A Mexican mayoral candidate was decapitated in the state of Guerrero, while the federal government arrests the Zetas drug kingpin. 

Journalism, a dangerous profession in northern Paraguay, also proved deadly in Guatemala, where a journalist was murdered, soon after he reported feeling threatened. 

There is increasing pressure on former President Uribe to join Colombian peace talk efforts; the FARC will not accept an agreement that calls for jail time; and the armed forces are trying to envision their role in post-conflict Colombia. 

The comments about “transitional justice” by former President César Gaviria in relation to the peace process have stirred debate and praise, even though many pundits say his proposals are “problematic and incomplete.” 

Enforced disappearances are often connected to police, but the government shrugs; NGOs say the government uses terror to curb social demands; and many observers say that in Mexico “impunity is the norm.” 

According to one of the rapporteurs of Colombia’s Comisión Histórica del Conflicto, both the government and FARC agree that “armed struggle was futile.” 

The government of El Salvador is looking to finance an ambitious effort to reduce “the high delinquency rate in the country, especially that caused by gangs.” 

Uruguay will attempt a new approach to human rights and disappeared persons, an ongoing legacy of the military dictatorship; it will replace “truth and justice” with “truth and memory,” along the lines of the South African experience. 

The Attorney General’s office says the 43 normalistas in Iguala, Guerrero were killed and then their bodies were incinerated.  Yet the parents of the victims reject the official version, and say that they will not allow the government to close the investigation.  The parents, by the way, are now in dire financial straits.  President Enrique

Reintegrating FARC fighters could cost $1.1 billion dollars, according to Colombia’s comptroller; Colombians wonder what the true role of victims in the end of the conflict should be; and there are growing suspicions that the “post-conflict” may be more complex than the conflict.