Two Colombian soldiers, Sgt. Pablo Emilio Moncayo and Pvt. Josué Daniel Calvo, returned to their hometowns following their release by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Sendero Luminoso, thought to be confined to a small pocket of high jungle known as the Apurimac-Ene River Valley, launched an attack on a coca-eradication team in the Upper Huallaga Valley.
In a case sensationalized by the Bolivian press as a crackdown on a “Norwegian Cartel,” two Norwegians were sentenced on charges of attempting to smuggle 22 kilos of cocaine out of the country.
The five ex-military chiefs who made up the Bolivian High Command in 2003 were cited for the apparent destruction of Armed Forces documents related to “Black October” violence of that year.
Otto Reich was among those who gathered at the Rayburn House Office Building to complain about the “deteriorating democratic system” in Bolivia under leftist President Evo Morales.
Strikes and protests against the Bolivian government’s wage hike offers this week marked a break by organized labor with the leftist government of President Evo Morales.
On a tour of Colombia and Peru, Defense Secretary Robert Gates voiced support for the US-Colombia FTA and hailed Bogotá as a human rights example for the region that Lima should emulate.
Ecuadoran police fired tear gas at indigenous protesters gathered outside the National Assembly building in Quito to oppose a water resources bill that they say favors mining companies and agribusiness.
While May Day marchers in Ecuador generally supported the government—and those in Colombia opposed it—Venezuela saw separate marches by supporters and opponents of Hugo Chávez.
This year’s May Day mobilization in Bolivia comes amid mounting social conflicts, with protesters on the left and the right launching road blocks, hunger strikes and other direct actions.
Evo Morales has sparked international protests with his comments at the Cochabamba climate summit that eating hormone-laden chicken turns men gay.
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales has agreed to meet representatives of the dissident “Table 18” at the Cochabamba climate summit, and hear their demands.
