The world at a glance . . . Americas

Ottawa

It’s okay to be sorry: The Ontario provincial legislature is considering a bill that would allow people to apologize without fear of being sued. The Apology Act prevents apologies for wrongdoing—whether by individuals or by organizations, such as hospitals—from being used as evidence of liability in lawsuits. “We see fewer and fewer acknowledgments, demonstrations of regret, demonstrations of remorse, until the lawsuit,” Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley said. “The goal of the legislation is to encourage sincere apologies.” The bill does not affect victims’ right to sue or to receive compensation.

Mexico City

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Former ruling party gains: The party that ruled Mexico for decades bounced back in local elections this week. The Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, took over the mayoralties and town councils of several major cities, including Acapulco. Single-party rule by the PRI ended in 2000. Polls this week show that if the 2009 congressional elections were held now, the party would get 44 percent of the vote, compared with 34 percent for President Felipe Calderón’s party and 19 percent for the main leftist opposition. Mexican analysts said the resurgence of the PRI doesn’t reflect an embrace of that party as much as a rejection of the current government. Calderón has been unable to control the increasingly violent drug gangs, which kill thousands of people each year.

Bogotá, Colombia

Did U.S. help rescue Betancourt? The U.S. Army laid the groundwork for the dramatic July rescue of hostages held by Colombian rebels, according to a Colombian book released this week. Initial accounts of the rescue of hostages, including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt and three American contractors, said that only the Colombian military was involved in the operation. But Operation Jaque: Unrevealed Secrets, by José Gabriel Abella and Steven Dudley, says that dozens of U.S. Rangers helicoptered into the Colombian jungle a year before the release to train Colombian soldiers in how to search for the guerrillas. Over the ensuing months, the book reports, the number of U.S. soldiers in Colombia rose to nearly 1,000, more than double the number that has been authorized by Congress. The U.S. had no immediate comment.

La Paz, Bolivia

Rejecting U.S. aid: Bolivia does not want American help in stamping out coca production, President Evo Morales said this week. He said U.S. overflights to look for the plants from which cocaine is made amounted to espionage and would not be tolerated. “We don’t need control of the United States on coca cultivation,” Morales said. “We don’t need any spying from anybody.” Relations between Bolivia and the U.S. soured last month, when Morales expelled the U.S. ambassador for allegedly supporting protests against him. Washington in turn expelled Bolivia’s ambassador. It also placed Bolivia on a counter-narcotics blacklist for the first time, saying Morales had not sufficiently cooperated with international efforts to stop the cocaine trade.