Venezuela has tested six training and light attack jets bought from China for defense and the campaign against drug trafficking.

President Hugo Chavez ordered a total of eighteen Chinese-built K-8 jets after a plan to buy similar jets from Brazil failed because they included US electrical systems.

Venezuelan officials say the jets will be used to train pilots and intercept drug traffickers who use Venezuela as a route to take Colombian cocaine to the United States, Europe, and Africa.

Venezuela has also bought a network of ten radars from China and has spent about four billion dollars on Russian weapons, including fighter jets.

Brazil has highlighted Iran’s role in the region, reiterating that Tehran must be part of a solution to any conflict in the Middle East.

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview with the Israeli daily Haaretz that “new ideas” from all key players in the Middle East are needed to resolve issues in the sensitive region including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“The time has come to bring into the arena players who will be able to put forward new ideas. Those players must have access to all levels of the conflict: in Israel, Palestine, Iran, Syria, Jordan and in many other countries that are associated with this conflict.”

“After all, the Middle East conflict is not bilateral and does not pertain only to Israel and Palestine. There are other interests in the Middle East, interests which must be represented so we can find a solution. Iran is part of all this, and therefore someone must talk to them,” he added.

Lula’s remarks come as Israel is under pressure to stop settlement activities, which are considered the key obstacle to a long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Israel on Friday, saying that its plan to erect new housing units in East Jerusalem Al-Quds has undermined trust and confidence in the so-called peace process.

Israel’s settlement activities are in direct violation of international law.

On the Iranian nuclear issue, the Brazilian president, who is scheduled to travel to Iran in May, said he did not favor further sanctions against Tehran.

“Before sanctions of any kind are imposed, we must make every effort to rebuild peace in the Middle East.”

Brazil has repeatedly warned that fresh sanctions against Iran would be counterproductive reiterating that diplomacy can still work on the issue.

A top US military commander in Latin America has confirmed Venezuelan government’s insistence on not aiding regional rebel groups, rejecting Spain’s accusations against the Hugo Chavez Administration.

“We have not seen any connection specifically that I can verify that there has been a direct government-to-terrorist connection,” said General Douglas Fraser, chief of US military’s Southern Command, responsible for Latin American operations, on Thursday.

“We have continued to watch very closely for any connections between illicit and terrorist organization activity within the region,” Fraser claimed.

President Chavez and other Latin American leaders have spoken harshly of the continuation of large US military presence in the region, arguing that such presence reflects US intention to intervene in the internal affairs of Latin American countries, as it has done so for decades.

Fraser’s comments follow accusations by a Spanish judge linking alleged assassination plots in Spain by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Basque separatist group ETA to Venezuela.

Caracas has vehemently rejected the charges, exasperating already tense relations with Spain.

A 7.2-magnitude earthquake has struck Central Chile while President-elect Sebastian Pinera was preparing to swear in as the country’s new head of state.

The strong quake hit on Thursday in the vicinity of Libertador General Bernardo O’Higgins, near the Chilean coast.

According to the US Geological Survey, the quake was centered 114 kilometers (71 miles) south of Valparaiso, AFP said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued no warning about a potential “destructive widespread tsunami.”

The rightist President-elect Pinera, a multi-billionaire media and business tycoon, brings to an end 20 years of left-leaning governance in Santiago.

The city of Valparaiso in the west of the country hosted the swearing-in ceremony as spectators at the event looked terrified when the aftershock struck.

The 60-year-old president, who replaces popular former president Michelle Bachelet, faces a bumpy road ahead, as he has to assume power in a country ravaged by last month’s strong 8.2-magnitude quake.

Pledging to continue with the reconstruction efforts, Pinera declared, “We won’t be the government of the earthquake, we’ll be the government of reconstruction.”

Brazil has urged the US to quickly start negotiations to settle a trade dispute between the two countries over US cotton subsidies.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday called on US President Barack Obama to swiftly start talks on the row. He said Brazil expected Washington to respect the decisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“Brazil has no interest in a confrontation of any kind with the United States, but it is interested in the United States respecting the decisions of the World Trade Organization (WTO),” Lula said.

“We are not pursuing a policy of retaliation,” He added. “We want to be respected and that the WTO be respected.”

Brazil on Monday said it would raise tariffs on a number of US goods worth USD 591 million to counter Washington’s move to unlawfully pay subsidies to US cotton producers.

The World Trade Organization has authorized the South American country to impose levies as high as 100 percent on US imported goods over illegal US cotton aid.

American goods will be subject to import tariffs within 30 days unless the United States agrees to put an end to the subsidies.

Brazil says it may apply another USD 238 million penalty in sectors like intellectual property and service sectors.

In late 2002, Brazil initiated a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement case against specific provisions of the US cotton program.

In September 2004, a WTO dispute settlement panel ruled against the United States on several key issues. The ruling included key findings among which was that US domestic support measures that are “contingent on market prices” have resulted in excess cotton production and exports that, in turn, caused low international prices and resulted in “serious prejudice” to Brazil.

Chile will swear in the government of President-elect Sebastian Pinera on Thursday amid efforts to reconstruct the country’s quake-ruined regions.

The new administration under rightist Pinera will terminate 20 years of popular leftists’ governance in Santiago.

60-year-old Pinera, a media and multi-business tycoon, has pledged to boost the country’s economy and create jobs.

The incoming president will take over the top government job from outgoing President Michelle Bachelet whose government is grappling with the consequences of Chile’s devastating February 27 quake, fifth largest in human’s history,

Pinera has vowed to continue with the reconstruction efforts in the aftermath of the quake that left at least 500 dead and 260 missing along with an additional two million homeless.

“We won’t be the government of the earthquake, we’ll be the government of reconstruction,” AFP quoted him as saying in a recent speech.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and Ecuador on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for construction of power plant.

IRI Energy Minister Majid Namjou and his Ecuadorian counterpart, Miguel Calahorrano signed the MoU for construction of two power plants (100 and 50 MW power plants) in Ecuador, IRIB reported.

Namjou said that the Ecuadorian delegation traveled to Iran to complete and enforce the agreement.

“The two countries’ delegations will study methods for enforcement of the agreements,” he added.

Namjou said that the agreement is very important for support of the private sector.

Miguel Calahorrano for his part said, “Ecuador agreed to expand cooperation with Iran through joint projects and we eager to use the experiences of Iranian experts in this regard.”

Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya plans to write a book on the last year’s coup in Honduras and cast light on the role of the country’s business elite in his ouster.

In a television interview broadcast in Venezuela, Zelaya said on Sunday that he hopes to publish a book about his ouster within three months.

Zelaya explained that the business leaders in Honduras feared that he intended to copy President Hugo Chavez’s socialist policies.

He also expounded on how some were worried over his decision to take control of fuel terminals used by store imported oil.

On June 28, 2009, military forces stormed Zelaya’s palace and flew him to exile in Costa Rica, allegedly over the leader’s refusal to drop a campaign for a referendum on changing the constitution, which the Supreme Court had ruled illegal.

The move sparked street protests in Honduras where thousands of demonstrators took to streets in support for Zelaya, threatening to boycott the November elections.

Honduran officials also fiercely opposed a proposal by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias urging Zelaya’s return as president of a coalition government.

Shortly afterwards, Latin American leaders together with the US and Canada condemned the June 28 coup in Honduras, emphasizing that Zelaya “remains the democratically elected president.”

In January and following the disputed election of new Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, ousted Zelaya left the country after an earlier return that was objected by coup leaders .

Despite re-establishing ties with some 30 countries, Lobo’s government faces legitimacy crisis in Latin America as some countries, including Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, refrain from recognizing his administration.

Colombia’s Constitutional Court is to review a treaty that gives US forces access to Colombian military bases, following a legal challenge of its unconstitutionality.

The lawsuit brought by a legal group called “Jose Alvear Restrepo,” argue that the October 2009 military accord is invalid since it was signed by the government of President Alvaro Uribe without a prior discussion in Congress, as mandated by the constitution.

They, additionally, accuse Uribe of ignoring the advice of the State Council, the highest court on administrative matters, which has also urged him to allow the congress take up the agreement before it was signed.

The Uribe administration deemed the State Council’s opinion nonbinding arguing that the accord was not a new one but merely an extension of a 1974 military pact with the United States, and as such required no legislative oversight.

The military pact, part of what the US-backed Uribe government calls a joint effort to counter drug trafficking and insurgencies, has been denounced by neighboring Venezuela as US interference in the region, raising tensions between Bogota and Caracas.

Amid US efforts to unite Latin American nations against Iran, the newly sworn-in Uruguayan president expresses willingness to expand ties with the Islamic Republic.

In a Friday meeting with visiting Iranian Minister of Cooperatives Mohammad Abbasi, Uruguay’s Jose Mujica said his country ‘intends to bolster its cooperation with Iran,” IRNA reported

The news comes as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently ended a five-nation Latin American tour in a bid to bolster ties in a region where Iran’s diplomatic ties are growing fast.

The trip was also believed to be aiming for support for further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

As the top US diplomat Hillary Clinton tours Latin America, the Venezuelan president charges the US with efforts to sow discord among regional nations.

President Hugo Chavez said Thursday that Clinton’s six-country visit to the region was aimed at driving divisions between Latin American states.

Meanwhile, the US secretary of state, currently in Costa Rica, urged Latin American leaders to recognize the new Honduran government that came to power after a military coup, widely believed to have enjoyed US backing, ousted the democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya last June and forced an early election that excluded Zelaya.

Clinton also claimed that the November presidential election in Honduras had been free and fair. Washington helped to broker the election that brought to power the current Honduran President Porfirio Lobo.

Many countries in the region, including Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentine have shunned Lobo’s government because the polls were organized by the military coup leaders.

Some regional countries have insisted that Washington had a hand in the coup. The United States was among the first nations to recognize Lobo’s government.

In her current Latin American tour, Clinton has placed the recognition of the new Honduran government by regional countries at the top of its agenda.

However, Brazil and Argentina, visited earlier by Clinton in her ongoing tour, were not convinced on restoring ties with Honduras. They demanded the return of Zelaya back to power and stated that the recognition of the new Honduran government would amount to rewarding the coup leaders.

Clinton has visited Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Costa Rica. She ends her tour of the region with a visit to Guatemala on Friday.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that the international community should not “push Iran into a corner over its nuclear energy program.”

“It is not wise to push Iran into a corner. It is wise to establish negotiations,” the Brazilian president said before a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday.

“Brazil understands that it is possible to build another path, through talks,” he went on to say.

“I want for Iran the same thing I want for Brazil: That it may use nuclear energy for peaceful ends. If Iran goes beyond that, we will not be able to agree with it,” Lula further explained.

Clinton is currently in Brazil in an attempt to persuade the country’s officials to support new sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

The US diplomat has already met with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and is scheduled to hold talks with the country’s president later.

Brazil has repeatedly supported the Iranian right to pursue its nuclear energy program.

Clinton is in on her fourth stop of a six-nation Latin America tour. She has so far visited Argentina, Uruguay and quake-ravaged Chile.

The Brazilian chief executive hosted his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in November and plans to visit Iran on May 15.

The US and its allies accuse Iran of pursuing military ends through its nuclear program — a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has found no shred of evidence to support the Western accusations.

Iran says its nuclear drive is being pursued within the framework of the IAEA regulations, adding that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty the country has every right to carry on with its nuclear energy program.

The US top diplomat Hillary Clinton, on the second leg of her Latin American trip, has visited quake-hit Chile to see the damaged sites and assess the needs of the South American country in the face of the natural disaster.

Received by Chilean President Michelle Bachelet at Santiago’s airport on Tuesday, Clinton was briefed by Bachelet on the damages inflicted by the magnitude-8.8 earthquake on Saturday.

Clinton said that President Bachelet and her government had demonstrated great leadership, and that the Chilean people had responded to the disaster “with resilience and strength.”

“I first come with the great sympathy and support from President Obama and the people of the United States,” Clinton told Bachelet, according to Xinhua.

“We are so grateful for what Chile did in Haiti. Your rescue teams were among the very best in the entire world,” she said.

Clinton said her country was ready to meet all demands for specific supplies from the Chilean government.

“We’ll be here to help when others leave,” Clinton said later in a news conference, reported Latin America News Dispatch, adding that “because we are committed to this partnership and this friendship with Chile.”

The US secretary of state gave Bachelet 25 satellite telephones as part of the aid requested by Chile, along with communication devices, power generators and other equipment.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has dismissed Spain’s accusations that his government has links with terrorist groups, adding that there is nothing to explain about them.

The comments made on Wednesday come after Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero demanded explanation from Caracas over alleged ties to terrorist groups active in South America and Europe.

On Monday, Spanish judge Eloy Velasco accused Venezuela of acting as a link between the Basque separatist group ETA and FARC rebels in Colombia.

Velasco also charged a suspected member of ETA, Arturo Cubillas Fontan, of serving numerous high-level roles within the Venezuelan government.

Following Velasco’s claim, the Spanish government urged Venezuela to clarify its position on the issue with Zapatero stressing that his government “will act in accordance with that explanation.”

NASA scientists say that last week’s 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile has shortened the length of the day by shifting the earth’s axis.

NASA scientist Richard Gross says the quake has shortened the length of an Earth day by about 1.26 microseconds.

Every microsecond is one millionth of a second.

Gross’s calculations showed the quake should have moved Earth’s figure axis by 2.7 milliarcseconds, which is about 8 centimeters.

The study discussed that the 2004 magnitude 9.1 Sumatran earthquake should have shortened the length of day by 6.8 microseconds and shifted Earth’s axis by 2.32 milliarcseconds which is about 7 centimeters.

Gross said unlike the Sumatran quake, the Chilean earthquake did not happen near the equator. It was located in Earth’s mid-latitudes, and dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle.

These reasons make the 2010 Chilean earthquake more effective in shifting Earth’s figure axis.

Venezuela has denied allegations by Spain that the socialist nation has ties to terrorist groups active in South America and Europe.

“We do not house guerrillas, nor do we have a pact with guerrillas,” said Venezuelan Congressman Hayden Pirela.

Pirela was responding to a 26-page indictment by Spanish judge Eloy Velasco, who accused Caracas of acting as a link between the Basque separatist group ETA and FARC rebels in Colombia.

Velasco also charged a suspected member of ETA, Arturo Cubillas Fontan, of serving numerous high-level roles within the Venezuelan government of President Hugo Chavez.

Seven members of the FARC and six members of ETA have also been accused of terrorism, conspiracy to commit murder, and numerous other offenses by the judge.

Following the report, the Spanish government urged Venezuela to clarify its position on the issue and on Monday Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero stressed that his government “will act in accordance with that explanation.”

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has also called on his country’s authorities to deal with the Spanish judge’s indictment “through diplomatic channels.”

Pirela meanwhile dismissed the indictment as “part of a campaign to discredit Venezuela.”

Chavez, who is in Uruguay to attend the inauguration of new President Jose Mujica, is yet to comment on the subject.

The latest development comes a day after the long-sought ETA military leader, Ibon Gogeascoechea Arronategui, was captured along with two other suspects in northern France.

The Spanish government blames ETA for the deaths of almost 830 people in a 4-decade-long armed campaign for the independence of the Basque region of northern Spain and southwest France.

According to Spain’s investigations, ETA has been training FARC members since 2003 and in exchange, FARC has compensated the Basque terrorists using revenues from drug trafficking.

Jose Mujica has been sworn in as Uruguay’s new president after he won last November’s election.

After the swearing-in ceremony on Monday, the guerrilla-turned-politician vowed to deepen the policies of outgoing President Tabare Vazquez.

Despite the global economic downturn, Uruguay’s economy grew in 2009.

The outgoing leader tried to control public spending while using income tax revenues to lower unemployment and provide equal access to healthcare to everyone under 18.

While his victory was widely welcomed in the region, the 74-year-old Mujica has also pledged to promote Latin American unity.

High-ranking officials and Latin American leaders, including Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez attended the inauguration.

The new Uruguayan president spent 14 years in jail for his involvement with the radical leftist movement, Tupamaros. The group carried out robberies, political kidnappings and bombings in the 1960s and 70s.

Mujica says he now rejects the “stupid ideologies” of the past.

As Chile is slowly trying to recover from the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that left 708 people dead, reports say that 48 people are still trapped alive inside one of the toppled apartment blocks.

Firefighters are still desperately hunting for bodies from the ruins of the buildings.

Firefighter Ignacio Carrizo, who is in charge of one of the teams of rescuers with sniffer dogs, said on Sunday that his colleagues have recovered eight bodies from a building in Concepcion, Chile’s second biggest city. He added that he believes 48 people trapped inside the same building “are alive.”

The official death toll from Saturday’s earthquake is now 708, President Michelle Bachelet told reporters on Sunday.

The quake has left entire towns cut off from rescuers with roads and bridges crumpled.

Meanwhile, the Teniente copper mine, which was not affected by the massive quake, restarted extraction operations on Sunday, despite a limited power supply.

Ricardo Alvarez, the manager of El Teniente, which is Chile’s fourth largest mine and accounts for more than 7 percent of national output, said that the facilities are undamaged and that roads to the exporting port of San Antonio are in good condition.

Chile is the world’s No. 1 copper exporter.

Bachelet on Sunday declared a 30-day state of emergency in the worst-hit regions of Maule and Biobio, which are on the west coast. In Concepcion, the hardest-hit city, a nightly curfew from 2100 to 0600 local time was declared.

People of the hardest hit parts of the country are complaining that the government is not doing enough to help them. The towns are in chaos as looters have taken to the streets. Around 10,000 soldiers have been deployed to provide security.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will depart on a five-nation Latin American tour next week in a bid to bolster ties and gauge the feasibility of Obama’s vision for the region.

Clinton’s trip, to commence next Sunday, will first take her to Uruguay where she will attend the presidential inauguration of Jose Mujica and use the occasion to meet with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and other Latin American leaders.

It is not yet known whether Saturday’s killer quake in Chile will affect Clinton’s tour of the region. However, the top US diplomat is scheduled to visit the quake-hit country on the second leg of her trip, with “no change at the moment” for her Santiago visit, Clinton spokesman Philip Crowley told AFP.

After talks with the outgoing President Michelle Bachelet and president-elect Sebastian Pinera in Chile, Clinton will travel to Brazil for talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in an attempt to draw his alignment with Washington on issues such as Iran and it’s nuclear program.

Costa Rica, which has elected its first female president this month, will be Clinton’s next destination before making her last stop in Guatemala for talks with President Alvaro Colom, as well as a meeting with leaders of Central American countries and the Dominican Republic.

Clinton’s first trip to South America will take place amid reports of a series of US policy changes in the region.

Analysts believe that she will use her trip, especially Uruguay’s presidential inauguration, to announce that the US is ready to accept the new political realities in the region expressing American willingness to work with both governments of the left and right.

The death toll in the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on Saturday has risen to 214.

Chilean officials say the incident is a catastrophe of immense proportions.

Some 1.5 million homes have been damaged by the powerful earthquake that struck central Chile, Housing Minister Patricia Poblete said on Saturday.

The earthquake that rocked Chile in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday left a trail of twisted buildings, destroyed bridges, and closed down Santiago International Airport.

The quake was followed by strong, multiple aftershocks.

In addition, a tsunami has roared across the vast Pacific Ocean in the wake of the Chile quake.

The first tsunami waves have reportedly hit the coasts of French Polynesia and Hawaii. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has warned of possible widespread damage from waves as high as three meters.

Dozens of nations, stretching from New Zealand to Japan, are on alert for destructive waves as thousands of people are fleeing their homes.