Chavez proposes creation of
South American union
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
proposed here Friday the
creation of a union of nations
in South America and the
dissolution of the Common Market
of the South (Mercosur) and the
Andean Community (Ancom).
In a speech at the summit of
Mercosur and Ancom, Chavez said
that the two blocs have to
"transcend" and converge in the
South American Community of
Nations (CSN), established last
week in Peru.
The name of the new organization
ought to be the South American
Union of Nations, "because names
have to be effective."
Venezuela "is against the
present state of things," said
Chavez, adding that in the Latin
American integration, "plenty of
time has been lost" and "we
cannot lose any more."
Because of this, he said, he
proposed "a strategic
integration plan" -- a "project
of incorporation without
ideological patina" under four
guidelines: "the political as
the engine, the social asthe
flag and priority, the economic
as a wagon, and culture as
fuel."
Meanwhile, he also called on his
Brazilian counterpart, Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva, to advance
on his idea to integrate the
regional petroleum companies to
create PetroSur and bring down
the oil prices in Latin America.
Colombia court sentences three
IRA suspects to 17 years
A
Colombian court on Thursday
sentenced three suspected
members of the Irish Republican
Army (IRA) to 17 years in prison
and fined them a total of
426,000 US dollars for training
Colombian rebels.
According to military
investigations, the three
Irishmen, carrying false British
passports, secretly traveled to
a rebel-held area in southern
Colombia in June, 2001 to teach
the Revolutionary Armed Forces
of Colombia (FARC) how to make
and use bombs so as to carry out
increasingly sophisticated
attacks, the Bogota Superior
Court said in a statement.
The three, Martin McCauley,
James Monaghan and Niall
Connolly, were arrested in
August 2001 at Bogota's
international airport when they
attempted to leave for Paris.
Thursday's ruling overturned a
verdict at a lower court in
April as the trio were acquitted
on the terrorist charges and
only found guilty of traveling
on false documents. They were
released in June after three
years in prison and immediately
went into hiding.
Prosecutors had appealed against
the acquittals to the Bogota
Superior Court, which on
Thursday also issued an order
for an immediate capture of the
trio, whose whereabouts remain
unknown.
The three defendants said they
came to Colombia to learn about
the peace talks then between the
government and the FARC,
Colombia's oldest and largest
rebel group.
Representatives of the trio have
the option to appeal to the
Supreme Court against Thursday's
ruling.
In reaction to the Bogota's
ruling, Irish Foreign Minister
Dermot Ahern said he was
"surprised at the verdict and
the severity of the sentence."
However, the Irish government
would only intervene after all
the legal avenues had been
exhausted in Colombia, where
"the judiciary is independent of
government," the minister said
on the sidelines of an EU summit
in Brussels.
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Cuba Reaffirms Conception of All
People´s War
Cubans will maintain their
conception of All People´s War
in the entire country on
Saturday and Sunday in view of a
possible anti-Cuban military
aggression after the reelection
of the US President George W.
Bush.
Cuba will be more prepared to
face any aggression after the
last two national defense days
and thus the end of the
strategic military exercise
Bastion 2004, Cuban defense
ministry commands recently said.
All the country´s civil defense
councils, military commands,
regular troops, the Production
and Defense Brigades, Special
Forces, Territorial Troop´s
Militias, reservists and
civilians will be mobilized to
take part in the two-day
exercise.
The different Cuban defense
troops will show the traditional
mobilization capacity of the
people for the country´ s
defense training for a possible
attack, Brigadier General Andrés
González said.
This final stage is designed to
check the reaction of military
and civil personnel to a
possible intensified air
attacks, including rocket
strikes, by the United States
forces.
The government and military
commands will analyze Saturday
the measures which must be taken
to deploy the troops in the
entire national territory and
evacuate the people.
The weekend´s exercises include
practical classes about the
combative cohesion and training
of troops, shooting exercises
and other activities scheduled
in kipping with the need of each
national region.
Sunday´s exercise will begin
with a general air alarm and
from that moment on the
different forces will carry out
practical activities for the
protection of troops and
civilians. Companies and
entities will develop practical
activities related to the
production process at war in the
different Cuban districts.
The military maneuvers will end
with revolutionary acts in
working centers, schools as
wells as neighborhoods and
communities.
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Chavez
proposes creation of South
American union 