FBI murders Puerto Rican leader

On September 23, the day on which the nationalist "Grito de Lares" was proclaimed against Spain in 1868, over 200 FBI agents ambushed the man called “the Che Guevara of Puerto Rico.” After being surrounded on a farm near Hormigueros, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos was shot by an FBI sniper and left for 20 hours. Ojeda Ríos bled to death on the floor of his home. He was between 72 and 75 years old, and while he granted interviews and issued frequent statements to the media, he had been living clandestinely since September 23, 1990.

An editorial in New York's largest Spanish-language daily, the center-rightwing El Diario/La Prensa, pointed out that "Ojeda's life and death are an important part of Puerto Rican history, of the struggle of a people to preserve its dignity and of a government that says it is struggling for democracy abroad, but which continues to maintain a colonial relation with this island of 3.8 million U.S. citizens." Puerto Rican governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá called for an investigation, noting his "deep indignation"

—Forrest Hylton, Counterpunch 9/27/05

The wide world of eminent domain

“Operation Murambatsvina-Restore Order” saw the homes of 300,000 urban, poor Zimbabwean people destroyed since May 2005. 23,000 traders had their stalls destroyed.

Many of the bulldozers used in the destruction of homes and stalls were the same big Caterpillars used by Israel to bulldoze Palestinian homes….

—Mandisi Majavu, Anna Weekes, ZNet 8/21/05

On September 18, 2005, Indonesian police smashed a peaceful gathering of about 1000 peasants in central Lombok.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently issued a government regulation allowing the state to take over land to be used for the construction of public facilities, even if no agreement has been reached with farmers residing on the land. ... the airport construction apparently involves major private investment from Europe, and is linked with plans to construct luxury retirement facilities for wealthy foreigners. ... In other words, the Indonesian Government is applying the principle of eminent domain to benefit private, rather than public interests.

—Land Research Action Network September 25, 2005

It's all the fault of rent control

Paying $500 in rent in Revere is a hard deal to pass up for many low-income residents, even if it means being confined to one room and sharing a bathroom with a dozen strangers.That's what Revere's director of municipal inspections, Nicholas Catinazzo, said he comes across frequently.

The problem of illegal rooming houses and apartments is not exclusive to Revere, as many communities north of Boston try to put a stop to illegal landlord tactics. Their efforts, unfortunately, often displace the neediest of tenants. …

"This is a huge problem," said Catinazzo, who is also Revere's health director. ''The problem is that rents are so expensive in cities and towns, that people come in and they'll get in three or four people into one apartment."

—Boston Globe North suburban edition 9/25/05

Parks not jails

CHICOPEE - An ongoing protest against construction of a $27 million regional women's jail resulted in the construction and subsequent dismantling of a park early yesterday to focus attention on what opponents say is better use for the 20-acre-site as well as any other proposed jails statewide.

"We were here at 4 a.m. with about 30 people and we built a park with many donations. It was really beautiful," said Jo Comerford, organizer and coordinator of the effort.

Comerford and Holly Richardson, said state and city police arrived at the site of the jail, 701 Center St. and asked them to dismantle the "park." .

—Pamela H Metaxas Springfield Republican 9/20/05