In its 2007 Annual Report, released March 5, the International Narcotics Control Board called on the governments of Bolivia and Peru to ban coca chewing, as well as its sale or export. The indigenous people of the Andes have chewed… Read moreBolivia, Peru resist international pressure on coca
Iran plans to open a television station “for all of Latin America,” to be based in the coca-growing ChaparĂ© region of Bolivia, President Evo Morales announced at a gathering of cocaleros after his re-election as president of Bolivia’s coca-growers union…. Read moreIran to launch TV station in Bolivia’s coca country
Bolivia’s National Electoral Court (CNE) issued a ruling March 7 postponing a referendum on the new draft constitution scheduled for May 4, saying there is not enough time to ensure “legal guarantees” and an “adequate electoral environment.” CNE president JosĂ©… Read moreBolivian electoral court halts referendums; eastern regions voice defiance
Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer accused by both the UN and Amnesty International of flouting embargos, was arrested at a five-star hotel in central Bangkok March 6. Thai authorities issued the warrant based on information from the US… Read moreRussian “death merchant” busted in Thailand linked to FARC?
Ecuadoran authorities are trying to detemrine if five students and professors from Mexico “carrying out investigations in the zone” were killed in Colombia’s March 1 air-strike on a FARC guerilla camp in the Ecuadoran Amazon. At least one Mexican student… Read moreMexican students killed in Colombian strike on Ecuador?
Some 40,000 people took part in a Bogotá march for victims of Colombia’s paramilitary and armed forces. Organized by the State Crimes Victims Movement (MOVICE), the march was a direct response to last month’s mobilization against the FARC guerillas. The… Read moreColombians march against state, paramilitary violence
In a disconcerting Feb. 29 clip from Cuba’s Prensa Latina, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez suggests that CIA-backed “anarchists” could be behind recent campus violence and bomb attacks in the country: The conservative attack on the regional elections slated for November… Read moreChávez CIA-baits Venezuelan “anarchists”
Colombia’s Constitutional Court has issued a ruling upholding the rights of the San JosĂ© de ApartadĂł Peace Community in the northern war-torn Urabá region, ordering the Colombian government to take steps to end the state of impunity in the crimes… Read moreColombian high court issues ruling on Peace Community
The Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution March 5 declaring the Colombian military raid into Ecuador a violation of sovereignty. The resolution was approved in Washington after talks in which the United States was the hemisphere’s only nation… Read moreLines drawn in Andean crisis
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe upped the rhetorical ante against Venezuela March 4, accusing Hugo Chávez of supporting “genocide” and threatening to bring charges against him at The Hague. “Colombia proposes to denounce Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, in the International… Read moreUribe: Chávez supports “genocide”
As Venezuela and Ecuador order troops to their borders with Colombia, the Colombian National Police chief Gen. Oscar Naranjo announced that documents recovered from the computer of slain guerilla leader Raul Reyes reveal financial ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez… Read moreColombia charges: Chávez funds FARC
Raul Reyes (AKA Luis Edgar Devia), second-in-command of Colombia's FARC guerillas, was killed March 1 in a raid across the border in the Ecuadoran lowland rainforest department of Sucumbios. President Alvaro Uribe called it "the biggest blow so far" against… Read moreFARC commander killed in raid on Ecuador; Chávez warns of “war”
