Witness Ties Colombian General to Paramilitaries

MEDELLIN, Colombia - Gen. Mario Montoya has for years been a trusted caretaker of the sizable aid package Washington provides Colombia's army, leading helicopter-and-commando teams that eradicated drug crops and helping orchestrate this summer's dramatic rescue of hostage Ingrid Betancourt and three captured U.S. defense contractors from Marxist rebels.

With his cinematic bluster and take-charge nature, he impressed visiting American congressional delegations and military officials as an effective, no-nonsense commander who produced results.

Venezuela Throws Out US Ambassador As Tensions Soar

CARACAS - President Hugo Chavez has thrown out the US ambassador to Venezuela and threatened to cut off oil supplies, further escalating tensions with Washington just two days after Russia sent two strategic bombers to Caracas in a move unseen since the Cold War.

The leftist South American leader, ever a vocal opponent of what he has called America's "evil empire", said he was expelling Patrick Duddy "in solidarity" with Bolivia's Evo Morales, who expelled Washington's ambassador to La Paz on Wednesday.

Bolivia Orders US Ambassador Out, Warns of Civil War

LA PAZ (AFP) - - President Evo Morales of Bolivia on Wednesday ordered the US ambassador expelled, accusing him of contributing to divisions in the country which the government warned was headed towards "civil war."
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Ambassador Philip Goldberg was to be sent an official message from the foreign ministry "informing him of the decision by the national government and its president that he should return to his country at once" and that he was "persona non grata," Morales said.

Candidates Stay the Course on Latin America

WASHINGTON - With an election to replace an immensely unpopular president just weeks away, Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama have both sought to distance themselves from the record of George W. Bush -- but when it comes to Latin America, neither candidate promises a major break with the policies of the last eight years.

Team Unearthing Secrets of Long War in Colombia

ANORI, Colombia - A team of forensic anthropologists painstakingly dug up the bodies - two from the town's decaying mausoleum, others from the moist earth in the cemetery, a couple from a field nearby. The preferred method of death: a single gunshot to the head. One young man had been beheaded, his skull now nowhere to be found.

Bolivia's Crisis Worsens As President Calls New Referendum

LA PAZ  - Bolivian President Evo Morales has called a referendum for December 7 to rewrite the constitution, sharpening a political struggle with rebel governors opposed to his sweeping socialist reforms.

"This is a historic day," he said late Thursday, announcing from his presidential palace in La Paz a decree setting up the plebiscite. "This is to deepen democracy."

Peruvian Natives Agree to 48 Hour Protest Truce

LIMA  - Thousands of indigenous people across Peru late Wednesday agreed to a 48-hour truce in their 10 day protest against what they call "the law of the jungle" that opens up their Amazon tribal lands to development, officials said.

The agreement followed a meeting in Lima between Congress President Javier Velazquez and protest leader Alberto Pizango, who heads the Inter-Ethnic Association of the Peruvian Forest (Aidesup).

Velazquez said he promised to revise the controversial law in Congress on Friday.