Green Left Weekly

Obama declares Venezuela 'a national security emergency', Venezuela hits back

stuart_m — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 07:24:02 +0000

Tue, 10/03/2015

US President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order regarding Venezuela on March 9 aimed at threatening Venezuela's left-wing government.

The order amounts to an act of aggression against Venezuela's sovereignty by declaring a "national emergency" based on claims the oil-rich South American nation is a threat to US national security due to alleged human rights violations and widespread corruption.

David Hicks: 'I owe the media no explanation'

stuart_m — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 03:51:06 +0000

Fri, 06/03/2015

By Richard Jackson

“The findings of guilty are set aside and dismissed and appellant’s sentence is vacated.”

With this statement on February 18 the United States Court of Military Commission Review (CMCR), found David Hicks innocent of a previous guilty plea of providing military support to terrorism.

Speaking to Green Left Weekly, Hicks said: “I am not jumping up and down for joy. I am very tired by it all. Then there are the government’s and media’s attitude to it all. I am quite fed up with it all.”

Sri Lanka: Tamils demand international investigation into missing persons

stuart_m — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 23:48:31 +0000

Fri, 06/03/2015

By Chris Slee

About 150 relatives of missing people protested outside a hearing of the Presidential Commission on Missing Persons in Trincomalee, a city on the east coast of Sri Lanka, on February 28.

The protesters were mainly Tamil women whose relatives are still missing after being arrested or abducted by the Sri Lankan armed forces. They expressed their lack of confidence in any commission appointed by the Sri Lankan government, and demanded investigations by a United Nations team.

Western Sahara: West's resource theft prolongs occupation

tony_i — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 15:32:11 +0000

Fri, 06/03/2015

By Tony Iltis

Offshore oil drilling operations off Western Sahara, carried out by the US firm Kosmos Energy, were denounced by Western Sahara Resources Watch (WSRW) on March 2.

“Kosmos Energy did nothing to obtain the consent of the people of Western Sahara,” said WSRW chair Erik Hagen.

The Dallas-based company said its exploration well had not yielded a commercial find and would be plugged, Associated Press said on March 2.

Women of Kurdistan making every day International Women’s Day

mel_b — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 03:19:06 +0000

Mon, 09/03/2015

By Seval Ulus, Melbourne

The following speech was delivered on behalf of the Kurdish Women’s Movement by Seval Ulus to the International Women’s Day rally in Melbourne on March 8.

* * *

On the anniversary of the March 8, International Women’s Day, women around the world are continuing to resist against the patriarchal system.

Over a hundred years ago working women stood up against an oppressive system that has raged for thousands of years. This March, their struggle is still echoing on the streets of the world. The resistance against inequality, sexism and violence is growing by the day.

PHOTOS: Melbourne celebrates International Women's Day

mel_b — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 03:10:00 +0000

Mon, 09/03/2015

About 400 people turned out to celebrate International Women's Day in Melbourne on March 8.

Photos by Ali Bakhtiarvandi.

El Salvador: Left wins national elections

stuart_m — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 00:25:47 +0000

Mon, 09/03/2015

The left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) has won 86 of the 262 mayorships of El Salvador in March 1 elections, including the capital San Salvador, according to preliminary reports, TeleSUR English said on March 4.

The ruling FMLN also announced it won a legislative majority in the National Assembly and the Central American Parliament.

The FMLN said it would now govern areas covering more than 65% of the population, compared to 45% in the past.

Bolivia's fast growing economy fuelled by social spending

stuart_m — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 00:16:00 +0000

Mon, 09/03/2015

The Bolivian government said the Andean nation’s gross domestic product grew US$34 billion last year, establishing it as one of the fastest growing economies in the region.

Vice-President Alvaro Garcia Linera said that the country’s Social Community Productive Economic Model allowed for the economy to grow, despite a fall in prices for raw materials.

“In 1996 the Bolivian economy accounted for $5.3 billion and by 2005, $9.5 billion dollars,” Garcia said.

Irish MEP starts language strike over treatment of Irish language

stuart_m — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 23:38:43 +0000

Sat, 07/03/2015

By Duroyan Fertl

Sinn Fein Member of European Parliament for Ireland South Liadh Ni Riada began a stailc teanga (“language strike”) in the European Parliament.

The representative of the Irish republican party is taking the action against the second-class status afforded the Irish language by the European Union (EU) and to highlight the Irish government’s lack of action on the issue.

In protest, Ni Riada is only speaking Irish for the duration of the Seachtain na Gaeilge (“Irish Language Week”), which runs from March 1 to 17.

Bolivarian Alliance celebrates 10 years of solidarity

stuart_m — Sun, 08 Mar 2015 21:20:19 +0000

Mon, 09/03/2015

By John Riddell

The Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) is an anti-imperialist trading bloc first formed by the left-wing governments of Venezuela and Cuba to promote trade on the basis of solidarity rather than competition.

It has since expanded to include 11 nations, with Venezuela and Cuba joined by Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Grenada and Saint Kitts and Nevis. Honduras was an ALBA member, but was forced to withdraw when a 2009 US-backed coup installed a right-wing dictatorship.