The world at a glance . . . Americas

Mexico City

Slave labor: Mexican police have freed 107 people who were being held prisoner at a fake drug rehabilitation center, where they were forced to work 16 hours a day. The victims, mostly homeless people and immigrants, said they had been snatched off the streets by people claiming to be charity workers, then beaten and forced to make shopping bags and clothespins. “They didn’t pay us a single peso,” said Efrain Torres. “Anyone who wouldn’t work, they punished us by making us stand upright in the bathroom for three days.” One prisoner managed to escape the “Chosen of God” rehab center and alerted authorities. Human-rights activists claim city officials had known about the kidnappings for at least six months, and may have tolerated the practice as a way of cleaning vagrants off the streets.

Conakry, Guinea

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Junta exacts revenge: The leader of Guinea’s ruling junta, Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara, was shot in the head last week in an attempted coup, touching off a wave of violent reprisals. Camara survived the shooting and is being treated in Morocco. The junta pledged to “hunt down” the man identified as the shooter, Camara aide Toumba Diakite, and his cohorts. Rights groups said troops have been roaming the streets, torturing and terrorizing people at random. The military took over in Guinea last year after the death of longtime ruler Lansana Conté. Camara initially promised to return the country to democratic rule, but later reneged. In September, troops under his command attacked a pro-democracy rally, raping dozens of women and killing at least 150 people.

La Paz, Bolivia

Morales re-elected: Bolivians this week overwhelmingly re-elected President Evo Morales to a second five-year term, giving a big boost to his socialist agenda. As the first president from Bolivia’s indigenous majority, Morales made improving the lives of the masses a centerpiece of his administration, redistributing the country’s natural gas wealth through cash payments to the poor and public-works projects. He also overturned Bolivia’s ban on consecutive presidential terms. During the campaign, he pledged to continue the socialist “revolution,” and to provide a house to every newly married couple. He ended up with 63 percent of the vote, 35 points ahead of his nearest rival in a field of nine.

Santiago, Chile

Ex-president was assassinated: Former Chilean President Eduardo Frei Montalva, who died in 1982, was poisoned by loyalists of dictator Augusto Pinochet, a government investigation has concluded. Frei, who served as president from 1964 to 1970 and became an outspoken critic of Pinochet, died of what was described as a stomach ailment. But a judge ruled this week that new forensic evidence showed that Frei had been poisoned with mustard gas and thallium; six people connected with Pinochet were charged in the killing, including four doctors. “This shows that in Chile, it may at times take a long time for justice to be achieved, but it does eventually come,” said President Michelle Bachelet, who was herself tortured during Pinochet’s rule. Frei’s son, Sen. Eduardo Frei, is a candidate in next week’s presidential election.