The National Federation of Public Employees (FENASEP) of Panama reported that the government under Ricardo Martinelli has fired more than 30,000 civil servants since taking power 18 months ago. The Secretary General of the Federation, Alfredo Berrocal, said that about 25,000 dismissed employees had been working for the Civil Service. He also commented that among […]

An international mission of journalists and members of human rights organisations have gone to witness the situation of farming communities in the Honduran region of Bajo Aguán following continued abuses reported by farmers who are demanding their rights to land in the area. The Unified Movement of Aguán Farmers (MUCA), La Vía Campesina and the Frente Nacional […]

These were the words of the Supreme Court prosecutor in Chile, Mónica Maldonado following the fire in San Miguel prison that left 81 dead. She said that the tragedy “could repeat itself at any given moment”. Maldonado said that the judicial system’s main concern was that the precarious prison system “could explode as violently as […]

The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez has affirmed that the rains that batter the country cause a strong social impact. They have produced floods that have already left 35 dead. Also, there are six people missing and more than one hundred affected by the floods. Chávez signalled that the situation in Venezuela is critical although […]

A fire that ravaged the San Miguel Prison in Santiago on Wednesday has claimed the lives of at least 81 people. Authorities are treating the fire as intentional, stating that the blaze broke out during a clash between rival gang members in the prison quarters early in the morning. The incident has been labelled the […]

At least 100 members of the group Anticop conducted a demonstration in the downtown zone of Cancun in order to protest the Climate Change Conference. The march ended at the Federal Evironmental Protection offices. The federal agency was protected by heavy security. The riots were integrated by members of the Mexican Federal Police. In a […]

The rescue operation in the town of Bello, in the northern county of Antioquia has recovered 32 bodies buried the landslide on Sunday. Following estimations from authorities, there are 94 people missing in the tragedy. The rescue efforts are driven by some 400 members of the Red Cross, the Civil Defense, the army and the […]

Honoured for all his work defending the rights of Brazilian tribes, Catholic Bishop Erwin Kräutler has accepted the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’. Bishop Kräutler, who is Bishop of the Xingu region and President of the Indigenous Missionary Council of the Catholic Church in Brazil, was honored at the awards […]

About 500 thousand demonstrators gathered in the organization Vía Campesina and held a demonstration in the Mexican city of Cancún. It was in the framework of the Summit on Climate Change of the United Nations (UNO). Indigenous peoples and small farmers toured the main route of the city. They recalled Korea’s Lee Kyung Hae, who […]

On Sunday Dilma Rousseff, the candidate of the ruling Workers’ Party, became the first woman to hold the post of Brazil’s president winning the run-off by 12%.