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September 11 is a date forever associated with mass murder of civilians 鈥 and this was the case nearly three decades before the 2001 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. This year, September 11 marks the 40th anniversary of the US-organised military coup that overthrew the elected left-wing government of Salvador Allende and installed a brutal dictatorship headed by General Augusto Pinochet. The day was the start of a nightmare for Chileans, as a reign of terror crushed left-wing groups, trade unions and popular organisations.
Provocalz.

Rapper Provocalz has dedicated a song to Australia's Liberal and Labor parties on his new album - but it won't be music to their ears.

From Mexican revolutionaries to Argentine street kids, Pinochet鈥檚 Chile to Mayan eco-warriors, the Eighth Sydney Latin American Film Festival shines the light on Latin America鈥檚 dark past as well as its ongoing struggle against corporate imperialism and environmental destruction. From September 4 to 15, the festival screens 22 new-release feature films and documentaries from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, the US and Australia.
The Philippines鈥 Million People March, against the so-called pork barrel system of corruption, is the latest in a series of huge protests worldwide, which exploded with the United States鈥 Occupy Movement and the Arab Spring of 2011. The Luneta rally was attended by at least 200,000 people (according to government estimates). However, aerial footage of the event showed attendance was almost certainly higher. The Luneta rally was part of nationwide and global protests, involving a further 500,000 people in major cities in the Philippines and by Filipino communities worldwide.
Venezuela has agreed to sell oil to the Palestinian Authority (PA) at a 鈥渇air price鈥 as part of new energy agreements with the Middle Eastern government. The deals, made during a meeting between Venezuelan foreign minister Elias Jaua and his PA counterpart Riyah al-Malki in Caracas on August 24, include the training of Palestinians in the handling and distribution of oil. Jaua referred to the deal as 鈥渁n agreement of cooperation and solidarity 鈥 the sale of fuel at a fair price鈥.
An uprising of the rural poor (campesinos) in Colombia entered its 11th day on August 29. An estimated 250,000 people took part in strikes and highway blockades across the South American country's highlands, where most of Colombia鈥檚 population of 42 million is concentrated. The central objective of the uprising is to guarantee minimum prices for agricultural products, and to annul Colombia鈥檚 free trade agreements (FTAs) with the United States and the European Union.
鈥↖n 1986, Israeli scientist Mordechai Vanunu took a courageous moral stand against nuclear weapons. Vanunu exposed Israel鈥檚 secret nuclear weapons arsenal to the world after becoming disillusioned with his work as a technician at Dimona Nuclear Research Centre in Israel. Vanunu revealed Israel had hundreds of advanced nuclear warheads 鈥 the sixth largest stockpile in the world. Under a policy of nuclear ambiguity, Israel still officially denies it has nuclear weapons, despite Vanunu鈥檚 revelations and other widespread evidence to the contrary.
In response to a chemical weapons attack by unknown perpetrators on August 21, US President Barack Obama, in a 鈥渃oalition of the willing鈥 with the governments of Britain and France, has made escalating threats for a military attack on Syria. With the likelihood of Russia and China opposition in the UN Security Council, Obama has indicated that his coalition, calling itself the 鈥渋nternational community鈥, may strike Syria unilaterally.
While much of the focus this election has been on the battle for western Sydney, noticeably absent from media reporting has been the campaign waged by Greens candidates in the area. Yet the Greens are not only fielding candidates in every western Sydney electorate, 鈥淲e are taking active roles in our local communities across western Sydney鈥, explained David Lenton, the Greens candidate for the seat of Lindsay. More than that, they have the old mainstream parties running scared.
WA unionists plan to fight Barnett's cuts.

Western Australian Liberal Premier Colin Barnett admitted on August 21 that his government faced a tough start to its second term.

Fremantle City Councillor Sam Wainwright, who is standing in the seat of Fremantle for the Socialist Alliance, said at a meet-the-candidates meeting that after the election on September 7, Australia will have a government that is "either bad or worse".
Peter Boyle on the polling booth.

麻豆传媒 Weekly is a paper that proudly campaigns for left-wing issues in Australia and around the world, and aims to be a forum for news and debate to support these struggles. It supports the Socialist Alliance as a political party that brings together these issues. In the federal election, we鈥檙e calling for a vote for the Socialist Alliance and the Greens.