In a surprise move on March 13, agents of Peru's National Police arrested three leaders of the struggle against the controversial Conga gold mining project in the northern region of Cajamarca, while charges were announced against some 40 others. Wilfredo Saavedra Marreros, leader of Cajamarca's Environmental Defense Front, was detained in the southern city of Tacna, where he had been invited to speak by student groups. Nearly simultaneoulsy in Cajamarca, police agents arrested Lucio Díaz Chávez, former regional president of the teachers union SUTEP, and César Tafur Tacilla, secretary general of the local construction workers union. Saavedra was taken in police custody to Cajamarca, where he was freed the next morning along with Díaz and Tafur. All three are charged with obstruction of public transport in connection with last year's protest mobilization against the Conga mine, and await orders to appear before a judge. The next day, the Cajamarca branch of the Fiscalía, Peru's attorney general, released a list of 41 activists facing identical charges—including virtually all the prominent leaders of the Cajamarca protest movement.

The two most annoying icons of the rad left, WikiLeaks and Anonymous, team up to target the equally annoying Stratfor. Their joint press release of Feb. 24 headlines that Dow Chemical paid the "strategic intelligence" firm to spy on satire group Yes Men and grassroots activists seeking justice in the Bhopal disaster. The small print says they sent someone around to attend the Yes Men's public appearances. The coup wins WikiLeaks more gushing alterno-coverage, while Max Fisher in The Atlantic scoffs that WikiLeaks has fallen for Stratfor's "marketing campaign," and that nobody has taken them seriously for years. But, predictably, nobody is talking about WikiLeaks' shameful silence on charges of complicity with grave human rights abuses in Belarus, the country dubbed "Europe's last dictatorship."

How predictable. Just as the presidential horserace starts to gain velocity, so do oil prices. The Feb. 26 Reuters headline reads "Oil price rise raises specter of global recession." We are informed: "Oil rose to a 10-month high above $125 a barrel Friday, prompting responses from policymakers around the world including US President Barack Obama, watching US gasoline prices follow crude to push toward $4 a gallon in an election year." The Reuters account cites jitters over a new military conflagration in the Persian Gulf, which is certainly a factor. But some are seeing an intentional manipulation by the most reactionary sectors of the petro-oligarchy to undermine Obama...

Unsettling findings. From e! science news, Feb. 23:

Classic Maya civilization collapse related to modest rainfall reductions
A new study reports that the disintegration of the Maya Civilization may have been related to relatively modest reductions in rainfall. The study was led by Professors Martín Medina-Elizalde of the Yucatan Center for Scientific Research in Mexico and Eelco Rohling of the University of Southampton in the UK. Professor Rohling says: "Our results show rather modest rainfall reductions between times when the Classic Maya Civilization flourished and its collapse — between AD 800-950. These reductions amount to only 25 to 40 per cent in annual rainfall. But they were large enough for evaporation to become dominant over rainfall, and open water availability was rapidly reduced. The data suggest that the main cause was a decrease in summer storm activity."

Lest we forget. From Radio Australia, Feb. 21:

Marine species at risk as oceans acidify
British scientists say the current level of carbon dioxide emissions will wipe out about 30 per cent of the world's marine species by the end of the century. Much of the carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning is being absorbed by the world's oceans, causing them to acidify. Scientists at Plymouth University in England have examined underwater volcanoes, where carbon dioxide bubbles naturally, to see how marine life copes in acidic water.

Your trusty blogger will be in Peru for much of March, on assignment for The Progressive to cover the anti-mining struggle in Cajamarca. So World War 4 Report will be at a reduced level of activity next month, but there will be frequent first-hand accounts from the high Andes. Thanks to some extremely generous readers, we met out minimum $2,000 goal for our winter fund drive. If any readers wish to help sustain our efforts to provide on-the-scene journalism from South America, your small donation will go a long way...

We wish we were joking. First this, from UPI, Feb. 18:

US skies to be opened to drones
WASHINGTON — A new federal law allows commercial drones to fly over the United States by late 2015, officials said. The drone language was included in a funding bill for the Federal Aviation Administration signed Tuesday by President Obama...

It is really, really a drag to have to do this, but we really have no choice. Whatever legitimate reasons there are to oppose Henrique Capriles Radonski, it doesn't let the Hugo Chávez political machine off the hook for the most vulgar Jew-baiting. Once again, the chavistas serve up propaganda ammo on the proverbial silver platter for the corporate media to shoot right back at them. Fools. From Reuters, Feb. 17: