World Feature Archive

latest update: Cesar released on bail

previous updates: 2004-9-29 | 2004-10-6 | 2004-10-8

Cesar Zelada is a well known student activist in Peru. He is also a member of the Fuerza de Izquierda Socialista, a left wing group, and the organiser of the Hands off Venezuela campaign in Peru.

He was in Bolivia as part of a delegation of Peruvian student activists invited by the Youth wing of the Bolivian Workers' Union (COB - the Bolivian TUC) to show solidarity with the struggle of the Peruvian students, particularly those at the Oruro Technical University.

He was arrested on September 14th, in the capital La Paz. He was strip searched and handcuffed by the PTJ police and then questioned without having access to a lawyer. He is being kept in jail in the San Pedro Penal, in La Paz. When making the case against him at the hearing, the prosecutor alleged that he was in possession of explosives, had lied about his address in Bolivia and was carrying "Marxist propaganda" with the aim of "subversion".

New attacks by judiciary and local government against the workers of the tile factory Zanon in Neuquén/Patagonia.

As the start of the Republican National Convention rapidly approaches, New York City is heating up. United for Peace and Justice, organizers of a massive demo on 29th August, and the National Council of Arab-Americans are both suing the city to be allowed to protest in Central Park. Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg and tourism officials are offering "well-behav ed protesters" baby blue buttons saying "peaceful political activists" that will give them discounts at restaurants and museums. The NYPD is "shadowing" 56 activists from around the country.

A Life After Capitalism conference is going on August 20-22, Time's Up is holding a Bike National Convention from August 20 to August 29, an Immigrant Worker Speak Out is happening on August 27 and a Books not Bombs Youth Convergence is being held on August 28. Numerous calls for (direct) action have been issued, including one for a day of direct action on August 31. This is not to mention the rallies and marches being organized by United for Peace and Justice, Still We Rise, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and other groups.

The Indypendent, NYC IMC's paper, has printed 200,000 copies of the latest issue of its paper, believed to be the largest printing by a radical grassroots newspaper in decades, and is planning to print at least 100,000 copies of its August 25 paper while 25,000 copies have been printed of the People's Guide to the Republican National Convention. An Indymedia Infoshop and photo exhibit have just opened and a Convergence Center is soon to follow.

Links: |RNC Watch | RNC Not Welcome | counterconvention.org | NYC IMC

General Augusto Pinochet has been stripped of his immunity from prosecution today by the Chilean Supreme Court.

UPDATES:

Journalist Ewa Jasciewicz now held in detention for over 14 days as Israeli court fiasco continues.

19 AUGUST: Ewa is to be released from jail, but has still been forbidden by the IDF from entering Palestine.
20 AUGUST: Ewa remains locked up until at least Sunday, following an appeal by the Israeli Government [reports: 1 | 2 ]

The National Union of Journalists has condemned the Israeli Government for its treatment of journalist Ewa Jasiewicz, who was detained whilst entering Israel last week and remains in prison.

Ewa's appeal against deportation from Israel will be heard on Thursday, August 19th.

[ Telephone call from Ewa | Background on Baha | Ewa on Iraq | The "Intifada of the Empty Stomach"]

This Sunday, Venezuelans will vote on whether to keep their controversial president, Hugo Chávez. Elected with a promise to redistribute Venezuela's enormous oil wealth (before Chávez it was the number one supplier to the US) this referendum will be a chance to find out if he still has the support of the people. Having failed to oust him with a traditional (US backed)coup in 2002, and a general "strike" (bosses lock-out) the following Christmas, the opposition's referendum might actually end up strengthening his legitimacy.

This week, groups in London held a week of solidarity with the Venezuelan people and their right to self-determination without US interference. Daily events (see programme) took place at the rampART creative centre in Whitechapel, starting on Monday 9th with the opening of a "Latinamerican Liberation" exhibition. The main event is a picket of the US Embassy on the day of the referendum, Sunday 15th, from 2pm; meet beforehand in Hyde Park near Speakers' Corner for a 'Bolivarian picnic'.

Final event at the rampART from 6pm sunday, party and what next, plus indymedia access point.

Check out: Latest programme details | Rampart venue website | MultiMap venue map |
opening night review, photos | day two | full week review

New topic created: See Venezuela 2004 for all related posts.

A broad umbrella group of 26 people from various environmental, academic and economical organisations and members from four Native American tribes, travelled to Scotland from Southern Oregon and Northern California to lobby, protest at and negotiate with Scottish Power, the parent company of PacifiCorp, which is responsible for the negative impacts of several dams on the Klamath River, its water quality, salmon population, surrounding environment and neighbouring communities.

Previous reports:
[ pictures of protest at Scottish Power's annual shareholders meeting | call to write protest letters | reply to consumer boycott | Klamath river support delegation in Scotland | U.S. Court Rules in Favor Of Hoopa Valley, Yurok Tribes! | Native Americans, Enviros, and Fishermen Battle Scottish Power | Myth and facts about the Klamath River dams ]

Audio reports:
[ interview with scientist | interview with Klamath Tribe | interview with sociologist | Interview with commercial fisherman | interview with Yurok tribe | Environmental Racism Conference 1 | Environmental Racism Conference, Eugene, January 2004 ]

The zapatista "Committee of Good Government" for the Morelia zone has denounced a brutal attack on a zapatista child in the municipality of Chilon, Chiapas, Mexico.

STOP PRESS FRIDAY 1600: WORLD COURT DECLARES WALL "ILLEGAL".

While the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the Netherlands, prepares to give its advisory opinion on the Apartheid Wall on July 9th, the Wall in Palestine continues to destroy lives and lands at an ever-increasing pace. Four months of court deliberations have prompted international political immobility, but Palestinian resistance is growing. Whole villages have risen up to stop the Apartheid Wall and the devastating repression of the Israeli Occupation.

In light of the upcoming opinion from the ICJ, the Israeli government is trying to manipulate the truth and disguise the colonial foundation of its racist apartheid policy. The occupation forces have depicted a decision by their own High Court to move 30km of the Apartheid Wall as a Palestinian “victory”, but Palestinians see how, on the contrary, this decision validates Israel’s claim that the Wall is solely a security measure and how it states that the Wall can be built on Palestinian land.

Latest News on the Apartheid Wall at StopTheWall.org | Background info on the ICJ | video, audio, photo and info from: europe@stopthewall.org

More than 80 "sans-papiers" from France are walking from Brussels, Belgium (headquarters of the European Union) to Matignon (residence of the French Prime Minister in Paris) to protest against the policies of Fortress Europe and to inform the people they meet on their way about the situation of sans-papiers in Europe.
More Info in French: Imc Lille [1 | 2] and Imc Paris [1

On Saturday 5th June, more than 2000 'sin papeles' (immigrants without papers) occupied Barcelona Cathedral and the church Santa Maria del Pie [pics]. They are calling for unconditional recognition and that the authorities take responsibility for their unstable situation [Manifesto es | en].
Although police violently evicted the Cathedral [reports] and 25 immigrants are facing certain deportation, the Assembly for Regulation Without Conditions is calling for further actions [1 | 2], supported by many civil society organisations and demonstrations all over Spain.
While Barcelona’s ‘Cultural Forum 2004’ (sponsored by multinationals) appears to celebrate culture, peace, and sustainability, it remains obvious that some are not welcome. Many immigrants living ‘illegally’ in squatted abandoned buildings have been evicted and the buildings demolished to make room for housing developments connected to the Cultural Forum [article].

Imc Barcelona [es | en] | Imc Estrecho [es]
Sin Papeles Updates | Plan Gotta [es] | Papeles Para Tod@s 2003
Barcelona Forum Parody Page

On Monday, 7th of june 2004, the Zapatist Eduardo Vázquez Álvaro was murdered in bright daylight in the middle of the city centre of Chilón.
 http://germany.indymedia.org/2004/06/85327.shtml
 http://www.chiapas.ch

Dramatic video published, which documents russian war crimes against prisoners in Chechnya. Anna Politkowskaja, a brave Russian journalist strikes again:
Threatened with murder already several times and allocated with bans on writing, she does not stop to point out the desperate situation of people in Chechnya.
Politkowskaja is now able to prove torture, inhuman treatment and homicide in Chechnya with a video, which is dated 21st of March 2000.

The Third Summit of Head of States and Governments from Latin America, the Caribbean and European Union (III ALCUE) has come to an end last night in a tense environment, and with a soft and indirect condemnation to the US military torture in Iraq, commercial agreements without popular support, violence against demonstrators at the end of the general demonstration and around 100 detainees and disappeared, as well as 30 injured. [Call for Solidarity, Update 31.06.2004]

More reports: [1, 2, 3]
Audio: [Houston Indymedia | Guadalajara Imc | Guadalajara Imc - part 2]
Guadalajara Indymedia/ | Mexico Indymedia

There is an emergency situation right now in the Gaza Strip and the town of Rafah [feature on Indymedia.org], in particular, with scenes that bring to mind Israel's invasion of Jenin and Nablus in the spring of 2002... Last weekend, 116 homes were destroyed, making over a thousand people homeless [www.btselem.org]. Hundreds more are slated for destruction. [Indymedia Israel, Rafah Today, Electronic Intifada].

Add to this the ongoing trouble in Iraq, where revelations of torture abound, and there was real appetite for action as various groups around the UK called actions. The combination of the weeks' war crimes and media coverage brought people out in abundance, some of whom were protesting for the first time.

London

The previous weekend, Palestine Solidarity Campaign held its annual Nakba (Catastrophe) Day rally in Tragalgar Sq [Photo's: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 ] at which several speakers called on people to attend the Stop the War/End the Torture demonstration last Saturday morning [Reports & photo's: 1 | 2 ], which then, in turn, built the protest against the Rafah Massacre outside Downing Street, which resulted in a sit down on Whitehall. [Reports & pictures 1 | 2 ].

During the week, George Bush Snr played an ill-timed visit to raise party funds for his son [report]. The weekly picket at Marks & Spencer on Oxford Street was this week swelled by a large number of new faces [Report; pictures: 1 | 2] whilst there have been daily gatherings alongside Brian Hawe in Parliament Square.

Around the UK:

There were other protests over the past week in cities across the country:

• Palestine protest reports & pictures: Sheffield | York | Oxf ord.
• Iraq Torture protest reports & pictures: Northampton | Chicksands Joint Services Interrogation Centre .

Manuel Posada Chévez, member and activist of the citizens council Unidalguense (Consejo Ciudadano Unidalguense, CCU), was murdered on the 11th of april with 2 dagger thrusts by Víctor Hugo López alias "Víctor Xquiete".
The at present fugacious murderer, was recruited as a municipal policeman and followed the orders of Armando Sánchez Ruíz, who is president of the cmunicipality, but without the popular recognition of the Unidalguense community.

Indigenous Guaraní in the southeast of Bolivia blockade gas conveyor systems of multinational corporations and demand the reversal of the law from 1996 about the sell-out of the Bolivian natural gas. The union of farm workers and Aymará of the Anden region set a four day time limit for the governemt Mesa to fulfill their demands.
Streetblockades are prepared.

Translation of a feature by IMC Bolivia published on the 5.5.2004

Guaraní people defend the natural gas (original: El pueblo guaraní defiende el gas - 05/05/2004 10:51 )

Anniversary: 20th birthday of the MST and EZLN in the university of Sao Paulo (USP)

An impressive convoy of around 50 vehicles escorted 102 families of zapatista refugees back to their homes in Zinacantan on Sunday 25th April. The families had been forced to flee for their lives after the armed attack on the zapatista demonstration near Zinacantan, Chiapas on 10th April.

200 Mexican and international observers answered the call from the zapatista “committee of good government” for the Highlands of Chiapas and accompanied the returning refugees. A similar number of zapatistas, all wearing their trademark balaclavas, journeyed from the different autonomous municipalities of the Chiapas Highlands to ensure their fellow-zapatistas safely regained their homes.

Easter Saturday, 10th of April, a peaceful demonstration of Zaptistas got attacked with stones, guns and fireworks in the highlands of Chiapas near San Cristobal de las Casas.

Result of the ambush: 29 Zapatistas injured, and 3 seriously, one with life threatening injuries.

More information, reports and pictures on Chiapas Indymedia or on La Jornada, [en] | Photo gallery Jechvó/Zinacantán

Update (13.4.2004): Manuel Gomez Hernandez, one of those wounded in the attack , is in critical condition in hospital with a machete wound to the head, it is in the balance whether he will survive or not.
The Zapatistas in the hospital in San Cristobal de Las Casas are suffering poor medical attention and even worse are being harrassed constantly by the police.
125 zapatista families have fled their homes in the municipality of Zinacantan, Los Altos, Chiapas, fearing attack by militants of the PRD (Revolutionary Democratic Party).
A press conference by ngos including the network of community human rights defenders and solidarity protests are called for.

Sign an international letter of support with the Zapatistas (esp) from Barcelona's Zapatista Solidarity Collective.