Along with the principles of freedom and democracy, the force of reason has prevailed throughout Costa Rican history. The abolition of the military is one of those exceptional steps that led Costa Rica to become a fairer, more educated society able to meet the most pressing needs of its population, focusing on human development rather than strengthening its military capabilities.
MIAMI – The famous Mexican writer Elena Poniatowska, who visited Miami for a writers’ fair, on Sunday called the likely massacre of 43 students a “great shame” for Mexico, and compared it to her memories of the horrors of German concentration camps.
BOGOTÁ, Colombia – Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Sunday suspended two-year peace talks with the country's largest rebel group, the FARC, as the military investigated the suspected abduction of a general and two others.
In 15 years of dangerous missions — from midnight raids on al-Qaida safe houses in Iraq to battling Somali pirates from the deck of a heaving Navy ship on the high seas — there had never been one so shadowed by dread. As Robert James O'Neill contemplated his jump from a helicopter into Osama bin Laden's private garden, he was positive it would be his last.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – An Argentine judge has issued arrest and extradition warrants for two ex-ministers of Francisco Franco's regime and 18 others, invoking "universal jurisdiction" for serious rights abuses. Buenos Aires Judge Maria Servini de Cubria issued the warrants for about 20 Spanish nationals.
Ex-officers Julio David López, José Miguel González Grijalva and Alberto Barrios Rabanales will face charges that include conspiracy to commit murder for the assassination of criminal investigator Miguel Mérida in 1991.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Four former Blackwater security guards were found guilty Wednesday for their roles in a notorious 2007 mass shooting in Baghdad that left at least 14 civilians dead and deepened resentment of the United States' involvement in Iraq.
Based on details in a 47-page U.S. military dossier compiled during the war, Hitler was taking a cocktail of 74 different drugs, including a form of what is now commonly known as crystal meth. He also took "barbiturate tranquilizers, morphine, bulls' semen," according to reports.
TEL AVIV, Israel – Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, the same year Israel declared independence. Sixty-six years later, Costa Rica remains one of the few countries without a standing military, while Israel – whose invasion of Gaza this summer following repeated Hamas rocket attacks drew angry reactions from across Latin America – ranks as one of the world’s most militarized societies.
