friendsoflatinamerica

Letter to the President of Argentina

Dr. N e s t o r K I R C H N E R

We are expressing our deep concern and outrage in the face of the disappearance of the second key witness to testify against perpetrators of repression in Buenos Aires.
Since September 18, 2006 Jorge Julio Lopez has been "disappeared". Julio Lopez testified against the Ex-Commisioner of the Police of Buenos Aires, Etchecolast, and his testimony was key in the conviction and sentencing to life in prison for the crime of genocide.
December 27, 2006 Luis Gerez was “disappeared”. Gerez testified against the Ex-Commissioner of Police of Buenos Aires, Luis Patti, and his testimony was key in stopping Patti from taking office as a member of congress of Argentina, as he stands accused of crimes against humanity.
Both Lopez and Gerez were human rights activists, both lived in Buenos Aires and both were humble construction workers. Both had reported that they had received various threats against their lives.
We implore you to:
Immediately begin the trials for violations of human rights to convict, 30 years later, those who are responsible for crimes against humanity and to put an end to impunity.
Provide immediate protection for all witnesses in all impending trials.
Provide security for those judges, officials and attorneys that are developing and working on these cases.
EMAIL Presidencia; webmaster@presidencia.gov.ar
FAX Argenina Embassy Washington : 1-202-332-3171

Grassroots Health Advocates in Rosario, Argentina

Renate Lunn, Upside Down World; September 21, 2005

By training ordinary community members to be neighborhood-based advocates of health and harm reduction, a unique program in Rosario, Argentina is reaching out to drug users with limited access to information and health services. Volunteers work in the streets making personal contacts and helping individuals. As one of these volunteers explained, “We don’t understand paperwork, but we do understand the suffering of the people.”

Inequality - the Root Cause of Poverty in Latin America

Mario Osava; Inter Press Service; September 12, 2005

RIO DE JANEIRO, Sep 12 (IPS) - The unequal distribution of wealth remains the underlying cause of poverty throughout Latin America, although the region's countries have made widely varying degrees of progress towards meeting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

An Interview with Celia Martinez of the Worker-Controlled Brukman Textile Factory in Buenos Aires

Benjamin Dangl, Upside Down World; August 30, 3005

One day before Argentina’s economic crash on December 19, 2001, fifty-two workers from the Brukman Textile Factory, the majority of them women, refused to continue working until their bosses handed over their back-wages. Plagued by debt and gradual bankruptcy, the owners hadn’t paid the workers their weekly pay check for fifteen days. The bosses demanded that the workers returned to their stations, but the sewing machines remained silent.

Argentine Workers Fight For Wages

Marie Trigona;ZNet; August 23, 2005

Why is it that prices go up but our wages don’t? Argentina’s working class is certainly concerned over the matter as labor conflicts are heating up. Public health workers have put the dispute over wages back in the national public spotlight.