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Monday Movie Clip, Voces : Special Circumstances

19 Oct 2009

While a restless toddler jumped on the bed, I watched pedazos of this documentary last night on Voces on my local PBS station.

Special Circumstances follows Chilean exile Héctor Salgado as he returns to Chile from the USA to seek and confront the men who imprisoned him and tortured and killed his friends after the coup of 1973. Through his journey, audiences will come to understand the legal, political and social obstacles standing in the way of a nation’s attempt, thirty years later, to overcome its brutal history. Throughout five years of determined digging, Héctor finds old friends and family members, victims’ families, survivors and others who express divided and passionate opinions about Chile’s past.The resulting film not only tells a dramatic story of Héctor’s encounters with former military personnel, but also gives audiences a rare look at contemporary Chile and the nation’s efforts to reconcile its troubling history.

Is Decriminalization Enough to Stop the “War on Drugs” Violence in Latin America?

28 Aug 2009

Marijuana Two Latin American countries recently have made moves to decriminalize the possession of certain drugs for personal use, a move that some are touting as a positive new direction in the “war on drugs”.

In Argentina:

Argentina’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that it is unconstitutional to prosecute cases involving personal marijuana use as long as it does not harm others. It did not, however, set a weight limit for what it considers personal use.

The judges’ decision urges the Argentine government to “create policies against illegal drug trafficking and adopt preventive health measures, with information and education against drug consumption directed at the most vulnerable groups.

And in Mexico:

Under the new law, a police search that turns up a half-gram of cocaine, the equivalent of about four lines, will not bring any jail time. The same applies for 5 grams of marijuana (about four cigarettes), 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams of methamphetamine or 0.015 milligrams of LSD.

U.S. to the Rescue in Latin America: The Drug War as Extended War of Terror

17 Aug 2009

I am working on an in depth post on how the issue of immigration was flowing through the Netroots Nation conference, pero it’s important to recognize that the way the United States chooses to “deal”/interact with Latin American countries is related to how the U.S. chooses to “deal”/interact with those who come from Latin America and their descendents.

This past weekend, the Colombian government announced that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. that allows the US military to move inside the country to tackle drug-trafficking and terrorism. Seven Colombian military bases will now become de facto U.S. military bases. Understandably, other countries in Latin America are none too pleased to have the grand gringo army within close shooting distance, and I’m not just talking about countries who are painted as far-left like Venezuela. I’m talking Argentina and Brazil as well.

We have already seen in Colombia and closer in Mexico, that U.S. intervention and support and presence in countries whose armed forces are already abusing their populations, creates (surprise!) more abuse. Then when gente trying to survive, attempt to escape that abuse, they are denied asylum/protection. For those that do make it through outside the “accepted” model, they have to live in fear either as shadows in first world countries like the U.S. and Canada, or inside detention centers.

The U.S. government, as usual, wants to have it both ways. They want to name something a war and bring war’s violence on populations, pero they are unwilling to deal with the casualties of war. The U.S. is pumping billions of dollars into Mexico on down through Central and South America. Perhaps a better way to look at this war in drugs is as an extension of the Bush war on (of) terror. You know, that whole fighting them there so we don’t have to fight them here, except it seems that the targets, are potential brown migrants.

Government violence against Indigenous populations in Peru

1:11 pm By la Macha · Peru| Violence| military| military interventions · 1 Comment

6 Jun 2009

From Reuters comes the news of violence against indigenous populations in Peru that are protesting against the commercialization of their native lands.

The death toll rose on Saturday after Peruvian security forces battled native Indians in clashes that highlighted opposition to exploration in the Amazon and could threaten Peru’s investor-friendly government.

Up to 42 people have been killed in the escalating protests over mining and oil development in the region, which have interrupted food and fuel supplies and represent the worst violence of President Alan Garcia’s current government.

Thousands of Indians with wooden spears continued to block remote Amazon highways, vowing to keep protesting if police did not halt efforts to break up their demonstrations.

Makes me wonder where all the do-gooder Westerners are that buy acres of land to stop *indigenous* peoples from developing the land? Do those same people not care when it’s corporations looking to develop that land?

A way you can help:

Background

Early this morning (June 5th), Peruvian police launched a violent attack on a nonviolent road blockade held by Amazonian indigenous protesters opposing 10 laws that would open up their territory to increased mineral, oil, gas and timber exploitation. Police opened fire with live ammunition, killing at least 28 people.
Why Take Action?

The first reason to take action, of course, is simply out of solidarity with our fellow warriors in the struggle for a just and sustainable world. But why are we sending out this action alert as Root Force?

For nearly two months, thousands indigenous protesters have nearly paralyzed Peru’s Amazon region with blockades of critical transportation and mining infrastructure. They have sparked a national discourse over the limits to development and who owns nature, and have made it clear that they will not surrender any of their ancestral homelands.

At the heart of the issue are 10 laws passed by presidential decree that would greatly facilitate industrial exploitation of the Amazon. This is critical infrastructure, intended to supply new raw materials for the global market. This is one of those weak points of the system that we are always talking about.

The indigenous warriors fighting for their lives have pushed this issue into the global eye, and the Peruvian government has placed itself in a position of weakness by murdering unarmed protesters. Even before the recent killings, a congressional panel had already declared 2 of the laws unconstitutional, and only through procedural tricks has the president’s party been able to stall debate on repealing one of those laws.

This is one of those rare cases where sustained international pressure could tip the scales. If these laws are repealed, it will be a major setback for infrastructure expansion plans in a truly critical region of the hemisphere.
How to Take Action

You can email critical people in the Peruvian government through this page, provided by Amazon Watch.

You can also organize protests at Peruvian embassies or consulates, or take other actions that you think stand a good chance of making it back to the decision makers in Lima.

Make sure to express your outrage at the government’s strong arm tactics — even before the murders, the government had suspended civil liberties in 5 provinces and was calling indigenous people “terrorists” — and demand the repeal of the Free Trade laws and any law further opening the Amazon to mineral, oil, gas, timber, hydroelectric or agricultural exploitation.

In Solidarity,
Root Force

www.rootforce.org

Torture Sqads in Gitmo

21 May 2009

Several things have amused me (in a horribly ironic way) in the recent discussions about “Where will the Gitmo Detainees Stay? Not in My Back Yard!“–not the least of which includes the assumption that Cubans really want a bunch of detainees that hate the U.S. in *their* backyards.

But finding out about the torture thug group, The Immediate Reaction Force, has really topped everything. Democracy Now! has an excellent report up about the IRF’s–including descriptions of how these forces have gang beaten men for infractions like having two Styrofoam cups in their cells instead of one.

And while much of the focus has been on the tactical use of torture at Guantanamo, almost no attention had been paid to a parallel force that was torturing prisoners in a variety of ways, including waterboarding them, and that is this riot squad of sorts that you referred to called the Immediate Reaction Force. The prisoners and their lawyers at Guantanamo call it the “Extreme Repression Force.” Read more…

Media Documenting Arriving Fallen Soldiers

1:31 pm By la Macha · Media| Obama| Violence| military · Comments Off

6 Apr 2009

Just got the news today through CNN that the military has finally started to allow the media to be present when fallen soldiers arrive back in the U.S. t1homeiraqcoffin09gi

His name was Phillip A. Myers. A staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, he was killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan on Saturday.The return of his body to the United States aboard a charter aircraft Sunday marked a solemn moment that has been repeated more than 5,000 times at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware since the start of the war in Afghanistan in late 2001.
…
This night, however, was not like the other nights. Watching all of this were about 40 journalists allowed to cover the return of Myers’ remains. It was the first time in almost 20 years the return of a fallen U.S. service member was able to be recorded by the media.

I feel sort of mixed by this. It looks like the proceedings really keep the needs of the family in mind–reporters have rules they have to follow (like not speaking, not making “undo movements” etc), and it appears that the family has the final say over whether or not the media will be allowed. Which is all good.

But at the same time, it did make me a little uncomfortable to see that the military asked the wife of Myers if she wanted the press there–seems to me that in a world where the government is more than aware of the power of a picture–families can be “asked” in mighty forceful/pressuring ways.

Of course on a grander scale, I am *always* pleased to know that the government is trying to be transparent with the realities of what it gets us citizens into. And it think it’s *vitally* important for citizens to know what military families must deal with.

But I think, in the end, I am capable of imagining what military families and the reality of war is like without turning the families of dead soldiers into propaganda either. I think the needs of the families must come first.

What do you think?

From Inside Guantánamo: What Life is Really Like in the Soon-to-be-Gone Prison

28 Jan 2009

If there is anybody out there who still has any doubts as to whether the U.S.’s shameful hellhole Guantánamo should be closed, ex-prisoner Lahcen Ikassrien has some things to tell you. Ikassrien, a Spanish resident and Morrocan national, was a prisoner at Gitmo for nearly 4 years after being captured in Afghanistan and accused of being a supporter of the Taliban.

If you understand Spanish, have a look at the video above, in which Ikassrien describes in detail what his life (if you can call it that) was like during his detention (among the torture, being laced with gasoline and set fire). I’ve also translated parts of his interview with Spain’s Telecinco here because I think it’s of interest to our readers. This kind of testimony doesn’t reach us through U.S. mainstream media:

What is the before and after for Lahcen Ikassrien, after living 3 and a half years in hell?

I am a Muslim and I will continue to be a Muslim. I don’t force anyone to enter my territory nor to accept my beliefs. I don’t have problems with Jews or with Christians nor with anyone of any other belief. But I ask for respect for Muslims because people try to make others believe that we are terrorists or that women are forced to wear ‘hiyab’ and that’s not true. I ask for respect.

Mexican Army Responds to Beheadings

9:43 am By Maegan La Mala · Drugs| crime| mexico| military · Comments Off

23 Dec 2008

070207_mexicoViolence_hmed3p.hmedium.jpg It was a bloody weekend in Guerrero, Mexico. As the country fights to come to terms with what occurred there on Sunday — the beheadings of 9 military men — the Mexican army is speaking up, and with a warning to the suspected culprits: los narcos.

The army’s commander in the state of Guerrero, Enrique Jorge Alonso, called the killings “a grave error” on the part of organized crime, and issued this warning:

There won’t be the slightest bit of consideration. There won’t be a concession of any sort, nor will we rest until we see these delinquents where they belong,” he said. “This is sick and despicable act of vengeance.”

2008 has shaped up to be Mexico’s bloodiest year yet with regards to narco-related killings. Back in July, the death count rose to 600 in one Mexican state alone. And with these killings, the death toll, according to the Mexican Secretary of State has doubled from last year, with 5,376 victims of drug-trafficking related murders.

Via / Diario de Yucatán

Deadly Blasts During El Grito Celebrations

2:09 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Drugs| mexico| military · Comments Off

16 Sep 2008

Last night, Mexico celebrated it’s independence day from Spain with El Grito celebrations throughout Mexico. Unfortunately, one of those events was marred by two explosions that killed seven and wounded at least fifty:

The explosions occured shortly before midnight (0500 GMT) and just after the beginning of a re-enactment of the cry of independence known as “El Grito,” a traditional ceremony celebrated throughout the country.

Responsibility for the explosions, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) west of Mexico City, was not immediately clear, but dozens of police engaged in a shootout after chasing suspects in the vicinity, the El Sol de Morelia newspaper reported.

The army also took control of the entryways and exits of Morelia as well as city nightspots, the paper said.

Organized criminals are the main suspects behind the blast, although exploding bombs on a major national holiday seems to be far too symbolic of a practice for drug traffickers. I’m not sure, either, what the point would be for drug traffickers to blow people up? What would they be trying to prove/protest by doing that?

I wonder if there is something else going on that the Mexican government is trying to hide? Not the first time something like that has ever happened, right?

U.S. Wants You : Young Latino Men, Even If They Have to Drag You Kicking and Screaming

8:05 pm By Maegan La Mala · military · 1 Comment

8 Aug 2008

The U.S. Military is so desperate to fill in the blanks that dead soldiers have left, that they are threatening to send high school students to jail if they dare to choose college over boot camp.

The recruiter from the Greenspoint Recruiting Station in Houston was suspended last week after a recording of his threats aired on a local CBS affiliate, KHOU. The recruiter, Sergeant Glenn Marquette, warned 18-year-old Irving Gonzalez that he would be sent to jail if he decided to go to college instead of joining the military, even though Gonzalez had signed a non-binding contract that left him free to change his mind before basic training.

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