Venezuela VP says Chavez 'gaining strength'

Nicolas Maduro says absent president is "conscious" and that his "vital signs and organ function are stabilising".

Hugo Chavez has designated Vice President Maduro as the country's caretaker in his absence [AFP]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is "gaining strength" and entering a "new phase" of cancer treatment in Cuba, his anointed political heir said, as doubts about his health mount in Caracas. Vice President Nicolas Maduro said in a statement on Sunday that the absent leader's "vital signs and organ function are stabilising, he is conscious and gaining strength for the next stage". Maduro's remarks did not go far to address speculation among Venezuela's political foes that Chavez, who has not spoken publicly since December 10, is more ill than has been reported. Chavez designated Maduro as his deputy before flying to Cuba for a fourth round of cancer surgery on December 11.

Colombia refuses to extend FARC ceasefire Despite notable drop in violence, government holds FARC guilty of multiple violations during two-month ceasefire.

Colombia's FARC rebels have announced the end of a two-month unilateral ceasefire after the government refused to extend the truce.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had been willing to extend the truce if the Colombian government signed a bilateral ceasefire accord, but President Juan Manuel Santos rejected that idea from the start.

Mexico Drug War: List Of Missing Raises Doubts In Mexico

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO 12/22/12 03:48 PM ET EST

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MEXICO CITY -- Federal police officer Luis Angel Leon Rodriguez disappeared in 2009 along with six fellow police as they headed to the western state of Michoacan to fight drug traffickers.
Since then, his mother, Araceli Rodriguez, has taken it into her own hands to investigate her son's disappearance and has publicized the case inside and outside Mexico. She's found some clues about what happened but still doesn't have any certainty about her son's whereabouts.
As Mexican troops and police cracked down on drug cartels, who also battled among themselves, Leon was just one of thousands of people who went missing amid a wave of violence that stunned the nation. A new report by a civic participation group has put a number for the first time on the human toll: 20,851 people disappeared over the past six years, although not every case on the list has been proven related to the drug war.

In Drug Fight on Texas Border, Some Officers Play Both Sides

By MANNY FERNANDEZ

Published: January 2, 2013

MISSION, Tex. — Drug traffickers have long profited here and in other Texas border towns. But their success has sometimes depended on forging unusual alliances.

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Joel Martinez/The Monitor, via Associated Press

Chief Martin Garza Jr. of the Mission Police Department. Two of his officers were fired after being accused of corruption in December.

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Some of the very officers sworn to combat the drug trade have been illicitly earning cash by helping vehicles transporting marijuana and cocaine avoid detection from law enforcement agents, serving as escorts and scouts during the shipments, the authorities say.

Last month, four lawmen — two Hidalgo County sheriff’s deputies and two Mission police officers — were arrested and accused of escorting loads of drugs in exchange for cash after a corruption investigation led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the F.B.I. and other agencies. In court documents filed by federal investigators, the four men were accused of escorting vehicles carrying cocaine for $2,000 to $6,000 per trip.

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Mexican troops pursued and shot dead 12 suspected criminals in a gun battle in Zacatecas state, which lies on a key drug-smuggling route in central Mexico, the BBC reported.
Agence France-Presse reported the fighting broke out Wednesday after the two sides ran into each other in the city of Rio Grande. Troops chased the suspects for more than 30 miles until the town of Sombrerete.
Two women and 10 men were killed in the clash, Mexican newspaper Milenio reported.
On New Year’s Eve, the Mexican navy arrested 18 suspected drug traffickers in the same state, the BBC reported.
Those detained included 12 boys and a woman with a baby.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in drug-related violence in Mexico in recent years as the previous administration under former President Felipe Calderon waged a deadly war against the country's powerful drug cartels.
More from GlobalPost: More Mexico news 

Chile’s Congress Passes Monumental Public Smoking Ban

Starting in March, all enclosed public spaces in Chile will be free of tobacco smoke.

Say goodbye to smoking in public! Photo: World Health Organization

PROVIDENCIA — Step outside and take a deep breath What do you smell? Probably cigarette smoke. Hopefully not for much longer.

India and Brazil to replace China as main drivers of resources demand: report

With Chinese demand slackening, India and Brazil's need for raw materials will support the global mining industry, Australia's in particular, said global accountancy firm KPMG Thursday.

Argentina President Calls for Britain to Relinquish Control of Falklands

 The president of Argentina is calling on Britain to relinquish control of the Falkland Islands, saying that the government is taking part in an act of "blatant colonialism" by claiming the wind-swept archipelago.

Abengoa Starts First South America Solar-Thermal Power Plant

Abengoa SA (ABG), the largest developer of solar-thermal power plants, completed a 10-megawatt project at an Antofagasta Plc (ANTO) copper mine in Chile’s Atacama Desert that will reduce the facility’s use of fossil fuels.

South America's LAN Airlines First to Use Boeing 787 Out of LAX

South America's LAN Airlines became the first carrier to fly Boeing's new 787 airplane on an international route from Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, beating United Airlines by one day.

Barbados rapes: Victims Rachel Turner and Diane Davies' anger at police

Rape victims Dr Rachel Turner and Diane Davies fought to clear Derick Crawford's name

Two British women who helped free a man, who police accused of raping them in Barbados, have expressed outrage after the island's commissioner said he was happy with the investigation.

Dr Rachel Turner, of Hertfordshire, and Diane Davies, of Anglesey, were raped within days of each other in 2010.

Colombia: Nine bodies found in Envigado luxury house

 

Forensic experts are trying to establish the circumstances of the tragedy in Envigado

 

Police in Colombia have found the bodies of nine people inside a luxury house in the city of Envigado, on the outskirts of Medellin.

The nine victims, who haven't yet been identified, are believed to have been shot dead during a party on Sunday.
An $11,000 (£7,000) reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible.
Medellin police commander Yesid Vasquez says he thinks the deaths were linked to the drug cartels that operate there.

Bolivia takes over Spanish-owned energy suppliers

Bolivia has brought two Spanish-owned electricity supply companies under state control.

President Evo Morales accused the subsidiaries of the Spanish company, Iberdrola, of overcharging consumers in rural areas.

Mr Morales said rural households had been paying three times more for their electricity than people in urban areas.
The left-wing president has previously nationalised oil, telecommunications and energy-generating companies.
"We had to see that the quality of electricity service is uniform in rural as well as urban areas," Mr Morales said.
He added that his decree was in line with the South American country's constitution, which says that the public interest is above private interests when it comes to the supply of energy.
"We were forced to take this measure," he said, describing the electricity charges as "unfair and unequal".

Colombia landslide kills five in Neiva with 25 missing

 

Rescue operations along the Neiva-Florencia road will be suspended if the mountain slope becomes unstable

Peru juveniles escape from prison in mass breakouts

Peruvian police are hunting for some 19 young inmates who escaped during unrest at a juvenile detention centre in Lima.