Peru’s security forces cracked down on illegal gold mining operations in the Amazon region of Madre de Dios, with army troops putting several dredges on the region’s rivers to the torch.
Leaked US diplomatic cables with much unflattering gossip on Peru’s political elite have become an issue in the Andean nation’s pending presidential elections.
Devastating floods on the heels of a transport strike have paralyzed Bolivia. Flooding has left some 7,000 homeless across the country, with 400 homes destroyed in La Paz.
A Brazilian judge ruled in favor of local indigenous groups, blocking President Dilma Rousseff’s plans to move ahead with construction of the controversial Belo Monte dam.
The right-wing National Democratic Alliance marched against violent crime in San Pedro Sula, while the leftist National Resistance Front met in Tegucigalpa, pledging to push for constitutional reform.
Mexican federal police announced the capture of “El Papirrin,” leader of “La Resistencia”—an alliance of cartels formed to resist the drive by Los Zetas to dominate Mexico’s narco networks.
Tunisia’s interim prime minister resigned amid continuing street clashes, with deadly repression also reported from Oman. In Bahrain, 18 MPs resigned in protest of the killings of demonstrators.
The UN Security Council ordered a travel ban and asset freeze on Moammar Qaddafi’s regime, as Muhammad as-Sanussi, Libya’s exiled crown prince, said the country is unified against the dictator.
Hugo Chávez Tweeted to his followers: “Long live Libya and its independence! Qaddafi is facing a civil war!” Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega also expressed solidarity with the embattled Libyan dictator.
Fighting in Libya spread to towns near Tripoli, as eastern cities organized interim governments. France called for Moammar Qaddafi to step down, and Italy is preparing a “rescue mission.”
Israeli forces fired rubber-coated bullets at protesters in the West Bank city of Hebron, leaving at least nine injured. Protesters demanded a withdrawal of Israeli army troops from the city.
Several deaths are reported after security forces fired on protesters in Mosul and Haweija, as thousands marched across Iraq in a national “day of rage.”
