Venezuela, Colombia seek to
overcome diplomatic crisis
Venezuela and Colombia are
discussing the wording of a
memorandum of understanding (MOU)
in order to overcome a
diplomatic crisis between them,
the Ultimas Noticias newspaper
said Thursday.
A solution to the crisis is in
sight as the MOU draft put forth
by the Colombian government is
under study by Caracas and
Bogota, the paper quoted
government sources as saying.
Both Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez and Colombian President
Alvaro Uribe and their cabinets
are analyzing the draft,
according to the paper.
Colombian Foreign Minister
Carolina Barco and her
Venezuelan counterpart, Ali
Rodriguez, together with their
Andean colleagues met in the
Peruvian capital of Lima on
Thursday to seek a satisfactory
solution to the crisis.
Venezuela and Colombia are
locked in a dispute over what
Venezuela claimed Colombia's
kidnapping of a rebel leader in
Caracas.
Bogota insists that the arrest
of Rodrigo Granda, foreign
relations chief of Colombia's
biggest rebel group, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia, took place in its own
territory.
Chavez recalled Venezuela's
ambassador and froze diplomatic
and business ties with Colombia
pending a public apology from
Bogota.
Colombia to demobilize over 130
AUC paramilitaries
More than 130
paramilitaries from the
right-wing United Self-Defense
Forces of Colombia (AUC) will
lay down their weapons Sunday as
part of the ongoing peace
process with the government,
officials said Thursday.
The combatants belonged to the
AUC's Southwest Bloc, said Jaime
Fajardo, peace adviser to the
provincial government of
Antioquia,
They will lay down their arms in
the rural area of Ciudad
Bolivar, southwest Antioquia, he
said.
The country's Peace Commissioner
Luis Restrepo and officials from
the Organization of American
States (OAS) will be present to
witness the process, he added.
Demobilization continues despite
a warning of AUC negotiators in
December that the process will
abort unless the government
determines the legal framework
for the peace process and the
successful return of
paramilitaries to the civil
society.
The original goal of a complete
demobilization of AUC combatants
by the end of the year seems to
be unlikely due to the absence
of legal guarantee of impunity
for their crimes.
The 20,000-strong AUC, founded
23 years ago to fight left-wing
guerrillas, were believed to
have engaged in massacres,
assassinations, kidnappings and
torture, among other crimes.
Colombia has been locked in a
four-decade civil war, the
longest in Latin America, in
which government forces, leftist
guerrillas and far-right
paramilitaries fight one
another. The conflicts kill more
than 3,000 people every year.
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Book Fair in Cuba Will Be a
Party, Brazilian Ambassador
Status
The
14th International Book Fair
will be an unforgettable party,
as a consequence of close
relations between Cuba and
Brazil, said here Brazilian
Ambassador to Havana Tilden
Santiago here Thursday.
In a press conference, Brazilian
Ambassador Tilden Santiago
pointed out the enthusiasm of
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio
(Lula) da Silva with this event,
in which political and cultural
personalities such as Brazilian
Presidency Civil House president
Jose Dirceu, National
Integration Minister Ciro Gomez,
Education Minister Tarso Genro,
and Culture Minister Gilberto
Gil, will take part.
Others like narrator Fernando
Moraes, poet Thiago de Mello,
essay writer Emir Sader and
filmmaker Orlando Senna
confirmed their participation.
Since February 3, the fortress
of San Carlos de la Cabaña in
Havana will receive 85
publishing houses from Brazil,
represented by the Brazilian
Book Chamber, the National
Editors Trade Union, and the
Small Editors League of Brazil.
Santiago made emphasis on a
conference by Brazilian
theologian Frei Betto in the
Main Hall of the University of
Havana, who will come to Cuba
with his own mother, Maria
Stella Libanio, in charge of the
menu for a friendly dinner with
traditional dishes from the
Brazilian state of Minas Gerais,
and some of her own.
Movie lovers will be able to
enjoy films on Brazilian
literature, a movie
retrospective of Glauber Rocha,
and another one dedicated to the
work of contemporary movie, with
the presence of actress Patricia
Pillar, who participated in the
film "The Quartet", nominated to
an Oscar Award in 1996.
The Cuban National Symphony
Orchestra will offer a special
concert in a tribute to Heitor
Villalobos, which soloist will
be Brazilian guitarist Turibio
Santos, while photographer Paulo
Laborne will exhibit "Mujeres do
Brasil" (Women of Brazil), a
photo gallery.
Brazil will donate the Cuban
national Library 400 book
collections with 1,000 titles
for primary and secondary
school, mainly on learning of
the Portuguese language.
On December 19, 2004,
representatives of the Brazilian
government put the first stone
in the ground to be occupied by
the Brazilian Embassy in Cuba,
which will have a design by
famous architect Oscar Niemeyer.
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