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MANUEL
ROSALES, OPPOSITION GOVERNOR,
PROPOSES REFERENDUM ON RCTV CASE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Manuel Rosales, the leader of
opposition Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) and
governor of western Zulia state, asked
Wednesday President Hugo Chávez to
release the students imprisoned for
taking part in the protests against the
government decision not to renew a
broadcast license for private TV channel
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). He said
that about 200 school, high-school and
university students are currently held
in prisons nationwide.
In Rosales' opinion, the government intends to silence
the protests since RCTV went off the
air. "It would like Venezuelans to
receive only one kind of information; to
watch biased images, moving, in this
way, towards full control of the media
and the information. It would like to be
the only owner of the media."
The events involving students "are peaceful, democratic
and civic demonstrations. It was great
shame in looking at those students on
their knees before police authorities,
and now he is talking about violence,
death and his tanks." "Let us be clear
-zero violence. Let us keep distance
from violence. Do not let usual
troublemakers get involved, so that they
(the government) cannot accuse us of
coup supporters or subversive." Rosales
proposed the head of state to ask the
people by means of a consultative
referendum "whether they actually trust
him," whether they agree with the end of
RCTV broadcasting.
|
|
BRAZILIAN TV REBUTS DISCONTINUATION OF
RCTV, LULA DA SILVA'S ATTITUDE
BRAZILIA,
BRAZIL --
Brazil's major television stations
Wednesday branded as "anti-democratic"
and "absurd" the suspension of the
broadcast license for private television
station RCTV and criticized President
Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva for failing to
take a stance on this issue. The
Vice-President of media holding Globo,
Joao Roberto Marinho told Efe that "the
closure" of the Venezuelan TV network by
the government of President Hugo Chávez
was "unacceptable."
Marinho added that "Venezuela is taking a very ill-fated path
to suppression of freedom of
expression," claiming that Chávez "wants
Venezuela to become a country with one
single opinion."He stressed that he
"understood" the fact that the Brazilian
government was reluctant to take a
stance in the face of the situation in
Venezuela, "because Brazil has good
relations with Venezuela." However,
Marinho rejected Lula's allegations on
Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the Brazilian ruler claimed that RCTV case was "a
problem for the Venezuelan laws and
Venezuelans," and refused to comment on
this case. Alexandre Raposo, CEO of
Brazil's second largest TV network, Rede
Record, said "everybody should advocate
democracy." |
|
CHILEAN
PRESIDENT MICHELLE BACHELET CHAMPIONS
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
HELSINKI,
FINLAND --
"Freedom
of expression is the golden rule,"
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet
said Monday in Helsinki. The Chilean
ruler was making reference to
non-renewal of a broadcast license for
private TV network Radio Caracas
Televisión (RCTV) by the government of
President Hugo Chávez.
Following a meeting with her Finnish counterpart Tarja
Halonen, Bachelet recalled the
dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet
in Chile (1973-1990) and said, "For
Chile, freedom of expression is the
golden rule, given our political
history." "Our role as Chileans is to
show that the way chosen by Chile is
possible -to grow with social justice,
under a democratic government;" she told
reporters both in Spanish and English,
AFP quoted.
The tone between Chile and Venezuela heightened recently when
the Chilean Senate endorsed a petition
for censorship due to the Venezuelan
government announcement of the license
end. Chávez labeled the Senate as
fascist. |
|
HUGO
CHAVEZ GETS READY TO LEAD ANOTHER "APRIL
13TH"
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
If the government needs to "launch
another April 13th," Hugo Chávez is
prepared to command the action,
Tuesday said the ruler himself in
reference to the day in 2002 when he
returned to power following a coup
d'etat in April 11.
In the face of the protests staged nationwide as a
result of the government decision not to
renew a broadcast license for private TV
channel Radio Caracas Televisión, which
expired last Sunday at midnight, Chávez
asked the people to be on the alert and
defend his revolution. The ruler placed
the blame on news TV channel Globovisión
for "misrepresenting the events" with
regard to the police actions during
demonstrations.
"Greetings, Globovisión, you will see where you will
go," Chávez said. Chavez insisted on
saying that "destabilizing elements
installed a laboratory, a show by means
of street actions."
|
|
GLOBOVISION ACCUSED OF TRYING TO INCITE
HIT ON HUGO CHAVEZ
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --The
Venezuelan government has opened
an investigation into news broadcasters
for allegedly inciting the Venezuelan
public to violence over the government's
decision not to renew the broadcast
license of an opposition television
station. In a news conference and a
posting Monday on the government's Web
site, the communications minister,
Willian Lara, described two incidents he
said crossed the line: Globovision's
"Citizen" program on Sunday followed an
interview with the outgoing director
general of the opposition station, Radio
Caracas Television, with video showing
images of the attempted 1981
assassination of Pope John Paul II.
As the video played, Ruben Blades -- a singer/social
commentator -- can be heard singing,
"This doesn't end here." "The television
company, in that specific fragment of
its programming, committed the crime of
inciting to assassinate -- in the person
of the chief of state of Venezuela,"
Lara said, referring to leftist
President Hugo Chavez. "That was the
objective."
The program aired on Globovision, now the sole
opposition station. RCTV had the
nation's widest audience, counting 10
million of 26 million Venezuelans as
viewers of its programming, which
included soap operas as well as news. Globovision's
director, Alberto Ravell, said he was
unimpressed. "We are not going to change
our editorial line that we are not
afraid of the threats from this
government," he told CNN. |
|
OAS
APPROVES WATERED DOWN STATEMENT ON
TERRORISM
WASHINGTON, D.C. --
Venezuela's push to get the Organization
of American States to condemn
Washington for failing to extradite
militant Luis Posada Carriles has ended
in a watered-down declaration that did
not mention the anti-Castro militant by
name. In a special session Monday, the
OAS adopted a broadly worded declaration
reminding member nations of their duties
to fight terrorism and urging ''all
member states to prosecute and, as
appropriate, extradite,'' anyone charged
with terrorism.
Venezuela initially proposed a toughly worded
declaration that accused the U.S.
government of failing to meet its
terrorism obligations. Posada is accused
by Venezuela of masterminding a bombing
of a Cuban jetliner that killed 73
persons more than three decades ago. He
was arrested for violating U.S.
immigration laws, but the charges were
later dropped.
The United States, backed by Canada and Panama,
said the Venezuelan initiative should
not be taken up by the OAS because it
was a bilateral matter. Diplomats
negotiated the compromise text over the
weekend. |
|
CONSERVATIVES
WIN SPANISH ELECTIONS
MADRID,
SPAIN --
Spain's rival Socialists and
conservatives fought to a virtual
tie in local elections Sunday,
highlighting the deep divisions in the
country a year before national
elections. The voting was the first big
test of Socialist Prime Minister Jose
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government
since he came to power in March 2004 in
the wake of the Madrid train bombings.
The attacks, which killed 191 people,
led to the downfall of the conservatives
in power at the time.
In Sunday's election, the conservative Popular Party captured
36.63 percent of the vote, compared to
36.05 percent for Zapatero's Socialists.
The parties retained most of their
strongholds, with the conservatives
winning in Madrid and Valencia and the
Socialists capturing Seville and
Barcelona. Nevertheless, the
conservatives claimed victory and the
momentum heading into the 2008 general
elections.
"The Popular Party has won the elections," Angel Acebes, the
party's second-ranking official told
supporters. "We are the party of trust,
the party of the future." In the Basque
region and neighboring Navarra, also
home to many Basque nationalists, police
put down protests by residents angry
over court rulings that barred most of
the candidates endorsed by Batasuna, the
outlawed political wing of the armed
separatist group ETA.
|
|
TELEVISORA VENEZOLANA SOCIAL (TVES)
STARTS OPERATIONS
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --According
to original plan, at 24:00 hours,
sirens blared in multiple areas of
Caracas to protest non-renewal of a
broadcast license for private TV channel
Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV). Like a
protest staged earlier at 10:00 p.m. on
Sunday, there was also pot banging to
refuse the government action.
Sirens started as soon as the station went off the air.
Shortly after, at 12:20 a.m., Televisora
Venezolana Social (Tves) started
operations signaled by Venezuela's
National Anthem. The channel welcomed
the audience and promised to be a space
for "pluralism, diversity and freedom of
expression." Also, it claimed to be "a
channel to serve all Venezuelans." |
|
EUROPEAN
UNION WORRIED ABOUT END OF RADIO CARACAS
TELEVISION BROADCASTING
VIENNA, AUSTRIA --
The German Chair of the European Union (UE)
voiced Monday concern about the
end of broadcasting of private TV
channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV),
AFP reported. "The EU notes with
concern the decision made by the
government of the Bolivarian Republic of
Venezuela to let expire the broadcast
license for Radio Caracas Televisión on
May 27th without an invitation to tender
in order to continue," said the European
Chair in a press release published in
Berlin.
"The European Union and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
are committed to democratic values (…)
Freedom of expression and of the press
are substantial components of
democracy." "For this purpose, the
European Union expects Venezuela to
protect these rights and support
pluralism in terms of dissemination of
information," the notice added. |
|
CARACAS, VENEZUELA
RCTV
PRESIDENT, ELADIO LARES: "TOMORROW WE
WILL FIND ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE TO BE IN
VENEZUELANS' HOMES"
Eladio Lares, president of private
television channel RCTV, Sunday
said he is meeting next May 28 with the
board of directors of the TV network to
find a way to continue RCTV broadcasts.
"This has been a long, hard trauma.
Tomorrow we will have the time to sit
down to find a different alternative. It
is very hard to say good bye to our
audience, and we will make every
possible effort to remain in Venezuelan
homes."
Regarding theories as to the near future of RCTV, he replied:
"I wished a
miracle
helped this move (non-renewal of RCTV
broadcast license by the Venezuelan
government) not to come into effect. But
if this does not happen, anyway at 11:59
p.m. we are going to shut down our
broadcasting equipment. But very early
on Monday (May 28) we will be here,"
Lares told local TV news channel Globovisión.
MArcEL
GRANIER, RCTV OFFICER:
"NON-RENEWAL IS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS
AUTHORITARIANISM
Marcel Granier, CEO of holding 1BC, the
parent company of private television
station RCTV, Sunday said that
the Venezuelan government refusal to
renew the TV channel's broadcast license
means a turn towards totalitarianism. In
the last day of RCTV broadcasts on open
signal, Granier was interview by Miguel
Ángel Rodríguez, the anchor of RCTV's
morning news and opinion show La
Entrevista, on the climate facing RCTV,
which is ceasing operations after 53
years on the air, DPA reported.
Granier claimed the personnel continues to be in good mood,
and that only alter the channel ceases
operations he would start making plans
for the future. He added that RCTV case
amounts to "a turn towards
totalitarianism" in Venezuela. "When
people tomorrow compare what they had (RCTV)
and what they are given (public service
television station Tves), they will
realize this is a fraud, and they will
feel outraged." Granier added he still
hoped President Hugo Chávez to
reconsider his move. However, late
Saturday, Chávez said his decision would
be enforced regardless of the many
petitions for him to think it over.
VENEZUELA'S MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
CALLS TV CHANNELS "NOT TO ECHO"
INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION" (SIP)
STATEMENT
María Alejandra Díaz, director general
of the Social Responsibility and
Independent National Production
Division, Ministry of Communications and
Information (Minci), Sunday
warned Venezuelan television channels
"not to echo" the "calls" allegedly made
by the Inter-American Press Association
(IAPA).
"I am calling upon service providers not to echo this kind
of calls, as there is social
responsibility, and regardless of the
fact that you do not make the
statements, you are broadcasting the
opinions of a third party. If you do not
tell, 'Watch out, this is a call to
commit a crime,' then you are not acting
responsibly." "We must not forget that,
no matter if you are broadcasting live,
reporters have the social responsibility
to avoid solicitation to commit a crime,
to hatred and discrimination." |
|
CUBAN
DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO BLASTS PRESIDENT
BUSH ABOUT IRAQ WAR FUNDS
HAVANA,
CUBA --
Cuban DICTATOR Fidel Castro
lashed out at President Bush Friday,
hours after the American leader approved
legislation paying for military
operations in Iraq without setting a
timetable for troop withdrawal. In his
latest comments as he convalesces from
intestinal surgery, the 80-year-old
Cuban leader accused Bush of waging a
war that was causing conditions in the
region to deteriorate. "Just yesterday,
Bush bragged about having won the battle
over his adversaries in Congress," he
wrote in a four-page statement released
to the media. "He has $100 billion, all
the money he needs to duplicate, however
he wishes, the sending of American
troops to Iraq and continue the
slaughter."
In signing the measure Friday, Bush said it would provide a
roadmap to help the Iraqis secure their
country and strengthen their young
democracy. "Rather than mandate
arbitrary timetables for troop
withdrawals or micromanage our military
commanders, this legislation enables our
servicemen and women to follow the
judgment of commanders on the ground,"
he said.
The statement was the 12th by Castro in recent weeks, using
the forum to comment on a number of
subjects that included an attack on
U.S.-backed plans to use food crops for
biofuels. On Wednesday, Castro provided
key details about his health and
recovery, divulging he underwent not one
but several surgeries, the first of
which did not go well and has slowed his
recuperation. Castro stunned Cuba and
the world in late July, when he
announced he was seriously ill and was
temporarily stepping aside in favor of a
provisional government headed by his
brother Raul, the 75-year-old defense
minister.
|
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THE PENTAGON IS CONCERNED FOR CHINA'S
JANUARY MISSILE TEST ON SATELLITE AND
OTHER MILITARY ACTIONS
WASHINGTON,
D.C. --
China's recent
success at destroying a satellite in
low-Earth orbit is a threat to the
interests of all space-faring nations
and posed dangers to human space flight,
the
Pentagon
said Friday.
In its annual
report on
Chinese military
developments, the
Pentagon
also said the
People's Liberation Army
is building a greater capacity to launch
pre-emptive strikes. It cited as
examples
China's
acquisition of long-endurance
submarines, unmanned combat aircraft and
additional precision-guided
air-to-ground missiles.
In previewing its release, Defense
Secretary
Robert Gates
told reporters on Thursday that some of
China's new capabilities are of concern
to the
United
States
but he did not provide details.
Attempting to capture the essence of
China's strategy, the report quoted
former supreme leader Deng Xiaoping's
guidance, known as the 24-character
maxim, which says in part, "hide our
capacities and bide our time; be good at
maintaining a low profile." "It suggests
both a short-term desire to downplay
China's capabilities and avoid
confrontation, and a long-term strategy
to build up China's power to maximize
options for the future," the Pentagon
report said.
The Pentagon highlighted its concern
about Beijing's anti-satellite test in
which a missile was used to destroy one
of China's old weather satellites in
low-Earth polar orbit; the January test
was China's first. "The test put at risk
the assets of all space-faring nations
and posed dangers to human space flight
due to the creation of an unprecedented
amount of debris," the report said,
adding that this is an important
expansion of China's pursuit of weaponry
and strategies that are designed to deny
U.S. forces access to areas in Asia. The
report was presented to Congress on
Friday. |
|
VENEZUELA
SUPREME TRIBUNAL ORDERS RCTV TO HAND
OVER ITS BROADCAST INFRASTRUCTURE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Hugo Chávez government is to take
control temporally of the broadcast
equipment of private TV channel RCTV,
according to a rule by the Supreme
Tribunal of Justice (TSJ). The action is
aimed at ensuring the new TV channel
Televisora Venezolana Social -replacing
RCTV - can be watched all over the
country.
The TSJ said that the expiration of the broadcast license of
RCTV on May 27 should not translate into
a poor service. In order to allow all
the Venezuelan TV watchers to access the
service, the top court ordered the
National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel)
to take control of broadcast equipment
RCTV possesses nationwide to guarantee
that the new channel TVes has the
necessary infrastructure to cover the
same areas currently covered by RCTV.
The opposition TV channel was ordered to hand over all the
facilities and equipment including
transmission equipment and antennas, and
electric installations. The top court
also ordered the Armed Forced to guard,
monitor and control permanently the use
of installations and equipments and
guarantee their use by the new Chávez
channel. |
|
US
COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS ENDORSES
RESOLUTION ON BEHALF OF RADIO CARACAS
TELEVISION (RCTV)
WASHINGTON,
D.C. --The
US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
passed Resolution 311 advocating
freedom of expression and rebutting the
closure of private TV channel Radio
Caracas Televisión (RCTV). The
instrument is to be submitted for
unanimous approval of the whole Senate.
The resolution was introduced by
Republican Senator Richard Lugar and
Democrat Christopher Dodd. It was also
supported by Democrats Hillary Clinton,
Barack Obama, Edward Kennedy, Bill
Nelson, Joseph Biden, as well as
Republicans John McCain, Chuck Hagel,
John Sununu, Mel Martinez, Norm Coleman
and John Isakson.
The instrument expresses "the
profound concern of the Senate regarding
the transgression against freedom of
thought and expression that is being
carried out in Venezuela." "For several
months, the President of Venezuela, Hugo
Chávez, has been announcing over various
media that he will not renew the current
concession of the television station
Radio Caracas Television, also known as
RCTV, because of its adherence to an
editorial stance different from his way
of thinking," the document stated.
|
|
NORTH KOREA TEST-FIRES short-range
guided MISSiLES
SEOUL,
SOUTH KOREA --
North
Korea fired several short-range
guided missiles Friday in an apparent
test launch, South Korean officials and
media reports said. South Korea's Joint
Chiefs of Staff confirmed the launches,
but said it was still investigating how
many missiles were fired and where
exactly the tests occurred.
"The short-range missile launches are believed to be part of
a routine exercise that North Korea has
conducted annually on the east and the
west coasts in the past," the Joint
Chiefs said in a statement. Japan's
public broadcaster and other media,
citing Japanese and U.S. sources,
reported that the missiles were
surface-to-ship. Japan's Defense
Ministry and Foreign Ministry could not
immediately confirm the reports, but
were investigating.
Public broadcaster NHK said the short-range missiles were
fired on the east and west coast of the
Korean Peninsula earlier Friday.
Officials are currently investigating
further details, including the number of
missiles fired. NHK said the missiles
were shorter-range, and were not North
Korea's existing Rodong or Taepodong I
ballistic missiles. Japan's NTV network
reported that the missiles were
surface-to-ship. It was not immediately
known where they landed. |
|
VENEZUELA
GOVERNMENT LOBBIES IN MANAGUA
MANAGUA,
NICARAGUA --
The Venezuelan embassy in Nicaragua
called Thursday a rally in
Managua to back the decision made by the
government of President Hugo Chávez not
to renew a broadcast license for private
TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV).
According to a press release, the demonstration
is scheduled Sunday near the diplomatic
mission. The act is "to support the
Venezuelan state sovereign decision not
to renew a license to use the radio
spectrum by TV channel RCTV," Efe
quoted. The embassy urged Nicaraguans to
attend the event and thanked the
Nicaraguan media and international press
agencies in advance for their
participation and unpartisan coverage. |
|
PRESIDENT
IRANI MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD WARNS ISRAEL
THAT IT WILL BE DESTROYED IF LeBANO IS
ATTACKED
TEHRAN,
IRAN --
Iran's
hard-line president warned Israel
on Thursday that other nations in the
region would take action against the
Jewish state if it attacked Lebanon in
the summer. Although there has been
discussion among Israeli experts about
the possibility of another war against
the Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas,
Israeli Defense Minister
Amir Peretz
and other officials have denied plans
for such a conflict. A war between the
two sides last summer ended in a
U.N.-brokered cease-fire.
Israeli troops are in the midst of an offensive
against the Palestinian
Hamas
faction in response to rocket attacks on
Israeli border towns, arresting more
than 30 senior members of Islamic
militant group in the
West Bank
early Thursday. "If you think that by
bombing and assassinating Palestinian
leaders you are preparing ground for new
attacks on Lebanon in the summer, I am
telling you that you are seriously
wrong," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
told a rally in the city of Isfahan.
"If this year you repeat the same mistake of the last
year, the ocean of nations of the region
will get angry and will cut the root of
the Zionist regime from its stem," added
Ahmadinejad, speaking live on state
television.
|
|
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT REJECTS HUGO
CHAVEZ'S MOVE AGAINST RCTV
VIENNA,
ASUTRIA --
The
European Parliament Thursday
endorsed a resolution rebuffing the
Venezuelan government's decision not to
renew a broadcast license for private
television channel RCTV, said Juan
Carlos Caldera, a member of opposition
Primero Justicia party who is in
Strasburg, France.
Caldera told local news TV channel Globovisión that the
deputies of the European Parliament
agreed on the need to raise "the alarm"
on the situation facing Venezuela and
the implications lying behind
non-renewal of RCTV license. He
explained that the resolution was
endorsed by 66 percent of the European
parliamentarians.
Caldera said he expected Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to
reconsider "the mistake he is making,"
not only from the political standpoint,
but also from the legal and human points
of view. He stressed as highly
meaningful the fact that Europe "has
turned around to look at Venezuela," as
well as the fact that other countries
have addressed this issue too. Caldera
said the European Parliament would
forward the resolution to the Venezuelan
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
resolution was endorsed during a debate
on the right to freedom of expression
and plural information, in a plenary
session of the European Parliament. |
|
OAS UNDECIDED ON POSADA CARRILES CASE
WASHINGTON, D.C.
--
Venezuela is pushing the
Organization of American States to
condemn the United States for
Washington's alleged reluctance to
punish or extradite anti-Castro militant
Luis Posada Carriles. The Venezuelan
draft resolution drew a strong rebuke
from the United States, which argued the
34-member OAS had no business getting
involved in a bilateral problem with
Caracas.
Countries were divided over the
Venezuelan proposal. Bolivia, Nicaragua
and Ecuador -- all governed by left-wing
governments that criticize U.S.
positions -- backed the Venezuelan draft
proposal, which said the U.S. delay in
jailing or extraditing Posada could
''debilitate'' international efforts
against terrorism.
Canada and Panama supported the U.S. stance. Robert
Manzanares, the acting U.S. ambassador
to the OAS, said ''a show of hands''
could help settle the issue, but
diplomats instead decided to set up an
informal group to try and reach an
agreement on an issue that threatens to
spill over into the upcoming General
Assembly of the OAS, where foreign
ministers are to discuss renewable
energy issues. |
|
CUBAN
MIGRANTS SAID DETERIORATING CONDITIONS
ON THE ISLAND FORCED THEM TO FLEE
HAVANA,
CUBA --
Abdiel Ramos tried to leave Cuba for the
United States six times in the past six
months. On Monday, the
24-year-old from Havana finally
succeeded. He was among the 26 Cuban
migrants who walked up to the tollbooth
at the western end of the Rickenbacker
Causeway around 1:30 a.m. The group of
10 men, 10 women and six children was
the latest in a wave of Cuban migrants
-- 663 this year -- who have come ashore
in South Florida. The total for 2006 was
1,426.
This was also the third time in three weeks that Cuban
migrants landed near the Rickenbacker
Causeway. After being released later by
the U.S. Border Patrol, Ramos said
conditions in Cuba made him keep trying.
''Everyone knows things are bad since
Fidel [Castro] got sick,'' he said.
``There is no food and people are being
carted off to prison.''
Ernesto Cuesta, assistant director of Cuban/Haitians Program
of Refugee Services at the United
Conference of Catholic Bishops, said
such reunions are often emotional.
''You see the desperation in people's
faces and you see anxiety and fear, but
you also see happiness,'' he said.
``There is also some powerlessness. You
see in their faces, they've left their
homeland.''
|
|
CUBA AND VENEZUELA ACCUSED OF MEDDLING
IN COSTA RICA
SAN
JOSE, COSTA RICA --
Cuban
and Venezuelan alleged funding of groups
rejecting the Free Trade Agreement with
the United States heated the political
climate in Costa Rica, where two
of the public sector major trade union
leaders challenged both the business
sector and the US-Costa Rica Trade
Chamber to make their personal accounts
available for examination in order to
determine whether they are receiving
foreign money or not.
The letter was signed by the head of the National Association
of Public Servants (ANEP), Albino
Vargas, and the leader of the Trade
Union Association of Workers with the
Costa Rican Electricity Institute (Asdeice),
Fabio Chávez. Their proposal was
endorsed by the chair of Transparency
International, Costa Rica, Roxana
Salazar, who warned that the Supreme
Electoral Tribunal has failed to keep
foreign funds from financing campaigns
ahead of a referendum to be held next
September 23 on the Free Trade
Agreement.
Over the last few days, the advocates of the Free Trade
Agreement have launched a media campaign
suggesting that the governments of Fidel
Castro and Hugo Chávez are providing
funds for a campaign against the Free
Trade Agreement. Costa Rican trade
unions, social groups, universities,
professional associations and President
Oscar Arias' government are advocating
the trade accord. |
|
TOP COURT DISMISSES RCTV PETITION TO
AVOID CLOSURE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
In a ruling drafted by justice Evelyn
Marrero Ortiz, the
Political-Administrative Court, Supreme
Tribunal of Justice, dismissed a
petition for precautionary measures
filed by private television station RCTV.
However, the Political-Administrative
Court upheld RCTV legal action seeking
annulment of resolution 002 and official
communication 0424, both issued by the
People's Power Ministry of
Telecommunications and IT, the top court
reported on this official website.
RCTV requested the court to dictate measures to protect the
TV channel constitutional rights, as
well as precautionary measures against
resolution 002 and official
communication 0424. On Tuesday, the
Chair of TSJ, Justice Luisa Estella
Morales Lamuńo told local TV channel
Venevisión that the
Political-Administrative Court of TSJ
would solve the contentious action
regarding RCTV. The ruling this court
issued on Wednesday ratifies its
jurisdiction over this case.
According to the news release issued by TSJ, Justice Morales
reminded that RCTV submitted three
issues in one single contentious
administrative action seeking annulment
of resolution 002 and official
communication 0424 -issued by the
People's Power Ministry of
Telecommunications and IT. She added
that the three issues had to be solved,
including the petition for precautionary
measures to protect constitutional
rights and the petition for the effects
of such resolutions to be suspended. |
|
REPORTERS
WITHOUT BORDERS REGRETS HIGH COURT
DISMISSAL OF RCTV CLAIM FOR NON-RENEWAL
PARIS,
FRANCE --
Reporters without Borders (RWB)
regretted Monday that the Supreme
Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) dismissed a
claim filed by private TV channel Radio
Caracas Televisión (RCTV) against the
withdrawal by the government of its
broadcast license.
RWB recalled in a communiqué that
last May 11th, President Hugo Chávez
decreed the transfer of the RCTV license
to a new public channel, Televisora
Venezolana Social (Teves), "without
waiting for May 27th, the expiration
date, or the TSJ decision," Efe
reported.
Last Thursday, TSJ dismissed the
petition filed on February 9th by RCTV.
"Therefore, any counter debate was ruled
out," said the organization advocating
the rights of information media workers.
The channel, accused by the government
of having supported a failed coup
against Chávez in April 2002, considered
that its license was effective until
2022, instead of next May 27th, as the
government claims.
|
|
ONE HUNDRED VENEZUELAN AIR FORCE CADETS
TRAINING IN CUBA
HAVANA,
CUBA --
Some 100 Venezuelan Air Force cadets
arrived Monday in Cuba for a five-day
academic visit including hospitals and
the medicine school. "Ninety-three
second lieutenants of the Venezuelan
Military Aviation School are paying a
visit to this capital city as part of
their final academic training program,
said Cuban state news agency Prensa
Latina.
According to the source, the Venezuelan cadets visited the
Military Technical Institute José Martí
in Havana, where Cuba trains Air Force
officers and experts in anti-aircraft
artillery. This is the second time
Venezuelan military officials visit Cuba
over the last three months. Some 250
officers and cadets of the Venezuelan
Higher School of Higher Studies on War
visited Cuba in mid-February "to
exchange |
|
COSTA RICA AND VENEZUELA YET TO OKAY
AMBASSADORS
SAN JOSE, COSTA
RICA -- THE appointment
of Nora Uribe -who headed the
Venezuelan diplomatic delegation in
Costa Rica- as new Ambassador to
Paraguay became official last May 18,
three months after it was announced. The
candidate to replace Uribe in Costa
Rica, José Huertas, who worked at the
Venezuelan Embassy to Paraguay, has not
been okayed by Costa Rica, according to
reports published last Sunday by Costa
Rica-based newspaper La Nación. The
reasons why Huertas has been denied
approval are the sexual harassment
charges brought against him in Paraguay.
"But there is yet another political motivation even more
sensitive: the role he supposedly has in
boosting the likely presidential
candidacy in Paraguay of populist bishop
Fernando Lugo, a potential ally of
(Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez," the
report claimed.
La Nación added that Caracas has refused to okay the
designation of the new Costa Rican
Ambassador Clara Montero, and therefore
Walter Hernández continued to head this
delegation. In Costa Rica, fears about
an activist ambassador come along with
concerns about the alleged links between
the Venezuelan Government and extreme
leftist groups. Also on May 18,
Venezuela officially designated
Vice-admiral Armando Laguna Laguna as
the new Ambassador to Peru. |
|
CUBAN
BALSEROS LAND ON KEY BISCAYNE
MIAMI,
FLORIDA --
Twenty-six Cuban migrants arrived
about 1:30 a.m. Monday near the
Rickenbacker Causeway in Key Biscayne. Miami
police initially responded, and the
Border Patrol then got involved. The
group of migrants -- 10 men, 10 women
and six children -- ran toward toll
booth workers after arriving on shore
and requested help. Authorities did not
find a boat.
The group of migrants was later
taken to an immigration processing
center in Broward County. They have
since been released. This is the third
time in three weeks that Cuban migrants
reached shore near the Rickenbacker
Causeway.uela".
|
|
JOURNALISTS GO TO OAS, ASK FOR FREEDOM
OF EXPRESSION
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
A delegation of information media
workers who organized a march
including "the largest placard in Latin
America," appeared Monday at the local
chapter of the Organization of American
States (OAS) based in Caracas. There,
they submitted a paper including remarks
on respect to the right of freedom of
expression and against the closure of TV
private network Radio Caracas Televisión
(RCTV).
Isnardo Bravo, a journalist working with
RCTV and member of the delegation,
briefed on a short meeting held with the
OAS representative. "The document was
served and received by Salvador Rodezno,
the OAS General Secretariat
representative in Venezuela. We had a
very quick talk. He met us with due
respect and apologized for not holding a
formal meeting because the OAS could not
take sides."
"We feel that the talk bore fruit. He will forward this
document immediately on the Internet to
the OAS Secretary General Assistant."
Bravo thanked Venezuelan journalists and
the people involved in planning the
event. "It was a lovely walk that became
a march including that placard in 10
languages for the entire world to learn
about what is going on in Venezuela." |
|
FORMER VICE PRESIDENT RANGEL ACCUSES
COLOMBIA OF AMBUSHING VENEZUELA
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Venezuelan former Executive
Vice-President José Vicente Rangel
assured that "an operation has
been exposed" which was aimed at
igniting "destabilizing actions (against
Venezuela) and allegedly involved
Colombian Minister of Defense Juan
Manuel Santos." In his weekly television
show, on Sunday Rangel explained that
the operation was supposedly intended to
penetrate Venezuela with "Colombian
military members of elite units,
including snipers to murder government
and opposition leaders."
Rangel also reported that "the players of the Colombian narco-politics
and the US government, as part of their
smear campaign against President Hugo
Chávez," are planning an "ambush" on
Venezuela.
He explained that such plans would be implemented by
introducing "Colombian drug lord Wilmer
Varela, aka Jabón (Soap), boss of Valle
del Norte drug cartel," who would
subsequently be arrested by Colombian
agents in "an operation similar to that
launched to arrest Rodrigo Granda." "Jabón
would then tell the media and Colombian
authorities that he was a protégé of the
Venezuelan authorities and attempts
would be made at involving President
Hugo Chávez and other officials, thus
igniting an international scandal,"
Rangel claimed. |
|
TWO HISTORIC
DAYS THAT WE ALL SHOULD REMEMBER
IT ALL HAPPENED ON MAY 18 AND 20, 2002,
EXACTLY FIVE YEARS AGO, AT THE WHITE
HOUSE, WASHINGTON, D.C., AND
THE
Miami
downtown James L. Knight Center
AT LAST, A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES CALLS FIDEL CASTRO "DICTATOR" AND
"TYRANT"
MIAMI, FLORIDA,
May 20, 2002 (In
the Afternoon)
--
Decrying Fidel Castro as a dictator who
hijacked Cuba's democracy, President
George W. Bush pledged Monday to hold
fast to a hard-line anti-Castro policy
in Washington, D.C., y Miami. “We are
here today to declare loudly to the
whole world -- todos -- that the Cuban
people's love of liberty cannot be
denied," the president said at the Miami
downtown James L. Knight Center,
bringing virtually all 4,000 people to
their feet at least a dozen times during
the 31-minute speech.
''Nearly a half-century ago, Cuba's
independence and the hopes for democracy
were hijacked by a brutal dictator who
cares everything for his own power and
nada for the Cuban people,'' Bush told
the crowd. All they have now, he said,
is ``isolation and misery.'' Bush closed
with a reference to a José Martí poem,
The White Rose: “Every day we cultivate
una rosa blanca for Cuba's freedom. Viva
Cuba Libre!'"
''Libertad!, Libertad!'' the crowd
chanted in reply, using the Spanish for
Freedom, Freedom. Later came the mantra
of exile: ńCuba sí, Castro no." The
president promised no end to economic
sanctions before Cuba moves toward
democracy and demanded that Cuba free
its political prisoners and permit labor
groups to organize. He also said he
would not lift restrictions on U.S.
citizen travel to Cuba until after
far-reaching changes on the island.
|
|
PRESIDENT BUSH SETS TOUGH CONDITIONS TO
THE CUBAN TYRANT
MIAMI,
FLORIDA, May 20, 2002
(In
the Morning)
--
President Bush set tough conditions
today for easing a trade embargo of
Cuba, saying his administration will do
so only if Cuba's ''tyrant'' moves to
hold free and fair elections and adopts
market reforms. ''Meaningful reform on
Cuba's part will be answered with a
meaningful American response,'' Bush
said in a White House speech laying out
his views on Cuba.
The President insisted that his
administration will not budge on lifting
a four-decade-old embargo unless Cuban
dictator Fidel Castro allows a political
opposition to emerge, frees political
prisoners, improves human rights
conditions and allows outside monitors
in to observe 2003 elections. ''All
elections in Castro's Cuba have been a
fraud,'' Bush said in the 20-minute
speech before several hundred prominent
Cuban Americans, diplomats and
legislators in the East Room of the
White House.
President Bush used stronger language in
describing the Castro regime than any
U.S. president in more than a decade,
receiving vigorous applause. While
Cuba's independence 100 years ago
brought visionaries to the fore, Bush
said, “that legacy of courage has been
insulted by a tyrant who uses brutal
methods to enforce a bankrupt vision."
“That legacy has been debased by a relic
from another era, who turned a beautiful
island into a prison.
TODAY, as WE COMMEMORATE CUBAN
INDEPENDENCE DAY, THE CUBAN EXILE
COMMUNITY, THE CUBAN PEOPLE AND THE
WHOLE WORLD ARE STILL AWAITING FOR THE
RESULTS OF THOSE VIBRANT AND INSPIRING
SPEECHES MADE BY GEORGE W. BUSH, THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, FIVE
YEARS AGO. |
|
PRESIDENT BUSH TO UNVEIL HIS NEW CUBA
POLICY
WASHINGTON,
D.C. May 18, 2002 --
President George W. Bush on Monday (May
20, 2002) will unveil findings of a
five-month review of ways to promote
democracy in the communist state,
officials said. The White House in
January ordered a full review of the
tools the U.S. government is using to
achieve its policy goals in Cuba, which
it defined as promoting democracy and a
free-market economy. Bush is expected to
announce some new steps aimed at
increasing pressure on Cuban dictator
Fidel Castro. Officials said Bush would
unveil "conclusions and results" of the
review, although it was unclear whether
the complete review would be released.
President Bush is to speak on Cuba at
the White House on Monday morning and
later in Miami at a Cuban Independence
Day celebration. The administration has
turned up its rhetorical heat against
Castro in recent weeks, accusing Cuba of
developing biological weapons.
Administration officials said final decisions on the speech had not yet
been made, but Bush was likely to
announce specific steps, possibly
including revised travel restrictions,
more aid to dissidents and more
government broadcasts to Cuba. Potential
revisions of travel rules could include
tougher enforcement against Americans
traveling to Cuba while making it easier
for Cuban Americans to visit the island.
"There will be some new measures. ...
It's going to be
consistent with his (Bush's) view of
Cuba and Fidel Castro," a senior
official said. |
|
COSTA
RICA GOVERNMENT NOT TO ACCEPT venezuelan
PRESSURE IN ex-GENERAL NÉSTOR GONZÁLEZ's
case
SAN
JOSÉ, COSTA RICA --
Costa
Rican Minister of Public Security
Fernando Berrocal said Thursday
that he is not ready to give in to
pressure in order to grant or deny a
request from Venezuelan ex General
Néstor González, wanted by the
Venezuelan justice. "In the case of
those Venezuelans, this government will
resolve in a sovereign manner, upon the
terms we deem proper. And this is Costa
Rica's tradition," Berrocal told radio
station Monumental.
Berrocal denied also that González, who entered Costa Rica
six months ago and then sought refuge,
was the target any international bench
warrant at that time, AFP reported.
Another two military officers wanted in
Venezuela, Enrique Medina Gómez and
Henry López Cisco, are presently in
Costa Rica. |
|
FORMER VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CARLOS
ANDRÉS PÉREZ SAID THE ONLY FOREIGN
PRESSURE WILL PREVENT CLOSURE OF RCTV
MIAMI,
FLORIDA --
"Only international pressures will
prevent Hugo Chávez from slapping
again seriously undermined freedom of
expression in Venezuela (...) Only the
determined condemnation from community
parliaments, such as that of the
European Union, and parliaments in
neighbor countries, or precautionary
measures issued by the Inter-American
system, will force him to reconsider his
stance." These remarks were made from
Miami by former Venezuelan President
Carlos Andrés Pérez on the Venezuelan
Government's move to close down private
television station RCTV next May 27.
He added this decision is a clear attempt "to hide
other violations as serious as this one,
such as the draft constitutional reform,
the suppression of independent trade
unions and forceful implementation of
one single political party." Pérez
claimed Chávez has actually instructed
the "submissive" Supreme Tribunal of
Justice in this regard. "If
international pressure builds up against
the attempted closure of RCTV, the top
justices are to discontinue the move
temporarily, and the despot will be able
to pose as a democrat. But if he deems
international rejection is not strong
enough, then the top court shall execute
his orders to close RCTV." |
|
ONE-KILOMETER PLACARD FOR FREEDOM OF
EXPRESSION WILL BE DISPLAYED IN CARACAS
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
During an event called "Journalist
united for freedom" to be held
next Monday 21st in Caracas, a
substantial group of reporters and
ordinary people committed to freedom of
thought and expression plans to display
"the largest placard in Latin America."
A one-kilometer placard will be
exhibited in defense of fundamental
rights as private TV channel Radio
Caracas Televisión (RCTV) is at risk of
being taken off the air due to the
government decision not to renew a
broadcast license.
Over 400 people will hoist the placard which will be taken
from Parque Cristal in Avenue Francisco
de Miranda, to the diplomatic
headquarters of the European Union (EU)
and the Organization of American States
(OAS), southeastern Caracas. Journalists
intend to bring a message to Venezuela
and the world, and noted that they are
not the only ones whose rights are
endangered by restricted freedom of
expression, but all Venezuelans. |
EUROPEAN CONGRESSMENT INVITED AS
OBSERVERS IN MARCH FOR RCTV IN CARACAS
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Antonio Ledezma, acting as
representative of opposition Comando
Nacional de la Resistencia (National
Resistance Command), urged European
parliamentarians on visit to Venezuela
to watch a demonstration next Saturday
on behalf of private TV channel Radio
Caracas Televisión (RCTV). "This is for
them to witness our characteristic civic
nature," he explained.
Ledezma informed that he met Thursday with the foreign
officials. The meeting, initially
scheduled for 20 minutes, lasted 40
minutes. "Not only was the issue of
Radio Caracas Televisión discussed, but
also the case of political prisoners."
He noted that he spoke loud and clear
and expected "preventive, instead of
post-mortem" solidarity. "We do not
wander around such tricks about some
shortage, under-deficit or surplus.
There is the need to be transparent
here. In Venezuela, we are lacking
democratic principles." |
|
21 ST
CENTURY SOCIALISM IS A POVERTY
MANUFACTURER, SAYS A VENEZUELA
OPPOSITION LEADER
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
"The 21st century socialism is
nothing else but full dictatorship in
disguise," said Luis Ignacio Planas,
secretary-general of opposition Copei
party, during an event introducing
democratic proposals. "The 21st century
socialism is not the right way, but a
poverty factory."
As far as the leader is concerned, this political modality
means "backwardness in the country,
violation of private property,
destruction of productive businesses and
nationalization of some others, in
addition to chasing of the opposition
political leadership."
In his view, the current system stands for "censorship, abuse
of freedom of expression and absence of
the people's right to be informed." "We
are here to introduce a democratic
alternative, a central, humanist and
reformist blueprint," he claimed. |
|
CUBA SEES POPULATION DECLINE IN 2006
HAVANA,
CUBA --
Cuba's population fell in 2006 for the
first time in 25 years, dropping
by about 4,300 inhabitants, state media
reported Wednesday. Child births fell
14 percent, to just more than 111,000
last year from about 129,700 in 2005,
the Communist Party newspaper Granma
quoted Juan Carlos Alfonso, director of
the Center for Populations Studies and
Development, as saying. Alfonso's center
is part of the island's National Office
of Statistics.
The reason for the sharp decline was not given, although
Alfonso said Cuba's over-60 population
has grown, a fact that could contribute
to declining births.
The article said 2006 marked the first population decline in
a quarter century but did not specify
the exact year of the last drop. It did
not give Cuba's total population for
last year or 2005. The CIA World Fact
Book 2007 estimates it is nearly 11.4
million. Granma reported that the
average size of Cuban families is three
people, presumably couples with just one
child. |
|
PRODUCTION DOWN 12% IN CUBA'S TOP
TOBACCO REGION
HAVANA,
CUBA --
The tobacco harvest fell 12 percent
this year compared to 2006 in Cuba's
main cigar-producing province, and
officials plan to trim the number of
workers dedicated to production in the
region, state media reported Wednesday.
Exact figures on the harvest in Pinar
del Rio province were not given, but the
Communist Party newspaper Granma put the
year-to-year decline at 12 percent. It
said that heavy rainfall made it
possible to harvest the leaves of just
47,880 acres instead of the planned
53,090 acres.
Government officials also told the newspaper they planned to
reduce the more than 11,700 workers
involved in tobacco harvests, but they
did not say by how much. Pinar del Rio
in westernmost Cuba is the island's top
producer of premium cigar tobacco. |
|
CONCERNS
IN BOLIVIA ABOUT PDVSA OPERATIONS
LA PAZ, BOLIVIA --
opposition activists in Bolivia
showed concern at the envisaged
disembark of Venezuelan state oil giant
Pdvsa, claiming it runs counter the laws
governing bidding processes and
contracting, AFP reported. According to
parliamentarian Wilmer Cardozo, Pdvsa
"lacks expertise in connection with
hydrocarbons because (Brazilian state
company) Petrobras and all of the
corporations operating in Bolivia
operate in Venezuela too."
He rejected non-disclosure of the types of
agreements Bolivia plans to enter into
with Pdvsa, whether they are operation,
partnership or shared production
agreements. Bolivia is implementing an
oil exploration and production plan
where state firm YPFB could cement a
partnership with Pdvsa. |
|
EUROPEAN POPULAR PARTY DELEGATION
ARRIVES IN CARACAS TO ASSESS HUGO
CHAVEZ'S DECISION ON RCTV
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA -- Four
European parliamentarians for
conservative European People's Party (EPP)
arrived in Venezuela to assess
President Hugo Chávez' Government
decision not to renew the broadcast
license for private television station
RCTV. The group is headed by Spanish
deputy Fernando Fernández,
vice-president of the European
Parliament Delegation for relations with
the countries of the Andean Community.
The delegation visiting Caracas also
comprises Portuguese José Ribeiro Castro
and Segio Marques, and British Daniel
Hannan, EPP sources revealed.
The visit is intended to "gather further information on
the facts," and collect the opinions
both from government officials and
opposition leaders, the sources added.
There is not a final agenda set for the
group's visit -which is scheduled to end
on May 18. However, the EPP delegates
have requested meetings with
Vice-President Jorge Rodríguez, Minister
of Telecommunications Jesse Chacón and
judiciary officials.
Also, they expect holding talks with former opposition
presidential candidate Manuel Rosales,
and opposition leaders Julio Borges and
Teodoro Petkoff. The European
parliamentarians are also meeting with
former minister Carlos Genatio, Cardinal
Jorge Urosa, European diplomats and
representatives of the European
Commission in Caracas. |
|
POVERTY RATE IN VENEZUELA AT 30.4
PERCENT
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Official figures show that in the second
half of 2006, 30.4 percent of
Venezuelans lived in poverty,
i.e. they lacked enough revenues to
afford the basic basket of food and
services, yet it represents a decline
compared to 54 percent in 2003. Elías
Eljuri, head of the official National
Statistics Institute (INE), told
official television station VTV that
only 9.1 percent of Venezuelans live
under the poverty line, i.e. their
revenues cannot afford the food basket.
In 2003, the extreme poverty rate was
25.1 percent.
When comparing the figures recorded in 2006 and those at the
beginning of President Hugo Chávez'
government back in 1999, the poverty
rate has dropped 12.4 percentage points,
while extreme poverty fell 7.5
percentage points. One of the factors
helping alleviate poverty is improved
household economic situation. According
to INE, average household revenues
jumped 34.7 percent ending 2006. |
|
REVEREND
JERRY FALWELL, FAMED TELEVANGELIST, DIES
AT AGE 73
LYNNCHBURG, VIRGINIA --
THe Rev.
Jerry Falwell,
the television evangelist who founded
the Moral Majority and used it to mold
the religious right into a political
force, died Tuesday shortly after being
found unconscious in his office at
Liberty University. He was 73. Ron
Godwin, the university's executive vice
president, said Falwell was found
unresponsive late Tuesday morning and
taken to Lynchburg General Hospital,
where he was pronounced dead about an
hour later.
"I had breakfast with him, and he
was fine at breakfast," Godwin said. "He
went to his office, I went to mine, and
they found him unresponsive." Dr. Carl
Moore, Falwell 's physician, said the
evangelist had a heart rhythm
abnormality. He said Falwell was found
without a pulse and never regained
consciousness.
Falwell had survived two serious
health scares in early 2005. He was
hospitalized for two weeks with what was
described as a viral infection, then was
hospitalized again a few weeks later
after going into respiratory arrest.
Later that year, doctors found a 70
percent blockage in an artery, which
they opened with stents. "Jerry has been
a tower of strength on many of the moral
issues which have confronted our
nation," fellow evangelist
Pat Robertson
said Tuesday. |
|
DEMONSTRATORS ASK TOP COURT TO SPEED UP
RULING ON RCTV
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA -- Dozens
of journalists demonstrated
Monday outside the Supreme Tribunal of
Justice (TSJ) asking the top court to
speed up its ruling on the legal actions
filed by private television station RCTV.
Reporters and demonstrators supporting
RCTV -a 53-year-old private TV network
based in Caracas whose broadcast license
for which President Hugo Chávez'
Government has refused to renew- staged
a manifestation including music and
slogans advocating freedom of
expression.
Outstanding media representatives, RCTV workers and former
workers said they would continue to
stage street demonstrations to avoid
closure of the TV channel.
Demonstrators submitted to Supreme
Tribunal of Justice president Luisa
Estela Morales a paper asking to speed
up the decision on the petitions made on
behalf of RCTV and administer justice in
due time. At the same time, lawyer Oscar
Arnal, the attorney of NGO Cambio
Democrático, made an appeal in defense
of the right of the Venezuelan audience
to timely information and freedom of
expression. |
|
ANNOUNCED NATIONALIZATION OF OIL RIGS
CAUSES FEAR IN VENEZUELA
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Oil rig providers in Venezuela
and some industry experts showed concern
Monday following the announcement
Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael
Rodríguez made that Venezuela intends to
nationalize oil exploration rigs. In an
interview with local newspaper Panorama,
Ramírez -also the CEO of state-run oil
holding Pdvsa- said Pdvsa owned 18 rigs
"that in the past were handed over to
control of multinationals. These
companies demand huge amounts of money
for use of this machinery. We have
decided to nationalize this equipment to
put them under state control."
He added that Pdvsa intends to "put an end with the
traditional scheme of rig contracting."
Reference was made to the fact that each
one of Pdvsa affiliates enters into
agreements individually, which swells
costs and makes the firm's operational
logistics more complex. Schlumberger
-which participates in the so-called
Prisa Project in Lake Maracaibo,
northwestern Venezuela- is the single
largest oil rig firm operating in
Venezuela. However, there are Venezuelan
firms operating in this sector too.
Most Venezuelan oil rigs companies have entered into service
agreements with Pdvsa, and therefore the
announced "nationalization" lacks any
sense for many. Over the last few
months, Ramírez has stressed that Pdvsa
needs to play an active role in oil rig
activities, and claimed they are
organizing the revelant subsidiary,
called Pdvsa Services. Therefore, from
Ramírez' statements it can be assumed
that rather than nationalization Pdvsa
intends to implement a migration from
old service agreements to joint ventures
with Pdvsa where the Venezuelan State
would hold a majority stake. |
|
CUBA'S
BAN ON CAR PARTS, VIDEO EQUIPMENT LIFTED
HAVANA, CUBA
--
Cuban citizens will soon be able
to import a broad range of goods --
including VCR and DVD players and power
generators -- for personal use under
recent government decisions overturning
longtime bans on such imports. The
government has not explained why it
changed its mind. Until now, it tightly
controlled such imports and sold them
only rarely in its own stores at heavily
marked up prices.
The new regulations will allow Cuban
citizens to import the goods through
travelers going to the island or direct
shipments from abroad. The list of
products and accessories now allowed
includes entire car bodies and engines,
motorcycle parts, power-generating
plants and ``accessories, parts and
pieces of image-reproduction
equipment.''
A May 1 decree by the Ministry of Finances and Prices
allowed the noncommercial importation of
video equipment of all types. Two
resolutions approved in April by the
General Customs agency, which will take
effect June 1, allow the importation of
the other goods. There is one catch for
those wishing to import car parts: The
importers must submit an application
underwritten by some organization; the
vehicle being fixed must be officially
registered; and each importer will be
allowed one transaction every five
years. No such restrictions were placed
on the importation of the video
equipment. |
|
U.S.
CONCERNED ABOUT WEAPONS PURCHASE BY HUGO
CHAVEZ
GUARATINGUETA, BRAZIL --
Admiral James Stavridis, the
commander of US Southern Command,
reasserted his country's concerns about
Hugo Chavez's weapon purchases.
"Regarding huge purchases of weapons,
the country I am concerned about is
Venezuela, where the Government bought
modern airplanes and new choppers, and
agreed to buy 100,000 automatic rifles,"
the US officer told Brazilian newspaper
O Dia, as quoted by Efe.
"I find it hard to see where is the threat for
Venezuela (to justify such purchases),"
said the admiral, who met in Brazil with
Minister of Defense Waldir Pires. The US
Commander, however, said the hoped talks
with Venezuela would help clarify some
questions. |
|
FORMER
VICE PRESIDENT RANGEL READY TO RESPECT
LIKELY RULING FAVORING RCTV
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA -- Former
Venezuelan Vice-President José Vicente
Rangel on Sunday said any ruling the
Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) may
issue banning discontinuance of
53-year-old television station RCTV
operations should be respected, as it
would be a decision made by an
autonomous body of the Venezuelan State.
Rangel, who hosts weekly TV show José Vicente Hoy,
claimed, however that following the
Venezuelan Government move not to renew
the broadcasting license for RCTV, the
so-called Granier Doctrine has emerged,
"under which the Chairman of Empresas
1BC (the holding owning RCTV) is making
statements running counter the rule of
law, as he is trying to attach to the
private sector the capacity the
Venezuelan State has to grant operation
licenses to broadcasting media." |
|
GOVERNMENT CREATES STATE TV STATION TO
REPLACE RCTV
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
A
foundation governing state Venezuelan
Social Television Station (Teves)
-which is to replace private TV channel
RCTV- has been organized, as stated in a
presidential decree published in the
Official Gazette on Monday. The new
television station will be attached to
the Ministry of Communication and
Information, as provided for under the
presidential decree, with its
headquarters located in Caracas. Teves
will be authorized to operate nationwide
and abroad.
The new Teves Foundation is to
manage the broadcast license for
operation in open VHF signal formerly
granted to channel 2 (RCTV) -the license
of which expires next May 27. The
foundation will structure and design
Teves programming.
Teves Foundation will not be in charge
of producing or generating contents or
audiovisual material.
The foundation's capital stock
will be entirely contributed by the
Venezuelan State, but the amount was not
mentioned in the decree. The board of
directors of Teves Foundation will
comprise seven members appointed by the
Ministry of Communication and
Information. |
|
POPE
BENEDICT XVI: GOD WILL PUNISH DRUG
DEALERS
GUARATINGUETA, BRAZIL --
Drug traffickers will face divine
justice for the scourge of illegal
narcotics across Latin America, Pope
Benedict XVI warned Saturday, telling
dealers that "human dignity cannot be
trampled upon in this way." Brazil and
the rest of the region face dangerously
high rates of drug abuse and traffickers
must "reflect on the grave harm they are
inflicting on countless young people and
on adults from every level of society,"
Benedict said.
"God will call you to account for your
deeds," he said before a cheering crowd
of 6,000 on a sprawling lawn outside the
"Fazenda da Esperanca," or "Farm of
Hope," a drug treatment center founded
by a Franciscan friar. Brazil is the
world's second-largest consumer of
cocaine, after the United States,
according to the State Department, and
big cities across Latin America's
largest nation are plagued with drug
violence.
While surveys show cocaine use has
been relatively stable in Brazil for
years, drug-related violence is a huge
problem, driven by gangs that control
street-corner dealing and the
transshipment of drugs to Europe and the
United States from elsewhere in South
America. Benedict on Friday lamented
"difficult times for the church" in
Brazil amid "aggressive proselytizing"
by born-again Protestant congregations. |
|
TOP
TALIBAN COMMANDER KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN
KANDAHAR,
AFGHANISTAN --
The Taliban's most prominent military
commander, a one-legged fighter
who orchestrated an ethnic massacre and
a rash of beheadings, was killed in a
U.S.-led military operation in southern
Afghanistan, officials said Sunday.
Mullah Dadullah,
a top lieutenant of Taliban leader
Mullah Omar,
was killed Saturday in the southern
province of Helmand, said Said Ansari,
the spokesman for Afghanistan's
intelligence service. NATO confirmed his
death, calling it "a serious blow" to
the insurgency.
Dadullah is one of the highest-ranking
Taliban
leaders killed since the fall of the
hard-line regime following the U.S.-led
invasion in 2001. His death represents a
major victory for the Afghan government
and the international coalition that has
struggled to contain a Taliban-led
insurgency wracking the south and east
of the country.
"Mullah Dadullah was the backbone of the
Taliban," said Asadullah Khalid,
governor of the former Taliban
stronghold of Kandahar. "He was a brutal
and cruel commander who killed and
beheaded Afghan civilians." Khalid
showed Dadullah's body to reporters at a
news conference in the governor's
compound. An Associated Press reporter
said the body, lying on a bed and
dressed in a traditional Afghan robe,
had no left leg and three bullet wounds:
one to the back of the head and two to
the stomach. |
|
CUBA'S
RAUL CASTRO, BUT NOT FIDEL, MEETS WITH
CHINESE DEFENSE MINISTER
HAVANA, CUBA
--
Raul Castro but not his older brother
Fidel, met with China's defense
minister to discuss relations between
the two communist-run countries. State
media reported Saturday that Raul Castro
and Cao Gangchuan spoke about the
"fraternal and friendly climate that
characterizes the close existing
relationship between both parties,
governments, people and armed forces."
But there was no sign of Fidel Castro at the Friday meeting.
The elder Castro has signed a series of
recent editorials in the Communist Party
newspaper Granma and met April 20 with
Raul and Wu Guanzheng, a member of the
Chinese Communist Party's Politiburo,
sparking speculation he would attend the
meeting with the Chinese defense
minister.
Trade between the Cuba and China has burgeoned in
recent years, doubling from 2005 to
US$1.8 billion (euro1.3 billion) last
year, according to Chinese officials.
Chinese exports of buses, locomotives,
farm equipment and consumer goods helped
account for the increase. Beijing has
also extended generous loans to the
island. |
|
US
ATTORNEY GENERAL, ALBERTO GONZALEZ, NOT
TOO PLEASED WITH POSADA CARRILES'
RELEASE
WASHINGTON, D.C. --
Alberto Gonzales, the US Attorney
General, expressed Thursday disagreement
with the recent ruling by a federal
judge to dismiss the charges against
anti-Castro activist Luis Posada
Carriles, AFP reported. "We are aware of
the judge's decision. Obviously, we take
issue with it," the Attorney General
explained during a hearing at the US
Congress, when queried by Democrat
Representative Bill Delahunt about the
release last Wednesday of the activist
regarded as terrorist.
"Could I say that, with due respect, I disagree with the
judge?," he said after the
Representative read out the ruling
issued by federal judge Kathleen Cardone
of El Paso, Texas, and her rough
criticism of the Attorney General. "In
addition to fraud, deception and tricks,
this court considers that the government
tactics are as shocking and outrageous
that they violate the universal meaning
of justice," the judge said. |
|
SIEGE
ENDS AT RUSSIAN EMBASSY IN COSTA RICA
SAN
JOSE, COSTA RICA --
A
20-year-old Kazakhstan native
turned himself over to police Friday,
ending a three-hour standoff and safely
releasing a man he had been holding at
the Russian Embassy in Costa Rica,
authorities said. Roman Bogdanyants
covered his face as he was escorted by
police from the building, followed by a
Russian man that police spokesman
Francisco Ruiz identified as a former
hostage.
Officials originally reported an armed
man had seized eight hostages, quickly
releasing five. But Russian Ambassador
Valery Nikolayenko told Channel 7
Telenoticias in a phone interview during
the standoff that he and three other
officials had remained in the building
to help negotiate a peaceful end to the
situation. Immigration spokeswoman Heidi
Bonilla told The Associated Press that
Bogdanyants arrived in Costa Rica in
2005. Police earlier had described him
as an Uzbek.
A family friend, Artur Mitiniani, told
Channel 7 that the family had lost
$54,000 because of problems with a
Russian citizen whom Bogdanyants met at
the embassy.
In July 2004, a Costa Rican security
guard took several hostages at the
Chilean Embassy where he worked in San
Jose, eventually killing himself and
three embassy employees. The guard,
Orlando Jimenez, 54, was upset about a
pending |
|
AN ARMED
UZBEK MAN SEIZES RUSSIAN ENVOY IN COSTA
RICA
SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA --
An armed Uzbek man took Russia's
ambassador and seven other people
hostage Friday at the Russian Embassy in
Costa Rica, police said.
Security forces quickly surrounded the
building in San Jose, the capital,
police spokesman Francisco Ruiz told The
Associated Press. Authorities were
trying to negotiate with the gunman.
Ruiz said the man, between 17 and 20
years old from Uzbekistan, entered the
embassy with his mother and took
Ambassador Valery Nikolayenko and four
other men and three women hostage. The
Costa Rica TV network, Telenoticias,
reported that the man and his family
have lived in Costa Rica for about a
year. |
|
IRAQ VOTE
MEETS PRESIDENT BUSH HALFWAY
WASHINGTON,
D.C. --
In a bid to pressure Iraq's government
and President Bush, the House of
Representatives voted Thursday to
release only about half the $96 billion
that Bush requested for the armed forces
through September, holding back the rest
unless Iraq meets goals by mid-July for
a fair political system and an end to
factional violence.
The measure passed the House by 221-205,
with most Republicans voting against it.
It does not have enough support to clear
the Senate, and even if it did, Bush
vowed Thursday to veto it. The real
point of the measure is that it frames
the House's bargaining position for the
final war-funding bill, which must be
worked out with the Senate and the White
House. All sides hope to reach agreement
on final terms by Memorial Day.
Earlier Thursday, the House rejected by 255-177 a bill
calling for troop withdrawal from Iraq
in nine months. The Democratic-led House
and Senate disagree on just how to
structure the war-funding bill, but
agree on common principles of supporting
the troops, strengthening the armed
forces and holding the Iraqi government
accountable, said House Speaker Nancy
Pelosi, D-Calif. ''With no consequences
[for failure to meet current benchmarks
of progress] we see what the Iraqi
government is doing: absolutely
nothing,'' she said. |
|
MIRIAM
LEIVA: "DAILY LIFE IN CUBA IS REALLY
VERY HARD"
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
--
Miriam
Leiva did not set out to become a
Cuban dissident.. She was a senior
official at the Foreign Ministry and in
the 1990s was asked to choose: her job
or her husband, critical economist Oscar
Espinosa Chepe. She chose her marriage.
''My life changed completely. I used to
travel and work very hard,'' she said.
Afterward, ``I had to stay in my little
apartment with almost nothing to do.
People are afraid to get in touch with
me, so I lost a lot of friends.''
Now an independent journalist, Leiva catapulted into the the
dissident movement when her husband was
among those arrested in a 2003 crackdown
and she helped found Ladies in White, a
group of female relatives of jailed
dissidents pushing for release.
When Fidel Castro got sick, many Cubans were expecting
change. Yet the grind continues, she
said. ''Daily life in Cuba is really
very hard,'' she said. ``Cuban people
used to be very happy, always laughing
or joking or singing, and that has been
lost. You see the faces tense, and
people who are not so old look old.''
``It's true that in Cuba education and
public health are free, but, you know,
the price you have to pay for that is so
high.'' |
|
LUIS
POSADA CARRILES NO SERÁ DETENIDO POR EL
SERVICIO DE INMIGRACIÓN, se espera
llegue a miami el viernes
MIAMI, FLORIDA --
Las autoridades estadounidenses
dijeron ayer que la liberación de Luis
Posada Carriles podría modificar las
reglas impuestas al militante
anticastrista para su permanencia en
Miami. La declaración del departamento
de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas
(ICE) --la rama gubernamental que lo
mantiene aún bajo supervisión-- recordó
las obligaciones de Posada como
individuo sujeto a una orden final de
deportación, pero despejó, tácitamente,
la interrogante sobre una eventual orden
de retención.
Los agentes del ICE en El Paso no detuvieron a Posada, de 79
ańos, quien deberá llegar a Miami el
próximo viernes, según dijeron sus
abogados. ''Basándonos en la orden de
supervisión emitida previamente, Posada
tendrá que comparecer ante la Oficina de
Deportación del ICE en Miami tan pronto
retorne aquí'', manifestó Bárbara
González, portavoz de esa agencia
federal. En un comunicado, la
funcionaria explicó que ''el ICE podría
introducir modificaciones a la orden de
supervisión debido al cambio de
circunstancias'' en el caso.
El Departamento de Justicia no ha determinado aún el próximo
paso. ''Estamos en desacuerdo con la
decisión judicial y continuamos
evaluando nuestras opciones en el caso'',
dijo Dean Boyd, vocero de esa
dependencia gubernamental. ''Estamos
cautelosos, porque la investigación
continúa y mis clientes pudieran ser
llamados a declarar'', expresó anoche el
abogado Gilberto García, quien
representa a cinco exiliados cubanos
implicados en la pesquisa del gran
jurado de Nueva Jersey. |
|
DEPARTAMENTO DEL TESORO INVESTIGA A
MICHAEL MOORE POR SU VIAJE A CUBA
LOS
ANGELES, CALIFORNIA --
El cineasta ganador de un premio Oscar
Michael Moore es investigado por
el Departamento del Tesoro de Estados
Unidos por trasladar a Cuba a
rescatistas del 11 de septiembre
enfermos para un segmento de su próximo
documental sobre salud, "Sicko". La
investigación surge como otra
contenciosa introducción para un
provocador filme de Moore, crítico feroz
del presidente George W. Bush. En el
pasado, los adversarios del cineasta
avivaron la publicidad que lo ayudó a
crear un nuevo tipo de documental de
opinión, sumamente taquillero.
"Sicko" promete reprender a la industria de la salud del
modo en que Moore hizo frente a la
pasión estadounidense por las armas en
"Bowling for Columbine" y criticó las
decisiones de Bush tras los ataques
terroristas del 11 de septiembre en
"Fahrenheit 9/11". En Marzo, Moore
trasladó a Cuba a unos 10 trabajadores
que se enfermaron a raíz de sus
esfuerzos en la Zona Cero de Manhattan
para que recibieran tratamiento médico,
dijo una persona que trabaja con el
cineasta en el lanzamiento de "Sicko", a
condición de anonimato debido a que los
abogados de Moore no han decidido cómo
responder.
Moore, quien
reprendió a Bush por la guerra en Irak
durante la ceremonia del Oscar del 2003,
recibió la carta el lunes, dijo la misma
fuente. "Sicko" se estrena el 19 de mayo
en el Festival de Cine de Cannes y en
Estados Unidos el 29 de junio. No se
indicaron las penas potenciales por
violar el embargo. En el 2003, los
Yanquis de Nueva York le pagaron al
gobierno 75.000 dólares para resolver
una disputa por realizar negocios en
Cuba. "Sicko" es la continuación del
documental de Moore del 2004 "Fahrenheit
9/11", un éxito de 100 millones de
dólares en el que criticó al gobierno de
Bush por sus acciones post 11 de
septiembre. Su trabajo previo,
"Bowling for
Columbine", ganó el premio de la
Academia al mejor documental en el 2002. |
|
OTRA
BOMBA MATA A 10 SOLDADOS COLOMBIANOS EN
EMBOSCADA DE FARC
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA
--
Al
menos 10 soldados murieron hoy en
una emboscada tendida por la guerrilla
de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias
de Colombia (FARC) , en una zona rural
del departamento del Valle, suroeste,
informaron fuentes castrenses.
El
ataque, con explosivos activados al paso
de la patrulla de esa institución, se
registró entre los municipios de Tuluá y
Andalucía, a unos 380 kilómetros al
suroeste de Bogotá, dijo el comandante
de la III División del Ejército, general
Hernando Pérez Molina.
Para Pérez Molina, la emboscada, que además causó heridas a
17 militares más, fue realizada por la "columna
Víctor Saavedra" , una facción de élite
de la guerrilla colombiana más poderosa.
Entre las víctimas mortales hay un
sargento y un cabo, precisó el alto
oficial. Siete de los heridos fueron
trasladados a Tuluá, y tres de ellos, en
estado grave, enviados a la Clínica
Valle del Lili, en Cali, capital del
departamento del Valle.
Tropas por tierra y aire persiguen a los rebeldes que
tendieron la emboscada en una zona
montańosa, concluyó el general Pérez
Molina. En otra acción, nueve agentes
murieron el miércoles en una zona rural
de la localidad de Landázuri, 400
kilómetros al norte de Bogotá, en la que
guerrilleros del frente 23 de las FARC
activaron minas antipersonales contra un
camión en el que viajaban policías
antinarcóticos. |
|
JOHN
NEGROPONTE SAYS VENEZUELA LACKS PUNCH IN
ANTI-DRUG EFFORTS
BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --
The
Venezuelan government does not
fight resolutely drug traffic and is the
transit point of large amounts of
illegal drugs, said US Deputy Secretary
of State John Negroponte, who completed
Wednesday his visit to Colombia.
According to the official, his prior
experience as Director of National
Security allowed him to say that there
was "much movement of narcotics to
Europe through Venezuela. "I think that
if they were determined to do something,
could do some more," Negroponte told
Bogotá-based daily newspaper El Tiempo.
The official refrained from saying if he had any information
about any links of Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez with the Colombian
Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). He
just noted the concern of the Colombian
authorities about cocaine traffic
through Venezuela and Ecuador. "What I
have heard here (in Colombia) is some
concern, because a portion of drug
traffic crosses the borders with
Venezuela and Ecuador. This should be
analyzed." |
|
ROADSIDE
BOMB KILLS 9 POLICE IN COLOMBIA
BOGOTA,
COLOMBIA --
Nine
police officers were killed in
the deadliest rebel attack this year
when a roadside bomb planted by leftist
rebels destroyed their passing truck on
Wednesday, a police spokesman said. The
heavily armed police unit was supporting
a team eradicating coca bushes, the base
ingredient of cocaine, near Landazuri,
100 miles north of Bogota, Sgt. Alberto
Cantillo, a police spokesman in Bogota,
said..
Police said the bomb was planted by the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia, Latin America's
oldest and most potent rebel insurgency,
which helps finance itself through
cocaine smuggling. "Where there's coca,
you'll find guerrillas," said Cantillo.
Six other officers were injured,
Cantillo said. All were members of a
mobile unit operating out of the
northeastern city of Bucaramanga. |
|
florida
firm hired TO BUILD BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE
IN GUANTANAMO BAY for future cuban
balseros
MIAMI, FLORIDA --
The United States, which has been
planning for possible waves of fleeing
Cubans when Fidel Castro dies, has hired
a Florida company to establish basic
infrastructure for a temporary migrant
encampment at the U.S. Navy base at
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Islands Mechanical
Contractors Inc. of Jacksonville, has
won a $16.5 million contract to build a
''migrant operations complex'' at the
base, a U.S. enclave in eastern Cuba,
the U.S. Defense Department said.
The infrastructure would include bathroom and shower houses
as well as a laundry facility, to be
finished by May 2008, according to a
Defense Department contract
announcement. The announcement late
Monday did not specify the capacity of
the complex and a Defense Department
spokesman said additional details were
not immediately available. Bob Turnage,
the president of Islands Mechanical,
declined to discuss the project.
But base officials have said they are planning for a crude,
open-air encampment of tents that could
accommodate up to 10,000 people seeking
shelter from a humanitarian disaster.
The site is on the Leeward side of the
base, miles and a ferry boat ride away
from the portion of the base where the
Pentagon houses about 385 ''enemy
combatants'' as suspected terrorists
with links or sympathy for the Taliban
and al Qaeda. Guantánamo was used to
hold thousands of Haitian and Cuban
migrants in the 1990s. |
|
US ASKS
FOR EUROPEAN HELP TO STOP DRUG TRAFFIC
FROM VENEZUELA
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM --
US Director of National Drug Control
Policy John Walters Tuesday urged
several European nations to use their
influence with President Hugo Chávez to
stop what he branded as the growing
cocaine traffic through Venezuelan
seaports and airports. Walters, at the
headquarters of the European Union in
Brussels, told AP he has reports on
cocaine traffic through Venezuelan
seaports and airports.
"I know that some European nations have a closer cooperation
with the Venezuelan Government, and I
hope we can capitalize on that to try to
stop this," Walters said. Further, he
warned that cocaine shipments entering
Europe from South America, particularly
from Venezuela, mostly via Africa, are
soaring. "There is a growing problem
with cocaine arriving in Europe from
South America," the US Drug Czar told
reporters in Brussels. "Some five to 10
years ago, we did not see airplanes or
ships arriving in Africa carrying
cocaine bound for Europe, but that is
happening now," Walters said, as quoted
by AFP. According to Walters, in the
past, cocaine came from Colombia and
Peru, with Europe as the major
destination. Europe has become the
world's second largest market for
illegal drug, after the United States,
according to the United Nations.
"However, what we have witnessed now is air shipments from
Venezuela for the first time departing
from known landing strips, rather than
clandestine landing strips, and bound
for the Caribbean," particularly Haiti
and Dominican Republic. "But there are
sea shipments too, and they are
apparently coming from Venezuela more
regularly." Walters said the United
States has not managed to make President
Chávez' Government to cooperate more to
fight drug traffic, but said he hoped
Washington allies in the EU to make new
headway in this direction. |
|
AT LEAST
5 ARRESTED IN ALLEGED FORT DIX MURDER
PLOT
MOUNT
LAUREL, NEW JERSEY --
At
least five people were arrested
on charges they plotted to attack the
Fort Dix
Army base and "kill as many soldiers as
possible," federal authorities said
Tuesday. The suspects were scheduled to
appear in U.S. District Court in
Camden
later Tuesday to face charges of
conspiracy to kill U.S. servicemen, said
Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the
U.S. Attorney's Office in
New Jersey.
Five of them lived in Cherry Hill, about
10 miles east of Philadelphia and 20
miles southwest of Fort Dix, he said.
"They were planning an attack on Fort
Dix in which they would kill as many
soldiers as possible," Drewniak said.
The suspects were described as "Islamic
radicals" by Greg Reinert, a spokesman
for the United States Attorney's Office.
A law enforcement source told FOX News
that all of the suspects are recent
converts and were not born Muslims.
The source told FOX News that there were between five and six
arrests; the exact number is unclear.
The Associated Press reported that those
captured were nationals of the former
Yugoslavia, but the law enforcement
source told FOX News that not all of
them are of Albanian ethnicity. Federal
sources also said the group is from the
"Balkans. |
|
CARDINAL
UROSA REASSERTS CATHOLIC CHURCH SUPPORT
OF PLURAL INFORMATION
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
As the broadcast license for private TV
channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV)
is next to expire, Cardinal Jorge
Urosa Savino repeated Tuesday that the
Catholic Church backed the rights to
freedom of expression and plural
information.
"We, the Venezuelan bishops, have repeatedly expressed our
position on behalf of two most important
rights of the Venezuelan people -freedom
of expression and thought and not to be
chased or discriminated for a particular
opinion, and also the need to advocate
and promote the right to information,"
the priest said.
"All of it is present in the national Constitution and we,
the Church, insist on saying that these
values should be observed. There is need
to find a solution to specific problems
without restricting freedom of
expression or the right to plural
information. This is most important for
the Venezuelan society," he told TV news
channel Globovisión. |
|
US TRIES
TO RESUME ANTI-DRUG COOPERATION WITH
VENEZUELA
WASHINGTON, D.C. --
John
Walters, the United States Drug Czar,
said that despite Venezuela's refusal to
cooperate in anti-drug efforts,
Washington wants to work with Caracas in
this field, and hailed Colombia's and
Mexico's progress in the fight against
narcotics, DPA reported. Hugo Chávez has
refused to cooperate. There is a
cooperation agreement waiting for
execution by Chávez. We want to work
with them (Venezuela), Walters told
Colombian magazine Semana.
Further, he regretted the fact that
Venezuela has become a strategic passage
for drugs in transit to Central and
North America. "Venezuela is gaining
importance for drug dealers. There are
flights from legal airports to Dominican
Republic and Haiti. Sea shipments are
dispatched from several points in
Venezuelan coast."
Walters hailed Mexico, Colombia and United Stated joint
efforts to fight drugs. "No other
country around the world has made as
much progress to restore the rule of law
as Colombia," he said. The official
added that even though press reports in
his country show that in January-October
2006 drug prices in the United States
fell 12 percent, counternarcotics
efforts "are moving forward the right
way." Walters also said they are
"pondering some options to avoid losing
dissuasive capacity against drug
traffickers" in the region, following
Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's
decision to close in 2009 the US
military base in Manta, "where he have
invested a lot." |
|
CONSECOMERCIO FEARS EXPLOSIVE COCKTAIL
IN VENEZUELA DOMESTIC ECONOMY
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Food shortage is related to
increasing demand and shrinking
production, which, in turn, is the
result of personal and juridical
insecurity, said Noel Álvarez, the chair
of the Council for Trades and Services (Consecomercio).
"There is scarcity nationwide," he
commented. When matching the government
failure to acknowledge the issue and the
numbers shown in supermarkets and
grocery stores, Álvarez claimed that, in
the end, consumers face the reality of
the situation and cannot find some
commodities.
"We have a highly explosive cocktail, that is, increasing
demand and a drop in production," he
said. Demand has risen by 18.8 percent,
along with growing Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) at 10.3 percent. This
means an unbalance of almost 100 percent
between production and demand. Now,
therefore, what the government should
do, as the state administrator, is to
promote investments, "instead of
assailing the private sector." |
|
MANUEL
ROSALES MEETS "ASTOUNDED" CARTER CENTER
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Manuel Rosales, the leader of
opposition Un Nuevo Tiempo party and
Zulia governor, met Friday with Jennifer
McCoy, the representative of Carter
Center in Venezuela, to talk about the
"democratic deficit" in Venezuela. The
governor labeled as open the meeting,
which allowed him to describe in detail
what is going on in Venezuela.
In his opinion, both Carter Center and foreign agencies are
alarmed. "Closing of (private TV channel
Radio Caracas Televisión) RCTV,
trespassing private property, disrespect
for freedom of expression, and the
outrageous way the government has taken
hold of the media attest to the fact
that things are not working in
Venezuela, nor is democracy." He noted
that the meeting was useful to meditate
on significant issues that "move" the
Venezuelan public opinion and have an
impact abroad. |
|
CONSERVATIVE
NICOLAS SARKOZY DEFEATED SOCIALIST SÉGOLENČ
ROYAL IN FRANCE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS
PARIS, FRANCE --
Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy
greeted news of his election Sunday to a
five-year term as France's president
with a vow to serve as a leader for all
people of France. "The president of the
republic must love and respect all the
French," he told cheering supporters at
his campaign headquarters. "I will be
the president of all the French people.
Sarkozy won with 53 percent of the vote
in Sunday's presidential runoff,
according to preliminary results issued
by the French Interior Ministry.
Socialist Segolene Royal took 47 percent
of the vote.
"The French people have called for change. I will
carry out that change, because that's
the mandate I have received from the
French people." Sarkozy added that he
wanted to tell his "American friends
that they can rely on our friendship ...
France will always be next to them when
they need us." But, he added, "Friends
can think differently." U.S. President
George W. Bush called Sarkozy to
congratulate him on his victory, a White
House spokesman said in a written
statement.
Sarkozy said he would also work to form a link between Europe
and Africa. "We have to overcome hatred
to give way to the great dreams of peace
and civilization," he said. "It's time
to build a great Mediterranean union."
Sarkozy said he would put in place an
immigration policy "that is going to be
controlled" and a development policy
"that is going to be ambitious." But he
said that France would "stand next to"
those who are persecuted by tyrants,
dictatorships." Socialist Segolene
Royal, a 53-year-old mother of four,
acknowledged her defeat -- with 47
percent of the vote -- in a speech to
supporters moments after the polls
closed at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET). |
|
BOMBINGS KILLED 8 U.S. SOLDIERS AND 30
IRAQIS
BAGHDAD,
IRAQ --
Roadside bombs killed eight
American soldiers in separate attacks
Sunday in Diyala province and Baghdad,
and a car bomb claimed 30 more lives in
a wholesale food market in a part of the
Iraqi capital where sectarian tensions
are on the rise. In all, at least 95
Iraqis were killed or found dead
nationwide Sunday, police reported. They
included 12 policemen in Samarra, among
them the city's police chief, who died
when Sunni insurgents launched a suicide
car bombing and other attacks on police
headquarters.
The deadliest attack against U.S. forces occurred in Diyala,
where six U.S. soldiers and a European
journalist were killed when a massive
bomb destroyed their vehicle, the U.S.
military said. Two U.S. soldiers were
wounded, the military said. Two other
American soldiers died Sunday in
separate bombings in Baghdad.
The military Sunday also reported three other deaths -- two
Marines in a blast Saturday in Anbar
province and a soldier who died Sunday
in a non-combat incident in northern
Iraq. Those deaths raised to at least
3,373 the number of U.S. military
members who have died since the Iraq war
started in March 2003, according to an
Associated Press count. |
|
INTERNATIONAL MEETINGS TO PREPARE
ANTI-CHAVEZ STRATEGY
STRASBURG, BRUSSELS --
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox
Tuesday warned against the
"traps" behind populist policies in
Latin America, claiming they hide
"messianic stances that may result in
'hard or soft' dictatorships." Fox since
Monday is visiting the headquarters of
the European Parliament in Strasburg,
together with PAN president Manuel
Espino, who is also the leader of the
Christian Democrat Organization of
America.
Espino made a distinction between
leftist groups having or lacking
"democratic will." "I do not see such a
democratic willingness for now in
Venezuela, where President Hugo Chávez
curtailed Venezuelans' freedom." Fox
next April 28 is hosting a meeting in
his ranch in Guanajuato a meeting with
international Christian Democrat leaders
to counter President Chávez, said
newspaper Reforma, as quoted by DPA.
Carlos Ocariz (Venezuelan opposition Primero Justicia party)
said in Strasburg that the meeting is
aimed at "better coordinating
strategies" against Chávez. Meanwhile,
Antonio López Istúriz, secretary-general
of the Centrist Democrat International,
said Fox' visit was meant to design a
strategy among conservative parties
against Chávez. |
|
POLLS
SUGGEST A VICTORY OF CONSERVATIVE
NICOLAS SARKOZY OVER SOCIALIST SÉGLONČ
ROYAL IN TODAY'S FRANCE PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTIONS
PARIS, FRANCE --
NATIONAL polls suggest that Nicolas
Sarkozy has strengthened his lead
in France's presidential runoff OVER
socialist Ségolčne Royal Socialist
Ségolčne Royal warned of violence if her
tough-talking rival Nicolas Sarkozy wins
the French presidency, in a last-ditch
bid to save her flagging campaign before
Sunday's runoff.
With final polls saying Sarkozy has increased his lead, Royal
has sought to portray him as too
unstable and too brutal to lead France.
She noted his harsh comments about
delinquents shortly before 2005 suburban
riots, when he was interior minister,
and his crackdowns on criminals and
immigrants. Royal, trying to become the
country's first female president, said
she felt a ``responsibility to launch an
alert about the risks of this candidacy
and the violence and brutality that will
be set off in the country. Everyone
knows it, but no one says it. It is a
kind of taboo.'' Sarkozy's camp,
meanwhile, says Royal's ideas are fuzzy
and that she does not have enough
experience.
Three polls published Friday suggested that Sarkozy
strengthened the lead he has commanded
for months, giving him a winning margin
of between 6 and 9 percentage points.
The solid figures for Sarkozy suggested
that he emerged the victor from the
candidates' much-watched televised
debate Wednesday, their only
face-to-face encounter in the campaign.
On Friday, Royal shrugged off her low
poll numbers, noting that some voters
were still undecided. |
|
HUGO CHAVEZ MAY PAY $4,500 MILLION FOR
LEAVING THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Hugo
Chávez strongly rejected the
possibility that withdrawal from the
International Monetary Fund may result
in negative consequences for Venezuela.
However,
the value of Venezuelan notes has
plummeted due to uncertainty in the
stock market
Additionally, Chávez warned that "a
spokesman for the White House threatened
us by saying that Venezuela is going to
suffer. But I say you (the United
States) are going to suffer indeed! The
peoples have suffered because of the
policies of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB),
because of their genocidal policies!"
Nevertheless, the forecasts made by
investment banks show otherwise.
Santander Investment prepared a report
warning that withdrawal from IFM and WB
could involve a technical default, i.e.
a change in the terms of Venezuelan debt
bonds.
Consequently, investors could demand
immediate repayment of Venezuelan debt
titles, at 100 percent of their face
value. Global Bonds expiring in 2010,
2016 and 2020 are currently traded below
100 percent. Therefore, immediate
repayment could amount to USD 4.5
billion. Alberto Bernal, an analyst with
Bear Stearn, told Reuters that "in the
Venezuelan case, all the debt titles we
have been able to review include a very
clear clause on acceleration of maturity
upon debt default." Red lights are on.
International reserves plunged 39
percent in January 2- May 2, from USD
36.5 billion to USD 26.3 billion. |
|
INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT BANKS CONCERNED
ABOUT VENEZUELA WITHDRAWAL FROM
MULTILATERAL LENDING AGENCIES
NEW
YORK CITY, NEW YORK --
Investment banks in New York
reduced their exposure to Venezuelan
debt, amid fears that a government move
to leave the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Bank (WB) may
activate a technical default hitting
foreign debt repayments. Venezuelan debt
yield dropped 0.6 percent in JP Moragan
Emerging Market Bond Index EMBI+,
following President Hugo Chávez'
announcement last May 1st that Venezuela
was leaving multilateral lending
agencies.
The move ignited uncertainty among debt bond holders, as most
sovereign debt titles issued in world
markets include a provision that the
issuing country has to remain a member
of IMF, analysts said. Failure to comply
with such provision would pave the way
for debt bond holders to demand early
repayment from the country, in a
situation known as "technical default."
Alberto Bernal, with Bear Stearn told
Reuters that "in the Venezuelan case,
all the debt titles we have been able to
review include a very clear clause on
acceleration of maturity on debt
default."
For instance, the bank said the terms for Venezuela's global
bonds expiring in 2034 provide for debt
default, "when Venezuela ceases to be a
member of IMF or eligible for use of IMF
general funds." RBC Capital Markets
stressed that some USD 21 billion in
US-dollar- and Euro-denominated
Venezuelan debt titles could be directly
hit by default. "This compares to the
USD 28.5 billion in Venezuelan
international reserves and USD 20
billion in the National Development
Fund," the investment bank said,
advising investors to "stay away" from
Venezuelan titles until uncertainty is
over. |
|
US
REJECTS INFORMATION PUBLISHED BY
VENEZUELA OFFICIAL TV CHANNEL
WASHINGTON, D.C. --
a diplomatic note, the US Government
showed concern about publication of the
official affairs of the US Embassy in
Caracas on La Hojilla, a TV show
broadcast by the official television
station VTV. The protest was forwarded
by the US Department of State to
Venezuelan Ambassador in Washington
Bernardo Álvarez. The information was
confirmed by the US Embassy Press
Attaché Brian Penn, who also said that
in La Hojilla show, which he branded as
"part of a government TV channel," the
US Government is the target of constant
attacks.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press
release categorically "rejected this new
reckless attack against our country."
Venezuela claimed the US protest was
intended to "deviate attention from the
fact that the US Government is
protecting terrorist Luis Posada
Carriles." |
|
JOURNALISTS, UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ASK
HUGO CHAVEZ TO RECONSIDER DECISION ON
RCTV
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
The
National Union of Press Workers (SNTP),
journalists, and journalism teachers and
students' associations urged
Thursday the national government to
reconsider its decision not to renew a
broadcast license for TV channel Radio
Caracas Televisión (RCTV).
As quoted by AP, SNTP -backed by hundred journalists,
teachers and students- published
Thursday in the local press a large
notice asking for revision of the action
against RCTV. Also, they claimed that
non-renewal of the license relies on
"basically political" grounds.
"Expression of the diverse political
visions presently in the Venezuelan
society, criticism and denunciation
could be seriously damaged as sanctions
are imposed on broadcasters for having
an independent editorial line," the
communiqué said. |
|
VENEZUELAN DEPUTIES ASK EUROPEAN UNION
TO AVOID INTERVENING IN RCTV CASE
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Venezuelan parliamentarians
Thursday urged the European Union to
avoid making a statement in connection
with President Hugo Chávez' decision not
to renew the broadcasting license to
private television network RCTV, and
accused this station of "perverting the
reality" and "manipulation."
"The European Union cannot take a stance on a domestic
affair. We are not violating freedom of
speech. This is not about a channel
being closed down; this channel has the
possibility to continue broadcasting on
subscription TV," said parliamentarian
Juan Dugarte, a member of the Committee
on Science, Technology and
Communication, Venezuelan Parliament,
following a meeting with European
officials in Brussels. |
|
FIERCE sHOOTOUT
REPORTED AT HAVANA AIRPORT
HAVANA, CUBA --
A fierce shootout at Havana's
international airport was
reported Thursday morning, according to
a human rights activist on the island.
The gunfight apparently involved some of
the three soldiers who had deserted a
nearby military base last week and may
have been trying to hijack a plane out
of Cuba, Elizardo Sánchez told The Miami
Herald in a phone interview from Havana.
''The airport is under heavy security,''
Sánchez said.
The incident was not immediately reported in official
media, but other news outlets based in
Havana reported that the shooting
occurred in the early morning hours
following an attempted hijacking by
three armed men believed to have been
draftees from the military base in
Managua, just a few miles from Havana's
José Martí International Airport.
A massive police operation has been
under way since the three deserted and
security at the airport was fortified.
Access to the airport on Thursday was
limited. The area was blocked off for
miles, Sánchez said. Unconfirmed media
reports from Havana said the armed men
entered the airport on a bus and tried
to block a plane that had just landed in
an apparent attempt to hijack it. The
shooting follows another violent
incident involving conscripts on Dec. 20
at the El Manguito prison, just outside
Santiago de Cuba. Three conscripts
allegedly opened fire on their superior
officers and broke away from their
posts. They were eventually captured. |
|
SECRETARY
GENERAL, JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA, RULES OUT
OAS CONDEMNATION AGAINST HUGO CHAVEZ
WASHINGTON,
D.C. --
The
Organization of American States (OAS)
"does not have the least
intention to issue any condemnation
against Venezuela," OAS
Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza
told AFP. His statements came following
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' threat
to leave the organization if OAS
censored Venezuela over the cases of
alleged infringement of freedom of
expression under investigation by the
Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights.
"The only institution with a capacity to make sanctions
in OAS is the Permanent Council, through
the General Assembly. As far as I know,
and I think I know this all right, there
has never been a claim or criticism or
request for the Council to take actions
regarding Venezuela," Insulza declared. |
|
HUGO
CHAVEZ THREATENS TO NATIONALIZE BANKS
AND STEEL PRODUCER SIDOR
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
Hugo
Chavez on Thursday threatened to
nationalize the country's banks and
largest steel producer, accusing them of
unscrupulous practices. "Private banks
have to give priority to financing the
industrial sectors of Venezuela at low
cost," Chavez said. "If banks don't
agree with this, it's better that they
go, that they turn over the banks to me,
that we nationalize them and get all the
banks to work for the development of the
country and not to speculate and produce
huge profits."
It was not clear if Chavez was only
referring to Venezuelan banks like
Mercantil Servicios Financieros CA and
others, or if he was aiming the threat
at major international banks that do
business in the country, such as Banco
Santander Central Hispano SA and
Citigroup Inc. Chavez also warned the
government could take over steel
producer Sidor, which is majority
controlled by Luxembourg-based Ternium
SA.
Sidor "has created a monopoly" and sold the bulk of its
production overseas, forcing local
producers to import tubes and other
products from China and elsewhere,
Chavez said. "If the company Sidor ...
does not immediately agree to change
this process, they will oblige me to
nationalize it," Chavez said. "I prefer
not to," Chavez added, as he ordered
Mining Minister Jose Khan to depart
immediately for the company's
headquarters and return with a
recommendation within 24 hours. "Sidor
has to produce and give priority to our
national industries ... and at low
cost," he said. |
|
us:
venezuelans doomed to HUGO chavez'
decisions
WASHINGTON, D.C. --
According to the US Government,
the Venezuelan people will put up with
the aftereffects of the decisions made
by President Hugo Chávez to pull his
country out of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank
(WB). "Unfortunately, the Venezuelan
people is the victim of all of this,"
answered Assistant Secretary for Public
Affairs and Department Spokesman Sean
McCormack, when queried about the move.
Chávez has threatened also to leave the Organization of
American States (OAS). "One cannot take
a shovel from a man's hand. He just
continues digging. I think that he is
putting the Venezuelan people into a
hole," said McCormack. "Not only the
Venezuelan elite surrounding the
President is to suffer the effects of
such decisions, but also the whole
Venezuelan people," the official added.
Chávez voiced Monday night his intention to take Venezuela
out of IMF and WB for considering that
they are "tools of the imperialism."
Also, he asserted that Venezuela could
leave OAS if the organization condemns
the government in connection with a
claim filed by journalists working with
private TV channel Radio Caracas
Televisión (RCTV). |
|
THOMAS
SHANNON SAYS THAT PATIENCE IS THE KEY IN
US-VENEZUELA RELATIONS
WASHINGTON,
D.C. --
The
US Government is still interested
in coming to terms with Venezuelan
President Hugo Chávez, said Wednesday
Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs Thomas A. Shannon,
and emphasized that patience in
diplomacy is most important. "We think
we should hold a dialogue. We think that
some aspects of this relationship are
important for both parties," Shannon
added.
His comments were made during the annual meeting of the
Council of the Americas held at the US
Department of State. There, he was
questioned whether the concept of
diplomacy and cooperation as the basis
for smooth relations could apply to
Venezuela. "An important aspect of
diplomacy is that we ought to be
patient. It should be acknowledged that
a strong relation relies at least on two
countries." |
FOURTEEN
MORE CUBAN BALSEROS ARRIVE ALONG
RICKENBACKER
MIAMI,
FLORIDA --
For the second time in two days,
Cuban migrants have landed along the
Rickenbacker Causeway in the hours
before dawn. A group of 14, including a
1-year-old child, arrived about 4 a.m.
Wednesday on the south side of the
causeway, across from the shuttered
Miami Marine Stadium. They were dropped
off by boat.
Miami and Miami-Dade police were the first to respond.
Four of the 14 migrants became separated
from the others while wading ashore.
They sat under a buttonwood tree waiting
for the Border Patrol to take them away
for processing. Early morning joggers
and dog walkers strolled past. The four
are Tanya Mangano, 38; her 1-year-old
daughter, Sandra; her 13-year-old son,
Alejandro; and a family friend,
35-year-old Maria Elena Aborrezzo
Rodriguez.
They said they left the island at 3 a.m. Sunday on a 25-foot
boat that departed Villa Clara province.
Mangano said she has an uncle living
somewhere in Miami. Under the U.S.
government's wet foot/dry foot policy,
Cubans who make it to American soil are
generally allowed to stay, while those
interdicted at sea are more likely to be
sent back. Tuesday morning, a group of a
dozen Cubans arrived at the causeway
toll plaza linking the mainland to Key
Biscayne. |
|
AILING
CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO A NO-SHOW AT
MAY DAY PARADE
HAVANA, CUBA
--
Ailing Cuban DICTATOR Fidel Castro
was absent at Tuesday morning's
May Day parade in Havana, despite
widespread speculation that he would
make a spectacular come-back after nine
months on the sidelines. It was only
the third time in 48 years that Castro
missed the parade called each year to
celebrate International Worker's Day.
Castro also was absent in 1959 and 1963
when he was traveling in the United
States and the Soviet Union,
respectively.
This May Day observance marks nine months since Castro ceded power
to his brother Raúl on July 31, four
days after undergoing abdominal surgery.
Fidel Castro's last public appearance
was on July 26. Tuesday's Communist
Party daily Granma featured an op-ed article written by Castro dated Monday
night, criticizing Brazil for embracing
ethanol, which Castro argues will rip
food from the poor.
''Tomorrow the first of May is a good
day to carry these reflections to the
workers and all of the poor people of
the world,'' Castro wrote. Hundreds of
thousands of people gathered Tuesday
morning at Revolution Square to
celebrate workers day and to denounce
the recent release on bail of accused
terrorist Luis Posada Carriles. Many of
those present carried posters that read,
``Assassin Posada: We live in a free
country!'' At the head of the podium:
Interim President Raúl Castro. |
|
PVDSA
GAINS CONTROL FROM OIL FIELDS IN THE
ORINOCO OIL BELT
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA -- The
Venezuelan state took Tuesday the
operations from partnership agreements
in the hands of foreign big oil
companies in Orinoco oil belt, reported
Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael
Ramírez. Shortly after midnight,
Venezuela "is to exercise its right to
manage natural resources on people's
behalf," said Minister Ramírez, also the
head of state-run oil holding Petróleos
de Venezuela (Pdvsa), during a ceremony
attended by oil-sector workers at Jose
Cryogenic Complex, eastern Anzoátegui
state, Efe reported.
"Welcome to the new Pdvsa," he told workers, who will be now
part of the staff of new partnerships
between foreign companies and the
government as major stakeholder. During
the live broadcast on all domestic TV
channels, the employees replaced as a
symbolic token their blue helmets with
red ones, the color of Pdvsa and
Chavezism. Ramírez advised that Hugo
Chávez was to attend in Jose Complex a
mass ceremony to mark the State seizure
of the last private oil fields in
Orinoco belt.
Five out of six multinationals concerned and Pdvsa entered
last Wednesday into a preliminary
agreement to replace the last "strategic
partnerships" operating in the Orinoco
belt with joint ventures. US
ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil, British
Petroleum (BP), French Total and
Norwegian Statoil initialed the
agreements on handover of the
operations. Next June 26th is the
deadline for Pdvsa private partners to
make a deal on their participation in
the new joint ventures, where Pdvsa will
have over 60 percent. |
THIRTEEN
CUBAN BALSEROS LAND ON RICKENBACKER
CAUSEWAY
MIAMI,
FLORIDA --
Thirteen Cuban migrants arrived early
Tuesday morning along the Rickenbacker
Causeway, showing up at the toll plaza
leading to Key Biscayne. No boat was
found. The migrants were given blankets
and taken to the Border Patrol
processing center in Pembroke Pines.
Under the U.S. government's wet foot/dry
foot policy, Cuban migrants who land on
U.S. soil as the 13 did are generally
allowed to remain in the United States.
Those interdicted at sea are sent back
to the island. This group was at least
the third to show up at the toll plaza
this year. |
|
CHRISTIAN
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS DEEPLY CONCERNED
ABOUT VENEZUELA
MEXICO CITY,
MEXICO
--
Leaders of Christian Democratic parties
of the Americas agreed in Mexico
to "back unconditionally" democracy in
Venezuela in order to prevent the
influence of "false prophets" from
spreading over the western hemisphere,
according to a paper published in
Mexican daily newspaper El Universal.
The Venezuelan case was discussed by
leaders of foundations, political
parties and groups that attended last
weekend in Mexico D.C. a meeting of the
steering committee of the Christian
Democratic Organization of America (OCDA),
to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the
organization. A purported meeting
against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez
at a ranch property of Mexican ex
president Vicente Fox located in
Guanajuato state was not held at the
end.
The possibility of such an event annoyed both the
Venezuelan government and the Mexican
government of conservative Felipe
Calderón, who wants bilateral relations
to go back to normal. However, a paper
drafted by OCDA Executive-Secretary,
Mexican Erick Porres Blesa, stated that
the organization is determined to
support the Venezuelan people "to find
in democracy the way they should never
leave." |
|
OIL MAJOR
CORPORATIONS READY TO TRANSFER ORINOCO
OPERATIONS TO THE VENEZUELA GOVERNMENT
CARACAS,
VENEZUELA --
In the blink of an eye, the first
quarter is over, May 1st is getting
closer, and this is the date when four
oil majors participating in heavy crude
projects in Orinoco strip, eastern
Venezuela are expected to take the first
step to migrate to joint ventures where
the Venezuelan state will hold a
majority stake. Unofficial sources claim
that the draft memorandum of
understanding the Venezuelan Petroleum
Corporation -a branch of state oil firm
Pdvsa- and six foreign oil giants are to
enter into is ready. The companies are
only waiting for a date to initial the
document, and accords are likely to be
signed separately.
According to the sources, unlike the migration from
operational agreements to joint ventures
last year, this time memoranda of
understanding would only outline the
guidelines for government takeover of
the four heavy crude oil projects. The
documents, however, are not listing
shareholding percentages or capital
assets assessment. However, the
documents are actually providing for the
transfer of operations -which so far
have been under control of private
corporations- to CVP. Thereinafter, CVP
is to become the official manager -yet
perhaps not the de facto manager- of
financial and operational activities in
Orinoco projects, thus putting an end to
the transitional period.
The parties have made some anticipated steps to
takeover. Some private firms
-particularly those with direct
employees- have paid off labor
liabilities, so that the new employer
-the joint venture- may start a labor
relationship free from labor
liabilities, and based on a completely
different scheme of wages and social
benefits. Further, a comprehensive
specific manual for migration has been
drafted to avoid disruptions in the
prospecting, drilling and upgrading
activities, and this document has been
okayed by Pdvsa. Last February 26, the
Venezuelan state established -under the
decree-law on migration to joint
ventures- the mandatory transfer of "all
and any activities performed" , both in
Orinoco partnerships, including
Sinovensa, and risk prospecting / shared
profits exploration agreements. |
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