Judi Lynn
Judi Lynn's JournalSan Fernando Migrant Massacre: How US, Mexican and Latin American Governments Share Responsibility
San Fernando Migrant Massacre: How US, Mexican and Latin American Governments Share Responsibility
Tuesday, 07 October 2014 10:35
By Camilo Perez Bustillo and Azadeh N. Shahshahani, Truthout | News Analysis
Mexico is the leading case in Latin America of the devastating effects of US policies related to migration, free trade and the so-called "drug war." The victims include tens of thousands of migrants who undertake the long, difficult journey toward the United States through Mexican territory from Central America and beyond. An international tribunal has recently concluded that the San Fernando Massacre of August 2010 is a crucial example underlining the convergent responsibilities of the governments of Mexico, the United States and countries of origin.
Migrant rights defenders throughout Mexico recently commemorated the fourth anniversary of the massacre, which resulted in the death of 72 migrants in transit, including 13 women, en route to the United States from six countries. Of those killed, 24 were originally from Honduras, 14 from El Salvador, 13 from Guatemala, five from Ecuador, four from Brazil and one from India. Eleven have yet to be identified, due to the mishandling of evidence from the site of the crime and the bodies as a result of flawed forensic procedures. At least two survivors (from Ecuador and Honduras) are currently in witness protection programs, due to recurrent threats to their lives. San Fernando is located in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, about an hour and a half from the United States border.
The massacre was immediately blamed on Mexico's most violent drug cartel, a shadowy group with paramilitary origins, known as Los Zetas. But human rights advocates have long alleged that Mexican civilian, police and military authorities at all levels of government (federal, state, and local) shared responsibility for this and similar incidents ultimately attributable to Mexico's role in US-promoted efforts to contain and reduce the flow of migrants heading to the United States through Mexican territory.
This massacre is the worst single incident in Mexico's bloody US-backed "drug war," which has ravaged the country in the last seven years, producing over 125,000 civilian victims, some 25,000 forced disappearances and more than 250,000 people who have been internally displaced or forced into exile. The victims during this period also include an estimated 20,000 migrants who have been kidnapped each year since 2007 and countless others who have been extorted, assaulted and raped (estimates indicate that 80 percent of all migrant women and girls are victims of sexual abuse or rape). The San Fernando Massacre is also the worst single human rights crime in Mexican history since the October 2, 1968, massacre of students in Tlatelolco, in Mexico City in 1968.
More:
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/26658-san-fernando-migrant-massacre-how-us-mexican-and-latin-american-governments-share-responsibility
Survivor of Mexico Student Massacre: 'It Was Terrifying'
Source: NBC News
Survivor of Mexico Student Massacre: 'It Was Terrifying'
By Ioan Grillo, GlobalPost
11 hours
TIXTLA, Mexico — As the bullets crackled in the air and police bundled students into the backs of police cars, Eusebio ran with all his strength.
Shots were being fired at those trying to escape, but Eusebio was afraid of being taken by the officers, who were accompanied by men in plainclothes with rifles.
“It was terrifying but I just wanted to get away. I had a bad feeling about these police,” says Eusebio, a 19-year-old student at a university for rural schoolteachers in Tixtla, in southern Guerrero state.
That feeling likely saved Eusebio’s life. On Sunday, Guerrero State Prosecutor Iñaky Blanco said alleged drug cartel assassins confessed they’d worked with police to murder detained students late last month. The suspects also led officials from the prosecutor's office to pits where 28 charred bodies were found.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/survivor-mexico-student-massacre-it-was-terrifying-n219911
Argentina: UN group condemns vulture funds
Argentina: UN group condemns vulture funds
Submitted by Weekly News Update... on Tue, 10/07/2014 - 00:06
The Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution on Sept. 26 condemning "the activities of vulture funds" and regretting the effect payments to the funds could have "on the capacity of governments to fulfill their human rights obligations." The resolution was presented by Argentina, which was forced into technical default on July 30 after US district judge Thomas Griesa in New York blocked the country from paying interest to its bondholders unless it settled with US two hedge funds, NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management; the two companies are known as "vulture funds," investment groups that try to profit by buying weak debt the debtors are likely to default on. Argentina's effort in Geneva was backed by Algeria, Brazil, Russia and Venezuela. The Human Rights Council approved the resolution in a 33-5 vote, with nine countries abstaining; the opposing votes came from the US, UK, Czech Republic, Germany and Japan. "Vulture funds aren't just an economic problem," said Argentine foreign minister Héctor Timerman, who was in Geneva for the vote. "They represent a political, social problem that affects the lives of all the citizens" in many countries since they deprive governments of resources they could use for social services.
The vote in Geneva was Argentina's second success in international diplomacy during the month. At a plenary meeting in New York on Sept. 9 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution promoted by Argentina entitled "Towards the establishment of a multilateral legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring processes." Currently countries have to negotiate debt restructuring deals with their creditors when they are unable to meet their debt obligations; the resolution seeks to set up an international system for countries similar to bankruptcy proceedings for companies and individuals. Argentina's default resulted from NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management's refusal to join with the other creditors in a settlement Argentina had worked out for its massive 2002 default. The General Assembly resolution was sponsored by the Group of 77 (G77), joined by China; 124 countries voted for the measure, while 11 voted against it and 41 abstained. (United Nations, Sept. 10; BBC, Sept. 26; Adital, Brazil, Sept. 30)
Meanwhile, Argentina is trying to circumvent Judge Griesa's decision blocking interest payments to the bondholders that have settled with the country. In September Argentina's Congress passed legislation allowing the bondholders to be paid in Argentina rather than New York, taking the issue out of the judge's jurisdiction. An obviously irritated Griesa declared Argentina in contempt of court during a hearing on Sept. 29. It is not clear what effect the judge's contempt declaration will have. "We are in uncharted waters," Arturo Porzecanski, an economist at American University's School of International Service, told the New York Times. (NYT, Sept. 29)
http://ww4report.com/node/13604
(Short article, no more at link.)
Overlooked opponent faces uphill battle in Brazil
Overlooked opponent faces uphill battle in Brazil
By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press | October 6, 2014 | Updated: October 7, 2014 1:38am
SAO PAULO (AP) — Aecio Neves turned Brazil's politics on its head with his surprise showing in the first round of presidential voting but his toughest task lies ahead — defeating incumbent Dilma Rousseff and her juggernaut Workers' Party which has governed for 12 years.
The business-friendly candidate who only surged in the final week of the campaign came within 8 percentage points of Rousseff in Sunday's election and has momentum and a strong center-right party on his side.
The challenge for Neves, who was born into affluence and political power, will be to connect with the millions of poor Brazilians who have directly benefited from Rousseff's policies.
"He needs a more popular dialogue to build a bridge to those voters," said Mauricio Moura, a Brazilian pollster and professor of political strategy at George Washington University.
More:
http://www.chron.com/news/world/article/Overlooked-opponent-faces-uphill-battle-in-Brazil-5805510.php
NYT’s Belated Admission on Contra-Cocaine
NYT’s Belated Admission on Contra-Cocaine
October 4, 2014
Exclusive: Since the Contra-cocaine scandal surfaced in 1985, major U.S. news outlets have disparaged it, most notably when the big newspapers destroyed Gary Webb for reviving it in 1996. But a New York Times review of a movie on Webb finally admits the reality, writes Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
Nearly three decades since the stories of Nicaraguan Contra-cocaine trafficking first appeared in 1985, the New York Times has finally, forthrightly admitted the allegations were true, although this belated acknowledgement comes in a movie review buried deep inside Sunday’s paper.
The review addresses a new film, “Kill the Messenger,” that revives the Contra-cocaine charges in the context of telling the tragic tale of journalist Gary Webb who himself revived the allegations in 1996 only to have the New York Times and other major newspapers wage a vendetta against him that destroyed his career and ultimately drove him to suicide.
The Times’ movie review by David Carr begins with a straightforward recognition of the long-denied truth to which now even the CIA has confessed: “If someone told you today that there was strong evidence that the Central Intelligence Agency once turned a blind eye to accusations of drug dealing by operatives it worked with, it might ring some distant, skeptical bell. Did that really happen? That really happened.”
Although the Times’ review still quibbles with aspects of Webb’s “Dark Alliance” series in the San Jose Mercury-News, the Times appears to have finally thrown in the towel when it comes to the broader question of whether Webb was telling important truths.
The Times’ resistance to accepting the reality of this major national security scandal under President Ronald Reagan even predated its tag-team destruction of Webb in the mid-1990s, when he was alternately pummeled by the Times, the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. The same Big Three newspapers also either missed or dismissed the Contra-cocaine scandal when Brian Barger and I first disclosed it in 1985 for the Associated Press — and even when an investigation led by Sen. John Kerry provided more proof in 1989.
More:
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/10/04/nyts-belated-admission-on-contra-cocaine/
The World’s Longest Aerial Cable Car System
The World’s Longest Aerial Cable Car System
October 5th, 2014 by Cynthia Shahan
Mi Teleférico in Bolivia is on the verge of becoming the longest aerial cable car system in the world. It actually connects two cities.
Residents of the La Paz/El Alto Metropolitan area enjoyed the opening of the Mi Teleférico cable car system that connects the cities of La Paz and El Alto, Bolivia, in May 2014. There was a powerful response to this significantly helpful new transport option with a panoramic view, with millions riding it.
Navigating the mountainous terrain, the service reduces travel time between the cities. The cities together are one of the swiftest growing urban areas in Bolivia. Mi Teleférico has topped expectations.
The red line of Mi Teleférico. Photo by Gwen Kash
According to TheCityFix, “In its first two months, the Red Line transported 2.3 million passengers and collected more than 8 million Bolivianos (USD$ 1.2 million) in fares, well above what had been projected.”
Expansion after this strong start continues with the colors of the national flag — yellow, green, and red — to match the three lines. Soon, the cable car system will be the longest in the world, when the Green Line opens soon after the Yellow Line that opened on Monday, September 15, 2014.
More:
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/10/05/the-worlds-longest-aerial-cable-car-system-bolivias-mi-teleferico/
A mining company's $300 million attack on El Salvador's water
A mining company's $300 million attack on El Salvador's water
Pete Dolack
5th October 2014
OceanaGold is demanding $300 million in compensation from impoverished El Salvador after a mining permit was refused to safeguard a clean drinking water source that millions of people depend on, writes Pete Dolack. The sum does not even represent losses - but profits the company claims it would have made.
An Australian mining company insists its 'right' to a guaranteed profit is superior to the right of El Salvador to clean drinking water - and an unappealable World Bank secret tribunal will decide if that is so.
Drinking water is the underdog here. It might be thought that Salvadorans ought to have the right to decide on a question as fundamental as their source of water, but that is not so. It will be up to a secret tribunal controlled by corporate lawyers.
And as an added bit of irony, the hearing began on El Salvador's Independence Day, September 15. Formal independence, and actual independence, alas, are not the same thing.
More:
http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2562735/a_mining_companys_300_million_attack_on_el_salvadors_water.html
New Alabama Law Puts Teens Who Need Abortions on Trial. That's Dangerous and Cruel.
Published on Friday, October 03, 2014
by Blog of Rights / ACLU
New Alabama Law Puts Teens Who Need Abortions on Trial. That's Dangerous and Cruel.
by Jennifer Dalven
Picture this: You are 17 years old, in your senior year of high school, and you've just learned you're pregnant. You'd like to be able to turn to your parents for support but you know you can't. After all, they kicked your older sister out of the house when she got pregnant. But you have discussed your options with your aunt and a trusted counselor and decided to have an abortion.
You call a women's health center to make an appointment and are told that unless you get your parent's consent, you will have to go to court and essentially be put on trial in order to get the care you need.
That's right. Instead of a doctor, you get a trial.
Thanks to a new Alabama law, a teen who can't get a parent's consent has to undergo a gauntlet of questioning to get the abortion she needs. Because of this law, a prosecutor and a representative for the fetus, both of whom are charged with protecting the "state's interest in fetal life," (a.k.a. making sure the teen doesn't get an abortion), will cross-examine her.
That isn't even the half of it. In their quest to ensure that the teen can't get an abortion, the new law allows the prosecutor and fetus's representative to tell other people in the young woman's life -- including her teachers, pastor, employer, relatives, and friends – that she is pregnant. And to haul them in to court to testify against her.
More:
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/10/03/new-alabama-law-puts-teens-who-need-abortions-trial-thats-dangerous-and-cruel
Medellin human rights leader barely survives assassination attempt
Medellin human rights leader barely survives assassination attempt
Oct 3, 2014 posted by Samuel Moldovan
A Medellin human rights leader barely saved his life on Thursday when two men opened fire at his car just outside his native city.
While returning from talks with municipal officials in San Pedro de Los Milagros, a town on the outskirts of Medellin, two masked gunman opened fire on the car carrying Jonatan Echeverri, a leader of the Human Rights Table of the Valley of Aburra wherein Medellin lies.
While en route to the city, a motorcycle pulled up at high speed to Echeverri’s vehicle and began to open fire, letting loose nine shots on the car. In the midst of the shooting, Echeverri’s bodyguard returned fire on the assassins, causing them to flee. Ducking under the seat, Echeverri was not hit, and his escort was unharmed as well.
“The response of the escort managed to save his life,” said Carlos Asilah, spokesman for the Bureau.
The attack comes after receiving numerous death threats from the criminal gang, “The Urabeños,” who hope to interrupt the bureau’s investigations into different gang pacts and a host of their illegal activities.
The Medellin city government has recognized the existence of such agreements between the Urabeños and local crime syndicate “Oficina de Envigado,” allegedly arranged by corrupt elements within the city’s political and economical elites.
http://colombiareports.co/medellin-human-rights-leader-barely-survives-assassination-attempt/
(My emphasis.)
The Seeds of Bias in the Michael Brown Case: Who Killed Prosecutor Robert McCullough’s Father?
Weekend Edition October 3-5, 2014
The Seeds of Bias in the Michael Brown Case
Who Killed Prosecutor Robert McCullough’s Father?
by PETER JAMES HUDSON
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition demanding St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch recuse himself from the grand jury investigating the killing of Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson. McCulloch’s deep loyalties to the St. Louis Police Department, as evidenced by his prosecution of two racially charged, high-profile cases, have prompted critical doubts about his ability to fairly adjudicate evidence vindicating Brown, and implicating Wilson. His prosecution of a black man charged with murdering a St. Louis County police officer in 1991 raised serious questions about his motives, and in McCulloch’s 2001 investigation of the killing of two unarmed black men (whom McCulloch referred to as “bums”) by two white undercover police officers, questions arose, this time concerning McCulloch’s handling of witness testimony. The officers were never indicted.
McCulloch’s fealty to the police is clear. He has stated that he would have joined the force (after a stint in the military) had he not lost a leg to cancer as a teenager. “I couldn’t become a policeman,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “so being county prosecutor is the next best thing.” If he had become a cop, he would have followed a well-worn family path. His brother Joseph was a sergeant in St. Louis’s Ninth District. For two decades his mother, Anne, was employed as a clerk in the homicide division. His father, Paul, joined the force in 1949 before resigning to serve with the US Marines in Korea. Paul McCulloch returned to the SLPD in 1951 and in 1955 became an original member of the department’s Canine Corps. He became a minor celebrity because of the work of Duke, described by the Chicago Defender as his “reefer-sniffing dog.”
Fifty years before Michael Brown was shot to death on the streets of Ferguson, McCulloch’s father died in the line of duty. The father’s death casts additional doubt on the son’s ability to lead the grand jury investigation into Brown’s killing, while at the same time shedding a garish light on the history of racism, policing, and the law in St. Louis.
Paul McCulloch was killed the evening of July 2, 1964, during a gun battle in St. Louis’s infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing projects. His alleged killer, Eddie Steve Glenn, was a black man who had reportedly abducted a white woman. McCulloch was 12 years old at the time of his father’s death. He still gets emotional when the incident is brought up, though he denies that the killing has influenced his vision as a prosecutor. “My father was killed many, many years ago, and it’s certainly not something you forget, but it’s certainly not something that clouds my judgment in looking at a case,” McCulloch told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1991. “It certainly makes you more aware of the severity of it.”
More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/10/03/who-killed-prosecutor-robert-mcculloughs-father/
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