A judge sentenced 15 members of Colombia’s military to between four and 30 years in prison for killing two civilians they tried to disguise as guerillas killed in combat.
Venezuelan Prosecutor General Luisa Ortega proposed legislation to limit the media’s freedom of expression in certain circumstances, citing the importance of national security.
President Hugo Chávez withdrew his ambassador from Bogotá to protest charges by Colombia that weapons found in the hands of the FARC were sold by Sweden to Venezuela.
In a minga (popular mobilization) called in response to growing violence on their territories, some 10,000 indigenous residents of Colombia’s Cauca department marched 140 kilometers between the towns of Santander de Quilichao and Corinto July 23-4. On July 19, Corinto… Read moreColombia: indigenous march against violence in Cauca
Traditional indigenous authorities in Antioquia department protested that three residents of the Embera Eyabida reserve were killed by members of the FARC’s Front 18.
Community leaders in Vistahermosa, Meta department, reported the disappearance of a local campesino. A strong presence of the Águilas Negras paramilitary is reported in the zone.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez accused neighboring Colombia of an “unfriendly gesture” towards his country with its plan to host permanent US military bases.
US production of marijuana now equals that of Colombia, according to the annual report of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
A videotape that appears to link Colombia’s FARC guerillas to President Rafael Correa of Ecuador was broadcast on Colombian TV. Correa rejected the claims as “idiocies” and “barbarities.”
Venezuela’s former defense minister Italo del Valle Alliegro faces charges over his role in violent repression of the protests in Caracas in 1989, an affair today known as the “Caracazo.”
Colombia says it is close to sealing an agreement with Washington which would make the country the hub for US anti-drug operations in South America—despite protests that the move is unconstitutional.
FARC guerrilla Gerardo Antonio Aguilar AKA “César” was extradited to the US to face drug charges. “César” guarded hostages including Ingrid Betancourt before his arrest in July 2008.
