At least 10 people were injured and 55 arrested during an 24-hour general strike Oct. 2 in the Dominican Republic called by the Alternative Social Forum (FSA), a coalition of grassroots organizations. The groups were demanding higher wages for civil service workers, police and the military; a reduction in the prices of food and medicines; a halt to evictions; and changes in the Hydrocarbon Laws.

A federal judge in Washington DC declared a mistrial Oct. 4 in the cocaine trafficking trial of Colombian guerilla leader Ricardo Palmera, AKA Simón Trinidad. AP writes: "The US government had hoped a conviction would underscore its view that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, is not just a terrorist organization but also a violent drug cartel. But jurors said they could not reach a verdict." (AP, Oct. 5)

From Editor & Publisher, Oct. 5:

Gonzalo Guillen, a reporter for The Miami Herald's Spanish-language daily El Nuevo Herald, has fled Colombia after President Alvaro Uribe accused him of ghost-writing a book linking the president to the notorious drug dealer Pablo Escobar, a Colombian free-press group said Friday.

Mexico's underground Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR) issued a communique Oct. 3 to the leadership of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN), expressing solidarity and pledging to "avoid to the maximum" any action which could affect them or compromise their security. The document, addressed to the EZLN's general command, the Indigenous Revolutionary Clandestine Committee, and to Subcommander Marcos, stated that the EPR has a presence in Chiapas and that its campaign of "harassment" against the state will continue if the government does not return alive its "disappeared" militants. It recognized that the EZLN "continues to be harassed and in many cases assassinated, in spite of everything it has done to maintain a praiseworthy resistance in the face if these injustices"—an implicit acknowledgment of the EZLN's strategy of civil struggle. (La Jornada, Oct. 3)

The National Front of Struggle for Socialism (FNLS) in the western Mexican state of Michoacán issued a statement demanding the "presentation with life" of Francisco Paredes Ruiz, a comunero (communal farmer) from Zirahuén and former member of the Armed Revolutionary Movement (MAR), a guerilla group from the '70s, who "disappeared" Sept. 26 in the city of Morelia. Two days after his disappearance, Paredes' car was found abandoned on a Morelia street. "The last to speak with him were his daughters on the day of his disappearance," said FNLS spokesman Leonel Calderón Villegas.

Mexican officials say the US has committed to giving their administration $1 billion over the next two years to fight drug trafficking. Carlos Rico, Mexico's undersecretary for North American affairs, said the "Joint Strategy to Combat Organized Crime"—which would have to be approved by the US Congress—would be similar in scope to the multi-year, multi-billion-dollar Plan Colombia. US lawmakers say that President Bush is expected to call for an emergency appropriation to get the funding approved this fall. "We are going to have some hurdles in Congress," said Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX). "But at the end of the day, this will get done." US Drug Czar John P. Walters also said an announcement is forthcoming, but the White House has not publicly released details.

From Amnesty International, Sept. 25:

The authorities in Germany have decided not to seek the extradition of 13 US citizens suspected of being involved in the abduction and rendition of German citizen Khaled el-Masri. The 13 includes at least 10 operatives of the CIA.

Abu Mansur Robow, ex-deputy defense secretary with Somalia's ousted Islamic Courts movement, told Mogadishu radio Oct. 3 that his Shabaab resistance group has "nothing to do" with the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia (ARS), recently founded by Somali opposition leaders in the Eritrean capital Asmara. Robow said al-Shabaab was "not satisfied" with the Asmara conference.