Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier was charged Jan. 18 with corruption, theft, misappropriation of funds and other unnamed crimes. Duvalier underwent several hours of questioning, and, although he was released, he does not have the right to leave Haiti. Duvalier returned to Haiti from exile in France on Jan. 16, stating that he had come to offer assistance to help the country recover from last year's earthquake. On Jan. 17, Amnesty International called for Haitian authorities to prosecute Duvalier for human rights violations committed during his time in power. Amnesty claimed Duvalier and his regime committed acts of "systematic torture," including the disappearance or execution hundreds of pro-democracy activists at the hands of Haiti's armed forces and paramilitary force, the Tonton Macoutes. There has been no comment from Haitian authorities as to whether Duvalier will eventually be charged on these rights violations.

For the second year in a row, a federal court in Columbus, Georgia, has sentenced activists to six-month prison terms for trespassing on the US Army's Fort Benning base during protests against the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the US Army School of the Americas (SOA). This is the maximum sentence for the offense, and US federal magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth surprised observers when he imposed the penalty on three activists in January 2010.

On Jan. 14 Guyana's Foreign Ministry announced that the country was recognizing Palestine as an independent nation in the hope that "that the increasing recognition of the state of Palestine will contribute to a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the creation of lasting peace and stability in the region." Guyana is the sixth South American country to recognize Palestine in a little more than a month. (Haaretz, Israel, Jan. 14)

Thousands of Haitians turned out for religious ceremonies in Port-au-Prince and other parts of the country on Jan. 12 to mark the one-year anniversary of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that leveled much of the capital and the surrounding area. Cardinal Robert Sarah, sent by Pope Benedict XVI, joined the papal nuncio and Haitian bishops and priests in a special mass at the ruins of the city's Catholic cathedral. Protestants held a service at the Champ-de-Mars park, across from the shattered National Palace, while Vodou followers participated in a ceremony of remembrance at the National Bureau of Ethnology.

Students at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) renewed militant protests around economic issues as the school reopened on Jan. 11 following winter holidays. The actions had started in December in opposition to an $800 tuition surcharge for 2011; protest leaders said the increase would keep as many as 10,000 of the system's 65,000 students from attending the public university. The students called a 48-hour strike on Dec. 7-8, and an indefinite strike starting on Dec. 14, but the actions were only observed at six of the UPR's 11 campuses, in contrast to the 10 campuses shut down last spring, when students beat back major budget cutbacks with a two-month strike. (People's World, Jan. 10)

Honduran campesino leader Juan Ramón Chinchilla was safe and was staying in an undisclosed location on Jan. 11 after two days in captivity, according to the National Popular Resistance Front (FNRP), a coalition of labor and grassroots organizations. Chinchilla, a leader in the Unified Campesino Movement of the Aguán (MUCA), said a group of hooded men seized him on Jan. 8 on a road near La Concepción, Tocoa municipality, in the northern department of Colón. The kidnappers questioned him, beat him and burned his hair, Chinchilla said. Most of the men wore uniforms; some spoke English and one spoke a language Chinchilla couldn't understand. He escaped while the kidnappers were moving him to another location on the night of Jan. 9.

On the evening of Jan. 12 Honduras' National Congress passed reforms to Articles 5 and 213 of the 1982 Constitution that would open the way to changing key elements of the document—including the ban on presidential reelection—by popular referendum. The changes were proposed by the rightwing National Party (PN) of President Porfirio ("Pepe") Lobo Sosa and were backed by other parties, including the Liberal Party (PL) of former president José Manuel ("Mel") Zelaya Rosales (2006-2009); 103 of the 128 legislative deputies voted for the reforms.

Ex-president Alejandro Toledo, a front-runner in Peru's presidential race, said Jan. 13 that the mining sector must "give back" a portion of rising profits to poor rural areas. In a speech outlining his policy proposals, Toledo called for "co-responsibility" between private companies and the state for social development: "Just as we respect the rules of the game and assure them contracts will be honored, they, the extractive sector, should respect the environment and give back part of their profits in the form of infrastructure and improve the quality of life of townspeople." (Reuters, Jan. 13)