07-31- 2007

FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT FERNANDO HENRIQUE CARDOSO SAID "HUGO CHAVEZ WANTS TO BE FIDEL CASTRO'S SUCCESSOR"

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  -- Former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso said Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez wants "to be the successor of Fidel Castro's magnetism and become the spokesman of the idea of revolution," according to an interview published in daily newspaper El País.

    "Chávez speaks of Bolivarian revolution and socialism, even though he does not specify the changes needed to achieve that," said the former Brazilian ruler. He added that Chávez is not fighting "for hegemony in South America, but for something wider."

     "Since Brazilian leaders, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, cannot go such a bold way without paying a high price, even lost credibility at home, Chávez is playing alone in this political space."

COLOMBIAN GUERRILLA SENIOR MEMBER CAPTURED IN VENEZUELA

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Venezuelan authorities captured Rosember Rodríguez, alias Mariquita, the presumed CFO at the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), reported the Colombian secret police.

    The detention was made last Sunday in southern Puerto Ayacucho, said the Security Administrative Department (DAS), AP quoted. Based on a press release from DAS, the suspect was the holder of Venezuelan forged identity papers and will be deported to Colombia to face trial.

    According to DAS, Rodríguez is the "top figurehead of FARC 43rd crew, the owner of multiple businesses, drugstores and hotels." However, no clarification was made as to how he controlled such business from Venezuela. DAS noted that joined efforts with Venezuelan authorities resulted in capture of the FARC alleged member.

MINISTER OF TELECOMMUNICATION JESSE CHACON SAID "NO NEED FOR REGISTRATION IF RCTV CHANGES PROGRAMMING 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Minister of Telecommunications and IT Jesse Chacón said if RCTV Internacional changes its programming and broadcasts contents for the foreign market the private television station would not have to register with the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) as a domestic audiovisual producer.|

    The official ratified that both programming and advertisements transmitted by RCTV Internacional are produced in Caracas-based studios and are intended exclusively for Venezuelans.

    Chacón denied claims that the move to demand from paid television services the registration of RCTV Internacional as a domestic audiovisual producer is related to the government's decision not to renew the TV channel's license to broadcast on open signal. According to Chacón, paid television services have to demand such registration from TV channels as of 2004, when the Radio and TV Social Responsibility Law was enacted.

07-30- 2007

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STRONGLY REJECTED EASING SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA 

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES on Friday  strongly rejected an initiative to ease restrictions on U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba, virtually burying any chance that U.S. policy toward the island could be relaxed by Congress this year.  By a 245-182 margin, the House voted down an amendment presented by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., that would have allowed Cuban officials to travel to the United States to inspect U.S. export facilities and products and let Cubans make direct payments to U.S. banks for any purchases.

    The initiative, inserted as an amendment to a broader farm bill, would also have allowed the Cuban government to pay for goods after they are shipped from a U.S. port, rather than before as now required. The vote is especially significant because opponents of the Bush administration's tough line on Cuba believed a powerful coalition of agricultural interests teamed with a Democratic majority in Congress would this year chip away at U.S. restrictions on trade with and travel to Cuba.

    Proponents of change also hoped that the Democratic majority would be more skeptical of U.S. policies toward Havana, and that Fidel Castro's long illness would spur U.S. lawmakers to modify U.S. policies toward the communist government. But these aspirations fell flat as Cuban-American lawmakers and their allies went on the offensive, arguing U.S. policy should not be changed until a democratic transition gets under way in Cuba. Last month, the House rejected a proposal to slash a Bush administration plan to boost aid to Cuban opposition groups, and declined to even allow amendment votes on travel restrictions, citing procedural reasons.

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER SHINZO ABE SUFFERS A CRUSHING ELECTORAL DEFEAT

    TOKYO, JAPAN  --  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative ruling camp suffered a devastating defeat in upper house elections on Sunday, a result that could well force Abe to quit and paralyze policy-making. Public broadcaster NHK, however, said Abe intended to stay in his post. "I would like to steadily proceed with education reform and revising the constitution," NHK quoted Abe as saying.

    Voters, angry at scandals and gaffes among his cabinet and government bungling of pension records, had stripped Abe's coalition of a majority in parliament's upper house in the first national electoral test since he took office, NHK said. "If the outcome is in line with projections, it was a complete defeat," Hidenao Nakagawa, the LDP's secretary-general, told reporters, but he added that he wanted Abe to stay.

     The broadcaster said its exit polls showed that the LDP and its partner, New Komeito, winning between 39 and 55 seats -- far short of the 64 needed to keep their majority in the upper house, where half of the 242 seats were up for grabs. Abe's coalition will not be ousted from government by a loss in the upper house, since it has a huge majority in the more powerful lower chamber, which elects the premier. But, with the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan on track to become the biggest party in the chamber, laws will be hard to enact, threatening policy deadlock.

HUGO CHAVEZ STRONGLY BACKS OIL COMPANY PDVSA CHIEF RAFAEL RAMIREZ

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chavez endorsed his oil chief on Sunday despite repeated criticism from the opposition and some government supporters over his management of the industry, particularly over a lack of rigs.  In the face of so many attacks against (state oil company PDVSA chief) Rafael Ramirez, I will make clear here that Rafael will be around a good while yet in PDVSA," Venezuela's president said on his weekly TV program that he hosted from the Orinoco oil belt.

    "We have a tremendous colleague at the head of PDVSA and I call for support for him," Chavez added. "Carry on Rafael, you are a revolutionary." Ramirez has been one of Chavez's closest aides in recent years, leading the president's drive to nationalize the OPEC nation's oil industry, which provides the bulk of the income that the leftist leader lavishes on the majority poor.

     In recent weeks, Ramirez, who is also Venezuela's energy minister, has come under increasing pressure and there had been some local media speculation Chavez could replace him. Ramirez said last week Venezuela needed to address an "operational emergency" that could lower national output if the state company did not quickly acquire more rigs. Workers have protested losing jobs, the opposition and media have criticized his crisis-management and lawmakers have alleged corruption in some contract awards.

07-29- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ VOWS TO CONTINUE CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO'S "STRUGGLE"

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chávez promised his close friend and ally Fidel Castro on Thursday that he would continue the Cuban leader's decades-long fight against U.S. imperialism once the aging revolutionary icon has passed away.   ''Fidel, I assume the commitment of continuing your struggle, your endless battle. I assume it. We, your children, assume it,'' said Chávez, a former paratroop commander who is steering Venezuela toward socialism.

    Since taking office in 1999, Chávez has forged strong ties with communist-led Cuba while emerging as one of Latin America's most outspoken critics of Washington's foreign policy in the region. Castro, who turns 81 next month, has not been seen in public since emergency intestinal surgery almost a year ago forced him to temporarily cede power to a provisional government headed by his younger brother.

    Recuperating in an undisclosed location, the Cuban leader has looked stronger in recent official photographs and videos, but is apparently still too sick to appear in public. In April, he began penning essays known as ''Reflections of the Commander in Chief'' every few days. Chávez has regularly offered updates on Castro's health. During his televised speech on Thursday, he praised his mentor for living life to the fullest despite his age. ''There's Fidel, soon he's going to turn 81 years old, fighting, living each day of his fruitful life intensely,'' Chávez said. ``I know you are not going to leave yet. No, I know it.''

HUGO CHAVEZ IS NOT TRUSTWORTHY FOR LATIN AMERICANS

  WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  ACCORDING TO Pew Research Center, most people in Latin America support free market policies Most respondents in seven Latin American countries do not believe that the presidents of Venezuela and Chile, Hugo Chávez and Michelle Bachelet are capable of leading Latin American causes, and rather believe that Brazilian ruler Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is more trustworthy.

    Most respondents also preferred Brazil, among countries in the region, as a "reliable partner," above the United States in the Western Hemisphere, according to a survey conducted by Pew Research Center, a Washington-based social trend research organization.  Latin Americans, including Venezuelans and Brazilians, strongly support US-sponsored free market policies, the poll found.

    In five out of the seven countries where the research was conducted (Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and Mexico), most people believe that things work better in market economies, despite the gap between the rich and the poor. Only in two countries, support for market economy was below 50 percent, namely in Peru (47 percent) and Argentina (43 percent).

07-28- 2007

AFTER 48 YEARS OF FIDEL CASTRO'S DICTATORSHIP, HIS BROTHER RAUL, FOR THE THIRD TIME IN ONE YEAR, IMPLORES PRESIDENT BUSH TO BEGIN A DIALOGUE WITH HIM

   CAMAGÜEY, CUBA  --  In Raúl Castro's most important speech since he replaced ailing brother Fidel, the interim Cuban dictator Thursday bluntly admitted during the island's July 26 celebrations that Cuba faces myriad problems and little hope of quick fixes. Castro, 76, told the tens of thousands convened in the eastern city of Camagüey that while salaries and food production are too low, inefficiency and prices are way too high. He added that Cuba's days of inefficiency, graft and dependence on foreign imports must come to an end.

    Castro, also for the third time, called for a dialogue with President George W. Bush and made only passing mention of Fidel -- whose absence at the ceremony marking the 54th anniversary of the start of the Cuban Revolution reinforced the belief that Fidel will not return to active rule after his emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding last July. Raúl held out hope that the next U.S. presidential elections will lead to better relations with his government. ''Whatever new administration emerges will have to decide if it will accept the olive branch that we have extended.'' he said.

    However, The Bush administration quickly dismissed Castro's offer of talks, as it has done after Castro's two previous offers. ''The only real dialogue that's needed is with the Cuban people,'' U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington, according to The Associated Press. ``If the Cuban people were able to express their opinion on the question of whether or not they would like to freely choose their leaders, the answer would be yes. “Unfortunately that's not a dialogue that is taking place in Cuba at the moment.''

CATHOLIC ECUMENICAL COUNCIL REGRETS REMARKS MADE BY FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER NICOLAS MADURO AGAINST VENEZUELAN BISHOPS

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Monsignor Ovidio Pérez Morales, the president of Venezuela's Catholic Plenary Council, lamented Thursday the remarks made Wednesday by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro, who asked bishops to take off their robes if they are to deal with politics.

    "We are deeply sorry that in a Catholic country as Venezuela such things happen and virtually there is a disqualification of the Catholic Church leadership," he said.

    Pérez Morales explained that Jesus Christ organized the Catholic Church with the apostles as cornerstone. Bishops, as their successors, are responsible for the spiritual aspect and also for terrestrial issues, including economic, political, social and cultural matters. The mission, he went on, is to foster brotherhood, peace and people's comprehensive development.

FOREIGN MINISTER NICOLAS MADURO SAID PRESIDENT BUSH ORDERED PHYSICAL ELIMINATION OF  HUGO CHAVEZ

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Nicolás Maduro said that US President George W. Bush "has ordered to go for" Hugo Chávez. The high-ranking official said he knows from "very reliable, direct sources" that the US President has ordered to attack Chávez, underscoring that in several occasions attempts at killing the Venezuelan ruler have been denounced.

    "It is true what President Chávez says, every passing day the threats against commander Hugo Chávez are more dangerous. They have tried to make a campaign in order to down play this threat, buy we know from very reliable, direct sources that W. Bush has already ordered to go for Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, to go for all Venezuelans peace," Maduro said to reporters.

07-27- 2007

INTERIM DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO LED CUBA'S REVOLUTION DAY EVENTS IN CAMAGÜEY 

   CAMAGÜEY, CUBA  --  Interim dictator  Raul Castro led tens of thousands of loyalists Thursday in celebrations of Cuba's revolution, filling in for his ailing brother Fidel at a key event as the provisional government took on an air of permanence. Cuba's 76-year-old acting dictator and defense minister -- not his elder brother -- arrived for the Revolution Day festivities in Camaguey, a provincial capital of narrow colonial streets and daily afternoon downpours southeast of Havana. He was to address the crowd later.

    Fidel, who turns 81 next month, has for decades given speeches lasting hours to mark Cuba's top holiday. In 2006, he addressed crowds in two separate cities on Revolution Day. But he has not been seen in public since, apparently still too sick to appear in person after announcing on July 31, 2006, that emergency intestinal surgery was forcing him to step aside in favor of Raul Castro. Fidel Castro has begun penning essays dubbed "Reflections of the Commander in Chief" every few days, but appears to be in little hurry to return to power.

     As the sun rose over Camaguey, about 100,000 people filled a plaza of red-tile paths and green grass flanked by towering palm trees. Red and black flags symbolizing the July 26 holiday hung from ever floor of an apartment building nearby. Many people wore red T-shirts and waved miniature Cuban flags over their heads during the ceremony. "Viva Fidel! Viva Raul!" they screamed, in that order. Speaker after speaker spoke about Fidel, celebrating his life, repeating that he was attending the celebration in spirit and wishing him well. But it was hard to find much disappointment that the elder Castro failed to show up.

THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION REWARDS RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION FOR ADVOCATING FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

  PARIS, FRANCE  --  The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) bestowed the Grand Prize for Press Freedom to Marcel Granier, the CEO of private television station RCTV, and his staff of reporters and collaborators.  IAPA conferred the prize upon the oldest television channel in Venezuela for its "tenacious strive for freedom of expression in the Western Hemisphere, as it has advocated courageously and steadfastly its right to keep the license to broadcast on open signal, which was snatched by the government of Venezuela" last May 27.

    IAPA praised the "huge efforts" RCTV has made to broadcast on cable and satellite television, in a move to defend both the right to work of 3,000 people in the TV network and free enterprise.

    "They (RCTV) managed to prevent an independent, professional voice that exercised full freedom of expression for half a century in Venezuela from being silenced for merely political reasons," said Gustavo Mohme of daily newspaper La República de Perú, the co-chairman of IAPA Awards Committee. The award will be presented during the 63rd IAPA General Assembly in Miami next October 12-16.

CONOCOPHILLIPS PROFIT FALLS SHARPLY DUE TO HUGO CHAVEZ'S NATIONALIZATIONS 

   NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK  -- ConocoPhillips, the US third-largest oil company, Wednesday reported its second-quarter profit dropped 94 percent due to an after-tax charge generated following Hugo Chavez's decision to nationalize the company's operations in the South American country. ConocoPhillips earned USD 301 million in the second-quarter, or 18 cents per share.  That compared to last year's record second-quarter earnings of USD 5.18 billion, or USD 3.09 a share, according to Reuters. Excluding the USD 4.5 billion charge related to its assets in Venezuela, ConocoPhillips' adjusted earnings amounted to USD 4.8 billion, or USD 2.90 a share

07-26- 2007

HILLARY CLINTON AND BARACK OBAMA CONTINUED THEIR SPAR OVER FIDEL CASTRO AND HUGO CHAVEZ

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton sharply criticized Senator Barack Obama for the first time yesterday as inexperienced on national security, calling him “irresponsible and frankly naïve” for saying he would be willing to meet without preconditions with leaders of Iran, North Korea and three other nations during his first year as president.

    Mr. Obama responded swiftly, saying the Clinton campaign was concocting a “fabricated controversy.” He also contended that Mrs. Clinton’s skeptical view of such meetings was similar to that of President Bush. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, called Sen. Barack Obama, left, "naïve" for saying he would meet unconditionally with leaders of Iran, North Korea and three other nations during his first year as president. Obama called it a "fabricated controversy."

    Mrs. Clinton’s remark was a rare instance of her personally intensifying the months-old effort by her campaign to portray her, a two-term senator and former first lady, as the most prepared Democrat to become commander in chief in 2009, and Mr. Obama, a senator since 2005, as not ready for the job. Mr. Obama, meanwhile, has for months questioned Mrs. Clinton’s judgment on national security, particularly her vote in 2002 to authorize the war in Iraq.

HONDURAN CATHOLIC CHURCH STRONGLY PROTEST AGAINST HUGO CHAVEZ'S INSULTS TO CARDINAL RODRIGUEZ MADARIAGA

  TEGULCIGALPA, HONDURAS  --  Honduran Catholic Church Tuesday STRONGLY complained about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' insults, who called Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Madariaga an "imperialist clown."

    On Monday, Chávez said that Rodríguez was "Another parrot in Cardinal's clothes, that is, another imperialist clown."

    His remarks came after the Honduran cardinal said the Venezuela ruler "feels like a god and thinks he has the right to abuse other people with an arrogance that has been seen in other dictators over history and who are remembered as tyrants," reported Reuters. "The remarks by the Venezuelan President are unfortunate. They are an insult, an affront to our cardinal. President Chávez wants to be erected as a god," declared to reporters father Ricardo Banegas.

CRISTINA FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER SAID THAT LATIN AMERICA NEEDS HUGO CHÁVEZ  ... AND EVO MORALES

   BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA --   Latin America needs both HUGO CHAVEZ AND EVO MORALES  to complete the energy equation, said Argentinean First Lady and presidential candidate Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

    "Argentina has gas and oil, yet it is not a gas or oil producing country. We have two of them in Latin America -Bolivia and Venezuela," said the Senator during a luncheon in Madrid hosted by Foro Nueva Economía, AFP quoted.

    "These two nations are needed by all South American countries to settle the energy equation in Latin America," said the Argentinean First Lady during her second day on visit to Madrid. Fernández de Kirchner noted that Venezuela "has reserves for about 200 million years." Also, she thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez "for his role played in hard times for Argentina."

07-25- 2007

HILLARY CLINTON PROMISES NOT TO MEET CASTRO AND CHAVEZ DURING HER FIRST YEAR IN THE WHITE HOUSE

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and John Edwards suggested Monday that they would meet with two leaders who top South Florida's most-hated list: Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. During a nationally televised debate, Obama responded to a hypothetical question: ``Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries? Senator Obama responded: "I would.''

    The Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, disagreed with her leading rival: ``I will not promise to meet with the leaders of these countries during my first year. . .I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes and don't want to make a situation even worse, but I certainly agree that we need to get back to diplomacy, which has been turned into a bad word by this administration.''

    The question was then posed to Edwards, who said, ``Yes, I think Senator Clinton is right, though. Before that meeting takes place, we need to do the work, the diplomacy to make sure the meeting is not going to be used for propaganda purposes.'' But CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said, ``Obama looked inexperienced and naive. . .It was a very big win for (Clinton) on that question.''

VENEZUELA OPPOSITION WARNS HUGO CHAVEZ AGAINST THE DANGER OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Based on a comprehensive analysis of the draft constitutional reform, attorney Hermann Escarrá warned Monday against the danger of the amendments intended. During a forum hosted by opposition Comando Nacional de la Resistencia (National Resistance Command, CNR), the lawyer made an in-depth presentation of potential social, educational, political and economic changes.

     "I can assure the country that from the very moment the President (Hugo Chávez) submitted to the National Assembly (AN) the draft constitution, the expiration term of this system began," he augured.

    The expert in constitutional law is positive that the Venezuelan people will not accept a constitution intended to end with every fundamental right and freedom, as established in the current Constitution. He considered that President Chávez is unable to manage a country like Venezuela and is taking the nation to "an extremely grave situation."

BELARUS AND HUGO CHÁVEZ AGREE ON ARMS SALE

    MOSCOW, RUSSIA --   The governments of Belarus and HUGO CHAVEZ are to execute agreements on arms up to the amount of more than USD 1 billion ending July, Monday reported Secretary Victor Sheirman of the Belarusian Security Council. "Within the ambit of military cooperation, agreements over USD 1 billion gave been reached with the Venezuelan Defense Ministry and President Hugo Chávez," Sheirman told the Belarusian TV.

    The official noted that the deal was made during the recent visit to Venezuela of a Belarusian government team and the instruments would be initialed probably at the end of July, Efe reported.  Sheirman added that bilateral cooperation included also the energy business. In this way, late this year, Belarusian companies are to engage in oil drilling in at least two Venezuelan deposits, according to Russian news agency Interfax.

    According to the high-ranking official, in order to power bilateral economic relations, both governments agreed on the organization of a USD 500-million investment fund to develop joint projects.

07-24- 2007

HONDURAN CARDINAL OSCAR ANDRÉS RODRÍGUEZ MARADIAGA SAID HUGO CHAVEZ "FEELS LIKE A GOD"  

   SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR  --  Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga said President Hugo Chávez "feels like a god" and Venezuela is set for great pain if the country continues under a totalitarian regime. "He feels like a god and thinks he has the right to abuse other people with an arrogance that has been seen in other dictators over history and who are remembered as tyrants," said the prelate in statements published last July 22 in daily newspaper El Diario de Hoy, said AP.

    "Chávez is blind, deaf," Rodríguez added in the interview offered following a conference in the Salvadoran capital town. According to Rodríguez, the Venezuelan ruler should be "humble" and willing to dialogue "because every person should admit they are children of God and do not own the truth 100 percent."

     He added that Venezuela "is headed for great pain, because every time a totalitarian government emerges, the people's freedom is undermined." Chávez' government has kept tense relations with the Catholic Church and even criticized Pope Benedict XVI, Rodríguez reminded.

HUGO CHAVEZ:  "CONTINUOUS RE-ELECTION IS ONLY FOR ME" 

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chávez Sunday broadcast his weekly radio and television show Aló, Presidente (Hello, President) from Ciudad de los Indios (coastal Vargas state). In an army helicopter, he arrived in the area where the new town will be built. Chávez said that "in short time," he would submit to the National Assembly his draft constitutional reform. While he used help from a number of advisers, Chávez claimed to be fully responsible for such reform. "We are in the phase of refining some details." The Venezuelan ruler stressed if he had prepared the constitutional reform by himself he "could have drafted it in one week," because he has "a very clear picture of what is required."

     Chávez seized the opportunity to reject a proposal of pro-government parties Patria para Todos (PPT) and Podemos to implement the intended indefinite presidential re-election for governors and mayors too. "I say no, no, and a thousand times no. If continuous re-election is approved that would be ONLY FOR ME." "No, no, no, forget about that. PPT and Podemos are advocating partisan interests and are saying they disagree. I will do whatever the people say, rather than what a small group says." He praised the work of his advisers, but clarified that first he submitted to them "a thick file" containing "a thorough review" of all of the 1999 Constitution articles.

     "If the people want to dismiss me following this proposal, then I will leave. The day the people do not love me, I will not cry. So far, however, thank God and the people, we are about to turn nine years in power, and there are forecasts that our government will last until 2021, at least."   Chávez dismissed some surveys claiming that most Venezuelans reject his proposed constitutional reform. What the media have disclosed so far are "mere papers." "When I do file the reform, people will have reasons to approve it or reject it.. According to Chávez, some top officials have failed to reply to criticisms against his government. "Many criticisms need to be replied, but I cannot reply to very attack."

HUGO CHÁVEZ ORDERED HIS MINISTERS TO EXPEL ANY FOREIGNER WHO DARES TO CRITICIZE HIM OR HIS GOVERNMENT (ONLY "GOOD NEWS" WILL BE PERMITTED)

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA --  Hugo ChÁvez said Sunday that foreigners who publicly criticize him or his government while visiting Venezuela will be expelled from the country.  Chavez ordered officials to closely monitor statements made by international figures during their visits to Venezuela - and deport any outspoken critics. "How long are we going to allow a person - from any country in the world - to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?" Chavez asked during his weekly television and radio program.

    The Venezuelan leader's statements came after Manuel Espino, the president of Mexico's conservative ruling party, criticized Chavez during a recent pro-democracy forum in Caracas. Government opponents argue Chavez - a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro - is becoming increasingly authoritarian and cracking down on dissent as he steers oil-rich Venezuela toward what he calls "21st-century socialism."

    Further, Chávez fought back to "the attacks launched by Catholic bishops" against his government. The Venezuelan ruler made a call to "take the path to the theology of liberation," and avoid getting lost "like these Catholic bishops who are lost indeed. They are bishops who are part of the extreme right that advocated the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet." Chávez also asked the Legislature to pass a law putting an end to "the monopoly of shanties. If someone owns 500 shanties and is capitalizing on human misery, then we will expropriate."

07-23- 2007

PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER BARRING CRUEL, INHUMANE TREATMENT OF TERROR SUSPECTS

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  President GEORGE W. Bush signed an executive order Friday prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects. The White House declined to say whether the CIA currently has a detention and interrogation program, but said if it did, it must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the executive order. The order targets captured Al Qaeda terrorists who have information on attack plans or the whereabouts of the group's senior leaders.

    "Last September, the president explained how the CIA's program had disrupted attacks and saved lives, and that it must continue on a sound legal footing," White House press secretary Tony Snow said. "The president has insisted on clear legal standards so that CIA officers involved in this essential work are not placed in jeopardy for doing their job — and keeping America safe from attacks." The executive order was the result of legislation Bush signed in October that authorized military trials of terrorism suspects, eliminated some of the rights defendants are usually guaranteed under U.S. law, and authorized continued harsh interrogations of terror suspects.

    Bush offered parameters, saying any conditions of confinement and interrogation practices could not include: — Torture or other acts of violence serious enough to be considered comparable to murder, torture, mutilation and cruel or inhuman treatment. — Willful or outrageous acts of personal abuse done to humiliate or degrade someone in a way so serious that any reasonable person would "deem the acts to be beyond the bounds of human decency, such as sexual or sexually indecent acts undertaken for the purpose of humiliation, forcing the individual to perform sexual acts or to pose sexually, threatening the individual with sexual mutilation. — Acts intended to denigrate the religion, religious practices, or religious objects of an individual.

ISRAEL FREES 255 PALESTINIAN PRISONERS IN BIT TO BOOST PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS 

  JERUSALEN, ISRAEL  --  ISRAEL FREES 255 Palestinian prisoners on Friday as part of a series of goodwill gestures designed to bolster Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in his standoff against Hamas. The majority of the prisoners were aligned with Abbas' Fatah faction.  Crowds of people gathered in the West Bank cheered as the buses rolled through the Beitunya checkpoint and into Palestinian Authority territory.  Some waved Palestinian flags and family photos, while the more daring jumped on the buses -- some of them actually making it inside -- to catch a glimpse of their loved ones.

    The detainees were slated to meet with Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and later with their families. According to Israeli prison authority spokesman Ian Domnitz, before leaving the detainees were "identified, medically checked " and "had interviews with the Red Cross" before boarding the buses.

     None of the prisoners, according to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have "blood on their hands."  The majority of the inmates belong to Abbas' Fatah faction, which is currently embroiled in a simmering power struggle with Hamas -- an Islamic militant group that defeated the Fatah party in historic elections last year.  The remaining detainees are from smaller Palestinian parties. None are from Hamas.

BRAZIL, ARGENTINA PAVE THE WAY FOR VENEZUELA ENTRY AT MERCOSUR

    BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --  Brazilian and Venezuelan congresspersons keep in touch to try to come to terms and speed up Venezuela's entry into the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), something considered by Uruguayan Minister of Economy Danilo Astori as "negative." New ingredients were added to the complicated environment in Mercosur when Uruguayan socialist deputy Roberto Conde, the chair of Mercosur Parliament (Parlasur) rebutted Astori's remarks. "He is facing President Tabaré Vázquez by talking in this way."

     Venezuela's inclusion in Mercosur "rather than positive, it is a negative issue. For instance, I do not think that it could be of any help for Mercosur, as a bloc, to have agreements outside of the region," Astori told hundred businesspersons during a conference held Tuesday in Buenos Aires. "I do not think it can contribute to make progress in something that is taking us blood, sweat at tears, which is an agreement with Europe we have been working on since 1995, with no success."

    Uruguay and Argentina completed the process of acceptance of Venezuela's full membership in Mercosur. The decision of the congresses of Paraguay and Brazil is pending. Finding common grounds with Venezuela to advance regional integration is most important, said Argentinean Carlos Álvarez, the chair of Mercosur Committee of Permanent Representatives in Brazil.  There is the need to find common denominators for all the countries in the region and build on integration, Álvarez told Efe, in the context of a seminar to power relations between the Common Market of the South and the European Union held in Brasilia.

07-22- 2007

PRESIDENT BUSH BACK IN POWER AFTER COLONOSCOPY; FIVE SMALL POLYPS REMOVED FROM HIS COLON 

   CAMP DAVID, MARYLAND  --  Doctors removed five small growths from President Bush's colon Saturday after he temporarily transferred the powers of his office to Vice President Dick Cheney under the rarely invoked 25th Amendment. "All were less than 1 centimeter (about four-tenths of an inch) and none appeared worrisome," White House spokesman Scott Stanzel said. Outside medical experts agreed.

    They were sent to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to be microscopically examined for signs of cancer. Results were expected in 48 hours to 72 hours. Polyps can turn cancerous, so finding them early is one of the best ways to prevent the disease and improve the odds of surviving it.

     "The standard procedure is to remove all polyps that you see," said Dr. David Weinberg, director of gastroenterology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, who was not part of the medical team at Camp David. "But the majority of polyps taken out that are less than 1 centimeter in size are very unlikely to have cancer in them." Bush invoked the presidential disability clause of the Constitution at 7:16 a.m. EDT. He transferred his authority to Cheney, who was at his home on the Chesapeake Bay in St. Michaels, Md., about 45 miles east of Washington.

HILLARY CLINTON HITS BACK AT PENTAGON OFFICIAL'S CHARGES THAT SHE IS HELPING ENEMY PROPAGANDA 

  WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hit back Friday at a Pentagon aide who charged that her questions about Iraq withdrawal planning have the effect of helping the enemy — calling the accusation a spurious dodge of a serious issue.  Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for president, had asked the Pentagon to detail how it is planning for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq. She first raised the issue in May, pointing out that whenever troops leave, it will be no simple task to transport the people, equipment and vehicles out of Iraq, possibly through hostile territory.

    Eric Edelman, the Defense Department's undersecretary for policy, offered a sharply worded response, saying such discussions boost the enemy.  "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote.  His tough language in the letter was surprising in part because it came in correspondence with a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which has oversight of the Pentagon.

    Clinton responded Friday in a letter to Edelman's boss, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, asking if he agreed with Edelman's charge.  The New York senator said Edelman had ducked her questions and "instead made spurious arguments to avoid addressing contingency planning."  "Undersecretary Edelman has his priorities backward," Clinton wrote, calling his claim "outrageous and dangerous."  She repeated her request for a briefing — classified if necessary — on the issue of end-of-war planning.  The senator's spokesman Philippe Reines said: "We sent a serious letter to the Secretary of Defense, and unacceptably got a political response back."

PANAMA PRESIDENT, MARTIN TORRIJOS, SAYS GENERAL MANUEL NORIEGA SHOULD BE EXTRADITED TO PANAMA; NOT TO FRANCE

    PANAMA CITY, PANAMA  --  Panama GOVERNMENT wants former military leader Manuel Noriega returned to serve jail time for murder when he is released from a U.S. prison in September, President Martin Torrijos said, denying a secret deal to have Noriega extradited to France. Captured by U.S. forces in a 1989 invasion of Panama, Noriega later was convicted in a Miami, Florida, court on multiple charges of drug trafficking and racketeering. He is due to be released September 9, but it is not clear where he will be sent.

    Panama says it wants him to serve his sentence for ordering the 1985 torture-slaying of Hugo Spadafora, a prominent opponent, but France wants him extradited to serve a 10-year jail term there for laundering money through French banks. U.S. prosecutors this week filed extradition papers on behalf of France, his lawyer said. Torrijos denied allegations that he has agreed to let Noriega be sent to France as part of a deal with the U.S. and French governments and to avoid political problems at home.

"We hope that he will return to Panama to fulfill the sentence he has pending," Torrijos told reporters Thursday. "It is absurd to suggest there has been a political compromise between the three countries." He was the intelligence chief for Torrijos' father, Omar, who ruled Panama for more than a decade until his death in a plane crash in 1981. Noriega later seized control and was Panama's de facto leader until U.S. troops toppled him in the 1989 invasion.

07-21- 2007

THE "NEW SIMON BOLIVAR OF AMERICA", HUGO CHAVEZ, PROPOSES LATIN AMERICAN ANTI-EMPIRE UNION

   MANAGUA, NICARAGUA  --  Hugo Chávez in Managua stated that "the time has come" for Latin American union and to build the 21st-century socialism.

     In a speech on the 28th anniversary of the popular sandinist revolution, Chávez declared "the time has come for union, the time has come for liberation, the time has come for our peoples."

    The ceremony held in the John Paul II Square in Managua was also attended by the presidents of Panama and Honduras, Martín Torrijos and Manuel Zelaya, respectively.

VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT LAMENTS OAS REMOVAL OF FREDDY GUTIERREZ AS RAPPORTEUS OF IACHR

  WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Venezuela's Permanent Mission at the Organization of American States (OAS) deplored the removal of Freddy Gutiérrez as Rapporteur of the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and considered that the move "does not help to hold a honest, necessary dialogue" between the Commission and member nations.

    As stated in a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government stance on the action against Gutiérrez is contained in a declaration released Wednesday in Washington by the Venezuelan embassy at OAS.

     In the declaration, Gutiérrez' work as Rapporteur was vindicated and his removal was viewed as worrisome. "Rather than recognizing the value of dissent and different ideas that should prevail in any democratic institution, IACHR resorted to administrative action to try to suffocate them."

VENEZUELAN BISHOPS' CONFERENCE REJECTS HUGO CHAVEZ' LAMBASTING BISHOPS 

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --   Aldo Fonti, Under Secretary of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference (CEV), rejected Thursday President Hugo Chávez' lambasting bishops and asked him to focus on personal dialogue instead of demeaning remarks.

    "I do not view such disqualification and attacks as appropriate. These attacks do not offend bishops, but people of the Catholic Church, the Catholic people," said the prelate. On Wednesday night, Chávez called some priest "hypocrite Pharisees," and claimed that some bishops take sides with the "tyrants who exploit the people, those who betray Jesus' thinking and work, and stab Christ in the back."

    CEV and Chávez have been staging an oral battle since a CEV meeting held recently, where bishops voiced concern about the "democratic mood" of the constitutional reform bolstered by Chávez.

07-20- 2007

PENTAGON CHARGES HILLARY CLINTON'S REMARKS ON WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ reinforce enemy propaganda

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The Pentagon told Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton that her questions about how the U.S. plans to eventually withdraw from Iraq boosts enemy propaganda.  In a stinging rebuke to a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman responded to questions Clinton raised in May in which she urged the Pentagon to start planning now for the withdrawal of American forces.

    "Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia," Edelman wrote. He added that "such talk understandably unnerves the very same Iraqi allies we are asking to assume enormous personal risks."

The strong wording of the response is unusual, particularly for a missive to a member of the Senate committee with oversight of the Defense Department and its budget. Clinton aides said the letter ignored important military matters and focuses instead on political payback. "Redeploying out of Iraq with the same combination of arrogance and incompetence with which the Bush administration deployed our young men and women into Iraq is completely unacceptable, and our troops deserve far better," said Reines, who said military leaders should offer a withdrawal plan rather than "a political plan to attack those who question them."

VENEZUELA MINISTER OF DEFENSE, RAÚL ISAÍAS BADUEL, RETIRES; WARNS THE ARMED FORCES AGAINST MISTAKES OF SOCIALISM

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  General-in-Chief and outgoing Minister of Defense Raúl Isaías Baduel emphasizes that the 21st-century socialism should be deeply democratic, from the political standpoint, and from the economic perspective, it should encourage wealth, in order to avoid the mistakes leading to the collapse of similar systems in other countries. Now retired General-in-Chief Baduel's remarks came during the act of transmission of command to his successor in the Ministry of Defense, General-in-Chief Gustavo Rangel Briceño.

     During the ceremony, headed by President Hugo Chávez, the new commanders of the Venezuelan army branches were sworn in. They are Carlos Mata Figueroa (Army); José Luis Berroterán (Aviation); Zahim Quintana Castro (Navy); Freddy Carrión (National Guard) and Carlos Freites Reyes (Military Reserve and National Mobilization). Chávez, therefore, renewed all of the military commanders. In a written speech, Baduel said: "unfortunately, the term socialism does not have a uniform homogeneous meaning for all the people talking about it. This is perhaps the reason behind the uncertainty and concerns arising among some sectors of population when you even mention socialism.

     We have to concede that this economic model does not exist and has not been formulated to date. I therefore believe that as long as the situation remains this way, uncertainty shall persist among some of our social groups." He recommended building socialism with order, logic and scientific spirit, rather than chaotically. "We cannot let our system to become state capitalism, where the State owns all of the means of production. Any country can make the mistake of calling itself socialist in a nominal way and actually being a state capitalism."

VENEZUELAN SUBSCRIPTION TV ASSOCIATION AGAINST HUGO CHAVEZ'S INTENTIONS TO COMPULSORY JOINT BROADCASTING 

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The Venezuelan subscription TV association reported Thursday that it would request a meeting with government authorities to voice disagreement with a reform intended to impose compulsory joint broadcasting of President Chávez' addresses to the nation. Mario Seijas, the chair of the Venezuelan Subscription Television Chamber (Cavetesu), told reporters that the copyright law prevents these TV stations from making any changes on programming.

    For this reason, there is no possibility of cutting the programming in order to join compulsory broadcasting, he maintained.

    Seijas expects to explain this matter during the meetings requested to the authorities of the Ministry of Communication and Information, the Ministry of Telecommunications and the National Telecommunications Council (Conatel), Efe reported. Out of the 150 member channels of the association, almost a half is operated and produced abroad. In addition, "there is no technological way to make them engage in joint broadcasting."

07-19- 2007

the UNITED STATES ADMITTED IT WOULD NOT MEET ITS OBLIGATION UNDER A 1994 MIGRATION ACCORD SIGNED WITH CUBA

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The United States will not meet its commitment to provide at least 20,000 visas for Cubans to migrate from the island this year because the Cuban government has placed ''unreasonable constraints'' on its diplomatic mission there, the State Department said Tuesday.  The surprise admission that Washington would for the first time in nearly a decade fail to meet a key obligation under a 1994 migration accord with Havana came after the Cuban foreign ministry accused the Bush administration of withholding immigration visas in an attempt to destabilize the island.

    The accusation touches a raw nerve as both sides have often traded allegations that the other uses migration for political ends. The matter has taken renewed importance now, a year after a sick Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raúl -- setting the stage for the first leadership  The United States has only awarded 10,724 visas in the nine-month period ending June 30, just 54 percent of the 20,000 annual quota of visas agreed to in the 1994 migration agreement, according to the Cuban statement published in Tuesday's edition of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.

    A U.S. failure to meet its quota would be a ''grave and unjustifiable'' violation of the agreements, the statement added. The visa flap appears to be the latest volley in a diplomatic exchange that began last year when the U.S. Interests Section in Havana put up an electronic billboard on the side of the building broadcasting human rights messages. The sign infuriated Havana, which quickly built a plaza of black flags to block the sign and later temporarily cut the building's water and power. Now, the U.S. government said the Cubans are putting up obstacles that thwart the visa process.''

U.S. MILITARY FORCES CAPTURED A SENIOR AL-QAEDA LEADER IN IRAQ

  BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  The U.S. military announced the capture of a senior leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, an insurgent who, the military said, is casting himself as a "conduit" between the top leaders of al Qaeda and al Qaeda in Iraq. Khalid al-Mashadani, an Iraqi also known as Abu Shahed, was seized on July 4 in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and is in coalition custody, the military said.

    "He served as the al Qaeda media emir for Baghdad and then was appointed the media emir for all of Iraq," said Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner, Multi-National Force-Iraq spokesman, who briefed reporters. He is believed to be the most senior Iraqi in al Qaeda in Iraq.

    During interrogations, al-Mashadani shed light on the workings of al Qaeda in Iraq and its connection with al Qaeda outside of Iraq, Bergner said. Bergner said al-Mashadani co-founded an organization "in cyberspace" called the Islamic State of Iraq, which he referred to as a "marketing" effort to create a Taliban-like state in Iraq. Al-Mashadani also shed light on the Islamic State of Iraq, the so-called umbrella group of Iraqi insurgents that includes al Qaeda in Iraq.

Peruvian government: symbolic or not, alba means meddling in internal affairs

    Lima, Peru  -- The Peruvian government upheld Tuesday that the establishment of an office of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) in southeast Peru was considered as meddling and countered the remarks made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who called it "something symbolic."

    "Whether symbolic or not, it is meddling. In this way, with a little bit of sand, a beach is being formed. Afterwards they will get the beachhead and then will enter the country," Cabinet Head Jorge del Castillo said during an interview with CPN radio, as quoted by AP.

     According to Del Castillo, this was the case of Nicaragua and, presumably, there was a similar attempt in Colombia.  ALBA is sponsored by the Venezuelan government and composed of Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

07-18- 2007

CUBA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SAID THE UNITED STATES has DELIBERATELY  fallen behind in the number of visas allotted for cubans

   HAVANA, CUBA --  Cuba said Tuesday the United States has fallen behind in the number of visas allotted for Cubans, suggesting this was a deliberate attempt by the Bush administration to stir trouble on the island.  Cuba's foreign ministry said the United States had only awarded 10,724 visas in the nine-month period ending June 30, or 54 percent of the 20,000 annual quota of visas agreed to in the 1994 migration accords.

    A U.S. failure to meet its quota would be a ''grave and unjustifiable'' violation of the agreements, according to a statement published in Tuesday's edition of the Communist Party Granma newspaper. The United States and Cuba have often traded allegations that the other uses migration for political ends, but the matter is especially sensitive now, after a sick Fidel Castro handed power to his brother Raúl last summer -- setting the stage for the first leadership transition in nearly half a century.

     The migration accords were designed to discourage illegal crossings of the Florida Straits by providing a safe way for Cubans to leave, but Cuba now suggests the Bush administration is deliberately slowing the process. The Cuba statement asks whether President Bush's desire for change on the island was behind the delay in granting visas, ``even though this provokes a situation of instability that would almost surely also affect the United States.'' The foreign ministry said the United States should stop ''the manipulation of the migration issue with political ends'' and criticized Washington's policy of allowing Cubans who make it to the U.S. mainland to stay while returning those caught at sea, a policy known as ``wet-foot, dry-foot.''

INTER AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS REMOVES RAPPORTEURSHIP FROM VENEZUELAN COMMISSIONER FOR DISTRUST

  WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The Organization of American States (OAS) Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) removed Tuesday Venezuelan Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers and Their Families Freddy Gutiérrez because his incumbency was not respected any more. However, the official was not removed from the organization.

    "Due to serious previous events, we, the remaining members of the Commission have lost the confidence vested in Commissioner Freddy Gutiérrez Trejo to perform his duties as rapporteur," IACHR members said in a resolution after listening to the Venezuelan. The Commission members noted that Gutiérrez "had staged multiple public demonstrations on the functions and mandate of the Commission in matters and cases coming from his country of origin," AFP quoted. Over the last few years, the Venezuelan government and IACHR have had quite a few clashes.

     Gutiérrez was accused also of having "abused repeatedly of his position as Rapporteur to attack the institutional integrity and impartiality of IACHR and its members, and give false testimony on pending matters and cases before the Commission." Therefore, the IACHR members replaced him "in his functions and duties" as Special Rapporteur on Migrant Workers and Their Families, and as Rapporteur for Salvador, Panama and Uruguay.

HUGO CHAVEZ REASSERTED THAT HIS NEW ANTI-AIRCRAFT DEFENSE SYSTEM WILL BE DEPLOYED THIS YEAR

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  "As of this year" Venezuela is implementing a new anti-aircraft defense system, Monday announced President Hugo Chávez, adding that "one sector -the spokespersons of the empire- are going to a make a big deal of this and to claim that Venezuela is engaged in an arms race."

    "We are working in an integral defense system. This will take us several years, but we are going to begin with the most strategic goals, namely, devices with a long range to detect any threat, and not only detecting dangers, but also allowing early response." Chávez stressed that the United States is breaching spare part supply agreements related to Hercules aircraft, and reasserted that he would buy new cargo airplanes from China, Russia or Belarus.

    According to Chávez, during his latest visit to Latin America, US Assistant Secretary of State Nicholas Burns "privately made strong demands in an attempt at isolating Venezuela." Chávez rejected Peruvian Premier Jorge del Castillo's claims that Venezuela "is intervening in Peruvian domestic affairs, only because a governor in Puno opened an office of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas."

07-17- 2007

U.N. NUCLEAR INSPECTORS CONFIRM SHUTDOWN ON NORTH KOREAN REACTOR AT YONGBYON

    SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA --  U.N. inspectors have verified that North Korea has shut down its sole functioning nuclear reactor, the chief of the watchdog agency said Monday, confirming Pyongyang's first step to halt production of atomic weapons in nearly five years. "Our inspectors are there. They verified the shutting down of the reactor yesterday," said Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

    "The process has been going quite well and we have had good cooperation from North Korea. It's a good step in the right direction," ElBaradei said, speaking in Bangkok ahead of an event sponsored by Thailand's Ministry of Science. Earlier Monday, South Korea sent more oil to North Korea to reward its compliance with an international disarmament agreement.

    Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung said a second shipment of oil departed Monday for the North on a South Korean ship. A first shipment that arrived Saturday — prompting the North to follow through on its pledge to shut the reactor — has been completely offloaded, Lee said at a meeting with U.S. nuclear envoy Christopher Hill.

BRITAIN TO EXPEL 4 RUSSIAN DIPLOMATS OVER POISONED EX-SPY

    LONDON, ENGLAND  --  Britain will expel four Russian diplomats over Moscow's refusal to extradite the key suspect in the murder of ex-security agent Alexander Litvinenko, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Monday. Britain has also suspended visa facilitation negotiations with Russia and is reviewing cooperation on a range of issues, Miliband said. Moscow has refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, a Russian businessman and former KGB agent, to stand trial in London over the killing.

    "The Russian government has failed to register either how seriously we treat this case or the seriousness of the issues involved, despite lobbying at the highest level and clear explanations of our need for a satisfactory response," Miliband said. International agreements mean that Lugovoi could be extradited if he travels outside Russia, Miliband said.

    Britain's Foreign Office declined to specify the rank or position of the four Russian diplomats to be expelled. "We have chosen to expel four particular diplomats in order to send a clear and proportionate signal about the seriousness of this case," Miliband said. British prosecutors have named Lugovoi as the chief suspect in the case, and authorities are seeking to try him for Litvinenko's murder. Litvinenko died Nov. 23 in a London hospital after ingesting radioactive polonium-210. In a deathbed statement, he accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind his killing.

JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA, OAS SECRETARY-GENERAL, SAID "ISOLATING VENEZUELA IS UNFEASIBLE"  

  BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA  --   José Miguel Insulza, the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), believes democracy "is very valid in Venezuela," and claimed that sponsoring isolation of President Hugo Chávez' regime "is an alternative completely unfeasible from the juridical standpoint and very inconvenient from the political standpoint."

    In an interview published on July 15 in Argentinean daily newspaper Clarín, Insulza conceded that the aftereffects of Chávez' government decision not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV are still "alive." He described as "risky" the Venezuelan government move on RCTV, as it is construed as "a clear signal to the press in the region."

    Insulza referred to the ties between Venezuela and Cuba: "When somebody says, and I do not intend to quote anyone here, 'Cuba and Venezuela', he purports to say that this is the recipe for catastrophe. What we should do is rescue Cuba, rather than giving Venezuela away, from the point of view of democracy." According to Insulza, interventions in Latin American countries have resulted in nothing but harmful.  "There is no reason to believe, in 2007, that gathering with Cubans is some sort of sin. It is completely absurd," Insulza told Clarín.

07-16- 2007

IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MALIKI SAYS U.S. TROOPS CAN GO HOME 'ANYTIME THEY WANT' 

    BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki shrugged off U.S. doubts of his government's military and political progress Saturday, saying Iraqi forces are capable and American troops can leave "anytime they want." One of his top aides, meanwhile, accused the United States of embarrassing the Iraqi government by violating human rights and treating his country like an "experiment in a U.S. lab."

    Al-Maliki sought to display confidence at a time when pressure is mounting in Congress for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. forces. On Thursday, the House passed a measure calling for the United States to withdraw its troops by spring, hours after the White House reported mixed progress by the Iraqi government toward meeting 18 benchmarks. During a news conference, al-Maliki shrugged off the progress report, saying that difficulty in enacting the reforms was "natural" given Iraq's turmoil.

    "We are not talking about a government in a stable political environment, but one in the shadow of huge challenges," al-Maliki said. "So when we talk about the presence of some negative points in the political process, that's fairly natural." Al-Maliki said his government needs "time and effort" to enact the political reforms that Washington seeks -- "particularly since the political process is facing security, economic and services pressures, as well as regional and international interference." But he said that if necessary, Iraqi police and soldiers could fill the void left by the departure of coalition forces. "We say in full confidence that we are able, God willing, to take the responsibility completely in running the security file if the international forces withdraw at anytime they want," he said.

RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION BACK ON THE AIR ON CABLE TV

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Honoring its commitment to go back to Venezuelan homes, private television station RCTV announced it is resuming transmissions on cable television.  RCTV CEO Marcel Granier said the obstacles they faced following non-renewal by the Venezuelan government of their broadcast license to operate on open signal would be seized as an opportunity to expand and innovate. RCTV, he added, is counting on people's and advertisers' support.

    RCTV is broadcasting on paid television companies Inter, DirecTV, NetUno, and Planet) as of July 16 around the clock. "We are pleased to announce that as of July 16 -Day of the Virgin of Carmen- we will be on the air," said Granier, adding they would continue to hold talks with other national and regional cable companies. Granier stressed that since broadcasts were stopped, last May 27, channel 2 lost 92 percent of audience, which is a clear response to "the imposition of a new pro-government channel that Venezuelans obviously do not like."

    He added that 83 percent of Venezuelans want RCTV back on the air through paid television while RCTV recovers its open signal. "Over 50 percent of Venezuelans who do not have paid television said they are willing to have paid television to watch RCTV again. Paid television companies have told us they are full of demands of new subscribers interested in having RCTV signal again." He regretted the fact that low-income Venezuelans -who are the major audience of RCTV- missed the possibility to enjoy their most important source of entertainment and information for free.

HUGO CHAVEZ: "WE ARE NOT GOING TO ATTACK ANYBODY" 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Following his tour in Russia, Belarus and Iran, Hugo Chávez said weapon purchases and execution of military agreements with Moscow are not aimed at attacking any country. "The imperialist press has tried to make a fuss about it. We will keep strengthening technical-military cooperation (…) Nobody should be scared. We are not going to attack anybody!"

    Chávez announced that there are several proposals, namely, buying more transportation planes. "I told (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that we have some old planes, the Hercules; we are making a great effort, due to the fact that they are also denying us spare parts because it is American technology." He reaffirmed that the purchase of submarines is being assessed.

07-15- 2007

russia withdraws from a key european arms control treaty

    mOSCOW, RUSSIA --  Russia on Saturday suspended its participation in a key European arms control treaty that governs deployment of troops on the continent, the Kremlin said, a move that threatened to further aggravate Moscow's already tense relations with the West.  President Vladimir Putin signed a decree suspending Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty due to "extraordinary circumstances ... which affect the security of the Russian Federation and require immediate measures," the Kremlin said in a statement.

    Putin has in the past threatened to freeze his country's compliance with the treaty, accusing the United States and its NATO partners of undermining regional stability with U.S. plans for a missile defense system in former Soviet bloc countries in Eastern Europe. Under the moratorium, Russia would halt inspections and verifications of its military sites by NATO countries and would no longer limit the number of its conventional weapons, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

     In Brussels, NATO spokesman James Appathurai condemned the decision. "NATO regrets this decision by the Russian Federation. It is a step in the wrong direction," Appathurai said. The treaty, between Russian and NATO members, was signed in 1990 and amended in 1999 to reflect changes since the breakup of the Soviet Union, adding the requirement that Moscow withdraw troops from the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Georgia. Russia has ratified the amended version, but the United States and other NATO members have refused to do so until Russia completely withdraws.

NORTH KOREA SAYS ITS NUCLEAR REACTOR AT YONGBYON HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN  

     PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA  --  North Korea told the United States it shut down its nuclear reactor, the State Department said Saturday, hours after a ship cruised into port loaded with oil promised in return for the country's pledge to disarm.  If confirmed by a U.N. inspection team headed to the Yongbyon reactor, the shutdown would be the North's first step in nearly five years toward de-nuclearization.

    "We welcome this development and look forward to the verification and monitoring of this shutdown by the International Atomic Energy Agency team," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement. An initial shipment of oil aid arrived hours earlier Saturday, in return for Pyongyang's pledge to close down its main nuclear reactor. The move would be the North's first step in nearly five years toward the de-nuclearization of the peninsula.

     The 10-member team from the International Atomic Energy Agency was heading directly to Yongbyon, about 60 miles northeast of the capital, to begin monitoring the shutdown. "We are going directly to the nuclear site at Yongbyon," IAEA team chief Adel Tolba told broadcaster APTN outside the Pyongyang airport. Footage showed dozens of cardboard boxes being loaded onto the back of two trucks. Tolba said the team would stay in North Korea as long as needed to complete its work.

VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR TO THE OAS, JOSE VALERO, SAID "THE UNITED STATES FAILED IN ITS ATTEMPT TO INTERVENE IN VENEZUELA

  WASHINGTON, D.C.  --   The government of the United States failed in its attempt to use the Organization of American States (OAS) as a tool against Venezuela amidst Washington's "interventionist" plans, said Jorge Valero, the Venezuelan ambassador to the regional body, following the OAS is not sending a mission to Venezuela to assess the RCTV case, as requested by Washington.

    OAS decision is "a new demonstration that the US government does not have support in OAS," Valero told official televisión channel VTV, as quoted by AFP. For Valero, the decision not to send a mission to Caracas shows that "non-renewal of the broadcast license (to private television station RCTV) is a sovereign, legitimate decision in compliance with the democratic principles and laws governing the Republic of Venezuela."

07-14- 2007

UNDER SECRETARY NICHOLAS BURNS SAID THE UNITED STATES IS EAGER TO GET CLOSER TO MERCOSUR; CRITICIZES VENEZUELA

    BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  -- According to US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, his government would be happy to reinforce trade relations with the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), but noted that Venezuela's agenda is quite different from the rest of Latin American nations.

    "We are very interested in joining efforts with Mercosur and its leading member nations (…) to see if we can knock down the barriers to trade," said Burns during a short press conference in the context of a meeting attended by Brazilian and US businesspersons. United States has executed bilateral trade agreements with most countries in the Western Hemisphere, but not with Mercosur, a trade bloc composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, AFP reported.

    Burns made no comment on Venezuela's application for joining Mercosur, which should be approved by the Congresses of Brazil and Paraguay. Nor he commented on Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' threats to give up if the adhesion is not confirmed by September.

OAS SECRETARY-GENERAL JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA SAID VENEZUELA'S REFUSAL TO AN OAS MISSION IS LAWFUL

    BRAZILIA, BRAZIL   -- Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza stated in Brazil that Venezuela's refusal to authorize an OAS mission to visit the country regarding the RCTV case is respectful of the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

    "It is a political path," said Insulza on the proposed mission, which "should have the acquiescence of the involved country, and in this case the country (Venezuela) has not given it," stated OAS Secretary-General in a press conference in Brasilia, reported Efe.

     Insulza explained that the United States asked him to travel to Venezuela in order to make "consultations" on the non renewal of a broadcasting license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). The request was based on Article 18 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, which refers to freedom of expression. However, he also clarified, that this article also demands that the country which could be subjected to this type of visit should accept it and, in this case, the Venezuelan government has refused to accept is that it is  “perfectly legal” in accordance with the OAS chapter.

VENEZUELA AMONG THE LAST COUNTRIES PROMOTERS OF TECHNOLOGY

  WASHINGTON, D.C.  --   Venezuela was ranked in the 52nd position among 64 countries in the latest survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit and the Business Software Alliance (BSA) to assess the features that promote development and growth of Information Technology, with the United States in the top position.

    "This poses a need and a chance to continue to foster positive environments for the sector development and the social and economic benefits for domestic economy, paving the way for a safe and legal digital world," said BSA in a press release published in Venezuela. "Adequate protection of intellectual property is the key to ensure continued investment in technology and innovation, as well as to make the legal framework to provide for issues such as e-commerce, security, privacy and electronic fraud," said BSA representative in Venezuela Manuel Antonio Rodríguez.

    "In Venezuela, the Sub-committee on intellectual property crimes, Seniat (Integrated National Customs and Tax Administration Service), is working steadily to fight piracy. This fight shows consolidation of a joint effort between the government and companies that has yielded significant results."

07-13- 2007

U.S. UNDER SECRETARY NICHOLAS BURNS SAID VENEZUELA AND CUBA ARE THE EXCEPTION IN A DEMOCRATIC LATIN AMERICA

    BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  -- Latin America is committed to democracy and its people, except for Cuba and Venezuela, said Thursday in Brasilia US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns. According to the high-ranking official, all Latin American governments, with the only exception of these two nations, seek peace, economic growth, social inclusion, and fight against poverty and injustice.

    Burns spoke Thursday during the closing session of a two-day meeting where Brazilian and US government officials dealt with "Competitiveness and Innovation in the Americas," Efe reported.

    During a press conference along with Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon, Burns made a difference also between Venezuela and remaining South American nations. "Venezuela has a very different agenda," said Burns. For his part, Shannon acknowledged that the United States has "an important trade relation" with Venezuela, regardless of political differences.

MONSIGNOR OVIDIO PEREZ MORALES REPORTS GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT 

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA   -- Monsignor Ovidio Pérez Morales, chair of the committee for enforcement of the Venezuelan Plenary Bishop Council, on Tuesday warned that the government is trying to silence them, following President Hugo Chávez' harsh reaction vis-à-vis the Catholic Church's criticisms against a constitutional reform currently under way in the country.

    When asked whether President Chávez' remarks against the Catholic Church were an attempted harassment, Monsignor Pérez Morales replied: "Of course they are. In fact, there is a sort of persecution against the Church. Persecution does not only mean cutting somebody's head. Persecution is also harassment, intimidation. It means keeping an atmosphere of fear, making people feel they cannot say a word because otherwise they will be discredited, they will be subject to public derision. When we are asked to take off our cassock, it is a moral crime."

     Last week, President Chávez rejected the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference Chair Monsignor Ubaldo Santana's concerns about the constitutional reform. "The fact is you are ignorant persons, perverts, liars and deceivers, Monsignors. Read the Constitution, if you are doing this out of ignorance; and take off your cassocks if you are doing this out of perversion," Chávez said last Tuesday.

CUBA AND VENEZUELA EXPAND MILITARY AVIATION COOPERATION

  HAVANA, CUBA  --   A delegation of students and teachers of the Venezuelan School of Higher Studies on Air War (ESGA), presided by its director Brigadier General Wilson Ricardo Marín, is paying a training visit to Cuba, official media reported on Thursday.

     "I have no doubts that this cooperation will continue and expand, for the sake of our peoples," said Marín, following a visit to the José Martí Military College and Playa Girón Aviation Brigade, where the Venezuelan delegation were introduced to the training programs for the officers of the Anti-aircraft Defense and the Revolutionary Air Force.

     Marín, quoted by Cuban official newspaper Granma, stressed that "we have been welcomed with so much camaraderie, solidarity, and fellowship, we feel at home," AFP reported. This is the third time a delegation of ESGA visits Cuba. Last May, 93 cadets, including 19 women, visited the island. Cuba and Venezuela have close political ties, with trade relations in 2006 amounting to USD 2.7 billion.  Venezuela ships 90,000 bpd of crude to Cuba under preferential payment terms.

07-12- 2007

VENEZUELA FOREIGN MINISTER NICOLAS MADURO SAID CATHOLIC BISHOPS WANT TO BECOME HUGO CHAVEZ' INQUISITORS

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro Wednesday said Catholic bishops are playing the role of "political leaders" and purport to be "inquisitors" of President Hugo Chávez' government. Maduro was reacting to the harsh criticisms the Venezuelan catholic Bishops made during their 88th Plenary Council last week. The Church leaders reasserted their "doubts" about the democratic nature of the constitutional reform Chávez is boosting, his government's populism and his alleged "Marxist-Leninist" trends.

    The diplomat told official television station VTV that "as a citizen and Christian I cannot avoid feeling indignation and repulsion" about the opinions expressed by the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference, Efe quoted. He repudiated the fact that "some people use their cassocks" and their influence as clergymen "to issue political judgments" that "are very far from Venezuelan reality."
  According to Maduro, the Catholic bishops' remarks are part of a "destabilizing plan" against the "revolutionary government."

    "This seems a new Inquisition based on the old handbooks of the Cold War. They (Venezuelan bishops) purport to be the new inquisitors of President Chávez' new ideas." Following their ordinary meeting last week, Catholic bishops reasserted their criticisms against the constitutional reform under way in Venezuela. Further, they made an urgent call for respect for dissent, national reconciliation, and solidarity.

ING GROUP NV TO CLOSE BANKING OPERATIONS IN CUBA

    HAVANA, CUBA  -- ING GroEp NV, whose joint venture with Cuba was blacklisted by the United States last year, will close down its banking operations in Havana, a spokesman for the Dutch financial group said on Friday. ING (ING.AS: Quote, Profile, Research), the first major Western bank to set up business in Communist Cuba in 1994, said the closure of its representative office was not due to political pressure from the United States.

    "It is a purely business decision ... it comes as part of our assessment of the economic viability of our operations around the world," said spokesman Nanne Bos in Amsterdam. Business sources in Havana said the Dutch bank has lost business as Cuba increases its exports of nickel to China rather than European markets via Rotterdam. Last July, the U.S. Treasury Department put the Netherlands Caribbean Bank, an ING joint venture with two Cuban state-owned financial entities chartered in Curacao, on a list of companies U.S. companies and citizens cannot do business with.

    The blacklisted bank was used by Cuba to pay for shipments of food exports from the United States allowed under an exception to the trade embargo enforced by Washington since 1962. ING's departure follows moves by major international banks to close Cuban accounts in U.S. dollars due to increased scrutiny by the United States of companies doing business with states under U.S. sanctions -- mainly Iran, Syria, Sudan, Cuba and North Korea. In 2004, UBS was fined an unprecedented $100 million by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board for helping Cuba, Iran, Libya and Yugoslavia swap old dollar banknotes for fresh currency.

FOUR EXPLOSIONS AT A MEXICAN NATURAL GAS PIPELINE

  MEXICO CITY, MEXICO  --  Presidential spokesman Maximiliano Cortazar said investigations were under way into an explosion at a natural gas pipeline in the early hours of Tuesday and three other pipeline blasts last Thursday. The four blasts shut down pipelines supplying natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, crude oil and gasoline to the domestic market.  But none of the blasts affected oil exports and no injuries were reported, according to state oil

    The Popular Revolutionary Army, or EPR -- which emerged in 1996 and is active in the poor southern states of Guerrero, Michoacan, Oaxaca and Chiapas -- claimed responsibility on Tuesday and said it had begun a campaign against the conservative government whose 2006 election win was contested by leftists. "The Mexican government categorically condemns the attacks on Pemex installations. This criminal conduct tries to weaken democratic institutions," the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

    "The federal government is taking all the necessary measures to increase security around the country's strategic installations." Firefighters brought under control Tuesday's blaze at a 36-inch (91.5-cm) natural gas pipeline running between Mexico City and the western city of Guadalajara, and people living nearby were evacuated to safety.

07-11- 2007

RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION CASE "IS NOT CLOSED" SAID JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA, OAS SECRETARY-GENERAL

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- JOSÉ  Miguel Insulza, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), said the case of Caracas-based private television station RCTV -which stopped operations last May 27 upon non-renewal of its broadcast license by the Venezuelan government- "is not closed, and the fact that the General Assembly in Panama decided not to make a statement in this regard does not mean it is useless, invisible and inexistent." Insulza's remarks came in response to recent declarations made by Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, who claimed that OAS "is a shame."

    In an interview with Chilean daily newspaper La Tercera, as quoted by Efe, Insulza explained that his stance regarding the RCTV case "was not aimed at seeking any sort of sanction, but simply at warning against the consequences" of RCTV going off the air.

    "I think the consequences were exactly as I forecast," the OAS Secretary-General stressed. "While acting under the law, President Hugo Chávez based upon political reasons -which should not happen when it comes to freedom of expression. This is what I said from the very beginning, and I have not changed my stance." As to Vargas Llosa, Insulza said: "As an author, he is one of my favorites. I am a big supporter of his candidacy to the Nobel Award and I think the fact he has not been granted this prize is unfair. But regarding his political convictions and moves, I have serious doubts."

VENEZUELAN STUDENT MOVEMENT TO STAGE MARCHES AGAINST INSECURITY AND VIOLENCE

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The Venezuelan student movement Tuesday announced they are staging marches for three consecutive days next July 20-22. Called "A Weekend for Life," this activity is intended to raise people's awareness about insecurity and violence in the country. Student leaders of several higher education institutions such as the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), and the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB) Tuesday offered a news conference, together with high school students.

    Ricardo Sánchez, secretary of UCV Federation of Students' Councils, was the spokesman during the news conference. He said they are convening the public in general, students, housewives, civil society, political parties, the media, the Church, etc. Sánchez said that during the three weeks they staged street demonstrations a significant number of young people aged 18-24 were the targets of violence.

    "The student movement cannot turn its back on the fact that over 450 people were killed while we were demonstrating on the streets to advocate civil and human rights. The war report shows that in Venezuela the right to life is violated, as young people aged 18-24, mostly males, are included among the victims of crime in this country." Sánchez urged people to demonstrate "peacefully, without violence, without hatred and without dead people."

SPAIN, VENEZUELA TO REVIEW RELATIONS ON A MONTHLY BASIS

  MADRID, SPAIN  -- The governments of Spain and Venezuela moved to implement a mechanism allowing for steady revision of bilateral issues, Monday said authorities of both countries following a meeting in the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro and his diplomatic staff welcomed Spanish Ambassador to Venezuela Raúl Morodo, Spanish businessmen, and members of the Canary, Galician, and Catalan communities, who expressed their concerns to the Venezuelan authorities.

    According to Morodo, they agreed to establish "a follow-up mechanism under which issues emerging in any areas can be addressed on a daily basis or every two months." He reminded that such a mechanism was provided for under a 2005 bilateral agreement. Regarding the meeting held on Monday, the Spanish diplomat said this was "the first all-inclusive meeting," where trade, social and cultural topics were addressed. "We have reviewed both issues and superb relations between Venezuela and Spain, and at the same time we have sought mechanisms for follow-up. This is a start point to cement and deepen bilateral relations, not only in the political scenario, which are really good, but also regarding other areas."

     Participants in the meeting included, among others, Venezuelan Foreign Vice-Minister for European Affairs Rodrigo Chaves; Foreign Exchange Administration Board (Cadivi) chair Manuel Barroso, and José Gregorio Vielma Mora, the head of the Integrated National Customs and Tax Administration Service (Seniat).

07-10- 2007

THOMAS SHANNON KEEPS LOSING CREDIBILITY IN LATIN AMERICA -- NOW HE SAYS THAT "LIKELY US-HUGO CHAVEZ DIALOGUE UNDER BUSH'S ADMINISTRATION" --  he made the same statement over a year ago

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- The United States and Venezuela have common "critical interests" and a dialogue with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is possible during the remaining 18 months to go until the administration of US President George W. Bush is over, said Monday Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas A. Shannon. "The future of the US-Venezuela bilateral relation is up to Venezuela. We have expressed our interest in improving and delving into that relation," said the high-ranking official.

    Shannon made his comments during an online interactive forum, where he answered to multiple questions from all over the region in the context of a meeting hosted by the White House with 250 NGOs in the Western Hemisphere, AP reported.

    Just one year ago, Shannon pointed to the immediate possibility of a dialogue between the US and Venezuelan governments. Nevertheless, countercharges have continued as a characteristic feature in bilateral relations since President Bush took over in 2001.

PARAGUAY NOT TO APPROVE YET HUGO CHAVEZ'S MEMBERSHIP IN MERCOSUR

    ASUNCION, PARAGUAY  --  The Paraguayan Congress has no plans to approve over the next three months Venezuela's inclusion in the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).  "We refuse the pressure exerted by President Hugo Chávez and there is no time enough to advance on the arrangements," said Monday Senator Juan Carlos Ramírez.

    Chávez said last week in Caracas that if Paraguay and Brazil refrained from approving by September the Venezuelan membership in the regional trade bloc, he would withdraw the application. The parliaments of Argentina and Uruguay endorsed Venezuela's inclusion three months ago, according to AP.

    "We will take our time, as we deem it necessary, and not three months, as Chávez conditioned, based on a presumed urgency that just happened to him," said Ramírez, a member of opposition Partido Radical Auténtico (PLRA). Ramírez, Vice-President of the Senate Committee on External Relations, agreed with the remarks made previously by Chair Alfredo Ratti, of opposition Patria Querida party.

THE LIBERTADOR SIMON BOLIVAR FIGHTERS AIR GROUP HAS 20 SUKHOI-CERTIFIED PILOTS READY TO FIGHT A "PHANTOM" ENEMY 

  CARACAS, VENEZUELA   -- The Venezuelan military aviation has 20 pilots and 87 non-commissioned officers, attached to the Libertador Simón Bolívar Fighters Air Group 13 (G-13), who were certified in the first basic training course for flying Russian-made Sukhoi warplanes.

    During a first stage, the Venezuelan military were trained in Moscow, specifically in the Sukhoi manufacturing plant. They continued training in Venezuela, upon arrival of the first warplanes the Venezuelan government purchased from Russia. Russian instructors Sergei Bogdab, Igor Botinsevv, Slava Aberianov and Konstantine Kochkaryov were in charge of the training program for Venezuelan pilots.

    Last May 19, the Venezuelan officers who completed the training course were awarded the relevant certificates. Other Venezuelan Army and Aviation officers are currently in Russia for training in operation and maintenance of MI26 helicopters, the largest choppers in the world. For six months, a group of Venezuelan officers, including a woman, will be trained in operational and theory topics.

07-09- 2007

THE INTERAMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS NOT TO HEAR RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION CASE IN THE NEXT SESSION

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- The Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is not to deal with the case of private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) during a special hearing in the next session because the station has not requested it, said Friday Santiago Cantón, the panel executive secretary. There is a case related to RCTV that is being managed at the Inter American Court of Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica, and a complaint against the Venezuelan government filed by the media outlet at the Commission.

    "The complaint is being discussed," Cantón said when briefing on IACHR regular session from July 16-28. "The Commission is yet to assess it and make a decision," he added, AP quoted. RCTV filed charges against the Venezuelan government for violation of press freedom, due to non-renewal of a broadcasting license that expired ending May.

    The channel, with open signal operations, was the main media outlet which opposed the government of President Hugo Chávez.  Cantón explained that the case at the Court was not related to cessation of broadcasting, but threats to RCTV journalists from 2001 to 2005. However, government envoys will have the opportunity to make a presentation at the IACHR on freedom of the press in Venezuela during a public hearing on July 20th.

CARDINAL UROSA SABINO CALLS FOR RECONCILIATION AND MUTUAL RESPECT

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA --  Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, Caracas Archbishop, made a call for respect, tolerance, and reconciliation among Venezuelans. The Catholic Church prelate stressed the need to eliminate discredit and confrontations between people with diverging opinions.

    Urosa urged Venezuelans to seek dialogue, understanding, and reconciliation based on respect for each other's opinions. "Reconciliation is quite important because our country is deeply divided. People, in the first place, are asking for respect, and I think all Venezuelans should respect each other and demand respect from each other."

    "Venezuelans have to respect each other as persons. We have to respect our rights, our opinions." Cardinal Urosa showed disagreement with President Hugo Chávez' remarks last July 3 calling Venezuelan bishops "perverse and deceivers."

PERUVIAN PREMIER JORGE DEL CASTILLO BRANDS AS "IMMATURE" REQUEST FROM VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER

   LIMA, PERU  -- Peruvian Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo labeled as "immature" the request from the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Nicolás Maduro, who demanded the Peruvian Government to stop criticizing the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), promoted by Venezuela.

    "I think it is an immature remark, just that," said with sarcasm Del Castillo when leaving the Government Palace in Lima, reported AFP. Maduro requested Thursday that the "Peruvian Government stop attacking ALBA."

07-08- 2007

US ambassador to venezuela william brownfield is prepared to depart with "regret"

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- After three rocky years as Washington's top envoy to Venezuela, Ambassador William Brownfield ended his term Wednesday with regrets he could not do more to establish a dialogue with President Hugo Chavez's government.  Brownfield, who is taking over as ambassador to Colombia, attended a flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas as he prepared to depart.  "I regret that I haven't managed to establish a direct, serious, pragmatic dialogue between the two governments, a dialogue to resolve problems that involve both countries, like drugs, terrorism, international crime," Brownfield told reporters at the embassy Tuesday.

    Brownfield took over as ambassador to Caracas in August 2004, and his tenure was marked by growing hostility between the two governments. On at least two occasions, Chavez threatened to expel Brownfield, accusing him of meddling in Venezuela's affairs.  A career diplomat from Texas with a penchant for understatement that at times verged on sarcasm, Brownfield drew Chavez's anger by voicing Washington's concerns about the Venezuelan government and handing out donations to youth baseball leagues and charities in pro-Chavez slums.

    Brownfield often responded to Chavez by saying he hoped the two countries could find common ground in areas of mutual interest.  He said more work is needed on counterterrorism and counter- drug cooperation - both of which Washington says have been severely deficient under Chavez.  Asked about Chavez's recent spate of arms purchases, Brownfield said it's important for Venezuela to be open about those deals to avoid "the domino effect producing a weapons race" in the region. "I believe the solution is transparency," he said.  Venezuela has already bought about $3 billion worth of arms from Russia, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, and 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets.

US FORCES 'SURGE' ESSENTIAL TO SECURITY IN  IRAQ, MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN MIXON SAYS

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Maintaining security in Diyala province north of Baghdad will be impossible if U.S. troops are withdrawn from Iraq, according to a U.S. senior ground commander there. "We obviously cannot maintain that if the forces are withdrawn -- and that would be a very, very bad idea, to do a significant withdrawal immediately," Maj. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq.

    In September, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, is to brief Congress on the progress of operations involving the recent increase of U.S. troops in Iraq -- a buildup the Bush administration calls a "surge." The briefing could determine how long the additional troops will stay. Mixon's troops are working with Iraqi forces fighting entrenched al Qaeda forces in Baquba and around Diyala province in an operation dubbed "Arrowhead Ripper." U.S. troop casualties have been high in the province, according to U.S. commanders, because insurgent forces are using the area as a base and have booby-trapped it with "deeply buried" roadside bombs that have killed entire Humvee crews.

    Mixon said the U.S. military strategy of "clear, hold and retain" was not possible when his troops arrived in Baquba last September because he did not have enough forces. "I only had enough forces initially when I arrived here last September to clear Baquba. I did that many times, but I was unable to hold it and secure it," Mixon said. "Now I have enough force to go in, establish permanent compound outposts throughout the city that will be manned by coalition forces, Iraqi army, and Iraqi police, and maintain a permanent presence. "But all of this has been made possible with the additional forces that have been given to me as a result of the surge," Mixon said.

PARAGUAYAN SENATOR COMPARES HUGO CHAVEZ WITH HITLER 

   ASUNCION, PARAGUAY  --  A Paraguayan dissenting Senator compared Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez with Adolf Hitler for taking up powers both of the Executive and the Parliament. Alfredo Ratti, a lawmaker for opposition Patria Querida party and Vice-President of the Senate Commission on External Relations, chided Friday Chávez for "demanding Paraguay's approval by next September of Venezuela's membership in Mercosur."

    "Chávez apparently views himself as the new master of Paraguay, but this is not the case. There is no international law or treaty that entitles a stranger to set a deadline for any nation," he said.

    "Chávez looks like Hitler, because in 1933 he fired the Parliament and unified for himself the whole institutional power of his country," Ratti commented. He remembered that the Venezuelan head of state got last January the Congress authority to rule by decree over the following 18 months, AP disclosed.

07-07- 2007

DETENTION OF US FEDERAL AGENTS IN VENEZUELA "NOT COMPLETELY SURPRISING"  FOR THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- The US government said the detention of two agents in Maracaibo airport, northwestern Venezuela, by Venezuelan authorities was "not completely surprising, coming from the (Hugo) Chávez government." "They have sought various ways to harass US government officials. Our Ambassador there (William Brownfield) has been subject to periodical harassment, for a long time," said State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack, DPA reported.

    "This is just another step in that direction," McCormack stated, adding Venezuela is "aware of the fact that we think that this is not the kind of behavior one would expect from a country with which you have diplomatic relations. We've made that clear."

    The incident occurred when two security agents traveling with the US soccer team were stopped at Maracaibo Airport, temporarily stripped of their weapons, held for two hours and threatened with arrest, said outgoing US Envoy William Brownfield. The two State Department security agents were escorting the US soccer national team participating in Copa América tournament. McCormack said the US Embassy to Caracas filed a complaint with the relevant Venezuelan authorities, but he relieves this move will have no effects.

HUGO CHAVEZ'S PRESSURES REBUTTED AS INAPPROPRIATE IN PARAGUAY 

    ASUNCION, PARAGUAY  --  Blanca Ovelar, presidential pre-candidate for ruling Partido Colorado in Paraguay, labeled as "inappropriate" the pressure Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is putting on the legislatures of Brazil and Paraguay to endorse his country's membership in the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).

      "I believe the countries have the right to take a time and there is proven willingness in the region to let Venezuela in," she said. Chávez set a three-month deadline for Brazilian and Paraguayan parliaments to approve Venezuela's full membership in the regional bloc, Efe reported.

ARGENTINEAN PRESIDENT NESTOR KIRCHNER CALLS TO PAVE THE WAY FOR HUGO CHAVEZ TO JOIN MERCOSUR

   BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA  -- Argentinean President Néstor Kirchner urged to pave the way for Venezuela to become a full member of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and consolidate the union of Latin America. "We are really certain we should move forward with the policies implemented, with the construction of Mercosur and with the union of the peoples of Latin America."

    "Therefore, it is important to pave the way, like I told (Brazilian President Luiz Inácio) Lula (da Silva), for Venezuela to become an active party of Mercosur." Reference was made to Kirchner's phone conversation with his Brazilian counterpart, a government source told AFP.

    Venezuela's membership in Mercosur was left hanging by a thread, after President Hugo Chávez urged the Brazilian and Paraguayan legislatures to endorse Venezuela's protocol of adhesion to the regional bloc.

07-06- 2007

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA WANTS TO SPEAK WITH HUGO CHAVEZ

    BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva voiced Wednesday willingness to talk to his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez, "to learn about what is going on." Previously, the Venezuelan head of state had threatened to quit Mercosur and lambasted both Brazilian Senators and Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim.

    "I thought I was going to talk to Chávez in Paraguay (during the Mercosur summit held last week); but not, he had other commitments out there. We will have the chance, though," Lula told journalists after the first meeting between the European Union (EU) and Brazil in Lisbon, AFP disclosed.

    "There will be plenty of opportunities to speak with Chávez and know about what is really happening," said Lula. "Brazil has an extraordinary relation with Venezuela," the Brazilian ruler noted. "We want Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, everyone in Mercosur, because it is most advantageous for these countries to be with Mercosur."

U.S. AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA WILLIAM BROWNFIELD SAID THAT VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT HELD U.S. OFFICIALS

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --   US federal officials who were escorting the US soccer national team, which is participating in the 2007 Copa América soccer tournament in Venezuela, were branded as "terrorists" and Venezuelan authorities threatened to arrest them, reported Wednesday US Ambassador to Caracas. William Brownfield told Reuters authorities detained for two hours some US State Department security agents, who were holding diplomatic passports, in Maracaibo airport, west Venezuela.

     "They bothered us at the airport and rescinded our bearings of arms," said Ambassador Brownfield. Otherwise, the Venezuelan authorities were cooperative with the US national team, who lost the two games they played in the first round of the tournament, added Brownfield. The Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Ministry made no comments regarding the diplomat complaint.

VENEZUELA'S MEMBERSHIP IN MERCOSUR IS NOT CRUCIAL, SAY BRAZILIAN BUSINESS 

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  -- THE inclusion of Venezuela in the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) is not of the essence for Venezuelan-Brazilian growing economic and trade relations, said Wednesday the Brazilian National Industry Confederation (CNI), the main business entity in Brazil. CNI remarks came after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez set a deadline for the Congresses of Brazil and Paraguay to pass Venezuela's request to become the fifth full member of the customs association, composed also of Argentina and Uruguay, Reuters reported.

    "Brazil-Venezuela economic and trade relations are increasingly showing substantial growth and they are most important for Brazilian businesses," said Wednesday CNE chair Armando Monteiro Neto. "This happened without the need for Venezuela to be a party to Mercosur and can continue regardless of the destiny of the adhesion process," he added.

    Chávez set three months as the deadline for the Congresses of Brazil and Paraguay to pass Venezuela's entry into the South American trade bloc, and hinted that his government could withdraw its request for adhesion if "rightwing" sectors continue exerting pressure.

07-05- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ GIVES BRAZIL, PARAGUAY ULTIMATUM OVER MERCOSUR

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chavez stepped up pressure on Brazil and Paraguay Tuesday to ratify his country's entry into a South American trade bloc, giving them a September deadline to do so. Chavez threatened to drop Venezuela's bid to join Mercosur if the congresses of Brazil and Paraguay fail to ratify it. "If they do not approve it over these next three months ... we will prepare a request to withdraw from the process," the leftist leader said in a speech to Venezuelan business leaders shown on national television.

    "Let's put it this way: July, August, September. Later we will not wait," he said, noting that Venezuela's entry agreement, signed last year, has been ratified by the two other Mercosur members, Argentina and Uruguay.  "There is no reason for the congresses of Brazil and Paraguay to not approve our entry into Mercosur. There is no political, legal, economic or moral reason," he said. Brazil's government and leading lawmakers rejected the ultimatum. "No one will set a deadline on any country," said Brazilian cabinet chief Dilma Rousseff. "No one imposes deadlines on us nor do we impose deadlines on anyone."

     Chavez already angered Brazilian lawmakers last month when he called them "parrots" for echoing US criticism over his refusal to renew the broadcast license of RCTV television, a leading opposition voice in Venezuela. In response, Brazilian senators have threatened to block Venezuela's entry into Mercosur. Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay formed Mercosur in 1991 with the aim of creating a South American common market. Chile and Bolivia became associate members in 1996.

VENEZUELAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS: "THE CONSTITUTION SHOULD NOT BE CHANGED BY CLOSED GROUPS"

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The Venezuelan Catholic Bishops' Conference (CEV) during its 88th regular plenary meeting intends to "reflect carefully" about the situation facing Venezuela, among other items in the "heavy agenda" of the assembly they opened on July 2. CEV leaders are addressing "highly transcendental" topics, such as the constitutional reform currently under way in Venezuela, an issue that according to the Catholic bishops has ignited "deep concern" among Venezuelans.

    They are also addressing the demonstrations university students staged advocating freedom of expression and civil rights following the Venezuelan government's refusal to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV, which stopped transmissions last May 27. The Catholic bishops' agenda during this half-yearly meeting comprises personal insecurity and the challenges posed by the implementation of the so-called "21st-century socialism."

    "We are no politicians, or sociologists, or researchers. We are men of God, who based on faith are willing to help improve day after day the situation facing both the country and the Church," warned CEV president Monsignor Ubaldo Santana, however. Monsignor Santana would not talk about the draft constitutional reform, but clarified that this issue is raising concern, as "it touches the core of a nation's organization." Monsignor Santana announced that some student leaders asked to visit CEV headquarters, adding that a bishops' committee could meet with them. "Our youth have acted very wisely. I think they have surprised many people, because not long ago we were used to watch them in the streets burning tires and buses. This time, new dimension of the capabilities our youth has been unveiled."

HUGO CHAVEZ: "WE ARE NOT GOING TO ATTACK ANYBODY" 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Following his tour in Russia, Belarus and Iran, Hugo Chávez said weapon purchases and execution of military agreements with Moscow are not aimed at attacking any country. "The imperialist press has tried to make a fuss about it. We will keep strengthening technical-military cooperation (…) Nobody should be scared. We are not going to attack anybody!"

    Chávez announced that there are several proposals, namely, buying more transportation planes. "I told (Russian President Vladimir) Putin that we have some old planes, the Hercules; we are making a great effort, due to the fact that they are also denying us spare parts because it is American technology." He reaffirmed that the purchase of submarines is being assessed.

07-04- 2007

IRAN president, MAHMUD AHMADINEYAD:I  RAN, VENEZUELA ALWAYS TOGETHER AGAINST IMPERIALISM 

    TEHRAN, IRAN  --  President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said Monday that both his country and Venezuela will join efforts to counter the US imperialism, reported news agency ISNA.  "Iran and Venezuela will always stay together and aid each other and those (countries) who are angry about this friendship should stay angry and die of this anger," Ahmadinejad said in a joint press conference with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, DPA reported.

    "Our bilateral ties will serve world security, peace and brotherhood but at the same time, we will decisively stand against world imperialism," the Iranian president added at the end of his meeting with Chávez.  The Iranian president said that the agreements signed during the summit would further strengthen bilateral ties.

    For his part, Chávez said at the press conference that Iran-Venezuela relations have angered Washington as the two countries are capable to break US domination in the world. "The US terrorism wants to ignore the rich Iranian-Islamic culture and expose Iran as barbarians. But we tell them that Barbarians are those who have attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs and those who have invaded Iraq and those who have destroyed Indian civilization in Latin America," Chávez said.

HUGO CHAVEZ AGREES TO SELL GASOLINE TO IRAN 

    TEHRAN, IRAN  --  HUGO CHAVEZ has agreed to sell gasoline to Iran, the South American county's energy minister said in comments published Tuesday, a week after the Islamic country imposed a fuel rationing program that has sparked violence. "Yes, Iranians have asked to buy gasoline from us and we have accepted this demand," Rafael Ramirez told the Iranian daily newspaper Shargh. The reformist daily said Ramirez refused to elaborate on the deal.

    During a visit to Iran this week, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the two "strategic partners." Ramirez accompanied Chavez on the visit. Last week, the Iranian government began rationing fuel, causing angry Iranians to smash shop windows and set fire to dozens of gas stations in the capital Tehran and several other cities. The government says the fuel rationing will free up funding for development projects and make the country "invincible." Iran is one of the world's biggest oil producers, but it doesn't have enough refineries, so it must import more than 50 percent of the gasoline its people use from abroad.

    The rationing is part of a government attempt to reduce about US$10 billion (euro7.36 billion) it spends each year to import fuel that is then sold to Iranian drivers at far less than its cost, to keep prices low. An increase in gas prices last month and the rationing have fueled Iranian discontent with hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was elected in 2005 on a platform of helping the poor and bringing oil revenues to every family. His failure to do so has sparked widespread criticism. Iranians are accustomed to gasoline at rock bottom prices. After a 25 percent hike in prices was imposed May 21, gas sells at the equivalent of 38 cents a gallon.

brazilian RIGHTWING didN'T CREAte THE DISPUTE that may result leaving HUGO CHAVEZ out of MERCOSUR  

     BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --   Brazilian Senator Sergio Zambiasi, the head of the Mercosur Committee at the Brazilian Congress, does not think that the controversy that may result in leaving Venezuela outside of the regional trade bloc is the work of the Brazilian rightwing, as stated by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

    Zambiasi, an advocate of Venezuela's adhesion to Mercosur, fears instead that the polemics is due to Chávez increasing lack of interest in joining the customs association composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

    "Who is the rightwing in Brazil? The one leading the country is President (Luiz Inácio) Lula (da Silva) and his is a leftwing story. And the government has in the Congress an articulation drive enough to make Venezuela's entry an issue not as complicated," Zambiasi said. "It seems to me that the Venezuelan enthusiasm is not the same. Obviously, we are worried about it," he added.

07-03- 2007

PRESIDENTS BUSH AND PUTIN NOT TO DEAL WITH VENEZUELAN PURCHASE OF RUSSIAN SUBMARINES

     KENNEBUNKPORT, MAINE  --Negotiations for Venezuela to buy some submarines from Russia were not included in the agenda US and Russian leaders George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, respectively, are addressing July 1-2 when they meet in Kennebunkport, Maine.  "We are sure this will not be an item in their agenda," Dmitri Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin, said on June 29. He claimed Moscow respects the differences between Washington and Caracas, while advocating Russia-Venezuela links.

    "We cannot interfere in their bilateral issues," Peskov said in Moscow. Peskov also stressed that US officials' concerns about Venezuelan purchases of weapons are groundless. "I think there is nothing to worry about."

     In 2006, Venezuelan purchases of Russian arms amounted to USD 3 billion. Caracas is currently negotiating the acquisition of a number of submarines. According to reports published by Russian newspaper Izvestia recently, Venezuela is engaged in talks with Russian state arms exports company Rosoboronexport to purchase diesel submarines.

HUGO CHAVEZ PROPOSES RUSSIAN-VENEZUELAN PARTNERSHIPS

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chávez proposed Friday to organize in Russian territory joint ventures aimed at manufacturing equipment for the oil and gas industry, reported Russian news agency RIA-Novosti.

    The head of state explained that the new companies could help meet Venezuela's needs in the sector, as well as to export part of the output to countries, such as Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil and Cuba, reported Venezuelan official news agency ABN.

    The president proposed to expand the current operations of Russian companies in Venezuela as he expressed deep satisfaction with their performance. He promised to make his best effort for a successful bilateral cooperation, quoted RIA-Novosti. Chávez mentioned that an international treaty to be discussed by the governments of Venezuela and Russia, and passed by the congresses of the two nations, had been on the initiative of President Putin.

PERUVIAN JOURNALISTS REJECT CESSATION OF RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION

   LIMA, PERU  -- Some 200 reporters and media directors in Peru Monday gathered outside the Venezuelan Embassy to Lima to reject the Venezuelan government move not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV, Efe reported. Demonstrators joined the protest convened by the National Radio and Television Society. They wore t-shirts reading "United to advocate freedom of expression," and held placards reading "We are fighting for strong, independent media," "Neither silent nor silenced."

    Protesters claimed that Embassy officials would not talk to them, as they intended to deliver a manifesto. They added that speakers were installed outside the diplomatic headquarters and music advocating the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez was played out loud, trying to silence the demonstration.

    Simultaneously, some 100 people advocating Chávez' government also gathered outside the Venezuelan Embassy. This group included a number of members of the Peruvian Nationalist Party of former presidential candidate Ollanta Humala, and five Venezuelan deputies taking part in Lima in a meeting of the Latin American Parliament, said the official news agency Andina. Police officers were deployed near the Venezuelan Embassy, thus provoking minor clashes.

07-02- 2007

PRESIDENT BUSH TO MEET RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN IN MAINE

   KENNEBUNKPORT, MAINE  -- President Bush was hostED Russian President Vladimir Putin Sunday at the Bush family's summer home on the craggy Maine coast, hoping that applying the personal touch can once again improve frayed relations in one of the world's most crucial partnerships. Before leaving for the United States, Putin emphasized his "friendly" personal relationship with Bush, suggesting it should create a positive atmosphere for the summit. Putin was scheduled to arrive in Maine at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.

"I hope that my dialogue with a person with whom very good, I would say friendly, relations have developed in recent years, will have precisely that character," Putin said during a meeting Sunday with Russian Olympic athletes at his residence outside Moscow. "If it wasn't that way, I wouldn't go, and I wouldn't have been invited." "In politics, as in sports, there is always competition. It's important for these competitions to be conducted under certain rules and with respect for each other's interests," he added.

Bush and Putin have time and again used the personal touch to shore up U.S.-Russian relations. A grinning Putin once put Bush behind the wheel of his prized 1956 Volga at his dacha outside Moscow. Bush has brought Putin to the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland. He made Putin the first head of state to visit his Texas ranch, entertaining the Russian leader with square dancing.

IRAN, VENEZUELA BASH U.S., SEEK STRONGER TIES 

     TEHRAN, IRAN  -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Hugo Chavez on Sunday slammed arch-foe the United States and pledged to boost trade ties. "The United States is incapable of hurting Iran and Venezuela ... cooperation between the two independent states is natural and it must be expanded," state television quoted Khamenei as telling Chavez.

    "America's greatness has deteriorated and it faces many problems, independent countries should consider this and expand their cooperation." Chavez arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit on the last leg of a tour of nations at loggerheads with Washington, which has already taken him to Russia and Belarus. "The election of anti-American governments in the (Latin American) region shows that US imperialism is weakening," Chavez said.

    "Numerous oil and gas contracts between Iran and Venezuela show the two countries are serious in developing ties," he said, describing Iran as a "good model for other countries." Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for stronger ties with Latin America in talks with his "ideological brother" Chavez. "Latin American countries can expand ties with other countries especially Iran by creating joint trade companies, trade fairs and strengthening a joint investment fund,"

07-01- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ VISITS IRAN ON ANTI-AMERICAN TOUR

   TEHRAN, IRAN  -- Hugo Chavez arrived in Tehran late Saturday for the third time during the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a fellow fiery critic of the US, Iranian television reported. During the two-day visit, the last leg of a tour that has taken Chavez to Russia and Belarus -- both recently at loggerheads with the US -- he will hold talks with top Iranian officials and discuss bilateral, international and regional issues, Iranian media said.

    Iran is OPEC's fourth largest crude producer while Venezuela is also a major player in the cartel and the two countries enjoy warm ties and cooperation in the energy sector. During the visit, the countries are expected to sign a number of agreements including for the construction of 7,000 houses, a petrochemical plant and a vocational training centre in Venezuela.

    Venezuelan Ambassador to Tehran Arturo Anibal Gallegos Ramiraz told the official IRNA news agency that Chavez's visit was "aimed at bolstering mutual cooperation in economic, industrial and political fields." "Iran and Venezuela through exchange of visits can prove that their relations are at the best possible level," he said. Chavez is the most vocal cheerleader in Latin America for Iran and its nuclear programme, which is feared by the West to be a cover for weapons development. The trip comes at a time when Iran is threatened with toughened UN Security Council sanctions for its continued refusal to freeze controversial nuclear work.

IRAN'S PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD EMPHASIZED THAT ISRAEL DESTRUCTION IS GETTING CLOSE

     TEHRAN, IRAN  -- Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday said the world would witness the destruction of Israel soon, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported.  Ahmadinejad said last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah showed for the first time that the "hegemony of the occupier regime [Israel] had collapsed, and the Lebanese nation pushed the button to begin counting the days until the destruction of the Zionist regime," IRNA quoted him as saying.

    "God willing, in the near future we will witness the destruction of the corrupt occupier regime," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying during a speech to foreign guests who attended ceremonies marking the 18th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who is known as the father of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.

     Ahmadinejad has made anti-Israel comments in the past. In October 2005, he caused outrage in the West when he said in a speech that Israel's "Zionist regime should be wiped off the map." His supporters have argued Ahmadinejad's words were mistranslated and should have been better destroyed. translated as "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would vanish on its own rather be

EUROPEAN JEWISH CONGRESS WORRIED ABOUT GROWING ANTI-SEMITISM IN VENEZUELA

    PARIS, FRANCE  --   THE EUROPEAN JEWISH CONGRESS (EJC) urged Friday the Venezuelan government and President Hugo Chávez to ensure security of the Jewish community in the face of increasing anti-Semitism in the country.

    In a communiqué, incoming EJC chair Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor asked Venezuelan authorities to "make a bigger effort in order to ensure security of the local Jewish community and act efficiently to curb anti-Semitic and xenophobic actions in the country." The Jewish community in Venezuela totals approximately 15,000 people.

    In a recent report on the situation of Jewish in the world, the EJC recorded a number of anti-Semitic events in Venezuela. That underlying attitude "in the Venezuelan society comes from Chávez himself, who generally puts the blame on the Jewish and/or the Israeli government when making reference to historical or present injustice."