Colombia: SOA graduate charged in massacres
After almost 20 years, a former Colombian army officer was sentenced to 44 years in prison for his role in the deaths of over 245 civilians in the Trujillo Massacres between 1986 and 1994.
After almost 20 years, a former Colombian army officer was sentenced to 44 years in prison for his role in the deaths of over 245 civilians in the Trujillo Massacres between 1986 and 1994.
Unknown assailants on a motorcycle assassinated Colombian indigenous leader Rodolfo Maya Aricape as he left a community meeting in the hamlet of López Adentro, in violence-torn Cauca department.
Bolivian newspapers engaged in a protest against a proposed anti-racism law they claim would hurt freedom of expression, all running the headline “There is no democracy without freedom of expression.”
Seven Peruvian SOA graduates were convicted of aggravated murder, kidnapping, forced disappearance, and conspiracy for their roles in two massacres and the murder of a radio journalist.
Col. Manuel E. Rivadeneira Tello, a School of the Americas graduate, has been charged for last week’s unsuccessful coup attempt in Ecuador. Two other police leaders are under investigation.
On the heels of electoral reversals for his ruling party, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez announced new land expropriations to benefit the peasants, and called for creation of a popular militia force.
The Colombian inspector general removed Senator Piedad Córdoba from her position and barred her from public office for 18 years because of what he said were her links to the rebel FARC.
Ecuador's military staged a rescue to free President Correa, who was holed up in a hospital for more than 12 hours by a police uprising, putting an end to what Correa characterized as a coup attempt.
A state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador as the National Police launched a rebellion over cuts to their benefits. President Rafael Correa, who was assaulted by police, warned of a coup attempt.
The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó, located in the Urabá region of northwestern Colombia, charged that right-wing paramilitaries are continuing to attack and threaten its members.
A general strike shut down the Peruvian highland city of Cusco after police repression of campesino protests against the mega-scale Majes-Siguas II irrigation project left one dead.
Top FARC commander Jorge Briceño Suárez AKA “Mono Jojoy” was killed in an airborne raid by Colombian government forces in the latest blow against the guerilla organization.