PARAMARIBO (Reuters) – President Desi Bouterse said he was victim of a “political game” when he returned to Suriname on Sunday after a court found him guilty of murder in absentia for the 1982 execution of 15 activists in the former Dutch colony.Supporters of Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse (not pictured), who was convicted of murder for the execution of opponents… Read more »
MADRID (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Central American countries are teaming up to conserve the region’s five great forests as part of a regional climate action plan released at U.N. climate talks in Madrid this week, the alliance behind the effort said. The coalition of governments, indigenous people, green groups and others announced a plan to protect 10 million hectares of… Read more »
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Girls as young as 11 were sexually abused and impregnated by U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti and abandoned to raise their children alone, according to testimonies from more than 2,000 residents. So many babies were fathered by foreign peacekeepers that Haitians nickname them ‘Petit MINUSTAH’ – combining ‘small’ in French with the acronym of the U.N…. Read more »
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – A Salvadoran man seeking asylum in the United States was kidnapped and murdered in the Mexican border city of Tijuana where he was sent to wait for his asylum court hearing under a migrant protection program instated by President Donald Trump. Critics of the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) have argued that the migrants affected by the… Read more »
In a list compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Cuba is ranked as the 10th most censored country in the world, with Eritrea being at the top of the list. Cuba has a tendency to “ground” journalists, preventing them from leaving the country. A recent example of this is Maykel Gonzalez, an LGBTQ activist and director of the… Read more »
The Colombian government has failed to come to an agreement amidst talks with union leaders. The government has labeled these talks to be “exploratory,” much to the disdain of union leaders such as Diogenes Orjuela, head of the Central Union of Workers (CUT). Colombian citizens have been protesting recently against both social and economic policies put into effect by President… Read more »
Analysts and press freedom advocates warn the one-year prison sentence imposed on independent journalist Roberto Quiñones marks a significant degeneration in the Cuban government’s treatment of independent media. The sentence represents a change in the pattern of harassment used by the Cuban authorities in the last few years, which include arbitrary detentions for hours or even days, intimidations and confiscation… Read more »
Washington continued to tighten its grip on Venezuela and Cuba on Tuesday, naming six oil tankers that deliver fuel from the South American nation to the island as “blocked property.” The action — just the latest in a series of sanctions — also suggests how far Venezuela and Cuba are willing to go to avoid what they see as an… Read more »
Although Cuba lifted restrictions for citizens to leave the country in January 2014, the Caribbean nation continues to prevent independent journalists, civil activists, and political opponents from traveling abroad. This violates freedom of movement and expression, Katherine Mojena Hernández, coordinator of the Cuban nongovernmental organization (NGO) Unión Patriótica, told Diálogo. The NGO advocates for the rights and liberties of the Cuban people…. Read more »
HAVANA TIMES – Journalist Maykel Gonzalez Vivero, director of the Tremenda Nota website, learned Monday that he will not be able to travel outside Cuba by decision of the Ministry of Interior (Minint). The restriction was communicated to him when he went to inquire about his status at a Minint office located in Havana. The reporter was scheduled to travel on… Read more »