Ecuador

Oswaldo Guayasamin, 79, considered Ecuador's top painter this century, died of a heart attack yesterday at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, leaving unfinished his grand masterpiece, the Chapel of Man.Mr. Guayasamin, a leftist and close friend of Cuban President Fidel Castro, had traveled to Baltimore for treatment of his eyes. "I paint the times I have been fated to live: the wars, privations and anguish of people unjustly relegated," he told reporters before his death.In 1996, he began building in Quito, Ecuador, what he called his masterpiece: a brick and copper cathedral-shaped building with murals telling the story of "man in the Americas."

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, Ecuador -- On these wild islands where giant tortoises lumber up erupting volcanoes, a battle over a wormlike delicacy is threatening to close the window on evolution that Charles Darwin opened more than a century ago.Fishermen fleeing poverty have inundated this living laboratory and harvested millions of sea cucumbers, prized in Asia as a food and aphrodisiac. But in their quest to make a living, they have clashed with scientists and nature, taking hostages, killing the endangered giant tortoises for which the islands are famed and threatening death to ecologists who would scuttle their livelihood.

IMAGINE WHAT happens to rap music when English words are mixed line by line with Spanish words and given a Latin beat. The result is what budding Latino superstar Gerardo affectionately calls "Spanglish.""It relates to both cultures so everyone can understand," said Gerardo, whose Ecuadorian family name is Mejia. "Usually when I'm speaking it's just one or the other. My parents are really into stressing Spanish and speaking the right kind of Spanish. They tell me I shouldn't mess up the language.

Digging along border of Mexico-U.S. ends after 9 bodies found MEXICO CITY -- Mexican and U.S. officials have ended excavations of mass grave sites along the countries' border after turning up nine bodies, Mexican prosecutors announced yesterday. Officials began digging at four ranches near Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, this fall. At the time, one official cited an informant as saying drug smugglers might have buried as many as 100 bodies at the ranches. 9 Russian diplomats ejected from Poland for spying WARSAW, Poland -- Poland ordered nine Russian diplomats out of the country for spying yesterday, a blow to already uneasy relations between countries that once were Cold War allies.

U.S. will find truth about Pinochet, bomb, says envoy to Chile SANTIAGO, Chile -- The U.S. Justice Department is determined to uncover the truth in its criminal investigation into whether Chile's former dictator, Augusto Pinochet, ordered a 1976 car bombing in Washington, the U.S. ambassador to Chile said yesterday. John O'Leary said the investigation into the worst case of international terrorism in the U.S. capital -- which killed exiled Chilean socialist Orlando Letelier and his American assistant, Ronni Moffitt -- would end only when all those implicated were put on trial.

IWAS 9 years old when I experienced my first American Christmas. I was at a loss to describe my reaction because my English wasn't very good. When I became completely fluent, I realized the word I was looking for was "bummer." That's because I had the disadvantage of experiencing eight Latino Christmases before celebrating my ninth with an Anglo one. A Latino Christmas is a wonder to behold. If American families are nuclear, then Latino families are electromagnetic, pulling every relative, no matter how distant, into their orbit.

This is the week international soccer returns -- after 25 years -- for its second appearance ever in Baltimore. What's the big deal about the game at 7: 30 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Stadium?If you're not familiar with professional soccer, the friendly game between national teams representing the United States and Ecuador might have you puzzling over what to expect and whether a ticket might be worth the price.Here are some answers to basic questions.In this country, pro sports teams play one another throughout their respective seasons, and that ends it, except, maybe, for the Olympics.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina's oldest army base, home to the presidential guard regiment, is for rent.Strapped for cash, the army has leased part of the base to a grocery store and is looking for a commercial tenant to move into another building."

ZABALO, Ecuador -- Three months ago, Randy Borman, barefoot son of American missionaries, slipped into his Indian tunic and applied streaks of red ceremonial paint to his face. Then he led his band of 35 Cofan Indians on an armed visit to an oil well illegally constructed on their land deep inside Ecuador's Amazon rain forest.With spears and crude shotguns, the Cofan encircled the well and its crew of startled, hard-hatted workers. Thirty-six hours later, after a tense standoff and extensive negotiations, Mr. Borman had what he wanted: The promise of an environmental '' impact study for the area and a compensatory batch of 60 solar panels to go atop the Cofans' thatch-roof village huts.

SANTO DOMINGO, Ecuador -- Thirty poor women in a steamy lowland suburb of washboard dirt roads have become businesswomen.That event may fall short of a miracle. But for 15 months, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) of Baltimore has helped them bring home income that does more than pay rent and buy clothes and food. In the macho world of Santa Teresita, their roles as breadwinners make the men stand up and notice.Their new status is one small result of a worldwide movement that favors lending money to poor women over men. The women have been found to be better credit risks because of their heightened sense of family responsibility and because they are better able to create small businesses for unselfish purposes.