Iraq
Birth defects soar in Fallujah: local doctors
Doctors in the Iraq city of Fallujah report a huge boost in birth defects, with many saying the weapons used by US forces in the intense 2004 fighting are to blame.
Central America
Suit charges Coca-Cola complicity in Guatemala rights abuses
Guatemalan union leaders and their families filed a lawsuit in New York, accusing the world’s biggest beverage company of complicity in violence against labor leaders.
Central America
Guatemalan police destroy opium, cannabis crops
Guatemalan troops and DEA agents destroyed 319 million opium plants and 250,000 marijuana plants in San Marcos department, considered a “sanctuary” of drug cultivation.
Central America
Guatemala: top cops busted, death squads exposed
Guatemalan authorities arrested three top anti-narcotics officials on corruption charges, as other leading officials went public with the existence of resurgent death squads.
Mexico
Cancún summit creates new hemispheric group
The Latin America and Caribbean Unity Summit in Cancún ended with an agreement to form a provisionally named “Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.”
Mexico
Mexico: two Otomí women sentenced for “kidnapping”
A Mexican judge upheld a 21-year prison term for two indigenous women charged with “kidnapping” six federal agents. Amnesty International says the women were “framed.”
Central America
Guatemala: teachers block roads, occupy plaza
Thousands of Guatemalan public school teachers blocked roads and occupied the capital’s central plaza to press their demands for a 16% pay raise.
The Andes
Ecuador: indigenous movement calls national uprising
Following an “extraordinary assembly,” the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) called for an “uprising” to press demands for a “pluri-national state.”
The Andes
Spain: judge accuses Venezuela in FARC-ETA assassination plot
A Spanish judge accused the Venezuelan government of aiding two rebel groups—Spain’s ETA and Colombia’s FARC—in a plot to assassinate Colombia’s president in Spain.
The Andes
China enters free trade deal with Peru
The China-Peru FTA took effect, calling for phasing out tariffs on 90% of goods exchanged between the two nations. Peruvian minerals are critical to the pact.
Central America
Honduras: new charges against Zelaya; coup leader ousted from military
The new Honduran government brought fresh corruption charges against the exiled Manuel Zelaya, but also removed the military chief who ousted him in last year’s coup d’etat.
Southern Cone
“State of exception” in quake-stricken Chile
President Michelle Bachelet has declared a “state of catastrophe” in Concepción in the wake of the devastating earthquake, placing the zone under control of the armed forces.