News & Analysis

1 - HUMAN RIGHTS CARAVAN PUBLISHES VIDEO TESTIMONY
2 - US ELECTION MAY PRECIPITATE NEW TRADE WAR
3 - LOWER HOUSE APPROVES LABOR BILL
4 - MSN PROGRAMS

1 - HUMAN RIGHTS CARAVAN PUBLISHES VIDEO TESTIMONY

A human rights caravan organized by the Network against Repression and for Solidarity published video testimony this week from residents of the community Comandante Abel, which is under attack by paramilitary groups in Chiapas.

2 - US ELECTION MAY PRECIPITATE NEW TRADE WAR

Florida’s 29 Electoral College votes may precipitate a trade war between the US and Mexico as the Obama administration seeks to end a 16-year agreement controlling tomato imports. About half the tomatoes consumed in the US are produced in Mexico, while many of the rest are produced by a handful of powerful families in Florida. The complex trade agreement, in place since 1996, sets a minimum price for imported Mexican tomatoes, allowing corporate growers south of the border to control at least US$1.8 billion of the US market, particularly the rapidly expanding vine-ripened market. US growers want the Commerce Department to end the agreement, which would open the door for formal charges against Mexican growers for unfair trade practices, including dumping tomatoes at below the cost of production. The Obama administration may agree, in a play for Florida’s critical Electoral College votes. Mexican growers are willing to establish a higher floor price for imports, arguing that abolishing the agreement would threaten 350,000 jobs in Mexico, but US growers are unlikely to bend since they wield substantial political clout on the eve of the presidential election. Mexican authorities threatened retaliation through tariffs on US produced goods.

Luchando Por Una Moratoria
    El movimiento por vivienda del Centro Autónomo, junto con miembros de la Coalición para Vivienda Justa en Chicago (Communities United Against Foreclosure and Eviction- CUAFE) y del movimiento ANTI-EVICTION, participaron en una reunión pública el 9 de Agosto con Toni Prekwinkle, presidenta de la junta del Condado de Cook, y Tom Dart, alguacil de la Ciudad de Chicago. El propósito de la reunión era demandar una moratoria para que durante un año no se realicen desalojos  en el Condado de Cook. La moratoria es necesaria debido a la crisis de vivienda que está afectando a miles de personas en Chicago, pues nuestra ciudad es uno de los lugares en los EEUU con más embargos y desalojos de vivienda.
     La reunión, que se convirtió en un acto político donde los afectados expusieron algunos de los casos más críticos, fue posible debido a la presión que CUAFE ha ejercido sobre el sheriff  Dart, mediante la realización de una gran manifestación el 16 Mayo de 2012, enfrente de su oficina. En dicha ocasión se le entregaron más de dos mil firmas de gente afectada que se han organizado y demandan la moratoria de embargos y desalojos por un año.  La asistencia fue nutrida, pues había más de 150 personas, afectadas pero con un montón de ánimo.  Cada pausa que había en la reunión la gente gritaba: “¡Queremos una Moratoria!” “¿Y cuándo la queremos?” “¡Ahora!”

1 - ZAPATISTA NEWS (www.enlacezapatisa.ezln.org.mx)
2 - EGG SHORTAGE THREATENS NUTRITION
3 - U.S. EMBASSY VEHICLE ATTACKED BY FEDERAL POLICE
4 - DISPUTE OVER WIRELESS FREQUENCIES TURNS POLITICAL
5 - SUPREME COURT LIMITS APPLICATION OF MILITARY LAW
6 - ELECTION DISPUTE CONTINUES
7 - WALMART LAUNDERING MONEY AND EVADING TAXES

-The Junta of Good Government in La Realidad denounces land theft, attacks and provocations by government authorities, the Green Party and the PRD. 
-The Junta of Good Government in Morelia denounces an armed attack by members of ORCAO on August 2. The Regional Organization of Coffee Growers of Ocosingo (ORCAO) is affiliated with local PRD leaders.

2 - EGG SHORTAGE THREATENS NUTRITION
Egg prices are spiking at double the levels of only a few weeks ago as Mexicans face a shortage of their most important source of protein. A June bird flu epidemic in Michoacan- the heart of the country’s egg industry -wrought havoc in Mexico’s egg markets, with a kilo now priced at more than US$3. Mexicans typically consume 350 eggs per person per year, the highest consumption rate in the world. As the Calderon administration struggles to replace more than 11 million chickens slaughtered to control the flu epidemic, low-quality imports from the US and Central America are beginning to enter the market, often at usurious prices.

1 - PARTIAL VICTORY IN PATISHTAN CASE

2 - LUIS H ALVAREZ, ALWAYS THE OPPORTUNIST

3 - WALMART EARNINGS INCREASE DESPITE SCANDAL

4 - HSBC FINED US$28 MILLION

5 - UN FAILS TO CONTROL INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRADE AFTER US BALKS
 

Political prisoner and Zapatista support base Alberto Patishtan, unjustly imprisoned for the past 12 years, won a small victory this week when he moved from a high security prison in Sinaloa to the Amate medium security prison in Chiapas. This may not seem like much, but it means a great deal to Patishtan. In Sinaloa, he spent most of his time in isolation in a small cell and was allowed only one 15-minute phone call per month. In Chiapas, he will be free to move among the general prison population where he has many political allies and his family will be able to visit regularly. Patishtan was moved to Sinaloa after leading a hunger strike organized by Solidarios de la Voz del Amate, a prison group made up mostly of indigenous prisoners like Patishtan. The  Fray Bartolome Human Rights Center handled the legal challenge that forced officials to return him to Chiapas. The Network Against Repression demands the immediate release of Patishtan and a dozen other political prisoners held in Chiapas jails.