The wives and children of Bolivia's president and vice president have received per diems that are more than twice the minimum monthly wage in the impoverished country, drawing fierce criticism Wednesday. The government approved the per diems on March 13 but the decree was only recently revealed by the newspaper Pagina Siete. The perk applies when the family members are traveling with the president or vice president on official trips. They are also granted diplomatic passports.

Havana, Mar 26 (EFE).- Cuba in April will begin producing "ecological cement" using materials that allow it to reduce CO2 emissions by 32 percent during the manufacturing process, Communist Party daily Granma said Tuesday. In addition, the production process for this green cement, which will be produced in a factory in the central province of Sancti Spiritus, has 29 percent lower energy costs than normal cement.

The body of late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was to be moved Friday to a former barracks in a final march to honor of the leftist leader a month before elections are held to pick his successor. The Caracas military academy, where Chavez's casket has been on view, will serve as the starting point for the procession escorting the remains of the 58-year-old, who last week succumbed to cancer after 14 years in power.

The United Nations on Wednesday paid tribute to late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez at the scene of one of his most incendiary speeches. Venezuela's Foreign Minister Elias Jaua highlighted the speech to the UN General Assembly in 2006 when Chavez lambasted then US president George W. Bush as "the devil". "The devil came here yesterday, and it smells of sulfur still today," Chavez told shocked world leaders. The speech infuriated the United States, but Jaua told the assembly "it was an ingenious form of denouncing bellicose imperialism."