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.

Colombians reelect their President

Juan Manuel Santos Calderón was reelected on 15 June as President of Colombia with just under 51 per cent of all votes cast, and vowed to pursue peace talks with the country's two communist guerrilla forces to end decades of civil war. With just over 99.2 per cent of votes counted late that day, the state registry counted 7,776,200 votes for Mr Santos and 6,881,490 for his conservative rival, Óscar Iván Zuluaga, El Colombiano reported. The daily observed that the President won a clear victory in the capital Bogotá and in northern regions on the Caribbean coast. The broadcaster Caracol provided a colour-coded map of the country, indicating the two candidates' respective votes in different departments. While the defeated candidate congratulated the President, his ally and mentor, the former president and Senator-elect Álvaro Uribe, alleged there had been fraud. He said in Medellín that the victory was the result of the "biggest fraud in history" including monies being given out to local officials, mayors and parliamentarians as incentives or to hand out to voters. In unspecified cases Mr Uribe said, communist guerrillas had threatened to kill those voting for Zuluaga, the broadcaster Caracol reported. Like similar electoral fraud claims on the American continent, his claims would be difficult to prove. Foreign dignitaries and heads of state swiftly congratulated the President in any case and wished him well in his efforts to end conflict in Colombia. Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, whose government is aiding the Colombian peace talks, said the choice on 15 June had been between "peace and no peace" and Colombians had "clearly taken the path of peace," Caracol reported.

Colombia's premier novelist dies in Mexico City

The Colombian novelist and Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez died in Mexico City on 17 April, at the age of 87. His relatives had in preceding days been preparing the press and the public for his possible and imminent death, due in part to a recurring cancer. García Márquez had been living in Mexico since the 1960s, and the country would pay him a public homage on 21 April in the capital's Palace of Fine Arts (Bellas Artes), the daily Excelsior reported. Latin American heads of state, writers and personalities expressed their sadness at the writer's death. The author's famous novels included One Hundred Years of Solitude, Love in the Time of Cholera and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

Argentines "use eight billion" plastic bags a year

Argentines use "at least" eight billion plastic bags a year, around 200 per person, roughly half of that to hold household rubbish, the northern daily La Voz del Interior reported on 9 April, citing a study by the National Institute of Industrial Technology, INTI. The daily reported that residents of Córdoba, where La Voz is published, used 266 million plastic bags a year of which 40 million - or 300 tonnes of plastic - were thought to end up as floating trash for "being badly disposed of." La Voz depicted the relative impact of pollution from a year's consumption of bags in Córdoba as equivalent to three days of driving by all its cars, although its opinion was that the environmental impact of plastic pollution in Córdoba was "limited" compared to car pollution or the unspecified amount of food wasted there. Córdoba and its suburbs have a population of a little over 1.3 million. The municipal council of Rosario in the province of Santa Fe was separately to discuss whether to ban or charge for plastic bags. The Socialist council president Miguel Zamarini was urging a ban following the example of other cities, the website Infonews reported on 6 April. Zamarini cited Córdoba as one city where supermarkets were no longer handing out plastic bags. "We welcome the debate, but we do not believe in partial solutions and palliative measures. Pollution of supermarket plastic bags is proven and we do not want a less harmful bag, but to eliminate pollution outright," La Capital cited him as saying.

Puerto Rico town bans plastic bags

The resort of Rincón in Puerto Rico was reported on 7 April to be the island's first district to ban the distribution of plastic bags by shops, responding to the visible pollution of local waters, the Associated Press reported. The municipal website put Rincón's population at just over 14,700, with a much larger "floating" population of tourists. The ban was to enter into force in February 2015, after which shops would have to sell recycled paper bags and face fines of between USD 100 and 500 for giving out plastic bags. The mayor of Rincón, Carlos López Bonilla, was cited as urging other districts to follow suit, though the island has yet to approve a territorial ban or restrictions on plastic bags, AP reported. Mr López said the move was part of the "hard work" being done to preserve the district's "14 miles of" beaches and the local Tres Palmas reserve. "Plastic bags last hundreds of years...and represent a potential source of dangerous chemicals when they deteriorate. They...do not degrade but break into little pieces that penetrate our soil or are washed into our rivers, lakes and oceans," El Nuevo Día cited Mr López as saying.

Bogotá to start charging cars in busy hours, streets

Bogotá's city government hopes to reduce traffic congestion and considerable air pollution with plans to charge motorists driving in some of its more congested streets, following the payment model begun in cities like London, El Espectador reported on 1 April. The Colombian Transport Ministry determined in December 2013 that this could be done in cities with more than 300,000 residents, after city authorities had presented pertinent studies. The mechanics of charging in Bogotá were not yet clear, but monies collected were to finance public and non-motorised mobility. Bogotá's acting mayor Rafael Pardo recently instructed the city's transport secretary to hasten relevant studies, which were to be presented to the city council on 2 April. He was cited as saying that cars with a single occupant would pay to drive on "high-congestion days, hours, zones and streets," and this was to begin on two of the capital's traffic arteries, 72nd and 116th streets. The daily observed the measure was initially intended to complement the pico y placa program, that restricts cars on the basis of number plates, but would at some point replace it.

Three Venezuelan generals held over "coup" plans, opposition mayor jailed

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro said in Caracas on 25 March that three air force generals were arrested the night before, suspected of plotting an "uprising" against the Government. He revealed this at a meeting with foreign ministers of the regional association UNASUR, adding that the officers were "linked to the opposition," Europa Press reported. Colleagues reportedly denounced them, though Mr Maduro said they were being observed for an unspecified period. Separately, Venezuela's Supreme Court sentenced the detained mayor of San Cristóbal in the state of Táchira, Daniel Ceballos, to a year and 15 days in jail and ordered him dismissed for failing to remove protesters' barricades from the streets of San Cristóbal. The mayor is a member of the opposition and San Cristóbal was one of the first centres of anti-Government protests in early February. The court convicted Ceballos after hearing the testimonies of eight witnesses, in a verdict his wife later said was "expected," the newspaper 2001 reported. While Mrs Ceballos said the magistrates were "waiting for a phone call," presumably instructing them to issue a verdict, President Maduro qualified the sentence as "justice." He told a radio program on 25 March that "you fight fascism with justice," referring to his conservative and liberal opponents, the broadcaster NTN24 reported. The socialist majority in Venezuela's parliament also voted on 25 March to confirm the expulsion of the conservative member María Corina Machado, a day after its praesidium accused her of breaking the law over a recent trip to Panama. A representative of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Andrés Eloy Méndez, was cited as warning that she could be prosecuted for treason, now that she lacked parliamentary immunity. He said associating with hostile powers could lead to a 30-year prison term, Europa Press and El Universal reported. Opposition MPs challenged Ms Machado's "overthrow," filing an appeal with the Supreme Court, EFE reported.

Michelle Bachelet becomes Chile's President again

The socialist Michelle Bachelet Jeria formally became Chile's President on 11 March, after winning her second term in the second round of presidential elections held in Chile in December 2013. She was as media observed the first woman to be elected Chilean President twice. Spain's El Mundo observed that her second mandate was expected to usher in changes and policies to reduce the social inequalities that have accompanied Chile's economic growth in recent years. She was immediately introducing an emergency program of 50-56 measures to be implemented within the first 100 days of her administration and intended to provide financial help to some Chilean households, Europa Press reported. Government spokesman Álvaro Elizalde Soto said on 12 March that these first measures were a "clear signal" of its intention to fulfill election promises and the President's promise after her inauguration that she would work to improve the lives of Chileans, El Mercurio reported on its website. The President had already signed a "March bonus" bill to be presented to parliament, intended to help lower-income families, and the Government would also restore a "winter bonus" to some families, Mr Elizalde said. Ms Bachelet was President in 2006-10 and beat the conservative Evelyn Matthei Fornet in December to win her second presidential term. She revealed her cabinet members in January 2014.

Homicides said at "alarming" levels in Venezuela

Venezuela's El Universal newspaper gave on 7 March the figure of 2,841 homicides across Venezuela for the first two months of 2014, citing unofficial and unspecified sources of the state criminal investigation agency CICPC. The daily observed this was 265 criminal killings more than the 2,576 reported for the same months in 2013. Venezuela and its capital have some of the world's highest crime rates, though the Government has increasingly restricted the revelation of crime statistics. The newspaper 2001 reported on 8 March that "at least" 92 bodies had been taken to the main Caracas morgue, Bello Monte, in the first seven days of March. The figure is taken as an indicator of the number of criminal or violent deaths occurring in the Caracas Metropolitan District.

Venezuelan opponent held as "peaceful" crowds gather in Caracas

Venezuelan authorities arrested a prominent opponent in Caracas on 18 February over his alleged involvement in violent incidents during recent anti-Government protests, and after he surrendered to troops in one of the capital's public squares, media reported. Leopoldo López, head of the opposition Voluntad Popular party, has rejected all wrongdoing and denounced the country's "unjust" judiciary before a crowd of sympathisers. Pictures by those present indicated that a very large crowd came out to witness the arrest and express support. He was taken away in an armoured van, apparently to a prison outside the capital, Globovisión and the daily El Universal reported. Politicians in the crowd included the former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles and the legislator Maria Corina Machado. Mr Capriles said then that the opposition's demands for change were fair and should be expressed through peaceful protests; "let's not allow the Government or infiltrators to...tarnish a just demand," the broadcaster Globovisión showed him saying. El Universal separately reported a postponement of a parliamentary session that day, which was scheduled to debate removing Ms Machado's parliamentary immunity. The daily reported another march that day by Government supporters who headed toward the Miraflores presidential palace, where they were to hear a speech by President Nicolás Maduro.

Bogotá attains "lowest murder rate in 30 years"

Colombia's capital Bogotá was said to have "stabilised" its lowered murder rate in 2013, after a significant fall over 2012-13 attributed to factors including effective policing and restrictions on carrying arms and drinking. Coroners were cited as counting 1,279 murders in Bogotá in 2013, four less than in 2012, which translated into a rate of 16.7 murders per 100,000 inhabitants, El Tiempo reported on 27 January. The rate was far below those of the continent's most dangerous cities for 2013. The last of a recently published list of the 50 most murderous cities in the world in 2013 was Valencia in Venezuela, with a killing rate of 30 per 100,000 inhabitants. El Tiempo cited a security specialist Jairo Libreros as saying that it was difficult for Bogotá's murder rate to fall much more immediately, given the significant fall from a rate of 22.1 to 16.9/100,000 over 2012-13. Authorities reportedly attributed 39 per cent of killing deaths in 2013 to "vengence" and 35 per cent to brawls, while firearms were responsible for 61.5 per cent of killings.

Over 200 killed in Caracas in fortnight

The principal morgue in Caracas was reported to have received 210 bodies in 2014 up to midday on 16 January, or roughly 12 a day and including seven policemen, Venezuela's El Universal reported, confirming the city's reputation as one of the world's deadliest. Caracas was recently cited as the world's second most dangerous city in 2013, with a murder rate of over 134 killings per 100,000 inhabitants. Insecurity has become a chief point of dispute between the socialist government of Nicolás Maduro and liberal opposition forces, and reportedly one of the reasons why many Venezuelans were emigrating. President Maduro urged political actors on 17 January to exclude security from politics, saying it was "criminal" to make "economic and political capital" out of people's grief, El Universal reported. He urged state governors and mayors to join the Government's efforts to curb crime but also to help change a pervasive media culture, which he said "adulated" drugs and violence. The opposition he alleged, had engaged in a policy of "throwing stones" at his government, but he also denounced the "death statistics" or polls that publicised crime rates in the country. The Mexican NGO Citizens Council for Public Security and Penal Justice recently reported 4,364 criminal killings in 2013 in Caracas, which has just under 3.248 million residents.

Gang says helped reduce Medellín crime, murders increased in Cali in 2013

The Colombian city of Cali, one of the country's most violent, countered the downward trend in violent crime authorities reported for 2013, while gangs claimed in the city of Medellín that they rather than police had curbed violence there in 2013. In Medellín officials counted 920 murders for 2013, 331 less than in 2012, which reduced the murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants from 52 in 2012 to 38 in 2013, El Tiempo recently reported. The city witnessed 37 days with no murders that year, compared to 13 in 2012, El Colombiano reported on 9 January, citing a deputy-mayor Luis Fernández Vélez Suárez. The daily cited the head of a local NGO, Corporación para el Desarrollo y la Paz, as saying that one of Colombia's main criminal gangs, Los Urabeños, distributed pamphlets in parts of the city last November stating that "in spite of what officials say," the reduction was for the "efforts" made by several gangs to give residents some "peace and quiet." This was apparently a reference to a ceasefire in place since July 2013 between the Urabeños and the rival Oficina de Envigado, activists were cited as saying. Deputy-mayor Fernández said violent crime has steadily declined in Medellín since 1991, and fell sharply in 2012, regardless of any pact. Reported murders increased however in the south-western city of Cali, and officials have asked the local military to extend provisional restrictions on carrying arms, due to end on 31 January 2014. City Ombudsman Andrés Santamaria said the arms ban that began on 13 December was clearly effective as December murders had dropped from 236 in 2012 to 136, the Cali newspaper El País reported on 9 January. It observed that the local garrison, which emits arms permits, was reluctant to extend the ban, going against the trend in Bogotá and Medellín. There were 1962 reported killings in Cali in 2013 - 89 per cent being shooting deaths - 123 more than in 2012, El País reported.

President says crime dropped in Colombia over 2012-13

Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos expressed satisfaction at the apparent reduction of violent crimes in Colombia over 2013, writing on his Twitter account on 5 January. Mr Santos said that homicides dropped eight percent, from 16,033 cases in 2012 to 14,782 in 2013, while reported kidnapping cases dropped four per cent in that time. His comments, reported on the Presidential website, were likely based on figures given by the Defence and Interior ministries and the armed forces. He observed that no kidnapping was reported in 2013 in 981 municipalities of Colombia or 89 per cent of its territory. Other positive figures given included the capture of 1,087 fighters of the two guerrilla armies, the FARC and the ELN, and the dismantling of 106 extortion gangs. The Defence Ministry reported on Twitter on 5 January that it caught 2,757 suspected criminals in 2013. Colombia's last, conservative president Álvaro Uribe Vélez questioned the claims - repeatedly urging Mr Santos not to "confuse" Colombians on his Twitter account - asserting that kidnappings increased 13 per cent over 2010-13, during the Santos presidency, Caracol television reported. He wrote that thefts against shops and businesses increased 47 per cent in that period, while there was a 223 per cent increase in attacks on oil and gas pipelines. Mr Uribe's statistical sources were not immediately clear on Twitter. Separately, troops shot on 2 January three suspected guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in fighting in the southern department of Caquetá, and later destroyed a makeshift drug laboratory, El Espectador reported, citing Agence France-Presse. Locals were said to have tipped off the authorities of the presence of guerrillas, provisionally identified as from the FARC's Front 14, though reports did not specify where the fighting took place.

Troops shoot Colombian guerrilla sought for 60 killings

Colombian troops shot dead a captain of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) thought responsible for certain recent FARC attacks that have killed more than 30 soldiers in the north-eastern department of Arauca, Caracol radio reported on 10 December. The guerrilla dubbed Jainover, identified as a commander in the FARC's 10th Front, was killed in an undated gun fight at an unspecified place near the Venezuelan frontier, possibly in the Arauca department where he was active. The army was cited as saying that after a shootout troops caught up with a car that sought to take Jainover's body into Venezuela; four presumed FARC fighters were arrested in the operation. The Army also attributed to Jainover attacks in 2005 that killed 30 soldiers in the central department of Meta. He was said to have filmed the attacks he orchestrated.

Colombian judiciary sacks Bogotá's mayor

The Inspector-General of Colombia Alejandro Ordoñez, the official empowered to discipline state officials, ordered dismissed on 9 December the mayor of Bogotá Gustavo Petro Urrego, for incompetence and the "chaos" he said the mayor provoked in December 2012 as he changed the city's trash collection system, Europa Press and Colombian media reported. Mr Petro was barred from holding office for 15 years, Caracol radio and Colprensa agency reported. The irregularities cited included the mayor's transfer of collection to the municipal firm Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá, which the Office of the Inspector-General (Procuraduría General de Colombia) stated lacked then sufficient experience and equipment for the job; the work was previously done by private firms. Radio Santa Fe observed this was the second time in recent years that the capital was left without a mayor; the state prosecution service dissmissed Samuel Moreno Rojas in May 2011 for irregularities in handing out public contracts. The Inspector-General told a press conference on 9 December that Mr Petro broke the law when he entrusted the municipal firm with duties he "knew" it could not implement, but also for restricting competition from private firms. That he said led to failure to collect 6-9,000 tonnes of trash from the capital's streets followed by "chaos" as the Municipality took makeshift measures to remedy the situation on 18-20 December, when the scheme began. The dismissal prompted the Minister of Justice Alfonso Gómez Méndez to say that the constitutional article allowing an unelected official to dismiss an elected one should be revised, Caracol radio reported.

Parliament gives Venezuelan President extraordinary powers "to fight corruption"

Venezuela's legislature voted in on 19 November an Enabling Law giving the socialist President Nicolás Maduro powers to "dictate decrees with the rank, value and force of law," to fight corruption and defend the economy, El Universal reported on 20 November. The law was to last 12 months from 20 November, and allowed Mr Maduro to impose by decree punitive measures against the "inadecuate use" of public resources, act to prevent capital flight and defend the national currency against "attacks." It effectively gave him greater powers over the economy. Opponents likely saw this as another step toward a communist dictatorship. The opposition MP Maria Corina Machado called it a "shameful day" for Venezuela and the opposition coalition Table of Democratic Unity dubbed the law "fraudulent," Spain's El Mundo reported on 20 November. The leading opponent Henrique Capriles, the Governor of the northern state of Miranda, had urged Venezuelans to ignore its future provisions in October, Europa Press reported on 20 November. According to the agency, the President proposed the law on 8 October but this could not be approved as the Government lacked by one vote the majority needed to pass the law. The problem was resolved when a week before the vote, Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice prevented one opposition parliamentarian from voting after she was accused of corruption. After approval, Mr Maduro announced he would lead from January a "hair-raising offensive" against corruption and hoarding in Venezuela, which has witnessed shortages in a range of consumer goods in recent months. Authorities have blamed shortages on unspecified sabotage or attacks on the socialist economy; Europa Press cited the President as accusing opposition forces of planning a power blackout on 8 December, when municipal elections were to be held.

Mexico counts over 100,000 killings in six-year drug war

A Mexican interior ministry agency reported that over 104,000 people were killed in criminal violence between 2006 and 2012 when Mexico's last president, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, waged a relentless and controversial war on drug cartels and organised crime, papers reported on 25 October. The present government, led by Enrique Peña Nieto, seemed to face similar levels of violence in spite of boasting better intelligence and a more coordinated approach to fighting organised crime. The figure given by the SNSP (Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública) for reported or registered homicides during the Calderón presidency was 104,096 victims. Mexican authorities have repeated that most of these were were criminals and cartel operatives killed by each other or in shootouts with state forces. The report identified 2011 as the most mortiferous year with 22,856 homicides followed by 2010, with 20,681 homicides, the daily Milenio reported on 25 October. The newspaper cited figures showing a steady rise in homicides from 2007 to 2012. The SNSP counted 15,552 homicides in the first ten months of the Peña presidency, which began on 1 December 2012, Milenio reported on 25 October.

"Clown" shoots Mexican mobster at birthday party, nine killed around country

A gunman reportedly dressed as a clown shot on 18 October a member of Mexico's Tijuana cartel, one of the country's powerful gangs of the 1990s, at a family or children's party in the resort zone of Los Cabos in Baja California. The victim was identified as 63-year-old Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix who headed the Tijuana cartel with two brothers and was briefly imprisoned in the United States in 2007-8. Reports did not immediately clarify if the cartel remained active. The newspaper Reforma cited witnesses as saying that a "clown" walked up to him and shot him in the chest and head; police and troops apparently failed to find the gunman in spite of a subsequent search, Proceso reported on 19 October. In other incidents, two children aged 12 and 13 and a 19-year-old girl identified as their cousin were shot dead in Mexico City late on 18 October, Tabasco Hoy reported. They were shot with assault rifles used by the Army, and Proceso cited investigations as provisionally attributing the incident to a settling of criminal accounts. The review reported on 19 October the discovery of the bodies of four men shot days earlier, in a ditch south of the district of Culiacán in the north-western state of Sinaloa, while shooting incidents in the western port of Acapulco injured 10 and killed one on 19 or 20 October, Milenio reported. A young man was stabbed to death in the eastern city of Villahermosa early on 20 October, after refusing to "share a can of beer" with two suspected gangsters on the street, Tabasco Hoy reported.