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:

Carlos Pérez, one of four El Universo managers convicted of libel against Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, was granted asylum by Panama on Feb. 17. El Universo is the second largest newspaper in Ecuador. Two of the four men, Cesar and Nicolas Pérez, have already fled to Miami. The announcement that Carlos Pérez had been granted asylum came after Ecuador's National Court of Justice upheld the conviction against the four El Universo managers. The men were sentenced to three years in prison each and fined $40 million in total. Correa indicated that he was surprised that Panama granted the men asylum because, in his view, they were common criminals and not persecuted political activists. He also stated that he was considering pardoning the men. El Universo officials stated they will bring an appeal to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to fight the verdict.

Peru's President Ollanata Humala flew into a remote jungle military base in the Upper Huallaga Valley Feb. 12 to announce the capture by soldiers stationed there of the last "historic" leader of the Shining Path guerilla insurgency, Florindo Eleuterio Flores Hala AKA "Comrade Artemio." Troops at the Santa Lucía base, in Tocache province, San Martín region, brought "Artemio" in via military plane after after finding him gravely wounded near the Río Misholla. Some reports indicated he was hit in a shoot-out with government forces; others that he was shot by his own bodyguards. "Peru has won," declared Humala. "We can now say that the terrorist delinquents have been defeated, and we can begin the process of pacification."

A procession of some 1,000 cross-country marchers entered Lima Feb. 9, holding a massive rally joined by thousands more in Plaza San Martín to oppose the Conga mining project in Cajamarca region, and like projects across Peru's sierras. Having marched nine days from Cajamarca, the protesters filled the square with cries of "¡Conga no va!" Speakers included Cajamarca protest leaders Wilfredo Saavedra and Marco Arana, who asserted: "This is the voice of the people, and it must be complied with." They were followed by Cajamarcs's elected president Gregorio Santos, who warned the government of President Ollanta Humala not to "underestimate" the movement's power. Participants later attempted to march on the Congress of the Republic, but were barred by a thick cordon of riot police. They were prevented from meeting at the intersection outside the Congress building with a delegation of dissident lawmakers from Humala's Nationalist Party, led by Natali Condori.

Colombia's former Peace Commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo was charged with conspiracy, fraud and illegal arms trafficking Feb. 10, despite having left the country. The prosecution, having already successfully sought an arrest warrant against Restrepo, demanded the close ally of ex-president Alvaro Uribe be sent to jail while awaiting trial because of his attempt to flee and failure to appear before hearings five times. According to prosecutor Francisco Villarreal of Colombia's Fiscalía, the ex-peace commissioner had actively taken part in a fraudulent demobilization of 62 bogus FARC fighters in 2006.

Colombia's armed forces are scouring the country's southwest region in the hopes of capturing FARC guerrilla leaders following a of audacious and deadly attacks. President Juan Manuel Santos called the FARC "hypocrites" playing a "double game" for committing "terrorist acts" weeks after raising the prospect of peace talks. Following a security council meeting in the Pacific coast town of Tumaco—where a bomb planted in a tricycle killed nine people and wounded 76 outside a police station on Feb. 2—Santos said such violence "rejects everyone and it moves us away from any possibility of peace." A 3-year-old girl, a 19-year-old woman and a police commander were among the six people killed in in another Feb. 2 attack, on a police post in the town of Villa Rica, Cauca department. Santos offered a reward of $668,000 for the capture of FARC commander "Rambo," believed to be responsible for the new attacks.

On Jan 29, former militants of the Alfaro Vive Carajo (AVC) guerilla group turned over to Ecuador's President Rafael Correa the swords of revered 19th century presidents Eloy Alfaro and Pedro J. Montero, stolen by the guerillas from a Guayaquil museum in 1983. The handover took place at a ceremony commemorating the centenary of Alfaro's death, at his birthplace Montecristi in coastal Manabí province. The AVC said in a statement signed by 39 militants that after holding the swords in their custody for 28 years, they decided to return them to deepen the "revolutionary democratic process."

Opponents of the US-owned Conga mining project in Peru's northern Cajamarca region launched a cross-country National March for Water on Feb. 1, some 500 participants symbolically departing from Laguna Cortada, one of the high mountain lakes to be threatened by the proposed mine. The march hopes to arrive in Lima Feb. 10 in time to convene a National Forum on Hydraulic Justice. A hundreds-strong solidarity march was also held in Arequipa, capital of the southern region of that name which has been the scene of recent protests over mineral development. Organizers expect thousands to join the march on its way to Lima.