WNU #943: Colombian Campesino Murdered, Haitian Protests Spread

Weekly News Update on the Americas
Issue #943, April 13, 2008

1. Colombia: Campesino Leader Murdered
2. Haiti: Food Protests Spread
3. Haiti: The World Reacts to Protests
4. Links to alternative sources on: Paraguay, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico

ISSN#: 1084-922X. Weekly News Update on the Americas covers news from Latin America and the Caribbean, compiled and written from a progressive perspective. It has been published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York since 1990. For a subscription, write to weeklynewsupdate [at] gmail.com. It is archived at weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com

*1. Colombia: Campesino Leader Murdered

On Mar. 30, unidentified assailants shot to death campesino community leader Gerardo Antonio Ciro as he was returning to his home in the rural community of El Jordán in Cocorna municipality, in the eastern region of Antioquia department, Colombia. Community members said they did not hear any gunshots, so they believe the killers may have used a silencer on the gun. Ciro was an active and nationally recognized leader of his community and of the Association of Small-scale and Medium-scale Producers of Eastern Antioquia (ASOPROA). His efforts with ASOPROA to help community members hold on to their land and protect themselves against forced displacement were not well received by government and military officials, who tried to link Ciro to armed guerrilla groups. Those accusations made Ciro a target of the paramilitary groups whose members act as guides in Colombian military operations and as prosecution witnesses in criminal cases. [...]

Read the full Update:
http://weeklynewsupdate.blogspot.com/2008/04/wnu-943-colombian-campesino-murdered.html