The Andes
Colombia: FARC peace agreement takes effect
With Colombia's Congress voting to approve the revised peace accord with the FARC rebels, the country is on a countdown to the full demobilization of the guerilla army.
Tag: paramilitaries
Mexico
Mexico: ‘community police’ co-opted by cartels?
Bloody internecine fighting in Guerrero state fuels fears that Mexico's anti-narco "community police" groups could themselves be co-opted by the warring cartels.
Iraq
Iraq gives Shi’ite militias legal status to fight ISIS
Iraq's parliament voted to give the Shi'ite militias fighting ISIS an official paramilitary status—a move assailed by critics who say these forces are enflaming sectarian warfare.
The Andes
Colombia: action pledged on slaying of social leaders
President Juan Manuel Santos announced that he has developed a plan of action to address the ongoing wave of assassinations of social leaders across Colombia.
North America
Trump’s ‘election’: Russian-backed fascist coup?
With Cossacks joining the Klan in celebrating Trump's victory, stateside activists are demanding a recount in swing states, citing fears the vote was hacked by Russian agents.
Mexico
Mexico: paramilitary terror stalks Chihuahua
A wave of paramilitary terror grips the Sierra Tarahumara in northern Mexico's Chihuahua state, as the Sinaloa Cartel seeks control over the opium and cannabis cultivation zone.
Iraq
Iraq: disaster feared as Mosul campaign launched
UN humanitarian agencies in Iraq are bracing for a displacement catastrophe of massive proportions as the US-led offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS is launched.
Southeast Asia
Narco-fascism in the Philippines?
The Philippines' new ultra-hardline President Rodrigo Duterte, now favorably invoking Hitler's genocide as a model for his war on drugs, has already reached a Pinochet-level kill count.
Greater Middle East
Yemen and Syria: fearful symmetry
Russian counterinsurgency in Syria mirrors US-backed counterinsurgency in Yemen, betraying superpower rivalry and "cooperation" alike as inimical to the region's revolutions.
The Andes
Colombians re-mobilize for peace
Thousands marched for peace across Colombia as President Manuel Santos was awared the Nobel prize for his accord with the FARC—despite its rejection in a plebiscite.
Southeast Asia
Philippines: more Duterte death-squad links revealed
A former death-squad hitman testified to the Philippine Senate that extrajudicial executions in Mindanao were personally ordered by now-president Rodrigo Duterte.
Iraq
More US troops to Iraq —on whose side?
The Pentagon will send 600 additional troops to Iraq to help in the offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS—but it is unclear if they will be backing Shi'ite, Sunni or Kurdish forces.