Indigenous people in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia are preparing to set out Aug. 15 on the long overland march to La Paz to protest plans for a trans-oceanic highway to be built with the backing of the Brazilian government. The march will depart from Trinidad, the capital of the northeastern department of Beni. The decision to launch the protest march follows a breakdown of talks between the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of Eastern Bolivia (CIDOB) and the central government. The protest march seeks to protect some 15,000 people belonging to the Yuracaré, Trinitario and Chimán indigenous groups living in the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS), to be traversed by the road. The Brazilian firm OAS is about to begin construction on the stretch of the highway linking San Ignacio de Moxos, Beni, to Villa Tunari, in Cochabamba. The highway is to eventually continue to Arequipa, Peru. The indigenous peoples of the TIPNIS are prepared to use "bows and arrows" to halt the project, said CIDOB leader Pedro Moye.

Bolivia signed an agreement with the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) Aug. 10 to conduct lithium exploration in the Andean country's Coipasa salt flats. The deal comes as Bolivia's President Evo Morales is visiting Beijing. Morales said that his government is "looking for allies from countries that aren't just interested in our natural resources, but rather have a political and ideological affinity," the official Bolivian Information Agency reported. (Dow Jones, Aug. 10) Morales has in the past refered to China as an "ideological ally."

The arrest last month of Robin Rosales Agreda, an accused narco-trafficker considered the "big fish" (pez gordo) of Bolivia's cocaine trade, has left a trail of intrigue in its wake. Rosales was apprehended by National Police on July 14 in the community of El Tuná de San Matías, Santa Cruz department. Already sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison in Bolivia, he is also wanted by Brazilian authorities. He is said to be boss of the Rosales family, one of the most powerful in the oligarchy of Santa Cruz, a right-wing opposition stronghold. Authorities hope his arrest will be a final blow to what is believed to be an extensive criminal machine in the region. Five days after Rosales' arrest, the family's attorney, Denver Pedraza, was shot at twelve times outside the Ministry of Justice building in Santa Cruz. He was hit five times, and only survived because a bullet hit his cell phone in his breast pocket. The National Police Special Anti-Crime Struggle Force (FELCC) has opened an investigation into the attempted slaying, and the Rosales family's network of informants and collaborators.

World War 4 Report editor Bill Weinberg, exiled from New York's WBAI-FM for his political dissent, has launched the first Internet edition of the Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, for the moment on YouTube. Many thanks to Stephen and Emerson Euphoria Sherman for production. In this initial episode, Weinberg relates the story of the radio show since its founding by Peter Lamborn Wilson more than 20 years ago, and explores the esoteric history of Moorish Orthodoxy and its links to the anarchist tradition. Some of the edits are a bit jumpy, but we believe it is an impressive first effort. Please note the annotations below, and tell us what you think.

Police in Mexico City announced the arrest of Óscar Osvaldo García Montoya, AKA "El Compayito" on Aug. 11—purported leader of "La Mano con Ojos" (Hand with Eyes) criminal organization, who is accused in some 900 killings. The raid was carried out by police from the Federal District and México state, with intelligence provided by the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR). El Compayito, originally from Sinaloa, is said to have started his career as a sicario (hitman) for the Beltrán Leyva cartel before breaking off to form his own organization. His collaborators in the Beltran-Leyva cartel were named as Edgar Valdés AKA "La Barbie" and Gerardo Álvarez AKA "El Indio"—who was detained last year, and also said to be fighting his former Beltran-Leyva masters. El Compayito is a deserter from the Mexican navy, where he had achieved the rank of corporal and trained with Guatemala's elite military force, the Kaibiles.

The head of Brazil's indigenous affairs agency, FUNAI, is to make an emergency visit to a remote Amazon outpost amid fears that members of an isolated tribe may have been "massacred" by drug traffickers. The move comes after a guard post protecting the "uncontacted" people was overrun by heavily-armed men, believed to be drug-traffickers from neighboring Peru. The post was ransacked and equipment destroyed. Fears mounted for the welfare of the indigenous bands after FUNAI workers found a rucksack apparently abandoned by one of the traffickers with a broken arrow inside. A rapid aerial survey has shown no trace of the uncontacted group, which made global headlines after being filmed from the air earlier this year. The post is located on the edge of the Xinane Isolated Indigenous Territory along the Río Envira in Acre state, some 32 kilometers from the border with Peru's department of Madre de Dios.

The Tripoli regime on Aug. 9 accused NATO of killing 85 of civilians, including several children, in an air attack on a village in western Libya. The remote village Majar, lies south of the town of Zlitan, on a ridge overlooking the rebel-held city of Misrata. A BBC correspondent reports that he saw about 30 body bags at a local hospital, but it was unclear how the people died. NATIO says the target was a military one, with civilian deaths unlikely. "NATO had very clear intelligence demonstrating that former farm buildings were being used as a staging point for pro-Gaddafi forces to conduct attacks against the people of Libya," the alliance said in a statement. "We do not have evidence of civilian casualties at this stage, although military casualties, including mercenaries, are very likely owing to the nature of the target." (The Telegraph, VOA, BBC News, Aug. 9)

Lebanese singer Zeid Hamdan of the band Zeid and the Wings was briefly jailed July 27 on charges of defaming President Michel Suleiman, who is a former commander of the armed forces, in his single "General Suleiman." From his cell, he managed to get out the following Facebook message: "Dear friends, I am now in the prison of the police station of the Palace of Justice in Beirut because of my song 'General Soleiman'. They are prosecuting me for defammation of President Soleiman. I dont know, until when I am staying in prison. Please mobilize!" There was an immediate outcry, and Hamdan was released after a few hours—and the charge seemingly dropped. The song's lyrics go, to a catchy reggae beat: "General Suleiman, Peace be upon you, General Suleimen. Put your weapons down, put your weapons down, now it's time to leave your warlords behind." The song ends: "General Suleiman, go home." (The National, UAE, Aug. 8; LA Times; Babylon & Beyond blog, July 28)