Environmental officers of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will give a public presentation on their Barrel Project on August 5 in Duluth. Last year, the Band was awarded a $1.2 million grant from the DoD to locate and test military waste barrels dumped into Lake Superior by the US Army in the 1950s and 1960s. NAWC members are warmly encouraged to attend! The forum will take place at 6:30 pm in the Mayor's Reception Room on the 4th floor of Duluth City Hall.
On July 19, more than 100 people marked Lake Superior Day with a march and rally on Canal Park in Duluth to draw attention to the scandal of Cold War-era military waste in Lake Superior. NAWC was well represented, along with members of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Duluth American Indian Commission, Lake Superior Greens, Grandmothers for Peace, Veterans for Peace, and activists from both UMD and the College of St Scholastica.
The Red Cliff Band of Chippewa invites the public to a forum about its project to test military waste barrels in Lake Superior. The event will take place on Saturday, July 25 at the Bingo Hall of Isle Vista Casino (3 miles from Bayfield on Hwy 13). It begins at 12 noon and will include a feast and give-away.
Pastors for Peace rolled through Duluth on July 7 on their way to Cuba to challenge the US blockade. Caravanistas included Ellen Bernstein of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing (IFCO), German activist Sabine Caspar and Mike Rozumalski, pastor of the West Denmark Lutheran Church in Luck, WI. 60 people came out to Lafayette Community Center on the Point for an evening send-off and fundraiser. Melissa Boyle and Jane Hosking prepared a wonderful Cuban dinner of beans & rice, platanos and fruit, and we rounded out the evening with salsa lessons led by Sarra Vinnik and Nathan Zarnsorff. In between, Ellen Bernstein spoke about the budding relationship between IFCO and the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana - where 100 low-income people from the US are now studying to be doctors on full scholarship from the Cuban government. We also talked about current efforts in Congress to end the economic war on Cuba, noting that Senators Amy Klobuchar (MN) and Russ Feingold (WI) are among 29 co-sponsors of a bill to end the travel ban, and Congressman Oberstar (MN-8) has reliably put his name on similar legislation in the House. The dancing was fun and the mood was positive. We all know that the blockade is done for, it's just a matter of when.
Capitol switchboard: 202.224.3121. Ask to be transferred to your representative's office, then ask to speak to your representative's foreign policy aide.In other Honduras news, despite the insistence of the Obama administration that the US has suspended all military aid to Honduras, the National Catholic Reporter has learned that Honduran troops continue to train at the School of the Americas.
Sample message:
I urge Representative ______________ to join in co-sponsoring House Resolution 630, introduced by Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), calling for Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to be returned to office, and welcoming the mediation efforts of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. It is important to your constituents in _____state_______ that the U.S. Congress be loud and clear in condemning this military coup and supporting democracy in Honduras--and the Latin American region.
House Resolution 630:
Condemning the June 28, 2009 coup d'état in Honduras, calling for the reinstatement of President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales, and for other purposes.
Whereas Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales was elected President of Honduras in November 2005 in elections that were deemed free and fair by international observers;
Whereas President Zelaya and other political actors in Honduras became embroiled in a political dispute over whether to hold a non-binding referendum asking Honduran voters whether they wanted a constituent assembly to be established to amend the Constitution;
Whereas on June 28, 2009, the day that the non-binding referendum was to take place, Honduran military forces stormed President Zelaya's residence, apprehended him, sent him out of the country, and seized the materials for the referendum;
Whereas the Honduran Congress named Roberto Micheletti, the head of the Congress, as President and subsequently suspended a number of constitutional rights, including the freedom of association and of movement;
Whereas the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has expressed its concerns regarding human rights abuses by the de facto Micheletti government, including the arbitrary detention of Zelaya supporters;
Whereas the Organization of American States, the United Nations, and the European Union—representing governments from across the political spectrum—have condemned the coup d'état, refused to recognize the de facto Micheletti government, and demanded the unconditional return of President Zelaya to office;
Whereas on July 1, 2009, the Organization of American States voted unanimously to suspend Honduras from participation in the OAS unless President Zelaya was returned to office within three days;
Whereas, on July 4, 2009, the OAS unanimously voted to suspend Honduras;
Whereas the Administration of President Barack Obama has condemned President Zelaya's removal, supported the OAS resolutions regarding Honduras, and demanded that he be returned to office;
Whereas the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank have suspended aid and loans to Honduras;
Whereas national elections are scheduled in Honduras for November 29, 2009;
Whereas President Zelaya has said that he will only serve until his term ends in January 2010;
Whereas it is critical for the stability of Honduras that the November 2009 elections be free, fair, and transparent; and
Whereas U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced on July 7, 2009, that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias would seek to negotiate a solution to the crisis, and President Zelaya and the de facto Micheletti government have agreed to the mediation of President Arias.
Therefore, the House of Representatives:
1) Condemns the June 28, 2009, coup d'état in Honduras and refuses to recognize the de facto Micheletti government installed by that coup d'état;
2) Calls on the Obama Administration to continue to refuse to recognize the de facto Micheletti government;
3) Calls for the reinstatement of President Zelaya as President of Honduras;
4) Urges the Obama Administration to suspend non-humanitarian assistance to the de facto Micheletti government as required by U.S. law and as it deems necessary to compel the return of President Zelaya to office;
5) Calls for extensive international observation of the November 2009 elections once President Zelaya is returned to office to ensure that his successor is elected freely, fairly, and transparently; and
6) Welcomes the mediation of Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and encourages the Obama Administration to provide any assistance President Arias requests in his efforts.
Support Nukewatch at the 1st annual 
Folks who had a chance to listen to author and activist Smadar Lavie speak in June found her presentation to be one of the most insightful and though-provoking takes on the conflict in Israel-Palestine and the politics of race and gender. She'll be speaking again in Duluth with a more detailed take on the situation of Israel's non-European majority.