Storms leave 13 dead in Panama
At least 13 people were killed and 11,700 displaced due to floods caused by heavy storms and hurricanes hitting Panama since last week, according to the Civil Protection authorities on Tuesday.

Two bodies were retrieved over the past hours and three people were still missing following the rain. The families of the missing people have asked the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC) to keep on searching for them.

The government said the rains caused floods and landslides that destroyed 281 houses in different parts of the country.

Panama's Housing Minister, Balbina Herrera, said that by the end of the year the government will help those displaced settle down.

The rains lasted from Thursday to Friday, but stopped in the following days.

Panamanian President Martin Torrijos declared a state of emergency in the flooded areas last week.

During the past 10 days, hurricanes Ivan and Jeanne have battered Grenada, Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas.
 

Leaders of Colombia, Venezuela meet on border security
Colombia's Foreign Minister Carolina Barco met her Venezuelan counterpart Jesus Perez Tuesday in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to evaluate the situation on their border, Colombia's diplomatic sources said.

Last Friday, six Venezuelan soldiers and an engineer were killed in the Apure state. And the Colombian government blamed the cross-border killings on the country's largest rebel group -- the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said military intelligence showed the attack was carried out by rebels.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday that the attack isdue to "the internal armed conflict of Colombia" and that his country had started investigations to determine who are the perpetrators of the assassination.

During the meeting, Barco ensured that her country is "absolutely solidary" with Venezuela. "We want to support all investigations. We consider this violence unacceptable and condemnit," she added.
 

Fujimori 'to run for presidency'
Peru's self-exiled former President Alberto Fujimori says he plans to run for the presidency in 2006 - despite being banned from public office.
Mr Fujimori told a BBC online forum a third of Peruvians wanted him to run for president again, and that the ban against him was politically motivated.

Mr Fujimori sought refuge in Japan four years ago after a corruption scandal.

He is wanted in Peru on a range of charges, including murder and kidnapping. He denies any wrongdoing.

In a written reply to questions from readers of BBC news website BBCMundo.com, Mr Fujimori said "the opportunity to return to Peru will come".

"I have decided to come back to Peru and run in the next general elections in 2006," he wrote.

He declined to reveal how he planned to override the ban on public office.

The country's prosecutors are seeking a 30-year jail sentence for its former leader, who also faces allegations of corruption stemming from his 1990-2000 rule.

Peru is working to have him sent back, but he is a citizen of Japan, which bars the extradition of its citizens.

Mr Fujimori claimed Japanese citizenship based on the fact that his parents were born there.

In April, the Peruvian electoral authority invalidated a new political party set up by the former president.