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.

Central America

Guatemala: Swiss arrest ex-police commander

Swiss prosecutors announced that Erwin Sperisen, former commander of Guatemala's National Police, was arrested in Geneva and will stand trial for extrajudicial killings. 

The Amazon

Brazil: quilombo threatened by rancher gunmen

Rights groups warn that the Afro-descendant Quilombo Pontes community in Brazil’s lawless Maranhão state is being “systematically threatened” by gunmen in the pay of local ranchers.

The Amazon

Venezuela: Yanomami massacred by outlaw miners

Venezuelan authorities pledge to investigate breaking reports that outlaw miners comitted a “massacre” of an isolated Yanomami indigenous community on the Brazilian border.