Argentina’s Famatima, Chilecito Protesters Halt Open-Pit Gold Mine

By Staff, MercoPress. Residents of the towns of Famatina and Chilecito, in Argentina, led a huge march that arrived on Thursday March 1, 2012, at their governor’s office in La Rioja – the provincial capital – to call for a halt to Canadian firm Osisko’s open-pit gold mining project.

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Three Poems By Rene Depestre | Trois poèmes de René Depestre

By Rene Depestre. The Poet, The Final Degree of Exile, Consciences in Bloom: three offerings from the poetry collection In a State of Poetry (En Etat de Poesie, Les Editeurs Francais Reunis, Paris, 1980). (French, with English | French bio)

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Over 15,000 Haitians Repatriated from Dominican Republic in 2011

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Authorities in the Dominican Republic repatriated over 15,000 Haitian nationals in 2011. Individual interviews by the Support Group for Repatriated and Refugees GARR uncovered a pattern of sudden removals, sometimes at night: practices that disregard a Memorandum of Agreement on Repatriation Mechanisms signed by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

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The Underside of International Adoption in Haiti | Les dessous de l’adoption internationale en Haïti

Amos Cincir, Le Nouvelliste | Staff, HPN | Commentary and translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Over 2,000 Haitian children are adopted each year by foreigners, over 55 percent of them French. This is an activity fraught with scandal. The Haitian government has announced that it will resume international adoptions that had been frozen since the earthquake.

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Brazil Construction Boom Eases Integration of Haitians | Megaobras facilitan inserción de haitianos

By Mario Osava, IPS. There are nearly 700 Haitians in Porto Velho, a Brazilian city of 436,000. The Santo Antonio hydroelectric plant has hired 100 Haitians to work in construction of a dam. Odebrecht has hired 42 Haitians to help build Teles Pires, another hydroelectric dam 800 km east of Porto Velho; 40 to work on a shipyard building submarines in Itaguaí near Rio de Janeiro, and 22 for a sugar plant in the central state of Goiás. (English | Spanish)

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World Bank Organizing to Privatize World Fisheries

By Meredith McCarthy, Food & Water Watch. An international alliance coordinated by The World Bank and called The Global Partnership for Oceans proposes a global expansion of a program called “catch share” that allocates percentage quota of fish per year to coastal areas and arranges for these quota to be leased, bought, and sold.

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Bradley Manning Receives Nobel Peace Prize Nomination, Faces Court Martial

By Lauren Indvik, Mashable | Naomi Spencer, WSWS. The entire Icelandic Parliament and the Oklahoma Center for Conscience and Peace Research are among those who have nominated24-year old U.S. Army private and Wikileaks whistleblower Bradley Manning for a Nobel Peace Prize. On Feb 23, after 9 months of detention without charge, 22 formal charges were brought for the first time against Manning.

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Globally Threatened Seabird Found Nesting in La Selle Mountains, Haiti: First Ever Chick Photos, Video | Las primeras imágenes captadas de un pichón dan esperanza a un ave marina amenazada del Caribe

By Staff, Bird Life International | Groupo Jaragua | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The Black-capped Petrel is a Globally Threatened bird species with a population estimated at 1,000 breeding pairs. With support from Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology, a Haitian-Dominican field team found several individuals in Haiti’s Massif de la Selle. (English | Spanish)

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Speakers of Haitian Parliament Issue Urgent Call for Popular Vigilance to Respect for Law | Les présidents des deux chambres appellent à la ‘Vigilance’ citoyenne pour ‘éviter le pire’

By Haitian Speaker of the Senate and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, AlterPresse | Translated by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. “You stood up in 1804, 1934, 1986 and 1990. Stand up today for respect for the preamble to the 1987 Constitution and respect for the laws passed by Parliament! Stand up and call for the President of the Republic to respect his oath and faithfully follow the Constitution and the laws of the Republic! Stand up to back democratic gains, and demand free and fair elections within the time prescribed by the law and the Constitution!” – Joint statement from Simon Dieuseul Desras and Levaillant Louis-Jeune.

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Haiti’s Elected Mayors Dismissed, Illegally Replaced by Presidential Appointees | Prefeitos Eleitos do Haiti Demitidos, Substituídos Ilegalmente por Nomeados pelo Presidente

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Thirteen Haitian mayors were dismissed and replaced on February 18, 2012 by presidential decree. In a press conference, one mayor said that a new individual recently arrived claiming to be his municipality’s new mayor, and two days later he got a letter telling him to assist this person in taking inventory of the region’s heritage. Another mayor wrote in open letter on February 3 that his life is under threat. Secretary of the Interior Georges Racine is thought to be behind the wave of illegal dismissals. (English | Portuguese)

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Pioneering Cholera Scientist Gives Thumbs Down to Oral Vaccines Promoted for Haiti | Un pionnier scientifique du choléra dit que les vaccins oraux promus pour Haïti sont inutiles

By Rashid Haider, Haiti Chery. Prof. Richard A. Finkelstein, an eminent microbiologist and Nobel-Prize nominee for his pioneering studies on cholera, advises that for cholera “the best solution resides in providing safe drinking water and sewage disposal.” In Dec 2010, alarmed by the oral vaccination plans for Haiti, he wrote to the health officials, including Jon Andrus, the Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that the proposed use of Dukoral was “a useless and expensive waste of resources.” This vaccine was not adopted, but a campaign immediately started for the use of Shanchol, another questionable oral cholera vaccine. (English | French)

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A Revolution for Women | Revolución de Mujeres

By Tortilla con Sal | Jade (music). The following video gives a snapshot of the many different Nicaraguan women who are rebuilding their country, in concert with the Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional (FSLN), led by Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo. (Spanish | English subtitles)

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Foreign Aid, Foreign Wastes

Data from USAID | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. A policy of tied aid has until now required that USAID funds be spent on goods and services exclusively from U.S. companies. A new policy will allow USAID to buy many goods and services from developing countries, but not food, motor vehicles, or U.S.-patented pharmaceuticals.

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Haitian Senate Resolution: UN Soldiers Accused of Rape Should Be Tried In Place | Le Sénat vote une résolution réclamant que des soldats de l’ONU accusés de crimes soient jugés en Haïti

By staff, AHP | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The Haitian Senate has strongly condemned the latest rape of a boy on Jan 20, 2012 by Pakistani UN soldiers and noted that in such cases it is the law of the place where the crime is committed that should prevail. (English | French)

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