Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has met with military commanders to discuss a request made by the governor of Rio de Janeiro for a military presence on the city’s streets, as a means of supplementing police patrols. Drug-fueled… Read moreRio de Janeiro requests army troops
At least 475 youths were arrested and about 100 police agents were injured in clashes in Santiago on March 29 when Chilean students, mostly from secondary schools, carried out their annual march for the Day of the Young Combatant. Some… Read moreChile: hundreds arrested in protest
Brazil will build a two million dollar wall on its border with Paraguay. Reports say that the government of Brazil contracted the construction of the 3 kilometer wall to begin at the end of March and end within six months…. Read moreBrazil to build wall on Paraguay border
On March 8, thousands of Brazilians marched to celebrate women’s day and protest the visit to Brazil of US president George W. Bush, scheduled to begin that evening. The largest march took place in Sao Paulo, with more than 10,000… Read moreBrazil: thousands protest Bush, “agrofuels”
On Feb. 14, six indigenous Mapuche families (about 25 people) began occupying a plot on the 534-acre Santa Rosa estate in Chubut province, in the Patagonia region of southern Argentina. The Italian clothing company Benetton claims ownership of the Santa… Read moreArgentina: Mapuches reclaim land from Benetton
Jorge Huenchullan, a Mapuche leader detained Feb. 17 in a violent police operation in Temucuicui, Chile, was transfered to Algol prison after a court in Collipulli declared him a fugitive from justice. The court cited an outstanding arrest order against… Read moreChile: Mapuche leader arrested
Friends and advocates from the Paraguayan Union of Journalists (SPP) will mark the one year anniversary of Paraguayan radio journalist Enrique (Kike) Galeano’s disappearance with a protest in his home town of Yby Yaú. Galeano was reporting on drug trafficking… Read moreParaguay: journalist still missing
On Feb. 7, some 20,000 Paraguayan campesinos held protests at 10 sites around the country as part of a national mobilization to draw attention to the low income they receive from agricultural production and to demand solutions to their plight…. Read moreParaguay: campesino protest repressed
On Dec. 29 Chilean judge Haroldo Brito sentenced 13 former security agents to prison terms ranging from five to 18 years for four revenge murders carried out after a September 1986 attempt to kill Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, dictator of… Read moreChile: Pinochet agents sentenced
Paraguayan general Alejandro Fretes Davalos, who led the imprisonment and torture of hundreds of people under the dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner (1954-1989), died on Dec. 29 following a lengthy illness. Fretes had graduated from Chile’s Military School, where he served… Read moreParaguay: ex-military chief dies
On Dec. 12, nearly 300 indigenous Tupinikim and Guarani people and supporters occupied the Portocel port facilities used by the Aracruz Celulose wood pulp company at Aracruz, in Brazil’s Espirito Santo state. The protesters are demanding that the Brazilian government… Read moreBrazil: Guarani occupy port
Former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte (1973-1990) died of heart failure at the age of 91 in the Santiago Military Hospital the afternoon of Dec. 10. Dozens of his right-wing supporters gathered outside the hospital as soon as they… Read morePinochet dies untried
