This is a significant step, but only a step, toward a more democratic situation. PNS commentator Martin Espinoza reports from Guanajuato, Mexico. An initiative granting each of the state's 95 tribes the right to build two casinos has Californians living anywhere near a reservation looking nervously over a shoulder. Whether warning listeners of the dangers of migrating north, condemning bus fare hikes, or probing a serial massacre which bears the earmarks of social cleansing, Radio Progreso is emerging as the most important outlet for airing grievances and voicing concerns in Honduras. PNS' New California Media editor Mary Jo McConahay lived and worked in Central America for over a decade.
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There's nothing new about young men acting in ways that put fear into the hearts of ordinary mortals, and we have lots of laws to keep them away from danger. But as several recent news items attest, there's no way to keep them away from the Internet which may have an unparalleled capacity for making mischief. For more than 50 years, Karen people in Burma have been fighting for autonomy at great cost. That armed conflict continues, but may be opening a new front next week as representatives of the Karen seek to sue a multinational corporation for human rights abuses. PNS correspondent Rick Mercier is a freelance journalist based in Taipei.