By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chilean Catholic Bishop and staunch human rights advocate Sergio Valech Aldunate recently passed away after battling lung cancer; he was 83 years old.  Aldunate was particularly outspoken against human rights violations during the 1973-1990 Pinochet dictatorship.

Aldunate was ordained in 1953 and named a bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1973.  Between 1987 and 1992, Aldunate headed the Chilean church’s Solidarity Vicariate, an institution created after Pinochet’s 1973 coup.  The purpose of the Solidarity Vicariate was to speak up for the victims of the military regime.

The vicariate was eventually  abolished in 1992;however, Aldunate then established and headed a foundation that conserved its archives and made them available for investigations.

The Bishop was also chosen by then-President Ricardo Lagos to lead a commission probing politically motivated detentions and torture under the Pinochet government.  It is estimated that Pinochet’s regime was responsible for over 3,000 civilian deaths and 28,000 cases of torture.

There has been a tremendous outpouring of public mourning and appreciation.  Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said that Aldunate was “the voice of the voiceless during the dark night of the dictatorship. He turned into a rights defender, and was a man who saved many lives.”  Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, Archbishop of Santiago stated that “[Aldunate] was an example of simple life, very poor, not wanting anything for himself… an exemplary Chilean…  He was always in the frontline for the reconciliation of his homeland.”

The online La Nacion newspaper called Aldunate “the most important figure of the cause of human rights during the military regime.”

The Bishop’s funeral was celebrated on Friday in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago; the same place Aldunate was consecrated at in 1973.

For more information, please see:

Independent Catholic News – Chile Bids Farewell to Bishop Valech – 25 November 2010

Fox News Latino – Chilean Bishop who Defended Human Rights Dies – 24 November 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Chilean Bishop who Defended Human Rights Dies – 24 November 2010

By R. Renee Yaworsky
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

CARACAS, Venezuela—The president of a pro-opposition Venezuelan television network who has been in exile from his country is now seeking asylum in the United States.  According to that president, the procedure for obtaining political asylum is nearing completion.

Sixty-seven year old Guillermo Zuloaga, the owner of the Globovision television channel, escaped from Venezuela back in June of this year in order to evade arrest by authorities.  The authorities claim that Zuloaga was involved in the illegal sales of automobiles and have subsequently seized his property.

In an interview on Wednesday, Zuloaga told CNN’s Spanish language channel that the criminal charges against him were pretexts and that the true reason he was sought by Venezuelan officials is because he is being politically persecuted.  Zuloaga had had a falling out with Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez earlier in the year as Globovision remained a voice of opposition.

President Chavez spoke at a government event on Wednesday which was broadcast on state television.  During his speech, Chavez denied that Zuloaga was being oppressed for political reasons.  Chavez labeled Zuloaga a “bandit” and opined that he was in cahoots with the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Zuloaga said that although he would like to live again in Venezuela, Chavez’s government there is authoritarian and rules by intimidation by controlling the justice system.  He denied that he had been involved in a 100 million dollar plot to assassinate President Chavez, calling those allegations a “smokescreen.”

During a speech in Washington, Zuloaga declared to Chavez:  “President, I do not want you dead.  I want you healthy so as to see you when you stand before Venezuelans, and perhaps beyond our borders, for your government’s bad rule and the vast fortune you have wasted.”

Globovision remains on air despite its criticism of the government.  Chavez has attempted to interfere with the network but as of yet has been unable to completely silence it.

The National Journalists’ Association (CNP) has spoken out against Chavez’s threats against Globovision.  Earlier this year, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights announced that it remains concerned about Venezuela’s use of punitive power of the state to silence voices of opposition.

For more information, please see:

RTT-Venezuela’s Globovision TV Network Boss Seeks US Asylum-26 November 2010

Voice of America-Venezuelan TV Executive Seeks Asylum in US-25 November 2010

Mail Online-Venezuelan TV boss stokes row with Chavez after denying being behind $100m assassination plot-25 November 2010

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile – Last week, 33 Chilean women collectively entered a mine to protest the end of a jobs bill, which created thousands of jobs for citizens to rebuild infrastructure following a devastating earthquake.  Initially, regional officials vowed to have open dialogue with the protesters to peacefully end the demonstration.  Making good on their promise, government officials have reached an agreement with the hunger-striking women, bringing the ordeal to an end.

The women, who occupied the Chiflon del Diablo mine in Lota, were demanding reinstatement of the jobs bill; however, it was initially unclear whether this would be something that the government could realistically do.  Bio Bio’s regional governor Jacqueline van Rysselberghe reported that the women have given up their hunger strike after government officials promised to find them public-works jobs in the local municipalities.

In addition to the public-works jobs, the agreement includes job training for the women.  The agreement will also have ramifications that extend beyond the 33 women participating in the demonstration.  According to van Rysselberghe, 2,000 new jobs will be created to help those who lost their job with the ending of the jobs bill.

It is estimated that the February earthquake caused $30 billion in damage.  The jobs bill was created to put Chileans to work rebuilding homes and infrastructure.  It is also estimated that the legislature’s failure to reauthorize the jobs bill resulted in upwards of 12,000 people losing their government-created jobs.

It cannot be doubted that the 33 women made significant strides in helping those who lost their jobs; however, with only 2,000 new jobs being created, many Chileans are still left without a means of employment.

For more information, please see:

Latin American Herald Tribune – Jobless Hunger-Strikers Reach Accord with Chilean Governmen – 23 November 2010

Presna Latina – Chile: Women Abandon Hunger Strike – 23 November 2010

Monstersandcritics.com – Chilean Authorities Willing to Talk to 33 Hunger-Strikers in Mine – 19 November 2010

Workers have been on strike at the Dona Ines de Collahuasi mine and have refused to return to work until the mining company meets their demands and continues to negotiate. Labor leaders dispute the company’s claims that production at the mine has not been disrupted. They say that only 20% of production has been maintained during the strike.

Labor leaders also deny the company’s statement that 120 workers stopped striking and returned to work at the mine. The leaders declare, instead, that a much smaller number of miners, about 36, have broken the strike so far. There is a Chilean labor law that states that if half of the workers break a strike, then the strike must end at that moment. The miners that went back to work were responding favorably to an offer that the mining company presented to them last week.

Bernardita Fernandez, a spokesperson for the Collahuasi mine, expressed little worry about the strike’s implications, saying, “the company will meet all of its commercial obligations” even as the strike marches on. Fernandez has remarked that negotiations between the workers and the company have not been resumed this week. According to the company, collective talks had to be discontinued because the union was “intransigent”; therefore, only negotiations with individual workers will be pursued.

The 1,430 remaining strikers have been given a deadline of late Tuesday night to accept or decline the company’s most recent wage and benefits offer. This offer includes a signing bonus of roughly $30,000 per worker. The union representing the workers has announced that wage talks will have to continue because most of the strikers will reject the company’s offer.

“We are strong and united,” said Manuel Munoz, a union leader. “Right now they are just trying to break up our movement and that’s suicide. They have to discuss a new offer with us to resolve this conflict.”

Most of the striking miners have been living in tents in the port city of Iquique while the strike continues.

For more information, please see:

Bloomberg Businessweek-Collahuasi Union Says Company Must Resume Talks-23 November 2010

Reuters-Chile’s Collahuasi strike faces crucial test-23 November 2010

 

 

 

By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America 

SANTIAGO, Chile – A group of 33 women have banded together in a Chilean mine 3,000 feet underground to protest the end of a program which, at one time, provided thousands of people with jobs. 

In February, an earthquake devastated Chile.  As a result, the Chilean government created a Military Job Corps program which put people to work clearing debris and constructing emergency housing, amongst other things.

In September, the government failed to extend the program, forcing –by some accounts– 12,000 people out of work, adding additional stress on those who had already lost their homes and livelihoods to the earthquake. 

In an interview with the Santiago Times, protest spokesperson Ivania Anabalón stated that Chileans have “tried several actions at all levels [since September] and cannot make the government understand that all we need is a source of work.”  Anabalón also stated that “[t]he governor wouldn’t even look at us.”

Reports from several news agencies indicate the women have hundreds of supporters and sympathizers protesting and rallying outside the mine, which was operating as a tourist attraction when the women occupied the coal mine.  Javier Matamala, who is currently in charge of the mine, has urged all parties involved to end the protest quickly and peacefully “to avoid damages to this historic location.”

The women sent an open letter to the Piñera Administration, referring to the recent effort to rescue 33 trapped miners in the north of the country. They ask the government to use that same kind of effort to provide assistance for the thousands of Chileans who have lost their jobs and homes due to the earthquake and the failure to reauthorize the jobs bill.

Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter urged the 33 women on hunger strike to reconsider their protest and said they were “lucky” to have had jobs for a few months.  The governor of the Concepción region, where the mine is located, told Radio Cooperativa that the women’s protest was being orchestrated by Lota municipal chief of staff Vasili Carrillo, a one-time guerrilla who battled the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

For more information, please see:

Epoch Times – Women Stage Hunger Strike in Chilean Mine – 18 November 2010

Latin American Herald Tribune – Chilean Women Mount Hunger Strike to Demand Jobs – 18 November 2010

Hispanically Speaking News – 33 Chilean Women Lock Themselves in 9,000 Feet Deep Mine – 16 November 2010