Tag Archives: Chile

‘They Did it on Purpose’: Protester Crushed Between Police Jeeps Latest Victim of Months-Long Chilean Crackdown on Dissent

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The young man was seriously injured but is expected to survive.

By Eoin Higgins, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 12-21-2019

Twenty-year-old Oscar Ignacio Pérez Cortéz was pinned between two police jeeps on Friday. He is expected to survive but sustained serious injuries. (Photo: Archivando Chile/Telegram)

The ongoing protest movement in Chile has had success—the country’s constitution is expected to be rewritten as a concession from President Sebastien Pinera to demonstrators—but still faces a harsh crackdown from government security forces, who in a series of assaults Friday fired projectiles at crowds and crush one young man between two armored jeeps, causing him serious injury.

Twenty-year-old Oscar Ignacio Pérez Cortéz was pinned between two police jeeps—called by protesters zorrillos, or “skunks”—on Friday when one of the vehicles slammed the young man into the side of the other. Continue reading →

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Thousands of Activists Stage Protests at Three German Coal Mines to Demand Bolder Climate Policies

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“We’re at a critical moment—the window of opportunity to stop the climate crisis is closing rapidly.”

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 11-30-2019

Climate activists protests at three coal mines in Germany Saturday. (Photo: Ende Gelände/Twitter)

On the heels of Friday’s global youth-led climate strike, thousands of activists staged demonstrations at three coal mines in Germany Saturday to protest the government’s plan to phase out coal by 2038, which activists say isn’t soon enough.

The German news agency dpa reported that “protesters ran into the Jänschwalde and Welzow-Süd open-cast mining sites in the eastern state of Brandenburg, as well as the United Schleenhain lignite mining area in neighboring Saxony.” Continue reading →

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Pompeo Calls It ‘Democracy’ in Bolivia as Post-Coup Violence Grows and Fear of Civil War Intensifies

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“The military has guns and a license to kill; we have nothing. Please, tell the international community to come here and stop this.”

By Jake Johnson, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 11-22-2019

A photo of the coffins of two of the Bolivian anti-coup protesters, killed by security forces, that had to be left behind after a funeral procession was attacked by those same security forces.. Screenshot: redfish/Twitter

Observers on the ground in Bolivia are calling on the United Nations to take urgent action to prevent the country from descending into a full-blown civil war as the military, with a green light from the right-wing coup regime, continues to repress and massacre supporters of ousted former President Evo Morales.

On Thursday afternoon, Bolivian security forces teargassed a massive Indigenous-led funeral procession in the city of La Paz for the eight people gunned down by security forces Tuesday in the nearby working class city of El Alto, where Morales supporters blockaded a major gasoline plant. Continue reading →

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‘So Awful’: Military Returns to Streets in Chile as Unrest Simmers

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The president’s suspension of the public transporation fare hike has not stopped protests.

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 10-20-2019

The Chilean Army on the streets. Photo: Javier Valdés/Twitter

Demonstrators in Chile continued their “pots and pans” protests Sunday following a week of unrest that saw hundreds arrested and the military patrolling the streets for the first time in decades.

A curfew and state of emergency are still in effect in Santiago and several other cities, The Associated Press reported.

Video posted below from online outlet El Monstrador shows a protest Sunday in Santiago’s Plaza Ñuñoa: Continue reading →

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Fears of US-Backed ‘Coup’ in Motion as Trump Recognizes Venezuela Opposition Lawmaker as ‘Interim President’

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In response to Trump declaration, President Nicolas Maduro gives diplomats from ‘imperialist’ U.S. 72 hours to leave the country

By Jon Queally, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 1-23-2019

Protester holding a sign criticizing what the Venezuelan state media tells its citizens.. Photo: FEGO3011 [CC BY-SA 3.0] via Wikimedia Commons

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela officially cut off dipomatic ties with the U.S. government on Wednesday—and gave American diplomats 72 hours to leave the country—in response to President Donald Trump declaring formal recognition of an opposition lawmaker as the “Interim President” of Venezuela, despite not being elected by the nation’s people for that position.

“Before the people and nations of the world, and as constitutional president,” declared Maduro to a crowd of red-shirted supporters gathered outside the presidential residence in Caracas, “I’ve decided to break diplomatic and political relations with the imperialist U.S. government.” Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday CIA: 7 Truly Terrible Things the Agency Has Done in 70 Years

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By Carey Wedler. Published 9-18-2017 by The Anti-Media

The seal of the Central Intelligence Agency inlaid in the floor of the main lobby of the Original Headquarters Building. Photo by user:Duffman (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

On Monday, President Trump tweeted birthday wishes to the Air Force and the CIA. Both became official organizations 70 years ago on September 18, 1947, with the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947.

After spending years as a wartime intelligence agency called the Office of Strategic Services, the agency was solidified as a key player in the federal government’s operations with then-President Harry Truman’s authorization. Continue reading →

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US Ditches Human Rights Hearing in ‘Unprecedented Show of Disrespect’

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ACLU had planned to drill officials on immigration, DAPL, and Muslim ban, but representatives from various departments never showed

By Nadia Prupis, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 3-21-2017

The civil rights group had filed an emergency request for the meeting in January, after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. (Photo: Karla Cote/flickr/cc)

The U.S. failed to show up to a human rights hearing in an “unprecedented show of disrespect to the international community,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said Tuesday.

In a surprise move, the government ditched a hearing with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), an arm of the Organization of American States, where the ACLU had planned to drill officials on the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration; its ban on travelers from six Muslim-majority countries; and the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), among other issues. Continue reading →

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