On his June 8 Sunday TV program, Alo Presidente, Venezeula's President Hugo Chávez called on Colombia's FARC guerillas to lay down arms, saying: "Guerilla warfare has passed from history, and you in the FARC should know one thing: you have been converted into an excuse for the empire to threaten us all, you are the perfect excuse. The day peace comes to Colombia, the empire will lose the principal excuse it has—terrorism." (El Universal, Mexico, June 9)

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro June 2 told reporters that US Deputy Secretary of State John D. Negroponte—leading Washington's delegation to the 38th session of the Organization of American States general assembly in Medellín—is "a little official with a criminal record." Then, before the assembly, he accused Washington of sponsoring a campaign to "spread violence in the region." Maduro was reacting to Negroponte's remarks earlier that day that the Colombia's FARC guerillas "sought refuge in Venezuela." Without naming Venezuela, Negroponte asked Colombia's neighbors to help prevent guerillas from taking shelter on their soil. The US "categorically rejects" the Maduro's epithets, said US delegate to the OAS Héctor Morales. (El Universal, Caracas, June 3)

On May 29 and 30, the Medellín anti-militarist group Red Juvenil (Youth Network) received e-mail messages from the address redesnegras (at) hotmail.com, reading "DEATH TO ANARCHISTS DISGUISED AS PACIFISTS, NO MORE COMMUNIST DRUG CONCERTS, NO MORE WARNINGS." It named eight people associated with Red Juvenil, and was signed "GRUPO AGUILAS NEGRAS". The Aguilas Negras (Black Eagles) are a paramilitary network which has survived the "demobilization" of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). The e-mail handle "redesnegras" means "black networks." On May 17, Red Juvenil held a free rock concert in Medellín's Parque Boston. Two days before that, the group's office was broken into. (Red Juvenil statement, received via e-mail, June 6)

A retired Colombian army general and former CIA asset was arrested May 27 over the disappearances of 11 people. Ivan Ramirez, formerly the Colombian Army's third in command, led an intelligence unit of soldiers in a 1985 raid that recaptured the Palace of Justice, which had been seized by leftist rebels during one of the country's most violent periods of its ongoing civil war. Prosecutors claim that his unit escorted 11 people, which included cafeteria workers and one rebel, out of the Palace as the military raided the building. These people were never heard from again.

Colombian prison authorities waited more than 48 hours before securing laptop computers and cell phones belonging to 14 right-wing paramilitary leaders who were suddenly extradited to the US on May 13. Eventually the prison authorities turned 10 laptops over to prosecutors, along with seven cell phones, one Blackberry wireless messaging device, six or more USB memory sticks, and 72 CDs belonging to Diego Fernando Murillo ("Don Berna"); the CDs were said to be "labeled with [mass] graves by region." Paramilitary leader Salvatore Mancuso's laptop was sent to a repair shop on May 10, two days before the extradition, and hadn't been recovered as of May 27. SIM memory cards from cell phones belonging to Mancuso, Ramiro Vanoy and Juan Carlos Sierra were also missing.

Santa Cruz Votes for Autonomy

by Ben Dangl, Upside Down World

A group of some 50 indigenous mayors, town councillors and community leaders, gathered in Sucre, Bolivia, for an appearance by President Evo Morales May 25, were subjected to public humiliation by a right-wing mob—forcing cancellation of the public ceremony called to deliver 50 ambulances and other aid for rural communities. Organized groups opposed to Morales surrounded the stadium where he was to appear, confronting police and soldiers with sticks, stones and dynamite. Morales cancelled his visit, and the security forces were withdrawn to avoid bloodshed.

At a May 13-16 People's Summit in Lima, Peru's indigenous organizations launched a a new alliance to defend their collective rights—and win power in the 2011 presidential elections. "We want a political instrument that is different from conventional parties. We are seeking a plurinational state that will include us," indigenous leader Miguel Palacín, the chief organizer of the summit, told IPS.