Colombia’s Referendum

On October 25, 2003 Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez placed before the people of Colombia a referendum of questions that he hoped would endorse his leadership and increase his power. Presented as an ‘anti-corruption’ initiative, most of the questions sought to gut the public sector of the country and facilitate further privatizations. Conveniently, one question would have made it possible for a president to be re-elected after one term, opening the way for Uribe’s own re-election in 2006.

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Q & A on Bolivia

http://www.zcommunications.org/q-and-a-on-bolivia-by-justin-podur

What is happening in Bolivia?

A massive popular mobilization is demanding the resignation of the President, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, and several ministers, including the Minister of Defense. On October 16 hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the main square in La Paz, Bolivia’s capital. The presidential palace, guarded by tanks and trenches, is surrounded by demonstrators.

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After the Common Sense Revolution

http://www.zcommunications.org/after-the-common-sense-revolution-by-justin-podur

After 8 years in office, the Ontario Tories were finally thrown out on October 2, 2003. They were replaced by a Liberal majority government that won 72 seats to the Tories’s 24. The social democratic NDP, after a strong campaign, won 7 seats. As is virtually always the case in North America, the electoral outcome was a poor reflection of the popular vote, which would have given the Tories and the NDP more seats. The Liberals took 47%, the Tories 33%, and the NDP 16%.

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When Terrorists Talk of Human Rights

On September 8, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez said “when terrorists start feeling weak, they immediately send their spokesmen to talk about human rights.” He said while some human rights groups were “respectable”, others were “political agitators in the service of terrorism, cowards who wrap themselves in the banner of human rights, in order to win back for Colombian terrorism the space which the armed forces and the public have taken from it.”

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From Aguascalientes to Caracoles

http://www.zcommunications.org/from-aguascalientes-to-caracoles-by-justin-podur

For some 10 years, the Zapatistas have inspired people all over the world. The Zapatistas’ ‘Autonomous Municipalities’, in particular, have been models of community organization and democratic self-governance. These municipalities managed to provide not only better basic services (health, education, culture, infrastructure) than the Mexican state ever had, but they did so in spite of violent opposition by the (US-backed) state and the paramilitary auxiliaries it employed.

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Road Map Theatrics

http://www.zcommunications.org/road-map-theatrics-by-justin-podur

On August 3, 2003, the Associated Press reported on the progress of the road map. Some of the ‘wanted men’ of Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades were to be packed off to Jericho from Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. It is not always clear what a Palestinian has to do to make himself a ‘wanted man’.

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Palestinians struggle against deportation

http://rabble.ca/news/palestinians-struggle-against-deportation

The Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees was formedby a group of Palestinian refugees with the help of organizers from No Oneis Illegal and Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights in Montreal. TheCoalition immediately found that there are a significant number ofrefugees set for deportation and a large number awaiting their first courtdate.

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