International
Indigenous Brazilians say attacks continue despite protection order

AFP/Editor
Indigenous Brazilians of the Mundurucu ethnic group on Wednesday said their leaders were attacked following a police operation aimed at kicking out miners squatting on native land in the far northern state of Para.
Brazil’s Supreme Court this week ordered the government to protect members of the Mundurucu and Yanomami indigenous groups who are threatened by wildcat miners in their communities deep in the Amazon rainforest.
“Criminals are terrorizing the leaders of the Mundurucu people for opposing illegal mining,” tweeted Sonia Guajajara, a leader of the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB).
“In an act of terrorism they torched the home of (Mundurucu leader) Maria Leusa Kaba and are continuing to threaten other people in reprisal for the Federal Police operation in the region to kick out invaders,” said Guajajara, one of the main spokespeople for indigenous Brazilians.
On Tuesday some 130 federal police agents launched an operation near the town of Jacareacanga against illegal mining in land belonging to the Mundurucu and Sai Cinza people, “fulfilling measures requested by the Federal Supreme Court,” police said in a statement.
Federal Police did not confirm the new attacks that the native groups talked about, but did say that their forces “were surprised by a group of miners protesting the operation that protected indigenous lands.”
The protesting miners tried to destroy police vehicles and equipment, police said, but agents managed to contain the unrest and there were no injuries.
For decades there have been clashes between illegal miners and indigenous Brazilians, but the level of violence has reportedly increased since Jair Bolsonaro — who supports the exploitation of resources in native lands — became president in January 2019.
– Police reinforcements –
Para state Governor Helder Barbalho said Wednesday that he is “worried by the tense situation” and sent police reinforcements from the state capital Belem to join federal agents and to act as mediators.
Illegal gold and diamond mining in the Amazon rainforest is both an environmentally damaging and lucrative business.
Some indigenous Brazilians in the region have joined the invaders and help the miners in their activities and even attacks on rivals, according to local media.
A Supreme Court justice on Monday ruled that the government of Bolsonaro must “immediately adopt all the necessary measures to protect the life, health and security of the indigenous people” living in the Yanomami and Mundurucu territory in the northern Amazon region.
On May 10 the Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY) reported a clash between Yanomami natives and illegal miners who invaded the community of Palimiu, in Roraima state, with four miners and a Yanomami defender suffering gunshot wounds.
International
ACLU seeks emergency court order to stop venezuelan deportations under Wartime Law

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday asked two federal judges to block the U.S. government under President Donald Trump from deporting any Venezuelan nationals detained in North Texas under a rarely used 18th-century wartime law, arguing that immigration officials appear to be moving forward with deportations despite Supreme Court-imposed limitations.
The ACLU has already filed lawsuits to stop the deportation of two Venezuelan men held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center, challenging the application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The organization is now seeking a broader court order that would prevent the deportation of any immigrant in the region under that law.
In an emergency filing early Friday, the ACLU warned that immigration authorities were accusing other Venezuelan detainees of being members of the Tren de Aragua, a transnational criminal gang. These accusations, the ACLU argues, are being used to justify deportations under the wartime statute.
The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three times in U.S. history — most notably during World War II to detain Japanese-American civilians in internment camps. The Trump administration has claimed the law allows them to swiftly remove individuals identified as gang members, regardless of their immigration status.
The ACLU, together with Democracy Forward, filed legal actions aiming to suspend all deportations carried out under the law. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently allowed deportations to resume, it unanimously ruled that they could only proceed if detainees are given a chance to present their cases in court and are granted “a reasonable amount of time” to challenge their pending removal.
International
Dominican ‘False Hero’ Arrested for Faking Role in Nightclub Collapse That Killed 231

A man identified as Rafael Rosario Mota falsely claimed to have rescued 12 people from the collapse of the Jet Set nightclub in Santo Domingo—a tragedy that left 231 people dead—but he was never at the scene.
Intelligence agents in the Dominican Republic arrested the 32-year-old man for pretending to be a hero who saved lives during the catastrophic incident, authorities announced.
Rosario Mota had been charging for media interviews in which he falsely claimed to have pulled survivors from the rubble after the nightclub’s roof collapsed in the early hours of April 8, during a concert by merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among those killed.
“He was never at the scene of the tragedy,” the police stated. The arrest took place just after he finished another interview on a digital platform, where he repeated his fabricated story in exchange for money as part of a “media tour” filled with manipulated information and invented testimonies.
“False hero!” read a message shared on the police force’s Instagram account alongside a short video of the suspect, in which he apologized: “I did it because I was paid. I ask forgiveness from the public and the authorities.”
Central America
Nicaraguan Exiles to Mark 7th Anniversary of 2018 Protests with Global Commemorations

The Nicaraguan opposition in exile announced on Thursday that it will commemorate the seventh anniversary of the April 2018 protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Rosario Murillo, with events in Costa Rica, the United States, and several European countries.
The commemorative activities—which will call for justice for the victims, as well as freedom and democracy for Nicaragua—will include religious services, public forums, cultural fairs, and other public gatherings, according to official announcements.
In April 2018, thousands of Nicaraguans took to the streets to protest controversial reforms to the social security system. The government’s violent response quickly turned the demonstrations into a broader call for the resignation of President Ortega, who is now 79 and has been in power since 2007.
The protests resulted in at least 355 deaths, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), although Nicaraguan organizations claim the toll is as high as 684. Ortega has acknowledged “more than 300” deaths and maintains the unrest was an attempted coup d’état.
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