WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS ISSUE #656, AUGUST 25, 2002 NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 1. Dominican Republic: One Killed in Blackout Protest 2. Colombia: Ecopetrol to Drill U'wa Land 3. Colombia: More Unionists Murdered 4. Colombia: More Paramilitary Massacres 5. Colombia: Rebels Fighting Paramilitaries? 6. Panama: Wounan Girl Killed, SERPAJ Raided 7. Haiti: Some Guacimal Prisoners Freed 8. Argentina: US Releases "Dirty War" Files 9. Argentina: Local Social Forum Meets 10. Mexico: Cops Attack Costco Protesters 11. Venezuela: Thousands Protest Court Ruling 12. Puerto Rico: Vieques Bombing to Resume? 13. Peru: Miners, Others Strike 14. Honduras: Teachers Block Bridge ISSN#: 1084-922X. The Weekly News Update on the Americas is published weekly by the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York. A one-year subscription (52 issues) is $25. To subscribe, send a check or money order for US $25 payable to Nicaragua Solidarity Network, 339 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012. Please specify if you want the electronic or print version: they are identical in content, but the electronic version is delivered directly to your email address; the print version is sent via first class mail. For more information about electronic subscriptions, contact . Back issues and source materials are available on request. If you are accessing this Update for free on electronic newsgroups, we would appreciate any financial support you can contribute. We are a small, all-volunteer organization funded solely through subscriptions and contributions. Please also help spread the word about the Update. If you know someone who might be interested in subscribing, send their email (or regular mail) address to and request a free one-month trial subscription to the Weekly News Update on the Americas. Feel free to reproduce these updates, or reprint or re-post any information from them, but please credit us as "Weekly News Update on the Americas," and include our full contact information so that people will know how to find us. Send us a copy of any publication where we are cited or reprinted. We also welcome your comments and ideas: send them to us at the street address above or via e-mail to *1. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: ONE KILLED IN BLACKOUT PROTEST One person died and at least 15 people were wounded by bullets during a 24-hour civic strike on Aug. 22 in the Capotillo neighborhood of Santo Domingo, called by the Collective of Popular Organizations to protest daily 18-hour electricity blackouts. Protesters burned tires and threw rocks at buses and trucks; riot police responded by firing tear gas and cartridges filled with lead pellets. Hooded individuals also reportedly fired weapons from the crowd. Dozens of people were arrested, including some of the wounded protesters. Alberto Santos Veloz, an accountant and member of the opposition Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), was killed by a bullet in the neck. Four police agents were wounded, including Maj. Enrique Robles, who was reported to be in serious but stable condition with a bullet wound to the head. President Hipolito Mejia said on Aug. 22 that he will soon announce a solution to the country's electricity crisis, which will include the renegotiation of contracts with the private electricity companies. [CNN en Espanol with info from Reuters, AP; El Diario-La Prensa (NY) 8/23/02 & 8/24/02, both from correspondent; El Nacional (Santo Domingo) 8/22/02; Miami Herald 8/24/02 from unspecified wire sources; Hoy (Santo Domingo) 8/23/02] *2. COLOMBIA: ECOPETROL TO DRILL U'WA LAND The Bogota daily El Tiempo reported on Aug. 20 that the Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol will take over test drilling operations at the Gibraltar 1 oil well of the Samore Block in northeastern Colombia. The Samore Block, also known as Siriri, covers 47,000 hectares of land in Norte de Santander department, including part of the traditional territory of the U'wa indigenous tribe, who vehemently oppose oil drilling on their land. Victor Eduardo Perez, Ecopetrol's vice president of exploration, said the drilling will cost $3-8 million. Equipment is already being moved to the area to resume the drilling, according to El Tiempo. The U'wa say they will resist, and will not rest until all oil companies are gone from their land. The Los Angeles-based multinational oil company Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) had invested $100 million in exploratory drilling at Gibraltar 1 before it announced on May 3 of this year that it was abandoning the project as unprofitable [see Update #640]. [Censat Agua Viva - Amigos de la Tierra Colombia 8/22/02; ET 8/20/02] *3. COLOMBIA: MORE UNIONISTS MURDERED The Unitary Workers Federation (CUT), Colombia's main labor federation, says a state of emergency imposed by new Colombian president Alvaro Uribe Velez on Aug. 12 [see Update #655] is being used as "a way to further attack human rights activists and union leaders." At least three Colombian unionists were killed by rightwing paramilitaries on Aug. 15. Paramilitaries pulled Felipe Santiago Mendoza Navarro from his house in Tibu, Santander department, and shot him repeatedly in the head. Mendoza was a member of the United Union of Workers (USO), which represents employees of the state-run oil company Ecopetrol. In Sucre department, paramilitaries murdered teacher Francisco Mendez Diaz of the Colombian Teachers Federation FECODE on the road between Chalan and Sincelejo. In the town of Miranda, Cauca department, paramilitaries entered the local hospital and killed nurse Amparo Figueroa, a member of the National Association of Hospital and Clinic Workers (ANTHOC). Figueroa had moved to Miranda for safety reasons 10 months earlier after receiving death threats in another area. [Agencia de Noticias Nueva Colombia (ANNCOL) 8/19/02; CUT Human Rights Department 8/16/02] Another ANTHOC member, ambulance driver Roberto Rojas Pinzon, was murdered on July 26 on the road between Cravo and Arauca in Arauca department. [CUT Communique 8/2/02] In Cordoba, Quindio department, Blanca Ludivia Hernandez was found dead on Aug. 15; her body showed signs of torture. She had been abducted by paramilitaries the previous week. Hernandez was a staff member and vice president of the SINDES trade union, representing workers in the Cordoba public hospital. On Aug. 13 in the city of Cali, Valle del Cauca department, two paramilitaries on a motorcycle shot and wounded Omar Romero Diaz, a full-time activist with the SUTIMAC construction workers union who also volunteered with a local human rights collective. The attackers were apparently not stopped at any roadblocks; it is illegal to carry a passenger on a motorcycle in Cali unless you are a member of the security forces. [ANNCOL 8/19/02] On July 31 in Puerto Wilches, Santander, hooded armed assailants shot to death Wilfredo Camargo Aroca while he was working at the Las Brisas oil factory. Camargo was an active member of the National Union of Agricultural Industry Workers (SINTRAINAGRO). The same day in Valledupar, Cesar department, paramilitaries murdered Rodrigo Gamboa Coy, who worked for more than 20 years for the National Agrarian Reform Institute (INCORA) and was president of the Cesar chapter of the Union of INCORA Workers (SINTRADIN). [CUT Communique 8/2/02] Also on July 31, paramilitaries abducted union activist Alonso Pamplona in Sabana de Torres municipality, Santander department. Pamplona, who worked for the USO oil workers union, was found alive but badly wounded the next day, having been shot four times. He is reportedly recovering in a hospital. The attack led some 7,000 USO members across the country to stage a 24-hour protest strike, which also sought the safe return of USO member Gonzalo Ramirez Triana, abducted by paramilitaries on July 29 or 30 in Villeta, Cundinamarca department. Ramirez remains missing. [ANNCOL 8/20/02; La Nacion (Neiva) 8/4/02 from RCN; CUT Communique 8/2/02] So far this year paramilitaries have murdered 115 CUT members, the CUT Human Rights Department reported in an Aug. 16 statement. Eight more CUT members have been detained and remain disappeared, while 16 others have been kidnapped, of whom five were later released. No arrests have been made in any of the cases. [CUT 8/16/02 via Equipo Nizkor] According to a resolution from Colombia's Office of the Defender of the People, the National Union School reported that 1,741 unionists were murdered between January 1991 and December 2001, an average of 174 per year. The school also reports that Colombia has one of the lowest rates of unionization in Latin America, about 7% of the working population, a total of some 900,000 union members. [Resolucion Defensorial 7/23/02 via Equipo Nizkor] *4. COLOMBIA: MORE PARAMILITARY MASSACRES The New Colombia News Agency (ANNCOL), an alternative news service, charges that numerous paramilitary attacks have gone virtually unreported by the Colombian and international media over the past month. On Aug. 14 in San Juan del Cesar, La Guajira department, paramilitaries murdered four civilians they accused of being guerrilla sympathizers. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] The Bogota daily El Tiempo reported on Aug. 13 that 80 families were forced to flee San Juan del Cesar. The same article mentioned that in Matitas, La Guajira, the Aug. 8 murder of campesino Jaime Mejia had caused an unknown number of families to flee the community. [ET 8/13/02] On Aug. 10 in Medellin, Antioquia department, paramilitaries shot to death land reform activist Roberto Hugo Santander. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] On Aug. 4 in the indigenous community of Cascajeros, Choco department, paramilitaries shot to death three people--including a pregnant woman--then ordered all other residents of the community to leave the region or be killed. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] El Tiempo reported on Aug. 6 that a group of 20 Embera indigenous people--including 11 children--had arrived in Cali after fleeing "paramilitary violence" in Cascajeros. The article provided no details about the violence. [ET 8/6/02] On Aug. 3 in Soledad, a suburb of Barranquilla in Atlantico department, paramilitaries murdered four young people. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] On Aug. 2, a joint patrol of the Colombian Navy and paramilitary forces entered Puerto Saija, Timbiqui municipality, Cauca department, and told local residents--accused of being guerrilla sympathizers--to leave the area or be executed. Some 300 residents fled by boat. Two civilians were found murdered in the area on Aug. 3. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] The Cali daily newspaper El Pais reported on Aug. 1 that the Colombian military said it had killed four paramilitaries in combat in Puerto Saija. [EP 8/1/02] On July 27, paramilitaries abducted 16-year old newspaper vendor Jorge Perez Ardila in the La Victoria neighborhood of Barrancabermeja, Santander department. He has not been seen since. More than 60 people have disappeared in the city so far this year, about half of them youths accused by paramilitaries of being rebel spies. [ANNCOL 8/20/02; Vanguardia Liberal (Bucaramanga) 7/31/02] On July 26, a paramilitary assassin shot to death Yolanda Castano, a community leader in the La Loma neighborhood of Cali, Valle del Cauca department. On July 25, paramilitaries opened fire at vehicles on the road between Pereira and Armenia in the coffee-growing region of central Colombia, killing three civilians and injuring two. On July 22, paramilitaries executed three people and "disappeared" four others in Yarumal, Antioquia department. On July 21, several paramilitary patrols murdered at least seven civilians in Monteria municipality, Cordoba department. On July 19, paramilitaries killed six civilians in San Carlos municipality, Antioquia. On July 16, paramilitaries abducted and executed four female students--alleged guerrilla sympathizers--from the "Creadores del Futuro" (Creators of the Future) high school in the Blanquizal neighborhood of Medellin. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] On July 14 in Mogotes municipality, Santander, two paramilitary attackers shot to death Martha Ines Velez Serna, a nun with the Sisters of the Poor of Saint Peter Claver. Velez was known for her work for peace and human rights. [ANNCOL 8/20/02; El Espectador (Bogota) 7/22/02; Messages from religious groups sent by Margaret McGuirk via email 7/22/02] ANNCOL says Velez was killed because she reported local paramilitary massacres, and says it has information that Col. Jorge Daniel Castro, commander of the police in Santander department, was involved in planning her murder. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] On July 13, paramilitaries dragged indigenous leader Maria Torres from a public bus and shot her dead at the side of the road in Aracataca municipality, Magdalena department. On July 12, a paramilitary death squad entered the community of La Union in Antioquia department and murdered four men whose names were on a list. [ANNCOL appears to be referring to La Union municipality in southeastern Antioquia.] One of the men was forced to dig his own grave before being killed by machete blows and a gunshot to the head. [ANNCOL 8/20/02] *5. COLOMBIA: REBELS FIGHTING PARAMILITARIES? Colombian authorities reported on Aug. 17 that 30 people had died in fighting which began Aug. 9 between some 400 rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and about the same number of rightwing paramilitaries in the area of Santiago de la Selva, Valparaiso municipality, in the southern department of Caqueta. The bodies of 15 paramilitaries were recovered by court officials, while the bodies of 15 rebels were said to have been buried in common graves and had not been recovered. Local campesinos displaced by the fighting said the death toll could be as high as 100. [El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 8/18/02 from EFE] The alternative news agency ANNCOL gave a different version of the story, saying that 29 paramilitaries and five soldiers were killed in a rural area of Valparaiso between Aug. 9 and 13 when some 250 rebels from the FARC's Southern Block attacked and destroyed a military camp where special troops from the Army's 7th Brigade had allegedly been training paramilitaries. One FARC fighter was also reportedly killed. The rebels retreated on Aug. 13 after helicopter gunships arrived to support the army and paramilitaries. [ANNCOL 8/19/02] On Aug. 11, as President Alvaro Uribe Velez toured the southern city of Pasto, capital of Narino department, Defense Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez reported that six soldiers were wounded by a bomb supposedly set by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on the outskirts of the city. At the same time, the military high command said four FARC rebels had been killed in combat outside Valledupar, capital of Cesar department, where Uribe announced on Aug. 8 his new strategies to defeat the rebels, including the recruitment of one million civilians to act as army informants [see Update #654]. The military also reported having killed three rebels in Labranza Grande, Boyaca department, and in the jungles of southern Colombia. While the numbers were not dramatic by Colombian standards, the emphasis on reporting them seemed designed to convince Colombians that the Uribe government was wasting no time confronting the rebels. In an interview published on Aug. 11 in the Spanish daily El Pais, Uribe said his government would immediately apply a "reward policy for the arrest or death of terrorists." [Clarin (Buenos Aires) 8/12/02 from EFE, AFP] *6. PANAMA: WOUNAN GIRL KILLED, SERPAJ RAIDED The Traditional Indigenous Authority of Jaque in Panama has reported that Aida Chirimia, a 13-year old Wounan girl from the Biroquera community in Darien province near the Colombian border, was killed by a bullet wound to the head on July 15 inside a National Police base. Police have had a base in the community since November 2001--without permission from indigenous authorities--and have cordoned off the community and restricted residents from activities such as fishing. Police claim they are protecting the community from Colombian rebels; however, the Traditional Indigenous Authority charges that the police barely patrol the community, "allowing the entry of foreign agents into the village," and that their takeover of the area has left local children with nowhere safe to play. The Traditional Indigenous Authority of Jaque is seeking a full investigation of the July 15 incident and of other human rights violations, the removal of police bases from within indigenous communities, and respect for indigenous authorities and rights, among other demands. Meanwhile, the Peace and Justice Service (SERPAJ) in Panama (Servicio Paz y Justicia en Panama) reports that its offices were ransacked on Aug 14. In addition to stealing computer equipment, the attackers went through hundreds of files and stole videotapes, research documents, reports and other materials. SERPAJ believes the attack is politically motivated and is asking supporters to send messages to Panamanian authorities, demanding a full investigation and protection for the work of human rights groups. Letters on both issues can be sent to President Mireya Moscoso Rodriguez (fax 507-227-6944, ofasin@presidencia.gob.pa), National Police director Carlos Bares (Direcciong@policia.gob.pa), Minister of Justice and Government Anibal Salas Cespedes (fax 507-212-2126, informa@gobiernoyjusticia.gob.pa) and Defender of the People Juan Antonio Tejada Espino (fax 507-214-9839 or 213-9438, quejas@defensoriadelpueblo.gob.pa). [Equipo Nizkor- Derechos Human Rights-Serpaj Europa Solidaridad Urgente 8/18/02] *7. HAITI: SOME GUACIMAL PRISONERS FREED On Aug. 20 Haitian investigative judge Maxime Jean-No l released seven of nine people who had been imprisoned since May 27 in connection with a demonstration at the Guacimal, S.A. orange plantation in northern Haiti. The release order covered four supporters of the Batay Ouvriye ("Workers' Struggle") labor organization and three drivers who had been hired to bring activists to the town of St.-Rapha l for the protest. Two Batay Ouvriye supporters, Urbain Garcon and Jeremie Dorvil, remain in detention. Garcon has a leg wound for which he has never received medical attention; presently, he is unable to walk. The decision to release most of the prisoners came one day after Batay Ouvriye and other groups held a three-hour sit-in at the Justice Ministry in Port-au-Prince. The sponsors included the National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), the Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations (POHDH), SOFA (Haitian Women's Solidarity), the New York-based weekly Haiti Progres and the Radio Atlantik radio station. While the sit-in was still in progress, Justice Ministry General Director Privat Precil met with a delegation from the organizations and promised action in the case. The prisoners have never been charged with a crime. Local St- Rapha l authorities arrested them as part of a wave of repression against unionized workers at the Guacimal plantation, which produced orange peels for Cointreau, the French liqueur; the repression included the murder of two Batay Ouvriye supporters by thugs who attacked a peaceful May 27 demonstration at the plantation [see Updates #644, 646, 649, 653]. [HP 8/21/02; Haiti Support Group (UK) press release 8/22/02] *8. ARGENTINA: US RELEASES "DIRTY WAR" FILES On Aug. 20 the US State Department released 4,677 formerly classified documents about the Argentine military's 1976-83 "dirty war" against suspected leftists and others. Human rights groups say some 30,000 people were killed or disappeared in the dirty war, while official sources give the number as around 15,000. The release of the documents fulfills a promise then-US secretary of state Madeleine Albright made to the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo and other human rights groups during a visit to Argentina in August 2000 [see Update #551]. The National Security Archive, a DC-based nonprofit organization, posted a selection of the most important documents on its website, http://www.nsarchive.org, on Aug. 20; the State Department said it would post the full set on its website, http://www.foia.state.gov; [Equipo Nizkor press release 8/20/02, some info from AFP 8/20/02; New York Times 8/21/02] The documents are expected to help in the prosecution of important figures in the dirty war. One document is a chart drawn by James J. Blystone, a regional security officer at the US embassy in Buenos Aires at the time. The chart shows Gen. Leopoldo Galtieri, president of Argentina from December 1981 to June 1982, at the head of the chain of command for the secretive unit known as Battalion 601. Galtieri was ordered arrested last month on charges relating to the kidnapping by Battalion 601 of 20 members of the Montoneros, an armed leftist group, in 1979 and 1980 [see Update #650]. [Nizkor 8/20/02 from AFP; Washington Post 8/21/02] A May 1980 cable from the embassy gave an informant's description of plans for the kidnapped Montoneros: "Torture and summary executions will be their lot..." The military did not use the legal system against the rebels, the informant said, because "[t]he present methods are easier and more familiar." Besides, "[u]nder present rules, `nobody' is responsible on the record for the executions." [WP 8/21/02] The documents also add new information on the US government's support for the military regime. Then-US ambassador Robert Hill cabled Washington on Mar. 29, 1976 to say that the Mar. 24 coup that brought the military to power "can now definitely be judged as moderate in character... [De facto president Jorge Rafael] Videla and his moderate colleagues kept the hawks in line." [NYT 8/25/02] Journalist Stella Calloni, writing for the Mexican daily La Jornada, notes that the documents were released at a time when Argentina is reportedly under "heavy pressure" from the US to pledge not to support trials of US soldiers for war crimes before the new International Criminal Court in the Hague. [LJ 8/22/02 from correspondent] In other news, on Aug. 23 federal judge Abel Cornejo threw into disarray acting president Eduardo Duhalde's plans for elections next March [see Update #649]. Responding to a complaint filed by the centrist Radical Civic Union (UCR), Cornejo suspended the scheduled Nov. 24 primaries, which he ruled unconstitutional because they would be open to all voters without regard to their party affiliations. [NYT 8/24/02 from Reuters; El Nuevo Herald (Miami) 8/24/02 from Reuters] *9. ARGENTINA: LOCAL SOCIAL FORUM MEETS Thousands of Argentines and some 500 international guests participated in a march that opened an Aug. 22-25 "thematic forum" in Buenos Aires by opponents of neoliberal policies. The Buenos Aires meeting was sponsored by the World Social Forum (WSF), an annual gathering in Porto Alegre, Brazil [see Update #627]. This year's WSF gathering decided to promote national WSF- style meetings, especially in countries like Argentina suffering from crises precipitated by neoliberal policies. The Buenos Aires meeting was to include an Aug. 24 "national assembly of struggle against the Free Trade Area of the Americas" (FTAA), the US-sponsored plan to form a hemispheric trading bloc by 2005. International delegates included Bolivian legislative deputy and former presidential candidate Evo Morales, who said that "terrorists" should be defined as "the ones that impose policies of hunger and poverty on us, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund [IMF]." [Clarin (Buenos Aires) 8/22/02; LJ 8/23/02, 8/24/02 from correspondent] *10. MEXICO: COPS ATTACK COSTCO PROTESTERS About 450 state and local police agents attacked a peaceful protest in Cuernavaca in the central Mexican state of Morelos on Aug. 21, arresting 32 demonstrators. About 3,000 people reportedly participated in the action against the construction of a mega-store by the US-based retailer Costco. Protesters say the construction would cut down 600 trees in the city center and the store's presence would undercut local vendors and threaten local jobs. Costco clearing crews have reportedly already damaged the "Jungle Casino," which contains historic murals and architecture and is one of Cuernavaca's cultural landmarks. One of the people arrested is US citizen Charlie Goff, director of a prominent Cuernavaca Spanish-language school. Goff's bail was set at $10,000; most of the other arrested protesters must meet bail of $3,000 to be released. The US-based Mexico Solidarity Network (MSN) is asking for calls or faxes to Costco CEO James D. Senegal (425-313-8100, fax 425-313-8103) to demand that Costco make a public call to drop all charges against all protesters and stop construction on the Cuernavaca store immediately. Sample letters are available at http://www.procasino.org/index.html. [MSN action alert 8/23/02] *11. VENEZUELA: THOUSANDS PROTEST COURT RULING Thousands of Venezuelans marched in Caracas on Aug. 24 to protest the Supreme Court of Justice's Aug. 14 decision to dismiss charges against four military officers implicated in an unsuccessful Apr. 11 coup against left-populist president Hugo Chavez Frias [see Update #655]. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said attendance had exceeded the government's expectations for 500,000 participants; a BBC correspondent put the number at about 100,000. The National Assembly, in which Chavez supporters hold a majority, is expected to start an investigation of the Supreme Court. [Hoy (NY) 8/25/02 from wire services; BBC World News 8/25/02] *12. PUERTO RICO: VIEQUES BOMBING TO RESUME? On Aug. 19, the US Navy sent a letter informing Puerto Rico's government that it will begin a new round of bombing exercises on the island of Vieques on Sept. 3. The exercises are expected to last about 23 days, and will involve dropping inert bombs onto the target area from air and sea, the Navy said. Puerto Rico governor Sila Calderon said the news made her "very sad," but that she has no choice but to wait until next May, when the Navy is supposed to halt all bombing on the island. Calderon claimed she had unofficial information that the Navy has selected alternative training grounds to Vieques and that the May exit date will stand firm. [El Nuevo Dia (San Juan) 8/20/02; AP 8/20/02; Reuters 8/20/02] On Aug. 21 US federal marshals arrested Vieques activists Regalado Miro and Cacimar Zenon Encarnacion for allegedly trespassing on Navy property in an Apr. 9 incident linked to activities against the bombings on Vieques. The organization ProLibertad reported that Pedro Zenon, Cacimar's brother, has also been arrested, and that the three are being held without bail. All three were charged on June 18; the Socialist Front of Puerto Rico suggested that their arrests now--more than two months later--may be part of a Navy effort to curb resistance to the upcoming bombings. Another Zenon brother, Yabureibo, and their father, Carlos Zenon, were released on July 12 after serving six-month prison terms for entering restricted Navy property to protest the bombings [see Update #650]. [Hoy (NY) 8/23/02 from EFE; Vocero (San Juan) 6/19/02; ProLibertad 8/22/02; END 7/12/02 from AP] The US Marshals Service complained that Puerto Rican police refused to let them use a police plane to transport Cacimar Zenon from Vieques to the mainland. Instead they had to transport him in a Navy boat. Herman J. Wirshing, chief of the US Marshals in Puerto Rico, accused Puerto Rican police of obstructing Marshal officers. Police Superintendent Miguel Pereira said his agency isn't obligated to help federal authorities. "We don't have an agreement with them," he said. [AP 8/22/02] *13. PERU: MINERS, OTHERS STRIKE As of Aug. 24, Peruvian miners were in the sixth day of an open- ended strike in Marcona, Ica department, called by their union to press various labor demands. The miners are employed by Shougang Hierro Peru, a subsidiary of the Chinese corporation Shougang. On Aug. 23, the miners blocked the Pan-American highway with boulders to keep the company from bringing in replacement workers. Local residents supported the miners with a 48-hour civic strike Aug. 21-22. [La Republica (Lima) 8/21/02, 8/23/02, 8/24/02] Five people were wounded and four arrested on Aug. 20 when police tried to disperse protesters on the second day of a provincial strike in La Convencion, Cusco department. Among other things, the Cusco strikers are demanding agricultural support, the paving of a local highway and the legalization of coca cultivation. [LR 8/21/02] Also on Aug. 20, more than 200 demonstrators and striking transport workers blocked a section of the Pan-American highway for three hours in Tacna, in southern Peru on the border with Chile, as part of a 48-hour civic strike to demand that Congress modify the law that created the "Tacna Free Zone," a tariff-free area. Riot police used tear gas against the demonstrators, most of whom were women. [LR 8/21/02; La Tercera (Chile) 8/21/02] *14. HONDURAS: TEACHERS BLOCK BRIDGE Some 200 Honduran teachers and students from Cortes, Santa Barbara, Yoro and Copan blocked the Quimistan Bridge outside of San Pedro Sula for two hours on the morning of Aug. 21 to protest the government's economic policies. The government "has increased taxes, has increased the cost of education, and is incapable of satisfying the basic needs of the people, who are victims of repression," one of the protest leaders charged. Demonstrators carried banners with a picture of Honduran president Ricardo Maduro on a motorcycle with his fiancee, Aguas Santas Ocana, and the caption: "The presidential wedding will be [financed] with the teachers' money." Also on Aug. 21, about 120 members of the Honduran grassroots organization Popular Bloc demonstrated at the Legislative Palace in Tegucigalpa to protest the government's repression of teachers, coffee growers and others [see Update #655] and to oppose privatization plans. "This government is not national," protesters chanted, "it's the World Bank's errand boy." [Tiempo (Honduras) 8/22/02] END VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED to help research and write the Weekly News Update on the Americas via email (from anywhere). We need people who are regular Update readers to send us news sources and to write articles for the Update. If you're interested, send your inquiry to and we'll send you the details. 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