Prensa Latina

Throughout the year devoted by the UN to African descendants in the world, the Latin American region takes on the historic duty of tackling surviving open or veiled discrimination. Some 150 million African descendants, 30 percent of the Latin American and Caribbean population, suffer the consequences of disproportionate poverty and exclusion.

Mexican government promises to improve conditions in Chiapas jail after hunger strike by some 500 mostly indigenous prisoners. The prisoners ended their hunger strike on June 11 after the government promised to improve conditions in a prison near San Cristobal de las Casas in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.

The elected President of Peru, Ollanta Humala, arrived Sunday in Uruguay as part of his tour to strengthen the economic and political ties with South American countries.

The official agenda will begin on Monday when the president, José Mujica, receives Humala at the seat of government, confirmed the presidential website.

Over fifty million Italian citizens are voting in the referendum over the use of nuclear energy, privatization of water and immunity for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Despite the government’s attempts to thwart the referendum by all means, it was approved last Tuesday by the Italian Supreme Court and is taking place this Sunday.

The Caravan for Peace has demanded the U.S. government to suspend the Plan Merida and admit that its drug policy has a devastating effect on Latin America.
Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, the caravan organizer, said that the USA should admit its responsibility for the violence in Mexico, during a rally in El Paso, Texas, United States, at the end of the caravan protest campaign.

The South African government demanded that outgoing Cote d’Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo hand over power to Alassane Ouattara, recognized by the UN as the winner of the November elections.

South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane asked Gbagbo to step down for peace in Cote d’Ivoire, said South African Journal Business Report.

A climate of tensions and charges of fraud increase today in Haiti after the release Monday of the preliminary results in the elections that gave victory to singer Michel Martelly.

The PEC announced that the representative of Peasant Answer Party achieved 67.57 % of the valid votes against 31.74 for Miriande Marigat of Regrouping of the National Progressive Democratic Party.

To the joy of almost 20 million people who had mobilized to demand the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president chose to step down after 30 years in power.
Mubarak’s resignation takes place after 18 days of massive protests. The recently-appointed Vice President Omar Suleiman made the announcement, saying that a Military Council will take over the administration.

The end of the government of President Mubarak is the main demand of demonstrators in Cairo and other Egyptian cities, currently under curfew and suffering a partial cut in communications.
Thousands of people, mainly youngsters, have taken to the streets, chanting “Mubarak, Go” and using stones and sticks in clashes with riot police.

Iran continued on Saturday nuclear talks with six world powers in Turkey and said it hoped to have an acceptable result, but it refused to discuss uranium enrichment and called for cooperation from the West. Iranian sources said the talks show a positive development, while on the first day the agenda agreed in December to discuss only global issues was respected.