Atlantic Region Solidarity Network

Atlantic Region Solidarity Network

ARSN updates for January 2014 – sign on letters and articles of interest

Canada:

Guile, Ambiguity and the Cult of Mediocrity (McLeod Group):
Canadian Council for International Cooperation: Act Now: Protect vital, life-saving aid programs Petition:

Commercial motives driving Canada’s foreign aid, documents reveal (Globe and Mail)

C-474, An Act respecting the promotion of financial transparency, improved accountability and long-term economic sustainability through the public reporting of payments made by mining, oil and gas corporations to foreign governments

Open Government Partnership’s Independent Reporting Mechanism’s Progress Report for Canada

position paper by GOPAC, calling on parliamentarians to act on Beneficial Ownership
Colombia:
Urgent Action(Amnesty International): Two Indigenous Leaders Killed, Third at Risk:

Colombian gangsters offer rewards for the assassination of Union Patriotica leader Aída Abella, all UP candidates by Connecting Colombias
El Salvador
Be an elections observer in the March 2014 presidential run-off election with SalvAid:
Global Fight Against Corporate Rule: Robin Broad and John Cavanagh

Guatemala:
Power, Violence and Mining in Guatemala: Non-Violent Resistance to Canada’s Northern Shadow by Alexandra Pedersen

Guatemala Justice Update (Open Justice Society)
BBC World Service Radio Interview: Edgar Perez Wrestler turned Human Rights Lawyer
APG Open Letter in Embassy: “Guatemala: Canada must break its silence”
ADH statement in solidarity with Barillas political prisoners and the people of Sipakapa

Haiti:
Haiti’s wealth of untapped mining resources must benefit the poor More transparency and opportunities for public participation in mining deals is the best way to avoid resource curse (The Guardian)

Honduras:
Tri-month Summary of Human Rights issues and events in Honduras, for October, November and December 2013.

Council of Canadians: Conservatives introduce ludicrous Canada-Honduras FTA; NDP, Greens to
vote against it
Upsidedown World (Sandra Cuffe): Congress’ Last Stand: Privatizations among New Laws in Honduras

Pen Canada: Honduras Must End Lethal Violence Against Journalists and Climate of Impunity

Human Rights Watch report on Honduras
“The earth is our Mother; the sea is our Father” 5 minute interview by Common Frontiers with Alfredo Lopez of the OFRANEH

Jack Edit: “Canadian “Porn King” Randy Jorgensen’s mega-tourism “development” projects are stirring conflict and destroying Afro-Caribbean Garífuna communities in Trujillo on the north coast of Honduras.

Honduras and the dirty war fuelled by the west’s drive for clean energy (The Guardian)

Minister of State Yelich meets with Honduran Attorney General

Minister of State Yelich views Canadian forensic Technology in Honduras

Canada Strengthens Ties with Honduras (formal Cdn gov’t announcement)

Peru:
Indigenous Struggle and Survival in the Face of Canadian Colonialism and Mining: Presentation by Xat’sull Chief Bev Sellars for the Fifth Gathering of the Latin American Observatory of Mining Conflicts (OCMAL by its initials in Spanish) in Lima, Peru, November 7, 2013.