Subcommander Marcos of the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN) is back on the rebels' home turf of southern Chiapas state after a months-long tour of Mexico, known as the "Other Campaign" in reference to this year's presidential campaigns. Marcos arrived in the highland city of San Cristobal de Las Casas Dec. 19, with patrols of the Federal Preventative Police escorting his caravan. Before returning to the Lacandon Selva, the EZLN's jungle stronghold, Marcos toured Zapatista support bases in the highlands, such as Oventic. The rebel group is preparing to mark the 13th anniversary of the New Years 1994 uprising with an international gathering entitled the "First Encounter of the Zapatista Pueblos with the People of the World." (APRO, Dec. 19; La Jornada, Dec. 20)

Even as the Mexican federal government is starting to release some of the hundreds detained during the Oaxaca protests, new harassment and repression is reported from the conflicted state. On Dec. 18, Florentino Lopez Marti'nez, spokesman of the Popular Assembly of the People of Oaxaca (APPO), and two other members of the organization were seized by local police as they left a meeting in Oaxaca City. They were released after several hours, apparently following intervention by the Federal Preventative Police who remain in the city. They reported that they were beaten in custody. (La Jornada, Dec. 19) Meanwhile, APPO director Flavio Sosa, who remains at the top-security Altiplano federal prison at La Palma, Mexico state, was formally charged with "sedition," "criminal association" and "property damage" on Dec. 19. (La Jornada, Dec. 20)

Salvatore Mancuso, top chieftan of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) began testimony Dec. 19 before a special tribunal about the paramilitary newtwork's role in massacres and assassinations. Under a peace deal with the government, the AUC leaders will serve limited prison sentences and receive protection from extradition to the US on drug charges. Some 30,000 fighters have officially laid down arms. (VOA, Dec. 19)

Ecologists warn that current rates of tapping frankincense are endangering the fragrant resin's sustained production. Writing in the December issue of the Journal of Applied Ecology, Professor Frans Bongers of the Netherlands' Wageningen University says that over-tapping Ethiopia's Boswellia trees is resulting in them producing fewer and less viable seeds.

New Ethiopian troops movements are reported in Somalia, as a deadline set by the Islamic Courts Union for a Somali jihad against Ethiopia expired Dec. 19. Witnesses and local officials said a new detachment of Ethiopian troops in a column of armored vehicles has occupied Ballanballe in Galgaudu province, in central Somalia. Reports indicated the troops have established checkpoints on the central road through the region, and are stopping all vehicles. The development came a day after a local "Islamic Court" was set up in the Galgadud provincial district of Abudwaq. Abdirisak Mohammed Warsme Fiqi, leader of Islamic Court in Abudwaq, called on the people to prepare for a jihad against Ethiopian occupation troops.

Assadullah Wafa, the new governor of Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province, vowed upon taking office Dec. 19 not to allow further peace deals like the one struck earlier this year between British NATO forces and tribal elders in Musa Qala district. "I am not pro-agreements such as in Musa Qala where there is no government control," Wafa said. The previous governor, Mohammad Daud, brokered the deal under which British forces and Taliban militants pulled out of the desert district following a request from war-weary residents. Daud, facing charges of tolerating Helmand's booming opium trade, was just pressured into resiging.

From El Universal, Dec. 18:

Over 2,000 women marched through Oaxaca City on Sunday calling for Gov. Ulises Ruiz's ouster and the immediate release of the more than 200 members of the Oaxaca People's Assembly (APPO) detained since the street battles on Nov. 25.

From Nunatsiaq News, principal newspaper of Nunavut, the autonomous territory of the Inuit people in Canada's far north (links added):

The effort to link climate change with human rights has suffered a setback. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights won’t consider a petition that alleges that the United States government is violating the human rights of Inuit by refusing to limit its greenhouse gas emissions.