Venezuelan party quits opposition coalition
A Venezuelan party seceded from the opposition alliance, known as the Democratic Coordination, on Friday following an attempt in vain to oust President Hugo Chavez last month.

The Justice First party withdrew from the opposition coalition in order to present itself as the "first truly alternative party of Venezuela," party leader Julio Borges told reporters.

Borges denied that the decision resulted from rapprochement with the left-wing government of Chavez and affirmed it was aimed at improving ties between the party and the Venezuelan people.

The opposition alliance was seriously weakened after the failure of the recall vote in August. It admitted on Thursday having committed errors that prevented itself from detecting the presumed fraud of authorities.

The Justice First also called for creation of the Electoral Committee, an organization that groups mayors and governors of the opposition who will participate in the regional elections on Oct. 31.

Meanwhile, the National Electoral Council (CNE) reiterated on Friday there was not enough evidence to challenge the results of the recall vote, which handed an easy victory for President Chavez.

"In the presented document there was not a single piece of concrete evidence certifying the denunciation," CNE President Jorge Rodriguez told the national radio and television.

Chavez won the Aug. 15 referendum with 59.25 percent of the votes to defeat an opposition bid to recall him from office. But the opposition has refused to accept Chavez's victory, claiming irregularities.
 

Brazil collects clothes, food for storm victims in Haiti
The Brazilian government asked on Friday its citizens to donate clothes and food for thousands of victims of Tropical Storm Jeanne in Haiti.

Presidential spokesman Andre Singer said the donations were due to arrive at the army bases of Brasilia, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and Curitiba on Friday.

According to information from Haiti, the number of deaths caused by floods, torrents and mudslides following Jeanne numbered 1,000, while 1,200 individuals were missing.

The lack of water and food has led to a humanitarian crisis in the Caribbean country.

Members of the United Nations Mission for the Stability of Haiti (MINUSTAH) opened fire into the air on Thursday in an attempt to control individuals snatching for food and medicine.

MINUSTAH Commander, Brazilian general Heleno Ribeiro, considered as despairing the situation in the northern city of Gonaives, the hardest-hit one in Haiti, due to the lack of water and food for the victims.

On Wednesday, Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva extended a message of solidarity to his Haitian counterpart Boniface Alexandre.

Also in the day, the Brazilian government sent 552 kg of medicine to Haiti.

Jeanne, which has developed into a hurricane now after shifting away from Haiti, advanced over the Atlantic toward the Bahamas.

It is expected to turn into a major hurricane on Friday as it is moving on a westerly track that may attack Florida of the United States by the weekend.

Jeanne also killed at least 11 in the Dominican Republic and three in Puerto Rico, leaving large areas of crops under water and several towns and villages cut off by mudslides that blocked roads.
 

Four American countries to launch joint military exercises
Brazil, Chile, Argentina and the United States next week will launch joint military exercises dubbed as Salitre aimed at training the eventual coalition forces under the command of the United Nations, the Brazilian Air Force (BAF) has announced.

The drills, which will be staged for 12 days in a desert area of north Chile, have been proposed by Chile in response to a call by the UN Security Council, local reports Friday quoted BAF Brigadier Jose Pereira as saying.

He added that the air forces from the four countries will join the military maneuver.

"The operation will serve to train our pilots. We're going to exchange experience with other countries," Pereira said.

The exercises will be fundamental to increase mutual confidence among the countries of the continent, Pereira said.

Six F5-E and one KC-135 plane (for air refueling) from the BAF,Mirage fighters from Argentina and Chile, and F-16s from the United States will be involved in the operation.

The brigadier said his country has already held similar exercises in Brazilian territory, like operations Cruzex, in 2003,with the participation of Chile, Argentina and France.

Operation Salitre is the second one in which the Brazilian military has participated outside the country. The first one, dubbed as Red Flag, was conducted in the United States in 1998.