Colombia’s government announced April 18 an “experimental” cease-fire with the National Liberation Army (ELN) following talks in Havana. “The president has asked me to accept the ELN’s experimental and temporary cease-fire proposal,” Colombian peace negotiator Luis Carlos Restrepo told reporters…. Read moreColombia: “experimental” ceasefire with ELN
An investigation that has already exposed links between government officials and illegal paramilitary groups in six of Colombia’s coastal departments has now reached the home department of President Álvaro Uribe, focusing on his administration’s politically powerful allies. Colombia’s Supreme Court,… Read moreColombia: para probe hits Uribe’s home turf
At least 2,000 Quechua marchers and dancers in traditional costume filled the streets of Cusco, Peru on March 5 to protect the Andean sacred site of Q’oyllur Riti from mining activities. They came by bus or on foot from eight… Read moreQuechua dance to save Andean sacred site
Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) denied government charges it has become a drug trafficking organization, saying the accusations jeopardize preliminary peace talks set to resume this month. Peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo told Reuters the previous day that cocaine smuggling… Read moreColombia: ELN denies narco charge
Violence has forced up to 7,000 people in the southern Colombian department of Nariño from their homes over the past two weeks as soldiers battle to retake land from FARC guerillas producing cocaine in the area, officials said. The displacement,… Read moreColombia: 7,000 displaced in Nariño
Interpol issued an international arrest warrant April 3 for three Israelis accused of training illegal paramilitary groups in Colombia. Yair Klein, Melnik Ferri and Tzedaka Abraham are being sought on charges of criminal conspiracy and instruction in terrorism, facing nearly… Read moreColombia seeks Israelis in paramilitary scandal
from Weekly News Update on the Americas: On March 24, two separate but nearly simultaneous marches were held in Buenos Aires to mark the anniversary of Argentina’s 1976 coup and remember the 30,000 people who were disappeared by the military… Read moreARGENTINA: DIRTY WAR AND HISTORICAL MEMORY
Continue ReadingARGENTINA: DIRTY WAR AND HISTORICAL MEMORYVenezuela has announced it is working on a number of new oil deals with China, as it aims to reduce its dependence upon crude exports to the US. The China National Petroleum Corporation is expected to sink new investments in… Read moreVenezuela seeks China oil deals
The Los Angeles Times reported March 25 on new CIA intelligence indicating that the Colombia’s army chief, Gen. Mario Montoya, collaborated extensively with right-wing paramilitaries that Washington considers terrorist organizations. The report circulated within the CIA and obtained by the… Read moreColombia rejects CIA report on army-para ties
Early on March 20 in Tirua, in Chile’s Region VIII, police arrested Jose Huenchunao Marinan, a Mapuche community leader (werken) and activist who had been in hiding for nearly three years. Huenchunao, a member of the Arauco-Malleco Mapuche Coordinating Committee,… Read moreChile: another Mapuche leader arrested
The Colombian government says that it will seek the extradition of eight unnamed people affiliated with the US banana giant Chiquita Brands International for their alleged involvement in the company’s payments to illegal right-wing paramilitary groups. The Chicago Tribune reports… Read moreColombia seeks eight in Chiquita terrorist scandal
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) states in its annual report that the “democratic security” policy of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe could have negative implications for human rights in the conflicted South American country. The report said the… Read moreColombia: UN blasts Uribe’s “democratic security” program
