Based on local medical examiner reports, the Tucson-based Human Rights Coalition recently reported that the number of unidentified bodies found in the Arizona-Sonora border region is on the upswing. According to the immigrant rights advocacy group, 183 people were found dead in Arizona's Pima, Yuma and Cochise counties during the fiscal year that ran from October 1, 2007, to September 30, 2008. Of the recovered bodies, 119 were [identified as] males and 45 [as] females. Although some victims were identified as nationals of Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, Honduran and Peruvian origin, more than half, or 59%, were unidentified.

Gunmen killed six young men the night of Oct. 11 at a family party in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juárez. Most of the victims were shot; one was beaten to death, and one body was found wrapped in a blanket. Investigators found four bodies on a sidewalk in the Juárez Nuevo colonia (neighborhood). Two other bodies were found inside the home's front patio. This brought the toll in presumably drug-related violence in Juárez to at least 25 over the weekend—and to more than 1,070 since the beginning of the year. (El Paso Times, AP, Oct. 12)

Iran's top diplomat in Bolivia says his country will open two health clinics in the Andean nation as a base for future Red Crescent projects in South America. The agreement was signed by Iranian business attaché Hojjatollah Soltani and the Bolivian Health Minister, Ramiro Tapia, in the presence of President Evo Morales at the Presidential Palace in La Paz Oct. 10. Soltani signed the agreement on behalf of the Iranian Red Crescent.

At least 18 were killed, including 12 soldiers, when Sendero Luminoso guerillas ambushed a Peruvian army convoy late Oct. 9, military sources say. A child was among six civilians killed in the ambush on four trucks transporting troops and civilians to Cochabamba Grande base in Huancavelica region. Authorities said the convoy was passing through the Apurimac-Ene River Valley (VRAE) in the area of Tintaypunco, Tayacaja province, when the guerillas detonated a roadside bomb and then strafed the stricken vehicles with machine-gun fire. Those troops not killed in the blast fought the guerillas for hours before they retreated back into the jungle in what was the deadliest clash between Sendero and the security forces in a decade.

Calling his corrupt underlings "rats," Peru's President Alan García has dismissed his entire cabinet in what the local media have dubbed the "Petrogate" scandal, and appointed a popular left-wing regional governor as prime minister. Allegations of kickbacks in the granting of concessions to Norwegian company Discover Petroleum arose after local TV aired a series of audio tapes in which two members of García's APRA party discussed the apparent payments. The company denies it paid any bribes. The government has called a special commission to investigate all oil concessions granted since 2006.

Under emergency powers announced by President Alvaro Uribe, Colombia's Supreme Judicial Council has opened an investigation into striking court workers who refuse to return to work. Striking workers could face termination under the state of emergency. The court workers union Asonal Judicial pledges to continue the strike, which has paralyzed Colombia's courts for over 40 days. According to police reports, 2,700 people charged with homicide, robbery, drug trafficking and other crimes have been released as a consequence of the strike, which affects 90% of Colombia's 40,000 court workers.

Mexico's powerful drug cartels are buying cocaine directly from Colombia's main guerilla group, Colombian deputy defense minister Sergio Jaramillo charged Oct. 7 at an OAS anti-crime conference in Mexico City. Jaramillo said that Oliver Solarte, finance chief of the FARC's 48th Front, is the guerilla organization's key contact with the Mexican drug lords. "We are particularly worried about the strengthening connections between Mexican cartels and the FARC," Jaramillo said. "The Mexican cartels are buying directly from the FARC." He declined to provide more details, saying he did not want to compromise intelligence reports. (AP, Oct. 10)

Bernardino Terracciano, the Naples man who played himself in the award-winning film Gomorra about the Neapolitan mob is among seven men arrested Oct. 12 on organized crime charges. Terracciano—the burly, menacing local boss "Zi' Bernardino" (Uncle Bernardino) in Matteo Garrone's film—is accused of extortion and criminal association, police said. Gomorra, which uses local people from Naples' dangerous suburbs as well as actors, won second place at the Cannes Film Festival this year and is Italy's entry for best foreign-language film at the forthcoming Oscars. It is based on an expose of the Camorra by the Naples based writer Roberto Saviano, who is under police protection.