The President’s comments, made on a recent trip to the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, is an acknowledgement of growing support in Latin America for a regional alternative to the US-led NAFTA (North American Free Trade Area) approach.

The move would also be something of a reversal from the policy of the Moscoso administration which has seemingly distanced itself from South America in favor of aligning Panama more with the Central American republics.

Mercosur was created by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay in March 1991 with the signing of the Treaty of Asuncion. It originally was set up with the intent of creating a common market and customs union between the participating countries on the basis of various forms of economic co-operation that had been taking place between Argentina and Brazil since 1986.

In a separate development, Moscoso’s attempt to seal a free trade deal with Singapore before leaving office now looks unlikely to succeed. Whilst the Panamanian negotiating team has reported that 95% of the agreement is settled, there remain some outstanding issues to be resolved.

Colombia offers to free 50 guerrillas for hostages
The Colombian government offered Wednesday in a statement to release 50 jailed guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) if the rebels free the kidnapped political and military officials.

Government peace negotiator Luis Carlos Restrepo said the Colombian government considered releasing the 50 guerrillas in accordance with Colombian law and providing them with convenience for their return to social life.

However, the FARC should free all the hostages in return, he stressed.

Restrepo said the government's offer got support from France, Switzerland and the International Red Cross, the mediators for the nation's hostage problem.

The FARC, the largest rebel group in Colombia with 17,000 combatants, has been involved in the four-decade-old civil war in the country. It required the government for many times to free more than 400 jailed guerrillas in return for the hostages of around 20 politicians, 40 military officers and three US Defense Department contractors. But the requirements have been rejected by the government.

Colombia has been plagued by a four-decade-old civil war, in which leftist rebels, far-right paramilitary and governmental troops fight one another, with an average of 3,500 people killed every year. About 2,000 people, including 22 foreigners, were kidnapped in Colombia last year.
 

Venezuelan govt agrees to new referendum audit
The Venezuelan government on Wednesday agreed to a new audit of the results of Sunday's recall referendum to clear up opposition charges that President Hugo Chavez won the vote by fraud.

"We are not the electoral authorities and don't have the final decision over the matter, but if it depended on us, the results could be analyzed as thoroughly as possible," said Venezuelan Vice President Jose Rangel.

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Cater Center (CC) backed the petition for the audit because the opposition alliance Democratic Coordination refuses to accept the results of the referendum as announced by the National Election Council (CNE).

However, the opposition coalition, who refuses to accept the referendum results and demands a recount, abstained from participating in the revision effort, according to local press.

The OAS and the CC expressed confidence Wednesday that the new audit of the referendum results will clear up doubts from the opposition.

According to the results announced by the Venezuela's National Election Council, 58.25 percent of the electorate voted for Hugo Chavez to remain in office and 41.74 percent voted for his mandate to be revoked.
 

Death toll of Salvadoran jail riot rises to 30
A riot taking place Wednesday at La Esperanza Jail, in Mariona, in the outskirts of El Salvador, left a toll of 30 dead and 28 injured, with six grenades exploding.

According to information from San Salvador, capital of El Salvador, the Director of the Penitentiary System, Rodolfo Garay, issued a 72-hour state of emergency for the police authorities and the prosecutors to carry out the proper inquiries.

The public relations official of La Esperanza Jail, Teina Torres, told the press that the dead of 30 inmates has been confirmed, but "it is presumed there are more fatalities," as in the first hours of Wednesday afternoon the authorities had not managed yet to check the whole complex because of the insecure conditions in the jail.

Torres said "the inmates are concentrated, but we don't know what is happening."

The riot started at 9:30 hours, local time (1530 GMT), when members of the gang Mara 18 attacked a group of inmates in the central patio of the jail located 25 kilometers from San Salvador.

The gang men launched half a dozen grenades and several of them, armed with guns, started to open fire, indiscriminately, onto the common inmates, said Torres.

Those injured have been taken to hospitals, many of them with bullet and knife wounds.

Commissioner Pedro Gonzalez, Deputy Director of the National Police (PNC), said that the penitentiary personnel suffered no casualties.

He said the situation "is under control as there is no more gunfire and the inmates apparently are calmed down now."