That number is since 2006 and the escalation of the drug war by President Felipe Calderon.

According to the piece, while the murder rate continues to increase on an annual basis, the growth rate has slowed:

The PGR said that the 11% rise was "a significant decrease" on previous years.

In 2009-2010, murders jumped 70%; 2008-2009 saw a 63% rise and there was a 110% jump in 2007-2008.

But with the 2011 figures running just until September, the overall number of murders could be some 16,000.

But,

However, experts say the decline in killings may be the result of one cartel exerting overall control rather than specific success by the military or police.

Officials in Colombia say the alleged leader of a powerful criminal gang has been killed in a police operation.

Prosecutors accuse Juan de Dios Usuga and his brother Dairo Antonio of jointly leading the Urabenos gang, which controls much of the drug-trafficking in the north of Colombia.

Police say Juan de Dios Usuga, 44, was shot dead as officers tried to arrest him at his ranch in Choco province.

[...]

Los Urabenos is one of the groups the Colombian government calls Bacrim, short for bandas criminales (criminal gangs).

While the era of the big cartels in Colombia is over, at least rhetorically, the drug business does continue at significant levels.

I think that on the one hand it is important to note that Colombia has made substantial progress in regards to violence and criminality,  but that on the other hand, the struggle continues.  I note this, if anything, because often the press (and sometimes representatives of the US government) speak as if the drug war has been basically won in Colombia and that, therefore, policies used there are directly exportable to Mexico and Afghanistan.  This is problematic because such pronouncements make it sound as if the drug war is working (and is “winnable”) when, in fact, this is not the case.  It is also problematic because the situations in Mexico and Afghanistan are substantially different than that in Colombia once one gets beyond superficial comparisons that include violence and drugs.

Via the BBC:  Ex-ruler Noriega heads for Panama to serve jail terms

The 77-year-old has already spent more than 20 years in French and US prisons.

Last month, a French court approved a request from Panama to send him back home to be jailed over his convictions for murder, corruption and embezzlement.

The BBC reports:  Top Farc rebel leader Alfonso Cano killed in Colombia

The leader of Colombia’s left wing Farc rebel group, Alfonso Cano, has been killed in a military raid, President Juan Manuel Santos has confirmed.

He called it the most devastating blow to the group in its decades-long insurgency and urged it to disband.

Defence Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said Cano was killed in an operation in mountains in Colombia’s south-west.

This is a major development and will be a serious blow to the FARC.  However, the degree to whether this will cripple the FARC remains to be seen.  First, the FARC is a cellular organization that does not rely upon a central leadership.  Second, the FARC is driven by drug profits at the moment and some cells are more thoroughly involved in the drug trade than are others.  This activity will continue.  Third, historically speaking the FARC and like groups in Colombia have been able to cause trouble for the Colombian states and its citizens even as small groups.

As the sidebar to this story noted:

Alfonso Cano was only the second commander-in-chief the Farc have had in 47 years and the only one to be killed in combat. So the psychological impact of his death for the Marxist rebel movement is huge. However, it is unlikely to destroy the group, or indeed, even cause a serious interruption in its operations.

It is worth noting that this is yet another example of success by the Colombia state against the FARC.  Some highlights include:

March 2008:   A raid over the border into Ecuador that killed Raul Reyes (a key FARC commander) and garnered a large amount of intel about FARC operations is obtained.

May 2008: FARC founder and leader, Pedro Marin (aka Manuel Marulanda) dies.

July 2008:  The army rescues the FARC’s most high profile hostages:  presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt (who had been kidnapped in 2002) and 3 US government contractors (along with a dozen others).

September 2010:  High level FARC commander, El Mono Jojoy is killed in combat.

And these are only the most major stories.  It has not been a good 3.5 years for the FARC (indeed, it has been its worst 3+ span in its history, which has spanned 5 decades).

More on recent on the FARC during this span of time (in reverse chronological order):

• Another FARC Leader Killed
• Operation: Christmas
• More Military Success Against the FARC
• More on Those FARC Computers and Operation Sodom
• El Mono Jojoy Killed
• FARC at 45 Seeks “Rebirth”
• Only Three of the FARC’s Secretariat Still in Colombia
• Speaking of the FARC…
• Another FARC Commander Killed
• Major FARC Kidnapper Captured
• Two FARC Guerrillas Defect with Kidnap Victims in Tow
• Another FARC Commander Falls
• Another FARC Leader is Killed
• `We’re the national army. You’re free.’
• Tirofijo Dead?
• Two More FARC Commander in Custody: One Surrenders, Another Captured
• Confirmed: Ecuadoran Killed in Colombian Raid on FARC

In Colombia, however, they have a real “none of the above option” (the voto en blanco).  If en blanco wins, a new election is called with new candidates.

In this weekend’s local elections, one municipality voted for “none of the above” and so a new election will be called.

In this case there was only one candidate running, and he won 43.29% of the vote, while en blanco won 56.70%.

It must be depressing to run as an unopposed candidate and still lose.

El Pais reports:  Voto en blanco supera a candidato único a alcaldía de Bello, Antioquia

Cyber-crime has been prevalent in Latin America since the dawn of online transactions. But many nations are struggling with a new threat: politically-motivated hackers.

[...]

Just this year, groups claiming to be affiliates of Anonymous — perhaps the largest and most well-known hacker group — have sprung up in Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Brazilian government websites have been attacked more than 1,250 times this year, according to Zone-H, which tracks hacker activity. In Colombia, hackers recently brought down sites for the ministry of education, the senate, the presidency and President Juan Manuel Santos’ personal webpage. Chile has seen waves of cyber attacks as part of Anonymous’ “BadEducation” campaign in support of student protestors.

[...]

In Colombia, government websites have been hacked and altered 480 times this year, according to Zone-H data. In all of 2010, less than 250 such defacements were reported. In Ecuador, government websites have been compromised 230 times. Venezuela has seen 200 government websites hit this year.

I suppose that this kind of thing is not only here to stay, but likely to increase in frequency globally.

Meanwhile, Venezuela may have the solution:

Venezuela’s slow Internet connections have kept it from being a hotbed for hackers

300 baud modems for everyone!

According to the piece the news came via a press release from the Worker’s Party and was a surprise.

Apparently, the tumor was discovered today.

Lula was president of Brazil for two terms and will turn 66 this week.

Via ABC News:  Mimes Hired to Act Like Traffic Cops in Venezuela.

About 120 mimes were dispatched into the chaotic traffic capital of Caracas to wag their fingers and silently shame lawless drivers, according to the Associated Press.  Newly-trained mimes, dressed in clown-like costumes complete with face paint and white gloves, descended on busy intersections in the city’s eastern district of Sucre starting last week, and urged pedestrians and drivers to obey traffic rules.

Some silently mocked drivers, miming to those behind the wheel to buckle up, or gestured to motorcyclists to stop at the red light in front of them. Others chastised jaywalkers or helped pedestrians cross the street.

The Bogotá, Colombia municipal government tried this back when I lived in the city in 1995.

The amazing thing is:  it worked.

The House voted to pass the Colombia measure, the most controversial of the three deals because of concerns about the treatment of unions in that country, 262 to 167; the Panama measure passed 300 to 129, and the agreement concerning South Korea passed 278 to 151. The votes reflected a clear partisan divide, with many Democrats voting against the president. In the Senate, the Colombia measure passed 66 to 33, the Panama bill succeeded 77 to 22 and the South Korea measure passed 83 to 15. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, voted against all three measures.

The House also passed a measure to expand a benefits program for workers who lose jobs to foreign competition by a vote of 307 to 122. The benefits program, a must-have for labor unions, passed with strong Democratic support. The Senate previously approved the measure.

In regards to the significance:

The passage of the trade deals is important primarily as a political achievement, and for its foreign policy value in solidifying relationships with strategic allies. The economic benefits are projected to be small. A federal agency estimated in 2007 that the impact on employment would be “negligible” and that the deals would increase gross domestic product by about $14.4 billion, or roughly 0.1 percent.

These FTAs were originally negotiated by the Bush administration under the now expired Trade Promotion Authority power granted by the Congress to the President.  Under that process (originally called “Fast Track”), Presidents can negotiate trade pacts with foreign governments that do not have the status of formal treaties.  As such, the FTAs can be sent not to the Senate for a 2/3rds vote, but to the House and Senate for an up or down vote.  NAFTA is the most famous of such trade deals.  Interestingly, like NAFTA, the three deals that passed today were negotiated by a Republican president, but shepherded through congress (albeit after a serious delay in this case) by a Democratic president.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has denied US media reports that he was rushed to hospital with kidney failure linked to his cancer treatment.

"I’m fine, I’m having my first coffee of the day," Mr Chavez, 57, told state TV by telephone.

Mr Chavez, who had a fourth and final round of chemotherapy last week, urged Venezuelans to ignore such rumours.

The Miami-based Nuevo Herald newspaper had quoted hospital sources as saying he was in a serious condition.

In a telephone interview with VTV, Mr Chavez said reports about his health were untrue.

"I ask the Venezuelan people to ignore these rumours. If anything happened, I’d be the first person to tell you about any difficulty," he said.

One does wonder as to how healthy the man actually is.

He stands for re-election later this year.

Interestingly, unlike his surgery and his first two rounds of chemo, which were all conducted in Cuba, this latest round was in Venezuela.

Cuban Defence Minister Julio Casas Regueiro, a veteran of the revolution, has died of heart failure, aged 75.

He oversaw the Cuban military’s economic activities until 2008, when President Raul Castro made him defence minister.

Julio Casas Regueiro was an accountant who fought under Raul Castro’s command against Fulgencio Batista, who was ousted in January 1959.

What strikes me about this is that the revolutionary generation is passing in Cuba, and even the days of the Castro brothers are numbered.

This also means that expatriate Cuban community in the US is aging and passing as well.  One wonders (and, indeed, hopes) that as both the revolutionaries and the expats all age and shake off this mortal coil that perhaps we can finally reach a rational place for US-Cuban relations.

Such stories also always make we wonder what US policy-makers in the 1960s would have thought if they have known what kind of longevity the revolution would have in Cuba.

And, speaking of Fidel:

Fidel Castro, who no longer holds any official positions, is 85.

He has not been seen in public since April and has not written any of his newspaper editorials for the past two months.

Thirty-six suspects have been arrested in two operations against drug-trafficking in Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos has said.

[...]

The operations were carried out jointly with the US.

The authorities seized large amounts of drugs, 21 light aircraft and submarines used to transport the drugs to Central America, to be taken to the US.

The gang is said to have been capable of exporting 10 tonnes of cocaine per month to the Sinaloa drug cartel in Mexico.

A couple of quick observations/questions:

1)  I wonder what the exact role of the US was in the operation?  Theoretically, there are limitations on exactly what the US can do in Colombia.

2)  As always, it is amazing how these raids lead to revealing substantial capabilities of any given drug gang/cell of a given operation.

3)  The direct connection to Mexican cartels underscores the current structure of the cocaine business in the current era.

This time, the trip was expressly authorized by the Venezuelan parliament.

It remains unclear (to me, at least) why it is necessary to go to Cuba for the treatments.