WINNIPEG - Elijah Harper, the Cree politician who inspired Canadian aboriginals by blocking the Meech Lake constitutional accord while clutching an eagle feather in the Manitoba legislature, has died. Harper's family said he died Friday morning in an Ottawa hospital of cardiac failure due to diabetes complications. He was 64. "Elijah was a wonderful man, father, partner," the family said in a statement. "He will have a place in Canadian history forever for his devotion to public service and uniting his fellow First Nations with pride, determination and resolve."

Guatemala City, May 16 (EFE).- The destruction of a 2,300-year-old Mayan pyramid by a company constructing a highway near the Nohmul archaeological site in northern Belize is "unforgivable," the government said. The company moved bulldozers and backhoes through the Nohmul complex, practically wiping out one of the largest Mayan pyramids in the Central American country.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuela's biggest food company on Monday hit back at President Nicolas Maduro's claims that it's to blame for the country's persistent food shortages. The chief executive of Empresas Polar, Lorenzo Mendoza, rejected accusations by the president that the company has reduced production and is hoarding products to create scarcity. "The accusations that we are producing less than last year are false," Mendoza told reporters. "I presume that President Nicolas Maduro is not well informed about the situation and about what's happening."

Teotihuacan, Mexico, May 12 (EFE).- A robot that weighs just 25 kilos (55 pounds) is helping scientists explore the underworld of Teotihuacan, an archaeological complex located some 50 kilometers (about 31 miles) north of Mexico City. The robot is exploring a tunnel built by Teotihuacan's residents under the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, the third-largest pyramid at Teotihuacan, leading archaeologists to expect an important discovery.