The National Front of Popular Resistance and other organizations protested the participation of the Honduran de facto president, Porfirio Lobo, in the sessions of the UN General Assembly. In an open letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, the signatories state that Lobo's presence in the forum violates the spirit of the UN resolution of June 30, 2009, which condemned the coup in Honduras. The letter points out that the resolution remains in force, and charges that political persecution and human rights abuses continue in the Central American country. The letter also states that Lobo's government has given no guarantee for a safe return of ousted president Manuel Zelaya to Honduras. "Consequently, we reject the presence of Mr. Lobo in this forum, set up to ensure democratic freedoms, fundamental freedoms and human rights," reads the text. The letter was also signed by the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees, the Center for Women's Rights and FIAN-Honduras. (Inside Costa Rica, Sept. 24)

Beginning Sept. 21, the city of Cusco, Peru, was shut down by a 48-hour general strike in support of an ongoing protest campaign by residents of Espinar province against the mega-scale Majes-Siguas II irrigation project, which they charge will deprive campesino communities along the Río Apurímac of water in favor of coastal agribusiness interests. Transportation in the city was at a standstill, schools were closed by a student walk-out, and there was violence as student protesters clashed with police. Campesinos in the surrounding countryside meanwhile erected roadblocks, halting traffic through the region. Train service connecting Cusco with Machu Picchu was cancelled, and thousands of tourists stranded. Protest leader Nestor Cuti of the Espinar Defense Committee charged that property damage in Cusco was the work of police provocateurs and demanded an investigation.

Top FARC commander Jorge Briceño Suárez AKA "Mono Jojoy" was killed Sept. 23 by Colombian government forces. President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed the death of the guerilla leader from New York City, where he is attending the UN General Assembly. The head of the FARC's Eastern Bloc and member of its Secretariat was killed in an air operation in La Macarena region in the central department of Meta. Some 20 other guerrillas were killed and five members of the security forces were injured in the operation, Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera said.

Federal agents searched homes of anti-war activists in Chicago and Minneapolis Sept. 24 in an investigation of possible links with terrorist organizations. Some 20 FBI agents spent most of the day searching the Logan Square residence of activists Stephanie Weiner and Joseph Iosbaker. In Jefferson Park, neighbors saw FBI agents carrying boxes from the apartment of community activist Hatem Abudayyeh, executive director of the Arab American Action Network. Chicago activist Thomas Burke said he was served a grand jury subpoena that requested records of any payments to Abudayyeh or his group.

The Obama administration on Sept. 24 filed a brief with the District Court for the District of Columbia, asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the legality of targeted killings of terrorism suspects. The lawsuit, filed by the father of US citizen Anwar al-Awlaqi, seeks an injunction to prevent the government from killing al-Awlaqi on the basis that it would be an extrajudicial execution. The Obama administration argues that this matter involves "non-justiciable political questions" to be decided by the executive branch and that litigation could divulge state secrets.

The popular major of Pollica, a town south of Naples on Italy's Tyrrhenian coast, was assassinated Sept. 6 next to his home in the fishing hamlet of Acciaroli. Angelo Vassallo, noted for his efforts to preserve the environment and for standing up to organized crime, was killed with nine lethal shots as he drove his car. Anti-mafia judge Raffaele Marino stressed that Vassallo paid for his stand on respect of the law.

Priciliano Rodríguez Salinas, mayor of Doctor González, a town outside Monterrey, Nuevo León, was shot to death Sept. 23. A group of armed men intercepted the PRI-affiliated mayor as he was arriving at his home near city hall. A companion who was with him in the vehicle was also killed. (Poder 360, Sept. 24)

Sponsor governments of the Middle East peace process called on Israel to extend its settlement moratorium. In a statement released Sept. 21, the Quartet—the US, EU, UN and Russia—called upon Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to extend the 10-month settlement freeze due to expire at the end of September. "The Quartet noted that the commendable Israeli settlement moratorium instituted last November has had a positive impact and urged its continuation," the statement read.