He was sent to bring back Hernán Cortés back from Mexico: he wound up reinforcing Cortés with his own men, who defected. Then he went to Florida in command of 300 conquistadores. Ten years later, four bedraggled survivors (the only four who made it) wandered into Mexico, delirious and half-starved. Who was Pánfilo de Narváez, the worst conquistador?

On Thursday, International Police Organization Interpol verified that rebel computers seized by Colombia in a raid on a rebel FARC camp located barely over the border in Ecuador on March 1 did, in fact, contain actual documents and files belonging to the rebels. The documents, which include a number of emails, clearly indicate that the administration of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is providing support to the FARC, including money and weapons. Chavez has repeatedly claimed that the computers and files were planted by Colombia in an effort to make him look bad. The verification of the documents by Interpol will make it difficult for him to continue denying links between his administration and the FARC. Perhaps what will be more telling will be Colombia's next actions. If, as Chavez claims, the documents are fakes and designed to embarrass him, then Colombia is aware of it and should let the matter slide, as Chavez has indeed been embarrassed by the revelation. But if Colombia is aware that they did not fake the documents, then they are now presented with an unmistakable act of war against them and may have no recourse but to fight.

Who was Alberto Fujimori? Was he the brilliant scholar who saved Peru's economy from disaster? Was he the brave statesman who stood up to two different terrorist groups and brought them down? Was he the iron-fisted tyrant who dissolved his own Congress and Supreme Court? Or was he the criminal mastermind who oversaw a decade of corruption, possibly netting himself hundreds of millions of dollars? Even Peruvians can't seem to decide which is the real Alberto Fujimori.

Documents seized by Colombian armed forces in a March 1 raid on a rebel base in neighboring Ecuador indicate that the administration of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela was actively involved in aiding the rebels. During the raid, which resulted in the deaths of 25 suspected FARC guerrillas, a computer and several external memory devices were found. E-mails found on the devices indicate that Venezuela was planning on supplying the insurgents with cash and weapons. The governments of Venezuela and Colombia have been at odds for some time. A report is due soon from Interpol in regards to the authenticity of the documents. If they are proven genuine, it will be difficult for Colombia to ignore what is essentially an act of war by Venezuela.

Edgar Millan Gomez, current chief of Mexican Federal Police, was killed Thursday morning as he returned home to his apartment in Mexico City. He was shot at least ten times by an unknown gunman. Mexican police have a suspect in custody but have not released his name. Millan, 41, had only been police chief since March, but had a long and distinguished record as a policeman, including cracking several notorious kidnapping rings. He is the latest casualty in President Felipe Calderón's ongoing war against organized crime. Since taking office last year, Calderón had aggressively gone after drug lords, kidnapping rings and other forms of organized crime, which continues to plague Mexican society. Let's hope that this valiant policeman serves as an inspiration for other Mexican lawmen to continue the fight to bring these vicious gangs under control.

The wealthiest province in Bolivia has voted "Yes" on a referendum which would allow it to declare itself autonomous from the rest of the nation, and other provinces may follow suit. Since leftist president Evo Morales assumed office in 2006, he has pursued an aggressive program aimed at improving the lot of Bolivia's poor and working classes. Much of his agenda has consisted of taking wealth from more affluent provinces and sharing it with poorer ones, and lately he has announced plans to take land from large landowners in order to give it to poor farmers. He was dealt a setback on Sunday, when Bolivia's wealthiest province, Santa Cruz, approved a referendum declaring itself autonomous in many ways from the central government. Basically, the autonomy is not a secession or declaration of independence, but it does allow Santa Cruz control over its land and industries. In other words, it will not allow Morales and the central government to carve up large, profitable farms to be given away. Morales is claiming that the referendum is invalid, but this sort of stall tactic will only buy him a little time in which to find a way to appease wealthy provinces and thus avoid the breakdown of the nation.

In the middle of the Twentieth Century, an illegitimate actress from the province of Buenos Aires took Argentina by storm. By the time she died at the age of 33 in 1952, she was one of the most famous women in the world. You've seen the Madonna movie, and maybe gone to the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical...but what do you REALLY know about Evita Perón?

She saved the life of the most important man on the continent...and she also happened to be his lover. But that's only the beginning of the fascinating tale of Manuela Sáenz, mistress of Simón Bolívar. Why was she made a General of the armed forces of Ecuador...last year? What role did she play in the battle of Pichincha? Click the above link to find out!

Cinco de Mayo...Woo hoo! Coronas and nachos! But do you know what this holiday is REALLY about?