Venezuela and Colombia recalled their ambassadors for consultations on August 26. The move came after a meeting between the two nations鈥 foreign ministers failed to calm diplomatic tensions over Venezuelan border closures and Colombian smuggling activities.
Colombia
Top generals in the Colombian army have been implicated in the long-running 鈥渇alse positives鈥 military scandal, according to a new report Human Rights Watch (HRW) published on June 24.
Chilean teachers strike against education bill
Thousands of Chilean teachers took to the streets of Santiago once again on June鈥 鈥17,鈥 鈥琓eleSUR English said that day鈥.鈥
The protest was part of the indefinite national strike to protest against an education reform bill proposed by the government of President Michelle Bachelet.鈥 鈥琓here were marches in at least five other cities across the country.鈥
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will continue its unilateral cease-fire, as long as the Colombian armed forces suspends all military operations against it, . FARC representatives made the commitment at peace talks in Havana with the Colombian state, which aim to end the decades-long civil war that has wracked the South American nation.
Greece, Venezuela discuss cooperation
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has invited the newly-elected Greek prime minister to Caracas, TeleSUR English said on February 9.
鈥淚 have invited Alexis Tsipras, comrade Alexis, to visit us as soon as he can, here in Venezuela,鈥 Maduro told Venezuelan public TV.
鈥淗e plans to come to Latin America. He mentioned all the pressures that he is under. Because of a savage, savage neoliberal system that has been applied in Greece.鈥
Tsipras expressed an interest in touring Latin America, starting with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Representatives of victims of Colombia's decades-long civil war, who are taking part in the peace talks in Cuba, issued a statement on November 2 requesting more protection from the Colombian government. They were responding to death threats and warnings from right-wing paramilitary groups.
The talks are taking place between the Colombian government and the left-wing Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.
The Venezuelan National Assembly swore in grassroots leader Juan Contreras to assume the vacant post of the late deputy Robert Serra on October 7. Serra, a 27-year-old socialist deputy, was stabbed to death alongside his partner Maria Herrera in their Caracas home on October 1. Legislators also voted to ban former right-wing Colombian president Alvaro Uribe from entering Venezuela. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused Uribe of being linked to the killings.
With right-wing parties gaining footholds throughout the world, Colombia followed suit with the far-right party, Democratic Centre (CD) winning with a narrow lead in the first round of the presidential elections on May 25. CD won just under 30% of the vote.
The election presented Colombians with a five-party choice, ranging from the leftist Alternative Democratic Pole (Polo) with Clara Lopez to the CD's Oscar Ivan Zuluaga and his major rival, incumbent President Juan Manuel Santos from the Social Party of National Unity.
Tensions between the Colombian government and agrarian workers are reaching an all-time high. Strikes that began on April 28 have helped bring the country to a stand-still and sparked student protests violently that were suppressed by police.
The farmers launched strikes in the face of the government鈥檚 failure to follow through on promises made after similar strikes last August. The strikers are seeking measures to alleviate rural poverty, among other deep-rooted problems they face.
Since its founding in 1985, the Patriotic Union (UP), a Colombian leftist political party, has been victim of calculated violence from actors across the political spectrum. Colombia is the only country in the world that includes 鈥減olitical genocide鈥 in its constitution. This is the label given to the violence suffered by the UP 鈥 more than 5000 of whose members and supporters have been assassinated since 1985. This violence has meant that since 2002, the party has not had enough members to meet the threshold to legally qualify as an officially registered party.
One of the greatest novelists and writers of the 20th century has died. Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez passed away on April 17 in Mexico at the age of 87.
Commemorating the author, US-based progressive TV and radio show on April 18: 鈥淚t has been reported that only the Bible has sold more copies in the Spanish language than the works of Garcia Marquez, who was affectionately known at 'Gabo' throughout Latin America.鈥
The 1991 Colombian Constitution is supposed to ensure the protection of all Colombian peoples鈥 rights and common interests. But in March, those whose role and responsibility it is to ensure the constitution is enacted turned a blind eye to the blatant political misconduct and unethical activities of the Black Colombian Foundation (FUNECO). FUNECO won both congressional seats allocated to Colombia's Black and Afro-Colombian community with two candidates, Maria Del Socorro Bustamante and Moises Orozco Vicuna, who are not Afro-descendants, or even black-skinned.
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