Shelling and gunfire are rocking Mogadishu as Islamists and Hawiye clan insurgents battle government and Ethiopian troops for control of the Somali capital. The UN says 321,000 people—nearly a third of the city’s population—have fled since February, in the country’s… Read moreSomalia: Mogadishu explodes —again
Protesters demanding a share of taxes from Bolivian natural gas field remain in control of the key Yacuiba plant that pumps gas to Argentina. The protesters freed some 50 police officers held hostage for over 20 hours, but have not… Read moreBolivia: protesters seize gas plant
Authorities say gunmen who stormed a hospital and battled police in Tijuana April 18, leaving three dead, were soliders for the city’s Arellano Felix drug cartel. The clashes began when police tried to stop a truck carrying two alleged Arellano… Read moreTijuana cartel gunmen in hospital siege
The Other Campaign of Jovel—local chapter of the Zapatista civil initiative in the Chiapas highland city of San Cristobal de Las Casas—has turned over to the agrarian authorities in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, a critical analysis of land conflicts… Read moreChiapas: agrarian authorities accused in land conflicts
The Section 22 teachers union in the conflicted southern Mexican state of Oaxaca has entered into dialogue with the federal Government Secretariat (Gobernación). There are two issues they have agreed to discuss: release of unionists detained in the strike over… Read moreOaxaca: Section 22 teachers in dialogue with Mexican government
From Cuba’s Prensa Latina, April 19: International terrorist Luis Posada Carriles was released by US authorities on Thursday, despite evidence of his involvement in criminal acts. According to one of the terrorist’s lawyers, Felipe Millan, Posada left the New Mexico… Read moreCuba: US releases “international terrorist”
Nicaragua has arrested 17 people in two days in a crackdown on Mexico’s Sinaloa cocaine cartel, which has established a foothold in the Central American country and reportedly issued death threats against the national police chief, Aminta Granera. The Nicaraguan… Read moreNicaragua cracks down on Mexican cartel
Petroleos de Nicaragua (Petronic) has announced construction of an oil refinery in the Central American nation, with aid from Venezuela as part of Hugo Chavez’s proposed Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA). Work is to begin on the “Sandino-Bolivar” refinery… Read moreNicaragua tilts to Venezuela —and away from PPP
The recent media coverage of para-politics in Colombia may be the final nail in the coffin for a proposed US-Colombia free trade agreement. Colombia’s President Alvaro Uribe, Bush’s strongest ally in the region, not only has an administration filled with… Read moreColombia: para scandal threatens trade deal
Colombia’s government announced April 18 an “experimental” cease-fire with the National Liberation Army (ELN) following talks in Havana. “The president has asked me to accept the ELN’s experimental and temporary cease-fire proposal,” Colombian peace negotiator Luis Carlos Restrepo told reporters…. Read moreColombia: “experimental” ceasefire with ELN
East Timor Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta met with a rebel representative April 19 to discuss an end to a military operations against a fugitive army defector. Leandro Isaac, who abandoned his seat in parliament to join former army major Alfredo… Read moreEast Timor: dialogue with rebels
A court in Urumqi, the capital of China’s restive Xinkiang autonomous region, has sentenced the son of exiled Uighur nationalist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Rebiya Kadeer to nine years in prison for secessionist activities. Ablikim Abdiriyim was found guilty… Read moreChina imprisons Uighur dissident
