Upside Down World
 
Thursday, 24 May 2012
The New Migration Law: Mexico’s Continuing Failure to Protect Migrants
Written by John Washington   
Tuesday, 22 May 2012 15:43

In the last century and a half since the Decreto sobre Extranjería, in both the United States and Mexico, migrants have been wanted, put to work, granted amnesty, hated, oppressed, expulsed, and just about everything in between. The only thing that has remained constant has been the migrants. They keep moving. And the trend, on behalf of both the U.S. and Mexican governments, has been to pass legislation, including those laws that purport to protect, that makes migrants vulnerable.

 
Honduras: A Violence, Repression and Impunity Capital of the World
Written by Grahame Russell   
Friday, 18 May 2012 11:44

There is no end in sight to violence and repression in Honduras. There is also no end in sight to American and Canadian governments and business maintaining political, economic and military relations with the country's military-backed regime. Since the June 2009 military coup, that ousted the country's democratically-elected government, Honduras has been referred to as the 'murder capital' of the world, a 'journalist killing' capital of the Americas, an 'LGBT killing capital', a 'prisoner killing capital', and a 'lawyer killing capital.'

 
Chile: Human Rights Activists Protest New US Base
Written by Weekly News Update on the Americas   
Tuesday, 15 May 2012 10:21

A US military training center in the port city of Concón, in the central Chilean province of Valparaíso, will be used for exercises "clearly oriented toward the control and repression of the civilian population," according to an open letter that more than 20 human rights organizations sent Chile's Defense Minister Andrés Allamand on May 7. The US Southern Command is also planning to build an installation in Argentina, at the airport in Resistencia, capital of the northeastern province of Chaco.

 
National and International Campign for the Freedom of Political Prisoners in Chiapas Presses On
Written by Jessica Davies   
Friday, 11 May 2012 17:07

Intense activity is currently taking place on a global scale to demand the release of two indigenous men who have been jailed for their political beliefs and activism, and who have become emblematic figures for the struggle against injustice in prisons and against political repression. Although the prisoners are based in Chiapas, Mexico, activities are taking place in countries including South Africa, Brazil, France, England, Scotland, Spain, the United States, Switzerland, New Zealand and Argentina.

 
Will Latin America Become the New Middle East?
Written by Raúl Zibechi, Translation by Jim Rudolf   
Wednesday, 09 May 2012 21:33

Every year, Latin America climbs in global geopolitical rankings because of the steady increase in its declared reserves of strategic resources. This is a true disaster, since it reinforces the dependence of the region on the exploitation and exportation of its natural resources.

 
The Right to Memory in Chile: An Interview with Erika Hennings, President of Londres 38
Written by Ramona Wadi   
Friday, 04 May 2012 10:32
In memory of the desaparecidos, as well as an assertion in favor of the right to memory, Londres 38: Espacio de Memorias inaugurated an exhibition detailing the origins and set up of Operacion Colombo. Erika Hennings, President of Londres 38, speaks about the right to memory – a contrast with state laws and dictatorship practices which act as censorship or criminalization of social mobilization in Chilean society.
 
Scientist Calls Peru Conga Mining Project an ‘Environmental Disaster:’ Interview with Reinhard Seifert
Written by Alice Bernard and Diego Cupolo   
Tuesday, 01 May 2012 16:20

Reinhard SeifertEnvironmental engineer Reinhard Seifert has been persecuted, threatened and arrested, but he continues researching the effects of mining on Cajamarca's water resources as the Peruvian government currently weighs its decision on the future of the Conga gold mine. If approved, the project would give Denver-based Newmont Mining Corp. the ability to construct one of the world’s largest gold mines on fragile, high-altitude wetlands.

 
First School for Transvestites Opens in Buenos Aires
Written by Marcela Valente   
Saturday, 28 April 2012 09:45

With 35 students, the first secondary school specifically for transvestites and other members of sexual minorities who face discrimination in mainstream schools opened in March in the Argentine capital. Francisco Quiñones, the head of the new school, explained that the idea was "to create an inclusive school, free of discrimination, that takes into account and values the different trans identities, where they can manage to finish secondary school. Public schools, which are governed by rules that cater to heterosexuals, drive these people away."

 
Canada and Chile Meddling in Honduras's Economic and Security Policies
Written by Karen Spring and Sandra Cuffe   
Monday, 21 May 2012 15:13

Few people would likely draw connections between a Canadian diplomat, Honduran public security reform, a retired Chilean General, and an extractive industry law proposal in Honduras. But Canada and Chile are jointly involved in both public security reform and proposed mining, oil and gas legislation in Honduras.

 

 
Mexican Families March on Mother’s Day on Behalf of Disappeared Relatives
Written by Ela Stapley   
Tuesday, 15 May 2012 10:48

Over 300 people from ten states in Mexico marched through the capital on Mother’s Day demanding an end to forced disappearances and calling on authorities to find their loved ones. With them marched brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and grandparents. All of them asking the same question; where are they? Their question is met with silence from the government.

 
Colombia: Community Takes on Uribe and Allies Over Controversial Tunnel
Written by James Bargent   
Monday, 14 May 2012 12:00

The mountain road that winds its way out of the Colombian city of Medellin and into the mountains, forests and scattered communities of Santa Elena is lined with battered signs urging readers to care for the rivers and streams that give life to the region.

 
The Right to Identity: Argentine Congress Affirms Transgender Rights in Historic Vote
Written by Francesca Fiorentini   
Friday, 11 May 2012 06:23

Lohana Berkins’ voice sailed over the victorious cheers of hundreds of transgender activists and supporters, and reverberated against the Argentine Congress building in downtown Buenos Aires on Wednesday evening. Inside, Congress had just voted to pass the Gender Identity Law that would allow Argentines to change their name and sex on their identifications without the ruling of a judge, approval from a psychiatrist, nor any obligatory surgery.

 
Mexico’s Peace Movement and Javier Sicilia: One Year On
Written by Paul Imison   
Monday, 07 May 2012 21:28

Little over a year ago, Javier Sicilia was simply a journalist, poet, teacher and father; he would finish 2011 as one of TIME magazine’s “People of the Year”.

 
Mexico: Calderón Government Monitoring Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity Leaders
Written by José Gil Olmos, Translation by Jim Rudolf   
Wednesday, 02 May 2012 15:15

After the Mexican government set the scene to sit down and have a "dialogue" with the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity (MPJD), and after President Felipe Calderón supposedly engaged with its members, now we learn that his government has files on the movement's leaders, including Javier Sicilia. This information is part of an extensive file that includes profiles with public and private data of the activists.

 
Guatemala: Decriminalization? Don't Believe the Hype
Written by Dawn Paley   
Monday, 30 April 2012 19:58

Why the War on Drugs in Guatemala is (and will continue to be) a war against communities.

 
Women of Las Patronas Aid Central American Migrants in Mexico
Written by Joseph Sorrentino   
Thursday, 26 April 2012 10:25

For seventeen years, a group of women in La Patrona, Veracruz, has been handing out food and water to Central American migrants riding cargo trains north in search of work. Most are hoping to make it to the US to find work but first they must make it through Mexico, where they risk being robbed, beaten, kidnapped, murdered.  The passage through La Patrona is one of the few bright spots on their trip.

 
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"If the world is upside down the way it is now, wouldn't we have to turn it over to get it to stand up straight?" -Eduardo Galeano

En Español
Guatemala: Explotación de recursos ignora a las comunidades

 
Buenos Aires abre el matrimonio igualitario al mundo

 
Asesinato de periodista desmiente a presidente de Honduras

 

 
Activist School

Delegation

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