Live radio broadcast from Honduras
On June 28th, the Honduran military ousted the democratically elected government of Honduras, detaining and then exiling President Manuel Zelaya to Costa Rica.

On Monday, June 29th, an emergency rally and press conference to denounce the coup in Honduras took place at the Honduran Consulate, 870 Market St. in San Francisco. Video: 1 | 2

The crisis in Honduras began when the military refused to distribute ballot boxes for an opinion poll on a new Constitution. President Zelaya fired the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Romeo Orlando Vasquez Velasquez, who refused to step down. The heads of all branches of the Honduran armed forces quit in solidarity with Vasquez. Vasquez, however, refused to step down, bolstered by support in Congress and a Supreme Court ruling that reinstated him. Vasquez, along with other military leaders, graduated from the United States' infamous School of the Americas (SOA). According to a School of the Americas Watch database compiled from information obtained from the US government, Vasquez studied in the SOA at least twice: once in 1976 and again in 1984.

At an emergency session of the OAS, the Honduran representative compared the coup to Chile in 1973, noted that Zelaya has not requested asylum in Costa Rica as reported by some press, and called for immediate condemnation of the coup. The Venezuela representative has accused former Bush Sub-Secretary of State Otto Reich of complicity in the coup: "We have information that worries us. This is a person who has been important in the diplomacy of the US who has reconnected with old colleagues and encouraged the coup: Otto Reich, ex sub-Secretary of State under Bush. We know him as an interventionist person." He said Reich is operating under an NGO.

Radio Es Lo De Menos, broadcasting from Tegucigalpa, is repeatedly pleading with the international community that protests be organized outside Honduran embassies around the world.

Military Ousts President Manuel Zelaya, Supporters Defy Curfew and Take to the Streets | Updates from the coup | Resistance and Repression in Honduras | "In Solidarity with the Organizations of Via Campesina and the People of Honduras" | Coup in Honduras | "We Will Not Be Silenced or Humiliated" | Honduras' Dictator-for-a-Day Rails vs. Obama & Chávez, Declares Martial Law | Military coup in Honduras this morning | Obama's First Military Coup

More coverage: Narco News | Americas Mexico Blog | TriniCenter Updates | Hands Off Venezuela

Coverage From Latin American Indymedias: Honduras | Argentina | Colombia | Bolivia | Puerto Rico

On Saturday, June 27, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams hosted a forum in San Francisco to address the issue: "A United Ireland, How Do We Get There?" Hundreds packed St. Anne’s Meeting Hall in San Francisco’s Sunset District to participate in a forum to discuss how to unite the still divided island nation of Ireland.

The 1998 Good Friday Agreement provided for unification of Ireland by majority vote of the citizens of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the partitioned entities created by the British in the early 1920s. The British government created the Northern Ireland to assure a Unionist majority there. Unionists, also known as Loyalists or Orange, favor British rule and are usually Protestant. Irish nationalists, the majority of the population on the island, are usually Catholic.

As the first speaker in an initial panel, Gerry Adams said the purpose of the forum was “to kickstart yet another chapter in our struggle — the final chapter.” In writing this chapter, Adams said, “There’s a huge role for the Irish Diaspora in the US...This conference is about what you can do. There have been many forms of struggle: armed, electoral and peaceful. The heart of the struggle is our fundamental right to determine our own destiny."

Read more

Sinn Fein | Short History of Sinn Fein | Youth attack pro-British parade and corporate symbols

Richard Silverstein writes, "YouTube may have banned Max Blumenthal’s Feel the Hate video, but I guess the hasbara (pro-Israel propaganda) crowd hasn’t yet gotten around to complaining about the multiple YouTube abuse videos documenting verbal and emotional abuse of innocent Palestinian civilians by thuggish Israeli Border Police."

Uri Blau reports this important new story for Haaretz, "For the 'hero' of the clip, an unidentified young Arab, they [the 43 second length of the video] were probably eternally long seconds and far from amusing. He was forced to slap himself and sing to the jubilant shouts of the photographer and his buddies – all of them members of Israel’s Border Police."

"Stories of murder, forced bestiality and more garden varieties of abuse are legion and have been documented here and at Lawrence of Cyberia and of course by human rights groups like B’Tselem. Let’s keep our eye on the prize here…when you refuse a settlement freeze as Bibi has done, when you maintain an Occupation for 42 years, this is what will happen. It must happen." Read more

Tikun Olam | Censored by the Huffington Post and Imprisoned By The Past: Why I Made 'Feeling the Hate in Jerusalem'

Davey D, producer of KPFA's Hard Knock Radio, writes: "It’s interesting to hear a number of progressives who immediately jumped out the box telling people that they were being duped by supporting the protests in Tehran. Many arrogantly pointed out that we were somehow carrying the mainstream party line and what we were seeing in the streets was a CIA backed operation. In fact one person hit me up and told me I should be ashamed of myself and that I was somehow pushing the mainstream party line.

"What was interesting about these progressive assertions was they were in stark opposition of people who we know on the ground. People who are ordinary folks and expressed a different tale. For starters there were many who had never been politically involved but had grown tired of the oppression in Iran...

"The rebellion on the streets was not done in the same way they might take place here in the US where folks with no political understanding may jump into the fray and roll with the momentum. There people know whats up and they clearly understood that whatever fervor directed at Mousavi was a lot bigger then him. He was a catalyst and symbol for greater possibilities but not the sole personification. I would liken it to President Obama’s run for the White House. Yes, he captured and is well liked by many, but at the same time there was a movement behind Obama that ideally should go on and have a life of its on with or without him."
Read More | Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner

Interview: Revolutionary Lives in Theocratic Iran | Like a Storm: The Insurrection in Iran | Iranian Maoists: "You wanted a fight? Let’s fight!" | Death Toll Increases in Iran as Country Collapses into Chaos | A Question Over Iran: Can the People Make History or Not? | Teheran: Who's Orchestrating Street Demonstrations? | Iran – Khamenei throws the gauntlet, the workers start to move | Iranian Girl Killed by Basij (warning Graphic)

Previous Indybay coverage

On June 11th in Tel Aviv, a group of queer Israeli activists (backed by Palestinian-Israeli LGBTQI co-operative preparation) protested the cynical use of gay rights by a conservative American group called StandWithUs (SWU). The activists disrupted an event called I-Pride, organized by SWU, exploiting queer issues to advance and support Israel’s existence as an apartheid state and its occupation over Palestinians. The queer activists have also pointed out SWU collaboration with homophobic organizations such as Christians United For Israel, and homophobic individuals such as Gary Bauer and John Hagee who has stated that Hurricane Katrina happened for the city’s “sinful homosexual rally.” SWU’s presentations of all Palestinians as killers, Islam as the enemy of the west, and SWU pressure to fire and censure academics who are critical of Israel, were also denounced by the activists in the event.

At the event panelists and speakers preferred to focus on liberal issues inside Israel and showed total disregard for human rights violations by Israel. They presented the gay Palestinian community as suffering mostly from the Palestinian society ( not from Israel’s brutal occupation) and as being in need of a western salvation embodied in Israel’s apartheid regime.

Haneen Maikey, an organizer for Al-Qaws ("Rainbow") - for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society, has commented that “the patronizing and arrogant attitude towards the Palestinan LGBT community, the use of our struggle and speaking in our name are not new phonomena. What is worrying is the easiness in which a right wing and racist pro-Israeli agenda is presented as a celebration pride and rights which is designed to present Israel (in collaboration with local gay Israeli organizations) as an oasis of liberalism and tolerance. This is a cynical use of gay issues for political gain, as human rights violations that are committed by Israel hurts all Palestinians-regardless of gender and sexual preference.”

Inna Michaeli, a member of Coalition of Women for Peace, and a feminist lesbian activist stated “I’m not surprised that our struggle for gender and sexual freedom is used as a propaganda tool at the hands of radical right wing groups from America. What is left to ask is where is the shame of gay organizations in Israel who claim to speak in our name, and whether from a total silence on human rights violations, they are moving now to a complete co-operation with the American radical right.” Read more

Flyer - Queer activists confront StandWithUs I-Pride | iPride: Stand With Us’ Pro-Israel Gay Fraud | "Israel Truth Campaign" Commemorates Land Day with New Billboard | first independent palestinian lgbtq organization! | Rainbow over Palestine | ASWAT

On June 5th, Peruvian national police attacked a roadblock near the city of Bagua in northwestern Peru, killing at least sixty people. Several thousand indigenous protesters had been blocking the main road to protest measures the government has taken to sell their ancestral land to energy companies. Peruvian indigenous leader Alberto Pizango has been granted asylum in Nicaragua due to his involvements in related protests.

On Tuesday, June 16th, over 30 people converged outside the Peruvian Consulate in San Francisco to amplify their concerns with the Peruvian and US Government's complacency in protecting indigenous rights. Outside folks held protest and spoke with passer-bys educating them on the current situation in Peru, while inside over 15 people went into the consulate to take their concerns directly to the Consul General of Peru.

Photos From SF: 1 | 2 | Peruvian Police Accused of Massacring Indigenous Protesters in Amazon Jungle | Qorianka Kilcher Heads to Peru to Support Indigenous Rights | Peru Faces its Tiananmen | Indigenous Massacre in Peruvian Amazon, Indymedia Israel | Rising Tide Bay Area

On June 15th, hundreds of thousands protested in Tehran, despite being warned by state officials that any such rally would be illegal. The demonstration, the largest in Iran's 30-year history, was presidential candidate Mousavi's first public appearance after the election. Protests focused around Azadi Tower, around which lines of people stretched for more than nine kilometers. Gunshots were reported to have been fired at the rally, and at least one protester was killed.

Iran held a presidential election on June 12th. In the weeks before the election, huge candidate rallies were held in several Iranian cities, and turnout was high with over 80 percent of the electorate reportedly voting. At the closing of election polls, both leading candidates, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir-Hossein Mousavi, claimed victory, with both candidates telling the press that their sources have them at 58–60% of the total vote.

Protesters began calling for a recount or the election to be re-run after the Interior Ministry announced that President Ahmadinejad had won over 62 percent of the vote, with only 34 percent going to opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The massive turnout his campaign generated was expected to give him a larger share of the vote.

Clashes broke out between police and groups protesting the election results from early morning Saturday onward. Police stormed dorms at the University of Tehran on Sunday and there were reports of several deaths and many arrests.

Mousavi served as the fifth and last Prime Minister of the Islamic republic of Iran from 1981 to 1989 and many complained about political oppression under his rule. In recent weeks he has said that if elected President we would promote the creation of private, non-governmental TV networks and stop the operation of the "Moral Police".

The WSWS writes:

Mousavi speaks for sections of the regime who are seeking to ease tensions with the US as a means of ending international sanctions and opening up the deteriorating Iranian economy to foreign capital. For all the fanfare of its highly-orchestrated “colour revolution”—in this case, green—Mousavi’s campaign was directed at a relatively narrow social base—the urban middle classes, particularly students and youth. Moreover, his criticisms of Ahmadinejad’s handouts—particularly in rural areas—will only have alienated broad layers of the working class and rural poor, who, while discontented over rising unemployment and soaring inflation, would hardly welcome the tougher austerity measures advocated by the “reformers”.

Those suspicions would have been reinforced by the support for Mousavi from two former presidents—Mohammad Khatami and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Ahmadinejad won an upset victory in the 2005 presidential elections by capitalising on the widespread anger among working people over the impact of Khatami’s free market agenda from 1997 and 2005.

Protests and Police Brutality: Protests Continue in Iran; Government Cracks Down on Foreign Media | Dueling Demonstrations in Tehran | We don't have Mousavi supporters, it's now all of Iran... | Another Day of Rallies Planned; Press, Internet Crackdowns Announced | Hundreds of Thousands Protest in Tehran Accusing Ahmadinejad Of Stealing Election | 8 Killed in Tehran Clashes; Reformists Reject Recount Offer | Iran in Turmoil After Disputed Presidential Election | 12 students reported killed in crackdown after violent clashes | Struggle over Election Results Continues in Iran | Juan Cole: Stealing the Iranian Election | The Revolution has begun | Robert Fisk on Iran: The day of destiny | Rafsanjani: shark or kingmaker? | Clumsy fraud provokes mass demonstrations | Amnesty International: Violence against demonstrators marks new presidential term in Iran | HRW: End Violence Against Peaceful Protests

Analysis, U.S. Role & Western Coverage: For workers’ power and a socialist Iran | What does it mean and where is it going? | What if Twitter is leading us all astray in Iran? | Election clashes mount as West escalates pressure | The Iranian Elections | The Nation magazine and the Iranian election

Constantly Updated Coverage: Huffington Post | ContraLaGuerra | Wikipedia: 2009 Iranian Elections
Twitter Feeds From Iran: TehranBureau | StopAhmadi | tehranelection9 | persiankiwi
Twitpic Photos: rodrigomx | cargotom | madyar
Flickr Photos: mousavi1388
YouTube Videos: kosoofvid | IransFreedom | aligh8463 | lighting police station on fire

On June 5th, a sniper in the Israeli military killed 36 year old Yousef Akil Srour, shooting him in the chest with 0.22 caliber live ammunition. Srour is the 5th Palestinian to be killed by the Israeli army in Ni’lin during a demonstration against the theft of his land for the construction of the Annexation Wall. During demonstrations against the confiscation of their land, Israeli occupation forces have murdered five Ni’lin residents and critically injured one international solidarity activist - Tristan Anderson.

On the same day, the occupation forces wounded another four protesters, one of them critically. Large parts of Naalin were bombed with gas, including medical personal who were prevented from reaching wounded.

Since May 2008, residents of Ni’lin have been organizing and participating in unarmed demonstrations against construction of the Apartheid Wall. Despite being deemed illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, Israel continues to build the Wall, further annexing Palestinian land. Ni’lin will lose approximately 2,500 dunums of agricultural land when construction of the wall is completed. Ni’lin consisted of 57,000 dunums in 1948, was reduced to 33,000 dunums in 1967, is currently 10,000 dunums and will be 7,500 dunums after completion of the Wall.

Photos: 1 | 2 | Video | Israeli forces kill Palestinian demonstrator in Ni’lin Aqel Srur's funeral Na'alin 6-6-09 | Israeli soldier kill Aqel Srur, in a demonstration against the wall in Naalin | Israeli forces kill Palestinian demonstrator in Ni’lin, IMC Israel

On May 19th, Melissa C. Roxas was abducted along with two Filipino companions, Juanito Carabeo and John Edward Jandoc from a house, in La Paz, Tarlac, Philippines. Roxas and her companions were taken by suspected elements of the Philippine Armed Forces, who accused them of being members of New People's Army, the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines.

In Melissa Roxas' affidavit, she recounts in detail the physical and mental torture and the denial of her other human rights during her captivity from May 19 to May 25. John Edward Jandoc is still being held captive.

Melissa Roxas is a well known community and cultural activist and human rights advocate. She is a member of the cultural group Habi-Arts and of BAYAN-USA, the progressive alliance of Filipino organizations in the U.S. She was in the Philippines to gather materials for her writing project and to help Bayan-Tarlac members conduct a survey in their area for a future medical mission.

Read more | U.S.-Trained and Funded Philippine Military Implicated in Abduction | CANADA-PHILIPPINES SOLIDARITY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS - Justice for Melissa Roxas and Juanito Carabeo! Surface John Edward Jandoc! | The Philippines Matrix Project

On, Saturday, June 6, hundreds came to the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, to protest 42 years of an ongoing occupation of the Golan Heights, the West Bank, and Gaza since the Six Days War in 1967. Organized by the Communist Party of Israel (Hadash), protesters held signs calling to end the clocked and bombardment of Gaza and for a just peace.

Two protesters groups dominated the demonstrations, the communists leading the march and the Anarcho-Feminist. Chants and signs by the communists included calls for a two state solution and just peace, while the sign and chants by the anarchists defined the Israeli military as a terrorist organization and called for the abolition of all states.

The marchers belong to organizations and parties such as Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), the Communist Party of Israel, Meretz , Gush Shalom, Yesh Gvul and Anarchists Against the Wall.

Head of Hadash, Member of the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) Mohammed Barakeh, addressed the demonstration stating that "occupation norms were slowly penetrating Israeli society and threatening democracy with such occurrences as the Nakba laws, the discrimination against the Arab-Palestinians in Israel, the harming of freedom of speech and politics, and more".

Photos: 1 2 Videos: 1 |

Joe Tougas writes: June 4th is the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, what my friend in Beijing cautiously refers to in public as “that thing that happened in 1989.” In the context of that bloody day and the economic crisis, China is re-examining the merits of capitalism versus communism in a pivotal moment in the country’s history.

For the past six years, there’s been a political movement in China called Wu You Zhi Xiang, which roughly translates to “Utopia” in English. However, it should be noted the translation is very loose due to the absence of a completely correlating word that fully expresses the sentiment of this organization’s Chinese name.

With images of Mao Zedong, Che Guevara, and the Chinese flag at the meetings, where on can hear songs from the Cultural Revolution playing before the speakers get started. Utopia is critical of the United States, and the right wing of the Chinese government, particularly with regard to China’s neoliberal capitalism and economic involvement with the U.S. It also conveys a message through its literature that China should replace the U.S. as the world leader. Whether Mao Zedong would have agreed with these sentiments or not, there is a banner on the wall that says “we miss Mao” in Chinese.

Read more | Twenty years since the Tiananmen Square massacre | DN: 20 Years Later, Chinese Dissident Wang Juanto and U.S. Journalist Philip Cunningham Look Back on Tiananmen Square Uprising

Previous Indybay Feature from Joe Tougas China reports: May Day With the Chinese Working Class

On Saturday May 30th, members of Anarchists Against the Wall, international and Palestinian activists, came to Safa, West Bank, to help Palestinian farmers work their land. In recent years, farmers have been under a constant harassment by settlers who have been violently attacking them and destroying and stealing their crops.

Israeli settlers began gathering at the top of a hill on the edge of the illegal settlement and three Israeli military jeeps arrived shortly afterward. Soldiers then contented themselves standing around their jeeps, debating whether or not they had good enough aim to “shoot [the activists] between the eyes”

After working for a couple of hours, the Israeli military declared the area a "closed military zone" and gave the farmers and the activists ten minutes to leave the area. When the time ended the soldiers started attacking and arresting the activists, resulting in two arrests. A couple of hours latter, settlers attacked Palestinians and activists in the same area, under the watching eye of the Israeli military. Rather then arresting the settlers, Israeli soldiers arrested two Palestinians and three Israeli activists.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | Palestine Solidarity Project: 2 Palestinians, 5 Israelis Arrested During Farmer Action in Saffa

On wednesday, May 27, members of "Achoti" (my sister), a feminist organization representing jews of color (Mizrahim-Jews who emigrated from Arab countries) and members of the Democratic Mizrahi Rainbow, came to the Jerusalem Theater to demonstrate a convention about culture in Israel. The activists held signs that looked like bank checks with names of cultural institutions and the amount of money given to each. One check (in the picture below), addressed to "Mizrahi culture" had no money on it and the wording "void" was added.

In Israel, 90% of the state budget is given to institutions who represent a european and ashkenazi (Jews who emigrated from western countries) culture. To justify this kind of elocution of resources, European culture is described as important and needed for people's education and well being, while Mizrahi and arab culture are describe as redundant and empty. In a leaflet given to those who have come to the convention, it was emphasized that israel is not located between the Alps and Bavaria in Europe, but in the Middle East. That most of the residents of Israel are not from a European background. Read more |

Joe Tougas writes: On International Workers’ Day, 2009, after living in Beijing for five months without leaving the city, I finally made it into the country. I traveled with a British national and three Chinese folks to a small village about four hours northeast of Beijing, called Hong Xing Cun, or Red Star.

Many questions I had about socialism, Maoism, capitalism, global warming, independence from the government, and the working class in China were answered to a much greater degree in my mind. We hiked through a valley along the edge of a river for several hours before arriving at a village that had been in this valley long since before World War II. Perhaps it had even been there for a thousand years. Who knows?

During our stay, it became apparent this place had survived both social and geological upheaval over time. In spite of it all, the descendants of past people living on this land are still there, still engaging in the same socialist agricultural lifestyle—with a few exceptions like solar power and cell phones. The story begins when we wander into a village of no more than 100 people after hiking in the heat and humidity for almost twenty kilometers. We were hot, tired, and hungry. Through the translations of our bilingual Chinese friends, we were able to learn that one house in the village provides accommodations for travelers, such as a room to sleep in, food, a shower, etc.

Almost immediately, we began friendly exchanges about politics, history, and the local culture. Many of these exchanges were with an old farmer who would impart much knowledge before we left his little valley.

Read more | People in Beijing Reacting to Tristan

Dharshan Chandramohan writes: Brothers and sisters, I am an ஈழம் தமிழர் — For those of you who don't know, that means that I am Tamil by ethnicity; and that my roots are unshakably and unmistakably planted in the Northern land of the country called Sri Lanka. I have to say this — over and over — because like in Palestine, there are droves of people who claim that I do not exist, that my people are not indigenous to the land that we have lived on for centuries, that they have a legitimate claim — moreover, a religious, sacred claim to that land.

The Sri Lankan Government has heralded this year as the year that they get rid of the Tamil Tigers — read "Tamil Problem" — read "Tamil People". And as a result the Sri Lankan Military has burnt the LTTE out of their de facto capital, out of their last stronghold, and into the jungle where, at most recent estimate, they have been confined to an area of 115 square miles — within which 250,000 Tamil civillians are at risk — and being bombed daily — with over three hundred civilians killed this week. The Sri Lankan Army calls them human shields. Further north, the Tamil people of யாழ்ப்பாணம் — in English, Jaffna — where my parents were born, are living under military occupation and over one million Tamils are living as internally displaced people. That's one million out of an estimated total population of 3 million — of which 250,000 are being systematically carpet bombed.

Read more

Tamil war zone hospital hit again | Bloodbath unfolding in Sri Lanka | UN urges halt in S Lanka fighting | Sri Lankan Civilians Caught Between Worsening Military-Tamil Rebel Clashes | Sri Lankan suicide bombing: more hypocrisy from Washington | Killings and Concentration Camps: A Colossal Humanitarian Tragedy is Underway in Sri Lanka and No One is Saying a Word, Arundhati Roy | Large Protests Erupt In Support Of Tamils, Indymedia UK

Past Indybay Coverage Of Sri Lanka

In recent years, attacks against the Peruvian Army have escalated by a new formation of the Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), a Maoist rebel group in Peru. Long believed to have faded away after the capture of its leader Abimael Guzmán (Presidente Gonzalo) and other top leaders from its central committee in 1993, the Shining Path has recently gained force and weapons. According to the Defense Minister of Peru, Flores Araoz, Shining Path rebels killed thirteen soldiers on April 9th in two ambushes in the southeast Ayacucho Region of the country. The attacks are said to have been the deadliest by guerrillas in the past ten years.

New Formations Of The Shining Path Emerged in the Andes jungles | More than 300 families displaced by "counter-terrorist" operation | Chasing Shining Path, Interview with a Member of the Shining Path | Peruvian soldiers die in ambush | Documentary: The People of the Shining Path | Political Line Of CPP (pdf) l PERU: Guerrillas on the Warpath for Peace Talks | Wikipedia: Shining Path

The Peruvian military, under the pretext of fighting the drug trade and the guerrillas, has launched a military offensive against the peasants in areas associated with the Shining Path. In reports by human rights organizations, the Peruvian military is accused of raping and assassinating civilians, and burning food crops.

Reports of abuse by the Peruvian Armed Forces are not new. On April 7th, 2009, Alberto Fujimori, the former President of Peru during the height of the offensive by the Shining Path, was found guilty by a Peruvian court for "crimes against humanity" for his involvement in the killing of dozens of civilians by Peruvian death squads. Fujimori has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and is the first elected Latin American leader convicted in his home country of human rights abuses.

Fujimori guilty of rights abuses | April 7th Mobilization in Lima for the Imprisonment of Fujimori | The Fujimori Verdict: Justice in Latin America | Human Rights Watch: Peru | Amnesty International: Peru

Past Coverage of Fujimori: Mumia: Crimes of State | Ex-Peruvian president jailed after first trial | Fujimori to go on trial for murder | Chilean court extradites ex-Peruvian President Fujimori | Peruvians demand extradition of ex-president Fujimori | Peruvians Skeptical over Justice for Fujimori | Fujimori held by Peru authorities | Fujimori extradited from Chile

Previous Indybay Peru Coverage

On April 1st & 2nd, protesters from around the world have converged in London as the G20 Summit got underway Wednesday. Leaders from the world's 20 largest developed and developing nations are meeting in the UK to discuss the global economic crisis largely created by U.S. "financial innovation." Actions, camps and marches have taken place in the week leading up to the summit and have been met with an expectedly large police presence in the city center. Anti-capitalist protesters attacked the Royal Bank of Scotland.

G20 Meltdown coordinated a Reclaim the Streets Party at noon GMT Wednesday in front of the Bank of England. Windows were smashed at the Royal Bank of Scotland as demonstrators made their way through the city.

More than 25 tents were set up for the ClimateCamp 09 in front of the European Climate Exchange in London. UK Indymedia reports the peaceful camp was cleared by riot police as the day drew to a close.

More than 40,000 people took to the street in a Put People First March on Saturday, March 28 before the foreign dignitaries made their way to London. More actions and marches are planed for the second day of the G20 Summit on Thursday.

4/1 Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Video | Audio: 1 | 2
4/2 Report | Audio: 1 | 2 | 3

Indymedia London | UK Indymedia | G20 Meltdown | ClimateCamp 09

When vote totals came in from the Salvadoran presidential election Sunday, the winner by a slim but significant margin was the candidate of the FMLN, Mauricio Funes. The FMLN website said “Hope won over fear.” The FMLN, in Spanish called the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (The Farabundo Martî Front for National Liberation), fought fascism in Central America with a military effort that went on for twelve years. A truce was called in 1992, but the extreme right wing remained in power until now.

Funes was a very popular talk show host; a media star who began his career in journalism covering the civil war. He lost his older brother to a death squad in 1980. He worked for corporate media, joining CNN’s Spanish Edition in 1991. In 2007 he left CNN. That year he also joined the FMLN. He has pledged to work with the Obama administration, and the U.S. has given signals it will accept his victory.

Interviewed on Democracy Now, Salvadoran-American journalist Roberto Lovato said the FMLN victory is the end of 130 years of nearly complete domination of the Salvadoran political system by oligarchy and dictatorship. The Bay Area has been a center for solidarity with El Salvador. An Indybay report by Jorge Castillo said CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) was “one of the biggest solidarity organizations in US history.” A San Francisco celebration of the FMLN victory is planned for March 21 at 7:00 at the Women's Building.

Reflections on the Salvadoran Election
Democracy Now 1 | 2 | 3
Fascism Dealt Lethal Blow in Central America

FMLN Website (Spanish)

On Monday March 16th, hundreds demonstrated at of the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco to hear speakers in support of Tristan Anderson and the people of Palestine, including Tristan's partner Gabrielle Silverman, from the hospital in Israel where Tristan is being treated. About 5pm, demonstrators marched to the intersection of Market and 5th. After demonstrating there for about an hour, many in the crowd marched back to the consulate where police attacked protesters with clubs and as many as six people were arrested. Other solidarity events are being held all over the world.

Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Video: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Reports: Peace & Freedom Party Statement on SF Police Riot | Activists consider wrongful arrest litigation | Call the D.A. and the Mayor to drop charges | Victims & Witnesses to Police Riot Go to SF Board of Sups Mtg | Hundreds Rally and March

Arrestee Support & Updates: People still in jail, 3/18 | Show up for court hearings on 3/19 & 3/20 | 3/19 Update on 4 felony charges | 3/22 Update on 4 felony arrestees

Global solidarity events: In Tel Aviv a protest was held outside of the ministry of defense on March 15th. The same day there was a protest in Chicago (Photos). On March 16th, three people were arrested at a solidarity demonstration in Miami. A demonstration was also held in New Haven, CT, on the 16th. Mazin Qumsiyeh and others spoke. On March 17th, people gathered outside of a Friends of the IDF Gala Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. A solidarity event took place in London on March 18th at the Israeli Embassy. Another is being planned for March 20th in New York City. Dozens of activists from Anarchists Against the Wall have called on police to refuse to participate in war crimes and the killing of demonstrators. United for Peace and Justice will hold a number of vigils. In London a vigil was held outside of the Israeli Embassy.

Updates about Tristan's condition: On March 15th, Tristan moved his fingers in response to a request from a doctor. March 14th

On March 13th, 2009, Tristan Anderson, from Oakland, California was critically wounded in the village of Ni'lin after Israeli forces shot him in the head with a high-powered tear-gas canister. Tristan is a dedicated activist and reporter who has long been committed to social and environmental justice in the U.S. and abroad in places such as Oaxaca, Iraq, and Palestine. Tristan has posted his reports to Indybay since 2001.

As a result of his injuries, Tristan Anderson, 38 years old, has been taken to Israeli hospital Tel Hashomer, near Tel Aviv. Anderson is unconscious and had been bleeding heavily from the nose and mouth. He sustained a serious injury to his forehead where he was struck by the canister. He is currently being operated on.

"Tristan was shot by the new tear-gas canisters that can be shot up to 500 meters," reports Teah Lunqvist (Sweden) with the International Solidarity Movement. "I ran over as I saw someone had been shot, while the Israeli forces continued to fire tear-gas at us. When an ambulance came, the Israeli soldiers refused to allow the ambulance through the checkpoint just outside the village. After 5 minutes of arguing with the soldiers, the ambulance passed."

Tristan Anderson was shot as Israeli forces attacked a demonstration against the construction of the annexation wall through the village of Ni'lin's land. Another resident from Ni'lin was shot in the leg with live ammunition. Several other demonstrators against the wall have been killed or rendered brain dead as a result of IDF use of rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition in the villages of Ni'ilin and Bil'in.

Other ISM activists killed or injured by Israeli forces: Rachel Corrie, killed by a bulldozer in March 16th, 2003; Brian Avery, shot in the face in April 2003; and Tom Hurndall, shot to death in 2004.

7141 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since September 2000.

Read More: 1 | 2 | 3 | Video | Starhawk: Tristan Shot in the West Bank | David Rovics: The Israeli Terror (and Tristan Anderson) | International Solidarity Movement

Recent Coverage By Tristan (he also posted as "Eric Blair" and "Cricket"):
Four Demonstrators Shot and Wounded in Ni'ilin, Palestine | 2006-2008 Berkeley Oaks Tree Sit | 2008 Reclaim The Streets Protest | 2008 Iraq War Protest | 2008 Chevron Protest | Fossil Fools Bike Ride | Anti-War Bike Ride | Hamburg protest against ASEM and the G8 | Brad Will memorials in Oaxaca

Tristan's 2004 Posts From Iraq | Tristan Speaking in 2004 About His Trip to Iraq During First Year of War | Arrested at 2004 Reclaim The Commons Protest | Tristan's 2006 Report Back From Oaxaca

More Of Tristan's Indybay Reports Over the Years

International Women's Day was celebrated on Sunday, March 8th with a number of events around the Bay Area. The Stop Violence Against Women: 1 in 3 Art Exhibit included performances on Saturday and Sunday in the Women's Building. On Sunday, March 8th, Code Pink observed IWD with a march across the Golden Gate Bridge at 12pm, followed by a potluck and program in Berkeley. The film "A Single Woman: The Story of Jeannette Rankin" was screened on Sunday in Palo Alto. It is the story of the first woman elected to the United States Congress. Outside of the Bay Area, the RCP and Revolution Books planned to Celebrate Resistance and Internationalism! with a rally and march in Los Angeles in support of women in struggle all over the world, starting at 1pm on Saturday. The march was followed by an RCP-USA Women Hold Up Half the Sky presentation in LA on Sunday.

Women's Month continued on Monday, March 9th with a Consent & Intimate Violence Workshop at 5pm at UC Santa Cruz. UC Santa Cruz will host an International Women's Day Celebration on Saturday, March 14th at 12pm. On Saturday, March 21st, Vocolot will be amongst the performers at a Women's Earth Alliance Benefit Concert at 8pm in Alameda. On Sunday, March 22nd, the Women's Building will host a 3pm reading and discussion of Diana Block's memoir Arm the Spirit - A Woman's Journey Underground and Back.

Video

Indybay's Past Coverage of International Women's Day

Since December, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has been pursuing and disrupting whaling operations by a Japanese fleet that illegally hunts whales in the waters around Australia and the Antarctic seas under the guise of "research." Confrontations included the Sea Sheperd ship, the Steve Irwin, lobbing rotten butter onto the decks of the whaling ships as well as directly ramming whaling ships on the open seas at times. The whalers in turn have used sonic weapons to retaliate against the crew of the Steve Irwin. After three months of operations attempting to prevent the illegal whaling, the Sea Sheperd crew are returning to better prepare for future battles with the whalers.

Captain Paul Watson summarizes recent events: "I have said always said that we would do everything we can short of hurting people to end illegal whaling in the Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. We have done everything we could with the resources available to us this year. We have shut down their illegal operations for over a month in total. We have cost them money and we have saved the lives of a good many whales. And although we are willing to take the risks required, even to our own lives, I am not prepared to do to the Japanese whalers what they do to the whales and the escalating violence by the whalers will result in some serious injuries and possibly fatalities if this confrontation continues to escalate."

Read More | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Indymedia.org coverage

Video: Ramming the Japanese whaling ship | Sea Shepherd collides with whaling harpoon ship | Whalers use acoustic weapon on Sea Shepherd in High Seas Confrontations
Audio: Two Sea Shepherd activists injured by whaler violence | Sea Shepherds sail out to confront whalers
Reports: Sea Shepherd Rams Harpoon ship while under Sonic Attack | The Battle for the Whales Turns Ugly in the Ross Sea | Taking on Goliath: Whaling and the Contradictions of International Conservation Law | Sea Shepherd: Whalers using Weapons in violation of Antarctic Treaty | Whalers refuse Sea Shepherd help in search for missing crew member | Whales to the slaughter as Sea Shepherd forced to Refuel | In the whale wars, the good guys wear black and fly the skull and crossbones | Ships Collide: Whalers and Sea Shepherd clash in Australian Antarctic waters | Sea Shepherd Clashes With Whaling Fleet in Australian Waters | Christmas Message from the Captain of the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin | Heavy Ice Conditions Hinder Sea Shepherd Pursuit of Whalers | Sea Shepherd in pursuit of Whalers in Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary | Sea Shepherd Has the Japanese Whaling Fleet on the Run | Sea Shepherd Will Oppose Japanese Whalers Alone - Why no Greenpeace?