Venezuela's former defense minister Italo del Valle Alliegro faces charges over his role in violent repression of the protests in Caracas in 1989, an affair today known as the "Caracazo." The protests, sparked by economic restructuring measures that included price rises on fuel and public transport, left hundreds dead in February 1989. The retired general denies all the charges.

Colombia's government says it is close to sealing an agreement with Washington which would make the country the hub for US anti-drug operations in South America. The deal would give the US access to air bases in Colombia to gather intelligence and support operations across the continent. The administration of President Alvaro Uribe rejected accusations that the deal would infringe the country's sovereignty. The US was forced to seek a new center for regional operations after Ecuador refused to renew the lease on its military base at Manta. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has said he would rather "cut off his arm" than allow the US to stay on at Manta. (BBC News, July 16)

FARC guerrilla Gerardo Antonio Aguilar AKA "César" was extradited to the US July 16 to face drug charges. "César" guarded hostages including Ingrid Betancourt before his arrest in July 2008. He was turned over to the DEA and flow to Washington after being transfered from his Bogotá prison to El Catam military airfield. César "was commander of the First Front of the FARC and in that position in charge of the production and distribution of cocaine to the United States," Colombia's Supreme Court stated in February when it ruled to allow his extradition.

Peru's former president Alberto Fujimori admitted at the opening of his corruption trial July 20 that he had paid his spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos $15 million in public funds to quit as his regime collapsed in 2000. But he added: "I only accept the facts, I do not accept the criminal responsibility, the punishment or the civil reparations."

Two men armed with pistols shot Colombian indigenous leader Héctor Betancur Domicó dead the night of July 6 as he was leaving the offices of an indigenous organization in Tierralta in the northwestern department of Córdoba. Betancur Domicó was the leader of the Katío Embera community of Changarra, one of 17 small communities in the region, which has a total population of about 5,000 Katío Embera. The National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC) reported that more than 1,254 indigenous people have been killed by armed groups in Colombia since January 2002. (La Raza, Chicago, July 11 from AP)

A former Bolivian interior minister Luis Arce Gómez, 71, was deported July 9 to La Paz, where he is accused of human rights violations. "I hope last night's removal brings justice to the people of Bolivia who were victimized by the reprehensible acts that this man committed," Michael Rozos, director of the US Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) office of detention and removal in Florida, said in a statement.

Colombian bounty hunters shot and killed one of three hippopotami which escaped from a private zoo owned by the late Medellín Cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar. The hippos broke out of the zoo, on the drug lord's Hacienda Napoles in Antioquia department, in 2006 and thrived in the nearby Magdalena River. Officials say the animals are a threat to people and crops, and that all three have to be destroyed. Colombian TV broadcast images of the carcass of the fully grown male hippo, surrounded by hunters and soldiers. Animal rights groups reacted angrily to the killing. "They could have been captured and kept in a safe place until a permanent refuge was found for them," said Marcela Ramírez of the local Animal Protection Network.

Peru's government ordered more than 32,000 police and over 6,000 soldiers to keep order around the country as a paro or series of coordinated strikes against the free-trade policies of President Alan García entered its second day July 8. The education and transportation sectors are those most affected. The Unitary Syndicate of Peruvian Education Workers (SUTEP) claimed 80% teacher participation in the strike in Lima and 100% in the provinces, while the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP) claimed widespread compliance with a transportation strike in the capital. Rallies were held in several locations around Lima, the largest being the Plaza Dos de Mayo. With bus lines halted, taxis and combis raised their prices.