Having come out of an intense period of political confrontation, including the biggest mobilisation in Bolivia’s history, this landlocked country situated in the heart of rebellious South America seems on the verge of plunging into a new phase of open conflict. At the centre of this is the country’s Constituent Assembly — a central plank of Bolivia’s cultural and democratic revolution, led by the country’s first indigenous president, Evo Morales — which was convened over a year ago with the goal of achieving a new social pact between Bolivia’s conflicting sectors and drafting a new constitution that would for the first time include the country’s indigenous majority.
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Working with Aunty Mary Davis, who died at the age of 67 on August 12, was working with a powerful fire, determined to rip through prejudice and create justice. “She was always at the forefront of anything, with government and non-government agencies, organisations, the community”, says Aunty Mary’s son, Richard.
Following the first collapses among its lenders last year, the US subprime mortgage market began a sharper collapse in recent weeks, sustaining losses that an investment offshoot of Banque Agricole estimated in mid-August to be US$150 billion.
APEC protests
I am constantly outraged at the way the media and government label any protests at events such as the upcoming APEC summit as "violent". Two months ago they were already writing articles about the potential violence that will occur
Representatives of Western Sahara’s Polisario Front (the Saharawi liberation movement) and the Moroccan government met in Manhasset, New York, on August 10 and 11 with a view to “achieving a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political solution, which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara” — the words of UN Security Council’s Resolution 1754, adopted on April 30.
Save Sandon Point
Exhibition & fundraising auction
Mori Gallery, 168 Day Street, Sydney (near Darling Harbour)
September 1, from 3pm
For information. Ph 0415 111 631, 0423 341 781 or Mori Gallery (02) 9283 2903
Exhibition & fundraising auction
Mori Gallery, 168 Day Street, Sydney (near Darling Harbour)
September 1, from 3pm
For information. Ph 0415 111 631, 0423 341 781 or Mori Gallery (02) 9283 2903
Former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri has called for the withdrawal of Australian troops from his country. Speaking to Agence France-Presse on August 20, he said: “It would be better for Australian troops to just return home if they cannot be neutral. They came here to help us solve our problems, but they came to give their backing to one side and fight against the other.”
On August 16, Iraqi PM Nuri al Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani announced the formation of a “new” political alliance consisting of Makili’s Islamic Dawa (Dawn) party, Talabani’s Patriotic Union of Kudistan (PUK), Massound Barzani’s Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and Abdul-Aziz al Hakim’s Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC).
The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), the Cuban- and Venezuelan-initiated Latin America trading bloc that bases itself on solidarity and cooperation, is continuing to expand and develop as a genuine alternative to the US-pushed neoliberal “free trade” policies that have caused widespread suffering across Latin America.
In a move that blatantly undermines the cause of nuclear weapon non-proliferation, on PM John Howard announced on August 17 that Canberra had reached an “in principle” agreement with New Delhi to sell uranium to India, one of only three states in the world — along with Pakistan and Israel — that have not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
On August 15 — the third anniversary of President Hugo Chavez’s victory in the recall referendum of 2004 and the 202nd anniversary of Venezuelan independence hero Simon Bolivar’s famous oath not to rest “until the chains of oppression are lifted from my people” — tens of thousands of people turned out to an extraordinary session of Venezuela’s National Assembly (AN) to hear the president’s proposed constitutional reforms.
Message Stick: Aboriginal Rules — Showcases the work of Indigenous writers, directors and producers through the production of five-minute films. ABC, Sunday, September 2, 1.30pm.
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