Days ahead of the release of a White House report singling out Venezuela for insufficient narcotics enforcement efforts, the US Treasury Department accused four close allies of President Hugo Chávez of assisting Colombia’s FARC guerillas.
The international price of copper is soaring as strikes halt operations at two of the world’s largest mines, Cerro Verde in Peru and Grasberg in Indonesia—both owned by the multinational Freeport McMoRan.
US diplomatic cables from Bolivia and Peru, released by WikiLeaks, warn of an “anti-system movement” in the Andean region, with indigenous peoples moving towards “self-governance and control over land and resources.”
Protests over pollution and lack of local investment shut down the operations of Petrominerales, Colombia’s fourth largest oil producer, with residents and workers erecting roadblocks around the Corcel and Guatiquia oilfields in Meta department.
Colombia’s Supreme Court of Justice condemned Jorge Noguera, ex-director of the Administrative Security Department, to 25 years for allowing paramilitary groups access to intelligence, leading to at least three assassinations of dissidents.
Thousands of teachers and students took to the streets of several Colombian cities to protest President Juan Manuel Santos’ proposal to “reform” higher education, weakening job security and increasing tuition.
The Peruvian NGO Cusichaca Andina won a grant from the World Bank to promote the revival of ancient Andean crops and agricultural methods in peasant communities to help them adapt to the ravages of climate change.
Workers at the Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru’s Arequipa region began a 48-hour strike, demanding higher pay and threatening to launch an indefinite strike in one week if an agreement isn’t reached with multinational Freeport-McMoRan.
Cars and buses were taken off the streets of Bolivia as the country held its first “National Day of the Pedestrian.” All motor vehicles were banned for the day in cities across the country, as the streets were given over to youth festivals and sporting events.
The International Federation of Human Rights released a report condemning Colombia’s human rights record since the Sept. 11 attacks, accusing the government of carrying out widespread abuses under the banner of combating terrorism.
The Bolivian Supreme Court convicted seven officials—five military officers and two former cabinet ministers—of genocide in the “Black October” violence of 2003. They received sentences of between three and 15 years.
New global recession fears have South American leaders so worried that pro-US Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos is now pushing regional integration with the continent’s left-wing and populist governments.
