Death toll rises to 10 in eviction actions in Guatemala
Death toll from violent eviction actions by government security forces in a private estate in south Guatemala grew to 10 after a peasant's body was found on Friday, said reports reaching here from Guatemala City, capital of the Central American country.

The body of the peasant was found floating in a lagoon inside the recovered Nueva Vista rural estate in the department of Retalhuleu, 230 kilometers southwest of the Guatemalan capital, said the report.

Seven peasants and three police agents died on July 31 when the security forces used violence in trying to evicting the peasants, who had occupied the estate for over a year.

The authorities insisted that the peasants opened fire with high-caliber arms on the agents, while the peasants said the policemen fired indiscriminately on them and burned their houses.

Ombudsman Sergio Morales, a local official, told the press that as 39 individuals remained missing, the number of peasants killed in the clash is likely to rise.

Twenty-five of the 39 missing peasants were children, he said.
 

Chilean president regrets deterioration of ties with Peru, Bolivia
Chilean president said Saturday he regretted the "deterioration" of his country's relations with Peru and Bolivia and called on the two neighboring nations to take a future-oriented approach in dealing with Chile.

"From October 2001 to the present, the developments of the bilateral relations have not satisfied us, because we have witnessed a deterioration," President Ricardo Lagos said when he visited Arica, a northern city near the borders of Peru and Bolivia.

Chile and Peru have been locked in a dispute on the maritime demarcation in the Pacific Ocean. Peru demands the revision of the sea limits with Chile and said it could resort to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. But Chile held that there are no pending processes in the revision of border which was established with treaties signed over 50 years ago.

Chile has reiterated the maritime demarcation between Chile and Peru was initially established in 1947 and then reaffirmed in 1952 after the two countries, plus Ecuador and Bolivia, held talks on the issue.

"We've made great efforts and we would like to think we are in a condition to improve the initiatives with the governments of Bolivia and Peru," Lagos said.

"When issues occurred, which seemed inappropriate to us, I didn't hesitate to talk with Peru's President Alejandro Toledo and pointed out that the whole issues on the future agenda should be the basis upon which we ought to work together," the president added.

He also stressed the same approach also applies to relations with Bolivia. "If there are issues that come from the past, they are going to be solved on the basis of discussions about an agenda aimed at the future," he said.

Relations between Chile and Bolivia have been strained in the last months, after the Bolivian government and politicians decided to revive the historical demand for a sovereign sea access lost toChile.

For decades, Bolivia has been demanding that Chile return the territories with a sea access it lost in the 1879 Pacific War, when Chile gained more than 120,000 square km of Bolivian soil and 400 km of its coastline. The two countries have no full diplomatic relations but have maintained consular ties since 1978.

Peru, together with Bolivia, lost to Chile the regions of Arica and Tarapaca after the war.

During his Saturday visit in Arica, Lagos also expressed his support for the exploitation of underground wells at the National Park of Lauca, a region adjacent to Bolivian border. But the president indicated that an understanding has to be reached first with the Aimara Indian communities, which have opposed the project.

Bolivia rejected this project, saying it could damage local populations as well as the local flora and fauna.
 

Muslimeen leader buddies with Chavez
A relationship has developed between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, himself a former coup-leader, and Jamaat al Muslimeen leader and 1990 insurrectionist Yasin Abu Bakr.

On Friday night, Gayelle: The Channel showed exclusive footage of Bakr in Caracas, wearing a red Chavez cap and dark business suit, standing in the frontline of Chavez's referendum victory celebrations.

Gayelle reported that Bakr and a small entourage of his Muslimeen group, including Khalil Saif, Kala Akii Bua, Abdul Kareem Keshwar and Edmund Lecker, were guests of the Revolutionary Movement headed by Chavez, which won a recall referendum on his rule.

The group stayed at the military base hotel Circulo Fuerza Armanda in Caracas for the four-day visit which was paid for by the Venezuelan Government. Bakr was also a guest at a special ceremony for loyal military generals at which Chavez delivered the feature address.

Intelligence sources point to a Libyan connection between the two. It is understood that Bakr, who enjoys a personal friendship with Libya's Colonel Muammar Gadaffi, shuttled among Libya, Venezuela and Trinidad during the Venezuelan elections.

Chavez has been accused by opponents of receiving financial support from Libya for his presidential campaign. He is also reported to have brought in Cuban and Libyan advisers to run his security services. Libya-controlled charities funded Bakr's 1990 coup attempt.

Security sources also pointed to a Venezuelan pipeline for drugs, guns and US dollars.