The World Celebrates Oscar Lopez Rivera’s Freedom

telesur | 17 January, 2017

A mural of Oscar López Rivera in Puerto Rico | Photo: indymedia.org

By now, you’ve probably Googled his name a few times to find out why everyone’s talking about him — Oscar Lopez Rivera.

Rivera is a Puerto Rican independence leader who has been imprisoned in the United States for 36 years, the longest-held political prisoner in the U.S. from Latin America. He was arrested by the FBI in 1981 for his involvement in the revolutionary struggle to free the Caribbean island from U.S. colonialism.

The Fight to Free Oscar Lopez Rivera

IN PICTURES: Oscar Lopez Rivera will finally be freed thanks to the ongoing pressure and activism of social movements.

telesur | 17 January, 2017

Thousands of people marched in Puerto Rico in 2013 as part of the ongoing struggle to free Oscar Lopez Rivera.Photo:EFE

From Mumia to Peltier, US Political Prisoners Still Locked Up

telesur | 17 January, 2017

Black activist Mumia Abu-Jamal and Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier | Photo: Wikimedia Commons

In the wake of U.S. President Barack Obama commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning and Oscar Lopez Rivera, teleSUR takes a look at some of the more prominent political prisoners who remain behind bars for their activism and fight for justice.

Oscar Lopez: Colonialism Is Puerto Rico’s Biggest Problem

telesur | 17 January, 2017

A woman works on a mural calling for the liberation of Oscar Lopez Rivera, San Juan, Puerto Rico. | Photo: AVN

In a statement issued on his birthday Friday, the Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar Lopez Rivera marked his 35th year as a political prisoner in the U.S. by saying that “whatever time I have left in this world I dedicate it to work and fight to help solve the biggest problem we face: the colonial status of Puerto Rico.”

The 20 cities with the lowest cost of living

A Journal of People report

India is the country that harbors most of the 20 cities with the lowest living cost in the world, and the city with the lowest relative cost of living in the world is also in India: Thiruvananthapuram. There is the “magic”, a face of a particular economy that enables the country to make such a “performance” with a vast number of poor.
Only four cities from Ukraine and Egypt are represented in the bottom 20.

Moldova president hopes to cancel EU association agreement and Ukrainian president is frustrated with EU

A Journal of People report

Igor Dodon, Moldova’s president, said Tuesday he hoped his country’s association agreement with the European Union would be cancelled if his party obtains a parliamentary majority, which would pave the way for an alliance with Moscow.
Speaking after talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Dodon said he is seeking “full reestablishment” of economic cooperation with Russia because the EU deal did not bring promised trade.

“This agreement did not bring any positive aspects to Moldova. We lost the Russian market while our exports to the EU also fell,” said Dodon.
Dodon said he agreed with Putin to begin talks on signing a “framework memorandum” on cooperation with the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEC)
He symbolically picked Moscow as his first foreign trip as president and called the visit “a historic day for Moldova-Russia relations.”

Fatah and Hamas to Form National Unity Government in Moscow-Brokered Deal

A Journal of People report

Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian parties are to form a national unity government prior to the holding of elections. The deal on national unity government follows three days of talks in Moscow.
Fatah, Hamas, two main Palestinian factions have been at odds since the 2006 elections.
“We have reached an agreement under which, within 48 hours, we will call on (Palestinian leader) Mahmoud Abbas to launch consultations on the creation of a government” of national unity, said Azzam Ahmad, senior Fatah official, at a press conference.

Demonetisation means Corporatisation

by Aurobindo Ghose

Frontier | Vol. 49, No.27, Jan 8 – 14, 2017

On 8th November, 2016 at 8:15 PM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an apparently live televised address to a shocked and surprised nation, announced the withdrawal from circulation of currency notes of denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, which would cease to be legal tender from that midnight. However, such notes could be exchanged on the basis of Aadhaar cards, or deposited by their holders in their bank or post office accounts from 10th November to 30th December. Referring to ‘black money’ as the wad of big currency notes hidden or slashed away under the bed or in godowns or in secret vaults, Modi said that the object of this exercise was to root out corruption, terrorism and black money. For the Prime Minister of the world’s largest democracy to be making such an announcement himself rather than the Finance Minister or the RBI Governor, was indeed unexpected and unheralded. 

Fidel’s infinite confidence in victory

by  Eduardo Palomares Calderón

Granma | 18 January, 2017

Photo: Eduardo Palomares

La Plata, Guamá, Santiago de Cuba.– Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz’s strategic vision and infinite confidence in victory, were highlighted during the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the attack on the La Plata Garrison, in an act held at the site of the Rebel Army’s first victory and presided by Comandantes of the Revolution and decorated heroes of the Republic of Cuba Ramiro Valdés Menéndez and Guillermo García Frías.

U.S. imposes more fines to enforce the blockade

Granma | 17 January, 2017

Photo: Cubaminrex

On January 12 and 13, 2017, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed fines on the nonprofit organization Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy (ARCP) and the Canadian bank Toronto Dominion (TD), for $10,000 and $955,750, respectively, for alleged violations of blockade regulations.