Colombian security forces arrested 112 suspected members of the powerful Norte del Valle Cartel May 20. The heavily-armed unit belonging to the cartel's paramilitary arm, Los Rastrojos surrendered in an area of Chocó department near the border with Panama. They were surrounded in a Colombian military operation involving army and naval units.

The Colombian Senate on May 19 approved a proposal to hold a referendum on amending the country's constitution to allow for a third presidential term. Passed by a vote of 62-5, the measure would allow current two-term Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to seek a third presidential term in 2010, although a similar proposal passed in the Chamber of Representatives last year would require Uribe to postpone a third term until 2014. The two proposals must be reconciled in a conference committee and be approved by the Constitutional Court before the referendum can take place.

The Bolivian Supreme Court of Justice opened the trial of former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada May 18 in connection with the deaths of 63 protesters in October 2003. Sanchez de Lozada and 17 other former government officials face "genocide" charges related to the repression, for which he faces 30 years in prison if convicted. Nine of the defendants were tried in absentia, including Sanchez de Lozada, who fled to the US after resigning from office in 2003. Warrants were issued for the missing defendants after they were found to be in contempt of court. Some 200 relatives of the dead gathered in hot sunshine outside the Supreme Court in the city of Sucre to demand justice. (Jurist, May 19; BBC News, May 18)

Venezuela's government "temporarily" seized a pasta factory owned by US food giant Cargill May 15 in the coastal state of Vargas. Flanked by soldiers at the plant, Vice-Minister of Food Rafael Coronado said the government will run the factory for at least 90 days, having found it guilty of violating price controls. The move further increases President Hugo Chávez's hold on the economy, after a series of recent take-overs of private and foreign-owned businesses—including a Cargill rice plant. (La Reforma, Mexico, Radio Netherlands, May 16; BBC News, May 15)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez sent troops to seize companies that service the oil industry May 8. "This is a revolutionary offensive," he told workers near Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela's main oil area. Military vehicles were used as the state oil company PDVSA seized supply boats and two US-owned facilities. The move, taken a day after a measure was approved by Venezuela's Congress, places hundreds of boats, several ports and an estimated 8,000 workers under state control.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez April 30 defied the request of his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe to help catch FARC guerrillas that apparently killed eight Colombian soldiers and then fled to Venezuelan territory. Chávez said he had been "very clear with President Uribe and with Colombia: we do not support the Colombian guerrillas...but it is also not our war, it is Colombia's war." He added: "We will not interfere in that war. And there is no point in any kind of pressure. This is what President Uribe knows and what Colombia knows very well."

Caracas has recalled its ambassador from Lima in response to Peru's decision to grant political asylum to wanted Venezuelan opposition leader Manuel Rosales. Rosales, who lost the 2006 Venezuelan presidential race to President Hugo Chávez, is accused of illegally enriching himself while governor of Zulia state. In an April 27 statement, Venezuela's foreign ministry charged that Peru's decision "constitutes a mockery of international law." (Press TV, Iran, April 28)

Bolivian authorities say the dismantling of a commando made up mainly of foreign mercenaries could lead to the people behind around a dozen different attacks carried out since 2006 in the city of Santa Cruz. Bolivian Vice President Álvaro García Linera said the attacks were aimed at destabilizing the government of Evo Morales and were to culminate in the assassination of the president. He said business leaders and landowners in the eastern province of Santa Cruz were financing the clandestine operations by the five alleged terrorists, three of whom were shot and killed by the police.