Heavy rains have caused floods and landslides throughout Central America, leaving at least 18 dead, thousands displaced and many roads impassable and communities cut off. Fourteen were killed in Costa Rica Oct. 11 when a mudslide brought down a hillside community at Atenas, 50 kilometers west of the capital, San José. Some 1,400 have been evacuated from their homes in Guatemala, where an "orange alert" has been declared throughout most of the country, with the highland department of Huehuetenango hardest hit. Some 2,000 have been evacuated in Nicaragua's western department of Chinandega. (Nuevo Diario, Nicaragua, Oct. 14; Nuevo Diario, Oct. 14; Prensa Libre, Guatemala, Oct. 12)

At least 21 Afro-Colombian barequeros, or small-scale miners, are dead and 28 others injured after a hillside collapsed Oct. 13 following several days of heavy rains on the banks of the Rio Cauca, near Suarez, Cauca department. The open-pit mine was alongside electrical generators of La Salvajina hydro-electric dam, built by the parastal Valle del Cauca Autonomous Regional Corporation (CVC) in 1985 and since privatized to the Pacific Energy Corporation (EPSA). The landslide was said to be caused by local deforestation, and erosion related to the operation of the hydro-dam. One of the tubes that carry the water to the generators imploded, bringing down the hillside. (Terra, Spain, Oct. 14; El Tiempo, Bogotá, Oct. 13)

An Oct. 13 New York Times story, "Energy Crunch Threatens South American Nations," poses the problem in terms of "growth...outpacing fuel supplies"—but actually sheds much light on the continent's political fault lines, which persist despite the predominance of populist or left-of-center governments. The analysis reveals a centrifugal aspect to the populist program which ostensibly pits a united continent against the Behemoth to the North...

From the Colombia Support Network (CSN), Oct. 12:

The Colombia Support Network (CSN) has received word from the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó that two members of the Peace Community, Arley Tuberquia and Martha Basquez, were detained by the Israeli secret service in the Tel Aviv airport. They had arrived to participate in the Grace Peace Pilgrimage from Eilat, over Bethlehem to Jerusalem. These members of the Peace Community, itself a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, apparently are being treated by the Israelis as terror suspects. They are, of course, in no sense terrorists. They have been the sister community of Dane County, Wisconsin for many years. The San Jose Peace Community is totally committed to peace and rejects arms.

Pakistani soldiers and tribal fighters in North Waziristan are observing an unofficial ceasefire while tribesmen bury their fallen killed in air raids. At least 250, including dozens of soldiers, have died and thousands have fled in five days of fierce battles. Residents say up to 50 were killed in Oct. 9 air strikes, some while shopping at a village bazaar. (AlJazeera, Oct. 10) The fighting pitted militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Pashtun tribal force led by Baitullah Meshud against Pakistani army and paramilitary forces. A jirga of leading North Waziristan clerics led by a former member of the National Assembly, Maulana Nek Zaman Haqqani, following day-long negotiations received the bodies of 30 slain soldiers from the jihadis and handed them over to military officials. The clashes, centered on the Mir Ali area, started after the Uzbek fighters ambushed a security forces convoy Oct. 6. (Rediff, India, Oct. 10)

Former Buenos Aires provincial police chaplain Christian von Wernich was sentenced to life imprisonment Oct. 9 for crimes against humanity committed under the 1976-83 military dictatorship. Human Rights Secretrary Eduardo L. Duhalde hailed the verdict as "historic and strictly legal." The first clergyman to be convicted in atrocities carried out during Argentina's "dirty war" against left-wing dissidents, von Wernich was found guilty of every charge against him, including seven counts of murder (as "co-author"), 41 of kidnapping and 32 of torture.

Egyptian police detained at least 40 after thousands of angry Bedouins stormed government buildings in north Sinai Oct. 7 to protest police inaction after a shooting by a rival clan. The ruling National Democratic Party headquarters in the city of El-Arish was sacked and pictures of President Hosni Mubarak burned, prompting police to fire tear gas to break up the crowd. The city council building was also damaged by stone-throwing protesters, who burned tires and smashed shop windows throughout the city. Authorities said the detained were from both the Tarabin and Fawakhriya tribes. Witnesses said the violence began after the breaking of the Ramadan fast, when armed Tarabin tribesmen from central Sinai arrived in El-Arish in 15 trucks and began to shoot at members of the Fawakhriya tribe. Abdel Hamid Selmy of the Fawakhriya tribe, a member of the Egyptian parliament's upper house, said the violence "is an expression of the frustration felt by Bedouins due to the constant neglect by authorities." (AFP, Oct. 7)

After a divisive and well-financed campaign, Costa Rican supporters of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)—which reduces trade barriers between Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the US—appeared to have won a narrow victory in an Oct. 7 referendum on the accord. With 73% of the polling places counted at about 11:30 PM, the "yes" option had 51.6% of the votes against 48.4% for the "no" option, according to the official preliminary tallies. The Supreme Elections Council (TSE) reported a 59.84% turnout for the voting, far above the 40% required to make the results binding. This was the first referendum in Costa Rica's history. (EFE, Sept. 7)