Honduras officially joined Petrocaribe on Dec. 21 during the group's Fourth Summit, held in Cienfuegos, Cuba. The 16-member Petrocaribe is a mechanism for providing Venezuelan oil to other Caribbean countries at full price but on easy terms which include payment in goods and services rather than hard currency. Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who initiated Petrocaribe in June 2005, told the meeting that he hoped to broaden the group to become a "new Caribbean economic space, respecting those that already exist," a reference to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Most Petrocaribe nations are also part of CARICOM, which is seeking to become a common market for the region. The summit concluded with the opening of a refinery at Cienfuegos. (EFE, Dec. 21; La Jornada, Mexico, Dec. 23)

Panama's National Assembly Dec. 20 voted unanimously to declare the anniversary of the 1989 US invasion a day of "national mourning," and established a commission to determine how many people were killed in the episode. "This is a recognition of those who fell on Dec. 20 as a result of the cruel and unjust invasion by the most powerful army in the world," said Rep. Cesar Pardo of the ruling Democratic Revolutionary Party. The measure, likely to be signed by President Martin Torrijos, also calls for a monument to honor the dead, most likely in El Chorrillo neighborhood, which was destroyed aerial bombardment.

Rights activists in Guatemala are denouncing the Dec. 17 decision by the country's Constitutional Court finding that the government of Spain has no standing to bring charges against five Guatemalan generals and two civilians accused of genocide. The court also ruled last week, citing sovereign immunity, that the arrest orders of army officers Angel Aníbal Guevara Rodríguez and Pedro García Arredondo should be dropped. The rulings could affect the prosecution of genocide charges against generals Efraín Ríos Montt and Benedicto Lucas García.

Felipe Alvarez, a member of a local Community Development Council (COCODES), was shot dead on his way to work in the early morning of Dec. 8 near his home in Microparcelamiento El Naranjo in the southern Guatemalan department of Escuintla. Alvarez hadn't received any direct threats, but he had told people that he was being followed on various occasions. He is the third member of the local COCODES to be killed in two years. Unknown assailants killed Moises Ajbal in September 2005; Juan Jose Atz, the group's president at the time, was murdered in September 2006. Only two of the original five members are still alive—Manuel Antonio Aguita and current president Juan Francisco Almira.

Eight people were killed in a four-hour gun battle between police and thieves in the Villa Hermosa suburb of Guatemala City. An armed gang had robbed a jeweller in a shopping center, killing a security guard. Hundreds of Special Forces troops from the National Civil Police, backed up by some 70 army troops, later surrounded them in a private house, where they refused to surrender. One local radio station, broadcasting from the scene, carried recordings of a man shouting: "The only way we'll come out is dead." One officer was killed in the shoot-out, and six bodies were found in the house—along with assault weapons and hand grenades. Four police and a soldier were wounded. "The exchange of gunfire was very intense, but everything is now under control," Interior Minister Adela Camacho said. (BBC, Xinhua, Prensa Libre, Guatemala, Dec. 16)

Ruling in a case brought by Nicaragua, the International Court of Justice found Dec. 13 that three Caribbean islands in the disputed San Andrés Archipelago belong to Colombia under a 1928 treaty. But the ICJ said the treaty did not determine the status of other islands in the archipelago or the maritime boundary. The archipelago, which is believed to have oil, lies 775 kilometers (480 miles) off Colombia and just 220 kilometers (140 miles) off Nicaragua's Miskito Coast. In 2003, Nicaragua invited oil companies to explore in the archipelago's waters—drawing protests from Colombian officials.

The US-owned Star, SA factory in El Progreso, Honduras, has fired 70 pro-union workers illegally since Nov. 7, when workers notified the Honduran Ministry of Labor of their intention to form a legal union. Star is located in El Porvenir Free Trade Zone, an industrial park for the tax-exempt assembly plants known as maquiladoras; the factory's US clients include the Oregon-based Nike, Inc., and the National Football League (NFL) and Anvil Holdings, Inc., which are both based in New York City.

From the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), Nov 27:

Brutal Government Attacks on Community of Cutumay Camones Continue
On November 22, the community of Cutumay Camones was again brutally attacked by the Salvadoran riot police (UMO). The community, in their continuous resistance to the construction of a garbage dump, blocked the entrance of the construction site. Orlando Mena, Santa Ana's mayor, joined with Police Director Rodrigo Avila in sending more than 300 riot police to "dissolve the protest," attacking the community with tear gas fired from surrounding helicopters.