"I wish my visit will help to push forward the cooperation with China in political, economic and other fields, and I look forward to making wide-ranging exchanges of views with Chinese leaders on bilateral ties and international issues," Kirchner said in an interview here with China's leading media on the eve of his first state visit to China scheduled for June 27.

Speaking highly of the remarkable achievements made in China's reform and opening up over the past 25 years, Kirchner said that during his visit he will learn earnestly from China's successful development experience, especially the Chinese government's ways to realize balanced development.

Argentina is looking for a way out after suffering from a serious economic crisis, so it pays great attention to China's development model, said the president.

Unilateralism will do no good in the current world, he said. Latin American states like Argentina should strengthen their relations with China and make joint efforts with China to establish new international relations and order.

On trade and economic cooperation, Kirchner said that Argentina is ready to open its economy to China and believes China will do the same. He said he will sign some cooperation agreements with the Chinese side during the visit and those documents will help to improve bilateral ties.

Various political and economic circles in Argentina attach great significance to the upcoming visit, said Kirchner. Argentina's key cabinet ministers, state secretaries, governors and lawmakers form major provinces as well as more than 100 entrepreneurs will accompany him on his trip to China. This has proved that expanding ties with China has become a common will of Argentina's society and political parties, the president noted.

Kirchner reiterated that Buenos Aires sticks to the one-China policy and considers the Taiwan issue an internal affair of China. Argentina respects the Chinese people's right to self-determination and will not interfere in China's domestic affairs, he stressed.

As the current rotating chairman of the South American Common Market (Mercosur), Kirchner also said he will make efforts to accelerate the cooperation between Mercosur and China.
 

Venezuela prosecutor charge alleged militia fighters with rebellion
 Prosecutors charged 64 alleged militia fighters with rebellion Thursday after accusing them of plotting to kill President Hugo Chavez.

Venezuela's military prosecutor general, Eladio Aponte, told the state-run Vanpres news agency that the suspects were among more than 130 arrested in raids last month.

The crime of rebellion carries a possible 20-year prison sentence.

The case developed after security forces on May 9 arrested a group of Colombians in military uniforms at a ranch outside Caracas and accused them of plotting against the government. Chavez said the plot included plans to kill him.

Venezuelan authorities then launched operations that led to the arrests of dozens more suspects, bringing the total in custody to 132. The Colombian Embassy said more than 70 of them were Colombians
 

Probe Finds Colombia Army Killed Execution-Style
At least one of five peasants killed by soldiers in an April incident was shot execution-style, an inquiry said on Tuesday, contrary to the army's stance that the five were mistaken for rebels and shot from a distance.

The Inspector General's office, which is independent from the government, said it was opening a criminal investigation into the April 11 incident. A 6-month-old baby was among those killed by soldiers near the town of Cajamarca, about 90 miles west of Bogota.

The U.S.-funded army -- under fire for several recent bungles -- said at the time the soldiers had mistaken the peasants for Marxist rebels during a patrol and that they fired from a distance of more than 20 yards and in bad weather.

"At least of the victims had a wound caused by a gun fired at a distance of less than 60 centimeters (2 feet), which differs from statements made by some of the soldiers involved, who said they shot at a distance of more than 20 meters (yards) and in bad visibility," the office said in a statement.

Right-wing President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally, has publicly criticized military commanders for not producing better results in the war against rebels. Critics say Uribe's pressure increases the likelihood soldiers make fatal mistakes.

On March 20, soldiers killed seven police officers and four civilians who were being held under arrest in southern Colombia. That incident, also described as a mistake by the army, is still under investigation.

Helped by U.S. military aid, the armed forces under Uribe have pushed back Marxist rebels fighting a four-decade-old war which claims thousands of lives a year.