Police coup thwarted in Ecuador

AN ATTEMPTED coup d'etat appears to have been thwarted in Ecuador, after police protests turned into an attempt to displace the centre-leftist President Rafael Correa.

In dramatic scenes, he was rescued by loyal troops from a police hospital after what the BBC described as a 20-25 minute gun battle.

While the USA publicly backs Correa, there are inevitably suspicions it has covertly supported a move against a leader who has blocked big business designs for the country and thrown out a US military base.

Comments Al Giordiano of Narco News: "Every time there has been a coup d'etat in this hemisphere - from Chile 1973 to Honduras 2009 - it has been designed for its proponents to say 'oh, no, this is not a coup!'.

"In what country do police forces shoot tear gas at their elected president unless they feel protected by much bigger forces?

"There is already a disinformation campaign throughout the Internet - similar to what happened with Venezuela 2002 and Honduras 2009 - to claim that this is only a 'police protest'.

"Use your common sense and instincts and knowledge of history. The same international gang of thieves that was behind the Honduras coup is now making its move to try to go after what it considers the 'second slowest zebra' of the center-left governments in the hemisphere.

"Only this time, the zebra was fast enough and has the backing (so far) of the Armed Forces. But this is clearly an attempt at destabilization to make an elected government fall."

Communique from Argentinian rebels

A RESISTANCE group behind a wave of car arsons in Argentina has released this communique, posted on Angry News From Around the World.

We took to the streets again to practise what we say with our words and think with our brains. We feel the need to do so because, as we can see, a newspaper published an article in Villa Devoto about the burning of car in the barrio in which it speaks explicitly of the arrest of a person allegedly responsible for the attacks.

For this reason we are making it known that what they are saying in this newspaper and / or the police themselves is just a lie, they probably have not caught anyone, or if they did, they got a person who has nothing to do with this.

That is why yesterday, September 15, 2010, at the intersection Melincue Chivilcoy we set fire to a car around 23 hours. In addition, we claim responsibility for the burning of other cars before that.

As we always say, we are doing this to combat the destruction that society is causing to the earth, that is why we're not on its side and with these actions we are warning that we will continue to attack it to stop what it is doing to the world. We know that they care little or nothing of what we say, but we won't get lost in chatter and writings, something that has already been done.

Only the comrades will understand, while those subjected to this system are so locked into the routine of work they have "need" of machines. We try to live differently.
Amigxs de la Tierra

Press links:
http://www.devotomagazine.com.ar/files/infozonal_nota.asp?id=367
http://www.devotomagazine.com.ar/files/infozonal_nota.asp?id=384

Peruvian killed in anti-dam protest

ONE man was killed and many others injured in Peru during protests against a proposed dam.

While corporate news sources like Reuters initially claimed the victim, Leoncio Fernández Pacheco, was a bystander and implied his death was accidental, Peruvian media are now admitting he was probably shot by police.

The conflict took place before dawn on Thursday in the town of Espinar, 400 miles (650 km) south of Lima.

The Majes-Siguas II irrigation project will leave Espinar without water, say residents.

They were enraged when the state investment agency awarded a concession on Monday for the project to a private consortium called Angostura-Siguas without listening to their concerns.

Peru's government has encouraged the growth of export-oriented agricultural farms and the petroleum industry.

Last year, three dozen people died in a clash over land in the Amazon jungle where indigenous tribes are resisiting the destruction of their land by oil exploration.

Massive prison uprising in Peru

RIOTING prisoners took over a jail in Peru, forcing the authorities to negotiate with them to release hostages.

Said the New York Times: "Peruvian officials say a riot by about 500 inmates at a northern prison killed two inmates and six guards were held hostage until negotiations got the prisoners to end their protest.

"Chief Cabinet minister Javier Velasquez says the violence erupted on New Year's Eve in the prison in Chachapoyas, about 650 kilometers (400 miles) northeast of Lima.

"Velasquez says he's not sure what caused the riot, but local Television N says inmates want a change in prison management because of a crackdown on drugs and cell phones.

"The rioters met with high-level officials Friday, then freed the five male and one female guards taken hostage."

Authorities are not revealing what concessions were made to the rebel inmates.

Anarchists bomb banks in Mexico and Argentina

ANARCHIST insurgents have launched bomb attacks on banks in both Argentina and Mexico.

A statment from the Revolutionary Cells (Salvador Puig Antich Brigade) on Ai Ferri Corti said: "In solidarity with the international hunger strike being carried out by anarchist comrades, we used a medium-powered homemade device to attack a Banco Francés branch on the corner of Calle Corrientes and Calle Uruguay in downtown Buenos Aires.

"In this way we show the vulnerability of spaces controlled by capital, and the uselessness of its faithful servants.

"We salute all those who struggle every day against this system of misery and hunger, and we call on them to not lower their guard and to continue the campaign of offensives against the state and capital."

And a communiqué from the Animal Liberation Front/Earth Liberation Front in Mexico said: "At around 3 a.m. on December 24, we left an explosive device stuffed with dynamite at the BBVA bank branch in Ecatepec, Mexico State. At the same time, we left another one of our gifts in front of of the Kenworth company, which was being guarded by two state police patrols. Both targets suffered damage to their windows.

"We undertook this action on the same avenue (José López Portillo) where, a few weeks ago, the 'Unforgettable Vengeance Eco-Sabotage Brigade' detonated a gas canister bomb at a Banamex in Coacalco.

"The authorities didn’t imagine that other groups would again attack the same 'controlled perimeter,' and they left such targets vulnerable and ready for our packages of dynamite.

"The destruction of their social peace was inevitable when the fuse was lit and the device activated. The loud explosions echoed in the ears of those who sustain power and authoritarianism, gained at the cost of the destruction of the planet we live on, which in turn is mostly caused by companies like the ones we attacked this morning.

"BBVA is a deceitful company that manages money earned from the exploitation of animals, humans, and the Earth. Kenworth is tied to the construction industry and has contacts with businesses like CAT and CARSO, which are directly responsible for environmental devastation."

150 farmers occupy UN office

SOME 150 indigenous farmers took over a UN office in the southeastern Mexican state of Chiapas to demand the release of three jailed leaders, reported AFB on October 31.

The Tzotzil Indians, who also sought "refuge as internally displaced persons" during Friday's move, took this "desperate measure to attract attention and secure the release of three comrades," the Emiliano Zapata Farmers' Organization (OCEZ) said in a statement.

The OCEZ is a land rights group inspired by Zapata, a key figure in the Mexican Revolution that broke out in 1910. The three prisoners were arrested last weekend by the police and army on charges of using the group for drug and arms trafficking.

Food and clothes were provided to the farmers who spent the night and still remain at the UN building in San Cristobal de las Casas.

Another OCEZ leader, Jose Manuel Hernandez, was arrested on September 30 for expropriation and property damage.

The farmers accuse the government of Chiapas, Mexico's poorest state where Zapatistas launched an armed rebellion in 1994, of seeking to "criminalize social struggle."

Obama's war on Latin America

HE MAY have won the Nobel Peace Prize, but Barack Obama is planning a new war - against rebel states in Latin America.

That's the warning from veteran journalist and author John Pilger in his latest article in the New Statesman.

Writes Pilger: "The Nobel Peace Prize-winner's latest war is largely secret. On 15 July, Washington finalised a deal with Colombia that gives the US seven giant military bases. "The idea," reported the Associated Press, "is to make Colombia a regional hub for Pentagon operations . . . nearly half the continent can be covered by a C-17 [military transport] without refuelling", which "helps achieve the regional engagement strategy".

"Translated, this means Obama is planning a "rollback" of the independence and democracy that the people of Bolivia, Venezuela, Ecuador andParaguay have achieved against the odds, along with a historic regional co-operation that rejects the notion of a US "sphere of influence". The Colombian regime, which backs death squads and has the continent's worst human rights record, has received US military support second in scale only to Israel. Britain provides military training. Guided by US military satellites, Colombian paramilitaries now infiltrate Venezuela with the goal of overthrowing the democratic government of Hugo Chávez, which George W Bush failed to do in 2002.

"Obama's war on peace and democracy in Latin America follows a style he has demonstrated since the coup against the democratic president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, in June. Zelaya had increased the minimum wage, granted subsidies to small farmers, cut back interest rates and reduced poverty. He planned to break a US pharmaceutical monopoly and manufacture cheap generic drugs.

"Although Obama has called for Zelaya's reinstatement, he refuses to condemn the coup-makers and to recall the US ambassador or the US troops who train the Honduran forces determined to crush a popular resistance. Zelaya has been repeatedly refused a meeting with Obama, who has approved an IMF loan of $164m to the illegal regime. The message is clear and familiar: thugs can act with impunity on behalf of the US."