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90 percent of U.S. banknotes have traces of cocaine

90 percent of dollar bills circulating in the country have traces of cocaine, particularly in large cities like Baltimore, Detroit or Boston, a percentage that rises to 95 per cent for the city of Washington, according to a study presented yesterday to mark Annual Meeting of the American Chemical Society.

The research was conducted by a group of scientists from the University of Massachusetts, who were tested in thirty cities in five countries-the United States, Canada, Brazil, China and Japan - that allowed to the "alarming "evidence that cocaine use is still widespread in many areas.

For U.S. and Canada, the average ticket is contaminated between 85 percent and 90 percent , while in China and Japan is between 12 percent and 20 percent. " To our surprise, we are increasingly finding more and more traces of cocaine on the bills, "said Zuo Yuegang, said university researcher who led the study.

The presence of traces of cocaine in banknotes circulating in the U.S. has increased 20 percent from a similar study conducted two years earlier, when the percentage of paper money "tainted" amounted to 67 percent. "Maybe this increase may be related to the economic crisis, "said Zuo. Scientists for years have found that cocaine may be present on the bills because they" pollute "in the operations of illegal sale of the drug or because the tickets are used by consumers to sniff the "white powder" whose particles are impregnated for life on the bills.

"But in any case one can not be entered by anyone sniffing a dollar bill except it has been previously used by a consumer, "said the researcher." Nor will affect your health and it is very difficult to detect their presence in results the blood and urine tests to detect whether the drug is consumed, "he added.

SOURCE: EP

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Unasur and expectations of integration

Quito Declaration of the III Summit of South American Nations Union (UNASUR) has condemned the coup d' State in Honduras, but did not mention the issue of U.S. military bases in Colombia.

The case, which has aroused great concern in all Latin American countries, will be addressed at a special summit this month in Buenos Aires, after steps which will officially Unasur to Washington to define the scope of the Colombian-US military agreement.

The conflict sparked by the military agreement between Bogota and Washington is the latest chapter of a regional political crisis that has been beaten to Latin America in recent years, led by Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador.

According to Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, U.S. troops "would cooperate in the fight against drug trafficking and terrorism", but his neighbors considered to constitute a threat to its security.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, called for the United States to convene a dialogue on the controversial pact with Colombia to increase its military presence in that country.

"At some point the government can summon Unasur States Together to discuss issues that concern us in the region, "he said.

Rafael Correa spent part of his inaugural address as president of Ecuador for a second term trading agreement Colombia and the United States, an issue focused debate summit closed on Monday in Quito.

reiterated his rejection of the possible use of military bases in Colombia by U.S. troops, denounced a "double standard" about this issue and hoped it would not help to combat "the American insurgent governments.

The statement was signed by the presidents of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay and Venezuela and Vice President of Uruguay, Foreign Minister of Peru, Colombia's vice chancellor and the representative of Suriname. About

Honduras, Unasur declared that "no recognition, no way, rupture of the democratic institutional order" and reaffirmed that "recognize no election is called de facto government" that ousted Manuel Zelaya on June 28 .

Zelaya was invited to the ceremony where President Unasur Ecuador, Rafael Correa assumed the rotating presidency of the body and then to the National Assembly session which Correa was sworn in for four more years.

The place also came the Cuban leader, Raul Castro.

Quito's statement emphasized the importance of "moving forward" in the ratification of the treaty establishing Unasur 2008, because only Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador completed the legislative process.

No decision on the appointment of the Secretary General of UNASUR.

The summit approved the creation of four new councils for cooperation: the Anti-Narcotics, Infrastructure and Planning, Social Development, Education, Culture, Science, Technology and Innovation, which are added to existing ones: Defense, Energy and Health .

The document emphasizes the need for "progress" in adopting joint initiatives to confront the international financial crisis and promote a new regional financial architecture.

In this sense, it instructed the finance ministers of the twelve countries of UNASUR to submit proposals for initiatives such as the Banco del Sur, the construction of a common reserve fund, a regional payment system, a regional clearing system , among others.

This summit showed that even the young body should move towards the consolidation of its institutions, so that it can meet expectations regarding the political, economic, social and cultural, resulting from its Founding Treaty, adopted in May 2008 .
(Xinhua) 12/08/2009

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Defense receives $ 364 million copper so far, 2009

According to the 'Copper Reserve Law' "rule instituted during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, the armed forces receive annually 10% of the profits of state-owned Codelco , an amount that is earmarked for the purchase or renovation of military equipment.

SANTIAGO, August 14. Chile's Armed Forces will receive $ 364 million during the first half of 2009, as a result of profits from the sale of copper, reported Thursday Codelco, the leading global producer of copper.

The amount means a 50% drop from what obtained in the similar period in 2008 when the sector Defense received $ 729 million.

The low price of copper during the first half of the year as a result of the economic crisis hurt the profits from Chilean copper company, whose profits reached $ 722 million, down 82.4% over the same period in 2008, as stated in its interim results.

Defense Fund, which in the past eight years has received U.S. $ 6.272 million, has allowed Chile to invest heavily military, raising the trouble from neighboring countries like Peru and Bolivia.

Peruvian authorities recently accused Chile to be in an "arms race" issue rejected by James, which ensures that the latest purchases are for the renewal of obsolete material.

On Wednesday, Chile reported that it will soon send a bill to amend the rule in question.

"The Government will enter in the coming weeks a bill to Congress to change the law, because it places the funding of the armed forces into a modern concept," said Chile's Defense Minister, Francisco Vidal. Santiago

in recent years embarked on a modernization of its armed forces, who authorities say is aimed at the professionalization of the soldiers and the renovation of old material with a more modern and efficient.

The buying process has included the acquisition of F-16 fighter planes, tanks, helicopters, frigates and submarines, among others.

Peru introduced in 2008 a lawsuit in the International Court at The Hague so that you recognize their rights to some 67,000 km2 in the Pacific Ocean, over which Chile currently holds domain.

SOURCE: AFP

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Pastoral Mapuche respond to the cries of a people afflicted

statement Mapuche pastoral commission of the Catholic Church over the death of Jaime Mendoza Collio. "The blood of your brother cries out from the earth" Genesis 4, 10.

members Pastoral Commission of the Mapuche of Southern Chile, meeting at the Shrine of Metrenko, we declare that:

1. Church As we noted our concern about the increasing criminalization of Mapuche demands, reducing it to a police matter. Hours before the death of Jaime Mendoza Collier, the presiding bishop of the Indian National Commission for Pastoral, Monsignor Camilo Vial, met with Minister Secretary General of the Presidency, the Minister of Interior and along the Standing Committee of the Conference Episcopal, with the President of the Republic, to emphasize the need not to criminalize the Mapuche demands. Denounce the "presence police forces 'elite', prepared with military weapons, which have used their firearms in the repression, which again can lead to events with community members who died. "

2. Just as we were welcomed as a Church, we regret that the 100 Mapuche leaders of the four regional areas that went to the Mint on 24 July 2009 will not be received. also note that an important opportunity for dialogue could not lose.

3.Consider the situation that killed Jaime Mendoza Collío, could well be avoided if it had acted to accept the dialogue requested by the villagers themselves who occupied the premises who expected the presence of Conadi. Instead of dialogue, attended by large heavily armed police contingents.

4.As a church, we have also raised their voices to denounce violence disproportionate that police are acting in so-called conflict zones. We insist that the interior ministry should revise the way in which police act in the Mapuche communities.

5. The Mapuche people is not a country of criminals or terrorists. They are our brothers and sisters with whom we share a love of life, faith in God and the desire for peace. police repression which we witness seems to respond to a lamentable vision discriminatory and racist that the Church has also denounced.

6. Lemún Alex's death, Matias Catrileo, and now Jaime Mendoza Collío are a consequence of this spiral of violence that we have condemned and must be stopped now.

7. The Mapuche people meet their right and duty to defend its identity, to claim their territory and proclaim his life.

8. We express our deep solidarity with the grief of the family and community Collío Jaime Mendoza.

9. solidarity with all those who suffer the consequences of violence, we call on all indigenous and non-Mapuche, to put down the violence, rebuild roads dialogue and struggle with the tools of peace. Call to mobilize state agencies in a prompt and adequate response to the just demands of the Mapuche people. We call especially judges, prosecutors and police to review their actions and their willingness to communities. We call on the media to provide objective and truthful information that contributes to understanding and peace. We convened as a church to respond to the cries of our brothers.


Father Fernando Diaz, svd. Coordinator, Southern Zone Mapuche Pastoral Commission
Gacitúa Ms. Miriam Suazo, Commission Secretary Southern Pastoral Zone
Mapuche Mr. Florencio Manquilef Huichal, Pastoral Diocese of Villarrica Mapuche Mr. Pedro Marican
Marican, Villarrica Diocese Pastoral
Mapuche Cañas Rodolfo Olguin Diocese Pastoral Mapuche Temuco Lincopi
Father Francisco Millan, Pastoral Diocese of Temuco
Mapuche Juan Jorge Faundes Peñafiel, Fundación Instituto Indígena Llancaleo
Father Hernan Moreno Pastoral Coordinator Archdiocese of Concepción
Mapuche Sr. Audina Huenumilla Namuncura, Pastoral Mapuche Archdiocese of Concepción
Father Carlos Bresciani, sj., Pastoral Mapuche Archdiocese of Concepción
Father Pablo Castro, sj., Pastoral Mapuche Archdiocese of Concepción