04-30- 2007

IRAQ: CAR BOMB ATTACK NEAR SHIITE SHRINES KILLS DOZENS

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ   --  At least 58 people were killed in a car bomb attack Saturday between two Shiite shrines in the Iraqi city of Karbala, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said. The Interior Ministry called the attack, which also injured more than 100 people, a suicide bombing. The bombing occurred as people were heading to evening prayers. After the blast, enraged residents accused police of failing to protect them, and there were reports of stone-throwing.

    Karbala, south of Baghdad in Iraq's Shiite heartland, is one of the world's holiest Shiite cities. It is frequently visited by Shiite pilgrims, drawn to the Imam Hussein shrine.  Saturday's attack occurred near that shrine and the Imam Abbas shrine. The Imam Hussein shrine honors Hussein, the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, who was killed in a battle in Karbala in the seventh century. His martyrdom is commemorated by Shiites every year during Ashura.

    Abbas, his half-brother, is revered for fighting by his side. Their tombs are in the respective shrines.  Karbala has not seen the level of daily violence that has swept Baghdad and other cities, but it has been the scene of some major attacks.

SECRETARY RICE NOT RULING OUT TALKS WITH IRANIANS AT CONFERENCE THIS WEEK

    WASHINGTON, D. C,  --  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is not ruling out direct talks with Iranian officials at a conference this week on Iraq, though Tehran's nuclear program probably would not come up.  At the regional meeting beginning Thursday in Egypt, Iraq is seeking support for its neighbors for helping in reining in sectarian violence. Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, is expected to lead his country's delegation. Iran agreed Sunday that it would attend the conference. 

    "This isn't an opportunity to talk about U.S.-Iran issues," said Rice, who acknowledged the possibility of talks with the Iranians. "This is really an opportunity for all of Iraq's neighbors to talk about how to stabilize Iraq. "Everyone has said that they believe a stable Iraq is in their interests. Not everyone is acting as if a stable Iraq is in their interests, and I think we want to talk about how we can all take actions and Iraq's neighbors can take actions to help the Iraqis secure themselves," Rice said.

    Asked what she would say to the Iranian foreign minister if they met, Rice said: "If in fact everybody believes a secure Iraq is important, then we need to stop the flow of foreign fighters. We need to stop the help to militias that then go out and kill innocent Iraqis. We need to stop the flow of advanced IED (improvised explosive devices) technology, explosive device technology that's killing American soldiers." The secretary played down the prospect of discussions involving Iran's disputed nuclear program.

04-29- 2007

SAUDI OFFICIAL: ARRESTED MILITANTS PLANNED 9/11-STYLE ATTACK

     RIAD, SAUDI ARABIA  --  Some of the militants arrested in a terror sweep in Saudi Arabia trained to use civilian aircraft in suicide missions, an official said Saturday, detailing a plot that reflected the September 11 attacks on the United States. Mansour al-Turki, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said the group of 172 Islamic extremists "are carriers of al Qaeda ideology, working on achieving al Qaeda goals, which is to take over the society."

    Saudi Arabia announced Friday that one of the largest terror sweeps to date in the kingdom had stopped plans to mount air attacks on the kingdom's oil refineries, break militants out of prison and send suicide attackers to kill government officials. Al-Turki said Friday that some of those arrested had trained abroad as pilots.

    "They were trained on civilian aircraft, to use the aircraft as a tool to carry out suicide operations," al-Turki told The Associated Press by phone from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. His comments marked a rare mention of al Qaeda by Saudi officials, who customarily refer to the organization as a "deviant group."  It was also the first confirmation that those arrested planned suicide missions similar to those of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

PRESIDENT BUSH TO NORTH KOREA: PATIENCE 'NOT UNLIMITED' 

    CAMP DAVID, MARYLAND  --   President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe demanded on Friday that North Korea live up to its promises and abandon its nuclear weapons program.  The two leaders threatened more sanctions against Pyongyang. "There's a price to pay," Bush said, standing alongside Abe at the presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains.

     "Our partners in the six-party talks are patient, but our patience is not unlimited," Bush said, referring to disarmament negotiations between the United States, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea. North Korea missed a deadline to shut down its nuclear reactor under an agreement reached in February. Japan is already withholding economic and food aid to the reclusive communist regime. Abe said that sanctions "will worsen" if North Korea continues to defy the international community.

VENEZUELA AMONG THE LEAST ATTRACTIVE LA COUNTRIES FOR INVESTMENT

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Venezuela is the least attractive environment for investment in Latin American countries, above Bolivia and Dominican Republic only, according to the World Economic Forum's new index measuring attractiveness for private investment in infrastructure in Latin America. According to the report of the World Economic Forum -which is holding its summit in Chile since April 25-, Venezuela obtained a "mediocre score of 3.37"  in the World Economic Forum's Latin American index country rating (with 7 points as the top rating).

    The rating features an average of the Infrastructure Private Investment Attractiveness Index (IPIAI), a customized, methodological tool gauging the institutions, factors and policies making it attractive for private investors to invest in infrastructure projects, and an assessment of infrastructure investment opportunities performed for each of the countries covered.

    "Venezuela is the worst performer in the General Investment Environmental Factors sub-index," the report said. According to the document, Venezuela came last in the legal framework pillar. "A look at the huge gap between its score (2.09) and the regional average (3.25) suffices to indicate the extent to which the country has fallen behind in this dimension." "Quite predictably, given the (President Hugo) Chavez administration's ideological stance, it displays a rather high risk of expropriation (2.00), made worse by what seems to be a scarce propensity of the government to pay reasonable compensation in the case of expropriation (3.00)."

04-28- 2007

inter-AMERICAN COURT MAY STOP CLOSURE OF RCTV

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The Inter-American Court on Human Rights is likely to prevent Hugo Chávez' Government from refusing to renew a broadcasting license for private television station RCTV, provided the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights or RCTV representatives file the relevant petition with the court. The statement was made by the head of the Human Rights Center at the Andrés Bello Catholic University, Ligia Bolívar, who was the legal adviser of the victims of the so-called El Amparo massacre who sued the Venezuelan State before the Inter-American Court on Human Rights.

    Bolívar reminded that the hemispheric court "has the capacity to order the states (members of the Organization of American States) to take actions to stop infringement of fundamental rights, through the so-called temporary actions." A source close to the court added: "The representatives of the TV network, following notice that their action has been upheld, may report any subsequent occurrence (the threat to stop RCTV operations). The court does not necessarily have to hear the facts reported in the suit filed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights only, but the court may also hear other subsequent claims."

    However, both Bolívar and the Inter-American Court on Human Rights expert agreed that the case has to filed by the claimant (RCTV) or the plaintiff (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights), as the court lacks the capacity to take actions ex officio. Warning that a ruling from the Inter-American Court on Human Rights may take a long time, as the court "does not hold sessions permanently," Bolívar added: "Even though May 27 (the date when RCTV broadcasting license is expiring) passes, the Court may take any temporary action whereby it may, for instance, order restarting the TV station operations, and meanwhile the court may deal with the case and determine whether Venezuelan authorities actually violated the rights they allegedly infringed (freedom of expression, personal integrity, judicial guarantees and protection)."

VENEZUELA FOREIGN MINISTER BRANDS IZCHR AS "ENEMY OF DEMOCRACY"  

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --   The Venezuelan State next week is replying to the suit the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) filed with the Inter-American Court on Human Rights in connection with President Hugo Chávez' refusal to renew the broadcasting license for private TV channel RCTV, Thursday said Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro.

    "We are considering this case. I am pretty sure that next week we will answer directly to this issue and let Venezuelans and the public and the Organization of American States know what the opinion of the Government of Venezuela is," the diplomat said. According to the official, the Venezuelan Government also expects to disclose the views of "a group of friendly governments regarding the biased, prejudiced and anti-Venezuelan stance of the members of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights."

     "They seem to be enemies of democracy, stability and the people of Venezuela. Once the summit of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas is over, we will disclose our official view, with specific data about the members of this Commission, their behavior, and the actions we will continue to deepen, as well as the new moves we are going to make in connection with this issue."

SUMATE LEADER BANNED FROM LEAVING VENEZUELA

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- A court based in Caracas, presided by Justice Máximo Guevara, revoked a permit to leave Venezuela previously granted to María Corina Machado, leader of non-governmental organization Súmate. Machado is facing trial for initialing a decree in April 2002 under which the de facto government of Pedro Carmona Estanga was created and all of Venezuelan public powers were dissolved, the official news agency ABN reported.

     The court hearing the case had granted the people who initialed such a decree a number of permits to travel abroad. And based on that, Machado's lawyers requested a permit for Súmate leader to travel to Chile to attend an international economic and social forum.

     The court granted the permit last April 17, but it revoked the authorization on April 20. The court alleged it annulled the permit because a decision banning Machado from leaving Venezuela was extended for an additional six-month period.

04-27- 2007

U.S. LIEUTENANT COLONEL WHO COMMANDED BAGHDAD DETENTION CENTER CHARGED WITH 'AIDING THE ENEMY' 

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --   A senior U.S. officer has been charged with nine offenses, including aiding the enemy and fraternizing with the daughter of a detainee while he commanded a military police detachment at the American detention facility where Saddam Hussein had been held, the military said Thursday. Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele was the commander of the 451st Military Police Detachment at Camp Cropper on the western outskirts of Baghdad when he was accused of giving "aid to the enemy" by providing an unmonitored cell phone to detainees.

    But some of the charges — which spanned from October 2005 and February — also stemmed from his most recent position in a provincial transition team headquartered at Camp Victory, the main U.S. military base near the detention center, military spokesman Lt. Col. James Hutton said. Steele, who was detained in March, was being held in Kuwait pending an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing, military officials said.

     The other charges included unauthorized possession of classified information, fraternizing with the daughter of a detainee, maintaining an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter, storing classified information in his quarters and possessing pornographic videos, the military said. Steele also was charged with improperly marking classified information, failing to obey an order and failing to fulfill his obligations in the expenditure of funds, the military said.

RCTV IS CERTAIN IACHR WILL SUE HUGO CHAVEZ

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Organization of American States (OAS), filed a complaint against the Venezuelan state for violation of human rights of the staff at TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). The case will be heard by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, said RCTV Deputy Legal Counsel Oswaldo Quintana.

    The lawyer explained that they received a letter from IACHR informing on their decision "because they proved that the human rights of RCTV workers and journalists were violated."

    "The rights that are being violated by the State include freedom of expression, personal integrity, judicial rights and judicial protection. These rights are enshrined and guaranteed under articles 13, 5, 8 and 28 of the American Convention on Human Rights, which is a law effective in Venezuela."

04-26- 2007

TALIBAN CHIEF CLAIMS BIN LADEN DIRECTED ATTACK AGAINST VICE PRESIDENT  DICK CHENEY

     CAIRO, EGYPT --A top Taliban commander claims that Al Qaeda leader Usama bin Laden is alive and directed the attack in February against a U.S. base in Afghanistan during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, according to an interview aired Wednesday on Al-Jazeera. Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's top military commander, told Al-Jazeera that bin Laden planned and supervised the attack that killed 23 people outside the big U.S. base at Bagram during Cheney's visit.

     "You may remember the martyr operation inside the Bagram base, which targeted a senior U.S. official. ... That operation was the result of his wise planning. He (bin Laden) planned that operation and guided us through it. The operation was a success," Dadullah told Al-Jazeera. He did not say how he knew that bin Laden planned the attack. A U.S. military official, however, immediately reacted with skepticism, calling Dadullah's interview "an opportunistic claim."

    The bombing killed about 20 Afghan civilians, a U.S. soldier, a U.S. contractor and a South Korean soldier outside Bagram while Cheney was meeting with officials inside the base. The Taliban claimed the attack was aimed at Cheney, but officials have said it posed no real threat to the vice president. The attacker never tried to penetrate even the first of several U.S.-manned security checkpoints at Bagram, instead detonating himself among a group of Afghan workers outside the base.

BISHOPS BRIEF POPE BENEDICT XVI ON VENEZUELAN SITUATION

THE VATICAN, ITALY  --  The directors of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference (CEV) met Monday with Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican and addressed the government proposal to remove religious teaching from the curricula and make it an optional subject, amend the Constitution to implement a socialist political, economic and social model, and the environment of polarization prevailing in Venezuela, among other issues.

    The traditional meeting with the Pope was attended by the president, the two vice-presidents and the secretary-general of CEV, Monsignors Ubaldo Santana, Roberto Lückert, Jorge Urosa and Ramón Viloria, respectively.

     During the hearing, the prelates and Pope Benedict XVI also talked about the Fifth Meeting of the Latin American Bishops' Council, which is taking place next May in Brazilian town

DANISH PREMIER WORRIED ABOUT VENEZUELA

   BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA -- Denmark Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Tuesday that he voiced to Argentinean President Néstor Kirchner his concern about the present conditions in Venezuela.

    In the second day of his official visit to Argentina, Rasmussen advised during a press conference that Kirchner provided him with "very interesting, complete" information about the situation both in Venezuela and the Latin American region. However, he gave no details.

     "I expressed to the president my concern about the political situation and ongoing events in Venezuela. We agreed with him on the need for Latin American nations to take the democratic way in order to ensure political freedom, economic freedom and respect for human rights," he added. No immediate comments on this issue came from the Argentinean President.

04-25- 2007

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY HAS LEG CHECKED OUT; BLOOD CLOT 'GRADUALLY RESOLVING' 

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Vice President Dick Cheney had a blood clot in his left leg checked out by his doctor at George Washington University Medical Center on Tuesday morning, his spokeswoman told CNN. "The ultrasound was reassuring and showed that the clot is gradually resolving," Megan McGinn said. "His blood thinning medication was found to be in the desired range.

    "The vice president's doctors advised him to continue the current course of treatment." The appointment was put on the schedule early in the day, and he has since "returned to the White House to resume his normal schedule," she said. Cheney first complained of discomfort in his leg after an overseas flight in early March. Doctors performed an ultrasound at that time and found a deep venous thrombosis, or DVT, in his lower left leg, McGinn said. He was put on blood-thinning medication and returned to work soon after.

    After experiencing some discomfort on March 20, Cheney went to the GWU medical facility for another ultrasound on the clot. That imaging revealed no extension or complication. Cheney has had a history of heart ailments -- including four heart attacks dating back to 1978 -- and was briefly hospitalized in January 2006 after suffering shortness of breath. In September 2005, he underwent surgery to remove an aneurysm in an artery behind his right knee.

74 KILLED IN ETHIOPIA OIL FIELD ATTACK 

    ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA --  Gunmen raided a Chinese-run oil field near the Somali border on Tuesday, killing 65 Ethiopians and nine Chinese workers, an official of the Chinese company said. An Ethiopian rebel group claimed responsibility. Seven Chinese workers were kidnapped in the morning attack at the oil installation in a disputed region of eastern Ethiopia, Xu Shuang, the general manager of Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, told The Associated Press.

    China has increased its presence in Africa in recent years in a hunt for oil and other natural resources to feed its rapidly growing economy. Its forays into areas considered politically unstable, however, has exposed Chinese workers to attacks.

    The Ogaden National Liberation Front said in a statement sent to the Associated Press they had launched "military operations against units of the Ethiopian armed forces guarding an oil exploration site," in the east of the country. The rebel group, which is fighting a low-level insurgency with the aim of creating an independent state for ethnic Somalis, warned last year that any investment in the Ogaden area that also benefited the Ethiopian government "would not be tolerated."

CONSTRUCTION OF WALL IN BAGHDAD BESET BY CONFUSION

   BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  The American ambassador said today that the United States would "respect the wishes" of the Iraqi government after the prime minister ordered a halt to construction of a three-mile wall separating a Sunni enclave from surrounding Shi'ite areas in Baghdad.  Any plan to build "gated communities" to protect Baghdad neighborhoods from sectarian attacks was in doubt after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said during a visit to Sunni-led Arab countries that he did not want the 12-foot-high wall in Azamiyah to be seen as dividing the capital's sects.

    However, confusion persisted about whether the plan would continue in some form: The chief Iraqi military spokesman said today that the prime minister was responding to exaggerated reports about the barrier.  "We will continue to construct the security barriers in the Azamiyah neighborhood. This is a technical issue," Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said. "Setting up barriers is one thing and building barriers is another. These are movable barriers that can be removed."

    Gen. al-Moussawi noted that similar walls were in place elsewhere in the capital -- including in other residential neighborhoods -- and criticized the press for focusing on Azamiyah. "It's exaggerated by the media. We expected this reaction by some weak-minded people," he said. However, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Azamiyah to oppose what they called "a big prison."  "The main aim of these barriers is to protect civilians and to guarantee that security forces are in control and prevent terrorists from moving between areas," Gen. al-Moussawi said.

04-24- 2007

FORMER RUSSIAN LEADER BORIS YELTSIN DIES

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA  -- Former President Boris Yeltsin, who hastened the collapse of the Soviet Union by scrambling atop a tank to rally opposition against a hard-line coup and later pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, died Monday at age 76. Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov confirmed Yeltsin's death, and Russian news agencies cited Sergei Mironov, head of the presidential administration's medical center, as saying the former president died Monday of heart failure at the Central Clinical Hospital.

    The first freely elected leader of Russia, Yeltsin was initially admired abroad for his defiance of the monolithic Communist system. But many Russians will remember him mostly for presiding over the steep decline of their nation. Yeltsin was a contradictory figure, rocketing to popularity in the Communist era on pledges to fight corruption - but proving unable, or unwilling, to prevent the looting of state industry as it moved into private handsduring his nine years in power.

    Yeltsin steadfastly defended freedom of the press, but was a master at manipulating the media. His hand-picked successor, Vladimir Putin, has proven far more popular even as he has tightened Kremlin control over both Russia's industry and its press. Yeltsin amassed as much power as possible in his office - then gave it all up in a dramatic New Year's address at the end of 1999. "The debilitating bouts of depression, the grave second thoughts, the insomnia and headaches in the middle of the night, the tears and despair ... the hurt from people close to me who did not support me at the last minute, who didn't hold up, who deceived me - I have had to bear all of this," he wrote in his 1994 memoir, "The Struggle for Russia."

NEW DEMONSTRATIONS FOR RCTV AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION  

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Command for National Resistance (CNR) announced a number of demonstrations to advocate press freedom and freedom of expression, starting April 26 with a march to support Caracas-based private TV network RCTV -which faces the government threat not to renew its broadcasting license expiring next May 27.

     CNR leader Oscar Pérez also said that next April 28 they are holding a rally in central Miranda state "to support the free and independent press." On April 29, they are conducting a nationwide march, and on March 19 they will be participating in the so-called Hurricane for Freedom, to reject the closure of 53-year-old RCTV.

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS HE IS NOT ACCEPTING PRESSURES ON RCTV CASE

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  "Forget about renewal. This will not happen ever," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to reassert his decision not to renew a broadcasting license to Caracas-based private TV network RCTV. "What you should accept is a fact that is quite clear: the license is expiring and the state has the right to grant this permit to citizens under any other form," Chávez Sunday during his radio and TV show ¡Aló, Presidente! (Hello, President!), broadcast from a ranch "rescued" by the Venezuelan Government in Urachiche, central Yaracuy state.

     "People who believe they can put pressure on me by appealing to international organizations, foreign governments, and the evil court of this and that, with demonstrations, forget it! You are not going to put pressure on me; with nothing and for nothing. Just accept it. If you cannot face it, it is up to you. And if you believe you are overthrowing my government, you are wrong again, and this will be worse for you," the Venezuelan ruler warned, and reminded that RCTV broadcasting license expires next May 27.

    According to Chávez, there are plots under way to overthrow his government. In this connection, he stated: "Messieurs Minister of Defense, of the Interior and Justice, governors, and mayors, start preparing your counteroffensive plans. If they attack, our counterattack will be overwhelming, with civilian and military forces."

04-23- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS ANY HOSPITAL THAT FLOUTS PRICE CONTROLS COULD SEIZED

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  HUGO Chavez said Sunday that he will enact a law to regulate prices at private hospitals and warned that his government would seize any hospital caught flouting the new controls. Chavez said he will approve the law by presidential decree, using special powers granted to him by the National Assembly nearly three months ago, as he aims to steer the South American country toward socialism.

    "We're going to have strict regulation. Any clinic that doesn't comply, let it be closed down," Chavez said. "We could take it for Inside the Barrio (a state health program), convert it into a popular clinic. No problem."  Speaking during his television program "Hello, President," Chavez complained that childbirth costs at a private hospital can near US$4,000 (euro2,900).  "Medical capitalism - that's the most perverse thing," he said during the program, broadcast from northwestern Yaracuy state. 

    Chavez said the regulations aim to counter "the exploitation in the private hospitals, which affects the middle class above all." He did not say exactly when the law would be approved. Chavez warned earlier this month that his government could take over private hospitals if they continue raising prices. His health minister announced plans on Saturday to regulate prices at private hospitals.

TV MARTI EXECUTIVE GETS PRISON TERM

    MIAMI, FLORIDA  --  A former executive at a U.S.-funded anti-Castro TV station who pleaded guilty to accepting more than $100,000 in kickbacks was sentenced Wednesday to two years and three months in prison, prosecutors said.  A federal judge also ordered Jose M. Miranda to pay $8,000 in fines. Miranda's prison term will be followed by three years probation. Miranda was fired from the station after he pleaded guilty in February.

    The U.S. government seeks to beam Radio and TV Marti into Cuba to provide an alternative to the government-run media. Miranda was the director of programming for TV Marti between 1999 and 2004 and earned $103,000 from the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which oversees the station.

    During that time, he accepted at least $112,000 from Perfect Image Film and Video Productions. According to in-court statements, the owner of Perfect Image agreed Miranda would receive about half the money the company received from TV Marti. "It's unfortunate that something like this happens, but when it comes to taxpayers dollars there is no tolerance for that kind of behavior," said Alberto Mascaro, chief of staff for the broadcasting office. A message left for Miranda's attorney, John Wylie, was not returned Wednesday.

04-22- 2007

FIDEL CASTRO MEETS CHINESE OFFICIALS

     HAVANA, CUBA  --  Photographs published in Cuba's party newspaper showed Fidel Castro meeting and shaking hands with a visiting Chinese Communist Party official, the latest sign the Cuban leader is becoming increasingly active more than eight months after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery.  The Communist Party daily Granma reported that Wu Guanzheng, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politiburo, met separately Friday with both Castro and his younger brother Raul, who has been filling in for his brother since July.

    A short message about the encounter was first read Friday night on state television and carried on official news services, and the new images of Castro were released Saturday. In two photographs published on Granma's Web site, Castro is seen dressed in a brown and red track suit with white detailing as he meets with Wu. In one, he sits in a rocking chair across from Wu with another member of the Chinese delegation between them, apparently taking notes on the meeting. In a second, the two men are standing and shaking hands.

     While he looks somewhat pale after months indoors, the 80-year-old appears much stronger than the early images of him last fall, dressed in red pajamas and resting in bed while visiting with his ally Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Fidel Castro's condition and exact ailment remain state secrets, but he is believed to suffer from diverticular disease, which can cause inflammation and bleeding in the colon.

BOLIVIA RETAKES NATURAL GAS PIPELINE  

    YACUIBA, BOLIVIA  --  The military retook control of a natural gas pipeline to Argentina after days of violent protests at gas installations in southern Bolivia, the government said late Friday.  More than 1,000 protesters seized the Yacuiba pipeline station run by Transredes, a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Protesters broke windows, set fire to two company cars, and threatened to shut off gas deliveries to Argentina.

     The protest never shut off the flow, but the government had said Friday that it was preparing to temporarily reduce its natural gas exports to Argentina by about 75 percent and slightly decrease shipments to Brazil due to the protests, at an estimated loss of $1 million a day. That measure became unnecessary after Friday's retaking of the control station, the government said. Defense Minister Walker San Miguel said troops and police were guarding all energy installations in southern Bolivia.

     Neighboring provinces within Bolivia's gas-rich southern state of Tarija dispute ownership of the Margarita field, still in its exploration and development stage but potentially one of the country's largest. Each is demanding a larger share of the field's eventual royalties The disturbances killed at least one person and wounded dozens more. The Spanish-Argentine company Repsol YPF holds a majority stake in the Margarita field, with the British company BG Group and Argentine company Pan American Energy each owning a minority interest.

VENEZUELA TO PUSH U.N. ON LUIS POSADA CARRILES CASE 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Venezuela will ask the United Nations to investigate why the U.S. has failed to prosecute or extradite Cuban militant Luis Posada Carriles on charges he masterminded the 1976 bombing of a Cuban airliner, a lawyer for the Venezuelan government said Friday.  Venezuela also plans to appeal to the Organization of American States and challenge the U.S. government's actions in international courts after the 79-year-old posted bail and was freed from jail on Thursday, lawyer Jose Pertierra told The Associated Press. Posada is awaiting trial in the U.S. on immigration fraud charges.

     Hugo Chavez's government made an extradition request for the U.S. to hand over Posada nearly two years ago to be tried for the bombing, allegedly planned in Caracas. "Venezuela is looking to approach governments and people through this hemisphere and around the world to jointly ask the United Nations ... to investigate through hearings the conduct of the United States in the last almost two years in the way it has proceeded to protect this terrorist," Pertierra said by telephone from Washington.

     Pertierra said Venezuela plans to bring the case before a U.N. Security Council committee monitoring counterterrorism efforts, and would argue the United States has violated Resolution 1373, approved after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The resolution says U.N. member states should "ensure that anyone who has participated in the financing, planning, preparation or perpetration of terrorist acts ... is brought to justice."

04-21- 2007

IRAQ'S OIL RESERVES COULD BE TWICE AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT, ANALYSIS SAYS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Iraq's oil reserves could be nearly twice as large as previously estimated, containing more than 200 billion barrels, a new analysis of the war-torn country's oil resources says. The consulting firm IHS Inc., in a report released Wednesday, said there may be an additional 100 billion barrels of oil beneath the surface in the western part of the country. The country's current reserve base is estimated to be 116 billion barrels.

    The U.S. Geological Survey has been less optimistic about Iraq's untapped potential, estimating there exists an additional reserve base of 45 billion barrels. The IHS report also said Iraq's daily production, which now stands at 2 million barrels per day, could rise to 4 million barrels a day if the conflict there subsides and new investments in oil infrastructure are made.

    In 1979, the country's best year, Iraqi oil production averaged roughly 3 million barrels a day. Iraqi officials had set a target of pumping and 3.5 million barrels a day by mid-2006, but that goal was not realized. IHS said its experts performed a field-by-field analysis of Iraqi oil prospects and that it would release a detailed analysis of Iraqi oil reserves next month.

VENEZUELA MAY TAKE POSADA CARRILES' ISSUE TO UN

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  THE Venezuelan Government is pondering the possibility to ask the Counter-Terrorism Committee, UN Security Council, to investigate the way the United States has dealt with the case of Cuban activist Luis Posada Carriles. José Pertierra, a legal counsel for the Venezuelan Government who recently applied for Posada Carriles' extradition from the United States, in an interview with official TV channel VTV forcefully condemned the release of Posada Carriles. "We are considering a number of actions to continue to fight and make terrorist Luis Posada Carriles pay for his crimes."

    According to Pertierra, Posada Carriles' release runs counter to the obligations the US administration undertook under resolution 1373. "Resolution 1373 is a document endorsed on September 28, 2001, following attacks on New York World Trade Center, establishing that all states shall refrain from providing help to any person involved in terror acts.

    Pertierra claims that the US move questions Washington's trumpeted commitment to fight terror, as they have released an anti-Castro Cuban militant who has confessed to be the mastermind of an airplane bombing that killed 73 people in October 1976 over Barbados. Jose Pertierra also said Venezuela plans to appeal to the Organization of American States and challenge US government actions in international courts.

CITGO STARTS SHUTDOWN OF TEXAS REFINERY

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Citgo -the US refining branch of Venezuelan state oil giant Pdvsa- Thursday started shutting down a number of units in preparation for a six-day shutdown in its 165,000 bpd refinery based in Corpus Christy, Texas, according to a filing with state regulators, Reuters reported.

    In two reports filed with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Citgo announced it would shut down a 65,000 bpd Unibon unit, as well as the sulfur recovery unit of the east plant in order to complete scheduled tasks as of this week. The Unibon unit removes sulfur. On Wednesday, Citgo said it would bring out of service its 20,000 bpd platform 4 for six days. Sources said the maintenance activities would also comprise the reformer.

04-20- 2007

lUIS POSADA CARRILES FREED AND IS ON WAY TO MIAMI 

     EL PASO, TEXAS  -- Luis Posada Carriles has been released on bond from a federal court in El Paso, Texas, is heading to Miami after a two-year legal battle between the American government and his lawyers, officials said Thursday.  ''He was released from criminal detention,'' said Posada's immigration lawyer, Eduardo Soto. ``ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] was not there.''

     Posada's release is sure to trigger a firestorm in Venezuela and Cuba, whose leaders accuse Posada of masterminding the bombing of a civilian jetliner that killed 73 people in 1976, among other acts of terror. However, some Cuban exiles in Miami are happy that the former CIA operative and a hero to many is getting out -- at least temporarily while he awaits trial.

    Posada was traveling from El Paso to Miami with his lawyer, Art Hernandez, accompanied by U.S. marshals. He's expected to arrive in the Miami area and be processed at the federal courthouse in downtown Miami, Hernandez's law office verified. ''He has made bond and we expect him to appear for trial on May 11,'' said Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman. He will be outfitted with an electronic ankle bracelet for 24-hour monitoring, Boyd said.

SECRETARY GATES SAYS 'CLOCK IS TICKING' ON IRAQ

    FALLUJAH, IRAQ  --  Defense Secretary Robert Gates slipped into Iraq Thursday to warn Iraqi leaders that the U.S. commitment to a military buildup there is not open-ended. Gates said the political tumult in Washington over financing the military presence in Iraq shows that both the American public and the Bush administration are running out of patience with the war.

     "I'm sympathetic with some of the challenges that they face," Gates said of the Iraqis during his surprise visit. But, he said, "the clock is ticking." Gates added, "Frankly I would like to see faster progress." He said that the Iraqis need to push through legislation on political reconciliation and sharing oil revenues. "It's not that these laws are going to change the situation immediately, but I think ... the ability to get them done communicates a willingness to work together." He said that, in turn, would create an environment in which violence could be reduced.

    After landing in Baghdad, Gates flew by helicopter to Camp Fallujah, for a briefing by Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Gen. Peter Pace, the Joint Chiefs chairman. Fallujah, where U.S. Marines make up the bulk of the U.S. force, is a stronghold for Sunni insurgents. But commanders there have been saying violence has dipped and they are optimistic about progress in western Iraq. Gates said the White House has not asked him whether there is a compromise on a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq that the U.S. military could accept.

MINISTER OF DEFENSE ATTRIBUTES MILITARY DROPOUTS TO PERSONAL REASONS  


   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Minister of Defense Raúl Isaías Baduel denied any links between applications for retirement a number of military officers have filed over the last two weeks and President Hugo Chávez' recent statements asking the military officers to choose between joining his 21st-century socialism or leaving. "These applications for retirement have been filed for a number of personal reasons. There are no political reasons behind this, as it has been alleged," he added.

04-19- 2007

lUIS POSADA CARRILES CLOSER TO MOVING TO MIAMI

     EL PASO, TEXAS  --  Luis Posada Carriles scored another legal victory Tuesday that would allow him to move to Miami to wait for his criminal trial in Texas -- unless immigration authorities prevent his release at the last minute. An appellate court in New Orleans rejected the Justice Department's request to stop Posada's supervised release on a $350,000 bond as he awaits trial on immigration fraud charges next month.

    For the 79-year-old former CIA operative, the court's ruling boosted his chances to be reunited with his wife under 24-hour confinement at her home in Miami, where numerous Cuban exile supporters have advocated the release of the controversial anti-Castro figure. ''We're gratified to know the legal system works,'' said Posada's Miami attorney, Arturo Hernandez, who plans to fly to El Paso today to finalize Posada's bond in federal court. ``The court of appeals heard both sides of the argument, and we're pleased that they ruled in our favor. We feel that justice was done.''

    Justice Department lawyers, who appealed an April 6 ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone that granted Posada bond, argued that she made a ''clear error'' when she found he was not a danger or a flight risk. They cited decades of violent activities, including Posada's suspected lead role in the 1976 bombing of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73 people. But in a 2-1 vote Tuesday, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted its prior emergency order blocking Posada's release -- clearing the way for his pretrial move to Miami.

IAEA: IRAN HAS BEGUN ENRICHING URANIUM GAS

    VIENNA, AUSTRIA  --  Iran has started enriching small amounts of uranium gas at its underground plant and is already running more than 1,300 of the machines used in the enrichment process, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency document obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press. The confidential document — a letter to Iranian officials from a senior IAEA staff member — also protests an Iranian decision to prevent agency inspectors to visit the country's heavy water reactor that, when built, will produce plutonium. Enriched uranium and plutonium can both be used for the fissile core of nuclear warheads.

    Last week, Iran said it had begun operating 3,000 centrifuges at its Natanz facility — nearly 10 times the previously known number. The U.S., Britain, France and others criticized the announcement, but experts — and several world powers — expressed skepticism that Iran's claims were true and diplomats in Vienna familiar with the state of the program told the AP they were greatly exaggerated.

    If so, the one-page letter reflected a swift advance in the program. A little more than two weeks ago, those diplomats had said Tehran was running only a little more than 600 centrifuges, and had not introduced any uranium gas into them. And even IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei had said last week that Iran was operating only several hundred centrifuges at Natanz. The letter, signed by IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen and dated April 18 — Wednesday — said the agency wanted to "take note of the information provided by Iran ... that Iran has put into operation" 1,312 centrifuges — the machines used to spin the gas into enriched uranium.

COMMUNISTS AT ODDS OVER ADHESION TO CHAVEZ' SOCIALIST PARTY 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  While last March, the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) voiced its "firmest determination and willingness to pave the way for articulation and unity of the revolution," fourteen of the 40 members of PCV central committee believe "the politburo is not complying with this resolution." PCV leader and second vice-president of the Venezuelan Legislature Roberto Hernández read a statement claiming that "the unity of the revolutionary forces vis-à-vis Yankee imperialism and its domestic servants."

    However, Hernández ruled out breaking up with PCV, adding they would continue to "fight for the whole PCV to join the United Socialist Party of Venezuela." He explained their condition to enter PSUV was this party "to adopt the ideology, politics and organizational structure of the working class."

04-18- 2007

vargas llosa: chavez has messianic deliriums and bribes governments

     MEXICO CITY, MEXICO  --  Hugo Chávez has "messianic deliriums" and money to allegedly bribe governments, said Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa in an interview with Mexican newspaper Reforma.

    "Chávez not only has messianic deliriums, but he also has lots of money he is spending in a completely irresponsible manner to promote his policies by bribing government, imposing guidelines that are simply catastrophic," said Vargas Llosa, as quoted by AFP.

    While praising the fact that Mexico "did not go back to populism" in the July 2nd, 2006 election -where rightwing Felipe Calderón narrowly defeated leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Vargas Llosa considered that there are "very disturbing elements" in Latin American politics. However, he claimed there are some role models, such as Chile.

CHILEAN DEPUTIES DO NOT UNDERSTAND CONTROVERSY OVER RCTV  

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- a delegation of deputies of the Chilean Congress said they did not understand a controversy ignited by Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez in connection with a petition the Chilean Senate made to President Michelle Bachelet to advocate the rights of Caracas-based private TV network RCTV before the Organization of American States (OAS). Chilean lawmakers Juan Masferrer (Independent Democrat Union Party) and Alejandro Sule (Social Democrat Radical Party) made the statements in the Venezuelan Legislature.

Masferrer explained the two chambers comprising the Chilean Parliament are independent and have the capacity to submit proposals to the Executive Branch once they are endorsed in parliament. In this case, "both the chamber of deputies and the Senate submitted draft resolutions asking President Bachelet to appear in international organizations and explain the situation facing this Venezuelan TV channel, the broadcasting license will not be renewed (by Chávez' Government)," Masferrer added.

Sule clarified that "while the Chilean Senate had the right to express their view, the Venezuelan President also had the right to say what he said. Therefore, I believe the most important thing here is mutual respect." The Chilean parliamentarians are accompanying President Bachelet in Venezuela to attend the First South American Energy Summit. The Chilean ruler is subsequently paying an official visit to Venezuela.

NYC OFFICIAL 'SHOCKED' ABOUT TRIP TO CUBA 

   NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK  --  A top New York politician wrote a letter on behalf of New York City students who traveled to Cuba this month, not knowing the trip to the communist country may not have been licensed by the U.S. government.  Lt. Gov. David Paterson ''is concerned and frankly shocked'' about the matter, spokeswoman Maritere Arce said Tuesday. ``He knew that the Department of Education did not authorize it, but he did think that federal authorities had authorized it.''

    The students and others involved could face thousands of dollars in fines if they are found to have violated federal laws. The United States has long had restrictions on travel to the island, and they were tightened in 2004.

    Thinking the student group might encounter problems in Cuba, Paterson wrote a letter on their behalf, praising them as ''student ambassadors.'' It was unclear how many students went to Cuba. Paterson's involvement came from his stepdaughter's participation in a previous trip to Cuba taken by a group from The Beacon School, which has often sponsored trips to foreign countries.

04-17- 2007

PRESIDENT BUSH URGES CONGRESS TO FUND IRAQ WAR WITHOUT REQUIRING WITHDRAWAL OF U.S. TROOPS

     WASHINGTON, D.C. --   President Bush continued the battle with Congress on Monday saying funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan must be done without requiring the withdrawal of U.S. troops. "Our troops need the resources, equipment and weapons to fight our enemies," Bush said from the East Room of the White House after meeting with military families. "Congress needs to pass an emergency war spending bill without strings and without further delay."

    Bush has repeatedly pledged to veto any bill that includes a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. House and Senate negotiators still need to agree on a final version of the war spending bill before it can be sent to the president. The Senate version sets an exit date to begin within 120 days of the bill's passage, with a completion goal of March 31, 2008. The House bill would order all combat troops out by Sept. 1, 2008.

CUBANS ARRIVE IN COLD OF NIGHT

     MIAMI, FLORIDA  --  Braving cold winds and choppy waters, nearly two dozen Cuban migrants came ashore overnight in Miami-Dade County. They showed up in the dead of the night at the toll booth along the Rickenbacker Causeway. The Cubans told reporters their trip began about 8 p.m. Friday. ''The conditions were rough and the waves were huge out there, but everyone stayed calm,'' said one man, who identified himself only as Andre. ``I was scared.'' Once they reached Miami, Maria Estrada, a toll booth worker, took the Cubans bread, hot chocolate and doughnuts.

    They were later taken to a processing center in Pembroke Pines. Under the U.S. government's wet foot/dry foot policy, the migrants will likely be allowed to remain in the United States. The policy generally prevents Cuban migrants who reach American soil from being sent back while permitting the Coast Guard to return those interdicted at sea.

NYC SCHOOL INVESTIGATED AFTER CUBA TRIP

   NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK  --  A spring break trip to Cuba taken by students and a teacher from a New York City public high school has raised concerns about whether the group violated U.S. travel restrictions to the Communist country.  "We are investigating," Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters Monday. A city Department of Education spokesman said this month's trip to Cuba was not officially sanctioned by the Beacon School, although the school's Web site featured a call for applications and a list of selected students, as well as details of previous sponsored trips to the island.

    "We were told that it violated State Department travel restrictions," department spokesman David Cantor said. Molly Millerwise, spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury Department, declined to comment on the case. The department hands out travel licenses for Cuba trips, and Millerwise said permission is granted to some groups, including for those seeking to engage in religious activity or humanitarian aid. Educational licenses also are granted, but not at the high school level, she said.

    People who violate sanctions can face penalties ranging from warnings to a $65,000 fine. Cantor said the education department had asked a special investigator to see if any school regulations were violated on this trip or previous ones. However, it's unclear what the education department could do if the teacher, Nate Turner, and the students acted independently, Cantor said. Traveling to Cuba has been difficult for more than 40 years because of the country's rocky relations with the United States. In 2004, the U.S. implemented special restrictions that made it even more difficult.

04-16- 2007

MOSCOW POLICE BEAT ANTI-PUTIN PROTESTERS

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA  --  Riot police beat and detained protesters as thousands defied an official ban and attempted to stage a rally Saturday against President Vladimir Putin's government, which opponents accuse of rolling back freedoms Russians have enjoyed since the end of Soviet communism.  A similar march planned for Sunday in St. Petersburg has also been banned by authorities.

    A coalition of opposition groups organized the "Dissenters March" to protest the economic and social policies of Putin as well as a series of Kremlin actions that critics say has stripped Russians of many political rights. Organizers said only about 2,000 demonstrators turned out. Thousands of police officers massed to keep the demonstrators off landmark Pushkin Square in downtown Moscow, beating some and detaining many others, including Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion who has emerged as the most prominent leader of the opposition alliance.

    Police said 170 people had been detained but a Kasparov aide, Marina Litvinovich, said as many as 600 were - although about half were released quickly. Kasparov, whom witnesses said was seized as he tried to lead a small group of demonstrators through lines of police ringing the square, was freed late Saturday after he was fined $38 for participating in the rally. "It is no longer a country ... where the government tries to pretend it is playing by the letter and spirit of the law," Kasparov said outside the court building, appearing unfazed by his detention. "We now stand somewhere between Belarus and Zimbabwe," he said.

ECUADOREANS TO VOTE IN CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM

     QUITO, ECUADOR  --  Ecuadoreans vote today on whether to hold a constitutional assembly, a move President Rafael Correa has painted as a way to unseat a corrupt oligarchy and his opponents say that it amounts to a presidential power grab. In his push for a referendum, Correa appears to be following the playbook of friends Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, both of whom sought to restructure their constitutions.

    Chávez succeeded, and his allies now control Congress as well as all the branches of government; Morales' efforts have stalled amid pitched disputes between his supporters and opponents in Bolivia's constitutional assembly. Correa's attempt for a new constitution also faces many hurdles. If the referendum passes, the country will then elect 130 delegates to the assembly in elections where the opposition is expected to run its own candidates.

    The delegates will have 180 days to write a new constitution. Ecuadoreans would have to ratify the new constitution and possibly hold general elections for a new president and Congress. The opposition-controlled Congress has opposed giving the assembly such broad powers, and last month voted to oust members of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal that ruled it would indeed have the power to dissolve the Congress. The tribunal in return dismissed 57 of 100 legislators, and Correa then snuck replacements into Congress under the cover of darkness and a police guard.

04-15- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ IS SENDING TROOPS TO ORINOCO OIL BELT

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- As of next May 1st, the strategic partnerships operating in heavy-crude oil Orinoco belt, eastern Venezuela, are expected to migrate to joint ventures where the Venezuelan State is to hold a majority stake.

    During a ceremony at military base Fuerte Tiuna, southwestern Caracas, Hugo Chávez declared that "as of May 1st we are going to take control of the Orinoco belt peacefully. The Armed Force and the people will come to take the oilfields the Fourth Republic gave away to private firms in Orinoco River basin. The oil opening is over. Hereinafter, state oil firm Pdvsa is managing these oilfields."

    Last February 26th, the Executive Branch enforced the law on migration from partnership agreements to joint ventures.

HUGO CHAVEZ: FIDEL 'ALMOST TOTALLY RECOVERED'  

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chavez said his close friend and ally Fidel Castro has ''almost totally recovered'' from his illness, and Cuba's foreign minister said the ailing leader is getting stronger every day.  Speaking at a televised news conference, Chavez said the 80-year-old Cuban leader's marked improvement is clear. ''Almost totally recovered is the very reliable information that I keep receiving,'' Chavez said.

    Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Roque, traveling in Vietnam, said Castro had improved steadily. ''Fidel Castro is recovering very well,'' Roque told reporters after an hour-long meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Pham Gia Khiem.

    The 80-year-old Castro hasn't made any public appearances since undergoing emergency intestinal surgery last July, when he ceded his leadership responsibilities to his brother Raul, the Cuban defense minister. Castro's condition and exact ailment remain a state secret, but he is widely believed to suffer from diverticular disease, a weakening of the walls of the colon that can cause sustained bleeding. Roque said Castro was back to his pre-surgery weight, did regular rehabilitation exercises and had resumed some of his leadership duties.

CHILEAN PRESIDENT MICHELE BACHELET 'DOES NOT SHARE' HUGO CHAVEZ' COMMENTS

   SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE --  The Chilean government said that it "does not share" Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' remarks on an agreement reached at the Chilean Senate.

    Last Wednesday, the Chilean Senate agreed to request President Michelle Bachelet to speak up at the Organization of American States (OAS) against the Venezuelan government refusal to renew a broadcasting license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV).

     "In Chile, we have democratic institutions and the Chilean Senate is one of them. The opinion voiced by the senators should be respected, whatever they are," Spokesman Ricardo Lagos Weber told reporters. However, he clarified that the Chilean government is willing to keep "normal relations" with Venezuela, Efe reported. Afterwards, on Thursday, President Chávez attributed the move to the Chilean "fascist rightwing."

04-14- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ UNVEILS DESTABILIZATION PLAN 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA --The opposition and the "US imperialism" are plotting against the Venezuelan government, said President Hugo Chávez. The plot, according to the ruler, would be effective late May, by the scheduled closing day of private TV channel RCTV.

     "The oligarchy is working on new ways to assail us. Now they want to cash in on the occasion of May 28th. Gentlemen, the license is over. Both the Venezuelan and international extreme rightwing, backed by the Empire, are plotting something for that day. We will keep a watchful eye. Let us not make the same mistakes of five years ago."

    He noted that the government has foiled multiple armed plots nationwide. Particular reference was made to an alleged plan in Lake Maracaibo Eastern Coast, in western Zulia state. "We have the telescope-sight rifle they were going to use. By the way, the individuals responsible for it left for Colombia; they were paid assassins," he explained.

URIBE, CHAVEZ MEETING CONFIRMED

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  --  Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez will meet next week in the context of the first energy summit in Margarita Island, brand-new Colombian ambassador to Venezuela Fernando Marín Valencia.  Marín submitted his credentials to President Chávez last Wednesday. On that occasion, he was told that "Colombia and Venezuela need to put the integration agenda ahead," reported the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    No formal meeting has been held by the heads of state since November 2005. At that time, they met in Paraguaná Peninsula and agreed on the laying of a gas pipeline. The diplomat voiced the Colombian government interest in working with Venezuela on building, energy and agriculture. He hinted a potential partnership in projects by Colombian state-run oil company Ecopetrol and its counterpart Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa).

CHILEAN SENATE ENDORSES PETITION TO PROTEST ON CHAVEZ'S REFUSAL TO RENEW RCTV LICENSE

   SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE --  The Chilean Senate agreed Wednesday night to request President Michelle Bachelet to protest at the Organization of American States (OAS) the Venezuelan government refusal to renew a broadcasting license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). With 18 votes on, and six against the motion, the Chilean Senate asked its government to make a protest at the OAS for "violation of freedom of thought and expression."

     Last March 30th, the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez advised RCTV on non-renewal of the license, which expires next May 27th. The head of state gave the news last December after branding the channel as "coupster," for its alleged involvement in the coup attempt of April 2002. According to the congresspersons, the move "is against the Inter American Convention on Human Rights."

04-13- 2007

TWO LAWMAKERS KILLED IN BOMB ATTACK ON IRAQ'S PARLIAMENT BUILDING 

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ  -- A suspected homicide bomber blew himself up Thursday in the Iraqi parliament's cafeteria in a stunning assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, U.S.-protected Green Zone, killing at least two lawmakers and wounding 10 other people. The parliament bomber struck the cafeteria while several lawmakers were eating lunch, officials said. In addition to the two dead, 10 people were wounded — eight lawmakers and two workers.

    After the blast, security guards sealed the building and no one — including lawmakers — was allowed to enter or leave. A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said no Americans were hurt in the blast. The bombing came amid the two-month-old security crackdown in Baghdad, which has sought to restore stability in the capital so that the government of Iraq can take key political steps by June 30 or face a withdrawal of American support.

    One of the dead lawmakers was Mohammed Awad, a member of the Sunni National Dialogue Front, said Saleh al-Mutlaq, the leader of the party, which holds 11 seats in Iraq's legislature. A female Sunni lawmaker from the same list was wounded, he said. The other legislator killed was Taha al-Liheibi, of the Sunni Accordance Front that holds 44 seats in parliament, said Mohammed Abu Bakr, who heads the legislature's media department.

URIBE, CHAVEZ TO MEET IN MARGARITA 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Hugo Chávez and his Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe plan to hold a meeting next week in the context of an energy summit in Margarita Island, a diplomatic source said Wednesday. "Some time ago, Colombia requested a bilateral meeting and the Venezuelan government agreed. It will be held within the framework of an energy summit to take place in Margarita Island," the source said, asking for anonymity.

    However, asked about the news, Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Fernando Araújo told radio station RCN that the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry had not confirmed the meeting. "Such a possibility has not been confirmed yet and we are still in touch with the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry," he said.

THE NEW YORK TIMES RAIDS ON CHAVEZ'S OIL POLICY

   NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK  --  The New York Times warned against a likely weakening of the Venezuelan oil industry in the event President Hugo Chávez' Government moves to take over the assets of foreign oil firms.

    The newspaper believes such a move could involve losses for the concerned oil corporations, but also claimed that the Venezuelan Government is taking a risk, "as it is undermining the structure supporting Chávez' socialist revolution," Efe reported. As a matter of fact, Pdvsa "is showing signs of stress," the newspaper added, claiming that this situation is the result of Pdvsa's increasingly politicized management and of the deviation of funds originally intended for maintenance and development to finance public expenses.

04-12- 2007

23 DEAD, 160 HURT IN 2 ALGIERS BOMBINGS

     ALGIERS, ALGERIA  --  Bombs targeting the prime minister's office and a police station killed at least 17 people and wounded dozens on Wednesday in Algeria, the country's official news agency said. Prime Minister Abdelaziz Belkhadem called the attack a "cowardly, criminal terrorist act." The APS news agency said the bombing of the government building killed at least nine people and injured 32, and that eight others were killed and 50 wounded in the attack on the police station of Bab Ezzouar, east of the capital, Algiers.

    A charred, wrecked car lay on the pavement about 98 feet from the gates of the government building, which houses the offices of both Belkhadem and the interior minister.Six floors were badly damaged and partially ripped away, and the iron gates outside were bent back by the force of the blast.

Police cordoned off stairs leading up to the government building with orange police tape, and paramedics raced up the steps with stretchers. Paramedics escorted a man with blood on his head into an ambulance. Another woman, looking dazed and in tears, was checked for head injuries.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iran has been training Iraqi fighters in the assembly of deadly roadside bombs known as EFPs, the U.S. military spokesman said on Wednesday.

WHITE HOUSE REPORTEDLY SEEKS WAR 'CZAR'  

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The White House wants to appoint a high-profile overseer to manage the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but has had trouble finding someone to take the job, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday. At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have turned down the position, the report said.

    The war "czar" would report directly to President George W. Bush and national security adviser Stephen Hadley and would have authority to issue directions to the Pentagon and the State Department, the newspaper said. Retired Marine Gen. John "Jack" Sheehan, a former top NATO commander, was among those who rejected the job, the newspaper reported. "The very fundamental issue is, they don't know where the hell they're going," Sheehan told the Post.

     "So rather than go over there, develop an ulcer and eventually leave, I said, 'No, thanks,' " Sheehan said. Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane and retired Air Force Gen. Joseph Ralston were also approached and said they were not interested in the position, the newspaper said, citing sources. Ralston declined to comment while Keane confirmed he turned down the job, the Post said. Officials said they were still considering options to reorganize the White House's management of the two wars, the Post said.

U.S.: IRAN TRAINING BOMB MAKERS IN IRAQ

   BAGHDAD , IRAQ  -- "We know that they are being in fact manufactured and smuggled into this country, and we know that training does go on in Iran for people to learn how to assemble them and how to employ them. We know that training has gone on as recently as this past month from detainees debriefs," Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, the U.S. military spokesman, said at a weekly briefing.

    EFP stands for explosively formed penetrator, deadly roadside bombs that hurl a fist-size lump of molten copper capable of piercing armor. In January, U.S. officials said at least 170 U.S. soldiers had been killed by EFPs. Caldwell also said on Wednesday that the U.S. military had evidence that Iranian intelligence agents were active in Iraq in funding, training and arming Shiite militia fighters.

    "We also know that training still is being conducted in Iran for insurgent elements from Iraq. We know that as recent as last week from debriefing personnel," he said. "They do receive training on how to assemble and employ EFPs," Caldwell said, adding that fighters also were trained in how to carry out complex attacks that used explosives followed by assaults with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms.

04-11- 2007

LUIS POSADA CARRILES MAY BE FREED, MIAMI-BOUND

     EL PASO, TEXAS  --  Cuban exile militant Luis Posada Carriles took one step closer Tuesday to moving to Miami on a $350,000 bond as he awaits trial on fraud charges in a Texas federal court. Posada's release from a jail in New Mexico near the Texas border could be imminent, thanks to a new ruling by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone. She rejected the U.S. government's request to freeze her decision on Posada's bond until Friday, when Justice Department lawyers planned to decide on an appeal.

In a separate bid, prosecutors have sought to increase Posada's bond, saying the former covert CIA operative could flee the country to evade his May 11 trial if his bond is not set higher. Cardone has not ruled on that request.

IRAN VOWS TO EXPAND NUCLEAR PLANS  

     TEHRAN, IRAN  --  A day after Iran announced it had begun production of nuclear fuel on an "industrial level," the head of the country's atomic energy organization said Iran had plans to greatly expand its nuclear program.

    "Iran's uranium enrichment program in Natanz does not only aim to install 3,000 centrifuges, but 50,000 centrifuges," Iran's Atomic Energy Organization chief, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said, according to the state-run IRNA news agency. Centrifuges are used in the process of enriching uranium. The Natanz nuclear facility is located in central Iran, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south of Tehran. Iranian plans to expand its enrichment process to 50,000 centrifuges goes well beyond any previously announced aspirations by Tehran.

VENEZUELA GOVERNMENT IS ENGAGED IN "COURT TERRORISM," COPEI PARTY SAYS

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Luis Ignacio Planas, the secretary-general of opposition Copei party accused Monday the government of "court terrorism" by preventing the existence of independent public branches. "In Venezuela, such a relevant power as the judiciary is not independent. As far as it makes any decisions the government does not like, there is immediately an action to prevent the development of independence that should exist under the rule of law," he said.

    Based on a communiqué released by the dissenting party, the leader warned against the risk of lack of independent public branches and lamented that they are under the government control. Planas claimed that for some time, the rule of law, public branches and democracy have been dying. "The Executive power is held responsible for this agony." The leader comments came after the dismissal of a judge who issued a decision favoring defendants in connection with the recent jailbreak of former state governor and opposition leader Eduardo Lapi.

04-10- 2007

IRANIAN PRESIDENT AHMADINEYAD: "INDUSTRIAL SCALE" ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM READY 

     TEHRAN, IRAN  --  Iran on Monday announced it was prepared to start "industrial scale" enrichment of uranium, expanding a key nuclear process that the United Nations has demanded it halt. The announcement came as Iran celebrated its first success in enriching small amounts of uranium at its Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran.

    "Now we are entering the mass production of centrifuges and starting to launch industrial scale enrichment, another step toward the flourishing of Islamic Iran," Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh said at a ceremony at Natanz.

CHILEAN PRESS:  HUGO CHAVEZ  IS COPYING FIDEL CASTRO

     SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE  --  Chilean newspaper El Mercurio compared Hugo Chávez' Government with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's regime. "Chávez' government is increasingly similar to the Fidel's regime. The Venezuelan President's adhesion to the Marxist-Leninist principles is translating step by step into the adoption of moves similar to those Castro's dictatorship imposed," said the newspaper in an editorial published last April 6th.

    The newspaper claims that Castro started by ruling by decree, implemented socialist reforms, and nationalized all kinds of companies, thus exterminating private property. According to El Mercurio, Chávez is taking the same path, but unlike Cuba he does not depend of foreign support.

BOLIVIA, VENEZUELA PROMOTE SOUTH AMERICAN GAS ALLIANCE

   LA PAZ, BOLIVIA  --   Bolivia and Venezuela are working to create a group of gas exporting countries in South America, Monday said their Ministers of Energy, adding that they hoped a summit in Qatar of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) helped improve policy coordination with other gas producing countries, Reuters reported.

    The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is meeting in Doha to discuss a proposal to create a gas producing countries organization similar to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). "We are working together in a new organization of South American gas exporting countries," Venezuelan Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramírez told reporters. Meanwhile, his Bolivian counterpart Carlos Villegas said he hoped the Qatar summit to encourage better coordination among gas producing countries.

04-09- 2007

CARLOS LAGE: CUBAN SYSTEM IS NOT IDEAL BUT WE MUST URGE THE YOUTH NO TO GIVE IN TO CAPITALISM'S SIREN SONG

     HAVANA, CUBA  --  One of the most-visible faces of Cuba's caretaker government urged the island's young people to ignore capitalism's ''siren song,'' while acknowledging that the country's current communist system was not as ''ideal'' as had been desired.

     Marking the 45th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Youth Union on Wednesday, Vice President and Cabinet Secretary Carlos Lage said the revolution that Fidel Castro led by toppling dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959 will have to live on in a generation that may be unsure of what it is rebelling against. ''We always knew the biggest challenge of socialism is to instill in young people a communist conscience and rejection of capitalism, without having lived in it, without having seen the moral damage it produces,'' Lage said, addressing a packed house at Havana's Karl Marx Theater.

     Speaking frankly about the era known as the ''special period,'' Lage acknowledged that the current communist system was "not as ideal as the one we wished for, or achieved years ago.'' He continued: ''Even aware of our justified dissatisfaction, our people today enjoy rights that for billions of people on the planet aren't even imaginable,'' he said. ``Free access to education and healthcare from one extreme of the island to the other. In our country, no one lacks the opportunity to study, or a job.''

BILL RICHARDSON MAKES RARE VISIT TO NORTH KOREA

     WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor who has undertaken diplomatic missions to countries at odds with the United States, began a rare visit to isolated North Korea Sunday to recover remains of American servicemen killed in the Korean War.  The four-day trip, which has been endorsed by the Bush administration, comes days before a crucial deadline in a recent nuclear disarmament accord. But Richardson, a Democratic candidate for president, said he had no intention of negotiating nuclear matters.

    "It could be the signal of an improved relationship," Richardson said of the discussions to secure U.S. remains. "The North Koreans always consider protocol very important. They like to be considered a major power in the region," he told The Associated Press on the flight to the capital Pyongyang. North Korea made a breakthrough agreement on nuclear disarmament on Feb. 13, raising hopes for an end to a long-running standoff with the United States and regional powers.

    The agreement set an April 14 deadline for the North to shut down its main nuclear reactor. Despite the breakthrough nuclear agreement in February, there has been little progress since. The impoverished North has refused further negotiations due to the delayed transfer of $25 million in the regime's money frozen by Macau authorities after the U.S. blacklisted a bank in that Chinese administrative region in 2005 for allegedly helping Pyongyang launder money. Some worry that delay could hold up implementation of the disarmament agreement.

AL SADR ORDERED HIS MILITIAMEN TO REDOUBLE THEIR BATTLE TO OUST AMERICAN FORCES FROM IRAQ

   BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  The powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his militiamen on Sunday to redouble their battle to oust American forces and argued that Iraq's army and police should join him in defeating "your archenemy." The U.S. military announced the weekend deaths of 10 American soldiers, including six killed on Sunday.

    Al-Sadr commands an enormous following among Iraq's majority Shiites and has close allies in the Shiite-dominated government. The statement Sunday carried his seal and was distributed in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where the cleric called for an enormous demonstration to mark the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's fall.    "You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don't walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy," the al-Sadr statement said. He urged his followers not to attack fellow Iraqis but to turn all their efforts on American forces. "God has ordered you to be patient in front of your enemy, and unify your efforts against them - not against the sons of Iraq," the statement said. Al-Sadr apparently issued the statement in response to three days of clashes between his Mahdi Army militiamen and U.S.-backed Iraqi troops in Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad.

04-08- 2007

u.s. report: "venezuela is isolated from the hemispheric democratic norm" 

   Washington, D.C.  -- Venezuela "remained isolated from the democratic norm in the hemisphere," said Thursday the US Department of State, and added that it is working on several fronts to strengthen the civil society and non-government organizations (NGOs) that look for democratic reform. But, at the end, "what Venezuela's neighbor countries can do will be decisive along with the rest of Latin America, which have signed and want to enforce the Inter-American Democratic Charter," said Barry F. Lowenkron, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for human rights.

    Lowenkron, the head of the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, made this comment during the release of the annual report on Washington actions in 2006 to reinforce such rights around the world, AP quoted. This document, the fifth one prepared by the US Department of State and that completes the annual report on human rights practices periodically released in March, compares the Venezuelan and Cuban situation. "Venezuela and Cuba remained isolated from the democratic norm in the hemisphere.

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez accelerated his drive to consolidate control in the executive branch and to take aggressive actions to restrict freedom of expression, and introduced legislation to restrict the activities of non-governmental organizations."  Lowenkron claimed that the Organization of American States (OAS) has "taken notice of these abuses." According to the report, "the OAS served as a forum for NGOs to express their views and critique the Chavez government." The report entitled "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2005-2006" states that in 2006, the following issues were found in Venezuela:  "unlawful killings; disappearances reportedly involving security forces; torture

RELEASED 29 DETAINED VENEZUELANS ALLEGEDLY INVOLVED IN EDUARDO LAPI'S ESCAPE

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The Attorney General Office is to appeal a decision issued by the fourth control court in central-northern Yaracuy state.  The court granted a precautionary measure to 29 people allegedly involved in the jailbreak of former Yaracuy state governor Eduardo Lapi from the local judicial detention center.

     During the pre-trial hearing ended last Thursday, public prosecutors Mery Gómez, Miguel Ángel Gómez and Rosario Herrera argued that 11 employees of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice and 18 National Guard officers helped Lapi escape and requested their detention.
 
      As stated by the Attorney General Office in a press release, judge Alcy Maite Villañales ordered release for the defendants on the condition that they should appear at the court every five days. Officials of the Scientific, Penal and Criminology Investigation Agency (Cicpc) made the detentions last Sunday, April 1st, after confirming Lapi's jailbreak.

04-07- 2007

BRITISH MILITARY PERSONNEL DETAINED BY IRAN WERE 'BLINDFOLDED, ISOLATED'   

   LONDON, ENGLAND  --   The 15 British military personnel captured by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf were subjected to "psychological pressure" and kept in isolation during their detention, the group's officers said on Friday. Lt. Felix Carman of the British Royal Navy, addressing a news conference at a military base in Chivenor, southwestern England, said the sailors and marines were well outside Iranian waters when the incident occurred -- despite previous statements to the contrary while in Iranian custody.

    "Irrespective of what has been said in the past, when we were detained by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard ... I can clearly state we were 1.7 nautical miles from Iranian waters," Carman said.  Iran reacted to those comments by saying the briefing was "staged" to cover up the mistake made by the British crew by entering Iranian waters.

    The sailors and marines, who were seized from patrol boats on March 23, returned to the UK on Thursday after 13 days in Iranian captivity. Lt. Carman said they were kept in isolation, interrogated and blindfolded, and subjected to "aggressive questioning and rough handling." Members of the group had been presented with two options, said Lt. Carman: To admit having strayed into Iranian waters or face up to seven years in prison in Iran.

IRAQ POLICE: IRANIAN-MADE BOMBS USED IN ATTACK THAT KILLED 4 BRITONS 

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  The Basra police commander on Friday said the roadside bomb used in an attack that killed four British soldiers had not been used in southern Iraq before, and his description of the deadly weapon indicated it was a feared Iranian-designed explosively formed projectile. Anbar province has been a stronghold of the Sunni insurgency but many tribes in the region recently switched allegiance, with large numbers of military-age men joining the police force and Iraqi army in a bid to expel Al Qaeda in Iraq fighters.

    The U.S. military has claimed Iran is supplying Shiite militia fighters in Iraq with explosively formed projectiles, known as an EFP. They hurl a molten, fist-sized copper slug capable of piercing armored vehicles. The four British soldiers — including two women — were killed Thursday as the American military announced the deaths of eight more U.S. soldiers since Tuesday.

    The Basra region police commander, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Moussawi, said two similar bombs had been discovered Friday morning; one was discovered on the road leading to Basra Palace, the compound that houses a British base and the British and U.S. consulates. A second was uncovered in the western Hayaniyah district where Thursday's attack occurred. The area is known as a stronghold of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

CARDINAL UROSA URGES VENEZUELAN AUTHORITIES TO FIGHT VIOLENCE

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Worshippers in purple, some of them on wheelchairs, using crutches, on their knees, went to the temple to venerate the Nazarene on Holy Wednesday.The crowd assembled on Wednesday noon at Santa Teresa Basilica listened carefully, with devotion and warmly the sermon of Jorge Cardinal Urosa Sabino.

    Caracas archbishop, Jorge Cardinal Urosa Sabino, asked for cessation of violence and compliance with the 10 Commandments. He went over each of them along with the parishioners. "You shall not murder. This should be remembered, because murders have increased lately. I know that this is not news, but the authorities should do something. There are rivers of people's blood. The Moral Power, the Executive and the Attorney General Office cannot pardon criminals and forsake the victims. People are killed because of haughtiness, for material things. Let us wipe out hatred," the cardinal said.

    Urosa urged legal authorities to "enforce the laws properly, with much sense of equity and justice in order not to extend excessively the proceedings against those people." He made no comments on the escape of former state governor and opposition leader Eduardo Lapi from San Felipe Judicial Detention Center, for not having grounds enough. Nor did he comment on an application for asylum by student leader Nixon Moreno. "It is a very sensitive case," managed exclusively by the Nuncio. "We expect it can be solved."

04-06- 2007

15 BRITISH TROOPS DETAINED BY IRAN FOR 13 DAYS LAND IN AN ENGLAND MARINE BASE

   ROYAL MARINE BASE CHIVENOR, ENGLAND -- Fifteen Royal Navy sailors and marines held captive by Iran returned home Thursday to a nation relieved at their freedom but outraged that they were used for propaganda by Tehran. Prime Minister Tony Blair called for continued international pressure on Iran, blaming elements of the Iranian government for backing militants in Iraq, where four British soldiers and a translator were slain in an ambush hours before the freed crew touched down.

    "On the one hand we are glad that our service personnel return safe and unharmed from their captivity, but on the other we return to the sober and ugly reality of what is happening through terrorism in Iraq," Blair said outside his Downing Street office.

    The liberated crew broke open champagne and changed into fresh uniforms on the flight home. After landing at Heathrow airport, they smiled and stood at attention before being whisked by two Sea King helicopters to the Royal Marines base at Chivenor, southwest of London. They joyfully embraced their tearful families at the base, where they also are expected to be debriefed on their 13 days in captivity.

GUINEA BISSAU POLICE SEIZES OVER 600 KILOGRAMS OF COCAINE SENT TO EUROPE FROM VENEZUELA

     BISSAU, GUINEA BISSAU  --  Guinea Bissau anti-drug police seized more than 600 kilograms of cocaine, presumably coming from Venezuela to Europe as final destination, reported Thursday local radio stations heard in Dakar. According to these sources, the drug was intercepted on Wednesday inside a four-wheel drive vehicle manned by five people. The occupants' identity and citizenship were not provided.

    As stated by Efe, the dealers had taken earlier the drug which arrived in Guinea Bissau  in an aircraft that landed on a small site near Bissau, the capital city. This is the third significant seizure of cocaine made by the police at Guinea Bissau in a six-month term. The largest amount, one ton, was confiscated in Biyago island. Guinea Bissau, a small country in western Africa, has turned into a bridge for drug traffic from South America to Europe.

COLOMBIA RESTRICTS MEAT EXPORTS TO VENEZUELA

   BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  --  Exports of Colombian cattle to Venezuela will be restricted and made only through an international breach near northeastern Cúcuta, reported Wednesday the Colombian government. The action was taken to prevent domestic shortage and due to the high demand in Venezuela of meat and dairy products, resulting in a hike of prices in Colombia, explained Colombian Treasury Minister Oscar Iván Zuluaga, AFP quoted.

    "Production in Venezuela is not enough to meet their needs. There is much demand of Colombian meat and dairy products," the minister said. Colombia set already an export quota of 20,000 heads of cattle. Exports of cattle to Venezuela rose 125 percent in 2005-2006, from 7,500 to 17,000 annual tons. The move implies a ban on the passage of cattle to Venezuela through the Colombian departments of Guajira, Arauca and César.

04-05- 2007

PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR WELCOMES NEWS THAT IRAN WILL FREE BRITISH TROOPS

   TEHRAN, IRAN  --  Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has met with some of the 15 British military personnel held in Iranian custody for almost two weeks, shortly after pardoning the group and vowing to set them free.  Iranian state television showed footage of Ahmadinejad shaking hands, smiling and chatting with the detainees, who were dressed in suits. One of them was heard to comment in English: "We are grateful for your forgiveness."

    Ahmadinejad joked with one of them: "What kind of compulsory trip were you on?" He added: "I wish you success."  An Iranian diplomat in London told The Associated Press that the 15 would be handed over to the British Embassy in Tehran. It is unclear when that handover will take place. According to the president's office, the Britons will leave Tehran at 8 a.m. Thursday (0430 GMT).

    British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the announcement comes "as a profound relief, not just to them but to their families that have endured such distress and anxiety over these past 12 days." "Throughout, we have taken a measured approach: firm but calm, not negotiating but not confronting either," Blair said in a brief statement to reporters.  "To the Iranian people, I would simply say this: We bear you no ill will. On the contrary, we respect Iran as an ancient civilization and as a nation with a proud and dignified history.

FIDEL CASTRO AGAIN BLASTS ETHANOL

     HAVANA, CUBA  --Cuba's government on Wednesday issued the second article in a week about ethanol production signed by Fidel Castro, with the ailing leader reiterating his charge that the use of food crops to produce biofuels for automobiles could leave the world's poor hungry.  ''Where are the poor countries of the Third World going to get the minimum resources to survive?'' asked the article, Reflections of the Commander in Chief. ``I'm not exaggerating or using unmeasured words. I am sticking to the facts.''

    As for Brazil's continued support of ethanol production, Castro wrote: ``It is not my intention to harm Brazil, nor get mixed up in affairs related to the internal politics of that great country.'' But, Castro wrote, key questions remained unanswered about plans for biofuel production following weekend talks between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and President Bush on that and other trade matters.

    ''From where and who are going to supply the more than 500 million tons of corn and other cereals that the United States, Europe and the rich countries are going to need to produce the quantity of gallons of ethanol that the big companies of the United States and other countries demand in return for their many investments?'' he asked. Castro's articles indicate he is increasingly anxious to have his voice heard on international matters eight months after being sidelined by illness.

VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR SAYS OAS NEEDS OVERHAUL

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The Organization of American States (OAS) needs "a deep conceptual and institutional change" that can mirror the concerns of both governments and million underprivileged in the region, said Wednesday Venezuelan ambassador Jorge Valero. "OAS should outline a new horizon in the hemisphere. It should not only take care of governments, but also reflect the feeling of the peoples of the Americas, who ask for justice, equality and solidarity," Valero stated when taking over the OAS Permanent Council.

     The council is composed of the ambassadors of the 34 member governments. The chair, replaced every three months by alphabetical order of the countries, sets the agenda for the discussions. The council is the second major OAS body, after the General Assembly, composed of the ministers of foreign affairs. Valero succeeded Uruguayan ambassador María del Luján Flores during an unusually crowded ceremony, attended by about 40 people, including ambassadors and officials.

04-04- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ ADVOCATES CREATION OF SOUTH AMERICAN MILITARY ORGANIZATION

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  "Someday there should be, in this, our South American continent, a South American military organization to defend the interests and sovereignty of this, our great homeland, including, of course, the Caribbean," said President Hugo Chávez during a speech.

    "Rather than a geographical concept, the South is an ideological concept for us, at this current time," he added. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Falkland Islands War, Chávez commented that Venezuela had joined the countries requesting the United Kingdom to make room and start discussions with Argentina on the islands sovereignty. "They do not want even to have a talk," he lamented.

     The ruler stated that the Venezuelan people paid tribute to "the heroic soldiers who gave their lives in that attempt at rescuing that what belong, not only to Argentina, but to the great South American homeland."

IRAN: NO NEED TO TRY CAPTURED BRITISH PERSONNEL

  TEHRAN, IRAN  --  Iran and Britain signaled possible ways out of the standoff over 15 detained British soldiers Monday, with Tehran saying there was no need to put the crew on trial and Britain saying it was willing to discuss ways to avoid future boundary confusion in the Persian Gulf.

    Iran's top international negotiator Ali Larijani said Iran's priority "is to solve the problem through proper diplomatic channels." "There is no need for any trial," he told Britain's Channel 4 television news. In response to Larijani's comments, the British government said that it and Iran shared the goal of "early bilateral discussions" to end the crisis over a captured British naval crew.

    "There remain some differences between us, but we can confirm we share his preference for early bilateral discussions to find a diplomatic solution to this problem," a Foreign Office spokeswoman said on the government's customary condition of anonymity. Another British official said that the two countries had agreed to discuss how to avoid future disputes over contested waters in the Persian Gulf.

POLL: RISE CUBAN-AMERICAN SUPPORT FOR TALKS

   MIAMI, FLORIDA  --  Cuban-Americans in Florida increasingly support dialogue between dissidents and Cuba's government, while backing for the U.S. trade embargo of the island nation has slipped, a survey released Monday found. The Florida International University poll of Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County found 65 percent of respondents support talks between exiles and dissidents with the Cuban government, the highest level in the history of the survey.

    The same poll in 2004 found 56 percent of participants supported such talks; the first one, in 1991, found about 40 percent were in favor of them. About 57 percent support the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba, the latest poll found. A majority of poll participants, 58 percent, believe the Cuban embargo should continue, though only 24 percent said the policy has worked well. Support for the embargo was down from 66 percent in the last poll to its lowest level ever.

    About 29 percent said the embargo should end immediately; 8 percent said it should end when Fidel Castro is out of power; 11 percent called for its end when both Castro and his brother Raul are gone. Around 37 percent said the embargo should be halted only when there is both democracy and a free economy in Cuba.  About half — 51 percent — favored U.S. military action to overthrow Cuba's government. Nearly 71 percent were in favor of military action among the exile community to overthrow the government.

04-03- 2007

VENEZUELA WILL NOT FOLD ITS ARMS BEFORE US ATTACK ON IRAN

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Venezuelan Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for Europe, Rodrigo Chaves Samudio, claimed the United States "has not assessed the real impact" a military incursion in Iran could have "given this country's ascent in the Middle East and the level of the alliances it has cemented."

     "Whatever happens in Iran will set the tone for what will come next. Hugo Chávez and Venezuela have been very clear in this regard. We will not stay indifferent in the face of a unilateral US attack on Iran," he said. Chaves Samudio added that the Venezuelan Government has a very clear stance. "We feel a party to this conflict, not because we are in the region, but because we do respect self-determination. If they (the United States) are allowed to take actions in Iran, they will do the same to us."

VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER ESCAPES FROM PRISON 

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Former Governor of central Yaracuy state Eduardo Lapi (opposition Convergencia party) escaped from prison late Saturday, and Sunday morning regional police corps were deployed in an intensive search operation. Yaracuy state Secretary of Citizen's Security Oscar Baquero estimated that Lapi is "likely" in the region.  Regional police, the National Guard, Scientific and Criminal Investigations Corps (Cicpc), and the Directorate of Intelligence and Prevention Services (Disip) Corps, are conducting search operations.

    Baquero said Interpol was advised of Lapi's escape from prison, while the relevant measures have been adopted in airports and seaports nationwide. Meanwhile, Minister of the Interior and Justice Pedro Carreño Sunday said they are trying to determine whether prison guards were accomplices to the escape. Further, Lapi's wife Janet Rojas de Lapi early on Sunday said she was uncertain about her husband's break from prison and expressed concern about his safety. "We are scared because he received life threats." "Eduardo has not escaped; he is missing," she added.

SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER IN OFFICIAL VISIT TO CUBA 

   HAVANA, CUBA  --  MIGUEL Angel Moratinos, the Spanish minister of foreign relations and cooperation, arrived in Cuba last night at the head of a delegation on a visit, saying upon his arrival that he felt very content to be in Cuba.

    Moratinos was received at the José Martí International Airport by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque. The Spanish foreign minister’s official activities begin today. Moratinos referred to relations between the two countries as positive at the present time, demonstrating the way that relations between the island and the European Union could be conducted and the capacity and will to solve differences through dialogue, as opposed to confrontations and imposing conditions.

04-02- 2007

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD CALLS U.K., ALLIES ARROGANT

   TEHRAN, IRAN  -- Iran's hardline president said Saturday that Britain and its allies were "arrogant and selfish" for not apologizing over what he called the incursion of 15 captured British sailors and marines into Iranian waters.  President Bush described the 15 Britons as "hostages" in his first comments on the capture and said their seizure was "inexcusable," calling for their release.

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's most extensive comments on the crisis closely followed tough talk from other Iranian officials, an indication that Tehran's position could be hardening. Britain, meanwhile, appeared to be easing its stance, emphasizing its desire to talk with Iran about what it termed a regrettable situation.

    "We continue to express our willingness to engage in dialogue and discussions with Iran," Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said at a European Union summit in Bremen, Germany. I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen ... What we want is a way out of it." "Instead of apologizing over trespassing by British forces, the world arrogant powers issue statements and deliver speeches," the country's official news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying

VENEZUELA AND CHINA GET CLOSER 

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA . -- Venezuela is currently selling 200,000 bpd of oil as part of booming bilateral trade relations, Chinese Ambassador in Caracas Ju Yijie said Thursday. "Oil sales are around 200,000 bpd and growing," Ju told reporters. He refused to comment on the expected increase of Venezuelan oil shipments to China this year. Ju claimed it would depend on Venezuelan capacity to ship more oil, AP reported.

    Venezuelan state-run oil firm Pdvsa recently said oil shipments to China could reach 300,000 bpd at the end of the year. Venezuelan authorities have set a goal to increase oil sales to China to 500,000 bpd by 2009-2010.  State firms China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation have investments in Venezuela at approximately USD 5 billion. Ju also disclosed plans to build an oil refinery. According to the diplomat, bilateral trade last year totaled USD 4 billion.

CHINA EXPANDS ITS INVESTMENT IN VENEZUELA

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  China plans to expand investment in Venezuela, said Ambassador Ju Yijie, adding that they had estimated investment at USD 1.4 billion in 2007, but the amount is set to grow this year.  Based on Ju's estimations, Chinese investment in Venezuela could exceed USD 2 billion, with funds earmarked for projects in the sectors of infrastructure, communications, technology and roads. However, disbursement of funds will be larger if oil projects are included. The diplomat stressed that bilateral trade in 2006 was above USD 4 billion, with a surplus for Venezuela. "China buys oil and iron, among other products."

    During a meeting of the China-Venezuela Trade Mission, hosted by the Venezuelan Foreign Trade Bank and the Chinese Embassy Trade Office, Ju stressed that both countries recently initialed oil agreements to organize a joint venture for operation at the heavy-crude oil Orinoco strip, eastern Venezuela, installation of refineries in China to process 800,000 bpd and construction of supertankers to transport Venezuelan oil to China. According to the diplomat, these agreements could be completed in four years.

04-01- 2007

U.S. REJECTS EXCHANGE OF CAPTIVES WITH IRAN

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  U.S. officials say they have ruled out a possible deal to exchange the 15 British Royal Navy personnel captured by Iran for five Iranians held by U.S. forces in Iraq.  Reports that such a swap could take place were wrong, U.S. State department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Friday. "The international community is not going to stand for the Iranian government trying to use this issue to distract the rest of the world from the situation in which Iran finds itself vis-a-vis its nuclear program," McCormack said.

    The five Iranians are reported to be members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard seized in Irbil, Iraq, in January.  Tehran is continuing to defy international pressure to release the sailors and Royal Marines as the crisis enters its ninth day. Britain denies Iran's assertion that the UK crew was in its waters when seized on 23 March.

    Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said he was disgusted at Iran's behavior and accused the Iranians of manipulating the British detainees. Blair said TV clips of the crew would "fool no one" and insisted the crisis could only be resolved by their release.  Meanwhile, EU foreign ministers on Friday demanded Iran release 15 Britons, though some warned against escalating the dispute and said their diplomatic ties with Tehran would not be immediately affected.

VENEZUELA MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, JESSE CHACON, ANNOUNCES THAT PUBLIC SERVICE TV  WILL REPLACE RCTV 

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA . -- The signal operated by private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) will become available and managed by the State through a new public-service channel as from next May 28th, reported People's Power Minister of Telecommunications Jesse Chacón. "This action is under article 108 of the Venezuelan Constitution," he clarified and asked for people's involvement in the discussion and creation of the new channel.

    He explained that public-service TV originated in Europe and makes a clear distinction between the medium and the message. "The spectrum does not place the content." The minister deemed the initiative interesting because independent producers will have their own, individual line. "We will break in this way with the standard editorial line, which is that the owner of the spectrum is the owner of the message." Chacón recalled that next May 27th, a broadcasting license for RCTV will expire as "a natural, inexorable" fact.

RCTV STAFF repulses "ATTACK" FROM CHAVISTAS

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Workers and officials with Caracas-based private TV network RCTV Wednesday cleaned up the TV station façade after Hugo Chávez' followers staging a demonstration to support the government decision not to renew the broadcasting license to the TV channel wrote graffiti both on the walls and sidewalks of RCTV premises and nearby buildings.

    The  chavistas started their vigil on Tuesday with a march that ended up at RCTV headquarters, downtown Caracas. On RCTV walls and sidewalks they wrote slogans showing support for Chávez' refusal to renew RCTV broadcasting license. Such an action was branded as "a serious attack" against the TV channel. Oscar Pérez, leader of opposition Comando Nacional por la Resistencia (National Command for Resistance -CNR), described the action as "shameful and fascist" and "an attempt at intimidating free independent press in the country." According to Pérez, pro-Chávez demonstrators ended up attacking and besieging the headquarters of RCTV.