In June, several Melanesian community groups met in Madang, Papua New Guinea, to create a land defence group. The Melanesian Indigenous Land Defence Alliance (MILDA) will coordinate efforts in the region to help traditional families maintain control over their own land.
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The National Front against the Coup D’etat in Honduras (FNRG) accused the United States on August 3 of engaging in two-faced politics to allow the leadership of the June 28 military coup that overthrew President Manuel Zelaya to gain time and strengthen their position.
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On August 6, a general strike in Kanaky (the French colony of New Caledonia) was called off after an accord between the Federation of Unions of Kanak Workers and the Exploited (USTKE) and Air Caledonia was finally signed by the airline.
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Recently the International Transport Workers’ Federation general secretary David Cockroft issued a letter to the Thai government in support of three trade unionists who face charges for closing down the international airports last year.
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Recalling the words of Les MiserablesVictor Hugo, United Socialist Party of Venezuela Youth (JPSUV) leader Heryck Rangel said “nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come, and today in Venezuela, the time of socialism has arrived”.
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“BHP Billiton and two other leading US energy companies operating in Australia have been caught up in a lobbying scandal that was aimed at defeating the landmark US climate change bill”, the Sydney Morning Herald said on August 13.
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What is the smart thing to do when you are travelling through a major international transport hub and are asked to “step this way” by someone in a uniform or a Marks and Spencers suit to answer a few questions while they rummage through your luggage?
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On August 3, Ecuador celebrated a milestone when left-wing President Rafael Correa was sworn in for a second term — the first president to serve a second term since democracy was restored 30 years ago.
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At 10:40pm on August 1, an unidentified man with a ski mask walked into a weekly meeting of Gay Lesbian Bisexual Trangender teenagers in Tel Aviv and shot indiscriminately with an automatic weapon. Two people were killed and a dozen wounded.
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Vestas workers ended their 18-day occupation of Britain’s last remaining wind turbine factory on August 6, declaring their fight to be “just the start” of a mass campaign for green jobs.
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More than 100 people attended a conference in Belfast on August 8 on political persecution in the Basque Country organised by the Don’t Extradite the Basques Campaign as part of Feile an Phobail (Festival of the People).
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The article below is abridged from an August 11 open letter from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) meeting in Quito, Ecuador. The full letter can be found at Venezuelanalysis.com. It was translated by Kiraz Janicke.