The representative to Colombia for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Dec. 8 reiterated his call for a peaceful solution to the country's ongoing armed conflict. Christian Salazar made his remarks at a press conference following an announcement by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) stating plans to move forward with the unilateral release of hostages currently being held by the rebels. Last month, a military raid led to the deaths of four FARC hostages, apparently killed by their captors during the fighting. But Salazar stated he believed FARC's plan to release other hostages signaled a new phase of hostage liberation that might help lead both sides to a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. However Salazar recognized at the press conference that at this point even talking about the armed conflict in Colombia was "extremely sensitive." To that end Salazar also praised the actions of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who has maintained an open line of dialogue between FARC and the Colombian government, which Salazar held as important to preventing a longterm "spiral of violence" in the country. The rebels announced their plans for the upcoming hostage release in a missive to former Colombian Senator Piedad Córdoba earlier this month.

President Ollanta Humala of Peru went on national TV the night of Dec. 4 to announce that he has imposed a state of emergency in four provinces of Cajamarca region, which has been the scene of a general strike for the past 11 days in opposition to the mega-scale Conga mining project that residents say threatens local water resources. The 60-day state emergency affects the provinces of Cajamarca, Celendín, Hualgayoc and Contumazá. In his address, Humala said the government "has exhausted all paths to establish dialogue as a point of departure to resolve the conflict democratically" and blamed "the intransigence of a sector of local and regional leaders."

Some 400 protesters on Nov. 28 clashed with police as they attempted to occupy the site of the planned Conga gold and copper mine at Celendín municipality in Peru's highland region of Cajamarca. National Police troops fired tear-gas and shot-gun blasts, and protesters hurled stones as they tried to take over a work camp at the site. The airport at Cajamarca city, the regional capital, was closed and flights cancelled as another 500 protesters gathered and pledged to occupy the facility. The police force securing the airport was massively outnumbered. Protesters also blockaded surrounding roads. It was the fifth consecutive day of a civil strike to demand a halt to the mining project. Two were arrested at the mine site, and one protester wounded in the leg. Protesters are demanding that President Ollanta Humala come to Cajamarca to hold a town meeting or consulta on the project, and pledged to escalate their tactics if he does not comply within 24 hours.

Venezuelan officials Nov. 25 announced the first air shipment of overseas gold holdings as part of a move to repatriate the country's foreign reserves from Europe and North America. The gold was unloaded from a plane and taken under heavy guard to the Central Bank in Caracas. Said President Hugo Chávez: "Now [the gold] will go to a place from which it should have never left: the Central Bank vaults; not those in London or in Europe, but our own land." Venezuela plans to return some 160 tons of gold, worth more than $11 billion and making up 85% of the country's bullion reserves.

Colombia's FARC guerillas executed four captive members of the security forces as the army raided the camp where they were being held in a rescue attempt, authorities said Nov. 26. National Police Sgt. Luis Alberto Erazo, who had been held since December 1999, was able to escape his captors as four of his colleagues were executed by the rebels, Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzón said. "At the moment the first shots were heard, Sgt. Erazo took the decision to run," Pinzón claimed. "He run and he hid in the jungle. According to reports, he was pursued by three terrorists of the FARC who even threw grenades at him during the chase. This caused him facial injuries."

Students began returning to classes in Colombia's public universities on Nov. 17, a day after the government of right-wing president Juan Manuel Santos formally withdrew a proposed law that the students considered an effort to privatize higher education. The Broad National Student Panel (MANE), the coordinating group for the student movement, quickly responded by announcing the suspension of a month-old strike that had shut down the country's public universities and many of the private schools, although the group said students at some universities may stay on strike over local issues.

The new leader of Colombia's FARC guerillas, Rodrigo Londoño AKA "Timochenko," issued a harsh criticism against Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos Nov. 19, in his first official communique since taking over the FARC leadership. "To hold power and to present yourself as threatening and brutal... this cannot win the sympathy of anyone... [H]istory teaches us that the vast majority of human beings hate this kind of bravado," wrote Timochenko, in the communique titled "This is not how it is, Santos, this is not how it is." Timochenko went on to criticize the way that the country was celebrating the death of FARC's former leader, Alfonso Cano, saying it exposed "the macabre face of this beautiful democracy."

Chilean students are planning to join with Colombian students in a binational demonstration on Nov. 24 as part of ongoing protests in defense of education in the two countries. Leaders of the Chilean Student Confederation (CONFECH) made the announcement after a 12-hour meeting in the Catholic University of the North in the city of Antofagasta; the leaders also called for local demonstrations in Chile on Nov. 14, 17 and 18.