Coup d’état in Honduras elicits International Condemnation
Sunday June 28, 2009 Tom Loudon
A National Constitutional Referendum had been scheduled in Honduras for today, sparking tensions between the President and other branches of the government; the Congress and Supreme Court had ruled against the referendum during the past week. Last Wednesday General Romeo Vasquez refused to cooperate in conducting the referendum and President Zelaya fired him. The next day President Zelaya and supporters stormed the base where the ballots were being kept, and removed them. The situation was tense, but it was expected that the referendum would be conducted today without major incident.
Join our Election Observer Delegation to Bolivia
It is an exciting moment for Bolivia. The continent’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales, has led a sweeping reform movement which includes mandated indigenous representation in the government for the first time.
Address by Miguel d'Escoto to the U.N. responding to the Coup in Honduras
AIDESEP Warns that Persecution Continues and Announces that it will Withdraw from the Dialogue if it Persists
Take Action: Demand President Obama Denounce the Massacre in Peru
Follow the link to take action and demand President Obama denounce the massacre in Peru.
Letter from NAFTA Country Legislators to Presidents Calderon and Obama and Prime Minister Harper
Fifteen years since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) entered into effect, it has
become obvious that many of the promised benefits of the agreement have not come to be. As Members
of our Parliaments and Congress in Canada, Mexico and the U.S., we ask you, on behalf of our
constituents as well as civil society organizations, to consider a new, people-centered fair trade model....
U.S.-Peru FTA Sparks Indigenous massacre
During the last week, deep in the Peruvian Amazon, confrontations between nonviolent indigenous protesters and police have left up to 100 people dead. The vast majority of the casualties are civilians, who have been conducting peaceful demonstrations in defense of the Amazon Rainforest.
Alberto Pizango Calls for Nonviolent Resistance In a Speech at the Indigenous Summit in Puno, Peru
Alberto Pizango gave this speech (in Spanish) to the IV Continental Indigenous Summit just one week before police fired on blockades in the Amazon region. He calls upon the indigenous to communicate to the Peruvian government that there exists an indigenous population willing to claim and defend their lands. He makes the final point that Peruvians cannot continue to obey the rule of law, when the government, who is supposed to enforce the law, has no regard for human rights.
Solo una semana despues de este discurso por Alberto Pizango en el Encuentro Indigena en Puno, Peru, el ejercito peruviano ametrelló los bloqueos en la región Amazonica. El insta que los y las indigenas comuniquen al gobierno que hay un pueblo indigena quien esta dispuesto a reclamar y defender sus tierras. Dice que no es necesario obedecer el estado de derecho cuando el gobierno no respeta los derechos humanos.
Ashaninika delegates at the IV Continental Indigenous Summit of Abya Yala speak about uprising in Peru’s Amazon
Indigenous Summit calls for Defense of Mother Earth- Peruvian government responds with a massacre
Peru Blog June 8, 2009
Last week I returned to Washington DC from Puno, Peru where over 6000 representatives of indigenous peoples and 500 international observers gathered for the 5-day IV Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples. In Puno, I had the privilege of meeting with representatives of Peru’s indigenous peoples who have sustained peaceful protests for nearly two months in response to the U.S.-Peru FTA implementation law which violates indigenous rights and territories. Just days after the Summit, in a shocking act of aggression, Government forces opened fire on peaceful indigenous protestors, killing as many as 60 in the Peruvian Amazon.
