On July 21, over 80 indigenous Yukpa people arrived in Caracas for the third time from the Sierra de Perijá and began a protest vigil in front of the Venezuelan Supreme Court. The protesters are demanding a ruling on an appeal introduced in February to determine that three arrested Yukpas can be judged under indigenous law rather than the national legal system.

Some 5,000 indigenous campesinos from across Colombia marched in downtown Bogotá July 21 to protest a pact that gives US forces greater access to Colombian military bases. The "Patriotic March" on Plaza Bolívar came the same day as 30,000-strong celebrations in the capital city's central square marking the nation's bicentennial. President Alvaro Uribe presided over the official rally. The campesinos marched on the plaza from the National University campus, which has served as a staging ground for the protest, and where classes are suspended.

Colombia asked the Organization of American States July 16 to convene a meeting of its permanent council to address Bogotá's accusation that guerillas are operating out of Venezuelan territory. The request came a day after President Alvaro Uribe's office announced it had "clear evidence" that four leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and one leader of the National Liberation Army (ELN) are "sheltering" in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government on July 13 handed over three accused Colombian drug traffickers to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami said that handing over the suspects was further evidence of the "undeniable results" in the war on drugs achieved by the government of President Hugo Chávez—efforts Washington labels insufficient. "In accordance with international agreements, we are deporting three Colombian citizens wanted by Interpol for drug trafficking and other crimes," El Aissami said at Caracas' Maiquetia International Airport.

Former FARC guerilla hostage Ingrid Betancourt has asked for compensation from the Colombian government, alleging that her 2002 kidnapping resulted from state negligence. On July 9, the Colombian government announced that Betancourt had initiated legal action seeking $7 million in damages. "The state gravely failed in its duty in allowing a presidential candidate to travel in this part of the country without proper protection," the court documents say, according to media reports.

Bolivian Defense Minister Rubén Saavedra has ordered an investigation of a July 7 incident in which a T-33 military jet fired a missile from its base in El Alto that passed within a meter of the tail of the official presidential plane, a Falcón 900 EX Easy recently purchased from France. The missile hit a nearby house, causing no casualties. The government said it would pay for the damage to the house. Both planes were apparently on the ground when the incident occurred. President Morales does not appear to have been on board at the time. However, a day earlier his helicopter had to return to Chimoré air base in Cochabamba when it developed engine trouble immediately after taking off. (La Prensa, La Paz, July 8; Prensa Latina, July 7)

Francisco Chávez Abarca, a Salvadoran national wanted on terrorism charges in Cuba, was arrested by Venezuelan authorities July 1 when he landed at the Caracas airport under a false passport. Under interrogation, he confessed to having been contracted by Luis Posada Carriles to carry out destabilizing acts in Venezuela in the lead-up to the September national assembly elections. After questioning by the Venezuelan police, he was extradited to Cuba.

LGBT organizations in Cochabamba, Bolivia, held their fourth annual Pride event on June 26, marching from Las Banderas plaza to Colón square. Two days later, on June 28, Bolivian LGBT activists celebrated the first official Day of People With Diverse Sexual Orientation, which the government of President Evo Morales created on July 1, 2009 with Supreme Decree 0189. "We want to give an acknowledgment to all those who have been supporting us continually in everything that's a process of making human rights issues visible," said Luis Ayllón Martínez, general director of the organization Equity. (Los Tiempos, Cochabamba, June 27; SentidoG, Buenos Aires, June 28)