Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is calling a meeting of eight Amazon countries next week to forge a common stand ahead of next month's key climate talks, officials said Friday.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia captured four members of the Venezuelan National Guard on Colombian soil and said on Saturday it would send them home in a gesture aimed at lowering diplomatic tensions between the neighboring countries.

Ecuador is encouraging its national laboratories to increase production of pharmaceuticals without regard to licenses or patents.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa is facing the worst spate of social unrest of his second term, with indigenous leaders planning protests beginning Sunday against water privatization.

Leaders representing over 60 African and South American countries backed a new regional financial system Sunday for the two continents to gain more clout and boost development.

Leaders representing more than 60 African and South American countries signed agreements at a summit here aimed at creating a new regional financial system for the two continents to gain more clout and boost development.

Several hundred Shuar Indians wearing black war paint and toting wooden spears on Thursday reinforced a highway blockade that police failed to break up earlier in a bloody melee that left one Indian dead and at least 40 police injured.

Shuar Indians reinforce roadblock in dispute with Ecuador's government over mining, water laws. Several hundred Shuar Indians wearing black war paint and toting wooden spears on Thursday reinforced a highway blockade that police failed to break up earlier in a bloody melee that left one Indian dead and at least 40 police injured.

Ecuador government offers to re-examine laws that ignited Indian protest. Ecuador says it will consider changes to draft mining and water laws that provoked a clash with Indians last week that claimed a protester's life.

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia said on Tuesday it has evidence that Colombian Marxist rebels are camped inside neighboring Ecuador, and asked leftist President Rafael Correa to take action against the drug-running guerrillas.

QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa said on Saturday he will travel to Russia late this month to strengthen ties aimed in part at enhancing his country's defenses.

The leftist Latin American ALBA trade bloc is scheduled Friday to approve measures that would replace US dollars with a new virtual currency for regional commerce, an official said here.

Nicaragua court says President Ortega can seek re-election; opposition in uproar. Leftist President Daniel Ortega appears to have won the right to seek re-election in 2011, though opponents call the decision illegal and are vowing to fight it.

Ecuador president heads to Europe seeking $3 billion to keep Amazon oil in ground. Ecuador's president is in London this week to promote a unique proposal: pay his country $3 billion not to drill for oil in a pristine Amazon reserve.

Ecuador president heads to Europe seeking $3 billion to keep Amazon oil in ground. Ecuador's president is in London this week to promote a unique proposal: pay his country $3 billion not to drill for oil in a pristine Amazon reserve.

LONDON (Reuters) - Germany, Spain and France have expressed interest in a pioneering Ecuadorean plan not to pump oil from under a tropical forest in return for international compensation, Ecuadorean officials said on Tuesday.

Foreign pharmaceutical firms including Pfizer agreed Wednesday to accept Ecuador's decision to bypass patents on 2,000 drugs in order to produce them locally or buy cheaper versions elsewhere.

Foreign pharmaceutical firms including Pfizer have agreed to accept Ecuador's decision to bypass patents on 2,000 drugs in order to produce them locally or buy cheaper versions elsewhere.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa was due Thursday to discuss energy and defense cooperation with Russian leaders on a visit that the media said may lead to Ecuador's recognition of Georgia's rebel regions as independent.

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa was Thursday in Moscow on a mission to obtain Russian military hardware and loans, with Russia reportedly hoping he will recognize Georgian rebel regions in return.