Privatization of Water: Benign as Lucifer

By Richard Raznikov, The Rag Blog | Democracy Center | Haiti Chery. About 20 years ago, it dawned on the bankers and some major corporations that if oil was a lucrative commodity, water would be even more so…. The trick was how to take it away from the people and sell it back to them.

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Brazilians Push to Prosecute Military Junta’s Human Rights Crimes, Pushed Back by Judge | Crece movimiento jurídico para burlar ley de amnistía en Brasil | Cresce movimento jurídico para evitar a lei de anistia no Brasil

By Fabiana Frayssinet, IPS | Colin M. Snider, Americas South and North. In the first serious move by Brazil to confront the horrors of its junta years, Transitional Justice plans to prosecute the forced disappearances during the 1964-1985 dictatorship. Brazilian federal prosecutors announced they would first try retired Col. Sebastião Curió Rodrigues de Moura for aggravated kidnapping for his alleged role in five enforced disappearances in Pará state in 1974. (English | Spanish | Portuguese)

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6,060 Years for Guatemalan Ex-Soldier Who Massacred Indigenous and Fled to California

By Staff (sc/jg/jsr/mgt/jf), Prensa Latina | By Rachel Rickard Straus, Daily Mail. Pedro Pimentel, a former instructor of an elite Guatemalan military force called kaibiles, extradited from the US last July, has been sentenced to 6,060 years in prison for his role in killing 201 indigenous people in the Dos Erres massacre of December 6 to 8, 1982.

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Are Stealth Oral Cholera Vaccines in Haiti’s Recently ‘Expanded Program of Immunization’? | Les vaccins anticholériques oraux furtifs: sont-ils dans le ‘programme élargi de vaccination’?

By Aline Sainsoivil, Le Matin | Commentary and translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) presented a plan to strengthen its Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) at a meeting on Monday, March 12, 2012 with UN organizations UNICEF, PAHO, and WHO. Might this strengthened EPI involve the administration of oral cholera vaccines? (English | French)

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Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia to Boycott VI Summit of the Americas to Protest Cuba’s Exclusion

By Staff, MercoPress. Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia, all members of ALBA, will boycott the 6th Summit of the Americas on April 14/15, 2012 in Cartagena, Colombia, to protest the exclusion of Cuba from this and all 5 preceding summits.

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Constitution of the Republic of Haiti, 1987 | Constitution de la République d’Haïti, 1987

By National Constituent Assembly of Haiti, March 10, 1987. The Haitian people proclaim this constitution to ensure their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, in conformity with the Act of Independence of 1804 and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man of 1948. (French | English)

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Amended Haitian Constitution Confirmed as Prefabricated ‘Fake’

By Staff, Defend Haiti | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. A presidential commission recommends withholding publication of the Haitian Constitution amended by the parliament in May 2011 and subsequently corrected. This document’s contents have been found to differ from the outcomes of the parliament’s votes.

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Akasan, Haitian Cornmeal Drink for Sunday Morning

By Marianne Cesar, in A Taste of Haiti, Caribbean Living | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Nearly every Latin America and Caribbean country boasts of a delicious cornmeal drink. Ours in Haiti is called Akasan. It is a legacy from our Taino ancestors.

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Lessons from the Indigenous on Promoting Plant Biodiversity

By Jan Salick, Missouri Botanical Garden | Staff, e! Science News. Mountains are considered sacred by both the Yanesha of the upper Peruvian Amazon and Tibetans of the Himalayas. They excel in promoting plant biodiversity. For example, the Yanesha grow over 200 varieties of cassava.

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Haiti’s Secretaries of State Not Haitian, Including One Implicated In Dismissal of Mayors | Plusieurs secrétaires d’Etat ne sont pas Haïtiens, y compris celui accusé du licensement des maires

By staff (jep kft), AlterPresse | English translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Several secretaries in Michel Martelly’s cabinet have a foreign nationality. Secretary of State for the Interior Georges Racine was discovered to be a U.S. citizen; the Secretary of State for Culture and Heritage was discovered to be Spanish, and the Secretary of State for Higher Education was found to be Canadian. The citizenships of Michel Martelly himself and his latest PM designate Laurent Lamothe are also under investigation. (English | French)

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Common Caribbean Strategies Needed Against Climate Change | Besoin de stratégies communes des Caraïbes contre le changement climatique

Interview of Cuban climate expert Ramón Pichs by Patricia Grogg. Pichs warns that the environmental vulnerability of Caribbean countries is aggravated by the fragility of their economies. ALBA initiatives are underway to improve the response to climate change phenomena and take measures to protect areas such as agriculture and coastlines. These and national efforts will be complemented by inputs from organizations like Caricom and CELAC. (English | French)

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International Community Pushes for Permanent Electoral Council, New Haitian Elections

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Representatives of Haiti and the international community participated in a one-hour meeting in the National Palace on Thursday, March 1 on the urgent need to establish a Permanent Electoral Council and schedule new elections, as prescribed by the Haitian Constitution. In another meeting between the representatives of Haiti and Venezuela on March 2-3, Venezuela announced $369 million of projects including a gift of financial and technical support for a National Identification system.

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Land, Water and Resistance | La tierra, el agua y la resistencia

By Raúl Zibechi, La Jornada | English translation by Chiapas Support Committee. What is happening in Latin America in relation to water, land, and biodiversity is something more than a succession of local conflicts. The struggle for the commons is at the top of the agenda in the entire region. (English | Spanish)

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Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango: Music and Dance

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery | You Tube. Superb orchestral and dance performances of Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango are offered as a nod to the residents of Famatima and Chilecito whose protests have helped to save their lands and water from Canadian mining.

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