Today’s Video – Sister Dorothy

In honor of Earth Day this week we looked at a few videos on environmentalism in Latin America.  We conclude our brief look into that area with the following trailer to a 2008 documentary on the late nun and environmental activist Sister Dorothy Stang:

Stang was shot and killed in February 2005 after she received death threats from loggers and landowners. Following several appeals, a pair of local ranchers - Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura and Regivaldo Galvao - were each convicted to thirty years in prison for masterminding the murder of the 73-year-old.   Rayfran das Neves Sales, the man who confessed to assassinating Stang, was released from jail in 2013 after serving less than nine of his 27-year sentence.

Daily Headlines: September 23, 2013

* Venezuela: Three Venezuelan National Guard officials were arrested and accused of being involved in the smuggling of 1.3 tons of cocaine via a Air France flight between Caracas and Paris.

* Brazil: Brazilian rancher Vitalmiro Vastos de Moura was retried and sentenced once again to thirty years in prison for planning the 2005 murder of U.S. nun and environmentalist Dorothy Stang.

* El Salvador: El Salvador's soccer federation punished fourteen national team players with lifetime bans after they supposedly received bribes to fix matches.

* Peru: Catholic officials reportedly removed Peruvian bishop Gabino Miranda from his post due to allegations that he sexually abused minors.

Video Source – YouTube via user afpbr

Online Sources- Reuters; The Latin Americanist; ABC News; Al Jazeera English

Daily Headlines: July 5, 2013

* Brazil: A Brazilian judge placed under house arrest Rayfran das Neves Sales, the convicted murderer of U.S. nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang, after serving only eight years in prison.

* Bolivia: “This was an open provocation toward a continent, not just a president,” declared Bolivian President Evo Morales regarding the forced diversion of his presidential plane in Europe this week.
    
* Ecuador: A British security firm denied allegations that they bugged the Ecuadorian embassy in London where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been residing in.

* Argentina: Buenos Aires, Argentina beat out Medellin, Colombia and Glasgow, Scotland to win the chance to host the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Video Source – YouTube via user sisterdorothy (Trailer for a documentary on murdered U.S. nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang).
 
Online Sources- France24; The Latin Americanist; Reuters; Al Jazeera English; SI.com

Court Orders Retrial in Dorothy Stang Murder Case

Brazil’s top court ordered a retrial of a rancher convicted of masterminding the murder of U.S. nun and environmentalist Dorothy Stang.

"The right to a defense is a value that must prevail, because it is fundamental for the development of a fair trial," Supreme Court justice Ricardo Lewandowsky said regarding the annulment of a 30-year prison sentence against Vitalmiro Vastos de Moura.

The 73-year-old Stang was gunned down in February 2005 as she was returning home from a community meeting in the state of Pará.

In 2007 de Moura was convicted of planning the murder of Stang, a tireless campaigner for the preservation of the Amazon and for the rights of poor landowners. One year later, a jury overturned de Moura’s conviction much to the disappointment of then-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and human rights groups.  In April 2010, however, de Moura was again convicted and sentenced to thirty years behind bars after several of his co-conspirators testified against him.

De Moura will remain in prison awaiting a third murder trial, which could commence as soon as the end of May.  In the meantime, land rights activists in Brazil decried the Supreme Court’s ruling:

Daily Headlines: September 9, 2011

* Mexico: Local energy officials claimed that power has been resorted to almost all of the 1.1 million customers whose electricity was temporarily cut off in a blackout that also affected the southwestern U.S.

* U.S.: A report presented yesterday found that basic legal rights might've been broken in the deportations of tens of thousands of Latino illegal immigrants.

* Brazil: A judge upheld the thirty-year prison sentence against a rancher convicted of the 2005 murder of nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang.

* Latin America: U.S. President Barack Obama called on Congress to “clear the way” for free trade pacts with Colombia and Panama.

Image – Reuters via CBC News (“A couple walk their dogs past a malfunctioning traffic intersection in Cardiff, Calif., following a sweeping power outage that knocked out power in parts of the U.S. southwest and Mexico.”)

Online Sources- Huffington Post, Fox News Latino, CNN, Colombia Reports

Daily Headlines: May 3, 2010

* U.S.: Several recent studies have concluded that Latinos suffer from eye disorders such as blindness and cataracts more than other U.S. ethnic groups.

* Brazil: Nearly three weeks after a Brazilian rancher was convicted in the 2006 murder of nun/activist Dorothy Stang a jury sentenced a second rancher to nearly thirty years in jail.

* Puerto Rico: In a sign of the island’s weakened economy federal regulators closed and sold three Puerto Rican banks over the weekend.

* Costa Rica: Star striker Bryan Ruiz’ 24 goals helped FC Twente win the Dutch first division soccer title for the second time in franchise history.

Image – alphaville.org
Online Sources- Los Angeles Times, The Latin Americanist, BBC News, MarketWatch, Guardian UK

Brazil: Rancher convicted in murder of activist/nun

Justice may finally have been served in the case of a U.S. nun murdered for her social activism.

Dorothy Stang was slain in 2005 due to her relentless campaigning in favor of land rights and protecting the Amazon rainforest. Vitalmiro Vastos de Moura and Rayfran das Neves would later be convicted for her masterminding her murder yet in 2008 a judge controversially overturned de Moura’s punishment. Last April another tribunal ordered that de Moura be retired for his role in Stang’s death and on Monday a guilty verdict was delivered against him:

Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura, 39, was given the maximum term by a jury overnight in the northern Brazilian city of Belem for the assassination of Dorothy Stang, a 73-year-old missionary who was fatally shot six times as she walked down on a remote jungle track.

The two men who carried out her murder, Rayfran das Neves Sales and Clodoaldo Batista, are already serving 28-year and 17-year terms, respectively, while another, Amir Feijoli, was also behind bars for 18 years for acting as an intermediary.

Neves Sales, Batista and Feijoli all testified against Bastos de Moura, who maintained his silence throughout the trial.

Brazilian land rights groups welcomed the verdict though Land Pastoral spokeswoman Cristiane Passos noted that it’s “still far from the end of the violence” against activists. One such activist was labor union chief Pedro Alcantara de Souza who was killed last week in the same region where Stang was slain.

Image- MSNBC (2004 image of Dorothy Stang)
Online Sources- BBC News, Washington Post, The Latin Americanist, AFP

Daily Headlines: February 8, 2010

* Mexico: First it was a bill to police Twitter and other social networks. Now Mexico’s legislature wants to combat violence by regulating narcocorrido music.

* Cuba: A groups of Republican congressmen want to deep six upcoming Cuba-U.S. migration talks due to last year’s arrest of a U.S. subcontractor.

* Latin America: Will Colombia and Ecuador bury the diplomatic hatchet nearly two years since a Colombian military incursion into Ecuadorian territory?

* Brazil: A rancher accused of murdering nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang went back to jail on Saturday.

Image – BBC Mundo (“Since the 90s, Los Tucanes de Tijuana have made songs dedicated to narcotrafficking and illegal immigration.”)
Online Sources- Mashable, Miami Herald, The Latin Americanist, NASDAQ, Sydney Morning herald

Daily Headlines: December 11, 2009

* Venezuela: Hundreds of protestors including university students marched on Wednesday in honor of an undergraduate killed during a recent demonstration.

* Guatemala: Authorities are looking into how documents relating to the murder investigation of lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg were secretly leaked to the local press.

* Brazil: One of the men sentenced for the murder of nun and rain forest activist Dorothy Stang waived his right to a new trial.

* Cuba: A U.S. federal judge reduced the sentences of two members of the “Cuban Five” – a group of Cubans sentenced in 2001 for spying.

Image – CNN (“Students demonstrate against the death of Jesus Ramirez in Caracas, Venezuela, on Wednesday.”)
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, BBC News, AP, LAHT, Kansas City Star

Retrials ordered in Dorothy Stang case

It may have taken longer than expected but justice might finally be served in the murder of Dorothy Stang.

Originally from Ohio, Stang was a nun and environmentalist who strongly defended the Amazon rain forest from illegal logging and encroaching land developers. In 2005, she was brutally killed by gunmen who prosecutors believed were hired by local ranchers. In 2007, Rayfran das Neves and supposed mastermind Vitalmiro Bastos de Moura were convicted for murdering Stang yet a court shockingly overturned de Moura’s punishment last year. That decision led to outrage from Stang’s family and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Yesterday a Brazilian tribunal ordered the arrest and retrial of das Neves and de Moura. The judges found irregularities in the previous decisions and officials are confident they will be definitely convicted:

Three judges voted unanimously on Tuesday to have a jury retry both Moura and Neves, the gunman who confessed to killing Stang.

The judges annulled the acquittal on grounds that the jury voted contrary to the evidence, according to a statement from the Para state judiciary.

They also said that defense lawyers had presented illegal evidence attempting to show that Neves acted alone and did not receive orders from Moura. Neves originally admitted to having been hired by Moura but later changed his story.

It remains to be seen if the other accused mastermind in Stang’s murder- rancher Regivaldo Galvao- will soon stand trial. In the meantime, the retrials of das Neves and de Moura will be a welcome step in the right direction.

Image- BBC News
Online Sources- BBC News, LAHT, Reuters, The Latin Americanist, Commondreams.org

Justice for Dorothy Stang

Last week was the 20th anniversary of the death Brazilian environmental activist Chico Mendes. One unfortunate part of his legacy was the slap on the wrist given to his convicted murderers; a trend which sadly continued with the killers of Dorothy Stang.

Stang was a U.S.-born Brazilian missionary who- much like Mendes- was outspoken in defending the Amazon rainforest. Her activism against landowners would lead to her demise in 2005. Though a Brazilian court convicted the two gunmen hired to kill Stang another tribunal freed one of them last May.

Despite the impunity, the case may be reopened against the alleged masterminded of Stang’s murder. Ironically, the arrest of Regivaldo Galvao was over the land that Stang tried to defend before her death:

Brazilian farmer Regivaldo Pereira Galvao, who was accused of masterminding the murder of U.S.-born Brazilian missionary Dorothy Stang in 2005, was re-arrested Friday for swindle.

He was arrested at his home in Altamira, Para state, for trying once more to claim possession of public land in Anapu, also in Para, according to the state's Federal Prosecutor's Office…

"Galvao's attitude of returning to the crime scene and once more declaring himself the owner of public lands demands the immediate intervention of the state," said Federal Prosecutor Alan Mansur Silva.

Image- MSNBC
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, CBS News, Xinhua, AP, Global Voices Online, BBC News

Brazil: Jury overturns verdict in nun murder

A Brazilian jury acquitted a rancher who was convicted last year in the killing of nun/activist Dorothy Stang. Vitalmiro Vastos de Moura was sent to twenty years in jail along with Rayfran das Neves for killing Stang. Yet de Moura was set free with testimony from das Neves who claimed that de Moura did not give him the gun used to murder Stang in 2005.

Stang’s family was understandably disappointed with the court’s decision:

Sister Dorothy's sister Marguerite Hohm had watched the two-day long trial from her home in the US via a live internet feed.

"I saw the judge shaking hands with the defendants and I didn't understand what was going on," Ms Hohm told the Associated Press news agency. "We're very saddened."

Stang had allegedly been the target of Brazilian ranchers who disliked her opposition to the exploitation of poor and indigenous peoples by large landowners.

Sources- The Latin Americanist, Los Angeles Times, Guardian UK, BBC News, earthtimes

Image- MSNBC

Brazil: 27 years prison for U.S. nun killer

A Brazilian jury upheld the conviction of the gunmen who murdered nun and activist Dorothy Stang in 2005. Rayfran das Neves argued in his retrial that he shot Stang in self-defense, yet prosecutor Edson Cardoso said that das Neves’ alibi was a weak attempt to absolve the intellectual masterminds behind her death:

"No half-way intelligent person is going to believe that an elderly person -- and (das Neves) confessed she reached into her bag for a bible -- could have threatened him," said Cardoso.

Stang spent the previous four decades of her life defending the rights of poor settlers in Brazil’s rainforest area from wealthy landowners. Prosecutors have linked two ranchers who paid das Neves $25,000 to kill Stang yet it's believed that there was a wider conspiracy against her.

Sources- BBC News, ABC News, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist, Reuters

Image- BBC News

Daily Headlines: May 19, 2007

* Quick follow-up: Thirty years in jail awaits the convicted Brazilian mastermind behind the assassination of environmentalist nun Dorothy Stang (image).

* The reality of “communism” in Cuba- The German state of Bavaria struck a $500 million economic deal with Cuba.

* Looks like former Mexican leader Ernesto Zedillo will have a hard time being named the next World Bank president.

* Venezuela’s Supreme Court refused to hear a legal challenge by soon-to-be-shutdown network Radio Caracas Television.

* A San Francisco-based businessman was convicted of raping a seven-year-old boy in Mexico.

* Brazil’s legislature is considering a bill to eliminate visa requirements from five countries including the U.S. and Japan.

* Mexican soccer player Salvador Carmona was hit with a lifetime suspension after failing yet another doping test.

* Opposition politicians in Nicaragua are not pleased with the passage of a public information bill.

Links- Guardian UK, BBC News, Miami Herald, MSNBC, ESPN Soccernet, The Latin Americanist, People’s Daily Online

Image- BBC News

Daily Headlines: May 14, 2007

* The trial of one of the supposed intellectual heads behind the murder of nun and environmental activist Dorothy Stang (image) just begun in Brazil.

* The new face of Salvadoran tourism- having former guerrilla soldiers as tour guides.

* Promoting women in politics appears to be one of the aims behind the Guatemalan political coalition backing Rigoberta Menchu’s candidacy for president.

* A three-hour hostage situation at the Russian Embassy in Costa Rica on Friday ended peacefully.

Image- Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

Links- International Herald Tribune, Denver Post, Prensa Latina, USA TODAY