Monday 29 December
2008, San José, Costa
Rica
Latin America
Condemns Israeli Air
Attacks on Gaza
Nicaragua Turns To
Wind Power, Builds 19 Windmills
Red Cross
Mediating FARC Hostage Release
Drug Trade Destroying
Peruvian Forests
Chavez: Crisis Has
Spared Venezuela
|
Latin America
Condemns Israeli Air
Attacks on Gaza
Many Latin American
countries on Sunday
condemned the Israeli
air strikes on Gaza,
which killed at least
285 people and injured
more than 900. They
urged immediate talks
between Israel and
Palestine to end the
violence.
The attacks began on
Saturday and continued
on Sunday against dozens
of Hamas' security
installations, marking
the bloodiest days since
the 1967 War in this
volatile area. The
Palestinian authorities
have declared three days
of mourning.
The Cuban government
said in a statement on
Sunday, published by the
Cuban media, that it was
an act of genocide on
the part of the Israeli
government, and it
violates most principles
of International Law and
the Charter of the
United Nations.
Cuba also called on the
international community
to condemn the attacks
and demand an immediate
ceasefire. The country
reaffirmed its
solidarity and support
for the Palestinian
people.
The Venezuelan
government expressed its
"solidarity with the
Palestine people" and
accused the government
of U.S. President George
W. Bush of being the
"only accomplice" of the
Israelis.
Venezuela also expressed
its "deep indignation"
and described the
attacks as "criminal."
It urged the United
Nations to "use its
authority, and to
enforce resolutions in
favor of the Palestinian
people and against the
Israeli government's
violence."
Argentina's Foreign
Ministry, in a
statement, called for
more talks, and
expressed "its deepest
sorrow against the
violent acts, which once
again had plunged the
Middle East and Gaza
Strip into mourning."
Argentina demanded
Israel "stop the
bombing" and
"permanently preserve
and allow the normal
flow of supplies and
other services to meet
the urgent needs of the
people in Gaza."
Argentine President
Cristina Fernandez
called for the
re-establishment of the
truce, broken on Dec.
19, and the resumption
of negotiations to find
a path to permanent
peace.
Nicaraguan President
Daniel Ortega demanded
on Sunday the Israeli
government stop its
"criminal acts" in Gaza.
"I want... to ask the
international community
to make all necessary
efforts to stop the
criminal acts of the
Israeli government
against the suffering
Palestinian people,"
Ortega said in a
statement.
He also criticized
countries like the
United States and
Israel, which "spend
(money) to destroy
highways, kill children
and entire families in
Iraq and Afghanistan,
instead of investing for
the development of all
peoples."
The member countries of
the Common Market of the
South (Mercosur),
including Argentina,
Brazil, Paraguay and
Uruguay, also criticized
on Sunday the "increase
in violence" in the area
and the Israeli bombing
of the Palestinian
territory.
On Saturday, Chile's
President Michelle
Bachelet "strongly"
condemned the attacks
and expressed her deep
concern about the
violence in the region,
while the Brazilian
government urged Israel
and Palestine's Hamas to
stop the hostilities and
start a dialogue. |
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