Deadly Assault by Mexican Police on Striking Teachers Leaves 10 Dead, Dozens More Injured and 22 Disappeared.
with 
Laura Carlsen, Americas Program, Center for International Policy

There is an urgent situation facing teachers and their union, the Coordinadora Nacional de Trabajadores de la Educación (CNTE/SNTE), in Mexico.  On June 19, teachers in the town of Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, were fired upon with live ammunition by the Federal Police as part of the effort by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to break the nationwide strike by teachers against the
government's privatizing "education reform" program.  The peaceful demonstration in Nochixtlán was also held to demand the immediate release from prison of the three top elected union officers of Section 22 of the CNTE/SNTE, the union representing the teachers in the state of Oaxaca. These union leaders had been jailed and sent to a federal prison more than 1,000 miles away by the government on trumped-up charges. Ten people in Nochixtlán were killed by the Federal Police, with dozens more wounded, and 22 disappeared. Protest organizers also informed the Deputy Counsel of Mexico that labor and community activists across the United States are demanding that the U.S. government halt all military aid to Mexico, as the weapons made available to the Mexican Federal Police to repress the teachers have all been sent by the United States under the Plan Mérida. The anti-union repression against striking teachers in Mexico -- following on the heels of the so-called "reforms" imposed by the international financial institutions (IMF, OECD, World Bank, etc.) -- concerns all workers and trade unions the world over.  

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US Imposing Junta to Rule Puerto Rico
with
Rafael Bernabe, candidate for Governor of Puerto Rico for
the Partido del Pueblo Trabajador (PPT) 2012; professor and
director of the Federico de Onís Hispanic Studies Center at
the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras; economist; and
who has  published three books including “Puerto Rico: Crisis y Alternativas”

Just in time to celebrate the Declaration of Independence by the 13 colonies which came together to form the USA,, Congress passed and Pres Obama signed  The Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, or PROMESA, which established an independent control board or Junta de Control Fiscal, as it is locally known. It will be responsible for managing Puerto Rico’s spending and debt recovery with sweeping powers to run Puerto Rico’s economy. It also imposes a retroactive stay on litigation from the territory’s creditors against Puerto Rico’s government and includes a provision that could lower Puerto Rico’s minimum wage for workers 25 and younger below the current federal minimum of 

$7.25. The bill was opposed by progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders, who said “[W]e are taking away virtually all of the political and democratic rights of the people of Puerto Rico. We are treating them as an absolute colony.” While supporters of the legislation say it will help the island cope with its debt crisis by allowing an orderly restructuring of its $72 billion debt, critics say it is a reversion to old-style colonialism that removes democratic control from the people of Puerto Rico. They say that this colonial junta is nothing but a glorified collection agency for the hedge funds and the vulture funds and will call for further austerity in an economy reeling from a long term depression rather than ways
to fix the broken economy which led to the debt in the first place. In Puerto Rico, students, union members, politicians and environmentalists have launched a series of protests against the bill, including marches and a protest camp outside the U.S. Federal Court in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.

Plus
Bernie Sanders speech against "colonial" Puerto Rico bill PROMESA

Sen. Bernie Sanders harshly condemned what he called the "colonial" Puerto Rico bill PROMESA on the Senate floor on 

June 29

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From Selma to Stonewall: Are We There Yet?
with
Gil Caldwell – Methodist Minister, activist and a self-described foot soldier in the civil rights movement.  He marched on Washington; called for voting rights in the heat of the Mississippi summer; and walked from Selma to Montgomery. He later broadened his demand for equality, advocating for gay rights. In 2000, he was arrested twice for protesting the United Methodist Church’s policy that the “practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” Co-Executive Producer From Selma to Stonewall.
and
Marilyn Bennett - a lesbian author and activist, developed the Truth in Progress, a multi-media project focused on race, sexual orientation, and religion. The project pays homage to historic events and people of the civil rights and gay rights movements. Director & Co-Executive Producer From Selma to Stonewall.

Discussion of the powerful new documentary that begins by looking at the Civil Rights Movement in Selma and the LGBTQ Rights Movement that was galvanized at the Stonewall rebellion.  The film delves into some of today’s most explosive and discussed subjects: racial injustice, police brutality, transgender discrimination, LGBTQ homelessness, and where those issues intersect. The film takes on heightened importance in this month of gay pride recognition and celebration and most particularly after the horror of the massacre of gay, primarily Latinos In Orlando. 

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