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Luis Britto Garcia was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1940. He is the author of a vast work that encompasses 47 titles, eight of them narrative fiction. In 1970, he won the Casa de las Americas Prize with his collection of tales Rajatabla. In 1979, he won that international distinction again with his novel Abrapalabra.
Three Iraqi women aged 25-31 face execution after being sentenced to death by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Court for involvement in resistance to the US-led occupation of Iraq. Wassan Talib, Zainab Fadhil and Liqa Omar Muhammad denied the charges. A statement by the World Tribunal on Iraq and the Brussels Tribunal Executive Committee opposing the execution noted: “The United States and its local conspirators, in creating hundreds of thousands of widows and reducing life in Iraq to a struggle for bare survival have placed women in the crosshairs and now on the gallows.” Arguing that the women should not have been charged at all, the groups cited a 1982 UN General Assembly resolution affirming “the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle”.
Venezuelan foreign minister Nicolas Maduro and London Mayor Ken Livingstone signed an agreement on February 20 for Venezuela to provide discounted oil to London authorities. In return, London will assist with city management and environmental protection in Caracas.
Women’s rights activists in Iran have initiated a petition campaign, titled “One Million Signatures Demanding Changes to Discriminatory Laws”. The campaign — a follow-up to a June 12 protest in Tehran last year that was brutally attacked by police — aims to overturn anti-women laws, as well as provide education, involve women in organising for their rights, and promote collaboration between different groups. Signatures are being collected via door-to-door contact and dialogue with individual women, in public places and at events where women gather, through seminars and forums, and also through the internet. For more information visit <http://en.we4change.com>.
On February 24, 60,000 anti-war protesters took to the streets of central London in a demonstration against the US-led occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, and against the threat of military action now hanging over Iran. On the same day, thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Glasgow, demonstrating against the Labour Party’s plans to upgrade the Trident nuclear weapons facilities based in the Clyde estuary.
An extraordinary mobilisation of Rainbow Solidarity for the Cuban Five is extending around the world.
An opinion poll conducted in early February by the Washington-based Pew Research Center found that 53% of US voters surveyed agreed that the US “should bring its troops home as soon as possible”. This sentiment explains why the leading Democratic Party presidential hopefuls are trying to convince voters they have a plan to end the US war in Iraq.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Written & directed by Guillermo del Toro
With Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez & Ariadna Gil
In cinemas