Peru considers nominee for OAS top job
Peru is considering nominating a candidate to serve as new secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS) after the resignation of Miguel Angel Rodriguez, said Foreign Minister Manuel Rodriguez Cuadros on Monday.

It would be convenient for the Andean region if Peru could nominate a person with necessary experience and support from the Western Hemisphere, Rodriguez Cuadros said.

He added that the issue has already been analyzed with Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo Manrique. Possible choices are the foreign minister himself and former acting president Valenting Paniagua.

The Peruvian official said Rodriguez's departure leaves vacuum for the OAS instead of a crisis. The task now is to make the OAS better represent the region.

Miguel Angel Rodriguez announced his resignation on Friday amid a corruption scandal dating to his presidency of Costa Rica. He was accused of receiving money in 2001 from French telecommunications company Alcatel for a contract in the country.

At the request of the Attorney General's office, a Costa Rican judge on Saturday issued an international arrest warrant against the former Costa Rican leader, which will take effect on Oct. 15 along with Rodriguez's resignation.

Rodriguez said in his resignation letter to the OAS Permanent Council that he was leaving the OAS "to dedicate myself exclusively to my defense and to clearing up the facts before the Costa Rican judicial authorities."

Rodriguez served as Costa Rica's president from 1998 to 2002, and was sworn in on Sept. 23 to a five-year term as chief of the world's oldest regional organization.
 

32 paramilitary fighters captured in northern Colombia
The Colombian secret police, or Dijin, have captured 32 paramilitary fighters in northern Colombia, police said on Monday.

Police said the paramilitary fighters were captured in the northern city of Maicao, La Guajira department. Among those captured who belonged to the illegal right-wing armed group United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), is chief Jose Barros, alias Chema Bana.

According to the authorities, Barros was accused of counts of homicide, kidnapping, rebellion and taking part in a criminal organization.

The AUC gather 95 percent of the paramilitary groups of the country, and currently are involved in a peace process with the Colombian government in Santa Fe de Ralito, west of the northern department of Cordoba, in search of the demobilization of 20,000 combatants before the end of 2005.

Colombia has been plagued by a four-decade civil war, in which leftist rebels, far-right paramilitary and government troops fight each other, killing 3,500 people each year.