Andes, Bolivia, Latin America: Week in Review
Police Strike Continues in Bolivia
June 26, 2012 By Staff
Top Story — Protesting police officers brandished weapons and fired tear gas on a crowd of government supporters in La Paz as Bolivia’s police strike entered its fourth day on Monday. A group supportive of Bolivian President Evo Morales had gathered in a square outside the presidential palace when the police, many dressed in civilian clothes and wearing ski masks, used tear gas to disperse the rally. Lower-level police officers in Bolivia say that they are striking for higher wages and would like to earn as much as the Bolivian military. On Sunday, the Bolivian government agreed to pay police the same salary as other public employees with a minimum salary of about $300 a month, but the offer was rejected. Morales has accused political rivals of orchestrating the police strike, but ruled out the use of Bolivian troops to end the strike. Since the strike began, a number of people have been injured and some police stations have been destroyed.
Read more from The Chicago Tribune.
Headlines from the Western Hemisphere
North America
- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that three out of four portions of Arizona’s SB 1070 regulating immigration should be overturned, but upheld the most controversial part of the law.
- The Mexican government expressed disappointment in the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a portion of Arizona’s SB 1070, requiring police to question the immigration status of anyone they stop.
- Three Mexican policemen were killed when gunmen in police uniform shot them in an open-access part of Mexico City’s international airport on Monday.
Caribbean
- Haitian police fired tear gas on at least 1,000 Haitians protesting a plan to raze their hillside homes to make way for a flood control project.
- U.S. diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks revealed that the U.S. government had found no “direct evidence” of money laundering in Cuba.
- Dominican and U.S. law enforcement officers arrested three Colombians and seized a ton of cocaine being transported in a speedboat.
Central America
- Six U.S. State Department helicopters and a team of DEA agents make up the two-month “Operation Anvil” in cooperation with the Honduran government to halt drug flights in the region.
- Costa Rican police destroyed more than 500,000 marijuana plants found growing in southern Costa Rica during an operation in mid-June.
Andes
- Peruvian President Ollanta Humala criticized opponents of the Congas Mine project in Cajamarca, which has been a major source of conflict.
- Gunmen entered the home of three Yukpa Indians, forced them outside and murdered them on Friday in Venezuela.
- The German government said it was in talks with Venezuela to come to an “amicable” resolution over a rock Venezuela claims was a sacred stone for the indigenous Pemon tribe.
Southern Cone
- Former Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo said in remarks Monday that he would seek to return to power and form a shadow government after he was impeached on Friday.
- Chile’s LAN airlines completed its takeover of Brazil’s TAM, creating the world’s second-largest airline on Friday.
- Argentina pulled out of an auto trade pact with Mexico, an issue Mexican officials said Monday that they would take up with the WTO.
Image: bthomso @ Flickr.
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