In a letter sent to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton the week of Oct. 4, a group of 45 US Congress members called on the US government not to support presidential and legislative elections in Haiti on Nov. 28 if the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) continues its exclusion of 14 political parties from the ballot. The letter focused on the exclusion of the Lavalas Family (FL) party of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide (1991-1996 and 2001-2004); the letter's author was Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who is said to be close to Aristide and to FL. The elections will cost some $29 million and will largely be financed by the international community, including the US. (Radio Kiskeya, Haiti, Oct. 8; New York Times, Oct. 9 from Reuters)

On Oct. 6 Haitian president René Préval, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former US president Bill Clinton (1993-2001) attended a meeting in Port-au-Prince of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (CIRH), the group in charge of monitoring the use of international aid to help the country recover from a devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. This was only the third time the group has met since it was formally established on April 21.

Ten indigenous Mapuche prisoners in the city of Angol in Chile's southern Araucanía region agreed late on Oct. 8 to end a liquids-only hunger strike protesting the use of Law No. 19.027, an "anti-terrorism" measure from the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, against indigenous activists. A total of 34 Mapuche prisoners in six locations had participated in the hunger strike, which started on July 12, but 24 of them ended their action on Oct. 2.

The majority of Bolivian newspapers engaged in a joint protest Oct. 7 against a proposed anti-racism law that they claim would damage freedom of expression. The newspapers (e.g. Los Tiempos of Cochabamba) shared one message on their front page—"There is no democracy without freedom of expression"—in response to a decision by President Evo Morales to maintain certain provisions of the legislation. Article 16 of the bill currently being discussed by the Senate, and which was already passed by the Chamber of Deputies, would establish economic sanctions and allow for media outlets that publish information considered by the government to be racist or discriminatory to be closed. Bolivia's journalists and media outlets maintain that they support the struggle against racism but that they cannot accept provisions that would limit freedom of expression. They worry that the bill could be used for political ends to censor unfavorable opinions.

Former leader of the Inter-Ethnic Alliance for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest (AIDESEP) Alberto Pizango held a press conference in Puno to announce his candidacy for president of Peru, with the Alliance for the Alternative for Humanity (APHU). The leader of the Regional Coordinator of Communities Affected by Mining (CORECAMI), Pablo Salas Charca, was on hand to pledge his support for Pizango. (Generaccion, Los Andes, Sept. 22)

On Oct. 1, seven Peruvian SOA graduates were convicted of aggravated murder, kidnapping, forced disappearance, and conspiracy for their roles in two massacres of civilians and the murder of a radio journalist who had been reporting on human rights violations. The crimes were all committed by Grupo Colina, an army unit led and largely staffed by SOA-trained soldiers.

A School of the Americas graduate has been charged for last week's unsuccessful coup attempt in Ecuador. Col. Manuel E. Rivadeneira Tello, a graduate of the SOA's combat arms training course, is one of three police officials being investigated for negligence, rebellion and attempted assassination of the president.

United Nations talks on climate change in China's port city of Tianjin are nearing a close with no clear consensus yet in sight. The meeting is aimed at laying the groundwork for progress at the UN's annual climate change summit that opens in Cancún, Mexico, on November 29. Chinese and Brazilian officials have blocked discussion of the legal framework for a further set of emissions reductions under the Kyoto Protocol after the first commitment period expires at the end of 2012.