Cuba best developing country for mothers and women according to UK charity

According to UK charity Save the Children, Cuba ranks first out of “Lesser Developed Countries” in both the mother’s index and the women’s index, and ninth in the children’s index, in its annual Mother’s Index report, released this month.

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Venezuela Rejects U.S. Sanctions Against PDVSA

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has learned of the decision announced by the Department of State of the United States to impose sanctions against our oil national company, Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), as part of a unilateral law targeting the Islamic Republic of Iran known as CISADA.

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What Now for a Post-Coup Honduras?

Many Latin America watchers were thrown for a loop last month when a bilateral meeting in Cartagena, Colombia between Presidents Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia suddenly metamorphosed into a trilateral encounter that included Porfirio Lobo, the controversial president of Honduras. It was hard enough grappling with the image of Chavez and Santos, considered to be arch-enemies only a year ago, slapping one another on the back and heralding warm relations between their countries. Now it appeared that Chavez had also warmed up to Lobo, the leader of a government that Venezuela and many other South American countries had refused to recognize since the coup of June 28, 2009 that toppled democratically-elected president Manuel Zelaya.

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Thirty three workers at Panamá Gaming & Services (CIRSA) de Panamá S.A. were fired for attempting to form a union

According to the information received by the ITUC, the 33 employees presented the relevant documentation to the Ministry of Labour and Manpower Development with a view to forming a union in accordance with Article 385 of the Labour Law. The Ministry rejected the application on 10 May. A few days prior to the Ministry’s negative response, the company had already dismissed the 33 workers.

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Farm workers massacred in Guatemala

The ITUC has joined with Guatemala’s trade union, indigenous and campesino organisations in strongly condemning the massacre that took place between 14 and 15 May at the Finca Los Cocos farm in the municipality of La Libertad, in which 29 campesinos, including two women and three minors aged 13, 15 and 16, were murdered.
The ITUC has called on the government of Guatemala to fully assume its role as the guardian of democracy and the rule of law, ensuring the full implementation of the recommendations issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala following the mission carried out in 2010. Protecting the lives of all Guatemalan citizens is a basic duty of the state.

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