The Andes
Peru: mine tailing spill contaminates RĂo Huallaga
Authorities in Peru admitted that wastewater laced with heavy metals from a major zinc mine has spilled into the RĂo Huallaga, a major tributary of the Amazon.
Author: CounterVortex
The Andes
Colombia: army general gets 25 years for para collaboration
Colombian army general Rito Alejo del RĂo Rojas, accused of forming a “macabre alliance” with paramilitary groups, was sentenced to 25 years for murder of a peasant leader.
The Andes
Colombia’s ex-security chief pleads guilty to para collaboration
Gen. Mauricio Santoyo, security chief to Colombia’s ex-president Ălvaro Uribe, pleaded guilty before a US court to collaborating with the outlawed AUC paramilitary network.
The Andes
Venezuela: refinery disaster politicized
Venezuela’s opposition accused the state oil company of negligence after the deadly refinery explosion at Amuay, while the government says foreign subversion undermined safety.
Central America
Guatemala: Swiss arrest ex-police commander
Swiss prosecutors announced that Erwin Sperisen, former commander of Guatemala's National Police, was arrested in Geneva and will stand trial for extrajudicial killings.
Marikana massacre survivors charged with murder
Striking workers gather outside the Marikana mine in South Africa’s North West province, Aug. 23, after the funeral of those killed in the police massacre there a week earlier. Workers arrested after the massacre have now been charged with the murder… Read moreMarikana massacre survivors charged with murder
The Amazon
Brazil: quilombo threatened by rancher gunmen
Rights groups warn that the Afro-descendant Quilombo Pontes community in Brazil’s lawless MaranhĂŁo state is being “systematically threatened” by gunmen in the pay of local ranchers.
The Amazon
Venezuela: Yanomami massacred by outlaw miners
Venezuelan authorities pledge to investigate breaking reports that outlaw miners comitted a “massacre” of an isolated Yanomami indigenous community on the Brazilian border.
Palestine
Rachel Corrie family: ‘black day for human rights’
Rachel Corrie’s family called the Haifa District Court ruling rejecting their lawsuit a “black day for human rights’âwhile Israeli officials welcome it as a long-due exoneration.
Afghanistan
Taliban behead 17 for dancing
Taliban militants attacked a family gathering where men and women were dancing together at a village in Afghanistan's Helmand province, beheading 17, including two women.
Afghanistan
US drone strike kills Haqqani network commander?
The Haqqani network and allied Taliban denied reports that top commander Badruddin Haqqani was killed in a US drone strike, saying a 13-year-old relative was the victim.
Central America
Guatemala: ex-National Police chief gets 70 years for ‘disappearance’
A court in Guatemala City sentenced Pedro GarcĂa Arredondo, former chief of the National Police, to 70 years in prison for the 1981 disappearance and torture of a university student.