"Twenty-one members of the paramilitary forces were killed in action. All of these individuals wore military uniforms. It was a tough fight and fortunately we could beat them," Pena said.

The commander also said the number of killed paramilitaries could increase to 35, including a field commander.

The clash occurred Friday in a rural area between the municipalities of Villanueva and Monterrey, some 300 km east of Bogota.

The troops intercepted the paramilitaries when they were heading to Monterrey, said Pena.

He added that the paramilitaries belonged to the United Self-Defense Forces of Casanare, which agreed to move its fighters to a temporary demobilization zone set up by Colombian President AlvaroUribe.

In another development, the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) abducted and killed Luis Zorro, mayor of Chameza, about 50 km from the battle on Friday, regional authorities said.

Colombia has been plagued by a four-decade-old civil war, in which leftist rebels, far-right paramilitary groups and governmental troops fight one another with an average of 3,500 people killed every year.
 

Venezuela condemns Panama's pardon of anti-Castro activists
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Rangel described on Saturday as a wrong action the pardon granted by Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso to four anti-Castro Cuban exiles.

Moscoso's decision weakens the combat against terrorism, Rangel told the press at a military base in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, during celebrations of the ratification of the victory of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in a recall referendum held on Aug. 15.

Rangel charged that the US government "has a huge responsibility for what has happened" by giving asylum to the four activists and receiving them as heroes in Miami.

Jimenez, Novo and Remon have flown to the US city of Miami, but Posada Carriles' whereabouts is not known.

On Thursday, a few days before leaving office, Moscoso pardoned Luis Posada Carriles, Gaspar Jimenez, Guillermo Novo and Pedro Remon, who have been accused of involvement in assassination plots against Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

At the release, Cuba officially broke off diplomatic ties with Panama.

On Friday, Venezuela, a close ally of Cuba, announced the withdrawal of its ambassador from Panama and said President Chavez will not attend the inaugural ceremony of Panama's President-elect Martin Torrijos.

Posada Carriles have been wanted by both Cuba and Venezuela, from where he escaped in 1985 after being held for planning the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner that killed 73 people. Panama had refused a Venezuelan government request for his extradition.

Chavez vows to further carry out social plans
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vowed on Friday to further carry out the social missions taken up by his government a year ago, including better medical care, education and job training for the poorest in the country.

Chavez, whose mandate was ratified in a referendum on Aug. 15, reiterated his call "for the unity of all the Venezuelans, from the poorest to the middle class," because "all of us fit in this homeland which is here for all to live in peace and as brothers."

"From now on, the government is committed to furthering the popular missions, to advancing a lot more and giving back everything to the Venezuelan people," Chavez said while opening a parade in Caracas.

The opposition coalition of Venezuela, known as the Democratic Coalition (CD) does not accept Chavez's victory in the Aug. 15 referendum, claiming irregularities.

The CD has promised to find and present evidence of what it calls a "gigantic fraud" in the referendum before national organizations and the international community, which has already validated Chavez's victory.