Thousands of Argentine farmers blocked highways on May 8 to protest increased taxes on soy, a major export crop. The farmers had struck in March, halting shipments of grain throughout the country and presenting the center-left government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner with its biggest challenge since she took office in December. The new protests come after a 30-day truce failed to produce an agreement. Farmers said they planned eight days of protests; if these produce no results, they may continue the actions past May 15. Argentina is one of the world's major soy exporters, and the Chicago commodity exchange responded to the renewed strike with a rise in soy prices. (La Jornada, May 9 from Reuters)

Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won an historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election April 20, ending the long rule of the conservative Colorado party with a mandate to help the nation's poor and indigenous. Winning 41% of the vote to Colorado candidate Blanca Ovelar's 31%, Lugo said he had no intention of persecuting the Colorado party. "Our government is not going to start a witch hunt," Lugo said the day after his victory. "We'll try to co-govern by seeking consensus and harmony."

Argentine farmer groups and the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner held six hours of talks on March 28 aimed at ending a 16-day-old producers' strike that had restricted food supplies in major cities. Strike supporters lifted some of the blockades they had maintained on highways throughout the country, but more radical sectors said this was only a 48-hour truce and stayed at their positions at highway entrances.

On Jan. 17 the Review Court of Rome dismissed the Italian case against former Uruguayan navy captain Nestor Jorge Fernandez Troccoli, who was arrested in Salerno on Dec. 23 in connection with Operation Condor, a clandestine program of cooperation between South American militaries during the 1970s and 1980s. Fernandez Troccoli, who headed Uruguay's secret services for the 1973-1985 military dictatorship, is one of 140 military officers and soldiers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay that Italy is seeking for crimes against more than 25 people of Italian origin. The Italian court found that there was insufficient evidence against Fernandez Troccoli. However, as of February he was still held in prison because of an extradition request from Uruguay. (Terra, Spain, Feb. 6 from EFE)

On Feb. 25 the body of retired Argentine military officer Lt. Col. Paul Alberto Navone was found by an employee of the Air Force's Hotel Parque, in Ascochinga, a town some 55 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. He had been shot in the chest; a 9mm pistol and a suicide note were found near the body. Navone, who lived in Ascochinga, had been scheduled to appear that day before federal judge Myriam Galizzi in an investigation of the disappearance of twin babies born in Paraná, Entre Rios province, in 1978, during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship's "dirty war" against suspected leftists. The parents were Raquel Negro and Tulio "Tucho" Valenzuela, a leader of the Montoneros rebel group. Claiming ill health, Navone had gotten his court appearance postponed to March 3.

A Brazilian judge banned Rio de Janeiro's Unidos do Viradouro samba school from parading in the upcoming carnival with a float depicting victims of the Holocaust and a Hitler figure. "Carnival should not be used as an instrument of hatred, any kind of racism and clear trivialization of barbaric and unjustified acts against minorities," Judge Juliana Kalichszteim said as she issued her injunction. The injunction came after a lawsuit by the Jewish Federation of Rio de Janeiro (FIERJ).

On Jan. 7, some 100 campesinos successfully blocked the spraying of pesticides on soy fields in Ybypé community, Lima district, San Pedro department, Paraguay. Although riot police were mobilized to protect the fumigation tractors, the protesters convinced the officers of their right to resist the spraying, and the police refused to break up the blockade. A public campaign led by the Paraguayan Human Rights Committee (CODEHUPY) has led to popular support for the anti-pesticide movement in San Pedro department, where vast areas of land have come under the control of Brazilian soy-growers, and traditional small peasant holdings have been taken over. (Upside Down World, Jan. 10)

On Dec. 23 Italian authorities arrested former Uruguayan navy captain Nestor Jorge Fernandez Troccoli in Salerno. Fernandez Troccoli, who headed Uruguay's secret services for the 1973-1985 military dictatorship, had been ordered arrested on Dec. 17 by an Uruguayan judge investigating Operation Condor, a clandestine program of cooperation between South American militaries. The arrest led Italian authorities to renew their request for the detention of a total of 140 military officers and soldiers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay in connection with crimes against more than 25 people of Italian origin.