Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Katzhütte makes you sick

The authorities of Saalfeld (Thüringen/East Germany) are forcing a pakistani women to life with her two sons in the isolation camp of Katzhütte since many years . Ameen her younger boy suffers from autism and needs special care. But the authorities ignore the medical attestation and dump the child in the mountain.

Solidarity with the Cane Cutters Strike in Colombia

On on 14th Oct 2008 is the 28th day of the sugar cane cutters strike in the departments of Valle del Cauca and Cauca – Colombia- and with no glimpse of an agreement in sight. We have send several proposals to ASOCAÑA and its affiliated ingenios, [a corporation sugar mill or refinery with feeder plantations] and but these continue denying a response to the workers petitions and the start of negotiations with the unions (SINALTRAINAL, SINALCORTEROS and the CENTRAL UNITARIA DE TRABAJADORES -CUT).



Álvaro Uribe Vélez’s government continues attacking the dispute. On 9 October a STATE OF INTERNAL COMMOTION was declared, through which they will try and break the labour conflicts, repress the workers and continue with the process of annihilating social organizations, with the argument that these are issues of public order that put the national security at grave risk. .

We have obtained good solidarity for the cane cutters, but their situation is getting more difficult by the day, and funds are falling with 12,500 workers and their families to feed. As far as the familes are concerned, the situation is much more serious given that there are insufficient resources to cater for around 60.000 people that cannot provide themselves with the basic necessities of food and medical attention.

Solidarity IS URGENT. The masters of the ingenios want to defeat the strike by HUNGER. There is no food or medicine in the homes of the cutters. With the solidarity of organizations, committees, national and international collectives, religious communities and democratic people we can move ahead to overcome this challenge that the bosses and the Colombian state have placed before us, and find a solution to the dispute.

Economic solidarity can be sent to:

Dollar Receipts: Banco de Colombia Savings Account No 039277631-08
Código ABA : 21000089 Código SWIFT: CITIUS33

Intermediary Bank: Citybank of New York

Euro Receipts: Banco de Colombia Savings Account No 039277631-08
IBAN Code: (International Bank) DE89500700100951331800
SWIFT Code: DEUTDEFF Intermediary Bank DEUTSCHE BANK OF GERMANY

Once you have made a transfer of funds send a confirmation note by fax to us in Bogotá, number 0057 1 3776136. Sinaltrainal areainternacional@sinaltrainal.org

Send protests to:

Álvaro Uribe Vélez. President of Colombia . auribe@presidencia.gov.co Esta dirección de correo electrónico está protegida contra los robots de spam, necesita tener Javascript activado para poder verla

Diego Palacio B. Minister of Social Protection dpalacio@minproteccionsocial.gov.co Esta dirección de correo electrónico está protegida contra los robots de spam, necesita tener Javascript activado para poder verla

Luís Fernando Londoño Capurro. President of Asocaña. asocana@asocana.com.co Esta dirección de correo electrónico está protegida contra los robots de spam, necesita tener Javascript activado para poder verla

http://www.colombiasolidarity.org.uk/content/view/410/45/

Monday, October 06, 2008

Six Deaths by Eviction in Chiapas Ejido

They were attacked by state and federal police, according to an ejido representative. Ten wounded and thirty detained reported.

by Elio Henriquez, correspondent for La Jornada
translation and update by Kristin Bricker

Miguel Hidalgo invasionMiguel Hidalgo Ejido, Chiapas. State and federal police shot and murdered six peasants from this ejido [communally owned land] in La Trinitaria county, which for almost a month has controlled the Chinkultic archaeological ruins, located three kilometers from the ejido.

Jose Velazquez, one of the ejido representatives, stated to the press that the incidents that occurred in the ejido late Friday night resulted in over ten wounded and more than thirty people detained who are recovering in a hospital in the city of Comitan.

Blood trails, scatted spent high-caliber casings, and bullet holes could be seen in the streets and in some houses.

"It seemed like the police were on drugs because they indiscriminately beat children, women, and elderly people, and that's not right," said Velazquez.

When the first four cadavers arrived Saturday morning, the families of the dead demanded justice "or we'll take it into our own hands."

The names of the dead peasants are reported to be Ricardo Ramírez Hernández, Ignacio Hernández López, Rigoberto López Vázquez, Alfredo Hernández Ramírez, Miguel Antonio Martínez, and Agustín Alfaro Calvo.

Velazquez said that when faced with the "aggression," the residents detained and disarmed 77 police who had entered the community presumably to detain the local authorities. Six thousand people live in the community.

The community still has the police weapons in its possession.

"They came to attack us without cause, because they were already in discussions to try to resolve the ruins problem" which are located nine kilometers from the Lakes of Montebello, he said.

He noted that the residents of Miguel Hidalgo took over the ruins because the government "has left them abandoned and because it's only right that the resources that come from the operation of the ruins stay with us."

On Saturday there were at least eight police vehicles which were damaged by the peasants who, enraged by the death of their compañeros, went after the agents who fired their weapons, and the agents were later rescued by other officers Friday night.

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Update: Notimex reports that the Chiapas Ministry of Justice has ordered about 200 police who participated in the Chinkultic operation to present themselves for toxicology and ballistics tests and tests on their clothing and hands to see if they've recently fired guns. They will also give depositions.

Notimex also reports that of the 22 wounded, 16 of them are police. It reports one disappearance but does not specify if the disappeared person is a police officer or a peasant.

The Ministry of Justice claims that when the townspeople disarmed the police, they then poured gasoline on the police and threatened to light them on fire. It also claims some of the peasants were drunk.

While the Emiliano Zapata Peasant Organzation (OCEZ) has a strong presence in the area, the peasants who took over the Chinkultic ruins and the ticket booth at the entrance to the ruins do not seem to belong to any of the numerous Chiapan indigenous peasant organizations.

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About Kristin Bricker

Personal Website
http://mywordismyweapon.blogspot.com

Kristin Bricker is a Mexico-based Narco News correspondent. She is also part of the Rebel Imports collective, which sells fair trade textiles, coffee, and honey from Zapatista cooperatives.