Chevron’s toxic legacy in Ecuador (photo: Rainforest Action Network)

Ecuador: New York Judge Rules in Favour of Chevron: A federal judge in New York has ruled that a two-decade legal effort to punish Chevron for massive oil spills in the Ecuadorian Amazon was marred by fraud and corruption, making it increasingly likely that the oil company would be ultimately successful in beating back the legal and financial challenge. Texaco, which has since been taken over by Chevron, spilled 18bn gallons of toxic waste water into the rainforest, as well as 17m gallons of oil in “cost-cutting measures”. However, despite an Ecuadorian court ordering the oil giant to pay US$19bn in damages (since reduced to US$9.5bn, when the ruling was upheld by an appeals court), the money for the clean up has never appeared, and the corporation instead took the indigenous communities and their legal team to court in New York, something many called a “show trial“. On Tuesday, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled in favour of Chevron, something observers had predicted would happen, given the judge’s sympathies for the oil giant. After the latest ruling, the corporation has been absolved of wrongdoing and does not have to pay damages to clean up the rainforest. Lawyers for the indigenous communities have said they will appeal the ruling in higher US courts.

Venezuela Breaks Ties with Panama: Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, yesterday announced the breaking of diplomatic and trade ties with Panama, during acts to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of former president Hugo Chávez. “We will not allow anybody to mess with impunity in our national affairs,” said Maduro, who then referred to Panama’s leader, Ricardo Martinelli, as a “grovelling lackey”. Martinelli had convened the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States (OAS) to consider the Venezuelan crisis, which has seen violent demonstrations lead to almost 20 deaths over the last three weeks. Martinelli seemed surprised by the decision, writing on Twitter “Panama only desires that our brother country finds peace and strengthens its democracy.” Venezuela’s government sees the OAS as an organisation run from Washington, and does not actively participate in the group in protest of the suspension of Cuba. Along with other Latin American nations, the country pushed for the formation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in 2010 as a response to the OAS. Meanwhile, Venezuela has asked the presidential council of Unasur to convene to consider the country’s current turbulence.

Chilean Mapuche Leader Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison: Mapuche indigenous leader Celestino Córdova has been sentenced to 18 years in prison after being found guilty of starting a deadly fire at a farm on 4th January 2013 in the Araucanía region in southern Chile. The fire led to the deaths of farmer Werner Luchsinger and his wife Vivianne Mackay. According to his legal team, he will appeal the ruling and sentence, as the prosecution had no direct or indirect evidence linking the Mapuche leader to the crime – the only thing connecting him to the fire was that he was arrested close to the farm on the night of the incident. Córdova also released a statement saying that he had been taken to trial “without any evidence” against him. He went on to say his imprisonment is a “threat to the new generations” and an “empty gesture” on the part of the Chilean state.

Yasuní National Park (photo: Joshua Bousel on Flickr)

Ecuador: Newspaper Reveals Secret Plans to Drill in Yasuní: British newspaper The Guardian has revealed that the Ecuadorian government was negotiating a secret US$1bn deal with a Chinese bank to drill for oil under the Yasuní national park in the Amazon, while publicly pursuing a high-profile scheme to “keep the oil in the soil” in return for international donations. The Yasuní-ITT initiative was a proposal by the government of Ecuador, launched in 2007 by president Rafael Correa, to refrain indefinitely from exploiting the oil reserves of the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini (ITT) block in Yasuní National Park in eastern Ecuador, in exchange for 50% of the value of the income it would be forgoing from the world community. The block consists of three oil fields which contain an estimated 846m barrels of oil, an estimated 20% of the country’s proven reserves. But in August last year President Correa announced the plan had collapsed as they had raised just US$13m of their US$3.6bn target.

However, yesterday’s scandalous revelations put the government’s will to have the project succeed into question, showing the government gave drilling access to the Chinese in exchange for loans for public projects, and that their negotiations began as early as 2009. The leaked document, entitled China Development Bank Credit Proposal, states: “Last minute clause: The Ecuadorian party has said it will do all it can to help PetroChina and Andes Petroleum explore ITT and Block 31.” Atossa Soltani, a former ambassador for the project, told the Guardian: “This raises serious doubts about whether the government was truly committed to keeping ITT oil in the ground. While we were promoting the Yasuni initiative to donors, the government was offering ITT’s crude to China.” The Ecuadorian government has yet to respond to the revelations.

Colombia: Campesino Reserve Zone Approved in Catatumbo: After seven months of negotiations, the Colombian government yesterday gave the green light to the creation of a Campesino Reserve Zone in Catatumbo. The zone, which will be in Tibú, north of Santander, in eastern Colombia, will be legally demarcated in March and will comprise some 115,000 hectares. A social emergency was declared in Catatumbo in August after their coca crops were destroyed as part of the US-led war on drugs. Farmers – who were compensated with two pigs, a food basket, and US$750 – were left with few resources to support their families, and started demonstrating. Their protests were violently oppressed, leading to the deaths of several farmers, and after nearly two months of protests the Colombian government set up a round table to come to an agreement. It is hoped that the creation of the reserve will pave the way for other campesino groups in other parts of the country to achieve the same.

“Getting to see a puma is a matter of luck,” says Pía Vergara as our van drives through a dusty road in Torres del Paine National Park, a million acres of wild Patagonian land at the southern tip of Chile. “Most park rangers have been living here for many years and have never encountered one, yet there is the case of a family of tourists who came here for one day only and they could not believe their eyes when a cougar and her cubs walked right in front of their car… They are really no guarantees, no formulas. We will be very lucky if we actually encounter one,” Pía continues.

She’s being modest. After all, she is one of Chile’s most experienced photographers when it comes to Patagonia’s many wonders. From estancias and gauchos, glaciers and steppes, huemules and condors, and even the mythical wild horses known as baguales… she’s seen it all – and she’s captured them all through her lens, too. Even the elusive puma, the ‘Patagonian king’, which she knows how to track down in these southernmost lands. Yes, that’s right: Pía is a puma tracker and, after seeing some of her pictures, she truly deserves that impressive title in her CV. And now she’s our guide in Tierra Patagonia Hotel’s photo safari.

One of Chilean photographer Pía Vergara’s closest encounters with a puma

For four days, we will be taken to the most outstanding sites in the park, learning how to shoot (with the camera, that is) both landscapes and animals. It’s a full, exquisite menu of options that we get to sample: snow peaks and glaciers, rivers and valleys, lakes and rocks; sheep, foxes, crows, cows, condors, guanacos, huemules, armadillos, rheas, owls, flamingos, swans… However, all of our expectations are focused on the enigmatic mountain lion. Historically persecuted and killed by both estancieros and gauchos – despite the laws that should prevent this from happening – during the last decade tourism has brought a new, cleaner reputation to this outstanding specimen, the second-biggest cat in the continent after the jaguar.

It’s too early to know if we will actually have a chance with the puma at Torres del Paine, but luck surely has been on our side when it comes to accommodation. Located inside the park – on the shore of Lake Sarmiento, with a privileged view of the Paine massif – Tierra Patagonia Hotel opened in 2010. Combining world-class service with sustainability, the building’s design concept is remarkable. “The form seeks to merge with the metaphysical landscape, not to interrupt it. The building is as though born out of the land, like a fold in the terrain that the wind has carved in the sand…”: this is one of those rare occasions in which a brochure is telling the truth. Tierra Patagonia’s chameleonic structure, made out of stone slopes and lenga wood panels, is almost impossible to spot from a fair distance. Once inside, it is cosy and homely, yet luxurious.

A photo safari participant, taking in the granite towers, whilst the Tierra Patagonia hotel blends into the landscape (photo: Pía Vergara)

Despite the temptation, we won’t be spending too much time at the hotel. The real beauty is outside, Pía reminds us. And so day one starts at dawn with a short hike to a cliff close to Lago Sarmiento, where we will have our first photography incursion. Sunrise is the perfect moment to explore the ever changing light, and learn how to use it to our favour with our cameras.

The awakening of the Torres del Paine, the park’s top attraction, is a spectacle not to be missed. These granite towers are not part of the Andes: while the famous South American range is 65m years old, the Paine mountains are only 12 (million), which makes them the youngest in the world. Looking at their silver, clean cut peaks, it is impossible not to feel the rock is alive, with a sheer determination to stab the sky. It’s an overwhelming statement of nature’s creative process, unbeatable both in beauty and power.

After breakfast back at the hotel, a van takes us to Estancia Lazo, the starting point for a six hour trek through Laguna Verde and the Magellanic forest, with its hypnotic native trees, the ñire and the lenga, and frozen lagoons. The climate does not look encouraging for such a journey, as the tranquil dawn has turned into a wet and windy morning. “In Patagonia, betting on the weather is the worst possible deal,” asserts Pía. However, bad conditions won’t intimidate us. With our cameras at hand, we are ready to go, all senses alert to discover any sign that could lead us to the puma.

I admit I am starting to have second thoughts about the whole expedition. A close encounter with a cougar right now seems nothing but terrifying. Even Pía admits her face-to-face experiences were as unnerving as magical: “I got to be only two metres away from one. My impulse was to run away, but I knew I had to stand still: if you try to escape, the animal will regard you as prey. So we both stared at each other for some seconds and eventually, the puma walked away. It was incredible,” she recounts.

The trek is tough but rewarding. We do not meet a puma, but we do get spectacular sights of the Paine Horns and we practise zooming in and out with our cameras thanks to a magnificent owl up in a distant tree. Looking at us with its poignant and stern eyes, he is the judge and jury of the forest, and witness to the many secrets of the wildlife within it.

After the rain, the sun is out and the park’s colours are more vibrant and spectacular than ever. The puddles and ponds become water mirrors of the sky. (photo: Pía Vergara)

Day two is another brisk one, and the excursion planned only reminds us to bring our warmest clothes: a boat ride to Glacier Grey. The road to the lake boasts a picturesque guanaco parade. Along with the estancia‘s sheep, guanacos are the puma’s main meal; they may also get a hare occasionally but, as Pía reminds us, these jackrabbits are only a snack for a 60kg beast.

Pumas hunt at night since, like all felines, they have enhanced vision in the dark. Moreover, it is sleepy time for guanacos, and so they are easier to catch. One guanaco means three days of food, and so the pumas bury and hide the leftovers each day in order to come back the next night – at the same time keeping their treasure away from foxes and condors.

After crossing the Weber Bridge, we finally get to the port at Grey Lake. The intense mist and the raindrops that cling to the tree branches make a fabulous setting for what is about to come: a white, silver and blue ice extravaganza floating away in the most surreal shapes. In what could be a moving Dalí painting, Pía takes shot after shot, encouraging us to do the same. She’s been coming to this same glacier for almost ten years, and says she’s never seen ice floes like today.

Surreal shapes and reflections in Grey Lake, an ice extravaganza (photo: Pía Vergara)

We then take a different road back to the hotel. The general excitement fades away when we get to one of the areas that was burnt by an Israeli tourist in 2011: because of a (forbidden) bonfire, 45,000 acres of native trees are now ashen skeletons, exposing their pain with atrocious nudity. In 2005, a Czech tourist accidentally burnt another 37,000 acres while trying to cook. Imagining such extensions of land under fire and black with smoke gives me goosebumps. This tree cemetery is the saddest, bluntest punishment; we make the rest of the journey in silence.

At last, day three begins with a blue sky. The park’s colours are more vibrant and spectacular than ever, as is the wildlife on show. Already heading to Laguna Azul, our plan changes abruptly when we get good news from the park guides: with the rain over, condors are drying up their wings with a flight so graceful that it could surely qualify as bird ballet. And so we turn our direction to Estancia Las Cornisas, at Cerro Guido, which has the most similar scenery to The Lion King’s opening scene I have ever seen. This is the home of “las condoreras”, the condors’ nests. At one point, we have over 13 black birds flying in circles above our heads at the same time. The click click click of our cameras is nonstop.

However, condors are not the only birds to give us a photographic feast: laicos, ducks, Coscorova swans and many more group around the puddles and ponds that the rain has left behind, as water mirrors that will soon evaporate, in the Sierra Bagual area. When asked about the name of the hill, Pía unfolds the incredible story of the baguales. These are herds of wild horses that live throughout Patagonia, hidden in remote steppes or inaccessible forests. They were once owned by estancieros, but for different reasons were set free and now they are almost a legend. “But I have seen them. The first time I did, I could not help to cry. I had travelled so many times searching for them, putting so much effort on my quest,” Pía explains. Baguales have no contact with humans; as soon as they smell us, they run away, dragging behind them a two-metre tail. To most Chileans, even locals, baguales are nothing but a mysterious legend; forever-moving shadows.

The sunsets in Torres del Paine always deliver great shots. Here, a guanaco, the puma’s main meal. (photo: Pía Vergara)

That night, the group is both satisfied and anxious. We have seen many wonderful things, yet no signs of a puma. And so Pía decides to take “extreme measures”. Because our chances to see one are better at night, she invites us on a nocturnal expedition that will start… at 4am. At this point, many of the group decide they have had enough adventures for one more photo safari. It’s just me and two other fellow travellers who decide to join Pía in such an endeavour.

Waking up so early and leaving the comfy five-star hotel bed is the difficult part, and it does not help that is freezing outside, or that we have to keep the 4WD’s windows down in order to sweep the terrain with huge lamps. All animals have their eyes reflected in our light beams – the foxes’ are orange or red, guanacos’ are green – but alas, we are looking for a pair of yellowish eyes. After an hour, we stop to have some hot coffee while Sergio, our driver, tells us stories about UFO activity and the fabled ‘luz mala’ (evil light). Back on the road, I get to use one of the lamps. I instantly become a different person: my desire to sleep is replaced with a rigid alertness. I am focused. With half of my body out of the vehicle, my senses are fully aware. Not even a little bit of rain can discourage me from my task.

Suddenly, a pair of eyes in the distance. Are they red or yellow? Sergio stops the car. The eyes disappear. Then reappear, some metres away from the first spot. With every blink, the wait becomes more desperate until we are able to see them again. It is impossible to find out what is behind those two dots of light; all the space around them is pure, infinite darkness. We spend at least half an hour following these eyes. Many times, we believe we have lost them, but then a short twinkle reignites our faith. We barely talk. All dialogue becomes whispers. Even Pía is puzzled: is it a fox or a puma? The colour looks more greenish than orange, and yet the movements seem so feline…

It’s been several minutes now since we last saw those intriguing eyes blink, so Pía makes the tough call to move on. Just a few metres later, she screams: “Puma!!!” Was it a coincidence or her instinct? Either way, there it is: the mountain lion in all its splendour, walking seductively just 30 metres away from our car. It is still too dark to get a good picture, and the flash could scare it away, so we just stare at what seems a vision. It is a strange one. It seems as if the puma is staring at us, but truly he is not: there is not one hint of curiosity in his eyes. I then realise that the animal is actually piercing us with his gaze, as if we were transparent, as if there was nothing he could learn or gain from us. Here in the wild steppe, he is a superior being and he could not be less interested in a bunch of nosy humans.

The car engine stops. The cougar startles and walks faster until reaching the shore of the lake, where we can’t see it anymore. We then wait until sunrise to get out of the car and go look for it on foot. I am not scared this time, only thrilled. Totally mesmerised. Under a red, drowsy sky, we look for fresh paw prints, but soon they vanish and we can’t find any other trace. Everything suddenly looks so different in daylight. The encounter now feels like a dream, distant and wondrous.

Pumas are most probably seen at night. Before dawn, under a red, drowsy sky, the travellers look for fresh paw prints. (photo: Pía Vergara).

The morning cold seeps into our bodies and eventually it is time to go back to the hotel for breakfast. During the journey, I reflect upon this particular kind of safari. It has nothing to do with the traditional hunting style. This time, man humbly puts himself under the animal’s will, to its movements and times of being. You can let minutes (even hours) go by for that one click that makes it all worthwhile. However, there is something else behind that one-off instant shot, more than just an image printed onto the lens. There is the animal’s soul, its character and its very being that is imprinted into the photographer’s soul. That is a feeling no camera can capture, but stays with us forever. Even if the mystery behind the very same creature remains unveiled.

Tierra Patagonia Hotel & Spa’s photo safari offers a six-day programme with Pía Vergara as exclusive guide. It includes transfers, all gourmet meals and open bar, use of the spa, and all photo safari services. From US$4,160 per person, based on a shared standard room. Next available dates: 7-12th February, 11-16th March, 18th-23rd April. More details at www.tierrapatagonia.com and info@tierrapatagonia.com

The map shows the proposed boundaries (in red and blue) and the final boundary as established by the ICJ (in black). (Image courtesy of ICJ)

Chile and Peru: The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague issued a ruling today on a long standing maritime border dispute between Chile and Peru. The ruling considered both positions in establishing a new maritime boundary, which extends along the line proposed by Chile -parallel to the Equator- for the first 80 nautical miles, and continues along the equidistance line proposed by Peru from there on. The dispute between the two countries, brought before the ICJ by Peru in 2008, concerned a triangle of around 38,000km2 rich in fishing resources, especially anchovies. The fishing industry in this area produces revenue for an estimated US$200m yearly, and the places most affected by the decision will be the Chilean town of Arica and the Peruvian town of Tacna. Whilst both governments have pledged to abide by the ruling, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera said that “this transfer constitutes an unfortunate loss for our country.” Peruvian President Ollanta Humala celebrated that the ICJ “recognised the validity of the Peruvian position” and that his country “has won over 70% of the lawsuit.” Alvaro García Linera, Vice-president of Bolivia, said that the ruling “offers a very important precedent” and that President Evo Morales will refer to the matter tomorrow at the Celac summit in Cuba. The landlocked country is also involved in territorial disputes with Chile.

Honduras: Juan Orlando Hernández was sworn in as President of Honduras today. The ceremony took place at 9.50am local time in Tegucigalpa, and was attended by foreign dignitaries from around 80 countries. During his opening speech, Hernández promised to create 100,000 new jobs and to improve the quality of life of the 800,000 Honduran families that earn less than US$1 per month. He also pledged to improve the social security system, education, and to fight against corruption. Hernández was elected president on 24th November for a four-year term, amidst allegations of fraud by rival party LIBRE. Members of LIBRE organised a demonstration in Tegucigalpa to coincide with the ceremony, in protest against the “fraudulent” electoral process.

Ecuador: A man has been sentenced to six months in prison for killing a condor. Manuel Damián Damián, 61, confessed to the crime after pictures started circulating on social networks in April 2013 showing him with a dead female condor. Since he was arrested in November 2013, he will have to complete another four months in prison, pay a US$5,333 fine, and upon his release he will have to complete a series of environmental remediation tasks imposed by the tribunal. The condor is an endangered species -according to Ecuador’s Environment Ministry, there are fewer than 50 left in the wild, and 19 in captivity, in the country.

President Nicolás Maduro addresses the governors and mayors at the government house (Photo: AVN/Télam/dsl)

Venezuela: President Nicolás Maduro called for the creation of a “model of democratic authority” in order to address the high levels of crime in the country. Maduro held a meeting today with Venezuela’s governors and mayors, as a response to the public outcry caused yesterday by the murder of a former Miss Venezuela and her husband. In the meeting, the president stated that the current model of “war against criminals” has failed, and that it must be replaced by a new model that is “integrally humane, that guarantees protection, but also brings peace and substitutes the anti-values of violence and disrespect towards life.” He proposed a number of measures, including the alignment of all the country’s police forces and a national plan to disarm criminals and integrate them into the labour market.

Chile: The country’s Supreme Court closed the investigation into the death of former President Salvador Allende, stating that there is no evidence supporting allegations that Allende was murdered. The case was brought before the Chilean justice in January 2011, when prosecutor Beatriz Pedrals challenged the theory that the former head of state had committed suicide. With regards to the alleged participation of military personnel in his death, the ruling considers that such personnel arrived at the scene after the suicide, and that no witnesses were able to confirm the theory of a confrontation between them and Allende.

Brazil: A video was released showing inmates from a prison in the Brazilian state of Maranhao playing with the heads of beheaded men from a rival gang. The video, filmed in December but released yesterday by personnel from the Pedrinhas prison, has reignited the debate over the state of the Brazilian penitentiary system. Pedrinhas is considered to be particularly violent, as a conflict between rival gangs left 62 people dead in less than a year and dozens of family members of inmates denounced being raped upon entering the prison. Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the UN, have expressed their concern over the “terrible state” of Brazilian jails, and demanded “the immediate, unbiased, and effective investigation” of the violent incidents that took place in Pedrinhas.

Augusto Pinochet and his wife Lucía Hiriart (photo: Chilean Congress Library)

Chile: A judge has ordered the arrest and prosecution of nine former members of the air force for the 1973 disappearance of Etienne Pesle de Menil, a French former-priest and activist of the Socialist Party. Pesle de Menil disappeared on 19th September 1973 from the city of Temuco, around 800km south of the capital Santiago. He was picked up from his work by a patrol from Maquehue air base, which is now known to have functioned as a clandestine detention centre from the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet on 11th September 1973 until the end of the year. The nine defendants have been detained in a Santiago air base whilst they await trial.

Venezuela: Actress and former Miss Venezuela, Mónica Spear, was killed yesterday in a shooting, in what appears to have been a robbery that went wrong. Her husband, Irishman Henry Thomas Berry, was also killed in the incident, and their five-year-old daughter was injured. All were shot inside their car, which investigators believe had pulled over because of car trouble. Spear, who resides in the US, won Miss Venezuela in 2004, and was in Venezuela on a visit when the incident happened. Venezuela has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with 45 deaths per 100,000 citizens.

Cuba: Dutch foreign minister, Frans Timmermans, has called on the European Union to ‘update’ its relationship with Cuba on a visit to the Caribbean island. Cooperation between the two sides was suspended in 2003 after the arrest of 75 opposition activists on the island. Dialogue began again in 2008, and Cuba has signed bilateral accords with some European countries, although the bloc as a whole maintains its ‘Common Position’ adopted in 1996, which conditions ties with Cuba to advances in human rights. Trade between Europe and the island has continued, however, with both the Netherlands and Spain being major trading partners, and such commercial transactions between Cuba and the EU increased 8% in the first half of 2013.

Villa 21 on Buenos Aires’ Riachuelo. Photo by Beatrice Murch

Latin America: Latin American rivers are among the most polluted in the world, according to World Bank expert, Carmen Yee-Batista in a report released last week. Across the region, more than 70% of used water – including raw sewage – is returned to the rivers with no treatment whatsoever, leading to not only an alarming public health situation, but also an environmental problem. The situation is particularly grave in urban areas, where 80% of the region’s population lives, including a large number of shantytowns close to contaminated water sources. The report also highlighted 32 million people in Latin America do not have access to drinking water.

Chile: Dozens of forest fires have been reported across Chile, affecting a total of 16,000 hectares. The worst of the fires is in the Melipilla region, which encompasses the capital Santiago and Valparaíso, with 11,000 hectares ablaze. So far the fires have not caused any damage to homes and urban areas are not said to be at risk, although Jaime Mañalich, the country’s health minister, has expressed concerns about the air quality in the country’s central region as a result of the smoke, and warned an increase in the number of people being admitted to hospital with respiratory problems was likely.

Brazil: Soldiers, field workers from Brazil’s indigenous affairs department FUNAI, environment ministry special agents, and police officers are being dispatched in a major ground operation to evict illegal settlers, ranchers, and loggers from the land of the Awá in the north-eastern Brazilian Amazon. Settlers have 40 days to voluntarily leave the land, after which they will be forcibly evicted. According to Survival International, the Awá are the world’s most threatened tribe, and are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes in Brazil, depending entirely on the rainforest. Around 100 members of the community are uncontacted, and as a result are particularly vulnerable to attacks and the spread of diseases to which they have little immunity. The operation comes at a crucial time as loggers are said to have been closing in on the tribe, and more than 30% of the forest has already been destroyed.

Panama: An agreement has been reached between Panama’s president and Spain’s minister of development over the threats to suspend the works on expanding the Panama Canal. The construction consortium GUPC, led by Spanish company Sacyr, had said it would suspend works by mid-January if the Panama Canal Authority did not recognise extra costs of over US$1.6bn in construction of the locks. After a furious response by the Panamanian government, the GUPC has now said it will follow the terms outlined in the contract in order to bring the quarrel forward, and not suspend the works. The expansion – which is due to be completed in 2015 – will allow the canal to accommodate boats with capacity for 12,000 containers, in comparison to the current maximum of 5,000.

Agusto Pinochet and his wife Lucía Hiriart (photo: Chilean Congress Library)

Chile: In a historic verdict, eight former members of the Chilean military were today convicted of the killing of 14 people in the so-called ‘Caravan of Death’ in 1973, during the first months of Agusto Pinochet’s dictatorship. They are the first to be convicted of crimes linked to the Caravan, which saw up to 100 people killed by a military death squad that travelled the country in the weeks following Pinochet’s coup, rounding up dissidents and assassinating them. The eight were sentenced to between three and 15 years depending on their role in the killings, which took place on 19th October 1973 in Antofagasta. The judge also ordered reparations of 100m Chilean pesos (US$190,000) for the mothers and widows of the victims and 50m Chilean pesos (US$95,000) for each of the children.

Colombia: A Washington Post report released yesterday has revealed how the CIA secretly aided the Colombian government in its fight against the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), providing help in the tracking and killing of at least two dozen FARC leaders with the use of GPS tracking and smart bombs. All have been killed since 11th September 2001, as part of the so-called ‘War on Terror’. The revelations came as a result of over 30 interviews conducted by the newspaper with former and current Colombian and US intelligence and military officials. The interviews also confirmed the role of the US in providing the Colombian Air Force with the smart bombs that were launched across the border into Ecuador to kill Raul Reyes, a senior FARC leader, in March 2008.

Paraguay: Prosecutors in Paraguay have confirmed they are investigating former president Federico Franco and his wife, the senator Emilia Alfaro, for corruption. The accusations are related to irregularities in the administration of the bi-national hydroelectric dam, Itaipú, and the also over the rigging of contract bids, with the brothers Aldo and Atilio Alegre, friends of Franco and the First Lady, named in particular. Franco was president of the nation for just over a year after the so-called “parliamentary coup” that led to the removal of his predecessor Fernando Lugo.

Brazil: Twenty people have died and almost 50,000 have been displaced after the worst rains in over 30 years led to flooding in the south-eastern state of Espírito-Santo. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who is due to visit the affected area tonight, declared a state of emergency in the state, and said that the government had “mobilised” to assist the 47 municipalities currently under water.

Chile in the wake of the tsunami (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Chile’s Supreme Court yesterday ordered the State to pay damages for their handling of the February 2010 earthquake. The earthquake, which struck on 27th February, led to a tsunami, and both disasters devastated thousands of homes and killed over 500 people.

The ruling forces the State to pay reparations of US105,000 to the family of one of the victims of the tsunami. Mario Segundo Ovando Garcés died in Talcahuano, a south-eastern Chilean port, due to complications following suffocation after being hit and swept along by a huge wave the day of the disaster.

According to the judges, the State is partially responsible for the death of Garcés as a broadcast they made via television advised citizens of Garcés’ local area that they were not at risk from the tsunami, when in fact, they were. They found the State guilty of divulging incorrect information surrounding the disaster which led to death and destruction.

Garcés’ wife, children and grandchild are to receive the money. The case could set a precedent for hundreds of others to come forward.

Many people filed complaints against the state regarding erroneous information which led to unnecessary losses, but this is the first case in which the State has experienced repercussions for this.

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami resulted in 526 dead, 800,000 injured and over US$30bn in damage to properties.

President Elect Michelle Bachelet (Photo: AFP/Martín Bernetti/Télam/cf)

Former president Michelle Bachelet has taken victory in the second and final round of Chilean elections to become president once again. Bachelet beat opponent Evelyn Matthei with 62.16% of the vote against 37.83% in yesterday’s election.

In her victory speech last night, she said, “I am proud to be your president elect. I am proud of the country we have and more of the country that we are going to build. The way the country moves forward depends on us all. Thank you very much, viva Chile!”

She was particularly thankful to young Chileans: “Thank you, especially to the young people who have shown the longing to build a free and quality public education system.”

Chilean constitution requires 50% of votes for presidential election but in the first round Bachelet garnered 47%, meaning both candidates entered a second round. In yesterday’s election, a record high of  58.21% of the Chilean registered to vote abstained.

Former director of the gender equality agency UN Women, Bachelet was also president of Chile between 2006 and 2010. As the Chilean constitution states that presidents cannot run for two consecutive terms in office, she did not seek reelection despite leaving office with very high approval ratings. She will be the first president since General Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorial government, between 1973 and 1990, to serve two terms in office and will replace current president Sebastian Piñera in March 2014.

Bachelet’s manifesto included a range of constitutional, educational, and social reforms. Chile has in the last few year seen increased protests in disagreement with governmental policy. The current constitution was drawn up under General Pinochet 1980.