[HNA] Action Alert: Honduras Testimonies Show Extent of Police Violence

[Kaveri Rajaraman]

<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HYyiKrZPFUQrYVorW8Pp3BVa3HopAitE>
*Action Alert:

**Urge the Miami Herald and McClatchy to Report on Amnesty's Charges*
No word yet from the Miami Herald or McClatchy on the Amnesty International
report, although it has been reported by CNN, the New York Times, the
Christian Science Monitor, and AP. Send the Herald and McClatchy a note.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/herald<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=bU%2Fn53jMUBC2iSdPx3tMARVa3HopAitE>

*
Amnesty International: Honduras Testimonies Show Extent of Police Violence*

There has been very little attention in the U.S. press to repression in
Honduras under the coup regime. Hopefully, that will now change: Amnesty
International issued a report today documenting "serious ill-treatment by
police and military of peaceful protesters" in Honduras, warning that
"beatings and mass arrests are being used as a way of punishing people for
voicing their opposition" to the coup.
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/298<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Go1fo2EmZQN%2BwlwXlEbqexVa3HopAitE>


*Support the Work of Just Foreign Policy*
Your financial contributions to Just Foreign Policy help us create
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*Summary:*
*U.S./Top News <#12334ff62dd1ba89_August1909w1>*
1) Amnesty International says in the seven weeks since the coup in Honduras,
several hundred people protesting against the de facto government have been
arbitrarily arrested and beaten by government forces, CNN reports.
"Detention and ill treatment of protesters are being employed as a form of
punishment for those openly opposing the de facto government and also as a
deterrent for those contemplating taking to the streets to peacefully show
their discontent," said Amnesty's Central America researcher.

2) A Washington Post-ABC News poll says a majority of Americans now see the
war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting and just a quarter say more U.S.
troops should be sent to the country, the Washington Post reports.
Majorities of liberals and Democrats solidly oppose the war and are calling
for a reduction in troops. Nearly two-thirds of liberals stand against a
troop increase, as do about six in 10 Democrats. Women have shifted against
the war more sharply than men and are far more apt to say troop levels
should be decreased (51 percent) than are men (38 percent). Nearly six in 10
women say the war was not worth fighting.

3) U.S. envoy Holbrooke met with Liaqat Baloch, a leader of Pakistan's
"anti-American" Jamaat-i-Islami party, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Jamaat-i-Islami is one of the most influential Pakistani Islamist parties,
and its anti-American views are widely shared, U.S. officials say. A US
official described the conversation as a major outreach effort. Baloch told
Holbrooke he welcomed Obama's declarations that he wants a better
relationship with the Muslim world. But he insisted that, with American
drone strikes in Pakistan and troops in Afghanistan, "there still is no
change in the practice."

4) The Obama administration and Syria agreed to establish a committee with
Iraq to monitor the Syrian-Iraqi border as the U.S. draws down troops from
Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reports. In June, the top U.S. commander in
Iraq said there had been a significant decrease in foreign fighters entering
Iraq from Syria. "The Baathists have been coming under a lot of pressure in
the last few months," said one diplomat. "Some have been kicked out, some
have been told to shut up." Syria's moves seem to be a response to Obama's
active outreach efforts, the Journal says. The administration has announced
the return of a U.S ambassador to Damascus and eased U.S. sanctions.

5) A State Department report says Mexico's fight against drug traffickers
generated a sixfold increase in human rights complaints against the Mexican
military between 2006 and 2008, and it is unclear any of those complaints
resulted in prosecutions, the New York Times reports. Senator Leahy said the
report failed to adequately address the concerns about impunity within the
Mexican military that led him to threaten to hold up millions of dollars in
U.S. assistance. A spokeswoman for the Miguel Augustín Pro Juárez Human
Rights Center called on the U.S. to withhold the funds.

6) The US said it had complained to Israel about restrictions on the travel
of US citizens of Palestinian origin, calling the measures "unacceptable,"
AFP reports. Israel has been issuing entry stamps for some travelers, mostly
those of Arab ancestry, stating that they are only allowed in the
Palestinian Authority and cannot transit through Israel. "We have made it
quite known to the Israeli government ... that we expect all American
citizens to be treated the same regardless of their national origin," the
State Department said.
*
Israel/Palestine <#12334ff62dd1ba89_August1909w2>*
7) Israel's housing minister said his government had not given final
approval for any new housing projects in the West Bank since it took office,
the New York Times reports. Peace Now said more than 1,000 Israeli housing
units are currently under construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The group noted that Israel has not issued invitations for new bids since
November 2008, but that government-sponsored construction accounts for only
about 40 percent of building in the settlements while private building
initiated by settler groups continues.

8) Israel has declared the shooting of unarmed American demonstrator Tristan
Anderson in the West Bank to be an "act of war," the Palestine Media Center
reports. Anderson was critically injured in March when Israeli soldiers shot
him in the forehead with a high velocity tear gas canister. He remains
unconscious in Tel Aviv's Tel Hashomer Hospital. Attorney Leah Tsemel said
the "act of war" designation releases the government from paying
compensation, and that Israel makes this designation "all the time," in
cases involving Palestinian victims.
*
Cuba <#12334ff62dd1ba89_August1909w3>*
9) A delegation of U.S. Catholic leaders urged the Obama administration to
seize what they called a rare political opportunity to lift the 47-year-old
economic embargo against Cuba, AP reports. Bishop Thomas Wenski said the
delegation came away from a meeting with U.S. officials with the impression
that U.S. policy toward Cuba is under review and that "their approach seems
to be piece by piece." He urged a quicker pace after "50 years of lack of
confidence on both sides." Cuba has pushed for release of the "Cuban Five,"
men convicted of being unregistered foreign agents by a Miami court. Cuba
says the men were trying to avoid terrorist attacks on the island.

*Peru <#12334ff62dd1ba89_August1909w4>*
10) Some experts say Peru could displace Colombia in 2011 as the world's
biggest producer of coca, the raw material of cocaine, EFE reports, citing
La Republica. Peru, like Bolivia, allows cultivation of coca in small
quantities for use in teas, folk remedies and Andean religious rites.

*Contents:
U.S./Top News*
1) Police brutality rampant in Honduras, amnesty report says
CNN, August 19, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/08/19/honduras.amnesty.report/index.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=DPTJLL6YytZCEbpXC0UCDhVa3HopAitE>

In the seven weeks since the military-backed bloodless coup ["bloodless"?! -
JFP] in Honduras, several hundred people protesting against the de facto
government have been arbitrarily arrested and beaten by government forces, a
new Amnesty International report says.

The report, released Wednesday, said the beatings were meant to punish those
who opposed the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya in June.

It includes testimony from, and photographs of, several people who were
baton-whipped and detained by police officers who sometimes wore no visible
identification and hid their faces behind bandanas as they broke up
demonstrations.

"They beat us if we raised our heads; they beat us when they were getting us
into the police cars," said a student whom Amnesty International interviewed
in late July at the police station where he was being detained. "They said,
'Cry and we'll stop.'"

Multiple requests to the government for comment went unanswered. The
government has said in the past that the demonstrators were arrested for
engaging in violence and provoking authorities.
[...]
Among several examples, the Amnesty report quotes F.M., a 52-year-old
teacher, who said he was demonstrating peacefully when police descended on
the rally. "They grabbed me and shouted, 'Why do you (all) support Zelaya's
government?' They beat me. I have not been informed as to why I am
detained." He showed deep-red imprints on his back, which he said were from
a beating with a baton.

"Detention and ill treatment of protesters are being employed as a form of
punishment for those openly opposing the de facto government and also as a
deterrent for those contemplating taking to the streets to peacefully show
their discontent with the political turmoil the country is experiencing,"
said Esther Major, Amnesty's Central America researcher.

2) Majority in Post-ABC Poll Say Afghan War Not Worth Fighting
Few Express Confidence in Lasting Results From Thursday's Election
Jennifer Agiesta and Jon Cohen, Washington Post, Wednesday, August 19, 2009
4:58 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/19/AR2009081903066.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=pOmm6Rf3IR%2BtIdUrS0vb%2FxVa3HopAitE>

A majority of Americans now see the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting
and just a quarter say more U.S. troops should be sent to the country,
according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
...
The new poll comes amid widespread speculation that the top U.S. commander
in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, will request more troops for his
stepped-up effort to root the Taliban from Afghan towns and villages. That
is a position that gets the backing of 24 percent of those polled, while
nearly twice as many, 45 percent, want to decrease the number of military
forces there. (Most of the remainder say to keep the level about the same.)

In January, before President Obama authorized sending an additional 17,000
troops to the country, public sentiment tilted more strongly toward a troop
increase.

Should President Obama embrace his general's call for even more U.S.
military forces, he risks alienating some of his staunchest supporters While
60 percent of all Americans approve of how Obama has handled the situation
in Afghanistan, his ratings among liberals have slipped and majorities of
liberals and Democrats alike now, for the first time, solidly oppose the war
and are calling for a reduction in troops.

Overall, seven in 10 Democrats say the war has not been worth its costs, and
fewer than one in five support an increase in troop levels. Nearly
two-thirds of the most committed Democrats now feel "strongly" that the war
was not worth fighting. Among moderate and conservative Democrats, a slim
majority say the United States is losing in Afghanistan.
[...]
Among all adults, 51 percent now say the war is not worth fighting, up six
points since last month and four points above the previous high, reached in
February. Less than half, 47 percent, say the war is worth its costs. Those
strongly opposed (41 percent) outweigh strong proponents (31 percent).
[...]
Among liberals, his rating on handling the war, which he calls one of
"necessity," has fallen swiftly, with strong approval cratering by 20
points. Nearly two-thirds of liberals stand against a troop increase, as do
about six in 10 Democrats.
[...]
Beyond ideological and partisan divisions on the war, women have shifted
against the war more sharply than men and are far more apt to say troop
levels should be decreased (51 percent) than are men (38 percent). Nearly
six in 10 women say the war was not worth fighting, up from just under half
last month.

3) U.S. envoy has 'useful dialogue' with anti-American Pakistani leader
The Islamist politician speaks warmly to Richard Holbrooke, then drives off
to a demonstration against the U.S. presence in the region. The talks
illustrate the Obama approach to foreign policy.
Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times, August 19, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-pakistan-holbrooke19-2009aug19,0,6301902.story<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0ED0BkJxnByL%2F3dk%2FkzwBxVa3HopAitE>

Islamabad, Pakistan - Obama administration officials have pledged to talk to
world leaders no matter their views. On Tuesday, they showed that the offer
extends to Islamists who spend the day denouncing America from the street
corners.

U.S. envoy Richard C. Holbrooke met with Liaqat Baloch, a leader of
Pakistan's Jamaat-i-Islami party. About an hour later, as the bearded
scholar prepared to depart for an anti-American rally across town, the
veteran diplomat said that despite their disagreements, the meeting had
begun "a very useful dialogue."

Pakistan is eager for U.S. aid, but many people are wary of U.S. intentions.
Jamaat-i-Islami has limited leverage in the government, but it is one of the
most influential Pakistani Islamist parties, and its anti-American views are
widely shared, U.S. officials say.

One of Holbrooke's aides described the conversation as a major outreach
effort for the United States, roughly equivalent to talking to the Muslim
Brotherhood, an Egyptian Islamist party that Washington shuns.
[...]
Baloch pressed Holbrooke on one of the most passionate issues of the moment,
suspicions that a planned expansion of the U.S. Embassy is aimed at turning
the compound into a military base. Baloch has charged that the United States
has a secret plan to build a military "cantonment" as a prelude to trying to
seize Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.

Suspicions about such a base have generated dozens of news stories recently,
despite diplomats' insistence that they are adding 16 acres only to
accommodate staff members needed to help implement the U.S. aid program,
which is to grow fourfold in the next 18 months. A Pakistani journalist
challenged Holbrooke in a group interview Monday to explain why the United
States wanted to build "a fortress in the middle of the capital."

Holbrooke invited Baloch to come to the embassy to examine the blueprints.
"We have no secrets on this," he said.

Baloch told Holbrooke that he welcomed Obama's declarations that he wants a
better relationship with the Muslim world. But he insisted that, with
American drone strikes in Pakistan and troops in Afghanistan, "there still
is no change in the practice."

Holbrooke contended that the new administration had changed policy from the
Bush days in "dozens" of respects. He said the administration had halted the
effort to eradicate Afghan poppy crops, tightened rules on Afghan military
strikes to avoid civilian casualties, and was increasing economic aid to
Pakistan. But Holbrooke insisted that he wouldn't support a withdrawal from
Afghanistan, as Baloch wanted, until the country was no longer at risk of
descending into turmoil.
[...]

4) Damascus Agrees To Help Monitor Iraqi Border
Syria Plans to Join Baghdad and the U.S. In Bid to Boost Security in the
Region
Jay Solomon and Julien Barnes-Dacey, Wall Street Journal, August 19, 2009
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125063522892541469.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=SdD6qvm4IlBY2761%2BUvINRVa3HopAitE>

The Obama administration and Damascus tentatively agreed to establish a
tripartite committee, with Baghdad, to better monitor the Syrian-Iraqi
border as the Pentagon draws down American troops from Iraq in coming
months, said senior U.S. officials.

The proposed three-way border-control assessments could boost Iraqi security
and patch one of the region's most volatile fault lines. The initiative was
made by a team of U.S. Central Command officers and their Syrian
counterparts last week in Damascus.

The pact awaits the green light from Baghdad, which expressed frustration at
being excluded from the U.S.-Syrian talks, saying they violated Iraqi
sovereignty on security matters.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met Syrian President Bashar Assad in
Damascus on Tuesday. A statement issued late in the day by the Iraqi prime
minister's office in Baghdad said only that the two sides "discussed the
expansion of the Iraqi and Syrian cooperation" in border control. "Both
governments are working seriously and practically to deal with all the
issues," added Alaa al-Jawadi, the Iraqi ambassador in Damascus. "The
Syrians have been positive with us."
[...]
The Pentagon regularly accused Syria of facilitating the flow of foreign
fighters and al Qaeda militants into Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam
Hussein in 2003.

In June, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, said there had
been a significant decrease in the number of foreign fighters entering Iraq
from Syria. But U.S. officials also say there are issues to resolve. "We're
still a little bit concerned with Syria's role in this," Gen. Odierno told
reporters in Baghdad on Monday. "I think our bilateral discussions with them
are important."

Syria says it has detained more than 1,700 militants, blocked potential
combatants from passing through the country en route to Iraq and imposed
stricter border policing. Syria also appears to have cracked down on former
members of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime who fled to Damascus after the
Iraqi invasion. "The Baathists have been coming under a lot of pressure in
the last few months," said one senior Western diplomat. "Some have been
kicked out, some have been told to shut up."

Syria's moves seem to be a response to President Barack Obama's increasingly
active outreach efforts. The administration has announced the return of a
U.S ambassador to Damascus and recently eased U.S. sanctions in an apparent
bid to draw Syria away from its alliance with Iran.
[...]

5) Mexico Drug Fight Fuels Complaints
Ginger Thompson and Marc Lacey, New York Times, August 19, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/world/americas/19mexico.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=X6DZHD1qWra7LVC%2FXq1hRgRBNaKDBnzN>

Washington - Mexico's fight against drug traffickers generated a sixfold
increase in human rights complaints against the Mexican military between
2006 and 2008, and it is unclear that any of those complaints resulted in
prosecutions, according to a State Department report on the effort.

The 17-page report was delivered to Congress last week as part of a joint
counternarcotics program known as the Merida Initiative. The $1.4 billion
initiative, passed by Congress last year, provides equipment and training to
Mexican security forces. But it also calls for 15 percent of the money to be
withheld until the State Department verifies that the government is meeting
four human rights requirements, including the prosecution of police officers
and soldiers responsible for abuses.

While the State Department cited several examples of progress, it was hardly
a glowing endorsement. And a key Democratic senator said the report failed
to adequately address the concerns about impunity within the Mexican
military that led him to threaten to hold up millions of dollars in United
States assistance.

"It is well known that the military justice system is manifestly
ineffective," said a statement issued Tuesday by Senator Patrick J. Leahy of
Vermont, chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee on foreign
operations, which must approve disbursement of the Merida assistance. "And
it is apparent that neither the Mexican government nor the State Department
has treated human rights abuses by the military, which is engaging in an
internal police function it is ill suited for, as a priority."
[...]
But as the troops' presence on the streets has increased, the State
Department reported, so have the number of complaints against them. Between
2006 and 2008, they rose to 1,230, from 182, the report said. In all,
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission has received some 2,050 complaints
against soldiers since Mr. Calderón took office at the end of 2006.

Based on those complaints, the human rights commission - which is financed
by the Mexican government - issued 26 recommendations for follow-up to the
Defense Ministry. The ministry agreed to consider 25 of them. And since
soldiers accused of abuses are generally prosecuted in closed military
tribunals, it was impossible to tell whether any complaints had resulted in
punishments.

"The information received from the Mexican government regarding these
cases," the report said, "and the opaqueness of the military court system
makes it difficult to analyze the nature and the type of complaints filed,
the status of the cases against members of the military alleged to have
violated human rights, or the results of the military prosecution."
The State Department report says the head of a newly established military
human rights directorate had announced that military courts had convicted 12
soldiers since 2006 and were investigating an additional 52 officers in
connection with offenses including homicide, torture, kidnapping and
extortion.

However, the State Department acknowledged that little was known about these
cases.
[...]
Human Rights Watch, which has been documenting abuses in Mexico, responded
hours later with two cases, both from Mr. Calderón's home state of
Michoacán, in which soldiers accused of torture two years ago have not been
prosecuted.

In an interview on Tuesday, Madeleine Penman, a spokeswoman for the Miguel
Augustín Pro Juárez Human Rights Center, called on the United States to
withhold the funds. "There is very little evidence of action on human rights
by the Mexican government," she said. "We do not think that simply backing
up Felipe Calderón's fight against organized crime helps at all with rule of
law in Mexico."

6) US complains to Israel on Palestinian-American entry rules
AFP, August 19, 2009
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090819/pl_afp/mideastisraelpalestinianusimmigrationdiplomacy_20090819201903<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=IF4ZH%2FHbRpqYK1pQJlge4RVa3HopAitE>

The United States said Wednesday it had complained to Israel about
restrictions on the travel of US citizens of Palestinian origin, calling the
measures "unacceptable." The State Department said that Israel has been
issuing entry stamps for some travelers, mostly those of Arab ancestry,
stating that they are only allowed in the Palestinian Authority and cannot
transit through Israel.

"We have made it quite known to the Israeli government ... that we expect
all American citizens to be treated the same regardless of their national
origin," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "These kinds of
restrictions we consider unacceptable," Kelly told reporters. "We will
continue to protest."

The State Department, in a recent travel advisory, warned that Israeli
immigration authorities may write a Palestinian Authority identification
number in a passport, regardless of whether the traveler has US citizenship
or even held Palestinian documentation previously.

Such travelers are then required to carry Palestinian travel documents and
may be refused use of Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, the country's main
international gateway.
Instead, the travelers must transit through the Allenby Bridge connecting
the West Bank and Jordan. Due to Israeli checkpoints, this means they
effectively cannot go to Jerusalem or the Gaza Strip.

Israeli authorities recently started to stamp in visitors' passports whether
they are heading to Israel or the Palestinian territories, potentially
preventing them from travelling to both.
Israel's tourism ministry on Monday denounced the restrictions introduced by
the interior ministry, warning they would damage Israel's reputation and
impede some of the millions of pilgrims who flock each year to religious
sites across the region. In some cases, Israeli immigration has given such
"Palestinian Authority only" stamps even to travelers with no apparent
Palestinian origin, according to the State Department.
*
Israel/Palestine*
7) Settlement Building Is in 'Waiting Period,' Israel's Housing Minister
Says
Isabel Kershner, New York Times, August 19, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/world/middleeast/19mideast.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=dpxOe1haSwin%2FhBIGBAsmRVa3HopAitE>

Jerusalem - Israel's housing minister said Tuesday that his government had
not given final approval for any new housing projects in the West Bank since
it took office in late March, in a sign that the Israelis may be trying to
lower tensions with the United States over the settlements issue.

But the minister, Ariel Atias, and other officials emphasized that the
hiatus in issuing government invitations for bids for new housing projects
did not constitute a formal settlement freeze.
[...]
In an interview with Israel Radio, Mr. Atias described this as a "waiting
period," but said "there is no freeze." The prime minister was "acting
wisely," Mr. Atias said, by "not trying to be a hero toward the Americans
and clash with them."
[...]
Peace Now, an Israeli leftist advocacy group that opposes Jewish settlement
in territory the Palestinians want for a state, said Tuesday that more than
1,000 Israeli housing units are currently under construction in the West
Bank and East Jerusalem. The group noted that Israel has not issued
invitations for new bids since November 2008, but that government-sponsored
construction accounts for only about 40 percent of building in the
settlements while private building initiated by settler groups continues.
[...]

8) Israel Declares Shooting Of American An "Act Of War" To Avoid
Compensation
Palestine Media Center, 19/08/2009
http://www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=2844<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ERhuCGsOeSPzPyYFCF1sDxVa3HopAitE>

Israel has declared the shooting of unarmed American demonstrator Tristan
Anderson in the West Bank to be an "act of war" in a bid to avoid
compensating his family. The Israeli Army Ministry sent a letter containing
this declaration to the Anderson family's lawyers, according to attorney
Leah Tsemel who is perusing a civil suit against the Israeli government.

Anderson was critically injured on 13 March 2009 when Israeli soldiers shot
him in the forehead with a high velocity tear gas canister during a
demonstration against the separation wall in the West Bank village of
Ni'lin. He remains unconscious in Tel Aviv's Tel Hashomer Hospital, where he
recently underwent another surgery to reattach part of his skull that was
removed during life-saving surgery five months ago. Prospects for his
recovery remain unclear.

Tsemel, the civil suit attorney told Ma'an that the "act of war" designation
automatically releases the government from paying compensation under a
recently-amended tort law. Israel makes this designation "all the time," in
tort cases involving Palestinian victims, she said. She also said the
Andersons' lawyers would "exhaust all possibilities in Israeli courts," and
in international courts if necessary, to hold the government accountable. A
court date has not yet been set.

Tsemel also reiterated that overwhelming evidence shows that Anderson was
not a combatant and presented no threat to the Israeli soldiers. In an
eventual court proceeding, she said, Anderson's lawyers would present
eyewitnesses, videotape, a medical report, and even the Israeli soldier's
own reports to prove this.

"If a process by which unarmed civilian demonstration is classified by
Israel as an 'act of war,' then clearly Israel admits that it is at war with
civilians," said Attorney Michael Sfard, who is handling the criminal side
of the Anderson case, in a statement circulated by the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM).

Anderson was shot at a distance of 60 meters while standing with a group of
Palestinians and international activists, hours after the demonstration had
been dispersed from the construction site of the Wall.
*
Cuba*
9) US church leaders urge Obama to end Cuba embargo
James Anderson, Associated Press, Tuesday, August 18, 2009 4:54 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR2009081802682.html<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=UsSFNj200g1jBdYUCSNwkhVa3HopAitE>

Havana - A delegation of U.S. Roman Catholic Church leaders urged Barack
Obama's administration Tuesday to seize what they called a rare political
opportunity to lift the 47-year-old economic embargo against Cuba's
communist government.

Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida, said the U.S. church welcomed a
recent move by Washington to relax travel restrictions on Cuban Americans
with family in Cuba as well on the remittances they can send to those
families. But he said there is much more to be done. Wenski said at a news
conference that the U.S. church hopes "both sides listen to their better
angels" and move to normalize ties.

The U.S. church long has urged an end to the embargo, imposed by Washington
in 1962 to weaken Cuba's communist government. Opponents argue that easing
or lifting the sanctions will only sustain a government that doesn't
tolerate dissent.

Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston said Obama's election presents a rare
opportunity to bridge an "immense psychological distance" that has marred
relations and end an economic policy the church says punishes Cuban
citizens. "There were other opportunities that were lost," Wenski said. "And
it's important we do not lose the opportunity this time."
[...]
Wenski said the delegation came away from the Interests Section meeting with
the impression that U.S. policy toward Cuba is under review and that "their
approach seems to be piece by piece." He urged a quicker pace after "50
years of lack of confidence on both sides."

"That's a lot of history to overcome," Wenski added. "We would hope that
both sides listen to their better angels."
[...]
Cuba insists that any dialogue have no preconditions - but it also has
pushed for the release of the "Cuban Five," men convicted of being
unregistered foreign agents by a Miami court in 2001. Three also were
convicted of conspiracy to obtain military secrets from the U.S. Southern
Command. Cuba says that the men were trying to avoid terrorist attacks on
the island and that anti-Castro sentiment in South Florida kept them from
getting a fair trial.

Wenski said Tuesday that the Cuban church has enjoyed more freedom since a
1998 visit by Pope John Paul II and that the country, which is suffering a
severe economic crisis, "has reasons for hope. I believe this visit is a
reason for that kind of hope."

*Peru*
10) Peru Will Be No. 1 Coca Producer by 2011, Experts Say
EFE, August 17, 2009
http://laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=341600&CategoryId=14095<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=yqtVbnkmb4brfymTKSNjHRVa3HopAitE>

Lima - Peru could displace Colombia in 2011 as the world's biggest producer
of coca, the raw material of cocaine, according to experts quoted Monday by
La Republica newspaper.

In "2011 or 2012 Peru very probably should come to be the No. 1 producer of
cocaine in the world, as occurred in the 1980s," analyst Jaime Garcia Diaz
told the paper.

In that decade, the amount of territory in Peru on which coca leaf was being
grown was about 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres). In 2005, about 48,200
hectares were used to grow coca and in 2008 56,100 hectares, and at present
the country is the world's second largest producer of coca, according to the
United Nations.

If the rising trend of the past few years is maintained, with coca
production increasing by about 4 or 5 percent annually, coca leaf cropland
in Peru will total 75,000 hectares in 2011, despite the government's efforts
to eradicate about 10,000 hectares of the illegal crop each year.

In contrast, in Colombia, the land area on which coca leaf was being grown,
by 2008, had fallen by 18 percent to about 80,953 hectares, according to
U.N. figures cited by La Republica.

Garcia Diaz and drug trafficking expert Jaime Antezana, both of whom are
with ConsultAndes, agree that the aggressive campaign to eradicate coca
plots being pursued in Colombia could cause drug traffickers to shift their
production to Peru.
[...]
Peru, like neighboring Bolivia, allows cultivation of coca in small
quantities for use in teas, folk remedies and Andean religious rites.
[...]

-
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=mVnKLo7PLn9lLVcKOzZZsBVa3HopAitE>

Just Foreign Policy is a membership organization devoted to reforming US
foreign policy so it reflects the values and interests of the majority of
Americans.


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