NATION IN BRIEF : TEXAS : Student Acquitted of Threatening Bush

Otto Lakas, the 21-year-old son of a former Panamanian president, was found not guilty in U.S. District Court in Lubbock, Tex., of threatening to kill President Bush. The Lubbock Christian University student had faced up to five years in prison if convicted. The son of Demetrio B. Lakas, Panama’s president from 1972-78, was accused of threatening Bush in a discussion at a pawnshop where he was looking at a gun. The elder Lakas testified his son was on trial because of a misunderstanding of his people’s culture. “We always talk about killing someone. . . . Latins are fiery and outspoken,” he said.