In homage to Luis Armando, better known as “Commandante Gato”, a new Communal Culture Center was opened up recently in this hometown of Cerro Grande, located in the East of Oaxaca, Mexico. There, “Comandante Gato” participated in many struggles of the indigenous people in the Istmo de Tehuantepec region, was part of the organizing of the People’s Self-defense and led struggles such as those of the fisherman. On April 11, 2019, he was assassinated in anambush of paramilitaries while he was on his way back to Cerro Grande.
To honor and continue his struggles the Communal Culture Center “Luis Armando Fuentes Aquino” was called to live after an initiative of the youth and children to create a place for them to study and learn, bearing the name of this outstanding leader of indigenous struggles. Hence the Culture Center is to be outfitted with a library and workplaces for craft and art, access to technology and information. Currently a donation campaign is being developed to properly outfit the place.
In the city of Quito, Ecuador, a successful demonstration was held on initiative of Fetsapi, the trade union for workers in the health services, and the Front for the Defense of the Struggles of the People. Due to the determination of the protesters, the pressure exerted and in fear of the protest spreading further the state was forced to adopt a number of the demands of the protesters, resulting in a concrete victory in the economic struggle. Particularly the demand for the outstanding wages to be paid is important, as the current country wide situation is such, that only the armed forces and the police receive their wages on time, with the rest of the employees of the state seeing no money at all or receiving it late. Hence, to have been able to achieve a victory in this question signals the importance and successfulness to organize under a leadership not yielding to the economic attacks of the state on the working class under the pretext of “corona / economic crisis”.
On August 13, the Colombian reactionary army together with the ESMAD riot police murderer two indigenous peasents, wounded two others and abducted yet another one. In order to shift away the blame, the army initially reported the peasants were victims in the crossfire with FARC remnants during an eviction operation in Minaflores in the North of Cauca where indigenous families four ten years live and grow crops on land not belonging by them according to the big landowners and their cronies.
One of the murdered peasants is Abelardo Liz, a journalist for the indigenous radio Payumat. His wife is five months pregnant at 38 years of age. Johel Rivera, who had been fighting for land for years, was also murdered. The video shows, how the reactionary army first provokes the peasants, threatening them with eviction and, when being confronted by the peasants, opening fire on them close range indiscriminately.
