From Bangkok's The Nation, Jan. 4:

Blasts shatter hopes for reconciliation
The bomb blasts that hit Bangkok on New Year's Eve signalled that the worst is yet to come. The explosions, which killed three people and injured almost 40, were certainly not the work of international terrorists, who typically direct their attacks at large targets for maximum impact and exposure -- that much is certain. However theories and counter-theories abound regarding the other two key suspects -- southern insurgents and the remnants of the previous regime. Some analysts have ruled out militants from the deep South on the grounds that it would be unlikely for them to want to venture beyond their accustomed areas. Besides, the manner in which the bomb devices were planted in eight different locations in Bangkok was too sophisticated for southern insurgents.

A communique from the Iraq Freedom Congress, Dec. 29:

Iraq Freedom Congress statement on Saddam's execution

The execution of Saddam was carried out and announced by the global media. As IFC stated soon after the death sentence was issued, this trial had nothing to do with serving justice, restoring dignity to Iraqis or to preserving the human rights that have been violated in the "new democratic Iraq" more than ever.

A communique from the Worker-Communist Party of Iran, Dec. 30, received via e-mail:

On the execution of Saddam Hussein

This morning Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, was hanged on the orders of the US government and its hand-made ethnic-religious regime. For around 30 years, Saddam’s regime was a symbol of the most criminal and repressive dictatorships in history, claiming countless victims. The repression, brutality and tyranny of the Ba’ath regime caused enormous suffering for the people of Iraq, in particular political opponents, labour activists, communists and ethnic and religious minorities. Tens of thousands of people were tortured, executed and eliminated under that regime or brutally massacred by chemical bombs and other means. The atrocities of Saddam’s regime are truly beyond description and will never be forgotten.

On Dec. 15, a group of 18 former employees at Swift & Co. filed a $23 million lawsuit charging the company with conspiring to keep wages down by hiring undocumented workers. The plaintiffs are all naturalized US citizens or legal residents of Latin American origin who worked at the Swift plant in Cactus, Texas. (EFE, Dec. 21) The lawsuit uses the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) in charging Swift with engaging in a racketeering conspiracy to manipulate commerce. "When the Swift plant opened in Cactus, wages were approximately $20 an hour," plaintiffs' attorney Michael Heygood told reporters in Texas. "Now, the average wage is approximately $12 to $13 an hour." (Washington Times, Dec. 19) Several union officials said Swift began improving its wages, benefits and bonuses in the weeks before the raids. "They're trying to staff up their plants and they've been raising their wages the past few weeks," said United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) spokesperson Jill Cashen. (AP, Dec. 19)

On Dec. 15, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Mexican immigrant Martin Barrios on an outstanding deportation order at his home in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn, Illinois. A spokesperson from Centro Sin Fronteras, a Chicago-based immigrant rights group, said Barrios was arrested around 6:30 AM while still in his pajamas, in front of his US citizen wife and their three US-born children. Barrios has lived in the US for 18 years; he was ordered deported after a legal representative improperly filed an application to adjust his status.

From La Jornada, Dec. 28 via Chiapas95:

The nation's top electoral court ruled Wednesday that irregularities preceding the Oct. 15 gubernatorial election in Tabasco were not serious enough to affect the outcome.

A communique from the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) "Intergalactic Commission," Dec. 24 (our translation):

Compañer@s, Herman@s: In a few days more will be Dec. 30, 2006, the start of the "Encuentro de los Pueblos Zapatistas con los Pueblos del Mundo" (Meeting of the Zapatista Villages with the Peoples of the World), which will end Jan. 2, 2007.

On Dec. 12, nearly 300 indigenous Tupinikim and Guarani people and supporters occupied the Portocel port facilities used by the Aracruz Celulose wood pulp company at Aracruz, in Brazil's Espirito Santo state. The protesters are demanding that the Brazilian government fulfill its constitutional obligation by demarcating the traditional territory of the Tupinikim and Guarani. The company has taken over more than 11,000 hectares of indigenous land. In February 2006, after federal police violently ejected the Tupinikim and Guarani people who had retaken their land, Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos promised to demarcate the territory as soon as the government's National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI) approved it. FUNAI approved the demarcation last Sept. 12, but Bastos has not yet signed it. Bastos is due to leave the government at the end of January 2007.