Leftists downplay elections ushering in democracy in Iraq

PORTO ALEGRE - Two days before elections to choose a new Iraqi government, activists at the leftist World Social Forum railed Friday against the U.S.-led occupation and predicted the balloting wouldn't bring democracy.

The World Social Forum has drawn tens of thousands of people who are promoting hundreds of causes, ranging from opposition to genetically modified crops to free distribution of land to poor farmers and protecting the rights of indigenous populations.

Protesters burned an effigy of President Bush and chanted slogans against a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, a 34-nation zone that would join North and South America in the world's largest economic bloc.

BOLIVIA

Protesters in Santa Cruz move closer to electing own leaders

SANTA CRUZ - Leaders of an autonomy drive in Bolivia's largest province won concessions from President Carlos Mesa that clear the way for them to eventually choose their own provincial leaders.

The agreement followed weeks of street protests in Santa Cruz, the country's largest city, where business and civic leaders led calls for greater autonomy in anger over government-imposed price hikes.

Under an accord reached through days of talks, Mesa agreed to allow Santa Cruz residents to elect their own local leaders and hold a national referendum that could extend greater autonomy to other provinces, government officials said.

MEXICO

Mexican, U.S. aides reconcile concerns over border violence

MEXICO CITY - The United States and Mexico sought to defuse their spat over a U.S. alert about drug-gang violence along the border, issuing a joint statement Saturday in which Washington said its announcement was not meant to keep Americans from traveling south of the border.

Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez and U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza met over breakfast to review actions taken by the Mexican government to combat organized crime in northern Mexico, where a surge in killings and kidnappings has been linked to battles between drug gangs.

VENEZUELA

Countries resolve dispute over captured Colombian rebel

CARACAS - Venezuela and Colombia announced a settlement Friday in a dispute over the capture of a Colombian rebel on Venezuelan soil, easing the worst diplomatic crisis between the South American countries in decades.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's office saidFriday night that ''the incident has been resolved'' and that Uribe would meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Thursday in Venezuela.

The conflict began nearly seven weeks ago, when the prominent Colombian rebel Rodrigo Granda stepped outside a cafe onto the streets of Caracas and bounty hunters seized him.

Rudy Mesicek has published poetry rooted in Latin American history.

rmesicek@sltrib.com