We have just released our March/April edition of the Global Justice Monitor. It includes the following articles:
Same Plan (Puebla Panama), New Name
Colombia: Occupation of Police Station Ends
Paramilitary U
The Center of Nicaragua
Venezuelan Ambassador Responds to US Report
News from Nicaragua
Click here to read the complete document now.
Eyewitness Investigation–Is the US Funding a War on Colombian Farmers?
August 1 through 11, 2010
This will be a working delegation, producing a comprehensive report on conditions faced by Colombian farmers and how these are affected by US policies. We will collect testimonies and investigate how rural, indigenous and Afro-Colombian lands are being cleared for the benefit of foreign corporate access to natural resources. FENSUAGRO is the union most targeted by political violence and other forms of repression. Our goal will be to build internationalist support for Colombian farmers and FENSUAGRO members by exposing dangers they face and advocating for a US policy that strives for peace and justice rather than war. This does not mean, though, that the delegation will be all work and no play! There will be ample opportunity to relax, enjoy Colombian culture and make new friends in our shared struggle to build a new and better world! Read the rest of this entry →
Tell the US to stop supporting the destruction of Colombian communities!
Action Request Below
This alert was originally released by Jenzera.
Pacific Coast, Colombia-The Eperara Siapidaara People Condemn the Destruction of their Community Plots
On March 16, 2010 several anti-narcotics police planes sprayed with chemicals the communal gardens and plots of the Eperara Siapidaara women of the Joaquincito Indigenous reservation, in the Naya River near the township of Puerto Merizalde (located in the municipality of Buenaventura, Colombia). These plots are located within walking distance of the Casa Grande, a Siapidaara religious and ceremonial center. The planes also sprayed the plots of their Afro-Colombian sisters from the Santa Cruz township who have joined the Eperara women in developing an agro-ecological production project. Read the rest of this entry →
This message was originally released by the Quixote Center.
The people of Honduras request our accompaniment as they mark the first anniversary of the coup d’état and emergence of the Honduran Resistance Movement. After one year of relentless repression, the resistance movement is strong, resilient and advancing the dream of social change. Read the rest of this entry →
Urgent action needed!
The International Network in Solidarity with Colombian Political Prisoners (of which the Alliance for Global Justice is a member) is calling for people to take urgent action on behalf of Liliany Obando, a Colombian political prisoner, regarding human rights abuses and threats against her.
Liliany Obando is being subjected to a campaign of harassment by jail officials where she is being held at the Buen Pastor Women’s Prison in Bogotá. Especially troubling is the threat of transfer to another prison far from her family and legal team, where reports of inhumane conditions and even torture are common. Other abuses against Liliany have included verbal and physical assaults and the theft of her personal possessions. Read the rest of this entry →
Employees Forced to Resign from Union or Lose Their Jobs
(This alert was originally published by LabourStart.)
Some 30,000 technical and professional employees of PEMEX (the huge public Mexican petroleum complex) finally won the right to unionize upon their third attempt. The new union’s victory was short lived. Some fifty leaders and activists active in the “Unión Nacional de Técnicos y Profesionistas Petroleros” (UNTyPP), have been fired since January, joining many others who had been fired during the first two unionization efforts. Now, members are being informed that in order to retain their jobs they are required to sign two documents, one calling for the cancellation of the union’s registration and the other a resignation from the union.
Organizers are asking you to contact Mexican and PEMEX officials today! Please act now to support the Unión Nacional de Técnicos y Profesionistas Petroleros.
The Latin American Solidarity Coalition (LASC) sent a delegation to Haiti just prior to the earthquake. Two Alliance for Global Justice employees attended the delegation. The delegation’s report was just completed and is available now.
Please read LASC’s Haiti Delegation Report.
The following was originally released by Public Citizen
Our path to a more just world starts where we are. Changing the world means changing our own government. But our democracy just suffered a devastating setback. On January 21, the Supreme Court-in a case called Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission-overturned decades of precedent and ruled that First Amendment rights meant to protect the free speech of people somehow allow corporations to spend as much they want attacking or promoting candidates in our elections. Read the rest of this entry →
In this three essay series, Grassroots Movements and Electoral Politics: Strategies for Change in Latin America, Midge Quandt investigates the pros and cons of electoral and grassroots approaches to change. While exploring the question of whether to defy state power or take it, Quandt raises many interesting questions about the most promising route for radical change in Latin America today. Please read this in-depth look at avenues for change and participatory democracy. Grassroots Movements and Electoral Politics
