.php
¨ http://www.laprensa-sandiego.org/
¨ http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/home.html
¨ http://www.mylatinonews.com/
¨ http://www.vidaenelvalle.com/front/v-english/
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