When, on Oct. 15, 2003, Filomena León was shot in the back by military soldiers in the Bolivian town of Patacamaya, near El Alto, she had no reason to believe hers would be anything other than an anonymous death in the Andes.

“I was in front of the soldiers and the bullet entered me from behind, into my spine,” León, an indigenous miner and mother of six, told Verónica Auza and Claudia Espinoza, editors of Gas War Memorial Testimony. The shot left her paralyzed, and she told Auza and Espinoza on April 20, 2004, “[After being shot] I wanted to die. … I still feel the same.” She died 10 days later from a lethal infection. (more…)

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS): The government is to spend JA$100 million to address the social concerns of sugar workers. This was disclosed by Prime Minister Portia Simpson during her contribution to the 2007 Budget Debate on Tuesday. 
 
She said the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands has engaged in consultations with trade union leaders and is in the process of developing a comprehensive programme to deal with training, health care, housing and other pressing social needs which affect sugar workers.

She said the $100 million was only the beginning, adding that a Sugar Unit was being established at the Ministry of Agriculture to determine the social needs of the industry and how they can be addressed. (more…)

SANTO DOMINGO, DN.-La Federación Nacional de Transportistas Haitianos (FENATRAH)  amenaza con paralizar el transporte comercial de cargas entre la Republica Dominicana y Haití, para exigir de la Procuraduría General de Barahona el cumplimiento de una sentencia que absuelve a un miembro de esa federación  de los cargos de lavado de dinero.

Además, reclaman la devolución de casi dos millones de pesos dominicanos que le fueron retenidos al imputado Anauult St- Halleire, por las autoridades de Aduanas de  la provincia de Dajabón. (more…)

HAVANA, Cuba (UPI):  After nine months of grave illness, Cuban President Fidel Castro is making a comeback, much to the dismay of would-be reformers.

The Los Angeles Times reported Castro is receiving visitors and official delegations. Castro’s communist Cuba, which US President Bush has called a “cruel dictatorship,” was looking closer to being on its way to reform last fall when Castro fell ill with an intestinal infection. His recovery has delivered a blow to those who were hoping for more economic openness in the country. (more…)

Mérida, April 30, 2007 (venezuelanalysis.com)— The Fifth Summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) finished Sunday with important agreements to form a new model of integration for Latin America. Heads of state from Bolivia, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Haiti left Venezuela today after signing several strategic agreements and establishing a formal organizational structure for ALBA.

“The history of the people has once again begun to march forward,” said Venezuela President Hugo Chávez yesterday upon closing the two-day event. (more…)

The United Nations quietly released a report in March exposing an array of human rights abuses associated with a growing mercenary industry that is recruiting large numbers from Latin American countries.

“We have observed that in some cases the employees of private military and security companies enjoy an immunity which can easily become impunity, implying that some States may contract these companies in order to avoid direct legal responsibilities,” said Jose Luis Gomez del Prado, Chairperson-Rapporteur of the U.N. Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries in a statement before the Human Rights Council. (more…)