Toward Freedom is celebrating its 60th anniversary! Join us for a free concert in Burlington, VT on Saturday, September 1st. Dance to Rick Davies and Salsa Norteña, featuring Alejandro Torrens salsa and Latin jazz, Joe Hanzsum of Azi Fellas, progressive hip-hop from Philadelphia and Cambodia, and AFRI-VT, high energy drum and dance from the African Diaspora.
This labor day weekend, come out to the People's Convention for Human Rights to explore how we are struggling to meet our fundamental needs, and how we can work together to fight for our human rights, for dignity for everyone, a healthy environment and real democracy. The People's Convention will include workshops, kids activities, music, art, street theater, food, and much much more!
Source: Al Jazeera
Honduras has become the newest front in the US war on drugs in Latin America. The US has provided financial support for both the police and the military there in spite of its deep corruption issues.
Furthermore, members of both institutions have been linked to a range of killings. Political dissidents, human rights workers and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have all been killed at alarming rates.
In May, a mission in the Moskitia region, which was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), left four innocent civilians killed and four others wounded. It was followed by two more incidents where a US DEA agent shot and killed an alleged drug trafficker. Local communities have demanded a thorough investigation but so far nothing has been done.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo has just been removed from office by Congress through political impeachment, an express trial that lasted only 24 hours. This manoeuvre must be seen as a coup to the democratic process started in 2008. Social movements are protesting in front of Congress as well as in various parts of the country.
While the Occupy Movement has taken the world by storm, a long history of different types of social movement occupations have marked Latin America for decades. What follows is an audio recording of a Left Forum panel dealing with this topic.
The Left Forum is taking place from March 16 – 18 at Pace University in New York City. (Please stay tuned for date, time and location of panel.)
Date, Time, Location of panel: Saturday, March 17, 3 p.m., Room E-311
This panel will examine different modalities of political and economic change called for by the Occupy movements — from incremental reform to radical transformation. Panelists will attempt to answer the question: What type of change is needed to address the full gamut of failed policies and structures in our broken system — from corporate control of the political process, to environmental degradation, a crumbling infrastructure, economic disparity, a failed health care system, etc.. Can these problems be tackled incrementally or only through radical structural change and central planning.
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