Mexico's ambassador to Cuba, Roberta Lajous,  was besieged by reporters in Havana as the two countries returned to normal relations.

Chavez accused his opponents of rejecting calls for negotiations before the Aug. 15 referendum in the world's fifth largest oil exporter.

"We have begun to conduct raids, to decommission weapons and explosives, we are conducting intelligence operations," the president said in his weekly broadcast. "The opposition is refusing to negotiate, they are refusing to accept reality."

An international mission led by the Organization of American States and former US President Jimmy Carter last year brokered an accord to recognize the referendum as a way to end more than two years of violent confrontation.

Chavez, who won the 1998 elections, has survived a brief coup in 2002 and months of street protests by opponents.

Opposition leaders said they will not negotiate with the government until they are guaranteed a fair vote. They want international observers to guarantee a clean recall referendum against a president.

A diverse coalition and the opposition signed an accord on Sunday on their proposals for a new government, including constitutional reforms to reduce presidential power.

The pact calls for primary elections, probably on Aug. 22, to decide on an opposition candidate for elections after the recall. Elections for a new president must be called 30 days after the referendum if Chavez loses.
 

Mexico, Cuba restore full diplomatic ties with ambassadors returning to posts
Mexico and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations on Sunday with their ambassadors returning to their posts, thus marking the end of a diplomatic crisis that erupted between the two countries in May.

Before leaving for the Cuban capital of Havana, Mexican Ambassador Roberta Lajous said she was happy to work in Cuba again and the priority of her mission was to promote the bilateral ties.

"Ambassador Lajous will promote the strengthening of relations between Mexico and Cuba, through a frank and direct dialogue," Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said in a statement.

The two countries "have agreed to keep working on all areas of the bilateral relationship, and maintain smooth diplomatic communication," the statement added.

"I always believed in the close historical and traditional ties between our two peoples," Cuban Ambassador Jorge Bolanos said upon arrival at Mexico City's airport.

"I am extremely happy to return to Mexico, after a brief and involuntary absence ... Cuba and Mexico are two nations that geography made neighbors, and that our histories and heroes, both Cuban and Mexican, have united forever," he added.

The exchange of ambassadors came one week after Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and his Mexican counterpart, Luis Ernesto Derbez, met in Havana over the bilateral relations.

Both ministers said the two countries still had issues to work out, but they were back on the road to reconciliation.

Traditionally, Mexico and Cuba have good relations. Even during the four decades of economic embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba, Mexico maintained diplomatic ties with the island and provided aid to it.

However, the two countries had disagreed on the issues of democracy and human rights after Mexican President Vicente Fox took office in 2000.

In March, the Mexican government charged that Cuba intervened in its internal affairs over the issue relating to Carlos Ahumada, a Mexican businessman arrested in Cuba.

Then in April, Mexico voted in favor of a resolution against Cuba at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission, to the strong opposition of the island country. Cuban leader Fidel Castro, during a May Day speech, condemned Mexico for the vote.

On May 2, the Mexican government recalled its ambassador from Cuba and asked the Cuban ambassador to leave the country, causing the two countries' relations to be at the lowest ebb in the past 100 years.
 

Brazil to establish national security force to help curb street violence
Brazil is planning to set up a national security force to help state police handle the deteriorating street violence, a government official said on Sunday.

The government will train an initial 270 people in a federal police academy starting Aug. 10, Brazilian Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos told the O Globo newspaper.

By the end of the year, the government is expected to have a force of 1,500 ready for handling violence-related emergencies, Bastos said.

The Brazilian government is setting up the national security force after police in several states have met increasing difficulties in containing street violence, such as wars between rivaling drug gangs.

Rio de Janeiro's homicide rate is more than 50 per 100,000 people, one of the highest in the world.