Bolivian soldiers arrested the opposition prefect of Pando department, Leopoldo Fernández, on Sept. 16. He was flown to La Paz to face genocide charges in connection with last week’s massacre of at least 16 peasant supporters of President Evo Morales…. Read moreBolivia: Pando governor arrested; US turns up the heat
On Aug. 25, the workers of the sugar cane industry in the Colombian departments of Cauca and Valle del Cauca held an assembly in the town of Candelaria, Valle, attended by more than 7,000, where the decision was taken to… Read moreColombia: sugar cane workers threatened
From the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Sept. 16: On September 4, party workers from the Salvadoran FMLN (Farabundo Martà National Liberation Front) were assaulted in San Salvador, resulting in the hospitalization of four individuals…. Read moreEl Salvador: FMLN activists attacked
The price of crude oil dropped below $100 per barrel for the first time in six months Sept. 15, closing at $95.71 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. With Lehman Bros. heading into bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch agreeing to a… Read moreOil prices fall —gasoline prices jump
Tourists traveling the picturesque Copper Canyon circuit in Mexico’s northern Chihuahua state got a far different look at the country this weekend from the one promoted in glossy brochures. Taking to the streets for more than three hours on Sept…. Read moreMexicans block rail line to demand justice in narco-killings
Clashes erupted in the Chilean capital of Santiago the night of Sept. 11 as protesters erected burning barricades and battled police with firearms and rocks on the anniversary Augusto Pinochet’s 1973 military coup. Authorities said two police officers were hospitalized… Read moreViolence on Chile’s 9-11 commemoration
As South America’s presidents converged on Chile Sept. 15 for an emergency summit on the crisis in Bolivia, President Evo Morales accused his political foes in the eastern lowlands of mounting a “civic coup,” and inciting “crimes against humanity by… Read moreBolivia: who controls Pando?
Nigeria’s main militant group in the Niger Delta declared an “oil war” against foreign-owned companies working in the region in a Sept. 14 statement. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said it had launched an operation… Read moreNiger Delta rebels declare “oil war”
At least 20 members of Turkmenistan’s security forces were killed in clashes in the capital Ashgabat Sept. 12, according to to media reports and diplomatic sources. Police battled “a religious group, possibly radical Islamists,” according to a diplomatic source quoted… Read moreArmed struggle breaks out in Turkmenistan?
At least 31 were killed and 60 wounded in a car bomb attack Sept. 12 in the center of the Shi’ite town of Dujail, north of Baghdad. The bombing occurred at dusk as many residents rushed to make last-minute purchases… Read moreIraq: continued terror belies “success” of surge
Synchronized explosions hit five crowded markets and thoroughfares in New Delhi Sept. 13—including Connaught Place, a tourist destination in the heart of the city. The blasts left 23 dead and over 100 injured. A group called Indian Mujahedeen sent an… Read more“Indian Mujahedeen” strike New Delhi
The opposition prefect of Bolivia’s eastern Pando department, Leopoldo Fernández, is facing an order for his arrest from the national government following violence at Porvenir, 30 kilometers east of the department’s capital, Cobija, that left 16 dead Sept. 11. Interior… Read moreBolivia: 18 dead in Pando, governor ordered arrested
