The Honduran government reversed its decision to take over oil storage terminals in attempt to lessen oil prices for the Central American country’s impoverished population. The reversal, announced last Friday, followed a threat by U.S. Ambassador Charles A. Ford, who said that "the consequences of this situation could be serious."

We have noted internal divisions in Iran over the nuclear issue. This story from the Jan. 23 New York Times provides another piece of the puzzle, and greater nuance than the corporate media generally display on the Tehran regime:

TEHRAN — Iran is barring 38 nuclear agency inspectors from entering the country in retaliation for a United Nations resolution aiming to curb Iran’s nuclear program, a senior Iranian lawmaker said Monday.

Our January issue featured the story "Niger Delta: Behind the Mask" by Ike Okonta, which explored the concept of petro-violence, pioneered by Michael J. Watts of UC Berkely, in the context of contemporary Nigeria— where oil exploitation has only brought armed struggle and bloody repression to the most resource-rich part of the country. We also featured the story "Colombia: the Paras and the Oil Cartel" by WW4 REPORT editor Bill Weinberg, which documented how the Andean nation's brutal right-wing paramilitaries are terrorizing trade unionists who oppose the privatization of the state oil company, as well as peasants and indigenous peoples protesting the despoilation of their traditional lands and waters by breakneck oil exploitation. Our January Exit Poll was: "Would you give up your SUV to halt mass murder in Nigeria and Colombia? C'mon, tell the truth." We received the following responses:

The Western Hemisphere's worst human rights abuser by a mile (and, not coincidentally, closest US ally) is a "good model" for what Washington hopes to build in Afghanistan. The Afghans must be very comforted. From Reuters, Jan. 19 (emphasis added):

BOGOTA - Colombia's U.S.-backed fight against drug traffickers and armed groups could be a good model for Afghanistan to follow in its effort to battle illegal narcotics, a top U.S. general said on Friday.

In his first published interview with the foreign press since he became Mexico's president last month, Felipe Calderon told the Financial Times: "The United States is jointly responsible for what is happening to us... [I]n that joint responsibility the U.S. government has a lot of work to do. We cannot confront this problem alone."

Honduras announced Jan. 12 that it will temporarily take control of oil storage terminals as part of a program to lower fuel prices and combat "energy terrorism."

Some 45 Jews in Sa'ada, Yemen, have fled their homes after being threatened by radical Muslims and are seeking aid from the government, according to a Jan. 21 report in the Saudi daily Al Wattan. The Jews apparently received letters accusing them of being part of an “international Zionist conspiracy" and warning them to leave their homes within 10 days. The letters threatened that those who stayed would be killed or their children abducted and their homes looted.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid diplomatic visits to three Latin American countries Jan. 13-15, starting with Venezuela on Jan. 13. He and President Hugo Chavez reviewed accords they had signed in Caracas in September and signed new accords which were not immediately made public. "Iran and Venezuela will be together to the end," Ahmadinejad said. "It's possible that some problems will arise, but the revolutionary will of the two peoples will conquer any problem." (EFE, Jan. 13)