Some 2,000 campesina women occupied a eucalyptus plantation outside Porto Alegre as the second International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development convened in the city.
The Argentinian government harshly condemned Leon Panetta, the new CIA director, for warning of an economic crisis in the country, calling it an “unacceptable interference” in its affairs.
Authorities in Argentina gave a “traditionalist” Catholic bishop 10 days to leave the country or be expelled after he caused an international imbroglio by denying the extent of the Holocaust.
A court in La Araucania, Chile, charged indigenous Mapuche activist Miguel Angel Tapia Huenulef under the country’s Anti-terrorism Law after explosives were reportedly found in a police raid of his home.
Brazilian police arrested 51 members of two supposed narcotics gangs in simultaneous raids in eight states—days after a raid in Rio’s favelas left 10 dead.
Ex-Argentine president Carlos Menem made his first appearance at a trial in which he is accused of clandestine arms sales to Croatia. He also faces charges in the deadly 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish center attack.
On Dec. 22 the second chamber of Argentina’s federal appeals court confirmed that “there is no medical examination that would justify” releasing Gen. Jorge Rafael Videla, the first president of the 1976-1983 military regime, from prison. The ruling upholds an… Read moreArgentina: rights violators stay in jail
The Argentine government, the opposition and grassroots organizations all marked Dec. 10 as the 25th anniversary of the return of democratic rule after a bloody 1976-1983 military dictatorship. The Mothers (Founding Line) and the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo—organizations… Read moreArgentina: mass graves excavated
On Nov. 25 Argentine president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner announced an economic stimulus package that includes tax breaks for Argentines who repatriate money they’ve sent abroad and invest it in infrastructure, real estate, agriculture, industry or government bonds; tax breaks… Read moreArgentina: government announces stimulus
The 15 unions representing Chile’s government workers agreed on the night of Nov. 20 to end their four-day-old strike after the Senate approved a 10.4% raise earlier that day. The unions had demanded a 14.5% pay increase, arguing that the… Read moreChile: public employees win 10% raise
Former Argentine police commander Mario Ferreyra, 63, pulled out a .45 pistol from his boot and shot himself dead in the middle of a TV interview at his home Nov. 22. Ferreyra, also known as “El Malevo,” was accused of… Read moreEx-Argentine police commander in televised suicide
Some 400,000 Chilean public employees staged a two-day strike on Nov. 11 and 12 to push for a 14.5% pay increase. The National Association of Government Employees (ANEF), which includes 15 unions and associations, said the job action was 90%… Read moreChile: government workers strike
