More than 55 heads of state attended the 14th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement, held Sept. 15-16 in Havana, Cuba. Cuban foreign minister Felipe Perez Roque called the meeting of the 118-member organization an "unprecedented success." The summit's final document expressed support for several countries opposed by the US government: the group said it backed Bolivia and its president, Evo Morales, against "external forces seeking to destabilize the country"; viewed with concern the "aggressive policies of the US" against Venezuela; rejected the US trade embargo against Cuba; and asserted Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Thousands of Puerto Ricans rallied in the northwestern town of Lares on Sept. 23, the anniversary of the 1868 Grito de Lares ("Cry of Lares"), an uprising against Spanish rule. The events also marked the first anniversary of the death of independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios, who was killed in an assault by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the farmhouse where he was living clandestinely. The ceremony in Lares was largely devoted to remembering Ojeda and Socialist Front leader Jorge Farinacci, who died of cancer in August 2006. Organizers said attendance was up this year because of anger over the killing of Ojeda.

Even as the administration of President Vicente Fox renewed its pledge to find a negotiated solution to the crisis in Oaxaca, some 4,000 protesters left the state capital Sept. 21 on a planned two-week cross-country march to Mexico City, where they intend to establish an encampment outside the Senate to press their demand for the ouster of Gov. Ulises Ruiz.

What are we to make of this? Iran's ayatollahs have issued both fatwas for and against nuclear weapons in recent months, while the country's National Orchestra performs a Nuclear Energy Symphony. Is Ahmadinejad saying what he really thinks here? Or is this just intended for consumption by his useful idiots, no more real than his recent transparently bogus disavowal of anti-Semitism? From BBC Monitoring (not online), Sept. 21:

Are domestic Islamophobes starting to emulate the tactics of their counterparts in India? Note that this comes on the heels of the atrocious mosque desecration in Maine. From AP, Sept. 23:

Shots were fired at a mosque in Melbourne, Florida as worshippers celebrated the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but no injuries or arrests were reported, authorities said Saturday.

Tell us again how the anti-Semitic upsurge is all in our imagination. We keep forgetting. From KNBC, Los Angeles, Sept. 22:

ENCINO, Calif. -- Two flags depicting Nazi swastikas were draped over a freeway overpass in Encino on Friday, on the eve of the Jewish High Holy Days.

From our correspondent Jennifer Fasulo:

Chavez’s Shameful Embrace of Iranian President Ahmadinejad:
Show Solidarity with the Women and People of Iran, not their Oppressors!

Hugo Chavez, one of the key important figures in the left populist movements spreading throughout Latin America, has publicly lauded and embraced Iranian president Ahmadinejad. (See “Two anti-US nations heap praise upon each other,” AP, Sept. 17) It is moments like this, when feminists and any activists who care about women's liberation, are reminded of just how little women’s lives matter in the world of patriarchal nationalist politics.

The Sept. 22 Daily News carries the front-page headline: "BIG APPLE TO BIG MOUTH: ZIP IT!" It gleefully quotes various New York politicians bashing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for calling Bush a "devil," including Sen. Chuck Schumer ("despicable and disgusting"), Gov. George Pataki ("The best thing he can do is go back to Venezuela and try to provide freedom for his people") and Rep. Charles Rangel ("I draw the line at allowing a foreign leader to come to my country and my community to personally insult my president"). The story also has further inflammatory quotes from Chavez's "rambling 90-minute rant" at Harlem's Mount Olive Baptist Church, where he was flanked by actor Danny Glover, City Councilman Charles Barron and author Cornell West. Reiterating the facile if obvious "devil" epithet, Chavez backed up the charge with the following comments: