Thousands of demonstrators, led by PaĂşl Carrasco, prefect of Azuay province, filled the streets of Cuenca, Ecuador, to oppose President Rafael Correa’s plans to massively expand the mineral sector.
Small-scale independent gold miners led strikes and protests across several regions of Peru to demand abrogation of new decrees that outlaw their activities.
Weeks after notorious Shining Path leader “Comrade Artemio” was caputured, Peruvian authorities announced the apprehension of his sucessor “Comrade Freddy.”
Journalist Luis AgustĂn González faces a possible 18-month jail term for writing an editorial accusing a former governor and senator of “arrogance” and “despotism.”
The UN representative to Colombia, Todd Howland, said that the country’s victims law has “holes” because threats and violence against displaced campesinos seeking to reclaim their usurped lands are impeding successful implementation.
Colombia’s FARC rebels announced they will release all 10 captive members of the security forces, and abandon kidnapping of civilians for extortion purposes. President Juan Manuel Santos said the move was “not enough” to renew peace talks.
Riot police in La Paz clashed with disabled protesters in wheelchairs and on crutches. The “Wheelchair Caravan for Integration” traveled 100 days cross country to demand rights and government aid for Bolivia’s disabled.
There are doubtless many good reasons to oppose Henrique Capriles Radonski, the bourgeois politician who is challenging Hugo Chávez for Venezuela’s presidency. His Jewish background is equally assuredly not among them.
Carlos PĂ©rez, one of four El Universo newspaper managers convicted of libel against Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, was granted asylum by Panama. El Universo is appealing to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
Peru’s President Ollanta Humala flew into a remote jungle military base in the Upper Huallaga Valley to announce the capture of “Comrade Artemio,” the last Shining Path commander dating back to the high noon of the insurgency 20 years ago.
A procession of some 1,000 entered Lima after a nine-day cross-country march, holding a massive rally in Plaza San MartĂn to oppose the Conga mining project in Cajamarca region, and like projects across Peru’s sierras.
Colombia’s former Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, now on the lam, was charged with conspiracy, fraud and illegal arms trafficking related to the bogus “demobilization” of non-existent FARC fighters in a “criminal enterprise.”
