After two hours of resistance Nov. 19, some 150 troops of Panama's National Police entered the Naso indigenous community of San San Drui in Bocas del Toro province, using tear gas to allow bulldozers and other machinery of the Ganadera Bocas company to destroy several small structures at the settlement of La Trinchera. The structures had been recently rebuilt after a similar confrontation at the contested piece of land in March. Naso leaders say the police had no judicial order to carry out the eviction, but had the political support of the provincial governor, Simón Becker, and Justice Minister José Raúl Mulino. The eviction leaves some 200 people without shelter in the middle of the rainy season. Two remaining structures at the settlement were destroyed by the cattle company's machinery the following day, with the area still occupied by police troops.

A Sandinista party member was killed and an undetermined number of Liberal Party opposition followers injured in clashes between rival demonstrators on highways around Nicaragua Nov. 21. Rafael Anibal Luna Ruiz, a 42-year-old mechanic, died in the northern town of Ciudad Dario from wounds suffered when he was hit with stones thrown by opposition supporters on the highway from Matagalpa to Esteli. The Sandinistas were headed to Managua for a rally in support of President Daniel Ortega, while the Liberal supporters were returning from a rally in the capital against him.

Magaly Janeth Moreno Vega AKA "La Perla", wanted by Interpol and Colombia as a key fugitive leader of the outlawed AUC paramilitary network, was arrested by Venezuelan authorities in Maracaibo. There was no immediate word on whether Venezuela would extradite. Upon her arrest, Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami again accused Colombia's government of supporting the illegal paramilitaries and using them to subvert Venezuela. El Aissami, speaking on state television, accused Colombian President Alvaro Uribe of "institutional and moral decay" for his government's ties to paramilitary groups that "attack our people and threaten peace and order." (LAT, Nov. 23)

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem says the Palestinian conflict has left almost 8,900 people dead over the last 20 years—with 2009 the bloodiest. The report says 7,398 of the victims, including 1,537 minors, were Palestinian. 1,483 were Israelis, 139 of them minors. Of these, 488 were members of the security forces and 995 were civilians.

After months of dialogue between the Interior Ministry, parliament and Kurdish leaders, the Turkish government announced a plan to help end the 25-year conflict with a Kurdish separatist movement that has cost more than 40,000 lives. The plan debated by Turkish Parliament for two days was hailed as a landmark, calling for lifting the ban on Kurdish political parties and officially acknowledging Kurdish ethnic identity and cultural rights. Kurds make up almost 15% of Turkey's population.

The Iraqi parliament Nov. 22 failed to resolve an impasse threatening to delay the country's election—which could affect the US military's plans for a partial pullout next year. There are only days left for parliament to address Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's veto of an election law, as the law must be passed 60 days before the vote, which has been scheduled for Jan. 23. The election law was approved on Nov. 8 after weeks of wrangling between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen over how to hold the vote in the city of Kirkuk. (WP, Nov. 22)

Last week saw a disturbing turn of events in a lawsuit brought by 64 family members of victims of the Blackwater/Xe private security contractor against its owner and CEO, Erik Prince, for the 2007 massacre in Nisur Square, Baghdad, and other shooting incidents in Iraq. After attorneys for the victims settled the case for an undisclosed sum of money, some of the victims objected, leaving their lawyers in the unenviable position of having to argue to a federal judge that they didn't have their clients' permission to settle it. What should have been a public airing of the notorious business practices of the "world's largest private army" has now become an investigation, by Blackwater/Xe, of the victims and their relationship with their lawyers.

Federal prosecutors indicated Nov. 21 that they will drop manslaughter charges against a Blackwater Worldwide security guard who was involved in the September 2007 shooting incident in Baghdad that killed 17 Iraqis. According to the US Attorney for the District of Columbia, Channing Phillips, a motion was filed under seal to dismiss the charges against Nicholas Slatten. No reason was given as to why the indictment was being dismissed, but prosecutors asked that they be allowed to resubmit the charges at a later date if desired. Since the incident Blackwater has changed its name to Xe Services.