Globo reported on June 16, 2013 that two Brazilian jurists will lead a committee by the United Nations this October in Rio de Janeiro, whose mission is to control and offer solutions in regards to increased urban violence in Latin America. The committee will include representatives from 19 countries. The committee will have 18 months […]
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dm.com.br reported on June 2, 2013 that President Dilma requested her staff quickly implement a “pacification” operation in areas of conflict between Indians and farmers in Mato Grosso do Sul. Together, Dilma and her staff will examine the many disputes occurring in these indigenous regions. A dialogue will be held between government officials and small […]
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jb.com.br reported on May 31, 2013 that after seizing the main construction site of the hydroelectric plant of Belo Monte in Pará for four days, a group of Indians have agreed to travel to Brasilia on June 5 to meet and discuss with government representatives to decide the relocation of Indians away from the construction […]
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A growing number of FARC factions are being driven out of the cocaine business by the police and army. Rather than disband, these FARC gangs turn more to other criminal activities, ranging from robbery, kidnapping and extortion to illegal mining and lumbering. For the average Colombian, these means FARC is still a threat. FARC has […]
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ElComercio.com reports six people from the Cuencan parishes of Octavio Cordero, Banos and Victoria del Portete have died during the weekend and today, Monday August 15th from what officials believe is ingesting altered alcohol. Officials say the alcohol was purchased in Cuenca. Four of the deceased are from the same family and are believed to […]
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A conflict arose this morning at the Metropolitan Technological University in Santiago, Chile when a group of masked men set up barricades along the streets near campus, causing a traffic disruption, according to telam.com.ar, per El Mercurio newspaper online. The group hid when special police forces arrived at the scene, and threw stones, sharp objects […]
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Extra.ec reports a study by the Catholic University of Quito found that out of 5,643 street vendors, 1,093 are younger than 17 years old. Also, the study found that 64.4% of the vendors are men and 35.6% are women. The basis of the study was to find out the working conditions of the traders. The […]
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According to RPP.com.pe more than 8,000 mototaxistas protested and blocked streets in Piura today, Thursday August 4th, calling for a meeting with the mayor, Ruby Rodriguez to discuss circulation permits and the use of ‘stops’ for taxi drivers in the city. The group was lead by the president of the Mototaxistas Federation, Julio Farfan and […]
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According to ElUniverso.com the group of Internet hackers, Anonymous, threatened yesterday, Wednesday August 3rd, to begin attacking Ecuadorian government websites in retaliation for limiting the freedom of expression and the ruling against the Ecuadorian news company, El Universo. Anonymous announced the threat of attacks via the website, YouTube, through uploaded videos. The group is calling […]
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According to RPP.com.pe three armed assailants robbed a hardware store, Difesur, on Socabaya Avenue in Arequipa today, Wednesday August 3rd. Police say the robbers escaped with more than 16,000 Soles. Police report the assailants used a station wagon and were accompanied by two Daewoo vehicles. The assailants threatened workers and fired three shots in the […]
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According to ElComercio.com an ocean storm that produced forceful waves left the island of Jambeli, in the canton of Santa Rose, without electricity around 3 a.m. today, Wednesday August 3rd. Officials say 21 electricity poles fell due to erosion and harsh ocean conditions from the storm. Personnel from the National Corporation of Electric Energy (CNEL) […]
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According to ElComercio.com supporters of seven council member of La Concordia in Esmeraldas took the municipality building at 5:30 today, Tuesday August 2nd. The mayor, Walter Ocampo was not in the building at the time of the incident, but reported that the protesters stormed the building, broke windows and doors and attacked employees. El Comercio […]
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According to RPP.com.pe more than 400 merchants were victims of a four-hour assault by ten masked people with firearms in the district of Ayapata in the Quimsa Cruz sector of the Puno region. The victims say the attack lasted from 11 p.m. yesterday until 3 a.m. today, Monday August 1st. Merchants were robbed of their […]
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According to ElUniverso.com a New York judge in White Plains sentenced the fourth assailant in a gang attack on an Ecuadorian man to 11 years in prison on Wednesday July 27th. On March 15, 2010 Julio Serrano was beaten by four people, which put him in a coma for three weeks. Jarron Slight, one of […]
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According to ElComercio.com a survey completed in Quito by the Observatory of Metropolitan Citizen Security (OMSC) in 4,000 houses during January 2011, reveals that 80% of assaults go unreported. The survey reports 34.7% of the assaults are unreported due to judicial system distrust and 15.7% due to distrust of police. The director of OMSC says […]
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According to ElComercio.com transit was blocked on the Pan-American Highway between the towns of Ibarra and Tulcan, a sector called Chota Valley, at 7 a.m. this morning, Monday August 1st. El Comercio reports that resident of the Afro-Ecuadorian community of Tumbatu blocked the highway with tree branches that contained thorns to protest the governments unfulfilled […]
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A fourth death was confirmed this morning after a land eviction operation that went awry yesterday in Libertador General San Martin, Jujuy, reports infobae.com. Police in Jujuy were under court order to evict some 700 families from their land located on territory owned by Ledesma Sociedad Anónima Agrícola Industrial, Argentina’s largest sugar producer. When families […]
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According to ElUniverso.com seven press associations from South American countries stand with the Ecuadorian press organization, El Universo, condemning the attack on freedom of expression by Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa. On the 20th of July an Ecuadorian court found El Universo opinion editor and three directors guilty of slander against Correa, sentencing them to three […]
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According to America.Infobae.com the Ecuadorian newspapers El Comercio and Hoy altered their papers to protest a ruling that incarcerates three directors of the news organization, El Universo for three years and payment of a fee totaling $42 million. The ruling came after a journalist for El Universo wrote an opinion piece about Rafael Correa’s governmental […]
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According to DiarioCorreo.pe after tourists were outraged about the restricted entry into Machu Picchu, officials of the Regional Directorate of Culture in Cusco have decided to allow 400 more tourists to enter the site per day through a new access route. As of Monday, July 25th the limit of visitors to Machu Picchu was raised […]
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According to ElUniverso.com a package containing $70,100 in false United States dollar bills was caught being shipped from Cañar to Queens, New York. Cañar police say on Tuesday, July 19th a personal courier alerted them to a suspicious package bound for Queens. Police thought the package contained drugs, however when opened police found fake 100 […]
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DiarioCorreo.pe reports that in the city of Merced is being overrun by illegal bars and taverns that have led to an underground ring of underage prostitution. The sector of Pampa El Carmen houses many of these businesses, especially in front of the municipal stadium. In the three-block sector, Diario Correo reports there are more than […]
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According to RPP.com.pe the Regional Director of Culture, Juan Julio Garcia Rivas says the availability of tickets is not their responsibility and that all ticket sales for Machu Picchu have to be made online or through an authorized ticket agency. Rivas says tourists that were not able to enter Machu Picchu in the last couple […]
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ElComercio.com reports the lawyers for El Universo and the ex-columnist of the article, ‘No To Lies’ are rejecting a courts’ sentencing for slander against President Rafael Correa and his government. The three directors of El Universo and the columnist were sentenced to three years in prison and fines of $30 million and $10 million for […]
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According to ElComercio.com the National Confederation of Public Servants (Conasep) calculated that about 10,000 bureaucrats are interested in the new decree, which announced a voluntary retirement due to age. Officials say article 81 of the Organic Law of Public Service (Losep) establishes that workers under the age of 70 can take advantage of the new […]
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According to Peru21.pe a merchant in the commercial center of Lima threw muriatic acid at a group of policemen while the uniforms were attempting to evict the traders from the area in accordance with the Municipality of Lima’s reorganization of street trade. Officials say the Lima mayor, Susan Villaran accompanied the four policemen from the […]
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According to ElComercio.com, the National Police will continue to provide protection around the outside and inside of Ecuador’s soccer stadiums. Interior Minister, Jose Serrano announced the extension in Guayaquil this afternoon, Tuesday July 19th. After the Minister approved an accord that says military officials cannot be located within sporting venues or locations of public performance […]
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According to ElComercio.com the media organization, El Universo presented a proposal to rectify an opinion article entitled, ‘No a las mentiras,’ or ‘No to lying,’ today Tuesday July 19th. However, El Universo’s proposal was ‘very late’ according to Correa and was not accepted says the President attorney, Alembert Vera. Correa is asking for $80 million […]
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According to ElComercio.com the Federation of Public Workers in Ecuador has signaled, through their union representative, they are leaning toward going on strike. The union representative, Miguel Garcia says the decision comes after the government’s Executive Decree 813 that establishes obligatory or bought resignations for state workers. As of now, Garcia says the union has […]
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According to Peru21.pe the Homicide Investigation Division (Divinhom) in Lima have arrested and charged four people, including a police officer, Jonathan Vargas Cristobal, for the death of Alejandro Morales Chuecas, who was killed during an assault on Sandoval pharmacy in the center of Lima. Officials say the robbery occurred on July 2nd, in which Morales’s […]
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Miguel Ahumadad Correa, suspected for the murder of Jessica Cosio Vivanco, is in custody and the prosecution has started a formal investigation against the perpetrator informed La Tercera. Vivanco was found with a mutilated torso on July 9 in Ahumada’s home. At the hearing, the judge established a five month investigation period while the suspect […]
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According to ElComercio.com Imbabura police confiscated 4,000 liters of rum in Otavalo on Monday, July 18th. National Police Commissioner Marianita Montalvo confirmed the report. The head of Imbabura police, Danilo Espinosa says operations of control will take place throughout the province for liquor sales that are not authorized. An owner of a liquor store where […]
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The subway was in the tunnel on its way to Plaza Maipú station when Israel del Carmen Huerta Cespedes opened fire on the 20 passengers of the last subway car with a CZ 9 mm automatic pistol reported Nacion. cl. Huerta left two fatally injured, Meneses Mario Acevedo (58) and Fernando Munoz Onate (43), as […]
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According to ElUniverso.com the meeting of Ecuadorian heath officials over the past weekend ended with two hypotheses concerning the altered alcohol that has cause 24 deaths in Ecuador. The first hypothesis is that the person who is responsible for making the alcohol is badly educated on how alcohol is made. The second is that the […]
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According to ElComercio.com the Police Commissioner of Tungurahua, Ivan Rios, confirmed that a wine company was closed after primary analysis confirmed that the alcohol contained methanol. The closure comes after the wife of a contaminated alcohol victim confirmed that her husband had fallen ill after consuming wine from this establishment. In a Twitter message, the […]
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According to ElComercio.com Quito native, Ecuador Nelson Ivan Serrano was sentenced to death for the murders of four people in Florida December 1997. His nephew, Alfredo Luna says if Serrano’s defense team does not present an appeal by the next 12th of September, Serrano will be listed for execution in Florida. The article says that […]
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ElUniverso.com reports that PetroEcuador, the state owned oil company in Ecuador, has bought 636,041 barrels of crude oil from Perenco. The purchase is valued at $68.01 million. Officials say the purchase served as a way to cancel the debt Perenco had with the Ecuadorian government for not paying the surplus on the increase in oil […]
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According to ElUniverso.com a debate between the Peruvian Supreme Court and the media is ensuing surrounding a new law that would increase the penalties for journalists who publish information from illegal communication eavesdropping. The bill that the Supreme Court proposed to Congress, includes banning the media for spreading private information or email messages illegally obtained, […]
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A press conference was called today by the president of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Estela de Carlotto, after DNA results came back negative over the weekend that would have linked the Noble Herrera brother and sister to families of disappeared children during the dictatorship in the 70s and 80s. The Noble Herrera […]
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ElComercio.pe reports that the governments of Peru, Brazil and Chile have found 5,000 stolen vehicles belonging to the three countries in Bolivia. An amnesty decree, signed by Bolivian President Evo Morales, concerning about 130,000 undocumented automobiles helped the three governments locate the stolen property. Officials say that joint operations by all four countries also helped […]
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According to ElComercio.com the Ecuadorian government’s Executive Decree 813, that gives officials the right to “buying” resignations of public servants, became affective on July 12th. Therefore, representatives from state institutions met this past Wednesday, July 13th to establish a position to the modification of the Public Service Law. Authorities at the meeting say representatives will […]
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Pro-life organizations and the Consortium of Catholic Doctors lobbied the National Congress of Argentina this week against abortion after the president of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) and the United Nations Organization proposed sexual and reproductive health legislation legalizing abortion, according to intereconomia.com. The IACHR presented a report to support their legislation claiming […]
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ElUniverso.com reports that seven people have died after purchasing bad alcohol in the Guayas province. Officials say that the two latest victims purchased alcohol in the parish of Ricaurte. Suspicion lies with the liquor purchased by all the victims, which officials’ say was altered. All seven victims have died within this past week, two people […]
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According to RPP.com.pe, since February, Peruvian police have apprehended 15 senior members of the Shining Path terrorist movement. In a raid on February 3rd in Aucayacu by the National Police of the Huallaga Front, four Shining Path terrorists were captured, responsible for selective assassinations, blackmailing and propaganda activity. Officials say that weapons, ammunition and manuscripts […]
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According to ElUniverso.com the Ecuadorian government has not followed through with its promise to legalize the executive taxi business. In 2008, President Rafael Correa ratified the Transit Law to give executive taxi drivers the right to work. However, since then there has been no follow up on legal licenses for these taxi drivers. El Universo […]
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According to Prensa-Latina.cu members of the National Movement for Amnesty and Fundamental Rights (Movadef), established by ex-rebels of the Shining Path movement, have denounced the Peruvian government for blaming the deaths of six protesters on Shining Path members. Movadef says that the government used the Puno protest over mining pollution to persecute the Shining Path […]
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According to ElComercio.pe police have arrested 18 strikers for disorderly conduct on Wednesday July 13th. Police say they detained the strikers for disrupting traffic and assaulting drivers who were not participating in the strike. In districts like San Juan de Lurigancho, which has thousands of people who work in the center of Lima, there is […]
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According to ElComercio.pe the National Commission for Development and Life Without Drugs (Devida) presented the results from their 3rd National Study of “Prevention and Drug Consumption in High School Students in 2009” which showed a 18.9% overall increase in drug use. The study finds that marijuana use increased 23% between 2007 and 2009. However officials […]
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According to ElComercio.pe the chief of the Seventh Regional Directorate of Police (DIRTEPOL) in Lima, Javier Sanguinetti will deploy 5,000 policemen with orders of immovability for protesting transportation drivers, starting at midnight on Tuesday, July 12th. The DIRTEPOL unit serves different sectors of Lima to ensure security and order. Officials say a transportation strike was […]
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According to ElComercio.com the lack of regulations in Ecuador’s Banana Law is causing conflicts between banana producers and exporters. Officials say that many banana exporters do not comply with the official price of a box of bananas, $5.50 per box. However, the law prevents authorities of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries (MAGAP) from […]
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British oil company Rockhopper announced this week that it has begun evaluating methods to extract oil from a well in the waters surrounding the Falklands Islands which they have been drilling in since last year without permission from the Argentine Government, according to diariouno.com.ar. This is the first time any oil company has officially decided […]
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ElComercio.com reports that hundreds of people, including relatives and friends, marched in the streets of Tulcan, Carchi today July 7th, demanding the release of Orlando Ibarra. The marchers planned to follow the route from Tulcan, Ecuador to Ipiales, Colombia. The Ecuadorian businessman was kidnapped in Ipiales, Colombia on August 2, 2010. Officials say that his […]
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According to LaPrensa.com.bo Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera began Operation Together July 1st, where Chile’s navel fleet participated in military exercises with the United States, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia. Piñera says that the joint exercise will allow the Chilean Navy to show its force and preparation for military situations and defend the country of Chile. Reportedly, […]
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According to Peru21.pe the younger brother of President-elect Ollanta Humala, Alexis Humala has been negotiating gas projects with Russian government officials on behalf of the Humala government in the last few days. The article says that Alexis Humala has been talking to the Russian company Gazprom and it’s vice-president about possible cooperation and strategic alliances […]
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ElComercio.com reports that the Ecuadorian IRS has closed the Marriot Hotel in Quito since hotel officials did not provide information required by the IRS. Officials say that closure signs will be present for seven days. However, since the incident involves a hotel the IRS will respect the guests that are residing in the building. Officials […]
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According to ElComercio.com today, Thursday June 30th in Santiago, Chile more than 100,000 people marched through the streets demanding improvement of the public education system, including lowering costs in Chile. The peaceful marchers made their way to the Ministry of Education and the Presidential Palace. This is one of the largest protests in the last […]
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According to ElComercio.com Ecuadorian officials of the Criminology Department have a computerized system (UTCA) that archives bullets to identify firearms. A microscopic image of each bullet is placed in the database for identification. However, officials report the database is incomplete. In 2009, Ecuadorian armed forces recorded about 170,000 bullets into the database. Then on June […]
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•Olga Amparo Sánchez, director of La Casa de La Mujer, described the role of women caught in the armed conflict as “spoils of war.” •In a report by RCN Radio, she states that from a young age, women are forced to go through pregnancies, sterilizations, and prostitution. •According to Amparo Sánchez, the women are regulated […]
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According to ElComercio.pe talks between the Ministries of Energy and Mines, Agriculture and the Interior with the group of Aymara leaders continued on Saturday without resolution. Dialogue held on Friday included a proposal of concessions from both parties to end the mining strike. The Aymara leaders rejected the proposal, continuing the fight for the cancellation […]
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Lahora.com.ec reported at 9:30 in the morning of Wednesday June 1st, more than 600-armed soldiers entered the farming facilities of the community Patria Nueva in the Puembo sector of canton Pujili, seizing weapons (machetes) in a storage facility that previously contained cassava. Farmers demanded a warrant issued by a judge, but no warrant was ever […]
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•Jineth Bedoya, herself a rape victim eleven years ago, is leading an effort against the use of rape in the armed conflict according to a video from rtve.es. •In her campaign, she is hoping to bring hope to other victims and to call them to report these crimes to the authorities. •Intermón Oxfam has reported […]
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