Commemorations taking place nearly throughout Latin America 40 years after the death of Ernesto "Che" Guevara on Oct. 8, 1967, indicate just how much the world has changed since then—for better and for worse. Most significantly, in Bolivia—where he met his death, and where his name and image were anathema under military dictatorships and conservative regimes a generation thereafter—the official ceremony celebrating the legendary guerilla was presided over by the populist President Evo Morales. The commemoration was held at the village of Vallegrande in Santa Cruz department, where Guevara was captured, tortured and killed by Bolivian soldiers overseen by CIA agents.

After a divisive and well-financed campaign, Costa Rican supporters of the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA)—which reduces trade barriers between Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the US—appeared to have won a narrow victory in an Oct. 7 referendum on the accord. With 73% of the polling places counted at about 11:30 PM, the "yes" option had 51.6% of the votes against 48.4% for the "no" option, according to the official preliminary tallies. The Supreme Elections Council (TSE) reported a 59.84% turnout for the voting, far above the 40% required to make the results binding. This was the first referendum in Costa Rica's history. (EFE, Sept. 7)

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.