With a strike that lasted from Feb. 24 to March 8, tens of thousands of Colombian coffee growers took to the streets in towns and cities across the country, demanding relief for a sector hard hit by neoliberal policies—and ultimately claiming victory despite government intransigence and calumnies. The cafeteros refused to harvest beans, blocked traffic, and prevented beans from being loaded at port terminals, in a wave of actions across Colombia's highland coffee belt, stretching from Nariño in the south to Antioquia in the north.

Officially, US State Department aid to the Honduran National Police must bypass units under the direct supervision of the force's overall commander, Director General Juan Carlos Bonilla AKA "El Tigre"—who in 2002 was accused of three extrajudicial killings and links to 11 more deaths and disappearances in so-called "social cleansing" operations. He was tried on one killing and acquitted; the other cases were never fully investigated. But an investigation by the Associated Press, based on interviews with unnamed Honduran officials, finds that all police units are actually under Bonilla's direction. Speaking on record was Celso Alvarado, a criminal law professor and consultant to the Honduran Commission for Security and Justice Sector Reform, who said the same. "Every police officer in Honduras, regardless of their specific functions, is under the hierarchy and obedience of the director general," he said.

The Andean Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations (CAOI) and the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) on March 15 jointly presented a report to the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IACHR) warning that 65 the 102 indigenous ethnicities in Colombia are now at risk of cultural or physical "extinction." The report noted that Colombia's Constitutional Court has ordered special protection for these 65 peoples, but asserted that risks posed by the armed conflict and lawless resource extraction on their lands have not abated. The report charged that violations of indigenous rights are not merely "collateral damage" in the ongoing civil conflict, but often an actual aim of armed actors.

Colombia's Supreme Court of Justice on March 7 found former lawmaker César Pérez García guilty of being complicit in the November 1988 massacre at the village of Segoiva, Antioquia department. He now awaits sentencing, and may face 30 years in prison. Pérez García was named by a liuetenant of notorious paramilitary commander "el Negro Vladimir" as having financed the massacre to eliminate a stronghold of support for the electoral left.

One of the leaders of Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the FARC, on Feb. 24 said that they are not a drug trafficking organization and though they have entered into peace negotiations with the government, they have not relinquished their aim to "take power." Rodrigo Granda, considered the FARC's foreign minister, told newspaper El Colombiano that the accusation that the FARC is nothing but a drug trafficking organization "is a shame." Referring to the four countries that have observed the peace process thus far, he said: "We are not drug traffickers, we are an organization with clear political policy ideas and for this reason the government is obliged to sit down and talk with us. Colombia would not sit down with a group of drug traffickers, Cuba would not sit as a guarantor with a group of drug traffickers, Venezuela and Chile would not sit down with a group of drug dealers, I don't think Norway has received a group of drug traffickers."

The Colombian government on Feb. 18 denied the disappearances of 11 people during the 1985 Palace of Justice siege, contradicting previous court rulings that held the military responsible. Despite widespread belief to the contrary, the government claimed before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (CIDH) that the 11 individuals who remain unaccounted for after 27 years actually died in the fire which consumed the palace. And on Feb. 27, the Prosecutor General called upon the Supreme Court of Justice to officially absolve retired colonel Alfonso Plazas Vega, who had been sentenced in February 2012 to 30 years in connection with the deaths.

Colombia's largest coal miner, Cerrejon, said Feb. 24 that rebels broke into its facility at Mina Sur, La Guajira department, and burned four of the company's trucks in what it called a "terrorist attack." The attack came four days after the company declared force majeure in the face of work stoppage that began on Feb. 7. Cerrejon, a joint venture between Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Xstrata, operates Colombia's largest open-pit mine, and has frequently been the target of guerilla attacks. Both the FARC and ELN guerilla groups operate in the zone. In 2012, Cerrejon produced around 34.6 million tons of coal, half of which was exported to Europe. (Colombia Reports, Feb. 24; Energy Global, Feb. 20)

Campesino communities in Colombia's oil-rich department of Arauca, on the eastern plains, on Feb. 12 launched a paro, or civil strike, to protest broken promises by the national government and transnational companies operating in the region. A dialogue brokered by the Interior Ministry broke down the day before, and community leaders announced the campaign of civil resistance. Hundreds of campesinos began blocking roads leading to the Caño Limón and Caricare oilfields, both run by a consortium led by Occidental Petroleum of California. The first day of the campaign saw violence as over 1,000 troops of the National Police force's Mobile Anti-Disturbance Squadron (ESMAD) attacked the blockade at San Isidro, on the road to Caricare. Several protesters were beaten, four detained, and food supplies for the bloackde confiscated. The local Joel Sierra Human Rights Foundation has issued an urgent alert calling for the release of those detained, and for demilitarization of the region. Army troops have set up checkpoints on roads leading to zone, and are barring journalists and rights observers. (Colombia Informa, Feb. 13 via UDW)