A "humanitarian caravan" from Bogotá arrived in Colombia's southern Andean department of Cauca June 28, bringing food and other aid to hundreds of indigenous campesinos who have been maintaining a protest encampment to prevent the military from establishing a new base at Tres Cruces, in a conflicted area of Miranda municipality. The caravan, which includes many international supporters from Europe and elsewhere, is being organized by former senator Piedad Córdoba's group Colombians for Peace. The same group on April 23 held a "Patriotic March" in Bogotá, attended by some 100,000, calling for a negotiated end to the conflict with the FARC guerillas. (AFP, El Espectador, Bogotá, June 28; FOR, June 1)

On his 50th birthday June 28, the day after presiding over a massive rally of his supporters in Lima's Plaza San Martín, Peru's President Ollanta Humala flew to Junín region to officiate over the unveiling of a water development project—where he offered comments on the conflict in northern Cajamarca region, now nearly one month into a civil strike to oppose the pending Conga gold mine project. He had words of admonition for Newmont Mining of Colorado that hopes to develop the project: "The mining companies sometimes do not understand the concept of social responsibility, and generate a lack of confidence." But calling on Newmont's local subsidiary Yanacocha to "comply with its commitments to win the confidence of the people," he also called on "all the leaders" of the region to enter into a dialogue—without specifically mentioning Cajamarca's regional president Gregorio Santos, a key figure of the movement against the mine. (La Republica, June 28; El Comercio, June 27) Protesters in Cajamarca meanwhile marked Humala's birthday by holding a mock funeral for him—marching through the city with a cross and casket marked with his name. (Caballero Verde, June 27)

In a second day of mobilization, some 20,000 informal gold miners from the communities of Rinconada, Lunar de Oro, Limbani and Phara filled the streets of the city of Puno in southern Peru, demanding that the regional government support their demands for "free sale" of gold—meaning a lifting of all government controls on its purchase and trade. Miners leader Víctor Mejía Chambi warned regional president Mauricio Rodrigues that "other methods" would be considered if their demands were not met. (Los Andes, RPP, June 26)

Venezuelan activist website APORREA reported June 23 the murder of Yukpa-Wayuu indigenous activist Alexander Fernández Fernández and two others, who were leaders of the Yukpa movement fighting for their land in Machiques de Perija municipality, Zulia state, near the Colombian border. The victims had been living on recovered land since December last year. Their families have stated that wealthy nearby ranchers wanted to invade the land, originally owned by the Yukpa people, and have accused the ranchers of being behind the crime. Fernández was briefly jailed with Yukpa chief Sabino Romero in 2010, in what their followers have labelled "political persecution."

On June 27, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, at a meeting in Quito with a delegation of the US-based activist group SOA Watch, made the announcement that Ecuador is ceasing to send soldiers to the School of the Americas, the US Army training facility that has officially been renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). Ecuador joins Venezuela, Uruguay, Argentina and Bolivia, who have likewise pulled out of the SOA/WHINSEC.

In comments June 25 before the Pentagon's Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Gen. Carter Ham of US Africa Command warned of growing coordination between three major terrorist networks across the African continent: al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabaab in Somalia, and Boko Haram in Nigeria. "Each of these organizations is, by itself, a dangerous and worrisome threat," Ham said. "But what really concerns me is that the three organizations are seeking to coordinate and synchronize their efforts."

Army Col. Denise Lind on June 25 ordered the prosecution in the case against Pfc. Bradley Manning to submit to her a number of files that were allegedly withheld from the defense during discovery. Manning is accused of transferring more than 700,000 confidential documents and video clips to WikiLeaks, the largest intelligence leak is US history. Manning's defense has argued the leaks did not hurt US national security, but the US Army has responded that Manning's actions indirectly aided al-Qaeda. Manning's lawyers now allege that the prosecution has withheld damage assessment reports that may affect the outcome of his case. Lind ordered the prosecution to turn over the reports as well as a "due diligence statement" accounting for their failure to reveal the documents earlier. The prosecution has maintained that their actions were justified and that it is time-consuming to obtain the documents in question.

An Omani court on June 25 began a hearing against protesters who have been accused of defamation and illegal assembly. The Omani authorities have arrested more than 30 individuals who had been protesting against the government to demand political reform, promote human rights and call for the release of detained human rights defenders. The court proceedings opened with hearing the case against 15 protesters, four of whom have been charged with defamation and incitement to protests and strikes in an oil facility, and the remainder of whom have been charged with illegal assembly.