Latin American roundup

Posted on Sun, May. 04, 2003 From Herald Wire Services

BOGOTA - Colombian rebels were transporting drugs, injured comrades and kidnap victims in four airplanes seized by authorities earlier this week, RCN television station reported Saturday.

Police officers and soldiers discovered the Cessna airplanes on Thursday during raids throughout eastern Arauca state near the border with Venezuela.

The planes allegedly belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

The rebels also were using the planes to transport commanders and money to bribe local officials, RCN reported. Officials reached Saturday from the army, police and the attorney general's office could not confirm the report.

Last year, soldiers destroyed an aircraft packed with explosives that allegedly belonged to the FARC.

Authorities also believe the rebels could be using stolen helicopters in their nearly four-decade insurgency against the government.

JAMAICA

ANGRY CROWD SETS FIRES

TO PROTEST BOY'S DEATH

MONTEGO BAY -- Angered by the killing of a 14-year-old boy by police, a crowd of residents set fire to four buildings Saturday as they took to the streets of a town in western Jamaica, police said.

The boy, Omari Wedderburn, was shot by police Friday night in Negril, which is fringed with some of the Caribbean country's premiere tourist resorts. The next day, more than 300 people gathered to protest, police said.

The crowd had largely dispersed by Saturday night, but some were still blocking roads, police said. During the day, protesters' road blocks forced police to divert traffic.

BRAZIL

SWAT TEAM HUNTS

SUSPECTS IN JUNGLE

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Police SWAT teams scoured back roads of the Amazon jungle Saturday searching for some 30 armed men who held up two banks, took several customers hostage and terrorized a northern Brazilian city, authorities said.

The suspected robbers fled Friday with five hostages from the eastern Amazon city of Redencao, police spokesman Sidney Dantas said by telephone.

The hostages later were released unharmed. Police recovered the two pickup trucks used in the getaway, Dantas said.

VENEZUELA

RIGHTS GROUP BLAMES

VIOLENCE ON LAX SYSTEM

CARACAS -- A leading rights group said Saturday that the country's lax justice system has contributed to rising political violence.

The group, which called itself Cofavic, condemned the slayings of Jorge Nieves and Ricardo Herrera, who were killed during a May Day march in Caracas.

Since April 2002, ''57 people have been killed and over 300 injured by gunfire in a context of political violence,'' Cofavic said in a statement.

It said the violence has been characterized by ''total impunity,'' because those responsible for the aggression are rarely brought to justice.