
President Hugo Chávez offered to meet with Colombia's new President Juan Manuel Santos to restore diplomatic relations broken over allegations that Venezuela was tolerating the presence of guerrillas in its territory.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos took office Saturday with a pledge to create jobs, end rebel violence and foster economic growth while seeking to mend ties with neighbouring countries in spite of “ideological differences”.

Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Secretary-General Néstor Kirchner and Brazilian president Lula da Silva recommended that Venezuelan Foreign Affairs minister Nicolas Maduro should travel to Colombia on Saturday to attend the swearing-in ceremony of president elect Juan Manuel Santos.

Out-going Colombian President Álvaro Uribe filed a complaint before the International Criminal Court in Rome against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for crimes against humanity that derive from the alleged harbouring of Colombian guerrilla fighters in Venezuelan soil, Uribe's lawyer, Jaime Granados, informed.

The first television debate between the Brazilian leading presidential candidates, Dilma Rousseff and Jose Serra had one of the lowest ratings Thursday night and analysts defined it as ‘boring’ and a at the most, ‘a test for future duels’.

Argentina's government, unions and industry leaders agreed this week to raise the minimum wage by 23%, more than twice the official annual inflation running at 11%.

The United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, and Ecuador have reached agreement to set up a trust fund to protect an ecological site in an oil-rich area of the South American country’s Amazon region.

Paraguayan president Fernando Lugo, 59, has been diagnosed with a lymphoma following the biopsy of an inguinal ganglion extracted Wednesday. He will be travelling to Brazil next Tuesday to continue with lab tests and to decide future steps.

The Uruguayan government announced intention of making banking secret accounts “more flexible” and expanding income tax to overseas holdings and assets have delayed investment decisions and accelerated the sale of real estate in Uruguay by foreigners, particularly Argentines, warned the Uruguayan Chamber of Tourism.

The Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, FARC guerrillas, currently have an estimated “7.000 armed terrorists” which compares favourably with the 20.000 eight years ago when President Alvaro Uribe took office for the first time, said the Colombian Army outgoing commander, General Oscar Gonzalez.