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"Aspirational Rather than Operational" - 7 Arrested
in Miami Terror Plot
Nativo Lopez on Immigration Legislation and the Future of
the Immigrant Rights Movement
The World Cup: War, Peace and Racism in the Biggest Sporting
Event on the Planet
"Aspirational Rather than Operational"
- 7 Arrested in Miami Terror Plot
Seven men were arrested in Miami last week on charges of
conspiring to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago and FBI buildings
in five cities. It appears the entire case rests on conversations
between the group's supposed ringleader and an FBI informant
posed as representative of Al-Qaida. We go to Miami to speak
with a defense attorney and a community advocate.
On Thursday evening, government officials raided a warehouse
in the Liberty City section of Miami and arrested seven men,
charging them with conspiring to blow up the Sears Tower in
Chicago and FBI buildings in five cities. The men are Narseal
Batiste, Patrick Abraham, Stanley Phanor, Naudimar Herrera,
Burson Augustin, Lyglenson Lemorin, and Rotschild Augustine.
They range in age from 22 to 32 and were indicted by a federal
grand jury in Miami on Friday.
Five of the men are U.S. citizens, one is a legal immigrant
from Haiti and the last is an undocumented immigrant originally
from Haiti. The men are charged with two counts of conspiring
to support a foreign terrorist organization, one count of
conspiring to destroy buildings by use of explosives and one
count of conspiring to wage war against the government. Each
faces a maximum sentence of 70 years.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced the details of
the case at a press conference on Friday.
- Alberto Gonzales, attorney general speaking June 23,
2006.
Family and community members have expressed shock at the
charges and point out that no weapons or explosives were found
nor did investigators document any links to Al-Qaida. It appears
that the entire case rests on conversations between Narseal
Baptiste, the supposed ringleader of the group and the FBI
informant, who was posing as a representative of Al-Qaida.
John Pistole, the FBI's deputy director, described the plan
on Friday as "aspirational rather than operational."
- Max Rameau, member of Miami CopWatch
which is a project of the Center for Pan-African Development.
Nativo Lopez on Immigration Legislation and the Future
of the Immigrant Rights Movement
House Republican leaders announced last week they would
take the unusual step and hold public hearings across the
country on the Senate immigration bill that was passed last
month. We speak with immigrant rights activist, Nativo Lopez.
House Republican leaders last week announced they would take
the unusual step and hold public hearings across the country
on the Senate immigration bill that was passed last month.
The Senate bill heightens enforcement measures and opens a
route to citizenship for at least some undocumented immigrants.
But House leaders strongly oppose the bill and are instead
pushing their version of an immigration bill that passed in
December. That bill focuses strictly on enforcement and would
turn undocumented immigrants, and anyone who helps them, into
felons. It was the passage of the House bill that sparked
the massive protests and economic boycott in support of immigrant
rights that recently took place around the country.
The House and Senate now need to negotiate a compromise bill
in order to vote on immigration reform. But the decision to
hold public hearings over the summer makes it unlikely that
this will happen any time soon.
Many immigrant advocates contend that the GOP decision to
hold hearings is a way to spark anti-immigrant sentiment before
the November elections. They also point out that neither bill
adequately addresses the real concerns and needs of the immigrant
population in this country.
The World Cup: War, Peace and Racism in the Biggest
Sporting Event on the Planet
Four weeks. Thirty-two countries. Sixty-four matches. One
billion viewers. The FIFA World Cup underway in Germany right
now is the most-watched sporting event on the planet. We take
a look at the global significance of the World Cup with sports
writer Dave Zirin.
Four weeks. Thirty-two countries. Sixty-four matches. One
billion viewers. The World Cup. It's the most-watched sporting
event on the planet. Once every four years, the world comes
to a standstill to watch countries compete in what is known
as "The Beautiful Game" - football, or soccer as
it is called it in the United States.
Nearly every nation in the world competes to play in the
World Cup. Only thirty-two qualify. Just the honor of making
it to the tournament is tremendous. It can even help to stop
war. That's right, in the Ivory Coast this year, warring sides
called a temporary truce to a bloody four-year civil conflict
when the national team qualified for their first ever World
Cup.
In Argentina, with so many kids staying home to watch the
tournament, teachers showed the games at school and made the
World Cup part of the curriculum tackling geography and other
issues.
This year's World Cup is being held in Germany. And the competition
is well underway. Only twelve countries remain in the running.
The United States is not one of them. They were eliminated
in the first round by Ghana, who are competing in their first
ever World Cup.
- David Zirin, is joining us now in the studio. He writes
the weekly column "Edge of Sports." He is a regular
contributor to the Nation and author of the book, "What's
My Name, Fool?: Sports and Resistance in the United States."
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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