International

On July 6, 350 soldiers from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (Minustah) stormed the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Cite Soleil, one of the capital’s poorest districts and a hotbed of support for ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

LONDON — The family of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazilian electrician who was shot to death by British police on July 22 in the wake of two terrorist attacks here, have demanded an end to police “shoot to kill” tactics following revelations about the circumstances surrounding the killing.

Erika, 19, a Chicana student from the Los Angeles area, was one of the more than 700 U.S. delegates to the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students, Aug. 6-13, in Caracas, Venezuela. Erika was interviewed before leaving for Venezuela in the July 30-Aug. 5 PWW. Below is the interview during the festival and next week the PWW will publish the last interview and Erika’s post-festival impressions.

SIMON BOLIVAR AIRPORT, Venezuela — Our very first experience as the United States delegation at the 16th World Festival of Youth and Students here was the warm and excited Aug. 5 welcome of a youngVenezuelan who is a social worker in the steep hill community that faces this airport, Mission Barrio Adentro. His name is Daniel, better known as “the guy in the red shirt” to many of the 700-plus U.S. delegates that journeyed here.

CARACAS, Venezuela — Carolys Perez came to tears when the World asked her about the changes taking place within Venezuelan society, the Bolivarian Revolution and its leader, Hugo Chavez.

His “crimes” include acting as a democratically elected president of a sovereign Venezuela; rejecting the principles embodied in the Monroe Doctrine (i.e., “Latin America is the U.S.A.’s backyard”); challenging neoliberal doctrines that serve the interest of global corporations rather than social development; seeking to solidify the economic and political integration of South America based on the principles of equal exchange and mutually beneficial cooperation; and using Venezuela’s oil income to benefit the majority of Venezuelans rather than an elite few.

SANTIAGO, Chile — It was with a heavy heart that I arrived in Chile. Compañera Gladys Marin, president of the Communist Party of Chile (CPC), had died March 6 of a brain tumor. She was 63. Communist and workers party representatives came from around the world to pay tribute to this revolutionary heroine. My party — the Communist Party USA — asked me to represent it at Marin’s funeral.

La junta Provisional Electoral de Haiti (JPC) recientemente anunció que las elecciones serán a finales de este año. Habrá elecciones para posiciones locales y regionales en octubre y para la presidencia y escaños legislativos en noviembre. Ciento cuarenta partidos están registrados para participar y 100 candidatos participarán para la presidencia.

Puede que los tribunales federales en Puerto Rico imponga la pena de muerte contra dos convictos, contrario a los deseos de la gente de todos sectores de la sociedad puertorriqueña y en contradicción a la Constitución de Puerto Rico. Esta situación subraya la cuestión del colonialismo en la relación entre esa isla nación y Estados Unidos.

Thousands of Chileans poured into the streets to pay tribute to Chile’s fiery Communist leader, Gladys Marin, who died March 6 at age 63 after a long battle with brain cancer. Crowds estimated at half a million lined the streets outside La Moneda government palace in Santiago March 8 as her funeral procession passed by.
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