Panama's new leader to strengthen diplomatic ties at UN summit
Panamanian President Martin Torrijos will take the chance of attending the 59th session of UN General Assembly to strengthen ties with other countries in his first appearance in the world forum.

Torrijos will attend the meeting in New York on Sept. 19-24 and deliver a speech at a forum on fight against hunger and poverty, Panamanian Foreign Minister Samuel Lewis Navarro told reporters Thursday.

The 41-year-old president, who was sworn in on Sept. 1, will meet with the presidents of Bolivia, Paraguay, Guatemala and Peru on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, according to the minister.

Lewis underscored that the important thing for Panama, on occasion of the Summit, is to show a will to strengthen relations with other countries, and it will be a top priority to present a new image of Panama to the world.

Panama just normalized ties with Venezuela on Sept. 6, and the president has vowed to mend diplomatic ties with Cuba in his inauguration speech.

In August, Cuba broke diplomatic ties with Panama and Venezuela withdrew its ambassador after Torrijos' predecessor Mireya Moscoso pardoned four men jailed for plotting to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro in 2000. The former Panamanian president claimed that the life of a US convict of Cuban origin would be in danger if he was sent to Venezuela or Cuba.

The Panamanian government will also hold a meeting in the United States with members of the international banking sector to discuss issues such as the Panamanian debt and a possible project to expand the capacity of the Panama Canal, the minister added.

Torrijos will also attend an Ibero-American Summit to be held in November in Costa Rica, Lewis said.
 

Panama to compete for FTAA headquarters
The Panamanian government will launch a new "diplomatic offensive" to compete for the headquarters of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), local press said Thursday.

Aristides Royo, Panama's ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), told the press Thursday that the FTAA is a very important issue for the country.

Royo, who will head the permanent council of the OAS as of Oct.1, said he has four months to develop an incisive foreign policy to win the FTAA headquarters for the country.

Royo highlighted Panama's advantages in communication, transportation and lodging. He also listed other advantages such as the existence in the country of a complete international banking center and the use of the US dollars as legal tender.

Also to be noticed is the participation of Panama in the hemispherical economy through the Panama Canal, the Colon Free Zone on the Atlantic and an optic-fiber channel facilitating communications in the country, he added.

Other cities competing for the FTAA headquarters are Miami, Colorado Springs and Chicago, in the United States; Port-au-Spain, in Trinidad and Tobago, and Puebla and Cancun, in Mexico.

Saying it is necessary to consider the climate conditions, Royo noted that Miami, the main rival to Panama, "has an intense storm and hurricane season."

Thirty-four countries of the Americas, except Cuba, are seeking to conclude the negotiations that would allow the FTAA to take effect in January 2005.
 

El Salvador criticizes Spain for troops withdrawal from Iraq
The withdrawal of Spanish troops from Iraq "is an evidence of inconsistency with (Spain's) national doctrine," Salvadorian Defense Minister General Otto Romero said Thursday.

"It was an inconsistency and a true weakness of national policy to have a minister that so easily changed the policy of the previous government. That is an evidence of weakness in national doctrine," Romero said in an interview with the local daily La Prensa Grafica, according to reports from San Salvador, the Salvadoran capital.

When asked about the troops withdrawal by the countries of the Plus Ultra Brigade, Romero said, "Spain has explained why, so we could present an opinion. As for Nicaragua and Honduras, there seemed to be budget problems."

Spain completed the withdrawal of its 1,300 troops from Iraq in May.

El Salvador is the only country of the Plus Ultra Brigade that kept its force in Iraq after the withdrawal in April of the troops from Spain, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

A 380-strong contingent departed from El Salvador in August to replace a contingent of 374 soldiers in Iraq, which had served there since February.

Until now the Salvadorian troops have stayed in Najaf, where the first Salvadorian contingent arrived in August 2003, as part of the Spain-led Plus Ultra Brigade.
 

Colombia denounces rebels' possible obtaining of Venezuelan identities
Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Alberto Uribe said Thursday that members of illegal armed groups operating in the border areas with Venezuela could have obtained Venezuelan identity cards.

The Colombian government has told the congress that it has "evidence" to prove this, but there are rumors about the issue, said Uribe.

The defense minister expressed his worry over the nature of the problem, saying he will address it at a meeting with Venezuelan authorities in the first week of October.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe stressed that if the rebels have really got Venezuelan identity cards, he will seek collaboration from the authorities of the neighboring country to detect "possible criminals."

Reports from the Secret Police said illegal Colombian intermediaries are working with Venezuelan officials to grant residence documents to members of illegal armed groups in Colombia. The rebels pay 79 US dollars for each document.

Official figures revealed that about 212,000 Colombians had received Venezuelan identity cards through expedite procedures by July 2003.