Headlines December 13, 2022 from Democracy Now!

In Tunisia, protesters took to the streets of Tunis Saturday to oppose upcoming parliamentary elections, which are taking place under a new constitution enacted under President Kais Saied, who critics say has orchestrated a coup. This is opposition politician Jawher Ben Mbarek.

Jawher Ben Mbarek: “Every step Kais Saied has made in implementing the coup road map, the more the country’s crisis increases and the political suffocation closes in on the country. Today he is presenting elections and an attempt to lay the foundations for a legislative coup authority.”

In Peru, protests have spread as anger mounts over the impeachment and jailing of leftist President Pedro Castillo. Thousands of people took to the streets of Lima, Arequipa and across northern Andean towns Monday, demanding newly appointed President Dina Boluarte hold new presidential elections early, after she said they’ll take place in April 2024. At least seven people have died in clashes with security forces. Hundreds gathered outside Peru’s Congress in Lima Monday and set up a barricade despite the threat of police violence.

María del Rosario: “The police have cornered us from all sides. They have thrown tear gas bombs at us. We are protesting because the Peruvian press is garbage and is not reporting this news.”

Back in the United States, a federal jury in Washington, D.C., heard opening arguments Monday as the trial of four members of the far-right Oath Keepers militia group got underway. They’re accused of joining a seditious conspiracy to stop the transfer of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. The trial follows the conviction last month of Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes on charges he conspired to overthrow the U.S. government on January 6, 2021. This comes as the Project on Government Oversight reports over 300 people listed on the Oath Keepers’ membership rolls have worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, taking up jobs with the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, ICE and the Secret Service.

In Nevada, over a dozen people at the Ely State Prison remain on hunger strike protesting unsafe and inhumane conditions. The peaceful action began December 1 with at least 40 prisoners joining the hunger strike, according to the ACLU. Among other demands, they’re calling for an end to the extended use of solitary confinement, abuse from guards, due process violations, and for the prison to provide adequate healthcare and address safety concerns.

In Cuba, three Democratic U.S. Congressmembers traveled to Havana over the weekend to meet with Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and other Cuban officials in a rare visit to the island by U.S. lawmakers. After meeting with Congressmembers James McGovern, Mark Pocan and Troy Carter, the Cuban president repeated his call for an end of catastrophic U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba and expressed willingness from the two countries to improve bilateral relations.

In Virginia, the city of Richmond removed its last Confederate statue Monday. The monument was of Confederate General A.P. Hill. Richmond began removing its Confederate statues amid the massive racial justice protests that erupted nationwide after the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020. Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy for most of the Civil War.

New York City is naming a gate in Central Park in honor of the five Black and Latino men who as teenagers were wrongfully convicted of the 1989 beating and rape of a white woman. The words “Gate of the Exonerated” will be carved on the entrance at the northern end of Central Park in the neighborhood of Harlem. The Central Park Five were exonerated in 2002 after the real perpetrator confessed and DNA evidence linked him to the assault. By then, the group had already served prison terms of up to 13 years. They were between 14 and 16 years old at the time of their arrest.