Protests were reported on Thursday morning at Venezuela-Colombia border, particularly across the international bridges connecting Venezuela's south-western Táchira state with Colombia. Apparently, Colombian smugglers, also know as "maleteros," gathered to protest against the controls the Venezuelan National Guard has been implementing in the border to avoid food and commodity smuggling into Colombia. The smugglers burned two vehicles and tires across the Simón...

An Argentine special prosecutor's accusation that Iran has established terrorist networks throughout Latin America has renewed debate over how big a threat that poses to the region and the United States. Alberto Nisman, who is investigating the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people, said in a 500-page report released last week that Iran has been building the networks for nearly 30 years. That assessment coincides with a viewpoint held by many Western...

Colombian Vice-President Angelino Garzón on Monday the United Nations to delve into reports that the Venezuelan opposition has purchased US warplanes as part of a plan to attack Venezuela from Colombia. "Considering José V Rangel's reports in Venezuela, I believe that the best Colombia can do is requesting the UN to check this," twitted Garzón, according to AFP. On Sunday, Venezuela's former vice-president José Vicente Rangel claimed that the...

Eight journalists have been threatened with death in a leaflet signed by a self-styled “Anti-Land Restitution Group” circulated in Valledupar, in the northern department of Cesar, on 6 May (see below). Headed by a photo of an automatic weapon, the leaflet gave the eight journalists 24 hours to leave the city and said they would be killed if they did not stop covering subjects related to land restitution. It described the eight journalists as “military targets” and...

The Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla resumed peace talks in Havana in order to put an end to the armed conflict, and reach peace as soon as possible, which would be unacceptable to achieve “at any cost,” according to the parties’ statements. “We want results,” said former Colombian Vice President Humberto de la Calle, head of the government delegation, but “peace will not come at any price; it will not...

Reporters Without Borders strongly denounces the violent acts, that can be considered barbaric, endured by Germán Uribe, a Colombian journalist and writer. The incident occurred on February 28, 2013 at his home in Subachoque in the region of Cundinamarca. He has since suspended his writing activity but hopes to work again once he recovers from his injuries. The organization calls on the authorities to shed light on the attack, fight against impunity and guarantee the freedom of...

Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) said late on Feb. 12 it released five employees of a Canadian mining company kidnapped last month. The ELN said in a prepared statement it freed five Geo Explorer employees - three Colombians and two Peruvians - kidnapped Jan. 18. But the terrorist group made no mention of a Canadian citizen whom the Colombian army said earlier this month was among those seized by “bandits” from the ELN in the country’s northern region. So...

The top commander of the largest guerrilla army in Colombia on Monday dismissed government criticisms about the rebels' recent spree of kidnappings and said that "there is no crisis" regarding the ongoing peace talks. The commander who goes by the alias of "Timochenko " said that negotiations between the FARC and the government continued "in normal mode." According to the rebel leader, "nobody has walked out or formally threatened to withdraw."...

Human rights defenders across the Americas are facing escalating levels of intimidation, harassment and attacks at the hands of state security forces, paramilitary groups and organized crime, Amnesty International said in a new report today. The report Transforming pain into hope: Human rights defenders in the Americas, is based on around 300 cases of intimidation, harassment, attacks and killings of human rights defenders in more than a dozen countries primarily between January 2010 and...

HAVANA, -- Representatives of the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla group Friday renewed the peace talks in Havana, aimed at ending five decades of fighting in that country. The peace talks had a recess on Thursday, after three days of continuous work at closed doors at the Palace of Conventions in Havana. According to the schedule, the two sides are expected to continue discussions Friday on the integral agricultural development, the...