Thousands march in Montevideo
Thousands of people protested in the streets of Montevideo, Uruguay on the evening of March 9, just before Bush's arrival in the country. A march called by Uruguay's only labor federation, the Inter-Union Workers Plenary-National Workers Convention (PIT-CNT), drew some 10,000 people. A second march, organized by the Anti-imperialist Coordinating Committee, was smaller and more radical, with some of the estimated 1,200 participants wearing ski-masks, burning effigies of Bush and Uruguay's socialist president Tabare Vazquez, and spraypainting or vandalizing McDonald's restaurants, banks and other businesses; 16 people were arrested and accused of vandalism. (DPA, March 9; El Universal, Montevideo, March 10; Terra/Reuters, March 10; La Haine/Fogoneros report March 9 on Uruguay Indymedia)

On March 8, thousands of Brazilians marched to celebrate women's day and protest the visit to Brazil of US president George W. Bush, scheduled to begin that evening. The largest march took place in Sao Paulo, with more than 10,000 people participating (as many as 20,000, according to some reports). When a few demonstrators sat down to block the street, riot police sought to disperse the crowd with a barrage of tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. Chaos ensued as the demonstrators, including many families with children, tried to escape. About 20 people were injured. Some demonstrators responded by throwing rocks at police; several agents were among those injured. Four demonstrators were detained; they were freed late that same night. (Indymedia Brasil, March 9; Reuters, March 8)

On Feb. 14, six indigenous Mapuche families (about 25 people) began occupying a plot on the 534-acre Santa Rosa estate in Chubut province, in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. The Italian clothing company Benetton claims ownership of the Santa Rosa estate. With support from many other people, indigenous and non-indigenous, the six families have begun building homes on the land. "This is not a protest, nor is it a clandestine action. We don't intend to be owners, but rather to live as a community in our territory," Mauro Millan, spokesperson for the families, told Tierramerica. (Inter Press Service, Feb. 27 from Tierramerica via CorpWatch; Adital, Feb. 16 from Ansalatina) "With this gesture we want to express that we all have the right to design our own future, that our action can serve as a source of inspiration, as a contribution, as an open space for the participation of those of us who are revaluing cultural diversity," the Mapuche said in a communique on Feb. 14, the day of the occupation. (Communique from Pueblo Nacion Mapuche, Feb. 14)

On March 5, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), the global union federation for oil workers, issued a call for "strong condemnation" by supporters of workers' rights of US-led military raids on union offices in Baghdad on February 23 and 25. During the raids, targeting the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW), a member of the union’s security staff was arrested and office equipment was destroyed. On February 19, the Iraq Syndicate of Journalists was raided and computers and membership records were confiscated.

A suicide car bomber barreled into a flatbed truck packed with some 70 Shi'ite pilgrims March 11, leaving at least 32 dead. The latest attacks followed a week in which hundreds of Shi'ite pilgrims were killed trying to reach the holy city of Karbala for Ashura celebrations. The exodus faces the same risks. Blasts killed at least 15 others in Baghdad, a day after Iraqi officials warned an international conference that the sectarian violence could spread across the Middle East if not quelled. Outside the capital, militants attacked residents and set about 30 houses on fire in the mixed Sunni-Shi'ite city Muqdadiyah, Diyala province, forcing dozens of families to flee. Victims from both sects blamed the "Islamic State of Iraq," a Sunni militant organization that has taken over several other towns in the area. Residents said the organization had recently demanded money, weapons and oaths of support from the local populace. (NYT, AP, March 12)

Via Save Tibet, dated March 10:

The Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the Forty-Eighth Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising
On the occasion of the forty-eighth anniversary of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising in Lhasa in 1959, I offer my prayers and tribute to all those Tibetans who have suffered and sacrificed their lives for the cause of the Tibetan people. I also express my solidarity with those who are presently suffering repression and imprisonment.

From Phayul.com, March 11 (links added):

NEW YORK - As the Tibetans all over the world commemorate the 48th Tibetan National Uprising day hundreds of Tibetans walked with pro-independence banners, placards and Tibetan national flags in the heart of New York city. Students for a Free Tibet, regional Tibetan Youth Congress chapters of New York and New Jersey led the rally which began from Brooklyn this morning.

Abu Abduallah Ahmad, financial officer of the so-called "al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb," confirmed to AlJazeera's Morocco office that his group was responsible for two attacks in Algeria over the March 3-4 weekend that killed seven police and four Russian gas pipeline workers. Said Ahmad: "We, al-Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb, claim responsibility for the bombing of the bus of the Russians, who fight Islam and its followers and our brothers in Chechnya. We ask the Muslim Algerian people, to keep away from the infidels and tyrant posts to avoid future attacks."