■ Mexico
Border program expanded
Mexico and the US announced on Tuesday they were expanding their intelligence-sharing program aimed at cracking down on people smugglers. The OASISS Program will now operate from San Diego, California, to El Paso, Texas, Mexico's Foreign Relations Department and the US Department of Homeland Security said. The expansion adds 720km or so of the border to the program. Mexican and US agents share real-time information on the movements of traffickers and exchange evidence to prosecute them in court. The program already has helped put 120 migrant traffickers in prison, Mexican President Vicente Fox said last week.
■ Venezuela
US experts turned away
A group of American conservationists who have been teaching Venezuela National Guards how to spot illegal trading of exotic animals said they had been told their services were no longer needed. Ed Clark, president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, said on Tuesday that no official explanation had been given for canceling the training session, although a military officer told them: "No Americans are allowed to speak to these people."
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