On May 26 Chilean judge Victor Montiglio ordered 98 former police agents and military people to face trial for their involvement in the 1975 "Operation Colombo," in which 119 opponents of dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet were kidnapped and murdered. This was the largest number of people tried to date in Chile for human rights violations committed under the 1973-1990 military regime, which executed or disappeared more than 3,000 people. The trial specifically cites the "permanent kidnapping" of 42 victims whose bodies have never been recovered.

On May 15 Chilean judge Juan Eduardo Fuentes Belmar found retired army colonel Mario Manriquez Bravo guilty in the Sept. 16, 1973 murder of the internationally renowned singer Victor Jara; the judge then closed the case, despite testimony that other officers were also involved. Joan Jara, the victim's widow, expressed surprise at the unexpected decision; the family's lawyer, Nelson Caucoto, indicated that he'll file an appeal so that other culprits can be identified. Caucoto noted that witnesses had referred to someone known as "The Prince" and identified him as the actual killer.

Fifty environmental activists protested Barrick Gold's controversial Pascua Lama gold mine in Chile on May 8. The event went unnoticed by Chile's mainline media—La Tercera and El Mercurio—but was reported in La Nacion, the state-owned daily. The demonstration coincided with Barrick's shareholders meeting in Toronto, Canada, and with Barrick's 25th anniversary as a company officially traded on the Toronto stock market. The Santiago demonstrators celebrated the company's anniversary with a birthday cake of their own, and large bags of ice to represent the glaciers that will allegedly be destroyed by the project. Several of the demonstrators also dressed in black plastic bags to give homage to the 15 individuals related to the project who have died since it first was proposed almost 20 years ago.

Thousands of Argentine farmers blocked highways on May 8 to protest increased taxes on soy, a major export crop. The farmers had struck in March, halting shipments of grain throughout the country and presenting the center-left government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner with its biggest challenge since she took office in December. The new protests come after a 30-day truce failed to produce an agreement. Farmers said they planned eight days of protests; if these produce no results, they may continue the actions past May 15. Argentina is one of the world's major soy exporters, and the Chicago commodity exchange responded to the renewed strike with a rise in soy prices. (La Jornada, May 9 from Reuters)

Former Roman Catholic bishop Fernando Lugo won an historic victory in Paraguay's presidential election April 20, ending the long rule of the conservative Colorado party with a mandate to help the nation's poor and indigenous. Winning 41% of the vote to Colorado candidate Blanca Ovelar's 31%, Lugo said he had no intention of persecuting the Colorado party. "Our government is not going to start a witch hunt," Lugo said the day after his victory. "We'll try to co-govern by seeking consensus and harmony."

Argentine farmer groups and the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner held six hours of talks on March 28 aimed at ending a 16-day-old producers' strike that had restricted food supplies in major cities. Strike supporters lifted some of the blockades they had maintained on highways throughout the country, but more radical sectors said this was only a 48-hour truce and stayed at their positions at highway entrances.

On Jan. 17 the Review Court of Rome dismissed the Italian case against former Uruguayan navy captain Nestor Jorge Fernandez Troccoli, who was arrested in Salerno on Dec. 23 in connection with Operation Condor, a clandestine program of cooperation between South American militaries during the 1970s and 1980s. Fernandez Troccoli, who headed Uruguay's secret services for the 1973-1985 military dictatorship, is one of 140 military officers and soldiers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay that Italy is seeking for crimes against more than 25 people of Italian origin. The Italian court found that there was insufficient evidence against Fernandez Troccoli. However, as of February he was still held in prison because of an extradition request from Uruguay. (Terra, Spain, Feb. 6 from EFE)

On Feb. 25 the body of retired Argentine military officer Lt. Col. Paul Alberto Navone was found by an employee of the Air Force's Hotel Parque, in Ascochinga, a town some 55 kilometers north of Buenos Aires. He had been shot in the chest; a 9mm pistol and a suicide note were found near the body. Navone, who lived in Ascochinga, had been scheduled to appear that day before federal judge Myriam Galizzi in an investigation of the disappearance of twin babies born in Paraná, Entre Rios province, in 1978, during the 1976-1983 military dictatorship's "dirty war" against suspected leftists. The parents were Raquel Negro and Tulio "Tucho" Valenzuela, a leader of the Montoneros rebel group. Claiming ill health, Navone had gotten his court appearance postponed to March 3.