The Dominion - Canada

Canada Deepens Ties with Deadly Regime

Tim McSorley — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:58:53 +0000

Honduran journalist visits Montreal, reaffirms strength of resistance movements

MONTREAL—In June 2009, Honduran president Manuel Zelaya was kidnapped by soldiers and taken to Costa Rica in a military airplane. The Honduran army took control of the streets.

Nearly three years later, a popular resistance movement continues to organize against and oppose the coup. Meanwhile, the Canadian government and Canadian companies continue to deepen their ties with the controversial post-Zelaya regime.

The coup in Honduras was more than the kidnapping of a popular, progressive president. The day of the coup, Zelaya was scheduled to oversee a non-binding, nationwide survey on whether people were in favor of holding a binding referendum on re-writing the Honduran constitution. For the first time in history, the opinion of regular Hondurans would have had the potential to dramatically change the future of their country.

Had the June 2009 survey passed, it would have meant serious momentum toward a long-term goal of the Honduran social movement, the writing of a new constitution by way a people's assembly, inviting representatives from every sector and municipality to join in the re-founding of Honduras.

The coup, a joint operation by the military, supreme court, congress, and business elite, put a stop to all of this. It meant that the current Honduran constitution, written under a US-backed military dictatorship in the early 1980s, would continue to benefit a small elite.

But the coup also gave rise to the creation of the National People's Resistance Front, which now has local chapters in each of Honduras' 298 municipalities. The resistance movement is dedicated to bringing about a new constitution, at whatever cost.

In 2011, Honduras became the deadliest country in the world, for those countries which the UN has been able to gather statistics. "Our country of just 8 million people is suffering more than 20 murders per day," said Felix Molina, a Honduran journalist who recently spoke in Montreal during a Canadian tour. “Among the victims are around 20 journalists and 424 women. On top of murders, there are death threats, forced disappearances, exile for some and a general criminalization of the social resistance movement.”

Molina is the host, producer and founder of the radio show Resistencia. The show airs on the station Radio Globo, which has supported resistance and pro-democracy movements since the coup.

In the November 2009 Honduran general elections, Porfirio “Pepe” Lobo was elected president in a vote took place under what some considered a state of siege.

In the five months between Zelaya's kidnapping and the vote, more than 4,000 anti-coup activists were arbitrarily detained. Anti-coup media outlets were repeatedly shut down by the military. More than 100 community organizers were assassinated. Meanwhile, Zelaya, the president in exile, made his way back to Honduras and hid out in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa surrounded by the military.

As a result of the deteriorating security conditions under the interim coup regime headed by Roberto Micheletti and the military's offensive against the resistance, all international election observation bodies refused to send observers.

Regardless, the United States and Canada applauded Lobo's election, and put pressure on other countries to do the same.

The Harper administration has shown it is especially eager to work with Honduran officials since the coup, and Canada's corporate interests in the country continue to grow. In August 2011, Stephen Harper traveled to Honduras and signed a free trade agreement with Honduras. The announcement was unexpected, and took many by surprise.

”The Honduran population was never informed about this [agreement],” said Molina. “As with many of the most important decisions in Honduras, they learned about it after it was taken.”

Honduran congress is considering a new mining law, which critics say prioritizes corporate interests over human rights. This mining law, they say, is designed to benefit mining companies by, among other things, failing to protect access to water and limiting both access to information about mining activities and the ability to have mines closed.

Canadian mining company Goldcorp has faced criticism of its San Martin gold mine, which operated from 2000 to 2008 in central Honduras.

Goldcorp consistently denied that its operations had anything to do with a variety of health problems among locals, including miscarriages and skin diseases, as well as the death of livestock. In 2011, results of tests conducted in 2007 were finally released, showing heavy metal poisoning among 62 residents of the area near the mine.

The National People's Resistance Front recently voted to form a political party as another way to confront these corporate interests. Some groups within the wider resistance movement believe there are other ways to continue the struggle, such as establishing autonomous popular zones and small-scale municipal powers.

“The discussion is far from being over,” Molina said during his talk in Montreal. “In the meantime, we have to make sure that the popular movement keeps existing and to reinforce the capacities of the National Resistance Front.”

Stéfanie is part of the Montreal Media Co-op and is currently interning at CKUT 90.3FM's community news department.

Jesse Freeston is a media co-op sustainer and maker of the upcoming film Resistencia about the ongoing farmer occupation of Honduras' Aguan Valley, www.resistenciathefilm.com.

This article was produced by the Montreal Media Co-op.

Questions? Comments? Drop us a line: info@mediacoop.ca.

Felix Molina

Canada, Afghanistan, and Wikileaks

Tim McSorley — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 10:27:33 +0000

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Demonstrators condemn US relief and reconstruction plans in Haiti

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:12:00 +0000

On Monday January 25, Montreal played host to a major international conference to discuss the continuing relief efforts in Haiti. In attendance were Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive as well as foreign ministers from Canada, US, France, and Brazil, international banks, as well as relief organizations and UN representatives. Demonstrators outside the conference expressed skepticism that the international powers who have coordinated humanitarian efforts will respect Haitian sovereignty and interests during reconstruction.

Canada Excluded from New South American Regional Body

Geordie — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:21:54 +0000

As reported in the BBC:

Latin American and Caribbean nations have agreed to set up a new regional body without the US and Canada. The new bloc would be an alternative to the Organisation of American States (OAS), the main forum for regional affairs in the past 50 years.

The new bloc is called Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. It joins a number of new regional bodies in Latin America which have recently been developed including the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), Petrocaribe S.A., and the Union of South American Nations, all of which have been promoting regional integration. A regional currency similar to the EURO, called the SUCRE is also being planned.

Haiti : Depictions of Aristide in 2010 Quebec Mainstream Media

darren ell — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:33:47 +0000

One decade since the last round of disinformation about former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide kicked into high gear, Quebec mainstream print media has proven itself impervious to historical fact. According to columnists, editors and political cartoonists in Quebec’s most influential print media, Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a lunatic, a dictator on par with Baby Doc, a last-ditch hope for desperate Haitians, and a danger to Haiti. Here’s some of what the chroniclers of our time have been saying to the majority French population in Quebec. The translations to English are mine.

The principle columnist on Haiti for La Presse in Montreal has been Vincent Marissal, a popular figure on the Quebec media landscape. Reporting from Port-au-Prince, he mused about who should replace Préval (a failed leader who he feels should be replaced with no democratic process) :
« Obviously, several leaders are totally inappropriate, but as long as the opposition doesn’t find someone capable of rallying people and creating a concensus, it will be wasting its energy. It’s not for nothing that we see banners and graffiti demanding the return of Aristide. People are looking for a glimmer of hope, even if it means looking into the darkest corners of their recent past. »(1)

The Need for Legal Empowerment

Paula LaPierre — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:22:17 +0000

The Need for Increased Legal Empowerment

We must avoid the trap of interpreting disadvantaged or poor strictly from a material paradigm.

Sincerely,

Paula LaPierre

Joint Efforts are the Key

Paula LaPierre — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:36:16 +0000

Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal: New camouflage to better fight the enemy within?

dawn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:41:32 +0000

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Public Works and Government Services Canada has awarded a $25,000 contract to a BC firm in return for a controversial service -- the design of urban camouflage specifically suited to Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver.

The contract requirements are as follows:

The Department of National Defence, Defence Research and
Development Canada - Suffield, (DRDC-S), AB, has a requirement to develop a Canadian Urban Environment Pattern (CUEPAT) based on the unique requirements of Canada's three major metropolitan areas, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. The current CBR individual protective equipment (IPE) used by the Canadian military is provided in a woodland or desert camouflage. A camouflage suited to the Canadian urban environment is required when the milatary (sic) operates in urban terrain.

Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp, pride of Maple Ridge, BC, was the only firm invited to bid on the contract. The company has designed camouflage patterns for countries including Israel, Iraq and Malaysia.

Appreciates Recent Correspondence

Paula LaPierre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:13:35 +0000

UN Guns Down One, Opens Fire on Crowd at Funeral of Revered Haitian Priest

Stuart Neatby — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:37:55 +0000

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From the Haiti Information Project
Photos: UN arrests unidentified protestor minutes before opening fire on crowd during funeral for Father Gerard Jean-Juste

HIP - Port au Prince, Haiti -One protestor was killed as UN forces opened fire during a funeral for Catholic priest Father Gerard Jean-Juste. A human rights advocate and well-known supporter of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his Lavalas movement, Jean-Juste died on May 27 in a Miami hospital from complications following a stroke and long respiratory illness.

Eyewitnesses report today's shooting incident involving the UN began after mourners began chanting slogans for the return of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide outside of Haiti's national cathedral.

One of the protestors was seen inadvertently passing through a security barrier erected by UN forces and was detained. As the UN arrested him hundreds more rushed past the barrier and resumed chants for Lavalas and Aristide.

According to witnesses, UN troops on the scene began shooting indiscriminately at the crowd killing a young man identified only as "Junior" from the neighborhood of Solino.

Hundreds more protestors then took the body of the victim to the front of Haiti's National Palace where they began chanting, "Down with Preval" and "Long live Aristide."

The ongoing outsourcing in Afghanistan

Amy Miller — Fri, 29 May 2009 13:54:23 +0000

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The ongoing outsourcing in Afghanistan

Canada’s Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Kandahar, Afghanistan will not be put in harms way, despite the oft-repeated political promise that all of Canada’s ground troops will be withdrawn by 2011. The responsibility of the security of these specialists-contractors themselves- will instead be provided by private companies, who will need to go through a selection process, according to Canada’s Ambassador to Afghanistan Ron Hoffmann who spoke to journalists via video-conference, earlier this week.

This is not the first time that the Canadian government has decided to hire private security companies in Afghanistan. The British based firm, Saladin Security , has been protecting the Canadian Embassy in Kabul for many years, while many Afghan contractors including warlords, have been hired to protects convoys of Canadian personnel or provide a "security cordon" for high risk situations, such as roadside bombs going off.

Understanding the Importance of Grassroots Communities

Paula LaPierre — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:59:23 +0000

"We Are Not All Metis"

Paula LaPierre — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:43:46 +0000

Canada Domestic Policy can be Problematic.

Manipulation #1- We are not all Metis.
Aboriginal rights are inherent and inalienable. Program and services dollars can be used to lure people away from cultural integrity.

Manipulation #2- Aboriginal rights belong to a certain race of people who can prove they are that race.
Race was never the issue. It is about culture.

Important First Steps as Local Community Makes Plans

Paula LaPierre — Sun, 03 May 2009 19:00:47 +0000

Canada in Africa: an anniversary news bulletin about Noir Canada

Sandra — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 20:44:08 +0000

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INFORMATION BULLETIN

First anniversary of Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique

Montreal, April 23rd 2009

It was just over a year ago, on April 15th 2008, that Alain Deneault, Deplhine Abadie and William Sacher officially launched Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, published by Les Éditions Écosociété, despite legal threats of lawsuits by Canadian multinational Barrick Gold (see demand letter sent by Barrick Gold).

Two defamation lawsuits followed, with Canadian mining companies Barrick Gold and Banro claiming damages amounting to $11 million dollars. The authors and publisher of Noir Canada have since had to deal with amendments to these claims, multiple and cumbersome judicial proceedings (requests for documents, endless interviews conducted by opposing counsel, etc.), the preparation of voluminous defence records for two different jurisdictions, numerous commutes to Toronto, the rejection of a request to transfer Banro’s Ontario lawsuit to Quebec, the appeal of that decision, along with the considerable costs that such proceedings require and the psychological and moral strain that comes with being put under such pressure.

In the meantime, the authors of Noir Canada remind us that “the Canadian pillage of Africa continues”, while “the Canadian government has just consecrated Canada as being a judicial haven for extraction corporations worldwide” (see the communiqué by the Collectif Ressources d’Afrique below).