Occupy Toronto starts in earnest

Protesters march on Adelaide Street, downtown Toronto

Thousands gathered around King and Bay Streets, the heart of the Financial District in Toronto, around ten this morning and then marched east on King towards James Park, east of Yonge Street. James Park is the area city authorities have allocated the Occupy Toronto Movement.

Toronto indignants are encouraging others through social media to join the so far peaceful protest and concentration in the downtown core. Many are saying they are joining later on. The Toronto Occupation is part of a world wave of protests that are shaking such urban centers as New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Nashville in the United States and Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary and Halifax in Canada.

The movement itself, according to organizers interviewed by local media, through non-violent means is sending a message to the financial sector and the government that they are accountable for their acts. The movement is still gathering information regarding needs and projection in the days to come, but one thing is sure, the same demands as in other north american cities are being heard in Toronto: the wealth has to be shared equally, Canadians need access to affordable education and access to employment, banks are meant to serve, not to serve themselves, among others. Many interviewees have also complained about the manipulation of information in the reporting of these kinds of events and the need for truthful reliable news.

Antonio Maceo Revolution Square celebrates 20 years with Silvio Rodríguez

Antonio Maceo Revolution Square in Santiago de Cuba

Santiago de Cuba inaugurated its Revolution Square on October 14, 1991, with the presence of Fidel Castro, and was named Antonio Maceo Grajales, to honor the memory of the brave Cuban mambí General. Since then it has been an integral part of the life of that city as it has been the venue for important celebrations and parades.

At 16 metres tall, this is the highest statue in the whole country, and is a creation of sculptor Alberto Lescay, a native of the city. It covers an area of 53,000 square meters. The monumental group also includes 23 machetes that raise up, upright, this section was created by santiaguera plastic artit Guarionex Ferrer. It represents the Protesta de Baraguá on March 23, 1878, when General Antonio Maceo refused to make a pact with Spain and proclaimed that the struggle for Cuba's independence would continue.

Today, Santiagueros are particularly happy, Cuban trovador Sivio Rodríguez, an international legend, has joined the celebrations and is offering a concert for the 20th Anniversary of the public square. Thousands have gathered at the plaza to witness yet another historical event.

Trovador Silvio Rodríguez

Barbados Must Demand Extradition of Posada Carilles: PEP

Asesino y terrorista confeso Luis Posada Carriles

* PEOPLES EMPOWERMENT PARTY

CLEMENT PAYNE CULTURAL CENTRE

CRUMPTON STREET

BRIDGETOWN

BB
11125
TEL/FAX: 435-2334

BRIDGETOWN,
W.I.
Email:
clementpaynechambers@...

*

**

**

*PRESS RELEASE*

* *

*

BARBADOS MUST DEMAND EXTRADITION

OF POSADA CARILLES *

The time has come for the Government of Barbados to demand that Luis Posada
Carilles- the author and prime mover of the 1976 Cubana terrorist tragedy-be
extradited from the United States of America to Venezuela, so that the 73 count
murder trial against him can be resumed!

No man should be permitted to commit murder or any other serious crime, and
escape being tried in a properly constituted court of law! And this is why, on
the several occasions that Barbadian citizens who are resident in Barbados have
been charged by the US authorities with having committed crimes that impinge
upon the United States of America, the US authorities have requested the
Barbados Government to extradite these Barbadians so that they can stand trial
in the US, and our Government has cooperated and has facilitated the process of
extradition.

So why should Luis Posada Carilles - who is not even a citizen of the USA -be
treated any differently?

We would like to remind the current Governmental Administration of Barbados that
in the immediate aftermath of the October 6th, 1976 tragedy in which a Cubana
aircraft was bombed in our airspace and plunged into the sea just off Paradise
Beach, St. James, a criminal investigation involving law enforcement personnel
from Barbados, Trinidad, Venezuela and Cuba determined that one of the two
master-minds of the terrorist act that took the lives of 73 human beings, was
Luis Posada Carilles- a Cuban born extremist who was then resident in Venezuela.

It must be stressed that the Barbados Government was deeply involved in the
criminal investigation into the Cubana multiple homicide from the very outset!
Indeed, it was the immediate intervention of then Prime Minister Tom Adams and
the relevant Barbadian airport officials that alerted the Trinidadian
authorities to the presence in Trinidad of the two Venezuelan criminals who had
planted the bombs in the aircraft - Freddy Lugo and Hernan Lozano Ricardo - and
the need to act swiftly to secure their arrests.

Secondly, one of Barbados’ top Police investigators - former Commissioner of
Police Orville Durant - was sent to Trinidad to interrogate the said Freddy Lugo
and Hernan Lozano Ricardo, and it was as a result of the joint Barbados and
Trinidad Police interrogation that the links to the two Venezuela based
masterminds - Luis Posada Carilles and Orlando Bosch - were unearthed.

But most importantly, it was as a result of a meeting in Trinidad of Police and
other government officials from Barbados, Cuba, Venezuela and Trinidad & Tobago,
that a collective, sovereign decision was made by these four governments to
select Venezuela as the venue for the trial of the four accused - Freddy Lugo,
Hernan Lozano Ricardo, Orlando Bosch and Luis Posada Carilles.

And so, the trial in Venezuela was not merely a Venezuelan affair or a Cuban
affair! It was very much a Barbadian affair as well! After all, the crime that
had been committed was very much centred on Barbados, and the Barbados
Governmental and Police authorities had been involved in all the key
investigations and in the fundamental decision relating to the staging of the
trial!

So when, in the midst of the trial, Luis Posada Carilles - who had been remanded
in custody - walked out of his Venezuelan prison and was spirited out of
Venezuela, a monumental insult and injury had been inflicted not only on the
governments and people of Venezuela and Cuba, but on the government and people
of Barbados as we well!

*As a result of his escape from Venezuela, the trial of Luis Posada Carilles was
never completed, and the Venezuelan court declared him to be "a fugitive from
Justice".

*Since the year 2005, Mr Luis Posada Carilles has been living permanently in the
United States of America! This has led the Government of Venezuela to issue an
official request to the American government for his extradition to Venezuela so
that the trial against him can be resumed. But, to date, the US authorities have
refused to accede to that request.

And so, today, Carilles continues to walk about as a free man in the city of
Miami, while the souls of the 73 blameless victims of the Cubana tragedy and
their living relatives continue to cry out for justice.

Freddy Lugo and Hernan Lozano Ricardo - the two low level functionaries -were
both convicted in the Venezuela trial and were sentenced to 20 years in prison.
So, why should Posada Carilles, the high level master-mind, the boss of Lugo and
Ricardo, be permitted to escape justice with impunity?

The *Peoples Empowerment Party *(PEP) maintains that it should not be left to
Venezuela and Cuba alone to demand of the US Government that they extradite
Posada Carilles! *Our very self respect as a sovereign, independent nation
demands that we too must insist that Posada Carilles be extradited!* * *The PEP
therefore hereby calls upon the Freundel Stuart Administration to officially
inform the Attorney-General of the USA (the Barbadian descended Eric Holder),
the US Secretary of State, Mrs Hilary Clinton, and the President of the USA, Mr
Barack Obama, that Barbados fully supports and endorses the Venezuelan request
for the extradition of Luis Posada Carilles. Nothing less than this will
suffice!

.............................................
DAVID A. COMISSIONG
President




--
Norman Girvan
Trinidad & Tobago
Tel. 868-628-9429
Mobile 868-782-9260
Internet http://normangirvan.info
Twitter http://twitter.com/normangirvan

ALBA Alliance delegation to negotiate a peaceful solution to Syrian conflict

Joint press conference in Damascus on Oct. 9, 2011

A delegation of foreign ministers from Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Bolivia, member states of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA, in Spanish) was in Damascus, Syria, to support the Syrian people and condemn foreign interference in the internal affairs of that country. ALBA ministers are trying to help in negotiating a peaceful solution to the conflict and to prevent with this step NATO intervention to support one party of the confrontation, as they did in Libya.

Walid al-Moellen

Walid al-Moallen, Foreign and Expatriates Syrian Minister, celebrated the visit of ALBA foreign ministers to Damascus and said that his country will go ahead with the reform program and continues to be committed to the comprehensive national dialogue.

Minister al-Moellen, talking about the “National Transitional Council” rooted in Istanbul and attempting to gain international recognition, said that the Syrian government “is not interested in what they seek, and we will take strict measures against any country that recognizes this illegitimate council”. He added that “the opposition is invited to participate in the national comprehensive dialogue and in the building the future of Syria”.

Nicolás Maduro

Nicolás Maduro, Venezuelan Foreign Minister, told a joint press conference with the Syrian officials that on behalf of ALBA leaders they had conveyed the Syrian people and President Bashar al-Assad “our genuine solidarity with Syria and our rejection of all forms of Western and imperialistic interference in the internal affairs of this country”, and he added that “the Syrian people have the right to solve their own problems”.

The situation in Syria has been manipulated by main stream media, which presents a distorted image of the conflict to create a state of opinion in the West, so that an eventual NATO intervention would be justified. These same media denies the existence of armed terrorist groups financed and equipped by the West, these groups commit sabotages, assassinations, and infiltrate demonstrations to create centers of violence that have caused death.

The official ALBA delegation visit to Damascus, apart from showing solidarity with the Syrian people, underlines the need to protect and respect international law and the right of independent states to self-determination. It also emphasizes the right that the international community has to receive truthful information about world events and denounces how public opinion is artificially biased by irresponsible and unscrupulous means of communication.