On May 1, 2007, thousands of people around the US marched and rallied for immigrant rights. Media coverage focused on the fact that the demonstrations were much smaller than similar actions last spring—even though advocates knew well in advance that the numbers in the streets this May 1 wouldn't match last year's mass mobilizations. Organizers and policy analysts offered several reasons for the lower numbers: conflict over the STRIVE Act, a legislative proposal which some groups support but many see as far too punitive; the fact that harsh anti-immigrant legislation like HR4437, which spurred last year's protests, is no longer on the table; and fear among immigrants stemming from a major increase in raids over the past year. Immigrants and supporters rallied this year around legalization as well as an end to the raids. In all, more than half a million people demonstrated in over 100 cities and towns in 26 states and the District of Columbia. The following summary is based on available news reports.

A group of students from Oaxaca’s autonomous State University allied with the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO) occupied Radio Universidad—the University radio station—on April 30. The students said it was a limited take-over to last until 8 PM, May 2. As of 4:45 Oaxaca time on that day, Internet connections for Radio Universidad were down. It was not apparent why. Nor was it known if the station was broadcasting or being jammed.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa announced last week that he will increase military and security forces around oil facilities and allow the use of force to remove protestors. "We will not allow any more invasions of oil installations or the blockage of roads," said Correa while visiting the Amazon, which contains the country’s largest oil reserves. [Reuters, April 27]

Amnesty International published a report this week exposing Brazil's public security crisis. "Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo have reached a tragic impasse. Criminal gangs ... have rushed to fill the vacuum left by the state, Balkanizing the cities into a patchwork of violent fiefdoms," the report ("From Burning Buses to Caveirões": The Search for Human Security") stated. [AI, May 2]

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC) and US Labor Against the War (USLAW):

Joint Report to the IFC and USLAW
on the 2007 Manila International Peace Conference, April 27-29
The 2007 International Peace conference was held in Manila from April 27-29. It was hosted by the Japanese National Assembly for Peace and Democracy (ZENKO) and Parents and Children Against War and Violence in the Philippines (MALAPAD KA). Over 100 delegates from 5 countries: the Philippines, Iraq, Japan, the U.S., and Indonesia attended; the largest delegation was from Japan.

The Section 22 teachers union in Oaxaca called its one-day work stoppage and direct action campaign a "success" to press demands for a resolution to the crisis in the conflicted southern Mexican state. At least 48 state government offices were blockaded, including four municipal palaces (Oaxaca City, Tlaxiaco, Nochixtlán, Juxtlahuaca and Huajuapam). A group of local workers from the national social security institute, ISSSTE, blocked highways at various points around Oaxaca. (APRO, May 2) Section 7 teachers went on strike in solidarity and blocked roads in Chiapas state. (APRO, May 4) Meanwhile, the Federal Institute of Access to Information (IFAI), in response to a petition by the civil coalition APPO, ordered the Federal Preventative Police to release all records concerning the repression in Oaxaca last October, including the names of those who were in command. (La Jornada, May 3)

Sudan and Chad are to co-operate with the African Union (AU) and UN in an effort to stabilize the troubled Darfur region. As part of the agreement signed in Saudi Arabia, a joint border force is to be created and observers assigned to the region, while both parties have also pledged not to aid one another's dissident movements. [BBC, May 4]

From Human Rights Watch, May 2, via AllAfrica.com:

A criminal court in Cairo today sentenced Huwaida Taha Mitwalli, a journalist for Al-Jazeera and the London-based daily Al-Quds al-Arabi, to six months in prison on charges of "possessing and giving false pictures about the internal situation in Egypt that could undermine the dignity of the country" in connection with an Al-Jazeera documentary she made about torture in Egypt. The court also fined her 20,000 Egyptian pounds (US$3,518). An Egyptian national, Taha is currently free on bail in Qatar, pending appeal.