Keiko Fujimori of the neoliberal-right coalition Fuerza 2011 formally conceded defeat to challenger Ollanta Humala Tasso of the nationalist-populist Gana Perú June 6 following Peru's presidential run-off race the previous day. With 90% of the vote counted, Humala had 51% to Fujimori's 49%. Humala had tilted to the center on the campaign trail, pledging to emulate Brazil rather than Venezuela, but was nonetheless demonized by the Fujimori machine as an extremist. International markets reacted quickly to the victory of the former army officer and veteran protest leader. The Lima stock market plunged 12%—the biggest single-day drop in the nation's history. Shares also fell in global markets for mineral companies with large investments in Peru (Bear Creek Mining and Rio Alto Mining, both of Canada, dropping 6% and 13%, respectively). (La Republica, Lima, Andina, San Francisco Chronicle, Reuters, Miami Herald, June 6)

On June 3, US District Judge Kenneth A. Marra in Southern Florida issued a 95-page opinion in the case in re Chiquita Brands, International, allowing lawsuits brought by some 4,000 Colombians seeking compensation for violence by armed groups the company backed to move ahead. Chiquita had asked for the suits to be dismissed, arguing it was a victim of extortion and bore no responsibility for any crimes carried out by armed groups. Attorney for the plaintiffs Paul Wolf said the ruling "provides a roadmap for holding American corporations responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed overseas."

Representatives of the governments of Mexico and the Central American countries wrapped up a fifth round of talks on a regional free trade agreement last week. The negotiations took place in Mexico City, with the next round of talks to be held in August in El Salvador. The aim of the talks is to create a single free trade agreement that consolidates Mexico's 1995 pact with Costa Rica, its 1998 agreement with Nicaragua and its 2001 accord with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador into a single deal. Mexico's trade with Costa Rica has soared by 2,100% since the signing of the trade agreement, while trade with the other Central American republics has increased by between 200 and 300%. (EFE, June 1)

Deadly repression is unabated in Syria, where security forces killed at least 70 demonstrators during Friday protests on June 3, according to activists' accounts. This was one of the highest single-day death tolls in the course of the uprising, and some activists said the day's final toll could be 100. Rami Abdulrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said at least 60 people were killed in Hama, where President Bashir al-Assad's father Hafez crushed an armed revolt 29 years ago by killing up to 30,000 people and razing parts of the city. (Reuters, June 4)

From the New York Times, June 2:

The Libyan woman whose mistreatment by the government of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi made her a symbol of its brutality has been deported against her will from her temporary refuge in Qatar to the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi. Eman al-Obeidi gained international attention in March when she told foreign journalists that she had been abducted and gang raped by Qaddafi militia. She was arrested, and later smuggled out of the country by a defecting soldier. She was in Qatar awaiting asylum elsewhere. A spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said she was deported Thursday by force and without explanation. A spokesman for the rebel authority in Benghazi said she was free to leave if she wanted.

The Washington Post reports May 27:

US officials say Iran is dispatching increasing numbers of trainers and advisers—including members of its elite Quds Force—into Syria to help crush anti-government demonstrations that are threatening to topple Iran’s most important ally in the region. The influx of Iranian manpower is adding to a steady stream of aid from Tehran that includes not only weapons and riot gear but also sophisticated surveillance equipment that is helping Syrian authorities track down opponents through their Facebook and Twitter accounts, the sources said. Iranian-assisted computer surveillance is believed to have led to the arrests of hundreds of Syrians seized from their homes in recent weeks.

Rae Abileah, the woman of Israeli descent who interrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's speech before the US Congress on May 24, claims she was beaten by AIPAC activists. "I yelled 'Stop the occupation' and immediately they jumped on me," she told Ynet May 25. "They assaulted me and I fell on the floor. The activists strangled me and beat me. Then I was dragged out by police who arrested me." She says she sustained injuries to the neck and shoulders which required hospitalization.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez held a phone conversation with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on May 22, "to give him a personal message of affection and hope at a time when imperialist forces are violently attacking the Syrian people," on the words of the official Venezuelan News Agency. The Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed in an official statement that Assad had given Chávez "a thorough report on the real situation affecting the Arab nation, in which a fascist conspiracy is trying to sow chaos and disorder so as to subjugate Syria to Western powers." The statement reads that "President Hugo Chávez informed his Syrian counterpart of the demonstrations of solidarity made by many Latin American and Caribbean leaders. He also took the opportunity to convey his unconditional political and personal support to President al-Assad, expressing his sincere conviction that the dignity of the Syrian people and government would prevail over imperialist aggressions." (VenezuelAnalysis, May 22)