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Photo essay: Guatemalan Indigenous communities resist violent eviction by Canadian mining company

Adolfo Ich Xaman (in middle) murdered by company goons.

Story and photo essay by James Rodríguez, Barrio La Union, El Estor, Izabal, Guatemala

September 28, 2009 -- MiMundo.org -- (Unless indicated, all photographs were taken in June 2009.) As a result of a frustrated eviction attempt in the community of Las Nubes in El Estor, Izabal, Adolfo Ich Xaman (middle in photograph above) was brutally shot and killed by private security guards subcontracted by the Guatemalan Nickel Company (CGN), local subsidiary of HudBay Minerals Inc., a Canadian mining company.

Mr. Ich Xaman was chairperson of the Community Committee for Development (COCODE) of the nearby Barrio La Union community, a primary school teacher, and brother-in-law of Ramiro Choc, a high-profile imprisoned Indigenous and peasant leader. During the attack, the following men were also shot and injured: Samuel Coc, Ricardo Tec, Alfredo Xi, Haroldo Cucul (left in the photograph), Alejandro Acté, Luciano Choc, Hector Choc and Guzman Chub.

(Updated October 2) Honduras: Dictatorship steps up reign of terror, resistance pushes on

Democracy Now! September 29, 2009.

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By Fred Fuentes, Caracas

(Updated Sept. 27) Insurrection in Honduras: Resistance Front says ‘we won't rest until victory’

Residents of Hato de Enmedio, Tegucigalpa, take control of their barrio. September 22, 2009.

By Federico Fuentes, Caracas

September 25Green Left Weekly“The whole world knows that what we have here in Honduras is a coup regime”, Armando Licona, a leader from the Revolutionary University Student Front said. Green Left Weekly spoke with Licona, whose organisation is part of the National Resistance Front Against the Coup (FNRG), on the phone from the Honduran capital, Tegucilgalpa.

(Updated Sept. 25) Honduras: Zelaya returns — Resistance prepares more action; coup regime reacts with repression

Democracy Now! report, September 22, 2009. Click HERE for program transcript.

[Follow the latest developments live (in Spanish) on Telesur and Radio Globo Honduras.]

By Federico Fuentes, Caracas

September 22, 2009 — Green Left Weekly -- The dictatorship in Honduras, which overthrew the elected government of President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, has unleashed a wave of repression against the masses of people who have taken to the streets following Zelaya's dramatic return on September 21.

London climate justice conference: A model of ecosocialist collaboration

By Ian Angus

September 17, 2009 -- Climate and Capitalism -- On September 12, about 100 people attended “Climate and Capitalism”, a one-day conference in London, England, organised by Green Left and Socialist Resistance.

I was invited to participate as editor of the Climate and Capitalism website, and as editor of The Global Fight for Climate Justice, published this summer by Resistance Books (Britain). (The meeting was in part a launch event for the book.) I spoke at the opening plenary [see Ian Angus' presentation below] and in a workshop on the global South.

John Bellamy Foster: Financial crisis, imperialism and environment -- `Socialism is humanity's best chance'

On September 17, 2009, John Bellamy Foster appeared on Democracy Now! to discuss the financial

Muntadar al-Zaidi released from jail -- Celebrate with `Sock and Awe'

September 15, 2009 -- BBC -- The Iraqi man who threw his shoes at former US President George W Bush, has been released from jail in Baghdad, his brother has told the BBC.

Muntadar al-Zaidi's act of protest made him a hero in large parts of the Arab world and beyond.

`Amanzi Ngawethu' (water is ours); Health and environmental victories for South African activists

On September 2 and 3, 2009, the Constitutional Court of South Africa will hear the final appeal in a case brought by five Soweto residents challenging Johannesburg's discriminatory prepaid water meter system. Their six-year legal battle would reaffirm the constitutional right to water for all South Africans.

Low-income communities in Johannesburg's townships do not have sufficient water resources and do not receive the same water services as residents in wealthier, often white, suburbs. Yet, the Bill of Rights of South Africa guarantees everyone's right to have access to sufficient water.