Judi Lynn
Judi Lynn's JournalEl Salvador: US judge rules against SOA grad
El Salvador: US judge rules against SOA grad
Submitted by Weekly News Update... on Tue, 04/22/2014 - 11:21 Central America Theater
A US immigration judge has ruled that former Salvadoran defense minister José Guillermo García Merino (1979-1983) is eligible for deportation from the US because of "clear and convincing evidence" that he "assisted or otherwise participated" in 11 acts of violence during the 1980s, including the March 1980 murder of San Salvador archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. Gen. García also helped conceal the involvement of soldiers who raped and killed four US churchwomen in December 1980 and “knew or should have known” about the military’s December 1981 massacre of more than 800 civilians in the village of El Mozote, according to the 66-page decision by Immigration Judge Michael Horn in Miami. The judge ruled against García on Feb. 26, but the decision was only made public on April 11 as the result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the New York Times. García’s lawyer said the general would appeal.
The decision against García comes after repeated efforts to bring him to justice in the US for war crimes committed in El Salvador. He came to the US in 1989 and was granted political asylum a year later. In May 1999 the families of the four murdered US churchwomen filed a suit (Ford et al. v. García, Vides Casanova) against García and former defense minister Gen. Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova (1983-1989) in Florida, where both have lived since moving to the US. A jury cleared the generals. Also in 1999 the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) brought a suit (Ramagoza Arce v. Garcia and Vides Casanova) against the generals on behalf of Salvadoran torture victims; the jury awarded the victims $54.6 million in 2002. US prosecutors began seeking the generals' deportation in 2009, and an immigration judge cleared the way for Gen. Vides Casanova's removal in February 2013.
Like many Salvadoran military officers, García and Vides Casanova received training at the US Army School of the Americas (SOA), which was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001. García completed a counterinsurgency course in 1962, when the SOA was located in Panama; it is now in Fort Benning, Georgia. García and Vides Casanova were both recipients of the US Legion of Merit, an award from the US Armed Forces for meritorious service, during the 1980s. (NYT, April 12; SOA Watch press release, April 15; National Catholic Reporter, April 17)
The war crimes with which García and Vides Casanova are charged took place during a bloody counterinsurgency against the rebel Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN); the fighting left 70,000 people dead. The FMLN later became a legal political party under a 1992 peace accord, and it backed current president Mauricio Funes, an independent, in his 2009 campaign. A leader of the FMLN, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, won the presidency in a runoff on March 9 this year and is to take office on June 1. (BBC News, March 17)
http://ww4report.com/node/13173
Can Mexico City's roof gardens help the metropolis shrug off its smog?
Can Mexico City's roof gardens help the metropolis shrug off its smog?
Green roofs sprouting across Mexican capital not only purify the air but aid recovery of hospital patients, says environment chief
• The global battle for clean air – podcast
Sam Jones in Mexico City
theguardian.com, Thursday 24 April 2014 02.00 EDT
[font size=1]
MDG : A hummingbird hovers over a patch of flowers as it collects nectar in Mexico City
Mexico City's green roofs are helping to purge the capital of air pollution.
Photograph: Marco Ugarte/AP [/font]
In a sheltered corner of one of the greatest megacities on Earth, there is a place where lizards careen around tree trunks, butterflies drink nectar from vermillion flowers and hummingbirds whisk the heavy air with their wings.
Stand in the botanical gardens of the Bosque de Chapultepec (the Chapultepec forest) and listen carefully enough, and something remarkable happens: birdsong begins to pierce the groan of trucks and the screech of taxi horns from the long avenue that bisects the park.
The gardens are home to one of a growing number of azoteas verdes – or green roofs – that are springing up around Mexico City as part of the metropolis's efforts to purge its air of the pollution that has long been among its least-desired claims to fame.
The azotea verde atop the circular single-story offices of the botanical gardens, is planted with hardy stonecrop, which can withstand the Mexico City summer, but which also produces oxygen and serves as a filter to draw out the carbon dioxide and heavy metal particles in the air. As well as providing the park's squirrels with an arena in which to practise their parkour, the roof help regulates the temperature of the offices below and soaks up rainwater to keep the building dry.
More:
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/apr/24/mexico-city-roof-gardens-pollution-smog
How to read Gabriel García Márquez
How to read Gabriel García Márquez
Kelly Gallucci, Bookish 12:03 p.m. EDT April 24, 2014
Some could call him a magician, a conjurer of worlds that blended our harshest realities with our wildest imaginings. Gabriel García Márquez, the beloved Colombian novelist and Nobel Prize winner, defined magical realism. Upon his passing on April 17 at the age of 87 and in his home in Mexico City, the Internet was flooded with his quotations—vivid descriptions of the depth of life, the realities of death, and the candid humor for which he was known. As the world mourns the loss of one of the great voices in literature, we find solace in the gifts that he left to us: his books.
But if you're new to Márquez's work and stymied as to where to start, we suggest you consult this guide for the perfect first book and how to work your way up to some of his most famous works, including Love in the Time of Cholera and One Hundred Years of Solitude.
Start with: Chronicle of a Death Foretold
"He was healthier than the rest of us, but when you listened with the stethoscope you could hear the tears bubbling inside his heart."
Márquez was known for many things, one of the best being his treatment of death and the exploration of the complicated emotions that surround it. In this postmodern novella, he uses his skills to breathe new life into old mystery tropes. While Márquez tells us from page one who the victim and killer are (and the motive), he keeps readers in heightened suspense as he examines the crime from all angles and showcases the effect the sudden death has on this small town. More concise than his more well-known works, Chronicle nonetheless provides any new reader with a clear sense of his style and what they can expect from further reading.
Get used to his politics with: The General in His Labyrinth
"Freedom is often the first casualty of war."
More:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/04/24/bookish-gabriel-garcia-marquez-101/8054143/
Venezuelan Government Eschews Soviet-Style Socialism
Caracas, Thursday April 24,2014
Venezuelan Government Eschews Soviet-Style Socialism
Venezuela’s Vice President Jorge Arreaza says the country’s leftist government is embarked on a process of decentralization of power to avoid the “mistake” of socialism as practiced in Eastern Europe, where a “parasitic elite” arose
CARACAS – Venezuela’s leftist government is embarked on a process of decentralization of power to avoid the “mistake” of socialism as practiced in Eastern Europe, where a “parasitic elite” arose, Vice President Jorge Arreaza said Monday.
“Each day we are building more popular power, each day there are more communes. There are already 605 communes in Venezuela and we’re going for 3,000,” the son-in-law of late President Hugo Chavez told representatives of 104 communes at an event in Caracas.
The communes, which are political organizations rather than administrative units, date from 2006 and gather together local residents to self-manage their needs on the basis of productive projects using resources and abilities provided by the state.
The 21st-century socialism promoted by Chavez’s Bolivarian Revolution is rooted in the progressive decentralization of power, Arreaza said. “Concentrating power in the state: the mistake of the socialism that arose in Europe in the 20th Century,” the vice president said during the televised event.
More:
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2005226&CategoryId=10718
Miami Herald: Venezuela says it has detained Florida man on weapons charges
Posted on Wednesday, 04.23.14
Venezuela says it has detained Florida man on weapons charges
By Jim Wyss
[email protected]
BOGOTA, Colombia -- Venezuelan authorities Tuesday said they detained a 32-year-old Florida man in the troubled border state of Táchira for allegedly possessing weapons without a permit.
In a press release, Táchira Gov. Vielma Mora said authorities recovered three rifles — including one with a silencer and telescopic site — two handguns, ammunition and eight “camouflage” uniforms. One of the weapons is connected to the shooting of a local man, Mora said.
~snip~
Mora said a Venezuelan woman, identified as Vivían Arreaza Sandoval, had also been arrested in the case. On Wednesday, the government identified the suspect as Todd Michael Leininger.
~snip~
San Cristóbal has been at the epicenter of anti-government protests that have left at least 41 dead since February. The Venezuelan government has often accused the United States and other foreign governments of fueling the unrest in hopes of toppling the socialist administration of President Nicolás Maduro.
Mora said he “presumed” that the detained American was involved in the protests.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/04/22/4074508/venezuela-says-it-has-detained.html#storylink=cpy
Mexico arrests 46 criminals posing as vigilantes
Mexico arrests 46 criminals posing as vigilantes
The Associated Press April 22, 2014 Updated 57 minutes ago
MORELIA, Mexico — Mexican authorities said Tuesday that they have arrested 46 people who worked for criminal gangs but posed as members of vigilante "self-defense" groups.
The vigilante movement sprang up last year in the western state of Michoacan to fight the Knights Templar drug cartel. The heavily armed vigilantes wear white T-shirts with slogans demanding freedom for their home towns, or the slogan "Self Defense Group."
The federal envoy to Michoacan, Alfredo Castillo, said the arrested gang members were wearing similar, but fake, T-shirts. They were arrested Monday in the town of Huetamo, near the neighboring state of Guerrero, after they opened fire on federal forces.
The suspects were found with 23 guns, three grenades and a grenade launcher. Castillo did not specify which gang the suspects belonged to, but vigilante spokesman Estanislao Beltran said they belonged to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel.
More:
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2014/04/22/3613170/mexico-arrests-46-suspects-posing.html#storylink=cpy
Colombia court reinstates ousted Bogota mayor
Colombia court reinstates ousted Bogota mayor
Associated Press
Posted on April 22, 2014 at 7:32 PM
Updated today at 7:36 PM
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A Colombian court has ordered the reinstatement within 48 hours of ousted Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro.
The surprise ruling by the Superior Tribunal of Cundinamarca department is the latest twist in an ongoing legal saga pitting the embattled leftist firebrand against Colombia's more conservative political establishment.
Petro was removed from office in March after President Juan Manuel Santos refused to heed the Inter-American Human Rights Commission's call for a stay on the Inspector General's ouster of the mayor months earlier for alleged administrative missteps.
The former guerrilla hailed the ruling on Twitter as a victory for the political will of Bogota's residents. Santos has yet to comment and it's unclear whether the government will enforce or appeal the ruling made in response to an injunction request.
http://www.khou.com/news/world/256269521.html
No doubt their next move will be going straight ahead to assassination. The right-wing will do anything to have its way over the will of the people.
Cuban-American youth nonprofit secretly helped with U.S.-built ‘Cuban Twitter’
Source: Associated Press
Cuban-American youth nonprofit secretly helped with U.S.-built ‘Cuban Twitter’
Leaders of Roots of Hope, a Cuban-American nonprofit, worked as consultants for the U.S.'s 'Cuban Twitter,' a network aimed at undermining the Cuban government. The disclosure could have wide repercussions for one of the most visible Cuban-American organizations.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS /
Tuesday, April 22, 2014, 9:57 AM
Leaders with the largest nonprofit organization for young Cuban-Americans quietly provided strategic support for the federal government's secret "Cuban Twitter" program, connecting contractors with potential investors and even serving as paid consultants, The Associated Press has learned.
Interviews and documents obtained by the AP show leaders of the organization, Roots of Hope, were approached by the "Cuban Twitter" program's organizers in early 2011 about taking over the text-messaging service, known as ZunZuneo, and discussed how to shift it into private hands. Few if any investors were willing to privately finance ZunZuneo, and Roots of Hope members dropped the idea. But at least two people on its board of directors went on to work as consultants, even as they served in an organization that explicitly refused to accept any U.S. government funds and distanced itself from groups that did.
The disclosure could have wide repercussions for what has become one of the most visible and influential Cuban-American organizations. Roots of Hope has been a key player in events like Latin pop star Juanes' 2009 peace concert that drew more than a million people in Havana and in the promotion of technology on the island. Its leaders recently accompanied Cuban blogger and Castro critic Yoani Sanchez to Washington, where she met with Vice President Joe Biden.
Chris Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, said he wasn't surprised that Roots of Hope's leaders had been approached by U.S. Agency for International Development contractors about the ZunZuneo project, given the large sums of money USAID has available and the limited number of creative, tech-savvy groups that work on Cuba issues.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/cuban-american-youth-nonprofit-secretly-helped-u-s-built-cuban-twitter-article-1.1764534#ixzz2zel4GBJW
‘Uribe’s former business partner, chief of staff helped create paramilitary death squad’
‘Uribe’s former business partner, chief of staff helped create paramilitary death squad’
Apr 22, 2014 posted by Adriaan Alsema
An assassinated rancher with business ties to former President Alvaro Uribe financed the formation of the “Bloque Metro” paramilitary group in coordination with the then-governor’s chief of staff, a demobilized paramilitary commander testified.
The alleged meeting
Luis Alberto Villegas (L) and Pedro Juan Moreno
According to Ever Veloza, locally better known as “HH,” he met up with Uribe’s then-chief of staff, Pedro Juan Moreno, at a paramilitary-run car dealer across the street from the army’s 4th Brigade in southwest Medellin in 1996.
~snip~
MORE: New book reveals Colombian ex-leader Uribe’s alleged paramilitary ties
However, Uribe is not the only politician with alleged ties to paramilitary death squads; More than 45 former congressmen and six former governors are imprisoned for having sought political gain through deals with illegal armed groups. 140 more former congressmen have criminal investigations pending.
FACT SHEET: Parapolitics
HH and 13 other paramilitary leaders were extradited without court order by the Uribe administration in 2008 at the height of the “parapolitics” scandal. The mass extradition was fiercely criticized by the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General, human rights organizations and victims, some of who claimed the government was trying to prevent the paramilitaries from revealing more ties to Colombia’s political elites.
More:
http://colombiareports.co/uribes-former-business-partner-chief-staff-helped-create-paramilitary-death-squad/
Yet Another Reason to Hate SCOTUS: It's Made It Easier for Payday Lenders to Prey on the Poor
Washington Monthly / By Kathleen Geier
Yet Another Reason to Hate SCOTUS: It's Made It Easier for Payday Lenders to Prey on the Poor
Antonin Scalia opines that its OK for lenders to compel borrowers to sign away their rights.
April 21, 2014 |
The Supreme Court doesn’t like poor people very much.
Recent rulings by the Court have had a profoundly harmful impact on the health, lives, and livelihoods of poor folks. The best-known example is the Court’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, which allowed states to opt out of Medicaid. That is an option that 24 states have chosen to take. It will leave nearly six million low-income Americans without health insurance. They would have had that insurance were it not for the Supreme Court. How many people will lose their health, and their lives, because the Supreme Court denied them health coverage? I would love to know.
Moreover, the ACA decision was hardly the Court’s only front in its war on the poor. In another recent ruling, SCOTUS bent over backwards to make it easier for payday lenders to rob poor people blind. As Emily Bazeldon reports in today’s New York Times Magazine, class action lawsuits can be a powerful tool to crack down on predatory lenders. However, one thing the payday lenders usually do is to force borrowers to sign away their rights to file lawsuits and to agree to lender-friendly “individual arbitration” instead.
A disturbing 2011 5-4 Supreme Court decision written by Justice Antonin Scalia stripped away consumers’ rights to file class action lawsuits if they’d agreed to mandatory arbitration — no matter how fine the print on the agreement they might have signed. Writes Bazeldon:
The text of the law was clear, Scalia said — it “was designed to promote arbitration,” and states couldn’t get in the way. Judith Resnik, a professor at Yale Law School, told me that Scalia’s interpretation was “in no way consistent with what we know Congress was doing in 1925.” Back then, “arbitration was negotiated between merchants, not imposed by merchants on their customers and employees.” Nevertheless, at least 139 class-action lawsuits have been thrown out by courts, according to the nonprofit group Public Citizen. Burke’s suit, which was against one of the lenders who had not settled, was dismissed in February.
More:
http://www.alternet.org/scotus-makes-it-easier-lenders-prey-poor
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