.nzoom.com. Thousands of Argentine supporters of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro broke through security on Monday, creating pandemonium and forcing authorities to cancel Castro's first speech in Argentina.

The University of Buenos Aires Law School was slated to host Castro's speech in the homeland of fellow revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevarra.

Supporters of Castro overran security to overflow an auditorium beyond double its 3,200-seat capacity.

Castro is in Argentina to participate in the inauguration of President Nester Kirchner, the country's sixth president in 18 months. Kirchner, a centre-left politician, has called for greater ties among nations in Latin America, and he has vowed to defend jobs and industry in Argentina, which has suffered through five years of recession.

Half of Argentina's 36.2 million population is at or below the poverty line.

Castro twice has visited Argentina since seizing power in Cuba in 1959, but thiswas to be his first address to the nation and a rare one for the Cuban leader.

Castro was a frequent critic of US-backed free market policies that were heartily adopted by Argentina in the 1990s. But with election of a centre-left Argentine president emphasising social justice, Castro felt the time was right to address Argentina.

Although the United States has tried to isolate Cuba in Latin America, elections of left-leaning presidents in Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Argentina have won Castro political support he has not enjoyed for a decade.

Source: AAP

Posted on Mon, May. 26, 2003 By Kevin G. Hall Knight Ridder Newspapers

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Thousands of Argentine supporters of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro broke through security Monday night, creating pandemonium and forcing authorities to cancel Castro's first speech in Argentina.

The University of Buenos Aires Law School was slated to host Castro's speech in the homeland of fellow revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevarra. Authorities late Monday were trying to arrange for Castro to address the country via a televised broadcast.

Supporters of Castro overran security to overflow an auditorium beyond double its 3,200-seat capacity. People fainted and were trampled in the chaotic confusion. There were no reports of deaths or serious injuries, but authorities decided to evacuate the hall and cancel the speech for security reasons.

Castro is in Argentina to participate the inauguration of President Nester Kirchner, the country's sixth president in 18 months, who was sworn in on Sunday. Kirchner, a center-left politician, has called for greater ties among nations in Latin America, and he has vowed to defend jobs and industry in Argentina, which has suffered through five years of recession. Half of Argentina's 36.2 million population is at or below the poverty line.

Castro twice has visited Argentina since seizing power in Cuba in 1959, but this was to be his first address to the nation and a rare one for the Cuban leader.

Castor has been cheered throughout his visit, including during a meeting Monday with the new president at the Casa Rosada (Pink House), the executive office of the Argentine president. As he left the meeting, he was greeted with shouts of "Viva Fidel!" and "We're with Cuba!"

Castro was a frequent critic of U.S.-backed free market policies that were heartily adopted by Argentina in the 1990s. But with election of a center-left Argentine president emphasizing social justice, Castro felt the time was right to address Argentina.

Average Argentines greeted Castro like a rock star. "Utopia never dies, " said Nora Alvarez, a photographer who arrived to the Plaza de Mayo without her camera to see Castro.

Although the United States has tried to isolate Cuba in Latin America, elections of left-leaning presidents in Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Argentina have won Castro political support he has not enjoyed for a decade.

Reuters, 05.26.03, 7:01 PM ET

BOGOTA, Colombia, May 26 (Reuters) - Colombia has declared new regions of the country as free of foot-and-mouth, bringing to 52 percent the total of its cattle of 22 million head as free of the disease, the government said on Monday.

The measure, certified by the Paris-based International Epizootic Office, includes 1.5 million cattle in the northern regions of Antioquia, Bolivar, Cesar, Norte de Santander and Santander, the Colombian Agriculture and Livestock Institute said in a news release.

"The certification will allow Colombia to increase its exports of beef products to other markets. The government is expecting visits by technical commissions from Chile and the United States in hopes of extending sales to those countries before the end of the year," it said.

Colombia, which says it has not detected a case of foot-and-mouth disease for the last 10 months, hopes to be totally free of the disease by 2005.

The highly-contagious virus causes sores on cloven-footed animals' feet and mouths, reduces meat and milk production and interferes with reproduction. It does not affect humans but eliminating the disease is a necessary step toward negotiating access to major world beef markets.

Colombia's beef exports in 2002 tumbled to 2,509 tonnes, against 10,101 tonnes in 2001, hurt by sales to neighboring Venezuela, which has been hit by an opposition-led general strike and currency controls.

Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Monday, May 26, 2003 By: Jose Gregorio Pineda & Jose Gabriel Angarita

VenAmCham's Jose Gregorio Pineda (chief economist) and Jose Gabriel Angarita (economist) write: The negotiations for the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) are now stuck in a situation of divergent perceptions that may set back the timetable. Colombia and Peru, both member countries of the Andean Community (ACN), have announced their interest is bilateral negotiations with the United States, basing their initiative on Chile's experience.

But it is known that there is a mistaken impression (according to ACN Secretary General Guillermo Fernandez de Soto) that the United States is trying to pursue such bilateral negotiations. On the contrary, following the meetings between Bush and Uribe, plus the visit to the US Trade Representative's Office, the intention is to strengthen the negotiations for creation of the FTAA.

The proposal put forward by these ACN members ... to engage in bilateral negotiations reflecting the Chilean experience ... should be carefully examined, because Chile's situation is different; it has a productive and commercial structure unlike those of the Andean countries. "A strategy like this, pursued over 12 years under unique conditions, complete with a process of training for negotiators and persistent lobbying in Washington, is very difficult to replicate by other countries in a short-term bilateral adventure," asserted Fernandez de Soto.

Among the arguments in favor of this approach is that it would make it possible to evade the results of the World Trade Organization's Doha Round, with which the developing countries could obtain direct agreements on agricultural subsidies rather than having to rely on the multilateral mechanism. Fernandez de Soto finds it inexplicable that some Andean countries might want to give up something that has not yet even been negotiated in the Doha Round.

There is no trade agreement in which ALL sectors come out ahead; there are only trade agreements whose short and long-term economic benefits are big enough to compensate for the sectors that might be injured in the short term. It is up to the negotiators to identify those sectors and have the skill to obtain the best possible terms for their countries, establishing internal compensatory and adjustment mechanisms to guarantee the political viability of the agreements' implementation.

That is why, though there may be doubts regarding the desirability of seeking bilateral agreements between the ACN and the United States versus directly working for the FTAA ... some ACN member countries have recognized the importance to their countries' development of pursuing trade integration with the United States.

This understanding does not, unfortunately, seem to be shared by the Venezuelan authorities, who openly refuse to negotiate for our country's accession to the FTAA.

Reuters, 05.26.03, 5:12 PM ET By Tomas Sarmiento

CARACAS, Venezuela, May 26 (Reuters) - Venezuela's small and long-dormant stock exchange broke the 10,000-point level on Monday, setting a record in an unexpected boom as local investors frustrated by tight currency controls sought alternative investment options. The Caracas stock exchange index <.IBC> rose 6.31 percent, or 618.98 points, to close at a record 10,429.27 points on the eighth day of a continuing rally. The index closed Friday at 9,810.29 points. It was the first time the tiny Caracas bourse, which had languished in the doldrums because of unrelenting political and economic turmoil in the world's No. 5 oil exporter, had broken above the 10,000-point barrier. The exchange has jumped 30.12 percent since the start of the year. Unable to turn savings into dollars because of foreign exchange curbs introduced more than 100 days ago, many Venezuelan banks, companies and individuals are now turning to the local exchange to try to gain a return on their swelling holdings in the local bolivar currency. "We're stuffed full with bolivars at the moment," said Geronimo Paolini of brokers Valores Vencred. However, the current boom in the Caracas exchange is purely locally driven as would-be foreign investors are unable to legally convert trading earnings back into dollars. Trading volume at the bourse, which is very small by regional standards, has averaged only around $110,000 a day so far this year. This compares with a daily average volume of $9 million three years ago, before Venezuela was seized by a fierce and often violent political conflict between opponents and supporters of leftist President Hugo Chavez. HIGH LIQUIDITY, LOWER RATES Nelson Ortiz, president of the Caracas stock exchange, said he expected the current boom to continue, fueled by increased bolivar liquidity and lower interest rates, which were the direct result of the currency controls. "Since the purchase of dollars has been blocked, money looks for another way out," Ortiz told Reuters in a recent interview. In Monday's rally, shares in Venezuela's biggest private steel-maker Sivensa <SVS.CR> surged 20 percent -- the maximum range allowed in a day's trading -- to 10.20 bolivars a share. Energy company Corporacion Industrial de Energia <CIE.CR> recorded a similar gain. Its shares closed at 13.2 bolivars. Shares in market leader CANTV <TDVd.CR> (nyse: VNT - news - people), Venezuela's leading telecommunications company which is controlled by U.S. telephone firm Verizon (nyse: VNT - news - people), climbed 12.9 percent to 3,500 bolivars. During months of instability last year, which culminated in a brief failed coup against Chavez, many investors had shunned the stock exchange, preferring instead to change bolivars into dollars and channel them out of the country. Capital flight accelerated during a crippling anti-Chavez strike in December and January which slashed oil output and exports but failed to force the populist president to resign. To stop this flight and a slide in the bolivar currency, the government halted currency trading in late January and fixed the exchange rate at 1,600 bolivars to the dollar. A state currency board, Cadivi, headed by an ally of Chavez, has been tightly controlling the allocation of dollars. Private business leaders say the curbs are starving the economy of hard currency, worsening an already deep recession. The economy contracted a record 29 percent in the first quarter of 2003 after shrinking nearly 9 percent last year. Copyright 2003, Reuters News Service