MEDIA-LATIN AMERICA: Easy to See the Speck in the Other’s Eye

People have been collectively tearing their hair out all over Latin America because of the Venezuelan government's decision not to renew the broadcasting licence of that country's most popular television station, RCTV.

RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: ‘Battalions of Lawyers, Not Soldiers’

In San Onofre, a municipality in the northwestern Colombian province of Sucre, where according to the Movement of Victims of Crimes of the State the far-right paramilitaries have killed 3,000 people, locals say in a low voice that "He will get us out of this."

COLOMBIA: Exhuming Nameless Victims

Colombian Inspector-General Edgardo Maya asked the United Nations for help unearthing and identifying the hundreds of bodies removed from secret graves throughout the country.

PRESS FREEDOM: Journalists in Colombia Create New National Federation

Journalists in Colombia, one of the most dangerous countries in the world for reporters, finally have their own national association.

Q&A: Colombian Reporters ‘Have Counted So Many Dead That We Lose Count’

"Freedom of the press is merely rhetorical," says veteran Colombian journalist Javier Darío Restrepo. "The only thing that counts are free reporters."

POLITICS-COLOMBIA: Uribe Seeks Trade Deal, Aid from U.S.

Opening a three-day drive to pry a new aid and trade deal out of a wary, Democratic-led U.S. Congress, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe received a warm endorsement at the White House where he met with President George W. Bush over breakfast Wednesday.

Q&A: Victims in Colombia Are Gagged, the Public Misinformed

When a murder occurs in a Colombian community, the locals know who committed it: far-right paramilitaries, leftwing guerrillas, or the security forces. They also know if fighting really took place, or if the "enemy" bodies displayed on television as "trophies" by army officers were in fact dead civilians.

DRUGS-U.S.: Cocaine Price Falls Despite Supply-Side Squeeze

Preliminary U.S. government data, quietly disclosed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, shows the price per gram of cocaine on the streets fell in 2006 while its purity increased, despite over 31 billion dollars spent on operations over the last decade to stem the flow of cocaine into the United States.

HUMAN RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: Uribe on the Defensive

The Colombian government has assigned military intelligence agents to monitor opposition legislators who are travelling to the United States to express their views on different aspects of relations between the two countries, rightwing President Álvaro Uribe himself revealed.

COLOMBIA: US Freezes Aid as ‘Parapolitics’ Scandal Burns On

A package of U.S. military aid for Colombia that received the green light this month was blocked again in the U.S. Senate, while Colombian President Álvaro Uribe finds himself in increasingly deep water as a result of the scandal over ties between pro-Uribe politicians and the paramilitaries.

COLOMBIA: Talks with ELN Enter Complex New Phase

The Colombian government and the insurgent National Liberation Army (ELN) have launched a complex new round of preliminary talks in the Cuban capital, hoping to agree on an agenda for formal peace negotiations.

COLOMBIA: Half of EU Aid to Go Directly to Victims

Half of Europe's aid for Colombia over the next seven years will go directly to victims of the civil war and civil society organisations that provide them with assistance.

COLOMBIA: Embezzling Health Funds as Children Starve

The arrest and investigation of officials accused of stealing public health funds in an impoverished Colombian region where a dozen children have died of malnutrition show to what extent corruption is an obstacle for the country's prospects of meeting poverty reduction targets.

COLOMBIA: Low Expectations for New Round of Talks with ELN

Contradictory declarations and low expectations surround the sixth round of exploratory talks that begins Thursday in Cuba between the Colombian government and the insurgent National Liberation Army (ELN), which have been engaged in dialogue with a view to formal peace talks since December 2005.

RELIGION-COLOMBIA: Changing World, Changing Faiths

The Catholic Church is losing members every day in Colombia, despite its deep-rooted religious tradition in this country, while evangelical congregations are filling their churches to overflowing.

VENEZUELA: Colombian Refugees Flee to Lawless Border Region

"The ELN (guerrillas) tried to recruit my 19-year-old son last year. When he refused, they killed him. A neighbour told me where they buried him, and out of vengeance, they killed my neighbour's son," says the peasant farmer under the hot sun on the Venezuelan plains, squeezing his eyes together to keep the tears back.

VENEZUELA: Colombian Conflict Spills Across Border

A four-year-old girl was killed in a shootout between members of Colombia's two biggest insurgent groups in El Amparo, a border town in Venezuela's southwestern plains region.

COLOMBIA: Miners’ Woes Heard – If Faintly – in US

The pattern of persecution of miners in Colombia overlaps with the map of operations of foreign corporations, especially U.S. companies, Colombian trade unionists told a U.S. legislator.

COLOMBIA: Coal Mine Accidents Underreported to Protect Livelihoods

Colombia took in more than 1.3 billion dollars in revenue from coal exports last year. But miners continue to work in inadequate conditions, lacking job stability, safety measures and health coverage.

COLOMBIA: UN Says Human Rights Situation Still Critical

The "democratic security" policy of the government of Álvaro Uribe could have negative effects on the conduct of members of the security forces, the United Nations warns in a human rights report on Colombia.

COLOMBIA-US: Military Rescue of Hostages on Bush’s Agenda?

U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Colombia was accompanied by signals that Washington may step up its efforts to secure the release of three U.S. intelligence operatives who have been held hostage by the main guerrilla group, the FARC, since early 2003.