ECLA foresees more economic contraction in Latin America due to human flu

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SANTIAGO, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLA) said on Monday that the economy in the region will contract
over the 0.3 percent foreseen for 2009,due to the economic consequences of the
influenza A/H1N1, mainly in Mexico.

Meanwhile, ECLA General Secretary Alicia Barcena said that despite the new
estimation, the contraction will not be more negative than the contraction of
1.5 percent that the International Monetary Found (IMF) foresaw.

"Definitely, we are going to review the figures. It is possible that we
review it low trend, but not as low as the IMF, the signs we see, honestly, is
that Latin America has taken all the measures and that it will not be more
drop," Barcena said.

In the case of Mexico, the ECLA said that it estimates a deeply reduction
to the 2 percent that has been forecast before, because the disease has produced
strong contractions in sectors like live stock and tourism, due to the
stagnation of their economy.

EU finances border security project in Central America

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MANAGUA, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has earmarked 4.5
million euros (5.8 million U.S. dollars) in a project designed to help Central
American countries combat organized crimes and international drug trafficking,
chief of Nicaraguan National Police (PN) Aminta Granera said on Tuesday.

Known as the Border Security Project, the EU project foresees the provision
of technological equipment for police in the region to ensure their permanent
communication and information exchange, Granera said in a press conference.

The project will also allow the different corps to share internal and
intelligence information related to the flow of people and goods, as well as
migration, customs operations and policing, Granera said.

"It is a challenge to strength the exchange of professional information to
avoid the spreading of organized crimes from one country to another," he added.