LUIS POSADA CARRILES MUST BE TRIED IN VENEZUELA
On August 25, 2004, the unspeakable happened: the outgoing president of Panama, Mireya Moscoso, pardoned Posada Carriles and his three accomplices, violating Panamanian law which provides that prisoners may be pardoned only when all judicial proceedings have ended. Posada Carriles's trial was in the appeals phase.
Hugo Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela
If you only listen to what the Bush administration or the corporate media have to say about what is happening in Venezuela, you probably have a distorted view of that country. What you may not know is that since 1998 seven nationwide elections and referenda have shown that support for President Hugo Chavez and his Bolivarian Revolution has steadily grown.
Pastors for Peace members threatened with heavy fines for traveling to Cuba
The leader of the organization Pastors for Peace, Lucius Walker, affirmed this Thursday that his group’s solidarity with Cuba was never stronger, as is its determination to confront the anti-Cuban measures of the U.S. administration... First they received a 14-point questionnaire regarding their activities in Cuba, which they refused to answer, and now they are receiving letters from the Treasury Department asking them to provide the names of people they spoke with in Cuba.
Diploma Scandal Further Mires Panama's Torrijos Government in Corruption Charges
President Torrijos was voted into office in 2004 on a pledge to root out ubiquitous venality and underhanded activity that had eroded the people’s faith in his predecessor, Mireya Moscoso...Since his inauguration, the Torrijos administration has not prosecuted a single member of Moscoso’s wildly polluted administration, nor have serious investigative efforts been undertaken to thoroughly explore the matter.
Rumsfeld and Rice on Chávez: But Where’s the Beef?
[Rumsfeld] echoed claims made earlier by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is a destabilizing force in the region and had been “unhelpful[ly]” involved in the recent political turmoil in Bolivia. Yet thus far, neither Rice nor Rumsfeld have presented the slightest shred of evidence to support their assertions that Chávez was involved in the ouster of Bolivian President Carlos Mesa.
Crimes of Omission
Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, is suffering from drought and locust infestation. The UN asked for $16 million to avert disaster. The world, including the United States, turned a deaf ear... The result is that now 3.5 million people, including 800,000 children, are in danger of dying. Finally, some aid is flowing after CNN and other media have shown the horrid consequences of the famine – the emaciated bodies of dying children.
No Legal Arguments to Retain Cuban Five
'There are no legal arguments to retain them,' said Weinglass, who is one of the defense attorneys. 'The next step should be to release them from the high-security prisons where they have been held in violation of US law,' he added.
In Declaring Success in Colombia, Bush and Uribe Distort the Realities of their Drug War
Members of the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), the right-wing group of vigilantes who have been pinpointed for most of the country's on average 4,000 politically motivated killings per year and with whom Uribe has some personal and family ties, will be safe even from prosecution in U.S. courts because the Bush administration surrendered its right to seek their extradition at the behest of Uribe.
Washington's Failed Latin America/Caribbean Relations
U.S.-Latin American policy has been marked by erratic and often discontinuous relations with its southern neighbors, betraying an ambivalence toward the region that does not augur well for its future political development.
Colombia: Demobilization Policy a 'Farce'
The government of Colombia’s failed policy of demobilizing right-wing paramilitary groups is in fact strengthening their power without furthering a genuine peace, according to a report based on interviews with former paramilitaries, government officials, and 'other insiders' published by Human Rights Watch earlier this week.
