Happy Valentine's Day!
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http://news.monstersandcritics.com/americas/news/article_1263689.php/"School_of_samba"_boss_shot_dead_in_Rio_de_Janeiro
Feb 14, 2007, 15:55 GMT
School of samba" boss shot dead in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - The vice president of the 'school of samba' Salgueiro - one of the most powerful groups in Brazil's world-famous Carnival - was shot dead Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, along with a woman.
Police said the killing happened in the early hours of Wednesday, as Guaracy Paes Falcao and his female companion were leaving the headquarters of Salgueiro in a car.
The shooting shook Rio's Carnival only four days before the beginning of the famous parade of 'escolas de samba' - the schools of samba. The parades are set to take place Sunday and Monday nights in the city's Sanbodromo.
Eyewitnesses said that the Salgueiro leader's vehicle was shot several times and that both occupants died immediately. The police is still investigating who might be responsible for the killings, and any possible motives.
In 2004, Salgueiro leader Waldemir Paes Garcia was shot dead, allegedly in the framework of a fight over control of illegal gambling in Rio de Janeiro.
Many of the 'escolas de samba' which every year put on a dazzling show for locals and tourists in the city's Carnival are financed by bosses of the so-called 'jogo do bicho,' a clandestine lottery which is very popular in Brazil.
Police suspect that 'bicheiros' are also involved in other illegal activities, beyond financing criminal gangs.
On Tuesday, at least six people were killed in clashes between police and suspected drug dealers as Rio de Janeiro was shaken by more bloody violence, according to media reports.
Two of the victims were believed to be innocent bystanders and the other four were suspected drug dealers, a city security spokesman said.
Tuesday's clashes occurred over control of the slum Complexo do Alemao. They began in the morning and continued into the night, officials said.
Despite the ongoing violence, slum residents took to the streets Tuesday night to protest the police action and threw stones at public buses. Media reports said officers attacked innocent civilians.
Hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes police as well as the National Security Force, a military-style police force, took part in the action, in which helicopters and armoured vehicles also were deployed.
Authorities have said that the so-called drug war in Rio has claimed at least 21 lives in the past 11 days. Another upsurge in violence occurred there in December when 18 people were killed during drug gangs attacks on police posts and arson attacks on buses.
Other high-profile crimes have also occurred in the meantime, including shootings on Copacabana beach and attacks on tourists on the way to the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado hill.
The growing crime wave provoked further outrage last week when a 6-year-old boy was dragged seven kilometres to his death during a car-jacking when he became entangled in his seat belt. Politicians and organizations began calling for Brazil to introduce the death penalty.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/articles.php?artno=1957
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Wednesday, Feb 14, 2007
Fidel and His Buddy Hugo, Exporting Revolution
By: Chris Carlson - Gringo in Venezuela
Fidel Castro is a hard core revolutionary, and what he said recently about the hanging of Saddam Hussein was pretty indicative of that. At eighty years old, gravely ill, and possibly on his death bed, Castro pledged that he wouldn't go down the same way as Saddam. "That's not the way to go," he told his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, with whom he maintains a close friendship. "If the Yankees ever invade, don't go hide in a hole like Saddam," he warned him. "If they ever invade Havana, I'll be right on the front line waiting for them."[1]
Just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, Castro has endured almost half a century of U.S. aggressions, assassination attempts, and destabilization efforts. The recent documentary film "638 Ways to Kill Castro" documents the hundreds of different attempts on Castro's life; explosive-laden cigars, hidden snipers, poisoned milk-shakes, a remote airplane with a bomb, bazookas, and grenade attacks. They very nearly succeeded once with a gun hidden in a video camera at a press conference, but the cameraman lost his nerve. Another time they tried to give Castro a poisoned scuba-diving suit, but he preferred his old one and never used it.
In a region of the world that is dominated by Washington, and where unwanted leaders have always been eliminated by either U.S. invasions, coups, or covert wars, Castro is still standing. Even when much of the world was saying that he was nearly dead, two weeks ago he appeared on television visiting with Hugo Chávez. After several operations, it appeared that his health situation has improved as he looked healthier than a few months ago.
The CIA strategies and manipulations have not been able to do with Castro what they have with nearly every other revolutionary leader in Latin America over the last century; Allende in Chile, Arbenz in Guatemala, the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, Aristide in Haiti, to name a few. In Cuba, Castro's communist revolution continues to be the path, and although there has always been a lot of controversy surrounding it, I'm told the Revolution isn't going anywhere. Cuban friends tell me that Castro's brother Raúl has taken over his position, and that most Cubans on the island still back the revolution.
But not only are Castro and the revolution still standing strong, now it appears that the Cuban Revolution is spreading to the rest of Latin America. If before the island was fairly isolated from the world, Cuba is now exporting something important: its revolution. As Latin America moves to the left, and leftist governments are coming to power, Fidel is now helping them build what it took decades for the Cuban Revolution to develop.
Exporting Revolution
In the poor community where I work, high in the Andes mountains of Mérida, Venezuela, there is a new resident. Mileidys, a Cuban doctor, just moved into the community. Like in thousands of communities across the country, the Chávez government has built a small clinic, where the Cuban doctor lives and gives basic health care to the community, completely free of charge. During the day Mileidys sits in the clinic with the door open. Inside she has brand new equipment and an arsenal of basic medicines, all made in Cuba. I watch as people come and go; everyone from elderly couples to sick children filter in and out throughout the day. Most of these people have never had basic health care. Many suffer from basic ailments such as respiratory problems and parasites, due to their poor living conditions.
One of the most recognized accomplishments of the Cuban Revolution has been the construction of valuable social programs. Over the last half century, the Cuban Revolution has developed a health system that has been called "a model for the world" by the World Health Organization, and an education system that has given them some of the best statistics in Latin America. [2] The gains in health and education being the most notable achievements of the revolution, they are now exporting them to places like Venezuela, Nicaragua, and even as far off as Bolivia.
There are now 20,000 Cuban doctors throughout Venezuela, in nearly every corner of the country. This is the first phase of a whole new health system that the Venezuelan government is building called Barrio Adentro (inside the barrio). It is the Cuban health system, and the Cubans are helping build it. In addition to small clinics in every community, the government has built as the second phase of the system more than 200 of an eventual 600 diagnostic centers, and 11 of an eventual 35 high tech hospitals. [3] This is the same basic system developed under the Cuban Revolution, which has given them better health statistics than the United States. [4] If all goes as planned, everything indicates that Venezuela should soon have one of the best health systems in the hemisphere.
But the political opposition in Venezuela, along with the private media, have criticized this program claiming that the Cuban doctors are taking the jobs of Venezuelan doctors, and making Venezuela dependent on Cuba. As usual, they couldn't be more wrong. One of the most interesting parts of this program is that the Cuban doctors, in addition to giving free health care, are also teachers. A few days a week, Mileidys teaches university-level courses on Integrated Medicine, the Cuban medical program. Venezuelan university students, mostly from the poor sectors, receive government scholarships to study in this new program, which aims to replace the Cuban doctors within a few years with newly-trained Venezuelan doctors. The Cubans are the teachers, and they teach the Venezuelans right in the newly-built hospitals and clinics. Instead of taking away jobs, this program is creating jobs, while at the same time building a new health system that will serve all Venezuelans.
But world class health care isn't the only thing being exported to Venezuela. Chávez has also implemented programs such as the Cuban literacy program "yo si puedo" (Yes I can!), which has taught hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans to read in the last few years. [5] The system was developed early on in the Cuban Revolution, when young Cubans were sent out all across the island to teach the rural poor to read and write. Since then, it has been refined into a proven method of teaching people how to read and write by watching a series of video tapes with the help of a facilitator. The goal is to eradicate illiteracy, and encourage the students to continue with their studies. The program also offers up to a sixth grade education to those who wish to continue studying. An educational exchange program has also been developed allowing Venezuelans to study in Cuban universities. Cuban sports trainers have been deployed in Venezuela to teach the population the importance of sports, another major success of the Cuban Revolution.
And not only is all of this happening in Venezuela, but Chávez and Fidel have already begun to export the programs to Bolivia. When Evo Morales took over the presidency in January of 2006, he immediately began to integrate the country with Venezuela and Cuba. The process of implementing the social programs began right away, and now it moves more quickly. In the first year, Cuban doctors in Bolivia had already attended nearly 30% of the population and 20 hospitals were rehabilitated. Tens of thousands of Bolivians were taught to read, and 5000 students were given scholarships to study in Cuba. [6]
The focus on improving social conditions is growing, and so are the Cuban social programs. With recent leftist victories in Nicaragua and Ecuador, we will probably soon see the export of Cuba's programs to these countries as well. In Nicaragua they have already begun the use of the "yo si puedo" literacy program, where the neoliberal politics of the 1990's increased the illiteracy rate from 13% to 39%. Cuba has donated all the equipment including five thousand television sets, half a million workbooks, five thousand VCRs, and eighty-seven thousand VHS tapes. [7] And so the process continues. Just as literacy, education, and health care were extended to all Cubans after the Cuban Revolution, now they are extending all of these programs to the rest of Latin America. Instead of dying away, the Cuban Revolution is spreading.
However, throughout history there has always been a lot of controversy surrounding Fidel Castro and the revolution. He is certainly hated in southern Florida where there have recently been huge celebrations in response to rumors that he is dying. Yet studies have shown that he is one of the most popular Latin American leaders among Venezuela's marginalized poor classes. [8] And Cuba has a history of giving aid to poor countries. They have sent more than 17,000 health care workers to 65 countries to provide free health care and education that simply wouldn't be available otherwise. Even during the 2004 U.S.-orchestrated Haitian coup, Cuban medical teams, at great risk, continued to provide care to anyone needing it. [9]
While the Cuban political system definitely has its detractors, no one can deny that the revolution has made some amazing accomplishments. These accomplishments are what are being exported. It is also important to point out that no one is copying or implementing the Cuban political system, and that is not the intention. Each country that is working with Cuba to implement social programs has a distinct political system. As the successes of the Cuban experience will be carried on, hopefully the failures will be left behind.
However, Washington, along with private media, has always focused on distorting the truth about Fidel and the Cuban Revolution. They blame Cuba's socialism for the problems in Cuba, but they don't blame capitalism for the much graver problems in neighboring places like Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, or Mexico. Washington claims to want to "free Cuba" from dictatorship, but other much more brutal dictators of the region never seemed to bother them. In fact, Washington supported the long, brutal dictators of Somoza in Nicaragua, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, and Papa and Baby Doc in Haiti. The reality is that Fidel has always been portrayed as a horrible dictator because of the example he has provided for the world; because he rejected North American imperialism, refused to permit the exploitation of his country, and showed that another way is possible.
And so this is why Washington has always wanted to kill Fidel Castro; not because the United States promotes "democracy" as they claim. What has always been so threatening about Cuba is the fact that they might serve as an example for the rest of Latin America and the world, and that the revolution will spread. Washington has been afraid that the Cuban Revolution might succeed, that they might improve the lives of their people, that they might successfully get out from under Washington's boot. If so, other countries might want to do the same thing. Washington is exactly right. They do.
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1. According to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on his weekly TV show, Aló Presidente.
2. Summary Report of American Association of World Health on Impact of U.S. Embargo on Health of Cuban People, Medical Students for Cuba, http://www-personal.umich.edu/~ksinghz/cubamed/FoodMedicine.htm
3. "Denial of Food and Medicine: The Impact Of The U.S. Embargo On The Health And Nutrition In Cuba" -An Executive Summary- American Association for World Health Report, Summary of Findings, March 1997, http://www.cubasolidarity.net/aawh.html
4. ALBA: LA JUSTICIA DE LOS HECHOS, Por Mariela Pérez Valenzuela, January 20th, 2007, Portalalba, http://www.alternativabolivariana.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1400
5. Cuba envía programa "Yo Sí Puedo" a Bolivia, El Universal, Venezuela, 6 de febrero de 2006.
6. ALBA: LA JUSTICIA DE LOS HECHOS, Por Mariela Pérez Valenzuela, January 20th, 2007, Portalalba, http://www.alternativabolivariana.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1400
7. Jiménez, Tania. "Comienza campaña de alfabetización 'Yo sí puedo'", El Nuevo Diario, May 24th, 2006. http://www.elnuevodiario.com.ni/2006/05/24/departamentales/20128
8. Hellinger, Daniel. Nationalism, Globalization, and Chavismo, Webster University, Prepared for delivery at the 2001 meeting of the Latin American Studies Association, Washington DC, September 2-8, 2001
9. Krales, Edwin. Cuba's Response to AIDS, A Model for the Developing World, CounterPunch, November 11, 2004. http://www.counterpunch.org/krales11112004.html
Original source / relevant link:
Gringo in Venezuela
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http://www.narconews.com/Issue44/article2534.html
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February 14, 2007
Zapatistas Condemn Drug Trafficking and Illegal Vehicles
The Government and Political Parties are Committing Crimes as a Pretext to Gaining Access to and Hassling Indigenous Communities in Chiapas
By The Good Government Council
Heart Center of the Zapatistas in Front of the World
THE COMMITTEE OF GOOD GOVERNMENT
HEART CENTRE OF THE ZAPATISTAS IN FRONT OF THE WORLD
SNAIL IZOBOMBAIL YU UN LEKIL J’AMTELETIK
TA O’IOL YO’ON ZAPATISTA TA STJK’IL SAT YELOB SJUNUL BALUMIL
8th February 2007
TO PUBLIC OPINION
TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL PRESS
TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY
TO HUMAN RIGHTS AGENCIES
BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Those of us endorsing this report: the JBG (Good Government Council) and the seven autonomous town councils: San Andrés Sakamch’en de los Pobres, San Juan de la Libertad, Magdalena de la Paz, San Pedro Polhó, Santa Catarina, San Juan Apóstol Cancuc, and 16 de Febrero, belonging to the Altos de Chiapas zone.
Through this report we are making public knowledge of the problem and existence of illegal vehicles and the planting, trafficking and consumption of drugs in the various towns of Altos de Chiapas that the official federal and state authorities surely know about. So we are saying the following:
First: for years the EZLN has circulated instructions to all Zapatista communities, towns, and territories about the total prohibition of the sale, use, and circulation of illegal vehicles(chocolates) and also the growing, trafficking, and consumption of drugs. That is why signs were put up in the main Zapatista towns, communities, roads and paths.
Second: When autonomous towns were formed the same instructions were applied; these instructions were sometimes not respected, even made fun of, and the signs were destroyed by people involved in buying and selling illegal vehicles, drug growers and traffickers, and paramilitary groups allied to the different political parties.
Third: In 2003 when the caracoles were formed, the committees of good government sent out the same instructions again for all Zapatista territories: total prohibition of the illicit activities mentioned, and that those who do not adhere to the instructions will be severely punished by the Good Government Councils and the Autonomous Councils.
Four: However, in our Altos de Chiapas zone there are some who do not respect these instructions, continually committing these crimes in various towns where the number of illegal vehicles and the growing and trafficking of drugs is increasing. Those committing these illicit acts are people belonging to different political parties or pro-government organizations in complicity with or under protection of official local or state authorities.
Five: All Zapatista Autonomous towns and communities have been instructed not to get involved in these illicit actions and to keep giving recommendations and guidance through the Autonomous authorities and community radio, because the EZLN considers the buying, selling, and circulation of illegal vehicles in our towns as a crime.
Six: With respect to the growing, trafficking, and consumption of drugs; it is totally prohibited in Zapatista territories, but there are people belonging to different parties who do not care about Zapatista instructions and still grow, traffic, and consume drugs; also in complicity with official local authorities who neither do or say anything to control their people.
Seven: When the federal forces, state public security, police, PGR, AFI, and AEI come they say “destroy the marijuana plants” but they only destroy those that are ready for harvest and they leave the little ones so that within a few months they have the pretext to return to our communities. But they are not investigating the owners of the land and crops.
So the army and police operations are just a strategy to justify entering indigenous communities and not to totally destroy the marijuana crops or investigate, detain and punish those involved in this illicit activity.
Eight: Faced with these problems of illegal vehicles and drug growing we, as Good Government Council authorities of this zone, cannot stay silent, because we know that these illicit activities bring very serious consequences for our people and we do not want our autonomous towns and communities affected or becoming places of refuge and protection for people involved in illicit activities.
We, as authorities of the autonomous towns and the Good Government Council, continue to denounce and fight against these injustices and human rights violations.
Even though in doing so we know we are going to receive threats and persecution, along with our people, from those involved in these illicit activities. But it does not matter because it is our obligation as authorities to tell the truth about what happens in our towns and villages.
Nine: In the end we are making a call to every person in the different communities and towns who is involved in the buying, selling, and use of illegal vehicles and also the growing, trafficking and consumption of drugs: that they have a conscience and consider the serious consequences for themselves and our people.
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FOR NOW, THAT IS OUR REPORT.
SIGNED
THE GOOD GOVERNMENT COUNCIL
CENTRAL HEART OF THE ZAPATISTAS AND THE AUTONOMOUS COUNCILS OF LOS ALTOS DE CHIAPAS
ALFREDO DE LA TORREZ – CARLOS PEREZ DIAZ
JAVIER PEREZ SANTIZ – ROSALINDA GOMEZ LOPEZ
CORNELIO LOPEZ RUIZ – JUVENCIA PEREZ SANTIZ
AGUSTIN PEREZ PARCERO – LUCAS PEREZ GOMEZ
SAN PEDRO POLHO COUNCIL – CANCUC COUNCIL
MARIA DE JESUS HERNANDEZ – ANTONIO GOMEZ HERNANDEZ
COUNCIL OF SAN JUAN DE LA LIBERTAD – COUNCIL OF SAN ANDRES
MARTIN PEREZ HERNANDEZ – MARCOS RUIZ JIMENEZ
COUNCIL OF MAGDALENA DE LA PAZ – MUNICIPIO SANTA CATARINA
RUBEN GONZALEZ RUIZ
16 DE FEBRERO MUNICIPALITY
Originally published in Spanish February 10
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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/4551550.html
Feb. 13, 2007, 10:02PM
No truce, no quarter
Mexico's president charts a bold but difficult course against organized crime.
Drug-related crime, like drug addiction, destroys on several levels. It corrodes the ability to function physically, and it twists the inner compass that makes recovery possible. That is the nearly engulfing challenge that Mexico's new president, Felipe Calderon, navigates as he tries to detoxify his country. So far he has made a brave start, at least on the physical side.
With a populist's drama and a hero's daring, Calderon declared last week his government would grant "no truce and no quarter" to the gangsters and narcotraffickers terrorizing Mexico. The bold words gained impact because of their context: Last week, more than a dozen attackers in military dress murdered five government agents and two support workers in an assault on two branches of the state attorney's office in Acapulco.
The bloodbath served as organized crime's sneering response to Calderon's drug war, launched shortly after he took office in January. A note in the assailants' van further spelled it out: The killers cared nothing about the federal government's efforts and the massacre was merely "proof."
Calderon delivered his own challenge at a military base, wearing olive drab and flanked by Mexico's military command. The United States recognized the gravity of Mexico's fight for security and threw down its own gauntlet: "If he's prepared to act so boldly," the U.S. assistant secretary of state said of Calderon, "we need to be prepared to act so boldly." President Bush plans to visit Mexico next month.
This support is Mexico's due. American demand for illegal drugs undeniably was the impetus for this lawless industry to grow. To win this war, however, Calderon also has to prevail over Mexico's internal narcotics trade and the corruption that feeds it. Police, judges, politicians and officials at every level have been compromised by the estimated $500 million bribery network of organized crime. Any government would find it hard to compete with such sums.
While Mexico has been pillaged by many of its presidents, there's no proof that Calderon's two most recent predecessors, Ernesto Zedillo or Vicente Fox, personally were corrupted by drug money.
But the system that surrounded them — and in Zedillo's case, top officials — was deeply compromised. Neither leader made headway against the traffickers' growing influence. Calderon, too, faces the same pervasive corruption, especially in Mexico's public security forces.
The United States needs to give Calderon's effort more than words of praise. But it is more important that Mexico grasp that corruption in small matters creates the environment in which large-scale criminality thrives.
With 2,000 dead yearly due to drug and gang violence, Mexicans realize they're close to hitting bottom. That knowledge must bolster their resolve to win this life-or-death national war.
The United States can and must assist. But victory finally will lie with Mexicans themselves.
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http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/16687554.htm
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Posted on Tue, Feb. 13, 2007
'Bush goes to Latin America with a significant liability'
By Andres Oppenheimer, Latin America correspondent for The Miami
Email= aoppenheimer@miamiherald.com
President Bush's coming visit to five Latin American countries starting March 8 will be his biggest effort ever to improve ties with the region, but the trip may come too late to counter Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's checkbook diplomacy and the growing anti-American sentiment in the region.
Bush, who during his 2000 campaign vowed to make Latin America a "fundamental commitment of my presidency" but later put the region on the back burner, will travel to Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. The six-day trip will be Bush's longest to the region.
But Bush will visit the region as a weak president. The Latin American presidents who will receive him will be aware that he is a lame-duck leader with an opposition Congress, whose vice president is not running for president. In fact, this will be the first White House in 80 years with no candidate for the presidency.
Bush's hosts also will probably know that the U.S. president will have little to say in the selection of his party's candidate for the 2008 elections. Barring a sudden reversal of Bush's political fortune, few Republican candidates will want to be seen with a president whose popularity has plummeted to 28 percent in the latest CBS News poll.
In addition, Bush will be arriving in Latin America only a few months before the July 1 expiration of his congressional authority to negotiate new free trade deals in an expedited way. His hosts know that an increasingly protectionist Congress -- buoyed by cable television isolationist zealots such as CNN's Lou Dobbs -- may not extend the president's so-called trade promotion authority.
Making things worse, Bush's popularity in many countries, especially in South America, is as low as it can get.
"Bush goes to Latin America with a significant liability," says Arturo Valenzuela, a former head of Latin American affairs at the Clinton White House. "It has less to do with U.S. Latin America policy than with a generalized rejection of the U.S. posture in the world, which makes it much more difficult for him to engage with the region's leaders."
U.S. officials shrug off these arguments, noting that the U.S. president has a unique power to start initiatives and speed up existing ones.
Some Bush supporters say that the very fact that he will be a bystander in the 2008 election will be a big plus for the Latin American countries he will be visiting: For the first time, a U.S. president will be able to talk with his southern neighbors without thinking exclusively about U.S. domestic politics, and he will be able to take a long-term view of what's needed to improve U.S.-Latin American ties, they say.
Others say that Bush may also be able to make some concrete progress in Mexico, perhaps his most important stop, on issues such as drugs, migration and unresolved trade disputes over trucking rights and agricultural products.
"In Mexico's case, it won't be a public relations visit," says Manuel Rocha, a former U.S. diplomat in several Latin American countries.
"The U.S. political establishment got really scared in the recent Mexican elections. Much like what happened in the former Soviet Union, there is a bipartisan consensus in Washington that Mexico deserves more U.S. attention because it's a national security issue."
My opinion: I don't think Bush will be able to win many hearts and minds in Latin America while U.S. troops remain in Iraq and Chavez continues promising petro-dollars to any leader willing to be photographed with him.
If anything, Bush will be able to remind Latin American countries that the U.S. economy offers huge opportunities for them to increase exports, get more foreign investments and receive more tourists. To put things in perspective, Florida alone has a $680 billion economy that is nearly three times bigger than the combined gross domestic product of Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua.
If Bush manages to convey the idea that the Chinese Communists have long understood -- which is that no matter what you think about Washington's foreign policy, the United States remains the biggest buyer of the world's goods and services -- the U.S. president will be able to consider his trip a success.
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http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=2/14/2007&Cat=4&Num=13
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Lula accuses rich countries of 'polluting the planet'
BRASILIA (AFP) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday he plans to tell rich countries to stop "polluting the planet" at the July G8 summit in Germany.
"Poor countries cannot accept the argument that rich countries can limit themselves to creating a fund to aid countries that prevent deforestation," Lula said, making reference to a fund proposed last November at the UN convention on climate change in Nairobi.
"What that says is that we prevent deforestation and they continue to pollute the planet," he said.
Brazil wants to "correctly exploit forests in the most civilized manner possible," but also to "demand loudly and clearly that the rich countries reduce their carbon dioxide emissions," Lula said in his weekly radio address.
"Brazil has the moral and political authority to insist that rich countries, rather than produce protocols they don't even sign on to, respect their obligation to clean up the planet. We are doing our part. They need to do their part," he said.
The environment will also be a subject of discussion when Lula meets with U.S. president George W. Bush on March 9 in Sao Paulo.
The U.S. is seeking to cooperate with Brazil in the development of ethanol as a viable alternative fuel. Brazil is a pioneer in biodiesel and currently uses ethanol derived from sugar cane in 80 percent of its vehicles.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=amkn1qwwLI68&refer=latin_america
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Last Updated: February 13, 2007 22:12 EST
Ecuador to Hold Constitutional Assembly Referendum (Update3)
By Patrick Harrington
Feb. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador's congress approved President Rafael Correa's plan for a referendum that will let voters decide whether the country's constitution should be rewritten.
The electoral court plans to hold the referendum on April 15, Cablenoticias reported, citing court officials. The court last month refused to allow a referendum to move ahead without consent from lawmakers.
Congressional approval is a victory for Correa, who last month pledged to rewrite the country's constitution, implement socialist policies and tighten state control of the central bank. Correa has not yet outlined specific changes.
``Correa ran on a platform of change and fixing what he billed -- and what people accepted -- as a broken political system,'' Whitney Kane, a Latin American debt strategist at Morgan Stanley in New York, said in a telephone interview. ``Some of these newly installed government officials came from academia and are trying to figure out how to execute their plan.''
The electoral court can now start the process for a vote on the question of reopening the constitution. Given Correa's popularity, his proposal is likely to win, Kane said.
The referendum, once approved by electoral authorities, will require a separate electoral process to convene the assembly, she said. Today, 57 out of 58 lawmakers present voted for the referendum, according to a statement on congress's Web site. Ecuador's congress has 100 members.
The yield on the government's 10 percent bonds due 2030, Ecuador's most traded securities in international markets, fell 29 basis points, or 0.29 percentage point, to 12.159 percent according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. The bond's price, which moves inversely to the yield, rose 1.85 cents on the dollar to 83.35.
Correa supporters marched in front of the congress building today and yesterday demanding that lawmakers agree to hold the referendum, which could result in a constitutional assembly. On Jan. 30, police used tear gas to repel pro-referendum protesters who tried to storm congress.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Harrington in Mexico City at pharrington8@bloomberg.net
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/16685061.htm
Posted on Tue, Feb. 13, 2007
Colombia: Rescuing U.S. kidnap victims in Colombia a dilemma
The anniversary of the kidnapping of three Pentagon contractors comes as Colombia debates how to retrieve them from rebels.
By Steven Dudley
Email= sdudley@MiamiHerald.com
Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images
Kidnapped: United States Navy Admiral James Stavridis speaks in front of pictures of U.S. contractors, who the FARC claims to be holding Keith Stansell, Thomas Howes, and Marc Gonsalves.
BOGOTA, Colombia - The fourth anniversary of the crash and kidnapping of three U.S. defense contractors by leftist rebels in Colombia today might have passed unnoticed if not for the recent rescues of two Colombians kidnapped long ago.
The rescues of the two Colombians revived a never-ending debate here over the use of military force to try to free kidnap victims, running the risk they could be killed, negotiating a prisoner swap or paying a ransom.
A rescue attempt ''would be a death sentence for my son, his colleagues and the rest of the hostages,'' said Jo Rosano, the outspoken mother of Marc Gonsalves, a Florida Keys man captured by guerrillas along with Thomas Howes, who grew up in Cape Cod, Mass., and Keith Stansell, who has two children living in Georgia.
They were working for California Microwave Systems, a subsidiary of defense contractor Northrup Grumman, when their airplane crashed in southern Colombia. Their plane was locating clusters of coca crops, the raw material of cocaine. They are now the longest-held U.S. government hostages in the world.
Another U.S. citizen, Thomas Janis, and Colombian Luis Alcides Cruz were shot to death at the crash site. Three more U.S. contractors died two months later when their airplane crashed while searching for the three men.
As a policy, the United States says it does not negotiate with what it designates as terrorist groups, as the Colombian rebels are, and frustration over their captivity appears to be growing.
''Not a single day goes by that I don't personally think about their suffering and what I can do to speed their return,'' Southern Command chief Adm. James Stavridis said at a ceremony Monday marking the anniversary in Miami. ``Not a single day goes by that our interagency team doesn't search for evidence or track down leads that might lead to their rescue.
''I consider their rescue the No. 1 priority for U.S. Southern Command,'' Stavridis continued, adding that Southcom will soon have special wrist bands ''to symbolize our commitment and constant vigilance [and] . . . honor and remember'' the three.
RESCUE MISSIONS
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe approved rescue missions last year amid frustration over the fruitless quest to negotiate a prisoner swap between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, the rebel group that is holding the contractors, dozens of soldiers and politicians and even a former presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt.
There are about 500 guerrillas in Colombian prisons and at least two top FARC members are facing prosecution in U.S. courts, one for drug trafficking and the other for the kidnapping of the contractors. The first trial of Ricardo Palmera on the kidnapping charges ended in a hung jury, but he is expected to face another trial soon.
Swaps have led to peace talks in the past, and polls show that the majority of Colombians approve of them. Momentum for a swap with the FARC seemed to be building last year until the rebels exploded a car bomb in Bogotá and Uribe called off the preliminary contacts.
Now momentum is building for military-led rescue missions because of recent successes.
Former Economic Development Minister Fernando Araujo escaped rebels after Christmas during a military sweep in northern Colombia, and security forces found army Capt. Leonard Moore chained to a tree in the central part of the country last week after an attack on guerrillas. They had been held six and four years, respectively.
But there are worries, because the FARC has killed high-profile prisoners in the past when pressured. Just four months after the U.S. contractors' airplane went down, FARC rebels executed 10 hostages, including a provincial governor and a former defense minister, during a rescue attempt in northern Colombia. In 2001, they executed a former culture minister in captivity as the army closed in on them.
''If you go there with guns blazing, a lot of people will probably get killed,'' said Steve Howes, Thomas' brother.
The FARC is thought to be holding the Americans deep in the southern jungles of Colombia, a foreboding area where the rebels have traditionally held sway. From the air, much of the region looks like an endless sea of trees, with the occasional river snaking into the distance.
SUCCESS UNLIKELY
One of the few outsiders to see the Americans, freelance Colombian journalist Jorge Enrique Botero, said in an e-mail exchange with The Miami Herald that the men told him in an interview six months after their capture in the FARC's jungle hide-out that they had walked for 23 days to reach their camp.
Botero said they were guarded around the clock by ''dozens'' of armed rebels and were being held in a small house of about 215 square feet. They left the room only to bathe and wash their clothes at a river. He says the guerrillas also move their prisoners constantly to avoid detection.
''The chances of a successful rescue are very low; I would say minimal,'' he wrote. ``They are always surrounded by armed guards, and access to the jungle zone where they are keeping them is very difficult.''
Botero recalled Stansell's words during an interview: ``This isn't Hollywood. If they come for us, we will surely die. These guards have automatic weapons, and we assume they know how to use them.''
His video interview with the three U.S. citizens is the last proof of life that family members say they have seen of the men.
Aside from Stavridis' comments at Southcom on Monday, the United States is not saying anything about the case and is even reticent about giving the men's ages and hometowns. Washington has backed Uribe with about $700 million in annual aid to help him combat drugs and the rebels, and it has supported Uribe's offensive tactics, which have led to a steady retreat by the guerrillas from urban areas.
Araujo's escape seems to have emboldened the Colombian government as well. The former minister slipped from rebel hands when the army attacked the camp where they were holding him. He then walked five days before stumbling into a village where army troops happened to be patrolling.
He told The Miami Herald via telephone that he was so desperate after six years in captivity that he preferred the risk of a rescue attempt.
''I was prepared for it,'' he said of the escape. ``I'd visualized it a thousand times.''
It's not clear if the three American captives feel the same as Araujo, but some of their family members do not want any government to decide for them.
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http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/world/16687556.htm
Posted on Tue, Feb. 13, 2007
Colombia's flower farms slow to stem pesticides
By Joshua Goodman / The Associated Press
AP Fernando Vergara Photo:
Workers spray foliate fertilizer recently at the Inversiones Morcote flower farm in Bogota, Colombia. Producers say the risks of bug infestations and competition keep them from going organic.
BOGOTA, Colombia -- It's probably the last thing most people think about when buying roses -- by the time the velvety flowers reach your valentine, they will have been sprayed, rinsed and dipped in a battery of potentially lethal chemicals.
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Most of the toxic assault takes place in the waterlogged savannah surrounding the capital of Colombia, the world's second-largest cut-flower producer after the Netherlands. It produces 62 percent of all flowers sold in the U.S.
With 110,000 employees, many of them single mothers, and annual exports of $1 billion, the industry provides an alternative to growing coca, the source crop of Colombia's better-known illegal export: cocaine. But the economic gains come at a cost to workers' health and the environment, consumer advocates say.
The U.S. requires imported flowers to be bug-free, but unlike edible fruits and vegetables, they are not tested for chemical residues.
The tropical climate that drew U.S. flower growers to Colombia and neighboring Ecuador is a haven for pests. So growers facing stiff competition from emerging flower industries in Africa and China apply pesticides and fungicides, some of which have been linked to elevated rates of cancer and neurological disorders and other problems.
Colombia's flower exporters association responded by launching Florverde, which has certified 86 of its 200 members for taking steps to improve worker safety and welfare. Florverde says its members have reduced pesticide use by 38 percent since 1998, to an average of 213 pounds of active ingredient per 2.4 acres per year.
Nevertheless, 36 percent of the chemicals applied by Florverde farms in 2005 were listed as extremely or highly toxic by the World Health Organization, Florverde Director Juan Carlos Isaza said.
Pesticide manufacturers recommend that workers wait 24 hours before re-entering greenhouses sprayed with the most toxic of pesticides.
Carmen Orjuela began suffering dizzy spells and repeated falls in 1997, while working at a flower farm outside Bogota. During the peak season before Valentine's Day, her employer forced workers to enter greenhouses only a half-hour after they had been fumigated, she said.
"Those who refused were told they could leave -- that 20 people were outside waiting to take their job," said Orjuela, who quit in 2004.
There are no reliable statistics about chemicals used by Colombia's more than 600 flower farms, in part because only a third belong to Asocolflores, which keeps good records.
Causal links between chemicals and individual illnesses are hard to prove because chronic pesticide exposure has not been studied in enough detail.
But the Harvard School of Public Health examined 72 children ages 7 to 8 in a flower-growing region of Ecuador whose mothers were exposed to pesticides during pregnancy, and found that they had developmental delays of up to four years on aptitude tests.
Producers say they would love to go organic. But their risks include infestations and stiff competition.
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http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=2007021115174978
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Tuesday, February 13 2007 @ 10:20 PM PST
“True Compañeras”:
Women’s Participation in the Popular Movement of Oaxaca
Sunday, February 11 2007 @ 03:17 PM PST
Contributed by: Collin Sick
Women have not only acted as participants in the ongoing popular movement in Oaxaca, but have also profoundly shaped the course of its history. They have created some of the most powerful stories and moments in the past nine months, and have helped tell them. Stories of women who have built the movement are everywhere in Oaxaca. There are the stories of housewives arrested and beaten by police, who in response have begun to organize for the first time in their lives. There are the stories of elderly women from local communities who have cooked huge pots of food for people guarding barricades and soothed tear-gassed eyes with vinegar and Coke. Then there are the stories of women who have been involved since the beginning, participating in the teachers’ strike or organizing the movement to support it.
by Yakira
February 7, 2007
Women have not only acted as participants in the ongoing popular movement in Oaxaca, but have also profoundly shaped the course of its history. They have created some of the most powerful stories and moments in the past nine months, and have helped tell them. Stories of women who have built the movement are everywhere in Oaxaca. There are the stories of housewives arrested and beaten by police, who in response have begun to organize for the first time in their lives. There are the stories of elderly women from local communities who have cooked huge pots of food for people guarding barricades and soothed tear-gassed eyes with vinegar and Coke. Then there are the stories of women who have been involved since the beginning, participating in the teachers’ strike or organizing the movement to support it. Their stories, of personal histories aligned with the movement since its very inception, are the ones that may best shed light on how women have helped create a widespread and lasting popular resistance in Oaxaca.
Florina Jiménez Lucas is one of those women. She is a teacher, and looks very much the part. She sits still and composed, her red suit bright against a plastic chair, as she tells her own story in an even, measured tone. Through her long career as a teacher, she has worked in many of Oaxaca’s most marginalized indigenous communities, where she has witnessed the conditions of extreme poverty and injustice that exist in the state. This intimate knowledge of poverty and struggle led Florina to participate as a longtime active member of Section 22, the teachers’ union.
In 2006, she joined many other teachers in setting up a camp in the central square of Oaxaca’s capital city as part of an annual strike to protest poor living conditions and teachers’ salaries in the state. When the movement grew following a police attack to dislodge the camp, Florina’s participation grew alongside it. She introduced her husband to the popular movement; he and their three children became her frequent companions at meetings and marches. As a family, they participated in guard duty at barricades placed throughout the city to keep police from attacking neighborhoods. Florina or her husband often spent entire nights on watch.
Her reflections on the movement continued to deepen, leading her to wonder about her own community’s involvement. She refers to San Felipe, the area where she lives, as “a forgotten town where powerful men have bought up large plots of land.” She says that “extreme poverty and extreme wealth live side by side” in San Felipe, and that the state’s powerful figures often hold meetings in the “castles they have built” there. On July 1, she organized the first group of neighbors to take action in San Felipe. They covered the community with posters in support of the popular movement. On that same day, governor Ulises Ruiz arrived in San Felipe to attend a meeting. The words and images of his opposition were there to greet him.
One month later, Florina participated with 20,000 others in a women’s march that was to become historic. Since the inception of APPO, one of its principal demands had been for adequate coverage of the popular movement on radio stations and public television. As the media continued to favor the government version of events, women decided it was time to take action and organized a march for August 1, 2006. The March of Pots & Pans, as it became known, turned into a notorious chapter in the history of APPO; Leyla Centeno, a young activist who helped organize the march, tells the story of that day in vivid detail.
As Leyla recounts the events as they unfolded and outlines the waves of repression and resistance that followed, she conveys her passion for the movement that has quite literally taken over her life. Leyla was a student at the state university as well as a member of the Committee in Defense of the People’s Rights (CODEP) when the widespread popular movement arose; as her organizing work and responsibilities within the movement grew, she was soon forced to leave her studies behind. Her example speaks to the critical role that both students and women have played in the popular movement, and her narrative of August 1 speaks to her continued sense of awe and pride in its accomplishments.
She tells how, as the march progressed, women started to turn to one another and spread the idea of heading towards Channel 9, the state-run television station. She says, “taking over Channel 9 was something that the teachers’ union and APPO had talked about, but nobody had ever gone so far as to actually do anything about it.” Her eyes widen as she recalls how the women surrounded the television station and demanded live airtime to voice their demands. Although their initial request was for just fifteen minutes, when the management refused to grant them any airtime, the women took over the building and occupied its studios.
The entire takeover happened without any violence. The women’s first broadcast aired that same night, and began, “Today, we family women, armed only with bravery, decided to take over this corrupt station once and for all.” Speaking of the management at Channel 9, the women continued, “they have not wanted to broadcast the popular unity that we are living as part of this movement; so now it is time, we have had enough, and we are asking you, our good neighbors of Oaxaca, to join in the struggle of these brave women.” The women broadcast stories and films from the movement, as well as cultural programs including pieces on indigenous music, art and dance, for three consecutive weeks. The ratings for Channel 9 had never been higher.
At 4:00am on August 21, unidentified assailants opened fire on the women occupying the building and destroyed the station’s satellite, cutting off its signal. This violence was part of a growing, brutal repression against the popular movement and the people of Oaxaca. On August 10, Florina Jiménez Lucas experienced that violence firsthand. While participating in another march alongside her husband, she heard shots ring out nearby. Her husband was shot nine times and killed. The autopsy report confirmed that he was shot from above, with bullets from .22 and .38 caliber weapons, which are standard police-issue. Florina continues to participate in organizing and protesting, and has been speaking publicly about her husband’s death since August. The government has challenged the findings of the autopsy report and has not proceeded with a criminal investigation. She has been threatened and followed since his death, and has had to leave her house; she says it is the support of other women and families in APPO that has helped her survive.
Partly as a way to organize concrete means of support for women who have suffered the effects of violence, arrests, death and disappearances, and partly as a way to consolidate and defend the power that women had accumulated during months of organizing, the women of APPO organized to create a women’s arm of the movement. The new organization was officially established at an assembly held on August 31, 2006; it was named the August 1st Coordinating Body of Oaxacan Women (COMO). Leyla Centeno, one of the founders of COMO, says “there was already a women’s movement, but we needed to give it organization and structure; it was time to truly include ourselves in the struggle.” She says that women from many different sectors and regions of Oaxaca took part in that first meeting, and have since begun to say not only, “I am APPO,” but also, “I am COMO.” While the COMO manifesto created on that day echoes APPO in demanding justice, dignity and autonomy and proposing concrete means of achieving such demands, it also includes a critical demand for gender equity and specific proposals to change social and educational conditions to improve the lives of women.
COMO continued to organize through the months of September, October and November, despite increasing levels of repression and state-sponsored violence. Its effect was clearly seen during the Constitutional Congress held by APPO on November 10-12, when members voted to establish gender equity requirements in representation. Although a proposal to establish a 50-50% gender split for representatives was not approved, the assembly passed a resolution to ensure that women comprise at least 30% of all representatives. While the rejection of the 50-50% resolution reflects the continuing tendency to undervalue women’s participation, it is nevertheless highly significant in Mexican politics that a large and powerful popular movement adopted such a binding, explicit gender equity clause.
On December 17, 2006, the women took to the streets of Oaxaca once again. After twenty-one days held incommunicado in prison, 43 of the 141 people who had been arrested during the Seventh Mega March were to be released. The atmosphere at that moment in Oaxaca was one of suppressed fear and stealthy repression. The government was preparing for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations by erasing the marks of APPO on the city; the governor was claiming that everything had “returned to normal.” As the prisoners were brought to a small plaza outside the city center, women organized a reception line to greet family members and compañeros with flowers, hugs, shouts and banners. A few released prisoners spoke to local and international independent press gathered in the square. Others spoke with international journalists and activists in private the next day, accompanied by Leyla Centeno and other women from COMO as they gave their difficult testimonies.
As 2007 arrived and brought with it Three Kings Day, the traditional Mexican day for exchanging Christmas gifts, the women continued their support of prisoners – those still in prison as well as those released – and their families. COMO organized a public collection site in the center of the city where they gathered gifts for children from affected families. Piles of colorful toys, traditional cakes, and school and art supplies rose in front of the Santo Domingo Cathedral. A children’s march was organized to arrive at the city center and culminate in a family festival. The government placed large buses across the children’s path, and surrounded the women with metal barricades guarded by riot police. The children changed their route; the women waited out the police, who had broken a judicial injunction ordering them to permit free access to the area. The day was marred by illegal repression and intimidation, but ended in celebration.
Despite such acts of repression, as well as the widespread use of violence and torture, the movement in Oaxaca has endured. Women such as Florina Jiménez Lucas and Leyla Centeno have played a crucial role in ensuring that it does. Whether they are marching with pots and pans in hand, speaking publicly in newspapers or on the air, organizing behind bars in high-security prisons, or greeting loved ones returning from painful detentions, women are constantly working to hold the movement together. As Leyla Centeno says, not only have women been participating in every stage of the movement, they have also been the ones “who come every day to the radio stations, the plazas and the barricades to take care of the people…they have sustained the movement, they have sustained the people who are resisting.” Women have also successfully organized to create their own space within the popular resistance, an accomplishment that Leyla points out, “is alone one of the biggest achievements of this movement and this historical moment.” Women’s actions have been crucial to building, supporting and strengthening the popular resistance; their voices have expressed both its dignity and its rage. As Leyla recalls male teachers shouting during the takeover of Channel 9, “Now that’s what I call true compañeras!”
http://www.colectivocasa.org/en/node/396
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http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BA26B6C21-5630-4C01-AC60-756F84344C1B%7D)&language=EN
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February 12, 2007
Oaxaca Defining Goals with Govt
Mexico, Feb 12 (Prensa Latina) The People's Assembly of Oaxaca, Mexico, is to decide in a first state-level meeting whether to settle with the government over eight-months of local political conflict.
APPO's Feb 10-12 meeting says the international round table five-point agenda includes the arrest of Gov. Ulises Ruiz Ortiz for "genocide" and the immediate release of "political prisoners and prisoners of conscience."
The document urges to bring back alive the missing people and compensate the relatives of APPO supporters murdered during the protests and annulment of arrest warrants.
The proposal suggests setting up a Constituency Assembly to redraft a Constitution for Oaxaca and outlay programs of socio-economic development that may also benefit indigenous peoples.
Jose Luis Chavez Botello, archbishop of Antequera-Oaxaca, said the causes of the conflict remain intact: poverty, injustice, corruption and violence.
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Aztlannet_News/message/27621
Sun Feb 11, 2007 3:03 am
jrodhdztf@hotmail.com
PRD Supports May 1st National Boycott {Message #27621}
To all Media
The Party of the Democratic Revolution-PRD-CEN, the second largest polical force in Mexico, resolved to endorse "The May 1 Great American Boycott II", convened by the March 25 Coalition and endorsed by 63 national, state and local organizations at the Feb 3-4 National Conference to Organize the May 1, 2007 national boycot which calls for No Work, No Buying, No Selling, No School, No to the War on Immigrants, No to the Iraq War, Full Legalization Now, Moratorium on all Raids & Deportations.
THE PRD DECLARATION STATES:
"For a program to be viable, the participation of both countries is necessary for the design of an immigration agenda administered, supervised, evaluated and guided by the principle of "shared responsibility".
To accomplish this requires the unity of forces, raising our voices and unifing tactics. Addionally to recognize the sacrifice and blood spilled byChicago Martirs and that of the thousands of workers who have struggled for better working conditions and respect to their human rights.
On this basis the Secretariat for Human Rights of the Party of the Democratic Revolution supports the Great American Boycott II on MAY 1st 2007 It is neccessary to march, to take the streets, Es necesario marchar, salir a las calles, tomar las ciudades, boycott american goods. To accomplish this the PRD determines that the participation of all sectors of society of México and the United States. We call on all the Unions of Mexico and the US, all the human rights groups of both countries, the grass roots organizations and the immigrant rtights organizations to participate in this mobilization. The protection of labor and human rights are indispensable to be able to reach and imagine a higher level of living. It is neccessary to create history".
FROM THE FINAL DECLARATION:
LONG LIVE THE CHICAGO MARTIRS!
¡LONG LIVE INTERNATIONAL WORKERS DAY!
¡LONG LIVE THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF MEXICAN WORKERS!
A TODOS LOS MEDIOS DE COMUNICACION
El CEN-PRD-Partido de la Revolucion Democratica, resolvio apoyar el "El Gran Paro Nacional Americano II" convocado por la Coalicion 25 de Marzo de Los Angeles y por la Conferencia Nacional Para Organizar el 1ro de Mayo 2007. El Paro del Dia Internacional del Trabajo 2007 llama a la poblacion de los EE.UU a No Trabajar, No Comprar, No Vender, No Escuela, No a la Guerra al Migrante, No a la Guerra Contra Iraq, por La Legalizacion a los 12 millones de indocumentados, por Un Moratrio Contra Las Redadas y Deportaciones.
El PRD declara:
"Para que un programa sea viable, es necesaria la participación de ambos países en el diseño de una agenda migratoria donde su administración, supervisión y evaluación, sea bajo el principio de responsabilidad compartida.
Para lograrlo, es necesario volver a unir fuerzas, volver a alzar la voz, unificar tácticas. Hacer valer la sangre derramada de los Mártires de Chicago y de los miles de obreros que han peleado por mejores condiciones de laborales, y el respeto a sus derechos humanos.
Por ello, la Secretaria de Derechos Humanos del CEN del PRD, se manifiesta a favor del próximo boicot americano este 1º de Mayo de 2007. Es necesario marchar, salir a las calles, tomar las ciudades, concientizar nuestro consumo de productos. Para lograrlo, el PRD considera fundamental la participación de todos los sectores sociales de México y de Estados Unidos. Llamamos a los sindicatos mexicanos y estadounidenses, a los grupos de derechos humanos de ambos países, a las organizaciones de base y los defensores de políticas de inmigración, a participar en esta movilización. Pues la protección de los derechos laborales y humanos son indispensables para alcanzar a imaginar un nivel de vida mejor. Es necesario hacer historia."
Finaliza la declaracion:
VIVAN LOS MÁRTIRES DE CHICAGO!
¡VIVA EL DIA DE LOS TRABAJADORES!
¡VIVAN LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS DE LOS MIGRANTES MEXICANOS!
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http://granmai.cubaweb.com/ingles/2007/febrero/vier2/06alcalde.html
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Havana. February 2, 2007
KEN LIVINGSTONE, MAYOR OF LONDON
Every U.S. administration has failed to understand the Cuban Revolution
• In an interview with the CubaSí magazine, Livingstone explains why he went to Cuba in November 2006, why the attacks on his visit are unfounded and offers his opinion of Fidel Castro
• CUBASÍ:
Why did you go to Cuba and was the trip successful form the point of view of you achieving what you set out to do?
Ken Livingstone:
Originally I was invited by Lord Moynihan, the Chair of the British Olympic Association, to visit Cuba during the World Sport for All Congress. As the host city for the 2012 Games, London is developing close relations with other key Olympic players. Cuba is a significant sporting nation both globally and particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean. Although they only have one–fifth of the population of Britain they win as many medals as we do. We have a lot to learn from this.
The President of the Havana City Provincial Assembly – Juan Contino Aslan, the mayor of Havana – was a very kind host and ensured that we had a number of extremely useful discussions with representatives of the government. I was struck by the desire of Cuban representatives to get a full picture of how Cuba is currently seen in Europe and also by the Cubans’ criticisms of the current European policy towards the island, which is deeply counterproductive and ineffective.
There were a lot of attacks from London Assembly members and the press about visiting Cuba, but frankly this is just double standards. There is no reason why Cuba should be singled out for controversy except for people coming at international issues from a very right wing perspective.
CubaSí:
What are your impressions of the current situation in Cuba? Did anything particularly stand out for you this time?
Ken Livingstone:
I have been to Cuba twice in 1995 and 1999, and what stood out for me compared to the two times I have visited before was the general improvement in the economic situation. Things are visibly much less tight.
I also think that in the initial stages of the ‘special period’ there was an increase in some of the negatives associated with tourism but the Cubans have done a great deal to address this. I was struck by the comments of the Minister of Investment and International Co-operation, Marta Lomas, who spoke very favourably about tourists from Britain. Depending on which figures you take, the second or third largest number of tourists to Cuba are from Britain. Their direct experience of Cuba obviously goes some way to countering the rubbish that we read in the papers about the situation there.
In addition, the improvements that are being made in Habana Viejo are particularly striking. The programme of restoration has made very significant strides since the last time I was there.
What really stood out for me was hearing first hand from people working in the medical services just how appalling the U.S. blockade is. When you meet people who are treating eye disorders and blindness on a huge scale and they describe how difficult it is to get the equipment they need except through indirect routes because of the blockade you get a feel for the scale of the injustice that is being imposed on Cuba. Similarly the description of how the blockade works in terms of the embargo on Cuban nickel, where the American authorities go to extraordinary lengths to prevent steel containing Cuban nickel from getting into the USA, is bizarre and petty.
There is one thing that hits you as soon as you arrive and really made an impression on me this time. Everywhere you go the Cubans have installed energy saving light bulbs. They have got their energy bills down and they are contributing to reducing the causes of climate change at the same time. There is a lesson here about how we make the case for measures to tackle climate change – we need to show that saving the planet can save people money too. The work they Cubans are doing to get their energy bills down is very notable.
On a personal note the most moving part of my visit was meeting the families of the ‘Miami Five’, who are still imprisoned in U.S. jails. These men were attempting to uncover and stop terrorist actions. What this meeting reminded me of most, in terms of the bravery of the families, was meeting the Irish victims of wrongful imprisonment during the 1970s and 80s here in Britain.
CubaSí:
You have gone on record as being a supporter of the Cuban Revolution. What is it that you most like about it and why?
Ken Livingstone:
Cuba’s revolution was one of the most important events of the 20th century. It has given a powerful signal around the world that neo-conservativism and extreme economic liberalism can be rejected in favor of investing in the needs of the population. This is why, whatever criticisms many commentators have of Cuba, it maintains such a huge level of interest and attraction to millions people around the world particularly in those places – the majority of the planet – outside the richest countries.
There have been 10 U.S. presidents since the Cuban revolution, all of whom have maintained broadly the same policy approach to the island. Each of these administrations in my view has failed to understand that the revolution reflected the national interests and needs of the Cuban people and is not therefore some artificial ideological construct.
What the Cubans have shown is an understanding that the interests of the Cuban people are not served by insularity but by internationalism. The thing that most expresses this is the aid the Cubans gave to the Angolans. That a country that was the subject of such an unjust attack in the form of the blockade can devote resources on such a scale to supporting the Angolans is one of the most extraordinary acts of practical solidarity in history. There was no direct benefit to the Cubans of what they did, but they understood that a defeat for the most right-wing and reactionary forces in the world would ultimately benefit everyone – including Cubans – in the ‘Third World’. This basic internationalism is a very striking and defining feature of Cuba.
CubaSí:
You have said that if you win the election again in 2009, when it is the anniversary of the revolutionary triumph, you will organize a big Cuba festival in London. How big? And what sort of events are you thinking of putting on?
Ken Livingstone:
This is one of the issues I raised with the Cubans during my visit and I want to continue this dialogue so that we can work out exactly what to do. I would very much like London to host a festival that reflects Cuban history, culture, art and music during 2009. London is an international city by definition, and as we get closer to the Olympics we will celebrate many cultures from many countries. There is growing interest in Cuba’s particular contribution to Latin America and the Caribbean because of the political developments that are now taking place there. What Cuba has done, and what it is now doing, have a big relationship to the political process in that region and I think that as a city we need to understand that more and enjoy the very significant cultural aspects of that. If you take Cuban music, or cinema, these have had a much bigger impact on western society than is always recognized or understood. I think we should take the opportunity of the fifty years anniversary to reflect on these things.
CubaSí:
Finally, what is your view of the situation post-Fidel? The U.S. Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba plans a big international push to try and force the successor government in Havana to change to a multi-party free-market system. How do you think the British government ought to respond to this idea?
Ken Livingstone:
I honestly think that part of the problem with U.S. foreign policy is that American administrations have talked themselves into believing their own propaganda. There is no way a society like Cuba’s could function as a one-man show. Castro is not so stupid as to try to run every part of Cuban society directly from his office. He leads, and he takes a very direct interest in all aspects of Cuban life, but he also surrounds himself with very experienced people and has ensured that there is a functioning leadership around him. Effectively he has himself been managing the transition for some time.
When, in July, when Castro handed over the Presidency to Raul, the U.S. believed that the country would not be able to sustain a change of leader without major political upheaval. It is now five months later and there is considerable stability.
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