■ Chile
Lawyers gunning for Garcia
Chilean human rights lawyers planned to file complaints against Peruvian president-elect Alan Garcia, due in Chile for a quick visit yesterday, for alleged human rights violations during his first term in office. Lawyers say they are trying to sue Garcia because they say he is responsible for disappearances, political executions, and torture committed during his first presidency. A judge must review the complaints, filed under international law, before deciding whether they merit further investigation. Garcia, who won the presidential election runoff on June 4, ruled Peru from 1985-1990. He fled Peru after his term ended to avoid corruption charges.
■ Bolivia
Morales welcomes new year
The nation's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, held his hands toward the rising sun on Wednesday to see in the Aymara Indian new year and give new impetus to an ancient ritual. Thousands cheered as Morales, an Aymara Indian himself, emerged from a helicopter at the Tiwanaku ruins wearing a white embroidered poncho and woolly hat. As Aymara priests made burnt offerings to Pachamama (Mother Earth), the crowds raised the palms of their hands to the sky to greet the Aymara new year, which always coincides with the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. "This is historic because we can't remember having another president here for June 21 and we're very pleased to have celebrated `the return of the sun' with him," Tiwanaku Mayor Lino Condori said.
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