Trump pardons jailed former Honduran leader

U.S. President Donald J. Trump issued a "full and complete pardon" on 1 December for the jailed former Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernández, who was serving time in the United States following a drug trafficking conviction. Hernández, a "tough on crime" conservative who was president from 2014 to 2022, was extradited that year by the Democratic Biden administration and convicted in 2024 of conniving in large-scale drug trafficking toward the United States. Trump wrote online on 28 November that he had been treated "very harshly and unfairly." Observers including media outlets and some U.S. lawmakers immediately derided the pardon as contradicting Trump's current war on drugs and specifically, pressures being exerted on Venezuela's socialist president, Nicolás Maduro, precisely for aiding drug trafficking into the United States. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro wrote on X (Twitter) that it was "demoralizing" to all those risking their lives to fight trafficking to see a "drug trafficker pardoned." Another critic was the Liberal Party presidential candidate in Honduras, Salvador Nasralla, who was awaiting a recount of votes cast in the general election of 30 November. He said Hernández could expect to be tried in Honduras should he return. Hernández and his wife thanked Trump for the pardon but were not planning an immediate return home due to security concerns, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Mexico City wants to "curb HIV" by 2030

Mexico City's mayoress said on 1 December that the city was stepping up its fight against AIDS, especially through prevention, by opening the city's largest clinic yet to treat sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Clara Brugada Molina was speaking on World Aids Day. She said a third branch of the Clinica especializada Condesa would be "completed" through "this year and the next" in the Gustavo A. Madero sector of the city, Once Noticias reported. The city would also open a permanent quick testing facility in the Glorieta de Insurgentes, one of the Mexican capital's busy intersections, and keep urging people to get tested for the HIV virus. The city government says more than 17,500 people had received the PrEP treatment in 2025 "to help significantly reduce HIV infection," and this was becoming more prevalent. Around 360,000 people are thought be HIV-positive across Mexico, with 21% of those in the capital and 30% of all the infected not knowing their HIV status, Once Noticias stated.  

Official says crime "clearly falling" in Mexico City

Mexico City's top police official has said violent crimes had dropped 10%, and the most violent crimes 12%, "this year in comparison with the last one" and that "in general terms," violence had fallen "significantly" in Mexico's capital since 2019. Pablo Vásquez Camacho, the city's Civil Security secretary, told Heraldo Radio on 30 October that "high impact" crimes like murder or kidnapping had "fallen by around 60%" since 2019. This, he said, was thanks to better policing but also the implementation of social and economic programs in deprived parts of the city, El Heraldo de México reported. He repeated his statements that day attending a debate on crime in the city's legislative assembly. He spoke of measures taken under the mayoress Clara Brugada Molina to improve police equipment, pay and work conditions in a systematic bid to stamp out abuse and boost professionalization. Police, he said, had arrested more than 6,700 suspects for high-impact crimes with a 21% increase in prosecutions, and key arrests had allowed the dismantling of "30 criminal cells" over an unspecified period, the website Infobae reported.

Destruction of the Amazon rainforest "relentless"

The Amazon rainforest was losing an area the size of six soccer pitches every minute, according to estimates by the World Wildlife Fund and the MapBiomas mapping project, mainly due to illegal felling and mining, and farming. Environmentalists believe the rainforest, spread across several countries, lost 88 million hectares (or 880,000 square kilometers) between 1985 and 2023, with consequences for the climate and especially rainfall far beyond the region, the website Infobae reported on 29 October. The destructive rate, it stated, citing data from the Global Forest Watch, had made Latin America the global leader in rainforest destruction.

Mexico's tobacco taxes fuel black market in cigarettes

A fifth of all cigarettes smoked in Mexico was "illegal or semi-legal," likely as a result of increasing taxes and curbs on smoking, media reported on 28 October, citing research by the Colegio de México, a public university. Its ongoing study on the causes of social misconduct found that the proportion of black-market cigarettes rose from eight per cent in 2017 to 20% in 2023, the national paper La Jornada reported. The study's coordinator, Manuel Pérez, linked this to rising taxes on smoking, naming 2011 as a turning point when the state hiked them 30%. On 28 October, Mexico's Senate approved another round of taxes on cigarettes, soft drinks and 'violent videogames,' with amendments to the IEPS or Law for a Special Tax on Production and Services. Beside taxes, in January 2023, Mexico banned smoking and vaping in all public spaces including parks and beaches as well as relevant advertising.  The BBC described this then as one of the strictest regimes anywhere governing smoking, effectively confining it to homes, even if enforcement might prove problematic. It could, it observed, prompt police harassment or acts of petty corruption.

Cancún in Mexico vows to curb plastics, garbage

Cancún, the popular beach destination on Mexico's Caribbean coast, would become the country's first resort to join the UN's Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, meant to cut back on trash. The district and its hotels generate around 1,500 tons of solid trash daily, according to mayoress Ana Paty Peralta. She told the local press on 23 October that the city would join the UN program through its Destino cero residuos Cancún initiative, which she termed a new vision of tourism for the Quintana Roo state that includes Cancún. This would begin with local hotels considering actions to reduce use of silly items like plastic cutlery or straws, and include, over a three-year period, recycling and communal initiatives like cleaning up the beach or regional cave pools (cenotes). Crucially, this was a joint effort between local government and hotels, but also visitors, the head of a regional hotels' association (AHCPMIM), Rodrigo de la Peña Segura, said in turn. He added, 15 local firms were already implementing the sector's Menos plástico guidelines to reduce "plastic trash by 44%, equivalent to 100 tons every year."

Bolivia elects a "moderate" president

The self-styled centrist Rodrigo Paz Pereira, a senator and former mayor of Tarija in southern Bolivia, won the country's second round of presidential elections on 19 October and will be sworn in on 8 November, thus ending two decades of socialist rule. The outgoing president, Luis Arce, was one of several regional leaders to congratulate him without delay. In the first round of voting in August, Paz's Christian Democratic party garnered 49 of the lower legislature's 130 seats and 13 of the Senate's 36 seats, which would give him a measure of legislative clout. Paz declared on 23 October that a renewal of ties with the United States after a 17-year break would help tackle the country's economic problems, and observers were expecting Bolivia to move away from its allies of recent years - namely Russia, China, Islamic Iran and socialist Venezuela. He clarified a day before that the rulers of Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela would not be invited to his swearing-in, as they were "not democratic." Bolivia, he stressed, is a "democratic country. While there are diplomatic relations, to be respected (due to) previous conditions, our condition for relations is based on democracy." The BBC summarized in a report on 20 October the president-elect's reform and liberalization plans.

Medellín wants to turn city dump into "showcase" recycling site

The Medellín municipality is to turn the La Pradera trash dump, some 50 kilometers outside the city, into a "technologial and environmental park" set to recycle "about 40%" of the department of Antioquia's solid refuse into products including fuel and compost. The project was to become a model of recycling and reuse for both Colombia and the continent, the city's mayor, Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga, was quoted as saying on 18 September. He said this recycling project should prolong the site's useful life, allow it to receive 3,500 tons or 80% of the department's entire trash every day, but also establish a new model of disposing of refuse. The timespan for the project was not yet clear though the mayor suggested the site might be producing biogas for some 200,000 homes in the department by around 2027. The city government has in recent months sought to teach residents to separate household trash, by means including door-to-door visits and recitals to accompany garbage collection.

Mexico bans range of pesticides, and more in 2026

The government of Mexico announced a ban in early September of 35 pesticide compounds being used in farming, calling this a 'historic' second step from the last such ban in 1991, which affected 21 pesticides. President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo told the press on 3 September that many of the pesticides, like DDT, had long been banned elsewhere but were still being used in Mexico. The ban was on the "use, production, sale and importation" of 35 compounds, which the country's Agriculture and Rural Development minister, Julio Berdegué Sacristán said in turn had been tagged as harmful in several international texts (Basel, Stokholm, Rotterdam conventions, etc..). Sheinbaum said the government would publish two more blacklists in 2026 and 2027. The chemicals banned included Aldicarb, used in citrus and sugar cultivations, and Carbuforan, used for cotton, coffee and avocado, Spain's El País reported.

Mexico City swapping recyclable trash for produce and basic items

The government of Mexico City was to hold one of its 'bartering' or swap markets on 19 October, wherein residents trade their recyclable trash for foodstuffs including fresh vegetables. The fairs' dates and locations are changeable though tending to take place every week or fortnight since 2025. This one was scheduled for the morning hours, inside the Chapultepec park. The markets are part of the city's bid to boost trash separation and recycling habits in the population, El Sol de México reported on 16 October. Its government wants to halve the amount of trash sent to landfills by 2030, within its Basura cero or Zero Trash agenda. 

Mexico City to enforce trash separation in homes

Mexico City will gradually enforce trash separation at source from January 2026, aiming to halve the refuse sent into landfills by 2030, and recover and reuse as much as possible. The city's mayoress, Clara Brugada, said all schools, offices and households would have to divide their trash into organic, recyclables and non-recyclables from 1 January, and the city had two months to prepare people for what she said was "no minor task," the website Animal político reported on 8 October. The city, with a population exceeding 9.2 million people, reportedly generates 8,600 tons of trash daily. This was less than the 12,900 tons reported as produced daily in 2016. Brugada said the city would boost its collecting and recycling budget, with the goal of composting organic trash and turning non-organic materials into final products ranging from fuel to tarmac, acoustic padding and the like. The city has vowed to cut its carbon emissions 35% over an unspecified time. The environmental organization Greenpeace warned on 7 October that government-backed initiatives favoring reuse or recycling of plastic - and often praised as part of a sustainable or circular economy - were often ploys to prevent moves to curb relentless plastic production in line with big-business interests. As was pointed out in 2016, the Mexican capital's problem was not recycling, but the sheer amount of trash the city 'spewed out' every day.

Bogotá grapples with its trash

Bogotá, home to just under eight million people, produces some 7,500 tonnes of trash every day and has broadly failed in recent years to reduce or significantly recycle its refuse. The city government led by the mayor Luis Carlos Galán, estimates every city resident produces a kilogram of trash daily, while one senator, Carlos Eduardo Guevara of MIRA, a "Christian" party, has said the city produced enough trash every year to fill the Campín soccer stadium 18 times, according to the website Confidencial noticias. The vast majority of this trash (about 6,000 tonnes) is buried in the Doña Juana dump, which reports often describe as overflowing and an environmental and health risk. The city's collection system, in place since 2018, divides the capital into five zones worked by private firms. Their concessions will expire on 11 February 2026, though it was not yet clear if the city had a specific and better plan afoot to tackle a problem residents believe had worsened. Trash piles are a common sight on streets and the municipal government has identified numerous 'critical points' where trash piles up. A good deal of collection and recycling is undertaken by informal pickers the city has sought to recruit on a more formal basis. Most recently the municipality counted 22,000 recyclers it said were helping recover 1,200 tonnes of trash (or 16% of 7,500 tonnes) daily. Just over half of the capital's solid trash is organic or food remains, with just under 17% consisting of plastic and just under 14%, other packacking (including Tetrapack-style boxes), according to the city's Public Services department.

Parliament in Peru sacks president

Peru's parliament voted on the night of 9-10 October to sack President Dina Boluarte Zegarra, citing her "permanent moral incapacity" to govern and perceived inability to get a grip on rampant crime and violence. One hundred and twenty one (or two) legislators attending the session (out of a total 130 members) all voted for her dismissal, which would have gone through with 87 votes. Parliament then appointed the Speaker José Jerí Oré as acting president ahead of the general elections scheduled for April 2026. Boluarte became president in late 2022 when parliament sacked her predecessor Pedro Castillo, and was Peru's first female president. Jerí would become the third president of Peru within Castillo's five-year presidential term, which began in 2021. In her last speech to the nation, Boluarte said she had performed her duties with "decency and honesty," and the constitution did not foresee the moral incapacity cited by parliament as a cause of impeachment. She called for transparent elections and urged voters to vote with discernment. "Think not once, not twice nor three times, think various times to whom you will give your vote," she said in her last public address.

Venezuelan opponent given Nobel peace prize

The conservative Venezuelan politician and leading opponent of the country's socialist regime, María Corina Machado, was awarded the 2025 Nobel peace prize on 10 October, for her "tireless work promoting democratic rights" for Venezuelans and efforts toward a "just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy." Machado was banned from running for the presidency in 2024, but recognized as the country's leading opponent and political force behind the liberal presidential candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia. Maduro declared himself winner in those elections, facing down international skepticism, later prompting González to flee the country and Machado to go into hiding. She might have taken refuge in the U.S. embassy in Caracas. World media had speculated on whether or not the prize would be given to the U.S. President Donald J. Trump, especially given his eagerness to receive it. The White House reacted saying the Nobel committee's decision was politicized, praising Trump as a relentless peacemaker with "the heart of a humanitarian." There were also criticisms on the Left: in Spain, the leftist politician and founder of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, wrote online that the committee had degraded the prize and might as well have given it to "Trump or even Hitler." He called Machado a "coupmonger," Spain's ABC reported on 10 October.

Mexico claims advances in plastic recycling

The plastic sector in Mexico claimed it had made "better than expected" progress in recycling a range of plastics and reducing plastic pollution, just over five years after a voluntary pact between the state and several organizations representing the sector. Notably, the sector stated it had eliminated microplastics in cosmetic products and stopped producing 35,000 tons of "unnecessary plastics," the website Animal político reported on 17 September, citing the fifth annual report of ANNEP (or the National Pact for the New Plastic Economy in Mexico). The report observed a 63% recovery rate for PET plastics nationally, which exceeded the rate in the European Union (56%), with a 34% recovery rate for all plastic types. It stated that in 2024, 24% of the plastic used in all packacing was now recycled, and noted the increasing use of packaging labelled as biodegradable and of deposit-return systems to reuse containers. The report claimed firms had altogether stopped using microplastics as cleansing or exfoliant agents. Its figures were based on information given by 77 firms (representing 51% of the sector) participating in the pact, with actual recycling figures possibly being higher. 

Mexico produces roughly 12,000 tons of recyclable plastic trash (packaging, PET, HDPE, LDPE) every day, of which just under 2,500 tons are from Mexico City, according to Greenpeace Mexico and the country's environment ministry. 

Mexico City, Oaxaca vote to ban single-use plastics

The legislature of Mexico City voted on 10 May to ban the "use and distribution" of disposable plastics in the capital from 2020. Almost all members voted to gradually enforce the ban, intended to reduce the mountain of trash the city generates daily. Similar measures being enacted across Mexico typically affect items like bags, straws, styrofoam trays or coffee lids. Mexico City would allow shops to hand out bags if these could degrade entirely within 90 days of disposal, though it was not clear if such bags presently exist in Mexico. The measure will include coffee capsules from 2021, Milenio reported. The state of Puebla also voted on 24 April to ban disposable plastics from 2020, first enforcing the measure in the state capital Puebla, with a population of 1.6 million. Both states would complement the bans with informative campaigns. The southern state of Oaxaca and eastern state of Tabasco have also approved restrictions. Oaxaca voted a gradual ban in early April, with enforcement beginning in government offices, which could no longer buy, use or distribute throwaway plastics, the website Prensa Latina reported on 15 April. Greenpeace in Mexico estimated in early 2019 that the country produced some 10,000 tonnes of plastic trash daily.

Plastic straws, bag production "falling" in Mexico

A spokesman for the plastics sector in Mexico recently said "more than 60 per cent" of manufacturers of plastic straws had disappeared in the country, due to falling demand and anti-plastic campaigns. Aldimir Torres, president of the National Association of Plastic Industries (ANIPAC) told a conference in early April that some 80 initiatives were targeting plastics products in Mexico, but insisted the sector believed recycling remained the best way to curb pollution by plastics, El Financiero reported. He said bag makers in Mexico were now working at between "30 and 70 per cent capacity," and the sector had already shed 8.5 per cent of its workers, for falling demand. Hidalgo and Guerrero became two more Mexican states in late March to legislate against plastic products. State lawmakers in Hidalgo voted to give shops 180 days to implement a plastics ban approved in 2018, the website Xataka México reported. In Guerrero, legislators reformed the state's trash disposal laws to forbid "the use of" plastic bags and "provision" of single-use items like straws, cutlery and styrofoam trays, Xataka reported. It was not immediately clear when this would happen and whether or not the ban covered selling the items.

New York State bans plastic grocery bags from 2020

The state of New York has banned the distribution of single-use plastic bags after 1 March 2020, media reported on 31 March, becoming the second U.S. state with California, to impose a state-wide ban. The measure passed by its legislature that day was part of the state budget for 2020, and includes other environmental measures like making cars pay to enter mid-town Manhattan. The ban would presumably supercede the bag fee New York city imposed in 2016. A third U.S. state, Hawaii, and a number of districts restrict bags through local legislation.

Mexican state starts enforcing plastics ban

The state of Tamaulipas in north-eastern Mexico began enforcing a ban on the sale and distribution of plastic bags on 1 January, following a vote by the state legislature in September 2018. The ban was on the distribution of bags that did not contain at least 30 per cent degradable material, though press and agency reports did not specify if businesses could make or access such bags. Reports suggested authorities would not yet fine offending outlets in the state's 43 districts, stating there would be inspections initially to verify compliance. Tamaulipas became the fourth state in Mexico (after Querétaro, Veracruz and Baja California Sur) to restrict plastics or plastic bags, as papers reported Durango, Sonora, Nuevo León and Mexico City as working on similar restrictions. The legislature of the state of Quintana Roo on the Caribbean was also considering amending local laws to restrict or ban plastic bags and straws, La Jornada reported on 7 January.

Bogotá rolls out new, streetside trash containers

The Bogotá city government began placing new trash containers around the capital in late November, and was observing their usage in an initial adaptation phase. The containers, as shown on news websites, were very similar to those used in Spanish cities like Barcelona and Valencia, and require residents to bin their trash outside buildings. The city government believes they are cleaner and will encourage people to separate trash, and intends to place 10,744 containers around the capital. These have either white lids, for recyclables like plastic, paper and cans, or black lids, for all other trash including food remains. The broadcaster Caracol noted on Christmas Day that some residents were already confused by or indifferent to the distinction, as certain bins contained the wrong sort of rubbish. Others had been vandalized or sprayed, though "no more than one per cent," according to the head of trash collection at the Special Administrative Unit for Public Services, the office running various city services, Yanlicer Pérez.

Industrialist says anti-plastic campaigns in Mexico "hitting" sector

Public campaigns in Mexico against straws and plastic bags were changing consumption patterns and "hurting" the industry, a sector spokesman was reported as saying on 22 December. Aldimir Torres Arenas, head of the National Association of Plastic Industries (ANIPAC), said campaigns like the Environment Ministry (SEMARNAT)'s "Fine Without a Straw" were hitting firms' revenues "by 10 and up to 30 per cent" and one firm had already shut, the daily Publimetro reported. He said "we recognize there is a solid waste problem reaching our forests, streets and seas," referring to massive worldwide accumulation of trash on land and seas. But he warned curbing consumption would affect jobs, and said packacing represents "47 per cent of the national GDP." Plastic, he said, was a "technological marvel" and costly resource that should not be wasted. The daily gave 650 as the average number of plastic bags a Mexican uses every year, and reported sales of plastics to be worth $30 billion a year.

Mexico state votes to curb plastic packaging, straws

The legislature of the northern Mexican state of Coahuila voted on 17 December to ban the distribution and use of plastic bags, polystyrene packaging and straws in that state from 2020, in a bid to curb massive plastic pollution, newspapers and the Notimex agency reported. The norm, an amendment to the state's Law on Ecological Balance and Environmental Protection, was to specify in time sanctions for offenders and propose biodegradable alternatives to the plastic subject to the ban, the broadcaster Televisa reported on 19 December. The regional newspaper Vanguardia observed that the norm should enter into force in late 2019 or early 2020, and given its eight-month adaptation period, curbs should start taking effect by September that year. It expressed doubts however that people would respect the ban.

Ban curbs plastic bag use in Mexican city

Restrictions on the use of carrier bags in Querétaro, a district north-east of Mexico City, have caused a drop of "up to 30%" in business for regional manufacturers, the local Diario de Querétaro reported on December 19, citing an industry spokesman. Venancio Pérez Gómez said a municipal ban had "hit" the five or so firms making bags in the state of Querétaro "by 20 or 30%" in 2018, as "shops have stopped buying." Gómez, head of the plastic makers' association Clúster de Plásticos Querétaro, observed however that the sector as a whole had grown by six to seven per cent over 2018. The same newspaper had reported in early September an 80% drop in bag distribution in shops following the ban. It cited the city's chief environmental officer Martha Patricia Vargas Salgado as giving the previous level of bag consumption in the city as "two million bags," without further details. The city, she said then, was discussing with industry improving environmental norms for permitted bags like trash or bin bags.

Peru legislates to curb plastics

Parliament in Peru voted on 5 December to gradually curb the use and sale of plastic bags and disposable items to reduce plastic pollution, Agence France-Presse and local media reported. The Plastics Law, approved almost unanimously in Congress, would cut bag use by 35% in its first year, and targets other items like straws, to be banned within a year, packaging, thin plastic bags and wrappings for brochures. The law forbids the manufacture of non-degradable, plastic bags and packaging after 28 July, 2021, La República reported on 5 December. It cited the Environment Ministry as putting Peru's annual plastic consumption at 947,000 tonnes, 75% of which was dumped as trash, "with only 0.3% being recycled." Other sources gave different figures here but broadly speaking, most plastic used in Peru accumulates as trash. El Peruano reported on 28 December that the government wants shops to start charging 10 Peruvian cents (about 0.02 euros) per bag in 2019, with the fee rising to 50 cents in 2023 and more thereafter.

Medellín recycling machines to multiply after initial success

A pilot scheme in Medellín to encourage residents to recycle cans, glass and plastic bottles by giving them transport credit gathered thousands of containers within four months of starting in September 2017, and was set to expand from one machine, organizers said in March 2018. Ciclo, the firm founded by local engineering students, stated that its container in the Universidad metro station gathered almost 5,000 bottles and cans just on April 24, designated a car-free day in Medellín. From September to late December 2017, over 4,500 commuters used the machine to recycle 440,000 bottles and cans, earning enough credit for over 11,000 metro trips in that time. That amounted to taking 200 cars off the road and not emitting 22 tonnes of CO2, El Espectador reported on March 22. With the scheme's success, the metro authority stated in early April that the city would have five machines in the city by the end of 2018.

Chile mulling general ban on plastic bags

Chile's government presented its proposals to parliament on 8 May for a nationwide ban on "the use of plastic bags in shops," media reported. President Sebastián Piñera wrote on Twitter that "we do not want more bags polluting our cities, countryside, beaches and seas." The initiative is meant to substitute the earlier 2017 ban on plastic bag distribution in 102 seaside districts. The Government states that Chile currently produced 3.4 billion plastic bags a year and that residents of Santiago alone used 62.2 million bags a year, CNN reported. Some eight million tonnes of plastic are stated as ending up in the world's oceans every year, according to NGOs like Plastic Oceans, with increasing reports of wildlife choking on them. In late April, the Environment Minister Marcela Cubillos specified that the measure would include "so-called biodegradable" bags, and go into force within a year of approval and publication in the official gazette, or two years for smaller businesses. Meanwhile, she added, businesses could hand customers a maximum of two plastic bags for every purchase, the national daily El Mercurio reported on 27 April.

Medellín to encourage residents to pay for transport by recycling

Medellín in Colombia will begin in September a pilot scheme allowing people to exchange plastic bottles, glass or cans for metro transport credit. The scheme will begin with one functioning machine in the Universidad station, which will recharge your Civic Card or transport card as it receives cans or bottles, El Colombiano reported on 24 August. "The machine has no transaction limits," Luis  Felipe Restrepo, a spokesman for Ciclo, the firm making the machines, told the daily. "That means in each transaction, the user can exchange anything from a glass or plastic bottle, or a can, and get 50 pesos in credit," he said. An underground ticket in Medellín typically costs around 2,000 pesos (just over 0.5 euros), which Restrepo said amounted to "more or less 40 bottles." He added the machine could receive PET bottles of up to three litres, and would pay more for bigger bottles. Bottles he said, must be "in shape" and "not too mangled... they do not have to be totally washed, but must be without their content."

Panama votes to restrict plastic bags

Parliament in Panama voted on 10 August to approve a bill to gradually restrict the distribution of disposable plastic bags nationwide, in a bid to curb pollution by what the parliamentary website termed "deadly plastic." Its specifics were to be clarified by ministries within weeks. The Legislative Assembly ruled that pursuant to Law 492, shops must replace plastic bags with "containers made of non-polluting material or reusable plastic," no later than 24 months after the law's promulgation. The Environment Ministry would have to define within 15 days after promulgation the "technical specifiations" of these new bags, while consumer protection authorities would in time set penalties for violating the law. One of the legislators who proposed the law, Samir Gozaine, was cited as saying that biodegradable bags could technically already be made, though the website did not give details. He separately described the vote as in line with a "global movement" against plastic pollution. Shortly before the vote, an industry representative, Alfredo Villaverde, told the broadcaster TVN that bags were not the problem, but people's conduct. "All these bags can be recycled," he said, and did not "reach rivers and the sea alone." Spain's EFE agency reported on 10 August that the law seeks to cut plastic consumption by 20 per cent, over an unspecified time.

Colombian daily reports fall in plastic sales after bag fee

La Nación, a newspaper from south-western Colombia, reported on 5 August a decline of around 25 per cent in sales of plastic bags in Colombia in the first six months of 2017, after the government decreed earlier people must pay for most types given out in shops. It qualified the move intended to curb pollution, as a problem for the sector, though it observed businesses were already looking at alternatives like providing paper bags. Colombians, it reported, must now pay 20 Colombian pesos (a negligible amount in euros) for a typical supermarket bag, a fee set to rise to 50 pesos by 2020. The government has banned the distribution of the thinnest bags. La Nación cited the head of Agroplásticos, which represents plastic and rubber interests, as saying that bag sales were in July 2017, 25 per cent below those of that month in 2016. But it also cited a manager of Induplast, a regional firm, Miriam Mosquera, as saying that the government seemed to have ignored the impact of restrictions on livelihoods, and "if the state really wants to contribute to the environment, it must promote other types of campaigns." The broadcaster Caracol similarly reported in late July a 27 per cent fall in use of plastic bags, apparently since March 2017. La Nación provided some figures on plastic consumption in Colombia, apparently taken from DANE, the state statistics office. Around 14 million plastic bags were sold in Colombia annually, and the fee was expected to reduce demand overall this year by 30 per cent, it stated.

Buenos Aires bans shops from handing out plastic bags

A ban on shops handing out disposable plastic bags went into effect in Buenos Aires on 1 January, after the lawcourts ruled it was legal and rejected a challenge by the sector. EFE news agency termed the move the culmination of a process that began in 2009, intended to curb, then eliminate massive plastic bag use. The city had already ruled that shops should charge for plastic bags, and the newspaper Clarín cited the retailers' association ASU on 2 January as observing that this had duly reduced demand by "70 per cent." Yet EFE cited the city's chief environmental officer Eduardo Macchiavelli as saying in an interview that the city still typically consumed 500 million bags a year, which could "circle the world seven times." Shops failing to comply with the new norm would be fined 100,000 pesos (almost 6,000 euros), and the city was helping people by gifting reusable cloth bags around the capital during January, the website Infobae reported. In spite of advance warning of the ban, on 2 January many shoppers reportedly had to buy bags as they arrived at supermarkets without them. At stores like Carrefour and Walmart, large, reusable bags were sold for 15 pesos (around 0.9 euros), while Día supermarkets were selling plastic bags for 1.5 pesos, as a product. This was strictly legal, a spokeswoman told Clarín, as the bags sold were thicker than the single-use bags the city had banned, and reusable.

Puerto Rico, Colombia enforce plastic restrictions

Puerto Rico banned the distribution of disposable plastic bags in practically all shops as of 30 December 2016, while Colombia also began enforcing restrictions on bag use it had announced earlier, as the countries moved to curb the pollution caused by its massive, wasteful consumption. In Puerto Rico, the Law to Promote Reusable Bags and Regulate the Use of Plastic Bags would give shops six months to properly adapt and use up their bag stocks, and there were no restrictions on shoppers using bags they had at home, EFE reported. In this period shops would be notified but not fined, for failing to comply. EFE cited the country's trash collection agency ADS as estimating that Puerto Rico had imported 1,700 million plastic bags between 2012 and 2015. Colombia also began enforcing on 30 December its decree on restricting the general distribution of bags, which included a ban on the thinnest bags. This would affect thin bags measuring less than 30 by 30 cm, El Espectador reported.

Cuba's Fidel Castro dies

Cuba's veteran revolutionary leader and former communist president, Fidel Castro Ruz, died in Havana late on 25 November, at the age of 90. His brother, President Raúl Castro, informed Cubans of the death speaking on state television, and the State Council declared nine days of mourning until 4 December, when Castro's remains would be buried in Santiago de Cuba. Cuba's socialist allies were among the first world leaders to praise one of the 20th century's iconic political figures, much like his former companion-in-arms Ernesto Che Guevara. Hundreds of Cuban exiles in Miami however, came onto the streets to celebrate the end of a man whose revolution forced many to leave their homes and flee, when possible, to the United States. President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela said Castro was heading for "immortality," and inevitably reminded Venezuelans of their own late leader, Hugo Chávez, for the "deep friendship" they had forged and for leading "two revolutions harassed by the empire," meaning the United States. Bolivia's Evo Morales told the Venezuelan broadcaster Telesur that the best homage was to keep the "unity between peoples" and "never forget" Castro's "anti-imperialist struggle." Mexico's President Enrique Peña Nieto called Castro a "friend of Mexico" and "promoter" of bilateral ties based on "respect and solidarity." As a young man, Castro took refuge in Mexico before returning to take power in 1959, and the two countries maintained good working ties whenever Peña Nieto's centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party governed Mexico. Profiles and obituaries of Castro appeared early in several news outlets on 26 November, including Spain's national broadcaster RTVE, Britain's The Guardian and Le Figaro.

Colombian president given Nobel peace prize

President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on 7 October, in spite of losing a national referendum on 2 October over his peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The prize, as a Nobel committee spokesman told Santos by phone, was for his "resolute efforts to bring the civil war in Colombia to a peaceful end," while a grateful Santos admitted to him the country was earlier "on the verge" of doing so. He later said in public that he "humbly" accepted the prize "in the name of all Colombians" and especially of "millions of victims" who had suffered through 50 years of civil conflict in Colombia. In the referendum his government had called to obtain public backing for the peace deal, over 60 per cent of eligible voters abstained and 50.2 per cent of those who did participate, voted against it. Media and observers analysed extensively why the public seemed dissatisfied, and reasons given included a vigorous No campaign led by the former president Álvaro Uribe Vélez, and insufficient consultations with political parties and civil associations. According to the broadcaster Caracol, Santos and the FARC would discuss "adjustments and specifications" to the deal in response to the No victory. Yet Mr Uribe congratulated Santos on his prize, and wrote on Twitter that he hoped this would prompt him to change any agreement "harmful to peace" in Colombia. Bogotá's former leftist mayor Gustavo Petro also congratulated Santos, pointing out on Twitter that he was, after the novelist Gabriel García Márquez, the second Colombian to become a Nobel laureate.

Pope denounces "sin" of worldwide pollution

Not for the first time since ascending the papal throne, Pope Francis denounced on 1 September the destruction of the natural world, calling it a sin against God and urging believers to reconsider their lives and "repent," for contributing to this destruction. He made his call in a message issued for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, presented at the Vatican by two cardinals. In it he stated people had "no right" to exploit the world with "selfishness and irresponsibility" and urged individuals to recognize their personal, daily contributions to climate change, Notimex agency reported. This, he stated, "is the first step on the path to conversion" or change. He urged Catholics to follow a tradition of collective, public repentance in the Church, peer into their consciences and repent for taking part, through the modern lifestyle, in "a system that has imposed the logic of profitting at all costs, regardless of social exclusion or the destruction of nature." The pontiff was to celebrate evening prayers for the occasion that day, to be held in Saint Peter's Square, La Nación reported.

Colombia lost over two million hectares of forests since 1960s

Millions of hectares of woodlands equivalent to the size of a province, were destroyed in Colombia between 1967 and 2012 thanks to farming, war, mining and a range of criminal activities. The Agustín Codazzi Geographical Institute (IGAC) and IDEAM, two public research bodies, found in the recently published Suelos y tierras de Colombia, a paper on the state of the Colombia's natural landscapes, that the country lost just over 2.4 million hectares (24,000 square kilometres) of forest cover in that period, about equivalent to the size of the central department of Cundinamarca that includes Bogotá, El Espectador reported on 30 August. The bodies found that in 1967 the country had 68, 223,717 hectares of forests - or 60 per cent of its entire area - and this dropped to 65,767,667 hectares in 2012, or 58 per cent of the country's surface. About 60 million hectares consisted of primary or secondary forests and the rest, woodlands interspersed with farmed land. The worst damage was done from the 1960s to the 1980s, the IGAC found. Caracol radio cited its head, Juan Antonio Nieto Escalante, as urging more efforts to protect the forest now, as the country's civil war winds down.

Salta in Argentina to ban plastic bags

The district of Salta in northern Argentina is phasing out the sale and use of plastic bags by the end of 2016 to curb pollution, the regional daily El Tribuno reported on 30 August. The daily stated that single-bag use had already fallen by 70 per cent since early 2016, when the municipality began discouraging their use in coordination with supermarkets. Their sale or distribution will be forbidden from 30 December, it stated, while shops and supermarkets were to starting selling and promoting the use of cloth or reusable bags from 1 September. Plastic, which takes hundreds of years or longer to disappear, has become one of the world's main pollutants, in spite of its utility.

Fighting with FARC formally "at an end" in Colombia

A bilateral and definitive ceasefire between the Colombian government and the FARC or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, began at midnight on 28-29 August, marking the beginning of the end of some 50 years of civil war pursuant to a recent peace agreement reached between both sides. The FARC's supreme leader, Timoleón Jiménez or Timochenko, ordered his troops to stop fighting speaking from a hotel in Havana on 28 August. President Juan Manuel Santos also expressed his delight, writing on Twitter that a "new history begins for Colombia on 29 August. We silenced the guns. The war with the FARC is over." A verification committee was now to check and ensure the ceasefire was being respected nationwide by both sides, Radio Santa Fe reported on 29 August. The state and the FARC were expected to sign a peace treaty between 20 and 26 September, Agence France-Presse cited the Interior Minister Juan Carlos Villegas as saying on 26 August. Colombia's smaller guerrilla force, the National Liberation Army (ELN) was separately "worried" by this peace and "differs" with the FARC over the contents of its accord, according to the newspaper El Espectador. Its commander, Nicolás Rodríguez Bautista, reportedly sent the FARC chief a two-page letter praising the FARC's move to become a peaceful political entity but also stating his concern that the government would now turn its forces on the ELN, which have fewer troops than the FARC. Rodríguez, aka Gabino, stated he did not discern any intention on the government's part to make peace with the ELN. Five suspected ELN fighters were separately arrested in the district of Bagre in Antioquia, Colprensa and dailies reported on 28 August. They were associated with acts of extorsion used to finance the guerrillas.

Colombia and communist rebels announce "final" deal to end 50 years of fighting

Colombian media and the public hailed the announcement on 24 August that the government and envoys of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) had ended their talks in Havana and agreed on an accord to end some 50 years of civil war in Colombia. Negotiators announced on 24 August that an agreement had been reached on six principal points after almost four years of talks, namely: on a comprehensive rural development policy, the peacetime political role of the FARC, the mechanics of ending fighting, curbing illegal drug production, compensation for victims and verification of peace and its approval with a referendum, Bogotá's Radio Santa Fe reported. Peace between the two sides was to be signed formally in early September, while President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón cited 2 October as the date of a national vote allowing Colombians to approve or reject it, Spain's RTVE reported. Colombians, he stated, would have the "last word" on the agreement. He thanked the countries that had accompanied the talks - Norway, Venezuela, Chile and the host Cuba - and the European Union for its support. Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro congratulated Colombians and reiterated his country's "full support for building peace." The head of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, also congratulated both sides for the "historic step." In Bogotá, people, from local residents to students and politicians, began celebrating the imminent accord late on 23 August. People gathered swiftly in the "hippies park" in the middle-class district of Chapinero, soon after networking websites reported the conclusion of talks that evening, El Espectador reported.

Uruguay to clamp down on free plastic bags

The government of Uruguay presented a bill to parliament in July to restrict the use of plastic bags and fight the massive land and sea pollution these cause. Bags are an oil-derived product that decompose over hundreds of years or longer, though beforehand they break into pieces or specks that are swallowed by wildlife, especially fish, when they do not choke animals in bigger pieces. Uruguayans reportedly use 345 plastic bags each a year, or a total of more than 1.17 billion bags a year nationwide, the daily El Observador cited a plastics industry representative at the Senate Environment Committee as saying. The government bill seeks to ban shops from handing out free bags from 2017, while restrictions and conditions would be imposed on bag imports, the daily reported on 29 July. Shops would also have to inform customers on the "responsible" use of bags and offer reusable bags for sale. The Finance Ministry was to regulate the pricing, mechanics and implementation of the law once approved, Spain's EFE agency reported on 28 July.

FARC, Colombia sign ceasefire deal hailed as step to final peace

Negotiators of the Colombian government and the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed an agreement on 23 June on a bilateral ceasefire and the FARC's programmed disarmament, in a deal hailed worldwide as a crucial step toward a definitive end to decades of civil war. The draft agreement was signed in Havana, where the two sides have been negotiating over peace since 2012, by President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón and the FARC's supreme leader, Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri (aka Timoleón Jiménez or Timochenko), as hundreds watched on a giant screen put up in central Bogotá, Agence France-Presse reported. It cited President Santos as suggesting that a final treaty could be signed by 20 July, after which the sides would begin implementing the deal. Its provisions included concentrating some 7,000 FARC guerrillas in 20-23 sub-districts for disarmament and demobilization, but also a commitment on the state's part to clamp down on criminal gangs the FARC insist are revived versions of right-wing paramilitary groups. Their targets are usually left-wing activists and politicians and human rights or environmental activists - and might plausibly include members of the FARC once they return to civilian life. Former president and current Senator Álvaro Uribe Vélez, who has opposed the peace talks, observed that the government was effectively allowing the "drug cartel" FARC to avoid punishment for its crimes and even turning them into semi-official (paraestatal) crime-fighters or vigilantes. Colombians were hoping the deal would bring peace and security, and boost the economy as promised, after more than 50 years of fighting that has fuelled land-grabbing, violence, gang crime and impunity, though many were for now cautious over its immediate benefits, Spain's El Mundo observed on 23 June.

New York shops to charge for plastic bags

New York joined the ranks of 150 U.S. cities by approving on 5 May an initiative against shops handing out free plastic bags, in a bid reduce massive plastic pollution on land and sea, the Associated Press reported. The city council voted in a resolution asking most shops to charge at least five cents per bag - and they can keep the money - to curb demand. Local authorities were cited as putting the number of plastic bags thrown out annually at 10 billion, or 19,000 a minute, though the report did not immediately specify if that was in New York or nationwide. The law is to enter into force on 1 October once promulgated by the mayor, Bill de Blasio. Mr de Blasio has reportedly pledged to eliminate the city's trash by 2030.

Colombians being urged to cut back on plastic bags

Colombian authorities were reported on 12 April as considering moves to discourage, though apparently not eliminate, the use of free plastic bags at stores and supermarkets. Plastic bags are one of a range of synthetic items piling up on land and sea and harming nature and animals by various means. The government was to ban smaller plastic bags that are easily ripped from 29 April, and define the quality and strength of the plastic bags shops should provide their customers. The new norms and a publicity campaign launched that day were intended to reduce the 288 bags every Colombian is thought to use annually, or more than 21,000 in a lifetime of 73 years, El Tiempo reported. The country's population was just over 50 million in 2015. Colombia's Environment Minister Gabriel Vallejo López said the norms would first apply to bigger stores, which should provide unspecified bagging alternatives. "It is not about eliminating use of bags, but making rational use of" them, he said. The move seemed timid compared to those of other countries that have banned bags, but was still reported on some websites to have caused cabinet divisions. Vallejo indicated on 12 April at the launch of the Reembólsale al planeta campaign ("Rebag the world"), that Colombia would not presently emulate moves seen in some European countries to charge for plastic bags.

Venezuelan Supreme Court, government chip away at opposition's legislative powers

The Venezuelan opposition in control of parliament has had to dismiss three of its legislators under government and Supreme Court pressures, losing thus the two-thirds majority that would have given it maximum legislative powers, media reported on 13 January. The Supreme Court suspended the three legislators in early January for alleged voting irregularities in the 6 December parliamentary elections, though the opposition accuses it of simply doing the socialist government's political bidding. Initially ignoring the Court's instructions and swearing them into office, parliament reconsidered its position when threatened with the prospect of the Supreme Court nullifying all its acts and effectively stripping it of all power. Some pro-government MPs suggested the Court should become a provisional legislature if parliament insisted on maintaining the three disputed seats. The majority coalition was now left with 109 of 167 legislative seats and retained ample legislative powers. Speaker of parliament Henry Ramos Allup described parliament's decision as a "tactical" retreat, but accused the government and its allies of "disobeying the popular will" with the ploy, responding to the charges that parliament was disobeying the laws by keeping the three members. They cannot "come up with votes" Ramos wrote on the website Twitter, so they "come up with rulings." The fate of the three seats was unclear but the liberal majority could not for now pass fundamental state laws, change the constitution or sack senior officials like Supreme Court magistrates.

Venezuelan cabinet reshuffled, parliament orders Chávez portraits removed

The broadcaster Globovisión listed on 7 January the names of the new Venezuelan cabinet formally sworne in the day before before President Nicolás Maduro. The reshuffle was in response to the socialist government's defeat in the 6 December parliamentary elections, but also a bid to address the country's economic problems. A former Caracas mayor and state governor Aristóbulo Isturiz was named Executive Vice-President. One newly-elected opposition parliamentarian criticized the addition of four ministries to the government "bandwagon," at a time of dire economic conditions for ordinary Venezuelans and reduced government revenues. The newly elected, opposition-dominated parliament in turn began its legislative term to 2021 on 5 January. The assembly formalized its roster of members with 112 opposition members and 54 pro-government parliamentarians, in spite of court action by the government to have disqualified three opposition MPs, allegedly for their fraudulent election. Removing the three would reduce the size of the opposition's majority and could curb its legislative powers. The new Speaker of parliament, Henry Ramos Allup, insisted on Twitter that the opposition was standing firm against this challenge whose outcome was not yet clear. His predecessor, the socialist legislator Diosdado Cabello, effecively accused the new majority of breaking the laws and "doing what they want," by holding onto the three seats. The country's Supreme Court - which the opposition denounces as obedient to the president - had ordered the seats provisionally suspended on 30 December. Parliament caused a stir with one of its first acts on 6 January, the removal of portraits of the late socialist leader Hugo Chávez Frías, and a computerized portrait of the 19th century revolutionary Simón Bolívar from the building. The latter was a "reconstruction" of Bolívar's face, which Chávez had made and printed out in 2012.

Christmas brings trash to Mexico City

Mexico City authorities estimated the city would generate about 4,200 tons of trash on Christmas Eve in addition to roughly 12,800 tons the megalopolis produces daily, Excelsior reported on 25 December. Mexico City has in past years had problems disposing of its daily household waste, which includes significant amounts of plastic, very little of which is separated at source. An environmental officer from the city's Venustiano Carranza sector, Elena Cortés, observed that much of this extra waste would consist of electronic components and batteries, which she stated had to be disposed of correctly and taken to recycling centers. According to one study cited in Excelsior, every resident of Mexico City used on average 12.6 batteries a year. The city and its environs are estimated to have about 20 million inhabitants. Ahead of Christmas, the city government and its Environment office launched a campaign urging people to reduce their trash, especially by avoiding excess packaging and ribbons for presents, the Diario de México reported on 20 December, citing Notimex. The campaign pointed out that people generated 30 per cent more trash over Christmas and 35 per cent of that consisted of packaging. In normal conditions, Mexico City reportedly produces 12,816,000 tons of trash daily, according to the 2013 Solid Waste Inventory. The city's website examines in parts the reasons for "so much waste" being produced in the Mexican capital.

Venezuela's new parliamentarians set on passing an amnesty law

Venezuelan politicians opposed to the government of President Nicolás Maduro were insisting he could not block an amnesty law the opposition intends to approve in the next parliament, as he threatened to on 8 December. The president's comments were an early indication he was disinclined to cooperate with the opposition-dominated parliament, due to start working on 5 January. But Delsa Solórzano, a member-elect from Un Nuevo Tiempo, one of the parties in the opposition coalition, said the law would be approved soon after parliament starts working, the online daily TalCual reported on 10 December. She said the constitution allowed parliament - where the opposition will have a two-thirds majority - to promulgate laws rejected by the president. The amnesty, she said, would affect 80 detainees and was part of her coalition's bid to bring "reconciliation" to Venezuela; she insisted there would be careful vetting to ensure felons were not freed. The daily cited a leading government opponent, the governor of the state of Miranda Henrique Capriles as saying that the president "could not" block the law. President Maduro maintained in turn his defiant discourse. He declared on 9 December that there would be no "surrender" to the Right, and the "revolution is not over... they are threatening to deprive the people of its benefits. We are going to end this... economic war," state television reported. He also said prosecutors must investigate allegations of vote buying by the opposition, "because there is proof for it." The evidence cited was a tape recording of an opposition politician discussing money for votes with an unnamed individual, dubbed pollo (chicken). Maduro earlier accused the opposition of using "economic warfare" to win the elections, "like the bad guys."

Opposition wins decisive majority in Venezuelan parliament

Venezuela's opposition coalition Table of Democratic Unity (MUD) attributed to itself 112 of the 167 seats in parliament following its victory in the legislative elections of 6 December, though the figure had yet to be definitively confirmed. It indicated in any case an opposition victory far greater than many had dared hope for, or feared, and would in theory give MUD enough seats to vote in laws to change the Venezuelan polity. After initially accepting the opposition's victory, President Nicolás Maduro announced he would reject any law to free jailed dissidents, an initiative likely to be one of the new parliament's legislative priorities. The newspaper El Universal cited MUD's executive secretary, Jesús Torrealba as saying on 7 or 8 December that the electoral authority was confusing people by giving MUD only 107 seats, when three "indigenous" seats and two other, indeterminate seats were clearly with MUD. The opposition separately stated that its intention to pass a law to free political detainees was not just for politicians like Leopoldo López, but also indigenous and trade union personalities believed jailed for criticizing the socialist government. President Maduro said on 8 December he would oppose any such a law, saying those allegedly behind the February 2014 demonstrations had to do jail time for the harm done. "Let me say as head of state... I won't accept any Amnesty Law, because they violated human rights... they can send me a thousand laws, but those who kill the people must be judged and must pay," he said on the state-run Venezolana de Televisión.

FARC provoke massive oil spill in south-western Colombia

Colombians were outraged in late June by the consequences of a 22 June guerrilla attack on a pipeline, which caused thousands of barrels of oil to pour into the river Mira in the district of Tumaco. The hashtag Environmental Holocaust was created on Twitter to show pictures of oil streaming down the river toward the Pacific coast, after two suspected fighters of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) bombed part of the Transandino pipeline. The explosion was estimated to have spilled the equivalent of some 10,000 barrels of crude into the area, as the review Semana observed on 27 June that the harm done was "irreparable" in spite of efforts by locals and the firm Ecopetrol to clean up and repair the pipeline. The spill was bad enough to prompt Colombian environmentalists, whom Semana described as usually reluctant to condemn FARC actions for their own left-wing sympathies, to publicly urge the sides in the civil conflict to leave the environment alone. President Juan Manuel Santos separately told El Tiempo newspaper that the FARC had provoked "possibly the worst" environmental disaster in Colombia's history. He visited the area on 26 June with ministers including the environment minister who reportedly wept on seeing the landscape. Separately, the army arrested eight suspected FARC fighters in the districts of Ipiales and Roberto Payán in the Nariño department, Semana reported on 28 June, citing Agence France-Presse. The report did not mention the detained as suspects in the pipeline attack.

Bogotá police to confiscate sharp items on streets, to curb attacks

Authorities in Bogota will confiscate knives and sharp items found in public, and admonish and possibly fine people found with potentially harmful items, in response to a reported rise in armed attacks in Bogotá. The city issued a decree on 11 June instructing police to detain anyone found with such items for six hours and explain to them how these could be dangerous even if carried in self-defence, El Tiempo reported on 12 June. Detained persons would have to sign a pledge of good conduct up to two times, then face a fine if found a third time with such items, Radio Santa Fe reported. The Metropolitan Police chief Humberto Guatibonza was cited as saying that police were seeing more attacks with blunt instruments in the capital, attributed to the unrestricted sale of potentially dangerous artefacts and a clampdown on carrying firearms since 2012. That had effectively forced criminals to use blunt weapons in violent thefts, he said. Police declared they had confisctated 180,000 blunt weapons of various types so far this year, and would proceed to look for such items in parks and public transportation, El Tiempo reported. The city government separately reported on 12 June that it was carrying out security checks on the city's Transmilenio bus network, and had so far detained 10 people for thefts and 18 for jumping onto buses without paying.

Drought forces Puerto Rico to cut off water in capital most days

Puerto Rico imposed strict water rationing in the capital San Juan from 10 June, following months of drought that had already provoked intermittent cuts in the water supply. Several papers were urging people to stop wasting water. The "greater part of the" capital now had water every three days, or household water was to be cut off for 48 hours every three days, for "up to several months," Spain's EFE news agency cited the head of the water authority Alberto Lázaro as saying. He warned that current shortages could be as bad as 1994, when they lasted for five months. Restrictions were to affect 200,000 users or households whose water came from the Carraízo dam outside the capital, while similar restrictions were to be imposed on "several districts" in the northern part of the island, which has a total population of 3.6 million, Colombia's El Espectador and EFE reported. The drought was said to be possibly due to the El Niño effect, a regional weather condition, and shortages were attributed to failure to properly dredge and maintain dams, which had reduced their storage capacity, EFE observed. The website Primera Hora cited a deputy-head of the water authority as saying on 11 June that some dredging of Carraízo was envisaged by the end of June. He said he hoped the 48-hour restrictions would balance water leaving and entering the dam, which he said was about 40 million gallons a day presently. He contrasted this with amounts entering dams in the western part of Puerto Rico, which were now in excess of 200 million gallons a day, mainly because "it keeps raining" in that part of the island. The daily El Vocero de Puerto Rico carried on 12 June tips on using water responsibly, advising people in the capital not to throw polluting chemical substances into the sink or toilet, not use water to defrost foods and to turn off the tap when brushing teeth. Just rinsing in a shower, it observed, could typically use between two and five gallons (7.5-18 litres) of water.

Venezuelan regime arrests Caracas mayor, for "subversion"

Venezuelan security forces arrested on 19 February one of the country's leading opponents, the mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma, whom President Nicolás Maduro accused immediately of involvement in subversive plots. A "massive" group of policemen and security agents were reported to have broken into Ledezma's office and "hit" him before leading him away without letting him speak, Radio France Internationale cited his wife as saying. President Maduro had in recent days cited arrests in the armed forces for unspecified plotting, and reportedly accused Ledezma of connivence, in the latest of a string of such charges since he became president in 2013. On 19 February he said Mr Ledezma was using his position as mayor to "seek violence, coup plotting and destabilization." He said many opposition politicians did the same - "a mayor here, a governor there or a member of parliament" - to plot against the state and sabotage the economy, and warned subversives would go to court, the official AVN agency reported. The arrest came close to the anniversary of the arrest of another opponent closely connected to Ledezma, Leopoldo López. Two former regional presidents, Sebastián Piñera of Chile and Andrés Pastrana of Colombia, who have sought to have Mr López freed, denounced the latest arrest. Piñera called it "brutal, illegal and abusive," Venezuela's El Nacional reported, citing his Twitter account. A spokesman for the US State Department also rejected Maduro's charges that the United States was sabotating Venezuela's economy; Venezuela's economic problemss were the fruit of its government's policies, CNN quoted spokeswoman Jen Psaki as saying.

Bike rentals expand in Mexico City, now fourth network worldwide

The mayor of Mexico City praised the city's bicycle rental system on its fifth anniversary on 16 February, and boasted that the network was now the fourth biggest in the world, after Hangzhou, London and Paris. The city has taken a range of measures in past years to cut traffic and pollution, including boosting public transport and promoting residential property in the city center, which would reduce commuting. Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera was speaking at the ECOBICI rental system's expansion into a third, southern sector of the city, Benito Juárez. He said the city now had 444 bike stations and 6,500 bicycles operating in 42 neighbourhoods or colonias. "We are going to keep reinforcing and pushing for bicycle use in Mexico City," Milenio cited him as saying. The ECOBICI rental system estimated that use of its bicycles in 2010, 2011 and 2012 had in total saved 232 tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to planting 697 trees. Yet cycling remains hazardous in this car-dominated megalopolis, and biking associations earlier asked the city's Environment Secretary Tanya Müller to act to ensure safer cycling, including by forcing the city's sometimes ramshackle, and often intimidating, minibuses to drive sensibly. The newspaper Excelsior separately reported the first act of vandalism against a bicycle station inaugurated in Benito Juárez, suspected to have been the work of local residents who had lost their habitual "parking space" to bicycles.

AIDS infections rise in Bogotá, 18 infected daily in Colombia

Between 50 and 70,000 Colombians were thought to be unwitting carriers of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, while authorities estimated the daily rate of infection nationwide to be 18, media reported on 1 December, World Aids Day. While Colombian authorities gave 67,000 as the number of infected individuals yet to be tested, the head of the UNAIDS in Colombia told Caracol radio that some 50,000 people were likely HIV-positive who "do not know or do not want to know" their status. Of the 18 thought infected every day, five were in Bogotá, which showed a 14 per cent increase in infections from the previous year, the broadcaster RCN La Radio reported, citing the city's chief health officer Mauricio Bustamante. Mr Bustamante said some 1,411 people were registered as infected in Bogota in 2014 - 85 per cent of them being men - though he said the figure was likely twice that. The Colombian Health Ministry stated on that day that since the first diagnosis in 1985 to 1 December 2013, there were 92,379 registered cases of AIDS, 71 per cent of these among men. The greatest number of infections occurred in the 25-29 age group, followed by the 20-24, then 30-34 years age groups, El Espectador cited the Health Ministry as stating.

Bicycle use increases in Bogotá

A small, but increasing proportion of residents of Bogotá are reportedly using bicycles to move around the Colombian capital - a city particularly affected by car fumes - braving a range of dangers including getting run over. The proportion of residents who "use a bicycle" has reportedly increased from one per cent of the population in the 1990s to currently 19 per cent, while Bogota's Radio Santa Fe has cited a 177 per cent rise in daily bike trips from 281,000 in 2005 to 500,000 today; yet cycling remains occasional and far from generalised. A survey from 2011 showed that only four per cent of daily trips were made on bicycles.  The city government has promoted cycling through schemes like Bicicorredores, a lending system similar to those of many cities like Paris or Mexico City, and the more established Ciclovía. But persistent problems were said to include insufficient facilities to allow all those interested to use city bicycles, bike thefts and related violence, and danger from cars, El Tiempo reported on 16 November. The daily reported that the municipality intended to spend the equivalent of just over USD 16 million to expand the network of bike paths, which currently stretch 195 km. The city's transport secretary, María Constanza García was cited as saying that changing attitudes on transportation was essential, and "drivers should put themselves in bike users' shoes and respect the space provided for them." Bogota she said, was a "laboratory for creating awareness in other cities."

Mexico City recycles asphalt to cut pollution, costs

They used to throw it out, but now the Mexico City government is recycling the asphalt and pavement material it removes from roads, to produce a cheaper, less polluting and more abundant "asphalt mix" to repave and repair city roads. The head of the recycling plant making the material in the district of Coyoacán, Mariano Plascencia, said the mix produced 90 per cent less dust and pollutants, without elaborating, Milenio newspaper reported on 22 July. It consisted of a mix of crushed stones, cement and "additives," merged in temperatures of 120-151 degrees celsius. The plant had most recently produced 57,900 tonnes of the asphalt mix, which the city government distributed between the capital's delegaciones, the larger city sectors or districts, to meet their stated needs. The use of the new asphalt was made obligatory in 2010. The new material was described as requiring little maintenance, which produced a further "40 per cent savings," the daily cited city authorities as saying.