Fidel Castro Encourages People in Regions Hard-Hit by Ivan
A visit by Cuban President Fidel Castro has supplied tremendous encouragement to people in the westernmost town of Sandino; they are currently resisting the catastrophic force winds of Hurricane Ivan.

The Cuban Revolution’s leader stayed in town for two hours Monday afternoon and spoke with authorities at the Municipal Catastrophe Center.

President Castro was particularly interested in details relating to the Guanahacabibes Peninsula-one of Cuba’s six biosphere reserves-and measures being taken to protect human lives, particularly those of residents of coastal areas sure to suffer from flooding.

Fidel Castro also inquired about current programs being undertaken by the Revolution, including the operation of a modern nephrology ward which remains in operation despite threatening weather conditions.

In statements to the press, Fidel Castro said being with the people in hard times is part of a tradition, such as the current moment in which the westernmost zone of the country is once again under threat by a natural phenomenon.

The passage of Hurricane Ivan is said to be the largest such natural phenomena to have affected the region in the past 50 years.

As Ivan was hitting Sandino, heavy rains and more than 200- km per hour gales were pummeling the rest of the region, conditions that meteorologists anticipated and which prompted the evacuation of nearly 14,000 people.

Maria del Carmen Concepcion Gonzalez, president of the Provincial Defense Council, accompanied President Castro during his visit to Sandino and other zones in western Pinar del Rio province which are being hit by Hurricane Ivan.

Road accident in Colombia kills six, injures two
A vehicle smuggling gasoline from Venezuela crashed and exploded in northeast Colombia early Monday, killing six people aboard, police said.

The police said the accident took place on the road between Colombia's northeastern city of Cucuta and Venezuela's border city of San Antonio de Tachira as the vehicle carrying about 100 gallons of gasoline crashed into a power pole and exploded.

Among the dead were a pregnant woman and her three children.

They also said the other two persons on board who were also seriously injured have been taken to a hospital in Cucuta, capital of the department of Norte de Santander.

Smuggling fuel from Venezuela into Colombia is commonplace despite efforts by the Colombian authorities to stop this illegal practice.
 

Argentina warns of possible armed clashes in Haiti
After expressing its worry over the crisis faced by Haiti, Argentinian Defense Prime Minister Jose Pampuro warned on the possibility of armed clashes in this country, local press said Monday.

According to the statement made by Pampuro published by the local press, the skirmishes could occur on October 18, the date when the Haitian army was dissolved by former president of Haiti.

The official warned that some 2,000 men remain clandestine to-date and intelligence analysts following the situation claimed this could "generate a violence escalation."

Pampuro said it will "all depend on the political times" and for that, Chilean ambassador Juan Valdes, who is also the representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, asked for help to re-assemble the Haitian political system.

"There are no patterns, no identification documents; the State archives were burnt," said Pampuro, who stressed that in order to face the electoral process in Haiti, "a census will be required, along with the production of an electoral registry, and only then elections can be called."
 

Chile rejects negotiating border limits with Peru
Chile has rejected the petition of Peru for a revision of the maritime limits between the two countries and affirmed these borders are determined by international treaties in effect for over half a century.

The Chilean Foreign Minister, Soledad Alvear, said in a statement released Monday by the press that the position of her country "is very clear on the matter."

With respect to the statement made last Saturday by Peru, saying it will resort to international institutions to attain the revision of the maritime border with Chile, Alvear said that to Chile the matter of the border with Peru is sorted out.

She also said that Peru has signed border treaties not only with Chile, but also with Ecuador.

On Saturday, President Ricardo Lagos reiterated that the issue of the maritime demarcation was solved in 1947 and the 200 maritime miles were determined. There is an agreement in this sense between Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, he said.

"From the Chilean perspective, this is a very simple issue: there is no issue," said the president.