Presidents Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and Rafael Correa of Ecuador warned of possible "contagion" in their countries by the autonomy movement in the eastern Bolivian province of Santa Cruz. "The central plan by the CIA and its lackeys in Venezuela is to take control of regional governments to carry out illegal referendums like the one held (Sunday in favor of autonomy) in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. But we will defeat that plan!" said Chávez.

Colombia's military committed "crimes against humanity" when it shot three people in the back and killed a man with a blow to the head during the March 1 raid on a guerilla camp in Ecuador, Quito's Interior Minister Fernando Bustamante told the Gamavision TV news program. The forensic evidence showing that the three were shot in the back is "undeniable," he said.

Colombia has for the first time extradited an imprisoned paramilitary leader to the US to face drug-trafficking charges. Bogotá agreed to the extradition of Carlos Jiménez Naranjo AKA Macaco because he was found to be continuing to run his criminal network from inside his prison cell—in violation of an agreement he had signed with the Colombian government, and the terms of the Justice and Peace Law.

Unionists and other activists marked International Workers Day with marches throughout Latin America on May 1 as rising food and fuel costs cut into workers' standard of living. Demands included increases in the minimum wage, an end to violence against unionists and rejection of trade pacts with the US.

Street clashes broke out in the departmental capital of Santa Cruz and towns in the surrounding countryside May 4 as regional authorities declared victory in the autonomy vote. Dozens were injured, including one protester hit by a dynamite blast in the town of Montero. Protesters burned ballot boxes in the town of Yapacani. At least one death was reported—an elderly man affected by tear gas fired by police as protesters clashed with autonomy supporters in Plan Tres Mil, a sprawling poor district of Santa Cruz city where voters were attacked with clubs.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez convened an extraordinary meeting of member nations of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in Caracas April 23 to discuss the world food crisis. At the meeting, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, Bolivian President Evo Morales, Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, and Chávez signed a series of accords to promote mutual agricultural development, create a joint food distribution network, and create a $100 million ALBA food security fund. "The food crisis is the greatest demonstration of the historical failure of the capitalist model," President Chávez declared. Lage said the crisis is the fruit of an "unjust international economic order" in which "the logic is profit and not the satisfaction of peoples' needs." (VenezuelAnalysis, April 24)

On the eve of the May 4 autonomy referendum in the lowland department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia is increasingly polarized—with the central government of President Evo Morales refusing to accept the legitimacy of the Santa Cruz vote, and the Santa Cruz leadership refusing to accept the pending constitutional reform which would establish a process for achieving local autonomy. Bolivia's ambassador in ally Venezuela, Jorge Alvarado, called on the OAS to stand firm before "the separatist pretensions of the Departament of Santa Cruz." The opposition prefect (governor) of Santa Cruz, Rubén Costa, assured there would be no violence, announcing to the crowd at the closing rally of the autonomy campaign: "We don't want dynamite, nor clubs, nor rancor. The democratic vote is our only weapon." However, a photo of the rally in Ecuador's El Diario, showed one attendee holding a giant slingshot in the firing position. A popular banner slogan at the rally was "We have no fear!" (¡No tenemos miedo!). (El Diario, Puerto Viejo, Ecuador, May 3)

Colombia's Caño-Limon oil pipeline was paralyzed for a third day after it was blown up by FARC guerillas on April 29. Military-escorted engineers are working to repair the pipeline, which carries 100,000 barrels of oil a day from a field jointly run by the state company Ecopetrol and Occidental Petroleum. Some 4 million barrels of petroleum have contaminated the local Rio Tibú, leaving many residents without potable water. The FARC also blew up the Padre-Nieto bridge, in nearby Catatumbo, leaving several small communities cut off across a large area of Norte de Santander department.