South American leaders sign Ayacucho Declaration
One day after creating the South American Community of Nations (CSN), a continent wide political-economic bloc, the leaders of South America on Thursday signed the Ayacucho Declaration, which expounds the foundations of the community.

The declaration sets the elements of the new-born CSN, as the continuation of the legacy of struggling for independence, and based on sentiments of liberty, equality, solidarity, justice and fraternity.

"The citizen-security conditions and the need to face new threats are inherent part of the right to the social and economic rights of the people," reads the Ayacucho Declaration.

The document was signed by representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Panama,Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The ceremony on Thursday took place in Pampa de la Quinua in Ayacucho department, 550 kilometers southeast of the Peruvian capital. Before the signing of the declaration, the participating presidents marked the 180th anniversary of the battle that ended the Spanish colonial rule.

The gathering at the scene of the Battle of Ayacucho was meant as a tribute to independence hero Simon Bolivar's unfulfilled dream of a united South America. In Ayacucho, 180 years ago, the armies of the newly formed South American republics sealed the independence of South America when the Spanish Crown troops surrendered.

On the same day, the 12 South American countries, plus Mexico and Panama, agreed to meet next July in Brazil to analyze citizen-security issues in the face of new world threats.

A day before, twelve countries in the region signed the Cusco Declaration at the southern Peruvian Andean city of Cusco to give birth to the CSN, which Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said could take a shape similar to the European Union in 20 years.
 

One killed, 40 injured in riots in Venezuela
One person was killed and 40 others injured when some street vendors clashed with police in downtown Caracas, local media reported Thursday.

Clashes broke out Wednesday morning when the vendors refused to abandon their workplaces while the municipal police were carrying out an eviction operation.

Around 200 of them blocked the University Avenue in downtown Caracas with tires and three burnt buses.

The police responded with rubber bullets and tear-gas bombs and arrested 26. A 25-year-old man was shot in the head and died in the riots which lasted for six hours.

Several street vendors involved in the conflicts told local press that the police agents arrived Tuesday night and forced the eviction, stealing food and clothing during the operation.

"We were ransacked by the Caracas police, and Libertador municipality Mayor Freddy Bernal betrayed us," one said.

In the market for a change? Click here!

. Venezuela to ask US to extradite murder suspect Venezuela will request the United States to extradite a suspect who is implicated in the murder of political crimes prosecutor Danilo Anderson, should he be in the North American country, a senior official said here Thursday. According to Interior and Justice Minister Jesse Chacon, the information from official intelligence organizations indicates that Johan Pena is in the United States. Chacon expects the US government to cease to speak in theoretical terms of anti-terrorism and really support other countries when extremist actions occur. On Dec. 5, local police authorities found a suitcase in the building where Pena used to live, with pamphlets and information related to terrorist acts of the past and present in Venezuela. Last November, Anderson died after a powerful explosive device blew up in his vehicle, while traveling through Chaguaramos, southeast of Caracas. The prosecutor was in charge of investigating the files of figures opposed to President Hugo Chavez, who participated in the failed coup d'etat in April 2002. According to the preliminary investigation, the murder was planned by a group of 12 people.