Colombia

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Colombia Offers Swap: Hostages for Prisoners

FARC must release ailing Betancourt for deal to go through

(Newser) - After more than 6 years in captivity, Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt will go free if FARC agrees to a deal Alvaro Uribe signed off on last night, the Guardian reports. The Colombian president issued a decree saying the country will release imprisoned rebel fighters in exchange for Betancourt, a onetime...

Cocaine on the Upswing in Peru
 Cocaine on the Upswing in Peru 
Mar 23, 2008 3:48 PM CDT

Cocaine on the Upswing in Peru

US attempts to quell trafficking stagnate in coca-based economy

(Newser) - Peru's cocaine business is growing again, sparking a spate of killings, threats, and US-funded attempts to stop it, the Los Angeles Times reports. Coca bush plots have increased by a third since 1999 to feed markets in Europe, East Asia, and Brazil—but growers are hard to collar because they...

Colombia to Pay Ex-Rebel $2.5M for Slaying

He shot his FARC boss, cut off his hand as proof

(Newser) - Colombia will pay the former FARC rebel who killed his commander last week part of a $2.5 million reward—a move critics say amounts to payment for murder, the BBC reports. Guerrilla Pedro Pablo Montoya shot his boss, then cut off his hand as proof. He will share the...

Recovered Data Links Venezuela to FARC Rebels

US, studying evidence, won't yet call Chavez a terror sponsor

(Newser) - Possible links between Hugo Chavez’ Venezuelan government and the Colombian FARC guerrilla group concern Washington, but US officials aren't yet saying the nation will be declared a state sponsor of terrorism, Reuters reports. Colombia said computers seized in a March 1 raid on a FARC base in Ecuador contain evidence...

US Families Sue Chiquita Over FARC Murders

Claim protection cash to Colombia rebels tied to missionary slayings

(Newser) - Fruit giant Chiquita stands accused in a federal lawsuit of contributing to the deaths of five US missionaries at the hands of Colombian rebel group FARC during the 1990s, the Wall Street Journal reports today. Families of the missionaries say protection money the Cincinnati-based company admitted to secretly paying the...

Audience Disses Zuckerberg SXSWi Interview

Reporter draws heckles, as CEO talks about changing world

(Newser) - Facebook is changing the world. At least, that was a dominant theme during Mark Zuckerberg’s Sunday keynote at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, during which interviewer Sarah Lacy of BusinessWeek drew heckles from an increasingly impatient audience. Zuckerberg talked about Colombian activists and Lebanese youth using Facebook to...

Venezuelan Diplomats to Return to Colombia

Ecuador not ready to reconcile after standoff

(Newser) - Venezuela will return its diplomats to Colombia after last week’s border crisis was largely resolved at a regional summit. Ecuadorean diplomats say it will take longer for them to return, reports the BBC. Colombian forces killed an important rebel leader inside Ecuador last week, provoking a bristling regional standoff.

'Merchant of Death' Denies Arms Charges

Viktor Bout, nabbed in Thailand, says he was just on vacation

(Newser) - Viktor Bout, the international arms dealer caught last week in a US sting operation in Thailand, told police he was vacationing when authorities nabbed him for trying to sell weapons to Colombian rebels, Reuters reports. Bout, nicknamed the "Merchant of Death" for business dealings with groups like the Taliban,...

South American Crisis Ends With Handshakes

After spat over raid, Colombia, Ecuador make nice with promises for future

(Newser) - The threat of war involving Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela was diffused today with a bevy of handshakes televised all over Latin America, Reuters reports. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and his opposite number, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, reached an agreement on combating insurgents in the future; the Colombian military's killing of...

Nicaragua Latest to Sever Ties Over Colombia Raid

Ortega, citing 'political terrorism,' follows lead of Ecuador, Venezuela

(Newser) - Nicaragua cut diplomatic ties with Bogota today, ratcheting up the political tension in the wake of Colombia's raid into Ecuador to kill rebels, the BBC reports. Calling Sunday's incursion an act of "political terrorism," President Daniel Ortega followed the lead of Ecuador and Venezuela, which have already severed...

Thais Nab 'Merchant of Death'
Thais Nab 'Merchant of Death'
Mar 6, 2008 5:18 PM CST

Thais Nab 'Merchant of Death'

Russian arms dealer may face US trial for supplying terror groups worldwide

(Newser) - The Russian arms dealer branded "the merchant of death" was apprehended in Thailand today after US intelligence linked him to Colombia rebels, the New York Times reports. Viktor Bout is on international most-wanted lists for allegedly using his private air fleet to supply al Qaeda and the Taliban—plus...

Venezuela Adds Firepower on Colombian Border

Tanks, aircraft deployed as standoff escalates

(Newser) - Venezuela deployed tanks to the Colombian border, Reuters reports, as Latin American tensions remained high enough that Hugo Chavez warned of an Andean war. Though Colombia refused to send reinforcements to its border, the mobilization of heavy artillery, including support from air and sea forces, is the first in the...

Ecuador Wants Apology on FARC; US Backs Bogota

Bush to Colombia: We're with you

(Newser) - Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, is in Brazil today, pushing for an apology from Colombia for its incursion into Ecuador to attack FARC guerrillas Saturday. While most Latin American nations, including Brazil, have condemned the cross-border attack, the White House yesterday unequivocally backed Colombia in the rapidly escalating crisis. Correa heads...

Colombia: FARC Was After Uranium
Colombia:
FARC Was
After Uranium
Mar 4, 2008 11:35 AM CST

Colombia: FARC Was After Uranium

Ecuador cuts ties, says slain rebel leader was key in hostage deal

(Newser) - Colombia has accused Ecuador and Venezuela of cooperating with FARC guerrillas who were trying to buy uranium, the BBC reports, even as Ecuador cut ties with Colombia and Venezuela expelled its diplomats. “FARC is taking big steps in the world of terrorism to become a global aggressor,” said...

Crisis Deepens as Colombia Links Ecuador to FARC

Ecuador, Venezuela send troops to Colombian borders

(Newser) - The tension in Latin America deepened last night as a Colombian general charged that Ecuador’s president had ties to a FARC leader killed by Colombian forces Saturday. Ecuador and Venezuela have both mobilized troops to their borders in response to the raid, which they claim took place on Ecuadorean...

Chavez Sends Troops to Colombian Border

Venezuelan prez angry after rebel is killed

(Newser) - Hugo Chavez sent thousands of Venezuelan troops to the Colombian border today after Colombia killed a FARC rebel leader, CNN reports. Chavez accused Colombia of being a US puppet and said Ecuador's border was violated in the attack. "We have to liberate Colombia," said Chavez, who is linked...

Colombian Troops Kill Top FARC Leader

He's the group's highest-ranking member to be killed

(Newser) - Colombian forces have for the first time killed one of FARC's top leaders, the BBC reports. The military attacked a rebel camp and killed Raul Reyes, a member of the group's ruling secretariat who had been a top candidate to take over the organization. The attack comes just days after...

FARC Hostage Near Death in Jungle
FARC Hostage Near Death
in Jungle
Feb 28, 2008 8:21 PM CST

FARC Hostage Near Death in Jungle

Former presidential candidate gravely ill, says released captive

(Newser) - A high-profile hostage still held by Colombian rebels is near death because of mistreatment and a lack of medicine, a former fellow captive said today. Ingrid Betancourt, seized by FARC rebels six years ago while campaigning for the presidency, is sick with hepatitis and liver problems, says Luis Eladio Perez,...

FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages
FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages
Feb 27, 2008 2:56 PM CST

FARC Rebels Free 4 Hostages

Prisoners were politicians, who had been held for more than 6 years

(Newser) - Colombian FARC rebels today set free four former Colombian legislators who had been held hostage for more than six years. The deal was brokered by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and three of the four will fly to Caracas to speak with him. The fourth is in poor health and may...

Drug Cartels Aim to Master the Deep

Narcotics gangs are increasingly relying on submersibles to transport cocaine

(Newser) - Colombian drug cartels are increasingly relying on homemade submersibles to transport cocaine, the Washington Post reports, with 13 such vessels seized last year—more than in the previous 14 combined. The vehicles skim just under the waves, nearly invisible to sonar and aircraft. And even enforcement officials have grudging respect...

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