Latin America : Who knows ?

Colombia said it was ready to start negotiating with its second-largest rebel army, potentially broadening a peace process aimed at ending Latin America's oldest insurgency.

The country's Constitutional Court provided more enticement for rebels to stop fighting and end nearly 50 years of bloodshed, ruling that fighters who lay down arms can take part in politics after a peace process is completed.

The ruling endorsed a constitutional amendment that lawmakers approved in 2012.

The conflict in Colombia goes back to the 1960s and has its roots in gaping inequality between wealthy landowners and landless peasants. It is a volatile and violent mix that has also drawn in other leftist rebel groups, rightwing paramilitaries and drug traffickers. An estimated 600,000 people have died, and another 4.5 million are displaced within the country because of the violence.

"This is an extremely important step in the desire that all Colombians have, which is a country at peace," said President Juan Manuel Santos, alluding to the court ruling.

But another rebel group already negotiating with the government balked, saying the reform was unilateral and did not include their input. The rejection came from FARC leader Ivan Marquez. The FARC is the largest rebel army.
In a statement, Santos hailed the National Liberation Army's release this week of a Canadian hostage and said "the government is ready to start a dialogue with the ELN as soon as possible."
He had made talks with the rebels, known in Spanish as the ELN, contingent on the release of captives.
The ELN announced Tuesday that it would release the 47-year-old, who works for the Braeval Mining Corporation.

The body representing judges in Chile has made an unprecedented apology for the actions of its members under military rule in the 1970s and 1980s.

It a statement, it said that the judiciary at the time had abandoned its role as protector of basic rights.

"The time has come to ask for the forgiveness of victims... and of Chilean society," said the judges.

More than 3,000 people were killed under the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990.

The statement by the National Association of Magistrates of the Judiciary comes a week before the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought General Pinochet to power.

It said its members, and in particular the Supreme Court, had failed in its duty to protect victims of state abuse.

The magistrates' association acknowledged that the Chilean judiciary could and should have done much more to safeguard the rights of those persecuted by the dictatorship.

It said the judges had ignored the plight of victims who had demanded their intervention.

Chilean courts rejected about 5,000 cases seeking help on locating missing loved ones abducted or killed by the authorities.

Critics say their usual response was they had no information about their fate.

Chile's current centre-right government has said the country will officially recognise the anniversary of the coup.

President Sebastian Pinera said last month that the coup on 11 September 1973 was "a historical fact" and its 40th anniversary should be a time of "reflection."

The announcement came after the conservative senator and former president of the Independent Democratic Union, Hernan Larrain, apologised for his party's actions.

"I ask for forgiveness," he said. "This is my voice for reconciliation."

Peru the global leader in dollar counterfeiting LIMA, Peru (AP) — The police colonel was stunned by the skill of the 13-year-old arrested during a raid on counterfeiters in Lima's gritty outskirts, how he deftly slid the shiny plastic security strip through a bogus $100 banknote emblazoned with Benjamin Franklin's face.Associated Press