The Andes

FARC free four more hostages

Four hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were released Feb. 27, in a deal brokered by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The four ex-members of Colombia’s congress are among some 40 high-profile hostages held for years by… Read moreFARC free four more hostages

The Andes
Ralph picture

Ralph DiGia

Genaro Ledesma, a campesino leader and later congressmember who was one of the most respected figures on Peru's political left, died April 1 at the age of 86. He was first elected to Congress in 1963 while imprisoned in connection with peasant protests in his home province of Cerro de Pasco. He was again imprisoned and exiled under later military dictatorships, but returned to Peru with the restoration of democracy in 1979 to help draft the country's new constitution. Ledesma served in the Senate from 1980 to 1990, and continued to work for unity of Peru's democratic left in the polarized years of the Sendero Luminoso insurgency and Alberto Fujimori dictatorship.  (Photo via Facebook)