Carolus Wimmer is a widely respected Venezuelan political scientist, educator and writer, lecturer and columnist nationally and internationally. Elected to the Latin American Parliament in 2005 he served as Vice-President from 2008 to 2011.
National liberation
Venezuela and the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) have backed Ecuador against “threats” from Britain, after Ecuador granted WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange diplomatic asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy in London on August 16.
ALBA is an anti-imperialist bloc of eight nations that includes Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba and Bolivia.
Swedish authorities want to extradite Assange from Britain to investigate allegations against him of sexual assault.
Shamikh Badra, youth leader of the Palestine People's Party, speaking at a forum in Perth. Badra is touring Australia thanks to socialist youth group Resistance.
This isn’t an obituary. Every now and again those who hope and pray for his death spread yet another rumour, only to be disappointed by a photo or a commentary in that unmistakable style, confirming that Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro is very much alive and making the most of his twilight years.
When the inevitable does happen, the world, admirers and detractors alike, will pause for reflection. The corporate media will saturate our inner recesses with words and images that convey, for the most part, how the 1% appraise his life and legacy. Just imagine the gloating on Fox News.
'Palestinians must unite to tackle the occupation'
Shamikh Badra is the youth and students coordinator for the Palestinian People Party (PPP) in the Palestinian Gaza Strip. The PPP is a left-wing, secular party that is part of the Palestinian liberation movement. Badra is on a tour of Australia to speak about the situation in Gaza and Palestine's struggle for justice. Green Left Weekly’s Patrick Harrison spoke to Badra.
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West Papuan independence leader Buchtar Tabuni has been put on trial as part of Indonesia's crackdown on the independence movement.
Tabuni, a leader of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB), was arrested in June for allegedly organising “anarchic” protests calling on the government to properly investigate a wave of random shootings blamed on independence activists.
The protests were peaceful until attacked by police and ended with several activists dead and others injured.
Secrecy: The Key to Independence
Laura S. Abrantes & Beba Sequeira
Asia Pacific Support Collective Timor-Leste,
Dili 2012, 102 pp.
This is a book you should turn to whenever you think activism is too hard.
Twelve women from the remote areas of Timor-Leste (East Timor) tell how they fought for their nation's independence. In the 24-year war from 1975 to 1999, official estimates are that 18,600 people were killed by conflict and 84,200 died of hunger and disease.
Premakumar Gunaratnam, an ethnic Tamil from Sri Lanka, who is an Australian citizen, returned to his home country in September 2011 to help organise the launch of a new left party, the Frontline Socialist Party (FLSP), a major breakaway from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP, People’s Liberation Front). He had been a JVP activist for three decades and a member of its underground political bureau since 1994.
When Tamil asylum seeker Dayan Anthony was deported back to Sri Lanka by the Australian government last month, his immediate arrest and interrogation did little to allay fears he would not face harassment from authorities.
His subsequent government-arranged press conference appeared to be staged for the benefit of the Sri Lankan and Australian governments.
US Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney generated a backlash with his claims in Jerusalem that the vast (20:1) disparity in income between Israelis and Palestinians can be explained by a superior Jewish Israeli culture and “the hand of providence” ― rather than by the systematic depradations of Israeli occupation on the economy of Palestinians.
On July 25, Tamil refugee Dayan Anthony (formerly known as "Mr X" in Australia in an attempt to protect his identity from Sri Lankan authorities), was deported from Melbourne.
British Olympics chiefs are reported by the media to be “furious” after Welsh and Scottish players with the “Team Great Britain” soccer squads did not sing “God Save the Queen” in official ceremonies before kick-off.
Welsh players Craig Bellamy, Joe Allen, Neil Taylor and team captain Ryan Giggs all remained tight-lipped during the anthem ahead of the July 28 match with United Arab Emirates.
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