Bogota  - Some 50,000 people suffered damage to their property in north-western Colombia after the Cauca river overflowed following heavy rains, regional authorities said Tuesday.

The Cauca - a tributary of the Magdalena river, the largest in Colombia - broke its levees on Tuesday and completely flooded the town of Nechi, in the province of Antioquia, some 400 kilometres north of Bogota.

Lima - Canada and Colombia signed a free trade agreement in Lima as their leaders prepared to attend an Asia-Pacific summit there.

"We are taking a very important step at a moment of great difficulty because of the world financial crisis," said Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper witnessed the signing of the pact Friday by the two countries' trade ministers.

Both Uribe and Harper called on the US Congress to ratify a US-Colombia free trade pact, which was signed long ago.

Bogota - Avalanches and mudslides killed at least four people and left three missing after the eruption this week of the Nevado del Huila volcano in south-western Colombia, local leaders said.

Marco Tuilio Tocomas, governor of the indigenous zone of Caloto-Vila, said Friday that four bodies were found near the community and they appeared to have been dragged by avalanches.

National authorities had not yet confirmed any deaths from an avalanche over the Paez River, which witnesses said covered a swath up to 200 metres wide and took everything in its path.

Bogota - About 12,000 indigenous farmers arrived in central Bogota after marching for more than 10 days along several routes from south-western Colombia to press for the return of ancestral lands.

The native campesinos converged Friday in the capital's Plaza Bolivar, where they were joined by university students and members of trade and labour unions.

"We come here to denounce the human rights violations against us and to analyze the land issue," indigenous leader Aida Quilcue said.

Leticia, Colombia/Tabatinga, Brazil  - Breakfast consists of scrambled eggs with chili sauce and refried beans in Columbia. For lunch there is charcoal-grilled fish in Peru. And rounding things off at sundown are caipirinha cocktails in Brazil.

What sounds like a wealthy jet-setter's day can be had by any backpacker for just 50 dollars, a price that includes an overnight stay at a hotel, a ride on a motorcycle taxi and a boat trip.