Most of the 23,000 school teachers in the central Mexican state of Morelos went on strike on Aug. 13 to protest the local implementation of a national plan called the Alliance for Quality of Education (ACE). The teachers, in Local 19 of the National Union of Education Workers (SNTE), say that the plan is oriented towards consumerism and the commercialization of education and that it was imposed in ways that violate their constitutional rights. ACE was created through an agreement between Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa and Elba Esther Gordillo Morales, longtime national president of the 1.5 million-member SNTE.

On Aug. 28 a federal criminal court in the northwestern Argentine province of Tucumán sentenced former generals Antonio Domingo Bussi and Luciano Benjamin Menendez to life in prison for the kidnapping, torture and disappearance of ex-senator Guillermo Vargas Aignasse in 1976, during the coup that started the country's 1976-1983 military dictatorship.

Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila, lead singer of Porno para Ricardo, charged with "social dangerousness" because of his songs denouncing and deriding the government, was released with a $28 fine after calling upon his fans to hold a public protest. Facing up to four years in prison for lyrics scorning Fidel and Raul Castro as "geriatrics," the 39-year-old singer was arrested Aug. 25 and charged with subverting "communist morality." Supporters were due to assemble at Havana's Malecón promenade to protest Aug. 28. "We invite everyone to gather and shout Gorki," said the band's (foreign-based) website. At the last minute, judicial authorities backed down and agreed to the fine. The banner on the website currently reads "We've won the battle!" (Ganamos la batalla!)

President Hugo Chávez announced a measure to nationalize wholesale gasoline distribution in Venezuela—despite the lobbying of British Petroleum, Exxon Mobil and Chevron, whose local subsidiaries currently control the business. Under the measure, which received initial approval in the National Assembly Aug. 27, the state company PDVSA will control Venezuela's fuel distribution network, although privately owned gas stations will not be nationalized. Dominated by Chávez allies, the National Assembly is expected to give its final approval to the legislation soon.

In a critical decision on Aug. 27, one of Brazil's supreme court judges voted in favor of maintaining Raposa Serra do Sol (RSS) as a continuous indigenous land. Although the other judges on the court still need to vote on the matter, this was seen as an important victory for indigenous peoples. Minister Ayres Britto's decision was celebrated by the indigenous peoples of RSS, who had been mobilized in their communities, as well as in the Roraima state capitol and outside the Supreme Court in Brasilia. Raposa Serra do Sol is the traditional home of some 19,000 Ingaricó, Macuxi, Patamona, Taurepang and Wapichana people in Northern Brazil. Located on the boundary of Guyana and Venezuela, RSS is over 6,000 square miles of mountains, savannahs, and forests.

Our August issue featured the story "Hokkaido: The Anti-Climate Summit" by Walden Bello of Foreign Policy in Focus, arguing that the G8 nations derailed meaningful efforts to address global climate change at the July summit in Japan. Bello protests that "like the United States and Japan, the European governments continue to hang on to the position that economic growth can be 'decoupled' from energy use. In other words, they think they can maintain current European consumption levels and only have to achieve the more efficient use of energy and replace oil with other energy sources." Our July Exit Poll was: "Is it possible to meaningfully address global climate change while maintaining current levels of economic growth?" We received the following responses:

On Aug. 25, dozens of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested approximately 595 workers in a raid on an electric transformer manufacturing facility owned by Howard Industries, Inc. in Laurel, Miss., a town of 20,000. The agents sealed off all the plant's exits, trapping workers inside, and executed a federal criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, as well as a civil search warrant looking for unauthorized immigrants. (ICE news release, Aug. 26; AP, Aug. 27; ABC News, Aug. 29; Washington Post, Aug. 28)

On the weekend before the Republican National Convention, law enforcement agencies in the Twin Cities temporarily detained dozens of people and issued a series of search warrants aimed at groups organizing protests. Attorneys for the National Lawyers Guild said those detained and photographed included both local residents and visitors in town to protest the convention. At least three were also arrested on conspiracy charges. Bruce Nestor, a lawyer at one house, told the New York Times: "In my mind it's a classic preventive detention charge." He said the authorities are permitted to hold those arrested for up to 36 hours—excluding weekends or holidays—in essence detaining them for the length of the convention.