The deadline for an Iraqi referendum on the security agreement with the US passed July 30 with a few deadly bombings but no vote. The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has proposed scheduling the referendum for Jan. 15, 2010, to coincide with parliamentary elections. (Seattle Times, July 31)

Several were wounded and more than 250 arrested July 30 in clashes between protesters and security forces at several locations around Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital. Police and army troops used both rubber bullets and live rounds, and fired tear gas from helicopter. The worst violence occurred at El Durazno, on the northern outskirts, where protesters took over the highway and one was shot in the head. Demonstration leaders accused police of firing on peaceful protesters. TV footage showed some protesters armed with sticks and pick-axes. (NYT, Comun-Noticias, Honduras Resists, July 30)

President Hugo Chávez withdrew his ambassador from Bogotá and threatened to break diplomatic relations to protest "irresponsible declarations" by Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that weapons found in the hands of the FARC guerrillas had been sold by the Swedish government to Venezuela in 1988. Stockholm has asked Venezuela to explain how Swedish-made weapons ended up in the hands of the guerillas.

Honduran authorities claimed July 27 that Colombia's FARC guerilla organization has financed supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The National Police say they seized a book and receipts that show payments between $2,500 and $100,000 for officials of the Zelaya government to "spend in El Paraiso," the region on the Nicaraguan border where followers of Zelaya wait for the ousted president's return.

Hundreds of orteguistas—followers of President Daniel Ortega—armed with rocks, sticks and metal barricades blocked roads around the northern Nicaraguan town of Ocotal to bar the advance of a congressional delegation from the Nicaraguan Democratic Bloque (Bancada Democrática Nicaragüense—BDN), which was seeking to deliver a letter to ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, protesting his use of the country's territory as a staging ground for his bid to return to power. Among those turned back when the orteguistas seized the bridge over the Rio Coco leading to Ocotal was opposition leader Eduardo Montealegre. Three legislators were forcibly held while their vehicles were set upon with clubs. (Nuevo Diario, Managua, July 28)

Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, hosting the 11th regional Tuxtla Group Summit in the Pacific coast resort of Tamarindo, called for "absolute ostracism" of the de facto government in Honduras until it accepts his proposed "San José Accord"—a compromise plan that entails returning the ousted president to power. Arias said the de facto regime "isn't convinced" and "hasn't yet recognized that President Zelaya should be reinstated." He said that "sanctions should continue to be applied."

Hundreds of people attended the burial of murdered Honduran bricklayer Pedro Magdiel Muñoz Salvador on July 26 in the El Durazno cemetery, about 5 kilometers north of Tegucigalpa. "Blood of martyrs, seed of freedom," chanted the mourners, who said the police had killed Muñoz for his role in a July 24 demonstration near the border with Nicaragua, where protesters had been trying to join up with deposed Honduran president José Manuel Zelaya Rosales.

A mission of delegates from international human rights organizations released a preliminary report on July 23 in Tegucigalpa charging "serious and systematic violations" of rights in Honduras following the June 28 military coup. The mission's 15 members included representatives from the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and the Peace and Justice Service (SERPAJ).