06-30- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ ARRIVES IN MINSK

   MINSK, BELARUS  --  Hugo Chávez on June 28 arrived in Minsk, Belarus, from Moscow, for an official visit. Belarus is the second country Chávez is visiting as part of a tour taking him to Russia and then to Iran. The Venezuelan ruler is scheduled to meet with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, official sources said.

    On June 30, Chávez is scheduled to visit Rostov on Don (1,200 km south Moscow), where he is watching a horse race and visiting a plant manufacturing helicopters, sources with the Venezuelan delegation told AFP.  This is Chávez' second visit to Minsk in less than one year. In July 2006, he initialed a number of economic cooperation agreements in Belarus. The Venezuelan government is engaged in negotiations to buy five Russian diesel submarines, said an official with Russian state weapons exports agency Rosoboronexport.

HUGO CHÁVEZ: RUSSIAN SUBMARINES ARE TO DEFEND THE REVOLUTION

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA  Hugo Chávez told Friday a group of Russian deputies that his government is negotiating the purchase of five Russian submarines to "defend" the Venezuelan revolution, quoted news agency Ria-Novosti. Chávez explained to the congresspersons of Duma, the Russian Parliament Lower Chamber, that Venezuela has extensive territorial waters, Deputy Elena Drapeko told Ria-Novosti following a meeting behind closed doors.

    "The United States threatens us continuously. We need to defend our revolution," Chávez said, as quoted by the deputy of minority political Fair Russia party. Venezuela is holding talks with Russia to buy five diesel-powered submarines, reported Friday a spokesman of Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport, news agency Interfax quoted. Chávez made the remarks following a meeting the day before with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and another meeting with Russian businesspersons.

    During his talks with the businesspersons, which were open to the media, Chávez declared: "Some claim that I came here to buy weapons, as if it were my exclusive intention. This is not my priority. However, we are also working on this scientific-military cooperation, particularly after the US government resolved to disarm us."

STRAINED BRAZIL-HUGO CHÁVEZ TIES CONTINUE

     BRAZILIA, BRAZIL --  Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim on June 28 said his country expected "a positive token" from President Hugo Chávez to the Brazilian government in order to unlock the process to endorse Caracas membership in the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). However, Venezuelan Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Rodolfo Sanz said his country is not taking constraints to join the regional bloc.

    "Venezuela is willing to enter Mercosur, but it is not giving in to any condition, neither from the Brazilian Senate nor from any power," said with a defiant tone Sanz, who is the Venezuelan diplomat for Latin American relations. His remarks came following a preparation meeting ahead of the Mercosur presidential summit to be held in Asunción on June 29.

     Meanwhile, Amorim reportedly told daily newspaper O Globo on June 28 that "Nobody wants Venezuela to flagellate itself, (but) a positive token is needed to the Brazilian Congress." The Brazilian Senate has warned it would not endorse the Protocol of Adhesion of Venezuela to Mercosur as long as the Venezuelan ruler did not apologize for branding Brazilian Senators as "parrots who repeat anything Washington says."

06-29- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ will not be authorized to speak at russian parliament

   MOSCOW, RUSSIA  --  Hugo Chávez plans to meet with Russian congresspersons in a small room of Duma, the Parliament Lower Chamber, since a motion filed by communists for a speech in the hemicycle was rejected, reported Wednesday Parliament sources. General Valentin Varenykov, a deputy of KPRF, the Russian Communist Party, proposed a motion for Chávez to deliver a speech at the Parliament hemicycle.

    However, the majority sector of Russian President Vladimir Putin defeated with 232 votes against and 131 in favor, the proposal from the communist opposition.

    Chávez is expected to arrive in Moscow on Wednesday night for an official visit including potential agreements on weapons procurement, energy cooperation and bilateral political ties. This is Chávez' second visit to Russian in less than one year, following a wide range of agreements on arms purchase over the past 18 months. Chávez' official agenda includes a dinner with Putin at the Kremlin on Thursday.

CITGO FOUND GUILTY OF ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENSES IN THE UNITED STATES 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- A federal jury at Texas found Citgo, a subsidiary of state-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) and distributor of Venezuelan gasoline in the United States, guilty of violations to US federal laws on environmental protection, reported the US Department of Justice. According to the authorities, Citgo failed to install equipments to control toxic gases, pursuant to the federal laws, in two of the open deposits located at the Corpus Christi refinery in Texas.

    The tanks were used to separate water from oil, but they did not have a cover, as set forth in the US federal laws to control the emission of carcinogenic substances, such as benzene, Efe reported. Based on the claim, for almost one decade the company used a method to clean its tanks "without taking the measures needed to install adequate equipments to control dangerous gases" coming out from deposits 116 and 117 in the refinery.

    Citgo, run by Pdvsa since 1990, and Manager of Environmental Affairs Philip Vrazel were accused on August 9th, 2006, of violating a federal law against air pollution. Federal Judge John Railey is to issue a guilty finding against Citgo and Vrazel next October 18th. As part of the ruling, Citgo may have to pay a fine up to USD 500,000 and face tighter control of the operations, the Department of Justice noted.

bUENOS AIRES NEW MAYOR, MAURICIO MACRI, BLASTS HUGO CHAVEZ' ADMINISTRATION

     BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA  --  Mauricio Macri, incoming mayor of Buenos Aires, lambasted Thursday the governments of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, and praised instead the "Chilean model." Hours before a meeting with Argentinean President Néstor Kirchner, Macri said also that the administration of ex Brazilian President Fernando Enrique Cardoso was better than that of the current head of state Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

    "I see no management either by Chávez or Morales," he commented during a press conference with foreign correspondents. Macri won last Sunday the Buenos Aires mayoralty in a second round of voting. The leader of the central-rightwing coalition Propuesta Republicana (Pro) does not think that Argentina has a foreign policy "just by making friends with Chávez," as he "is one with the worst foreign policy in the world."

06-28- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ VISITS RUSSIA, BELARUS, IRAN ON MILITARY SHOPPING TRIP

   MOSCOW, RUSSIA  --  Hugo Chávez is starting a six-day tour of Russia, Belarus and Iran during which he plans to discuss the possibility of buying submarines and a missile-equipped air defense system.

    Chávez was due to arrive Wednesday night in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Chávez has expressed interest in the possibility of buying Russian submarines despite likely criticism from U.S. officials, who have voiced concern about Venezuela's recent military spending. Venezuela has already purchased some $3 billion worth of arms from Russia, including 53 military helicopters, 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 24 SU-30 Sukhoi fighter jets and other weapons.

    In Belarus, the Venezuelan leader will discuss a plan to buy an air defense system equipped with radar and antiaircraft missiles. The former paratrooper commander said this week that Venezuela's current short-range system was insufficient. Chávez then travels to Tehran for talks aimed at further deepening ties with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, one of Venezuela's closest allies outside Latin America.

CHILEAN EX PRESIDENT EDUARDO FREI VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HUGO CHAVEZ'S ARMS PROCUREMENT

     SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE  --  Former president of Chile Eduardo Frei voiced Tuesday concern about a substantial purchase of weapons conducted by the government of Hugo Chávez, and wondered about any underlying reasons for that.

    "We are worried as the country (Venezuela) is buying armament. The volumes bought are not for internal security. When he (President Chávez) says that citizens ought to have a rifle in their hands, we are not speaking about a normal situation," said Frei, the current chair of the Chilean Senate. However, an official clarified that, rather that talking in his capacity, he was expressing his own, personal opinion.

    Chávez's government bought recently Russian Sukhoi military fighter aircraft, in addition to military and transportation helicopters and a brand-new series of Kalashnikov rifles. All of these dealings totaled more than USD 3 billion, DPA reported. The Venezuelan head of state plans to visit Russian President Vladímir Putin ending this week to deal with the purchase of nine submarines. The equipment is intended to safeguard the Caribbean coast. He will also discuss with the Belorussian government the potential procurement of an anti-air security system.

venezuela journalists demand resumption of radio caracas television broadcast

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- On the National Journalists' Day, on June 27, Venezuelan journalists are not celebrating. Rather, they are staging a march in Caracas streets to demand President Hugo Chávez to order resumption of private television station RCTV's broadcast on its original open signal and to advocate freedom of expression. The march -organized by Periodistas Unidos por la Libertad de Expresión (Journalists United for Freedom of Expression)- is departing from Plaza Venezuela at 10:00 a.m. to the headquarters of RCTV in Quinta Crespo, west Caracas.

    The student movement, actors, and workers and trade unions of news media, professional associations, political parties, and non-governmental associations will join reporters. Rafael Fuenmayor, a spokesperson for Journalists United for Freedom of Expression, said demonstrators are also gathering outside the headquarters of the Journalists' Professional Association, in Andrés Bello Avenue, north Caracas. Demonstrators gathering at this point are marching to Plaza Venezuela to join the other group.

    Caracas Metropolitan Mayoralty issued the relevant authorization for the protest. The Ministry of the Interior and Justice, in a meeting held on June 26, agreed to designate 2,000 officers, including police officers, firefighters, National Guard troops, and Civil Protection officers to protect demonstrators. Pedro García Otero, a reporter with daily newspaper El Universal, said the demonstration is highly significant, as June 27 also marks the first month of RCTV off the air, following the Venezuelan government decision not to renew its broadcast license.
 

06-27- 2007

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CONCERNED ABOUT OIL IMPORTS FROM VENEZUELA

    WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Sam Bodman, the US Secretary of Energy, voiced concern Tuesday about a potential reduction of oil and byproducts coming from Venezuela, now that Exxon and ConocoPhillips resolved to stop operations, leaving behind significant projects in the country.
 
The two US oil companies relinquished huge projects in the Orinoco oil belt, when President Hugo Chávez nationalized both developments as part of his socialist revolution, Reuters reported. Venezuela is the fourth supplier of oil to the United States. "I am worried," Bodman told reporters.

Asked if he was concerned about the fact that the oil firms' decision may result in reduced supply of byproducts and crude oil from Venezuela, the official answered, "Of course, I am."

US AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA, WILLIAM BROWNFIELD: "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ESSENTIAL UNDER DEMOCRACY"  

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The administration of US President George W. Bush respects a decision made by the Venezuelan government not to renew a broadcasting license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), but freedom of expression is a must under democracy, said Tuesday US Ambassador to Venezuela William Brownfield.

    Queried about the protests that followed RCTV cessation, the senior official answered, "My embassy will not take part (in any demonstration). It is not correct, not appropriate. Sure enough, as a representative of a foreign government, meddling in the internal affairs of a sovereign country would be an abuse. However, my government does support the principle of freedom of expression. We do think that freedom of expression is essential under democracy."

    Brownfield said that he had instructed his staff at the diplomatic mission not to participate in any demonstrations, and provided a rationale for his directive. "Since the very beginning of this round of protests in the streets of several cities throughout the Republic of Venezuela, I gave absolute orders to any and all employees with the Embassy of the United States not to get involved under any circumstances whatsoever, either in marches or street activities." "This does not mean that we have no opinion or stance in this regard," he clarified.

CARACAS MAYOR SUGGEST CHANGE IN TODAY'S MARCH ROUTE

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- The city hall of Libertador municipality is to join efforts with the organizers of a demonstration called by NGO "Unidos por la libertad de expresión" (United for freedom of expression) today, June 27th, in order to change the proposed route, said Caracas mayor Freddy Bernal on Monday.

     For this reason, he commented, the permit requested by the information media workers has not been granted, as well as the applications made by other three groups intended to hold demonstrations over the next few days.

    According to Bernal, Caracas mayoralty will discuss with the parties involved the route  restructuring in order to prevent any disturbance during the Copa América soccer tournament and any unrest in the city, reported official news agency ABN. "We will allow for marches and whatever right to protest, but we will take coordinated steps for them to have the least possible impact on the city's routine and on the large number of foreign visitors in Caracas and elsewhere in the country," the mayor said.

06-26- 2007

CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO SAYS PRESIDENT BUSH 'AUTHORIZED' HIS DEATH ...  PERO ÉL ESTÁ "VIVITO Y COLEANDO"

     HAVANA, CUBA  --  CUBAN DICTATOR Fidel Castro on Monday accused President Bush of "authorizing and ordering" an attempt on his life, although his rambling essay on the subject provided no details.  American law now prohibits the U.S. government from ordering the assassination of foreign leaders, but declassified U.S. documents have shown that the CIA made numerous attempts to kill Castro in the early years after the 1959 Cuban revolution. Castro's essay noted that U.S. President Gerald Ford signed an order banning official assassinations, and said he didn't believe that Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton ever tried to have him killed.

    But Castro alleged that Bush has other ideas. Now 80, Castro hasn't been seen in public in the 11 months since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery. Cuba's provisional government is being led by his younger brother Raul while he recovers. Meanwhile, he's become a prolific essay writer. In one, on May 29, Castro accused Bush of renewing U.S. attempts to assassinate him. "I'm not the first, nor will I be the last, whom Bush has ordered to be deprived of life," Castro wrote then.

    His latest essay, signed Sunday afternoon and published Monday in state media, referred to that May 29 allegation. "Why did I say one day in a reflection that Bush authorized or ordered my death? This phrase can seem ambiguous and imprecise," Castro wrote. "Perhaps it would be more exact, although even more confusing, to say that he authorized it and ordered it." Castro promised to explain himself, but never did, writing only that "really it is a mystery to name those responsible for the hundreds of attempts on my life, all the direct and indirect forms to cause my death were used."

VENEZUELA MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND TV JESSE CHACON CONCEDES TVes RATING IS FAR BELOW MAJOR CHANNELS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Minister of Telecommunications and IT Jesse Chacón Monday conceded that the rating of newly created state television channel TVes -which replaces private TV network RCTV- is far below that of major television stations such as state channel VTV, and private channels Televen, Globovison or Venevisión.

    While clarifying that his office does not measure TV ratings, he said he know some surveys showed the new channel does not record the rating of Venevisión, for instance. He relieves all Venezuelans should participate to help improve TVes programming progressively and to ensure plurality in the public service channel. "No TV network is born overnight with the quality any Venezuelan would like."

venezuela professional associations join journalists' march next june 27  

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- A number of professional associations Monday showed their "categorical and firm" support for the march Venezuelan journalists are staging next June 27 on the Journalist Day.

    Professionals coming from all around Venezuela will join the demonstration, intended to advocate freedom of expression and other fundamental rights, as well as to reject non-renewal of the broadcast license for private television station RCTV, said Enzo Betancourt, a representative of the Venezuelan Engineers' Professional Association.

    In a joint statement, the Venezuelan professional associations of nutritionists and dieticians, economists, public accountants, and engineers, the Venezuelan Union of Press Workers, the Venezuelan federations of education workers, and Los Andes University (representing the Venezuelan student movement), showed their support for the rally. They claimed the risk facing freedom of expression in Venezuela does not only concern the news media, but also all of the professional associations and the people.

06-25- 2007

THREE FORMER AIDES TO SADDAM HUSSEIN, INCLUDING 'CHEMICAL ALI,' SENTENCED TO HANG

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  An Iraq court on Sunday sentenced three former aides to Saddam Hussein, including the man known as "Chemical Ali," to death by hanging for their role in a 1980s genocide campaign that that killed up to 100,000 Kurds. Ali Hassan al-Majid, Hussein's first cousin, earned his nickname for atrocities committed in a military campaign code-named Operation Anfal during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war. In the scorched earth attacks, poisonous gas and chemicals were used against the Kurds.

    Also sentenced to death was Sultan Hashem Ahmed, Iraqi army commander during the war with Iran. In 1988, he was named chief-in-charge of the Anfal operation. The third defendant to hang is Hussein Rashid Mohammed, former deputy general commander of the Iraqi armed force, assistant chief of staff for military operations, and former Republican Guard commander. Life sentences were give to Farhan Jubouri -- former head of military intelligence in northern Iraq -- and Saber Abdel Aziz al-Douri -- director of military intelligence during the Anfal campaign and a one-time mayor of Baghdad.

    All five plan to appeal their sentences, chief defense attorney Khalil al-Dulaimi told CNN. "Iraq is under occupation and the judicial system is illegal, (unjust) and not independent," al-Dulaimi said.  A sixth defendant -- the former governor of the region where the gas attacks occurred -- was cleared on all charges. Chief prosecutor Munqith al-Faroon had requested that Taher Tawfiq al-Ani be acquitted because of lack of evidence.

NORTH KOREA TO SHUT PLUTONIUM REACTOR IN 3 WEEKS 

     TOKYO, JAPAN  --  Pyongyang and Washington have agreed on a three-week timeframe for shutting down the North's plutonium-producing reactor, a top U.S. nuclear envoy said Saturday after returning from a rare visit to the reclusive state.

    Christopher Hill -- the chief U.S. negotiator at international talks on North Korea's nuclear programs -- said they were looking at a three-week timeframe for shutting down the Yongbyon reactor, when asked by reporters on his arrival at Tokyo's Haneda Airport.

    "Yes, stay tuned," he said, adding that the timeframe started Friday.  Hill, an assistant secretary of state, arrived in Tokyo Saturday to brief his Japanese counterpart on the outcome of his two-day surprise trip to the North Korean capital. The trip -- the first by a high-ranking U.S. official since October 2002 -- came amid growing optimism that North Korea may finally be ready to take concrete steps toward fulfilling a promise to dismantle its nuclear programs.

06-24- 2007

CUBA REJECTS EUROPEAN UNION OVERTURES TILL SANCTIONS DROPPED 

     HAVANA, CUBA  --  Cuba on Friday bluntly rejected the European Union's calls for negotiations to warm relations with the communist-run island, saying Havana won't talk until the EU totally scraps sanctions it imposed on this country in 2003. The Foreign Ministry seemed to suggest that the EU's calls for an "open and integral political dialogue" were a step in the right direction but made clear that they were not enough. "If the European Union wants some kind of dialogue with Cuba, it should definitively eliminate sanctions, which have since been shown to be inapplicable and unsustainable," the ministry said in a statement.

    The EU reached out to Cuba recently, inviting top officials to Brussels, Belgium, for negotiations on the condition that they discuss improving human rights practices on the island. The invitation is part of the EU's drive to improve relations with Cuba, and it said the temporary transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul -- the first change of power in 48 years -- constituted a "new situation."

    The EU imposed diplomatic sanctions on Cuba in 2003 after authorities here detained 75 dissidents accused of working with the United States to undermine the government. The EU is adamant that if the Cuba accepts the invitation for talks, it must also agree to discuss human rights, political prisoners and moves toward democracy.

U.S. POLICY MAKERS CONCERNED ABOUT HUGO CHAVEZ-IRAN FRIENDSHIP

     WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Some lawmakers in the United States voiced Tuesday concern about existing relations between the governments of Venezuela and Iran and their potential impact on South America. During the hearing on "South-America and the United States -How to mend a failed relationship," Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Tom Lantos regretted that such ties had resulted from the US government disregard of the hemisphere, Reuters reported.

"The government abdication of a policy for Latin America created a power void in the Western Hemisphere," claimed the high-ranking official.

Venezuelan President Hugo "Chávez boasts about visiting the most condemnable despots in the world, in North Korea, Iran, Cuba; probably because they were just identified by the United States as authoritarian regimes," he added.

HUGO CHAVEZ SHOULD RESPECT THE BRAZILIAN SENATE

     BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --  Rarefaction of Venezuela-Brazil ties involves an economic threat for Brazil, whose economy has been nourishing from strong bilateral trade with Caracas, with Brazil's trade balance surplus exceeding 80 percent. The Protocol of Adhesion of Venezuela to the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) was initialed in July 2006, during the Córdoba Summit. All of the Mercosur member countries, namely Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, have to endorse Venezuela's entry into the bloc.

     The Brazilian and Uruguayan parliaments have not okayed Caracas' adhesion to Mercosur yet. According to experts, if the Brazilian Congress does not support Venezuela's membership in the regional bloc, Caracas will not be able to skip this prerequisite and resort to other means to enter Mercosur, as Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro suggested recently.

     Meanwhile, the Brazilian opposition in the Legislature rejected Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' move not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's opponents reminded that, under Mercosur, "a democratic clause" ensures the rights of the member countries. "The country benefiting the most from increased bilateral trade (and therefore from Venezuela's entry into Mercosur) is Brazil, which has become Venezuela's second largest supplier of goods," according to lawyer Juan Pablo Sucre, an expert in foreign trade. In the meantime, diplomatic impasses are expected to continue to stop the Brazilian Congress from endorsing the Venezuelan Adhesion Protocol to Mercosur -a step that is "indispensable for Venezuela to join the bloc."

06-23- 2007

WHITE HOUSE NEAR A DECISION TO CLOSE GUANTANAMO BAY DETENTION CENTER

     WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  THE U.S. GOVERNMENT is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility and move its terror suspects to military prisons elsewhere, The Associated Press has learned. Senior administration officials said Thursday a consensus is building for a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum-security military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where they could face trial.

    President Bush's national security and legal advisers had been scheduled to discuss the move at a meeting Friday, the officials said, but after news of it broke, the White House said the meeting would not take place that day and no decision on Guantanamo Bay's status is imminent.

     Previous plans to close Guantanamo ran into resistance from Cheney, Gonzales and former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. But officials said the new suggestion is gaining momentum with at least tacit support from the State and Homeland Security departments, the Pentagon and the Intelligence directorate. Cheney's office and the Justice Department have been against the step, arguing that moving "unlawful" enemy combatant suspects to the U.S. would give them undeserved legal rights.

HUGO CHAVEZ EMPHASIZES THAT NOBODY SHOULD BE ALARMED FOR PURCHASE OF RUSSIAN SUBMARINES

     CACARAS, VENEZUELA  -- Hugo Chávez Thursday did not rule out purchasing Russian submarines, as reported by Russian news media.

     "Now, they are making noise because Venezuela is supposedly buying submarines... Why not? We have half million square kilometers of shore, on the north we border with Puerto Rico, i.e. with the empire. Why is it so weird that Venezuela purchases some submarines? I do not know whether we are going to buy them or not, but if we do, do not get alarmed. They (Russian reports) claim the submarines will be equipped with weapons... Of course they will be equipped with weapons! What would you expect? Would you expect us to use the submarines for a promenade under the sea?"
 
     Russian newspaper Kommersant, as quoted by RIA Novosti, asserted that Chávez is signing a sales agreement for five 636 war submarines and four Amur 677 subs during his visit to Russia next June 28.

VENEZUELA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY APPROVES HUGO CHAVEZ VISIT TO RUSSIA, IRAN AND BELARUS 

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- The plenary session of the National Assembly Thursday okayed President Hugo Chávez' visit to Russia, Belarus and Iran. Based on Chávez' request for authorization, the tour is taking place in June 26-July 3. The tour aims at holding "high-level meetings" and complete agreements in the economic, social, cultural and trade areas.

    Regarding a likely motion against Venezuela in the upcoming summit of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and regarding Venezuela's membership in the bloc, Saúl Ortega, the chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Venezuelan Legislature, said "Venezuela does not accept any conditions."

    "Small groups representing Washington consensus will not stop our willingness to move forward in our process of unification of Latin America and the Caribbean," said Ortega. Political sectors in some Mercosur member countries are asking the bloc to reconsider Venezuela's adhesion, following the Venezuelan government's move not to renew the broadcast license to private television station RCTV.

06-22- 2007

VENEZUELA HIGH COURT BRANDS SPANISH JUDGE BALTASAR GARZON AS A "MERCENARY" 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Supreme Tribunal of Justice  president LuisA Estela Morales rebutted Wednesday the comments made Tuesday by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, on visit to Venezuela and a special guest to a forum in the context of the First International Congress of The Venezuelan Confederation of Industries (Conindustria).
 
    According to Morales, her Spanish counterpart "made remarks that really denigrate the Venezuelan judiciary." In her view, this attitude is "a negative example, an example of a judge's lack of ethics and moral."

     She thinks that the Spanish judge is a mercenary meddling in Venezuelan internal affairs, and has overstepped the mark. Morales reminded Garzón that as a public servant in a foreign country, any remarks have a specific effect and consequences. "Judges should not improvise; judges should be aware of the weight and extent of each of their comments and remarks," she stressed.

FORMER POLISH PRESIDENT LECH WALESA CALLS HUGO CHAVEZ "DEMAGOGUE AND POPULIST" 

   LIMA, PERU  --  Hugo Chávez is "a demagogue and populist" who eventually "will have to pay for what he has done," Thursday said former Polish President and Nobel Peace Price Laureate Lech Walesa, who is visiting the Peruvian capital city of Lima.

     In a news conference in the headquarters of the Foreign Press Association in Peru (APEP), Walesa stated that Venezuela is facing a situation of injustice on which demagogues and populists are capitalizing, AFP reported. "I believe Chávez is a huge demagogue and populist who says one thing and does a quite different thing. He likes giving away what does not belong to him and tries to take advantage of people's dissatisfaction," he added.

     "So far he has been successful, but the time of truth shall come and he will have to pay for what he has done," Walesa added. Walesa suggested Latin American countries to work to attain a union similar to the European Union, which he called a successful model.

FORMER SPANISH PRESIDENTE JOSE MARIA AZNAR REASSERTED THAT CHAVEZ SEEKS ALLIANCE WITH RADICAL ISLAMISM

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Former head of the Spanish government José María Aznar reasserted his criticisms against leftwing Latin American governments deemed as populists, and accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of hammering a "counter-system" alliance to web links with radical Islamism.

     Aznar's comments came late Tuesday in Mexico, AFP reported. "Populism is spreading at an alarming pace over several countries in the Americas. There is no hope in these faked alternatives, as they will not free anyone, they will not improve the conditions of anyone," he added.

06-21- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ "MARKS DISTANCE" FROM SPAIN OVER CLOSING OF RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chávez branded as a "disrespect" for his country Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos' statements on the Venezuelan move not to renew the broadcast license for private television network RCTV, and said he was "taking distance" from Spain, even though "it hurts." In an interview with Efe, Chávez claimed that Venezuela-European Union relations "should be better," adding that "there is quite a lot of lack of understanding, many complexes" on the European side.

    Chávez pointed to Moratinos' remarks on the government's refusal to renew the broadcast license for RCTV, which ceased operations last May 27. Last week, Moratinos reasserted the Spanish government's "concern" about the move on RCTV. Moratinos' comments came in response to a question posed by a deputy of conservative People's Party in Congress.

    "For example, Foreign Minister Moratinos, whom I know, has given in to pressures -because in Congress the party of (former Spanish government head José María) Aznar put pressure on him- and made a statement," Chávez said. Moratinos "regretted Venezuela's move (on RCTV). He has nothing to be sorry for. That is harmful for relations. I am taking distance. This is sad," Chávez added. When asked to clarify his words, he replied: "Yes, I am taking distance from Spain, from its government. This is disrespect."

RUSSIA CONFIDENT THAT HUGO CHAVEZ IS BUYING 19 MISSILE-CARRIER SUBMARINES 

   MOSCOW, RUSSIA  --  HUGO CHAVEZ is mulling over purchase of up to 10 missile-carrier submarines of Project 636 and a number of anti-aircraft missile systems Tor-M1, said Konstantin Makienko, from the Russian Center of Strategy Analysis and Technology, the Ria Novosti news agency reported.

    "Venezuela is most likely buying five missile-carrier submarines of Project 636," the expert hinted. "This is a more solid an argument than submarines equipped with conventional weaponry. But Venezuela could eventually buy nine submarines."

    He added that the likely acquisition of submarines amounts to only one portion of the transaction, as Venezuela would not limit purchases to submarines only. According to Makienko, who quoted sources in the Russian military industry, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez -who is visiting Russia later this month- is also interested in purchasing land-based anti-ship missiles and anti-aircraft defense systems.

TEACHERS TO JOIN JOURNALISTS' MARCH ON JUNE 27

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --   The Front for Defense of Democratic Education, an umbrella for a number of teachers' organizations, next June 27 is joining a march reporters and news media workers are staging in Caracas on the National Journalist Day to advocate freedom of expression.

    In a press release issued on June 19, the front said their support for the journalists' rally is in consonance with the values of democracy and freedom they have always defended in classrooms.

    They stressed that "the time has come for Venezuelan teachers to call for and advocate freedom, with the necessary firmness yet peacefully, as free citizens. Let us remind the idea of Gabriela Mistral: "The worst teacher is a teacher who is afraid."

06-20- 2007

PERUVIAN AUTHOR MARIO VARGAS LLOSA RAIDS ON HUGO CHAVEZ

     QUITO, ECUADOR,  --  Peruvian author and former presidential candidate Mario Vargas Llosa Tuesday in Quito harshly criticized Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez, whom he branded as a danger for Latin American democracy, and therefore for development.

    "The authoritarian beast is there (in Venezuela). We have to try to prevent him from going out. Latin America is not taking bribes with petrodollars and is currently resisting siren songs. There you have Peru, Mexico and Colombia," Vargas Llosa declared.

    "Dictatorships always vanish in Latin America," he said, adding that defeatism paves the way for "disastrous politics," such as Chávez'. Vargas Llosa Tuesday is delivering a lecture on "Literature and Life" in Quito.

FORMER SPANISH PRESIDENT JOSE MARIA AZNAR HAILS MEXICAN PRESIDENT FELIPE CALDERON, CRITICIZES VENEZUELA AND CUBA

   MEXICO CITY, MEXICO  --  Former head of the Spanish government José María Aznar praised Mexican President Felipe Calderón, while criticizing Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez and the Cuban government, calling them populist and accusing them of pushing their countries to marginalization.

    "Good ideas bring about Felipe Calderón, bad ideas bring about Hugo Chávez," Aznar said in Mexico City when introducing his book "Latin America, an agenda of freedom," during a dinner attended by conservative ruling party PAN leaders. In Latin America, "there are two paths: the good path, which is democracy; and the bad path, which is populism and leads countries to marginalization," Aznar said criticizing Latin American leftist governments.

    The meeting was also attended by Marcel Granier, CEO of Caracas-based private television station RCTV, whom Aznar described as "a great fighter for freedom." Aznar also criticized Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for his policy to negotiate with the Cuban government.

PARAGUAYAN CANDIDATE FERNANDO LUGO DECLARED "I AM NOT hugo CHAVEZ"

        ASUNCIÓN, PARAGUAY  --  Fernando Lugo, a bishop who stopped being a priest to become a candidate for president in Paraguay, said Monday in Washington that he is not like Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a fierce enemy of the US government.

     Chávez has been the target of criticism both in Venezuela and abroad for his decision not to renew a broadcast license for private TV network Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). Earlier, he had accused the station of being involved in the events that tumbled him for few hours in April 2002.

     However, Lugo, known as the "bishop of the poor" and closely related to social movements in his country, told the US public that he would not do the same in the event of becoming president,  Reuters reported. "I am not Chávez. Chávez is a military and I am a religious man. Chávez has a leadership and he organized a single party. I do not mean to organize any party," said Lugo during an event at the School of International Relations, Georgetown University.

06-19- 2007

RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION ASKS CARTER CENTER TO MAKE HUGO CHAVEZ MEET PLEDGES 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Private television station RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION Monday summoned The Carter Center to make the Venezuelan government comply with its commitments under the so-called Roundtable of Negotiations and Agreements in 2003.

    In a public letter, signed by RCTV chair Marcel Granier, The Carter Center is asked to act with "firmness" in this sense, following its "shy" and "tardy" statement on President Hugo Chávez' refusal to renew the broadcast license for RCTV.

    In the document, Granier demanded an equalitarian treatment for RCTV, which last May 27 became the only television channel whose broadcast license was not renewed, even thought it dealt with the events of April 11-12, 2002 the same way other private TV channels did. RCTV asked The Carter Center to mediate so that Chávez' administration to give them back both the broadcast license and the broadcast equipment the government confiscated from the television network.

ROBERT ZOELLICK, NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BANK, BELITTLES IMPACT OF HUGO CHAVEZ'S WITHDRAWAL FROM THE BANK

   MEXICO CITY, MEXICO  --  Robert Zoellick, a candidate to become the next head of the World Bank, on June 16 said the financial body's influence would not be undermined by Venezuela's likely withdrawal, and claimed that the bank's major challenge is finding new financial products for middle-income countries.

    During a news conference in Mexico City, Zoellick said: "If a country feels it does not need or want the services of the international financial institutions, then that is their choice. Venezuelans have a great amount of oil money. "I have found no shortage of countries interested in trying to work with the World Bank."

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez claims that the World Bank is a tool of the United States that keeps poor nations in debt. Chávez set up a commission to examine leaving the institution. "I believe the problems we are facing are not those Chávez is pointing at," Zoellick said. Zoellick also vowed to repair the institution's reputation after the turmoil surrounding its outgoing president, Paul Wolfowitz.

HUGO CHAVEZ CONCEDED THAT REPORTS ON SHORTAGE OF FOOD ITEMS ARE PARTLY TRUE

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Demanding that his words would not become "dust in the wind," Hugo Chávez instructed his governors and mayors to make "overwhelming" moves in order to ensure food security and ordered to prosecute "to the full extent of the law" both any middlemen who buy milk with overprice to "smash" the State's projects and any farmers who refuse to sell milk at regulated prices.

     According to Chávez, the "private firms" lose their "right to play a role in the economy" when they buy any items at prices exceeding the regulated price, and "therefore they should be applied the law, i.e. expropriation," the Venezuelan ruler said on Sunday during his weekly radio and television show Aló, Presidente (Hello, President), broadcast from a ranch formerly called La Marqueseña and which was expropriated by Chávez' administration.

    "If some producers refused to sell milk at regulated prices to our processing plants, then they should be expropriated. Their cattle should be expropriated, their lands should be expropriated, their premises should be expropriated! We cannot let this happen!"

06-18- 2007

MARIO VARGA LLOSA: "VENEZUELANS SHOULD STAND FAST"

     BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --  The Venezuelan government decision to take off the air private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) triggered the opposition, said Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, who expects that such motivation can stop a "dangerous course" in Venezuela,

    "The important thing is for Venezuelans to stand firm," Vargas Llosa said during an interview spread Monday by Brazilian private news service Agencia Estado. "The shutdown of the TV channel was a real motivation for the opposition, composed today of students, a very popular sector. May this be a motivation against a dangerous course for Venezuela, in addition to being a bad example for Latin America," he added.

      "What Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez is doing contributes to destabilization of democracy in Latin America." Chávez "commands an antediluvian dictatorship, something anachronistic for our time; hence, the need for an increasingly strenuous Venezuelan opposition," he said.

HUGO CHAVEZ DEMANDS SUPPORTERS TO SHARE THEIR WEALTH WITH THE POOR

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chávez demanded the people who have applied to become members of his United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) -which according to him are more than 5 million people- to share the wealth and goods they do not use, in order to prove they are "real socialists" and become full members of his political organization.

     "Anyone owning a refrigerator he does not use should take it to Bolívar Square. Anyone owning a truck he does not need, a fan, a stove, anything, should give it away. Do not be selfish. I am demanding this! I would rather be accompanied by five of these five million applicants. I want to be accompanied by genuine socialists," Chávez said on June 10 during the reemergence of his radio and TV show ¡Aló, Presidente! (Hello, President!).

     He said he would not ask people to give away of their wealth, like Jesus Christ did, but to forego anything they do not need. I want to see this happen. I am asking you to do this, and I am going to be an example. I have no wealth, but I do have some savings from a USD 250,000 award I was given in Libya. I donated a part of this money for an intellectual project. But I do not need this money, and I am putting it on the table because I want to be a member of PSUV. Let us see who is next."

Eighty-three percent of venezuelans reject CLOSING of rctv

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- A survey conducted by polling firm Hinterlaces, following discontinuation of private television station RCTV, shows that 83 percent of the Venezuelan population rejects the fact that the oldest TV channel in the country went off the air, while 14 percent endorsed the government move not to renew RCTV broadcast license and 3 percent refused to answer.

     For 74 percent of respondents, the government move means that democracy is at stake in Venezuela, and only 19 percent claimed the decision strengthened democracy in the country. Hinterlaces conducted the survey last May 28-30 in 15 Venezuelan states (Zulia, Miranda, Distrito Capital, Carabobo, Lara, Aragua, Anzoátegui, Bolívar, Táchira, Sucre, Falcón, Mérida, Barinas, Guárico and Vargas), with an error margin of 4.7 percent. The firm made the phone survey among 909 people -both women and men- of legal age, who were randomly selected from a national database comprising over 27,000 people.

     The survey concluded that only 12 percent of the population has not watched the newly created public service Venezuelan Social Television Station (TVes), which replaces RCTV. However, 70 percent branded TVes as a pro-government television channel, while 17 percent said it is an independent TV station.chided Spain for doing business with Castro while not working more to support dissidents.

06-17- 2007

EUROPEAN UNION REJECTS SPANISH PROPOSAL AND UPHELD SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA

   BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  --  The 27-member European Union has rejected a Spanish proposal to ease EU sanctions against Cuba, drawing praise from a Cuban American lawmaker. The EU agreement was reached Wednesday by the ambassadors to the bloc. A formal announcement is expected after the EU foreign ministers meet Monday. ''I would like to thank Britain, the Czech Republic, and Sweden for siding with the oppressed Cuban people and openly objecting to normalization with the regime in Havana without first demanding return democratic reforms and freedom for the Cuban people,'' Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said Thursday.

     Spain, an influential voice on Latin American issues in the EU, had been leading a campaign to overturn EU sanctions imposed on Cuba after a harsh crackdown on dissidents in 2003. Under those sanctions, EU nations are barred from official high-level with Havana or providing aid to the island. Under socialist President José Luis Zapatero, Spain secured an easing of those rules in 2005 and lobbied to have them lifted altogether, arguing that a new approach was needed for a post-Fidel Castro transition. Fidel Castro fell sick last July and has not appeared in public since.

    The Czech Republic and other former communist states in the EU, with the backing of several other bloc members, opposed the Spanish position on Cuba. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also complained to Madrid about its Cuba stance at a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratines earlier this month. Rice said she was concerned that closer ties with Cuba would send the message to Cuban dissidents that the world did not support their plight.

eUROPEAN UNION INVITES CUBAN OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN CUBA

    BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  --  The European Union said Friday it would extend what it called "an open invitation" to members of the Cuban government to visit Brussels -- on condition that the human rights situation on the communist island is discussed. The invitation is part of the EU's drive to improve its relations with Cuba, strained for years over the issues of human rights and political freedoms. The EU imposed sanctions on Cuba in 2003 after authorities there detained 75 dissidents accused of working with the United States to undermine Fidel Castro's government. Cuban authorities then released 16 for medical reasons, and in 2005 the EU lifted its sanctions, which included a ban on high-level talks with Cuban officials.

    The EU is trying to implement a "dual-track" approach to Cuba -- making an overture to the government while also keeping up its efforts to support dissidents. It is sounding out options for contacts with Cuban officials after the temporary transfer of power from Fidel Castro to his brother Raul -- the first such change in 48 years. "There's an invitation to the new government people under Raul. It's a general, broadly based invitation, an offer for dialogue," said a senior diplomat from Germany, which holds the rotating six-month EU presidency.

     "The invitation holds from now on, there's no specific date. Let's see what comes out of it. But when you do invite someone you hope they come," the diplomat said on customary condition of anonymity. The plan was to be discussed Monday at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg. The EU is adamant that, if the Cubans accept the invitation, they also must agree to discussing human rights, political prisoners and democratization of the island. Equally, the union wants all officials from its member states visiting Cuba to raise these issues with the government.

SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTRY ANNOUNCES MEETING WITH CUBAN DISSIDENTS GROUPS LIVING IN SPAIN

    MADRID, SPAIN   --   Foreign Ministry officials are to meet with representatives of Cuban dissident groups living in Spain next week to discuss the government's policy toward the communist-run island, news reports said Saturday.  The meeting is to take place Tuesday at the ministry's headquarters in Madrid, the national news agency Efe said. At least three dissident groups are to attend, the agency added.

    The meeting is to discuss Spain's stance toward Cuba since Fidel Castro announced last July that he had undergone emergency intestinal surgery and was stepping aside in favor of a government headed by his brother Raul, the 76-year-old defense minister.  Calls to the ministry Saturday for comment on the report went unanswered.

    Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos met with Cuban authorities during a visit to the island in April. His decision not to meet dissidents there drew criticism from several quarters, including the United States. During a visit to Spain earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice  chided Spain for doing business with Castro while not working more to support dissidents.

06-16- 2007

hugo chavez' VISIT TO RUSSIA CONFIRMED

    MOSCOW, RUSSIA  --  Hugo Chávez is visiting Russia next June 28-30, Friday said Venezuelan Ambassador in Moscow Alexis Rafael Navarro Rojas, Efe reported. "Hugo Chávez will be in Moscow next June 28-29, and on June 30 he is paying a visit to Rostov-on-Don, south Russia," the diplomat told Russian news agency Interfax.

    Russian economic newspaper Kommersant Thursday quoted Russian defense industry sources as saying that Caracas is refining a deal with Moscow to purchase from five to nine diesel submarines, adding that the operation could be sealed during Chávez' visit.

    The sources estimate the negotiation at some USD 1-2 billion, depending on the number of submarines. The Venezuelan Navy has launched a bidding process where Russian, German and Spanish firms are tendering. According to Venezuelan officials, the conventional diesel-electric submarines are intended to safeguard the country's exclusive economic zone and protect crude oil reservoirs from a likely US blockade.

US CONGRESSMAN CHARLES RANGEL ACCUSED PRESIDENT BUSH OF PRESSING FTA TO CURB HUGO CHAVEZ

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Charles Rangel, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, accused Thursday the government of US President George W. Bush of pressing the Congress to pass a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia in order to counter Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. "The Government is lobbying desperately for this agreement," said Rangel, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. The approval any FTA's between the United States and foreign countries depends on this agency, AFP reported.

     "However, whenever I speak to the President, the Treasury Secretary or the Trade Representative, nobody of them would tell me why this agreement is good for the United States," he added during a conference sponsored by The Cato Institute on the US embargo on Cuba held in the Congress. "All of them say that Colombian President Álvaro Uribe is against Chávez, and, for such reason, the Congress should pass the agreement."

VENEZUELA TELECOMS COMMISSION IMPOSES USD 700,000 FINE TO RCTV 

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA   --  For alleged defects in the payment of taxes on telecommunications, the Venezuelan government imposed a USD 700,000 fine on private television station RCTV.

     The National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) ordered RCTV to pay back-taxes, as the firm failed to include all of its revenues in the tax returns for March 1999-December 2000 and from the first quarter of 2001 to the second quarter of 2002, Conatel said on its website. Last May 23, the TV channel paid over USD 325,000 in taxes. According to Conatel, RCTV still owes some USD 372,000 for delinquency interest and fine for formal offense.

06-15- 2007

russian president vladimir putin to negotiate sale of submarines to hugo chavez

    MOSCOW, RUSSIA  --  Prior to his visit to the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to negotiate in Moscow with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez the sale of nine diesel submarines, the "Kommersant" newspaper reported on Thursday.  Chávez is expected to arrive in Moscow next June 29 to finalize the planned operation, said "Kommersant" quoting sources in the Russian defense industry. So far, the Kremlin has given no official confirmation of this report, DPA said.

     This new Venezuelan purchase of weaponry from Russia -which is likely to come as an answer to the US blockade- could another irritant in Moscow-Washington relations, said "Echo Moskwy" radio station. US President George W. Bush and Putin are meeting in Maine next July 1-2.

    In 2006, announced increased military cooperation with Russia following a meeting with Putin in Moscow. According to Russian weaponry exporting firm Rosoboronexport, since 2005 Venezuela and Russia executed arms sales deals exceeding USD 3 billion. The weaponry Caracas purchased included 24 war planes, 35 helicopters, and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The reported purchase of five submarines of the Project 636 and four of the project 677 Amur is estimated at some USD 2 billion, said Kommersant.   With this likely deal, Venezuela would become the owner of the largest submarine fleet in Latin America, the report added.

CHILEAN SENATE URGES BACHELET TO TAKE RCTV CASE TO THE UNITED NATIONS

   SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE  --  The Chilean Senate late Tuesday endorsed a resolution asking President Michelle Bachelet to voice her government's concern about the Venezuelan government's decision not to renew the broadcast license for Caracas-based private television station RCTV. The motion was proposed by the senators of pro-government Concertación party. This is the third time the Chilean Senate endorses a similar resolution. On April 12 and June 7, they passed two other similar motions.

     The senators also asked President Bachelet to voice their concern at the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Court on Human Rights and the United Nations Committee on Human Rights. The rejection against non-renewal of RCTV broadcast license is intended to send "a potent signal of concern" about the human right situation in Venezuela, said Jaime Naranjo, one of the sponsors of the last two agreements endorsed by the Senate on the RCTV case.

     "It seems to us that the Congress should express concern as to the human rights situation anywhere else in the world." The document states that, while the Venezuelan government "was legally empowered to cancel or renew the broadcasting license for RCTV, its decision actually means a clear restriction to freedom of the press and freedom of expression in that country."

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS REJECTS ATTACKS ON TELESUR REPORTERS IN ECUADOR

    PARIS, FRANCE  --  Reporters without Borders Wednesday deplored the fact that reporters working in Quito for Latin American multi-state television channel Telesur have been the subject of death threats over the last month.

    "Telesur represents an important current of opinion in Latin America and the way it is being attacked and smeared in some countries violates the principle of respect for editorial pluralism," RWB said. "The threats have already been reported to the Ecuadorian judicial authorities. We urge them to identify those responsible and bring them to justice." In a news conference Tuesday in Quito, Telesur chair Andrés Izarra, a Venezuelan, said at least two Telesur reporters in Ecuador are under death threats and harassment.

    RWB reminded that Freddy Muñoz, Telesur's Colombia correspondent, was arrested at Bogotá airport last December by Colombian intelligence officials as he was returning from Caracas, where the station has its headquarters. Accused of being in the pay of the guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and with a photomontage supposedly supporting this claim, he was detained until 9 January. He subsequently had to flee because the judicial authorities were looking for him again, and because he was under threat from Colombia's paramilitaries.

06-14- 2007

PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH's watch stolen during his visit to albanIa 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.   --  As the crowd became more frenzied, images showed Mr Bush's watch missing from his wrist. Conspiracy theories abounded.  It seems that one of the over-enthusiastic glad-handlers in the small Balkan nation pilfer the timepiece.  Albanian media and internet sites went into a frenzy showing video of the watch on Mr Bush's wrist and then it vanishing.

    Footage shown on TV and press photos seemed to support the idea that a pickpocket had been at work.  Photos show the black leather strap of the watch was clearly visible when he waved to the crowds in the village of Fushe Kruje on Sunday, wife Laura by his side.  But as the shirt-sleeved President plunges into the crowd, a hand appears to cover the watch. And then it's gone - all that's left is the thin tanline marking where it had been.

    Mr Bush, the first US president to visit staunchly pro-American Albania, was practically crowd surfing when he shook hands with onlookers in Fushe Kruje, just north of Tirana.  The over-excited crowd repeatedly grabbed him on his arms and ruffled his hair.

US AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA DENIES LINKS WITH STUDENT PROTESTS

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  WILLIAM  Brownfield, the US Ambassador to Venezuela, denied Tuesday any ties between his government and the student demonstrations for freedom of expression held lately nationwide. Previously, the Venezuelan government pointed to the United States involvement in a plot to overthrow President Hugo Chávez.

     "The US government, the US people, the US republic, are not supporting, participating, bolstering or giving a hint to any of those people who march for or against either side. We have exactly the same information that you have available -that of the media," he told reporters.

     He added that the United States believes in freedom of expression, freedom of protest, and dialogue as democratic tools, DPA quoted. "This is the case of the United States. Each country is to decide on its own, on how to respond exactly to the remarks and street activities," Brownfield noted. President Chávez accused Washington of encouraging a "soft coup," by means of student demonstrations.

HUGO CHAVEZ TO INVEST USD 261 MILLION IN BOATS FOR HIS NAVY 

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --   Hugo Chávez authorized the Navy Commander Vice-admiral Benigno Remigio Calvo to enter into a USD 261 million "trade agreement" with Spanish firm Rodman Polyships for joint construction of 66 boats and purchase of construction material for other 40 units to be manufactured in Venezuela.

     The second stage of this project is expected to be implemented in the Navy Unit of Careen Services. According to the Official Gazette dated June 11, the operation is taking place under a strategic alliance entered into on October 16, 2005 in Vigo, Spain. However, in April 2006, Navy Commander Vice-admiral Armando Laguna Laguna told reporters they would purchase a lower number of boats.

    Laguna Laguna claimed they would buy 18 fiber glass fast-speed boats (24 for the Navy and 24 for the National Guard), in order to reinforce patrolling and fight drug traffic in Venezuela. Half the ships would be built by Rodman, and the other half would be manufactured in Venezuelan shipyards for USD 261 million.

06-13- 2007

VENEZUELAN STUDENTS DEMAND SIMON BOLIVAR UNIVERSITY AUTONOMY

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  There are still many items in the agenda of Venezuelan university students who over the last two weeks have staged a number of protests advocating freedom of expression and the right to protest. On Tuesday, at 1:00 p.m. students at the Simón Bolívar University (USB), together with students from other higher education institutions, are to march from Plaza Morelos to the Ministry of Higher Education. They intend to deliver a paper to Minister of Higher Education Luis Acuña requesting full autonomy of USB.

     The document, signed by USB students and endorsed by the university's steering committee, also demands the official to make an official statement on university autonomy in general. Other topics addressed in the letter include overruling of pending legal proceedings for university students who were arrested and charged for demonstrating in recent protests, and a petition for state-owned media to grant both students and professors at public universities a space to express their views.

     "While all the legal requirements have been fulfilled, the autonomy of our dear institution has not been granted yet. Therefore, USB students are hereby urging you to become our ally and promoter of this initiative that shall undoubtedly result in benefits for the country," students are telling Acuña in their letter.

ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA READY TO CANCEL BROADCAST LICENSES 

    QUITO, ECUADOR  --  Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa vowed to annul the broadcast license for any television channel that plots against his government, and endorsed Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez' decision not to renew the broadcast license for Caracas-based private television station RCTV, AFP reported.

    "I am telling you this very clearly: if any television channel is found to have supported a coup d'etat and taken sides with coup-plotters -like RCTV did in Venezuela-, I will cancel it immediately," Correa told Hoy newspaper. He added that "Hugo Chávez did not do this, as he waited and did not renew the broadcast license for the TV channel."

    "Forgive me, but I would never support plotters in my country," said Correa, who is an ally and personal friend of Chávez. According to the Ecuadorian government, Venezuela "is not curtailing freedom of expression." Correa's administration dismisses the idea that the RCTV case may be replicated in Ecuador, where the government has clashed with some media. Correa brands a sector of the Ecuadorian press as "mediocre, corrupt and liar."

06-12- 2007

JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA, OAS SECRETARY-GENERAL, HOPES VENEZUELA "TO CONTINUE TO BE DEMOCRATIC"  

     MADRID, SPAIN  --  José Miguel Insulza, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), hoped Venezuela "to continue to be a democratic country," and clarified he does not intend to widen the gap at OAS regarding the case of Caracas-based TV station RCTV, "because what this continent needs is unity."

    "I am among the people who did not like the move on RCTV (which stopped broadcasts last May 27, after Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez refused to renew the broadcast license for the TV channel), but nobody believes this is a reason to provoke a division in the institution (OAS)," Insulza told Spanish newspaper El País during an interview conducted in Washington and published on June 10. While he endorses the idea that the discontinuation of RCTV was "an administrative decision," Insulza also believes that such a move "became a political punishment from the very moment the Venezuelan government made it based on political allegations."

    Insulza reminded that non-renewal of RCTV broadcast license came after Chávez accused the TV network of supporting a failed coup d'etat in 2002. He added that he is keeping close communication with OAS member countries to assess any likely decisions on Venezuela. He would not rule out the possibility to visit Venezuela any time in order to study the situation, but warned he would not travel to Venezuela in the short term. "I hope Venezuela to continue to be a democratic country. My mission will not be that of exacerbating the process of rupture, because what this continent needs is unity," Insulza told El País.

FATHER LUIS UGALDE, PRESIDENT OF ANDRES BELLO CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, REBUTS CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT'S CHARGES

    ZULA, VENEZUELA  --  Father Luis Ugalde, the president of Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB), dismissed Monday the remarks against the deans of the universities that took part last Thursday in a student march to the Attorney General Office. According to such statements, university authorities presumably fuel demonstrations.

    "This is a ludicrous suggestion that discredits the complainant instead of the defendant, and it discredits the complainant because there is no a single ground. When the students met, in the particular case of UCAB, I was attending an international event in Cali, Colombia. Therefore, I have nothing to do with it; otherwise, I would concede it."

    "UCAB students are adults who have held discussions, who have taken up a responsibility. But they are not discussing just now. They have been discussing such things in a more active way for two or three years. They have realized that the country's future is at stake and want Venezuela's future to be democratic, plural and with full respect for freedoms," he said. In his opinion, the people who speak this way underestimate the potential of university students.  "Some sectors thought that students were sort of asleep. No way, I am well acquainted with students. They are being educated and discuss multiple topics. This is what has been shown now before the whole world."

06-11- 2007

ACTION AGAINST CHAVEZ FOR PROMOTING FOREIGN INTERVENTION IN DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Several opposition parties  filed a crime action against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in connection with remarks his Nicaraguan counterpart Daniel Ortega made in Venezuela recently. Omar Estacio, legal adviser for opposition parties Alianza Bravo Pueblo, Acción Democrática, Copei, Visión Emergente, as well as a number of non-governmental organizations, said the claim came because Chávez allegedly encouraged Ortega -"a foreign citizen and President of a foreign country- to interfere in Venezuelan domestic affairs.

    Estacio added that under the Venezuelan Crime Code, Chávez' attitude is a crime against the nation's independence and sovereignty, "as a Venezuelan citizen is asking for foreign intervention to settle domestic affairs." According to Estacio, the Nicaraguan President did not come to Venezuela only show solidarity with Chávez -following his decision not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV-, but also "insulted the Venezuelan youth, calling them tools of the oligarchy and imperialism."
 
     Estacio stressed that under the Venezuelan Constitution the youth have the right to voice their opinion. "Therefore, the insults and attacks from a foreign citizen against our youth -many of them minors- not only are characterized as a crime, but involve a number of aggravating circumstances, as their integrity and honor were harmed."

JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA, OAS SECRETARY-GENERAL, RULEd OUT MISSION TO VENEZUELA 

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- José Miguel Insulza, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), during a press conference on the results of OAS 37th Annual Assembly stressed that the body has a conciliatory character, rather than a supervisory role.  He ruled out designating a committee to visit Venezuela to delve into claims about abuses against freedom of expression in this country, DPA reported.

    "I believe the worst way to encourage dialogue is by singling out any country and putting a given country in the spotlight of discussions about a certain matter. I do not think this is practical. I believe the Inter-American Democratic Charter is an instrument for dialogue and consensus, rather than a tool to single out or exert pressures," Insulza warned.

     He explained that under article 18, Inter-American Democratic Charter, which was the article US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice quoted to ask OAS to send a mission to Venezuela, Venezuelan authorization is needed for OAS to pay such a visit. "Prior consent from this country is needed, and as far as I am concerned, Venezuela does not accept this." Insulza said he based his remarks on press reports, as he had not talked to Venezuelan authorities, Reuters reported.

ALBERTO FEDERICO RAVELL, DIRECTOR OF LOCAL CHANNEL GLOBOVISION, SAID HUGO CHAVEZ IS SEEKING AN EXCUSE TO SHUT DOWN HIS TV STATION

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Alberto Federico Ravell, director of local TV news channel Globovisión, said the claims the Minister of Communication and Information William Lara that the TV channel is encouraging the assassination of President Hugo Chávez are so "weak, foolish, ludicrous and groundless that it is hard to plan any defense against something that does not exist."  According to Ravell, since Globovisión' broadcast license is not expiring "for now," the government is looking for an excuse "to justify the closure of this television channel." He added Globovisión would not take its editorial stance because of any judiciary pressures.

    Ravell's comments came after his appearance in the Attorney General Office, as he was summoned in connection with an investigation Lara requested based on allegations that Globovisión promoted Chávez' assassination when it broadcast a video footage of the failed murder attempt against Pope John II and the song of Panamanian author and singer Rubén Blades "Tengan Fe" (Have Faith), during news and opinion show "Aló, Ciudadano" (Hello, Citizen).

06-10- 2007

 GENERAL PETER PACE TO RETIRE AS JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN 

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday he will recommend to President Bush that he nominate Adm. Michael G. Mullen to replace Gen. Peter Pace as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff when Pace's term ends in September.

    Pace's renomination to another two-year term was widely expected, and his nomination papers already had been drafted.  Gates said he had intended to recommend that Pace be renominated for the position, but after consultation with senators of both parties, he concluded that the confirmation process would be too contentious.  Pace was supposed to be away from the Pentagon on Friday, but instead he was said to be meeting with his senior staff.

     Pace has served on the Joint Chiefs for six years, as vice chairman and chairman. He was sworn in as chairman on September 30, 2005. He was the first Marine general to serve as chairman or vice chairman, according to the Department of Defense Web site.

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LULA DA SILVA CLAIMS THAT THE DECISION OF HIS "FRIEND" HUGO CHAVEZ TO CLOSE RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION WAS DEMOCRATIC

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --   Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the decision of his "friend" Hugo Chávez to close Radio Caracas Television was as democratic as it would have been the likely renewal of the permit.  "I think we cannot turn this into an ideological matter... The State has the capacity to grant or not the license," Lula added in an interview published Friday by Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.

    In the interview offered in Berlin, the Brazilian ruler, however, criticized Chávez' attacks against the Brazilian Senate, and warned that this could hinder Venezuela's membership in the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), DPA reported.  "When you make a mistake in politics, who does lose? The one who makes the mistake. Why? Because the protocol for Venezuela to join Mercosur has to be passed by the Brazilian Senate. I want to believe that Chávez should realize that this will be harder now."

    According to Lula, to make the Brazilian Senate endorse Venezuela's membership in the South American bloc "will require much more efforts from us to convince (Brazilian lawmakers) that a misunderstanding or a verbal clash cannot endanger a project for the region." Last week, Chávez accused the Brazilian Senate of repeating "like parrots" anything the United States said, following reception of a document where Brazilian senators asked the Venezuelan ruler to reopen RCTV. According to Lula, such document was "an affable letter. It was a call, and it included no attack whatsoever."

BRAZIL PRESIDENT LULA DA SILVA'S BROTHER ACCUSED OF INFLUENCE PEDDLING, GAMBLING AND CORRUPTION

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --  Brazil police have formally accused a brother of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of influence peddling after a nationwide crackdown on illegal gambling, the government news agency said Tuesday. Genival Inacio da Silva's home in the San Bernardo do Campo suburb was searched by authorities Monday as part of a federal police operation that arrested 77 people on charges of smuggling electronic gambling machines and bribing police in Mato Grosso do Sul state.

    Police did not say what was seized in Silva's brother's home or elaborate on the motives for the accusation, the official Agencia Brasil said. A police officer, who would not identify himself because of departmental regulations, said police had requested a temporary arrest order for Silva's brother but a judge turned it down. President Silva denied Tuesday that his brother, known as Vava, is linked to illegal gambling and said he is innocent, Agencia Brasil said.

     'I don't believe that Vava has anything to do with anything,' Silva said in a statement from India, where he is on an official visit. But, he added, 'if there is a court order and his name is on it, have patience, we are all subject to investigation.' President Silva confirmed that one of the men arrested _ Dario Morelli Filho _ is a friend of the family. President Silva praised the federal police operation and warned Brazilians not to jump to conclusions. 'The only thing I ask ... is that police maintain composure in their investigations so we don't convict the innocent and don't absolve the guilty,' he told Globo TV from India.

06-09- 2007

BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT EVO MORALES MEETS WITH CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO E

   HAVANA, CUBA  --  Bolivian President Evo Morales met with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro for nearly three hours Thursday and said the convalescing Cuban leader looked well.  "He looked very recovered to me," said Morales, who also found the time to play racquetball with Vice President and Cabinet Secretary Carlos Lage, and meet with Castro's brother Raul, Cuba's interim president, during his previously unannounced daylong trip to Havana. "I am very satisfied," Morales told state media before boarding his flight home Thursday night. "I am very much an admirer of Fidel."

    Morales predicted more meetings with the Cuban president, saying "I am sure we will continue talking. He told me, 'Come back anytime to continue chatting, and debate important themes for humanity in any part of the world.'" Castro on Thursday issued a new essay that lambasted President Bush, accusing him of trying to deceive Pope Benedict XVI into believing the U.S. has done nothing wrong in Iraq. "Bush is trying now to fool Pope Benedict XVI" Castro wrote. He predicted that during his visit to the Vatican this week Bush would tell the pontiff, "The Iraq war doesn't exist, it hasn't cost a cent, there's not a single drop of blood. And hundreds of thousands of innocent people have not died in a shameful exchange for petroleum and gas."

    Castro also warned of another possible war against Iran, "possibly including nuclear tactical blows to impose the same shameful recipe." Photographs distributed by Morales' office showed him meeting with Castro's brother Raul, the 76-year-old defense minister and acting president, after his morning arrival. The images also showed Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque and Lage, who Cuban state media said greeted Morales at the airport.

venezuelan students propose street debate 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --The student delegation who took the floor at the National Assembly (AN) regular session and then left, acted this way because they did not purport to engage in a debate called by pro-government student leaders, said Thursday Stalin González, the president of the Student Councils Federation (FCU), Central University of Venezuela (UCV).  "Last Friday, during a demonstration that was not allowed to reach the AN, we submitted a paper asking for the right to reply at the AN, stating that we, the youth, had some country's proposals and requested to take the floor."

        "Yesterday (Wednesday), a notice came to the Student Councils Federation, according to which the National Assembly had resolved a debate between two student groups. Again, the AN started to divide Venezuelans and explained that there would be a debate between five revolutionaries and five opponents. We did not asked for it upon such terms. There was a timely answer, but it was not in accordance with our request. Therefore, this (Thursday) morning, we went to AN, took the floor and respectfully listened to our colleagues and left."

    The student leader said "we think that the debate should take place within the students assemblies that are taking place in each one of the universities; it should take place in the streets of Caracas and the whole country, in the slums, but not in a closed place as the National Assembly."

HUGO CHAVEZ PROPOSES PEOPLE'S POWER STUDENT COUNCILS 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Hugo Chávez Thursday urged students supporting his government to organize people's power student councils, and for such purposes he designated a special taskforce headed by Vice-President Jorge Rodríguez.

    According to Chávez, such student councils would be the foundations for the student movement in Venezuela. "I am sure if the present student centers should continue to exist. You will have to decide on that," Chávez said in a meeting with pro-government students who earlier on Thursday took part in the plenary session of the National Assembly.

    Chávez called "heroes and heroines" the 10 students who advocated his revolution at the Venezuelan Legislature. Both the plenary session of the National Assembly and the meeting between the Venezuelan ruler and students supporting his government were transmitted in a mandatory nationwide radio and TV broadcast. Overall, both transmissions took some seven hours and a half.

06-08- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ ADDUCES US DEFEAT AT OAS

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The United States turned out to be defeated at the 37th meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly, boasted Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. According to the head of state, "not a single country" backed an initiative put forward by US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice. The US high-ranking official had proposed OAS member nations to send a commission to Venezuela in order to learn directly about the outcome of the Venezuelan government decision not to renew the broadcast license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV).

    Chávez made reference to the oral clash featuring Rice and Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro. "The Secretary was upset. She stood up, flashed as fast as a ray and left. These are the signs of the imperial decadence. The empire has been vanquished. It was a major defeat for the empire," Chávez told foreign correspondents during a press conference held at Miraflores presidential palace.

     The proposal submitted by Rice included a delegation headed by OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza to explore on the site the Venezuelan situation. However, the initiative did not echo throughout the organization and not even Insulza issued an opinion.

CATHOLIC CHURCH ASKS GOVERNMENT NOT TO STIGMATIZE STUDENT DEMONSTRATIONS

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  In a declaration entitled "Working on peace," the member priests of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference (CEV) urged the government not to brand beforehand the student protests, as they are "the legitimate expression of political plurality."

     Monsignor Ubaldo Santana, the CEV president, read out during a press conference the communiqué where bishops noted that peaceful protests are enshrined in the Venezuelan Constitution "as one of the State higher values." In their view, ongoing demonstrations should not have a "nuance of conspiracy."

     According to the priests, all other statements from institutions and individuals that have criticized the government decision not to renew a broadcast license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) should be construed likewise. The government action, they claimed, "have affected somewhat freedom of expression and speech and the right to information enshrined in the Constitution." They deplored the present events, "despite our respectful calls to the government on several occasions."

FRENCH SOCIALISTS BRAND CLOSING OF RCTV AS "POLITICAL" 

   PARIS, FRANCE  --  The International Secretariat of France's Socialist Party issued a communiqué showing "surprise" and "concern" at the Venezuelan government's move not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV, to allot RCTV signal to the Venezuelan Social Television Station (TVes), and to renew the broadcast licenses for private TV network Venevisión and state-owned television channel VTV.

     The document dated May 31 claimed, according to the official version, the move against RCTV was made based on the fact that this TV channel supported an attempted coup d'etat in April 2002. "The Socialist Party is surprised that such serious accusations have not had any legal consequences in the relevant courts since April 2002. Given the lack of any legal action, non-renewal of RCTV license appears to be a political sanction hitting freedom of expression."

     "This decision is a further reason of concern because democratic balance until that moment was ensured by the media, as the President (Hugo Chávez) controls the Executive Branch, the Legislature and the Armed Force." A few days before French presidential election last April, Chávez said his "heart" was with socialist candidate Ségolène Royal.

06-07- 2007

MAN JUMPED OVER PROTECTIVE BARRICADE AND LUNGED AT POPE BENEDICT XVI

   VATICAN CITY, ITALY  --  A man tried to jump into Pope Benedict XVI's uncovered popemobile as the pontiff began his general audience Wednesday in St. Peter's Square and was wrestled to the ground by security officers.  The pope was not hurt and didn't even appear to notice that the man had jumped over the protective barricade in the square and toward the white popemobile as it drove by with the pope waving to the audience.

    At least eight security officers who were trailing the popemobile grabbed the man and wrestled him to the ground. The pope didn't even look back. A Vatican official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the man was being held for questioning by Vatican police.

    He said the man had gotten as far as the back of the pope's white jeep before being wrestled to the ground, although from video footage of the incident it was unclear whether he actually made it onto the jeep.

US CONGRESSMEN CALL "TYRANTS" GOVERNMENTS OF VENEZUELA, IRAN AND NICARAGUA

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The rulers of Venezuela, Iran and Nicaragua are part of a new trio of tyrants, said Monday two US Congresspersons, who criticized the visit of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to Iran. Lawmakers Ron Klein and Connie Mack, both of Florida, said Tuesday in a joint communiqué that they were disappointed because Ortega went to Iran to meet with President Mahmud Ahmadineyad, when Tehran "continued challenging the international community" with his nuclear program.

     According to Mack, one of the Republican leaders who are most critic of the Venezuelan government at the US House of Representatives, Ortega's visit to Iran "evokes dire memories, when his Sandinista government terrified the Nicaraguan people. "Now, by aligning with Mahmud Ahmadineyad in Iran and (President) Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, a trio of tyrants has emerged with the resources and determination to curb freedom, security and prosperity" in the Americas and all around the world.

federal prosecutors appeal dismissal of luis posada carriles

        EL PASO, TEXAS  -- Federal prosecutors have appealed a judge's decision to dismiss an immigration fraud case against anti-Castro militant Luis Posada Carriles.  U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone dismissed the case last month after ruling that the government had manipulated a naturalization interview with Posada and used it as a pretext to develop a criminal case against him. Lawyers for the government filed the appeal notice with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans Tuesday afternoon. The two-page document does not provide any details about the government's grounds for the appeal.

    One of Posada's Florida lawyers, Rhonda A. Anderson, said she had not seen the appeal and could not comment on it. Posada, a 79-year former CIA operative and U.S. Army soldier, has been free and living in Miami since the case was dismissed. He was accused of lying during an interview and on an application to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

    In dismissing the immigration fraud charges against Posada the week his trial was to begin, Cardone said the interpretation of Posada's April 2006 interview "is so inaccurate as to render it unreliable as evidence of defendant's actual statement." "In addition to engaging in fraud, deceit and trickery, this Court finds the Government's tactics in this case are so grossly shocking and so outrageous as to violate the universal sense of justice," Cardone wrote.

06-06- 2007

CASTRO ON CUBA TELEVISION WITH VIETNAMESE COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEF NONG DUG MANH

   HAVANA, CUBA  -- For the first time in four months, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was shown standing and talking in video footage that aired on state-run Cuban TV. Castro, 80, was seen early Sunday laughing, smiling and standing without assistance in an apparent meeting with Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh.

    Castro has not appeared in public since emergency surgery forced him to hand over power 10 months ago to his brother Raul Castro. In the past 10 months, Castro has appeared in numerous videos and photos wearing track suits. In keeping with his previous appearances, during Sunday's televised appearance he donned a red and black track suit with white piping -- a sign that he was not meeting with Manh in any formal, official capacity.

    Although Sunday was the first time in months he has been seen in a televised encounter, it is not the first time he has spoken to the public. In recent weeks, Castro has penned numerous editorials, many of them on the topic of ethanol. On May 24, Castro wrote a message published in Cuban newspapers discussing his recent health problems. The message detailed that he has undergone several operations, some of which were unsuccessful, but that his condition has now stabilized.

BRAZILIAN SENATE LEADER: DEFENSE OF DEMOCRACY HAS NO BOUNDARIES

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --   Renan Calheiros, the speaker of the Brazilian Senate, railed Monday again on Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in connection with the RCTV case, by saying that "defense of democracy has no boundaries." Calheiros talked again amidst a diplomatic fuss raised by President Chávez' tough remarks on a motion filed by the Brazilian Senate.

    Previously, the Brazilian Senate had endorsed a petition, where the Venezuelan government had been requested to revise its decision not to renew a broadcast license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). According to Calheiros, "the Venezuelan head of state must learn to live with Brazil's political positions, which are different, which are not the same, and understand that defense of democracy has no boundaries." "Should there be press freedom (in Venezuela), there would be no need to discuss this matter here," he added.

DEMONSTRATORS IN MADRID REJECT CLOSING OF RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION

        MADRID, SPAIN  -- HUNDREDS OF DEMONSTRATORS gathered outside the Venezuelan Embassy in Madrid to reject the discontinuation of Caracas-based 53-year-old private television station RCTV. The rally, convened by Nuevas Generaciones, the youth organization of Spanish opposition People's Party, was attended by government officials of Madrid and members of the Venezuelan Democratic Platform in Madrid, together with Venezuelans residing in the Spanish capital city.

    With demonstrators chanting "Down with the tyrant!, !Chávez, coupster and communist!, the rally was held peacefully. Carlos Clemente, Vice-counselor of Immigration of the Madrid regional government, branded Chávez' government as "authoritarian and communist." Clemente endorsed the Madrid government' willingness to "to support the Spanish government if it had a clear determination to fight for freedom in Venezuela," Efe said.

     Clemente regretted the Spanish government's lack of action, claiming that the Spanish government was obviously "an international ally of the Venezuelan regime." Meanwhile, Ignacio Uriarte, the chair of conservative Nuevas Generaciones, said PP could "turn a blind eye on the revolution of freedom that is taking place in Venezuelan streets." William Cárdenas, president Venezuelan Democratic Platform in Madrid, read a statement rejecting the cessation of "one of the few media that kept a critical stance vis-à-vis Chávez' government."

06-05- 2007

HUGO CHAVEZ'S FOREIGN MINISTER ADVOCATES A NEW ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN

   PANAMA CITY, PANAMA  -- "A new OAS (Organization of American States) upon the basis of a fair relationship" was requested Monday by Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro during a heated speech against the US Government. Venezuela wants "a new OAS based on fair, democratic relations and respect for sovereignty of each country," said Maduro. The Venezuelan Foreign Minister replied in this way to a speech delivered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Earlier, the high-ranking official asked OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza to visit Venezuela and prepare a report on the recent end of broadcasting for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), AFP quoted. "We are not tutored countries, we are not superior or inferior countries; we do not think we are less than anybody, but regard ourselves as equal," Maduro said. "Our democracy," he added, "is not a tutored democracy."

JOURNALISTS' WORLD CONGRESS CONDEMNS UNANIMOUSLY THE CLOSING OF RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION OPERATIONS

   MOSCOW, RUSSIA  -- The 24th meeting of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) held in Moscow approved Friday unanimously to condemn a decision made by the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez not to renew a broadcast license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). In their opinion, the ruling affected adversely freedom of expression and plurality, and resulted also in thousand layoffs.

    The discussion on the RCTV case was raised during a plenary session on Friday at the urgent request of the Venezuelan National Union of Press Workers (SNTP), represented by Secretary-General Gregorio Salazar and Human Rights Secretary Doris Villaroel.  Attendees strongly recommended to reverse the move against the channel and vowed solidarity both with RCTV workers and all Venezuelan journalists, "who are undergoing one of their direst times."

pANAMANIAN MEDIA CALLS FOR BLACKOUT TO SUPPORT RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION 

        PANAMA CITY, PANAMA  --  The Panamanian press Monday is staging a protest called "blackout for freedom of expression" in Venezuela by publishing black pages in the newspapers and stopping radio broadcasts for 30 seconds, said the vice-president of the National Association of Journalists, Rafael Candanedo.

     He told AFP that the protest comes after a series of demonstrations and public statements last week to repudiate the Venezuelan government decision not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV.

06-04- 2007

CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO SHOWN ON CUBAN TELEVISION WITH VIETNAMESE OFFICIAL 

   HAVANA, CUBA  -- For the first time in four months, Cuban dictator  Fidel Castro was shown standing and talking in video footage that aired on state-run Cuban TV. Castro, 80, was seen early Sunday laughing, smiling and standing without assistance in an apparent meeting with Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh. Castro has not appeared in public since emergency surgery forced him to hand over power 10 months ago to his brother Raul Castro.

     In the past 10 months, Castro has appeared in numerous videos and photos wearing track suits. In keeping with his previous appearances, during Sunday's televised appearance he donned a red and black track suit with white piping -- a sign that he was not meeting with Manh in any formal, official capacity. Castro relinquished his presidential powers to his brother after undergoing intestinal surgery, calling the move temporary. The switch touched off a flurry of speculation that the communist leader, who came to power in 1959, might be dying.

    Although Sunday was the first time in months he has been seen in a televised encounter, it is not the first time he has spoken to the public. In recent weeks, Castro has penned numerous editorials, many of them on the topic of ethanol. On May 24, Castro wrote a message published in Cuban newspapers discussing his recent health problems. The message detailed that he has undergone several operations, some of which were unsuccessful, but that his condition has now stabilized.

06-03- 2007

FOUR CHARGED WITH TERROR PLOT AT JFK AIRPORT

   NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK  -- Four men have been charged with conspiring to blow up jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Homeland Security sources said there is no current threat at the airport and the attack as planned was "not technically feasible." A wiretap transcript indicates the plotters targeted the airport because of the popularity its namesake, John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.  "Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States.

     To hit John F. Kennedy, wow ... they love JFK -- he's like the man," former JFK airport cargo worker Russell Defreitas said in a telephone conversation monitored by the FBI.  "If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice," Defreitas added. At a Justice Department news conference Saturday afternoon, the plotters were described as "a determined group" whose signature was persistence. Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native Guyanan, was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, according to a written statement from the Department of Justice. He was arraigned Saturday in federal court in New York. The other suspects were identified as Abdul Kadir of Guyana, Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad, and Abdel Nur.

     The United States plans to seek extradition of the three men charged outside the United States. Several law enforcement officials told CNN earlier that Kadir was a former member of parliament in Guyana. Defreitas identified targets and escape routes and assessed airport security, the complaint alleges. Officials said the "defendants obtained satellite photographs of JFK airport and its facilities from the Internet and traveled frequently among the United States, Guyana and Trinidad to discuss their plans and solicit the financial and technical assistance of others." An official described the suspects as "al Qaeda wannabes."

US DEPARTMENT OF STATE ISSUES TRAVEL WARNING FOR VENEZUELA

   WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The US Department of State Thursday issued a travel warning for Venezuela, urging US citizens to avoid the danger posed by ongoing demonstrations in Venezuela over non renewal of the broadcast license for private television station RCTV.

    "Demonstrations, which began the weekend of May 27-28, continue" in cities around the country against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's decision not to renew Radio Caracas Television's broadcast license, the Department of State said.  "The government is organizing counter-demonstrations. Riot police are out in force (...) police in Caracas used tear gas, water cannons, and plastic pellets to disperse crowds ... There are reports of at least one fatality," it added.  

     US authorities advised US citizens to "consider the risks of travel to Venezuela," and urged those already in Venezuela "to exercise caution," AFP reported   "American citizens are reminded that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful may turn violent," the statement said. 

06-02- 2007

SPANISH MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS MORATINOS AND THE U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE RICE SHOW CONCERN ABOUT RADIO CARACAS TELEVISION CASE

   MADRID, SPAIN  --  Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Friday voiced “concern for the shutdown” of Venezuelan private television station RCTV, as it involves “a restriction on freedom of expression.”   “We have expressed our willingness and wish that the rights to freedom of expression and free access to information are restored for all Venezuelans who want to use news outlets,” said Moratinos in a joint news conference with Rice in Madrid.  Moratinos said the Venezuelan issue was one of the topics he addressed Friday with Rice during her official visit to Spain. Rice stressed they specifically talked about “growing problems for the economic development of Venezuela.”

    She added they have called upon the Venezuelan Government “to change the course and reopen independent radio and television stations and stop assailing the free press.” “This is very important for Venezuela, as this country, after all, is located in a region that is mostly free and democratic,” and therefore “we expect them to act democratically,” Rice stated. When asked whether she believed that President Hugo Chávez’ attitude could spread to other countries in the region, the US diplomat said she thought people actually should be concerned “about the impact of the kind of actions recorded in Venezuela and their consequences for others” in the region.

    According to Rice, “This is not only about the impact of what the people see happening there, but this is also about the fact that Venezuela has been actively interfering with the domestic affairs of its neighbors. Therefore, the red hot issue here is that Venezuela should respect the sovereignty of its neighbors and act in a democratic way with regard to its own people.” Rice added that in Latin America, “most countries are ruled with wisdom, justice, democracy, and try to offer their people wealth, and they are fighting corruption.”  “Rather, like members of this community of States, we do have an obligation to support democratic practices.”

HUGO CHAVEZ: "THE OLIGARCHS AND THE PAWNS OF THE EMPIRE ARE HURT" 

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  "It is easier, much easier, for the Portuguese Empire to settle again Brasilia than for Venezuelan oligarchy to be given back a broadcast license by the Venezuelan government," late Thursday said President Hugo Chávez, in reply to the Brazilian Senate's petition for him to reconsider his decision not to renew the broadcast license for private TV channel RCTV.

    According to Chávez, the Brazilian Congress is controlled by rightwing parties that are making every possible effort to prevent Venezuela from effectively joining the Common Market of the South (Mercosur).

    "Rightists worldwide are attacking Venezuela from every side. (Brazilian) President (Luiz Inácio) Lula (da Silva) is a dignified man. A few days ago, he said the truth with a great strength: he said this is an issue pertaining to Venezuelans," Chávez declared, following execution in Caracas of a number of bilateral agreements with Vietnam, AFP reported. "The oligarchs are hurt. They are the puppies of the empire. Elites on our countries are the pawns of the US empire," Chávez added.

BRAZILIAN SENATE REPUDIATES CHAVEZ' INSULTS

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --  Brazilian Senators Friday rebutted Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' insults calling them "parrots" of Washington because they slashed out at the Venezuelan ruler's move not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV. The 15 members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense, Brazilian Senate, last May 30 endorsed a resolution asking Chávez to reconsider his move on RCTV.

     Last May 31, Chávez claimed the Brazilian Congress was "a parrot that repeats everything Washington says." "I regret the remarks of President Hugo Chávez about the Brazilian government," said Senator Romero Jucá, a member of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government coalition. Chávez "needs to understand that the Brazilian Congress has the right to protect South America."

    "Any movement contrary to democracy, contrary to press freedom, contrary to freedom of expression should be strongly rejected, and the Brazilian Senate will always do so," said the Senate Chairman Renan Calheiros, DPA reported.

brazilian senator: "i feel sorry for the good people of venezuela" 

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  -- Heraclito Fortes, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Brazilian Senate, Friday replied to President Hugo Chávez' criticism against the Brazilian Congress by saying that he felt sorry about the Venezuelan people, AFP reported.

    "I feel sorry for the good people of Venezuela. If Mr. Hugo Chávez' fireworks were of any good for its people to attain any social improvement, one could even justify that, but his fireworks are virtually paranoia," Fortes told the plenary session Friday.

    This week the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Brazilian Senate, decided to urge Chávez to reconsider his decision not to renew the broadcast license for private television station RCTV. Chávez replied that "the Brazilian Congress should take care of Brazilian business," and accused the legislature of being "subordinated" to Washington.

06-01- 2007

university students to march again for freedom of expression  in venezuela

   CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Student representatives of Venezuelan major universities called Thursday a march starting Friday at 11:00 a.m, from southwestern El Paraíso urbanization to the National Assembly (AN) downtown Caracas. They reported that arrangements were being made for the relevant permits and in order to hold the demonstration with no security issues.

    "Tomorrow (Friday) we are set to go to the streets. Tomorrow we will request a rectification from the National Assembly deputies. The march will go from La India square to AN. All of this will depend on the clearance. If we get the clearance, will start at 11:00 in the morning," said John Goicoechea, student leader of Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB).

    They observed one-minute silence to honor "all those students who lost their lives for a free Venezuela." Goicoechea informed that a student delegation from multiple universities would attend a meeting called by Minister of the Interior and Justice Pedro Carreño, along with state security agents. The student made the remarks during a press conference at Simón Bolívar University (USB) "on behalf of freedom of expression."

reporters without borders warns against government pressure on globovision

   PARIS, FRANCE  --  Press freedom advocate Reporters without Borders (RWB) warned against the "threats" coming from President Hugo Chávez on TV news channel Globovisión and US TV network CNN. RWB fears that non-renewal of a broadcast license for private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) "serves as opening to progressive disappearance of the opposition press."

    "By regarding Globovisión as 'foe of the homeland,' President Hugo Chávez shows paranoia and intolerance. The media critic of the government will extinguish gradually and only the pro-government media will eventually remain," said RWB in a press release.

    RWB recalled that earlier this week Minister of Communication William Lara filed charges against Globovisión for issuing underlying "solicitation to violence," AFP quoted. According to Lara, the images broadcast about the attempt on the life of Pope John Pope II in 1981, with the song "This is not the end" by Rubén Blades against the background, was a call to kill President Chávez.

BRAZILIAN SENATE ASKS CHAVEZ TO OPEN RCTV 

   BRAZILIA, BRAZIL  --  The Brazilian Senate plenary session endorsed an exhortation calling for reopening of Caracas-based private television station RCTV, which went off the air on May 27, as instructed by President Hugo Chávez.

     The senators, including opposition and members of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's party, "showed their opposition to Hugo Chávez for not renewing the broadcast license for private television station RCTV," the Senate said, as quoted by Efe. They called upon Chávez to "reconsider the closure of the TV station," said the official Senate Agency