Political prisoners and Cuba can be a confusing mix, in our time of mass propaganda. Three groups have attracted international attention over the past decade.
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An indigenous uprising in the Peruvian Amazon has forced the US-backed government of President Alan Garcia to repeal key decrees that aimed to open the region to greater exploitation by oil and gas corporations. However, indigenous people faced violent repression from security forces as they tried to defend their land and the environment. On June 5, a brutal massacre occurred in Bagua, with dozens of indigenous people murdered by police.
Cuban revolutionary hero Juan Almeida Bosque passed away on September 11 at the age of 82. Almeida was a life-long revolutionary, who started work at the age of 11 as a brick layer. He took part in Fidel Castro’s failed assault on the Moncada Barracks on July 26 1953, often seen as the start of the Cuban Revolution. Almedia sailed to Cuba from Mexico onboard the Granma, along with Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara to start a guerrilla struggle against the US-backed Batista dictatorship. He was one of 16 survivors of the landing.
Washington is continuing to step up its offensive to reestablish dominance over Latin America as South American governments take Colombia to task over the proposed installation of five new US military bases in its territory.
The United States was founded as an “infant empire”, in the words of George Washington. From the earliest days, control over the hemisphere was a critical goal.
Bolivian President Evo Morales recalled on September 13 that, as leader of the coca growers of the Chapare region, he had been “a permanent victim” of the US military presence in his country. Morales said that “thanks to the consciousness of the Bolivian people, this has finished”.
The statement published below was released by the British Palestine Solidarity Campaign. To read the full Trades Union Congress motion, or for more information, visit www.palestinecampaign.org.
“The war could have finished the day before I arrived”, independent journalist and author Antony Loewenstein told Green Left Weekly of his recent trip to the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza.
The article below is the September editorial of the Indian-based Analytical Monthly Review. It is reprinted from MRZine.
It happened in Europe earlier this year — for the second time. And now it has happened again.
Over the last few years it’s become one of our quaint English traditions that on any day following the announcement of immigration figures, certain newspapers display headlines such as “TEN MILLION OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT POLES TO SWARM INTO BRITAIN LIKE PLUMBING LOCUSTS!!! And they plan to BUGGER OUR KITTENS!!!”
October 1 will mark 60 years since Mao Zedong proclaimed the creation of the Peoples Republic of China. This followed the victory of the People’s Liberation Army, led by the Communist Party of China, over the US-backed Guomindang (Nationalist Party).
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