The US House of Representatives voted 285 to 132 on Nov. 8 to approve the Peru Free Trade Agreement (FTA, or TLC for its initials in Spanish). The agreement, which eliminates tariffs and establishes new rules for foreign investment, was… Read morePeru: FTA advances in Washington
On Nov. 7 Chilean authorities suddenly moved prisoners JosĂ© Huenchunao and Patricia Troncoso Robles to the hospital in Angol in Region IX, apparently because of the effects of a 28-day hunger strike. Along with three other prisoners—JosĂ© Millalen, Jaime Marileo… Read moreChile: Mapuche prisoners hospitalized
Spain’s King Juan Carlos (now famously) told Hugo Chavez to “shut up” after the Venezuelan president repeatedly referred to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a “fascist” at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, Nov. 10. (AP, Nov…. Read moreSpanish king in on ’02 Venezuela coup?
From the Reporters Without Borders, Nov. 9: Coca grower leader threatens to kill five journalists Reporters Without Borders today condemned death threats made against five journalists in the northwestern province of Tocache by Sergio Gonzales Apaza, the leader of the… Read morePeru: cocaleros threaten journalists
Three days before the Nov. 7 opening of the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, a hacker broke into the website of Chile’s presidency and planted the flag of Peru, leaving the site inoperable for some 18 hours. AP reports the intruder… Read morePeruvian cyber-guerillas attack Chile
On Oct. 29 some 300,000 campesinos who cultivate coca in 18 of Peru’s valleys began an open-ended strike to protest the failure of the government of President Alan Garcia to comply with the Tocache Document, in which it promised to… Read morePeru: cocaleros, doctors strike
Peru is sending a force of 100 national police to what has been declared a zona cocalera (coca-growing zone) in ApurĂmac region to hunt down suspected Shining Path guerrillas who killed a police commander and wounded an officer in a… Read morePeru: ApurĂmac militarized after “narcoterror” attack
Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse student protesters who turned out by the tens of thousands in Caracas Nov. 1 to protest constitutional reforms that would permit Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election indefinitely. Chanting… Read moreVenezuela: two dead in student protests
Bolivian President Evo Morales is facing converging crises on multiple fronts—from South American neighbors, from the Colossus of the North, and from internal opposition. Peru is seeking the extradition of Walter Chavez, a top adviser to Morales’ successful 2005 campaign,… Read moreBolivian government under pressure cooker?
Ten prostitutes in the Bolivian highland city of El Alto sewed their lips together Oct. 24 as part of a hunger strike to demand that the mayor reopen brothels and bars ordered closed after angry protests by residents. Some 30… Read moreProstitutes strike in Bolivia
The Colombian armed forces committed 955 extrajudicial executions between July 2002 and June 2007, according an investigation [online at Latin America Working Group] carried out by a coalition of 11 Colombian human rights organizations and released this month. Of these… Read moreColombia: army killings escalate
From AP, Oct 19: Glass Monument to Che in Venezuela Shot CARACAS, Venezuela — A glass monument to revolutionary icon Ernesto “Che” Guevara was shot up and destroyed less than two weeks after it was unveiled by Venezuelan President Hugo… Read moreVenezuela: Che shattered
