He made the remarks at an election rally less than one month before the referendum scheduled for Aug. 15 on whether he could keep his presidency, saying "you see how now the Emperor of Evil has spoken from Washington giving orders."

"Tell me what right does the President of the United States have to call for transparency in any electoral process in the world," Chavez said.

Bush on Monday urged transparency in the upcoming Venezuelan referendum and called for international observers' free access to the voting process.

Chavez, who was elected in 1998 and re-elected to a six-year term in 2000, has been accused by his opponents of wrecking Venezuela's economy. He has experienced two general strikes, a 48-hour military coup in April 2002 and a strike at the beginning of last year.

Chavez believed the United States was behind the 2002 coup and has repeatedly accused Bush's government of plotting with the opposition to invade Venezuela and overthrow him.

As the recall referendum is near, Chavez intensified his attacks on Washington, saying Bush, not the Venezuelan opposition, was his true political foe.

According to surveys, the country is almost evenly divided between those who would oust Chavez and those who would have him to stay on as president.
 

Colombian Congress offers venue for talks with rebels
The Colombian Congress Wednesday proposed that peace talks between government and the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) be held in the congressional building.

Senate spokesman Luis Humberto Gomez suggested that the building be used as a "de-tension zone" in accordance with the ELN's request for a venue for peace negotiations as well as for a so-called national convention.

"It is here, in the congressional enclosures, that negotiations and dialogue would take place. This can be a zone of de-tension. We must not be afraid to negotiate, and negotiations cannot take place in fear," he said.

Last month, the jailed ELN spokesman Francisco Galan was released for 24 hours to present peace proposals to the Congress.

Peace talks between the Colombian government and the ELN started from 1999 but broke down in May 2002 due to major differences over a cease-fire and the division of a demilitarized zone.

However, their differences have been somewhat narrowed, thanks to mediation efforts of Mexico.

Established in 1964, the 5,000-strong ELN is Colombia's second largest leftist rebel force. During a four-decade-old civil war, Colombian government forces, leftist guerrillas and far-right paramilitaries had been fighting one another, killing an average of 3,500 people, mostly civilians, each year.
 

Peru, Bolivia, Brazil to hold summit on border integration
The presidents of Peru, Bolivia and Brazil will hold a summit in August to advance the integration of common borders of the three countries, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

As part of the summit agenda, a bridge over the River Acre between Peru and Bolivia will be inaugurated along with the projects linking the Peruvian locality of Itapari with Brazil's Assis as part of the inter-oceanic highway linking the Pacific with the Atlantic.

The Foreign Ministry said in a communique that the three leaders will also examine the project of the "Transversal Integration Highway", which connects southwestern Peru with Brazilian states of Acre and Rondonia. It is also part of the inter-oceanic highway linking the Pacific with the Atlantic.

At the summit meeting, the issue of energy resources could be addressed, given the fact that Brazil buys natural gas from Bolivia. Bolivia also negotiates natural gas sales to Mexico and then to the United States.
 

Pinochet faces charge of money laundering
Chile's Attorney General's office said Wednesday that former dictator Augusto Pinochet could be initially accused of "money laundering" for the secret bank accounts attributed to him in a US bank.

Clara Szczaranski, president of Chile's Defense Council (CDE), an autonomous agency in charge of the legal defense of the Chilean state's interest, said it would investigate the financial crimes.

"Unfortunately, the facts, at this point, appear just like money laundering, laundering of illegal money, according to the report from the United States," said the president, referring to a report by the US Senate that Pinochet had nearly 8 million US dollars in secret accounts at Riggs Bank between 1994 and 2002.

The Chilean court also assigned a special judge last Tuesday to determine the source of the funds held in the Riggs accounts.

US President George W. Bush promised a full investigation into the handling of the accounts following a meeting with Chilean President Ricardo Lagos on Monday.

Pinochet's son, Marco Antonio Pinochet, told local Radio Agricultura that all the money was donated by Pinochet's supporters for the legal defense while he was under house arrest in London from October 1998 to April 2000, according to a warrant issued by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon.

Pinochet, 88, who took control of Chile by ousting constitutional President Salvador Allende in 1973, faces hundreds of charges of homicide, kidnapping and torture in Chile but none of corruption.

There have been several failed attempts to probe his finances by journalists or lawmakers since the 1980s.