Protests shake Hinche, shut down Cap-Haïtien
Large, militant protests against the presence of United Nations troops in Haiti broke out on Nov. 15 in Hinche in the Central Plateau and Cap-Haïtien on the northern coast. The protesters demanded the withdrawal of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), a Brazilian-led multinational force with more than 13,000 soldiers, police agents and staffers that has occupied Haiti since June 2004. Many Haitians blame MINUSTAH for an outbreak of cholera in October that by Nov. 18 had already caused more than 1,100 deaths.

A New York federal jury acquitted alleged al-Qaeda operative Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani on Nov. 17 of all major terrorism charges in the 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 224, including 12 US citizens. In the first trial of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee in civilian court, the Tanzanian was convicted of one count of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property but cleared of 285 counts, including 276 of murder and attempted murder. Federal prosecutors say they will seek the maximum sentence of life without parole on the conspiracy count.

The UK government on Nov. 16 announced a settlement with 16 Guantánamo Bay detainees over allegations of torture. Details of the settlement agreement, which are legally bound to a confidentiality agreement, have not been released, although at least seven detainees are expected to receive compensation, with at least one receiving over one million pounds. In return, the 16 detainees—12 of whom had filed suit and four of whom were planning to—agreed to drop a lawsuit against MI5 and M16, Britain's domestic and overseas intelligence agencies, respectively. Although many of the detainees receiving settlement are British citizens, some are not and may be offered asylum as part of the settlement. At least one is still detained in Guantánamo Bay.

On Nov. 9 the Cuban Communist Party released a draft economic program for discussion in preparation for the party's Sixth Congress in mid-April 2011. The 32-page "Draft Economic-Social Policy Guidelines" is the latest move in plans by President Raúl Castro for a major restructuring of the Cuban economy, following the announcement in September of a program to lay off some 500,000 workers and absorb most of them in an expansion of private enterprises.

A group of Haitian media organizations released a report on Nov. 8 about the "cash for work" (CFW) temporary jobs programs that international agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) set up after a Jan. 12 earthquake devastated much of southern Haiti. The programs employ tens of thousands of Haitians at jobs such as clearing away rubble in Port-au-Prince and digging latrines for the camps where more than 1 million displaced people still live. In the countryside, CFW workers dig irrigation ditches and contour canals. They are generally paid the full minimum wage of 200 gourdes (about $5) a day, although some are partially or fully paid in food.

With 49 legislative deputies present, Costa Rica's congress voted unanimously on Nov. 9 to approve revisions to the Mining Code that would ban open-pit mining of heavy metals in future projects. The revisions would also end the use of toxic substances such as cyanide and mercury in mining. President Laura Chinchilla, who declared a moratorium on new mining projects soon after she took office in May, is expected to approve the revisions.

About 15,000 protesters from independent unions, campesino organizations and other grassroots groups blocked access to the Chamber of Deputies in Mexico City on Nov. 12 and 13 to demand a reduction of allocations for the security forces in next year's budget and an increase in the allocations for social development.

Students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) slowed traffic in and out of San Juan on Nov. 9 when they demonstrated in a major highway to protest plans for raising tuition by $800 in January. The previous night the Puerto Rican Senate had created a special fund that would provide about $30 million in scholarships to low-income students, but the protesters rejected the measure as inadequate. Students also met in assemblies at the UPR's Río Piedras, Humacao, Cayey and Arecibo campuses on Nov. 9 to discuss the tuition hike and other issues.