Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that a recent wave of nations recognizing a Palestinian state based upon 1967 borders is pressuring Israel and the U.S. to return to negotiations and reach a peace deal. Abbas, in Brazil to lay the cornerstone of a Palestinian Embassy and attend the inauguration of President-elect Dilma Rousseff, told The Associated Press in an interview that recent recognition of a Palestinian state by several Latin American nations would help push the U.S. and...

The Government of Ecuador announced today that studies the possibility that the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, visit Ecuador in early 2011. Abbas will attend the transfer of power in Brazil, January 1, and, according to Deputy Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Kintto Lucas, it is likely that the week is happening at that time “come to Ecuador” to thank the Quito recent recognition of a Palestinian state. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da...

The battle for Latin America between pro-Israel and pro- Palestinian factions is set to enter a new phase on Friday when Palestinians hold a cornerstone- laying ceremony for an embassy in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia, the first state-level Palestinian diplomatic mission on the continent. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to take part in the event and later attend the swearing-in ceremony of Brazilian President-elect Dilma Rousseff, AFP reported. Members of...

The National Assembly has just ratified a new blow to freedom of expression and information in Venezuela by approving two bills amending the Organic Law on Telecommunications (Lotel) and the Social Responsibility in Radio, TV and Electronic Media Law (Resortemec ) at the government’s bidding on 20 December. Further harm results from the adoption of the national sovereignty law that will impose severe restrictions on national and international NGOs. In all, more than a dozen laws are...

Honduran authorities should take concrete steps to end impunity for abuses committed after the country's 2009 coup, and to curb ongoing attacks against journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists, Human Rights Watch said in a report released. The 65-page report, "After the Coup: Ongoing Violence, Intimidation, and Impunity in Honduras," documents the state's failure to ensure accountability for abuses committed under the country's de facto government in 2009. The...

A judgment by the Inter-American Court on December 20, 2010, underscores Mexico’s obligation to stop using the military justice system for human rights abuses by the military, Human Rights Watch said today. It also shows that President Felipe Calderon’s proposed reform of the military justice system, which would only subject three types of abuses by military personnel to civilian jurisdiction, is inadequate. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights published its judgment in the...

Now, it is a fact. The United Socialist Party of Venezuela used its majority vote in the National Assembly to pass the reform to the Radio, TV and Electronic Media Social Responsibility Law (Resorte Law). The online messages posted on the Internet will be regulated, after the amendment of the law. Article 28 of the law, referred to "prohibitions" provides that "electronic media providers must set procedures to allow the restriction, without delay, of the dissemination of...

President Rafael Correa should drop a proposed decree that would unjustifiably impose government control over Ecuador’s nongovernmental organizations, Human Rights Watch said today. The powers it would grant would undermine the groups’ independence and compromise their role as a civil society check on government, Human Rights Watch said. In early December 2010, the Correa administration published a proposed presidential decree that would grant the government far-reaching powers to...

Marisela Escobedo was shot dead by masked gunmen outside the state governor's office in Chihuahua in northern Mexico, prosecutors said. She had been protesting against the release of the man accused of murdering her daughter in Ciudad Juarez in 2008. Governor Cesar Duarte said he had no doubt the killing was an act of revenge by the alleged murderer. He said he would seek to have the judges who released him removed from their posts. Mrs Escobedo, 52, was shot in the head at close range by...

The South American trade bloc Mercosur on Thursday opened talks with Syria and the Palestinian Authority on free trade agreements, an Argentine official, Luis Kreckler, told reporters. The bloc -- comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay -- signed formal agreements on the negotiations with Syrian and Palestinian officials on the sidelines of a Mercosur meeting underway in the southern Brazilian town of Foz de Iguacu. The accords follow the controversial recognition by Brazil and...