■ Cuba
Relatives protest detentions
The wives and mothers of some of the men arrested in a government crackdown on dissidents 18 months ago gathered Saturday for a vigil calling for the release of their loved ones. Dolia Leal, wife of imprisoned dissident Nelson Aguiar, was among more than 20 women who gathered at a Havana home for the 12-hour vigil, which included a fast from 7am to 7pm. "We demand the liberation of all political prisoners in Cuba, especially those who were among the 75," said Leal. Rounded up in March 2003, the dissidents were accused by Fidel Castro's government of working with the US government to undermine the island's socialist system.
■ Venezuela
Six troops killed in ambush
An armed group killed six Venezuelan Army troops and an engineer in an ambush along the Colombian border, Defense Minister Jorge Garcia Carneiro said Saturday. The ambush took place Friday between the towns of La Victoria and La Charca in Apure state, the minister said in a statement. Garcia Carneiro did not say who was suspected in the ambush, referring only to "irregular groups." In the past, there have been clashes in the area with Colombian leftist rebels, right-wing paramilitaries and drug traffickers. The troops killed were protecting a team of engineers with the Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA.
■ Peru
Mining proposal accepted
Residents who had been protesting South America's largest gold mine have stopped their roadblocks, allowing traffic to flow freely to the US-owned Yanacocha mine on Saturday. Comm-unity leaders late Friday accepted a proposal from Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines to end two weeks of demonstrations against gold prospecting on Cerro Quilish, near the city of Cajamarca, 560km north of Lima. Residents concerned about the effects of new mining operations on water supplies began their blockade of the mine's access road Sept. 2 after the company began exploratory drilling on the Quilish gold deposit, which sits in the same watershed as several nearby villages and the city below.
■ United States
Storm approaching coast
Tropical Storm Javier weakened steadily as it closed in on the northwest Pacific coast of Mexico on Saturday. The storm was centered about 130km southwest of Cabo San Lazaro in Baja California Sur state and moving toward the north at 17kph, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. Carrying maximum sustained winds of 65kph, Javier was expected to reach the Baja Peninsula late Saturday or early yesterday. Tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 140km from Javier's center.
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