Evidence obtained by Human Rights Watch suggests that Honduran soldiers may have used excessive force against supporters of the ousted president, Manuel Zelaya, outside the Tegucigalpa airport on July 5, 2009, Human Rights Watch said today. At least one teenage boy was killed, and more than 10 other people are reported to have been injured during the confrontation between soldiers and demonstrators. Reports of a second death remain unconfirmed. Honduran officials have publicly claimed that...

LA PAZ,-- Bolivia denied supplying uranium to Iran for its nuclear program, saying Tuesday it has never produced the metallic element, a key ingredient for nuclear energy and weapons. Mining Minister Luis Alberto Echazu dismissed allegations in a secret Israeli government report, saying "there isn't even a geological study (of uranium deposits), much less export" of uranium to another country. The secret Israeli Foreign Ministry document, obtained by The Associated Press on Monday,...

Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to a secret Israeli government report obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The two South American countries are known to have close ties with Iran, but this is the first allegation that they are involved in the development of Iran's nuclear program, considered a strategic threat by Israel. "There are reports that Venezuela supplies Iran with uranium for its nuclear program," the Foreign...

Iran’s Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar arrived in Venezuela on Sunday, on an official visit aimed at boosting defense ties. Najjar, the first Iranian defense minister to visit the Latin American state since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, was welcomed by his Venezuelan counterpart, Raul Baduel, and Vice President Ramon Alonso Carrizales, reports the semi-official ISNA news agency. During his three-day visit to Caracas, Najjar is expected to discuss issues of mutual interests and...

In a further show of naval muscle-flexing, Russian warships will visit United States foe Cuba for the first time since the Soviet era. The destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two support ships from a squadron that has been on a lengthy visit to Latin America will put in at Havana on Saturday for a five-day stay, Navy spokesman Captain Igor Dygalo said. It will be the first visit by Russian warships to the communist island just 145km from the US since the 1991 Soviet collapse. The Admiral...

"We have a very serious problem on the northern border with Colombia, an irresponsible government that does not take care of its… border," AFP quoted Correa as saying on Saturday. "We need to equip ourselves… Iran can supply us and help us with credit," the president explained. Correa, heading a high-ranking delegation, paid an official visit to Tehran earlier this month after he received an invitation from his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. ...

Brazilian authorities on Tuesday gave approval for the sale of 100 missiles to Pakistan which can be used in air-to-surface attacks on radar tracking instalations, Defense Minister Nelson Jobim said. The MAR-1 medium-range missiles made by the Brazilian firm Mectron are tactical anti-radiation weapons whose existence was kept under wraps for many years, according to Jane's Information Group. Jobim called them "very effective ways to monitor" areas flown by war planes, and said the...

The alleged presence of Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Nicaragua without "justification" has caused tensions within the Israeli community in the country. According to a report by the Jewish News Agency (JNA), the arrival of 30 Iranian Revolutionary Guards has be confirmed. Gerald Smith, the president of the Israeli Congregation of Nicaragua, disclosed the revolutionay guards' arrival in nicaragua and their failure to register with the immigration authorities to the JNA. ...

A Libyan official says Argentina's visiting president has offered her country's help in developing nuclear energy in the North African nation. Libyan Cabinet official Mohammed al-Mesmari says the Argentine leader also signed agreements in trade, agriculture and science during her meeting with Moammar Gadhafi. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez's six-day tour of North Africa also included stops in Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria. The trip was meant in part to help ensure developing countries...

CARACAS -- Venezuela plans to build five military bases along its border with Colombia. Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami said the bases will help President Hugo Chávez's government fight drug smuggling, extortion and kidnapping. The bases will run along the Sierra de Perija, a mountain range in western Venezuela that follows part of its porous 1,400-mile border with Colombia. Chávez said Venezuela is doing everything possible to crack down on Colombian leftist rebels,...