The Andes

SOA graduate charged in Ecuador coup attempt

Col. Manuel E. Rivadeneira Tello, a School of the Americas graduate, has been charged for last week’s unsuccessful coup attempt in Ecuador. Two other police leaders are under investigation.

The Andes

Venezuela: Chávez announces new land seizures

On the heels of electoral reversals for his ruling party, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez announced new land expropriations to benefit the peasants, and called for creation of a popular militia force.

Europe

Hungary: sludge spill flows toward Danube River

A flood of red toxic sludge spilled by an aluminum plant in western Hungary has advanced along a secondary tributary to the Danube River and could reach the international waterway by the weekend.

Southeast Asia

Indonesia: peasants march for land

Some 20 thousand peasants marked the 50th commemoration of Indonesia’s National Farmers Day and passage of the country’s first agrarian law, with mobilizations to demand a new agrarian reform program.

The Andes

Ecuador: army rescues Correa from hospital

Ecuador's military staged a rescue to free President Correa, who was holed up in a hospital for more than 12 hours by a police uprising, putting an end to what Correa characterized as a coup attempt.