Today's Stories: Castro promotes prostitution there, president Bush charges Mexico, Cuba to send back ambassadors Bolivians turn out for referendum on natural gas Brazilians protest over recession

Argentina bombing anniversary. On Sunday thousands mark the 10th anniversary of the bombing of the Amia Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires.

"The dictator welcomes sex tourism," said Bush, who used a speech devoted to the crime of human trafficking to lash into Castro, in an apparent defense of his controversial election-year crackdown on travel to Cuba.

Bush said Castro "bragged about the industry," quoting him as saying: "Cuba has the cleanest and most educated prostitutes in the world."

Castro made the comment in a 1992 address to the Cuban National Assembly, when he spoke about the country's need for tourism and acknowledged the presence of prostitutes in Cuba, even though prostitution is illegal.

His actual words, according to a transcript prepared by the U.S. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, were: "We can say that they are highly educated hookers and quite healthy, because we are the country with the lowest number of AIDS cases."

Bush's remarks, coming as he addressed the U.S. Justice Department's first national training conference on combating slavery, seemed designed to deflect criticism that his controversial Cuba policy will hurt Cuban families by restricting how often they can see each other.

Instead, Bush argued that easing Cuba travel restrictions in the 1990s led to a spike in child prostitution on the island. Bush sought to link the travel restrictions to what he said is a global strategy to bring an end to slavery, a scourge he called an "affront to the defining promise of our country."

Mexico, Cuba to send back ambassadors
Cuba and Mexico agreed on Sunday to send back their ambassadors to each other's capital as part of an effort to smooth over a rift that prompted both countries to withdraw their ambassadors in May. Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez and his Cuban counterpart, Felipe Perez Roque made the announcement after their meeting in Havana.

Derbez arrived in Havana on Sunday and was greeted at the airport by Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuba's vice foreign minister, and received by Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque during an offering of flowers at a statue of Mexican national hero Benito Juarez.

In May, Mexico recalled its ambassador to Cuba, ordered the expulsion of Cuban Ambassador to Mexico, and declared a Cuban diplomat "persona non grata." Mexico accused Cuban President Fidel Castro of interfering in its internal affairs.

Mexico's outpouring of indignation came after Castro's May Day speech, during which Castro blasted Mexico for supporting a resolution censuring Cuba at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Tensions also heightened when Cuba in April expelled Carlos Ahumada, a Mexican businessman of Argentine origin. Cuba said Ahumada's activities were political in nature.
 

Bolivians turn out for referendum on natural gas
Bolivians turned out Sunday for a referendum that will decide on the future of their country's natural gas resources, news reaching here from the Bolivian capital of La Paz said.

The referendum, with five questions, will decide whether the natural gas resources will be exported or utilized for the internal development of Bolivia which have richest natural gas resources in Latin America.

About 4.5 million of the country's 8 million population are expected to vote. The results will come out two weeks after the referendum.

The South America's poorest country has been split by the natural gas issue. The low-income Indian majority have called for national control over the resources, while the European-descended elites insisted more foreign investment and more exports.

Polls have showed that most Bolivians backed greater national control over the gas exports.

Bolivia was thrown into a political and social crisis in October 2003, when former President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada planned to export natural gas through neighboring Chile, a bitter rival which annexed Bolivia's Pacific coastline in a war 125 years ago.

He was forced to resign amid a popular uprising in and around La Paz, in which more than 80 people were killed in street clashes with security forces. His successor Carlos Mesa called the referendum.
 

Brazilians protest over recession
President Lula has urged patience as he implements his reforms
Thousands of Brazilians have taken to the streets in protest at the slow recovery of the country's worst recession in more than a decade.

Union members, the unemployed, and landless activists were among several thousand marching in Sao Paulo alone, Brazil's financial and industrial hub.

President Lula da Silva has promised to create jobs and redistribute wealth.

The Brazilian economy is showing signs of recovery, but protesters say the pace of recovery is not quick enough.

In May, President Lula - who has been in office 18 months - defended his economic policies, saying his government's tough measures had helped him achieve his main aim of reducing inflation.

And the government this week reported industrial growth in May for the first time in more than a year, as well as a fall in unemployment.

'Hurry up'

But protesters say that, although they still support President Lula, the pace of recovery is still too slow to be felt by most of the 175 million population, a third of whom live in poverty.

"It's tough to live in a country that's so big and rich in resources without hope," Cesar Manuel Silva, a 65-year-old labourer who has not had regular work in five years, told the Associated Press.

"I voted for him, but I expected a quicker recovery," said 44-year-old unemployed auto worker Creusa Pereira Goncalves.

"We don't oppose Lula, we're here to tell him to hurry up," CUT union official Joao Osorio was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

As well as Sao Paulo, demonstrations were held in the capital Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro and other major cities across the country.