Tens of thousands of indigenous people and their allies focused on neoliberal economic programs, US foreign policies and local issues in protests throughout the Americas on Oct. 12, the 514th anniversary of the arrival of European colonizer Christopher Columbus in the hemisphere.

Thousands of Bolivians marked Oct. 12 with a demonstration in a central plaza in La Paz which was also a show of support for leftist president Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president. Accompanied by indigenous leaders from 12 countries--who were attending the Continental Meeting of Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of AbyaYala (an ancient indigenous name for the Americas)--Morales announced that the date had gone from marking the "misfortune" of the European colonization to marking the "liberation" of the indigenous people of the continent. About 10,000 people participated, according to the Spanish wire service EFE, far less than the 100,000 the government had anticipated.

As of the evening of Oct. 15, early returns from Ecuador's general election that day showed banana magnate Alvaro Noboa leading leftist economist Rafael Correa by about 27% to 22% in the voting for president, virtually guaranteeing that the race would go to a second round. (Radio France Internationale, Oct. 15) A poll taken by the private Cedatos-Gallup company Oct. 11-13 had shown Correa leading the list of 13 candidates with 31.1% of the vote, followed by Noboa with 25.2% and the socialist Leon Roldos with 19.1%. Based on the poll, which had a margin of error of three percentage points, the company predicted that Correa and Noboa would face each other in a second round on Nov. 26. To win in the first round a candidate would need to get at least 40% of the vote.

From the Center for Constitutional Rights, Oct. 17:

Bush Signs the Military Commissions Act: CCR Calls it a Blow to Democracy and the Constitution
New York, NY - Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) denounced President Bush's signing into law of the Military Commissions Act (MCA). The final version of the bill emerged only four days before the Senate's 11th hour vote. Although President Bush declared that "time was of the essence" when he called for the legislation, he has waited nearly two weeks to sign it into law. Congress has once again been cowed into doing the President's bidding and abdicated their Constitutional powers in the process, say attorneys.

Note the rather ironic last line of this account. Perhaps the real lesson US war-makers failed to glean from Pontecorvo's film was, "Stay out—its hopeless." From Italy's AKI news agency, Oct. 13:

Gillo Pontecorvo, one of Italy's leading filmmakers renowned for 'The Battle of Algiers', a realistic representation of Algeria's independence war against France, died on Thursday night. He was 86. The Battle of Algiers, which Pontecorvo wrote with Franco Solinas and directed in 1966, won the Venice film festival that year and was nominated for three Oscars - best director, screenplay and foreign film. The documentary-style movie showed the plight of Algerians during the 1954-62 war, denouncing the bombings and torture of civilians by the French military. It was banned in France until 1972 and in Britain until 1969.

From the New York Law Journal, Oct. 17:

Veteran defense attorney Lynne Stewart cried tears of relief yesterday as a federal judge ordered her to serve a dramatically lower sentence than prosecutors had requested for her conviction on providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy.

Freedom's on the march in the USA's closest South Asian ally. From the New York Times, Oct. 14:

KABIRWALA, Pakistan — Pursuing justice is not easy for a woman in Pakistan, not if the crime is rape. Ghazala Shaheen knows.

From the Free Muslims Coalition, Oct. 12:

Free Muslims Condemn Muslim Cab Drivers who Refuse to Pick Up Alcohol Carrying Passengers

The Free Muslims Coalition, a national Muslims organization, condemns Muslim cab drivers who refuse to pick up passengers who carry alcoholic beverages.