Blackwater security guards who protect US diplomats in Iraq have been involved in at least seven serious incidents—including some which resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Sept. 19. The revelation came as al-Maliki announced he has revoked the firm's license to operate in Iraq while US and Iraqi officials investigate the Sept. 16 shooting that Iraqi officials now say left at least 11 people dead. Blackwater characterized the incident as an ambush, but survivors and witnesses described it as an unprovoked shooting spree.

From South Africa's Mail & Guardian, Sept. 17:

Israel has enforced a news blackout on what may be its air force's most audacious raid since its jets destroyed Saddam Hussein's nuclear reactor in 1981. The Israeli government has made no comment about the raid on what is believed to be a nuclear installation in Syria and Israeli newspapers have been forbidden to write anything on the subject.

On Sept. 12, some 150 activists (according to the Chicago Tribune) marched through the House of Representatives' Rayburn Office Building, chanting for an end to deportation raids. The protesters had arrived in buses from Chicago, New York, Rhode Island and elsewhere. Capitol police arrested two Puerto Rican activists from Chicago following a tussle near the office door of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, where demonstrators taped up a letter demanding she take action for immigrant rights. The two were charged with disorderly conduct and released. Pelosi was out of town.

The Sept. 9 election to replace Guatemalan President Oscar Berger featured more body bags than tangible ideas to improve the country. Now facing a Nov. 4 runoff election, voters are left with the tired choice between a military strongman and an oligarch.

From the Guatemala Human Rights Commission-USA (GHRC-USA), Sept. 11:

José Emanuel "Pepe" Méndez Dardón, son of longtime human rights defender Amílcar Méndez, was shot to death in Guatemala City on the afternoon of August 17 by assailants with high caliber weapons. Pepe Méndez leaves behind a wife and seven year-old twins.

From CISPES via Upside Down World, Sept. 11:

Eight members of the Salvadoran General Hospitals Union (SIGEESAL) were illegally arrested on September 4 for participating in a demonstration against the privatization of the national health system back on July 6. The eight jailed union members are: Ana Luz Ordoñez Castro, Mirian Ruth Castro Lemus, Elsa Yanira Paniagua, Noemí Barrientos de Pérez, Ana Graciela de Carranza, Jorge Emilio Pérez, Manuel Trejo Artero and Anemias Armando Cantadeiro. All being charged with public disorder and damage to private property.

On Sept. 13 Costa Rican vice president and planning minister Kevin Casas took a leave of absence pending an investigation by the Supreme Elections Tribunal (TSE) into charges that he used public resources improperly to support a campaign in favor of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Costa Rica signed the accord—which reduces trade barriers between Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the US—in 2004, but it hasn't obtained the required approval from its legislature. CAFTA is already in effect in the other countries.

From FPcN InterCultural, Sept. 6:

Gloria Ushigua and Rosa Gualinga, two indigenous leaders, were attacked on Sunday August 26, after months of receiving death threats for their efforts to protect the territory of the Zapara people in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They were beaten until unconscious, thrown in the trunk of a car, and later, apparently, left for dead.