Monsignor José Domingo Ulloa, Archbishop of Panama (Conferencia Episcopal Panameña)

PANAMA
Churches call for restraint in social dialogue in Panama

In light of the possibility that the representatives of the workers may withdraw from the roundtable dialogue over the non repeal of Law 30, that left two persons dead following protests in the border region of Bocas del Toro, Panamanian churches have recently called for restraint and the finding of a way for reaching agreement through dialogue.

HONDURAS
National strike called for in Honduras
Tegucigalpa, Monday, September 6, 2010
The National Front of Popular Resistance (FNRP) has called for a one day national civic strike on September 7 in Honduras, as a prelude to the upcoming national general strike announced by the four labor union federations. + Details

URUGUAY
Argentina and Uruguay to jointly monitor controversial UPM (formerly Botnia) pulping plant
Montevideo, Monday, September 6, 2010
Argentina and Uruguay sealed an environmental control agreement for the impacts of the controversial Botnia pulping mill that sits on a river that divides the two nations. Under the pact, which was signed Aug. 30 by Uruguayan Foreign Minister Luis Almagro and his Argentine counterpart, Héctor Timerman, in Montevideo, both countries will form a committee that will start working in early September to monitor the Uruguay River, where the Finnish-owned UPM plant, formerly Botnia, is located. + Details

ECUADOR
Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) proposes a bi-national gathering to rationalize humanitarian help to displaced and refugee Colombians
Quito, Sunday, September 5, 2010
The registration program carried out by the Ecuadorean government in the five provinces of the country’s northern border with Colombia, has so far this year detected the presence of 28,000 displaced and refugee Colombians in Ecuador, among them persons who are victims of the sexual exploitation and drug trafficking controlled by illegal armed Colombian groups. + Details

GERMANY
German Protestant who sought media independence, remembered
Berlin, Friday, September 3, 2010
Germany is remembering the man known as the "father of Protestant media" on the centenary of his birth and paying tribute to his unswerving belief in the need for journalistic independence. Born on 1 September 1910, Robert Geisendörfer was appointed director of the Bavarian Protestant Press Association in 1947. His task was to rebuild church media work after the Nazi dictatorship of Adolf Hitler and the Second World War. + Details

EL SALVADOR
Salvadoran Churches Lament Massacre of Migrants in Mexico
San Salvador, Thursday, September 2, 2010
While Honduras received the remains of its citizens, victims of a massacre in Mexico, "El Salvador needs to wait to compare the DNA of the Salvadoran victims before giving them to their relatives,” said Juan José García, Salvador’s Vice-Foreign Affairs Minister, during a press conference. + Details

USA
Consultation on Racism and Caste Systems analyzes the reasons for an ecumenical commitment
Cleveland, Thursday, September 2, 2010
The World Council of Churches (WCC) together with the United Church of Christ of the United States (UCC), gathered together 25 leaders from churches actively involved with Afro descendent and indigenous communities worldwide, in Cleveland, Ohio, from August 26-29. + Details

Open Letter to the People of the Caribbean from Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines is accusing two US-based businessmen of colluding with the main Opposition Party in attempts to defame his country and destabilize his Government. + Details

GUATEMALA
Judges and magistrates gathered in Antigua, Guatemala, commit to doing justice without gender discrimination
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
After having shared common experiences during two days in the First Regional Gathering on Access of Women to Justice in Cases of Gender Violence that has ended in Antigua, Guatemala, representatives from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize and the Dominican Republic, have committed themselves to implementing their work from a gender perspective, without discriminating against, excluding or re-victimizing the survivors of “machista” violence. + Details

VENEZUELA
FOCUS: THE NEWS MEDIA AND POLITICAL POWER: Venezuela’s Opposition: Manufacturing Fear in Exchange for Votes
Caracas, Wednesday, September 1, 2010
“Venezuela, more deadly than Iraq” read a headline in the New York Times on Aug. 23 – a headline of such shock value that it can only mean one thing: it’s election time in Venezuela. Inside Venezuela, similar headlines are printed almost daily in corporate media with the upcoming September 26 national assembly elections. + Details