World Feature Archive

Elections have just been held in Guatemala. Polling in the number 3 spot is former dictator Gen. Efrain Ríos Montt who came to power after a coup in 1982. Analysis and results, with links and video from Guatemala in Spanish and English.

According to Amnesty International, more than 300 women have been murdered in Chihuahua since 1993, and more than 400 are missing. Operacion Digna demands: "Stop the femizide! Not one more!"

An online demonstration against the Mexican government and the Supreme Court of the state of Chihuahua took place from Oct 31 to Nov 2, 2003, together with JUSTICIA PARA NUESTRAS HIJAS [Justice for our Daughters]. 138,321 computers in 34 countries participated.

petition | street actions | virtual sit-in | General info on electronic civil resistance and the Electronic Disturbance Theater

A caravan of artists, media activists, scientists and technicians from all over the world is presently gathering in Andalucia in the South of Spain. The Euro-African project will cross the Straits of Gibraltar in December, and move south along the west-coast of Africa [map], reclaiming the Straits as a bridge, not a boundary. The Caravan describes itself as "a sound system, a circus, a mobile cinema and a stage for theatre and performance". It is constantly open for everyone who wants to participate.

news about the tour | german version

In the largest procedure of its kind in the world, the UK government wanted to make sure that the introduction of GM crops in the UK would be based on scientific facts and public approval. For a change it seems to have been good that they have done so. It is now obvious that the public are against GM food and GM crops, and the trials showed that herbicide tolerant GM crops can be worse for the environment than conventional agriculture.

Public meetings were held all over the country, a website gave the opportunity to state one's opinion, a scientific commission wrote a report, and farm-scale field trials where conducted over several years. All of these results are now going into a final report (overview). Besides this official programme numerous actions took place. Meanwhile some GM companies have decided to reduce their activites in the UK.

[ Corporate Watch UK | Genewatch | GMwatch |Green Gloves Pledge | Stop Bayer's GM crops! | Greenpeace UK | Friends of the Earth | | Guardian GM debate | GM nation? Official Website | Full text of reports on GM field scale evaluations | BioTech IMC ]

A week of uprisings, street blockades, general strikes and conflict erupted on the height of the Bolivia's "gas war", finally forcing the president Sanchez de Losada to resign and to flee to Miami, Florida, US. Despite the army shooting protesters, leaving about a hundred dead and several hundred wounded, a wide coalition of miners, coca-farmers, highland peasants, indigenous, transport workers, teachers, pensioners, union members and many other sections of civil society, took to the streets to show their disagreement with the IMF enforced cheap sell-out of Bolivia's natural gas resources to the US. [Read a letter from Bolivia's capital La Paz]

This was the second major insurrection this year that took place in Bolivia. On February anothr revolt occured following tax rises, cuts in pensions and other neoliberal measures carried through on orders of the International Monetary Fond (IMF) Bolivia is not the only country in Latin America where clashes between social movements and governments have taken place; as cuts in the educational system (Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico), privatisation of state owned companies (Colombia), oppression of the indigenous population (Argentina, Chile, Colombia) and attacks on social projects and self-managed factories (Argentina) are repeatedly followed with protests, student riots and strikes, to which governments have reacted by enforcing repression and military style curfews.

To read the full feature containing background information, first hand reports, photos, timelines of events and daily updates of the week 13th - 19th of October, click on the "Read more" link below.

As the earth is warming up, glaciers are melting rapidly and land is being flooded, the international community is once again meeting to take baby steps to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Indymedia Cambridge will be reporting directly from the conference.

Background: [1][2]

Reports [1][2][3][4]

Demonstrators descended on the Spanish Consulate in Edinburgh on 29th September to express solidarity with the threatened Barcelona squat LA KASA DE LA MUNTANYA.

Placard-waving protestors plastered the Consulate with flyers, delivered a letter to the Consulate-General and distributed leaflets denouncing the attempted eviction of the self-managed community centre.

"For 14 years LA KASA DE LA MUNTANYA has been a community, cultural and social centre run on principles of self-organisation and self-regulation. Despite the fact that there is clear evidence that the Spanish government has obtained ownership of the building illegally and has no plans for its use, an eviction has been scheduled for 2nd October," declared flyers distributed by the dozen demonstrators. See pictures.

Stop Evictions! - Fortnight of Actions In Barcelona

From Sept 26 to Oct 12, the Squatters Assembly of Barcelona has called for a "Fortnight of Struggle" to defend Barcelona's occupied spaces [read background info] This call is in response to the eviction threats against two of the oldest and most emblematic squatted social centres of the city, [the Kasa de la Muntanya and Les Naus], and also to protest about the re-opening of judicial procedures against several other local occupied houses and social centres, such as La Hamsa. This international call to action includes the first international squatters' demonstration in history, due to take place in downton Barcelona on Saturday 4th of Ocotber.

Meanwhile a series of actions, demonstrations, gatherings and meetings are already taking place in and around Barcelona [Photos].

See below for latest news and updates:

- Sat 4th October: The international demonstration against evictions and property speculation took place in downtown Barcelona under heavy police presence. Between 3 and 5,000 people (with a bycicle critical mass in front) marched behind a banner that read "in defense of liberated spaces and against evictions". Another big banner stated: "evictons, torture ... if this is your peace we declare war on you". The demo was very loud and determined, whilst a sound system provided a festive atmosphere. Several activists engaged in a series of actions and performances along the march.
[Reports in English 1 and 2 | Photos 1 and 2 | Videos 1 and 2 | Timeline of Events (esp & cat)]
Further information: IMC-Barcelona(eng) and La Haine(esp).
- Thurs 2nd October: Activities continue to take place in Barcelona's social centres. Today, a call has been made to participate in the workshops "Speeches and Channels - Creating New Networks of Horizontal Communication" due to take place this weekend in the squated social centre Les Naus. Organised by IMC-Barcelona, Les Naus and Luther Blisset.
- Wed 1st October: Around 1000 people have taken to the streets of Barcelona's barrio of Gracia to protest against the eviction of la Kasa de la Muntanya. Reports 1(esp) | 2(cat)
Photos of solidarity action in Barcelona's Tibidabo this morning.
- Tue 30 September: Eviction of Kasa de la Muntanya temporarily suspended. Repots 1 and 2.

Stop Evictions! - Defend Squatted and Autonomous Spaces Around Europe

Whilst all this goes on in Barcelona, activists in Holland are mobilising to defend from eviction the oldest squat of the country. The "Blauwe Aanslag" in The Hague is a former tax office that has been open for the past 23 years, grewing into a vibrant D.I.Y. living-working environment containing a concerthall, cinema, food-kitchen, professional offset printingplant as well as livingspace for more than 70 people. But on Friday 3rd October, and after a long judicial procedure, a judge decided that the squat can be demolished… The eviction has started [Report | Pics | Squat's history]
At the same time, in Brussels squatters activists and neighbourhood groups are preparing a "squat action week" in the city called "Une Semaine à Bruxelles" due to start on the 15 of October.

Links:
[Kasa de la Muntanya | Les Naus | IMC-Barcelona (eng) | Info in English]

Note: This article was written by a Cambridge resident who is currently working with the International Solidarity Movement in Palestine.

Digging in the sand, late Wednesday night, outside Balata Camp. Four of us, crouched down near the mosque, next to the taxi rank. But there are no taxis - the streets are empty and silent. Everybody is inside, with the door locked - more soldiers are expected tonight.

Two small piles of light brown sand lie at the entrance to the camp. We kneel around one of them, as Mustapha slowly sifts through the sand, turning over clumps and examining the underside of stones.

'Move the light here. Now here. What's this?' asks Mustapha. I try to ignore distant rumbles of military vehicles and concentrate on aiming the torch at his quickly roving fingers. Each clump or lump is examined with care. Some are discarded, others placed in a see-through plastic bag, with the top folded over to keep it open.

At around 4 AM of Tuesday september 16th, the "Guardia Civil" (one of Spain´s police forces) arrested 6 people in Barcelona´s Ciutat Vella neighborhood and Horta-Guinardo district. Counterterrorist Legislation has been applied to them, so they are isolated and without legal assistance of their confidence, by the Guardia Civil, waiting to be driven to the Audiencia Nacional, in Madrid. It´ll be at court of first instance number 1 of the Audiencia Nacional, which is under jurisdiction of Judge Guillermo Ruiz Polanco, sadly remembered for his participation in many police actions against anarchists. Right now it´s almost sure they´re in Madrid, but according to Counterterrorist legislation they can be kept up to 5 days before they enter the court.

Legal Update 16th September here.
Samba player in deep trouble after having been badly beaten by police and spending two days at Charing Cross police station; Witness appeal.

Liberty are asking for reports from people who were stopped and searched, ASAP. An email list has been set up for people who were arrested / beaten etc..

Since the 1st of September, 144 people have been arrested in protests against the Defence Systems and Equipment international arms fair (DSEi) that has been taking place in East London. Policing tactics have been condemned by a wide range of people and Liberty is have won the right to seek a High Court injunction over use of Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000; they have also offered to provide legal representation for anyone stopped or detained under this legislation. Bindmans Lawyers have also requested information or witnesses from DSEi.

• Legal resources:
  
• Activists' Legal Project
• Legal Defence & Monitoring Group
• free B.E.A.G.L.E.S. legal resource centre
• Urban75 legal page

Numerous requests for witnesses have been made on the UK indymedia newswire [1 2 3 4 5 6]. There have also been several videos posted showing police violence against demonstrators which may provide evidence [ 1 2 - more can be found on the full reports from the 9th, 10th and 11th September].

Meanwhile, Anti-War demonstrators are still being threatened with - and receiving - harsh sentences. Protestors from Fairford come to trial next week while some are still fighting to get the charges reduced before they come to trial (Background to the case). Yet others are still looking for witnesses and some, like Ulla Roder (who was arrested for damaging a Tornado war-plane), have had their trials delayed numerous times.

Further afield, Simon Chapman and the Thessalonikki 7 remain imprisoned in Greece (solidarity website). Simon's first appeal has failed (against the charges) and he is currently awaiting the results of a second appeal. Key evidence such as the video have been re-submitted. In the United States, webmaster of raisethefist.com Sherman Austin has been imprisoned for 1 year; he has since been subject to death threats and is being kept in solitary on the grounds of safety as a reason.

Summary reports, links, activities and timeline from Anti-WTO protests in Cancun, Mexico

Thousands of protesters, peasant and farmers organization, workers, environmentalists, trade unionists and many other groups opposing the World Trade Organization, corporate globalisation and militarism from around the world and Latin America are converging in Cancun, Mexico this week, the location for this weeks WTO meeting.

On Wednesday, Korean farmer Kyong Lee took his life in protest against WTO policy, while demonstrators tore down the fence surrounding the summit but refused to enter the summit grounds. The Mexican president Vicente Fox had ordered a police-led campaign of misinformation and barricades (Report) and prevented a teach-in organized by the International Forum on Globalization. Police repression is high. At least 8 protesters have been seriously injured during the Thursday march. Many other protesters throughout the week have been injured, threatened with deportation, banned from Cancun and refused entry to the country.

Breaking news:
Saturday report
Radio report
Starhawk
Photos [1][2]

A timeline of up-to-date events as well as ¡Radio Hurakán! (Mirrors 1 2 3) are also available.

Background: UK IMC article

August 29th the socalled "Summer Source Camp", a hacker and activist meeting began on an island in the adriatic ocean, 3 hours away from the croatic coast below palm trees. The camp, which was situated on a former military site of the yugoslavian army, was organised by the Tactical Technology Collective, Amsterdam and the Media Institute, Zagreb (short MAMA, www.mi2.hr). Spirit and purpose of the whole thing should be to bring together developers of free software-solutions with users from the NGO-world, to encourage further education and to animate a mutual dialogue.

A general strike and a mass demonstration of a hundred thousand people in Bogota against the American free trade contract ALCA paralyzed Colombia on the 12th of august during the visit of Bush's trade delegate Zoellick to Colombia. [timeline of events.]
At the demonstration and from then on, repression in Colombia has increased, consisting of mass arrests of trade unionists, community and social workers and assassination attempts [AI statement].
As the conflict intensified, Juan Carlos Benavides, a journalist at the community radio Manantial Stereo in Putumayo, was murdered on the 22nd of August at a road-block set up by the guerrilla organization FARC.

"Juan Carlos was a well known community communicator in the region, always trying to support community participation and social journalism. He was an active member of the CRIS campaign, coordinated in Colombia by the local NGO Planeta Paz." From a statement of the campaign Communication Rights in the Information Society.

As the Cancun, Mexico summit of the World Trade Organisation approaches, Comandante Zebedeo and the Zapatistas condemn the WTO, reminding the world of the Alternative Media Tech Convergence Sept 1-7, the Campesino (peasant farmer) Forum 8-9, and the Global Day of Resistance Sept 9th..
"Make ourselves children of rebellion and resistance", declare the Zapatistas.

One year on, the complete failure of the Johannesburg Earth Summit is obvious. But should activists therefore give up on UN Summits altogether? Daniel Mittler of Friends of the Earth Germany doesn´t think so.

When I got on a plane one year ago to attend the biggest ever UN Summit, the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, I was under no illusion that this Summit would have any chance of being a giant step for mankind. It had become all too obvious in the long and ardeous preperatory process - involving some 8 weeks of day and night meetings of bureaucrats from all over the world - that there was no desire by those who call themselves our leaders, to address the root causes of global inequality and unsustainable development.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam on the lower Narmada River is just one of 30 projected large dams of India`s Narmada mega-dam project, an area prone to earthquakes. In May 2003, three Indian federal states had given clearance to increase the height of the dam to 100 meters, which caused the submergence of several villages and devastation of standing crops, after monsoon rains started at the end of July. The clearance was given inspite of a legally binding Supreme Court Order and the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal Award, which had stipulated the previous resettlement of all project-affected persons. But at least 13 500 families suffering from the present monsoon floods are still waiting to be resettled. So far they haven’t been granted any compensation for the destruction of their property. The inhabitants of Chimalkhedi village in Maharashtra resisted Police Forces, who attacked and forcefully evicted them, arresting 74 plus 40 temporarily. 20 houses of this hamlet were also demolished.

On the 18th of July hundreds of workers occupied an area of 42 acre in size in Sao Bernardo do Campo in Brazil. The area is owned by Volkswagen.

The terrain was public land donated in the 50s by federal government to corporations to "create jobs". It has been an unused land for four years and Volkswagen workers are on strike caused by job cuts in the factory.

Meanwhile up to 7000 persons - including about 2000 children, were in the camp.

Negotiations with the city council and the company's representation have failed, a court decided the eviction. Yet the workers want to show resistance.

Here is a translation of a personal report posted on Imc Brasil about the eviction of the camp.

5,000 Zapatista supporters gathered at Oventik, Chiapas on 8-9-10 August 2003 to celebrate a major step forward in the indigenous movement's struggle for autonomy.
The last few weeks have seen the Zapatistas issue several communiques of major importance.
“It is possible to govern and to govern ourselves without the parasite that calls itself government.”

Wednesday, the 13 th of august a general strike took place in Chile, it was called for by the CUT, an union umbrella organisation, and students organisations.
But, although the CUT has a high level of support particular in the area of transport, the resonance was not quite overwhelming.
A translation of an article about a demonstration in Santiago de Chile from Indymedia Chile + Indymedia Germany.

The Noborder Camps have reached Germany. From 31st of July till 10th of august, the city of Cologne was "Out of Controll."
Many of the camps successfull activities to highlight institutional racism, worldwide and local oppression and opposing organised neonazis would have gone unnoticed, but the police repression on Saturday caused an international outcry and drew attention to the camp [pics 1,2,pics on IMC Istanbul,feature on Global IMC, feature on Italy IMC,IMC Poland, IMC Sweden,IMC Athens,IMC Paris,IMC Lille,collection of videoclips, see also Statewatch Report].
A Forum with discussions and workshops was accompanying the noborder camp. [invitation,program]
The next noborder actions are announced for Sept.11-14th when anti-rascist activists will be gathering in Nuremberg and Fürth.

For more information about the police repression and the activities at and of the camp, please read the entire feature.