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[Translation of an article from the Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, the Venezuelan government news agency, for May 19.]

Madrid, May 19 – The Spanish non-governmental organization Intermón Oxfam has criticized the free trade agreements between the European Union and Colombia and Peru signed Wednesday, charging they are an obstacle to the elimination of poverty.

“In clear violation of the EU mandate to promote regional integration, these pacts weaken the Andean Community of Nations,” stated Isabel Tamarit, a reprsentative of the NGO.

She warned that the partnership agreements between the EU and Central America and those reached with Colombia and Peru could become an obstacle to development policies for confronting poverty and inequality and for defending human rights. (more…)

They favor reducing social projects, increasing taxes

[Translation of an article from the May 19 edition of La Jornada of Mexico City. See also "Massive protest held in Madrid," below.]

by Claudia Herrera and Armando G. Tejeda

Madrid, May 18 – Declaring themselves “global partners,”  heads of states from the European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean today closed their sixth summit by stengthening commercial ties. In the Madrid Declaration, they committed themselves to “improving energy efficiency” and reducing contaminating emissions that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

The Latin American leaders conveyed to their European counterparts their concern over possible consequences of the crisis confronting Europe as a result of the threat of bankrupcy in Greece and its possible contagion to Spain and Portugal, considering that exports from Latin American countries to Europe could be affected as well. (more…)

[Translation of an article from Revistazo.com of Honduras for May 17.]

By Eleana Borjas

Some 80 countries in the world still have laws against homosexual behavior while in others, with or without laws, people with a preference for their own gender are persecuted, assaulted, and even murdered. Honduras is no exception.

Homophobia is defined as aversion, hatred, prejudice or discrimination against homosexual men or women. This includes bisexual and transexual people and those with outlooks or manners usually associated with the opposite sex.

With the goal of ending attacks on their human rights by a large sector of the world’s population, May 17 has been declared International Day against Homophobia. (more…)

Activists denounce European Union strategy of recolonizing Latin America

[Translation of an article from La Jornada of Mexico City for May 17.]

by Claudia Herrera Beltrán and Armando G. Tejeda

Madrid, May 16 – A massive and diverse demonstration made its way through the streets of Madrid today with one common purpose: to denounce the social, ecological and economic crimes perpetrated by European multinationals, which are the cutting edge of a “predatory capitalist” system. That is the belief of the organizations making up the People’s Summit, which have converged around Enlazando Alternativas [Linking Alternatives], a program meant to raise the voices of the vulnerable and marginalized of Europe and Latin America.

More than 15,000 people, by the organizers’ count, held a festive march in the Spanish capital to air a number of accusations and demands. They talked and shouted against repression in Colombia, against attacks on human rights in Mexico – specifically in Oaxaca and Chiapas – against European transnationals’ policies that damage the environment and natural resources, against the European Union’s economic practices, against international organizations’ strangling of countries through foreign debt… There were even calls for a general strike in Spain as a response to the extremely harsh adjustment plan proposed by the government of socialist José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. (more…)

[Translations of two articles, the first from the May 16 edition of Listín Diario of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, the second from the May 15 AlterPresse of Haiti.]

OAS says Haiti is ready for elections

[Listín Diario] The assistant secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, said yesterday that Haiti is ready to hold elections in November, as scheduled, despite the effects of the the January 12 earthquake.

“The OAS and the United Nations are agreed that, from a technical perspective, the elections can be held before the end of the year, as called for in the constitution, if the necessary political decisions are made in time,” Ramdin declared in a statement released by the organization yesterday. (more…)

The ultra-right celebrates

[Translation of an article from La Jornada of Mexico City for May 14.]

by Armando G. Tejeda

Madrid, May 14 – Baltasar Garzón, the only Spanish judge to attempt to

investigate crimes committed during the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975) and to try to help the families of those executed and buried in common graves, was given cautionary suspension from his position by the highest body of the Spanish judicial system, the Consejo General del Poder Judicial (CGPJ – General Council of the Judicial Power).

A complaint filed by the extreme right – the Falange Española and the extremist union Manos Limpias – for alleged breach of trust, brought about the forced removal of the judge from his office in the Audiencia Nacional [National Tribunal], which brought conflicting reactions: franquistas and the Spanish right celebrated it as “a triumph of justice” while victims of the repression cried in rage and bitterness. (more…)

Calderón recognizes drug war has stained country’s image

[Translation of an article by Reuters news agency as published in La Jornada of Mexico City for May 14.]

Mexico will not change its strategy in the war against drug trafficking despite the increasing violence generated by drug cartels, which has stained the country’s image, President Felipe Calderón has said.

Calderón took up the war on narcotrafficking when he assumed the presidency in late 2006 by sending tens of thousands of soldiers and federal police to several states of the country.

Conflicts among the criminals themselves and with security forces have raised violence to levels never before seen in the country and have resulted in thousands of deaths, most of them among drug traffickers but also among civilians, including youths and children caught in the crossfire. (more…)

[Translations of two articles from AlterPresse of Haiti for May 13. See also “Monsanto accused of distributing GM seeds in Haiti” below.]

Minister of agriculture denies accusation

Port-au-Prince, May 13 – Minister of Agriculture Joanas Gué has denied that transgenic seeds are being distributed in Haiti and declares that the offer made to the government by the multi-national corporation Monsanto does not include genetically modified organisms (GMO).

The government has taken “all precautions before accepting the offer by Monsanto of a gift of 475,947 kilograms of hybrid corn, as well as 2067 kilograms of vegetable seeds,” Minister Gué stated during a press conference on May 12.

Father Jean-Yves Urfié of the Holy Sprit Order, former professor of chemistry at the Collège Martial in Port-au-Prince, had become alarmed by the announcement of the distribution of Monsanto products to Haitian farmers. (more…)

[Translations of two articles from La Prensa of Riobamba, Ecuador, the first, from May 12, based on an Agence France Presse dispatch, the second, from May 13, by La Prensa staff.]

Water war continues in Ecuador
Indigenous demonstrators close Panamerican Highway North

Quito, May 12 – On Tuesday, indigenous people of the province of Imbabura again temporarily blocked the Panamerican highway North in protest of a bill on the management of water that they consider privatizes it.

Police re-opened the roadway without incident, according to authorities.

“We don’t believe what the government is saying,” declared Luis Quilumba, who claims  the bill will privatize water, a claim denied by the government, who in turn accuse the indigenous protestors of trying to depose leftist President Rafael Correa. (more…)

[Translation of an article from TeleSUR for May 13.]

The Venezuelan natural gas platform Aban Pearl, in the eastern state of Sucre, sank early Thursday morning in an incident resulting in no environmental damage or personal injuries.

The event was announced by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez through his Twitter social networking account, twitter@chavezcandanga, at 2:20 local time (6:50GMT).

The Venezuelan president reported that the 95 workers on the semi-submergible platform were rescued by members of the Fuerza Armada Bolivariana (FANB – Bolivarian Naval Force).

“I regret to inform you that the Aban Pearl gas platform sank a few moments ago. The good news is that the 95 workers are safe,” Chávez wrote on his Tritter profile.

Later, at 4:30 local time, Venezuelan energy and petroleum minister Rafael Ramírez stated that the well presents no risk for the environment and that the workers are safe.

“Fortunately, our men and women are safe. Fortunately, the well presents no risk of any kind for our environment,” Ramírez said.

He stated in addtion that the owner of the drilling rig, a Singapore subsidiary of the
Indian corporation Aban Offshore, was contacted in order to initiate an investigation into the cause of the accident.

“We have already contacted the company that owns the drilling rig, we are in contact with them and the experts are analyzing the causes of this regrettable incident,” the Venezuelan minister said.

He stressed that the state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (Pdvsa) called on the FANB for recue operations.

“We counted on the support of the Bolivarian Naval Force in the area, with a frigate and support boats,” Ramírez reported by telephone to the official Venezolana de Televisión network…

Project WINNER official denounces “hawkers of lies”

[Translation of an article from Agence Haïtienne de Presse for May 11.]

Port-au-Prince, May 11 – Father Jean-Yves Urfié of the Holy Spirit Order, former professor of chemistry at the Collège Saint Martial in Port-au-Prince, declared on Monday that the January 12 earthquake brought happiness to some, among them the multinational corporation Monsanto.

According to the French priest, who now lives in Rennes, Monsanto is going to offer Haitian farmers a poisoned gift: 475 tons of genetically modified [GM] seeds, plus fertilizer and pesticides, to be distributed free by the WINNER Project [the Watershed Initiative for National Environmental Resources, a project of USAID]. (more…)

Thousands, most from Famni Lavalas, take part

[Translation of an article from Agence Haïtienne de Presse for May 10.  See also "Is Préval leaving or not?" below.]

Port-au-Prince, May 10 – Several thousand people participated on Monday in a demonstration calling for repeal of the revised emergency law, opposing an ammendment to article 232 of the election law [which would allow President Préval to remain in office until May, 2011, unless elections are conducted successfully by this November] and demanding removal of the government.

The demonstrators, most of whom represented Famni Lavalas, demanded the return to the country of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, forced into exile on February 29, 2004, following an armed insurrection.

Arriving from several areas of the capital, notably from La Saline, Bel-Air and Carre-Feuilles, the protestors met in Champ-de-Mars, where they shouted slogans hostile to President René Préval, whose departure they demanded and whom they accused of violating the constitution, of attempting to remain in power and of organizing elections illegally through a subjugated CEP [Conseil Electoral Provisoire – Provisional Electoral Council]. (more…)