The Andes
Peru: mine tailing spill contaminates Río Huallaga
Authorities in Peru admitted that wastewater laced with heavy metals from a major zinc mine has spilled into the Río Huallaga, a major tributary of the Amazon.
The Andes
Colombia: army general gets 25 years for para collaboration
Colombian army general Rito Alejo del Río Rojas, accused of forming a “macabre alliance” with paramilitary groups, was sentenced to 25 years for murder of a peasant leader.
Mexico
Mexico: CIA agents hit in ambush by federal police?
The Mexican daily La Jornada reports that the two US agents wounded in a roadside ambush by federal police were from the Central Intelligence Agency, not the DEA.
Mexico
Mexican peace caravan ‘disarms Houston’
Relatives of victims of drug-related violence in Mexico protested lax US gun control laws by destroying two US-purchased firearms in a public park in Houston.
Mexico
Mexico: PRI candidate declared winner, students protest
Students held a “funeral for democracy” in reponse to the official designation of Enrique Peña Nieto, from the once-entrenched PRI machine, as Mexico’s next president.
The Caribbean
Dominican Republic: denied an abortion, teen cancer patient dies
The death of a pregnant 16-year-old with leukemia has reignited controversy over the 2010 Constitution’s Article 37, which bans all abortions, even when the mother’s life is in danger.
Central America
Honduras: five killed in continuing Aguán violence
Five people died violently in the Aguán region in less than a week; at least two of the deaths appeared related to campesino struggles for land now held by big landowners.
Southern Cone
Chile: Mapuche prisoners start latest hunger strike
Seven Mapuche activists went on hunger strike to protest what they consider the Chilean government’s repression of struggles by the indigenous group to regain ancestral lands.
Iraq
Nobel laureate urges prosecution of Bush, Blair for Iraq war crimes
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu called for George W. Bush and Tony Blair to stand trial at the International Criminal Court for their roles in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The Andes
Colombia’s ex-security chief pleads guilty to para collaboration
Gen. Mauricio Santoyo, security chief to Colombia’s ex-president Álvaro 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.
Africa
War criminal Meles Zenawi dies a free man
Ethiopia's Meles Zenawi died without having to answer for his war crimes—he remained in the good graces of the West to the end, getting a free ride from the world media.