South America

from mw, 28 July 2009: "On June 29 US President Barack Obama hosted his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe at the White House and weeks later it was announced that the Pentagon plans to deploy troops to five air and naval bases in Colombia, the largest recipient of American military assistance in Latin America and the third largest in the world, having received over $5 billion from the Pentagon since the launching of Plan Colombia nine years ago..." more

from narconews, 23 June 2009: "US Government Trained the Police Department that Participated in the Operation and Invested "Heavily" in the Killer Helicopters... On June 5, the Peruvian National Police (PNP) massacred up to fifty unarmed Awajún and Wampi indigenous people in Bagua who had blockaded roads in protest of land reforms related to a recently implemented US-Peru free trade agreement..." more

from ainfos, 20 June 2009: "This past May 5 union leader Argenis Vasquez, organizing secretary in the union at Toyota’s plant in Cumana, was gunned down by thugs as he left his house. This assassination occurred just after a month-long strike demanding improvements. The murdered worker was a leader of the protest and key in confrontations with the company and the management..." more

from guardian, updated 17 June 2009: "Indigenous tribes who are protesting about oil and gas projects in the Amazon clashed with Peruvian security forces on Friday, leaving dozens dead and injured... Police in helicopters fired live rounds at peaceful protestors and dropped tear gas canisters, killing 22 protestors, indigenous leader Alberto Pizango told reporters in the capital Lima..." more

from rinf, 13 January 2009: "Declassified U.S. documents show that the CIA and former U.S. ambassadors were fully aware, as far back as 1990, that the military in Colombia — the third largest recipient of U.S. aid after Israel and Egypt — were committing extrajudicial killings as part of “death squad tactics.” They also knew that senior Colombian officers encouraged a “body count” mentality to demonstrate progress in the fight against left-wing guerrillas. In an undetermined number of cases, the bodies presented as casualties in the counterinsurgency war were actually civilians who had nothing to do with the country’s decades-old armed conflict..." more

from email, 5 January 2008: "During mid-December a large number of people working under temporary contracts in governmental offices lost their jobs due to orders “from above” that mandated a drastic reduction in the inflated state payroll due to the economic crisis. On the other hand a report by the NGO CECODAP counted 174 children dead by gunshots in one year in their neighborhoods, which testifies about the violence we live with in this country, symptom of our social crisis..." more

from various sources, 12 December 2008: The jury at the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes today rejected Scotland Yard's claim that he was lawfully killed as part of an anti-terrorism operation. Banned by the coroner, Sir Michael Wright, from returning a verdict of unlawful killing, the five men and five women decided on an open verdict – the most critical that was available to them. In a series of answers to a list of crucial questions, they dismissed the testimony of the senior firearms officer who shot De Menezes – suggesting they did not believe the officer was acting in self-defence.. more