Central American troops headed to Haiti

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Central American nations will send a combined 500 troops to Haiti to join the U.N. peacekeeping mission, the Honduran newspaper El Heraldo reports.

El Salvador Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua will send troops next year, Honduras' defense minister said.

U.N. troops -- led by Brazilian forces -- currently number around 3,600 and are working to create stability and security in the embattled Caribbean nation as the interim government prepares for elections in 2005.

Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left the country in February amid pressure from armed rebel groups to step down. A recent spike in violence has left some 80 dead.