Trapped tourists evacuated from Inca ruins, one dead
Hundreds of tourists stranded by a mudslide near the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu left by train on a newly-cleared rail line Sunday, as the search continued for 10 Peruvians missing and feared dead, with one Peruvian confirmed dead.

On Sunday, the train whose track had been buried by a mudslide Saturday returned the tourists to the Inca capital Cuzco.

"The rail was fixed today and the train left with the remaining tourists at 4pm," a Peru Rail company agent said from Cuzco.

No foreigners were reported missing. Between 300 and 400 tourists, including Peruvians and foreigners, were trapped in Machu Picchu when two landslides early Saturday caused by intense rain interrupted the rail line that links the site to the city of Cuzco.

The landslides also destroyed 15 homes in Aguas Calientes, the town closest to the 600-year-old ruins, where at least six people were injured.

The pre-dawn landslide cut through Aguas Calientes into the Alcamayo River which flows past the town. Helicopters began to ferry the stranded out on Saturday.

Machu Picchu was used as a refuge by the Incas. The mysterious, partially reconstructed citadel in jungle-shrouded mountains, is South America's top archaeological site. It draws 300,000 foreign visitors each year.

President Alejandro Toledo was in the area when the mudslide hit but wasn't injured. Toledo was acting as a tour guide over the Easter holiday for US cable station Discovery Travel Channel for an upcoming special on Peru.
 

Colombia: Film Festival in Cartagena.
The Brazilian film "Carandirú," directed by Héctor Babenco, on March 7 was awarded with the India Catalina de Oro statue in the 44th edition of the Cartagena Film Festival in Colombia, beating out the favorite, the Colombian-US production "María llena eres de gracia."

The film takes place in the prison of Carandirú, in Sao Paulo, which was closed in 2002 and at its worst moment held up to 10,000 prisoners, although it had a capacity for 3,500.

The film relates the story of a doctor — played by the actor Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos — who arrived at the prison to head the program of AIDS/HIV prevention and has to face serious problems, including overpopulated cells and every type of disease.

The doctor, witness to the solidarity, organization and the huge motivation to live of the inmates, wins their confidence to the point of converting his appointments into "windows" into the world of crime until Oct. 2, 1992, when the massacre of Carandirú occurs in which 111 prisoners die at the hands of police.

Colombian actress Catalina Sandino was awarded best actress for the film "María llena eres de gracia." In this edition of the festival, 17 films from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela participated.
 

Chile: Divorce Approved.
After 10 years of debate, the Chamber of Deputies on March 11 approved, by 56 votes in favor to 44 against, the new law of civil matrimony that establishes divorce and legalizes religious unions.

As a concession to the powerful Chilean Catholic Church, the law grants legal validity to religious matrimony, permitting couples to celebrate it prior to civil marriage, although the former will have no effect if it is not posted before the Civil Registry within eight working days.

To begin the divorce process in which both sides are in agreement, the couple must have lived apart for a year and three years if only one side agrees. The initiative includes a third type of divorce, in which causes like intra-family violence or lack of fulfillment of obligations, among others, are invoked.

The law takes effect six months after its publication in the official gazette.
 

Brazil: Money Laundered in Soccer
The Church of the Holy Spirit for the Unification of World Christianity — better known as the Moonies for the name of their leader, South Korean Sun Myung Moon — is making hefty investments in Brazilian soccer to distract attention from reports throughout the world that it is involved in money-laundering, tax evasion and other crimes, O Globo newspaper report in early March.

In Brazil, the Moonies cult has two football teams, the Deportivo Nueva Esperanza of Mato Grosso do Sul, where in addition it owns 800,000 hectares (1,976,000 acres) and Socoraba, a Sao Paulo team in which it invested for five years until the team made the first division.

The Secretary of Federal Tax Collections of Brazil has accused the religious organization of tax evasion for 31 million reales (US$10.7 million) annually, sponsorship of illegal immigration and money laundering for $480 million reales ($165 million).

According to O Globo, the Moonies plans to manage 12 soccer teams around the world, which would add to its multi-million investments in sectors such as metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, hotels, livestock, in addition to owning the US newspaper Washington Times and the Latin American weekly Tiempos del Mundo.