03-31- 2008

COLOMBIANS DEMAND REPARATIONS FOR ATTACK BY ECUADOR IN JANUARY 2001

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --Relatives of six Colombian loggers killed by Ecuadorean troops in 2001 have freshened their demands for reparations in the wake of Quito's complaints against a Colombian raid against a FARC guerrilla camp in Ecuador. On Jan. 18 2001, Ecuadorean troops and helicopters opened fire on a Colombian logging boat on one of the rivers that marks the border near the town of San Miguel. At least two helicopters entered Colombian airspace and six of the nine loggers abroad were killed, said Albeiro Duque, the lone remaining survivor.

    Pedro Artieda, a top aide to Ecuadorean Foreign Minister María Isabel Salvador, said on Friday that the ministry ''is reviewing this issue'' and said he would have an answer by the afternoon. El Nuevo Herald had received no reply by late Saturday afternoon. Relatives of the victims have said that the Colombian government should demand reparations from Quito with the same insistence that the Ecuadorean government has displayed in asking for compensation for the damages caused by the March 1 raid into Ecuador that killed the FARC rebel leader known as Raúl Reyes. One Ecuadorean man also was killed in the raid.

    A spokesman for the Colombian Foreign Ministry said the ministry had sent a protest note to Quito seven days after the 2001 attack. ''There's no word on any answer to that note,'' the spokesman added. 'The victims' relatives have come to me. They have come worried, asking me to collaborate with them in getting the Colombian government to help them,'' said San Miguel Mayor Betto Ruperto Benavidez Burbano. He added that Ecuador's ``President Rafael Correa has raised such a ruckus over the death of one Ecuadorean guerrilla, and here no one has done anything on the six Colombians who were killed by the Ecuadorean government.''

AL-SADR URGES FOLLOWERS TO DEFY IRAQI GOVERNMENT AS U.S. JETS STRIKE BASRA 

       BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  Anti-American Shiite militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to defy government orders to surrender their weapons, as U.S. jets struck Shiite extremists near Basra to bolster a faltering Iraqi offensive against gunmen in the city.

    Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acknowledged Saturday he may have miscalculated by failing to foresee the strong backlash that his offensive, which began Tuesday, provoked in areas of Baghdad and other cities where Shiite militias wield power. Government television said the round-the-clock curfew imposed two days ago on the capital and due to expire Sunday would be extended indefinitely. Gunfire and explosions were heard late Saturday in Sadr City, the Baghdad stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.

     The U.S. Embassy tightened its security measures, ordering all staff to use armored vehicles for all travel in the Green Zone and to sleep in reinforced buildings until further notice after six days of rocket and Despite the mounting crisis, al-Maliki, himself a Shiite, vowed to remain in Basra until government forces wrest control from militias, including the Mahdi Army. He called the fight for control of Basra "a decisive and final battle

NEARLY 50 CUBAN MIGRANTS LAND IN HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA 

      HOLLYWOOD, FLORIDA  --  Nearly 50 undocumented Cuban migrants who landed ashore at Hollywood shortly after midnight Saturday will be allowed to stay in the United States under the existing ''wet-foot,dry-foot'' policy, authorities said. Smugglers had brought the 46 migrants from Sagua la Grande, Cuba, near the island's northern coast, according to U.S. Border Patrol Agent Lazaro Guzman.

    Once a small fishing town, Sagua la Grande become a popular jump-off point for migrants wanting to leave the country. Along the way, this latest group of migrants stopped in the Bahamas for a couple of days, where they refueled and remained until the weather calmed down, Guzman said. Their arrival so far north along the Atlantic Coast surprised Border Patrol agents. ''They've never really landed that far north,'' Guzman said, noting that smugglers adjust their routes of travel regularly to avoid capture by law enforcement.

     All of the migrants were put in custody and will be released to the Miami-Dade Health Clinic after being processed and interviewed at the agency's Pembroke Pines station. The migrants will be allowed to stay in the United States under the U.S.-Cuba migration policy known as wet-foot, dry-foot. The police permits Cubans migrants who make it to U.S. soil to remain here, while those intercepted at sea are usually repatriated.

03-30- 2008

journalism under serious restrictions in venezuela

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA --Jorge Fascetto, a member of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) and representative of Argentinean Diario Popular newspaper, Friday claimed that journalism in Venezuela is exercised under "serious restrictions." He stressed that the organization is implementing new monitoring mechanisms to oversee and assess the news media situation in countries facing the same issues as Venezuela.

    "We did not use to visit the countries. We did not visit the countries lacking press freedom. But now we have changed our minds. We are visiting the countries facing problems, in order to support the countries where persecutions are taking place, such as Venezuela. In Venezuela, we witnessed the closure of a TV channel not long ago, as well as continued persecution against reporters," Fascetto stated. Reference was made to private TV network RCTV. Founded in 1953, RCTV was forced to shut down operations last May 27, when the Venezuelan government refused to renew its broadcast license.

    "There is a President (Hugo Chávez) who is persistently attacking journalism and harassing and insulting the press. Journalism here is faced with serious restrictions, and when journalism is exercised under serious restrictions there is no press freedom," he added. He stressed that the IAPA can claim the moral ground to talk to any government and ask whether it is respecting or disrespecting freedom of expression. "When the IAPA speaks, governments listen. When the IAPA files a complaint with a government, the government has the moral obligation to reply."

IAPA REPRESENTATIVE FOR VENEZUELA, DAVID NATERA, DENOUNCES ATTACKS AGAINST THE MEDIA AND REPORTERS

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- The Inter-American Press Association's regional vice-president for Venezuela, David Natera, Saturday at the half-yearly meeting of IAPA in Caracas presented his report on freedom of press and information in Venezuela, and denounced continued attacks against reporters and threats against the private news media. Natera summarized a number of events and situations he described as jeopardizing freedom of expression in Venezuela.

    The director of El Correo del Caroní newspaper stated that "independent" reporters were the target of attacks while covering government acts, and were even prevented from accessing news sources. Among the aggressions, Natera highlighted "the shutdown" -almost one year ago- of privately owned television station RCTV. He added that the TV network's broadcast equipment were "taken over."  The head of the Venezuelan Press Bloc also reported the threats and legal actions filed against local news television channel Globovisión. He explained that Globovisión continued to face lawsuits and administrative investigations, as well as offenses and threats launched by the Venezuelan Head of State. According to Natera, the government has denied authorization for Globovisión to air on open signal, "which is an attempt at curtailing its messages and free opinion."

    "Communication experts found last February that the takeover of the state-run media by the government and the efforts to diminish the plurality of ideas are some of the moves the government of Hugo Chávez has made during the first nine years in office." Natera reminded the "lawsuits, charges, and persecutions" against some Venezuelan reporters, including Patricia Poleo, and Gustavo Azocar, among others. In Natera's view, the radio and television social responsibility law allows the government to control the contents of the radio-electric mass media. He added that the changes introduced to the Crime Code have paved the way to "criminalize dissent." He explained that the Venezuelan Crime Code punishes "the offenses against officials," which entails "a serious risk" for freedom of expression.

03-29- 2008

RAUL CASTRO'S NEW GOVERNMENT NOW ALLOWS THE CUBANS TO HAVE CELL PHONES

       HAVANA, CUBA --It was the first official announcement of the lifting of a major restriction under the 76-year-old Castro, and marked the kind of small freedom many on the island have been hoping he would embrace since succeeding his older brother Fidel as president last month. Some Cubans previously ineligible for cell phones had already gotten them by having foreigners sign contracts in their names, but mobile phones are not nearly as common in Cuba as elsewhere in Latin America or the world.

    Telecommunications monopoly Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Cuba S.A., or ETECSA said it would allow the general public to sign prepaid contracts in Cuban Convertible Pesos, which are geared toward tourists and foreigners and worth 24 times the regular pesos Cuban state employees are paid in. The decree was published in a small black box on page 2 of the Communist Party newspaper Granma.

    The government controls well over 90 percent of the economy and while the communist system ensures most Cubans have free housing, education and health care and receive ration cards that cover basic food needs, the average monthly state salary is just 408 Cuban pesos, a little less than $20. A program in Convertible Pesos likely will ensure that cell phone service will be too expensive for many Cubans, but ETECSA's statement said doing so will allow it to improve telecommunication systems using cable technology and eventually expand the services it offers in regular pesos.

LULA DA SILVA BRANDS HUGO CHAVEZ AS "THE GREAT PEACEMAKER"  

       RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL --  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Thursday said his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez was the "great peacemaker" in the conflict that erupted following a Colombian military attack against a camp of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) in Ecuadorian territory on March 1st.

    "Who was the great peacemaker in the Colombia-Ecuador conflict? It was precisely President Chávez. Therefore, I would like to congratulate the former guerrilla man now turned into a pacifier," said Lula da Silva during a news conference he offered together with Chávez in Recife, Brazil, DPA reported.
 
     "During several days, headlines all over the world made reference to the war between Colombia and Venezuela, and the great peacemaker in the conflict between Colombia and Ecuador was President Chávez himself," said Lula.

UGO CHAVEZ PREDICTS THE IAPA IS TO CONDEMN VENEZUELA 

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA --  Hugo Chávez, when asked about the half-yearly meeting of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) to be held March 28-30 in Caracas, commented, "They will surely launch a condemnation from Caracas against us for violating freedom of expression."

    "They claim we have a dictatorship. But they are in Caracas saying whatever they want to say. This is cynicism turned into communication. There are very powerful forces trying to prevent our union," said Chávez.
 
    The Venezuelan ruler stated that in parallel to the IAPA meeting, a forum would be held in Caracas to reject what he branded as "media terrorism."  "I have been invited to both meetings. I do not know whether I will go. I have so many items in my agenda. Yet a serious debate is taking place there in connection with democracy and freedom of thought," added Chávez.

03-28- 2008

U.S. 'CONCERNED' ABOUT FARC URANIUM DISCOVERED BY COLOMBIAN AUTHORITIES

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --The State Department said Thursday it was ''deeply concerned'' by reports that a Colombian guerrilla group possessed presumed depleted uranium, which experts say poses little threat but could indicate a push to get something more dangerous.  ''We are deeply concerned by the reports that FARC members were trafficking in uranium,'' State Department spokeswoman Heide Bronke said. ``This underscores the terrorist threat that FARC poses to the people of Colombia and to the region.''

     On Wednesday, Colombian authorities dug up 66 pounds of what is presumed to be depleted uranium, which the government says belonged to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Depleted uranium is a byproduct of a process that turns ordinary uranium into enriched uranium, the material used to make weapons and nuclear energy. The dense depleted uranium, which is easier to obtain than enriched uranium, is used to make shells and tank armor. It also has civilian uses such as for radiation shielding material in medical radiation therapy and as counterweights in aircraft.

    The Bush administration now wants to know what motivated the FARC to seek uranium in the first place. A computer file seized from a FARC camp in Ecuador that was attacked by Colombian troops on March 1 suggests the Marxist guerrilla group planned to sell the uranium to other buyers. '' While we do not have details of the seizure, initial reports are that the uranium was depleted,'' Bronke said. ``We have no indication at this time as to how the FARC intended to use the uranium. We commend the Colombian military for disrupting the FARC activity and hope that Colombian officials conducting the investigation will be able to determine the FARC's intended use.''

HUGO CHAVEZ WARNS AGAINST "FLAMES" STILL BURNING IN THE ANDEAN REGION

       RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL --  In a press conference in Brazil, Hugo Chávez Thursday commented on the Andean crisis that involved Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Nicaragua and warned against some "little flames" still burning in the region.

    According to Chávez, powerful interests are still trying to destabilize the region, and reports are still emerging that documents and photographs were allegedly found in the personal computer of late Raúl Reyes, the international spokesperson for the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). "Yesterday I called (Colombian) President (Álvaro) Uribe and expressed my concern about this situation. It is said that Venezuela and Ecuador support the guerrilla groups. We must strive to put out that flame still burning for good," added Chávez.

    Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said his Venezuelan counterpart was the "peacemaker" in the conflict that erupted following a Colombian military attack against a FARC camp in Ecuadorian territory on March 1st.  "During several days, headlines all over the world made reference to the war between Colombia and Venezuela, and the great peacemaker in the conflict between Colombia and Ecuador was President Chávez himself," said Lula.

HUGO CHAVEZ AND LULA DA SILVA INITIAL PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT BETWEEN PDVSA AND PETROBAS 

      RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL --  Hugo Chávez Thursday announced form Brazil that a partnership agreement between Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) and Petrobras was signed.

    "We signed a contract under which Pdvsa -with a 40 percent stake- became a partner of Petrobras to build the great bi-national oil refinery (Abreu e Lima). And we have made some progress in reviewing the conditions for Petrobras inclusion in the Orinoco oil belt," said Chávez.

     Regarding reports Wednesday that denied the signing of this agreement, Chávez said that besides being "pessimistic" news, such claims echoed the "fifth column that is alive and kicking in Latin America."  Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula Da Silva said that rather than an agreement, the contract was a "message to the world," because "even though we are poor, we have pride and are aware of our sovereignty."

03-27- 2008

VENEZUELA COMMUNICATION MINISTER REJECTS THE WASHINGTON POST'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHAVEZ

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA --In a letter to US daily newspaper The Washington Post, Communication and Information Minister Andrés Izarra complained about the increased number of "negative and aggressive" editorials "with false or biased information" about Venezuela.

    He argued he was "compelled to believe" that the newspaper "is promoting an agenda against the country and democratically elected President Hugo Chávez." "When referring to President Chávez, you have used names such as strongman, autocrat, clown, erratic, tyrant, and dictator, while his government has been referred to as dictatorship, repressive regime or a form of authoritarianism," said Izarra.

    He stressed that such descriptions are both false and dangerous, as the US administration has used such terms to "justify wars, military interventions, coups d'etat, and other techniques for changing regimes, during the last few decades." "The George W. Bush administration has said that any nations linked or friendly with terrorist states or groups may be subject to a preemptive invasion or intervention. Is it the end sought for Venezuela?" wondered Izarra.

U.S. WARNS INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO BEWARE OF DOING BUSINESS WITH IRANIAN BANKS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --Washington has warned international financial institutions to beware of doing business with several Iranian banks, citing concerns about Iran's lack of regulations to prevent money-laundering and the financing of terrorism. Included on the list of more than 50 private and state-owned banks is an Iranian bank in Venezuela, Banco Internacional de Desarrollo, based in Caracas, as well as others in Italy, Hong Kong, Paris, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.

     The Treasury Department issued the advisory last week, warning that ``through state-owned banks, the government of Iran disguises its involvement in proliferation and terrorism activities through an array of deceptive practices specifically to evade detection.'' Treasury said the Central Bank of Iran and Iranian commercial banks have recently requested that their names be removed from global transactions to make it more difficult for other banks and regulators to determine who is behind each transaction.

     The Banco Internacional de Desarrollo started doing business in Venezuela in September 2007, with $18.6 million in capital, as part of a cooperation agreement between the governments of Venezuela and Iran. Iran is on the U.S. list of countries that sponsor terrorism. The United States is checking into the possibility of including Venezuela on that list. Computer documents seized in a raided camp of Colombian leftist rebels in March suggest links to the Venezuelan government.

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS VENEZUELA FEELS ALREADY PART OF MERCOSUR

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Hugo Chávez Wednesday said Venezuela is to play a role in the construction of the 21st-century socialism, "to which we actually feel a part in body and soul," even though the legislatures in Brazil and Paraguay have not endorsed Caracas' membership in the regional bloc.

     Upon his arrival in Brazil, where he is meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva to initial a number of economic cooperation agreements, Chávez stated that regional integration would pave the way for South America to become "a pole of world power to achieve the balance of the universe, just like (Liberator Simón) Bolívar used to suggest." "South America has a great history. We are meant to be great. We are making the new great South America," Chávez stressed.

     Regarding Brazil's proposal to organize a South American Defense Council, the Venezuelan ruler replied "that was Bolívar's plan, namely a political, economic, and military alliance." When asked about the Pernambuco oil refinery -one of the places he is scheduled to visit in Brazil-, Chávez said it was an example that "what we have proposed as Petrosur, the South American energy alliance, is becoming a fact."

03-26- 2008

ECUADOR WOULD APPEAL AGAIN TO THE OAS AFTER CONFIRMATION THAT AN ECUADORIAN WAS KILLED IN THE FARC CAMP

      QUITO, ECUADOR -- Ecuador says it is "deeply concerned" by confirmation that an Ecuadorian was among those killed when the Colombian military launched a cross-border raid.  The Ecuadorian government said it would appeal to the Organization of American States (OAS) for help in the matter.  Colombia on Sunday confirmed that an Ecuadorian died when its troops attacked a rebel camp three weeks ago.

    The raid provoked the worst regional tensions in recent years, with Ecuador breaking off diplomatic relations.  Colombian forces attacked the Revolutionary Armed Forced of Colombia (FARC) camp located just across the border in Ecuador on 1 March. A senior FARC commander, Raul Reyes, and more than 20 other people, including four Mexican nationals, were killed.

     Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos confirmed that an Ecuadorian national was among the dead and that his body had been taken to Colombia. His Ecuadorian counterpart, Wellington Sandoval, said that the news "complicated" bilateral relations.  "Things have become complicated, because an Ecuadorian has died in an attack by a foreign country," Mr Sandoval said. Ecuador's President Rafael Correa had earlier warned of grave diplomatic consequences if it were proved that an Ecuadorian had died in the raid.

VENEZUELAN PDVSA TO FACE NETHERLANDS COURT IN EXXON-MOBIL CASE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --Hildegard Rondón de Sansó, legal counsel of Venezuela state-run oil firm Pdvsa in the case against US oil major Exxon Mobil, said that following a victory in the England High Court, the conglomerate now has to advocate its viewpoint in the Netherlands court where the US company filed an action.

    After requesting in London a freezing injunction on Pdvsa's assets -which was overturned last week by judge Paul Walter-, Exxon Mobil filed a similar action in the Netherlands. In this case, Exxon Mobil won a freezing injunction hitting Pdvsa's assets in both the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles.

    Rondón showed satisfaction at the ruling issued by Walker. However, she stressed that Pdvsa has less arguments for defense in the Netherlands, as the holding does own assets in the Netherlands, namely Bopec -a small oil storage terminal based in Bonaire- and 220,000 bpd Isla refinery in Curacao, which Pdvsa operates under a leasing agreement. She added, however, that the London ruling is a precedent that favors Pdvsa.

EXPORTS TO COLOMBIA STILL FROZEN, SAY VENEZUELAN EXPORTERS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- Although the presidents of Colombia and Venezuela agreed to take relations between both countries back to normal after the Rio Summit, the Venezuelan Exporters' Association (AVEX) reported that local authorities are preventing exports to Colombia.

    Exports to Colombia have been frozen since last March 4, when the Ministry of Light Industries and Trade (Milco) issued a ban, amidst a diplomatic conflict that involved both countries and Ecuador.

    "We are deeply concerned about this because at the (air, sea and land) customs there are around 4,000 tons of Venezuelan products valued at USD 42 million that can not be exported," said Francisco Mendoza, AVEX chair. endoza said he does not understand why the government, which has allowed imports from Colombia to be resumed, has not cleared Venezuelan exports to Colombia, which include razor blades, auto parts, plastics, and glass.

03-25- 2008

U.S. COMBAT DEATHS IN IRAQ AT 4,000  

      BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- Four U.S. soldiers were killed when a bomb hit their vehicle in southern Baghdad late Sunday, bringing the number of U.S. personnel killed in the Iraq War to 4,000. The grim milestone came at a time when attacks against the U.S. military are ebbing and officials have claimed significant progress against Iraq's deadly insurgency and sectarian violence. It was reached about 10 p.m. on a day when more than 60 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital.

    The U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad also came under heavy mortar or rocket fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties inside the fortified enclave, which houses the U.S. Embassy, government offices and military bases. But Iraqi police said a number of the projectiles missed their apparent target and caused casualties in neighboring districts. At least 27 U.S. personnel have been killed so far in March, down from more than a hundred a month in April, May and June 2007, according to the independent website icasualties.org. Dozens more have been wounded, including one in Sunday night's fatal attack.

    The number of attacks in Iraq has dropped about 60 percent since a U.S. buildup ordered by President Bush increased the number of troops in Iraq to almost 170,000 by June, according to the U.S. military. But American officials have warned that the progress is reversible and militants will continue to wage attacks as most of the additional 28,500 U.S. troops leave by the end of July.

AL QAEDA NO. 2 CALLS ON MUSLIMS TO STRIKE U.S. JEWISH INTERESTS

      CAIRO, EGYPT  -- Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims in a new audiotape released Monday to strike Jewish and American targets in revenge for Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip earlier this month. The al-Zawahri tape came on the heels of a message from Usama bin Laden, who called for a holy war to liberate the Palestinian territories — a new push by the terror network's leadership to use widespread anger over the Gaza violence to whip up support.

    "Muslims, today is your day. Strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all those who participated in the attack on Muslims," al-Zawahri said. "Monitor the targets, collect money, prepare the equipment, plan with precision, and then — while relying on God — assault, seeking martyrdom and paradise." Israel launched a weeklong offensive in Gaza that ended in early March, seeking to put down Palestinian militants firing rockets against nearby Israeli towns. The Israeli assault killed more than 120 people, including many civilians.

     Al-Zawahri said attacks should not be limited to places in Israel and the Palestinian territories. "Today there is no room for he who says that we should only fight the Jews in Palestine," he said. "Let us strike their interests everywhere, just like they gathered against us from everywhere." "Let them know that they will get blood for every dollar they spend in the killing of the Muslims, and for every bullet they fire at us, a volcano will turn back on them," he said, referring to American military aid and other ties to Israel. "They cannot expect to support Israel, then live in peace while the Jews are killing our fugitive and besieged people."

PROTESTER DISRUPT OLYMPIC TORCH LIGHTING CEREMONY AT OLYMPIA, GREECE

      OLYMPIA, GREECE -- A protester managed to breach the tight security during the Olympic torch lighting ceremony in Greece Monday. Policemen detain a protester as he holds a banner at the beginning of the flame-lighting ceremony. The man rushed behind the podium as China's Olympic chief was speaking. He unfurled a banner, but was quickly apprehended by security who escorted him away.

    Meanwhile committee chief Liu Qi continued to make his speech in Chinese while the commotion went on behind him. Two other men were also detained. China state TV cut away from the protest and showed a prerecorded scene, preventing Chinese viewers from seeing the incident, according to The Associated Press. Chinese television commentators did not mention the demonstration. The torch was lit moments later as it began its epic began its 130-day, 137,000-kilo meters (85,000-miles) journey.

     "All the preparations for the torch relay in Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Gansu are proceeding very well," Beijing Olympics organizer Jiang Xiaoyu said. The flame is set to arrive in Beijing on August 6, where it will be paraded around the city until entering the stadium for the Olympics opening ceremony on August 8. E-mail to a friend

03-24- 2008

PERU ACCUSES VENEZUELA OF MEDDLING

      LIMA, PERU --Hugo Chavez has been accused of using Venezuela's oil riches to meddle in Colombia, Argentina, Bolivia and Nicaragua. Now, Peru's president says the Venezuelan leader may be doing it here by funding militants and antipoverty centers that preach populist revolution. In recent weeks, Peruvian police have arrested nine people the government alleges are militants bankrolled by Venezuela. And the head of a congressional investigatory committee accused Venezuela of supplying funds to outreach centers he says agitate against the government.

    President Alan Garcia supports the ongoing investigation into the centers. Venezuela and allies Bolivia and Ecuador "want to destabilize Peru so that our country adheres to their type of thinking, so that Peru fails," said the government's lead anti-terrorism prosecutor, Julio Galindo. Venezuela vehemently denies the allegations, and denies funding Peruvian militants or the antipoverty centers. Venezuela's ambassador in Peru, Armando Laguna, said the government should "ask me to leave Peru" if it finds proof.

     The accusations come in the context of a regional showdown over alleged Venezuelan and Ecuadorean attempts to destabilize Colombia's U.S.-backed government. Colombian authorities claim a seized rebel laptop indicates that Venezuela planned to give $300 million to rebels fighting to topple it. The arrested Peruvian militants allegedly are from the Coordinadora Continental Bolivariana, a Venezuela-based leftist movement. Authorities say its Peruvian members are mostly former militants of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, which was all but destroyed in 1997 after it took hostages at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima. Congressman Rolando Sousa says there are 150 centers, and accuses

ECUADOR WARNS COLOMBIA OVER CROSS-BORDER RAID

      QUITO, ECUADOR --  Ecuador has warned Colombia of grave consequences if it is found Bogota’s cross-border military operations against its leftist rebels had killed any Ecuadorian national, EFE reported Sunday. President Rafael Correa issued the warning on the radio Saturday after an Ecuadorian family claimed a photo showed the body of their slain relative next to that of Raul Reyes, a top commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

     “It would be extremely grave if it is proved that an Ecuadorian died (in Colombian raid),” Correa said. “We will not let this murder go unpunished.” Reyes was killed in a Colombian army operation in the Ecuadorian jungles across the border in an air raid March 1 in which 20 FARC rebels and several Mexicans were also killed. Colombian authorities initially said the body transferred to Bogota along with Reyes’s was FARC leader Julian Conrado, but forensic experts confirmed the body belonged to some other person.

      Following the revelation, Quito has announced investigation to determine whether the slain individual was Ecuadorian Franklin Aisalia. The cross-border raid sparked a huge regional crisis earlier this month, with Ecuador and its close ally Venezuela severing diplomatic relations with Colombia and sending troops to their respective borders with the country. Bogota subsequently said that files found on Reyes’ laptop - discovered at the camp - proved that the FARC had close ties with Ecuador and Venezuela.

TAIWAN OPPOSITION TRIUMPHS IN ELECTIONS

      TAIPEI, TAIWAN --  Taiwan voters overwhelmingly elected Nationalist Party candidate Ma Ying-jeou to be president on Saturday, apparently choosing the promise of economic growth through closer ties with China over fears that those ties to the mainland could lead to a loss of independence. 1 of 3 Ma, whose campaign touted the economic benefits of better relations with China, defeated the Democratic Progressive Party's Frank Hsieh, who advocated going slower and holding back in some areas.

    Taiwan's central election commission projected that Ma Ying-jeou had won more than 58 percent versus Frank Hsieh's 41 percent, with most of the votes counted. His margin of victory was the largest in the history of Taiwan's presidential races. Ma's vote total topped the 7 million mark, a point at which it would be mathematically impossible for him to lose, the commission said.

    The commission estimated that 75 percent of Taiwan's eligible voters cast ballots in the presidential race. While Ma was considered the frontrunner throughout the campaign, the recent crackdown on anti-Chinese protests in Tibet was used by the opposition in an effort to convince voters that there was danger in dealing with China. The mainland Chinese government has made clear that closer ties would only be a first step -- it considers Taiwan, on the island of Formosa southeast of the mainland, an inseparable part of China and constantly pushes for eventual reunification. During the election, voters also voted down a referendum on Taiwan joining the United Nations.

03-23- 2008

Caracas bishop: "we cannot continue to hate each other" 

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA --After reading the Seven Words Sermon, Caracas Auxiliary Bishop Monsignor Luis Tineo on Good Friday said that while not easy it was "necessary to forgive" in order to reach reconciliation among Venezuelans.

    "We cannot continue to live hating each other. We are the disciples of this Man who is with and empowers us to forgive one each other." He stressed that Venezuela is going through a time when people have opposed views, violence is an everyday problem, and people are downhearted. However, he claim, the key to find a solution is "forgiveness."

     "We have to give each other a second chance. Forgiveness is not just another virtue, but it is a necessity. We have to know how to forgive and ask for forgiveness." According to Tineo, in the Holy Week Venezuelans massively attended religious ceremonies, thus responding to the Catholic Church's invitation to come near God, the Church and the sacraments.

COLOMBIA HOPES NEIGHBORS TO HONOR THEIR COMMITMENTS 

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- Colombia is confident that the governments of its neighboring countries are going to honor the commitments they made at the Organization of American States (OAS) to fight the criminals and armed groups that may settle in their territories, said Foreign Affairs Minister Fernando Araújo.

     For Araújo, the major breakthrough of the OAS resolution that put an end to a crisis that lead Colombia and Ecuador to cut diplomatic ties was the creation of a special taskforce to verify compliance with the countries' commitment to fight crime. His comments came in an interview with Colombian news agency Colprensa.

cardinal urosa brands as "rumors" reported links between the church and drug lord  

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino Wednesday replied to claims that the Catholic Church and drug smuggler Hermágoras González have links by saying that such statements should be "demonstrated with proofs."

     "In the meantime, they are nothing but rumors. If anyone in the Church is involved in that, that person should be punished." Urosa, on the day of Jesus the Nazarene, urged Venezuelans to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ, repudiate high crime rates in the country and seek national unity.

     "We should look for the things that bring us together, and avoid the things that bring us apart. We should reject selfishness and indifference towards other people and try to build a society of brothers where there is room for everybody and we may live in peace."

03-22- 2008

COLOMBIAN SENATOR PIEDAD CORDOBA SAID THAT AN INTERCEPTED PHONE CALL FROM THE COLOMBIAN COMMISSIONER FOR PEACE LED MILITARY TO FARC CAMP IN ECUADOR 

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --Sen. Piedad Córdoba said that Reyes, a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, made a call on a satellite phone to French emissaries trying to strike a deal to liberate some high-profile hostages, Colombian radio ''La W'' reported on Friday.

    The call was tracked by the military, which bombed the rebel camp on the Ecuador-Colombia border and killed Reyes and 24 other guerrilla fighters. Córdoba made the comments in an interview with Cambio magazine, ''La W'' said. The senator said the French officials -- trying to secure the release of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a dual Colombian-French citizen -- were prompted by the Colombian government to call Reyes. The request was made by Colombia's main peace negotiator, Luis Carlos Restrepo, in a meeting in Panama, she said.

     Restrepo confirmed the meeting took place, but he vehemently denied asking the French to call Reyes. In a letter to Cambio, he said Córdoba's remarks had ``no base in reality.'' Córdoba has been working with Hugo Chávez to win the release of some of the dozens of hostages that are held by the FARC.

COLOMBIAN COMMISSIONER FOR PEACE, LUIS CARLOS RESTREPO, DENIES PHONE CALL TO RAUL REYES

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- Colombian High Commissioner for Peace, Luis Carlos Restrepo, Thursday denied that a satellite phone call, through which the Colombian Army was able to detect, locate and kill the second highest-ranking leader of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), Raúl Reyes, was made at his request.

    "In an interview (with Colombian opposition Senator Piedad Córdoba, former mediator before the FARC) published in the last issue (of magazine Cambio), she speaks about an alleged call to 'Raúl Reyes' made by a French official at my request that was tracked in order to plan the (military) operation against him," said Restrepo.

     The high-ranking official sent a letter to Cambio expressing his "concern" about Córdoba's statements, for her "imprudence" and making "unjustified" remarks, reported Efe.
The FARC reject accusations against Ecuador and Venezuela

THE FARC ACCUSES THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT OF "BLACKMAIL" 

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- In a press release published by multi-state television network Telesur, the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) branded as "blackmail" the Colombian government's attempt at discrediting the administrations of Ecuador and Venezuela by disclosing information allegedly found in a computer that "not even with a special armor could have resisted the bombing that pulverized everything around it."

    "What (Colombian President Álvaro) Uribe wants to do with the US 'smart bombs' is to distract the attention of a country that demands his resignation from the presidency of the republic because he is guilty of genocide, a drug lord and mobster, a paramilitary," added the press release.

     Additionally, the FARC clarified that they have not received money or weapons from any Latin American country. "With the honorable exception of Danish organization Fighters and Lovers, which made a symbolic donation to the FARC, we have received no money or weapons from anybody," read the document.

03-21- 2008

BIN LADEN ACCUSES POPE BENEDICT XVI, SLAMS THE EUROPEAN UNION OVER CARTOONS

       CAIRO, EGYPT --Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden accused Pope Benedict XVI of helping in a "new Crusade" against Islam and warned in a new audiotape of a "severe" reaction for Europeans' publication of cartoons seen by Muslims as insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad. The message raised concerns al-Qaeda was plotting new attacks in Europe. Some experts said bin Laden, believed to be in hiding in the Afghan-Pakistan border area, may be unable to organize such an attack himself and instead was trying to fan anger over the cartoons to inspire violence by supporters.

     Bin Laden's audiotape was posted late Wednesday on a militant website that has carried al-Qaeda statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group's media wing Al-Sahab. An old, still image of bin Laden aiming with an assault rifle was posted along with the message. "The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God," said a voice believed to be bin Laden's, without specifying what action would be taken.

    "You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings," he said. "This is the greater and more serious tragedy, and reckoning for it will be more severe." He said the cartoons "came in the framework of a new Crusade in which the Pope of the Vatican has played a large, lengthy role. Bin Laden also criticized the "aggressive policies" of President Bush.

HUGO CHAVEZ PREPARES MEETING WITH PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE AND VISIT TO BRAZIL

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Hugo Chávez is preparing to meet with his Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe, in an attempt at mending bilateral relations, Wednesday said Brazilian President's Aide for Foreign Affairs Marco Aurelio García. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's aide met Wednesday with Chávez. Following the encounter, he showed optimism that Colombia-Venezuela frictions -which worsened after a Colombian attack against a camp of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) where the second highest-ranking leader of the guerrilla group, Raúl Reyes, was killed in Ecuador- would be overcome.

     García told Brazilian reporters who accompanied him in his visit to Venezuela that he trusted Chávez's willingness to smooth the sharp edges with Bogota. "I felt Chávez was sweet-tempered. I think Colombian President is a sweet-tempered man too, and then we have to take the chance to bring them closer," García added. He said Chávez "wants to meet with President Uribe, and bring relations back to normal."

     Further, García stressed that Chávez showed satisfaction at the resolution the Organization of American States (OAS) issued to reject the violation of Ecuador's territorial sovereignty during the attack launched by the Colombian Army against the FARC. García also noticed that Chávez late this month is visiting Recife, northeast Brazil, where state firm Petrobras is building the Abreu e Lima oil refinery, a project Venezuelan oil giant Pdvsa is likely to join soon.

VENEZUELA DENIES "BOLIVARIAN MEGA-EMBASSY" IN BOLIVIA 

      LA PAZ, BOLIVIA  -- The Venezuelan Embassy to Bolivia Wednesday denied claims that it is opening up a "Bolivarian mega-embassy" in La Paz, which is reportedly going to represent the Cuban, Nicaraguan and Bolivian governments, Efe informed.

     Both the Venezuelan Embassy and the Bolivian government Wednesday rejected a report published by Argentinean newspaper La Nación and quoted in a daily newspaper in La Paz. The article claimed that "a common Bolivarian Embassy" was under construction, and was to encompass four countries that endorse President Hugo Chávez's political project. Douglas Pérez, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Venezuelan Embassy in La Paz, told TV channel Unitel that a six-floor building mentioned in the report would be the new Venezuelan Embassy to Bolivia. So far, the Venezuelan diplomatic representation in La Paz operated in two apartments only.

     "It is not a mega-embassy," he said, adding that the building would comprise "cultural spaces," as well as offices of state oil firm Pdvsa and the Social and Economic Development Bank (Bandes). Pérez stressed that the new building, located near the headquarters of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), represents "only 20 percent of the facilities" of the US Embassy.

03-20- 2008

PRESIDENT BUSH SAID THAT FARC-CHAVEZ LINKS ARE STRONGER THAN WE THOUGHT

       JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA --United States President George W. Bush Tuesday turned up the volume of a verbal clash between Washington and Caracas, as for the first time he openly mentioned an investigation into the alleged links between President Hugo Chávez's government and the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). In a speech in Jacksonville, southeast Florida, Bush would not mention Chávez's name, but he did refer to an investigation the Colombian authorities are conducting to determine whether Venezuela-FARC relationship goes beyond simple meetings in Caracas.

     "Recently, when Colombian forces killed one of the FARC's most senior leaders they discovered computer files that suggest even closer ties between Venezuela's regime and FARC terrorists than we previously knew," Bush said. "Colombian officials are investigating the ties but this much should be clear: the United States strongly supports, strongly stands with Colombia in its fight against the terrorists and drug lords," Bush added.

     Last week US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said her country was attentive to the alleged links between Venezuelan authorities and the FARC, who the US brands as a terrorist organization. However, this is the first time Bush speaks publicly about this issue. According to Bush, Chávez's regime "has railed against America, has forged an alliance with communist Cuba, has met with FARC leaders in Venezuela, has deployed troops to the Colombian border." The US President also recalled that FARC had been holding three Americans hostage since 2003, when their plane was captured, noting they were "the longest-held American hostages anywhere in the world."

FIVE YEARS LATER, PRESIDENT BUSH TO SAY IRAQ WAR MUST GO ON I

        WASHINGTON, D.C. -- President Bush will mark the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war on Wednesday by calling the debate over the conflict "understandable" but insisting that a continued U.S. presence there is crucial. President Bush tours the Blount Island Marine Terminal on Tuesday in Jacksonville, Florida. "The answers are clear to me," Bush will say, according to excerpts of his speech to be delivered at the Pentagon on Wednesday, the day the war began in 2003. "Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win."

     Almost 4,000 American troops have died in the war, a painful toll that Bush will acknowledge. "No one would argue that this war has not come at a high cost in lives and treasure, but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq."  Bush contends the so-called troop surge he ordered in January 2007 has been a success and was necessary at a point when "the fight in Iraq was faltering."

     "The surge has done more than turn the situation in Iraq around; it has opened the door to a major strategic victory in the broader war on terror," he will say, according to the excerpts. "For the terrorists, Iraq was supposed to be the place where al Qaeda rallied Arab masses to drive America out. Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al Qaeda out."  Watch CNN correspondents recall "shock and awe" »  In the excerpts, Bush will say critics of the war -- such as Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- "can no longer credibly argue that we are losing in Iraq, so now they argue the war costs too much."

CORREA TURNS THE PAGE ON CRISIS WITH COLOMBIA

      QUITO, ECUADOR  --  Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa Tuesday said a diplomatic crisis between Ecuador and Colombia was "overcome," after the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a resolution rejecting a Colombian military incursion in Ecuadorian territory -an attack where the second highest-ranking leader of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), Raúl Reyes, was killed.

    According to AP, during a ceremony in the Ecuadorian palace of government, Correa stated that the resolution the OAS meeting of Foreign Ministers adopted "put together all of the aspirations of Ecuador."  "The principles of inviolability of a State territory and inviolability of the sovereignty are ratified as valid. It (the resolution) includes Colombia's apologies with no extenuating circumstances, and its promise not to commit any aggression again."

     Correa reminded that a similar resolution was adopted last March 7 in the Rio Summit, held in the Dominican Republic. "We are therefore considering that this huge crisis has been overcome, but I insist it would have been better if this had never happened."

03-19- 2008

INTERNATIONAL GROUPS CALL FOR CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONER RELEASES 

       MADRID, SPAIN -- International human rights and journalism advocacy groups called Tuesday on President Raul Castro's government to free critics still serving long sentences five years after a broad crackdown that landed 75 people behind bars. "It is time for Cuba to release these prisoners immediately and without conditions," said Matt Easton, of the New York-based Human Rights First, in a news release. "The world is waiting to see whether Cuba is really ready for change, or only going through the motions."

     The Committee to Protect Journalists focused on the 20 independent journalists among the 55 still held. Carlos Lauria, committee representative for the Americas, called for the journalists' release during a news conference in Madrid, attended by Cuban writer Raul Rivero. Rivero who was among 16 people in the original group of 75 who were released early on medical parole. Another four in the group were released into forced exile in Spain last month. About two dozen members of the Ladies in White, a support group for wives of political prisoners, marked the anniversary in Havana on Friday with a march demanding the release of their men.

    The March 18, 2003, crackdown prompted governments and rights groups around the world to condemn Fidel Castro's communist government. Cuban officials defended the roundup, saying they needed to protect the nation from "mercenaries." Cuba later tried and sentenced the 75 to prison terms of up to 28 years, accusing them of working with the United States to undermine Castro's government - charges the activists and Washington denied. Since Raul Castro assumed the presidency from his ailing 81-year-old brother Fidel last month, Cuba has signed two international treaties on civil and political rights and the number of political prisoners counted by human rights groups has edged lower.

THE LADIES IN WHITE, VICTIMS OF AN ACT OF REPUDIATION ORDERED BY RAUL CASTRO

        HAVANA, CUBA -- The "Ladies in White" were intercepted by paramilitary mobs during a peaceful march on March 15, as they were demanding the freedom of Cuban political prisoners on the 5th anniversary of their unjust arrest and imprisonment.

    The crowds insulted members of the Ladies in White who were branded as "terrorists", "prostitutes", "assassins","mercenaries", and "bastards". The Ladies in White responded by repetitively chanting "freedom" and raising in the air each of their gladiolus as they allowed several white doves to fly off.

    A Cuban state security official informed the peaceful marchers that they could not continue on to Revolution Square and Jose Marti Monument, which is considered a security zone. Aware of the women's firm posture to continue their itinerary of protest, several members of the mob along with state security agents formed a human chain to prevent the path of the Ladies in White as they moved towards Revolution Square, where the Central Committee of the Communist Party is located, the Council of State, as well as the Ministry of the Armed Forces, and the Ministry of the Interior.

THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT WINS CASE AGAINST EXXON MOBIL

      LONDON, ENGLAND  -- Venezuela Tuesday obtained a significant victory in its legal dispute against US oil major Exxon Mobil, as the England and Wales High Court decided to overturn an order freezing USD 12 billion in state-run oil firm Pdvsa's assets outside of Venezuela. "I have decided that the court order" to freeze Pdvsa assets worldwide -which was issued last February 24 at the request of Exxon Mobil- "must be revoked," Paul Walker, the judge hearing the case, said in court.

    The annulment is effective immediately, the judge said at the end of the hearing on the case, which started last February 28 in London-based England and Wales High Court. "This is the beginning of the end of Exxon Mobil's campaign of harassment against Pdvsa and Venezuela," Samuel Moncada, Venezuelan Ambassador in London, told AFP, adding he was "very pleased" at the ruling. Venezuela's victory is even more overwhelming as Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, is not challenging the decision, said one of Pdvsa's lawyers, Gordon Pollock.

    "The England and Wales Court has refused to be used as an Exxon Mobil's tool against Venezuela," said the Venezuelan Ambassador. The London-based court last January 24 issued an order to freeze up to USD 12 billion in Pdvsa assets "to secure" payment of compensation to Exxon Mobil, after President Hugo Chávez's government moved to nationalize the US firm's assets in heavy-crude oil Orinoco belt. "No comments," said Exxon Mobil's lawyer Catharine Otton-Goulder, who argued that the injunction freezing Pdvsa's assets was necessary to secure financial compensation following nationalization of Exxon Mobil's oil projects in Orinoco belt. The precautionary freezing injunction had became effective only in a New York bank, where a USD 315 million account held by a Pdvsa's affiliate was  frozen, at the request of Exxon Mobil.

03-18- 2008

EXPORTS FROM VENEZUELA TO COLOMBIA AT STATE

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Venezuelan authorities have refused to grant the certificates of origin required under regional export standards, thus having the non-traditional exporters on the rack and jeopardizing Venezuelans' trade links to Colombian customers. "When we you are going to export, there is a price previously agreed on with the buyer in the neighboring country (which is Colombia, in this case). Such a price has been set, and cannot be changed," said Francisco Mendoza, chair of the Venezuelan Association of Exporters (AVEX).

    If Venezuela tried to send products lacking the certificate of origin to Colombia, the trade preferences set under the Andean integration agreements would be lost. Therefore, exports to Colombia would in fact become more expensive de facto.The Venezuelan body granting the certificates of origin is the Foreign Trade Bank (Bancoex). But the institution is attached to the Ministry of Industries and Commerce (Milco), which has not ordered Bancoex to resume issuing the relevant documents for exporters.

     The issuance of certificates of origin was discontinued more than two weeks ago, amidst a temporary breaking-off of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia, which were brought back to normal recently. Based on AVEX estimates, some 140 containers carrying goods that were supposed to be sold to Colombian customers are stranded in Venezuela, as they lack the relevant documents for transportation. Such exports are valued at over USD 600 million. While Venezuelan exporters remain with their hands tied, their Colombian counterparts are selling their goods in Venezuela, with trade preferences taking tariffs down to zero. In this way, the Venezuelan government is undermining the competitiveness of non-traditional exports to Andean countries.

BRITISH JUDGE POSTPONES RULING ON EXXON-PDVSA TRIAL 

        LONDON, ENGLAND -- A British judge who was supposed to issue a ruling this week in connection with a legal dispute in London between US oil major Exxon Mobil and Venezuelan state-run oil firm Pdvsa adjourned his decision until next week, Friday said one of Pdvsa's lawyers.

    John Fordham, one of Pdvsa's defense lawyers, told AFP that judge Paul Walker would announce "his ruling only next week" in connection with a freezing injunction hitting up to USD 12 billion in the holding's assets abroad -an order that was issued by a London court at the request of Exxon Mobil. Fordham claimed the judge only said that he was postponing the ruling "for a matter of time."

    "There are no negotiations under way (between Pdvsa and Exxon Mobil), as far as I know, he added. Pdvsa asked the England and Wales High Court to revoke the freezing injunction it issued last February 7 at the request of Exxon Mobil. Last March 6, when he final hearing in this case that started last February 28 ended, Walker said he needed more time to assess the file, and vowed to take a decision by the end of this week. Sources close to the case said the ruling would be disclosed next March 25.

PERU CLAIMS INTERFERENCE OF PRO-CHAVEZ GROUPS IS NOTORIOUS

      LIMA, PERU  --  Peruvian Minister of Defense Ántero Flores-Aráoz said the interference of groups supporting Hugo Chávez in Peru is notorious, but he conceded he had no evidence showing that the Venezuelan government is funding the controversial Houses of ALBA, Monday said press reports in Lima.

    "We still do not have any picture of someone being given money, but this does not mean that no proofs will surface in the future. There are pieces of evidence. The 'chavista' interference in Peru is notorious," the minister told daily newspaper El Comercio. Since the so-called Houses of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of the Americas) first emerged in 2006, some senior Peruvian officials, including Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo, have reported that the Venezuelan government is meddling with Peru's domestic affairs. Caracas has denied such claims.

     According to Flores-Aráoz, the Houses of ALBA, which originally provided humanitarian medical aid, reportedly became centers where the people were indoctrinated to reject the Peruvian government. Further, now the houses are promoting subversive acts. Flores-Aráoz was referring to the alleged role the Houses of ALBA played in an agrarian national strike in Peru last February that left four people killed.

03-17- 2008

JOHN MCCAIN arrives in baghdad for surprise visit

       BAGHDAD, IRAQ -- Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee who has linked his political future to U.S. success in Iraq, was in Baghdad on Sunday for meetings with Iraqi and U.S. diplomatic and military officials, a U.S. government official said. Details of McCain’s visit, which had been anticipated, were not being released for security reasons, the U.S. Embassy said. It was unclear who he met with; no media opportunities or news conferences were planned.

    McCain, a strong supporter of the U.S. military mission in Iraq, is believed to be staying in the country for about 24 hours. “Senator McCain is in Iraq and will be meeting with Iraqi and U.S. officials,” said Mirembe Nantongo, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

     This is the senator’s eighth visit to Iraq. He’s accompanied by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. Before leaving, McCain said the trip to the Middle East and Europe was a fact-finding venture, not a campaign photo opportunity.

VENEZUELA, COLOMBIA, NICARAGUA PRESIDENTS TO MEET, HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS 

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- The presidents of Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua plan to meet to discuss regional peace, after breaking off diplomatic ties over Colombia's pursuit of insurgents into Ecuador, Hugo Chavez said.  Chavez, of Venezuela, and his counterparts Alvaro Uribe of Colombia and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua reached the agreement in telephone calls yesterday, Chavez said today on his weekly television show, ``Alo Presidente.''

    Chavez, a long-time critic of U.S. foreign policy, said the three working together to improve relations disrupted a plan by the U.S. to foment war and destabilize the region.  Separately on the ``Alo Presidente'' broadcast, Chavez said active members of the Colombian military, including generals, had conspired with former members of the Venezuelan military to kill him.

     "On one occasion, I gave Uribe a document, including a copy of a recording of an active Colombian military person conspiring with a Venezuelan ex-military coup supporter planning to kill me,'' Chavez said on his program.

VENEZUELAN BIGGEST STEEL PLANT WORKERS STRIKE FOR WAGE INCREASE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Some 14,000 workers started a 48-hour stoppage Thursday in Venezuela's biggest iron and steel factory to demand wage increases and better working conditions.  Representatives from Orinoco's Ternium Steel Industry's (Sidor) enterprise are negotiating with Venezuela's Labor Ministry and the guild to end the strike.

     Sidor, privatized in 1997, is located on a 2,206-hectare property near Puerto Ordaz city in the state of Bolivar, some 800 km south of Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

     The Steel Industry Workers' Guild (Sutis) rejected the proposal of a daily wage of 44 bolivares per day (20.46 U.S. dollars) versus the initial demand of 50 bolivares (23.25 dollars).  Sutis President Jose Acarigua Rodriguez said they will request Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's support if the collective contract negotiations with Sidor are not accomplished in March.

03-16- 2008

REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS PROPOSED A RESOLUTION TO DECLARE VENEZUELA A STATE SPONSOR OF TERRORISM 

       WASHINGTON, D.C -- A group of Republican lawmakers proposed a resolution Friday asking the Bush administration to declare Venezuela a state sponsor of terrorism, a drastic step that would entail a series of sanctions on Caracas. The resolution is sponsored by Florida Republican Reps. Connie Mack and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and eight other legislators. The text cites international agreements committing nations to fight terrorism that Venezuela is allegedly violating by backing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which has waged a guerrilla war against the government there for more than four decades. It also lists FARC abuses, including kidnappings and drug trafficking.

    U.S. officials have long complained of close ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and the FARC, which is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. and Colombian governments and the European Union. But the capture of four computers belonging to the FARC by Colombian police suggest the ties were deeper than previously believed and could involve payments of cash. Both Mack and Ros-Lehtinen are longtime critics of the Venezuelan leader. ''Chávez has not only befriended and supported the FARC, he has developed strong relationships with the leaders of Iran and Cuba -- both state sponsors of terrorism -- and has used those relationships to systematically disrupt stability in Latin America and the rest of the Western Hemisphere,'' Mack said. According to U.S. laws, the State Department declares a country a state sponsor of terrorism if it ``repeatedly provides support to acts of international terrorism.''

    Asked about the designation during a visit to Brazil on Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said countries have an obligation to ensure there are no terrorist camps within their borders. ''We will watch the situation and the United States will act accordingly,'' Rice said. South Florida Republican lawmakers Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz Balart also signed the resolution. The other co-sponsors are Reps. Michael McCaul, Texas; Lynn Westmoreland, Ga.; Mike Pence, Ind.; Doug Lamborn, Colo.; Patrick McHenry, N.C.; and Mary Bono, Calif.

HUGO CHAVEZ DARED THE U,S, TO INCLUDE VENEZUELA ON TERROR LIST

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Hugo Chávez dared the U.S. government on Friday to put Venezuela on a list of countries accused of supporting terrorism, calling it one more attempt by Washington to undermine him for political reasons. Chávez said the ''threat to include us on the terrorist list'' -- an idea raised by some Republican lawmakers -- is Washington's response to his successes in the region.

    ''Let them make that list and shove it in their pocket,'' Chávez said in a televised speech. ''We shouldn't forget for an instant that we're in a battle against North American imperialism and that they have classified us as enemies -- at least in this continent they have us as enemy No. 1,'' Chávez said. ''The imperial plan is to overthrow this government and knock down the Bolivarian Revolution,'' he said, referring to his socialist movement. ``They're afraid of the impact of this revolution in the rest of the countries . . . of Latin America. That permanent aggression is because of that.''

    Chávez also responded to critical comments by President Bush, saying ``you've seen the imperial chief himself attack us again.'' ''The chief of the empire is going around desperate,'' Chávez said. He said a current visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Brazil and Chile this week is aimed at mounting ''pressures'' against ``our government and against me in particular.'' In comments on Wednesday, Bush accused the Venezuelan government of destabilizing, provocative behavior.

CUBA CALLS SOCCER DESERTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES A "LOW BLOW" 

      HAVANA, CUBA -- Cuba called the desertion of seven soccer players at the Olympic qualifying tournament in the United States "dishonorable" and a "low blow" on Friday. The seven players left the team in Tampa, Fla., after their opening match, a 1-1 draw with the United States on Tuesday night. On Thursday night, the team started with 10 players when one was suspended for a red card in the U.S, match, and lost to Honduras 2-0.
 
     "After their brilliant performance against the United States ... Cuba's Under-23 team suffered the desertion of seven members under the protection of the Cuban Adjustment Act," read a short note in the Communist Party daily Granma. Entitled "Low Blow for Cuban Soccer," the article noted that Cuba was left significantly weakened against Honduras. The Communist Youth Union newspaper Juventud Rebelde, the island's other national daily, qualified the desertions as "dishonorable."

    While Cuba hasn't officially identified the players, Jose Manuel Miranda, Erlys Garcia Baro, Yenier Bermudez, Yordany Alvarez and Loanni Prieto missed practice Wednesday and were absent against Honduras. Yendry Diaz and Eder Roldan also missed the game, with Diaz telling ESPN that the two players left the team Wednesday.

03-15- 2008

IN A DRAMATIC SHIFT, HUGO CHAVEZ ASKED ALVARO URIBE TO MEET IN PERSON TO STRENGTHEN RELATIONS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- HUGO CHAVEZ AND ALVARO URIBE have pledged to put aside their differences after a bitter spat. Chavez and Uribe issued statements Thursday night saying the two had spoken by phone and agreed to meet in person - a major shift after recently trading accusations and insults. The governments said the leaders plan to meet soon to strengthen relations after their confrontation over the Colombian military's March 1 cross-border attack in Ecuador that killed 25 people, including a Colombian rebel leader. It was unclear how soon their meeting could take place.

     Chavez and Uribe "renewed their commitment of trust and mutual collaboration so that neither Venezuela nor Colombia are victims of violent groups, whatever their origin," said a statement released from Bogota. Chavez made the call, and in the conversation the leaders expressed "all the willingness to re-establish the best relations between the governments," it said. Two two made clear "their willingness to cooperate to avoid aggressions of any kind," Venezuela said in its statement.

    In the days after the military assault, Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa dispatched troops to their borders with Colombia, and Chavez's government also scaled back trade at border crossings. The three leaders held a tense debate last week at a summit in the Dominican Republic, but then concluded the talks with stiff handshakes after Uribe pledged to never again carry out another act like the strike in Ecuador. After that meeting, Chavez's government restored full diplomatic ties with Colombia and reopened its embassy in Bogota. Venezuela also invited back Colombian diplomats expelled by Chavez. It remains unclear to what extent the leaders will remain on good terms after the tense war of words, in which the leftist Chavez compared the U.S.-allied Uribe to a "mafia boss" and accused him of leading a "genocidal government." During the spat, Colombian officials also released documents found on rebel laptops claiming Chavez conspired with the rebels - an accusation Chavez denies.

03-14- 2008

SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE TOUGHENS ANTI-CHAVEZ TALK 

       BRAZILIA, BRAZIL -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday urged nations such as Venezuela to meet their U.N. obligations and keep terrorists out of their territories. ''Borders are important. But borders cannot be a means by which terrorists hide and engage in activities that kill innocent civilians,'' Rice said after meeting with Brazilian leaders during a two-day trip to South America. Her comments come a day after President Bush said Venezuela's response to the recent crisis in Colombia and Ecuador was ``the latest step in a disturbing pattern of provocative behavior by the regime in Caracas.''

    The Bush administration is ramping up its tough talk against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, while at the same time praising its South American allies for holding strong against terrorism. The latest rhetoric, including discussion of whether Venezuela should be designated a state sponsor of terror, is aimed at isolating Chávez and building stronger alliances inside Latin America at a time U.S. foreign policy remains deeply unpopular throughout the world. Left out of Rice's itinerary are those countries that have been critical of the United States, including Argentina.

     When asked whether the United States was considering designating Venezuela a state sponsor of terror, Rice said: ``We will watch the situation and act accordingly.'' On Wednesday, Bush said ''the region is facing an increasingly stark choice: to quietly accept the vision of the terrorists and the demagogues or to actively support democratic leaders like President [Alvaro] Uribe'' of Colombia, he said. ''I've made my choice. I'm standing with courageous leadership that believes in freedom and peace,'' Bush said.

CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO EASES RESTRICTIONS ON SALE OF COMPUTERS, DVD IN CUBA  

        
        HAVANA, CUBA -- Cuban DICTATOR Raul Castro moved to lift some restrictions on daily life, giving the green light to the sale of computers and DVDs, Reuters reported on Thursday.

    "Based on the improved availability of electricity, the government at the highest level has approved the sale of some equipment which was prohibited," an internal government memo says, Reuters reported.

    The end to the ban includes authorizing sales of computers; video and DVD players; some television sets; electric pressure and rice cookers; electric bicycles; car alarms; and microwaves, which can be bought freely by Cubans, Reuters reports. Cuba lifts ban on computer, DVD sales Thu Mar 13, 11:20 AM ET

EMILIO GONZALEZ, DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION, RESIGNS

      WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The head of the Homeland Security agency that ushers in new citizens said Thursday he is leaving the job. Emilio Gonzalez, director of Citizenship and Immigration Services, told The Associated Press he was announcing his plans to his agency's employees Thursday morning. He said he has informed the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff of his departure, and told some staffers Wednesday.

    "My wife and I have been talking about this for a while and this is strictly family based," Gonzalez said in an interview. "I've been traveling since 1999. I've been having a part-time relationship with my family. This year is my eighth year of commuting and we thought this would be a good year to go home." Gonzalez's resignation will be effective April 18. He is leaving just a few months after his agency drastically increased the fees it charges immigrants to apply for citizenship and other immigration benefits.

     That increase triggered record-setting applications last year that deluged the agency. Many immigrants won't become citizens in time to vote in November because of numerous applications. Gonzalez said he has been working in Washington and living in Miami since 1999. Gonzalez said his departure is unrelated to criticism of the fee increase and the delays in processing citizenship fees in an election year. Some groups and lawmakers have said the agency should have been better prepared for the jump in applications that preceded the hike in fees.

03-13- 2008

president bush said chavez's government is full of empty promises and thirst for power 

        WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- United States President George W. Bush Wednesday said Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez's government was "full of empty promises and thirst for power," adding that in "his (Chávez's) efforts to promote an anti-US vision, he has left his own citizens with food shortages and threats against their neighbors." Bush warned that at the present time "there is much at stake," and therefore people in the region should make important decisions, making a clear distinction between democratic governments and "terrorist" or "demagogue" governments.

     The US ruler criticized the fact that Chávez mourned the death of the number two man of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), Raúl Reyes. Bush claimed that such action showed Chávez's closeness to the guerrilla group, and accused the Venezuelan President of using oil revenues to sponsor an anti-US campaign. "There is much at stake here. The Latin American region is faced with increasingly harder choices, between accepting the views of the terrorists and demagogues or actively supporting democratic leaders such as (Colombian) President (Álvaro) Uribe," Bush stated.

    He stressed he already made his choice, adding he would stand by a leader "who is very courageous and believes in justice and peace." Reference was made to Colombian President Álvaro Uribe. He suggested that support for the Colombian government could materialize in a bilateral free trade agreement. "There no clearer signals of our support than a free trade agreement, which may allow Uribe to demonstrate that democracy bears fruits that are going to generate new jobs in Colombia, which will make it harder to recruit new people for drug trafficking and terrorism. The agreement will tell people in the region that the United States is firmly committed to free trade and free societies," Bush added.

thomas shannon CONFIRMS the us is studying the links of hugo chavez with the farc

         WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- The United States is carefully studying the information on Venezuela found in the computers the Colombian Government says it seized from the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), and even though the information is "disturbing," Washington is far from a decision to put Caracas on a terrorism blacklist, said a US State Department high-ranking official.

    "Declaring somebody a state sponsor of terrorism is a big step. It's a serious step," said US Assistant Secretary of State Tom Shannon, the top US diplomat for Latin America, in a press conference, reported AFP. "And it's one (step) that we would only take after the very careful consideration of all the evidence," added Shannon, who is scheduled to travel to Brazil and Chile together with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

     Asked if the information was sufficient to build a case to put Venezuela on the list, which currently includes Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Sudan and Syria, Shannon said, "We don't know yet." "We have to take a close look at all of the material that is in the hard drives of (late) Raúl Reyes and Iván Ríos and that's going to take a while," said Shannon.

THE VICE PRESIDENT OF PDVSA DIEGO UZCATEGUI INTRODUCED argentinean GUIDO ANTONINI TO venezuelan CLAUDIO UBERTI

      BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA  -- Former director of the Argentinean Organization of Control of Private Highways (Occovi) Claudio Uberti said then vice-president of Venezuelan state-run oil firm Pdvsa Diego Uzcátegui Matheus introduced him to Venezuelan-US businessman Guido Antonini Wilson one day before they flew together to Buenos Aires from Caracas.

    "I was introduced to Antonini Wilson by Diego Uzcátegui Matheus, vice-president of Pdvsa, in Caracas, on August 3, 2007, during a luncheon I was invited to. I had never before had any contact or relation with him," claimed Uberti during a hearing last February 1 before Argentinean prosecutor for criminal economic matters María Luz Rivas Diez, Argentinean daily newspaper Clarín reported.

    However, Uberti conceded that Antonini previously requested to meet with him several times, which Uberti declined to do. Just like Uberti did, Uzcátegui Matheus resigned from his position, after it was known that his son Daniel Uzcátegui Spetch was on board of the flight chartered by Argentinean oil company Enarsa that took Antonini and his suitcase filled with USD 800,000 to Buenos Aires. "I do not know either the origin or the destination of the money confiscated from Antonini Wilson," said Uberti in his statement.

03-12- 2008

US CONSIDERS INCLUDING VENEZUELA IN LIST OF STATE SPONSORS OF TERRORISM 

        WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- The US Government is considering if Venezuela could be included in a US list of state sponsors of terrorism, following recent allegations linking President Hugo Chávez's administration and the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), Monday reported daily The Miami Herald in Internet. According to the newspaper, US President George W. Bush's administration has asked its lawyers to look into what gets a country on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

     The US State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism includes North Korea, Cuba, Sudan, Syria and Iran. This process, an official source who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Miami Herald, is in its initial steps. And it is fundamental to confirm the veracity of the alleged links between the FARC -an organization the US deems terrorist- and the Venezuelan Government.

     The connection was disclosed by the Colombian authorities after they captured some computers belonging to a guerrilla leader in a March 1 raid carried out against a FARC camp in Ecuadorian soil. The documents made public by Colombia suggest the Venezuelan government was in the process of providing USD 300 million in assistance to the FARC.

STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT POINTS TO DETERIORATING HUMAN RIGHTS IN VENEZUELA

         WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- The United States administration Tuesday in an annual report criticized the human rights situation in Venezuela and Cuba, but it highlighted both the progress made in Colombia and the efforts made in the Organization of American States (OAS) to promote human rights.
 
     The 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices the US Department of State published on Tuesday stressed that some countries made "significant progress," but rejected corruption in Russia, sectarian violence in Iraq, oppression in Iran, and freedom repression in North Korea. The United States underscored the rejection in a referendum last December of the changes to the Constitution proposed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. "In Venezuela, a democratically elected leader's efforts to undermine democratic institutions and intimidate civil society met with vigorous resistance," the Department of State asserted.

      According to the document, "President Chavez pursued efforts in 2007 designed to consolidate power in the executive branch and weaken democratic institutions, independent media, and civil society." "President Chavez also proposed changes to the constitution that would have extended the length of and eliminated limits on the number of presidential terms, sidelined other elected officials, given the president greater control over the economy, and limited foreign funding for domestic NGOs."

WOUNDED MAN IN VENEZUELA HOSPITAL MAY BE FARC GUERRILLA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- The Venezuelan National Guard is protecting a small medical clinic in a town on the border with Colombia, where according to media reports in both countries, there's a man with a bullet in his face who may be a FARC guerrilla. Once media got wind of heavily military presence, rumors swept the media that the man was Milton de Jesus Toncel Redondo -- aka ''Joaquín Gómez'' -- one of the top members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia with a $2.5 million U.S. bounty on his head.

     They just don't know who he is. The man has given two names -- Luis Antonio Garai Calderón and José Antonio Ortiz Barrera -- according to the media reports. News footage showed the La Colonia clinic in the town of Rubio, in the Venezuelan state of Táchira, surrounded by military officers -- and reporters. Venezuelan Gen. José González González told reporters the injured man showed up at the clinic Sunday with a friend, fake ID and two different names. The Venezuelan military figured he was a member of a Colombian ''irregular group,'' González said, and launched an investigation to determine the man's identity.

     It's unclear how the report surfaced that the patient could be Gómez, a former FARC spokesman and peace negotiator in Colombia's failed peace talks. Had it been Gómez, it would have been the FARC's third critical setback in less than two weeks. Reyes' death was a huge blow, and it was followed days later by the death of secretariat member Iván Ríos, killed by his own bodyguard. González said the military prosecutor, the DISIP federal investigative agency, the Military Intelligence Directorate and armed guards were called in. ''It's very probable that they could go to the clinic to finish killing him, putting the rest of the people at risk -- the doctors, the other patients, nurses, etc.,'' González said on Venezuela's Union Radio. ``So the clinic was put in the custody of the National Guard.'' The two men's fingerprints were sent to Colombia for verification, the Venezuelan state TV channel reported.

03-11- 2008

HUGO CHAVEZ PROMISED MONEY AND WEAPONS TO THE FARC, FORMER REBEL WHO KILLED IVAN RIOS SAYS

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- Pablo Montoya, a demobilized member of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) who killed FARC leader Iván Ríos,  said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez vowed to deliver weapons and give money to the insurgent group.

     Montoya, known as Rojas, told Colombian radio station Caracol in an interview aired on Monday that in talks he held with Iván Ríos he found out that the FARC top leader, Pedro Antonio Marín, alias Manuel Marulanda and Tirofijo, was very happy for the Venezuelan ruler's promise, Efe reported. "The issue of the weapons is correct. Chávez promised weapons to Marulanda. He told him the weapons were not very good, but they could bear a war of guerrillas," he said.

     Rojas turned himself to the Colombian Army after he killed José Juvenal Velandia or Manuel Jesús Muñoz Ortiz, the names of Iván Ríos. Rojas was Ríos' chief of security. Among other things, Rojas claimed that another top member of the FARC Secretariat, Iván Márquez, is hiding in Venezuela, while Manuel Marulanda could also be in Venezuela, or in the Yarí plains, in a region of the Caquetá Department, south Colombia.

VENEZUELAN GENERAL AND DISIP OFFICER MENTIONED IN RAUL REYES' LAPTOPS

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  --As the Colombian authorities continue to decode the three laptops of Raúl Reyes, a member of the Secretariat of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) killed by the Colombian Army last February 29 in Ecuador, information continues to surface pointing to links between the guerrilla group and Ecuador, Venezuela, and drug and weapon smugglers, according to the latest edition of Semana magazine.

    The Colombian publication said Reyes, in a letter dated March 25, 2005, told the FARC top leader,  known as Tirofijo, that another rebel leader, Iván Márquez, talked to him about a visit paid by an alleged "friend of Ricardo (FARC leader Rodrigo Granda)" and officer of the Venezuelan Directorate for Intelligence, Security and Prevention (Disip) named José Gregorio Guzmán, alias Cheo. According to Reyes, Cheo was "sent by the President to clarify many things and deal with the issue of our relations."

    "Cheo is man of the secrete police to whom Ricardo talked at least three times. This man has information from everywhere. If Chávez sends Cheo on his behalf to restore relations with the FARC, it means we are tuned up," the magazine quoted. In a another letter without date, Márquez talked to Tirofijo about a meeting they held with a general, the head of Disip, and a congressman. "Following your visit to Timo, general Rangel Silva, head of Disip, and congressman Oréstedes Leal came over here."

ARRESTED DRUGS SMUGGLER CARRIED VENEZUELAN NATIONAL GUARD BADGE 

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Venezuelan alleged drug trafficker Hermágoras González Polanco, 49, who is wanted by Interpol and for whose arrest the US authorities offered a USD 5 million reward, was arrested in a ranch named La Trinchera, in Caja Seca town, south Lake Maracaibo, northwestern Zulia state. The arrest came last Saturday at 6 am, when Directorate for Intelligence, Security and Prevention (Disip) and the Anti-drug Bureau (ONA) officers raided the estate where the alleged drug kingpin was. Other 13 people working in the ranch were arrested under charges of being members of paramilitary groups.

    Police sources said the suspects were flown to Caracas, and are currently in the headquarters of Disip. According to the US Drug Enforcement Administration, González Polanco is the boss of La Guajira drug cartel, and he is supposed to have connections with the demobilized paramilitary Colombian United Self-Defenses (AUC). Pieces of evidence allegedly linking González Polanco to drug smuggling were collected in the ranch.

    Freddy Ferrer, lawyer of González Polanco, told local news TV network Globovisión that his client was arrested illegally, as the officers showed no arrest warrant, and he was not caught red-handed. According to Ferrer, his client's National Guard badge and permit to carry weapons were legitimate. Intelligence authorities said González Perdomo was fighting hard to rule the Cartel del Sol (Sun Cartel). He allegedly shipped drugs to the Caribbean Islands, the United States and Europe. The DEA also claims González Perdomo -a former intelligence agent of the National Guard who had special police protection until recently- is the boss of the Cartel del Sol.

03-10- 2008

HUGO CHAVEZ VISITS FIDEL CASTRO IN CUBA

        HAVANA, CUBA  -- Hugo Chavez paid a visit to his close friend Fidel Castro on Saturday, making his first trip to Cuba since the ailing 81-year-old was replaced as president by his younger brother Raul.  "I talked for a long time with Chavez today," the elder Castro said in a statement distributed by the Foreign Ministry. In the unannounced trip after Friday's summit of Latin American leaders in the Dominican Republic, Chavez also met with Raul Castro, Cuban officials said. Before returning to Venezuela on Saturday, Chavez told Cuban state television than he found Fidel "happy, splendid and full of ideas."

     Castro wrote that the Venezuelan president was "euphoric from that battle for peace and his role" at the summit, where Andean leaders agreed to end a bitter dispute over a Colombian raid on rebels in Ecuadorean territory. He also joked that Chavez initially didn't want to see him because he didn't want to risk giving him the flu. "Pure pretext so as not be submitted to my habitual questioning," he wrote. "'Why even take vitamin C?' I said to tell him. 'And aren't all the heads of state that were in the warm and happy final Rio Group meeting going to get sick as well?'"

     Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters that Chavez had met with Raul Castro. But he did not mention the women, and it was unknown if they were at the meeting. Fidel permanently resigned from the presidency on Feb. 19, and Cuba's parliament elected 76-year-old Raul to replace him on Feb. 24. Raul's government has remained silent on the dispute between the three Andean countries, which began when Colombia carried out a March 1 commando raid across the border in Ecuador that killed 25 people including a senior FARC commander. But Fidel welcomed the resolution of the dispute reached at the summit, saying in a Friday statement that the only loser was U.S. "imperialism."

SPAIN SOCIALIST ARTY WINS IN THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS  

         MADRID, SPAIN  -- Moments after his challenger conceded, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero thanked a crowd of cheering supporters for Sunday's win by his Socialists in Spain's parliamentary elections. Spainish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero waves to supporters after voting in Madrid on Sunday. 1 of 2 "Thanks to all the citizens who have participated," Zapatero said. "And thanks from my heart to the citizens who have, with their votes, given a clear victory to the Socialist Party."

     With 85 percent of the vote tallied, Zapatero's Socialists had 44.0 percent of the vote, followed by Mariano Rajoy's conservative Partido Popular with 40.1 percent. "We have worked hard, and it's been worth the trouble," Zapatero said. Zapatero has ruled with a plurality since 2004, when he and Rajoy first faced each other in a general election. At the Socialist Party's headquarters, a number of police vans had shown up in apparent anticipation of large crowds.
 
     At the PP headquarters, the mood was somber among the several hundred people who showed up outside the building. Campaign Chief Pio Garcia Escudero said he would wait for the votes to be counted. The election four years ago, held in the wake of the Madrid train bombings that killed 191 people, gave Zapatero's Socialists an upset victory. Zapatero's first decision upon taking office in 2004 was to pull Spain's troops out of Iraq.

ECUADOR WILL NOT RUSH TO RESTORE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH COLOMBIA 

      QUITO, ECUADOR  --  Ecuador will take its time to restore diplomatic ties with Colombia, even though the two countries have resolved a week-long crisis over a Colombian military raid against guerrillas hiding in Ecuador, the president said on Saturday.  Leftist-led allies Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela cut ties with Colombia and condemned the raid, which killed more than 20 guerrillas. Ecuador and Venezuela also sent troops to their borders with Colombia.

    "We'll talk about renewing diplomatic relations. We'll make a timetable. It's going to take some time," Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said in his weekly radio address on Saturday. Nicaragua and Venezuela announced they would reestablish ties with Colombia during a Latin American summit on Friday that ended in handshakes between leaders who had been verbally attacking each other all week. The diplomatic crisis was Latin America's worst in years.

    It pitted U.S.-backed Colombia, which is fighting a four-decade insurgency by Marxist rebels, against leftist leaders in the increasingly anti-U.S. region. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is stridently opposed to the administration of President George W. Bush, led the anti-Colombian chorus.Ecuador and Venezuela said Colombia should be negotiating with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, to seek peace. But Colombian President Alvaro Uribe is popular at home because of his hard-line approach to the FARC, which has killed and kidnapped thousands of people.

03-09- 2008

PRESIDENT BUSH BLASTS NATIONS THAT DISREGARD CUBAN ABUSES AND DICTATORSHIP

         WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- President Bush on blasted countries for keeping quiet on abuses in Cuba at an event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the spring 2003 crackdown on anti-government activists.  Bush praised what he called a ''small band of brave nations'' that have ''consistently'' condemned abuses by Havana: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

     ''Unfortunately, the list of countries supporting the Cuban people is far too short -- and the democracies absent from that list are far too notable,'' Bush said. The Bush administration is at odds with Canada and many Latin American and European nations that believe greater engagement with the Raúl Castro government will advance human rights more than confrontation.

     Bush hosted dissidents Miguel Sigler Amaya and his spouse Josefa López Peña, a founding member of the Women in White group at the White House. Both were allowed to leave in 2006. Sigler's two brothers are still serving long prison terms meted out after the 2003 arrests of activists.''In Cuba, they're considered outlaws,'' Bush said. ``In America, they are heralds of freedom and I'm proud to stand with them . . .'' He closed his remarks with “Viva Cuba Libre.” 

HUGO CHAVEZ MAKES SURPRISE CUBA VISIT AFTER ENDING CRISIS WITH COLOMBIA 

         HAVANA, CUBA  --Hugo Chavez has made his first visit to Cuba since Fidel Castro stepped down from the presidency of the island last month.  Mr Chavez made the visit, the purpose of which was not announced, to Cuba on his way home from a summit with the presidents of Colombia and Ecuador.  Chavez was greeted on Friday night by Cuban new dictator, Raul Castro.

    Cuba and Venezuela are key political, military and economic allies. Chavez was accompanied by Yolanda Pulecio, the mother of Ingrid Betancourt, the former Colombian presidential candidate who is the highest-profile hostage held by Colombia's Farc rebel group.  The purpose of the visit has not been announced, but both governments have regularly been involved as mediators in negotiations over hostages held by Colombian left-wing groups.

    It is not clear whether Chavez will meet Fidel Castro, whom he regards as a close friend. Chavez made his visit to Cuba on his way home from a summit in the Dominican Republic, where he and the presidents of Colombia and Ecuador resolved the recent crisis over Colombia's anti-Farc operation inside Ecuador.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA REJECTS HILLARY CLINTON'S VP IDEA   

      WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Sen. Barack Obama refused the notion of becoming the vice presidential candidate on this fall's party ticket. Obama was asked by a television reporter, "Can you ever see yourself on the same ticket as Sen. Clinton?" And the freshman Illinois senator replied: "Well, you know, I think it’s premature. You won’t see me as a vice presidential candidate -- you know, I’m running for president. We have won twice as many states as Senator Clinton, and have a higher popular vote, and I think we can maintain our delegate count."

     Many Democrats have long thought of Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama as a dream ticket, offering both the first serious female candidate and the first serious African American candidate for the nation's top two political offices. Clinton surprisingly broached the idea Wednesday morning after she won the popular vote in Texas and Ohio to regain some momentum after 11 straight losses, though she still lags far behind in pledged delegates. She mentioned the possibility of a joint ticket again Friday morning during a campaign appearance in Mississippi.

      Last night was the first time Obama commented on the idea.  It's political protocol when presidential candidates are asked about the vice presidency totwist the question back around to the top office and avoid a direct answer. But Obama's response last night was unusually direct and dismissive....

03-08- 2008

the andean crisis ended PEACEFULLY  -- uribe, chavez and correa shake hands to bring PEACE to their respective countries

         SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC  -- The ANDEAN crisis had been triggered by a cross-border raid by Colombian troops into Ecuador to attack Farc rebels.  Earlier there had been heated exchanges between the heads of state at the Rio Group summit in the Dominican Republic.  The summit of Latin American leaders had originally been planned to discuss energy and other issues.  But the crisis, which started with the raid last Saturday, had erupted into the worst political spat in the region for years.

    Venezuela and Ecuador cut diplomatic ties with Bogota and sent troops to their borders after the Colombian operation which left 20 Farc rebels dead, including a senior Farc commander, Raul Reyes.  As the summit debate unfolded, Colombia's defence minister announced that another rebel leader, Ivan Rios, had been killed - this time on Colombian soil and at the hands of his own men.  Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega, who had also broken off diplomatic ties with Colombia, said they would be re-established after the presidents shook hands.  The handshakes were broadcast live on television across Latin America in response to a special request from the summit's host, Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez.

    Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe had clashed at the opening of the summit.  But before shaking hands, to applause from the summit delegates, Mr Correa said: "With the commitment of never attacking a brother country again and by asking forgiveness, we can consider this very serious incident resolved."  The BBC's Jeremy McDermott says President Uribe's huge gamble in ordering the air strike that killed Reyes appears to have paid off.

WRONG AGAIN  --  FIDEL CASTRO REJECTS "IMPERIALIST PLAN" TO TAKE CHAVEZ TO THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

         HAVANA, CUBA  --Cuban dictator Fidel Castro Friday in an article rejected an "imperialist plan" to put President Hugo Chávez to trial in the International Criminal Court, and advocated Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa amidst a crisis with Colombia. "When I heard the official statement the Colombian officials in charge of the relevant legal steps made to the press, I had no doubt. This is no secret," Castro wrote.

     "What has been said about Chávez recently? They say he was elected in a vote by the majority of the people. But they add 'just like Hitler was,'" Castro said in his article published in Cuban official media. Castro complained that such comments "do not explain a fact that is widely known, that Hitler was a genuine result of the capitalist system, which was stated in the Versailles Treaty and the imposition of sanctions, which in turn excited nationalism in the newly born German Republic."

    In his article, Castro reminded that "fascism killed countless people," while "Chávez has never killed anyone. He has been elected several times, with the media publishing and broadcasting the most incredible insults against him on a daily basis." The former Cuban ruler quoted TV show La Hojilla, aired on Venezuelan official television channel VTV. According to Castro, La Hojilla produced evidence, including "information and statements which accurately reflect the imperialist plan to do with Chávez what they did with (Serbian leader Slobodan) Milosevic following the Kosovo genocidal war, namely judging him in the International Criminal Court."

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE WOULD NOT BRING CHARGES AGAINST HUGO CHAVEZ AT THE INTERNATIONAL COURT

      SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC  --  The diplomatic spat IN THE ANDEAN REGION began last weekend when Colombian forces crossed into Ecuadorean territory and killed Raul Reyes, a senior Farc commander, and several other fighters. Venezuela and Ecuador broke off diplomatic relations with Colombia and sent troops to their Colombian borders. Uribe had accused Chavez, who had helped broker several hostage releases by Farc prior to the raid, of aiding the rebels.

       At one point, Uribe had said he would bring charges against Chavez at the International Criminal Court. At the end of Friday's meeting, he said he will not present charges against his neighbor country.  At the beginning of the Summit, Uribe and Correa traded insults, with Uribe saying Correa had not co-operated in "the fight against terrorism".

    Uribe alleged that Colombian forces had found a letter in the Ecuador raid which mentioned "aid delivered to Rafael Correa, as instructed". Correa responded by calling Uribe a liar, saying "your insolence is doing more damage to the Ecuadorean people than your murderous bombs. "Stop trying to justify the unjustifiable.

03-07- 2008

SECRETARY RICE ASKED COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA TO USE DIPLOMACY TO RESOLVE THE CRISIS

         WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that the United States wants to see a diplomatic solution. The United States offered unqualified support to Colombia in the dispute, in contrast to almost every other country in the hemisphere.

    "I do hope there will be a diplomatic outcome to this," Rice said, speaking in Belgium after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. "The situation shows that everyone needs to be vigilant about the use of border areas by terrorist organizations."

    One opportunity will be a meeting of the Rio Group, which includes all three countries, which began with ministerial meetings Thursday in the Dominican Republic. At least 12 Latin American presidents — including those from Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador — are scheduled to gather on Friday. Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca said the ministers would "see what we can do to help find a peaceful solution to this conflict through dialogue," although he added: "Solutions don't come overnight."

NICARAGUA BREAKS DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH COLOMBIA 

         MANAGUA, NICARAGUA  -- Nicaragua President Daniel Ortega said Thursday that the nation is breaking relations with Colombia "in solidarity with the Ecuadoran people."  The move comes after the Organization of American States passed a resolution Wednesday in hopes of easing tensions stemming from an attack by Colombian military on a rebel camp in neighboring Ecuador on Saturday. Since that attack, Ecuador has broken off relations with Colombia, and Venezuela says it has moved troops to its border with Colombia.

    Ortega made his televised remarks in Managua, where he was flanked by Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa.  Colombian forces killed at least 17 members of the leftist group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia on Saturday. FARC is estimated to be holding at least 700 hostages in the jungles of Colombia and has been accused by the United States of being a terrorist organization.

     "This rupture of relations isn't with the people of Colombia," Ortega said. "We are breaking with the terrorist policies that the government of [Colombian President] Alvaro Uribe is practicing."  In its resolution, the OAS called the attack "a violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ecuador and of principles of international law."  It ordered a commission, headed by OAS Secretary-General Jose Miguel Insulza and composed of four ambassadors designated by him, to visit both countries to investigate the matter, "and to propose formulas for bringing the two nations closer together."

PERU PARLIAMENT REQUESTED AN INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED VENEZUELAN IDEOLOGICAL INFILTRATION IN THE COUNTRY

      LIMA, PERU  --  A Parliament committee agreed to request the creation of a special taskforce intended to delve into claims of Venezuelan ideological infiltration in Peru through the so-called Houses of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas). The Committee on Defense, Peruvian Congress, is to submit the request to the plenary session for approval. The motion is expected to be passed, as it is backed by the pro-government Aprista party, the conservative National Union and the group of followers of former President Alberto Fujimori, AFP reported.

    The three factions believe there is evidence that the President Hugo Chávez's government is involved in ideological and financial interference in Peru, through the Houses of ALBA. The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas is an integration mechanism sponsored and founded by Venezuela. It also comprises Bolivia, Cuba, and Nicaragua.

     The move by the Committee of Defense came following Peruvian President Alan García's claims earlier this web that he "almost certain" that foreign countries were meddling in Peru. The Peruvian ruler added he would make "a serious and dramatic" decision to defend his country's sovereignty.

03-06- 2008

THE WASHINGTON POST: HUGO CHAVEZ AND RAFAEL CORREA ARE "BACKERS OF CRIMINALS" 

         WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- The presidents of Venezuela and Ecuador, Hugo Chávez and Rafael Correa, respectively, "are backers of the criminals who fight Colombia's democracy," with the former "growing increasingly reckless," The Washington Post said in an editorial Wednesday. According to the newspaper, the attack the Colombian Army launched against a camp of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) in the Ecuadorian jungle "is comparable to those the United States has recently carried out against al-Qaeda in lawless areas of Pakistan."

    The raid also shows that "Colombia's democratic government may be finally gaining the upper hand over the murderous gangs that have tormented the country for decades." The Washington Post branded as "extraordinary" Chávez's reaction to the attack, saying that the Venezuelan ruler "has been revealed as an explicit supporter and possible financier of the FARC." According to the editorial Chávez openly mourned the death of the FARC leader and "made a show of ordering Venezuelan troops to the border with Colombia while loudly warning that war was possible."

    The Washington Post added that the Venezuelan ruler "goaded his client, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa -whose initial response to the raid was subdued- into mimicking his reaction." According to the newspaper, "there is little chance that this will lead to conventional war, despite the bluster of Mr. Chávez." "In his zeal to divert attention from a rapidly worsening domestic economic situation and his defeat in a recent referendum, Mr. Chávez is growing increasingly reckless. The principal danger, however, may be to his own country and government," The Washington Post editorial added.

THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT ALLEGED HUGO CHAVEZ TELEPHONE CALL TO RAUL REYES REVEALED LOCATION OF FARC SECOND-IN-COMMAND CAMP

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- A phone call Venezuelan Hugo Chávez allegedly made to rebel leader Raúl Reyes revealed the location of the guerilla leader, according to Colombian intelligence reports radio station Radio Cadena Nacional (RCN) disclosed on Wednesday. The phone call was made last Wednesday, February 27, the day when the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) delivered four former Colombian lawmakers -Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Pérez, Orlando Beltrán, and Jorge Eduardo Gechem- to Chávez's government after almost seven years in captivity.

    "Chávez was thrilled by the release of the hostages, and called (Luis Edgar Devia, alias Raúl) Reyes to tell him that everything went well," said RCN, quoting "senior (Colombian) military sources." Intelligence agencies detected the call and uncovered that Reyes was in Colombia, near the border with Ecuador. He crossed the border and "then the raid was launched" late February 29 and early March 1, when the FARC leader and other 20 rebel troops were killed. According to RCN, "the same intelligence agent, who called for anonymity, said 'it is quite ironic that it was precisely a phone call from President Chávez what allowed us to take Reyes out of action."

    Reyes died in a bomb attack Colombian troops launched against his rebel camp in Ecuadorian territory. The incident ignited a serious diplomatic crisis between the two countries, as Quito severed ties with Bogota. Quoting the same intelligence source, RCN reported that the top leader and founder of the FARC, Pedro Antonio Marín, also known as Manuel Marulanda Vélez and Tirofijo, "is taking shelter in Venezuela." RCN added that the Colombian intelligence services "found that Tirofijo is ill" and "is taking shelter in a ranch in Venezuela located not very close to the border, but to the other side of the border with the Colombian department of Norte de Santander." According to RCN's intelligence source, "Chávez ordered military battalions to move to the border with Colombia to protect Tirofijo, to prevent him from being done in the Venezuelan territory the same thing Reyes was done in Ecuador."

CHAVEZ, URIBE AND CORREA TO ATTEND RIO GROUP SUMMIT IN SANTO DOMINGO THIS WEEK 

      SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC -- The Dominican Republic Foreign Ministry Tuesday said that the presidents of Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, Hugo Chávez, Álvaro Uribe, and Rafael Correa, respectively, confirmed their attendance to the 20th Summit of the Rio Group, to be held next March 6-7 in Santo Domingo, Dominican media reported.

    According to Santo Domingo-based El Nacional daily newspaper, the Public Affairs Office, Dominican Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said a report published Monday that the three rulers would attend the meeting was correct.

    Further, Venezuelan Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Francisco Belisario Landis ratified that President Chávez would attend the summit. Belisario Landis, however, would not disclose whether Chávez is scheduled to hold any bilateral meeting with other presidents.

03-05- 2008

PRESIDENT BUSH ANNOUNCES HIS FULL SUPPORT TO THE GOVERNMENT OF ALVARO URIBE IN ITS SHOWDOWN WITH VENEZUELA AND ECUADOR

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- President Bush on Tuesday firmly backed Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally who is locked in a fierce dispute with neighboring Ecuador and Venezuela. Bush and Uribe spoke by phone earlier in the day to discuss a pending U.S.-Colombian free-trade agreement -- held up by Democrats in Congress for months -- and what Bush called the ``provocative maneuvers by the regime in Venezuela.''

    Bush framed the free-trade deal as a critical national security concern amid a bitter showdown between Uribe and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a populist and outspoken Bush critic. ''I told the president that America fully supports Colombia's democracy and we firmly oppose any acts of aggression that could destabilize the region,'' Bush said, speaking on the White House South Lawn. He did not take any questions.

    Beyond promoting the trade agreement, Bush did not say how the United States might respond to the escalating Andean crisis, with Ecuador and Venezuela rushing troops to their borders with Colombia and raising fears of the first armed conflict in South America since Ecuador and Peru fought a border war in 1995. ''I told [Uribe] that America will continue to stand with Colombia as it confronts violence and terror and fights drug traffickers,'' Bush said. Since 2000, the U.S. government has provided more than $5 billion in aid to Colombia, mostly to combat drug trafficking.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE seeks criminal charges against HUGO chavez in the hague international court

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- President Alvaro Uribe said Tuesday that his government would ask the International Criminal Court to try Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez for financing and supporting Colombia's main rebel group. The Uribe government claims documents found in the laptop of a slain commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia indicate Chávez's government recently gave $300 million to the group known as the FARC.

    The United States and the European Union classify the FARC as an international terrorist organization. ''Colombia is proposing that the International Criminal Court charge Hugo Chávez, the president of Venezuela, for the support and financing of genocide,'' Uribe told journalists after meeting with an ex-congresswoman who was recently freed by the FARC after more than six years as a hostage.

    Uribe did not explain what arguments against Chávez would be presented to the Netherlands-based court. The Colombian government says documents found in the laptop of Raul Reyes, a senior FARC leader killed Saturday in a raid on a guerrilla camp just inside Ecuador, show Chávez's ties with the rebels date back more than a decade. The documents indicate, Colombia alleges, that the FARC even sent Chávez money when he was in jail from 1992-94 for leading a failed coup.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE SAYS QUE DOES NOT WANT A WAR WITH NEIGHBOR COUNTRIES 

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- Colombian President Álvaro Uribe Tuesday stated his country is not interested in a war with neighbor countries, yet it is interested in uprooting terrorism through the military and legal mechanisms, and insisted he has not ordered mobilization of additional troops to the borders with Venezuela and Ecuador. "We are not interested in war, but we are really interested in the defeat of terrorism through the military and legal means," the Colombian ruler told reporters following a meeting with former lawmaker Luis Eladio Pérez, whom the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) released last week following almost seven years of captivity.

    Earlier, after a meeting with former lawmaker Gloria Polanco, a FARC-held hostage who was released last week as well, Uribe said he would file an action with the International Criminal Court against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for his alleged "support to terrorist" and "genocidal" groups. "Colombia has never been a country in war with neighbors. Our only interest is restoring public order. We do not move troops or advance wars," Uribe added.

    Colombia is facing a historic diplomatic crisis, as Ecuador severed relations with Bogota and Venezuela expelled Colombian envoys from Caracas. Further, both Ecuador and Venezuela are taking troops to their borders with Colombia. "We are not warmongers, but we are not weak either." "We cannot let terrorists to take shelter in other country, causing bloodshed among our fellow citizens." According to the Colombian ruler, it is impossible to accept the violation, "to the prejudice of our fellow citizens, of the United Nations resolutions banning and punishing the sheltering of terrorists," he said, warning that his government is looking for terrorists and "getting them out of anywhere they are."

03-04- 2008

US BACKS COLOMBIA'S EFFORTS AGAINST 'TERRORIST' REBELS

         WASHINGTON, D.C. --  The United States on Monday backed Colombia's efforts to respond to what it called a "terrorist" group after Bogota staged a cross-border strike into Ecuador over the weekend. The US government also hoped the fallout from the strike would be resolved diplomatically, the State Department's deputy spokesman Tom Casey said, adding nobody "at this point ought to be talking about military action."

     Ecuador and Venezuela ordered troops to their borders Monday with Colombia in retaliation for the strike that killed Raul Reyes, reputed to be the second-ranking commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).  The United States considers the FARC "to be a terrorist organization," Casey told reporters. "We support the government of Colombia in its efforts to respond to that threat and challenge."

     When asked if Colombia could count on US support in the event of a military reaction, Casey said Bogota was an important ally, especially in fighting narcotics and drugs. "But look, I think, right now, our focus is on trying to encourage Colombia and Ecuador to work out diplomatically the concerns that have been raised about this military strike," Casey said.

THE COLOMBIA GOVERNMENT SAID DOCUMENTS SHOW TIES BETWEEN HUGO CHAVEZ AND FARC

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --Documents reveal financial ties between Hugo Chavez and Colombia's largest guerrilla group, including a recent message that mentions US$300 million in Venezuelan support for the rebels. Colombia's police chief said Monday that documents recovered from a slain rebel leader's computer reveal financial ties between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombia's largest guerrilla group, including a recent message that mentions US$300 million in Venezuelan support for the rebels.

    The official, Gen. Oscar Naranjo, didn't say if there was any indication in the Feb. 14 message that Venezuela actually delivered this money to the rebels. Another document found in the laptop belonging to slain rebel leader Raul Reyes suggests financial ties between Chavez and the rebels dating back to 1992, Naranjo said. At the time, Chavez was jailed in Venezuela for leading a coup attempt, and was plotting the comeback that eventually led to his election as president in 1998.

    "A note recovered from Raul Reyes speaks of how grateful Chavez was for the 100 million pesos (about US$150,000 at the time) that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, delivered to Chavez when he was in prison", said Naranjo told a news conference. Reyes, the FARC's main spokesman, was among the rebels killed Saturday in a Colombian commando raid on their camp just across the border in Ecuador, infuriating Chavez and his ally, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa. Chavez has called Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe a "mob boss" and a "liar". In return the Colombian government has expressed its concern at links between Venezuela and the FARC.

THE COLOMBIA GOVERNMENT SAID DOCUMENTS TIE FARC TO ECUADOREAN PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT said today documents found in a camp in Ecuador where Colombian troops killed a top guerilla boss showed ties between the FARC rebels and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, including contacts with his government about political proposals. Police Commander General Oscar Naranjo said documents found in computers belonging to Reyes showed contacts between a top Correa government minister and the FARC commander to discuss political proposals and projects on the frontier.

     "The questions raised by these documents need concrete answers,'' Commander Naranjo said. ``What is the state of relations between the Ecuadorean government and a terrorist group like the FARC.'' Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has often accused the FARC of using Venezuelan and Ecuadorean territory as safe havens from military attacks. The raid has sparked a diplomatic crisis, with Ecuador and Venezuela sending troops to their frontiers with Colombia. 

    Correa, a close ally of the leftist, anti-US Chavez, expelled Colombia's ambassador and withdrew his own envoy from Bogota in protest against what he said was an intentional violation of his nation's sovereignty. Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo said in a televised statement that it had been "indispensable" for Colombian troops to enter Ecuadorean territory during the raid. "May God spare us a war. But we are not going to allow them to violate our sovereign territory," Mr Chavez, an ex-paratrooper said. Correa said "it was clearly a deliberate act in our territory, which is an act against our sovereignty.

03-03- 2008

hugo chavez SHOUTS WAR! WAR! AND ORDERS HIS TROOPS TO COLOMBIAN BORDER

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Hugo Chavez on Sunday ordered thousands of troops to the border with Colombia after Colombia's military killed a top rebel leader.  Chavez told his defense minister: "Move 10 battalions for me to the border with Colombia, immediately." He also ordered the Venezuelan Embassy in Colombia closed and said all embassy personnel would be withdrawn.  The announcements by Venezuela's leftist leader pushed relations to their tensest point of his nine-year presidency, and Chavez warned that Colombia could spark a war in South America.

    He called the U.S.-allied government in Bogota "a terrorist state" and labeled President Alvaro Uribe "a criminal."  The leftist leader warned that Colombia’s slaying of rebel spokesman Raul Reyes could spark a war. “It wasn’t any combat. It was a cowardly murder, all of it coldly calculated,” Chavez said. “We pay tribute to a true revolutionary, who was Raul Reyes,” Chavez said, recalling that he had met rebel in Brazil in 1995 and calling him a “good revolutionary.”

    Chavez said he had just spoken to Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa and that Ecuador was also sending troops to its border with Colombia.  “The Colombian government has become the Israel of Latin America,” an agitated Chavez said, mentioning another country that he has criticized for its military strikes. “We aren’t going to permit Colombia to become the Israel of these lands.”  Chavez accused Uribe of being a puppet of Washington and acting on behalf of the U.S. government, saying “Dracula’s fangs (are) are covered in blood.”  “Some day Colombia will be freed from the hand of the (U.S.) empire,” Chavez said. “We have to liberate Colombia,” he added, saying Colombia’s people will eventually do away with its government.

farc leader's death to further cool venezuela-colombia ties

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --The Colombian government's latest victory in its anti-rebel attack seems to further cool the already-chilled Venezuela-Colombia ties as Venezuela warned of a war with Colombia should a similar cross-border attack occurs in Venezuela. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez criticized the Colombian forces for entering the Ecuadorian territory and warned against a similar move on the Venezuelan territory. 

    "Don't be thinking that you can do that here because it would be very serious and would be a cause for war (if there is) a military incursion into the Venezuelan territory," Chavez said.  "The Colombian government acknowledges having made an incursion, violating the space of a neighboring country in an irresponsible way, which is worrisome," Chavez said.

     Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe had informed him of the raid.  "Much of the combat took place in the Ecuadorian territory, (and) it appears that the FARC entered the Ecuadorian territory," said Correa. "The incident must be clarified a bit," he said.  Correa later on Saturday recalled his ambassador to Colombia for consultation. Correa's call was echoed by his Venezuelan counterpart, who also called on the Colombian government to "clarify this."  Chavez's remarks were regarded as his most belligerent comments to date in a diplomatic dispute with Bogota, which was sparked by the hostage issue.

iran president mahmoud ahmadinejad on landmark iraq visit

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ  -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Baghdad Sunday for the start of a historic two-day trip, said "visiting Iraq without the dictator is a good thing." Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Iraqi counterpart Jalal Talabani stand during a welcome ceremony in Baghdad, Sunday. The Shiite-led Iraqi government rolled out the red carpet, literally, for Ahmadinejad as he became the first Iranian president to visit Iraq, a country that was a bitter enemy when Saddam Hussein's Sunni government was in power.

    Ahmadinejad, at a joint news conference with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, said the trip "opens a new chapter in bilateral ties with Iraq." "We have had good talks in a friendly and constructive environment," Ahmadinejad said. "We have the same understanding of things and the two parties are determined to strengthen their political, economic and cultural cooperation." Later in the day, Ahmadinejad met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Both al-Maliki and Talabani have made official trips to Iran since taking office.

    At a joint news conference with al-Maliki in Baghdad's Green Zone, Ahmadinejad did not hide his disdain for the United States and its leadership. "(U.S. President) Bush always accuses others without evidence and this increases problems," Ahmadinejad said. "The Americans have to understand that Iraqi people do not like America." The United States has accused Iran of supporting some insurgent groups in Iraq, including supplying EFPs, the deadliest and most sophisticated type of roadside bomb. His official welcome and meeting with Talabani was at the presidential house outside of the heavily-fortified International Zone where most high-level events in Baghdad are held.

03-02- 2008

CARDINAL TARCISIO BERTONE SAYS RAUL CASTRO MIGHT TRADE CUBAN DISSIDENTS FOR SPIES 

         THE VATICAN  -- Cuban DICTATOR Raúl Castro would consider exchanging jailed Cuban dissidents for five Cuban intelligence agents imprisoned in the United States, a top Vatican official said in an interview published Friday.   Speculation on a Cuban proposal for a swap has been floating around since Havana launched a massive publicity campaign for the release of the five Avispa spy network agents convicted in Miami. But this is the first confirmation that the Cuban government is interested in a swap.

    The five Cubans are serving U.S. jail sentences on charges of spying for Havana. Havana says they were in Miami to infiltrate anti-Castro groups and avert possible terrorist attacks on Cuba, not spying on the U.S. government. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone told the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano the subject of a possible exchange came up during his meeting with the Cuban leader this week. Bertone said he told Castro that the church would consider the release of some of the island's dissidents as a humanitarian gesture. Castro would put into consideration ``even the problem of the five Cuban prisoners in the United States and therefore the question of a humanitarian treatment for them, too, with the eventual possibility of an exchange.''

     ''The president underlined the importance of practicing reciprocity,'' Bertone said. Castro was prepared to deal with all problems ''with great openness'' and ''make concrete gestures, in the presence of reciprocity, with respect to the identity and the sovereignty of the Cuban people,'' according to the cardinal.

NUMBER TWO GUERRILLA LEADER RAUL REYES KILLED BY COLOMBIAN TROOPS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT HAS CONFIRMED the death of 60 year old FARC leader Luis Edgar Devia, nicknamed Raul Reyes, early this morning. Raul Reyes died during a combat with Colombian army and police forces at the Putumayo region near Ecuador. Other 26 FARC members died in the combat.

    Reyes was a prominent leader of the seven-member secretariat of the Reolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Reyes was also included in a most wanted list accussed for murder, terrorism, drug trafficking and kidnapping. 

     According to the Colombian Ministry of Defense, it is the first death of a FARC secretariat member. Raul Reyes participated was FARC international speaker and participated in various negotiations with Colombian government.   Bogotá considers the death of Reyes a mayor blow against FARC. There has been no reaction yet from the FARC secretariat.

'CHEMICAL ALI' EXECUTION OK'S BY THE IRAQ'S PRESIDENTIAL COUNCIL 

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ  -- Iraq's presidential council has endorsed the execution within a month of Saddam Hussein's cousin, known as "Chemical Ali," for his role in the 1980s scorched-earth campaign against Kurds, officials said Friday. But it spared the life of two other officials amid Sunni protests that they were only following orders.

    The approval by Iraq's President Jalal Talabani and two vice presidents was the final step clearing the way for Ali Hassan al-Majid's execution by hanging. It could now be carried out at any time, a government adviser and a prosecutor said.  Al-Majid was one of three former Saddam officials sentenced to death in June after being convicted by an Iraqi court of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for their part in the Operation Anfal crackdown that killed nearly 200,000 Kurdish civilians and guerrillas.

    Al-Majid was nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for ordering poison gas attacks that killed thousands.  The officials said the three-member presidential council agreed to al-Majid's execution, but did not approve death sentences against the other two—Hussein Rashid Mohammed, an ex-deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, and former defense minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie.  

03-01- 2008

hugo chavez says the international community will force colombian president alvaro uribe to give in

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Hugo Chávez late Thursday said he has a proposal to alleviate the longstanding internal conflict hitting Colombia, and forecast that the government of his Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe will be forced to change the terms to negotiate with rebel groups, given the strong support the international community has shown for peace initiatives. Chávez would not elaborate on his proposal, but said his plan is endorsed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, and Argentinean President Cristina Fernández.

    "Everybody but Uribe agrees with the plan," Chávez said in a phone interview aired by official television channel VTV, AP quoted. Chávez, who last Wednesday coordinated a humanitarian mission to pick four former Colombian politicians in the Colombian jungle after they were released by the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), said the success of such operation encouraged him "to continue to make every possible effort to free this group of people (all of the FARC-held hostages) and seek a way to peace."

    One of the former hostages, Orlando Beltrán Cuéllar, Thursday said the FARC "have started to understand" that kidnapping is rejected by the international community. Chávez claimed he was disappointed at the Colombian government reaction and their plans to keep their "unmovable terms" unchanged. The FARC proposed swapping a number of rebel troops who are in jail for the remaining 40 hostages branded as "exchangeable," including former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, a Colombian-French citizen, and three US nationals that worked for the US Defense Department. The guerrilla group demands demilitarization of the municipalities of Florida and Pradera during 45 days to negotiate the release of the remaining hostages, in exchange for hundreds of guerrilla troops, including two who were extradited to the US.

us: lack of cooperation encourages drug traffic in venezuela

      WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Venezuela is one of the major drug-transit countries, encouraged by high corruption levels and lack of international cooperation by the Venezuelan government to fight narcotics, Friday claimed the United States. The US State Department Friday published its 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, prepared in compliance with the legal requirement to brief the US Congress on drug control, Efe reported. In the section devoted to Venezuela, the document stresses that the country has become "one of the preferred routes for trafficking illicit narcotics out of Colombia."

    The report added that drug traffic through Venezuela "has compounded Venezuela's corruption problem, and increased the level of crime and violence throughout the country." According to the US State Department, one of the major problems is Caracas' refusal to cooperate with the US administration in anti-narcotics efforts, as well as Venezuela's refusal to initial the addendum to the Bilateral Counternarcotics Memorandum of Understanding signed in 1978. According to the report, the Venezuelan government has made it clear that it would not sign any bilateral agreement or cooperate with the US to fight drug traffic, which "reflects the general chilling of bilateral relations over the past few years."

    The report claims that neither the police nor the prosecutors in Venezuela receive sufficient training or equipment to carry out counternarcotics investigations properly. Besides, due to the lack of effective criminal prosecutions, politicization of investigations, and high-level corruption, the public has little faith in the judicial system. "Within this environment, organized crime flourishes, while small seizures and arrests are limited to low- level actors." Seizures of illicit drugs within Venezuela dropped substantially in 2007, while seizures of drugs coming out of Venezuela by other countries, including the US and the United Kingdom, rose sharply. The increase in third country seizures, including some multi-ton seizures, comes despite the Venezuelan government's limited counternarcotics cooperation, the document added.

PDVSA: LONDON LACKS JURISDICTION IN EXXON MOBIL CASE  

     LONDON, ENGLAND  --Venezuelan state-run oil corporation Pdvsa Thursday in London challenged the British jurisdiction to issue an injunction to freeze up to USD 12 billion in assets owned by the conglomerate, at the request of US oil major Exxon Mobil. "The British justice has no jurisdiction" in a dispute between Exxon Mobil and Pdvsa because "it lacks any links" with the case, Pdvsa's lawyer Gordon Pollock said Thursday, during the first day of a hearing on the Venezuelan oil giant's motion to lift the freezing of assets.

    The dispute between the two oil companies erupted after Exxon Mobil filed both an arbitration complaint with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) seeking compensation from Pdvsa, and a motion with the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against the Republic of Venezuela. The two lawsuits came in response to the Venezuelan nationalization drive in 2007, under which the Venezuelan State took over Exxon Mobil's assets in Cerro Negro and La Ceiba projects.

    "It is not appropriate for a British court to use its power to issue a freezing injunction against one of the parties, considering the fact that it has nothing to do with the case, which is under an arbitration process," Pollock argued. "That is neither the function nor the role of the British courts," he added. During the first hour of the hearing, the parties discussed whether the hearing should be private or public. At the end, the judge chose to declare it a public hearing, but some sessions will be held in private. Walker may make a decision on the case immediately after the hearing is over next Tuesday or he may take "some weeks" to make a decision. Pollock insisted that Pdvsa "does not own assets in the United Kingdom." The parties will continue to present their allegations on Friday. Exxon Mobil's lawyer is expected to present his pleadings next Monday.