Venezuela plans to build five military bases along its border with Colombia, Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami announced Nov. 9 on a visit to the mountainous border zone, saying the bases will help President Hugo Chavez’s government fight drug smuggling,… Read moreVenezuela to militarize Colombian border
Mitsubishi, which plans to release its own electric car soon, estimates that the demand for lithiumâa critical ingredient in the batteriesâwill outstrip supply in less than 10 years unless new sources come on line. And those sources are in the… Read moreNext in Bolivia: lithium wars?
Threats from resurgent paramilitary groups continue against the San JosĂ© de ApartadĂł Peace Community in Colombia’s conflicted UrabĂĄ region. On the morning of Nov. 7 at the San JosĂ© vereda (hamlet) of Playa Larga, some 50 rifle-wielding paramilitaries in camo… Read moreColombia: more threats, displacement at Peace Community
Hugo ChĂĄvez says he is ready to talk to Barack Obama despite the president-elect’s past criticism of the Venezuelan leader. “We are convinced that the hour has arrived to establish new relations between our countries and our regions, based on… Read moreChĂĄvez, Evo hail Obama’s victory, call for “new relations”
Gen. Mario Montoya, commander of Colombiaâs armed forces, resigned Nov. 4 after an investigation tied dozens of military personnel under his command to a growing scandal over the killing of civilians by the military in an apparent attempt to inflate… Read moreColombia: armed forces chief resigns in human rights scandal
The Peace Community of San JosĂ© de ApartadĂł in Colombia’s northwestern Antioquia department reported on Oct. 31 that right-wing paramilitaries were threatening to murder community members. A joint operation of paramilitaries and the army’s 17th Brigade murdered eight people in… Read moreColombia: paras threaten Peace Community
President Evo Morales, speaking before a cheering crowd of coca-growers, announced Nov. 1 that he is suspending “until further notice” the operations of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Bolivia, accusing the agency of spying and encouraging anti-government protests…. Read moreBolivia boots DEA
Colombia’s FARC guerrillas agreed in principle Oct. 28 to meet with 150 prominent Colombian intellectual and political figures to discuss a release of hostages. The meeting had been suggested in a Sept. 11 letter by the group, which includes relatives… Read moreColombia: FARC agrees to peace dialogue
Colombian President Ălvaro Uribe announced Oct. 29 the sacking of 25 soldiers and officersâincluding three generals and four colonelsâin connection with the deaths of 11 young men from the town of Soacha, in central Cundinamarca department. The move followed a… Read moreColombia: officers purged over “false positive” executions
Amid growing protests against the controversial Hidroituango dam on Colombia's Río Cauca, three opponents of the project were slain by unknown assailants—weeks before a tunnel in the complex collapsed due to a landslide, backing up water behind the dam to dangerous levels and causing cracks to emerge in its facade. Authorities now fear an imminent disaster, posing a grave threat to downstream communities. Several opponents of the project have been assassinated over the years of its construction, leading to demands for an investigation of possible paramilitary collusion by the dam's builders. (Photo via El Espectador)
The nearly 40,000 indigenous Colombians who marched on Cali in a two-week cross-country trek to meet with President Alvaro Uribe in a dialogue on land reform and human rights issues are preparing to return to their homes in Cauca department… Read moreColombia: Uribe stiffs indigenous leaders
Conservative Colombian congressman Oscar Tulio Lizcano is free Oct. 26 after more than eight years as a hostage of the FARC guerillasâtheir longest-held captive. But news accounts diverge widely on the details of his liberation. CBS says he was “freed”… Read moreColombia: hostage “rescue” âor escape?
