July 23 : Impeach Bush & Cheney

Monday - July 23 Impeach Bush and Cheney for War Crimes!

in New York
Protest outside the offices of Rep. Jerry Nadler

201 Varick St.
(Varick & King St.)
4:30 - 6:30 pm

Join us in front of Jerry Nadler's office to demand the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for crimes against peace and humanity and war crimes . Nadler is Chair of the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, which has jurisdiction over impeachment.

This action, called in New York by the Troops Out Now Coalition, is part of a national day of action, called by After Downing Street.

In Washington, activists will be marching from Arlington Cemetery to the Capitol to demand the initiation of impeachment proceedings. for details, see AfterDowningStreet.org

Antiwar Unity Call

Take the fight to stop the war back into the streets -- this time our number can be bigger and more powerful than ever!

It's not too late to unite around a major antiwar mobilization in Washington this fall!

A Proposal for a September 29
Unity Coalition for an Antiwar March on Washington, D.C.

Endorse the S29 Call for Unity

Read the call online

Mass anger over the criminal war is at an all time high. People are not only steaming mad at Bush and Cheney, they are also outraged with Congress for betraying the antiwar mandate of the November 2006 elections and caving into Bush on war funding. It’s hard to find anyone who supports the war, and if antiwar pressure is big now, it will be even bigger in September. Yet, instead of a unified massive demonstration this fall, the time when it will have the most impact, the various antiwar coalitions have scheduled at least 4 or 5 separate dates in the fall for separate protest.

Under other circumstances, separate protests in the fall would not constitute a problem, and there are probably good reasons why the different protests should happen. However, it is imperative that everyone unite around one major date because it’s the only way that we can liberate the antiwar struggle from the halls of congress and help it to re-emerge as independent mass pressure from below instead of empty rhetoric from above.

If there’s ever been anything close to a critical tipping point in public outrage over the war, we have entered that period now. However, without the kind of powerful protest in Washington DC to give life and expression to this popular anger, antiwar rage will be reduced to opinion poll statistics used by politicians who are far more interested in using opposition to the war to win election than to end the war.

The central crises confronting all who want to end the war is that after the elections last November, the leadership of the antiwar movement was effectively taken over by politicians in Congress and mainstream presidential candidates. The politicians who have anointed themselves the substitute for all of us who have been working hard to get the people out into the streets, support most of Bush’s war but are weary of the war in Iraq because it has turned into a disaster. What’s more these politicians will continue to pass resolutions and give speeches, but not really stop the war or bring the troops home because the prize that their eye’s are really focused on is the 2008 elections. (This is not an argument against anyone who believes or hopes that the 2008 elections will be important. That's another issue. The issue right now is that we must not let an event that is 16 months away be a factor in taking the fight against the war out of the streets precisely when the people may be ready to get in to the streets right now, in marches bigger than the marches we’ve been to since the beginning of the war.)

The high jacking of the antiwar movement is not the fault of most grass roots activists who have been doing a lot of great things like occupying recruitment stations, or the offices of members of Congress, and organizing student strikes, and supporting the growing GI resistance movement. The mainstream media has played its role in the coup by deliberately suppressing coverage of much of the action in the streets and focusing their camera’s instead on the “war of words between Congress and the White House”.

The fragmentation within the antiwar movement has helped the politicians take over. More specifically, there are influential and well financed forces in the antiwar movement that are more invested in the Democratic party and the outcome of the 2008 presidential elections, than they are in keeping the antiwar heat in the streets. This fact has enabled the takeover.
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This fall, we need a united antiwar human tidal wave in the streets of Washington. We need it to send the message to the war makers in both the Republican and Democratic parties that the war is not an issue to exploit for electoral reasons; it’s a crime that must end completely and immediately! (At the moment that the movement is potentially at its greatest strength, let's make sure that the movement isn’t sidelined and diss-empowered, until after 2008. Unity this fall may be the key to keeping the movement alive.)

THE SOLUTION: A SEPTEMBER 29 UNITY COALTION The protest dates that have been announced (besides September 29) include and a national protest called by the ANSWER on Sept. 15, regional antiwar protests in late October called by United for Peace and Justice, and an antiwar moratorium scheduled for Sept. 21. There are also many other important local and national events planned in the fall, including a major anti war march in Newark N.J. called by POP, Peoples Organization for Progress .There is nothing magic about a particular date, however of all the dates that groups are organizing around in the fall, September 29 is the best date. It’s late enough in the fall to give every one, particularly students, time to organize mass participation (the huge D.C. protest on Sept.24, 2005 proved this), and it’s not so late in fall that it diminishes the sense of urgency for action that will be overwhelming by September. In addition, Sept. 29 has got a lot of momentum already, thousands of endorsers, and activists across the country have been organizing for S29 since it was announced 2 months ago (the September 29 mobilization will be preceded by a week long antiwar encampment in Washington DC starting on Sept.22).

Agreeing on the best date in the fall for a truly united and massive turnout solves one problem. The next problem is pulling the major antiwar coalitions together in support of it. When Unity is paramount, no one coalition should seek domination over a serious or decisive mass mobilization. Groups have critical political differences, but there are occasions when it necessary to reduce barriers to collaboration. Ultimately, the various antiwar coalitions should serve the needs of the movement and not merely their own organization. In order to facilitate the participation of other major coalitions on an equal basis in all aspects of mobilization, TONC proposes the formation of a September 29 Unity coalition for a national antiwar march on Wash. D.C. Through a coalition, all forces should be able to work out the basis for everyone making a serious commitment to the mobilization. No one or even two coalitions will "own" the march, the whole movement, from the grassroots up will have collective ownership of the mobilization. With respect to demands, the best policy is an understanding that all groups whether they are part of the coalition or not shall be free to bring there own signs and banners reflecting the demands and issues that they want. The demands for the lead banner and perhaps a certain number of additional signs will be determined by the coalition.

BROADEN THE MOVEMENT AND BE INCLUSIVE Unity between coalitions is a short term practical necessity, but it is not a substitute for the deeper, more fundamental, and decisive unity that will change the composition of the antiwar movement. Part of making the antiwar movement more inclusive with respect to class and race, necessitates connecting the struggle against the war, to the struggle against the war at home, the war against Black and Latino youth, immigrants, Hurricane Katrina survivors, women and LGBT people. We need to connect the billions spent on war to the needs of working people for health care, education, secure pensions and union jobs. Raising different demands is one way of achieving this. Moreover those of us who want to help transform a movement against the war into a movement that comes to understand that war is a symptom, and imperialism is the root cause, antiwar events are one of the main forums for expanding knowledge through demands, and rallies. It is only through expanding instead of limiting the messages, that mass opposition to the Pentagon's occupation of Iraq develops into opposition to the occupation of Afghanistan and Palestine, the Pentagon plans to attack Iran, the war against Latin America embodied in Plan Colombia and threats against Venezuela and Cuba; and includes calls to impeach Bush and Cheney for war crimes. Antiwar events must be a forum for sharing the information, ideas and analysis that are censored by the mainstream media.

It is not necessary for everyone to agree on all demands. But we do need to agree not to censure those raising progressive social demands and demands opposing war and occupation.

Within all of this lies the basis for uniting this fall, lets grab hold of it now so that no more time is wasted.

Endorse the S29 Call for Unity

Endorse Endorse the call to unite for September 29

Volunteer Help build a massive grassroots movement to shut down the war!

Donate Help with organizing expenses for September 29

The war is SiCKO too!

Another reason to March on September 29th...

HEALTHCARE & THE WAR ARE “SICKO”

Did you know?

One fourth of the Iraq war budget alone could fund healthcare for every uninsured person in this country.

Think what the trillions of dollars wasted on war,
occupation and destruction could do for the people:

• Provide free medicine for all of our seniors and chronically ill.

• Change the dismal statistics of infant mortality in major cities like Detroit, Baltimore and Washington D.C. where the mortality rates for African American and poor children rival impoverished countries abroad;

• Stop the epidemic of hospital closings;

• It could provide healthcare and treatment for the physical and psychological trauma that the survivors of Katrina and Rita are still suffering from;

• Make healthcare for low wage workers and immigrant families a priority.

While the war is bleeding us at home it is miniscule in comparison to the bloodshed, misery and pain that is being inflicted on the Iraqi people. The Lancet medical journal documented that 655,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed during the war (Oct, 2006). The health of the Iraqi people and the entire region has been destroyed. Solidarity demands that we act now to stop the war, end the occupation and bring the troops home now!

GET INVOLVED:

1) Endorse: http://www.troopsoutnow.org/healthnotwarendorse.shtml

2) Become a volunteer organizer:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml

3) Donate:
http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml

4) Download "Healthcare and the War are Sicko" leaflets at: http://troopsoutnow.org/HWN.pdf


Or call or write us at:
Campaign for Healthcare, Not Warfare,
c/o TONC,
55 W. 17th St. 5C,
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646

Unite to Shut Down the War!

UNITE!

Take the Antiwar Struggle Back to the Streets in September

SEPT 29: Mass March on the White House

SEPT 22- 29: Encampment in front of Congress. Cut off the War funds

Stop the War at Home and Abroad!

All Troops Out Now!

Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes!

Read the call | Endorse | Volunteer

Encampment to Stop the War blog

Encampment to Stop the War MySpace

Donate to help with organizing expenses

September: The next big confrontation over the war According to the Washington calendar, September will see the next big political confrontation on the war. This is when the House and Senate debate war funding for 2008. And it is when General David Petraeus reports to Congress on the status of Bush's troop "surge." We must make sure that the antiwar movement is in Washington to make our voice heard and demand an end to the criminal war and occupation of Iraq. This is a time of great opportunity for the antiwar movement. The Bush plans to colonize Iraq have clearly failed and the overwhelming majority of the people are against the war. Now is a time when the people can have a real impact, if we act decisively and in a spirit of unity. In April of this year, the Troops Out Now Coalition proposed that September 22-29 be a week of resistance, with an Encampment to Stop the War and a mass March on the White House on Saturday, March 29. We believe that this is the necessary next step to take the struggle against the war to a new level of resistance. The encampment has the potential to ensure that another war vote does not go unchallenged. The proposal opens an opportunity for an independent intervention representing the people, who are overwhelmingly against the war. The call for a National March and Encampment in Washington DC has already received wide support. In the past few weeks, activists and organizers from across the U.S. have contacted TONC, demonstrating a groundswell of enthusiasm for the call to go from protest to resistance. Some of the proposals we have heard in the past few days include: * Student organizations in several cities are discussing plans for a student strike that would include protests and direct action on their campuses, before joining the Encampment and March in DC. * Organizers are already planning car caravans and "peace trains" to Washington DC for the Encampment. * Local organizations are planning to set up their own tents at the Encampment, with displays, teach-ins, literature, and protests to highlight various issues, including: immigrant rights, counter-recruiting, Katrina, Palestine, and more. * A Peoples' Peace Congress to challenge to corporate war Congress in Washington. At such a gathering, different groups could put forth concrete proposals for desperately needed social, environmental and health programs that are gutted to pay for endless war. The Peoples Peace Congress can become a challenge to and an expose' of the present corporate-ruled war congress. Only the people will stop the war: The Democratic Party bait & switch Despite being elected to bring the troops home and end the criminal occupation, the Democrats in Congress have completely capitulated to Bush on the issue of continuing to fund the war. Even a determined congressional minority of Democrats could have blocked the funding for the war—if they had really decided to end the occupation. Instead, while posing as the “anti-war” majority party, the Democrats have completely capitulated to Bush and the Pentagon. Building an independent movement is more important than ever, as pressure grows to abandon struggle on the streets and surrender the antiwar movement to the Democratic Party, a party that now completely shares in complicity for the criminal war and occupation in Iraq. Wall Street and their mouthpieces always want to divert the mass movement into safe channels—into lobbying and voting and trusting in the bought-and-paid-for politicians. Our challenge is to develop clear demands that move the struggle into the streets. Back to the streets: Unite to shut down the war As we move forward in a period of great opportunities and challenges, we are compelled to frankly address the lack of unity in the antiwar movement. During the last struggle over the issue of war funding in March, the movement had a real opportunity to intervene if it acted decisively. Instead, organizations and coalitions called competing events in different venues, deliberately timed to undermine participation in other actions. This sort of cynical maneuvering for organizational advantage weakens the movement, demoralizes activists, and only plays into the hands of Bush and the warmongers in Washington. In conversations with activists across the country, we find that everyone wants unity in the movement to stop the war. It is clear that the division doesn't come from the grassroots activists who are actually building the movement, but from those who have other goals and agendas. More than 600,000 Iraqi people and 3,500 U.S. soldiers have died in this brutal war -- petty divisiveness and sectarianism can no longer be tolerated. Activists want unity. The times demand unity. Progressives in the U.S. have a special responsibility to stop this war -- Now is the time for all coalitions and organizations, national and local, to find ways to work together in principled unity around the demand to stop the war immediately. Building unity also means working to unite the struggle against the war abroad with the struggle against the war at home. Linking the fight against the war with the struggles against racism, LGBT oppresssion, immigrant bashing, and the struggles of working people will only strengthen our movement. Our movement becomes stronger as we widen the struggle against the war at home and abroad. Together we can and must change the political agenda The struggle to stop the war has made tremendous gains. The vast majority of the people are now opposed to the occupation. G.I. opposition is growing as soldiers increasingly oppose being sent to fight and die in this horrific war, in which they have no interest. The politicians in Washington are clearly on the defensive, as their dreams of Empire in the Middle East crumble, their lies about the war are exposed, and as the vast majority of people here and worldwide oppose their heinous war. But we must do more. The war in Iraq is not a “failed policy;” it is a horrendous crime against the Iraqi people. It must be stopped. Every day the occupation brings more death and destruction to the Iraqi people. It brings more deaths and serious injuries to U.S. youth who are trapped in this war, and return home to find inadequate medical care and benefits. It will take an independent movement to stop the war, a movement that takes an independent road geared to mobilizing people in this country to challenge all of the warmakers in Washington, that strongly demands the withdrawal of all U.S. troops NOW and calls for ending ALL war funding immediately. This is a crucial time. What is needed now is an unprecedented outpouring of resistance. We must demonstrate to the politicians in Washington that we will not allow business as usual to continue. The Troops Out Now Coalition encourages all of the antiwar coalitions on the local and national level to engage each other and where communication has broken down, to open new lines of communication so that our combined efforts will make us stronger. Let us strengthen the anti-war movement and build unity by reaching out to and joining forces with movements struggling for: - Stop the raids against immigrant workers -- Full rights for undocumented workers - No War against Iran - End all occupations now - from Iraq to Palestine, the Philippines, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Afghanistan - Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes - No to U.S. intervention – Hands off Cuba, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, and the Sudan - Justice for Katrina survivors - End racist police terror - Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners - Money for health care, jobs and education, not endless war

We have less than 3 months until the Encampment, and we still have lots of work to do. Here are some ways you can help:

1) Help spread the word.

You can download a single page leaflet or the 4-page leaflet from the TONC website, and distribute them in your school, workplace, church or mosque, community center, union hall, and neighborhood.

2) Form a local organizing center.

Sign on at http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml. We can help you organize buses or vans from your area - contact us for more information.

3) Donate to help with organizing expenses.

We urgently need your help - please consider making a financial contribution to help us cover all of the vast expenses involved in this massive mobilization. Your donation will help organize buses

You can donate online at http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml

4) Organize your campus to participate in the Student Strike during the week of the Encampment.

Student organizations are already planning for actions during the week of Sept 2-29. If you would like to become a student organizer, contact us at http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml.

5) Organize a tent for the Encampment.

If your organization would like to organize a tent during the Encampment to highlight an issue(s) that you are working on, contact us: http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml

Endorsers include:* * Rep. Cynthia McKinney; Medea Benjamin, CoFounder of CODEPINK: Women for Peace; Fernando Suarez del Solar, founder of Proyecto Guerrero Azteca por la Paz; Bishop Filipe C Teixeira, OFSJC; Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General; Brenda Stokely of the NYC Solidarity Committee For Katrina / Rita Evacuees; Sarah "echo" Steiner, Green Party of the U.S. National Co-Chair; Ron Kovic, Vietnam veteran, author; Liz Arnone, Co-Chair, NJ Green Party; Abayomi Azikiwe, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice; Jack Balkwill, Chair, Liberty Underground of Virginia; Teresa Dawson, Coordinator, MFSO Central Ohio; Joan Gibbs, Jericho Movement; Efia Nwangaza, Founder/director, Afrikan Amerikan Institute for Policy Studies & Planning; Jose Luis Diaz, President, Casas las Americas; Leslie Feinberg, author and activist; Teresa Gutierrez, NY May 1 Coalition for Immigrant Rights; LeiLani Dowell, FIST (Fight Imperialism - Stand Together); Berna Ellorin, BAYAN USA; Ben Carroll, UNC SDS; and hundreds more. for an updated list, see TroopsOutNow.org
*organizations listed for ID purposes only

Bring your medical bills to Washington

SEPT 29 - Massive National March on Washington
Buses from around the country!
SEPT 22 - 29 - A week long Encampment in front of Congress to Stop the War

Bring Your Medical Bills to Washington!

Stop the War at Home and Abroad!
Troops Out Now!
Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes!
Fund People's Needs, Not War!

During the week of September 22-29, antiwar activists from across the U.S. will mass in front of Congress in Washington, DC to demand the complete cut off of war funding. On September 29, there will be a mass march from the Capitol to the White House.

Healthcare, Not Warfare will be at the Encampment all week. Please join us at the Healthcare, Not Warfare tent and bring your medical bills. During the week, health care workers, nurses, doctors, patients and patient advocates will be holding teach-ins, speakouts, and protests to demand: "Fund Healthcare, Not War!"

Join us and let's bring your medical bills to the floors of Congress to demand that they fund human needs, not war!

HOW TO GET INVOLVED:

1) Endorse: http://www.troopsoutnow.org/healthnotwarendorse.shtml

2) Become a volunteer organizer:
http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml

3) Donate:
http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml

4) Download "Healthcare and the War are SiCKO" leaflets at: http://troopsoutnow.org/HWN.pdf


Or call or write us at:
Campaign for Healthcare, Not Warfare,
c/o TONC,
55 W. 17th St. 5C,
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646

Hundreds of Thousands March in Support of Chavez

Credit: Prensa Presidencial

Hundreds of Thousands March in Support of Chavez
Chavez Dismisses International Disapproval
of Venezuela's Media Policy Monday, 

By: Gregory Wilpert – Venezuelanalysis.com

Hundreds of thousands of supporters of Chavez demonstrate in favor of
the government's decision to not renew RCTV's broadcast license .

As several hundred thousand Chavez supporters rallied in Venezuela's
largest avenue on Saturday, President Chavez rejected all international
interference with his decision not to renew a television station's
broadcast license. Referring to the Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci,
Chavez also spoke at length about how private media maintains a
cultural hegemony that must be broken.

"Go to hell, representatives of the global oligarchy, we are a free
country!" said Chavez to wild applause, once marchers reached the
Avenida Bolivar in the center of Caracas. >> LINK

The truth behind the RCTV campaign

The International Action Center stands with the people of Venezuela and their democratically-elected President Hugo Chavez and we condemn Washington's propaganda campaign against the Venezuelan government, carried out with the complicity of the U.S. corporate media.

We have included below a letter from Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez Herrera to Nancy Pelosi (in English and Spanish) responding to her attack on President Hugo Chavez.

Over the next few days, the International Action Center will be launching an campaign to challenge and expose Washington's campaign of lies and disinformation against the people of Venezuela.

Also see: Myths and Facts About the Radio Caracas Television Case at http://www.embavenez-us.org/RCTVFactSheetFinal_2007.pdf

---

May 30, 2007

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C.

Madam Speaker Pelosi,

I am writing in the opportunity to respond to your May 30 statement on Venezuela’s decision not to renew the broadcast license of Radio Caracas Television (RCTV). In it, you accused President Hugo Chávez of engaging in efforts to “suppress the media.” I would like to assure you that the decision was made in full accordance with Venezuela’s laws and does not represent a threat to the country’s vibrant media or the ability of the Venezuelan people to receive information and opinion that is critical of the government. Equally, and as many observers have pointed out, since President Chavez came to power the government has tried to democratize the media to foster a diversity of voices to combat the historical monopoly on the broadcasting of information that causes so much harm to any democracy.

The decision not to renew RCTV’s broadcast license was a simple regulatory matter that was made according to the country’s constitution, laws and public interest standards. It was not made based on RCTV’s critical editorial stance against the government, nor was it directed at silencing criticism of the government. The Venezuelan media has enjoyed, and will continue to enjoy the right to report and offer opinions, whether or not they agree with President Chávez. This has also been recognized by numerous observers. As Bart Jones, a longtime correspondent for the Associated Press wrote in an op-ed published in the Los Angeles Times on May 30, “Radio, TV and newspapers remain uncensored, unfettered and unthreatened by the government. Most Venezuelan media are still controlled by the old oligarchy and are staunchly anti-Chávez.”

It is also important to note that while RCTV enjoyed access to the public spectrum, it far exceeded its prescribed role as a media outlet in a democracy. In April 2002, RCTV promoted a coup against the democratically elected government of President Chávez. After that, it participated and encouraged the sabotage of the oil industry of Venezuela, causing tremendous suffering on the Venezuelan people.

In both instances, RCTV went beyond taking a critical editorial stance against the government. It used its privileged position as a media outlet to help subvert Venezuela’s constitutional order. In no other country would a media outlet be allowed to play such an overtly undemocratic role, much less using a public broadcast spectrum. Again, in so doing, RCTV single-handedly subverted Venezuela’s democracy. I wonder how the FCC would have responded had such events taken place in the United States.

The decision to not renew RCTV’s license will not affect Venezuela’s longstanding commitment to freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom of information as your statement suggests. In fact, the majority of Venezuela’s media outlets remain in private hands – of the 81 television stations, 709 radio broadcasters and 118 newspapers throughout Venezuela, 79, 706 and 118, respectively, are privately owned and operated. More importantly, they all exercise their rights freely, often criticizing the government in strident terms reflecting the vitality of Venezuela’s democracy. Since the non renewal took effect, the great majority of media outlets in Venezuela have openly reported on and offered their opinions on the decision.

If you have any questions or concerns about Venezuela or the Venezuelan media, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you at your earliest convenience to discuss this matter. Most importantly, I invite you to visit Venezuela and judge for yourself the vibrant state of the media and freedom of thought and expression enjoyed by all Venezuelans.

Respectfully,

Bernardo Alvarez Herrera
Ambassador

---

30 de mayo de 2007

Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Presidenta
Cámara de Representantes de Estados Unidos
Washington, D.C.

Sra. Presidenta Pelosi,

Le escribo en la oportunidad de responder a su comunicado del 30 de mayo sobre la decisión de Venezuela de no renovar la licencia de transmisión de Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). En ella, usted acusa al Presidente Hugo Chávez de participar en esfuerzos por “suprimir a los medios de comunicación”. Quiero asegurarle que la decisión fue tomada en plena concordancia con las leyes venezolanas y no representa una amenaza a los medios de comunicación vibrantes del país o la habilidad del pueblo venezolano de recibir información y opiniones que son críticas del gobierno. De la misma forma, y como muchos observadores han indicado, desde que el presidente Chávez llegó al poder ha tratado de democratizar los medios de comunicación para promover la diversidad de las voces para combatir el monopolio histórico sobre la transmisión de la información que causa tanto daño a cualquier democracia.

La decisión de no renovar la licencia de transmisión de RCTV, fue una simple medida regulatoria que fue hecha de acuerdo a la constitución del país, las leyes y los estándares del interés público. No fue tomada basándose en la línea editorial crítica de RCTV en contra del gobierno, y no fue dirigida a silenciar el criticismo del gobierno. Los medios de comunicación venezolanos han gozado, y continuarán gozando del derecho de reportar y ofrecer opiniones, así estén de acuerdo o no con el Presidente Chávez. Esto también ha sido reconocido por numerosos observadores. Como Bart Jones, un corresponsal de larga trayectoria en Associated Press, quien escribió en un editorial, publicado en “Los Angeles Times” el 30 de mayo, que “la radio, la televisión y los periódicos continúan trabajando sin censura, constricciones o amenazas por parte del gobierno. La mayoría de los medios de comunicación venezolanos todavía son controlados por una vieja oligarquía y siguen siendo incondicionalmente opositores a Chávez.”

Es también importante señalar, que mientras RCTV ha gozado del acceso al espectro público, excedió sobremanera su rol preescrito como un medio de comunicación dentro de una democracia. En abril de 2002, RCTV promovió un golpe de estado en contra del gobierno democráticamente elegido del Presidente Chávez. Luego de eso, participó y promovió el sabotaje de la industria petrolera en Venezuela, causando un tremendo sufrimiento al pueblo venezolano.

En ambas instancias, RCTV fue más allá de tomar una línea editorial crítica en contra del gobierno. Utilizó su posición privilegiada como un medio de comunicación, para ayudar a subvertir el orden constitucional venezolano. En ningún otro país se hubiera permitido que un medio de comunicación juegue un rol tan antidemocrático, ni mucho menos que utilice el espectro de transmisión público. Una vez más, al hacerlo, RCTV trastornó unilateralmente la democracia venezolana. Me pregunto cómo el FCC hubiese respondido si tales eventos se hubieran llevado a cabo en Estados Unidos.

La decisión de no renovar la licencia de RCTV, no afectará el largo compromiso de Venezuela con la libertad de expresión, la libertad de prensa y la libertad de información como su comunicado sugiere. De hecho la mayoría de los medios de comunicación venezolanos permanecen en manos privadas—de las 81 estaciones de televisión, 709 estaciones de radio y 118 diarios a lo largo de Venezuela, 79, 706 y 118, respectivamente, son controlados y operados por el sector privado. Lo que es más importante es que todos ejercen sus derechos libremente, a menudo criticando al gobierno en términos estridentes reflejando la vitalidad de la democracia de Venezuela. Desde que la no renovación entró en efecto, la gran mayoría de los medios de comunicación en Venezuela han ofrecido abiertamente sus opiniones sobre la decisión.

Si tuviera preguntas o preocupaciones sobre Venezuela, o los medios de comunicación venezolanos, por favor no dude en contactarme. Le daría la bienvenida a la oportunidad de reunirme con usted cuanto antes para discutir este asunto. Mejor aun, la invito a que visite Venezuela y juzgue por usted el vibrante estado de los medios de comunicación y la libertad de expresión disfrutada por todos los venezolanos.

Respetuosamente,

Bernardo Álvarez Herrera
Embajador

Rainbow Solidarity for the Cuban Five

Please sign on and circulate the call for Rainbow Solidarity for the Cuban Five: http://www.freethefiveny.org/rainbow4the5.shtml

Please contact five to Free the Five!

The call for Rainbow Solidarity for the Cuban Five has not received one word of big-business media coverage--print or electronic.

The call first went out in January, from a multi-national and multi-lingual group of U.S.-based lesbian, gay, bi and trans activists, to build solidarity with these five political prisoners—Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González. They are serving long sentences in U.S. penitentiaries for the “crime” of infiltrating CIA-backed fascist commando groups in order to halt terror attacks against Cuba from U.S. soil.

The Rainbow Solidarity for the Cuban Five call demands a new trial and freedom for these political prisoners, defense of Cuban sovereignty and self-determination and a halt to the illegal U.S. acts of war against Cuba—including the economic blockade and CIA-trained, funded and armed attacks by mercenary “contra” armies operating from this country.
Without any help from the monopoly media, the call has circled the globe. Individuals and organizations from more than 32 countries and 43 states in the U.S. have signed on. To see a list of signers or to sign on yourself, please visit www.freethefiveny.org. Look for the Rainbow!

Volunteers have translated the introduction to the initiative and the call itself, so that it is now available in Spanish, English, simplified and traditional Chinese, Farsi, Turkish, Greek, Portuguese, Japanese, Italian, French and German. ASWAT—the Palestinian lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersexual organization—is translating the introduction and call into Arabic. LGBT and feminist activists in Croatia are translating and circulating the call.
But the arc of this Rainbow of Solidarity must widen.

You can make a great contribution. Take a moment now to send this email to at least five of your loved ones and friends, co-workers and neighbors, and ask them to help free the Five.

Contact five to Free the Five! Your help is decisive.

For more information about the Cuban Five visit www.freethefiveny.org or www.freethefive.org.

Free the Five!
Leslie Feinberg

The Legacy of Agent Orange in Viet Nam

The Legacy of Agent Orange in Viet Nam

On Monday, June 11, 2007, - Join Ramsey Clark, Vinie Burrows,
the film producers, lawyers and veterans

See the new film
The Last Ghost of War
A compelling NEW 57 minute documentary film, narrated by Kevin Kline, shot in Viet Nam, France and the U.S. on the legacy of the largest chemical warfare operation in history and the continuing law suit seeking justice.

Meet the Producers - Pham Quoc Thai and Janet Gardner

Monday, JUNE 11 6:30 pm
Cantor Film Center.
36 East 8th Street, NY, NY 10003

Today 3 million Vietnamese suffer the effects of chemical defoliants used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War. Tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers are also affected, along with hundreds of thousands of children of those exposed decades ago on both sides. The thousands of veterans and civilians disabled from depleted uranium weapons in present wars face similar long term consequences

Donate or purchase tickets at http://www.iacenter.org/agentorangetickets.html

A benefit for:
VAVA - Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin
$5 to $15 Film Donation suggested
Advance Ticket purchase is highly recommended
Even if you are not able to attend, please send a DONATION for:
VAVA - Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin

Hear from Constantine Kokkoris, part of the legal team representing the Vietnamese plaintiffs on the appeal of the civil suit in U.S. courts against the 37 U.S. chemical companies which produced the toxic chemicals during the war.


Hear update from: Viet Nam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign

June 11 Host Committee:
International Action Center,
National Lawyers Guild
Int?l Association of Democratic Lawyers
Women's Int?l Democratic Federation
Women's Fightback Network
National Writers Union ? NY Chapter,
Peoples Video Network,
Depleted Uranium DU Education Project,
Harlem Tenants Council
Jersey City Peace Movement,
WILPF - Women's Int?l League for Peace & Freedom ? NY
BAYAN - USA
Asia Pacific Action
Pakistan/USA Freedom Forum
Stop War On Iran Campaign
December 12th Movement
Workers World Party
Grannies Peace Brigade
Artists and Activists United for Peace
WESPAC Foundation


For more information: International Action Center,
55 West 17th St, #5C, NY, NY 10011
Call 212-633-6646, www.IACenter.org

Donate or purchase tickets at http://www.iacenter.org/agentorangetickets.html

Harlem Conference on Race, Glass & Gentrification in Harlem

Harlem Conference on Race, Glass & Gentrification in Harlem

June 1 – 2, 2007 at St. Ambrose Church
9 West 130th St. (Between Fifth and Lenox Avenues)
June 1st: 4 PM – 8 PM June 2nd 9 AM to 6 PM


On June 1st and June 2nd at St. Ambrose Church located at 9 West 130th Street hundreds of tenants and activists from Harlem and throughout New York City convened for two days of plenary sessions and workshops at the 1st annual Harlem Ant-Gentrification Conference sponsored by the Harlem Tenants Council and the Delano Village Tenants Association.

The conference entitled “Race, Class and Gentrification in Harlem” addressed a number of issues that included rising evictions, luxury developments adversely impacting Harlem’s already inflated rental market and Columbia University’ expansion. According to Nellie Hester Bailey, Director of the Harlem Tenants, the conference critically examined public policies that facilitated an escalating housing crisis throughout New York City, and in particular Harlem. Bailey said, “The affordable crisis has moved us beyond shallow rhetoric of how bad landlords are when in fact what we need is a pro-active independent tenant movement addressing eminent domain abuse for private profit, legal representation for indigent tenants, vigorous state/city investigation of landlord abuse and accountability of elected officials starting with mayor Bloomberg.”

Valerie Orridge, President of the Delano Village Tenants Association, a seven building complex of 1,800 units stretching from 139th to 142nd from Fifth to Lenox Avenue said, “our new owners purchase the complex a year ago for $175 million only to refinance several months ago for $350 million! Some tenants upon lease renewal had increases upward to a thousand dollars! We are working people, where are we to go?”

On June 1st the conference kicks off at 6 PM with speakers, including renowned scholar on gentrification Professor Neil Smith, activist Daniel Goldstein of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn and Dr. Mindy Fullilove, author of “Root Shock: How Tearing Up City Neighborhoods Hurts America, and What We Can Do About It.” There were eight workshop on Saturday, June 2nd from 9 AM to 6 PM: Senior Citizen Protection, Know Your Housing Rights, Building Alliances that featured tenants activists from across the city sharing experiences fighting gentrification, and authors Deborah and Rod Wallace presented their carefully researched book, “A Plague on Your Houses” that looked at the City’s devastated policy of “planned shrinkage” that uprooted 2 million working poor people of color. Robert Fitch, author of “The Assassination of New York” traced the City’s ruling elite destruction of its manufacturing base replaced with finance, insurance and real estate as the growth engine of the city aimed at the depopulating of blue collar workers.

DEFEND CINDY SHEEHAN

DEFEND CINDY SHEEHAN

5/30/2007--Cindy Sheehan made public two letters this weekend. The first letter announced her resignation from the Democratic Party over the agreement by the Democratically-controlled Congress to unconditionally fund the criminal and colonial war in Iraq that killed her son Casey and hundreds of thousands of others, mostly Iraqis.

In the second letter, coming a day after the first, Sheehan announced that she would no longer be active in the peace movement. The reason for her first letter is self-evident. Why did she feel compelled to write the second one?

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Sheehan has been the target of endless threats and attacks by pro-war groups, right-wing talk radio, and the corporate media. But they haven’t been the only attackers. As Sheehan has stepped up her criticism of the Congressional Democrats' complicity in the war, she has come under attack, some as venomous and personal as any right-wing Republican attack, by some who insist that the antiwar movement must be limited to protesting against Bush and the Republicans. Some of the same forces, who are closely tied to the Democrats, were happy to use Sheehan as long as she limited her criticism to Bush, but then viciously turned on her after she announced her resignation from the Democratic Party over the war.

Cindy Sheehan has come to the conclusion that she has been pushed out of the antiwar movement and it’s not hard to understand why she feels this way. She feels pushed out by the betrayal of the Democrats on the war funding. She feels pushed out by the isolation and hostility not only from the “right,” but also from many in the orbit of the Democratic Party that Sheehan had once considered allies. She feels pushed out be the failure of the various coalitions in the antiwar movement to put aside egos and narrow agendas in the interest of forging an independent and militant mass movement powerful enough to shut the war down.

Some good can come from this, if the antiwar movement takes this as a turning point. Many of us made a struggle to demand that Congress cut off all war funding and end the war a priority this spring. Some of us did this, not based on any expectation that Congress would actually end Bush’s war, but to clearly expose the Democratic Party and to demonstrate that they are as much of a pro-war party as the Republicans. If the antiwar movement can absorb this reality, as painful as it is, than it will be all the much harder for the movement to be pulled off the streets and made an appendage of the Democratic Party.

The movement owes a debt to Cindy Sheehan for striking a blow against those who plan to mislead the antiwar movement and tie it to the pro-war Democratic Party.

The rank and file of the antiwar movement stands in solidarity with Cindy Sheehan, not with those who are beholden to the Democratic Party. It takes courage for a mother, catapulted into the world spotlight after camping out in Crawford Texas two summers ago to protest the death of her son in Iraq, to stand up to and openly break with powerful politicians who would be all too willing to provide her a platform with all the perks if she simply toed the line.

It is our hope that after Cindy Sheehan had taken the time to re-unite with her family, and do whatever she feels necessary to repair the toll that all of this has taken on her family and herself, that she will once again be a leading voice against war, against empire, and for justice at home and abroad.

The Troops Out Now Coalition

PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF THE TRIAL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONFERENCE AFTER THE FIRST DAY OF THE TRIAL

4:00pm, on the steps of Bronx Supreme Court. Press release follows.

The Justice Committee, P.O. Box 1885, New York, New York 10159

Contacts: Gina Arias (Justice Committee): 646-321-5425

Kathie Cheng (October 22 Coalition): 917-414-4612

Esther Wang (Peoples' Justice): 512-769-1585

BRONX MOTHER OF POLICE SHOOTING VICTIM CALLS FOR HIGHER POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY. BRONX SUPREME COURT JURY TO DECIDE CIVIL CASE

May 23rd, 2007 – Seven years after the death of her 23-year-oldson, Malcolm Ferguson, Juanita Young says too many questions remain unanswered. On Tuesday, May 29th at 4:30PM, The Justice Committee, Peoples' Justice and The October 22nd Coalition will join Ms. Young and attorney Seth Harris on the steps of Bronx Supreme Court (851 Grand Concourse, off of 161st St) in a press conference calling for stepped-up police accountability.

"When they killed Malcolm, they killed five people that month,” Young told journalists after the 2000 shooting, referring to the four other young black men who were killed by NYPD in the month following the verdict that exonerated the police who killed Amadou Diallo. "When they kill your child, there's a kind of pain you can never get relief from. You take that with you to the day you die.”

To deal with that pain, Juanita Young joined with other parents and organizations fighting police brutality. Still seeking justice in her son's case, Young says she understands that the culture and practices of community policing must change – an approach long held by The Justice Committee, which led the fight against the controversial 48-hour rule (allowing police officers to wait two full business days before having to have to answer questions from the Police Department about possible misconduct).

"We have to question how police are trained and what their mandate is," says Justice Committee Co-Coordinator Gina Arias. "It seems the more technology they get the more deaths we get in communities of color ... if anything, their position should demand a higher standard of accountability than ordinary citizens. They are supposed to serve the interests of the community – not cause suffering and death with impunity."

Malcolm Ferguson was killed on March 1, 2000, when plainclothes officer Louis Rivera – assigned to an Area Impact Team (AIT) – chased the unarmed man up the stairs of a Bronx building. Police say a struggle ensued, ending in the accidental discharge of Rivera's16-shot, 9mm Smith & Wesson automatic. The 23-year old died at the scene from a "single contact gunshot wound of the head with perforations of skull and brain." An examination of Rivera's firearm revealed "blood and/or tissue residue on the barrel of the weapon."

Ironically, this incident occurred only three blocks from the police killing of unarmed African immigrant, Amadou Diallo and five days after Ferguson had been singled out and detained during a community protest of the Diallo verdict exonerating all cops involved in that shooting. And, while the official police version of Ferguson's shooting claims the young man was a drug dealer, others say Malcolm ran because he was scared of the police. Juanita Young says her son had "had problems," but was "moving forward with his life." He was one month shy of completing parole for a drug-selling conviction and was filing a 5 million dollar brutality suit against the city charging police broke his hand during the 1999 arrest. "What they say about him is a barefaced lie, they abused him,” Young said, "and then they killed him."

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It's time to go
from Protest to RESISTANCE!




Endorse the call for Sept 22 - 29 : http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207encampmentmarchonwashendorse.shtml

Volunteer : http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml

Become an Organizing Center : http://www.troopsoutnow.org/sept2207volunteer.shtml

Donate : http://troopsoutnow.org/donate.shtml

NYC: June 16 -- Antiwar Strategy Meeting - Planning for the next "Surge" of Antiwar mass action - Summer and Fall

Mumia Abu Jamal Press Conference

COMMUNITY GROUPS TO PICKET AT CON ED’S STOCKHOLDER MEETING TO PROTEST CON ED RATE HIKE

For Immediate Release: May 18, 2007


COMMUNITY GROUPS TO PICKET AT
CON ED’S STOCKHOLDER MEETING TO
PROTEST CON ED RATE HIKE

Picketers will also demand full reimbursement of
unpaid losses and damages from July 2006 Queens power outage

WHEN: Monday, May 21, 2007
5:30 P.M. to 6:30 P.M.

WHERE: Con Ed’s Stockholder Meeting
4 Irving Place at 14th Street in Manhattan

WHAT: Picket Line to protest Con Ed’s rate hike

WHO: Women’s Fightback Network
Million Worker March (East coast)
Western Queens Power for the People Campaign

Sharon Black, an organizer with the Women’s Fightback Network, a national grassroots group that advocates for people’s rights, stated, “We will be picketing Con Ed’s stockholder’s meeting to say ‘no’ to Con Ed’s request for a 17% rate hike. Con Edison made over $12 billion dollars last year. Let them use that money to upgrade the infrastructure. Their top managers make big bucks off of our electric bills, while workers in this city and small businesses are suffering. We refuse to pay for their mismanagement and greed.”

Alice Tufel, a member of the Western Queens Power for the People Campaign, said, "The proposed rate hike is an insult to the immigrant and working class communities of Western Queens. Our communities endured a nine-day power outage last summer, and we could face another outage again this summer. Con Ed still hasn’t fully reimbursed us for losses and damages from last year's outage. We should not have to pay more to Con Ed given its negligence, especially since the PSC is still investigating the July 2006 Queens outage and whether the company prudently spent money it already had.”

Labor union activists from the Million Worker March will also participate in the protest.

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