Colombia’s imprisoned paramilitary warlords July 24 announced an end to cooperation with prosecutors investigating massacres and other atrocities, throwing into question the country’s peace process. The move was taken to protest the July 11 ruling of the Supreme Court of… Read moreColombia: para commanders break off peace process
Colombia has offered to host US military operations currently run out of Ecuador, once the lease for the base there expires in two years, according to a senior Pentagon official who spoke to reporters in July. Such a change would… Read moreNew US military base slated for Colombia?
The Wayuu indigenous people of Venezuela sent a message saluting the "Encuentro of the Pueblos Zapatistas with the Peoples of the World," which has just opened at the village of Oventic in Chiapas, Mexico. The message was harshly critical of… Read moreVenezuela: indigenous people salute Zapatistas
Labor unrest, infrastructure problems and charges of corruption at Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA have reached the point of a “significant operational emergency,” PDVSA vice president for exploration and production Luis Vierma told the National Assembly’s comptroller committee July 18…. Read moreVenezuela: “operational emergency” in oil sector?
At least one million people—more than two million, according to some sources—marched in El Alto, Bolivia, on July 20 to call for national unity and to oppose proposals to move the executive and legislative branches of government from La Paz,… Read moreBolivia: massive march for national unity
Global warming is drying up mountain lakes and wetlands in the Andes and threatening water supplies to such major cities as La Paz, Quito and Bogota, World Bank research reveals. The risk is especially great to the high-Andes wetlands known… Read moreClimate change threatens Andes water supplies: World Bank
Luis Hernando Gomez Bustamante—known as “Rasguño,” or “Scratch”—alleged head of Colombia’s Norte del Valle cocaine cartel, has been extradited to the US to face charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. He was flown by helicopter July 19 from the… Read moreColombia extradites kingpin “Rasguño” —thanks to Cuba!
Indigenous people in Bolivia are marching cross-country from the lowland city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra to the judicial capital, Sucre, where the country’s Constituent Assembly is meeting. About 400 men, women and children from the tropical zone’s ethnicities,… Read moreBolivia: indigenous march on Constituent Assembly
Peruvian unionists, campesinos, leftists and nationalists came together to stage a massive one-day general strike on July 11 to protest the economic policies of President Alan Garcia of the social democratic Aprista party. The July 11 Day of National Struggle,… Read morePeru: protests against US trade accord rock country
From the Colombia Support Network (CSN), July 14: On July 13, 2007 at 12:15 PM two men who had the previous day identified themselves as members of the “Black Eagles” paramilitary organization, stopped a public transport vehicle, forced Peace Community… Read moreColombia: another killing at San Josecito Peace Community
Peru’s National Federation of Miners, Metalworkers and Steelworkers called a nation-wide strike for July 10 and 11, in solidarity with more than 1,500 workers at the Casapalca mine who walked out in May. The conflict has claimed five lives so… Read morePeru: national solidarity strike halts mines
President Evo Morales pledged to personally negotiate with strikers who have shut down Bolivia’s largest tin mine if the 4,800 employees return to work first. Miners at the state-operated Huanuni mine went on strike last week to demand greater administrative… Read moreBolivia: tin miners strike
