• Haiti’s robust opposition is returning to the streets of Port au Prince to demand President Juvenel Moise resign once his term ends on Feb. 7. In late January, protesters were met with rubber bullets and several were injured. Moise says his term runs for another year and is proposing a new constitution which will be voted on in a referendum in April. Activists and journalists complain Moise is using the national police as a “tool of repression” against civil society.
(“Hundreds in Haiti Protest To Demand Leader’s Resignation,” Associated Press, Jan. 20, 2021; “Haiti Senator Released From Jail After President Orders Arrest,” Voice of America, Jan. 22, 2020)
• The civil war in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray has plunged the region into a humanitarian crisis. During the fighting, two million people were forced to flee from their homes, and six million don’t have adequate food, water or medicine. Aid workers warn about an impending famine.
(“War and Hunger,” The Economist, Jan. 23, 2021)
• While Democrats were celebrating the inauguration of President Joe Biden, union workers were on strike at the Hunts Point Produce Market, New York City’s food hub in the Bronx. Teamsters Local 202’s 1400 union food workers at Hunts Point went out on strike for six days, the first such job action in 35 years. The strike won a 10 percent wage increase over three years and improved health care benefits, with strong support from from New York City progressive activists, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
(“Hunts Point Strike Is Just the Beginning,” The Nation, Jan. 25, 2021; “Forget Biden’s Bust of Cesar Chavez: Hunts Point Strike Is the Bold Labor Action the Country Needs,” The Intercept, Jan. 23, 2021)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
