Earlier this month, a delegation from the Bush adminisation met with President Alvaro Uribe in Bogota to evaluate what Uribe is calling "Plan Colombia II." The delegation was led by assistant secretary of state for hemispheric affairs Tom Shannon and assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs Anne Patterson (former US ambassador to Colombia). Also on the delegation were assistant secretary of defense for western hemisphere policy Stephen Johnson, assistant attorney general Mary Lee Warren and US AID deputy director Mark Silverman. The Bogota daily El Tiempo called it part of Uribe's "diplomatic offensive" to assure continued Plan Colombia aid following the changes in Washington. He officially dubs his new program "Plan Colombia Consolidation Phase: Strategy for Strengthening Democracy and Social Development." It emphasizes alternative crop programs for peasants in drug-growing regions and job programs for the 32,000 ostensibly "demobilized" paramilitary fighters. (El Tiempo, Jan. 26)

We hope. From Reuters, Feb. 16:

BOGOTA - A scandal over suspected Colombian government links to illegal right-wing militias could hamper President Alvaro Uribe's bid to clinch a free-trade deal with the United States.

from Weekly News Update on the Americas

from Weekly News Update on the Americas

from Weekly News Update on the Americas

Argentine bricklayer Luis Gerez, a survivor of torture who testified against a former police official, disappeared the evening of Dec. 27 in his town of Belen de Escobar, 60 kilometers north of the city of Buenos Aires, in Buenos Aires province. He left the house of a friend to buy some meat at the butcher shop for a barbecue and never returned. His vehicle was found with his documents, money and keys still in it.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid diplomatic visits to three Latin American countries Jan. 13-15, starting with Venezuela on Jan. 13. He and President Hugo Chavez reviewed accords they had signed in Caracas in September and signed new accords which were not immediately made public. "Iran and Venezuela will be together to the end," Ahmadinejad said. "It's possible that some problems will arise, but the revolutionary will of the two peoples will conquer any problem." (EFE, Jan. 13)

The wives of eight campesinos from Ayacucho, Peru, who were arrested for involvement in a December ambush on a police patrol have began a hunger strike to demand the their release. Peru's Interior Minister Pilar Mazzetti admitted in a press conference Jan. 9 that National Police investigators have not find any relation between the arrested men and the Shining Path guerilla movement.

from Weekly News Update on the Americas:

The Second Summit of the South American Community of Nations (CSN), held Dec. 8-9 in Cochabamba, Bolivia, concluded with a declaration that the meeting had laid the "cornerstone" for a regional union with "a space integrated politically, socially, culturally, economically, financially, environmentally and in infrastructure." Eight of the 12 member nations were represented by their heads of state: Evo Morales (Bolivia), Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Bharrat Jadgeo (Guyana), Nicanor Duarte (Paraguay), Alan Garcia (Peru), Tabare Vazquez (Uruguay), Hugo Chavez (Venezuela). Two presidents-elect attended as observers: Rafael Correa (Ecuador), Daniel Ortega (Nicaragua).