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Colombia: Supreme Court justice gets prison

Francisco Javier Ricaurte Gómez, one of the most powerful men in Colombia's justice system for the past 15 years, is now the first former chief magistrate of the country's Supreme Court to go to prison. He is the most senior of several top judges and judicial officials convicted in accepting bribes to pervert criminal cases related to paramilitary activity and illegal resource exploitation.

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Colombia: peace talks with third guerilla group?

Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN), having just concluded a ceasefire with the government, has passed on a letter from the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPL) to President Juan Manuel Santos, proposing a similar peace dialogue. Among conditions for peace, the letter lists an internationally monitored ceasefire, an end to government bombardment of guerilla zones, demilitarization of the countryside, and dismantling of the feared National Police anti-riot squad.

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Colombia: attack on agrarian accord —already

The process of restitution of usurped lands and implementing the agrarian deal with the disarmed FARC rebels is shaping up as a sticking point in Colombia's peace process. The Agriculture Ministry has proposed a reform of Decreed Law 902, issued earlier this year to facilitate redistribution of lands, allowing agribusiness to access zones set aside for landless campesinos.

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Peru seeks to overtake Chile in copper production

In Episode 142 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes on the ugly backlash against bicyclists in New York City, which has escalated from petitioning against bike lanes to dangerous anti-bicycle vigilantism. The recent killing of Chelsea resident Gavin Lee by a hit-and-run bicyclist became a rallying point for the anti-bike partisans. But 255 New Yorkers were killed by motorists last year, their names quickly forgotten by all but their loved ones. The killing of young bicycle messenger Robyn Hightman by a truck driver in 2019 briefly sparked protests. But the names of most victims of automotive terror quickly go down the media Memory Hole. Weinberg recounts some of the recent lives claimed by motorists in the city: Be Tran, Carling Mott, Christian Catalan, Lynn Christopher, Karina Larino, Eric Salitsky, Raife Milligan. It is the auto-centric system that pits pedestrians and bicyclists against each other. What is needed is the dismantling of this system, and its replacement with one that centers human beings and human-powered transport—as is already underway in several European cities. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: Bill Weinberg)

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Peru: campesina sues Newmont Mining

Peruvian campesina Maxima Acuña de Chaupe and her family are suing Newmont Mining in US federal court, claiming the company used violence and threats to try to evict them from their home to make way for the controversial Conga open-pit gold project. The lawsuit charges Newmont with "instructing, authorizing, aiding and abetting, conspiring in and/or ratifying a violent harassment campaign" against Acuña's family.

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Attacks continue in countdown to ELN ceasefire

Guerilla commander Nicolás Rodríguez AKA "Gabino" issued orders to his National Liberation Army (ELN) fighters to honor the bilateral ceasefire that is to take effect Oct. 1. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he hoped the ceasefire would lead to the ELN laying down arms, as happened with the FARC. But these statements came just days after yet another rupture on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline, which the government blamed on the ELN.

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Colombia: peace process model for world

In his final address to the UN General Assembly as president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos delivered a message of peace, portraying the agreement between his government and the FARC guerilla as a model for the rest of the world. But the peace process continues to face numerous challenges in its implementation—not least of which from US pressure to maintain aggressive counter-narcotics operations.

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Venezuela drops petro-dollar: how meaningful?

Venezuela, under growing pressure from US sanctions, has told oil traders that it is dropping petro-dollars for petro-euros and petro-yuans. Despite the instinct to cheer the decline of US world domination, will this make any real difference—either to Venezuela, still dependent on oil exports in a world of depressed prices, or to Planet Earth, facing biosphere collapse as a result of burning hydrocarbons?

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Bolivia: indigenous protesters lift road blockade

Indigenous protesters at the Bolivian Altiplano pueblo of Achacachi lifted their blockade of the main highway to the Peruvian border after a full month of paralyzing traffic on the artery. Following a clash with National Police, villagers agreed to dialogue on their grievances, to be mediated by the Catholic church and Bolivia's human rights ombudsman. The conflict reveals a split over the stance of Bolivia's powerful indigenous movement toward the government of President Evo Morales.

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Colombia: cocaleros resist forced eradication

Colombia's government—under Washington pressure—is pushing ahead with plans to forcibly eradicate 50,000 hectares of coca leaf this year, despite mounting resistance from peasant growers. Violent confrontations between cocaleros and eradication forces are reported across the country. Even "voluntary eradication" is meeting protest, as campesino communities are flooded with National Police troops, in violation of their pacts with the government.

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Peru: pending law threatens indigenous lands

Indigenous rights advocates in Peru are protesting a law being prepared by the administration of President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski that would allow the government to abrogate the land titles of indigenous and peasant communities for development projects that are deemed "high-priority." Peru's alliance of Amazonian peoples, AIDESEP, is dubbing Law 1718 the "Law of Dispossession," and calling on Congress to reject it.

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Colombia: government seeks to restrict ‘consultas’

Community leaders throughout Colombia have spoken out against a proposal by the central government to limit the power of consultas populares, or popular referenda, to bar oil and mineral projects at the municipal level. Some are questioning the constitutionality of the government's plan to "fast track" a sweeping reform of the Organic Law of Territorial Ordering (LOOT) that would strip municipalities of the ability to restrict subsoil exploitation.