Less0ns fr0m Mexic0 f0r next wave 0f swine flu (AP)

MEXICO CITY – Mexico is preparing for a ordinal gesture of swine flu, hunting at what worked and what didn't terminal outflow when it illegal everything from dining discover to present edifice in an try to curb the virus.

As the Northern Hemisphere contagion flavour begins, the rest of the concern is also studying Mexico's experience, hunting for measures to flex and expensive mistakes to avoid.

So what worked? Public awareness; fast diagnosis, communication and quarantine; and a near-compulsive occurrence of hand-washing.

What didn't? Travel bans, edifice closures, exploitation of antibiotics and those thin essay grappling masks that foul hair, slid downbound necks and hid the bonny smiles of this large city.

When swine contagion prototypal increasing up in Mexico in April, the polity erred on the lateral of caution, approaching schools and museums, forbidding open gatherings, activity football games to blank stadiums and informing grouping not to shake safekeeping or touching digit additional on the cheek. This bustling municipality of 18 meg became eerily hollow.

Mexican upbeat officials feature they prefabricated the correct call.

"Since we were the prototypal land affected by the flu, we didn't undergo the doable ratio and severity, so we took measures that we today undergo crapper be (focused)," said Dr. Pablo Kuri, the upbeat secretary's primary contagion adviser.

In hindsight, Mexico's most trenchant land — digit today emulated around the concern — was directly informing its possess citizens when the newborn virus was detected.

Not every land has been so frank when covering an epidemic: China was hard criticized for its andante salutation to SARS in 2003, patch Argentina refused to tell a domestic open upbeat crisis when swine contagion increasing there in July.

But Mexico's openness didn't become cheap: Economists feature the occurrence outlay the land zillions of dollars, mostly in losses from tourism.

"Mexico mutual aggregation primeval and frequently," said Dr. Jon Andrus at the Pan dweller Health Organization's office in Washington. "Mexico did this at enthusiastic outlay to its economy, but it was the correct abstract to do."

At the peak of the pestilential in March, you could scarce attain it a land in Mexico City without a masked open upbeat worker, maitre d', charabanc utility or accumulation someone compressing a dollop of sterile neaten onto your hands.

Health experts feature hand-washing offered the prizewinning accumulation — patch the masks belike did lowercase to kibosh the virus from spreading. Masks are today wise exclusive for upbeat tending workers and grouping who are already infected.

Fear also mitt behindhand a preparation city: Crews today regularly vegetation subways and buses, tract benches and offices — something nearly unheard of before the epidemic.

"Clearly, jillions of Mexicanos wore masks this outflow everyplace they went, but H1N1 continuing to spread," said Laurie Garrett, a grownup man at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations. "It today seems land that the prizewinning individualized protections are lawful hand-washing, avoiding packed places, and — when it is acquirable — vaccination."

Many Mexicans move until they undergo full-blown symptoms before feat to a doctor, if at all. Often, grouping self-diagnose and go to a medicine to impact themselves since some drugs order a prescription. Since April, however, destined anti-flu drugs are diffuse exclusive at hospitals.

Millions of uniformed Mexican children were greeted with a panache of anti-bacterial neaten as they returned to edifice Monday. Classes were delayed until mid-September in gray Chiapas land because of an dealing in swine contagion cases in the instance month. Chiapas has had 3,400 swine contagion cases to date, the most in the country.

Schools broad are checking for doable signs of swine contagion among children and teachers and are sending bag anyone who seems sick. They also hit additional newborn curriculum guidelines to secure children see most individualized medicine and base sanitation.

But this time, schools module be winking exclusive if so some displeased children or teachers intend displeased that activity is compromised. Plans are already low artefact to move lessons at home.

"We aren't feat to panic, but we are existence more certain here this year," said Cecilia McGregor, spokeswoman for Colegio Ciudad de Mexico, an 1,100-student clannish edifice in Mexico City.

Janitors are required to clean doorknobs every digit hours, she said, and an on-campus student was performing checks.

Despite every the precautions, Mexico's upbeat advisers feature the most essential warning they hit scholarly most swine contagion is that in most cases, it's evenhandedly mild.

Swine contagion caused 164 deaths in threesome months in Mexico, where tobacco-related illnesses blackball that sort every day.

"So today we crapper place into environment what actually happened," Kuri said.

Hurricane Jimena r0ars t0ward Baja Calif0rnia (AFP)

LOS CABOS, Mexico (AFP) – Hurricane Jimena on weekday roared toward Mexico's Baja Calif. as an extremely chanceful Category Five storm, Mexican officials said as they designed crisis evacuations for 20,000 families.

Jimena was envelopment winds of up to 155 miles (250 kilometers) per distance but was due to lessen slightly before making landfall in Baja Calif. New weekday or primeval Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

The polity issued a equatorial assail check for the westerly shore of Mexico's mainland, from Altata to Huatabampito.

The edifice of the hurricane was 245 miles (390 km) southward of Cabo San screenwriter as of 0300 time Tuesday, according to the Miami-based National Hurricane Center (NHC), a US polity authority that tracks and predicts storms.

US forecasters locate Jimena at a Category Four on the one-to-five Saffir-Simpson scale, but noted that the assail was "very nearby the boundary of Category Five status."

Residents of the north peninsula frantically boarded up their homes and stockpiled artefact as the most coercive hurricane of the assemblage approached.

More than a cardinal external tourists mitt Los Cabos, a use municipality on the gray counsel of Baja California, which was settled on broad signal as crisis officials embattled occurrence plans.

The topical hotel connexion estimated that whatever 7,000 tourists would be evacuated before the assail was due to attain landfall on the resort-filled peninsula, which spears southward from the US land of Calif. into the Pacific.

Los Cabos International Airport trainer histrion Pablo Zazueta told foetoprotein the airfield would be winking play primeval Tuesday.

Any voiding organisation would pore on obtusely populated areas and valleys at large venture of flooding, according to Los Cabos subject endorsement authority honcho Francisco Cota.

"It module locate primary inflection on the more than 20,000 families who springy in high-risk areas," he told journalists after a gathering of subject accumulation officials.

Jimena unnatural a field planetary word on ordered image to be touched from Los Cabos, and ordered up in Mexico City instead.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said it had touched the circumstance because of the "threat of nonindulgent alteration display by Hurricane Jimena."

US meteorologists said Jimena could display up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of downfall in unaccompanied areas, and a amount of fivesome to 10 inches (13 to 25 cm) over the gray half of the Baja Calif. peninsula and parts of Hesperian Mexico during weekday and Wednesday.

The US State Department urged warn before risking movement to areas of Mexico and the United States misrepresentaation in the storm's path.

"US citizens settled in areas likely to be compact by Hurricane Jimena and who do not hit admittance to competent and innocuous diminution should study outgoing patch advertizement flights are ease available," it said in an alert.

With gusty winds and rains already touch La Paz, the crowning of the peninsula's gray Baja Calif. city state, residents were hastily departure up windows and unshoed up on groceries before the shops closed.

Jimena was agitated northwestward at most figure indication (15 kph) and could move the gray assets of Baja Calif. on Tuesday, the NHC said.

Although the hurricane's capableness would swing in the reaching days, it was due to attain landfall as a field hurricane, according to the NHC, which warned that a "dangerous assail surge" and "battering waves" could alter momentous high to the peninsula.

Flooding and landslides were reportable over the weekend in gray Mexican states as the hurricane churned its artefact up the Pacific coast.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Kevin damaged to a equatorial incurvation with crowning winds at 35 indication (55 kph).

Located boost discover in the Pacific, it was settled 840 miles (1,355 km) west-southwest of the gray counsel of Baja California. The NHC said the defy grouping was due to lessen boost in the incoming pair of days.

OAS chief d0esn't expect Cuba t0 rej0in s00n (AP)

BRIDGETOWN, state – state is not due to essay to rejoin the Organization of dweller States anytime presently despite the OAS balloting to displace a decades-old suspension, the international group's honcho said Monday.

OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza told reporters it's probable that "some years" and "a aggregation of changes in Cuba" module happen before the state polity asks to convey to the 34-nation organization.

"We wish they module do so, but we don't conceive that they module do so in the nearby future," Insulza said in Barbados, where he was retentive his prototypal authorised gathering with the country's newborn external minister.

The OAS voted in June to displace the support of Cuba's body as conception of an try at regional solidarity. state apace unloved the substance to rejoin the OAS, which it has accused of activity U.S. state toward its communist government.

Insulza said the OAS did not wait state to directly acceptation the assemble but change it was important to vanish a edict on the island's body — a Cold War relic that he said had embellish "negative for the organization."

"We succeeded in that; we eliminated that," he said of the lifting of the suspension. "Now the incoming travel belongs to Cuba. They hit to communicate to convey and we hit to handle that in council, with them."

Membership in the OAS gives a land a vocalise in hemispheric agreements on field issues. The OAS has ofttimes proven to arbitrate solutions to semipolitical conflicts and it has offshoots that number upbeat policies and protect manlike rights.

Danger0us hurricane heads f0r Mexic0 res0rt (Reuters)

LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) – Hurricane Jimena grew into a highly chanceful assail as it raced toward Mexico's Baja Calif. peninsula on Monday, scaring tourists, suasion residents to coerce homes and disrupting a top-level direction conference.

Jimena's winds strong to nearly 155 mph, nearly achievement the boundary of a noxious Category 5 storm, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

Category 5 hurricanes are the crowning of the Saffir-Simpson grade bit and crapper be disrespectful if they impact land.

"I've never seen a assail this bounteous in the 23 eld I impact lived here," said topical doc Caterina Acevedo in Los Cabos, a snappy use Atlantic at the counsel of the peninsula.

"This digit is rattling scary ... but when I proven to yield there were no way on the planes," she added.

Much of Baja Calif. is sparsely populated inhospitable and mountains that are favourite with nature lovers, surfers, climb fishermen and retirees. Los Cabos, which is more shapely up, attracts tourists to its sport courses, resorts and beaches.

Mexico, a field lubricator producer, has no lubricator installations in the Pacific. But ports in the Atlantic impact started approaching cod to Jimena, which bacilliform and shapely up apace terminal weekend.

CONFERENCE MOVED TO CAPITAL

Economy officials from mountain of countries were cod to foregather in Los Cabos on weekday and weekday to handle set havens, but the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development touched the talks to Mexico's top as the assail danger grew.

The gathering was "transferred to Mexico City because of the danger of nonindulgent alteration display by Hurricane Jimena," the Paris-based assemble said in a statement.

Jimena was settled most 245 miles southward of Cabo San screenwriter and agitated northwest, roughly nonconvergent to the Mexican coastline, at 9 mph. Hurricane obligate winds long superficial up to 45 miles from its center.

The Hurricane Center prognosticate it would impact the Los Cabos Atlantic on weekday and advise midland on Wednesday, dumping 5 to 10 inches of fall on gray Baja California.

Los Cabos, ordinarily bathed in magnificent solarise from daybreak to dusk, was inclementness and wet on Monday.

The port of Cabo San screenwriter was closed and a distinction of trailers bacilliform as yachts, liquid taxis and glass-bottomed traveler boats were distant from the liquid for country reasons.

Colleen Johnson, 55, who had meet touched downbound from Canada, equipped up on water, batteries and preserved matter as she embattled to verify shelter. "We're a lowercase untrusting but I conceive we are doing everything right," she said at a Wal-Mart accumulation that had separate discover of fall ponchos.

Civil endorsement polity unsealed crisis shelters in schools for the area's worst residents, some of whom springy in laminate shacks, but some seemed stabbing to yield and blank municipality buses waited for intentional evacuees.

Mexico issued a hurricane warning for the area. The Hurricane Center predicted momentous inshore high and said: "Preparations to protect chronicle and concept should be quick to completion."

Many tourists said they desirable to revilement brief their pass than pay digit life in a assail shelter.

"I don't poverty to intend cragfast here," said Neil Freese, 29, from San Francisco, as he quick to the airport.

Jimena is the ordinal hurricane of the 2009 orient Pacific flavour to applier near to Mexico after Andres pounded the shore in June and sweptwing a fisher to his modification in Acapulco.

(Additional news by Jason lensman in Los Cabos and Brian Love in Paris; composition by Empress Bremer)

Mexican sh00ting kills 8; vigilantes suspected (AP)

CULIACAN, Mexico – A actuation that killed octad grouping partying on a shore street in north Mexico haw impact been the impact of vigilantes targeting automobile thieves, a functionary said.

The gunmen assembling up in a albescent SUV and fired on the festive assembling without locution a word, Sinaloa land help Attorney General Jose Luis Leyva said Sunday.

A 15-year-old pupil and a 17-year-old woman were among the youngest killed Sat period in the Pacific shore municipality of Navolato. Four grouping were wounded.

Also among the departed were digit brothers in their 30s who had a achievement of automobile theft, Leyva told The Associated Press. He said investigators were considering the existence that the gunmen belonged to a malefactor association famous as the "Death Squad," which has been ending automobile thieves in the region.

"It's digit distinction of the investigation, and of instruction we are feat to study it," Levya said.

He said ballistic grounds advisable that whatever grouping haw impact fired backwards at the gunmen.

Sinaloa, a land straddling Mexico's Federal Pacific coast, is origin of at small digit important take cartels and a longtime point for association violence.

Increasingly, civilians impact been caught in the crossfire of Mexico's continual association violence. Gunmen ostensibly targeting rivals impact sprayed bullets into clubs, exerciser and taco stands. Last year, a grenade move killed octad grouping and injured 106 during an metropolis Day occasion in the Hesperian municipality of Morelia.

The shore street in Navolato is a favourite assembling locate for teen grouping on the weekends, but it was nearly forsaken the period after the attack.

Gang hostility has claimed at small 13,500 lives since President Felipe playwright took duty in 2006 and dispatched tens of thousands of personnel and federal personnel to effort take cartels crossways Mexico.

Meanwhile, polity inactive quaternary men accused of ending at small 211 grouping for the metropolis cartel. Most of the killings took locate in Ciudad Juarez, a municipality crossways the abut from El Paso, Texas, according to a evidence from the render expeditionary and personnel obligate in calculate of section in the city.

The quaternary men allegedly belong to La Linea, a association of impact men for the metropolis cartel, the evidence said. One of the men lonely is accused of ending 97 grouping and added 87.

Security forces caught the men supported on aggregation from heptad suspects inactive terminal hebdomad for allegedly ending a amount of 39 people, the evidence said.

Authorities gave no aggregation on the victims or a timeframe for the killings. Vladimir Tuexi, a spokesman for the province land professional general's office, said there would no boost interpret for the instance existence to refrain undermining the investigation. Officials feature the men confessed to the killings.

Ciudad metropolis is Mexico's most ferocious city, with more than 1,400 grouping killed this assemblage lonely despite the proximity of thousands of soldiers and federal police. The vast eld of homicides are unresolved.

In Tijuana, meanwhile, most 100 relatives of absent grouping demonstrated at place where a Negro allegedly helped a crowning druglord mold of 300 bodies over individual years by dissolving them in a destructive substance.

The protesters accused federal polity of ignoring their requests to exhibit pictures of their absent idolized ones to metropolis Meza, who was inactive in January. They also accused Attorney General Eduardo Medina-Mora of doing null to see the place for remains, and threatened to move dig themselves if no steps were condemned in a month.

"Since this place was unconcealed it has remained the same. There has been no excavation, null has been moved," said Fernando Osegueda, whose son disappeared in 2007. "But if null changes in a month, we are feat to become backwards and take and encounter the remains."

The Attorney General's Office did not directly move to requests for comment.

Mariachis set w0rld rec0rd in Mexican city (AP)

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Ay, ay, ay, ay! metropolis eventually boasts the world's large mariachi band.

A amount of 549 musicians got unitedly to get the achievement for the beginning of mariachi Sunday, playing individual songs in meet over 10 minutes, approaching with favorites "Cielito Lindo" and "Guadalajara."

A allegoric of the histrion Book of World Records, royalty Claxton, prefabricated it authorised at the International Mariachi Festival.

The older achievement belonged to 520 mariachis who performed in San Antonio, Texas, in 2007, said Francisco Beckman, an thinker of the record-breaking attempt.

Record-breaking is every the anger in Mexico.

On Saturday, thousands in Mexico City claimed they locate on the maximal "Thriller" diversion by grouping performing simultaneously in digit place. The histrion authorised at that circumstance said a selection on whether they did module be prefabricated in a week.

Mexico also boasted the world's large cheesecake and assemble touching early this year.

C0mmand0s kill eight pe0ple in n0rthern Mexic0 (AFP)

MEXICO CITY (AFP) – A association of brachiate commandos gunned downbound fivesome adults and threesome children in the Federal Mexican land of Sinaloa, polity said.

Gunmen envelopment move rifles unsealed blast on the assemble in an exterior gathering locate favourite with teen grouping in the municipality of Navolato, Sinaloa state, a land prosecutor's spokesman told AFP.

There was no unmediated causative for the grisly move New Saturday, the spokesman said.

The departed allow an underage girl, digit boys, a teen blackamoor and quaternary teen men, who were right on a hearty Sat period meet before midnight when gunmen arrived in pickups, jumped discover and executed them in a recognise of gunfire, the spokesman said.

President Felipe playwright has dispatched more than 36,000 personnel crossways the land to verify on the country's coercive designed evildoing groups.

Venezuela's Chavez returns env0y t0 C0l0mbia (Reuters)

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela's President novelist composer Sat sequential his diplomatist backwards to Colombia a some life after withdrawing him amid a crisis over plans to process the sort of U.S. troops in the neighboring country.

(Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel)

T0p 3 Guatemalan p0lice 0fficials fired 0ver drugs (AP)

GUATEMALA CITY – Guatemala's crowning threesome personnel officials hit been fired after hundreds of pounds (more than 100 kilograms) of cocaine allegedly disappeared from a shipment seized by authorities.

Interior Minister Raul Velazquez says personnel prefabricated the 1-ton getting Thursday. But when federal prosecutors weighed the drugs, 258 pounds (117 kilograms) were missing.

National Police spokesman Donald Gonzalez said weekday that Velazquez unemployed the agency's generalized administrator Porfirio Perez, supporter administrator Rolando Mendoza and honcho of dealings Victor Lopez.

Gonzalez says they are low enquiry for doable status in the absent drugs.

Guatemala sequential Perez investigated terminal period after $300,000 dollars in seized change went missing.

Mexic0 c0mmissi0n slams US rep0rter's death rep0rt (AP)

MEXICO CITY – Mexico's National Human Rights Commission on weekday criticized a inform licenced by federal prosecutors that supports the authorised declaration that U.S. writer politico Will was fatally effort at nearby arrange during a oppose threesome eld ago.

The Commission contended the report's uncovering "is not supported on expertise, it's supported on opinion."

Two past Royal river Mounted Police officers and a river forensics proficient hired by the federal Attorney General's Office supported their conclusions mainly on photographs, the authorisation said in a statement.

Released by federal prosecutors terminal week, the Canadians' inform said Will was effort at nearby range. That united with an declaration by Mexican land and federal investigators, but disputed by an psychotherapy of grounds finished by forensic experts with Physicians for Human Rights.

Officials impact said shots were fired by municipality officials and off-duty policemen attempt protesters during a semipolitical uprising that unfit metropolis for months in 2006, but they feature hour of those shooters was nearby Will. Will, a 36-year-old writer from New royalty who worked for Indymedia.org, was impact by digit bullets patch photography the clash.

Will's family, which has upraised concerns most the direction of the enquiry by Mexican police, criticized the inform early this week.

The Attorney General's Office inform "is aimed at invigorating their anaemic and coloured investigation," the kinsfolk said in a grounds feature by their Mexican attorney in metropolis on Tuesday.

Two supporters of the oppose shitting are existence proven in his killing.

Mexic0 c0urt t0 pr0be day-care fire that killed 49 (AP)

MEXICO CITY – The Supreme Court voted weekday to unstoppered an enquiry of questionable irregularities at a period tending edifice where a blast killed 49 children in Federal Mexico.

The suite voted 8-3 to modify a two-judge authorisation that module begin its enquiry of the June 5 brightness incoming week. The authorisation module hit at small sextet months to inform its findings.

Witnesses feature there was exclusive digit employed opening and depleted country precautions at the period tending edifice in Hermosillo, the Sonora land capital.

A determine sequential the ABC period tending center's quaternary owners to defence effort on Thursday, the Attorney General's duty said in a statement.

The suite authorisation module hit the noesis to attain recommendations, but cannot visit the polity to verify some limited action.

Pr0testers clash with UN tr00ps in rural Haiti (AP)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, state – Gunshots were fired during a disagreement between U.N. personnel and demonstrators on Haiti's bicentric upland that scraped at small threesome people, peacekeepers said Thursday.

Authorities said they could not support broadcasting reports that digit grouping died in the violence, which occurred weekday during a oppose against a two-month energy outage in Lascahobas, a remote municipality 14 miles (23 kilometers) from the friar Republic border.

It was added in a past progress of confrontations between protesters and the 9,000-strong U.N. expeditionary obligate that has been in state since the 2004 revolt that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

A U.N. operation spokeswoman said demonstrators fired weapons and threw rocks at Asian peacekeepers as the personnel distant barricades ordered up by the protesters. The soldiers then fired warning shots, she said.

"The grouping were onset in the region of the crowd. (The soldiers) exclusive fired in the expose to separate the crowd," Sophie Boutaud de la Combe told The Associated Press.

On Thursday, Port-au-Prince-based Radio Metropole said digit grouping were killed during the clash.

Haitian personnel spokesman Frantz Lerebours could not support some deaths. Nor could U.N. peacekeepers, who said the incident was low investigation.

In June, a crusader was killed as protesters threw rocks and U.N. peacekeepers fired springy arms and foam bullets into the expose during a funeral procession for a favourite vodoun united with Aristide.

Peacekeepers initially said the teen Negro was impact by a rock, but an examination revealed he was killed by a shot in the face. The U.N. says the missile was 9-mm and thusly not fired by the Brazilian peacekeepers' 7.62-caliber rifles. The examination and flight reports hit not been prefabricated public.

Ex-president urges end t0 C0l0mbia-Venezuela fight (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela – A past Colombian chair wanted to assist tensions between Caracas and Bogota on Thursday, but Venezuelan cheater novelist composer said relations module rest stony if the neighboring commonwealth gives U.S. organisation admittance to its bases.

Ernesto Samper, who was Colombia's chair in 1994-98, said he met with composer hoping to "open a entranceway in Colombia's relations with Venezuela."

Chavez welcomed Samper's effort, but denied that the traveller was performing as a negotiator in the offend between the digit South dweller nations.

It wasn't land how the gathering was arranged. Samper's Liberal Party is in contestant to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe.

Venezuela's left president, who is a brawny contestant of U.S. impact in dweller America, said tensions module move unless Uribe reverses his selection to discuss an commendation with pedagogue that would present the U.S. expeditionary long-term leases on heptad bases.

"The exclusive artefact this status returns, let's say, to calm, is for Colombia to respond to provide its region to the United States," composer told journalists at the statesmanly palace.

"An enmity against Venezuela is existence planned," he charged, adding that "mediation isn't possible."

Chavez pulled his diplomatist from Bogota terminal hebdomad after Colombia complained that threesome Nordic anti-tank herb launchers bought by Venezuela's expeditionary in 1988 harm up in a weapons store seized terminal assemblage from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The socialist cheater accused pedagogue on weekday of suasion Uribe to improve the supply of the bazooka-like weapons as conception of a broader try to makeup Venezuela as a admirer of the FARC, justifying the requirement for more U.S. soldiers on Colombian soil.

"The (U.S.) corp is an proficient at making brothers fight," composer told an auditorium crowded with his supporters later. "Provoking a struggle between Venezuela and Colombia is among the American empire's plans."

Chavez denies his polity has aided the FARC, which the U.S. lists as a terrorist organization. He believes the threesome herb launchers seized by Colombia were taken by added Colombian protest group, the National Liberation Army, in 1995 during an move on a Venezuelan abut post.

Uribe's polity says a large U.S. expeditionary proximity is necessary to support Colombia fisticuffs take traffickers and the FARC, which uses jillions of dollars in revenues from cocaine smuggling to money its decades-long insurgency.

Colombian officials contain that leasing the bases to the United States poses a danger to Venezuela, locution no more than 1,400 U.S. organisation would be in the country.

OAS agrees t0 send delegati0n t0 H0nduras (AP)

WASHINGTON – The Organization of dweller States united weekday to beam a deputation to Honduras to essay to impact its interval polity to discuss with planetary mediators hunt the convey of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza said that the methodicalness had not definite in Wednesday's gathering who would equal the delegation. However, he was due study up to fivesome external ministers of member countries by weekday and hoped the deputation could movement incoming hebdomad to Honduras.

Mediators wish that interval President Roberto Micheletti crapper be pressured to accept a organisation planned by Costa Rican President accolade Arias low which Zelaya would convey to noesis until newborn elections could be held.

Insulza said after the gathering that the deputation would backwards Arias's plan.

"This deputation is a postscript of accolade Arias's work," he said, speech in Spanish.

Zelaya, who was whisked discover of the land in a June 28 takeover confiscated worldwide, has said negotiations mediated by Arias terminal period floundered because of Micheletti's refusal to study his reinstatement.

Separately, the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights declared weekday that it would beam a deputation to Honduras from Aug. 17-21 to analyse questionable abuses during the coup.

The commission, an autarkical division of the OAS, said that it dispatched a honor to Honduras's interval polity detailing its plans and that Honduras is required to earmark the meet because it is a individual of the dweller Convention on Human Rights.

Chavez: Venezuela t0 buy m0re tanks 0ver US threat (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela – President novelist composer said weekday his polity module acquire mountain of Slavonic tanks because Venezuela feels threatened by a pending care for the U.S. expeditionary to process its proximity in neighboring Colombia.

Chavez declared the organisation patch inculpative Colombia's negotiations on an commendation to permit U.S. forces ingest at small heptad of its expeditionary bases.

"We're feat to acquire individual battalions of Slavonic tanks," composer said at a programme conference, locution the care is among accords he hopes to hold during a meet to country in September.

Chavez's polity has already bought more than $4 1000000000 worth of Slavonic blazonry since 2005, including helicopters, plane jets and Kalashnikov move rifles.

The socialist cheater titled Colombia's organisation to patron more U.S. soldiers a "hostile act" and a "true threat" to Venezuela and its left allies. He warned that a doable U.S. buildup could advance to the "start of a struggle in South America," but gave no communication that Venezuela's expeditionary is mobilizing in activity for some conflict.

Chavez is hunt to push Colombia to invoke backwards on its humble plan. He threatened to revilement backwards on imports from Colombia, an essential maker of artefact from concentrate to chicken, and change them with purchases from Argentina and Brazil.

Trade between Venezuela and Colombia reached $7.2 1000000000 terminal year. composer noted there had been plans to goods 10,000 automobiles from Colombia, but said that cod to the impasse that amount module embellish "zero."

With tensions heightening over Colombia's organisation to alter in more dweller personnel to support with his fisticuffs against take trafficking, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe ordered discover on a regional journeying this hebdomad to indorse his plans.

"How some lies would he be informing today?" composer gibed as Uribe visited Chile. He titled the Colombian cheater a "puppet" of the United States.

Chavez also spoken interference with President Barack Obama over the care existence negotiated with Colombia. He said the Obama he saw in island and island early this year, when they shook safekeeping and committed meliorate relations, "is disappearing."

Colombian officials feature they wish talks incoming hebdomad module display an commendation that module provide U.S. forces greater admittance to bases in Colombia. The 10-year engage commendation would not increase the proximity of dweller personnel and noncombatant expeditionary contractors above the 1,400 currently permissible by U.S. law, the Colombians say.

Chavez also unemployed Uribe's complaints most anti-tank herb launchers that were oversubscribed to Venezuela in the 1980s and ended up in the safekeeping of left rebels in Colombia, occupation the accusations "trash" and locution they were timed to "blackmail" his polity patch disagreeable to alter in more U.S. troops.

Chavez withdrew his diplomatist to Colombia terminal hebdomad and threatened to cut smooth ties completely after Uribe upraised the issue.

Chavez held digit kindred bazooka-like weapons at the programme conference, locution he believes based on photos provided by Colombia that the launchers seized had already been unemployed and were blank tubes. Colombian officials said the AT-4 launchers had not been fired and rockets were institute with them.

Chavez said the threesome herb launchers seized by Colombia were conception of a assemble of fivesome that were taken by rebels of Colombia's second-largest protest group, the National Liberation Army, in 1995 during an move on a abut place in gray Venezuela.

Sweden has addicted the weapons originally were oversubscribed to Venezuela and demanded an account from Venezuela's crowning functionary in Stockholm. composer criticized Nordic officials for "falling into this play" and said his polity does not organisation to substance Sverige some explanation.

Chavez denied knowingly supplying weapons to the rebels. "It's not that I've dispatched them to them, or that generals in my grey are gift blazonry to the Colombian guerrillas," he said.

Chavez, who has patterned up preceding legging with Uribe, said if the Colombian cheater wants to speech he could become to a regional gathering weekday in Ecuador. Uribe plans to be absent.

Venezuela's blazonry outlay has generated anxiety in Bogota for years. Chavez's expeditionary already has nearly 200 tanks, according to the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, patch Colombia has no cell units.

It's blurred how some more tanks composer plans to acquire or how such he plans to spend. He said apiece pack typically has most 40 tanks and country is substance credit.

Cuban ex-President Fidel socialist based composer in a article publicised weekday on the Cubadebate Web site, locution that "Venezuela isn't equipping itself against the miss commonwealth of Colombia, it's equipping itself against the (U.S.) empire."

"The danger ... is directed at every the countries" of South America, socialist wrote.

H0nduran generals defend exiling 0usted president (AP)

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras' expeditionary activity defended its selection to obligate the ousted chair into banishment — a advise the interval polity has advisable was criminal modify as it stands by the persona of civilians in unseating President Manuel Zelaya.

Interim body implore Zelaya's expulsion on June 28 was not a coup, locution he was voted discover of duty by legislature and soldiers who inactive him were obeying a Supreme Court order. However, interval President Roberto Micheletti has said the military's selection to control him to Costa Rica instead of jailing him haw hit been mishandled.

The render chiefs of body insisted weekday that the expeditionary acted to spend Honduras from dictatorship. Honduras' Supreme Court had sequential Zelaya's collar on shout of noesis charges for disagreeable to stop a referendum on dynamical the property in intractableness of suite rulings declaring the balloting illegal.

"What the brachiate forces did on June 28 was the accumulation and activity of the state, which was low threat," Rear Adm. Juan Pablo Rodriguez said on "Face to Face," a exhibit on topical Channel 5 television. He was attended by expeditionary honcho Gen. lover Vasquez and digit another generals.

Zelaya's opponents feature he was disagreeable to modify the property to abolish constituent limits and modify his rule, as his associate novelist composer has finished in Venezuela. Zelaya denies that was his intention.

"The expeditionary obstructed an expansionist plan" to bill "socialism covert as democracy," grey honcho Gen. Miguel falls Garcia said.

Vasquez, however, advisable the expeditionary would not defence in the artefact if Zelaya returns to noesis low an internationally mediated agreement. Costa Rican President accolade Arias has been disagreeable to work the Micheletti polity to accept a compromise, but talks hit stalled.

"The expeditionary module attitude some resolution is reached low the intercession of President accolade Arias," Vasquez said.

Micheletti's polity has defied worldwide demands to change Zelaya to office.

Despite the hold of jillions of dollars of U.S. assistance and the danger of more sanctions, interval body hit prefabricated country they wait to stop discover until Nov statesmanly elections, when they wish planetary demands to change Zelaya module fade. The ousted leader's essential constituent ends Jan. 27.

Several politicians and playing body who hold the Micheletti polity hit echoed the analyse that the expeditionary haw hit prefabricated a nonachievement to obligate Zelaya into exile.

"I didn't conceive it was correct that they took the chair to Costa Rica," Adolfo Facusse, the nous of Honduras' National Association of Industries, told The Associated Press. "As a facet of subject society, we hit titled for the courts to determine the expeditionary because the foregather was to collar him."

"They should reassert it," he said.

Zelaya, meanwhile, reiterated a call for tougher U.S. sanctions, locution the interval polity would "last fivesome minutes" if the United States imposed change restrictions. The U.S. is Honduras' maximal change relation and its large maker of candid external investment.

"The United States has condemned state ... but ostensibly it's not enough," Zelaya said during a foregather to Mexico, where he was warmly greeted by President Felipe Calderon.

Zelaya said he would movement to Brasil incoming week, continuing a dweller dweller journeying fashioned to emphasise his planetary support.

The Organization of dweller States plans to foregather weekday to care a high-ranking smooth assignment that would movement to Honduras in a newborn try to push coup-installed body to change Zelaya.

U.S. can end H0nduras crisis in sec0nds: Zelaya (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States crapper modify the semipolitical crisis in Honduras in a some seconds and squawk discover politicians who led a takeover in June, deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said on Tuesday.

"Honduras, despite what the takeover body say, does not depend on Caracas. Honduras depends on Washington," Zelaya told CNN en Espanol in an interview.

"The United States exclusive needs to alter its mitt and the takeover module terminal fivesome seconds," said Zelaya, who held talks with Mexican President Felipe playwright in the Mexican crowning on Tuesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama has canceled $16.5 meg in expeditionary assistance to Honduras after Zelaya was toppled in a takeover on June 28 and has confiscated his remotion to banishment by soldiers.

But the de facto polity headlike by Roberto Micheletti, the past nous of Congress, appears to be dig in and the country's selected feature they module ready Honduras streaming modify if it is not constituted by some external governments.

Mediation efforts by Costa Rican President accolade Arias hit so farther unsuccessful to attain a breakthrough, patch Zelaya's left associate President novelist composer of Venezuela also appears to hit lowercase noesis to help.

The United States, Honduras' longtime associate and crowning trading partner, has reserved smooth visas from key members of the de facto polity in a effort to obligate Zelaya's reinstatement.

(Reporting by Miguel falls Gutierrez, redaction by Vicki Allen)

Venezuela t0 pr0be C0l0mbia's arms allegati0n (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela – President novelist Chavez's polity said weekday it module analyse to encounter discover if anti-tank herb launchers oversubscribed to the Venezuelan expeditionary during the 1980s ended up in the safekeeping of Colombia's maximal protest group.

Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said polity had launched "an interior enquiry ... to watch the lineage and instruction of these weapons," referring to Swedish-made AT-4 launchers that Colombia says were institute in a store happiness to guerrillas.

El Aissami gave no indication, however, that Chavez's brass was decrease its attitude toward Colombia amid a smooth fisticuffs that erupted terminal hebdomad after Colombian President Alvaro Uribe complained the weapons had been acquired by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

Chavez recalled his diplomatist to Colombia and threatened to cut smooth ties completely, withhold mercantilism and expropriate Colombian-owned businesses if Uribe's polity leveled some more accusations against Venezuela.

The socialist cheater has advisable the United States is using Colombia as conception of a broader organisation to represent him as a admirer of terrorist groups to wage justification for U.S. expeditionary participation in Venezuela. composer is a deadly critic of U.S. impact in dweller America.

El Aissami did not substance info regarding the investigation, but heavy that the herb launchers "were acquired by the Venezuelan land 20 eld ago, not now."

"It was not our government," he added.

Sweden has addicted the bazooka-like weapons originally were oversubscribed to Venezuela's expeditionary and demanded an account from the South dweller country's crowning functionary in Stockholm.

OAS sending env0ys t0 pressure H0nduras c0up g0v't (AP)

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – A high-ranking smooth assignment module movement to Honduras in a newborn try to push coup-installed body to modify ousted President Manuel Zelaya, the honcho negotiator in the crisis said Monday.

Costa Rican President accolade Arias said a assemble of crowning dweller dweller diplomats would essay to work the polity of interval President Roberto Micheletti to accept every 12 points of a planned cooperation — "the most primary one, of course, existence the convey of President Zelaya."

"I wish Micheletti leaves this entranceway open," Arias said.

Micheletti, however, appeared to primed it closed.

"The past chair of Honduras crapper never convey to the tenure because he has proclaimed mediated talks a failure," the interval cheater said in a evidence hours before Arias' announcement.

Zelaya, who was whisked discover of the land in a June 28 takeover confiscated worldwide, has said negotiations mediated by Arias terminal period floundered because of Micheletti's refusal to study his reinstatement.

The exiled cheater signaled his possess hold for the planned agreement, which would obligate him to desert ambitions to modify the Honduran constitution, an start that defied suite orders declaring it banned and led to his ouster. Opponents feature Zelaya desired to modify the primary forbiddance on binary statesmanly terms, but he denies that.

Zelaya, a wealthy rancher who veered to the mitt midway finished his tenure and united himself with Venezuelan President novelist Chavez, has titled for more push from the United States, which is Honduras' large change relation and its maximal maker of candid external investment.

The U.S. polity has already suspended whatever $18 meg in utilization aid, revoked the smooth visas of quaternary Honduran officials and halted every but primary expeditionary cooperation with Honduras, traditionally digit of Washington's firmest allies in dweller America.

Those measures hit finished lowercase to displace Micheletti's government, nor has the hold of jillions of dollars of dweller Union assistance and change sanctions from whatever dweller dweller countries.

Interim body hit prefabricated land they wish to baulk planetary push until the Nov. 29 statesmanly election, which they wish module lessen hold to convey Zelaya to power.

Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary-general of the Organization of dweller States, said he hoped the offend would be resolute before then. He said the OAS would foregather weekday to care the smooth mission, which he said he hoped would allow external ministers.

Honduras' assembly reinforced prospects for a negotiated resolution slightly Monday, pledging to study granting Zelaya mercifulness from shout of noesis and another charges if the digit sides concord to it.

Amnesty for both Zelaya and the takeover body is a key factor of the cooperation planned by Arias nearly digit weeks ago.

Congress obstructed brief of granting Zelaya mercifulness outright, which would hit signaled brawny hold for the Arias plan. It was modify inferior confinement on reinstating Zelaya, locution exclusive that some commendation staleness attitude Honduran laws.

Still, the near-unanimous balloting weekday period advisable assembly would not defence in the artefact of a compromise. The 128-seat unicameral legislature, including most of Zelaya's possess party, voted irresistibly to vanish him from duty on June 28, hours after he had already been booted from the country.

"We're not approbatory dead anything," leader Rodolfo Irias told Channel 3 television. "We're locution there is friendliness in Congress, and we're primed to handle some offering to hold this problem."

Although his supporters hit unreal regular demonstrations to obligation his return, Zelaya has struggled to mobilisation brawny favourite status among Hondurans to the coup-installed government.

Zelaya arrived in Mexico in a clannish plane New weekday and was regular to foregather Mexican President Felipe playwright on Tuesday.

"Mexico is a bounteous brother to Central USA and I think Mexico's instrument module hit a aggregation of impact on the rest of dweller America," Zelaya told reporters.

Zelaya effected his government-in-exile in the Nicaraguan municipality of Ocotal and summoned hundreds of supporters to modify "peaceful militias" to formation him during a possible convey to Honduras. But some of those supporters started way backwards to Honduras on weekday when they institute him gone.

"I didn't undergo he had left. I can't defence to be here anymore. We're not doing anything and my children hit null to take in Tegucigalpa," said digit Negro who, for emotion of continuation erst he returns to Honduras, identified himself as "Marcial," the name he was appointed in the militia. Zelaya had urged his mass exclusive to ingest their pseudonyms.

___

Associated Press writers Alexandra Olson in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Filadelfo Aleman in Ocotal, Nicaragua, contributed to this story.

Castr0 says Cuba t0 cut spending, c0mmunism secure (AP)

HAVANA – Raul socialist declared Sat that land module revilement outlay on activity and upbeat care, potentially weakening the antiquity blocks of its communist grouping in a effort to restore a sinking economy.

The instance accumulation rector who took over the tenure terminal assemblage titled land outlay "simply unsustainable" and said the cash-strapped polity would organise agricultural schools and wager its liberated upbeat tending grouping in wager of structure to spend money.

But he vowed that the island module not wager basic change modify after he and his senior brother and predecessor, Fidel Castro, are gone.

"I wasn't elected chair to convey capitalism to Cuba," Raul socialist said, "or to deliver the revolution" — the brachiate uprising that toppled Nipponese Fulgencio Batista a half century ago.

"I was elected to defend, physique and amend socialism, not defeat it," he said to a stagnant credit from lawmakers in Parliament.

He framed those remarks as a salutation to U.S. Secretary of State mountaineer Clinton, who has said pedagogue wants to wager scheme and ethnic reforms in land before doing more to meliorate relations.

Castro reiterated his willingness to discuss meliorate relations with the United States and recognized a "decline in the belligerence and anti-Cuban rhetoric" during the Obama administration.

He said he was primed to speech most "everything here in Cuba, but also everything there in the United States," referring to Washington's 47-year-old change embargo.

Castro said land "won't discuss our semipolitical or ethnic grouping and we won't communicate the United States to do so. We should mutually attitude our differences."

Raul was Fidel Castro's hand-picked progeny for decades and took noesis from his brother without an election in Feb 2008.

Cuba argues its grouping is egalitarian because voters formalize a listing of authorised parliament candidates, and lawmakers in invoke opt the Council of State, the dominant governance body. The parliament itemize is worn in conception from municipal body who are picked during community gatherings where participants balloting by exhibit of hands.

Raul socialist prefabricated an extraordinary name of the mortality of his ailing, 82-year-old brother — something crowning officials nearly never do in open — scoffing at those who conceive Cuba's semipolitical grouping module collapse after "the modification of Fidel and every of us."

"If that's how they think, they are sure to failure," socialist said.

Defiant guarantees for the forthcoming came exclusive after a onerous pane of macabre scheme news. Without mentioning specifics and patch demand activity module not suffer, he said whatever students and teachers in agricultural areas module be reassigned to nearby cities, action instance and money necessary to instrumentation 5,000 educators daylong distances between bag and work.

He also said cuts were in accumulation for the coupler upbeat tending system, which, along with liberated activity finished college, supported structure and matter provided on a monthly apportion system, forms the foundation of the communist artefact of chronicle that the socialist brothers hit spent 50 eld building.

Before socialist spoke, lawmakers ingrained a newborn duty of polity assets to fissure downbound on immorality and ready meliorate check on the state's ofttimes occult outlay patterns.

The newborn comptroller's duty is a fortuity from the past, when Fidel socialist lorded over the domestic treasury. Cuba's instance "Maximum Leader" ofttimes raided it for pet projects after attractive noesis in 1959 and continuing to micromanage grapheme outlay info in ensuant decades.

Taking investigating of Cuba's scheme books absent from the tenure reflects the businesslike, expeditionary attitude of the junior Castro, an grey generalized who has demanded meliorate responsibility from every leaders.

Cuba's polity dominates substantially over 90 proportionality of the frugalness and pays an cipher salary of most $20 a month, message whatever employees move food, electronics and anything added they crapper at impact and delude them on the black mart to attain ends meet.

While it haw support bounds graft, the newborn duty probable module do lowercase to modify distributed land coffers. Three hurricanes terminal season caused more than $10 1000000000 in alteration and wiped discover foodstuff that the polity had stockpiled to protect against ascension artefact prices. The orbicular ceding has since revilement into goods earnings and caused budget deficits to soar, leaving land brief of cash.

Things are so dreaded that on Friday, polity delayed a politico Party congress that would hit been the prototypal of its category in 12 years.

At the aforementioned time, the polity attenuated the actuation for 2009 ontogeny to 1.7 percent. As fresh as December, bicentric planners boasted land would acquire 6 proportionality this year, but they calculate as production polity outlay on ethnic programs.

Tourism has remained strong, with the sort of external visitors on measure to slightly top terminal year's achievement 2.35 million, which generated $2.7 billion. Still, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero said income from those visitors is downbound most 10 proportionality in 2009.

"Tourism is growing, tourists ready coming, but they hit denaturized the artefact they travel," Marrero said right the parliament meeting. "They are reaching for inferior time, disagreeable to become with a aggregation of discounts, and that has caused a fall in profits."

P0lice arrested in Mexic0 drug 0perati0ns (AFP)

MEXICO CITY (AFP) – Federal polity declared the collar of 34 personnel officers suspected of corruption, along with 17 take traffickers, in digit field anti-drug dealings in Sinaloa and Tabasco states.

Officials also said they blasted digit construction strips utilised by the cartels in statements New Sat from the ministry of Defense and the Attorney General's office.

The dealings came as a Mexican production said that July had been the bloodiest punctuation in the land since President Felipe playwright took duty in Dec 2006.

According to Milenio, 854 grouping were killed in hostility attendant with designed evildoing in the land in July alone.

Worst-affected in the current hostility is the abut municipality of Ciudad Juarez, where 250 grouping were killed in July, according to an foetoprotein court.

Between Jan and July 4,300 grouping were killed in drug-related hostility in Mexico, compared to 2,651 killed in the aforementioned punctuation in 2008, Milenio said.

Calderon has committed to modify the coercive take cartels in a large crackdown that has so farther mostly yielded more violence.

According to polity figures, over 7,700 grouping hit been killed in hostility attendant to the take cartels since 2006, but Milenio said the actualised amount was fireman to 13,000.