On Feb. 19 Fourth District judge Rodolfo Pedraza Longhi, in Querétaro, capital of the central Mexican state of Querétaro, upheld a 21-year prison sentence for two indigenous women charged with kidnapping six agents of the now-defunct Federal Investigation Agency (AFI). The two women—Teresa González Cornelio and Alberta Alcántara Juan—had been charged in connection with a March 26, 2006 incident in the market in Santiago Mexquititlán community, Amealco de Bonfil municipality, which the AFI agents raided in an unsuccessful search for pirated DVDs.

Thousands of Guatemalan public school teachers blocked roads on Feb. 22 to push their demand for the government of President of Alvaro Colom to give them a 16% pay raise this year. According to Joviel Acevedo, head of the 80,000-member National Teachers Assembly (ANM), the protesters obstructed highways connecting Guatemala with Honduras, El Salvador and México, and blocked roads accessing Guatemala City. Amilcar Montejo of the Municipal Transit Police (PMT) told reporters the blockages had caused chaos in various routes leading to the center of the capital. A group of unionists including Acevedo occupied the Education Ministry (Mineduc).

Following an "extraordinary assembly" Feb. 26 in Ambato, the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) issued a call for a nationwide "uprising" to protest the government's development policies and press demands for a "pluri-national state." The statement charged that the government has "not modified the colonial State and continues building the neoliberal capitalist model." CONAIE president Marlon Santi said "CONAIE has terminated the dialogue with the national government, because the process of dialogue has produced no results."

A Spanish National Court judge on March 1 accused the Venezuelan government of aiding two rebel groups in a plot to assassinate members of the Colombian government in Spain. Judge Eloy Velasco charged six members of the Basque separatist group ETA and seven members of the Colombian guerilla organization FARC with collaborating to assassinate Colombian officials, including President Alvaro Uribe and his predecessor Andres Pastrana. The indictment accuses Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his administration of assisting the collaboration. Velasco found that Arturo Cubillas Fontan, former director of the Venezuelan Ministry of Agriculture, served as a key link between the groups, introducing members of ETA to FARC personal in Venezuela. A Spanish magistrate has ordered the Colombian and Venezuela governments to surrender the accused individuals to Spain.

The China-Peru Free Trade Agreement took effect March 1, calling for phasing out tariffs on 90% of goods exchanged between the two nations, with an emphasis on Chinese industrial and manufactured goods and Peruvian minerals and agricultural goods. With bilateral trade valued at $7.5 billion in 2008—up 24% from 2007—China has emerged as Peru's second-biggest trade partner, according to Beijing's Ministry of Commerce. China also has free trade pacts with Pakistan, New Zealand, Singapore and the ASEAN bloc. (Xinhua, Global Times, China, March 1)

The new Honduran government of President Porfirio Lobo brought fresh corruption charges last week against the exiled Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted as president by last June's coup d'etat. Prosecutors charged Zelaya with diverting $1.5 million in welfare funds to his campaign for a referendum on reforming the constitution. Zelaya said in a statement from the Dominican Republic that the charges "seek personal revenge and worsen the political persecution against me, forgetting national reconciliation." (AP, Feb. 27)

The Chilean military is attempting to restore order in the country's second city, Concepción, amid looting in the wake of the devastating Feb. 27 earthquake. Troops have fired tear gas at "looters" attempting to flee with food and other goods from wrecked shops. A dusk-to-dawn curfew is in force in the city, where a major rescue effort is under way. Regional military commander Guillermo Ramirez issued a warning to would-be looters. "I would advise criminals not to mess with the armed forces. Our response will be severe, but within the context of the law," he said.

Seven Palestinians were detained as clashes erupted with Israeli forces at al-Aqsa Mosque compound Feb. 28, with discord reported throughout the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli police stormed the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, after Palestinian youths barricaded inside and threw stones at visitors they believed to be radical Jewish settlers. The protesters staged the occupation in response to rumors that militant Jews planned to take over the compound during the Purim holiday that began that day. They were also protesting Israel's recent decision to add the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem to its list of national heritage sites.