­by Orsetta Bellani

Image of the long protest that the Association of Relatives of those Affected by Chronic Kidney Failure (ANAIRC) hold in Managua since March 9, 2009. (PHOTO BY ORSETTA BELLANI)

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) has taken three brothers and the father of Carmen Rios. All of them worked as laborers at Ingenio San Antonio, a sugar company of 40,000 hectares located in the Municipality of Chichigalpa, North West of Nicaragua. The mill is owned by Nicaragua Sugar Estate Ltd, part of Nicaraguan economic giant, Pellas Group. From the sugar cane, the company gets sugar, ethanol and the prestigious Rum Flor de Caña, exported worldwide.

The Pacific coast of Central America has been affected by the epidemic of CKD: in Salvador, chronic kidney failure is the leading cause of death among men, while among the Nicaraguan male population it has caused more victims than AIDS and diabetes together. However, the causes of the disease have not been fully elucidated.

In the Municipality of Chichigalpa, which has 45,000 inhabitants, about 7,000 people became ill from CKD. The family created the association ANAIRC (Nicaraguan Association of Those Affected by Chronic Kidney Failure), complaining that the Pellas Group is responsible for the deaths of their loved ones, former workers of Ingenio San Antonio. “The Pellas Group says they have nothing to do with the deaths and that pesticides banned in the United States, Canada and the European Union do not cause the disease”, explains Carmen Rios, president of ANAIRC. “ANAIRC was born in 2004 and the following year we marched along the 135 km between Chichigalpa and Managua. Since March 9th, 2009 we sit in this area in the center of the capital. We ask the Pellas Group to stop use pesticides that harm the health of workers and pollute the water that everyone drinks, we want to reforest the area and sit at a table of dialogue, to determine a compensation for the deaths and the damage they cause to our health. And we want people to know what’s behind the azure they consume, behind the rum they drink and the ethanol they put in their engines, they need to know that many people here in Nicaragua are dying.”

The community of La Isla (The Island)- sarcastically renamed “The Island of widows,” which is located within the Ingenio San Antonio and it’s completely surrounded by sugar cane fields, represents the most serious case of CKD. On The Island, 70 percent of men and 30 percent of women have been affected by kidney disease. In this place where the only option is to work in the mill, the first to get sick of CDK are laborers, but the disease also spreads to their families. This situation also causes many social and psychological problems, and creates a vicious circle that is very hard to exit, since the children of the deceased are still working in the same company.

“In 2006 the World Bank lent money to the Pellas Group to build the ethanol plant,” says Viola Cassetti from La Isla Foundation, a controversial foundation that works in Chichigalpa. “The workers filed a complaint alleging that some pesticides and the lack of adequate protections were causing an epidemic. The World Bank commissioned an investigation to Boston University, which after four years does not have a clear answer: it just published a report that said it did not find any direct connection between pesticides and CKD, but that it cannot exclude its existence. The epidemic can have various causes: it can be linked to pollution, and genetic factors may also influence. Another hypothesis that has been considered is the dehydration caused by excessive heat: laborers lose two liters of liquid every hour, so it’s a type of work that can be compared to running a race. They would have to drink ten liters of water a day and rest 45 minutes every 15 minutes of work.”

According to Martha Flores from the Recinos Inti Pacha Mama Managua association this explanation is too simple: “The heat is a characteristic of the climate of the area, it cannot be considered the cause of the that ease of all these people. In Chichigalpa, the water is contaminated with 18 different types of pesticides.” In fact, 98.7 percent of the wells are contaminated. The first to discover the presence of pesticides in the wells of Chichigalpa and bring up its links with CKD was Dr. Enrique Jose Rios Urbina, with the support of the laboratory analyses of the Autonomous University of Nicaragua. Dr. Rios Urbina, brother of the president of ANAIRC, worked at the hospital at Ingenio San Antonio, which is owned by the same Pellas Group and represents the only health facility in the ­area. According to reports the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT), which in October 2008 dealt with the case, “the witnesses alleged that the hospital concealed the real causes of the disease, and thus provides inadequate medical treatment. In the words of a particularly qualified witness, employers were fully aware of the facts and verbally oriented the medical professionals for failing to report on the diseases they suffered.”

When Dr. Rios Urbina made his finding public, he was fired. He later died from CKD.

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­by the El Reportero’s wire services

Hugo Chávez

Honduran attorney Antonio Trejo, who represented peasants who have attempted to reclaim land in the Caribbean province of Colon, was murdered by unknown killers in Tegucigalpa, a human rights group announced Sunday.

Trejo was the legal adviser to the MARCA land reclamation movement and was shot to death Saturday night near the Toncontin International Airport, the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees in Honduras, or Cofadeh, said.

According to the versions of the murder published in the local media, Trejo attended a wedding on Saturday night in the southern capital neighborhood of America near the airport and when he left the noisy venue to answer a cell phone call he had received he was riddled with bullets by gunmen waiting outside. Trejo was taken to the state-run Escuela Hospital, where he died, the Cofadeh report added.

The attorney was brought to trial by the Public Ministry in August after a peasant demonstration in the capital in which the protesters, some of them from MARCA, were demanding land.

The protest was broken up by the National Police and several of the demonstrators were injured in the melee.

Trejo, Confadeh said, “played a significant role in the defense of the right to land by peasant cooperatives affiliated with MARCA: San Isidro, Despertar, San Esteban and La Trinidad.”

The attorney presented “legal motions for several years until he got a civil judge to issue a ruling that returned the lands to the peasants on June 29 of this year, 18 years after they were taken from them by landowners Miguel Facusse and Rene Morales,” Cofadeh said.

However, according to the humanitarian organization, during a Supreme Court recess, the landowners had their lawyers introduce a motion that was resolved in an illegal manner to benefit them.

On July 18, Trejo said at a press conference at Cofadeh headquarters that the landowners were influence peddling in the courts to reverse a ruling returning the lands to the MARCA peasants.

In Bajo Aguan, one of the most fertile areas of Honduras, groups of peasants are demanding land from the government. It is a tense region with frequent armed clashes between laborers and security guards working for local land Pro-­owners and over the past three years more than 60 people have been killed.

The violence has not fallen off despite the fact that the government signed an agreement with the landholders to buy more than 4,000 hectares (10,000 acres), some of it cultivated with African palm, from which palm oil is extracted, to return to the peasants.

Honduran authorities say that the clashes that continue to occur in the region are being provoked by armed criminal bands who say they are peasants.

Other groups of laborers who are demanding land are affiliated with the Unified Movement of Peasants of Aguan, or MUCA. (Reported by Hispanically Speaking News).

by Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com

The Jerusalem Post reports today that the United States and Israel are planning a joint military operation to take out Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities.

The report appeared in Foreign Policy following a speech by presidential candidate Mitt Romney on foreign policy, including Obama’s stance on Iran.

“Iran today has never been closer to a nuclear weapons capability,” Romney said in a foreign policy address delivered at the Virginia Military Institute. “And it has never acted less deterred by America.”

CFR member and visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, David Rothkopf, reported that the White House and Israeli officials “assert that the two sides behind the scenes have come closer together in their views [regarding Iran] in recent days.”

According to the Post, Rothkopf quoted a “source close to the discussions” as saying that a surgical strike aimed at Iran’s enrichment facilities “might take only ‘a couple of hours’” at best and would be conducted by air using bombers and drones.

“Advocates for this approach,” according to Rothkopf, “argue that not only is it likely to be more politically palatable in the United States but, were it to be successful – meaning knocking out enrichment facilities, setting the Iranian nuclear program back many years, and doing so without civilian casualties – it would have region wide benefits. One advocate asserts it would have a ‘transformative outcome: saving Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, reanimating the peace process, securing the Gulf, sending an unequivocal message to Russia and China, and assuring American ascendancy in the region for a decade to come.’”

In addition to its nuclear program, the United States has stated it will attack Iran’s civilian population.

The U.S. is “reluctantly” considering additional covert action against Iran, according to the Christian Science Monitor. The plan calls for air strikes on power plants and other sites “that could impact Iranian civilian populations.”

In August, Richard Silverstein, who specializes in reporting on the Israeli national security state, posted a leaked document revealing details on the Israeli plan to strike Iran. The document states that Iran’s “internet, telephones, radio and television, communications satellites, and fiber optic cables leading to and from critical installations – including underground missile bases at Khorramabad ­and Isfahan – will be taken out of action” by the Israelis.

The nuclear reactor at Arak and the nuclear fuel production facilities at Isfahan will be targeted, according to the document. Other toxic chemical targets will be destroyed including “missile silos, storage tanks for chemical components of rocket fuel, industrial facilities for producing missile control systems, centrifuge production plants and more.”

In November, Eli Lake, writing for The Daily Beast, cited current and former U.S. intelligence officials who said Israel’s target list includes Iran’s electric grid, internet, cellphone network, and emergency frequencies for firemen and police officers.

“The existence of a program designed to cripple crucial civilian infrastructure not related to Iran’s nuclear program reveals that the Israeli-U.S. plan is to reduce the country to a Stone Age condition much the same way Iraq was leveled in 2003,” we wrote at the time.

On Oct.5, we reported on a report released by the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah delving into the human and environmental consequences of an Israeli military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

“In our assessment, it is highly likely that the physical and thermal casualties as the result of the strikes will exceed 5,000 personnel at the nuclear sites. The secondary civilian casualties as a result of exposure to the release of toxic and radioactive materials could increase this number to over 80,000 citizens,” the executive summary states.

If the Foreign Policy report is correct, it now appears Israel and the United States may be ready to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities and produce a catastrophe that would rival Chernobyl in their toxic and deadly effects.

by J. D. Heyes

Lots of us may like to use a little honey as a sweetener for our morning coffee, toast or tea, but there are several uses for this tasty little treat – in its pure, raw, non-pasteurized form, it can do more than just bring a smile to our face.

Manuka honey as the new ‘superfood.’ What is Manuka honey, scientifically known as Leptospermum Scoparium?

Well, it is honey that is produced by bees that pollinate Manuka trees, which grow almost exclusively in the East Cape region of New Zealand. Because it’s a bit of a rarity, it also tends to be pricier but according to Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, a recent survey of people who bought it showed that 58 percent believed

The island of the widows in Nicaragua it to be better than ordinary honey – even if they didn’t really know why. This might be why. Manuka honey has a long reputation for offering a number of health benefits.

For New Zealanders, local honey containing local pollen can help reduce the effects of hay fever, but for everyone else, Manuka honey has antiviral and antibacterial actions, which is why lots of people familiar with this superfood’s qualities down it at the first hint of a cold or sore throat.

“According to doctors, Manuka honey’s high sugar content creates a waterless environment in which the bacteria that are infecting a wound are unable to survive.

Also, thanks to the presence of an enzyme called glucose oxidase, it is acidic, which apparently adds to its unique antibacterial properties,” the Telegraph said.

“The therapeutic potential of uncontaminated, pure honey is grossly underutilized,” says Peter Molan, director of the Honey Research Unit at the University of Waikato in New Zealand.

“It is widely available in most communities and although the mechanism of action of several of its properties remains obscure and needs further investigation, the time has now come for conventional medicine to lift the blinds off this ‘traditional remedy’ and give it its due recognition.”

Honey as a natural energy booster. Do you down an energy bar or drink during your hectic day? Try a spoonful of honey instead; it’s been proven to deliver a significant boost of energy to athletes performing strenuous exercise.

“Numerous studies have singled out carbohydrates as a critical nutrient in endurance exercise,” says Richard Kreider of the University of Memphis Exercise and Sport Nutrition Laboratory. “Most of the studies to date have shown supplementation with glucose to provide the extra staying power. We were pleased to find that honey, a ‘cocktail’ of various natural sugars, performed just as well.”

Forget the fancy facial creams. Raw honey is exceptional for your face and skin, according to research. Try a “Gentle Honey Wash” consisting of a dollop of honey mixed with two tablespoons of warm water in the palm of your hand, then gently massage the mixture into your face or skin. “Honey has long been valued in Asia for its natural medicinal properties.

Combined with rice bran, honey is used there to treat diaper rash and even acne. Honey is also an excellent treatment for dry skin as it stimulates good circulation and helps to seal in moisture,” says holistic skin care expert Ettia Tal.

You can even make your own honey moisturizer, says travel and food writer Anna Brones: “If you’ve got a handful of sweet smelling herbs — think lavender — laying around and ready to be used, why not use them for your own homemade honey lotion? Warm honey over a saucepan until it gets to a liquid consistency. Pour honey over herbs and cap tightly; the ratio you want to use is one tablespoon of herbs per eight ounces of honey. Let sit for a week and then mix one teaspoon of liquid into an eight ounce bottle of unscented lotion.” Having trouble sleeping?

“A spoonful of honey before bed (by itself or in a cup of warm herbal tea) is a natural sleep remedy that can help you relax and fall asleep faster,” writes Natural News’ Elizabeth Walling. Suppress that cough and throat irritation. Pure, non-pasteurized honey is an excellent elixir for common wintertime ailments like coughs, colds and sore throats.

“Honey helps with coughs, particularly buckwheat honey. In a study of 110 children, a single ­dose of buckwheat honey was just as effective as a single dose of dextromethorphan in relieving nocturnal cough and allowing proper sleep,” writes health enthusiast and researcher Diana Herrington.

Boost your immune system with this natural antibiotic. According to recent research, defensin-1, a protein added to honey by bees, possesses antibacterial properties and could be used against drug-resistant bacteria.

This bee-produced protein “could one day be used to treat burns and skin infections and to develop new drugs that could combat antibiotic-resistant infections,” says a summary of the research published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Balance the five elements “Honey has been used in ayurvedic medicine in India for at least 4000 years and is considered to affect all three of the body’s primitive material imbalances positively,” says Herrington.

“It is also said to be useful useful in improving eyesight, weight loss, curing impotence and premature ejaculation, urinary tract disorders, bronchial asthma, diarrhea, and nausea.”