Alexander BesantJune 21, 2012 13:05

Easter Island's giant heads have remained one of the world's greatest mysteries for centuries.

Venezuelan police shoot and kill Chilean diplomat's daughter

Amy SilversteinMarch 17, 2012 22:28

"It is the product of irresponsibility and the product of a lack of respect for human life here."

Police arrest 25 suspected 'Anonymous' hackers in 4 countries

Luke BrowneFebruary 28, 2012 19:23

Police in Europe and Latin America have arrested 25 suspected members of the Anonymous hacking group on accusations of defacing government and corporate websites, officials said Tuesday.

Michael GoldfarbJanuary 17, 2012 08:45

Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon goes on trial

Liberal magistrate who had Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet arrested is now in the dock himself.

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Spanish prosecuting judge Baltasar Garzon puts on his robes at the start of his trial today in Madrid (JAVIER SORIANO/AFP/Getty Images)

To his supporters Baltasar Garzon is a crusader for human rights, a man who truly speaks for the dead, the man who successfully used European law to have the British authorities arrest Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in London.

To his detractors, the 56-year old prosecuting magistrate is a meddlesome, liberal jurist who uses his authority to bend the law and carry out vendettas against political opponents.

Garzon was arrested and suspended from his position almost two years ago on three separate charges. Today the first trial got underway in Spain's Supreme Court. He is accused of using illegal wire taps in investigations of some businessmen who funded Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's Parti Popular.

Sarah ChildressAugust 31, 2011 14:08

Chilean miners get payout

The famous miners have fallen on hard times.

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The 33 in the spotlight. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)

Everybody’s favorite miners got a boost this week.

A year after the miners were pulled from the ground, Chile announced that it would grant lifetime pensions to all of the miners who are at least 50 years old, or suffer from health problems that keep them from working, according to the AP.

Also, it appears that the miners are still sticking together. The list of pension recipients was drawn up by consensus:

The miners themselves helped decide who among themselves who should qualify for the pensions.

Sarah ChildressAugust 26, 2011 10:14

Teen dies in Chile protests

Reports that he was shot by police could fuel more unrest.

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Pinera (left) could face more uprisings. (Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images)

A teenager died after he was shot in the chest during the latest round of protests in Chile.

Witnesses quoted in local media said that police fired the shot that killed the boy, who has been reported as being either 14 or 16 years old.

He was taken to the hospital on Thursday, and died this morning.

Sarah ChildressAugust 24, 2011 16:03

Protesters challenge Pinera

Chile's president is becoming less popular as protests drag on.

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Demonstrators and police have clashed for months. (Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images)

Protests in the Chilean capital of Santiago got uglier today.

Labor leaders had called for a 48-hour national strike, hoping to shut down the government to support students’ call for improved education, and to stress their own demands for better conditions for health-care workers.

Demonstrators in the capital started bonfires in the streets to block major thruways and threw stones at passing buses, the AFP said.

But the government downplayed the situation, telling the Buenos Aires Herald that apart from a few traffic snarls, everything was “normal.”

It’s not a good moment for President Sebastian Pinera. The billionaire businessman, who was elected last year, is the first right-wing politician in Chile since Pinochet.

More from GlobalPost: Chile confronts Pinochet legacy

He’s tried hard to distance himself from the unpopular dictator, which is a really good idea. Pinochet, if you’ll recall, oversaw the deaths of at least 40,018 people. And that’s only the crimes that have been officially documented.

Sarah ChildressAugust 19, 2011 16:17

Chile confronts Pinochet legacy

Report finds more victims of the Chilean dictator's regime.

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Anger flares over the Pinochet regime. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images)

The tally of crimes committed under Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet just keeps rising.

A new report by the commission set up to investigate human-rights violations during his nearly two-decade reign found that an additional 9,800 people had been killed, tortured or imprisoned for opposing the regime. That brings the total to 40,018.

Pinochet ruled for nearly two decades following a bloody coup in 1973. During his time in power, the military killed or simply disappeared thousands of people. But while he was charged with multiple crimes, he died in 2006 without having been convicted.