Peasants in north Nicaragua protest at government inaction 
Thousands of peasants from northern Nicaraguan states demonstrated on Tuesday on the Panamerican Highway, demanding that the government of President Enrique Bolanos honor its promise of support to the agricultural sectors. 

Irma Davila, representative of the main opposition party, Sandinista Front of National Liberation (FSLN), told local radio that nearly 5,000 peasants from the states of Matagalpa and Jinotega gathered at 25 spots along the Panamerican Highway which links Nicaragua with Honduras. 

Now, the agricultural workers have begun to move the protest from rural areas to the capital city of Matagalpa, 150 km north ofManagua, where they will stay until the government accepts their demands. 

The demonstrators, mostly coffee-producing workers, suspended work because of dropping prices of coffee on the international market. 

North Nicaragua was affected by a severe drought last year, which raised the unemployment rate and caused famine in the region,forcing some international institutions such as the United NationsWorld Food Program to move in and set up a food-for-work program. 

Davila, president of the National Assembly Production Commission, called on President Bolanos to meet as soon as possible the demands of the peasants before the problem reached a bigger dimension. 

Guatemala's Supreme Court appealed to remove president's immunity 
The Attorney General's office of Guatemala appealed to the Supreme Court on Tuesday to remove the immunity enjoyed by President Alfonso Portillo, parliament speaker Efrain Rios Montt and Interior Minister Adolfo Reyes in the wake of the violent protests last week, reports reaching here said. 

The "petition to remove the immunity of Portillo, Rios Montt and Reyes, is based on the denunciation presented before the Attorney General's office by Guatemalan journalists," said Ana Alejos, spokesperson for the Attorney General's office. 

The request seeks to bring them to trial "as accused of the presumed crimes that would have taken place last week," Alejos said. 

Thousands of followers of Rios Montt took to the streets on Thursday and Friday in Guatemala City, the capital, vowed that they wouldn't leave until judicial authorities approve the presidential candidacy of the former coup general. 

The march, reportedly supported by Rios Montt, then turned intoturmoil that led to the deaths of three people and forced the closure of government buildings and the United States Embassy. 

According to the files charged, Portillo acquiesced in the violent protests by not ordering the security forces to bring the chaos under control. 

The Constitutional Court rejected on Monday two new appeals by Rios Montt against the Supreme Court that suspended his registration as a presidential candidate. 

Guatemala's constitution barred Rios Montt from running for thepresident in 1990 and 1995 on the grounds that former coup leaderswere kept from seeking the presidency. 

Rios Montt had led the government after ousting former President Romeo Lucas through a military coup in 1982, but he was overthrown 18 months later.

Brazilian government claims lack of funds for landless peasants 
The Brazilian government said Tuesday it lacks money to fulfill its promise to settle 60,000 families of the Landless Peasant Movement by the end of the year. 

The secretary general of the Presidency, Luiz Dulci, told the press the government can barely settle 10,000 families. 

During a meeting with the governors of Brazil on Monday, President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva said he will tackle the agrarian problem in the coming days, as the tensions between peasants and landowners is increasing in recent weeks. 

Lula promised in May to settle 60,000 families this year. 

But the figures from the Agrarian Development Ministry show that the available funds will be sufficient to settle 11,300 families, accounting for 22 percent of Lula's goal. 

Chile suspends meat imports from two Argentine provinces 
The outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease reported in Paraguay led Chilean authorities Tuesday to suspend meat imports from two northern Argentine provinces bordering Paraguay. 

The Chilean Agriculture Service said in a communique that the measure to apply to the Argentine provinces of Salta and Formosa was supported by the National Sanitation and Agricultural Quality Service of Argentina. 

It said the Chilean authorities have beefed up its epidemic control in the border areas of Tarapaca and Antofagasta in the north of the country after the animal epidemic broke out in the Bolivian states of Chuquisaca and Potosi. 

The agriculture ministers of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile,Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay held a meeting last week in Bolivia, to increase cooperation on fighting the foot-and-mouth disease in the region. 

They signed an agreement to set in motion an emergency plan, including a mass vaccination campaign. 

The ministers also pledged their governments' efforts to eradicate the animal disease by 2009. 

Foot-and-mouth disease is highly contagious and it mainly affects sheep, pigs and cattle, but not humans.