The recapture of Musa Qala from the Taliban by British-led forces has resulted in many civilian casualties, local residents say. British military authorities report only two civilian dead in the battle—both children. But residents say they counted 15 women and children killed. Hundreds of "insurgents" were taken into custody by ISAF forces after the town fell, and quantities of opium and weapons were reportedly found. (Press TV, Iran, Dec. 16)

Security forces are on alert in Bolivia ahead of rallies planned in four eastern departments to inaugurate declarations of autonomy. Rejecting the draft constitution recently completed by supporters of President Evo Morales, regional assembly members in Santa Cruz Dec. 13 voted up a statute giving the department power to keep two-thirds of its tax revenues. Three other eastern departments—Tarija, Beni and Pando—are planning similar declarations at rallies on Saturday. Once the autonomy charters are declared, they will be put to the local populations for approval. Morales has ordered 400 extra national police troops to Santa Cruz, with the army prepared to protect public buildings.

Ruling in a case brought by Nicaragua, the International Court of Justice found Dec. 13 that three Caribbean islands in the disputed San Andrés Archipelago belong to Colombia under a 1928 treaty. But the ICJ said the treaty did not determine the status of other islands in the archipelago or the maritime boundary. The archipelago, which is believed to have oil, lies 775 kilometers (480 miles) off Colombia and just 220 kilometers (140 miles) off Nicaragua's Miskito Coast. In 2003, Nicaragua invited oil companies to explore in the archipelago's waters—drawing protests from Colombian officials.

For once we get some joy from being able to say "told you so." When the Liberty Seven were first busted lasted year, we called out the case against them as bogus. It is a glimmer of hope that a jury agreed with us. From VOA, Dec. 13:

Terror Trial in Miami Ends in One Acquittal, Six Mistrials
A federal jury in Florida has cleared a man accused of plotting terrorist attacks in the United States, but said it was unable to agree on a verdict for six other defendants.

Democratic Republic of Congo Armed Forces (FARDC) troops clashed again Dec. 13 with forces loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda in the Gungu heights of North Kivu province. Earlier in the week, Nkunda's fighters forced back government troops and reclaimed positions they had held three months ago. The FARDC pulled back to the town of Sake, about 30 kilometers northwest of the UN-defended provincial capital of Goma—leading many local residents to flee the area, fearing reprisals by the rebels.

On Dec. 10, Chiquita Brands filed a motion to dismiss in a case brought by 144 survivors of Colombian paramilitary victims in federal district court in Washington DC. The case, first filed in June under the Alien Tort Statue, holds the company responsible in the reign of terror by the United Colombian Self-Defense Forces (AUC), a State Department-listed terrorist group that Chiquita has admitted to underwriting. Attorney Paul Wolf, who filed the case with Terry Collingsworth of the International Labor Rights Fund, has opened an office in the town of Apartadó, in Colombia's northern banana-growing region of Urabá, to continue to gather evidence in the case. Writes Wolf in an e-mail update: "If we survive the Motion to Dismiss, there's little doubt the case will be before a jury, and if that happens, there's little doubt we'll win. The estimated 800-1,000 cases we have now are just too gruesome, involving machete massacres, beheadings, numerous children, and entire communities that were virtually eliminated."

Mexican army troops detained the supposed leader of the powerful Gulf Cartel in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Dec. 12. Forces of the Eighth Military Zone claimed Marco Antonio Ramírez del Río, alias "Tony La Palma," is successor to Luis Reyes Enríquez, known as "El Rex" or "Z-12," the cartel boss detained in June. Also detained were Darío Tristán Méndez, "El Dari," and Mario Rafael Morales Agis, "El Ratón." Antonio Contreras Navarro, "El Gallo," reportedly killed himself rather than surrender. Soldiers seized a kilogram of cocaine, two pistols and two assault rifles—an AR-15 and an AK-47. (El Universal, Dec. 12) Troops in three hummers sealed off Tampico neighborhoods in the hunt for "La Palma." (Milenio, Dec. 11)

"We are doing everything we can to stop drugs crossing to the United States but given this is a transnational business by definition it requires the United States do its part and that essentially means the flow of arms to Mexico," said Mexican Prosecutor General Eduardo Medina Mora Dec. 10. "We have done our part, we hope the United States will do its part." Speaking in Mexico City, Medina said some $10 billion in drug cash flows south each year, and that gun stores on the north side of the border sell twice as much as outlets elsewhere in the US. "There's a very large flow of money from the United States to Mexico which has no other explanation than drug trafficking," he said. "The US government has a very important job to do."