On Jan. 9, members of the Council of Ejidos and Communities Opposed to La Parota Dam (CECOP), representing some 20 communities, reinstalled the blockade they had maintained for nearly five years in the community of Parotillas, to prevent access of the Federal Electrical Commission (CFE) to the land where the dam project is to be built. CECOP demanded that Manuel Añorve Baños, gubernatorial candidate of the coalition Better Times for Guerrero (led by the Institutional Revolutionary Party-PRI), remove his TV spot promoting the dam, charging that it is inciting confrontation and will be responsible for "what may happen." CECOP leader Nemesio Valeriano Moreno said the intent is not to block the passage of all vehicles, but only those of the CFE. He added that the blockade will remain indefinitely. (SIPAZ blog, Jan. 13)

2010 saw the most drug-related deaths in Mexico since President Felipe Calderón launched his offensive against the country's narco-gangs in 2006, by his administration's own figures. Alejandro Poire, technical secretary of Calderón's Security Council, said 15,273 were killed in narco-violence last year—up from 9,616 in 2009 (and 5,376 in 2008). All told, 34,616 have been killed in Mexico's Drug War since 2006, according to the report. The four-year figure includes 30,913 execution-style killings, 3,153 deaths in shootouts, and 546 deaths involving attacks on authorities. Most of the killings took place in the three northern states of Chihuahua, Tamaulipas and Sinaloa. (The Guardian, Cambio de Michoacán, Jan. 13)

Mexican Federal District authorities announced late last month the detainment of David Romo Guillén, leader of the "Traditional Catholic Church" that is also known as Santa Muerte, or "Saint Death." Romo was arrested with eight other members, including his wife Ivón Cortés, on charges of kidnapping and extortion in Mexico City. Prosecutors claim Romo and his accomplices disguised themselves as members of Los Zetas narco-gang to kidnap two elderly people for ransom. All nine were placed under a form of house arrest for 30 days pending investigation.

After seven months in captivity, Mexican politician Diego Fernández de Cevallos was released last month, saying after his reappearance that he was well but giving no indication of who his captors were. During his captivity, his apparent abductors issued three statements, calling themselves "The Mysterious Kidnappers" and later the "Network for Global Transformation," demanding money in exchange for the release of the former senator. A week after his release, on Jan. 1—anniversary of the 1994 uprising by the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) in southern Chiapas state—a fourth statement was issued purporting to be from the abductors. Entitled "The ex-Mysterious Kidnappers: The truth comes to light," the communique was signed by "el Guerrero Balam," a "faithful member of the insurgent forces of the EZLN," subordinated to "Subcomandante Marcos and the wise Mayan Zapatistas." The writer said that Fernández de Cevallos is "one of the main enemies of our project," an apparent reference to the EZLN's demand for indigenous autonomy.

Late last month, the Guatemalan government declared a state of siege in the northern department of Alta Verapaz near the jungle border with Mexico, and sent hundreds of troops to the area in response to the supposed presence there of Los Zetas, the ultra-violent Mexican narco gang. President Álvaro Colom announced that the emergency rule in Alta Verapaz will last 30 days, allowing the military to detain suspects without a warrant. "It is to bring peace to the people and recover their confidence in the government," Colom said. (Latin America News Dispatch, Dec. 20)

Colombian authorities brought charges against a Maj. Juan Carlos Del Río Crespo and four other troops in the December 2002 slaying of three members of the Agudelo family in Campamento village, Antioquia state. Crespo is accused falsely presenting their bodies as those of FARC guerilla fighters who were killed in combat—a widespread practice in the Colombian military known as "false positives."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Jan. 15 raised the possibility of surrendering his special powers to rule be decree more than a year earlier than expected in response to accusations that he is becoming a dictator. In a televised address before the National Assembly, Chávez said he could put in place by May the decrees necessary to relieve the crisis caused by floods that have displaced 130,000 in western Zulia state. "To accuse me of being a dictator because the previous assembly voted for an Enabling Law—how is that a dictatorship?" Chávez asked.

Spanish prosecutors on Nov. 14 charged an alleged member of the Basque separatist group ETA with training members of the Colombian guerrilla group FARC in computer skills. Iraitz Guesalag was arrested in France days earlier and will be extradited to Spain. The FARC training allegedly took place in Venezuela, and was arranged by Arturo Cubillas, an ETA operative in the Venezuelan Ministry of Agriculture. Spain issued an extradition request for Cubillas in March 2010, charging the official for his ties to ETA, which the Venezuelan government denies. (Colombia Reports, Jan. 14)