CUBA: NUMBER OF HUNGER STRIKERS INCREASES AT GUANTANAMO’S ILLEGAL NAVAL BASE
Since Feb. 6 some 21 prisoners have been on a hunger strike protesting their mistreatment at U.S. Prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Lawyers have stated that their clients are protesting indefinite detainment and violation of personal possessions by prison guards, in particular the Koran, a sacred book to many of the prisoners. In 2009, President Obama signed an executive order to close the Guantanamo prison within a year, but the prison remains open. Numerous complaints have been made against cruel practices at the prison, which include grueling interrogations, and alleged torture. Brandon Nelly, a retired prison official, stated that they have kept “many innocent people there, while proof of their guilt has not yet been made known.”
CUBA: PRODUCER AND CINEMATOGRAPHER CAMILO VIVES DIES
Camilo Vives passed away on March 13 at age 71. For four decades he was considered the main producer of the award-winning and famous Cuban films such as “Lucia,” made in the ‘60s, and “Strawberry and Chocolate,” made in the ’90s. He is known for being the great producer of the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), the organization that promoted film production on the island in the years after the revolution. He was also instrumental in bringing together filmmakers from Latin America via the International Festival of New Latin American Cinema and its associated foundation, which was created in 1985 with the support of writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. He worked on more than 130 feature films and film series. His death in Cuba›s capital, Havana has had considerable impact throughout Latin America.
GUATEMALA: SOME 34 INDIGENOUS PEOPLE HAVE TESTIFIED IN COURT AGAINST RIOS MONTT
Some 34 survivors of the massacres in Guatemala between March 1982 and August 1983 have served as witnesses in a trial against General Efrain Rios Montt for genocide and war crimes. The majority of the witnesses were Ixil Indegenous people. At the trial, they testified that under Montt the military, was responsible for murders, tortures, rapes, destroyed homes and stolen crops of their municipality, the Ixil Triangle. This is the first time in history that a former head of state—not the soldiers—has been prosecuted for crimes against humanity perpetrated on civilians.