August 28,2008:  Iran's growing commercial ties with Venezuela are bringing with it Iranian intelligence operatives and Hezbollah members seeking to expand Islamic radical operations in South America. Hezbollah has long had a foothold in several local Arab immigrant communities in South America. But Venezuela gives them a secure local base of operations. It is feared that Hezbollah and Iran will seek to carry out terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets in South America, using these new Venezuelan bases. Iran has done this in the past, but backed off when local police came down hard, and the diplomatic fall out proved to be too intense.

August 17, 2008: Two bombs went off in supermarkets in the capital, but there were no injuries. This may not even be a FARC attack, but merely a commercial dispute (the stores are French operated, and providing stiff competition for locals, and a large target for criminal gangs seeking extortion opportunities.) Such tactics are a side-effect of over half a century of civil disorder and civil war. The rule of law has been trampled on for so long, it's taking a while to restore a civil society.

August 15, 2008: The economy continues to grow, with oil production up ten percent (to nearly 600,000 barrels a day) in the last year, and natural gas production up nearly 20 percent. FARC and ELN efforts to sabotage energy production have not succeeded.  These two leftist organizations are still slipping further towards complete destruction. Leftist supporters in North America and Europe have been unable to get the police and military pressure off  FARC and ELN, especially with so many damning documents, and former terrorists, showing up and providing endless accounts of leftist atrocities. The violence was pretty bad all around, but most Colombians just want it all to stop. However, too many of the leftist rebels know no other life, or are intoxicated with the wealth available from the cocaine trade. The fighting is going to continue for a while, perhaps 5-10 more years.

August 14, 2008: A bomb went off in the northwestern town of Ituango, during a festival, killing seven and wounding over fifty (mostly children). FARC was suspected, because the leftist rebels have been terrorizing the region for a while, and such bombings are increasingly popular with FARC (which no longer has the manpower to attempt a takeover of a disputed town.) This is the worst FARC terror attack so far this year.