"logo and slogan, rather than true vision" ? Is it a joke? We hope so or the region is in trouble... read full story / add a comment

PLAY HUNT THE MINISTER - NO2ID CAMBRIDGE LEADS THE WAY & 23rd April – SOUTH WEST / SOUTH WALES WEST MIDLANDS REGIONAL MEETING, BRISTOL read full story / add a comment

April 21st, 7.30 Miners Arms, Mina Road, St Werbs.
What are central banks and what do they do?
The state of the UK housing market/oil prices and more
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Teofilo Acuna, the Colombian activist speaking in Bristol tomorrow, Wednesday 16th of April last week received further death threats (http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/article/688160). Also listed on the threats were people who Espacio Bristol volunteer, Frog Lover, is currently accompanying in the Southern Bolivar region of Colombia (http://bristol.indymedia.org/article/688180). Guarapo Meloso, the fourth member of Espacio currently in Colombia, and who has been accompanying Sembrar, another organization listed in the threat, provdes an update from Bogota on our last article. read full story / add a comment

Phil Booth, National Coordinator, and Matty Mitford, Local Groups
Coordinator will be coming to Bristol this month for a meeting of all
NO2ID groups in the South West and South Wales.

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Frog Lover, the third member of Espacio Bristol to arrive in Colombia over the past few months has been based in the Southern Bolívar region of the country, an area taken over by right-wing paramilitaries a few years back in order to pave the way for “development” projects around oil palm monocultures and gold mining under the control of multinationals. In the run-up to two events in Bristol over the next few days Espacio members report first hand on the impact of agro-fuels and gold mining. Espacio will be with Rising Tide be at Tesco, Eastville from 4.30 – 7pm on Tuesday 15th in solidarity with communities who are struggling to keep their lands. On Wednesday 16th we’re hosting a talk by a member of the organization Frog Lover is accompanying, along with Colombia Solidarity. read full story / add a comment

Following on from our first successful accompaniment training which we held in February, Espacio Bristol have decided to have another accompaniment training on the 19th and 20th July.

We are looking for someone who would like to coordinate the preparation and running of this weekend training read full story / add a comment

Come and hear from Teofilo a community leader who was imprisoned last year on the orders of the Colombian army battalion responsable for protecting the interests of mining multinationals.

When: Wednesday 16th April - 5-7pm
Where: Frank Lecture Theatre - Department of Physics - University of Bristol, Tyndall Avenue - BS8 1LT
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Before the mining multinationals arrived in the Colombian region of Southern Bolívar, state-linked paramilitaries paved their way with the murder of two members of the regional Farmers and Mining Association, FEDEAGROMINESBOL. After playing football with the decapitated head of one of their victims, they stuck it on a post, facing towards the mines. Then they informed the community - many of whom made their living as small-scale miners - they’d come to hand over the mines to the multinationals. read full story / add a comment

With China in the news as a result of its state promotion of the Olympics there this summer, and the reaction to this by pro-democracy & human rights campaigners (especially focusing on the murder & oppression by the Chinese state in Tibet), its worth considering the reasons behind these events. Its the Chinese economy innit, stupid. read full story / add a comment

This months Economic Discussion forum will focus on the 'economic miracle' that has taken place in China over the last 20 or so years, and its impact (potential, and real) on the rest of the world.
There will also be time to discuss the latest developments in the UK economy, including the worsening housing crash.
The meeting is planned to be comprehensible to everybody. There will be plenty of opportunity for discussion & questions, and there is no party line! read full story / add a comment

Around 40 indigenous political prisoners in Chiapas Mexico are on hunger
strike to demand their liberty. The protest has now spread to 3 jails in
Mexico's most southerly state.

The UK Zapatista Solidarity Network, including Bristol-based KIPTIK, has issued a statement expressing "full support" for
the prisoners: " We are well aware that the Mexican government is
persecuting people who are involved in the struggle for social justice
by falsely accusing them of crimes which they did not commit."

Indymedia Chiapas estimates that around 100 prisoners in Chiapas have
been deprived of their liberty for political reasons. read full story / add a comment

SOUTH WEST AND SOUTH WALES REGIONAL MEETING

There will be a South West and South Wales regional meeting for local groups in the region in late April. Location and details to be confirmed.

And much more... read full story / add a comment

Alterglobalisation Bournemouth is a monthly discussion group for people who want to question the status quo. read full story / add a comment

On Thursday we were on the streets of Bogotá as thousands of Colombians took to the streets again, this time in homage to the more than 15,000 victims of state terrorism in the country. We marched with campesinos from BP’s oil exploration region of Casanare, in the capital to attend the National Movement of Victims of State Crimes forum being held this weekend. The slogan, ‘for our dead, not a minute of silence, only a lifetime of struggle’ was particularly poignant as we stood beside, Dolores, whose two sons were killed by the army last year.

Espacio and COS-PACC, the Colombian social organization we’re working with in Casanare, have set up a scheme to protect threatened members of rural communities in the region by ‘twinning’ them with people in Britain, who undertake to follow-up their situation with the authorities and build up personal solidarity links as pen-pals, to remind people that they are not alone and disposable, as the strategists of state terror would like to have them believe. To take part get in touch.
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On Saturday the 1st of March, the Bristol Latin American Forum took over Bristol University's Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies for a third year running. The forum incorporated plenaries, information stalls and workshops by a wide range of Latin American organisations and solidarity groups with performances, motif explanations and practicals by music, dance and cultural outfits, food and drink by the Kebele Social Centre, an all day film screening by Cinema Klandestino and a World Café 'interactive topic discussion' experiment - leading on to a rip-roaring after party at The Kuumba Centre. As in the years before, the day was a huge success. read full story / add a comment

Saturday, March 1, 2008 at 9:00pm- very very late
The White Hart Pub, 181 Whitehall Road, Bristol, BS5 9BJ
£2 donation on the door read full story / add a comment

On Saturday 16th February sixty No Borders activists came together in Manchester to discuss the future of the network. The gathering was called by Manchester No Borders, and groups from Brighton, Bristol, Newcastle, Oxford, Liverpool, London, Cardiff, Birmingham and many more came for a weekend of discussions, planning and hanging out with other No Borders activists. read full story / add a comment

BRISTOL LATIN AMERICAN FORUM
Saturday 1st of March 2008

Latin America is in a crucial stage of transition. Right now, history is unfolding before our eyes with dynamic movements changing the face of the continent. The Bristol Latin American Forum, which is now in its third consecutive year, invites you to explore these current issues in a stimulating political and cultural event. The day will feature an opening panel of distinguished speakers followed by workshops focusing on a range of Latin American topics, from neo-liberalism and struggles for liberation to film and literature. This year the Venezuelan Consular to the UK, Alvaro Sanchez, will speak and also run a workshop on The Revolution In Venezuela. There will be film, music and food. The forum will be held from 10am - 6pm on Saturday, 1st of March 2008 at the Department of Hispanic, Portuguese & Latin American Studies, University of Bristol, 15 Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 (entry at the rear of No. 21), hosted by Dr Matthew Brown. Entry is free (donations welcome), but note there are only 100 places for the day event, so arrive early. Now is your chance to get informed and get involved.

Speakers:

• ALVARO SANCHEZ – Venezuelan Consular to the UK & Ireland.
• AMANCAY COLQUE - Bolivia Solidarity Campaign Co-ordinator.
• ANDY HIGGINBOTTOM - Editor of Frontline Latin America.

Workshops on:

• The links between music and politics: live performances by LA musicians.
• Capoeira - an expression of Afro-Brazilian resistance culture.
• Climate change in Latin America: palm-oil and bio-fuels.
• Continuing repression in Colombia, and more.

Lunch will be provided by the Kebele Social Centre. Cinema Klandestino at the Forum will show film made in and/or about Latin America all day long.

After-Party:

Pachanga Sudaka present an evening of live Latin music at Kuumba Arts & Community Resource, 20-23 Hepburn Road, off Stokes Croft, Bristol BS6, with live acts as follows:

• ORQUESTA MONTPELIER - 16 Piece live salsa band from Bristol. Playing a fusion of Latin rhythms, Hip Hop and Afro-Cuban beats. One of the UK's most exciting orchestras of experimental Salsa.
• COLORES DE MI TIERRA - Rhythms, dances and melodies from the Caribbean coast of Colombia, reflecting a rich culture that is rooted in a mixture of African, Indigenous and European cultures.
• EL MERCADO DE MIRÁN - Contemporary acoustic music inspired by the traditional rhythms and melodies of African, Amerindian and European folklore in Latin America.

Plus Latin-Mashup DJs. £4/£5 entry.

Bristol Latin American Forum 2008 On The Web:

LIVE WEBCASTING of workshops with interactive discussions (and further information) can be accessed at http://bristollaf.blogspot.com/

Key Participant Organisations: Colombia Solidarity Campaign, Bristol Solidarity with Venezuela, Cuba Solidarity, Kiptik, Espacio Bristol-Colombia, BLINC, Bolivia Solidarity Campaign, Mapuche International Link. read full story / add a comment

SWRDA, the unelected quango with its fingers in many of the most major decisions in the region, has invited Digby Jones, aka Baron Jones of Birmingham aka Sir Digby, to Bristol to answer the question, "Are South West companies making the most of Globalisation?" read full story / add a comment