Colonialism in a Poncho: Subordination of Panama to Multinational Force | Otra vez el Comando Sur de EEUU Avanza la militarización subordinada de Panamá

Marco A. Gandásegui Jr, America Latina en Movimiento | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. In an annual exercise called Panamax, from August 6 to August 17, 2012 Panama was virtually occupied by troops from the U.S., France, Canada, the Netherlands, and 14 supposed Latin American allies, although the Panamanian Constitution says Panama has no army and its sovereignty is inalienable and nontransferable. (English | Spanish).

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Amazon Rainforest Gets Half Its Nutrients From Tiny Spot in Sahara | Saúde da floresta amazônica

By Alexis Madrigal, The Atlantic | Staff, Amazonia News. About 40 million tons of dust are transported annually from the Sahara to the Amazon basin. This represents half of the annual mineral supply that fertilizes the Amazon basin. Thus the health and productivity of the Amazon rainforest depends on a supply of dust from Africa. (English | Portuguese)

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Dialogue Between Amazon Rainforest and Water | Decifrado diálogo entre selva amazônica e água

By Alice Marcondes, Tierramerica via IPS | Envolverde. Phenomena that alter the Amazon ecosystem also strongly affect the release of gases from the rivers. When the temperature rises, the emission of gases accelerates. – Paulo Artaxo. (English | Portuguese)

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U.N. Uses Private Military and Security Contractors

By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans, IPS | UPDATE from Haiti Chery. The United Nations is increasingly hiring Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) for its missions across the world, raising concerns over the use of firms known for participation in human rights abuses, as well as an overall lack of accountability structures governing these contractors within the U.N. system. UPDATE 1: DynCorp boasts of having trained 400 “Haitian police” and is awarded a $48.6 million contract to insert 100 contractors and 10 advisors into the “UN police force” in Haiti.

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Drones, Cholera in Broadened UN ‘Peacekeeping’ Mandate | Le ‘mandat étendu’ de la MINUSTAH

PRESS RELEASE, UN via RadioTV Caraibes | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The heads of the UN peacekeeping missions forces in the Congo (MONUSCO), Haiti (MINUSTAH) and South Sudan (MISNUSS) said that these operations have broad mandates: from classical peacekeeping to conflict mitigation, and even the fight against cholera. (English | French)

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Doctors of the World, from Cuba to Haiti

By Amelia Duarte de la Rosa, Granma | YouTube. Twenty-two new graduates from Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) arrived in Haiti on an internationalist mission. They will work alongside the Cuban Medical Brigade to provide medical attention and preventive and rehabilitation services for Haitians, while specializing in comprehensive general medicine.

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Withdraw UNASUR’s UN Troops from Haiti!

By Staff (sgl/emw/mgt/jrr) Prensa Latina | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. At a meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Member countries discussed a timetable for South America’s withdrawal from MINUSTAH. But the plan so far looks more like one for a gradual replacement of Latin American troops with Asian and African troops.

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Corruption by ‘Peacekeeping’: The Lure of Foreign Exchange

By Staff, AsiaOne | Editorial comment by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Bangladeshi UN “peacekeepers” have sent home nearly $1.24 billion during the past three years. In 2010 Bangladesh sent its first female MINUSTAH contingent, a group of 110, to Haiti.

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Latin-American Environmental Innovations for Clean Water, Fuel and Gold

By Staff, with reporting by Milagros Salazar (Lima), Emilio Godoy (Mexico City) and Alice Marcondes (São Paulo), Tierramerica. Environmental innovation projects to obtain clean gold, fuel, and water demonstrate the capacity of Latin American researchers to develop virtuous circles.

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Are Stealth Oral Cholera Vaccines in Haiti’s Recently ‘Expanded Program of Immunization’? | Les vaccins anticholériques oraux furtifs: sont-ils dans le ‘programme élargi de vaccination’?

By Aline Sainsoivil, Le Matin | Commentary and translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) presented a plan to strengthen its Expanded Program of Immunization (EPI) at a meeting on Monday, March 12, 2012 with UN organizations UNICEF, PAHO, and WHO. Might this strengthened EPI involve the administration of oral cholera vaccines? (English | French)

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Lessons from the Indigenous on Promoting Plant Biodiversity

By Jan Salick, Missouri Botanical Garden | Staff, e! Science News. Mountains are considered sacred by both the Yanesha of the upper Peruvian Amazon and Tibetans of the Himalayas. They excel in promoting plant biodiversity. For example, the Yanesha grow over 200 varieties of cassava.

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Land, Water and Resistance | La tierra, el agua y la resistencia

By Raúl Zibechi, La Jornada | English translation by Chiapas Support Committee. What is happening in Latin America in relation to water, land, and biodiversity is something more than a succession of local conflicts. The struggle for the commons is at the top of the agenda in the entire region. (English | Spanish)

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Pioneering Cholera Scientist Gives Thumbs Down to Oral Vaccines Promoted for Haiti | Un pionnier scientifique du choléra dit que les vaccins oraux promus pour Haïti sont inutiles

By Rashid Haider, Haiti Chery. Prof. Richard A. Finkelstein, an eminent microbiologist and Nobel-Prize nominee for his pioneering studies on cholera, advises that for cholera “the best solution resides in providing safe drinking water and sewage disposal.” In Dec 2010, alarmed by the oral vaccination plans for Haiti, he wrote to the health officials, including Jon Andrus, the Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) that the proposed use of Dukoral was “a useless and expensive waste of resources.” This vaccine was not adopted, but a campaign immediately started for the use of Shanchol, another questionable oral cholera vaccine. (English | French)

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Haitian Senate Resolution: UN Soldiers Accused of Rape Should Be Tried In Place | Le Sénat vote une résolution réclamant que des soldats de l’ONU accusés de crimes soient jugés en Haïti

By staff, AHP | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The Haitian Senate has strongly condemned the latest rape of a boy on Jan 20, 2012 by Pakistani UN soldiers and noted that in such cases it is the law of the place where the crime is committed that should prevail. (English | French)

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