Peru arrests 28 linked to Shining Path on drugs, terror charges

(Reuters) – Peru arrested 28 people linked to the political wing of the largely defunct Shining Path insurgency on suspicions they are involved in drug trafficking and terrorism, the interior minister said on Thursday. The operation marks the first big bust of members of Movadef, a group that calls for the release of Shining Path militants and others jailed during Peru’s bloody internal conflict in the 1980s and 90s.

The government believes Movadef is a front group seeking to legitimize and revive the Maoist-inspired Shining Path, whose bid to topple the Peruvian state claimed an estimated 69,000 lives. Interior Minister Walter Alban said the sweep on Wednesday night was the result of a two-year investigation involving phone taps and undercover agents that established a link between Movadef and guerrillas in the coca-producing Huallaga Valley.

Those arrested include Alfredo Crespo, a key Movadef leader and the lawyer for jailed Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman, and Walter Humala, a folk singer and estranged cousin of President Ollanta Humala. Movadef, which emerged in recent years and has tried unsuccessfully to register a political party, denied being tied to drug traffickers and called the arrests political persecution. “We demand the immediate liberation of our organizers and activists,” Movadef said in a statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/10/us-peru-shiningpath-sweep-idUSBREA3923Y20140410

Baidya warns of retaliation if conflict era cases are to be revived

CHAUTARA, April 11: CPN-Maoist Chairman Mohan Baidya warned to restart the parallel government system and the kangaroo courts across the country if the conflict era cases are to be revived. Inaugurating the 4th district conference of his party at Chautara in Sindhupalchok, Baidhya claimed that resuscitating the wartime cases is against the Comprehensive Peace Accord and other agreements that had paved the way for the rebel party to join the peaceful politics.

http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=72640

Fighting breaks out in Rio de Janeiro as police move to clear 5,000 squatters from buildings

RIO DE JANEIRO — Squatters occupying a complex of abandoned buildings in Rio de Janeiro clashed with police Friday morning after a court ordered the premises cleared. Hundreds of police moved into the area in the early morning hours, and Brazilian media reported that most of the 5,000 squatters left peacefully. But fighting soon broke out when some of the residents began throwing rocks at the police, who responded by firing rubber bullets, tear gas and percussion grenades.

The violence continued throughout the morning as one of the buildings as well as trucks, buses and a police car were set on fire. Two bank branches were looted, and the O Dia newspaper said some residents threw Molotov cocktails at the police as the fighting spread. A police helicopter hovered above at one point.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/fighting-breaks-out-in-rio-de-janeiro-as-police-move-to-clear-5000-squatters-from-buildings/2014/04/11/047ade4e-c180-11e3-b574-f8748871856a_story.html?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e

From Cairo to Suez, Egypt workers defy government with labor strikes

SUEZ—Thousands of Egyptian workers have staged strikes for higher wages and better working conditions in recent weeks, raising the possibility of a confrontation between impoverished laborers and a new president set to be elected this spring. The rallies and sit-ins that have crippled the postal service, textile factories and even public hospitals are still fragmented, largely uncoordinated and lack unified demands. But as the cash-strapped government moves to quash labor unrest in places like Suez, the strikes underscore a social discontent that is still festering among Egypt’s working class and could evolve into a more solid opposition to the military-backed administration.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/from-cairo-to-suez-egypt-workers-defy-government-with-labor-strikes/2014/04/11/674171d0-a713-494d-a76b-b33f5d4bc505_story.html

China: Protest at manufacturer of key shoe brands

A spokesman for Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Ltd., a footwear manufacturer for brands including Nike Inc. and Adidas A.G., said around 600 workers in Dongguan took to the street because of a “misunderstanding” over benefits and different terms for local and migrant workers.

http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20140411/NEWS09/140419959

Iran labour protests – latest

April 8 – Almost 300 workers at the Poly Acril factory in Isfahan staged a protest demanding the sacking of the company’s CEO, chanting: “This is our ultimatum, Sadeghian should be removed”. Farmers of the city of Saman gathered in front of the governors office in protest at the confiscation of hundreds of acres of their land by the Pasdaran security forces. Sacked workers at the Poonel company in Parkdasht staged at protest n from of the local government office in anger at the loss of their jobs.

April 5 – Workers at the Khorram Security Safe Boxes company in Tehran protested at lack of job security. The main road to the Zarreh Shouran gold mine in the town of Takab Rooz was blocked by workers in protest at the loss of their jobs. Their demonstration was then attacked and broken up by Iranian security forces.

http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-protests/16322-iran-labour-protests-latest

Paraguay: Relatives of Imprisoned Farmers Protest Outside Hospital

Asuncion, Apr 11 (Prensa Latina) Relatives of five farmers, imprisoned since 2012 and on a hunger strike, chained themselves outside the Military Hospital where the inmates are held against their will, as a sign of protest. The relatives are Adalberto and Nestor Castro’s mother, Felipe Benitez’s daughter, Arnaldo Quintana’s mother and Ruben Villalba’s wife, all of them imprisoned after the bloody eviction in Curuguaty where 11 farmers and six police officers were killed.

The protests began after the Saltos de Guaira’s Trial Court rejected on Wednesday the defense’s request to sentence the inmates to house arrest due to their serious health condition and their lengthy imprisonments without a definitive trial.

http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2571121&Itemid=1