Guatemala City, Apr 23 (EFE).- Guatemala has officially suspended the simultaneous Oct. 6 referendum scheduled with Belize on taking their long-running territorial dispute to the International Court of Justice, or ICJ, Foreign Minister Fernando Carrera said. The "conditions do not exist" for holding the referendum because the Belizean government did not accept Guatemala's proposal for pushing the date forward and modifying its legislation on referendums, Carrera said.

Tegucigalpa, Apr 19 (EFE).- Even in a country that suffers an average of 20 murders a day, the assassination of a veteran prosecutor has left Honduras stunned. Orlan Chavez, who worked in the organized-crime unit of the attorney general's office, was gunned down Thursday night in Tegucigalpa. The third prosecutor slain in less than two years, Chavez had been a public servant for 30 years and helped draft Honduras' anti-money-laundering statute. The victim's colleagues wept Friday as they lamented the loss of a prosecutor one of them described as "a brilliant man."

A rights group accused Brazilian authorities Thursday of ignoring a deadline set by a federal judge to evict all invaders from the Amazon heartland of the threatened Awa tribe. London-based Survival International said the Awa, which it describes as "Earth's most threatened tribe," are "at extreme risk of extinction as the authorities have taken no action to stop illegal loggers and settlers from destroying their forest."

Hundreds of indigenous people from across Brazil pressed Congress Tuesday to block a reform package meant to benefit farmers which they say threatens their way of life. "We are against the invasion of our lands. We are the original inhabitants. The white man is bossing us around. We don't like it. We want respect," said chief Raoni of the Kayapo tribe, with his trademark wreath of yellow feathers and painted wooden plate placed under his lower lip.