The Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on its website a statement that not only confirms the abduction of Guillermo Cholele, Costa Rica's Commercial Attaché in Venezuela, but also reports that the kidnappers made a telephone call to the diplomat's home seeking money for his release. "A telephone call to the diplomat's home mentioned a ransom request. It added that he was in a good health condition," said the document issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ...

Colombia 's largest rebel group has freed some of the world's longest-held hostages, ending more than a decade of jungle captivity for 10 police officers and soldiers. The captives were released by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, in a long-planned operation overseen by the Red Cross, the Brazilian government and a former Colombian senator, Piedad Cordoba. President Juan Manuel Santos called the release "a step in the right direction, a very important step"...

The Colombian government has forbidden the presence of outsiders during a FARC hostage handover next week, reported local media Wednesday. Colombians For Peace, an NGO that negotiates with the guerrillas and is participating in the handover, had wanted to invite various dignataries, including the vice-president of Ecuador and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Rigoberta Menchu. Bringing outsiders to look on would be highly inappropriate, said Foreign Minister Maria Angela Holguin. "We do not...

A gay Chilean man who was beaten, stabbed, burned, and branded with a Swastika by a gang of neo-Nazis has died. Last month Daniel Zamudio, Zamudio was beaten with blunt objects before the Neo Nazi’s cut off part of his ear, carved swastikas into his abdomen and burned other parts of his body with cigarettes. Daniel Zamudio, 24 years. Zamudio’s mother told the newspaper that her son had gone to work at a store on Friday, but she did not know his whereabouts until he was found...

Colombian troops on Monday killed 32 leftist FARC rebels in a remote jungle region, President Juan Manuel Santos said, the second blow to the drug-funded group in less than a week. The dawn attack in the central province of Meta takes the total number of FARC rebels killed by the armed forces to 65 after an attack last Wednesday killed 33 rebels who were resting in the northern plains region of Arauca. "This shows that our armed forces continue their offensive and are not going to...

Colombia's government is criticizing a public event that was held in Venezuela's capital honoring the late leader of Colombia's largest rebel group. Colombia's Foreign Ministry expressed "indignation" over the tribute marking the fourth anniversary of rebel leader Manuel Marulanda's death. A group of radical leftists organized the event on Saturday in Caracas' 23 de Enero slum, where there is a bust of Marulanda. There was no immediate response from Venezuelan government officials. ...

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...

US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, rejected Tuesday budget cuts to programs aimed at promoting democracy in Venezuela and Cuba, which were proposed by the US Department of State. "The sharp cut in democracy funds for Cuba and Venezuela sends a wrong message to the internal opposition in these countries," Ros-Lehtinen said during a hearing at the House Foreign Affairs Committee to review the budget of the US Department of...

Community broadcaster Argemiro Cárdenas Agudelo was shot dead in cold blood by a hired killer on a motorcycle yesterday in Dosquebradas, in Risaralda department. A politician and former mayor of the town, he was also director and manager of the community radio station Metro Radio Estéreo and for the past 14 years had also contributed to other stations. Since 2010, he had been running Red Radial Cafetera radio and was affiliated to the World Association of Community Radio...

The federal senate’s 95 members yesterday unanimously passed an amendment to article 73 of the constitution allowing the federal courts and investigators to deal with crimes that threaten the work of journalists and freedom of information. The amendment was already approved by the lower house last November. The amendment says: “The federal authorities will also be able to try crimes under state jurisdiction when they are linked to federal crimes or when they are crimes against...