The Bush administration has been meeting with quite a few reversals at the hands of the judiciary lately, as we have noted. From CNN, Aug. 21:

MIAMI -- A federal judge in Miami on Monday dismissed a terror count against Jose Padilla, the U.S. citizen once identified as a "dirty bomb" suspect and detained as an "enemy combatant."

Citing "lack of evidence," on Aug. 14 a Haitian criminal tribunal in Port-au-Prince headed by Judge Fritznel Fils-Aime ordered the immediate release of Annette Auguste ("So Ann"), Georges Honore, Yvon Antoine ("Zap-Zap") and Paul Raymond, prominent supporters of former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his left-populist Lavalas Family (FL) party. The four were arrested at various times between March 2004 and July 2005; they were held without formal charges until April 2006, when they were charged in connection with a violent attack by Aristide supporters against opposition students at the State University of Haiti (UEH) on Dec. 5, 2003, in which several students were injured and UEH rector Pierre-Marie Paquiot's legs were broken.

According to the Indianist Missionary Council (CIMI), a Catholic church-based group which works in solidarity with Brazil's indigenous communities, 15 Tupinikim and Guarani indigenous people and seven non-indigenous people have been jailed since Aug. 9 in the city of Aracruz, in Espirito Santo state. The Tupinikim and Guarani communities have been challenging the multinational corporation Aracruz Celulose over ownership of 11,000 hectares of land in the area. The government's National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI) has recognized the land as indigenous territory, but Aracruz Celulose has appealed. Brazil's justice minister has until Sept. 20 to make a decision in the case; in the meantime, both sides are barred from entering the disputed area.

Simon Romero writes for the New York Times, Aug. 21 (emphasis added):

Venezuela, Tired of US Influence, Strengthens Its Relationships in the Middle East
CARACAS — Venezuela has long cultivated ties with Middle Eastern governments, finding common ground in trying to keep oil prices high, but its recent engagement of Iran has become a defining element in its effort to build an alliance to curb American influence in developing countries.

Peru's populist hero of the left faces charges in an atrocity from the "dirty war" against leftist guerillas in the early '90s. From Lima's La Republica via Living in Peru, Aug. 16:

Arturo Campos Vicente, district attorney of Tocache, has finally decided to formally press penal charges against Peru's ex-presidential candidate and retired Army commander Ollanta Humala Tasso related to the events at Madre Mia in 1992.

Colombian authorities detained 14 top paramilitary leaders Aug. 16, saying they were not complying with the amnesty law. The leaders, who include two former commanders wanted in the United States on drug-trafficking charges, were taken into custody in various parts of Colombia, with some of them voluntarily surrendering to police.

From AP, Aug. 22:

Close election in Chiapas spurs another protest
TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, MEXICO - The dispute over Mexico's presidential vote took a new twist Monday as a gubernatorial candidate backed by the ruling party vowed to protest a state race where the main leftist party held a slight edge.

From Xinhua, Aug. 22:

Mexico's Jews march for Middle East peace

More than 1,500 people, mostly Jews, staged a peaceful protest on Monday, calling for peace in the Middle East and an end to the armed conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla.