Central American leaders seek new OAS candidate
he Central American foreign ministers met Thursday in El Salvador to try to agree on presenting a single Central American candidate for the secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The Central American ministers met at 9:30 am local time (1530 GMT) at El Salvador's International Airport in Comalapa, according to reports from San Salvador, capital of El Salvador.

The meeting was attended by foreign ministers of Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador.

The ministers tried to agree on a single candidate for the vacancy left by former Costa Rican President Miguel Angel Rodriguez who resigned as secretary general of the OAS on Oct. 8 due to a corruption scandal in his country.

El Salvadorean foreign minister said his country was committed to seek a single candidate for the post of OAS secretary general
 

UN condemns family slaughter in Colombia
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday condemned the killing of five members of the same family in north Colombia last Friday, local press said.

The UN office demanded the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) clarify whether it was responsible for the crime. It also asked the group to ensure strict compliance of its members with international humanitarian law.

Five members of the same family, four of them women, were murdered last Friday by armed individuals who broke into their house in Coloso in the northern Sucre province.

One of the victims was pregnant for four months. Two others were girl friends of a soldier and a police agent of the area.

The Sucre authorities blamed FARC guerrillas for the killing, who has not yet claimed responsibility.

The UN office believed the women were murdered because of their relationship with law enforcement officers.

The Colombian authorities on Wednesday captured a FARC member who was suspected of being involved in the Coloso killing.

The FARC, with 17,000 members, is the country's largest and oldest rebel organization.

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

Venezuela sentences 7 coup participants
A Venezuelan judge on Thursday sentenced seven people for their involvement in a 2002 coup against President Hugo Chavez.

Three were sentenced to six years in prison and four others to three years. An eighth person was acquitted.

The lawyer of these people appealed against the sentences.

The coup on April 12, 2002 ousted President Chavez for 48 hours.
 

Air crash kills 2 people in Colombia
A light plane flying from Venezuela to Colombia crashed in Norte de Santander department, northeast of Colombia, killing two people aboard, local radio reported Thursday.

The local firemen said the plane crashed in a rural area of Salazar de las Palmas, east of Norte de Santander department.

The local authorities pointed out that there were two men on the light plane, whose identity has not yet been confirmed.

According to the region's Civil Aviation authorities, it was an illegal flight, as the plane did not have a registered itinerary at the airports of the Venezuela-Colombia border. Meanwhile, it also indicated that the plane might have a Mexican registration.

So far, the cause of the accident is not known.