Fourteen leaders of the protest movement in the remote Patagonian area of Aysén, including its spokesman Iván Fuentes, are due to meet the Chilean interior minister, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, in Santiago today to seek a solution to the unrest that has shaken the region for the past two months. Reporters without Borders hopes the talks will ensure that basic constitutional freedoms, including the right to inform and be informed, are preserved. “The problem will not be solved by...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday expressed concern about allegations that some Latin American drug trafficking organizations are linked with Hezbollah and Iran. "We are concerned about the activities of Iran and Hezbollah in the Western Hemisphere," the top U.S. envoy told the House Committee on Foreign Affairs at a hearing. Washington brands Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group in Lebanon, as a terrorist organization, while Iran's disputed nuclear program is...

Iran's president on Tuesday lauded his country's newly launched Spanish-language satellite TV channel, saying it would deal a blow to "dominance seekers" - remarks that were an apparent jab at the U.S. and the West. The launch is Tehran's latest effort to reach out to friendly governments in Latin America and follows Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's four-nation tour of the region earlier in January, which included stops in Cuba and visits to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Ecuador. It also comes...

Thanks to a wave of demonstrations and protests in Santiago the government has abandoned plans to force journalists to hand over images to police under controversial new legislation sponsored by interior minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter, who announced on 18 January that he would withdraw that section of the bill. “Congress has been instructed not to approve it,” Mauricio Weibel, president of the association of foreign correspondents in Chile, confirmed to Reporters Without Borders. ...

We share the concern that the Chilean Union of Photographers and Cameramen has expressed about the possibility of more violence against media personnel by the security forces, especially the carabinero militarized police, during the large protests that are expected to take place today and tomorrow in response to calls from the student movement. The concern is justified by the many cases of abuses by police and carabineros at previous demonstrations. Chile’s carabineros are part of the...

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said here on Thursday that his country is ready to expand relations and cooperation with Iran in all domains, in the economic and cultural spheres in particular. Pinera told Iran's Ambassador to Santiago Houshang Karimi Abhari that Iran and Chila should use all the capacities available to promote ties in the economic, industrial, mineral, trade, cultural and arts fields. Source:

The Anti-Defamation League on Thursday expressed deep concern about recent anti-Semitic incidents in Chile targeting Jewish community leaders and institutions, and called on the country’s officials to publicly condemn such acts. In recent weeks, vandals have desecrated cemeteries and spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti on synagogues and Jewish schools in three cities, including the capital, Santiago. In some instances, the graffiti included swastikas and the words “Juden...

Chile’s Police And U.S. Embassy Are Working Together To Investigate CAM.A radicalized indigenous Mapuche group linked with acts of violent protest is gathering strength and becoming more organized, according to the recently released U.S. State Department’s 2009 report on world terrorism. The Mapuche is Chile’s largest indigenous group. The report says that the group Arauco Malleco Committee (CAM) has shown signs of “improved planning” in its activities and of a...

Terrorist-sponsoring nation Iran is increasing its presence in Latin America, and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization it sponsors, is making inroads in drug trafficking in Colombia, according to Pentagon spokesperson Donna Miles in a press statement to the National Association of Chiefs of Police. During a recent congressional hearing, Navy Admiral James G. Stavridis told the House Armed Services Committee that he shares the concerns of Defense Secretary Robert Gates about Iranian activity...

WASHINGTON - Iran is increasing its presence in Latin America, and Hezbollah, a terrorist organization it sponsors, is making inroads in drug trafficking in Colombia, the commander of U.S. Southern Command told Congress today. Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis told the House Armed Services Committee he shares concerns expressed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates about Iranian activity in Central and South America. Iran has opened six embassies in the region during the past five years and is...