ALAI, the Latin American Information Agency publishes weekly news stories, many of which deal with the perspectives and struggles of the social movements and might be of interest to the class. Most of the articles are written in Spanish, but a number of the more important ones are in English, such as those below.
- Ecuador: Communities affected by mining lobby Ecuador’s National Assembly (Jennifer Moore) [2008-01-21]
http://alainet.org/active/21731
- America Sur: Declaration of La Paz (CAOI) [2008-01-23]
http://alainet.org/active/21772
- Chile: Mapuche Hunger Striker Force-Fed by Chilean Authorities
(Mapuche International Link) [2008-01-23] http://alainet.org/active/21773
- Jubilee South/Americas joins in the Global Day of Action (Jubilee South/Américas) [2008-01-23]
http://alainet.org/active/21805
- Call for full and public review of the Cariforum-EC Economic Partnership Agreement [2008-01-21]
http://alainet.org/active/21744
- The Sense of Humor and Celebration (Leonardo Boff) [2008-01-21] http://alainet.org/active/21771
- EE.UU: Truth about Illegal Immigration and Crime [2008-01-24]
http://alainet.org/active/21822
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Chile hunger strike puts focus on Indians' plight
Jailed activist Patricia Troncoso has had no solid food for 100-plus days, and is seeking release of Mapuche prisoners and return of ancestral lands.
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 28, 2008
CHILLAN, CHILE -- The case of a jailed indigenous-rights activist who has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days has galvanized support for restive Mapuche Indians seeking the release of prisoners and recovery of ancestral lands in central Chile.
Mapuche activists and their allies have converged on this town in the Andean foothills, where Patricia Troncoso is being held in a hospital. Authorities intervened against the prisoner's will last week and provided Troncoso with intravenous nutrition to prevent her from dying.
Her plight has drawn renewed attention to charges that Chile's much-lauded economic growth has not lifted the Indian minority, which is largely landless, disenfranchised and the victim of police repression. Supporters have staged demonstrations in the capital, Santiago, about 230 miles north, and other cities and have circulated petitions.
"Don't lose hope," Troncoso, 38, urged in a letter read on Thursday, the 107th day of her hunger strike.
Troncoso is calling for authorities to release her and imprisoned Mapuche activists, whom she calls "political prisoners." She also wants the withdrawal of a heavy police presence from traditional Mapuche zones in Chile.
The Mapuche militants are incarcerated mostly for arson strikes against land and trucks belonging to forestry and agribusiness interests. Mapuche leaders say much of the territory was stolen and should be returned to them. Troncoso has served about half of a 10-year sentence for setting fire to a forestry plot -- a charge she denies.
Sympathizers have called on the center-left government of President Michelle Bachelet, who was a political prisoner under the Pinochet dictatorship, to help resolve the hunger-strike impasse. Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe expressed sympathy for the Mapuches, while condemning violence.
"I defend the Mapuche community," Harboe told reporters in Santiago. "But there is a minority that perpetrates acts of violence and stigmatizes the entire community."
The dispute has raised tensions in the region and resulted in periodic confrontations.
On Jan. 3, police shot and killed a Mapuche activist, Matias Catrileo, 22, an agronomy student, as he and others allegedly trespassed on a farming estate.
Three days later, authorities said, shots were fired at a car carrying a hydroelectric executive in Santiago. No one was injured, but officials suspect the shooting may be linked to Mapuche objections to hydroelectric projects.
Human rights groups have assailed the prosecution of Troncoso and others under anti-terrorism laws dating to the former dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
"What these activists have done may represent crimes under the penal code, but certainly could not be characterized as acts of terrorism," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, who heads the Americas division of Human Rights Watch.
In her statement last week, Troncoso declared, "Pinochet for us has not ended," and cited police checkpoints and other alleged acts of repression. "We keep experiencing him in the country roads, in the house searches, in the persecution, jailing, torture and death."
The case has resonated here and elsewhere in Latin America, where indigenous issues have taken on a higher profile, especially since the election in 2005 of Evo Morales as Bolivia's first Indian president.
But Chile has a much smaller indigenous population than neighbors Bolivia and Peru.
Mapuche Indians in Chile number 600,000, about 4% of the country's population of more than 15 million, according to census figures.
Studies have shown many Mapuches feel discriminated against in a nation long dominated by lighter-skinned Chileans of mixed-race and European origins.
Troncoso, known as La Chepa, is not a Mapuche and was raised in a middle-class family in Santiago. She gravitated to the Indian cause while studying theology at university, said her father, Roberto Troncoso.
"La Chepa is Mapuche in her heart," said Juan Pichun, a Mapuche leader who is among the many holding vigil outside her hospital.
Supporters have set up tents at the hospital gates and strung up cardboard signs denouncing Chilean officials as "murderers." Sympathizers include many students, left-wing activists and environmental advocates who cite a legacy of ecological ruin on former Mapuche lands.
Last week , doctors acted to prevent Troncoso from developing potentially fatal kidney damage, said Dr. Gaston Rodriguez, the police physician who is overseeing her care. Her vital signs have improved since she began receiving an intravenous mixture of vitamins and other nutrients, he said.
Troncoso had to be restrained with straps, Rodriguez said. The restraining procedure resulted in bruises on parts of her body, her friends said.
"Her body is full of marks," said Valentina Peralta, a friend who visited Troncoso in the hospital. She described the prisoner as "physically depleted" but lucid, tranquil and determined to continue to refuse solid foods.
Troncoso has lost more than 50 pounds as her only intake has been liquids such as water, juice and mate tea, sometimes with sugar. Doctors say Troncoso has survived in part because when she launched her fast Oct. 10, she was in robust physical shape, weighing about 185 pounds.
"My daughter has promised me she will live," said Roberto Troncoso.
"I want her to come home alive, not in a coffin."
By Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 28, 2008
CHILLAN, CHILE -- The case of a jailed indigenous-rights activist who has been on a hunger strike for more than 100 days has galvanized support for restive Mapuche Indians seeking the release of prisoners and recovery of ancestral lands in central Chile.
Mapuche activists and their allies have converged on this town in the Andean foothills, where Patricia Troncoso is being held in a hospital. Authorities intervened against the prisoner's will last week and provided Troncoso with intravenous nutrition to prevent her from dying.
Her plight has drawn renewed attention to charges that Chile's much-lauded economic growth has not lifted the Indian minority, which is largely landless, disenfranchised and the victim of police repression. Supporters have staged demonstrations in the capital, Santiago, about 230 miles north, and other cities and have circulated petitions.
"Don't lose hope," Troncoso, 38, urged in a letter read on Thursday, the 107th day of her hunger strike.
Troncoso is calling for authorities to release her and imprisoned Mapuche activists, whom she calls "political prisoners." She also wants the withdrawal of a heavy police presence from traditional Mapuche zones in Chile.
The Mapuche militants are incarcerated mostly for arson strikes against land and trucks belonging to forestry and agribusiness interests. Mapuche leaders say much of the territory was stolen and should be returned to them. Troncoso has served about half of a 10-year sentence for setting fire to a forestry plot -- a charge she denies.
Sympathizers have called on the center-left government of President Michelle Bachelet, who was a political prisoner under the Pinochet dictatorship, to help resolve the hunger-strike impasse. Deputy Interior Minister Felipe Harboe expressed sympathy for the Mapuches, while condemning violence.
"I defend the Mapuche community," Harboe told reporters in Santiago. "But there is a minority that perpetrates acts of violence and stigmatizes the entire community."
The dispute has raised tensions in the region and resulted in periodic confrontations.
On Jan. 3, police shot and killed a Mapuche activist, Matias Catrileo, 22, an agronomy student, as he and others allegedly trespassed on a farming estate.
Three days later, authorities said, shots were fired at a car carrying a hydroelectric executive in Santiago. No one was injured, but officials suspect the shooting may be linked to Mapuche objections to hydroelectric projects.
Human rights groups have assailed the prosecution of Troncoso and others under anti-terrorism laws dating to the former dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.
"What these activists have done may represent crimes under the penal code, but certainly could not be characterized as acts of terrorism," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, who heads the Americas division of Human Rights Watch.
In her statement last week, Troncoso declared, "Pinochet for us has not ended," and cited police checkpoints and other alleged acts of repression. "We keep experiencing him in the country roads, in the house searches, in the persecution, jailing, torture and death."
The case has resonated here and elsewhere in Latin America, where indigenous issues have taken on a higher profile, especially since the election in 2005 of Evo Morales as Bolivia's first Indian president.
But Chile has a much smaller indigenous population than neighbors Bolivia and Peru.
Mapuche Indians in Chile number 600,000, about 4% of the country's population of more than 15 million, according to census figures.
Studies have shown many Mapuches feel discriminated against in a nation long dominated by lighter-skinned Chileans of mixed-race and European origins.
Troncoso, known as La Chepa, is not a Mapuche and was raised in a middle-class family in Santiago. She gravitated to the Indian cause while studying theology at university, said her father, Roberto Troncoso.
"La Chepa is Mapuche in her heart," said Juan Pichun, a Mapuche leader who is among the many holding vigil outside her hospital.
Supporters have set up tents at the hospital gates and strung up cardboard signs denouncing Chilean officials as "murderers." Sympathizers include many students, left-wing activists and environmental advocates who cite a legacy of ecological ruin on former Mapuche lands.
Last week , doctors acted to prevent Troncoso from developing potentially fatal kidney damage, said Dr. Gaston Rodriguez, the police physician who is overseeing her care. Her vital signs have improved since she began receiving an intravenous mixture of vitamins and other nutrients, he said.
Troncoso had to be restrained with straps, Rodriguez said. The restraining procedure resulted in bruises on parts of her body, her friends said.
"Her body is full of marks," said Valentina Peralta, a friend who visited Troncoso in the hospital. She described the prisoner as "physically depleted" but lucid, tranquil and determined to continue to refuse solid foods.
Troncoso has lost more than 50 pounds as her only intake has been liquids such as water, juice and mate tea, sometimes with sugar. Doctors say Troncoso has survived in part because when she launched her fast Oct. 10, she was in robust physical shape, weighing about 185 pounds.
"My daughter has promised me she will live," said Roberto Troncoso.
"I want her to come home alive, not in a coffin."
Thursday, January 24, 2008
US Militarization of Latin America
Aviation Week & Space Technology
January 21, 2008 Pg. 34.
By Amy Butler, Washington
Down South
Regional cost-sharing seems an option for Central American Air Forces aging systems
As planning begins to remove U.S. forces from a key air base in Ecuador, the Pentagon is examining new arrangements with countries farther north, in Central America.
Cooperation with regional militaries and the largely underprivileged
indigenous populations in Central and South America is critical to avoid a
“a repeat’ so the extremism now rampant in Iraq and Afghanistan, says
USAF Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Central and
South America. As he works to gain support in Washington for the Regional Aircraft Modernization Program (RAMP), an initiative to pool resources from the U.S. and four Central American countries to modernize their small air forces, he is also beginning to examine how to handle the
counter-narcotics mission in the region without access to Manta Air Base
in Ecuador.
That country’s president has told the Pentagon he does not
plan to allow further use of the base beyond November 2009. The Defense
Department’s withdrawal from Howard AFB, Panama, in 1999 was part of the agreement struck by the U.S. to cede control of the Panama Canal. Manta became the main operating site for the Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and the U.S. government invested heavily in improving the runway and facilities there after signing a 10-year lease. The Boeing 707-based aircraft use their 360-deg. radars to monitor air traffic, including drug smugglers. Navy E-2s with similar capabilities are also deployed in the region for this mission. A base in South America is
desirable to reduce the time to reach orbit locations for monitoring.
Basing the systems in the Southern U.S. would decrease a monitoring
aircraft’s on-station time. Seip says his staff has only begun to
examine alternate basing locations and their impact on tracking suspect
drug activities. However, the bulk of the Pentagon’s intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance fleet is dedicated to supporting
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, the likely outcome of this
basing shift will be a reduced intelligence collection from the assets
that are available.
Forces in U.S. Southern Command got a taste of the support that could come
from unmanned aerial vehicles with a one-time congressionally mandated
demonstration of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk’s capabilities there.
Seip notes that the long-dwell attributes of UAVs are well-suited to the
counter-narcotics mission. But so far, none have been assigned to him for
that purpose. Meanwhile, Seip is promoting a plan for the U.S. to help
the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua fund an aircraft modernization program. The age of the A-37s, UH-1s and F-5s used by these nations prohibits life-extension efforts.
The goal is for U.S. forces to introduce aircraft into the fleet, help the
nations train and develop operational plans for the systems and,
possibly, reduce the need for U.S. assets to conduct operations there.
The recapitalization is itemized in three phases. The first is an
inexpensive small airlifter such as the M-28 Sky Truck capable of various missions including short-takeoff-and-landing, intelligence collecting, personnel
recovery and law enforcement. Seip recommends at least four per country
at a cost of $56 million; the ideal objective would be six per nation.
Phase two calls for a medium-lift Huey replacement, such as the Bell 212,
at a cost of $96 million for the purchase of four per nation. An
additional four are being sought.
Phase three would provide an interceptor; Seip favors the AT-6B Texan II.
Four per nation would come to about $128 million, with an additional four
being recommended. Cost-sharing details are to be determined; these
nations would not be able to afford the systems on their own. Seip said it is realistic to anticipate the U.S. would pick up at least 90% of the cost. He hopes to have memoranda of agreement drawn up by June.
The plan also calls for long-term cost-sharing among the Central American
nations for training and logistics and the establishment of a regional
maintenance hub. These measures would produce whatever economies of scale are possible with the purchase of the systems.
January 21, 2008 Pg. 34.
By Amy Butler, Washington
Down South
Regional cost-sharing seems an option for Central American Air Forces aging systems
As planning begins to remove U.S. forces from a key air base in Ecuador, the Pentagon is examining new arrangements with countries farther north, in Central America.
Cooperation with regional militaries and the largely underprivileged
indigenous populations in Central and South America is critical to avoid a
“a repeat’ so the extremism now rampant in Iraq and Afghanistan, says
USAF Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Central and
South America. As he works to gain support in Washington for the Regional Aircraft Modernization Program (RAMP), an initiative to pool resources from the U.S. and four Central American countries to modernize their small air forces, he is also beginning to examine how to handle the
counter-narcotics mission in the region without access to Manta Air Base
in Ecuador.
That country’s president has told the Pentagon he does not
plan to allow further use of the base beyond November 2009. The Defense
Department’s withdrawal from Howard AFB, Panama, in 1999 was part of the agreement struck by the U.S. to cede control of the Panama Canal. Manta became the main operating site for the Air Force Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft, and the U.S. government invested heavily in improving the runway and facilities there after signing a 10-year lease. The Boeing 707-based aircraft use their 360-deg. radars to monitor air traffic, including drug smugglers. Navy E-2s with similar capabilities are also deployed in the region for this mission. A base in South America is
desirable to reduce the time to reach orbit locations for monitoring.
Basing the systems in the Southern U.S. would decrease a monitoring
aircraft’s on-station time. Seip says his staff has only begun to
examine alternate basing locations and their impact on tracking suspect
drug activities. However, the bulk of the Pentagon’s intelligence,
surveillance and reconnaissance fleet is dedicated to supporting
operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. So, the likely outcome of this
basing shift will be a reduced intelligence collection from the assets
that are available.
Forces in U.S. Southern Command got a taste of the support that could come
from unmanned aerial vehicles with a one-time congressionally mandated
demonstration of the Northrop Grumman Global Hawk’s capabilities there.
Seip notes that the long-dwell attributes of UAVs are well-suited to the
counter-narcotics mission. But so far, none have been assigned to him for
that purpose. Meanwhile, Seip is promoting a plan for the U.S. to help
the governments of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua fund an aircraft modernization program. The age of the A-37s, UH-1s and F-5s used by these nations prohibits life-extension efforts.
The goal is for U.S. forces to introduce aircraft into the fleet, help the
nations train and develop operational plans for the systems and,
possibly, reduce the need for U.S. assets to conduct operations there.
The recapitalization is itemized in three phases. The first is an
inexpensive small airlifter such as the M-28 Sky Truck capable of various missions including short-takeoff-and-landing, intelligence collecting, personnel
recovery and law enforcement. Seip recommends at least four per country
at a cost of $56 million; the ideal objective would be six per nation.
Phase two calls for a medium-lift Huey replacement, such as the Bell 212,
at a cost of $96 million for the purchase of four per nation. An
additional four are being sought.
Phase three would provide an interceptor; Seip favors the AT-6B Texan II.
Four per nation would come to about $128 million, with an additional four
being recommended. Cost-sharing details are to be determined; these
nations would not be able to afford the systems on their own. Seip said it is realistic to anticipate the U.S. would pick up at least 90% of the cost. He hopes to have memoranda of agreement drawn up by June.
The plan also calls for long-term cost-sharing among the Central American
nations for training and logistics and the establishment of a regional
maintenance hub. These measures would produce whatever economies of scale are possible with the purchase of the systems.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Important Class Information
Class information from the syllabus
Instructors
Roger Burbach
Center for the Study of the Americas, Berkeley
Maria Elena Martinez-Torres
CIESAS-Sureste, Chiapas
Course description
This course will study the social movements that are transforming the political and social landscape of the Americas. While looking at emergent radical leaders like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and Evo Morales in Bolivia, the focus will be on the new social movements that are sweeping the continent, challenging neo-liberal globalization, the traditional political parties, the formal democratic regimes, and US domination. These movements are offering an alternative to the established power structures while much of the world is engulfed in conflict and war. We'll have guest lecturers for many classes via live video conferences with specialists or activists in the social movements of their countries.
Required Texts
1. Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. Multitude. War and Democracy in the Age of Empire. Penguin Books, 2005.
2. Diana L. Raby. Democracy and Revolution. Latin America and Socialism Today. Pluto Press, 2006.
3. Roger Burbach and Orlando Nunez, Fire in the Americas, Verso, 1987. All of the required readings from this book are in the Class Reader. If anyone wishes to purchase the book, a limited number of copies are available from Roger at $15.
4. The Class Reader is available at Krishna Copy, 2111 University Ave. at Shattuck, Tel: 540-5959.
:)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)