Twelve Awa Indians were massacred in rural southwest Colombia last week. Seven children were among the dead including one infant. They were apparently shot by masked men wearing camoflauge. One suspect is in custody. He is alleged to have extorted the victims. However independent news organizations report that the government played a role in the […]
President Alvaro Uribe recently moved one step closer to running for a third term in office. The Colombian Senate voted 56-2 last week to approve a plan for legal changes that would enable him to be reelected a second time. The process must now be approved by the House of Representatives and pass a nationwide […]
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela continues to criticize the recent agreement allowing access by a limited number of United States military forces and contractors to Colombian military bases. The accord, signed last Friday, enables the US to support anti-narcotics operations, and to replace its previous base at Manta, Ecuador. Chávez has used particularly strong language […]
On Monday most presidents of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) met at a summit in Quito to discuss issues of regional interest. Notably, President Alvaro Uribe of Colombia was not in attendance due to his country’s strained relations with Ecuador. One topic not on the official agenda but raised during discussions was the […]
– The Thai courts refused a request to extradite Viktor Bout (aka The Merchant of Death) to the United States. Bout, an notorious global arms dealer, is accused by the U.S. of attempting to sell more than 700 surface-to-air missiles, a massive cache of automatic weapons, and airplanes and helicopters to the Revolutionary Armed Forces […]
In starting a new blog on Venezuela perhaps the first question that comes to mind is: why should those of us drawn to international relations dedicate attention to this country? Perhaps known immediately for an often boisterous president, importance in global oil production, and its array of international beauty queens, Venezuela also holds much more […]