On June 27, hundreds of police agents used tear gas in an effort to break up a blockade of Peru’s central highway by miners carrying out a regional strike. The miners struck back with rocks, and one police agent was… Read morePeru: deadly violence at miners’ protest
Raúl Reyes, secretary of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), issued a call June 29 for the suspension of military operations in the southwest of Colombia to allow for the transfer of the bodies of 11 lawmakers who died in… Read moreColombia: did FARC kill hostages?
In response to years of activist pressure, Congressional Democrats have proposed amendments to the Bush administration’s annual foreign aid appropriations request for Colombia. If the Democrats have their way, overall funding will be cut by 10%, while 45% of the… Read moreCongress to cut Colombia military aid?
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have opted to abandon their heavy crude oil projects in eastern Venezuela’s Orinoco Belt rather than cede majority ownership and operating control to the state-owned oil company PDVSA, Venezuelan officials announced June 26. President Hugo Chavez had… Read moreExxon quits Venezuela
Two people were killed, including a three-year-old girl, and seven wounded June 24 when presumed leftist guerillas detonated a bomb in a tourist area of Colombia’s main Pacific port, Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca department), the latest in a series of… Read moreColombia: bombing wave at Pacific port halts hostage talks
Spain’s regional Basque Parliament June 22 voted down a motion submitted by the right-wing People’s Party (PP) advocating “freedom of expression” and “pluralism in news media in Venezuela,” following the refusal of the Hugo Chávez government to renew the broadcast… Read moreBasque regional government stands up for Hugo Chavez
A lawyer for the United Steelworkers has asked the US State Department to investigate infiltration by Colombia’s illegal paramilitaries into President Alvaro Uribe’s first electoral campaign, based on a video showing then-candidate Uribe meeting with a group that included a… Read moreColombia: video sparks call for probe of Uribe paramilitary links
Cauca and the Afro-Colombian Renaissance by Bill Weinberg Heading south in a “chiva” mini-bus from the teeming and chaotic city of Cali, the road crosses into the southern department of Cauca—one of the most conflicted in Colombia—as suburbs and industrial… Read moreAFRICAN RENAISSANCE IN A COLOMBIAN WAR ZONE
Continue ReadingAFRICAN RENAISSANCE IN A COLOMBIAN WAR ZONEThe Chamber of Representatives of the Colombian Congress voted 62-43 the night of June 14 to approve a law recognizing civil unions. The law would allow same-sex couples to register if they have lived together for two years and are… Read moreGay rights advance in Colombia —Brazil next?
Two Colombian soldiers assigned to counter-guerilla operations in the southern part of the country were arrested June 10 for slaying six unarmed civilians, including a child, during a killing spree early the previous day. The soldiers appeared to be drunk… Read moreColombia: soldiers arrested in killing spree
International arms dealer Monzer al-Kassar was arrested by Spanish police June 7 after a federal indictment was issued against him in New York for conspiring to support terrorists and kill US soldiers. US officials said undercover agents with the Drug… Read moreSpain: Syrian arms dealer stung in DEA pseudo-deal with Colombian guerillas
Advocates for the families of 173 people murdered in the banana-growing regions of Colombia filed suit today against Chiquita Brands International, in Federal District Court in Washington, D.C. The families allege that Chiquita paid millions of dollars, and tried to… Read moreColombia: para victims sue banana giant
