The Andes

Rights abuses seen in US-Ecuador joint operations

Human Rights Watch released a report detailing four attacks on Ecuadorian persons, properties and vessels that they attribute to an intensified counter-narcotics campaign led by the US with the partnership of the Ecuadorian government. The first attack took place in March on the farming community of San Martín, Sucumbíos province, and was confirmed by the US government as a partnered military operation. The remaining three incidents took place at sea, off Ecuador’s Pacific coast. They are the January disappearance of the Fiorella, an Ecuadorian fishing vessel, and March drone attacks on two other fishing vessels, La Negra Francisco Duarte II and the Don Maca. The US has denied responsibility in these maritime strikes. (Image: Nicolas Raymond via Flickr)

The Andes

US pushes ‘Donroe Doctrine’ at Cuzco defense summit

Representatives from over 30 countries gathered in the Peruvian city of Cuzco for the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, where top Pentagon official Elbridge Colby used the occasion to defend the “Donroe Doctrine.” As at other regional security summits, including the “Shield of the Americas” conference held in Florida in March, Trump officials cast drug trafficking and irregular migration as threats to US security, urged regional governments to increase military spending, and called for deeper security collaboration with Washington. An increasing number of the right-wing governments in attendance have embraced closer military ties with the United States through joint strikes and new military bases—even as militarized policies fail to curb organized crime and violence in countries like Ecuador, a key testing ground for the administration’s renewed war on “narcoterrorism.” (Photo: Martin St-Amant via Wikimedia Commons)

The Andes

Peru: UN protests military ‘impunity’ bill

UN human rights chief Volker Türk urged the government of Peru to refrain from adopting a draft law that grants military jurisdictions the authority to investigate and prosecute possible human rights violations. Türk stressed that human rights violations should be handled by independent and impartial courts, as required by international law and UN standards. Türk warned of potential for impunity and violations of internationally protected rights, such as the right to an effective remedy and the right to a fair trial. (Photo: Protontorniyo via Wikimedia Commons)

The Andes

Peru: ‘Mass of Reparation’ for abuses of Catholic society

A delegation from the Vatican—including cardinals and bishops—joined representatives of the Catholic Church in Peru to kneel before local campesinos and ask their forgiveness at a “Mass of Reparation” held at the parish of San Juan Bautista in Catacaos, Piura region. A Vatican investigation found that the Tallán indigenous communities of the parish for over a decade suffered land expropriation, physical threats and other abuses at the hands of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae. The lay society, better known as “Sodalicio,” was among the most active Catholic movements in Latin America from the early 1970s until it was suppressed by order of Pope Francis in April 2025. (Photo: Vatican News)

The Andes

Colombia: growing toll from armed conflict

In its latest annual report, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) found that the armed conflict in Colombia saw the “worst humanitarian consequences” of the past decade in 2025. The number of people killed or injured by explosive devices rose by 34% to 965, overwhelmingly non-combatants. The number of individual disappearances doubled to 308. Violations of international humanitarian law documented by the ICRC reached 845 cases, while figures for displacement and “confinement” doubled. According to the Comprehensive Victim Support & Reparation Unit (UARIV), at least 235,619 people were displaced individually in 2025, while 87,069 were displaced in mass displacement events, and 176,730 remained “confined” in communities under siege by armed actors. (Map: PCL)

The Andes

Peru: US arms deal behind cabinet shake-up

Peru’s government made a $462 million payment to US defense contractor Lockheed Martin for purchase of 12 ‌F-16 fighter jets, the first installment in a controversial multi-billion-dollar deal that triggered the resignation of two top ministers. In stepping down, Defense Minister Carlos Díaz and Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela cited their opposition to interim President José Balcázar’s attempt to delay the deal. The payment came days after a $2 billion contract for the F-16s was signed by an official in Peru’s Air Force—over the head of Balcázar, who was informed of finalization of the deal only after the fact. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Planet Watch

Podcast: Hungary, Peru & the electoral struggle

In Episode 323 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg offers a comparison of the simultaneous elections in Hungary and Peru—in which questions of democratic norms versus authoritarian rule both stood in the balance. The defeat of long-ruling quasi-dictator Viktor Orbán is being hailed as a blow to the emerging authoritarian bloc in Europe. But the incoming center-right prime minister Péter Magyar may not mean a complete de-Orbánification. In Peru, the outcome is still pending, as the perennial candidate of the hard right, Keiko Fujimori, faces a run-off with a contender from the populist left, Roberto Sánchez. Keiko is the unapologetic daughter of the late ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori; her victory could mean a re-Fujimorification of the country, and a fatal blow to Peru’s deeply troubled democracy. A Sánchez victory, meanwhile, would heighten the social contradictions in Peru—with both opportunities for a more meaningful democracy, and dangers of a backlash from the conservative establishment. (Photo: Anali Marquez Huanca via Facebook)

Planet Watch

Reversal for hard right in Hungary; Peru in the balance

The defeat of Hungary’s quasi-dictator Viktor Orbán in the recent elections has heartened progressive forces around the world—despite the fact that the victorious Péter Magyar is a creature of the center-right. A more stark contest is emerging in Peru, where the right-wing authoritarian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori faces a run-off with a contender from the populist left, Roberto Sánchez, who has broad support from the traditionally excluded campesinos of the country’s Andean interior. (Photo: Wikipedia)

The Andes

Colombia: UN experts welcome anti-mercenary law

UN experts welcomed Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s ratification of the 1989 International Convention against Recruitment, Use, Financing & Training of Mercenaries. The experts praised the signing of what amounts to a new anti-mercenary legislative package, calling it an essential step toward protecting human rights and upholding international legal obligations. Colombia has experienced a decades-long armed conflict that began with the formation of guerrilla groups, notably the FARC and the ELN. Paramilitary groups later emerged to fight the guerrillas. Following a landmark peace agreement with the FARC in 2016 and ongoing negotiations with the ELN that began in 2018, violence levels have been reduced. But the protracted conflict has led to a profusion of armed actors and fueled the growth of private military and security companies (PMSCs). (Photo: Contagio Radio)

The Amazon

Peru: pipeline failure triggers nationwide gas shortage

Peru has been hit with a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas (GLP) and compressed natural gas (GNV) following a “deflagration” on the Camisea pipeline in Megantoni district of Cuzco department. The explosion and fire caused major property damage in the rainforest settlement of Megantoni, according to Transportadora de Gas del Perú (TGP), the company responsible for the pipeline connecting the Camisea gasfields to a processing plant at Pisco on the coast. The incident resulted in an immediate rise of GNV and GLP prices, in turn leading to an internal energy crisis, with citizens nationwide standing in endless lines for a gas cylinder or a gallon of fuel. Taxi drivers and urban transport operators have raised fares and threatened a nationwide strike, demanding a government subsidy to continue working. (Photo: Ministerio de Defensa del Perú via Wikipedia)

The Andes

Colombia: Petro approves rebel-requested inquiry

Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would accept a proposal from the country’s largest remaining rebel group to allow an independent commission to investigate its alleged links to drug trafficking. Antonio García, leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN), released a video stating that although the group collects taxes from cocaine producers in its territory, it does not itself operate drug trafficking networks or cocaine production facilities. (Photo: Colombia Reports)

The Andes

Trump instates ’emergency’ measure on Venezuelan oil

President Trump issued an executive order declaring a “national emergency” to block judicial processes from being instituted against Venezuelan oil funds held in the US, on the basis that it would “materially harm the national security and foreign policy of the United States.” This order follows statements from Trump that US oil companies will invest billions in Venezuela, with his Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying that the US will control and market Venezuela’s oil “indefinitely.” However, the CEO of ExxonMobil, Darren Woods, expressed concern about conditions in Venezuela, saying that the country is currently “un-investable.” Trump respondedangrily that he was “inclined” to keep ExxonMobil out of Venezuela. Companies including ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips say that Venezuela owes them billions of dollars over lost investments. Trump’s executive order could hinder these companies from recovering their claims. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Library)