Subcomandante Marcos said Jan. 14 that the Zapatista Army of National Liberation will not accept the invitation by Bolivian president-elect Evo Morales to attend his Jan. 22 inauguration. During a meeting with supporters on the Zapatistas' "Other Campaign" in Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Marcos—known as "Delegate Zero" for the duration of the national tour—responded to a question about Morales' request: "They invited us and we received the invitation but we're not going to go, because we are in the Other Campaign... We don't have relations with governments, whether they are good or bad. We have relations with the people. And we have a lot of respect for the Bolivian people." (NarcoNews, Jan. 15)

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) issues this response to "The Afghanistan Miracle" by Diane Tebelius, an op-ed which ran in The Seattle Times Oct. 4, 2005:

The "Miracle" or a Mockery of Afghanistan?
Ms. Diane Tebelius, Republican congressional candidate and observer in the Afghan elections sponsored by the International Republican Institute, is perhaps the first election observer in Afghanistan who wasted no time to communicate her impression in The Seattle Times of October 4, 2005.

Will Chile be the next to join South America's growing anti-imperialist bloc? Michelle Bachelet will certainly not prove a radical populist like Venezuela's Hugo Chavez or Bolivia's newly-elected Evo Morales. But she could prove a more moderate member of the bloc, like Brazil's Lula de Silva, Argentina's Néstor Kirchner or Uruguay's Tabare Vazquez. (Peru could be next, where candidate Ollanta Humala is cut from the more radical mold.) From the AP, Jan. 16:

At least 24 undocumented Haitians died as they were being smuggled into the Dominican Republic in a small truck near the northern city of Dajabon on Jan. 10. The victims died of asphyxiation while riding with about 45 other Haitians in the unventilated truck, according to Dominican police, who said the smugglers threw out some of the bodies while the truck was still moving. Eleven of the bodies were found on Jan. 10 in La Mina de Cacheo, and 13 more were found on Jan. 11, police said; both communities are in the northwest. Police detained two Dominicans who allegedly drove the truck, according to police spokesperson Gen. Simon Diaz. (AP, Jan. 11) On Jan. 12 Dominican sources put the total number of deaths at 25. (El Diario-La Prensa, NY, Jan. 13)

Business and commerce in Sri Lanka's port city of Trincomalee were paralyzed as a three-day strike in protest against renewed violence by the Tamil Tiger guerillas entered its last day Jan. 14. Main roads in the town were deserted except for government troops on patrol. Shops, government offices, schools, public markets, banks and transportation were all closed in the hartal (strike) called by the Sinhala Vimukthi Sanvidanaya, a civil organization of the dominant Buddhist Sinhalese ethnicity. A Jan. 13 rally in support of the strike was reportedly attended by Tamils and Muslims as well as Sinhalese. (Qatar Gulf Times, Jan. 15) Authorities said they also suspected that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) was involved in the work stoppage. The Marxist JVP is currently a key ally of President Mahinda Rajapakse's government. (PTI, Jan. 13) The TamilNation website accuses the JVP of representing "Sinhala Buddhist fundamentalism in Marxist garb."

Maoist guerrillas bombed two police stations and a municipal office on the outskirts of Kathmandu Jan. 14, killing at least 11 officers in the first attacks in the capital region since the rebels ended their cease-fire on Jan. 2. Hours earlier, 16 guerillas and a government soldier were killed in a firefight in Syangja, a Maoist stronghold 140 miles west of Kathmandu. Two days earlier, 10 rebels were killed in the same area, the army said.

The real issue behind Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's latest political clash with Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud appears to really be continued perceived Syrian domination of the country. Tensions between the Druze and the regime have dramatically escalated since late December, with Jumblatt openly calling for US military intervention against Damascus.

OK, was the CIA behind this one? Pretty convenient timing, just as Iran has removed International Atomic Energy Agency seals on from three nuclear production facilities at Natanz, Pars Trash and Farayand Tec—announcing a resumption of uranium enrichment activities in defiance of the West. (IranMania, Jan. 13)