New Online Bodega coming soon!
Under Construction... New update and online Bodega coming soon! Meanwhile, check out our Beta Bodega Colaition official record labels: Arepaz and Botanica del Jibaro.

23 Apr 2007 by Beta Bodega Coalition

June 20, 2006:
USA-Numerous federal and local law enforcement agencies have bypassed subpoenas and warrants designed to protect civil liberties and gathered Americans' personal telephone records from private-sector data brokers. These brokers, many of whom advertise aggressively on the Internet, have gotten into customer accounts online, tricked phone companies into revealing information and even acknowledged that their practices violate laws. The law enforcement agencies include offices in the Homeland Security Department and Justice Department — including the FBI and U.S. Marshal's Service — and municipal police departments in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Utah. Experts believe hundreds of other departments frequently use such services.

20 Jun 2006 by Beta Bodega Coalition

May 1, 2006:
Bolivia-President Evo Morales ordered soldiers to immediately occupy Bolivia's natural gas fields Monday and threatened to evict foreign companies unless they sign new contracts within six months giving Bolivia majority control over the entire chain of production. Morales said soldiers and engineers with Bolivia's state-owned oil company would be sent to installations operated by foreign petroleum companies. "The time has come, the awaited day, a historic day in which Bolivia retakes absolute control of our natural resources," Morales said in a speech from the San Alberto petroleum field in southern Bolivia to decree what he called a nationalization of the natural gas industry. The field is operated by Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA in association with the Spanish-Argentine Repsol YPF SA and France's Total SA. Bolivia has South America's second largest natural gas reserves after Venezuela, and all foreign companies must turn over most production control to Bolivia's cash-strapped state-owned oil company, Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos, Morales said. USA-Immigrants made their point Monday: Without them, Americans would pay higher prices and a lot of work wouldn't get done. As nationwide demonstrations thinned the work force in schools and businesses from meat-packing plants to construction sites to behind the counter at diners, economists said there can be no dispute within the context of the contentious immigration issue that the group wields significant clout in the U.S. economy.

01 May 2006 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Botanica All-Stars: Portugal/Spain 2005
Yeah, better late than never! We finally are getting around to updating this site, thanks for the patience. Here are some scenes from October 2005 in Europe with Botanica All-Stars: La Mano Fria, Seven Star, DJ Killer, Soarse Spoken, Seth P. Brundel and Solo-man Spectrum. The event was held at the Auditório de Serralves on October 15, 2005. In the stage area there was the hip hop performance with the MCs, plus DJ Killer and La Mano Fria on the turntables. The backdrop was a special video prepared by La Mano Fria with 5 segments, each segment representing the issues in the country of origins of the other 5 members. For example, Soarse Spoken is from Colombia therfore the video was based on protesting Plan Colombia which is the American 1.6 billion military aid package used to inflame the an over0 year old civil war in that country. In the next room, the large walls were decorated with 10 giant posters, 5 paintings, more video installations and collaboration of clothing with DJ Killer. We also got to hit up the Vigo crew in Spain and rock a show there the day before Porto (October 14, 2005). Soarse Spoken wasn't present as due to complications with immigration at the airport. Anyway shouts to Cain, Arkestra, B Flecha and the Vigo crew. More photo out takes on the way and you can see more photos here and here.

04 Apr 2006 by Beta Bodega Coalition

March 23, 2006:
Ecuador-Ecuadorian Army clears roadblocks but protests continue.Ecuadorian security forces began removing roadblocks placed by indigenous groups protesting against talks for a free trade agreement with United States. The Army moved in to restore order after the administration of President Alfredo Palacio declared the state of emergency in five central provinces, including Quito, the capital. This is the fourth time in over a month the government orders extreme measures which include a curfew and limits public meetings. Indigenous organizations have been blocking the country’s main roads to protest the deal fearing that it will damage their peoples’ economy, culture and way of life. "The president took this decision after exhausting all other options for dialogue," said Interior Minister Felipe Vega who suggested that protestors collect signatures to force a referendum on the free trade pact, instead of blocking roads. But Gilberto Talahua, one of the leaders of the main indigenous groups said protests will continue until discussions on the deal “are frozen”. The roadblocks have causes increasing food and fuel shortages in some of the country’s central provinces and even Quito but a military spokesman said that some of the main roads have already been cleared, “and business should soon return to normal, as ordered by the President”. A final round of talks about the free trade agreement is scheduled to begin today in Washington March 23, with a deal expected to be concluded in early April.

23 Mar 2006 by Beta Bodega Coalition

November 25, 2005:
Chile-Former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet was indicted on human rights charges Thursday and placed under house arrest, hours after he made bail on unrelated corruption charges filed only a day earlier. In a widely expected decision, Judge Victor Montiglio charged Pinochet in connection with the kidnapping and disappearance of six dissidents in the early years of his 1973-90 dictatorship, his office said. 3,190 people were killed for political reasons during his regime, not counting many accounts of torture and other human rights violations. More than 1,000 others remain unaccounted for after being arrested and tens of thousands fled their homeland. The new indictment involves the disappearance of six dissidents arrested by Pinochet's security services in late 1974. They were among 119 people, some of whose bodies were later found in Argentina, who disappeared in a case known as Operation Colombo. In July 1976, two magazines, in Argentina and Brasil, published the names of 119 chilean leftists' opponents, claiming they had been killed in internal fights. Those two magazines would disappear after this lone and only issue. The other operation was known as "The Caravan of Death", which involved military and police operations to kidnap, torture and murder opponents of the Pinochet dictatorship. Along with Operation Condor, these were the many secret terrorist campaigns supported by the US and CIA, in their fear that Latin American's would adopt nationalist, socialist and communist ideals for their own country. Pinochet is being investigated for having about $8 million in a secret account in the Riggs bank in the United States.

24 Nov 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

November 15, 2005:
Chile-Alberto Fujimori, the ex-Presiedent of Peru, had enjoyed a safe haven in Tokyo for five years, as a fugitive, until Sunday when he flew unannounced to Chile as part of his bid to return to power in Peru, which has a warrant out for his arrest. He flew to Chile in a private plane and was arrested within hours. Chile is reviewing an arrest warrant from Peru, which wants to try him on charges of state-ordered killings and corruption during his decade in power. Among the 21 charges: trafficking arms to Colombian guerrillas, sanctioning torture, illegal wiretapping, authorizing death squads and mismanaging money.

15 Nov 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Beta Bodega Coalition Updates
Beta Bodega Coalition is back online with the usual news updates and photos of actions across the globe. We been away for a month due to the last hurricane which hit Miami and knocked out power and phone lines for a while plus the usual hard schedule of shows that included shows in Portugal, Spain and Japan. Thanks to our fans for the patients, support and emails. We're still alive. For the last couple months we've had Soarse Spoken in Colombia, DJ Manuvers in Europe, 6 members of Botanica All-Stars also in Europe and Otto "El Santo" Von Schirach in Japan along with La Mano Fria and V8 aka Iran Maiden from Megadebt. Photos for all that coming soon, so stay tuned...

10 Nov 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

October 5, 2005:
Colombia-At least five policemen have been killed during a rebel attack on a remote village in the north-west of Colombia, officials say. A police chief, Luis Ruiz, said the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) launched the attack. Eight officers were reported injured, while three were still missing. Initially about 40 police officers were reported missing, though most of those later turned up, saying they had fled into the jungle during the attack.

05 Oct 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

September 20, 2005:
Colombia-Hundreds of indigenous demonstrators pushing for land rights in southwest Colombia clashed with government troops, leaving at least a dozen Indians and seven police officers wounded. Colombia-Seven people were killed in three attacks in central Colombia during a failed attempt by right-wing paramilitary fighters to kill a man who also avoided an attempt on his life two months ago. The attacks by the outlawed Self-Defense Forces of Casanare, or ACC, took place Saturday night on three ranches in Restrepo county, 75 kilometers (45 miles) southeast of Bogota.

20 Sep 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

September 16, 2005:
USA-A soldier stationed in Colombia as part of the U.S. "war on drugs" was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty in a scheme to smuggle cocaine into the United States using military planes.

16 Sep 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

September 12, 2005:
Havana-Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president, whose country has come close to expulsion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), began a visit to Cuba attacking the financial institution for not helping developing nations. Mugabe was to meet with Fidel Castro, the Cuban president today. Castro's country has not been a member of the IMF since 1961. "We have never been friends of the IMF and we shall never be friends of the IMF," Mugabe said on arrival in Cuba on Saturday. "The IMF is never of real assistance to developing countries. It is wielded by the big powers. It is the big powers which dictate what it should do," Mugabe told reporters.

12 Sep 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Solo-man Spectrum
Here's someone that has some words for Barbara Bush and the rest of the clan. From Beta Bodega Coalition's hip hop label, Botanica del Jibaro, MC Solo-man Sprectrum, drops a rugged 4 track gem (+ 3 instrumentals) entitled "Popcorn in Heaven". It also doesn't hurt when you have production of some of Miami's finest producers such as Climber and Plex watching your back. Tired of nerd rap and psuedo intellectual/political college rappers from the suburbs? Yeah, so is Solo-man, coming straight from the streets of dirty dade county aka Miami to be heard live and uncensored. Well written street scriptures to rip into 2006 with, forget 2005. This record is available in Europe now and in the US and Japan this fall so don't sleep. And if you're in Portugal or Spain in October, look out for Solo-man to be all up in area with the rest of the Botanica All-Stars. Here's a preview, if you didn't already pick this one up. A1. Popcorn In Heaven A2. Camp Pain A3. Camp Pain [instrumental] B1. Poisonous Paragraphs (feat. Serum) B2. Understand B3. Poisonous Paragraphs [instrumental] B4. Understand [instrumental]

06 Sep 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

September 6, 2005:
USA-"What I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is they (meaning poor people, many being black) all want to stay in Texas. Everyone is so overwhelmed by the hospitality," Barbara Bush said during a radio interview. "And so many of the people in the arena here, you know, were underprivileged anyway, so this is working very well for them."

06 Sep 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

September 2, 2005:
USA-Hundreds of National Guardsmen hardened on the battlefield in Iraq have landed in New Orleans "They have M-16'ss and they're locked and loaded...." . "These troops know how to shoot and kill, and they are more than willing to do so, and I expect they will.", said Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Raymond Whitfield, 51, watched a National Guard truck drive by the convention center, but like most other official vehicles, it did not stop. "The National Guard just drives around and around. I know the police, the National Guard, they got generators, so they can sleep and eat," he said.

02 Sep 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Studio Voice magazine front cover
"Nihon-go text only" magazine Studio Voice (Japan) selected to use La Mano Fria's artwork for the front cover of their September 2005 issue. This issue is dedicated to record label design, mostly record/cd jackets. A 2 page interview with La Mano Fria is inside, along with features on other graphic artists such as Chris Cunningham, Kid Acne, etc. In the interview La mano Fria sites his influences for his covers. Inspirations growing up, ranges from 80's punk rock and soul music covers to OSPAAAL Cuban posters. And of course a variety of music ranging from Latin folk to hip hop and experimental electronic. Thats not all, there's a 2 full page spread by La Mano Fria also on the inside of his design work. Studio Voice Website. :Top 3 Record Jackets contest: And since one of the questions asked to La Mano Fria was "What are your top record jackets of all time", we decided to extend the question to our fans and friends/enemies to answer that same question. Send your 3 top record jackets of all time picks to Top 3 Record Jackets contest. We'll give away free merchandise to anyone that picks at least 1 of the same jackets that La Mano Fria picks. Contest ends Septmeber 8th so good luck.

31 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

August 31, 2005:
US-An ex-CIA operative denied that he tried to assassinate Cuban president Fidel Castro as he fought on Tuesday for U.S. asylum and against extradition to Venezuela, where he escaped from jail 20 years ago. Luis Posada Carriles, a self-described anti-Castro "freedom fighter" accused in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people, surfaced in Miami early this year after a 1985 jail break in Venezuela. The appearance of the 77-year-old Cuban brought extradition demands from Venezuela, where he was a naturalized citizen, and from his homeland of Cuba. U.S. government lawyers say a record of violent acts makes him ineligible for asylum. Posada admitted in testimony to using a Salvadoran passport with a false name to enter Panama in 2000 shortly before he and others were arrested for purportedly plotting to assassinate Castro. But he denied involvement in any plot against Castro. Posada also denied he had arranged a 1997 series of Havana hotel and restaurant explosions. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his ally Castro say Posada is a terrorist and accuse Washington of protecting him because of his past with U.S. intelligence agencies.

31 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Straight Up No Chaser gallery
"Nihon-go text only" review and gallery on the Straight No Chaser (Japan) website featuring La Mano Fria's artwork. Gallery contains various Beta Bodega Coalition jacket covers from cds and vinyl releases on the Botanica del Jibaro as well as the now inactive labels, Beta Bodega and Rice & Beans. Hit the slide show and you can see some images of shows in NYC at the Knitting Factory back in 2000 and shows in Amsterdam in 2001, etc. Check it out. La Mano Fria Gallery

30 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

August 30, 2005:
Guatemala-A ceremony was held by the government of Guatemala in which they apologized officially for the kidnapping and killing of 11 student leaders of the University of San Carlos in 1989, Guatemala City. The 11 victims were members of a student organization dedicated to helping victims of Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war.

30 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Jet Set records interview
"Nihon-go text only" interview on Jet Set records website. From a dinner talk La Mano Fria had with their staff when he was in Kobe, Japan. They talked about music, design, politics and ofcourse food, check it out. La Mano Fria Interview

29 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

August 25, 2005:
Venezuela-President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela hit back vigorously at calls by an ally of President George Bush for his assassination by offering for the first time to help poor U.S. communities by selling them gasoline directly to eliminate middle men, at a time of soaring fuel prices.

26 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Jibaro Times Japan Tour extras
La Mano Fria and Epstein dug up some of their images from the latest tour in Japan, Jibaro Times Japan Tour 2005. Exclusive type bonus footage divided into 2 sections, our infamous food section and random footage. Peep the photos and bookmark our site so you don't miss on the many updates to come. Jibaro Times trying to eat: Oh, but wait. We can't forget the La Cha Cha Hall of Fame. "Cha cha", a termed used by our freind Seth P. Brundel at many dinner times on tour to describe food thats not hot. Here's the grand prize winner. Jibaro Times random shots:

26 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Jibaro Times Exhibition and Tour
Epstein aka Boom & Birds landed in Tokyo on Friday. By cutting his afro, he avoided chains and an orange jumpsuit and arrived just in time to play at La Mano Fria's first exhibition in Japan, held at Uplink Factory in Shibuya. Five more cities, followed as the Beta Bodega Coalition support and members continues to grow. Beta Bodega Coalition member(s): La Mano Fria (Arepaz \| Botanica del Jibaro) Epstein (Botanica del Jibaro) Boom & Birds (Arepaz) 8/5 - (Friday) [Tokyo] at Uplink Factory 8/6 - (Saturday) [Sapporo] at Fusionix 8/7 - (Sunday) [Tomakomai] at Club Focus 8/8 - (Monday) [Sapporo] at Ghetto (Guests) 8/12 - (Friday) [Niigata] at Shiondo 8/13 - (Saturday) [Niigata] at Foodelic (Guests) 8/13 - (Satuday) [Kiryu] at Block 8/14 - (Sunday) [Numazu] at Gaia 8/16 - (Tuesday) [Tokyo] (closing at Uplink) Thanks to everyone who came out and supported, look out for the next BBC action coming soon to Europe and Japan for the fall 2005. Aug 5 - Tokyo (La Mano Fria Report Exhibition) Aug 6 - Sapporo Aug 7 - Tomakomai Aug 8 - Sapporo (guest appearance) Aug 12 - Niigata Aug 13 - Niigata (guest appearance) Aug 13 - Kiryu Aug 14 - Numazu Aug 16 - Tokyo (closing)

08 Aug 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Warszawa Might
This was the 1 year moving anniversary of the record shop Warszawa. The shop moved from Kichijoji to Shibuya last summer. The event was held at Module in Shibuya [Tokyo]. The even featured Shiro the Goodman, Joseph Nothing, Tosh from Climber, La Mano Fria, Bikiniline, Ramon from the infamous Ortega crew and some European guy. Anyway these are some the scenes.

24 Jul 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Jahbitat
BBC's new label Arepaz forthcoming artists, Jahbitat drifted away from the Barcelona homebase and hit up Vigo on the Atlantic coast of Espańa. Check the sites and soon you'll be able to pick up the sounds. For more information hit up the artist section at Arepaz.

19 Jul 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Killer vs. La Mano Fria
La Mano Fria has been busy working on a few things. One being a collaboration with Osaka clothing brand, Killer. Killer has been around since the 90's in Osaka. Available only at the underground shop, Loser. If you can't visit Osaka, you can contact Killer and place your order. La Mano Fria dropped a few designs based on the idea of a killer, which can taken various ways from an MC killing the mic to a cop killing an unarmed civilian. Life and death are all around, the designs La Mano Fria choose were images and the idea of the "killer(s)" the government creates to control and advance their cause, some how they aren't quite called killers by the corporate news media. But we'll have to disagree. These designs are based on one of the various terror organizations financed by the US and CIA known as the Contras, used to attack the Sandinista government in the 80's in Nicaragua. Anyway spread the word, support Killer and Osaka's underground. You can check a couple more pics here.

15 Jul 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

July 3, 2005:
Colombia-Colombia's largest Marxist guerrilla group killed at least 25 soldiers over the weekend in the bloodiest fighting since the hardline president Alvaro Uribe took office three years ago. Fighting broke out in southwestern Putumayo state when up to 300 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Farc, ambushed an army convoy during an attack targeting nearby oil wells, said General Carlos Lemus, inspector general of the army. Panama-The strikes affecting the public health, public education and construction industries as well as a number of smaller private sector enterprises continued and the government was ratcheting up the violence in the dispute over changes to the Social Security Fund at the same time that it was calling for a "national dialogue" about the crisis which excludes the strikers. Border police brought into the city for anti-riot duty opened fire on striking doctors, nurses and medical secretaries with rubber bullets in front of the Arnulfo Arias Hospital Complex when some of the protesters attempted to block the Transistmica. In an ensuing sweep five persons were arrested, including two members of the leftist Thought and Transformative Action (PAT) student group who were taken away for walking down a sidewalk carrying their group's banners. On the same day the developers of the Conado del Rey construction project brought in strikebreakers under police protection, sparking a brawl between SUNTRACS members and their would-be replacements that left one worker injured and prevented further work at the site. Simultaneously in San Miguelito, protesters and riot police fought a pitched battle at the overpass where the Tranisitmica and Tumba Muerto cross, while in the capital the opposition legislative caucuses criticized the Torrijos administration for attempting to hold talks to resolve the crisis without including the strikers.

03 Jul 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Arepa 2 Tour
The Arepa 2 official tour is about to get underway though out select locations within Japan to promote Beta Bodega Coalition's latest book release. The tour will feature Arepa and Beta Bodega Coalition graphic designer, La Mano Fria engaging the crowd in a 1 hour DJ set aswell as declassified visuals. As you might remember, last book release for Bandeja Paisa was at Loser in Osaka. This time we return to Loser but also hit up 2 more cities, keep it locked and tuned here for updates and images. June 29 - Arepa 2 pre-tour party in Tokyo [Nakano] July 1 - Otoya in Kobe July 2 - Loser in Osaka July 6 - D'core in Osaka July 17 - Fourth Floor in Tokyo

24 Jun 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

June 24, 2005:
Colombia-Congress passed a bill granting reduced punishments to right-wing death squads who disarm, a key step in President Alvaro Uribe's strategy to wind down Colombia's decades-long conflict. Opponents said it will let killers off the hook, killers that traditionally have been trained by the Colombian army or CIA agents and are known to be involved in drug trafficing. Chile-Former CIA-backed, dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet was released from hospital Wednesday after a mild stroke that left him unconscious for about 30 minutes, his spokesman said. Peru-The Peruvian government on Wednesday condemned as "scandalous" a Supreme Court decision to drop allegations that former President Alberto Fujimori's party forged 1 million signatures to register for 2000 elections. The Supreme Court's decision "is unfortunate. There has been convincing proof. This is a scandal that should be unacceptable," vice president David Waisman told CPN radio. The court's closure of the case on Wednesday followed a ruling issued in October 2000, a month before Fujimori was ousted at the height of a government corruption scandal, which absolved the party of wrongdoing. Several of the judges who issued that ruling are now on trial for corruption, said Ronald Gamarra, a former state attorney investigating corruption in the Fujimori years. "It's a deplorable message," he added. Fujimori was fired by Congress and fled to Japan after it was revealed how his top aide, spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos, had bribed judges, media bosses, politicians and military generals to toe the Fujimori line.

24 Jun 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Botanica del Jibaro
Botanica del Jibaro command station is up and running. Go have a look at our news section which is updated weekly with features and sections from our crew. Site is a collaboration between La Mano Fria and the ill programming of the Barcelona gangster Don Carlos at Gamebombing. Also keep it tuned here at this site for all other Beta Bodega Coalition news.

21 Jun 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Pandemon vol. 2
La Mano Fria was asked to guest DJ at the second installment of Pandemon alongside Ramon (Warszawa), Miho (Haze), Takano and Big J (Po). Also there was live performaces by Utabi and Orga from Vibrant recordings. The crime scene was Fourth Floor in Kichijoji (Tokyo), June 11 2005. Keep it tunes to this site and arepaz.com as La Mano Fria plots his Arepa 2 Book release tour throughout Japan.

12 Jun 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Botanica del Jibaro Japan Tour 2005 [Infiltrate 7.5]
Once again Beta Bodega Coalition goes airborne to transmit the virus known as Infiltrate. This time landing in our BBC/RL66 Tokyo headquarters to survey and plot the mission. Special guest and Miami veteran, Supersoul, was brought along to man the bass cannons while Stres from Antennae delivers the lyrical assault. Also gaurding the right and left flanks is DJ Tosh from Climber and La Mano Fria dropping the boom bap bombs. Photos from all the dates and even some extra footage have been added below. So peep it. Thanks to all the promoters and fans that came out to support. Beta Bodega Coalition members: DJ Tosh from Climber (Botanica del Jibaro) La Mano Fria (Arepaz \| Botanica del Jibaro) Stres from Antennae (Botanica del Jibaro) Supersoul (Metatronix) Diamond Ice (Metatronix) 5/27 (Fri) [Tokyo] at Module 5/28 (Sat) [Osaka] at Sansui 5/29 (Sun) [Okinawa] at Club Mnd 6/1 (Wed) [Tokyo] Instore live 6pm at HMV (Shibuya) 6/3 (Fri) [Yamagata] at Sandinista 6/4 (Sat) [Tsuruoka] at Cube 6/5 (Sun) [Tokyo] Instore live 6pm at We Nod (Ebisu) 6/5 (Sun) [Tokyo] Instore live 9pm at Stylus (Shibuya) Random tour shots

22 May 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Arepaz
The following record labels have been officially deactivated by Beta Bodega Coalition. BETA BODEGA [operated 1999-2005] RICE AND BEANS [operated 2000-2005] RISE AND DEFEAT [operated 2004-2005] We'd like to thank all the supporters and operatives throughout the years that have supported our labels worldwide. Too many people and places to mention. We ask you continue giving support to our hip hop imprint, Botanica del Jibaro, which continues to grow with each release. And also we now announce the new Beta Bodega Coalition label: Arepaz. If you have our highly limited book project, Bandeja Paisa then you already own Arepaz's first release. The cd that the book comes with is AREPA001. Arepaz is not only home to the Arepaz label but also to Rice and Beans, which will return to its original function of back in 1996, when it was first founded by Beta Bodega members La Mano Fria and The Lord SP. Rice and Beans, the t-shirt line. These "Third World Power" inspired shirts were exclusively sold at Bobbito's legendary Footwork shop in NYC. And laid the ground works for the labels later in Miami. All this at our new site which is full of information as we currently update it daily. AREPAZ AREPAZ.COM By the way, this site: BETABODEGA.COM continues to and will always be our official site for all general Beta Bodega Coalition affairs, posts and information. As it undergoes changes, it will continue to be updated with news and images as always. Also get ready in June for the long awaited launching of the BOTANICADELJIBARO.COM site.

07 May 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

May 7, 2005:
Colombia-Colombian police have arrested two American soldiers for suspected arms trafficking in the second scandal to hit the U.S. military here in just over a month. The two unidentified US soldiers were found with 32,000 rounds of 9-mm ammunition in a condominium in the central Colombian town of Carmen de Apicala. Police said they suspected the two stole the ammunition, suitable for pistols or submachine guns, from the Colombian army and planned to sell it to illegal far-right paramilitary death squads. These death squads long having ties with the Colombian Army. Five American soldiers were arrested in the United States in late March on suspicion of trying to smuggle hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Colombian cocaine into the United States on a U.S. military aircraft. Venezuela-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez lashed out at President George W. Bush, calling him Mr. Danger and saying wars from Iraq to Colombia show the U.S. government is a menace to the world. Chavez paused during a televised speech Friday to read aloud Bush's comments to reporters at the White House a day earlier, when he said Venezuela's plans to buy 100,000 assault rifles from Russia raise concerns the guns could fall into the hands of Colombian rebels. "The rifles are defensive weapons," Chavez said, adding Kalashnikovs are nothing to the array of weapons wielded by U.S. forces, such as "transatlantic missiles." "If I were buying one of those devices, with which we press a button to travel, arrive at the White House, then they could worry," he said. "They have thousands of those devices." Chavez, an ally of Cuban President Fidel Castro, has accused the United States of plotting behind the scenes to overthrow him. Venezuela is a major supplier of U.S. oil but Chavez has said he would halt shipments if the Americans try to attack Venezuela. "We do have reasons to be worried, Mr. Danger, about the U.S. arms buildup, about U.S. threats, about the presence of U.S. soldiers in Colombia," Chavez said. He accused the U.S. government of having "an interest in having war in Colombia" and providing large amounts of weapons."That's a reality, as it was in Central America, as it was in the Middle East. Who armed Saddam Hussein? Who gave Saddam Hussein weapons, ammunition, military technology? The U.S. government," said Chavez, a fierce critic of the U.S. war in Iraq. "Who armed Osama bin Laden, and gave al-Qaida the great power it has? The United States," he said, apparently referring to U.S. support for Afghan forces in their war against Soviet troops in the 1980s.Chavez said he wouldn't be surprised if the United States were supplying guns to Colombian guerrillas, their paramilitary enemies and the Colombian army at the same time "to justify their Plan Patriot and at the same time establish military bases in Colombia." "It's the perfect excuse for them to have a military presence in Colombia, and from there to threaten Venezuela and threaten any other country that begins changes they don't like," Chavez said."The Lords of War, you can call them." Chavez said he hopes the United States will "leave me in peace so that I can work."

07 May 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

May 1, 2005:
May Day! The day of the worker. Cuba-Cuban officials used a May Day gathering of hundreds of thousands on Sunday to demand the United States expel a Cuban-born militant accused of blowing up a civilian jetliner, comparing attacks on Cuba to those on Sept. 11, 2001, in U. S. cities. In Havana, Pedro Ross, head of Cuba's communist labor unions, accused President Bush of a "complicit silence" in the case of Luis Posada Carriles, who is seeking asylum in the United States. As Cubans gathered in the Plaza of the Revolution at an annual May Day rally, Ross demanded the immediate arrest of Posada and his extradition to Venezuela, where he faces trial on charges of helping blow up a Cuban jetliner in 1976, killing 73 people. Posada denies involvement. Posada and three associates were imprisoned in Panama in an alleged plot in 2000 to murder Fidel Castro at a conference in Panama. They were pardoned last year by outgoing President Mireya Moscoso and Posada has not been seen publicly since then. Cuban officials say he was involved in many other attacks. He has acknowledged planning bombings of Cuban hotels, one of which killed Italian tourist Fabio di Celmo. Drawing parallels between attacks on Cuba and those on the United States, organizers included brief speeches by di Celmo's father Giustino as well as a man whose fiancee was killed in the Sept. 11 attacks. Di Celmo complained that a man who killed his son "walks free on the streets of one of the largest cities in the United States." Germany- In Germany, more than 500,000 trade union activists hit the streets across the country on Sunday to demand more jobs and a roll-back of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's tough new labor market reforms. Irate workers pelted eggs at the leader of Schroeder's Social Democrats, Franz Muentefering, in the western city of Duisburg, while labor leaders demanded government action to check corporate power. "It is a sheer mockery that companies can send factories abroad and write it off on their German taxes," German Trade Union Federation leader Michael Sommer said. "If that is in line with EU guidelines than they must be changed," he said, calling for uniform tax and subsidy policies across the 25-nation bloc. France-French workers marched in a string of May Day demonstrations, with their divisions over the EU constitution overshadowing their common concerns about jobs, salaries and a cancelled bank holiday. Russia-In Russia, tens of thousands of people from across the political spectrum flooded onto the streets for May Day as the nation marked the Soviet-era Labor holiday which coincides this year with Orthodox Easter. Some 20,000 trade unionists marched in Moscow demanding the minimum wage be raised. In St. Petersburg, demonstrators of the city's liberal Coalition of Citizens' Protest scuffled with police who arrested five members as they tried to enter Palace Square. Turkey-Turkish riot police detained at least 47 people who rallied in a venue despite an official ban to mark May Day in the country's biggest city Istanbul. Eastern Europe-Meanwhile former and latter-day communists in Ukraine, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic came out in force to blast the impact of free wheeling capitalism on their countries. Austria-Tens of thousands of protestors turned out in Vienna to assail Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel's economic policies and demand his resignation. Social Democrat leader Alfred Gusenbauer accused the government of "aggravating social inequality and unemployment". Switzerland-Some 4,000 demonstrators marched through the Swiss financial capital Zurich and called for the defense of public services and a fairer distribution of wealth.

01 May 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 26, 2005:
Cuba-Raising Wages and Welfare for May Day. Castro has announced that Cuba’s minimum wage will more than double from the equivalent of US $4.10 (Ł2.13) on May 1, benefiting an estimated 1.6 million workers, the BBC reports. On the same day, welfare payments will also go up for Cuba’s single mothers, widows and disabled. Venezuela-Venezuela is ending military operations and exchanges with the United States, President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday, and he ordered out U.S. instructors he said were trying to foment unrest in the barracks against him. The end of the military cooperation marked a further downgrading of ties between Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter and its main oil customer, the United States. Warning of a possible U.S. invasion of Venezuela, Chavez said a female U.S. naval officer and some American journalists were temporarily detained in recent separate incidents for photographing a Venezuelan army base and an oil refinery. USA-Wrapping up his investigation into Saddam Hussein's purported arsenal, the CIA's top weapons hunter in Iraq said his search for weapons of mass destruction "has been exhausted" without finding any. Nor did he find any evidence that such weapons were shipped officially from Iraq to Syria to be hidden before the U.S. invaded.

26 Apr 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Infiltrate 7.0
Thanks for you patience as our site gets remodeled and as we get ready to launch 2 new sites next month. We are busy at the headquarters in Miami getting ready to head overseas once again now that infiltrate 7.0 has infected. Below are some scenes from the show which was held at the same time in 2 different locations within a block of each other. Thanks to Sweat Reocrds, Tree of Zion, Orange Press, Envision Graphics and all the supporters that came out. Japan get ready for infection, as Infiltrate spreads to the entire chain of islands at the end of May, from Yamgata to Okinawa! Infiltrate 7.5 will involve Miami labels Botanica del Jibaro, Arepaz and Metatronix, featuring artists/djs: Stres from Antennae, Supersoul, DJ Tosh from Climber and La Mano Fria. Keep it locked here for more information.

21 Apr 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 21, 2005:
Peru-Peru all but abandoned its efforts to persuade the Japanese government to extradite fugative Alberto Fujimori, the former Peruvian president, to Lima, where he is accused of ordering the murder of civilians and of other crimes. Denise Ledgard, legal attaché of the Peruvian embassy in Tokyo and the person in charge of Peru's extradition request, said she was returning to Lima. There are no immediate plans to replace her.

21 Apr 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 4, 2005:
Colombia- Five U.S Army soldiers are under investigation for allegedly trying to smuggle 32 pounds of cocaine out of Colombia aboard a U.S. military aircraft, American officials. The soldiers were detained as a result of the investigation, said Lt. Col. Eduardo Villavicencio, a spokesman for the U.S. military's Southern Command in Florida. Up to 800 U.S. troops are permitted in Colombia, according to U.S. law, to train Colombian armed forces and to provide logistical support. Up to 600 Americans are also permitted in the country as U.S. government contractors.

04 Apr 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Bandeja Paisa Release Party
Bandeja Paisa's only official book release party was held January 3 in the city of Osaka, Japan. The location was the underground clothing/record shop called Loser in the Namba area. On hand was La Mano Fria along with Osaka crew: Akira, Juggem, Katsuki, Hara, Killer, Kamachi, Asai and many more. Thanks to all the heads that came out, get the book while you can because it's limited and close to being sold out! Special thanks and respect to Loser crew: Akira and Mayumi aka Killer! Also special thanks to Ove-naxx & Ohira, Kamachi & Sachicka, Katsuki, Yusuke, all the Osaka heads that supported! For more information about "Loser" shop and "Killer" clothing brand: LOSER We begin our jounrney in a foot a snow in Tokyo on the road to Osaka...

12 Jan 2005 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Bandeja Paisa
Finally it's here. Beta Bodega Coalition proudly presents Bandeja Paisa. A 64-page book and cd set, highly limited, hand numbered and silk screened. Brought to you by Beta Bodega's new publishing arm: Mano Fria Press along with allies, Orange Press. The book features La Mano Fria, Stres, DJ Infamous, Soarse Spoken, Prefuse 73, DJ Rupture, Jack Splash from Plantlife, Climber, Supersoul and many more. If you are in Japan, Bandeja Paisa is available now in shops such as Warszawa, Stylus, We Nod, Guinness, Cisco, Tower, HMV, etc. Mano Fria Press branch office has been working have been working weeks to make it happen so support a bit of Beta Bodega Coalition history, and have even released 4 limited t-shirt designs for the hardcore BBC collector. For those that aren't Colombian, the book's name is inspired by a Colombian dish known as a Bandeja Paisa, a variety platter which is pictured below. The round and flat corn pancake on the side is know as an "arepa". The cd known as Arepa contains over 12 songs hand picked by La Mano Fria himself. No filler, only the illest cuts from his various labels all on one dish. After you find the book, stay tuned to Arepa, you'll be hearing alot more of it... Speaking of Bandeja Paisa's and eating, lets go back to the Japan Botanica del Jibaro tour and lets see what was on the menu...

23 Dec 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Botanica del Jibaro Japan Tour
Declassified scenes from Japan. Stay tuned for many more. Date: Saturday December 11 Location: Fukuoka Presented by: Oil-Works crew Agents: Olive and Poppy Oil Line up: Epstein, Boom & Birds, DJ Tosh from Climber, El Nino, Olive Oil, Mantis, Zorzi, Kyom, Paki-G, Kakuno, Mori, Cryn, Poppy Oil, La Mano Fria. Date: Wednesday December 15 Location: Osaka Presented by: Imagined Records Agents: Kamachi and Imagined Records crew Line up: Epstein, Boom & Birds, DJ Tosh from Climber, Kamachi, Hiroaki Asai, Kihira Naoki, CxMxT, DJ Hara, La Mano Fria. Date: Thursday December 16 Locaton: Tokyo Presented by: Warszawa Records Agents: Chamoro, Ramon and Warszawa mafia Line up: Epstein, Boom & Birds, DJ Tosh from Climber, Ramon, NessIll, La Mano Fria. Saturday December 18: HMV instore in Shibuya Random tour shots Stay tuned. Transmission ended...

17 Dec 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Fall 2004 Botanica del Jibaro
Just in time for the fuck-Columbus Day festivities, Colombian-born Soarse Spoken serves up the Miami heat on the mic in this his first debut on Botanica. This release, "Dark Side of the Sun", also features Climber, Manuvers and several other Miami street soldiers. Revisit the summertime in Barcelona and the Sonar stage that was left on fire. Rumor has it he'll be back in Spain for the Hipnotik fetsival at the end of the of the month. but for those can't make it out cop the 12" release instead. Here's what the heads in Manchester, UK had to say. [BDJ011] Soarse Spoken: Dark Side of the Sun. 12" "After conquering Sonar in fine ghetto style, Botanica Del Jibaro (hip hop wing of the Beta Bodega Coalition) return with another incredibly good, incredibly deep hip hop debut from another unearthed talent - Soarse Spoken. Soarse arrives with a dual background in mic battles and poetry slams, set to crushing effect with organic layered instrumentation and crushing beats that take you deep into the kind of hip hop territory this label is fast monopolising. The A-side lands just right for the dying embers of summer, multicoloured rich strings and a delicate but never tentative piano sets off the invocation "summertime jazz plays / blaze up the last jay /.../pass me the mic / music this afternoon had the courtesy to ask me to write". Awesome stuff. Manuvers shows up on the remix tip, echoing the ultimate vibes of lonnie liston smith's Astral Travels, allowing those big warm bass pads to ease on through - while 'Shadows' ends the summer side, with the looming threat of hurricane charlie fresh in our minds, big fat keys coming on like storm clouds. 'Censorship showcase' drops some classic, tasty west-coast hammond, with the listener's involvement fully required - eliciting the recognition that "we're spying on what Mr. Mohammed does / whatever cataclysm isn't comin as soon as they promised us / its hard to trust a muf*a when he doesn't look honest, cuz". 'Resistance' rocks a defiant line: "this is not a love ballad" and new recruit Punch3nello flows true over a Les Mccann inflected boogie piano, tricky rimshots and resounding bass - incredibly GOOD stuff. Killer." - www.boomkat.com Keep it locked for Epstein, the Ecuadorean afro kid hiding out in Atlanta dropping "Puńal", 6 tracks on wax and a cd of rusty machete instrumentals. Actually cd will drop early thoughout Japan courtesy of RL66 in a few weeks. Antennae's latest 12" entitled "Water", straight Miami tidal wave steez to submerge the sleeping sheep that were missed by the hurricane. Aswell as album early next year and more wax from Climber. Bandeja Paisa? La Mano Fria? BBC book? Keep it locked.

09 Oct 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

October 9, 2004:
USA-About 200 Native Americans and supporters were arrested on Saturday for standing in the path of a Columbus Day parade in downtown Denver that commemorates the Italian explorer they blame for the genocide of indigenous peoples. Carrying signs that read: "Columbus: America's first terrorist" and "We were here first," about 300 opponents of the parade stood in its path. Police stopped the parade a block before it reached the protesters and told them to move. About 200 refused and were arrested. In 1907, Colorado became the first U.S. state to make Oct. 12 a holiday, the reason American Indians have campaigned in Denver for 15 years to change the name of the holiday. The holiday has been changed to the second Monday in October. "We're here to protest a few racists who continue to honor Columbus," said Russell Means, a longtime American Indian activist. The Indians want parade organizers to drop Columbus' name and have said their actions were not anti-Italian. Parade organizers said the Oct. 12 anniversary of Columbus' landing in the New World in 1492 was the occasion for a recognized holiday, with government offices, courts and schools closed. "As long as it is on the calendar, we will celebrate this day along with every other state," George Vendegnia, one of the parade organizers, said.

09 Oct 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

BBC Summer 2004 releases
[BDJ001/RL66-003] Various Artists: Jibaro Times - Chapter 1 (Infiltrate) CD (Japan only release! The infamous and mysterious first release from Botanica del Jibaro, gets a sonic make-over with new tracks and artwork. This release represents a starting point. Before Beta Bodega (1999) and Botanica del Jibaro (2001) the labels and the Coalition itself, there was Infiltrate 1.0. Not just the subversive event against the annual Winter Music Conference but the idea, as La Mano Fria, born of Colombian and Costa Rican parents, puts it, "Infiltrate is not occasional, it's a way of life". The Infiltrate concept has been part of founder and label owner, La Mano Fria's philosophy as long as he can remember. Cutting through the nonsense of fashion activists and self-righteous posers, he has worked hard and quietly for years taking his case via events, label, and design to a worldwide audience with the support of many Coalition members. The goal being to plant seeds which have already served as inspiration and harvested various artists, designers and labels to follow in his foot steps. This system which enslaves the world has rules and structures, how then can we ride these rules and build networks off the backs of their structures, then reversing the one-sided cycle of exploitation to achieve balance and ultimately collapse an oppressive system. Never fearing the system, rather using it against itself is what Infiltrate means. Released only in Japan for the simple reason that the Japanese ultra-consumer and capitalist engine is the perfect place for the underground to rise up and throw a giant wrench in the system. Besides a full essay in both english and japanese, this release showcase's a handful of artists that have participated in Infiltrates of the past and present. Artists ranging from Chilean implants such as Climber and Manuvers, to Brookyln's Yesh aka Yeshua da poED, who for those that don't know is of Colombian descent. Over and hour long compilation hand picked by La Mano Fria. And design by "guess who"? And why is it Chapter 1? Because Infiltrate will be the first Chapter in BDJ000, which will be Beta Bodega Coalition's first full publication in print. Coming in this winter. Upload the virus!) [BDJ018] Antennae: I Disappear 7" (This supplement to the Silent ep dives even deeper into the realm of where pure thought replaces vision. Much like on the "In my room" track of the Antennae 12”, it delivers an anthem for those that just don't see things the way we are "supposed to" see things. Tones, drums and words that see straight through the lies only to fade out into the horizon. On the flip, we insisted on turning off the hypnotic frequencies of Manuvers and Induce to offer Stres' word served raw on a platter to display to unimaginative and famined MC's what a full course meal of nouns, verbs and metaphors in a parallel universe would taste like. Miami's group to look out for. Highly limited, designed and hand packaged by La Mano Fria.) [RB016] Various Artists: Infiltrate 6.0 12" (Rice and Beans conducted its most ambitious and expansive series of events yet in the Infiltrate series summer 2004. Originally conceived as an internal invasion and repossession of the Miami Winter Music Conference, conducted entirely by florida's artists and labels, this year saw the posse of labels go outernational, touring the shows in the uk, spain, holland, germany, france, switzerland, all culminating in a headline showcase performance at Sonar 2004 in Barcelona, where the stage quite literally caught fire. Previous Infiltrate volumes have always reinforced the varied but mutual vision of this exciting cross section of labels, and here they represent in fine styles once again. All surveillance has been declassified. Force.fed announces the imminent mutation of the subversive Rise & Defeat series into a label entity in its own right, peeling off from its Rice & Beans mothership in increasingly corruscating salvoes on the doomed bush administration and political hipocrisies in general. Merck's Lackluster offers a developing melodic image of the abstract and often non-specific approach of these labels, while Hamijama, sometimes known as Jake Mandell, brings matters right back to the kernel of the Beta Bodega Coalition, proves there's no real substitute for a straight ahead, electronic bass banger. Beginning gradually, this just rolls like an absolute beast. Diamond ice's music for Metatronix has always swaggered with a unique melding of classic miami bass and isolated electronic influences, forget your weak willed timabaland productions -this is the true sonic cutting edge. Offering the lyrical counterpoint to these soundscapes, Induce and Seven star wreak havoc on a hardcore joint from the heart of the excellent Counterflow. Its left to the youngest label in these surroundings, hometapes, to offer some sprightly funk from ROM, original home of the Boom & Birds project, and Manuvers to round out with a mournful, bluesy guitar instro, ending on a suitably sombre and beautiful note. Infiltrate continues to offer the only real alternative to corporate trash.) [RB014] Boom & Birds: Confetti CD (Beta Bodega Coalition's sub division turned heads at their Sonar showcase with Boom & Birds: an acoustica / hip hop / inverted folk hybrid that startles with its originality and summertime breeze. Roberto Carlos Lange, 1 half of the ROM project on Counterflow Recordings, fills the fatbacked rhythms with melodic elements, processed guitars and intricate shimmers, aided and abetted by Adam Heathcott. This release dealing inspired by Roberto's like as a child of Ecuadorean immigrants growing up in South Florida. "Sometimes too lucky" maintains this connection to 'real' instruments - a lonesome guitar rides a rich bed of vibes, like an after hours jam led by the Compass point All Stars. "Serpent Regular" opens with a Sun Ra-ish moment, then again the stringed instruments come into focus, offering a reflective, cannily poised composition, a song. 'Yellow Kite' has to be the highlight here, like a long lost Tom Tom Club dub, out and out balearic heaven. Flip to the cd for a couple of bonus tracks - "Help me out now" looping a breathy vocal, over a languid, relaxed beat - like a much funkier version of the early Tortoise sides. "Hostas" ends with a suitably hushed tone: a Beach Boys inspired vocal, and music laying somewhere between early Mouse On Mars and the High Llamas. Designed by La Mano Fria from Beta Bodega Coalition, hand packaged containing cd, card and confetti.) [RB012] Boom & Birds: Confetti 12" (Vinyl version with 5 selected tracks from the cd. Includes a bonus Climber remix.) [BDJ019] Climber: Downtown Loop CD/LP (The newest and most interesting project to come out from the Botanica camp. Climber is comprised of 2 producers, Shift and DJ Tosh. Shift (Mind Shift) was a key member in the now disbanded Deaf to the General Public group from here in Miami. Shift is Chilean, his family leaving South America to escape the turmoil created by the US and CIA backed regime of Pinochet which took over in the early 70’s. DJ Tosh is Japanese yet grew up in Santiago, Chile and then made his way to the U.S. Besides producing, he is a DJ and an avid vinyl collector and vendor (you might have bought that rare Bossa Nova record from him on E-bay!) Shift returning to Chile met Tosh in school, where their mutual love for re cords and music, especially hip hop, grew into the foundation of the group today. Downtown Loop makes references to the many different downtowns which these 2 have inhabited (Miami, Santiago, Seattle, Yokohama/Tokyo) and how life in the city is a series of repetitions day in and day out. The whole album shows daily life in the city. In Climber’s own words, "within a day a lot of things can happen, up and downs. If you notice, the album goes back and forth with uptempo and downtempo tracks. The word "loop" implies that same things will reoccur the next day, and the day after as well." Samples are taken from anything from local Miami musicians to old South American vinyl and molded into lush and soulful compositions. From beginning to end, a high quality release for those that truly love instrumental hip hop and just music in general. We even dare say a classic, one of those cds that get put on repeat to loop over and over again. Artwork by La Mano Fria. [BDJ019/RL66-002] Climber: Downtown Loop CD (Japan only release of Downtown Loop by BBC operatives at RL66. This version has all 13 tracks, plus a Japan bonus track featuring vocals of Bern Biz.) This being the Beta Bodega Coalition summer 2004 assault of releases, which we will close with Soarse Spoken's debut 12" entitled, "Dark Side of the Sun", those in Barcelona and at Sonar already got a taste of that. That drops in early August. And keep it locked here as we're about to close the year off with a bang. Forthcoming releases from Megadebt, Epstein (another project from Roberto Lange), Jahbitat (BBC's new secret weapon from Barcelona), Climber and Antennae, just to name a few! Ok so where to get any of these releases...? Well if you are in North, South, Central America or the Caribbean you can now order from Beta Bodega Coalition members directly. Phonoforum is here and ready to handle orders from our loyal fans, shops and distributers. Many rare, imported and exclusive items from BBC labels, Merck, Counterflow, Metatronix, Narita, Mass Transit, etc., will only be found through Phonoforum. Want to go direct and support? PHONOFORUM PHONOFORUM.COM The site you see is temporary, the death star will be fully operational by the end of the summer. Remember this is only for the Americas, sorry we don't ship to Europe or Japan. For our supporters in those parts of the world, why not try.... BBC-UK-EUROPE? BAKED-GOODS BAKED-GOODS.COM BBC-FRANCE? CHICA-CHIC CHICA-CHIC.COM BBC-JAPAN ONLY CD RELEASES? RL66 RL66.COM

24 Jul 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

July 23, 2004:
Nicaragua-The Sandinista Front celebrated the 25th anniversary of its 1979 rise to power, this week. Mexico-A Mexican prosecutor has brought criminal charges against former President Luis Echeverria for a 1971 attack on student protesters that killed at least 25 people, government sources said on Friday. Echeverria, 82, of the once-dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, is the first former president in Mexico's modern history to face indictment. Echeverria's lawyer, Juan Velasquez, said a criminal court judge would receive the charges Friday and decide whether to issue an arrest order within 24 hours. The former president had been widely expected to be charged in the June 10, 1971, attack by a paramilitary band on student protesters in Mexico City. Hundreds of Mexicans died or disappeared at the hands of security forces under PRI rule from the late 1960s to the early 1980s in a US backed Cold War-era campaign against leftists. President Vicente Fox ousted the PRI in 2000 elections, ending the party's 71-year rule and pledging to punish its past crimes. Brazil-Brazilian authorities are investigating a report that international security consultant Kroll Inc. spied on a top presidential adviser as part of its probe into a corporate dispute between two telecommunications companies, officials said.

23 Jul 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

July 6, 2004:
Cuba-Cuba's parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon on Thursday criticized what he said was a U.S. plan for a "free Cuba." Speaking at a general meeting of Cuba's National Assembly attended by President Fidel Castro, Alarcon said that under such a plan Cubans would lose their property and key social benefits. The United States wants to "convert our country into an American territory, and subject our people to slavery," said Alarcon, the president of the assembly. The assessment came in the wake of a new U.S. policies to restrict travel and other types of economic activity, moves aimed at pushing out Castro and squeezing the island's economy. Several others of the hundreds of legislators attending the meeting spoke out against the U.S. measures before condemning them in a resolution. Providing his vision of a U.S. plan, Alarcon said all sectors of the economy would be privatized and subsidies and price controls affecting goods and services would be abolished. "This would be a return to capitalism in its most brutal form, under the yoke of a foreign power," said Alarcon. UK-British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a significant change of stance, said he now accepted that weapons of mass destruction might never be found in Iraq. "I have to accept that we haven't found them, that we may not find them," said Blair during a question-and-answer exchange with senior members of the British parliament. "We don't know what has happened to them," Blair added Tuesday. "They could have been removed. They could have been hidden. They could have been destroyed." Guyana-Two people were charged Friday in the murder of a man whose accusations prompted an investigation into alleged government-sponsored death squads and who had planned to testify against one of their relatives.Debra Douglas and Delon Reynolds are accused in the killing of George Bacchus, 51, who was shot in his bed on June 24. Bacchus had been scheduled to testify in the trial of Douglas' common-law husband, one of two men accused in the killing of Bacchus's brother. Bacchus, who was buried Thursday. had gone on national television earlier this year alleging that a government-sponsored hit squad in this South American country had been formed to hunt down criminals, and that his brother was killed in a drive-by shooting meant for him. Bacchus claimed to have worked as an informant for the alleged death squad, which human rights groups and opposition leaders have blamed for at least 40 extrajudicial killings and dozens of kidnappings in Guyana in the past two years.

06 Jul 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

June 28, 2004:
USA-Two aerial drones were assigned to Arizona border patrol on Friday in an unprecedented drive to secure a 350-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexican border that has become the most popular and deadliest corridor for illegal immigrants. The two unmanned and unarmed aerial vehicles, piloted remotely, can fly up to 90 mph, detect movement 15 miles away and can transmit live pictures day and night of vast stretches of desert and grasslands traversed by more than 1,000 undocumented immigrants a day. Border patrol officials at an Arizona news conference said the two drones were the first to be deployed on the U.S. border. The Israeli-made drones are part of a Department of Homeland Security initiative to arrest immigrants, many of whom die in their bid to seek a "higher standard of living in the United States".

29 Jun 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

BBC Tour Info Command Station
As BBC hits Europe in various waves, please keep checking this section for news and updates. We've broken down each tour into it's own section so be sure you scroll all the way down to get all the information you need. We are starting in France and Spain then thoughout June making our way to UK, Holland, Germany and Switzerland, once our other support troops land. As everyday passes and if we can get internet access, we'll document our progress and give a brief update on shows. Thanks for your support and hope to catch all of you out on the streets of your city.

23 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Megadebt [World Tour]
[Watch us Take Over the World - World Tour] They prayed it wouldn't happen but it has. Megadebt is here. Are you ready to rock? Fuck you then. Heres the dates. Keep it locked here for more info. June 17 \| 9pm [Sónar 2004] Megadebt \| Force.fed \| Iran Maiden La Mano Fria \| La Muerta Blanca Boom & Birds \| V8 Sónar Village: Barcelona, Spain *update* Megadebt set fire to the Sónar Village. The Sónar sound crew who tried to cut the set off had to answer to about 1000 screaming metal heads. The clean up crews worst nightmare too. More Sónar pictures will be added to the Sónar section below. June 19 \| 10pm [Repeat Repeat] Megadebt \| Force.fed \| Iran Maiden La Mano Fria\| La Muerta Blanca Earl Bass \| Stealth Golden Gate: Berlin, Germany *update* Nice underground venue, literally. Under subway tracks. But once the show got started the only thing that could be heard was the crazy train called Megadebt over heating up the amp. Thanks to the whole Repeat Repeat crew, West Berlin and ofcourse Thaddi at De:Bug. June 20 \| 10pm [MFOC/America Offline] Megadebt \| Force.fed \| Iran Maiden La Mano Fria\| La Muerta Blanca Superdefekt \| Rüftata110 \| Leekon Golden Pudel: Hamburg, Germany *update* Golden Pudel, the MFOC crew, Leekon and Turkish lentil soup. Much respect. BBC Hamburg crew in effect! June 23 \| 10pm [Megadebt] Megadebt \| Force.fed \| Iran Maiden La Mano Fria \| La Muerta Blanca Occii: Amsterdam, Holland *update* Holland beat some other team 3-0 in the Euro Cup and apparently Holland gets small hurricane-like storms in the middle of summer. Beware of the pizza in the Red Light District. Peace to Reed the Ill Seed, the Occii crew, Distortion Records and all that supported. June 24 \| 10pm [Worm] Megadebt \| Force.fed \| Iran Maiden La Mano Fria \| La Muerta Blanca Phako \| Frank Bretscheider Peter Duimelinks \| O.S.T. Nighttownbasement: Rotterdam, Holland *update* Shouts to O.S.T, Frank, Peter, Sascha from Worm, Hans from V2, our main man in Holland Remco "El Pirata Blanco", Martin and the rest of the Clone crew. Apologies for the condition the toilet was left in. It was that pizza. June 25 \| 10pm [Megadebt] Megadebt \| Force.fed \| Iran Maiden La Mano Fria \| La Muerta Blanca Bogen 13: Zürich, Switzerland *update* Ended the tour with a bang and 4 lost bags including La Muerte Blanca's guitar. Beware of Helvetic Airlines. Thanks to Cio and the Special Materialz crew and that guy that saw us at Sónar, Berlin and then came to see us in Zürich. That show was dedicated to you. June 26 \| 10pm [Megadebt] Megadebt \| Force.fed \| Iran Maiden La Mano Fria \| La Muerta Blanca TBA: Barcelona, Spain *update* Cancelled due to no venue wanting us after hearing about the havoc caused at Sónar. Banned from Barcelona, but we'll be back when shit cools off.

11 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Sónar 2004 [Barcelona, Spain]
Thursday June 17: Beta Bodega Coalition live SÓNAR 2004 Beta Bodega Coalition has been invited to perform at one of the largest electronic music festivals in the world, Sónar 2004, in Barcelona. More importantly, it will give us a chance to connect with our extended BBC family out in Spain. Shout outs to Simon, Vir, 2D2, El Chavo, Charlotte, Junz, Guillermo Boogie, Charlie, Oscar, Otti, Wyz, Freaklub, the Nosordo, No-Domain & Sónar cew, etc. Thanks from Miami for all your support. So back to the festival, we've divided it into 2 showcases, since the Coalition has 4 labels and has a bit of a broad musical range. We'll start things off at 6:40 pm outdoors in the Sonar Village and end things by 10:00 pm or until they pull the switch on us. Botanica del Jibaro presents: 06.40 pm :: LIVE :: MANUVERS featuring V8, STRES & SOARSE SPOKEN We set off things with Beta Bodega's hip hop label Botanica del Jibaro. We've been repping Miami and Latin America on the mic over beats since 2002. That night, our Chilean commando DJ/producer, Manuvers & our Ecuadorean Minister of Information, V8, lead the squad with a classic BBC manifesto. After the introduction, expect verbal assaults from Stres of the group, Antennae, and Colombian born Soarse Spoken. Hip hop to make you think, organize and mobilize. Third World Power! *update* 07.20 pm :: DJ :::: MANUVERS After all the MC's have spoken their minds. Watch Manuvers speak with his hands as he rocks the turntables for a special hour long set. Dropping beat after beat, showing you how he keeps the crowds moving in Miami. Then, as things wind down and fade back into V8, we get ready to introduce the other part of the Beta Bodega Coalition showcase... *update* Rice and Beans presents: 08.30 pm :: LIVE :: BOOM & BIRDS, FORCE.FED & LA MANO FRIA Now we show off some of that musical diversity with the next 2 acts. First up is Boom & Birds, which is Roberto Carlos Lange plus newly added member Adam Heathcott. Together they blend a mix of digital and analog compositions with laptops and instruments. Then Force.fed and V8 close off the 40 minute set with beats and words for a taste of what is about to come. *update* 09.10 pm :: DJ/LIVE :::: MEGADEBT - LA MANO FRIA, V8 & FORCE.FED We end the night and put the evening to rest in sort of traditional Beta Bodega Coalition style. Megadebt is the crew, anti-globalization crime fighters exposing all the coke-sniffing corporate rock stars. V8 aka Iran Maiden behind the mic, La Muerte Blanca and Force.fed weave in and out with tones and broken beats, while everything is held together by La Mano Fria on the turntables, keeping them demonic Imperialists on freeze. Megadebt megamix will be an interesting hour of hardcore beats and Heavy "Mental" mayhem. Rise and Defeat! *update* Sónar Village - Thursday June 17 SÓNAR-ENGLISH Sónar Village - Jueves 17 de Junio SÓNAR-ESPAŃOL

09 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Botanica del Jibaro Tour [UK & Spain]
El Jibaro and fellow macheteros have plotted their course as they plan to invade the land of the invaders. La Reconquista, part 2! Thanks again to all our supporters in Barcelona (Supaseed crew, D2D, etc.) aswell as throughout the UK (Ed V3ctor & Joe, Richard and the Stuff records crew, Adam and Illogic crew, James and the Wheels crew, Tom Brown at Lex and ofcourse the Manchester mafia at Baked Goods). Mayo.May 26 \| 9pm [Supaseed] Stres \| Jahbitat \| Prefuse 73 DJ 2D2 \| El Chavo \| La Mano Fria Maumau: Barcelona, Spain *update* Stres live on the mic alongside Jahbitat and El Chavo, with visual battle on the projector by Charlie and La Mano Fria. Thanks Supaseed and Barcelona for the dope vibes. Junio.June 9 \| 8pm-12 (midnight) [Wheels instead of Hooves] Manuver \| Stres La Mano Fria Catch 22: London, UK *update* Soarse Spoken has been detained at the airport. Manuvers, Stres and La Mano Fria held it down. Thanks to James from Wheels and all the support. Junio.June 10 \| 9pm [V3ctor] Stres \| La Mano Fria \| Vector DJs Manuvers \| Vector VJs Brudenell Social Club: Leeds, UK *update* Dope sound systems and vibe, Stres having one of his best sets yet. Peace to Ed and Joe from V3ctor, we'll be back! Junio.June 11 \| 8pm [Wheels instead of Hooves & Illogic] Manuvers \| DJ Sharad Stres \| La Mano Fria \| VJs Retina Glitch Egypt Cottage: Newcastle, UK *update* Insane. Thats all we got to say. Thanks to the Adam and the whole Newcastle crew. Junio.June 12 \| 11pm [Numbers] Manuvers \| La Mano Fria Stres \| DJ Bobby Cleaver \| DJ Nok La Rok Ad-Lib: Glasgow (Scotland), UK *update* Glasgow was out of control. Thanks to Richard and the whole Stuff crew for the support. *special update* The after party. Shouts to everyone there! Junio.June 13 \| classified [Baked-goods] La Mano Fria \| Manuvers Stres \| Error DJ's \| Bobby "El Toro" Grooves house party (secret location): Manchester, UK *update* Dope house party and alot of food. Thanks Baked Goods for all the support. Junio.June 17 \| 6:40pm [Sónar 2004] Manuvers \| Stres V8 \| Soarse Spoken Sónar Village: Barcelona, Spain *update* Against all odds Soarse Spoken escaped Babylon and landed in Barcelona. Sónar Village was rocked by Stres and Soarse in usual Botanica steez. Supported by DJ Manuvers and V8. Thanks to Vir and the whole Barcelona militia! Junio.June 20 \| 9pm [Supaseed] Stres \| Jahbitat \| Prefuse 73 \| Manuvers DJ 2D2 \| El Chavo \| Soarse Spoken Maumau: Barcelona, Spain *update* Thanks Barcelona! We'll be back, like your Mom to the crack!

09 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Infiltrate 6.5 Tour [France]
Chica-Chic presents: Supersoul [Metatronix] Stres from Antennae [Botanica del Jibaro] Pimu [Chica-chic] Diamond Ice [Metatronix] Seven Star [Counterflow \| Botanica del Jibaro] La Mano Fria [Beta Bodega \| Rice and Beans] Infiltrate 6.5 Tour [France] As promised Miami's Infiltrate 6.0 virus has spread across the globe and France has been infected. Started in 1999 in Miami, the virus now has been now spotted and has started to multiply, showing what can be done when a local group of labels unite, get inside and uses a corporate-sponsored, mainstream music conference to feed off of and grow. Version 6.5delivers 6 shows, by a crew of 6 which include DJ's, MC's, producers and graphic designer. Sounds can be in usual Miami mash-up of assorted hip hop, dub, abstract electronic and electro-funk. Twisted beats, subversive lyrics and deep bass drops fuels the week long excursion. Remember no matter where you are and whatever you do, infiltrate is how the underground can combat the corporate engine of the music industry, media all the way to elite that pull all the strings from up top. Use capitalism against itself! _ Mai.May 28 \| Infiltrate the airwaves DJ} La Mano Fria Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star Radio Sauvagine 94.9: Bordeaux *update* After the 8 hour train ride from Barcelona to Bordeaux, Stres and La Mano Fria linked with Supersoul and Seven Star at the Radio Sauvagine studio. Shouts to Kevin and Dimitri. Infiltrate 6.0 in France is in motion. Mai.May 28 \| 11pm-4am DJ} Pimu \| La Mano Fria \| Diamond Ice Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star Zoobizarre: Bordeaux *update* Zoobizarre and Bordeaux, thanks for the support. Spread the virus! Next stop is Paris! Mai.May 29 \| Instore Live DJ} La Mano Fria Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star Katapult: Paris *update* We launched a small attack on Paris, thanks the Katapult crew and David (nuestro hermano in Paris)! Mai.May 30 \| Infiltrate the airwaves DJ} La Mano Fria Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star Max FM 94.5: Eybens and Radio Campus 90.8: Grenoble *update* Infiltrate infected the airwaves with the 4 man crew. These pics are from the second show at the college radio station, 90.8 FM. Shouts to the Hixsept crew! Juin.June 2 \| Infiltrate the airwaves DJ} La Mano Fria Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star Radio Campus 90.8: Grenoble *update* Morning show at 8 am. If anyone was awake, they caught the sick freestyle of Stres and Seven Star. Juin.June 2 \| 9-12pm (midnight) DJ} Pimu \| La Mano Fria \| Diamond Ice Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star CLC: Eybens (Grenoble) *update* Diamond Ice, DJ Pimu and crew drop the bass on CLC, someone dropped the ice tea on the power strip. Mas Fuego! Juin.June 3 \| 7pm-10pm Exposition du travail graphique de La Mano Fria - Vernissage Exhibit of La Mano Fria's graphic works [designer of Beta Bodega Coalition & Metatronix] Ink'Room: Toulouse *update* Other show cancelled due to cops and bullshit so the exhibition became the spot for all actions in Toulouse. La Mano Fria laced the walls, Stres, Seven Star and Supersoul laced the sound system. Thanks to Fred, Cedric, Sebastian and the rest of the Toulouse crew for the support. Juin.June 4 \| Infiltrate the airwaves Interview} La Mano Fria \| Supersoul Open Mic} Stres \| Seven Star Radio Grenouille 88.8: Marseille *update* Radio show at the local alternative station. Props to the crew, thanks for the support. Juin.June 4 \| 10pm DJ} La Mano Fria \| DJ Sky & Phobos Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star El Ache de Cubal: Marseille *update* Venue got moved to El Ache de Cuba, a club laced with images of Che and Sandinistas. No Reagan mourner insight at El Ache. Show went well, as usual the masked Diamond Ice dropped the bass and got everything hype. Thanks to Luc and Anthony aka Sky and Phobos! Juin.June 5 \| midnight VJ} La Mano Fria Live} Stres \| Supersoul \| Seven Star Festival du Soleil: Marseille *update* Ok, Infiltrate 6.0. Over 1000 people. A free festival in the middle of a plaza in an Algerian neighborhood. People running up on stage, trying to jump the fence. Stres threw down the mic and started uprocking, the crowd blows up!. Thanks France, we out peace... __________________________________________ Infiltrate 6.5 in France has concluded. Thanks to Chica-chic for yet another amazing grassroots movemnet through France, Infiltrate is now gearing to strike Japan in 2005 with Infiltrate 7.5, after Infiltrate 7.0 in Miami happens in March of 2005. Keep it tuned here.

09 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

May 9, 2004:
Peru-A classified police report warns that simmering social unrest near Lake Titicaca could explode as rival groups of Aymara Indians try to wrestle power from provincial mayors. The report comes as 300 riot police in the region are "on a state of alert" to protect bridges, gas stations and public offices, a police official in the regional capital of Puno told The Associated Press by telephone. The document, reported in the El Comercio newspaper, says mayors in seven towns and villages have been accused by constituents of corruption. Among the hottest spots is Ilave, 565 miles southeast of Lima, where a mob lynched Mayor Cirilo Robles, an Aymara, late last month after three weeks of protests drew thousands of Indians from outlying Colombia-ExxonMobil, Petrobras and Ecopetrol signed a preliminary agreement to explore for oil and natural gas off the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Cuba-Cuba slammed US plans to tighten sanctions on the cash-strapped communist country as "cruel and cowardly," with the Communist Party insisting it will stand strong against US President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s "putrid ideology." "His cruel and cowardly measures surely will impose some sacrifices on our people, but they will not stop for a single second its strides toward human and social goals" a Cuban Communist Party statement said. The United States is determined to push to get "the Cuban example ... wiped off the map," the party statement charged in its official newspaper Granma. "All of the craziness of the maniacal and insane Cuba transition program of a fraudulently elected president (Bush) is geared to that end," it added, calling the US plan unveiled Thursday "lies, rancor, frustrations and meddling in the domestic affairs of a country" in line with an "imperialist plan to annex Cuba." "Cuba shall never return to the horrible, savage and inhuman condition of being a colony of the United States," underscored the party tirade, one of its harshest against Bush since he took office in 2001. A US military plane will broadcast pro-democracy messages into Cuba as part of a plan Bush endorsed in Washington to "hasten" Castro's departure. US funds will be used to spread information worldwide about Washington's accusations that Havana harbors terrorists; foments subversion in Latin America; and has at least a limited developmental offensive biological weapons research capability, according to the report. Cuba denies these charges and has urged Bush's administration to substantiate them. The US plan also recommends the spending of up to 18 million dollars between now and 2006 to deploy "Commando Solo," a specially outfitted C-130 transport plane that has beamed US messages into Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq (news - web sites) over the past three years.

09 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

May 6, 2004:
Bonjour! Another review of Silent, the latest 12" from Antennae, this time from France. Words again by Vincent aka Oropher_Elensar INFRATUNES.COM Respect! Look out for forthcoming releases from Antennae, such as their special limited 7" entitled, "I Disappear", dropping this summer 2004. And their follow-up 12", entitled "Water" dropping fall 2004. Antennae: Silent [Botanica del Jibaro-016] .12" Encore une trčs bonne surprise que cet EP en provenance de Botanica del Jibaro, aprčs l’excellent EP Afluenza de Manuvers (que l’on retrouve d’ailleurs ici ŕ la production). Toujours dans la veine d’un midtempo lancinant, d’ambiances suaves et aériennes armées de lourdes basses, Antennae (soit Manuvers et Induce ŕ la production, Stres au Mcing) distille un hip hop en apesanteur apte ŕ capter nombre de réfractaires ŕ ce courant, tout en parvenant ŕ garder une âme et une touche personnelle indéniable. Quelque part entre Alias et Sonic Sum, le trio privilégie les ambiances et les thématiques sombres, sans jamais alourdir le tout, parvenant le joli tour de passe-passe de séduire avec simplicité, de produire avec plaisir sans sombrer dans un convenu simpliste. Le flow délivré par Stres s’apparente ŕ un spoken word délicat, complétant les paysages sonores stylés des deux producteurs, avec toujours cette pointe de vindicte sous jacente comme « marque de fabrique ». Lancinant, envoűtant, le flow précis et les rimes conscientes épousent une solide bande son tout au long des quatre titres, déclinés sous leur version instrumentale en fin de faces pour deux d’entre eux. Simple et généreux, ambiant et mélodieux, le trio fait mouche sur ce 12’’ avec un hip hop ŕ mi chemin entre terre brűlée et désert de glace… attisant ainsi un peu plus notre curiosité (męlée d’impatience) de découvrir un jour tout ce travail couché sur un long format… This and all Botanica del Jibaro titles avaialble in France at CHICA-CHIC.COM

06 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

May 5, 2004:
Venezuela-Venezuela dismissed as "nonsense" U.S. charges that it was failing to fully cooperate in the global war against terrorism by allowing Colombian rebels to cross its border. In the latest criticism by Washington of President Hugo Chavez's government, a State Department report on terrorism in 2003 released on Thursday described Venezuelan cooperation in the anti-terror fight as "inconsistent." It said Venezuela was "unwilling or unable" to stop Marxist Colombian guerrillas -- whom Washington classes as "terrorists" -- from using Venezuelan territory as a safe haven. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jesus Perez said the U.S. accusation was based on unsubstantiated press reports. "It's the same old information, which I consider nonsense," he said. "We are committed to fighting terrorism." The nationalist Venezuelan leader has accused the U.S. government and the CIA of trying to overthrow him, a charge denied ofcourse by Washington. Foreign Minister Perez said his government was asking the United States to return two Venezuelan military officers accused of carrying out bomb attacks last year against Spanish and Colombian diplomatic missions in Caracas. Perez described the two, who deny the charges and have sought asylum in the United States, as "terrorists." They say they fled because they faced persecution for opposing Chavez. Again the double standard continues.

05 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Climber on BBC Radio 1 [UK]
Climber vs. The Beastie Boys on the Breezeblock Show on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. Apparently the producer of the show wasn't feeling the production on the latest single from The Beastie Boys, so they called upon Baked Goods and Botanica del Jibaro's white label promo of Chilean production duo, Climber. Climber:Downtown Loop LP/CD will be out in the US and Europe at the end of the month. The cd is limited, packaged inside a bag with special insert and "Welcome to Miami" postcard included. BREEZEBLOCK SHOW-5/4/2004

04 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

May 1, 2004 [May Day]:
Ireland-Protesters clash with the Irish police in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Saturday, May, 1, 2004 as police prevented them from getting near to the venue where EU leaders were celebrating the enlargement of the union. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd. Before hand, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair was seen holding the British Union flag at the EU Enlargement Ceremony. Venezuela-Supporters of President Hugo Chavez march in celebration of Labor Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 1, 2004. Carrying such banners as "The government of the United States are Assassins." Nicaragua-Workers raised a fist during May Day celebrations in Managua, Nicaragua, Saturday, May 1, 2004. Many workers held the flag of the National Workers Front. Brazil-President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, center, shakes hands with supporters after attending a Labor Day mass in Sao Bernardo do Campo, near Sao Paulo, Saturday, May 1, 2004. After 16 months in office, Silva has tamed inflation and stifled a surge in Brazil's debt. Sri Lanka-Members of Sri Lanka's Marxist Party, a coalition party of President Kumaratunga's ruling United People's freedom Alliance held red flags during a road march to mark May Day in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 1, 2004. Ecuador-Children passing next to a figure of President Lucio Gutierrez being burned were among the sites seen during a May Day rally in downtown Quito, Ecuador, Saturday, May 1, 2004. More than 10,000 workers marched in Quito's streets. Honduras-Workers protest during a May Day March in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Saturday, May 1, 2004. Chile-Chilean miners worker pass front of the government palace La Moneda during a march on the international May Day celebration in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, May, 1, 2004. Mexico-Thousands of Mexicans workers gather at the Zocalo square in Mexico City to celebrate May Day on Saturday, May 1, 2004. Germany-Riot police arrest protesters as demonstrators clash with police in Berlin, Saturday, May 1, 2004. Nearly 10,000 police from Berlin and across Germany were deployed across the capital. Egypt-Egyptian police in riot gear used clubs to break up a May Day demonstration in Cairo by workers demanding better pay and shouting anti-US and Israel slogans. Canada-Thousands of protesters vented their anger at Quebec's year-old Liberal government on Saturday during a May Day rally that many called the biggest in recent memory. "You have politics that's impoverishing people," said Henri Masse, president of the Quebec Federation of Labour. "We are usually 5,000 (strong) on the first of May (parade)," he said as protesters flooded into Montreal's Jarry Park waving banners, chanting and banging drums. "Today, we are expecting 50,000. People are here because they are angry." Thailand-About 20,000 Thai workers and labor activists wearing red shirts and waving flags gathered at Bangkok's Royal Plaza, many of them carrying placards denouncing a government plan to partially privatize the state electricity company. North Korea-In the North Korean capital Pyongyang, 600 workers from South and North Korea held a joint May Day celebration, expressing hopes for reunification of the divided Korean Peninsula. The workers were joined by 2,000 Pyongyang citizens, the South's Yonhap news agency said in a report from the Northern capital. Greece-Thousands of striking transport workers and other protesters marched through the Greek capital Athens, as union leaders demanded greater protection of workers' rights. Public transport halted for several hours, while demonstrators marched to the American Embassy, a traditional target of many Athens' protests. Norway-About two thousand Tamils in Oslo gathered on saturday in their biggest May Day gathering in Oslo ever, carrying Tamil Eelam national flags and banners urging the international community to recognize the Tamil people's right to self-determination. Hundreds of Tamils in other major cities like Bergen and Stavanger also gathered for May Day Cuba-Hundreds of thousands of people are jamming a square in Havana as Cuba celebrates May Day. Most are wearing bright red shirts and many are waving small Cuban flags.The celebration comes as Havana awaits the release of a U-S government report by the "Commission for a Free Cuba." That report is expected to offer ways to hasten a democratic transition in the country and provide assistance afterward. Cubans speculate that the recommendations could include military action. In a speech at today's rally, Cuba's top labor leader said Cuban workers will resist efforts to change the island's system -- including a military attack. He says Havana doesn't underestimate the danger posed by the United States, nor is it intimidated. Cuba has been the target of a U-S economic embargo and CIA covert operations for four decades.

01 May 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 26, 2004:
Guatemala-President Oscar Berger joined the heads of Congress and the Supreme Court in publicly acknowledging government responsibility for the 1990 killing of human rights activist Myrna Mack. The somber ceremony at the presidential palace came at the urging of the Costa Rican-based Inter-American Court of Human Rights. "In the name of the state, I ask for the forgiveness of the Mack family and of the people of Guatemala for the murder of this young anthropologist," Berger said. Mack was stabbed 27 times outside her downtown Guatemala City office on Sept. 11, 1990. The 39-year-old allegedly angered the military when she wrote a groundbreaking report blaming government anti-insurgency campaigns for killing Maya civilians during the country's 1961-96 civil war. In October 2002, Col. Juan Valencia Osorio, an assistant director of the presidential guard, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for ordering a fellow member of the guard to kill Mack. But Valencia was freed by an appeals court in November. The Supreme Court later overturned that ruling and ordered Valencia to be returned to prison, but by then he had vanished.

26 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 25, 2004:
Climber: Downtown Loop releases in Japan on compact disc. Brought to you by RL66, check your local shop, find it at the listening station and if you like it, buy it! Updates on RL66.com coming soon this week.

26 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 22, 2004:
Peru-A man claiming to be one of the last remaining original leaders of the Shining Path guerrillas still at large threatened to renew violence if the government does not negotiate amnesty for jailed leaders. Ski-masked rebel leader "Artemio," accompanied by about 40 fighters, spoke with reporters in an interview taped in the Peruvian jungle and aired on the Sunday night television news show Cuarto Poder. Kuwait-A U.S. contractor and her husband have been fired after her photograph of 20 flag-draped coffins of American troops going home from Iraq (news - web sites) was published in violation of military rules. The propaganda masters at the pentagon have done everything in their power to prevent real information and images of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan from surfacing. The Washington post Reports:"Since the end of the Vietnam War, presidents have worried that their military actions would lose support once the public glimpsed the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped caskets. To this problem, the Bush administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases. In March, on the eve of the Iraq war, a directive arrived from the Pentagon at U.S. military bases. "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Del.] base, to include interim stops," the Defense Department said, referring to the major ports for the returning remains." So much for a free press -- as if it weren't in complete control of the Pentagon's propaganda masters anyhow.

22 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 21, 2004:
"Why should we hear about body bags and deaths and how many, what day it's gonna happen? It's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?" — George W. Bush's mother Barbara on ABC/Good Morning America, March 18, 2003

21 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 20, 2004:
Colombia-Hunted by an assassination squad, a founder of Colombia's right-wing paramilitary movement was on the run Tuesday in a remote corner of the country after members of his own group stripped him of power and allegedly turned on him. Assistant Attorney General Andres Ramirez said rival factions of the feared paramilitary forces appear to be behind the attempt to kill Carlos Castańo, a well-known figure who has waged a brutal war against leftist rebels. On Friday, paramilitary gunmen attacked a ranch in the humid lowlands of northwestern Colombia where Castańo was hiding out, killing at least six of his bodyguards, Ramirez said, citing an witness. The description of the attack came from one of Castańo's bodyguards who was wounded in the leg during the shootout and is being guarded by Colombian security forces in a hospital in Apartado, in northwest Colombia, Ramirez said on local radio. "What we can say up to this point is that (Castańo) fled with two of his bodyguards," Ramirez said. One leader of a paramilitary faction told The Associated Press that two other paramilitary figures had ordered Castańo killed, believing he was trying to turn them over to U.S. authorities for drug trafficking. Castańo himself is wanted in the United States for trafficking tons of cocaine to American shores. Fellow paramilitary leaders apparently suspected he sought to cut a deal and identify other paramilitary members involved in drug trafficking in exchange for leniency. The leader of the paramilitary faction, who was interviewed on condition he not be further identified, put the number of bodyguards killed in Friday's attack at seven, and said some were executed after being wounded. Castańo's wife Kenia Gomez and their 16-month-old daughter — who were not at the ranch during the attack were under the protection of the government Tuesday at an undisclosed location. Castańo, whose United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, is battling Colombia's two leftist rebel groups, initiated peace talks with the government more than a year ago and pledged that the 12,000 militia fighters would disarm if paramilitary leaders avoided extensive prison terms. But the AUC's high command on March 31 named a 10-member negotiating team, and did not include Castańo, underscoring his increasing isolation. Three years ago, Castańo abruptly resigned as supreme commander of the AUC and named himself as the outlawed group's political chief. Some paramilitary commanders privately wondered if Castańo, who was hiding out in the jungles and cattle-lands of northwest Colombia, was becoming unstable. In 2001, Castańo stunned the nation when he published "My Confession," an authorized biography in which he confessed to dozens of assassinations and admitted to ordering the 1990 assassination of leftist presidential candidate Carlos Pizarro.

20 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 19, 2004:
Bonjour! Another review of Afluenza, the latest 12" from Manuvers. This time coming from France. Words by Vincent aka Oropher_Elensar INFRATUNES.COM Respect! Manuvers: Afluenza [Botanica del Jibaro-020] .12" Issu du trčs revendicatif label « Botanico del Jibaro » US (Miami) (visitez leur site et la galerie photo, vous comprendrez), Manuvers dévoile sur ce maxi toute l’étendue de ses talents de producteur en quęte de sons bien faits, de beats classes et de mélodie efficaces. Il complčte ainsi la « série » Afluenza commencée en Janvier 2003 avec l’album (CD) du męme nom, remixant notamment certains titres (Epic journey avec Soarse Spoken et Serum ou encore Decisions, feat. Seven Star, simple interlude sur le cd et ici « complétée ») et ponctuant le tout d’inédits. Un hip hop fluide et racé étayé par quelques featuring, des ambiances ŕ mi chemin entre old school brassant funk/jazz et l’électronique d’un Sixtoo débarrassé de ces sombres visions, d’un Prefuse entičrement dévoué ŕ la mélodie (Jel ou Boom Bip sont également cités en comparaison), le jeune chilien d’origine, Dj résident ŕ Miami, parvient ŕ accrocher l’auditeur par sa composition sobre et son impact immédiat. Downtempo ambitieux dôté d’une âme, basses rondes et envoűtantes, rythme nonchalant incitant ŕ un doux farniente, Manuvers est aussi ce type caustique qui n’hésite pas ŕ agrémenter ses covers de considérations politiques acerbes (« Fuck you and your third world country, just keep your kids working in those sweatshops so our’s can enjoy, ok ? ») et d’images chocs (une mčre américaine et ses deux enfants riant et jouant / une mčre et son enfant subissant la famine en Afrique). Preuve que qualité et engagement ne sont pas aussi incompatibles qu’on veut parfois le laisser croire … Le label, qui héberge également Cyne, assčne une nouvelle fois un grand coup dans l’univers du hip hop : discours intelligent et productions impeccables, ce 12’’ résonnera longtemps dans les boites crâniennes de ses auditeurs … Distributed in France by CHICA-CHIC.COM

19 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 16, 2004:
ˇLA LUCHA EN COLOMBIA! COLOMBIAJOURNAL.ORG ˇEL HERMANO ROBERTO! ROBERTOLANGE.COM ˇEL HERMANO OTTO! OTTOVONSCHIRACH.COM

16 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 15, 2004
May 1 (May Day) [Poplife] Climber CD release party in downtown Miami for Downtown Loop! Shift from Climber featuting Serum. Also a special live feed via satellite from Tokyo with the other half of Climber, DJ Tosh. DJ: Manuvers and Plot I/O: Miami, USA In the meantime, if you're in Japan look out for the limited Downtown Loop 12" at fine DJ shops such as Dance Music Records. More information on the CD and LP to come but for now: [BDJ022] Climber: Downtown Loop. 12" (The newest and most interesting project to come out from the Botanica camp. Climber is comprised of 2 producers, Shift and DJ Tosh. Shift (Mind Shift) was a key member in the now disbanded Deaf to the General Public group from here in Miami. Shift is Chilean, his family leaving South America to escape the turmoil created by the US and CIA backed regime of Pinochet which took over in the early 70's. DJ Tosh is Japanese yet grew up in Santiago, Chile and then made his way to the U.S. Besides producing, he is a DJ and an avid vinyl collector and vendor (you might have bought that rare Bossa Nova record from him on E-bay!) Climber's record archive is extensive and spans over 5000 12"'s stored in Miami to Tokyo. Samples are taken from anything from rustic jazz pianos to flowing South American anthems and molded into lush and soulful compositions essential for all serious DJ's. From beginning to end, a high quality release for those that truly love the art of sample based music. We even dare say a classic, one of those records that you get doubles of for your DJ set. Artwork by La Mano Fria.) [BDJ022] Climber: Downtown Loop. 12" (Este es el nuevo y mas interesante proyecto por salir del campamento de Botanica. Climber esta integrado por 2 productores, Shift y DJ Tosh. Shift (Mind Shift) fue un miembro integral del grupo ahora desintegrado, Deaf to the General Public de Miami. Shift es chileno, su familia habiendo salido de Sur America para escapar el alboroto creado por el regimen de Pinochet con la ayuda de los Estados Unidos y la Agencia Central de Inteligencia en los 70’s. DJ Tosh es japones pero se crio en Santiago, Chile y luego se fue a EEUU. Aparte de producir, el es un DJ y colector y vendedor de discos (a lo mejor le compraste ese disco raro de Bossa Nova en E-bay!) Los archivos de discos de Climber son muy extensos con mas de 5.000 discos 12” almacenados desde Miami hasta Tokyo. Los samples que usan son tomados de entre pianos de jazz rustico hasta de himnos Sudamericanos y son moldeadas en composiciones con mucho Soul lo cual es esencial para todos los DJ’s serios. De principio a fin, este es un lanzamiento de alta calidad para los que verdaderamente aman el arte de la musica basada en samples. Hasta nos atrevemos a decir que es un disco clasico. Uno de esos de los cuales te compras dos copias para tu set de DJ. Arte hecho por La Mano Fria.)

14 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 14, 2004
Mexico-A peaceful demonstration of Zaptistas was attacked with stones, guns and fireworks in the highlands of Chiapas near San Cristobal de las Casas. Result of the ambush: 29 Zapatistas injured, and 3 seriously, one with life threatening injuries. Colombia-Five people, including two children believed to be 10 and 11, have been shot dead in their car by Colombian troops who mistook them for guerrillas. The shooting happened when the car's occupants failed to identify themselves, military sources said. Colombia-Seven elite anti-kidnapping police agents and four informants were headed toward a remote town in southwest Colombia when their convoy was intercepted by an army platoon apparently searching for a right-wing militia trafficking half a ton of cocaine. The men in charge of the two units allegedly spoke for several minutes before shooting started on March 19. The elite agents in the convoy and the four informants were killed, body parts found 30 yards away. A regular officer and a civilian were the only survivors from the convoy shooting in Guaitarilla, 340 miles southwest of Bogota. Peru-Peruvian authorities helicoptered hundreds of stranded tourists away from the famed Machu Picchu Inca ruins, as rescue teams searched for 10 people missing in avalanches, caused by flash floods that left one confirmed dead.

14 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 8. 2004:
ˇLAS HERMANAS CHICA-CHIC! CHICA-CHIC.COM ˇEL HERMANO SUPERSOUL! METATRONIX.COM ˇEL HERMANO 2D2! FATPRODUCTS.COM

09 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 6, 2004
Colombia-"Some members of the Colombian army have worked closely with outlawed paramilitary fighters", a former army general on trial for a bloody massacre in 1997 of 30 civilians, is quoted as saying in a news magazine. Retired army Gen. Jaime Uscategui threatened to expose the extent of alleged army complicity with outlawed right-wing fighters unless the military brass helps to exonerate him, according to an audio tape recording, published in this week's Cambio magazine. The paramilitary factions emerged in the 1980s to combat left-wing rebels, but later began waging their own war. Human rights groups have consistently claimed links between the militias and the military, but similar allegations from the military are rare. "It's extremely serious because it involves something that all our life we have officially denied — the links between the armed forces and the paramilitaries," Uscategui said. Cambio said the recording took place in July 2003. Cambio, a respected publication known for its investigative reports, did not say how it acquired the tape. But editor-in-chief Edgar Tellez told The Associated Press that editors and experts listened to the tape and confirmed the voice was his. The former general is currently being held in a military prison in Bogota and unavailable to the media. He is scheduled to go on trial April 20 in a civilian court on charges he conspired with paramilitary gunmen who massacred 30 peasant-farmers in the village of Mapiripan in 1997.

06 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 3, 2004:
Colombia-Gunmen riding a motorcycle killed a regional leader of Colombia's main left-leaning political party, police said Friday. Carlos Bernal, the head of the opposition Independent Democratic Pole party for the Norte de Santander region and a member of the nation's Permanent Committee for Human Rights, was killed Thursday night along with a bodyguard in the city of Cucuta, 250 miles northeast of the capital, Bogota. The unidentified gunmen escaped on their motorcycle after shooting Bernal, local police chief Col. Fredy Pacheco told RCN television. He said one suspect was detained. Cucuta is wracked by violence as outlawed paramilitary militias battle leftist guerrillas for control of the city, which lies at the foot of one of the country's biggest cocaine-producing regions. Meanwhile, Independent Democratic Pole lawmaker Gustavo Pedro told Congress on Friday he had evidence that a paramilitary fighters was plotting to kill party leaders. He said police were investigating. Secretly supported by the Colombain government, the US and druglords, paramilitary fighters (death squads), who emerged in the late 1980s to battle leftist rebels, quickly wound up waging their own dirty war of assassinations and massacres, have been blamed for more than 600 killings since declaring the cease-fire in December 2002. Brazil-Newly declassified U.S. documents show the extent of American willingness to provide aid to Brazil's generals during the 1964 coup that ushered in 21 years of often bloody military rule. From 1964 to 1985, Brazil was ruled by a string of five colorless military presidents chosen by their fellow officers. The dictatorship ended in 1985 when a democracy movement swept the country.

03 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

April 1, 2004:
USA-In a county where rural Georgia washes up against Atlanta's ever-expanding suburbs, police say that a group of high school boys learned a brutal trick. Pulling up beside one of the Latino day laborers, many Guatemalan migrants who stand by the roadside, they would offer to pay him for work. Then they would drive him to an isolated spot and beat him with a pipe in the first case police recorded, fence posts in the second. In a third case, some of the same teenagers are accused of clambering out of a pickup truck in a dark parking lot and beating a worker with a baseball bat. In all three cases, the victims were robbed by their attackers. The arrest of five students from Cherokee High School, in attacks that may be prosecuted as hate crimes, hints at the social friction just outside Atlanta's churning megalopolis, where farm country is giving way to subdivisions and pickup trucks to sport utility vehicles. Along with this change have come thousands of immigrant workers, who walk by the roadside in mud-caked boots and climb into vehicles with strangers who offer them work for the day.

01 Apr 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

March 30, 2004:
Peru-A Peruvian court has approved a request to have ex-President Alberto Fujimori testify by a satellite link in the bribery trial of his former spy chief, officials said Tuesday. Venezuela-Venezuela's opposition has only delayed any possible vote on President Hugo Chavez's rule by taking a dispute over a presidential recall petition to the Supreme Court. Chavez, whom supporters consider the first president in decades to address the plight of the impoverished majority, insists the petition is fraud-ridden and accuses foes of trying to provoke chaos. Opponents submitted 600,000 more signatures that the required 3 million on December 19. But the elections council ruled only 1.8 million were valid and ordered more than 1 million citizens to confirm they signed, more than 870,000 because they violated procedures when completing petition forms. The Constitution allows recall referendums after the midpoint of an elected officials' term. Chavez's six-year term ends in 2007. Bolivia-A miner with dynamite strapped to his belt detonated the explosives inside Bolivia's Congress on Tuesday, killing himself and two senior police officers, state television said. At least six other people were injured after the miner, who was angry over unpaid pensions, entered a side door to the Congress and walked through a corridor before setting off the dynamite.

30 Mar 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

March 29, 2004:
Zusammenfassungen der ersten Zeitschrift, die über Beta Bodega Coalition 2000 unterstützte und schrieb. And still in 2004! Respect. Deutsch only! Words by el hermano Thaddi in Berlin: Manuvers: Supernatural Tangents 7" [BDJ-017] Puh, was soll man da noch sagen. Manuvers lädt sich für "Supernatural Tangents" Seven Star ein und ja, ich habe lange keinen so relaxten Track mehr gehört, der in seinen Chords so blau schimmert, diie Beats so fluffig aus dem Ellenbogen schttelt und alles so perfekt und rund erscheinen lässt. Endlos sanft schraubt sich dieser Track in unsere Herzen. Die Zukunft, ganz klar. "Can I" arbeitet dann mit den Vocals von Amo Check, es geht irgendwie um Drogen und alles, was da dranhängt, ist viel mehr Spoken Words als Hop, ist eindringlich, verletzend und berhrend und wird nur von einem schchternen Rhodes getragen. Auch in diesem Monat muss es wieder heißen: Botanica Del Jibaro ist das Einzige, was zählt. Ein Meisterwerk! Manuvers: Afluenza 12" EP [Botanica del Jibaro-020] Endlich auf Vinyl! Zum Maxipreis legt Manuvers hier zehn Tracks hin, die lockerer und flockiger nicht sein könnten, Seven Star und Serum mit ins Boot holen und in ihrer relaxten jazzigen Bockigkeit einfach einzigartig sind. Kollegin Caynd hat in Ausgabe 68 bereits alles gesagt. Unentbehrlicher Klassiker, jetzt auf Vinyl. Rennen! Climber: Downtown Loop CD/LP [Botanica del Jibaro-019] Leider habe ich keine Ahnung, was das hier ist. Leider erreiche ich auch niemanden, der mir weiterhelfen könnte. So oder so, gut ist es auf jeden Fall. Climber (wir vermuten hier ganz frech, dass jemand honoriges aus der Botanica-Blase dahintersteckt) widmet sich Funk und Soul in seiner weich, verträumten Art und steckt voller instrumentaler Überraschungen, die ganz Miami gleich in ein ganz anderes Licht tauchen, die Zeitlupe anknipsen, den Jazz als Godfather immer im Blick haben, extrem deep den klassischen Mo' Wax-Sound in die Ecke stellen und den Helikopter taumelig um die Discokugel kreisen lassen. Und wenn ihr denkt, Jack Bauer springt raus, weil er dringend wieder einen Kopf braucht, dann ist das eine Illusion: L.A. klingt anders. Antennae: Silent 12" EP (Botanica Del Jibaro-016) Von Null auf Hundert. Antennae haben ein untrügliches Gefühl dafür, wie man auf sehr akustische Art und Weise, eingebettet in weiche Sounds, den vielleicht deepesten HipHop ever auf Vinyl bringt. Man denkt einfach, diese Typen, diese Antennen, die sitzen in ihrem Baumhaus, voll ausgebaut mit Schlagzeug und Rechner, schauen auf den Flughafen nebenan und machen das Beste aus ihrer Rolle als Aliens. Unglaublich zurückgelehnt, tief und auf den Punkt. Und doch kickend. Große Entdeckung und irgendwie mehr als typisch für Botanico Del Jibaro, wo die Killer jeden Monat neu aus dem Hut kommen.

29 Mar 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

March 26, 2004:
[BDJ020] Manuvers: Afluenza 12" (Chilean born, Miami resident DJ Manuvers releases his follow up assault on shopping malls and greedy corporations and completes the final part of the Afluenza series (the first being the highly limited and out of print Afluenza cd released in early January 2003). Manuvers approach is subtle, smooth and hypnotic just as the ads on television and the music in the shopping malls are, commanding you to consume and fill that joyous empty void that only care-free capitalism can bring. But is there 50% off or a special coupon you ask? Well folks, this 12” has it all, mostly new tracks, remixes and reworkings from the original cd.Take “Decisions” for example, once a short interlude now gets a make-over and becomes a full track featuring Seven Star from Counterflow recordings. Plus order within the next 24 hours and we’ll throw in 3 bonus remixes including a remix of cd track “Epic Journey” featuring Soarse Spoken and Serum. Also even includes artwork by La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition). 10 tracks for the price of 5, act now!) [RB010] Docnuke.com: Petroleum Peep Show. 12" (Rise and Defeat! Miami guerrillacore sergeant, mentally maladjusted and politically determined anti-capitalist superhero Docnuke.com returns to terrify the complacent masses and wreak havoc with a world already gone totally wrong. The Petroleum Peep Show is the third and concluding part in the Rise and Defeat series that began with the Petroleum G-string 7” (limited Mr.Fister latex glove series), followed by Megadebt's Misadventures in Global Domination. Hi toys, be polite. Don't bite: La Mano Fria design) [RB011] Docnuke.com: Petroleum Peep Show. cd (Docnuke's back and he's still seething with the fury of oil-rich, cash poor peoples, lined up like so many dominoes in a premeditated imperial world tour. This time he brings along his fellow Megadebt bandmates (Force.fed, Mr. Fister, Mr.Soundwave, Dr.Shanker, La Mano Fria and others) transform like Voltron to crush the corporate minority bent on ruling the world. The cd collects all three constituent vinyl salvos: begun late in 2003 with the Megadebt - Misadventures In Global Domination [RB009], continued on the latex glove 7" special Petroleum G-String [BB13.5] and the eight track same titled vinyl released simultaneously. The breakcore psychosis stays strong, fusing bass, booty, jungle, and hip-hop to incendiary effect. This music should come to be seen as the Doctor's and Megadebt's defining work and the official "Miami Guerrillacore" audio handbook...Protest and survive.) And there were those that thought Megadebt was bullshiting about their "Watch us Take Over the World, World Tour", the pre-emptive strike begins in June 2004 throughout Europe! Despite rumors of probation violations and pursuit of blazin' solo careers, the band has gone through a few changes but still is in full battle mode. Front man Mr.Soundwave, Otto "La Guerra" von Schitstains, Mr. Fister and Docnuke.com will sit this one out as they await court hearings and once cleared plan to tour in the fall 2004. In the meantime, catch the remaining members (Force.fed, La Mano Fria, Iran Maiden and La Muerte Blanca) wreck shop June 17th in Barcelona's Sonar festival [Rice and Beans showcase] as well as other undisclosed EU locations. When the global elite threaten to enslave the entire Third World and herd in the sheep with orchestrated and conveniently timed "terrorist attacks", Anthrax mail outs and the "Pandemic Mad Bird SARS mutating" virus, there is only one solution. Rise and Defeat!

28 Mar 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

March 24, 2004:
ˇEL DOCTOR ESTA EN LA CASA! DOCNUKE.COM ˇEL HERMANO CHARLIE! GAMEBOMBING.COM ˇEL HERMANO GUILLERMO! PREFUSE73.COM

28 Mar 2004 by magicpatch

Infiltrate 6.0: March 4, 2004
While others sweat the conference once a year and try to mingle pool-side with their little badges to try to be down. Miami's underground sweats working 365 days here in Miami and worldwide to put our home base on the map. The virus known as Infiltrate, which started here in Miami, has been suspected of infecting other hosts such as Europe and Japan. As the music industry continues to follow the mold of that which is corporate, just as the media and the government have. There is only one solution. Infiltrate! Beta Bodega, Merck, Metatronix, Rice and Beans, Counterflow, Addict, Soundclash and Botanica del Jibaro present: INFILTRATE 6.0 (pre-emptive infection) Thursday March 4th 2004 Miami, USA (tight security as always) Soho Lounge, 10pm sharp. The virus hasn't been contained. Created in a CIA or corporate lab? Not this time. Infiltrate can be traced to Miami 1999. 6.0 has shown to have mutated and doesn't respond to various advanced treatments. (SARS - Red Room): j-live, scratch from the roots, dave ghetto, seven star, dynas, climber, antennae, soarse spoken, mekankal mystik, manuvers, supersoul, judah manson (Anthrax - Orange Room): dan doormouse, docnuke.com, force.fed, boom & birds, diamond ice, beta bodega coalition: needle & v8, megadebt, danny l, rat bastard, baseck (Bird Flu - Blue Room): dj aura, dj karakter, dj alex s, dj merck, dj plot (Mad Cow - Yellow Room): is under quarantine and shut down until further notice. Plus more suprise special guests as usual $10 before midnight, show a WMC badge and pay $25 No guestlist, no VIP, no bullshit. Support. htp://www.infiltrate.info/ info@infiltrate.info

25 Feb 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Beta Bodga Coalition [France chapter]
CHICA-CHIC.COM info@chica-chic.com Pour nos partisans en France qui sont ŕ la recherche de tout ce qui est en lien avec les labels de la Beta Bodega Coalition [Beta Bodega, Botanica del Jibaro et Rice and Beans], nous avons ŕ présent un nouveau bureau ouvert juste pour vous. Contactez nos agents de CHICA-CHIC pour tout ce qui concerne les sorties, demandes d'information, programmation, requętes des radios et de la presse en France. Nos deux commandos opčrent et émettent d'une zone non précisée sur le territoire français. Ils sont en état d'alerte et pręts ŕ vous aider. Tous les magasins de disques indépendants souhaitant soutenir le mouvement sont encouragés ŕ s'engager et ŕ entrer en contact ! For all those supporters in France that are looking for any Beta Bodega Coalition related labels [Beta Bodega, Botanica del Jibaro and Rice and Beans], now we have a new branch open just for you. Also contact our operatives at Chica-chic for releases, information, bookings aswell as radio and press inquiries in France. Our 2 commandos located and transmitting from an unspecified area within France are standing by and ready to assist you. All underground record shops looking to support the movement are encouraged to engage and contact! Want more? Be on the look out for the virus known as Infiltrate 6.0 2004 tour to infect France this summer! Brought to you by Chica-chic, Beta Bodega Coalition, Metatronix and Counterflow.

19 Feb 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

February 1, 2004:
[BDJ016] Antennae: Silent 12" (Transmitting straight from Beta Bodega Coalition/Botanica del Jibaro's headquarters, is the debut EP from the crew called Antennae. Production is delivered by the Dade County duo, Chilean DJ Manuvers (better known for his Afluenza project) and Counterflow collaborator, Induce, who both provide a spectrum of melodic, aquatic soundscapes ranging from hypnotizing to uplifting beats for their front man to ride and lyrically navigate on. Miami's best kept secret, Stres has been rhyming for over a decade and has inspired and taught several Miami MC's and even producers not to fear the abstract and to think outside the box (they know who they are). Hailing from one of Miami's oldest African American communities, Richmond Heights, Botanica del Jibaro proudly presents a group whose front man is a true innovator and an MC that has raised the bar here since the mid 90's, molding and sculpting every word and phrase via clever codes that when deciphered challenge and debate our 'realities', or at least the things we have come to accept or settle as reality. Only 1000 pressed!) [BB3.0] Hamijama/Diamond Ice: Ancient Cities 1/Temple of Boom 12" (Two Years after the enigma known as Hamijama surfaced Beta Bodega (Cultivar and Ancient Cities 2) , Ancient Cities 1 now sufaces on vinyl as a 3 track limited split release between Beta Bodega and allie Metatronix. Hamijama is continues where he left of with an offering of electro disjointed funk and techno for dj’s in the year 2012. Speaking of funk the flip side finds 3 exclusive tracks from the “Funnk for da Trunk” man himself, Miami’s Diamond Ice. More minimal electro funk from Miami made for riding out while that bass drops, though Diamond Ice’s musical sensibilities make yout think you are in a Grand Theft Auto video game riding down Biscayne Blvd. As everything in Miami techno has a way of being affected by the heat on the streets.)

19 Feb 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

January 2, 2004:
Colombia-Luis Eduardo Garzón took over as mayor of Bogotá, the capital, Thursday, becoming the first leftist to hold the position. Pledging to combat hunger and poverty, the former Communist trade union leader promised to defend his comrades, who have long been the target of intimidation and assassination attempts and help the city's poor. ''We have never had the opportunity to govern,'' Gárzon said in his inauguration speech in Bogotá's Plaza Bolivar. "We have a responsibility to manage things well and to be completely efficient". Colombia - Sixteen Colombian soldiers have been arrested in connection with the illegal seizure of a tonne of cocaine, which they are suspected of planning to sell. The scandal is the latest in a series involving Colombian security forces. The soldiers, including a major, are accused of conducting an illegal search a week ago in southern Bogota, where drugs were being moved by traffickers. Led by Major Mauricio Llorente Chavez, the soldiers allegedly made off with the drugs in an illegal operation.

19 Feb 2004 by Beta Bodega Coalition

December 10, 2003:
Iraq-Iraq's Health Ministry has ordered a halt to a count of civilians killed during the war and told its statistics department not to release figures compiled so far, the official who oversaw the count told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The order was relayed by the ministry's director of planning, Dr. Nazar Shabandar and the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which oversees the ministry, both wanted the counting to stop, said Dr. Nagham Mohsen, the head of the ministry's statistics department. The U.S. and British militaries don't count civilian casualties from their wars, saying only that they try to minimize civilian deaths. A major investigation of Iraq's wartime civilian casualties was compiled by The Associated Press, which documented the deaths of 3,240 civilians between March 20 and April 20. That investigation, conducted in May and June, surveyed about half of Iraq's hospitals, and reported that the real number of civilian deaths was sure to be much higher. The number of U.S. soldiers killed in the war is well documented. The Pentagon says 115 American military personnel were killed in combat from the start of the war to May 1, when President Bush declared major combat over, and 195 since.

10 Dec 2003 by Beta Bodega Coalition

December 6, 2003:
Colombia-Hundreds of right-wing death squad members surrendered their guns Tuesday in a ceremony heralded by the government as a step toward peace but denounced by critics as a show that lets killers, kidnappers and drug peddlers off the hook. Gathered inside Medellin's convention center, the 855 members of the Cacique Nutibara bloc sang the national anthem, then laid their rifles, ammunition belts and camouflage shirts in piles on the floor. Government peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo called the disarmament a significant move toward finally ending Colombia's four-decade war. But Wende Gozan of Amnesty International in New York said President Alvaro Uribe was fast-tracking a paramilitary demobilization at the expense of justice. "With this televised choreography, he is demonstrating that he is willing to trade justice for pomp, circumstance and what are perhaps illusions of achievement," she said in a telephone interview. In a speech during the nationally televised ceremony, Cacique Nutibara Commander Giovanni Marin apologized for abuses committed by the paramilitary fighters, who have been battling leftist rebels and have massacred peasants accused of helping the insurgents.

05 Dec 2003 by Beta Bodega Coalition

November 22, 2003:
USA-The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected extensive information on the tactics, training and organization of antiwar demonstrators and has advised local law enforcement officials to report any suspicious activity at protests to its counterterrorism squads, according to interviews and a confidential bureau memorandum. The memorandum, which the bureau sent to local law enforcement agencies last month in advance of antiwar demonstrations in Washington and San Francisco, detailed how protesters have sometimes used "training camps" to rehearse for demonstrations, the Internet to raise money and gas masks to defend against tear gas. The memorandum analyzed lawful activities like recruiting demonstrators, as well as illegal activities like using fake documentation to get into a secured site. But some civil rights advocates and legal scholars said the monitoring program could signal a return to the abuses of the 1960's and 1970's, when J. Edgar Hoover was the F.B.I. director and agents routinely spied on political protesters like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "The F.B.I. is dangerously targeting Americans who are engaged in nothing more than lawful protest and dissent," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union. "The line between terrorism and legitimate civil disobedience is blurred, and I have a serious concern about whether we're going back to the days of Hoover." Herman Schwartz, a constitutional law professor at American University who has written about F.B.I. history, said collecting intelligence at demonstrations is probably legal. But he added: "As a matter of principle, it has a very serious chilling effect on peaceful demonstration. If you go around telling people, `We're going to ferret out information on demonstrations,' that deters people. People don't want their names and pictures in F.B.I. files."The abuses of the Hoover era, which included efforts by the F.B.I. to harass and discredit Hoover's political enemies under a program known as Cointelpro, led to tight restrictions on F.B.I. investigations of political activities. Those restrictions were relaxed significantly last year, when Attorney General John Ashcroft issued guidelines giving agents authority to attend political rallies, mosques and any event "open to the public." Mr. Ashcroft said the Sept. 11 attacks made it essential that the F.B.I. be allowed to investigate terrorism more aggressively. The bureau's recent strategy in policing demonstrations is an outgrowth of that policy, officials said. "We're not concerned with individuals who are exercising their constitutional rights," one F.B.I. official said. "But it's obvious that there are individuals capable of violence at these events. We know that there are anarchists that are actively involved in trying to sabotage and commit acts of violence at these different events, and we also know that these large gatherings would be a prime target for terrorist groups." Civil rights advocates, relying largely on anecdotal evidence, have complained for months that federal officials have surreptitiously sought to suppress the First Amendment rights of antiwar demonstrators. Critics of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, for instance, have sued the government to learn how their names ended up on a "no fly" list used to stop suspected terrorists from boarding planes. Civil rights advocates have accused federal and local authorities in Denver and Fresno, Calif., of spying on antiwar demonstrators or infiltrating planning meetings. And the New York Police Department this year questioned many of those arrested at demonstrations about their political affiliations, before halting the practice and expunging the data in the face of public criticism. The F.B.I. memorandum, however, appears to offer the first corroboration of a coordinated, nationwide effort to collect intelligence regarding demonstrations.

23 Nov 2003 by Beta Bodega Coalition

Rise and Defeat
Operation: Rise and Defeat The latest aural attack formation coming out of the Rice and Beans camp. Deadly, dirty drums and snares mixed with verbal assaults from every angle. Straight from the crooked streets of Miami where artists such as Docnuke.com, Force.fed and Megadebt are spearheading this new underground movement being dubbed "Guerrillacore". Behind enemy lines, Rise and Defeat releases a 4 part wave of audio assaults, 2 of them in November 2003 (just in time to welcome the FTAA to Miami), the other 2 in early in 2004. Watch your back. [RB009] Megadebt:Misadventures in Global Domination 12" (Rise and Defeat #1) Who is Megadebt? The remnants of the eight-man eighties' mega-group, the brainchild of a young Bush jnr. Launched in Miami '88, Megadebt's debut release - "My Father Ran The CIA And Is An International Drug Dealer [ Why So Suprised?]" - hit at the peak of MTV's heyday and the Iran-Contra scandal, with the Institute for Security Cooperation in charge of their international promotion and internal affairs. It rocked, or so they liked to think. Unfortuntely for them (and their accountant and road manager Bush snr), this coincided with the demise of hair bands, screaming electric guitars, long hair and tight clothing in american popular culture. Music like hip hop had begun to take over over the youth's interest. Soon after a disastrous show at Fort Benning, Ga, the group quickly broke up; Bush was first to quit, went straight and checked himself into a rehab. The remaining members of the group, afraid for their lives and their very sanity, went underground now to resurface with a new sound and message. Now only 7 members strong; Force.fed, El Santo, Otto von Schitpiss, Dr. Shanker, Mr. Soundwave, Emilio Bernhard, and Docnuke.com. Megadebt unleashes "Your Wars, I Ain't Buying Them" as a response to the Iraq invasion. They have traded their electric guitars for mpc's and g4's, but the sound is as raw as ever, grafting finger-bleeding twiddling to the monster beats that swept Miami in the eighties. The opening track says it all, "Your Wars, I Ain't Buying Them". Dark industrial meets ghetto bass meets booty tec, as Otto's Mr.Soundwave alter ego drops some serious lyrics. Serious like cancer or government created SARS, indeed. 'Doctor Nuclear' kicks in with a shadowy sense of "he needs a visa", before escalating into more deranged drum machine molestation, bootystep synth stabs and junglist Macintosh molestation, heck there's even a gangstapella for the more adventurous type DJ's. 'Your Wars, I Ain't Buying Them (drum solo)" works back from the perfect sale, undoing an indigenous - or is that ingenious - fiddle, a purely financial enterprise of ultimate consumption, where w.o.m.d. stands for world of mediocre dictators - where all "a college education" can promise, a tune which will bomb you back to the stone age - ending in the kind of obliteration only a band like Megadebt can afford to authorise. In anticipation of sold out arenas and massive fanclub pickup, this release comes with a special access all areas pass for their forthcoming tour! Catch them at a series of closely guarded, secret locations soon. you won't need a map, the way they're heading.... [BB13.5] Docnuke.com: Petroleum G-String 7" (Rise and Defeat #2) Docnuke.com (rogue Megadebt memeber) is being spotted around the world exposing the lying sacks of shit you have elected to power (or actually didn't they rig the elections?). Their lust for oil and other natural resources has to be stopped and we have just the person for the job. This fun guy is equipped with a zoot suit and nuclear rockets. His outlook is; when these global, greedy governments control the media, infrastructure, wealth and the most modern military machine, how else can the oppressed resist? We need a super hero to fight the super villain. His opinion; incase you're slow, New World Order has officially begun, the still cloudy attacks on the WTC and the even more staged mailings of Anthrax were a simple yet clever way to herd the American sheep. Docnuke.com doesn't buy it, and neither should you. His platform; Docnuke.com for President for the Deaf Metal Party? What will he do when he is elected; The scales are rigged and tilted too much to 1 side, so burn all this shit to the ground and plant roses. What is a Petroleum G-String; write and ask your Congressmen. 2 sides, 3 tracks, ranging from brutal guerrillacore to a smooth number for clubs and hot tubs. Designed and packaged by La Mano Fria. Equipped with bonus poster, 7x7 sticker and latex glove so do handle with care, please. Beta Bodega Coalition in Miami. [November 18] Special fight the FTAA edition. Members; Needle, Sony Mao, Soarse Spoken, Danny L, Megadebt- Force.fed, El Santo, Otto von Schitpiss, Dr. Shanker, Mr. Soundwave, Emilio Bernhard, and Docnuke.com

13 Oct 2003 by magicpatch

La Reconquista!: Europe Dates 2003
Want to support and bring BBC to your town? contact: info@betabodega.com ------------------------------------ December 6 [Burn and Consume] Nosordo (BCN) Sony Mao (Beta Bodega Coalition) Apparat (Shitkatapult) DAF: Barcelona, Spain November 7 [BBC Invasion] Supersoul (Metatronix) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Mix Art Myrys: Toulouse, France November 6 [Freaked Beatz #1] Supersoul (Metatronix) Loom (3hz, Mark XIII) Pimu (Chica-Chic) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) ADAEP: Grenoble, France November 5 [Beat Street Party - Old and New Beats] La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Supersoul (Metatronix) DJs Sky & Selector Phobos (Fadership) Le Poulpa(son): Marseille, France November 5 [Génération BiP_HOP] Host: Philippe Petit (7:15-8:30 pm) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Supersoul (Metatronix) Radio Grenouille: 88.8, Marseille, France November 4 [Wheels Instead of Hooves] Supersoul (Metatronix) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Catch 22: London, UK November 1 [Vector] Manitoba (Leaf) Supersoul (Metatronix) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Brudenell Social Club: Leeds, UK October 31 [Vapour: Lex] DM and Jemini (Lex) Supersoul (Metatronix) DJ Buddy Peace La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Rhythm Factory: London, UK September 18 [Beta Bodega Coalition & Metatronix] Manuvers (Botanica del Jibaro) Supersoul (Metatronix) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Seth P. Brundel (Beta Bodega) WMF: Berlin, Germany September 17 [Botánica & Metatronix Representa] Manuvers (Botanica del Jibaro) Supersoul (Metatronix) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Seth P. Brundel (Beta Bodega) Distrito Diagonal: Barcelona, Spain September 16 [La Mano Fría y El Gran Combo] [visual] La Mano Fria (BBC) & Junz (Jahbitat) [audio] El Gran Combo (Manuvers, 2d2, El Chavo snd more) DAF: Barcelona, Spain September 16 [El Jibaro Ocupa la Chosa] [audio] Manuvers (Botanica del Jibaro) [visual] Freaklub (Barcelona) Bunker Records: Barcelona, Spain September 14 [AOL - America Offline] Leekon (Beta Bodega) Manuvers (Botanica del Jibaro) Supersoul (Metatronix) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Seth P. Brundel (Beta Bodega) DJs Raf le Spoink & Superdefekt (MFOC) Golden Pudel Klub: Hamburg, Germany September 12 [Voicing Resistance] Manuvers (Botanica del Jibaro) Supersoul (Metatronix) La Mano Fria (Beta Bodega Coalition) Seth P. Brundel (Beta Bodega) Paradiso: Amsterdam, Netherlands

11 Sep 2003 by Beta Bodega Coalition

October 24, 2003:
[BDJ012] Evolver: Nuclear 12" (US version featuring Serum, a Plex remix plus cuts by Induce of Antennae and Tosh of Climber. Contains some of the best work from Equate and Day to date. "Until we stop invading these foreign shores, fuck saying PEACE the proper word is WAR!" Free Iraq! You saw them rock the crowd at Scribble Jam this summer so cop the release! And get ready for their forthcoming album in early 2004 on Botanica del Jibaro, no one can afford to sleep!) [BDJ017] Manuvers: Supernatural Tangents 7" (Mad limited and soon to be highly sought after release from Botanica's Chilean commando Manuvers. Contains the exclusive vinyl version of Supernatural Tangents (featuring Seven Star) which will also be on the upcoming Seven Star album cd entitled "My Mother and Fathers were Astronauts" forthcoming on Counterflow Recordings. On the flipside you can find an exclusive interlude and spokenword track featuring Amo Check. Designed and delivered in La Mano Fria standard Third World packaging, zip-lock bag and all. Don't lose out find it and cop it! Also if you are in Europe be on the look out for Manuvers, he might be rolling up all in your area!)

23 Aug 2003 by Beta Bodega Coalition

October 12, 2003:
Venezuala-Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged Latin Americans on Saturday not to celebrate Columbus Day, saying the 1492 discovery of the Americas triggered a 150-year "genocide" of native Indians by foreign conquerors. "Christopher Columbus was the spearhead of the biggest invasion and genocide ever seen in the history of humanity," the populist president told a meeting in Caracas of representatives of Indian peoples from across the continent. Columbus Day on Oct. 12 is celebrated as a holiday in the United States and several Latin American nations, but Chavez said it should be remembered as the "Day of Indian Resistance." "We Venezuelans, we Latin Americans, have no reason to honor Columbus," he added. The Venezuelan leader said Spanish, Portuguese and other foreign conquerors had massacred South America's Indian inhabitants at an average rate of roughly "one every 10 minutes." He described Spanish conquistadors like Hernan Cortes and Francisco Pizarro, as "worse than Hitler." He said even the continent's geographical names, like America and Venezuela, were imposed by foreigners. Chavez's opponents, who are seeking a referendum to try to vote him out of office, say his self-styled "revolution" in the world's No. 5 oil exporter is aimed at installing an anti-U.S. communist system like the one in Cuba. Chavez says his brand of left-wing nationalism will make Venezuela more independent. The Venezuelan leader hailed as heroes Indian chiefs who had fought against the invaders, such as Guaicaipuro who resisted the Spanish founders of Caracas, and American Indian chief Sitting Bull, who defeated U.S. Gen. George Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Chile-A former Chilean army officer, a symbol of the brutal repression of dissent in the early years of that South American country's 1973-1990 dictatorship, is on trial in the United States, where he was granted witness protection in 1987 for cooperating in another case. Former army major Armando Fernndez Larios was tracked down by the family of Winston Cabello, a Chilean government economist who was tortured and killed on Oct. 17, 1973, shortly after the coup d'etat that initiated the 17-year dictatorship. The case against Fernndez Larios was filed by attorneys with the Center for Justice & Accountability, a San Francisco-based human rights group. The trial opened in late September in Miami, Florida. The former military officer played a leading role in the Direccin de Inteligencia Nacional (DINA), the now-defunct secret police active in the early years of the CIA backed dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Larios formed part of the ''caravan of death,'' an army squad that visited several Chilean cities by helicopter in the weeks following the coup, and summarily executed 72 political prisoners. Cabello, a 28-year-old regional planning director for the leftist government toppled by Pinochet, lived in Copiap, 800 kms north of Santiago, where he was killed by the ''caravan of death''. Later, as a DINA agent, Fernndez Larios also took part in the 1974 car-bomb assassination of dissident Chilean Gen. Carlos Prats and his wife in Buenos Aires, and in the 1976 car-bombing murder of Allende's exiled foreign minister Orlando Letelier, in Washington, D.C. Larios was a 21-year-old lieutenant on Sep. 11, 1973, when Pinochet carried out the CIA backed coup d'etat that overthrew socialist president Salvador Allende (1970-1973). He was with the troops that occupied the bombed government palace of La Moneda, where Allende died during the coup. After that, the young officer began to stand out for his cruelty to prisoners.

08 Jul 2003 by merck

Scribble Jam 2003
Want to thank all the heads that supported Botanica del Jibaro members Evolver (Day and Equate), Climbers (Tosh and Shift) and Serum. Especially to the fans, the artists that all drove themselves up from Miami to Ohio, Muet and Manuvers at Counterflow and that brotha Pase Rock and the rest of the Scribble crew. Beta Bodega Coalition now shifts focus to rock Europe in fall of 2003, keep it locked!

08 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

Infiltrate 5.0
Infiltrate 5.0 Artwork

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

August 23, 2003:
USA-Forty years after Martin Luther King Jr. eloquently captured the struggle of black Americans for equality, civil rights activists called Saturday for his dream to finally be realized. "Despite the progress we've made during the last four decades, people of color are still being denied a fair share of employment and educational opportunities in our society," said his son, Martin Luther King III. Speaking to a few thousand people gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King said it was a day to honor the hard work of all those behind the 1963 march. It also represented, he said, a moment of realization that much work lies ahead.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

August 14, 2003:
[BDJ013] CYNE: Due Progress 12" (US version featuring Blak Lungz and cuts by Suek. Contains Due Progress, original version plus Evolver (Equate and Day) remix with cuts by Induce!) [BDJ015] CYNE: Time Being cd (European version from Baked Goods, UK. Latin American version from Phonoforum) [BB13/RL66-001] Various "Infiltrate 5.0 (5 Years of Resistance)" cd (Now available in Europe from Baked Goods, UK! Japan special licensed release from RL66 featuring Evolver, Serum, Rom, Seth P. Brundel, El Santo, Force.fed, Diamond Ice, Soarse Spoken, Machine Drum, Kristuit Salu and more)

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

May 24, 2003:
[BB13/RL66-001] Various "Infiltrate 5.0 (5 Years of Resistance)" cd (Japan special licensed release from RL66 featuring Evolver, Serum, Rom, Seth P. Brundel, El Santo, Force.fed, Diamond Ice, Machine Drum, Kristuit Salu and more) [BDJ014/PCD23402] CYNE: Time Being cd (Japanese licensed release featuring Manuvers, Blak Lungz, and bonus track with Soarse Spoken) [RB003] Various "Infiltrate 5.0 (5 Years of Resistance)" 12" (The return of the subversive Third World Power movement, Rice and Beans is now exclusively distributed by Baked Goods, UK. 5 Years of Resistance based in Miami against the annual WMC. Miami’s underground unites and features Evolver, Proem, Supersoul, Plex, Induce and more all on vinyl!) Infiltrate 5.0 audio/video instore live in Tokyo 23, 24 and 25th at Cisco, 4th floor (Warszawa) and We Nod featuring La Mano Fria and Mayz from Beta Bodega Coalition.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

May 8, 2003:
Cuba-Cuba on Thursday rejected U.S. charges that the communist-run Caribbean island sponsors terrorism, and accused the Bush administration of obsessively trying to overthrow President Fidel Castro's government. The State Department on April 30 issued its annual list of "state sponsors of terrorism," including Cuba, which has made the list since 1981, this year with Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria though always somehow excluding itself and Isreal from the list. Cuba charged the list was politically motivated, created "favorable conditions for a possible military aggression" and undermined the global war on terrorism. The Cuban government energetically rejects, once again, the infamous inclusion of our country on this unilateral and spurious list,' a statement issued on Thursday said. Relations between the United States and Cuba, enemies since Castro took power in a 1959 revolution, have been increasingly strained during the Bush administration. Last month Cuba sentenced 75 dissidents to long prison terms for working with the United States and executed three terrorists for hijacking a ferry in a failed bid to reach the United States, in what Havana said was part of a plot to create an immigration crisis as a pretext for U.S. military action. The arrests and executions brought protests from governments, human rights organizations and others worldwide. The new communique said the U.S. annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report, issued along with the list, contained flagrant lies against Cuba. The report accused Cuba of continuing to oppose the U.S.-led coalition prosecuting the so-called "war on global terrorism," supporting anti-imperialist guerrilla movements in Colombia, harboring Basque ETA fighters seeking independence from Spain and U.S. politcal dissidents and fugitives. "Our country has firmly and decidedly opposed the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq and the new Nazi-fascist doctrine (of preemptive war) that the United States is attempting to impose on the world," the statement said.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

May 6, 2003:
Colombia-Colombian leftist rebels killed a state governor, a former defense minister and eight other hostages Monday as army troops tried to rescue them, said President Alvaro Uribe. The captives, including Gov. Guillermo Gaviria and former Defence Minister Gilberto Echeverri, were killed as the soldiers approached the rebel camp where they were being held, according to a presidential statement. One hostage escaped unharmed and two others survived but were wounded. Guatemala-Thousands of former militia members who fought in Guatemala's civil war have burned down buildings and taken a provincial governor hostage in the south of the country. The kidnappers are former members of U.S backed Guatemala's civil defence patrols (Many who were responsible for hundreds of massacres of suspected anti-imperialist guerrillas and Mayan Indian civilians)who are demanding payment for their services during the war, which ended in 1996. Hundreds of police have moved into the area to secure the release of the governor and several other hostages. The violence started when about 1,000 former members of the civil patrols known as PACs converged on the town of San Francisco Zapotitlan. They demanded to speak to the state governor Fernando Tercero and when he arrived they took him prisoner. Earlier, several thousand other former PAC members stormed the nearby town of Chicacao. They burnt down several local government buildings including the mayor's house before police managed to regain control.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

May 6, 2003:
[BDJ012] Evolver: Nuclear 12" (European version from Baked Goods, UK. Evovler is Equate and Day this time around featuring Serum, a Plex remix and cuts by Induce and Tosh of Climbers)

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

May 1, 2003:
Happy May Day to all the workers of the world!

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

April 30, 2003:
[BDJ013] CYNE: Due Progress 12" (European version from Baked Goods, UK featuring Blak Lungz, Evolver. Contains bonus track Nothing's Sacred)

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

April 27, 2003:
Colombia-Colombians have reacted angrily to the murder by guerrillas of a 31-year-old teacher who was kidnapped as she went to school last week. The guerrillas of the National Liberation Army (ELN) did not demand a ransom for the teacher, Ana Cecilia Duque. Instead, they told her father that if he wanted to see her again, he would have to kill a right-wing paramilitary who lived in the same town - Cocorna in north-western Colombia. He refused - and after a two-day deadline had elapsed, his daughter's body was found with gunshot wounds outside the town.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

April 21, 2003:
Colombia-Twenty anit-imperialist rebels, two paramilitary fighters and two soldiers have died in fighting in northern Colombia, army officers said. Peru- Peru is gearing up for a repeat of the ''trial of the century,'' as the 1992 court case against Abimael Guzm‡n was called. Guzm‡n is the founder and leader of the Shining Path, a Maoist insurgency that declared war on the Peruvian government in 1980. The Shining Path fought the government over large chunks of Peru for 12 years until Guzm‡n was arrested in September 1992, summarily tried and sentenced to life in prison. The party quickly unraveled, and the National Antiterrorism Police estimate that today it has only 300 armed fighters in pockets deep in the country's jungle.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

April 3, 2003:
Peru-For the sixth time in two years, Peruvian lawmakers approved yesterday criminal charges against exiled former president Alberto Fujimori, this time accusing him of illegally searching the home of his former intelligence chief. Mr. Fujimori has fled to Japan, which refuses to extradite him. Peruvian prosecutors are piling up charges against him in hopes of pressuring Tokyo to turn him over. Last month, Interpol placed Mr. Fujimori on its most-wanted list, issuing a "red alert" for his arrest on a Peruvian warrant charging him with murders carried out by paramilitary death squads in the early 1990s

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

March 27, 2003:
The international police organization Interpol announced Wednesday that it had issued an international arrest bulletin for former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, although it's not likely to have a big impact on his life in self-exile in Tokyo. Fujimori, who has been living in Japan since November 2000, is facing mounting pressure at home and abroad for crimes he allegedly committed during his 10-year rule in the 1990s. Interpol, based in Lyon, France, issued a Red Notice, which includes a physical description of the person and an outline of the crimes, after accepting Peru's case that the former president was involved in the murder of 15 people in the downtown Lima neighborhood of Barrio Altos in 1991. This is the strongest international action against Fujimori since he took up residence in Japan. However, according to Interpol-Lima, the Red Notice can only be applied in countries that have extradition treaties. Peru and Japan have never signed one.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

March 22, 2003:
Special Event. Infiltrate 5.0 Beta Bodega Coalition in Miami. Members; El Santo, Evolver, Force.fed, Manuvers, Seth P. Brundel, and more

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

March 17, 2003:
Anti-Imperialist former rebels have the upper hand in El Salvador's national elections. All 84 seats in El Salvador's congress and 262 mayoral seats nationwide are being contested in the fifth election since a ceasefire ended a 12-year civil war in 1992. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) said it had won 100 mayorships, and was gaining ground on the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (Arena) in the congressional races. Arena has conceded the city hall in the capital San Salvador, but said it had done better in the rest of the country.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

March 11, 2003:
Colombia-Rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have denied planting a massive car bomb which killed 36 people in the capital Bogota last month. In an announcement on its internet site, the FARC - Colombia's largest rebel group - blamed the attack on what it called "state terrorism", having bombs planted to frame the the FARC in order to fuel negative public opinion and US aid. The BBC's Jeremy McDermott in Colombia says the guerrillas do not have a history of denial and when they have issued such denials in the past they have proved correct. Well over 100 people were injured in the blast at Club El Nogal on 7 February - the worst attack in a Colombian city for a decade. According to local media reports, a children's party and a wedding reception were being held in the multi-storey building at the time. It is believed a car packed with explosives was left in a garage on the third floor of the club - a place frequented by Colombia's political elite and foreign diplomats. Our correspondent says that if the FARC was not behind the El Nogal bomb, the list of possible suspects is long and undistinguished, including another guerrilla group, right-wing paramilitaries, drug lords, or disaffected elements within the military.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

March 6. 2003:
Colombia-At least seven were killed and many more injured in the blast. A bomb has ripped through a busy shopping centre in north-eastern Colombia, killing at least seven people and injuring more than 60. Police ofcourse are blaming before investigating, the left-wing rebels for the blast, which happened at around 0940 local time (1440 GMT) in the city of Cucuta. The bomb went off in the underground car park of the Alejandria Shopping Centre, a favourite with the city's poorer population, and ignited a huge fire that forced shoppers to flee in panic.The blast brought terror to a city that has one of the highest murder rates in Colombia, itself one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

February 22, 2003:
Colombia-President Bush this week used his authority to exceed congressional limits on the number of U.S. military personnel allowed to be in Colombia, sending as many as 150 additional specialized troops to assist in the rescue of three American civilians believed to be in the hands of guerrillas since their plane crashed in a rebel-held area last week, senior administration officials said.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

February 14, 2003:
Colombia-A U.S. government Cessna 208 aircraft crashed in southern Colombia containing either CIA or Petagon contracted 5 civilians employed out on contracts. 2 are dead, 3 still missing.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

February 9, 2003:
Colombia-Black smoke and flames erupted from an exclusive club in the Colombian capital Friday night, after a bomb exploded, killing 25 people and injuring 150.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

February 5, 2003:
Colombia-In a sign of how important protecting oil has become to the US, 70 Army Green Berets are training Colombian soldiers how to guard a 500-mile stretch of oil pipeline in a lawless portion of the country. Every drop of oil has taken on new significance for Washington as uncertainty grows in the petroleum-rich Middle East, and a two-month strike in neighboring Venezuela has slowed exports from there.That means more attention on relatively small producers like Colombia, where the oil potential ranks behind Mexico, Venezuela, and even Brazil, analysts say."It's not so much that Colombia is a large oil supplier, or that it is the most important oil supplier," says Amy Jaffe, a senior energy analyst at the James A. Baker Center for Public Policy at Rice University. "It's really more a timing issue."But US priorities in Colombia, the 10th-largest oil supplier to the US, have been shifting for some time."

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

January 30, 2003:
[BB11.5] Seth P. Brundel "Mata de Cacao" 12" (featuring: Seth P. Guerra, V8, Otto "El Santo" von Schirach, Soarse Spoken) [BB12] Beta Bodega Coalition/Seth P. Brundel "Banana Republic v.3/Mata de Cacao" cd (featuring: Prefuse 73, Datatheif, Spike, Manuvers, V8, Seth P. Brundel, El Santo, etc.) [BB12.5] DJ Aura & DJ Polaris: "Betasquatch" cd (2 Miami turntable troopers, Aura and Polaris rip through the BBC 4 year audio archives for this mix cd that comes with the now sold-out collaberation t-shirt between La Mano Fria and Sasquatch in Tokyo.) [BDJ010] Manuvers & La Mano Fria presents: Afluenza cd (featuring: Antennae, Soarse Spoken, Serum, Stres, Seth P. Brundel, etc.) [BDJ009/PCD23369] CYNE: Collection 1999-2003 cd (Japanese licensed release featuring Seth P. Brundel, Plex and DJ Infamous) [BDJ011/PLP6185] CYNE: Out of Time 12" (Japanese licensed release featuring Manuvers) Available somewhere...Now!

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

January 19, 2003:
Colombian authorities say at least 16 unarmed civilians were killed on Thursday night in the northern province of Antioquia. The atrocity occurred when an armed group arrived in the hamlets around San Carlos in the middle of the night. They began to drag people from their homes, killing them on their porches. Among the dead was a man aged over 70, four women and three children. Two of the murdered women were pregnant. When troops arrived in the zone, they found bodies strewn around the hamlets. Two of the victims were still clinging to life and were taken by helicopter to hospital. The killings have all the hallmarks of the right-wing paramilitaries, which made the massacre of suspected guerrilla sympathisers one of their principal strategies to cleanse areas of rebel support.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

January 18, 2003:
The United States has deployed troops in eastern Colombia in an area rich of oil and widely seen as a stronghold of anti-imperialist rebels. US special forces have begun training Colombian troops in counter-insurgency techniques in the province of Arauca. The army is trying to protect an oil pipeline which has been attacked 200 times in the last two years alone. It is the first time the US military has been directly involved in Colombia's 39-year civil war. With a war in Iraq looming, and political unrest in Venezuela, Colombia's oil has become strategically important.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

January 8, 2003:
Colombia-Police in Colombia say at least eight officers have been killed and five wounded in an ambush by rebels.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

December 20, 2002:
Beta Bodega Coalition in London, UK. Members; El Machetero and V8

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

December 18, 2002:
Beta Bodega Coalition in Manchester, UK. Members; El Machetero and V8

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

Novemer 24, 2002:
Guatemala: A former colonel in the Guatemalan army has been found guilty of ordering the murder of an anthropologist whose research exposed crimes during the country's civil war. Myrna Mack was stabbed to death aged 39 outside her office in Guatemala City in 1990, and a junior officer had been found guilty of her murder in 1993. But it is extremely rare for any top-ranking military officer to face atrocity charges arising from the 36-year civil war, which ended in 1996. Former Colonel Juan Valencia Osorio, who was an assistant director of the presidential guard, was sentenced to 30 years in prison by the court in Guatemala City.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch

Novemer 23, 2002:
The United Nations representative for Indian peoples has accused Guatemalan authorities of continuing the marginalise the country's sizeable Mayan population. At the end of an 11-day tour, Rodolfo Stavenhagen said 60% of Guatemala's Mayans had been marginalised by "political and structural" discrimination and violence. Left-wing Mayan guerrillas waged a 36-year-long civil war in which about 200,000 people were killed in what the UN has described as genocide. Mr Stavenhagen said many had still to recover from the war which ended in 1996.Indians constitute about 60% of Guatemala's population. The envoy said institutional discrimination "wasn't in Guatemala's laws but in its practices". Mr Stavenhagen said racism in Guatemala was commonplace "in the attitudes of the authorities, the common prejudices associated with their traditional clothing and other aspects of their culture and in the hostility and verbal abuse". He said a pressing problem for Guatemala's Indians was a lack of access to the country's judicial and financial systems. He said Indians were still denied loans that would help them buy more fertile farmland and are often discriminated against by leaders in charge of distributing government farm aid. Few people have been charged for war crimes. "Access to land is the fundamental theme affecting the rights of Indian populations... and if these problems are allowed to continue as they have been, with no one working toward solutions, the possibility of social conflicts will increase," the envoy warned. So far, only a couple of cases have gone to courts against Guatemalan generals accused of war crimes. One centred on the role of three soldiers and a priest who were given lengthy prison terms for their roles in the assassination of Bishop Juan Gerardi. Bishop Gerardi was bludgeoned to death in April 1998, just two days after he produced a report that blamed the army for many of the assassinations during the civil war. In a landmark ruling in June 2001, a Guatemalan court said two former presidents were to face investigation on charges of genocide. Romeo Lucas Garcia and Efrain Rios Montt - who ruled the country during the civil war - are accused of ordering massacres of Mayan Indians between 1978 and 1983.

05 Jul 2003 by magicpatch