The Dominion - violence

Canada's International Cop Out

dawn — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:28:20 +0000

Former head of Ontario Provincial Police named Minister of International Co-operation

MONTREAL—On July 4, Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Julian Fantino, the former head of the Ontario Provincial Police, as his new Minister of International Cooperation. The arrival of an ex-cop at the top of Canada's international development portfolio seems like a fitting symbol for the overall direction of Canadian foreign policy during the Harper government's reign.

A policeman for more than 40 years, Fantino rose steadily through the ranks, serving first as chief of police in London, Ontario, then the former York Region, and later Toronto, before being named as the Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner in 2006. Fantino's career then went political, and he was elected the Member of Parliament for Vaughn in November, 2010, and was re-elected in May, 2011.

Throughout his career, Fantino has been involved in a considerable number of controversies. Perhaps most famously, Fantino oversaw the harsh repression of Toronto residents and anti-G20 protesters in the Ontario capital city in June of 2010.

Enzo DiMatteo, associate news editor at Now Magazine, covered Fantino's career for over more than 20 years, and coined the term "the OPP's top dick" to describe the province's former head cop.

"When you think of Julian Fantino you have to understand that there wasn't a microphone that he didn't like. He was constantly in the spotlight," DiMatteo told The Dominion. "He was very much his own man, very much did his own thing, very much didn't really care about civilian oversight… He was viewed as a bit of a cop's cop, but I think he was just a stubborn fellow who really didn't have much time for anybody's point of view, other than his own, quite frankly."

The new International Cooperation minister hasn't always placed cooperation at the forefront, especially when it pertains to cops killing civilians. Fantino's name is on the docket of a case expected to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2013, regarding how police take notes at crime scenes. The families of Levi Shaeffer and Douglas Minty, both of whom were killed by officers during Fantino's days as top dick at the OPP, have used the courts to try and prevent police from having their crime scene notes vetted by lawyers before they're written.

Rachelle Sauve, from the Coalition Justice for Levi campaign, agrees with DiMatteo's description.

"The modus operandi of a man who is very much a police officer, and who...has gotten very comfortable with a certain level of impunity that he still gets to act out [in] moving away from that old role, leaves me in a very uncomfortable feeling position regarding what sort of aid and development we are going to bring through CIDA while he is in office," Sauve told The Dominion.

Nation-to-nation relations have not been Fantino's strongest suit. Fantino's fame as a bully exploded with the release of wiretapped conversations between himself and Mohawk activist Shawn Brant in 2007.

In the spring and summer of that year, when Mohawks at Tyendinaga repeatedly blocked CN Rail lines, Fantino called Brant to let him know what his future would hold if he continued to work with his community to defend the land.

"And you know what I don’t wanna I don’t wanna get on your bad side but you’re gonna force me to do everything I can within your community and everywhere else to destroy your reputation," Fantino told Brant in a phone conversation which was illegally recorded by the OPP. Fantino later claimed he was unaware the line was tapped. Their conversation, which was later published by the CBC, continued:

Julian Fantino: You know if you pull this off I’m liable to say that your your issues are are are are critical and they’re important and and I’ll speak to that but uh if you don’t then I’m gonna go the other way and I’m gonna say that you’re just destroying and you’re abusing you’re using the people and you’re you’re actually being a mercenary about it using the suicide of children and all those those legitimate uh issues and you don’t want that because I think I can I can I can play the media routine like you do

Shawn Brant: Hey Mister Fantino uh

Julian Fantino: Right

Shawn Brant: I I put two of my own babies in the ground um

Julian Fantino: I’m sorry

Far from his checkered past of politicized police raids in poor communities, and threats of ruining the reputation of activists, Fantino's first statement as Minister of International Cooperation aimed for a kinder, gentler message.

"I look forward to continuing the good work already done by CIDA around the world," said the newly-appointed minister. "In particular the efforts to save the lives of mothers, children, and newborns as part of Canada's Muskoka Initiative."

The first male to hold the position since Don Boudria left his post in 1997, Fantino will oversee an international cooperation ministry with a growing emphasis on policing and police training.

"Maybe it's fitting that we have a police officer—a former police officer—running the aid agency now, kind of playing the good cop to the military's bad cop as far as global order is concerned," said Nik Barry-Shaw, who co-authored a recent book on Canadian non-governmental organizations titled Paved with Good Intentions. "One of the kind of rough titles that we had for the book was...Good Cops of Global Capitalism. That's kind of the role, putting the human face on things that are fundamentally pretty ugly."

Canada is deeply involved with police training around the world, but it is the RCMP's ongoing role in training Haitian police forces has come under perhaps the most intense public scrutiny.

"A large part of what was...listed as aid to Haiti was in fact funding for police training in Haiti, and that was done with RCMP officers who were down there to train their Haitian counterparts in the arts of close quarter combats," Barry-Shaw told The Dominion.

RCMP training of Haitian police was happening at a time when there were regular raids of neighbourhoods that supported deposed president Jean Bertrand Aristide. Some of these raids ended in civilian massacres carried out by police. More recently, the RCMP have become involved in training Mexican police.

Fantino's appointment followed the announcement of former Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda's resignation. Oda will leave her post as MP of Durham, Ontario, on July 31.

Dawn Paley is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Twitter @dawn_.

Fantino

The Roots of Rage

hillarybain — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 05:44:34 +0000

Halifax's poverty, racism and "swarmings"

HALIFAX—Halifax doesn’t feel like a violent city. In fact, walking down North Street past jellybean-coloured houses and a view of the harbour, you can even hear birds chirping. But this is the same city—the same area of the same city—where seven violent attacks stunned Halifax residents over Labour Day weekend. All were perpetrated by groups of young people, most of whom are allegedly black.

“Violence can happen anywhere, but not with the volume and intensity that Halifax has for a city its size,” says Jeff*, a recent victim who sustained severe injuries. Jeff will be unable to work for several months and says the recent attacks in Halifax have left him with conflicting emotions. “I love this city but don't want to live somewhere where I don't feel safe.”

Jeff and his partner were walking in his North End neighbourhood early one September evening when they were approached by a group of young people who asked them for a cigarette. Before he could respond, Jeff was severely beaten by between six and eight young men and women.

His experience is typical in what have become known as "swarmings" in Halifax. Swarmings are violent physical attacks perpetrated by large groups of people upon individuals or small groups. These attacks are unprovoked and random: the perpetrators and the victims are unknown to each other and, while robbery has sometimes been involved, it does not appear to be the main motivation for the attack.

This kind of violence is not new to the city. In 2006, after several swarmings and an unrelated deadly bar fight, Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly initiated a Roundtable on Violence in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM). Now, four years later, the roundtables are over and the report is written, but Halifax's streets are still not safe. At the time of this article's release, an eighth attack—where injuries were sustained—and another attempted attack—where the victim escaped—were reported.

According to a 2005 Statistics Canada survey, Halifax has the highest rates of violent crime in the country—sexual and physical assault, homicides, robbery and break-and-enters. Furthermore, the locally-commissioned roundtable report, written by criminologist Dan Clairmont, states that the HRM is tied with Regina and Saskatoon for the highest percentage of youth (ages 19-24) involved with violent crime in the country.

“The causes of youth crime are hard to pinpoint in terms of finding a single, all-encompassing source,” says Charys Payne, Dalhousie law student and youth worker. “However, one of the roots of crime is, of course, poverty. Furthermore, in the North End—a racialized community—this is coupled with the experience of racism.” The Ryerson Anti-Racism Task Force defines racialization as “the social process by which certain groups of people are singled out for unequal treatment on the basis of race and other characteristics, whether real or imagined.” The Task Force also says that racialization is a historical process.

In Halifax, the roots of this process are clear.

According to the website of the 2006 Racism, Violence and Health Project undertaken by Dalhousie University’s Department of Social Work (for which Payne was a researcher), thousands of Blacks settled in Nova Scotia during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, and thousands more settled here after the American Revolution. They were promised land and freedom in exchange for fighting for Britain, but upon arrival were denied both land and equal rights.

In more recent history, the infamous destruction of the Black community of Africville in the late 1960s displaced citizens who were then relocated to the Uniacke Square public housing project in the North End of Halifax. Former Africville residents and their descendants, according to the Racism, Violence and Health Project website, still face serious socio-economic hardships, and many still live in public housing.

In 2007-2008, Payne was the Executive Director of Saint George’s YouthNet, a youth organization a few blocks from Uniacke Square that offers free morning, lunch, after-school and summer programs. Reflecting on the causes of violence in the North End, she says, “intergenerational poverty begets systemic violence.” Payne explains that poor, racialized youth “already face the strongly held stereotype that they are violent and angry so this behavior becomes a sort of armor which shields them from the pain of exclusion from middle class judgment.”

In short, for symptoms to improve, the core issues need to be addressed. From Payne’s perspective, “while the reality is sometimes bleak this does not mean that the situation cannot be resolved."

“It all comes back to issues that are unaddressed in our lives,” says Marshall Williams Jr., suggesting abuse, discrimination and lack of self-respect as examples of the roots of violent behaviour. Williams is a resident of the Preston area, the largest Indigenous Black community in Canada and member of the IMove (In My Own Voice) youth group, a media-based program for at-risk youth. Unfortunately, young people don’t get together on the streets to talk about their issues, according to Williams. “They’re getting together and reflecting them back out.”

Williams, 29, says more and better recreation facilities, community organizations, and an improved education system could give support to young people—especially to those who do not have their needs met within their homes. He has seen the decline of these supports as he has gotten older, with fewer recreation opportunities available, and decreased youth involvement in community organizations.

According to Williams, “The people in the position to address these things are not addressing them.”

The Roundtable on Violence was intended to locate and target the underlying causes of Halifax’s crime and violence, but it is unclear whether or how the recommendations have been implemented. Mayor Peter Kelly did not respond to calls for an interview.

Sarah MacLaren, Executive Director of Leave Out Violence (LOVE) Halifax, says the greatest disappointment regarding the roundtable report is that it was released just prior to the city’s 2006 budget, but appropriate funds were not earmarked to address the recommendations.

MacLaren also notes that when money is spent, it’s not necessarily spent well. As an example, she points to new recreation facilities in the HRM: while some youth will benefit from these facilities, she says that those who can’t afford new sneakers or sports equipment, or who don’t have transportation to the recreation centres, are the ones who could really use them.

There is also the question of the education system. Rocking back in her chair behind a desk full of papers, MacLaren says she does not believe all the responsibility lies with the Department of Education, but “in terms of access to youth over years and hours, they have the most. Youth spend a lot of time at school.” Unlike provinces that have publicly funded alternative schools, Nova Scotia lacks educational infrastructure for those students whose needs lie beyond the traditional classroom, or who have unique learning needs.

MacLaren asks, “Where’s the formal curriculum around life skills? Where are the alternative schools?” She sees schools as a logical locale for prevention-based programming, but does not believe that they are the only place to engage disenfranchized youth. Most of the young people MacLaren works with have already been implicated in violence and, she says, “I have seen youth completely turn around when given the support they need.”

LOVE, an organization that helps youth overcome the challenge of violence in their lives, is only one of the places young people end up. Many youth who have committed a violent crime end up negotiating the Youth Criminal Justice System, which MacLaren sees as being a prolonged and sometimes unhelpful process.

One of the recommendations of the roundtable report is a stronger focus on in-depth restorative justice programs through the Department of Justice and the Community Justice Society (CJS). In practice, restorative justice involves both those who have been involved in and affected by the crime—i.e.; the perpetrators of the crime and the victim—in a co-operative process that determines the outcome for both parties, with the intent to seek true justice.

"Enforcement and accountability are necessary, but so are social development strategies that provide alternatives and opportunities,” says Yvonne Atwell, Executive Director of CJS. While CJS is a program of the provincial government, the roundtable report recommends that the municipality’s role in furthering restorative justice in Halifax “would be an advocacy [role] vis-a-vis the provincial government.”

So far, “we haven’t seen anything from the city whatsoever,” says Atwell.

Williams believes that if the money spent to keep people in prison were redirected to community programs and supports, Halifax would see fewer people locked up. He says it costs around $125,000 to keep someone in prison for a year—which, for five people, would be over $600,000. "I guarantee,” Williams says, "if you put half that money into community programs and supports, four out of those five youth aren’t going to be in the criminal system anymore.”

For Jeff, whose life has been turned upside-down by the attack, “the best type of punishment for this would be to give back to the victim.”

In a recent email exchange he acknowledged his anger, especially given he is no longer able to do the work he loves. At the same time, he says he’d "like to have the opportunity to explain to [the attackers] and show them how I live and work in the hope that maybe it would restore what little empathy they have towards other people.”

As complicated as it may be for the victim, Williams sees this kind of empathy as a two-way street. “It’s really hard to hate somebody when you know what they’ve been through,” he says.

* The victim’s name has been changed to protect his or her anonymity.

Angela Day is a writer, educator, urban gardener and community organizer with roots in Halifax. She currently coordinates programs for young women across HRM. This article was originally published by the Halifax Media Co-op.

Swarming Illustration

Marshall Williams

Nasa communities in Colombia on Maximum Alert

dawn — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:10:04 +0000

The following was translated to English by La Chiva:

ALERT: CAMPAIGN OF TERROR BEGINS AGAINST INDIGENOUS NASA IN CAUCA, COLOMBIA

11 August 2008

Earlier this afternoon, the Association of Indigenous Authorities of Northern Cauca (ACIN) received the text of a threat by email, which we are attaching below for you to read. This letter of terror, signed by the CEC (Campesinos Embejucados del Cauca, or ‘Furious Peasants of Cauca’), announces that “at approximately 00:00 tonight, you will receive information regarding the murders at the hands of peasants of paHECES [1] and the ex-guerrilla heads of the CRIC, which will be confirmed by phone and a consequences of their disrespect.” In this threat, we are referred to as paHECES, or ‘excrement,’ exposing the racism of the author(s).

The 7-page threat states throughout its hateful and false content the decision to defame the indigenous process and the commencement of a campaign of terror and death. The context in which this letter has been sent is that of the parapolítica [2], with the clear collusion of the Colombian government:

The threats against the indigenous movement made by the President of the Republic, who has ordered the payment of rewards for the arrest of indigenous Senator Jesús Piñacué, who is mentioned in the threat;

The recent confession of the paramilitary member Orlando Villa Zapata, involved in the 1991 massacre in El Nilo [Cauca], that said massacre was planned in the Hacienda La Emperatriz in the presence of the landowners;

Ni una muerte más! Elections in Paraguay

dawn — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:33:39 +0000

Paraguayan news agency Jaku'éke reports today that "death threats to the Alliance Campaign are being followed through."

Alfredo Avalos, a journalist and organizer with the opposition presidential campaign remains in critial condition with gunshot wounds to his head, and his partner Silvana Rodríguez was killed last night in Curuguaty, in the state of Canindeyúby, 250km northeast of the capital, Asunción.

Avalos worked for Tekojoja, a movement which has allied with the opposition presidential campaign, Patriotic Alliance for Change (APC), headed by presidential candidate and former Bishop Fernando Lugo.

This is the second murder of a Tekojoja organizer in the last two months. Local police and officials refute that the killings were politically motivated.

According to Carrillo Iramain, an organizer in Canindeyúby "there are constant telephone messages, indirect messages and direct threats happening in these final days [before the elections]. This is an area where fear rules."

Elections are planned for April 20, 2008 in Paraguay.

The current government of the landlocked South American country is one of the strongest US allies in the region. The government has come under international scrutiny for allowing the setting up of US military bases in the country, near the Bolivian border.

UPDATE: A new article by Ben Dangl and April Howard: Dissecting the Politics of Paraguay's next President.

Acting It Out

Moira Peters — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0000

Youth overcome adversity at the Children's Peace Theatre

Sixteen-year-old Drew Stewart was stabbed to death at a bar in Toronto’s east end in December 2003, trying to protect a pregnant friend from a group of attacking teens. His friends were shocked, devastated, and angry, and with scant family lives of their own, many of them continued to hang out at his house, grieving alongside Stewart’s mother and struggling with their loss.

Community safety meetings were organized in response to Stewart’s murder and the ensuing bouts of violence between his group of friends and his attackers. At one of these meetings, someone suggested that Stewart’s friends get involved with the Children’s Peace Theatre, a small organization offering school workshops and a children’s summer camp within the community. In a large heritage house once owned by the Massey family, the Children’s Peace Theatre uses theatre to teach kids how to deal with conflict using “the three Cs”: courage, compassion, and creativity. Though older youth had never participated before, co-founder Robert Morgan contacted Stewart’s friends and offered to help them put together a memorial performance to honour their friend. They jumped at the chance.

About a dozen of Stewart’s friends started coming to the theatre once or twice a week to have dinner, talk about their struggles and work on the performance. “It was very difficult and emotional,” says 26-year-old Mandy Arsenault, who was close with Stewart. “We had a few blowups. We would just get so tense and frustrated.”

Artistic director Karen Emerson saw first-hand how hard it was for the kids to embrace the concept of peace and forgiveness. “These were kids who were really struggling, who had really difficult lives.” In the end, Arsenault says, “We all stuck together and supported each other.”

Drew’s Group, as they came to be known, put on their memorial performance for an audience of 300 people, and eventually took it to City Hall and various community events. Afterward, the theatre offered to continue working with the group. “They had really formed a bond with us,” says Emerson, 44. “It had kind of become a real home to them and they had found a safe place that they had never found before.” Together they started what would become an annual program that runs throughout the school year and culminates in a springtime performance dealing with whatever issues the youth are facing. Arsenault continues to participate in the program when she can – she has a four-year-old son to look after – but she knows the people at the theatre are there for her. “They’ve been a big part of my life,” she says. “They have given me tremendous support and love and confidence.”

Arsenault is just one of nearly 1,000 children and youth the Children’s Peace Theatre will work with this year. In addition to its after-school program, the theatre offers three-day “Peace Leader” workshops to students at local schools. Once a week for three weeks, classes in Grades 4-12 come to the theatre to play games, explore the meaning of peace and talk about what conflicts they face. Jason Johnston, the educational program coordinator and one of only three full-time staff at the theatre, works with a team of volunteers to deliver the workshops. While a big part of the program is about having fun, there are plenty of serious discussions about bullying, racism, gun violence – whatever issues the kids are dealing with. “The program is just the skeleton; it’s the kids who put the meat on it,” says Johnston, 28. The theatre hopes to expand its offerings, though with an annual budget of $200,000 that relies almost exclusively on grants, funding remains a challenge.

Even on that modest budget, the theatre’s summer peace camp remains a highlight. For three weeks in July, several dozen children from the community work with artists to put together a performance they create themselves using music, visual arts and theatre. “Everything that we did was all based on their input and whatever they wanted to do,” says visual artist Anand Rajaram, 35. He worked on last summer’s show, which included a haunting ballad for the fallen trees in the forest surrounding the theatre, a tongue-in-cheek musical number about climate change set to the tune of That’s Amore and titled Just Ignore It, and a powerful scene about the alienation of the economically disadvantaged.

“I hope they learn that there’s no idea too small and that every idea has its worth,” says Rajaram. One of the ideas that camper Malan Macz has taken away from the peace camp is that there are better ways for dealing with bullying than lashing out. The 13-year-old, who, last summer, attended the camp for the fifth time last summer, is often teased by his classmates. “The first year I came, I had some anger management problems. But this has helped me a whole lot,” he says. “I try to deal with things as non-violently as possible, like giving an intelligent argument. Otherwise, I just ignore it.”

It’s that kind of change that energizes the staff, says Emerson. “It can be really challenging. But when you work for a whole year and you see the struggles that those kids – like the kids in Drew’s Group – go through, and then at the end of the year one of them says to you, ‘You’ve really changed my life. I just don’t know who I’d be without you guys,’ then you just can’t give up.”

For more information about Children's Peace Theatre, visit their website

Acting It Out

Battle of the Ballot Box: Part I

dru — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:27:51 +0000

Urban Militarization, Corporate Power & the 2007 Philippine Elections

This is the first in a series of three articles: Part II | Part III

MANILA--Across the Philippine archipelago, millions of voters cast ballots in the 2007 mid-term elections in May while a wave of political violence swept the country, including multiple assassinations and fire-bombings of polling stations.

According to the Philippine National Police, approximately 130 people lost their lives during a national vote widely viewed as a test to the political legitimacy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, an important US ally in the Asia-Pacific region.

Final results for the 2007 Philippine elections remain undetermined, as major scandals, including allegations of state-sanctioned electoral fraud, pressure the fragile Arroyo government.

On the streets of Manila, violent incidents have put a sharp accent on elections in the former US colony, contributing to an air of political volatility as the Philippines face an unparalleled economic crisis.

"Elections in the Philippines have always been characterized by 'Guns, Goons and Gold'", Elisa Tita Lubi, a political organizer with the Gabriela women's movement explained. "For this reason, many in the country have lost faith in voting."

Major sectors of Philippine society, including national labour unions and opposition political parties, openly charge the government of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with having had a direct hand in electoral corruption.

"Today, you can't be positive that if a clear majority of the population votes for a certain candidate or political party that they will win, especially on the left, as today it is the gold and goons that often dictate who wins elections, not popular choice."

Amid the political buzz surrounding elections in the Philippines, the fiscal value of ballots is openly discussed among voters, as 'vote-buying' is an integral element of any major electoral campaign. Mainstream media coverage openly describes a farcical election, "Vote buying, it happened everywhere," an editorial from the Philippine Daily Inquirer said. "It marked the conduct of the elections, that could best be described in three words; chaos, confusion, disorder."

A critical layer to mainstream electoral politics in the Philippines is intimidation.

Accounts of violent tactics by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against voters from Manila's sprawling urban poor communities, such as Tondo, and vivid tales of military-driven electoral intervention are widespread.

"Military soldiers entered my family's home a couple of weeks before the election, giving orders on how to vote," Salvador, a community organizer in Tondo, explained through an interpreter. "Filipino soldiers, holding machine guns, gave us orders to not vote for progressive political party-lists and demanded the names of those in the neighbourhood planning on voting for anti-government parties in the elections."

Election-related violence and corruption in the 2007 Philippine vote has raised alarm globally.

A Thai international observer from the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) openly compared Philippine voting conditions to war-torn Afghanistan. "I have been to Afghanistan and observed the polling there and this is worse than Afghanistan," said ANFREL's Somsri Hananuntasuk in a recent interview. Hananuntasuk observed the NATO-enforced 2005 Afghan elections.

In contrast to the chaotic voting conditions depicted by Philippine media outlets and outlined by international election observation groups, US-backed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo offers a strikingly different picture to the international community.

According to a statement from Arroyo shortly after the mid-term vote, Filipinos "cast their ballot, free of coercion and according to their own will." Arroyo's account stands in marked contrast to the elections as portrayed by even mainstream international media outlets. Reuters reported that "election-related violence has marred the democratic process" and that "the body count now is now over a hundred" throughout the country.

In Tondo, Manila, an observer from the US Embassy echoed President Arroyo's positive assessment of the elections, stating that "the Philippines is clearly a vibrant democracy" to the same Philippine media outlets that described the national vote as flawed with 'chaos,' 'fraud' and 'violence.'

Political violence in the Philippines, both in urban and rural settings, doesn't simply revolve around national elections. In Manila's urban poor communities, political violence is a constant reality. In recent months, the national army has established a visible presence in the impoverished communities along Manila's North Harbour.

Today's military build-up occurs as the Arroyo administration is pushing towards the privatization of Manila's North Harbour. Newspapers in the country are bubbling with editorials on the pending construction of a massive Hong Kong-style international port, as International Container Terminal Services, Inc., a major multinational, has expressed interest in developing a privatized port zone.

Privatization, a central piece of the Arroyo administration's economic policy, supported by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), is a hotly contested political issue in the Philippines.

"Privatization of the North Harbour will equal the dislocation of our community," outlined Abner Castro, a community organizer from Tondo. "People living along the port area will be forcibly displaced–-about 80,000 families–-to other regions of the country or areas of metro Manila," he said, adding that "the government is moving the military into our community to intimidate people into leaving for good."

Along the deeply polluted Pacific Ocean shoreline of the North Harbour, tens of thousands of urban poor Filipino homes were declared illegal in 2007 by state authorities. A growing military presence in the impoverished coastal neighbourhood strikes a chord of fear amongst residents.

"Why is the government deploying military into our community?" asked Abner Castro of Tondo at an open-air community meeting on the Pacific Ocean coast. "Military forces are a major part of a government effort to displace this community, to put fear in people's hearts, to ensure that we don't fight back."

A national, left-driven opposition to the US-supported Arroyo administration maintains a major political base in urban poor communities such as Tondo, important political battlegrounds, both at election time and beyond. Left Wing political parties, such as Bayan Muna--Tagalog for 'People First'--play a key role in local grassroots campaigns, including the struggle against harbour privatization in Manila.

Within this political power struggle, 2004 presidential elections delivered alarming results for the Arroyo government, as left-wing political parties secured significant electoral gains.

In 2004, progressive political parties won a number of congressional seats, including electoral victories for key political figures in the Philippine Left, such as Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis--Tagalog for 'Toiling Masses'--who lives in Tondo and who has openly called for revolutionary political change in the country since taking office.

"The majority of Filipinos are struggling against poverty, for better working conditions," explains Crispin Beltran while under government detention at a Manila hospital. After months in prison without trial and facing a deteriorating heart condition, Beltran was eventually transferred by state authorities to a detention hospital following international pressure.

"Economic justice is part of the political program of the national rebellion," continues Beltran. "Rebels are fighting to uplift all Filipinos, the majority who are very, very poor."

After the previous election, state authorities arrested Beltran, along with four other members of congress in 2006 on charges of 'sedition' and 'rebellion.'

Congressman Beltran, 74, was recently released after 16 months of imprisonment on rebellion charges deemed as "unfounded allegations" by Amnesty International, which wrote in a 2006 release on Beltran that the "nature of the charges and the manner in which they have been brought forward have intensified continuing concerns that these arrests constituted arbitrary detentions based on a deliberate invocation of unfounded allegations."

All charges levelled against Beltran by the government of the Philippines were recently dropped.

Campaign signs in Philippines

Smokey Mountain