Jimmy Díaz Burbano, governor of Colombia's Putumayo admitted that large areas of the lowland jungle department were shut down by a "paro armado"—a civil strike enforced by the guns of the FARC guerillas. He said the strike had been called in response to government spraying of the glyphosate herbicide across the territory along the Río Putumayo to wipe out coca leaf crops. Díaz said spraying hurts the campesinos and provokes a reaction from the illegal armed groups they sell their coca to, calling for a dialogue on the issue. "I will be a bridge between the community and the Colombian state and do everything possible to assure that the people are heard," he said. (Diario del Sur, Nariño, May 29)

Two young Tibetan men set fire to themselves May 27 outside one of Tibet's holiest shrines, the Jokhang Temple—marking the first self-immolations in Lhasa, Tibet's historic capital, where security has been tight since a March 2008 protest wave. Chinese state media reported that one of the young men died, while another is still alive. The two men, who self-immolated together, worked at a restaurant in Lhasa. One was said to be from Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) in Sichuan province, where most of the self-immolations have taken place, and the other from Labrang (Chinese: Xiahe) in the part of Gansu province known to Tibetans as Amdo. The self-immolations took place during Saga Dawa, an important religious period for Tibetans that commemorates the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. The official media reported that Lhasa's Public Security Bureau has set up a special task force to investigate the case. (International Campaign for Tibet, May 28)

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, May 27, in a renewed push for democratic reforms. The march, organized by trade unions, was the largest since a new government took office in January, with leaders accusing Prime Minister Benkirane of failing to deliver promised changes amid continued high unemployment. November elections brought to power a coalition government led by the Justice and Development Party, a moderate Islamist party, but protesters charge he has done little to fulfill his promises of social justice. "There are more than 50,000 people who are demonstrating to call on the government to start a genuine dialogue addressing our country's social ills," opposition Socialist MP Hassan Tariq said. (AlJazeera, May 28; BBC News, May 27)

More than 100 people claiming to be former members of the disbanded Armed Forces of Haiti (Fad'H) marched to Port-au-Prince from Carrefour, on the capital's southwestern outskirts, on May 18 to mark Haiti's Flag Day. They were wearing combat fatigues and some were armed. A few admitted to a reporter that they were too young to have been in the military in 1995 when it was disbanded by then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1991-1996, 2001-2004); others were women, even though the Fad'H had been all male. The marchers were calling on the government of President Michel Martelly ("Sweet Micky") to restore the old military.

The body of Honduran journalist Angel Alfredo Villatoro Rivera, a reporter and news coordinator for the HRN radio chain, was found in Tegucigalpa on the evening of May 15, six days after he was kidnapped while driving to work. He had been shot twice in the head, according to Security Ministry spokesperson Héctor Iván Mejía; local media reported that the body was dressed in a police uniform. (EFE, May 15 via Univision)

Private and public university students sponsored a massive march in Mexico City on May 19 to protest media coverage of the July 1 presidential and legislative elections and the widely expected victory of former México state governor Enrique Peña Nieto, the presidential candidate of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). The marchers also rejected the candidate of the center-right National Action Party (PAN), Josefina Vázquez Mota, who shares second place in most polls with center-left candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Tens of thousands of Chilean students demanding education reform held their second large national demonstration of the 2012 school year on May 16, continuing a movement that shut down many of the country's secondary schools and universities with a strike last year. Protesters marched in Santiago, Valparaíso, Concepción, Copiapó and other cities; student leaders estimated the total turnout nationwide at about 100,000.

Petitioned by local leaders, Guatemala's President Otto Perez Molina lifted the state of siege May 18 on the remote Maya village of Santa Cruz Barillas, Huehuetenango, imposed there after disturbances that left one person dead on May 1. Residents are still demanding the release of 17 arrested in connection with the unrest. Authorities say a gang of some 200, armed with machetes and guns, overran a local army outpost—and charged that they were led by members of the notorious Mexican narco-paramilitary network, Los Zetas. Local residents, represented by the Maya Waqib Kej National Coordination and Convergence, say the group was protesting the killing of a local community leader that day, Andrés Francisco Miguel, a leading opponent of a hydroelectric dam planned for the area. Villagers believe he was killed by security guards working for Hidro Santa Cruz, the Spanish-backed company building the local hydro-dam, and that the killers were being protected in the army outpost. Perez Molina visited Santa Cruz Barillas in the aftermath of the confrontation, and said human rights would be respected but that he would not tolerate residents taking the law into their own hands. Hundreds of army and National Police troops have been mobilized to the village.