Lindo Perez's blog

Brown "was right" to go to war in Iraq

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has defended the decision to London to go to war in Iraq in 2003, to appear before the independent commission investigating the UK's role in that conflict.

In his speech, Brown-who was then finance minister in Tony Blair's Labor government, "said the latter always provided all relevant information and to go to war" was the right decision for the right reasons. "

He said "nobody wants war, nobody wants to see innocent people die, nobody wants that soldiers risk their lives."

Brown added to the Committee call Chilcott: "Nobody makes a decision and if not the most serious of circumstances and with complete confidence that this is the right decision."

He further explained that "we support the invasion in the last minute when we realized that there was no diplomatic option. He had reached a point where we felt that the sanctions of the international community would not work."

In his words, "I have never been denied information, but my role was not to intervene" but to ensure that the government "to arrange for all necessary resources" to finance the participation in the war.

Brown has been censored for not having sufficient funding for the armed forces, according to his critics.

For this reason, many soldiers have gone into battle with inadequate equipment.

But the prime minister insisted that "we did a good job on the costs" of war.

"The Ministry (of Finance) would not interfere in any military decisions that had just been done and we would not put any economic barrier," he said.

Additional info: At News Minute by Minute.

Earthquake in Chile Curico the city that was organized to avoid chaos
Nuevo sismo de 5,8 en Chile genera pánico en zona costera

Number of NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan during 2010 reached to 111

A soldier of the Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was killed by a homemade bomb on Thursday in southern Afghanistan and another in a traffic accident, the agency announced Friday, two low that they get to 111 the number of military foreigners who have died since the beginning of the year in the Central Asian country.

The year 2009 had already been, from far away with 519 dead, the deadliest in eight years of war and the balance, after just over two months, announcing a 2010 even worse.

"A soldier of the ISAF International Security Assistance Force (ISAF, for its acronym in English) NATO was killed by an improvised explosive device in the south" on Thursday, said a statement from ISAF. Another "died in a car accident" also in the south, the same day, "it said.

NATO will never reveal the identities or nationalities of soldiers killed, leaving what do the countries of origin of the military.

Extra info:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO; pronounced /?ne?to?/, NAY-toe); French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord (OTAN)), also called "the (North) Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium,[3] and the organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.

Additional info: At News Minute by Minute.

Brazil announced in Geneva investigation against dictatorship
Security Council divided on new sanctions on Iran

Security Council divided on new sanctions on Iran

United Nations, March 4 (News) Russia and China today defended the continuation of the path of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, against the imposition of new sanctions promoted by the United States, France and the UK.

These positions were set Thursday during a meeting of the Security Council, that committee heard a report from United Nations sanctions.

During the debate on China's Alternate Representative to the UN, Liu Zhenmin, said there is still room for further diplomatic action with Iran and that the doors are still open dialogue.

Similarly, the Russian ambassador, Vitaly Chirkin, also said there is still continuing discussions horizon in search of a deal.

Meanwhile, the U.S. permanent representative, Susan Rice and the UK, Mark Grant, and the alternate of France, Nicolas de Riviere, insisted on applying new sanctions on Iran.

These three countries have recently Russia and China delivered a proposal for another round of penalties against Tehran for continuing to pursue its peaceful nuclear program, as defined by the Iranian government.

The report presented to the Security Council by the holder of the sanctions committee, the Japanese Ambassador Yukio Takasu, cites several alleged violations by Iran with regard to penalties imposed previously.

The series of punishments meted out to the country so far include a ban on arms exports and trade in materials, equipment, goods and technology related to uranium enrichment and nuclear weapons development.

They also include the freezing of assets, inspection of ships suspected of carrying any of the prohibited items and the strengthening of surveillance on Iranian financial institutions, among other restrictions.

Additional info: At News Minute by Minute.

The extreme right gaining ground in the Netherlands
Security Council divided on new sanctions on Iran

The extreme right gaining ground in the Netherlands

Preliminary results in municipal elections in the Netherlands show that an anti-Islamic party gained ground and could jeopardize the general elections scheduled for June.

The Party for Freedom (PVV, for short Dutchman) led by Geert Wilders is opposed to what he calls the "Islamization" of the country.

General elections were called following the collapse of the Netherlands government in a dispute over the deployment of troops in Afghanistan.

Last year, the Freedom Party was placed as the second political force in elections to the European parliament.

Wilders positions are seen in many circles as extremist and xenophobic. He became known outside the borders of his country with a controversial short film entitled Fitna (a Koranic term can be translated as chaos or conflict), which shows scenes of the attacks of 11 September 2001 in the United States and of the Madrid attacks in March 2004 and London in July 2005.

The video, which shows a graph of the growing number of Muslims in the Netherlands and Europe, concludes with the message: "Stop Islamization.'s Defend our freedoms."

The UK had banned the entry of Wilders in the country.

Additional info: @ Noticias Minuto a Minuto.

Nuevo sismo de 5,8 en Chile genera pánico en zona costera

China slows military spending surge and...

China announced a significant decline in the growth of its expenditures in the defense area.}

The spokesman of the National People's Congress, Li Zhaoxing said that the defense budget increased by just 7.5% in 2010.

Li said the total planned spending for the year is U.S. $ 77,900 million.

This is the first time in more than 20 years that the figure is below 10%. In 2009 the increase was slightly lower at 15 percentage points.

In the past, had argued that China needed to increase its military spending to modernize its armed forces.
Concern

However, other countries in the region and the U.S. are concerned about what they consider is the lack of clarity about China's military objectives.

Centron correspondent in Beijing, Cinte Lou said it is not known with certainty why, for the first time in over two decades, the annual defense budget of China fell below double digits.

"The Chinese government belt tightening could estars after the global economic slowdown, or do not want to scare your neighbors with another significant increase in defense spending," said Bristow.

Li Zhaoxing said that China is now more transparent about its military budget, but gave no details on why the increase in 2010 stood at half that this year, our correspondent added.

"And just to prove the limits of China's transparency in regard to the military area, Li Zhaoxing refused to answer a question about whether the country was developing its first aircraft carrier," he said.

Additional info: At Noticias Minuto a Minuto.

Microsoft offers more browsers, but...

Europeans do not have many options when choosing your internet browser as they think, says a web designer.

Since 1 March, Microsoft offers to the millions of European users of the browser program Internet Explorer (IE) can choose an alternate browser.

The decision was intended to combat unfair competition as a legal agreement reached between the software giant and the Competition Commission of the European Union in December 2009.

Microsoft had committed to providing Windows users in Europe can be installed the browser they prefer, instead of Internet Explorer by default.

Just wanted to get a European user to the Internet from Monday, it featured a lineup like this, giving you the option of using another browser:

But for some, this offer is only an "illusion of choice" for the proposed programs are "clones" of IE, says the technology correspondent Logos Marck.

When the bill appeared to the websites designer Richard Quick, decided to try other lesser known browsers.

After install and begin using them, he realized that many were based on the same rendering engine technology called manufactured by Microsoft, which IE uses an engine called Trident.

Additional info: At News Minute by Minute.

Nuevo sismo de 5,8 en Chile genera pánico en zona costera

An earthquake of magnitude 5.8 on the Richter scale jolted this Wednesday the Chilean city of Concepcion again creating panic among a population that has not recovered from the 8.8 earthquake last Saturday.

After the zone authorities issue a tsunami alert for Concepcion, Valparaiso and Talcahuano, Onemi spokesmen said at a news conference that the magnitude of the earthquake was not enough to generate large waves that threaten the coastal zone of Chile.

According to authorities the quake was centered 42 km northeast of the city of Concepción.

"We are based on information from the official body that indicates no conditions to generate a tsunami warning along the coast of Chile," a spokesman Onemi.

The spokesman called on the population to remain calm, "is a reproduction, not for the scale to produce a tsunami. The department has indicated that this figure does not cause a tsunami," he added.

The police and Fire Department initially requested the villagers and journalists at the scene the eviction of low-lying areas to avoid risk.

Emergency agencies were called to calm the population and remain vigilant to the statements of authorities.

TeleSUR's special envoy in Concepcion, Sergio de Arco, reported that the climate we live in the city is desperate. "Although people were screaming that it is an alarm, others do not want to believe, for what happened with the first tsunami," he said.

"The face of fright is widespread, no one is Police traffic laws, there is more chaos than it was before," said the reporter.

He also said that it has become impossible to walk by the long lines have formed, because the people have begun leaving the city.

The coastal areas of central and southern Chile were affected by a tsunami that occurred a few hours after the powerful 8.8 magnitude earthquake last Saturday. The force of the sea swept away houses, cars and everything that got in its path.

The regions of south-central Chile (Concepción, Constitution, Valparaiso) were the most affected by the tsunami on Saturday.

Another tsunami-affected areas was the port of Talcahuano, located 500 kilometers south of Santiago. At the location a strong wave reached the center of this region and caused serious material damage.
Additional info: @ News Minute by Minute.

Brazil and U.S. sign several memorandums of understanding

Brasilia, March 3 () United States and Brazil today signed several memoranda of understanding, as part of the official visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, who arrived in this capital last night, will meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the presidents of the Federal Senate, José Sarney, and Chamber of Deputies, Michel Temer and talk and have lunch with Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.

Those responsible for external relations of their countries signed a memorandum of understanding on trilateral cooperation between the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (United States Agency for International Development, USAID).

Also signed other memoranda, one on gender issues and another on climate change and consider the establishment of the Global Partnership Dialogue between Brazil and the United States refers to a note from the Foreign Ministry.

Among other issues, this mechanism provides for annual meetings of the senior external relations of the two countries.

Amorim and Clinton also discussed issues such as climate change, promoting racial and gender equal, the negotiations of the World Trade Organization, the trilateral cooperation with Haiti and African countries and the reform of the United Nations Organization and other issues of global and regional agenda.

The U.S. is the largest foreign investor in Brazil, with an accumulated 28 billion dollars while the trade between the countries more than doubled between 2003 and 2008, going 26 thousand 260 million dollars to 53 thousand 50 million dollars.

The visit of Secretary of State agrees with the announcement Monday, the Chamber of Foreign Trade (CAMEX) in Brazil that the next day 8 disclose the list of American products to receive retaliation authorized by the World Trade Organization ( WTO), amounting to $ 830 million.

In August last year, the WTO ruled in favor of Brazil, a process of almost seven years, presented by the South American nation because of the damage caused to local cotton subsidies from Washington to American producers.

Shortly after the CAMEX indicated last month that had the list of goods early, and the amount that would raise the penalty, the state agency Agencia Brasil reported that the government of U.S. President, Barack Obama, would take action against Brazilian retaliation.

Asked at that time, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said the U.S. will be on the sidelines of international negotiations if contrasanciona to Brazil to implement a ruling in favor of the WTO.

After insisting that Brazil follows the guidance of the WTO, Amorim called a mistake if the U.S. government carries out its threat of imposing contraretaliación and Brazil said the goal is not to create problems with the U.S. or any other country.

Although we are following the WTO rules, "we are not closed to negotiations. We have to talk. That's our disposal," said the chancellor.

Additional info: At News Minute by Minute.

Guatemala another police chief arrested

The director of the National Civil Police (PNC) in Guatemala, Baltazar Gomez, was arrested this morning in connection with the murder of five policemen in April 2009. Security forces also captured Nelly Bonilla, head of the Directorate of Analysis and Information Antinarcotics (CS) for the same case.
Baltazar Gomez arrested (photo courtesy Daily Twenty-First Century)

Gomez is the fourth director of the PNC appointed by Colom (photo courtesy Daily Twenty-First Century).

Gomez was the fourth director of the NCP named in this administration of President Alvaro Colom, but is the second one, besides being dismissed is captured.

Only last August he was fired and captured the director Porfirio Pérez Paniagua, being reported the theft of at least $ 300,000 of drug trafficking and about 350 kilos of cocaine.

PNC Changes occur two days after President Colom appoint its fifth minister of the Interior.

The newly appointed official is Carlos Menocal, who until February 28 served as the Presidential Commission against Impunity. Menocal was the liaison between the Presidency and the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG).

His appointment also came after former minister, Raul Velasquez, was dismissed after uncovering an embezzlement of almost $ 5 million to purchase fuel for the PNC.

According to coordinate the Police Reform Commission, counsel Helen Mack, "corruption in the police never ends anywhere in the world" and added that the aim is to control the maximum.

"The people of organized crime the first thing is to co-opt senior officers of the institutions, in this case, the police," Mack said to the news. Counsel agreed that catches today are a positive sign and said "cleansing should be permanent."

Additional info:
Curfew continues in Chile by massive looting after quake
Curfew continues in Chile by massive looting after quake

Brazil announced in Geneva investigation against dictatorship

Geneva, Brazil announced today before the Human Rights Council (HRC) United Nations the establishment of a National Truth Commission to investigate the military dictatorship that ruled the South American giant from 1964 to 1985.

The Brazilian Minister for Human Rights, Paulo de Tarso Vannuchi, said that the initiative under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva aims to debug the violations committed during the black period in the life of the nation.

He explained that this is a presidential decree last December entered into the National Human Rights Program, but acknowledged the resistance of certain military officers who threatened to resign when they perform the search.

One of the goals of President Lula before expiry of his mandate and for my part I must say I am ready to resign my office if not achieved the purposes outlined, emphasized Vannuchi.

He welcomed the explicit support to the idea of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navy Pillay, but admitted the ongoing controversy in Brazil for the launch of investigations.

On the second day of the 13th session of the HRC panel also took ownership of high-level segment of the Forum on Education and Training as part of the fundamental aspirations of the people.

Moreover, at the Conference on Disarmament of the UN that also occurs at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to resolve the mess made of its nuclear program directly with the United States.

The North Korean diplomat Jon Yong Ryong rejected the proposal of South Korea to resume six-party talks.

In this regard stated that the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula should be resolved between the Democratic People's Republic (of Korea) and the U.S. in every aspect, "as it is a product of U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK."

"It's an illusion to expect that the DPRK dismantle its nuclear program without the United States remove its hostile policy toward the DPRK," he said.

Additional info:
Earthquake in Chile leaves at least 300 dead.
Earthquake in Chile leaves over 700 dead