News in English

31.01.2004 After two days of deliberation, the 12th Tribunal of Criminal Sentencing absolved Bruce Harris, Latin American Regional Director for Casa Alianza, of all crime and responsibility, of which he was accused of by Susana Luarca de Umaña, for calumny, slander and defamation.

30.01.2004 Today, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and dirty rat politicians have decided to lead the people into the mud once more. We say 'No', a thousand times 'No'. The Haitian people are not accepting a third foreign occupation in any form.
By: Popular Democratic Group

30.01.2004 “For more than 20 years I have dedicated my life to defending children’s rights. If I have to loose my freedom because of this, it would be a shame, but that’s life. I have not lied and I continue to insist that what I said was true”. That is how Bruce Harris finished his declaration this fifth day of the trial against him before the 12th Criminal Sentencing Court after which the debate was concluded.

28.01.2004 The Guatemalan notary, Susana Luarca Saracho de Umaña, asked the criminal court today for an eight year jail term for Bruce Harris plus his immediate arrest, US$ 125,000 in damages and his deportation from Guatemala upon completion of the sentence. Harris’ defense lawyer, Victor Hugo Navarro, insisted that the accuser has not presented sufficient proof for the three-judge Tribunal to dictate a condemnatory sentence.

27.01.2004 In the third day of the trial against him, the video of the press conference held by the Solicitor General’s Office and Casa Alianza, confirmed that Bruce Harris, OBE, did not attack the honor of the Guatemalan notary, Susana Luarca de Umaña, ex-wife of then President of the Supreme Court of Guatemala.

26.01.2004 The Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) today welcomed the decision of Guatemala’s Supreme Court to reinstate the conviction of Colonel Juan Valencia Osorio for orchestrating the murder of renowned Guatemalan anthropologist Myrna Mack Chang in 1990. The three organizations, which have all campaigned for justice in the Mack case and in other human rights cases in Guatemala for many years, described the decision as “a tremendous victory for the Mack family and everyone in Guatemala who challenges entrenched impunity.”

26.01.2004 LATINAMERICA PRESS contributor Curt Hopkins interviewed Salvador Sánchez Ceren, secretary general of the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN) party, about issues of concern to the Salvadoran people and the FMLN’s chances of winning presidential elections on March 21.

23.01.2004 According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has finally approved a loan of US$20 million to the Dominican Republic free trade zone operator, Grupo M, with an explicit condition that the company recognise its employees' freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.

22.01.2004 Berger, a 56-year-old businessman, assumes the presidency on Jan. 14 for the next four years, receiving a country in which 57 percent of Guatemalans are living in poverty, there is a high degree of political instability and serious problems of corruption exist.

21.01.2004 Violence has become one of the leading causes of death and a growing public health problem in the Americas and other regions of the world, according to a publication of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). However, public health advocates argue that violence is in large part a preventable problem.