spend more protesters are celebrating a major victory after the country's high court opened a criminal investigation into the former head of spain's biggest mortgage lender. a former imf chief rodrigo rato. we speak with organizers of the historic may 15 movement, the indignados. >> maybe, eventually, maybe one of these guys will pay. we have this impression that no one -- they do what they won. they still, like, nothing happens. today, maybe, something will happen. i'm very happy. >> all of that and more coming up. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm juan gonzalez filling in for amy goodman. nato supply convoys have resumed in pakistan after the u.s. finally apologized for a deadly attack that occurred last year. pakistan had barred the nato trucks that carry supplies for the afghan war after u.s. forces killed 24 pakistani troops in november. on tuesday, the obama administration dropped its longstanding refusal to apologize, ending a more than seven-month standoff. the pakistani information minister said the apology had met pakistan's demands. >> america has accepted pakistan's principled stand on an apology and has agreed to work in unison with pakistan in the war against terrorism they have declared in the future pakistan's sovereignty will not be compromised. they also reaffirmed the respect pakistan's sovereignty. >> these were pakistan's demands, which have been accepted. >> the first nato trucks entered afghanistan from pakistan earlier today. in washington, state department spokesperson victoria nuland appeared to downplay the apology, saying both sides had expressed regret for the november incident and the u.s. would be saving money with the supply lines reopens. >> the secretary of defense has spoken to the fact that it was expensive for us during the period when the glocks were closed, one of the -- one of the things that has resulted from this is that we have restored the glocks and we're going to be paying the exact same amount as we were paying before, so we are back to significant savings. as the statement makes clear, there were mistakes made on both sides that led to the tragic loss of life, and we're both sorry for this. >> in afghanistan, several nato troops have been wounded in an attack by an afghan soldier. the gunman opened fire as the troops received medical treatment in an eastern province. it was the latest in a spate of attacks by afghan servicemembers on nato forces. the head of the united nations observer mission in syria says violence has reached an unprecedented level in the country. earlier today, major-general robert mood again called for a cease-fire to allow hundreds of monitors stationed in syria to resume their work. the chief executive of the banking giant barclays has resigned over a major interest- rate fixing scandal that has already ousted the company's chairman. the bank's ceo bob diamond stepped down just days after barclays was fined $453 million by u.s. and british authorities for manipulating key interest rates. a british probe found barclays conspired to manipulate the london interbank offered rate, o which provides twins of dollars in transactions across the globe. the manipulation meant millions of borrowers paid the wrong amount on their loans. appearing before a british parliamentary committee, the day after his resignation, diamond called the company's action reprehensible but said top executives had moved swiftly to take action. >> when i read the emails from those traders, i got physically ill. it is reprehensible behavior. if you're asking me should those actions be dealt with, absolutely. >> i think it is a sign of barclays that we're willing to be first, willing to come out with this. >> diamond is the second top barclays executive to depart after chairman marcus agius resigned last week. also speaking at the british parliamentary hearing, liver member of parliament said they had shown negligent behavior. >> [unintelligible] two chief executives has been doing finally wrong things. it is too frightened to or to disinterested to actually tell the chief executor. that is a very worrying thing to come out in the inquiry. >> the palestinian authority has called for international investigation of the death of yasser arafat's after traces of radioactive material were found on his belongings. an investigation by the news network al jazeera found arafat may have died of poisoning after high levels of polonium were discovered on personal items, including his clothes and toothbrush. arafat died in november 2004 after being flown to france for medical treatment. his widow called on the palestinian authority to allow for her husband's body to be exhumed. >> i want to ask to exhume the body of my husband. as a mother, as a wife, and as a partner of this great man for 20 years it is my responsibility. this is my message to the authorities that they have to cooperate because the tomb of yasser is in ramallah. >> oblivion government says it has reached a deal with indigenous leaders to hold a referendum on a highway project that's sparked massive protests. thousands of indigenous protesters marched on the capitol last week to oppose the government's plan for the road, which would cut through a national park and indigenous land. similar protests led bolivian president carlos to partly halt construction last year. the bolivian government says the referendum will be held later this month. more than 1 million homes and businesses remain without power in the aftermath of last week's massive storms in the eastern u.s. states from indiana to virginia have seen major power outages after hurricane level winds were followed by sweltering heat. the strain on the power grid coupled with your fire from scorching temperatures forced the cancellation of scores of fourth of july celebrations across the country. the obama administration has asked the supreme court to settle a long-running dispute over the 1996 defense of marriage act, which bars federal recognition of same-sex couples. five different federal appeals courts have ruled the law and constitutional, despite also opposing the law, the obama administration has continued enforcing it pending a final ruling from the supreme court. republican presidential candidate mitt romney appears to have shifted his stance on obama's landmark healthcare law, echoing party members by calling the mandate requiring people to buy health insurance a tax. romney's remarks come days after his top spokesperson said romney does not believe the mandate is a tax. the supreme court upheld the individual mandate at the core of obama's health care law last week on the grounds of it being a tax. romney enacted a nearly identical mandate when he was governor of massachusetts. on wednesday, romney marked the fourth of july with an appearance in new hampshire. speaking to supporters, he continued with a campaign theme of linking president obama's policies to european-style social welfare. >> we believe in america. [cheers] we do not want to change america into something it is not. we do not want to make america more like europe or any other place. we want to make america more like america with the conviction that freedom is right, that all people are designed opportunities. >> mean what the white house, president obama spent the fourth of july hosting a celebration and concert for u.s. service members. >> because of your service and sacrifice, all of our troops are out of iraq. because of your service -- [applause] because of your service and sacrifice, we took the fight to al qaeda and we brought osama bin laden to justice. [applause] because of your service and sacrifice, we're transitioning out of afghanistan. we remain ready for any threat. that is all because of you. >> in a surprise victory for voting rights advocates, michigan's republican governor rick snyder has refused to sign three bills that would have restricted voting rights in the state. one l. goh rejected by snyder would have required voters to show a photo id in order to obtain an absentee ballot wallace that the restrictive voter registration rise. he rejected a bill that would require residents to check off a box on their ballot stating they are u.s. citizens. republican legislators back the laws as part of what critics call a nationwide push to disenfranchise people of color and other possible democratic voters ahead of the november elections. and those are some of the headlines. this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm juan gonzalez. amy goodman is in madrid, spain, where protesters are celebrating a major victory after the country's high court opened a criminal investigation into the former head of spain's biggest mortgage lender rodrigo rato, the former head of the international monetary fund has been ordered to appear in court to face criminal fraud accusations related to the downfall of bankia, a banking giant that sought tens of billions of dollars in bailout money. the news marks a rare case or former executive is facing a criminal probe related to the global financial crisis. in addition to rodrigo rato, 32 other banking officials and executives have been accused of fraud, price-fixing, and falsifying accounts in a lawsuit brought by one of the country's smaller political parties. spain's attorney general also announced a probe into bankia last month. the bank's failure led to a government takeover so hundreds of thousands of small investors lost their savings. at a shareholder meeting last week, protesters condemned rodrigo rato who was forced to resign in may. >> when you talked about rodrigo rato, he said he was very professional regarding bankia. i can only asking for one thing as a shareholder -- please, do not be a professional. >> a lot of people are struggling not only with their mortgage, but their savings. this is a frantic fight. no one knows the answer to who or how, that everyone is losing their money. >> for more, we're joined by amy goodman in madrid, spain by "democracy now!" videostream. tell us these latest developments in the unfolding of bankia scandal. >> this is extremely significant. the people who helped to make this happen, what people were celebrating independence day, the word came down that the head of bankia, which may be responsible for the largest banking fraud scandal in spain's history -- and as you pointed out, the former head of the imf before strauss-kahn. this is a significant figure. he is a close ally of the current prime minister of spain, pey-pey party, a scandal that is rocking the country. but who made this happen to begin with? this is who we will hear from today, members of the equivalent of u.s. occupy movement who got so frustrated with the 1% not being held accountable in light of the numbers of evictions in this country and the financial crisis that they like, as in the united states, decided to find a lawsuit that ultimately led the attorney general to open this investigation, which is close to an indictment of rodrigo rato. extremely significant just this morning, i was speaking with the former attorney general of spain and said to him, how significant is this? he said, this is just the beginning. so let's first turn to a young man i interviewed yesterday as the news was coming down. his name is olmo gálvez. he is with the m15 movement, stands for may 15, 2011, the the protesters came into the streets in spain. he was profiled when "time" magazine named protester, a person of the year. he is the person they profiled in spain. this is olmo gálvez talking about the significance of rodrigo rato being called into court, facing criminal charges that could land him in jail for years. and a message to the people in the united states, a real message from the protesters here, the occupy movement here is, this is the kind of action that occupy movement can be involved in around the world that can shake the 1%. this is olmo gálvez. rodrigo rato >> rodrigo rato was of the ruling government in spain. bankia -- he became the head of the imf before strauss-kahn. then when he left the office, he was kind of kick that somehow or at least he laughed, then he came back to spain. pey-pey, the same political party, put him ahead of the merger of seven banks. they were bankrupt. there were going through strong financial difficulties. they kept moving forward with their agenda. the cut rodrigo rato -- put rodrigo rato to make sure it was when to be a very good conglomerate. one of the things they did, they went public. there is evidence the numbers they showed their investors, which were very small investors -- there were no international investors because no one believed those accounts. they sold their shares to their own depositors in the bank. two years later, they recognize the whole group was bankrupt, that they had no money. the other thing they did, they were selling it as a deposit, the selling something that is quite complicated called perpetual debt. it is not a deposit. it is capital. they were selling it to people that some of them could not read, some of them had difficulties understanding the product, many were elderly. it was a big scandal that was not in the media. they were not covering it. we were pointing at rodrigo rato st., of course it was not only him. yesterday, rodrigo rato and another 30 people from bankia, and now bankrupt corporation, said it was being investigated. >> would you say "we" described who you are. >> i normally talk about "we" because this is not something one person is doing. it is a whole movement of people. the action against rodrigo rato, the ex-imf, is out it took part. different lawyers and groups. we thought we could sue rodrigo rato. most people agreed it was a good thing that we should support it. so we did it altogether. >> i do not think people in the rest of the world and the united states understand it was grassroots movements, the activists that actually the ought rodrigo rato indicted today. >> yes. bachelet, not today. today was institutions. the public general attorney -- >> the attorney general. >> he started investigating rodrigo rato. it was one day after we had the legal suit. a >> one day after you sued him. >> yes. >> what do you mean? crowd funding platform? >> yes. we needed about 15,000 euros for the lawyers who are working pro bono, but they still needed expenses to do that. it is a very expensive trial. in order to get the money, what we did was open a crowd funding platform and asked everyone four little amount of money. 5 euros, 20 euros, 30 years. and less than 24 hours, we were able to raise the money. >> how much were you able to raise? >> i think about 15,000 years. all of the accounts are on disclosure. you can see where the expenditures are going and everything. so it is part of the collective movement, the collective action. >> that is about 20,000 u.s. dollars to raise. >> that was olmo gálvez, an organizer with the real democracy now, democracia real ya, part of the may 15 movement in madrid. we will return to amy goodman in spain in a moment. stay with us. ♪ [music break] ♪ [music break] >> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm juan gonzalez. as news broke yesterday at the spanish courts investigation into bankia's former chief, rumors flew that rodrigo rato and his former colleagues had been indicted. that has yet to happen. we will continue on that, that we have to take the music prefer a moment. thank you. ♪ [music break] >> this is "democracy now!," democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm juan gonzalez. my apologies for that mess up their pri with our connection with spain, we had some technical difficulties. as news broke yesterday of the spanish courts investigation into the former chief, rumors flew rodrigo rato and his former colleagues had been indicted. that is yet to happen. but he and his associates could potentially face up to six years in prison. thursday, amy goodman interviewed stéphane grueso, an actress and film actor making a documentary about the may 15 movement in spain. >> we are in madrid, spain or a movement similar to what happened in the united states, the occupy movement, -- well, actually began a bit before called the m15 for may 15, 2011. we are speaking to stéphane grueso who is a filmmaker who has been documenting the m15 movement. stéphane, if you begin by talking about just what m15 is. >> m15 is the date when we went to the streets. it is may 15, 2011. it is the day we made the demonstration in the streets and the day we started camping in madrid. it was a couple of months before the occupy wall street. >> what were the demands? why did people gather? >> we were a bunch of different people. we did not have any kind of concrete demands, we were just angry people. we did not like what we were seeing, where we were going. we felt we were losing our democracy, our country, our way of life. so we joined with different people with different interests. we had one slogan -- democracy now real, just like your program rid we did not have any concrete demands. it was just like coming together and see what happens. >> what happened? >> we stayed in the streets. 50 people stayed overnight in the square. the police tried to take them out, so we came back. we began to multiplied and other citizens in spain. and three or four days' time, we were like tens of thousands of people -- i don't know, and dozens of cities in spain, camped in the middle of the cities. a little bit like you see in tahrir and egypt. >> they were calling for the end of the mubarak dictatorship. once he had so many people, what was the demand? >> we tried to make a short list of demands we all agreed we could make. we were so different. there were the top five of our demands. we wanted to change our electoral law. when you vote in spain, there is a system that no other party, the two big ones, is able to go into government. so we wanted to change the electoral system and use another one. we wanted to separate the powers. in the constitution that says you have the three powers. we wanted them to be really separated. we wanted independent judicial powers. this kind of thing. we wanted to expel the corruption from the public life. there were like a dozen congressmen that are implicated in corruption cases, and they're still in parliament. we did not want this. we wanted transparency. now we have a new law, which is not good, but we did not have any kind of transparency law. we wanted to know what the were doing with our money. >> how did the media cover the m15 movement? >> how do you call it? the first big front-page, a big page, on "the washington post." the newspapers in spain, first of all, they did not understand what happened. we did not know what was gone -- they did not know what was going on. but they were ignoring us. it was like five days before the election in spain and we were not in the press. then they began to live. they were saying we were violent. there were saying that we were young, extreme left wing. that is not true. we made our own media. >> how? >> we have a program in madrid. we have a television and newspaper that we print 45,000 copies each month. we are a bunch of people that came together. we are a lot of professionals, journalists, people that can do things. we decided to do our news. what we saw was not relative, so we decided to do it ourselves. >> when you say it was not just a small group of progressive left-wing people, who did it start to include more of? >> the traditional activists were there, but there were a lot of new people like myself i do not have a history of activism before. before may 15, 2011, i started to do things because i was fed up. but there were new people in the streets meeting to gather. it was very nice. we did not have all these things you carry with you when you belong to an organizatio