US Sounds Conciliatory Toward Nicaragua’s Ortega
WASHINGTON - The United States said Tuesday it wants to have continued good relations with Nicaragua, where leftist former President Daniel Ortega appears headed for victory in Sunday’s election. The State Department says the state of relations will depend on the platform of the new Managua government. 
Though some members of […]

LAREDO, TEXAS - For the most part life along the 3,000 kilometer border between the United States and Mexico is peaceful and orderly, with billions of dollars in commerce flowing both ways every year. But drug trafficking and other crimes are also flourishing on the border and there have been several incidents in which U.S. […]

By:  Isaac Garrido
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire 
WASHINGTON - The Mexican government said it will send a diplomatic note to President Bush Monday asking him to veto the bill the U.S. Senate passed Friday that requires construction of a 700-mile fence on the Mexico-U.S. border. 
The House had passed the bill earlier. The fence is the main provision […]

WASHINGTON - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been a world traveler of late. He has visited China, Vietnam, Iran, Syria, Russia, Belarus and Mali, among other nations. He has blasted the United States and touted Venezuela’s bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council.  
Hugo Chavez got a hero’s welcome in Syria last […]

WASHINGTON - Hurricane Florence is hitting the island of Bermuda Monday with winds of 130 kilometers-per-hour and heavy rain.The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the center of the storm will move very near the west coast of the British territory as it moves north over the Atlantic Ocean. The storm is expected to maintain its […]

Venezuela’s main opposition parties have agreed to back a single candidate to challenge President Hugo Chavez in December elections.The opposition Wednesday selected Manuel Rosales as its top choice to face the Venezuelan leader.  Other opposition leaders who had declared their candidacies agreed to step aside so anti-Chavez forces could stand a better chance.
The move to […]

Cuba: No Improvement In Human Rights
Raul Castro is “Even More of a Communist” 
By Wolfgang Polzer
Special to ASSIST News ServiceHAVANNA (ANS) – The provisional hand over of power in Cuba from the Communist leader Fidel Castro to his younger brother Raul does not signal any change in the human rights situation, according to the International Society […]

HANOI - The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, is in the Vietnamese capital, seeking support in his campaign to counter the United States’ global influence and build what he calls a “multi-polar world”. But the Vietnamese seem more interested in Chavez’s offer to help them build an oil refinery. A military band in white with gold […]

MOSCOW - The head of Russia’s state arms trading agency says Russia has signed contracts to sell Venezuela 24 jet fighter planes and 53 military helicopters.
Details of the deal were not immediately clear. But the head of Russia’s arms export agency said the two countries have signed contracts for Venezuelan purchase of some $3 billion […]

MEXICO CITY - Corruption has been a problem in Latin America since colonial times. Citizens have been largely tolerant of petty corruption, such as small bribes to bureaucrats and police over minor disputes or offenses, but the stakes have been raised greatly in recent decades by the billions of dollars generated in the illicit drug […]

WASHINGTON - President Bush Monday approved an $80 million program, aimed at fostering democratic change in Cuba. The U.S. administration is also pledging extensive support for any Cuban government succeeding Fidel Castro’s communist regime that promises free elections and an end to repression.  
The president’s approval of the policy recommendations comes little more than a month […]