06-30-2008

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER SHAUL MOFAZ SAID ISRAEL WILL ATTACK IRAN

       JERUSALEN, ISRAEL -- "If Iran continues its program to develop nuclear weapons, we will attack it," Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told Yediot Ahronot, Israel's largest mass-circulation daily. "The window of opportunity has closed. The sanctions are not effective. There will be no alternative but to attack Iran in order to stop the Iranian nuclear program." Mofaz's threat is one of the most explicit made against the Islamic Republic of Iran by a member of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Cabinet.

     The threat is not without precedent. In 1981, Israeli warplanes destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor being built by Saddam Hussein's regime. Israel also is reported to have targeted a Syrian reactor in September. It also has significant political resonance in Israel amid talk that Mofaz has begun jockeying to replace Olmert, who is embroiled in a corruption probe, as the ruling Kadima Party's leader and prime minister.

     Mofaz was reiterating a prevailing view among Kadima officials and other Israeli politicians that international sanctions targeting Iran and its nuclear program aren't working. The West believes Iran's aim is to build nuclear weapons, while Iran says it is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Asked how he responds to the harsh statements of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Rome that Israel should be wiped off the map, Mofaz said: "He will disappear before Israel does."

REPORT: U.S. 'PREPARING THE BATTLEFIELD' IN IRAN

     WASHINGTON, D.C. --  The Bush administration has launched a "significant escalation" of covert operations in Iran, sending U.S. commandos to spy on the country's nuclear facilities and undermine the Islamic republic's government, journalist Seymour Hersh said Sunday. White House, CIA and State Department officials declined comment on Hersh's report, which appears in this week's issue of The New Yorker.

     Hersh told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" that Congress has authorized up to $400 million to fund the secret campaign, which involves U.S. special operations troops and Iranian dissidents. President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have rejected findings from U.S. intelligence agencies that Iran has halted a clandestine effort to build a nuclear bomb and "do not want to leave Iran in place with a nuclear program," Hersh said.

     "They believe that their mission is to make sure that before they get out of office next year, either Iran is attacked or it stops its weapons program," Hersh said. The new article, "Preparing the Battlefield," is the latest in a series of articles accusing the Bush administration of preparing for war with Iran. He based the report on accounts from current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources

IRAN'S AHMADINEJAD SAYS ISRAEL WILL "DISAPPEAR"

        TEHRAN, IRAN--  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking at a gathering of foreign guests marking this week's 19th anniversary of the death of Iran's late revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1989, the official IRNA news agency said. "You should know that the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime which has 60 years of plundering, aggression and crimes in its file has reached the end of its work and will soon disappear off the geographical scene," he said.

    Turning to the United States, he said the era of decline and destruction of its "satanic power" had begun and added: "The bell on the countdown of the destruction of the empire of power and wealth has begun to ring." A 2005 statement by Ahmadinejad saying that Israel should be "wiped off the map" outraged the international community.

     In April, a senior Iranian army commander said Iran will respond to any military attack from Israel by "eliminating" it, in comments condemned by Washington. The United States, which severed ties with Iran shortly after its 1979 Islamic revolution, is leading efforts to isolate Tehran over its disputed nuclear program. Some analysts have speculated that Israel might attack Iran to stop its nuclear activities, which the West fears are a front for weapons development. Iran, which does not recognize Israel, insists it wants nuclear technology only for electricity.

06-29-2008

LULA, CHAVEZ SIGNED 21 ENERGY AND TRADE AGREEMENTS

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- The presidents of Brazil and Venezuela, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Hugo Chávez, respectively, met June 27 in Caracas to address economic issues aimed at reinforcing bilateral cooperation. The two rulers initialed 21 agreements in the fields of liquefied natural gas, oil and energy, environment cooperation, telecommunications, foodstuff industry, and border surveillance.

    "Our relations are now at their peak, like never before in history. Our countries are set to become driving forces in the South American, Latin American and Caribbean integration process," stated Chávez. Agreements were initialed in the areas of energy, particularly a survey on electric interconnection and a liquefied natural gas supply agreement between state firms Pdvsa and Petrobrás.

    "We are showing that progress can be made toward actual integration among the peoples," said Lula. He stressed he was going back to Brazil feeling "happy" and certain that in Venezuela oil is an instrument to give the society a better future. Chávez and Lula also initialed border cooperation agreements and pacts authorizing overflights. They also signed a letter of intent between two telecom corporations to lay a submarine fiber optic cable up to the states of Roraima and Amazonia, north Brazil.

HUGO CHAVEZ MAY VISIT RUSSIA LATE JULY

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA  -- Venezuelan Vice-President Ramón Carrizalez reported in Moscow that President Hugo Chávez will possibly visit Russia at the end of July, but did not provide the exact day.

    "The exact date of our president's visit to Russia is not known yet, but it could take place ending July," he said, after a meeting with Russian Vice-Prime Minister Alexandr Zhukov.

    During Chávez's visit to Moscow, both countries are expected to execute an agreement on mutual protection and encouragement of investments, said Zhukov, according to news agency Interfax. "There remains only a question to be settled (to determine the legal and contractual bases of the relations). I think that during Hugo Chávez's visit we will succeed in reaching an agreement," he said.

IACHR REQUESTED PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES IN CONNECTION WITH POLITICAL BANNING

        WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  Lawyer Hermann Escarrá applied for a precautionary measure at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), of the Organization of American States (OAS), in connection with the banning by the Comptroller General Office of several candidates to the local elections next November.

    During a meeting in Washington with Ambassador Dante Caputo, the OAS Secretary of Political Affairs, Escarrá submitted the petition on behalf of the officials barred from public office. The attorney said that IACHR has fifteen days to issue precautionary measures under article 63 of the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights.

    Caputo was requested also to appoint an OAS commission to observe and enforce this measure. He noted the serious violations to the Inter-American Democratic Charter involved in the action taken by Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russián. Escarrá had plans to meet on Friday with Venezuelan residents in Miami who oppose the government of President Hugo Chávez.

06-28-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ LIKELY TO TESTIFY  IN TRIAL IN ITALY AGAINST ALLEGED DRUG TRAFFICKER

       ROME, ITALY -- Hugo Chávez will be commanded to give testimony at an ongoing trial in Palermo, Italy, against Venezuelan presumed drug trafficker Alex Del Nogal, on Thursday reported Italian sources.

    The judges of the third section of the Palermo court resolved to admit the Venezuelan president's testimony in a trial against Del Nogal, accused of cocaine international traffic, said the Sicilian press, AFP quoted.

     Del Nogal, 39, whose true name is Walter Alexander Del Nogal Márquez, is an influential Venezuelan businessman with interests in the oil sector who was arrested last September 25th in the Milan airport. He is accused of being a member of an international drug traffic network operating between Caracas and Sicilia. The testimony of Chávez, presumably a personal friend of Nogal, was requested by the defendant's attorneys. "We know about the case and so far can give no comments on the petition," said a Venezuelan diplomatic source.

US EMBASSY IN CARACAS RECEIVES BOMB THREAT

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- The United States Embassy in Caracas received a bomb threat on Thursday, an embassy spokeswoman said, though the embassy has only closed the parking lot and not the embassy itself, reported Reuters.

    "Someone called in (a bomb threat) and said there was something in the parking lot. We are just checking the cars that are there," spokeswoman Robin Holzhauer said. "People have not been able to come into that parking lot, but the embassy itself is open," she said.

    Holzhauer said Venezuela's bomb squad was helping check the vehicles. Diplomatic tensions have run high between the administration of US President George W. Bush and the government of Hugo Chavez.

VENEZUELAN NGO RECORDS 410 CLAIMS OF TORTURE

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  On the occasion of the commemoration of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the Network in Support of Justice and Peace made on Wednesday a balance of the cases of torture reported in Venezuela and asked the authorities to take action.

    The NGO asked the national government to draft a law to prevent and punish torture, restructure the police corps, train public servants in human rights, investigate into and convict the individuals responsible and the officials who fail to punish the crime, and establish nationwide centers of physical and psychological rehabilitation for the victims.

     From 1995 to 2007, the network has received 410 claims of torture and cruel treatment committed by officials from multiple Venezuelan state security agencies. However, to date, none of the individuals responsible has been punished in default of justice administration.

06-27-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ APPLAUDS COMPTROLLER GENERAL'S POLITICAL IN HABILITATION LIST

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- In a half-an-hour closing speech during a military parade on Tuesday to commemorate the 187th anniversary of the Battle of Carabobo and the Army Day, President Hugo Chávez blamed "the fifth column of the gringo empire" for using its media to lash out at government authorities.

    "I would like to avail myself of this opportunity to offer my support as head of state and the government support to the dignified fellow citizens who chair the state institutions." Chávez underscored his "special support" to Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russián. "For we are fighting corruption," he said.

     "Now that the Comptroller takes decisions in accordance with the law to fight corruption, he is attacked. What do you want? We know it. You advocate corruption, imperialism, capitalism. You will rule never again. We are telling you from Carabobo, with our people and army," said Chávez. Russian has been lately criticized by the opposition for having barred 368 public officials from political practice by means of administrative sanctions.

CUBAN CATHOLIC CHURCH PROTESTS SUPPORT FOR GAY RIGHTS

     HAVANA, CUBA -- Cuba's Roman Catholic Church on Tuesday protested the communist government's growing support of gay rights, including a daylong event raising awareness against homophobia and a law allowing sex-change operations. "Respect for the homosexual person, yes," said an editorial in Palabra Nueva, the monthly magazine of the Archdiocese of Havana. "Promotion of homosexuality, no."

    The editorial signed by magazine director Orlando Marquez referred to activities held May 17 by Cuba's Sex Education Center, which is directed by Mariela Castro, daughter of President Raul Castro.

    The center also announced this month that the health ministry has approved a law authorizing government-paid sex changes for 28 people who have undergone extensive study after requesting the surgery. Prejudice against homosexuals remains deeply rooted in Cuban society, as in much of Latin America. But the government has steadily moved away from the intolerance of the 1960s and 1970s, when homosexuals hid their sexuality for fear of being fired from work or even imprisoned. Cuba's parliament also is studying proposals to give gay couples the same benefits as married couples.

EVERY WEEK, FOUR PEOPLE ARE KIDNAPPED IN THE VENEZUELA

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Uncertainty makes endless the days of a hostage. Being somewhere, but not knowing where exactly, with unknown people that day after day and for no reason promised to kill her if she made any mistake, looked like an entire life for her. She still suffers the aftereffects.

     "Karla," 34, was kidnapped on a Thursday, on arriving at her place, located in southeast Caracas. Two cars blocked her and forced her to stop. Four men surrounded her. They accent was "like Colombian; they were not Venezuelans, I am positive," she said. Karla's kidnapping is not in the official statistics, like many others in the country. However, regardless of the underestimates, experts think that there are quite a few. No matter the deficit, the numbers are not very encouraging.

     Off the record, from January to May 2008, 151 kidnappings have been perpetrated in Venezuela, compared with the numbers provided by the Ministry of the Interior and Justice of 130, or 16 percent lower, for the same period in 2007. During the ten-year term under the government of President Hugo Chávez, a total of 2,097 kidnappings have been reported to the Scientific, Penal and Criminology Investigation Agency (Cicpc), that is, four kidnappings on average every week or three every five days.

06-26-2008

THE CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION EMPHATICALLY DENIES NEWSPAPER REPORT OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES LINKS

       MIAMI, FLORIDA  -- THE PRESIDENT OF THE CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION on Tuesday strenuously denied allegations in a Mexico City newspaper that linked the Miami group to a drug trafficking cartel and Cuban migrant smuggling. Francisco ''Pepe'' Hernández, the CANF president, told The Miami Herald that the story was likely ''disinformation'' planted by the Cuban government to discredit the Miami organization.

    In its Monday editions, La Jornada quoted sources close to a federal investigation in Mexico as saying Mexican prosecutors had information connecting CANF to the Gulf Cartel, one of the most powerful in Mexico, and a network of paid assassins known as Zetas. In one specific allegation, La Jornada quoted the sources as saying that two men now in detention in Mexico -- Nairobi Claro and Noriel Velóz -- told investigators they belonged to CANF.

    ''The story is ridiculous,'' said Hernández in a telephone interview. He added that neither Claro nor Velóz had ever belonged to the foundation or had had any contact with the group. ''We did a very thorough search of our records and found absolutely no connection to these men,'' Hernández said. Hernández noted that La Jornada never called the foundation before publication of the story to verify if Claro and Velóz belonged to the group.

INTERPOL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AFFIRMS REPORT ON REYES' COMPUTERS

     PARIS, FRANCE  --  The Interpol Executive Committee endorsed on Wednesday the validity of a report drafted by the Secretary General on the contents of the files found in the laptops of Raúl Reyes, the second-in-command of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), following his death last March.

    "Based on a thorough review of all the appropriate data, we affirm in its entirety the report of Interpol and all its findings," said the Executive Committee, responsible for the supervision of the Interpol Office of the Secretary General.

     "The work done by Interpol with regard to this issue has been fully consistent with its Statute and regulations. Political considerations have influenced by no means the conclusion," said in a press release the Executive Committee based in Lyon, south France, Efe quoted. Last March 1st, the Colombian army killed during the FARC number 2 in Ecuadorian territory and seized two hard disks and three USB's.

EUROPEAN SUPPORT REQUESTED TO JUDGE HUGO CHAVEZ FOR HIS TIES WITH THE FARC

        MADRID, SPAIN  -- The Plataforma de Venezolanos en Madrid (Venezuelans in Madrid Platform), an NGO that launched a campaign entitled "Judge Chávez," expects the initiative will instill awareness in the international community.

     The organization has made known their request made at The Hague International Criminal Court to investigate into Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for his alleged ties with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). They think that there is enough evidence to review the case and now more than ever, as appears from the files retrieved from the laptop of guerilla leader Raúl Reyes, who was killed on March 1st during a military raid.

     If the ICC authorizes an investigation for a subsequent trial, it would be the first time that the court would hear a case related to an incumbent head of state. For the time being, no date has been set for a decision. "It is a complex, long process, but we are confident," said William Cárdenas, an attorney with the organization. "Now, we would like to host a huge event with associations from all over Europe in Madrid. Right now, we have the support of 30 organizations."

06-25-2008

OVER 30 ASSOCIATIONS JOIN THE CAMPAIGN "JUDGE CHAVEZ" FOR HIS TIES WITH THE FARC

       MADRID, SPAIN  --  More than 30 associations have endorsed so far the campaign "Judge Chávez," to make known a request by some organizations at The Hague International Criminal Court to investigate into Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for his alleged ties with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).

     William Cárdenas, an attorney with the Plataforma de Venezolanos en Madrid (Venezuelan Platform in Madrid), one of the petitioners, thinks that there are enough grounds to delve into the case, particularly after the information found in the laptops of guerrilla leader Raúl Reyes, who was killed last March 1st, during a raid of the Colombian military in Ecuador, reported AP.

     "The FARC has committed crimes of lese humanity, such as kidnappings or murders. We think that, as suggested by Reyes' computers, the fact that Chávez presumably sponsored and funded the guerrillas is most serious," said Cárdenas. Due to the alleged relationship between the Venezuelan president and the FARC, according to the Colombian government, Cárdenas and his organization took the case to The Hague. "It is a complex, long proceeding, but we are confident," he said.

VENEZUELAN CONGRESS DISMISSES REMOVAL OF JUSTICES

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA --  National Assembly chair Cilia Flores said that the legislature dismissed the removal from the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) of judges Blanca Rosa Mármol de León and Carlos Oberto, at the request of the Citizen's Power.

    In this case, said Flores, the offense claimed by the Citizen's Power is in conformity with the law, but not the judges' removal, because the decision was not made unanimously. Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russián and Ombudswoman Gabriela Ramírez voted for the sanction, but Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz refrained herself from issuing her opinion.

     Minutes after learning about the Parliament decision, justice Mármol de León termed the move as "correct." "Exercise of rights, not to waiving it and saying things over and over again make it all worthwhile," she told Unión Radio.
 The justice explained that in Venezuela, "there is the trend to waive the exercise of rights for thinking that perhaps it will be unsuccessful. This is a most serious mistake. Therefore, wherever we have a right, we should exercise it."

SPANISH GOVERNMENT PROMISES SUPPORT TO SPANISH FARMERS IN VENEZUELA

        MADRID, SPAIN  --  Trinidad Jiménez, Spanish Secretary of State for Ibero-America, said that her government would effectively advocate the interests of Spanish residents in Venezuela, and pointed to appropriate "consular methods" to meet their needs, Efe reported.

     This was her answer at the Spanish Senate Commission of Ibero-American Affairs to a question made by a group of the People's Party (PP) about the troubles faced by Spanish-Venezuelan farmers whose property was illegally occupied two years ago in some Venezuelan states. PP spokesman Dionisio García Carnero lamented that Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos, did not meet during his visit last week to Caracas with a group of these farmers, as he had promised.

     Jiménez said that Moratinos did meet with Spanish consular officials, who visit also the troublesome places and get in touch with Spanish-Venezuelans to "try to solve their conflicts." She reported that in central-northern Yaracuy state, 11 cases have been solved in close cooperation with the National Lands Institute, and additional 60 cases are in the process of being settled.

06-24-2008

FEAR OF POTENTIAL SUSPENSION OF HUGO CHAVEZ AND ALVARO URIBE MEETING

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- The upcoming meeting between Hugo Chávez and his Colombian counterpart Álvaro Uribe to try to overcome the bilateral crisis runs the risk of being suspended, ex Venezuelan ambassador to Colombia Fernando Gerbasi told Notimex.

    During the reunion, Uribe will try to set the guidelines on the renewed bilateral relation "from the formal view and from, as it were, the parallel view. This meeting will be held only if President Chávez is prepared to make such commitments; otherwise, Uribe will not show up," he said. Gerbasi is certain that from the "formal" view, Bogotá will try to restore previously positive mechanisms.

    "Among them, military and police cooperation to fight the guerrillas, drug traffic and crime will prevail," said the diplomat. In "parallel," Uribe will ask Chávez for multiple undertakings and to take up a political stance against the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and show it with practical actions. Gerbasi said that he did not know where the meeting would take place. However, in his opinion, "almost for sure, it will be in Colombia, because this is another triumph sought by Uribe."

LULA, CHAVEZ, MORALES, CORREA ADJOURN MEETING

     BRAZILIA, BRAZIL --  A meeting the presidents of Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, and Hugo Chávez, respectively, were scheduled to hold late this month was suspended because of "agenda issues," official sources said on Monday.

    "It has been impossible to combine the agendas of the presidents and the meeting was put off," a spokesman for the Brazilian presidential palace of Planalto told Efe.

     Chávez announced the reunion during the summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) in Brasilia last month. The meeting was supposed to take place in Manaus, Brazil, late this month, following President Lula's visit to Venezuela. Lula is arriving in Venezuela next Thursday to meet with Chávez. Next week the four presidents are to meet during a summit of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) in Tucuman, northeast Argentina.

39 CUBAN MIGRANTS COME ASHORE IN SOUTH FLORIDA

        MIAMI, FLORIDA  --  Human smugglers are getting more creative in their efforts, says Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Lazaro Guzman. Take last Wednesday morning. About 2 a.m., a group of five Cuban migrants were found in Hollywood. At 5 a.m., 29 Cuban migrants turned up in Sunny Isles Beach. And just before 9 a.m., there were five at the Rickenbacker Causeway.

    ''It's not unusual for smugglers to change their course,'' Guzman said. ``They were landing at Key Biscayne, but now we have a stronger presence there. Once we control Key Biscayne, they start popping up everywhere else.'' The group in Hollywood was found at Indiana Street and the boardwalk.

     ''That was a staged landing,'' Guzman said. ``These are people who have already been in the country a couple of days and then are told to go to the beach and pretend they just landed.'' The group had left from Santa Lucia Pinar del Rio. Three hours later, a group of 29 Cuban migrants were found in Sunny Isles Beach, according to a supervisor at the U.S. Border Patrol. In the group near State Road AIA and Northeast 158th Street were 19 men, eight women and two juveniles. They were transported by Miami-Dade police, whom they flagged down when they landed.

06-23-2008

hUGO CHAVEZ MAY STOP SELLING OIL TO EUROPE

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Hugo Chávez lamented a set of rules approved by the European Union (EU) to expel illegal immigrants and threatened to stop sending crude oil to European countries that implement the law.

    "Our oil will not go to any countries which apply this affront," said the head of state during a ceremony to review Venezuelan-Paraguayan cooperation agreements. He recommended the rest of the presidents in the hemisphere following suit, no matter if they are leftists or rightists.

    Then, he suggested that in the same way that Europe decides to return Latin American illegal immigrants to their countries of origin, Latin American countries could also decide on the return of European investments. "Here (in Venezuela), we do not need them. We are going to review their investments here, so we can also apply a return directive. Take your investments back to your countries!"

SPAIN PRESIDENT ZAPATERO SAID HE IS PREPARED TO EXPLAIN NEW IMMIGRATION LAW TO HUGO CHAVEZ

      BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  -- Spain's prime minister said Madrid was prepared to explain the new law "so that the EU's relationship with all Latin American countries remains positive."

    "Maybe we need to explain exactly to the president of Venezuela what this directive consists of," Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a two-day EU summit."There have been many interpretations of this directive... that have nothing to do with what it really is," he said.

    Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Chavez's threat of withholding oil exports was "perhaps exaggerated and perhaps not really understanding" of what the new laws meant.

EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF JAVIER SOLANO SAID HUGO CHAVEZ'S THREAT ON THE UNION IS 'TOTALLY OUT OF PROPORTION'

        BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  -- European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana called in Brussels "totally disproportionate" Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's threat not to send more oil to European countries in the event of implementing a law on expulsion of illegal aliens.

"In my view, it is totally out of proportion," said EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) in reference to Chávez's reaction to the adoption on Wednesday by the Europarliament of a directive on the return of illegal immigrants, AFP quoted. "At least our oil should not be exported to European countries" applying the new EU law, said Chávez

However, it seems that some European senior officials were not very impressed by the threat. "As it is well known, there is the paradox that Venezuela mostly supplies oil to the United States. Therefore, should they decide to block the supply to us, this would not represent a big change for us," said Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg.

06-22-2008

VENEZUELAN COMPTROLLER GENERAL, GLODOSBALDO RUSSIAN, SAID HE ADVOCATES POLITICAL PROHIBITION TO END IMPUNITY

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- A POLITICAL PROHIBITION on almost 400 public servants from holding public office is part of the new actions to preserve the national heritage and end with impunity, Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russián told state-owned TV channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

     "The Constitution provides for legal equality of all citizens; no constitutional provision establishes that individuals engaged or involved in political activities are free from any administrative sanctions that may be imposed by the Comptroller General Office or, otherwise, the Venezuelan state body of competent jurisdiction," he said, as quoted by state-run news agency ABN.

    "I would like to warn that those who claim that the decisions we are making are unconstitutional are moving farther from the truth," the senior official commented.

VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION SETS OFF GLOBAL RED ALERT AGAINST POLITICAL PROHIBITION

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Venezuelan opposition parties have launched a global awareness campaign against the action taken by Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russián to bar public servants from political practice.

    World and hemispheric organizations, such as the Socialist International (SI) and the Organization of Christian Democrats of America (OCDA) have shown solidarity.

     On Friday, they will air the claims of violation of the Venezuelan Constitution in a forum to be held in Miami, with the participation of mayors from 14 Latin American countries, the United States and Canada.

VENEZUELAN DISSIDENT TAKES ACTION AGAINST POLITICAL PROHIBITION

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Luis Ignacio Planas, leader of opposition Copei party, and Chacao mayor Leopoldo López announced a set of measures to make the international community aware of the political disqualification of almost 400 people by the Office of the Comptroller General.

    "This government pretends to be democratic, but its deeds cast doubt on it," said Planas.  The leader is afraid that the list prepared by Comptroller General Clodosvaldo Russián is a tool of political retaliation and an obstacle to most opposition candidates.

     "These arbitrary, exclusive and discriminatory methods are being used as political retaliation to prevent the candidates who are the first choice in state governments and mayoralties from running; to pave the way for pro-government candidates, who are very bad, by the way, for them to win the elections," added Planas.

06-21-2008

EUROPEAN UNION LAWMAKERS PASS NEW RULES FOR EXPELLING ILLEGALS 

      STRASBOURG, FRANCE  --  Europe's hardening attitudes toward immigration found a voice in the EU Parliament Wednesday, as legislators passed controversial new rules for expelling illegals amid a widening crackdown in the United States. As the global economy slows, governments in rich countries are coming under increased pressure to act tough on immigration. While the European rules do not lay the groundwork for workplace raids like in America, they do contain contentious measures such as providing for long detention periods.

     Until now, there has been no common EU policy on expelling illegal immigrants, and detention periods varied from 32 days in France to indefinite custody in Britain, the Netherlands and five other countries. Under the new guidelines, already approved by EU governments, illegal immigrants can be held in specialized detention centers - not jails - for up to 18 months before being expelled. But EU countries must provide detained migrants basic rights, including access to free legal advice, and unaccompanied children or families with children should be held only as a last resort.

    Following apprehension, immigrants will be given the opportunity to leave voluntarily within 30 days. If there is a flight risk or they do not comply, they can be put in custody for up to six months while their deportation is processed. A 12-month extension would be possible in specific cases, such as when illegal immigrants do not cooperate with authorities or when their identity must be verified with their home country. A re-entry ban of up to five years may be imposed on expelled immigrants who do not cooperate or are deemed a threat. "Europe has made it clear that it is not tolerating any form of illegal status," said German Christian Democrat Manfred Weber, who steered the bill through Parliament.

HUGO CHAVEZ THREATENS TO BLOCK OIL OVER EUROPEAN UNION RULES

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Hugo Chavez threatened on Thursday to punish European countries that apply controversial new rules for deporting illegal immigrants by denying them oil and blocking their investments. The EU Parliament passed new guidelines Wednesday seeking to standardize the process by which member nations deport illegal migrants. While the rules do not lay the groundwork for workplace raids like in the United States, they contain contentious measures such as providing for long detention periods.

    Chavez said in a televised speech that the measure shows "signs of fascism," and predicted that countries would have to "build concentration camps" to hold millions of immigrants. "Our oil shouldn't go to those countries" that adopt the policy, he said. Venezuela sells most of its oil to the United States despite political tensions between the two nations, but is only a minor supplier to Europe. Some European companies operate in Venezuela, including France's Total and Norway's Statoil.

     Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg laughed off the threat. "As far as I know, Venezuela supplies oil mostly to the U.S. ... so it would not be that much of a deal," he told journalists at an EU summit. Chavez also warned that if a European country were to lock up Colombians, Paraguayans, Bolivians or Ecuadoreans, companies from that nation doing business in Venezuela would come under scrutiny. "We aren't going to take anyone prisoner, but the company would have to take its investments back there," he said. Until now, there has been no common EU policy on deporting illegal immigrants, and detention periods varied from 32 days in France to indefinite custody in Britain, the Netherlands and five other countries.

VENEZUELA THINKS THAT CHAVEZ SHOULD NOT INSIST ON SOCIALISM 

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Seventy percent of Venezuelans think that President Hugo Chávez should not insist on his socialist initiative that was rejected in a referendum held last December, according to a poll released on Thursday.

     The survey conducted by pollster Keller y Asociados found that 27 percent feels that the head of state should insist on his proposal; the remaining three percent did not know or answer, Efe quoted. The survey was carried out in 65 cities of more than 20,000 inhabitants. As a result, according to Keller y Asociados, it accounts for 78.6 percent of the nationwide opinion.

     Further, 76 percent of the interviewees took issue with the decision of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) led by Chávez to expel those who "think otherwise." As to Chávez's popularity, there was technically a tie: 47 percent of the 1,200 adults interviewed from May 23rd to June 4th see him in good terms, vs. 45 percent who do not like him.

06-20-2008

SPAIN AGAINST FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN CUBA; THE EUROPEAN UNION, PRESSED BY SPAIN, AGREES TO LIFT SANCTIONS AGAINST CUBA 

      BRUSSELS, BELGIUM  --  The European Union on Thursday, pressed by Spain, agreed to lift its diplomatic sanctions against Cuba but imposed tough conditions on the Communist island to maintain sanction-free relations, officials said. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the bloc felt it had to encourage changes in Cuba after Raul Castro took over as the head of the country's government from his ailing brother Fidel.

    "There will be very clear language also on what the Cubans still have to do ... releasing prisoners, really working on human rights questions," she told reporters at an EU summit. "There will be a sort of review to see whether indeed something will have happened." The measures were imposed in 2003 and were suspended in 2005. Some EU nations — including the Czech Republic and Sweden — were reluctant to lift the diplomatic sanctions entirely during this week's two-day summit, saying they wanted to see Cuba improve human rights first.Washington imposed a trade blockade of Cuba almost 50 years ago and has no immediate plans to lift it.

     EU foreign ministers at the summit approved a set of conditions to be imposed on Castro's regime in return for sanction-free relations. They include the release of all political prisoners; access for Cubans to the Internet; and a double-track approach for all EU delegations arriving in Cuba, allowing them to meet both opposition figures and members of the Cuban government. The EU will evaluate Cuba's progress in a year's time and could take new measures if human rights do not improve, officials said.

THE UNITED STATES ACCUSES VENEZUELA DIPLOMAT OF WORKING FOR HEZBOLLAH

        WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- THE UNITED STATES on Wednesday accused a Venezuelan diplomat, Ghazi Nasr al Din, of working for Hezbollah and stated that the Venezuelan government is "providing safe harbor" to agents of the radical Islamic Shiite group, reported Efe.

    Al-Din had served until recently as charge d'affaires at the Venezuelan embassy in Damascus. He is currently working as political affairs director of the Venezuelan embassy in Lebanon, reported the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

     "It is extremely troubling to see the Government of Venezuela employing and providing safe harbor to Hezbollah facilitators and fundraisers. We will continue to expose the global nature of Hezbollah's terrorist support network, and we call on responsible governments worldwide to disrupt and dismantle this activity," said Adam Szubin, Director of the OFAC.

COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT PROBES INTO REPORTS ON FARC LEADER'S DEATH

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  --  The Colombian government said on Wednesday that it is investigating into the reports on the presumed death of Iván Márquez, one of the seven senior members of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), but there is still no evidence of it.

     In Cali, southeast Colombia, President Álvaro Uribe told journalists that he had received no report on the death of Márquez or of any rebel chief. However, he promised that he would make his office find out the source of the news spread on Tuesday night, reported AFP. According to Colombian radio La W, an informer infiltrated in the guerrillas told the authorities about the death.

     Last November, Márquez attended a meeting in Caracas with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. Colombian authorities are certain that Márquez and another guerrilla leader, Timoleón Jiménez, alias "Timochenko," have camps in the Perijá sierra, on the Venezuelan border. The guerrilla leader, 53, whose true name is Luciano Marín Arango, was a congressman in the eighties and survived the killing of more than 3,000 militants of leftwing Unión Patriótica party.

06-19-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ CLAIMS TO FORM A TEAM WITH CASTRO BROTHERS

      HAVANA, CUBA  -- FORMER CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO talked about the world crisis in a three-hour meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who ended on Tuesday his visit to Cuba, with no images or detailed information about the Cuban leader's health being released so far.

    Castro, seen for the last time in a video and photos five months ago, held, according to an official notice, a "lively, emotional" meeting with Chávez, who departed for Caracas after meeting also with President Raúl Castro.

     During his 24-hour visit, Chávez spoke to Fidel on Monday afternoon about his country's situation and "the positive moment lived by the Bolivarian revolution with the strengthening of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and local elections," said the notice. Chávez vowed to "team up" with Castro brothers. "This revolution goes ahead, with a drum roll and it is alive and kicking; at bottom, we are the same revolution."

THREE-FOLD INCREASE IN CRIME IN VENEZUELA IN A DECADE

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- No matter the numbers makeup; reality stubbornly shows its ugly face. Over the past ten years, violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants almost trebled, from 19 in 1998 to 54 in 2007 -a growth of 184 percent.

    These numbers were provided by government authorities, the same that since 2004, in an attempt at containing at least in the paper the shocking escalation of murders, stopped including the casualties in clashes with the police and the people killed in acts of passion. The move bore fruit provisionally. In this way, the authorities boasted that the number of murders in 2003 and 2004 decreased by more than 1,500. But then, the red number of violent deaths continued on its black rise to stand at 12,829 nationwide and 2,614 in Caracas, records in the decade.

     Citizens' feeling about insecurity being the major trouble in the country has increased in proportion to crimes. Even the most conservative data, those provided by pollster Consultores 21, show that this item went from 22 percent in March 1999 to 37 percent in March of this current year. Pollster Datanálisis supplied higher numbers. As a result, in the last survey conducted in April 2008, insecurity was the major trouble for 50.7 percent of interviewees.

HIGH COURT ENDORSES NATIONALIZATION OF CEMENT MAKERS

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- The constitutional court of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ), heard by its president, justice Luisa Estella Morales, declared the constitutional nature of the statutory decree on the organization of cement makers; therefore, they will become the state property.

    A press bulletin from the TSJ, quoted by state-run news agency ABN, noted the relevance of this regulation that reserves the Venezuelan state a business in the public interest.

    The decree was in reply to a communication forwarded last June 2nd by President Hugo Chávez. From now on, companies Cemex Venezuela, S.A.C.A., Holcim Venezuela, C.A. and C.A, Fábrica Nacional de Cementos S.A.C.A. (Venezuela's Lafarge Group), and their subsidiaries will form an integral part of the national patrimony.

06-18-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ MEETS WITH AILING FIDEL CASTRO

      HAVANA, CUBA  --  Hugo Chavez met with former Cuban President Fidel Castro to discuss the world's food, energy and financial crises during a private three-hour meeting, state media reported Tuesday. No details about the health of the ailing 81-year-old Castro were released by the online edition of the Communist Party daily Granma in its report on Monday's meeting. The newspaper released no new images of Castro, who has not been seen in public since he fell ill nearly two years ago. Castro's last official photograph was released in January.

    Granma said during the "animated and affectionate" encounter that the men also discussed the strengthening of Venezuela's state oil company and regional elections. They also talked about the need to deepen the two countries' social missions, the newspaper added. Castro gave Chavez a copy of a new book called "Fidel, Bolivia and Something More," about Castro's relationship with the Andean nation.

    Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque greeted Chavez upon his arrival in Havana Monday afternoon. Chavez said the two nations would help "ensure life and security to our people." The elder Castro's exact medical ailment and condition have remained state secrets since he underwent emergency intestinal surgery in late July 2006 and ceded provisional power to Raul, who replaced him permanently as president in February. No videos or photographs were released when Chavez last met with the elder Castro in March, or when Bolivian President Evo Morales met with him last month.

US DEFENSE SECRETARY: VENEZUELA SHOULD HELP COLOMBIA FIGHT THE FARC

        WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Monday urged Colombian neighbors, such as Venezuela and Ecuador, to help Bogotá fight against rebels of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) by preventing the guerrilla group from entering into their territories.

    "Even having good security forces, (Colombia) has had difficulty in defeating narcoterrorists such as the FARC, who use areas without government in their country and, reportedly, in neighboring states to rearm, train and traffic drugs," said Gates before the North American Forum, an annual meeting of US, Canadian and Mexican officials, politicians and businessmen.

     Colombian authorities, who accuse the governments of Ecuador and Venezuela of having links with the FARC, continually ask to their neighbors help to fight the largest Colombian guerrilla group. Both Venezuelan and Ecuadorian governments reject any tie with the FARC, except as part of efforts aimed at obtaining the release of people held as hostages by the rebel group.

CAR BOMB IN BAGHDAD MARKET KILLS 51, INJURED 75 

       BAGHDAD, IRAQ  --  A car bomb tore through a market area in a mainly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing more than 50 people and wounding dozens, officials said, the deadliest such attack in more than three months. The attack occurred just before 6 p.m. as the market in the northwestern Hurriyah neighborhood was packed with shoppers preparing for their evening meals.

     Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which is known to use car bombs and suicide attacks. A soft drink vendor who witnessed the blast, Kamil Jassim, said the car that exploded was parked near a two-story building with shops on the bottom floor and apartments on top. He said a nearby generator caught on fire, partially collapsing the building and burning several other houses.

     The casualty toll spiked to at least 51 people killed and 75 people wounded after rescue crews extinguished the blaze and found the bodies of dozens of victims who had been trapped inside or buried in the rubble, a police officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

06-17-2008

EUROPEAN UNION POSTPONES DECISION ON CUBA SANCTIONS

      LUXEMBOURG  --  European Union foreign ministers postponed a decision on whether to lift sanctions on Cuba on Monday, leaving it to a summit of the 27-nation bloc later in the week. Foreign Minister of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos said Germany and other countries asked for more time to decide on the sensitive move, which would put the EU at odds with Washington's calls for a release of political prisoners.

     The EU measures were imposed after a crackdown on dissent in 2003 and include a freeze on visits by high-level officials. However unlike the 1962 U.S. embargo, they do not prevent trade and investment. The sanctions were formally suspended in 2005 but abolition would be seen as encouragement by the EU for a more reforms by Cuban President Raul Castro, who took over after the Feb. 24 retirement of his brother Fidel.

     Former colonial power Spain has long led calls for an end to the EU sanctions. Moratinos said he was hopeful the bloc would lift the sanctions this week and Finland's Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb saw "a clear majority" for such a move. "The most likely is that Thursday we'll be able to ... lift definitively the 2003 sanctions and launch a dialogue on human rights, including with the Cuban authorities," Moratinos said. But the move would require all EU states to agree. It has met resistance from the bloc's ex-communist members, led by the Czech Republic.

CZECHS, SWEDEN OPPOSE LIFTING EUROPEAN UNION SANCTIONS ON CUBA

        LUXEMBOURG  --  The Czech Republic and Sweden said Monday they would likely block efforts to lift European Union sanctions against Cuba unless it improves its respect for human rights. Many EU countries, led by Spain, are eager to improve ties with Cuba's new leader, Raúl Castro, who took over from his ailing brother, Fidel Castro, last year. These countries want the 27-nation EU to lift the diplomatic sanctions it imposed five years ago.

     Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said Monday that, before his country would support ending the sanctions, it would have to see evidence that Raúl Castro is doing more to release dissidents and support the rights of its citizens. ''If we don't achieve any progress in human rights issues, we'll block it,'' Schwarzenberg told reporters in Luxembourg for EU foreign ministers talks.

     And Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Cuba did not even seem interested in forging closer ties, which would include talks on rights and reforms. Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, also backed a tough line on Cuba. ''Frankly speaking, we cannot accept the idea that we lift sanctions and they don't liberate the prisoners,'' Frattini said. Meanwhile, Dimitrij Rupel, Slovenia's foreign minister, whose country holds the EU presidency, acknowledged the division -- and tried to bridge the gap.

COLOMBIAN POLICE SEIZES 9 TONS OF COCAINE

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --  Colombian police have performed an operation against drug establishments seizing nine tons of cocaine and destroying 67 laboratories. "We found hidden in two places, close to 7.5 tons of cocaine, which means that this week, we confiscated 9.5 tons of cocaine from these organizations. We have also captured seven people and confiscated two tons of coca paste (coca base) and chemical supplies to process the coca," said General Alvaro Caro, director of Colombia's Antinarcotics Police.

    Two tons of cocaine was confiscated from a lab located in the township of Llanada, in Narino province, south-western Colombia, and the other seven tons in the township of Tumaco, in the same province. About 60 police agents participated in the anti-drug operation, which started nine days ago in Narino province.

     It was unclear what group of narco-traffickers the drugs belonged to, but officials say that the seven tons of cocaine found in Tumaco were ready to be sent to the US, probably by sea. Seven people were arrested during the operation - all were wanted by the US government, AP reported. Since the start of the year, Colombia, the world's largest cocaine exporter, has confiscated fifty-two tons of cocaine.

06-16-2008

PRESIDENTS BUSH AND SARKZY SENT STRONG WARNING TO IRAN ON ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM

      PARIS, FRANCE --  US president George W Bush and French president Nicolas Sarkozy jointly urged Syria to break with Iran and bluntly warned that they would not let Tehran obtain nuclear weapons. The two leaders praised their trans-Atlantic ties as Bush neared the end of a farewell Europe tour he said was "dominated" by concerns over the Islamic republic's atomic drive.

     "Iran getting a nuclear bomb is unacceptable, that's clear. It's an unacceptable threat for the stability of the world," Sarkozy said, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Bush at a press conference after talks in Paris. "A nuclear-armed Iran is incredibly destabilising," added Bush, just hours after Tehran rejected new demands to halt uranium enrichment in return for economic and diplomatic incentives. "It would be a major blow to world peace," Bush said.

     Bush said Western demands that Iran - which claims its nuclear program has peaceful aims - freeze uranium enrichment were "just and fair" and he portrayed the US and Europe as united in confronting Tehran. "I am disappointed that the (Iranian) leaders rejected this generous offer out of hand. It is an indication to the Iranian people that their leadership is willing to isolate them further," Bush said. A tough sanctions regime is "the only solution for convincing the Iranians" that they need to bow to international demands, said Sarkozy.

CUBAN DISSIDENTS PREFER OBAMA TO MCCAIN

        HAVANA, CUBA --  A good part of Cuba's internal opposition is hoping that Democrat Barack Obama triumphs over Republican John McCain in this year's U.S. presidential contest. Independent economist Oscar Espinosa Chepe thinks that an Obama win would be "very positive for Cuba" and would mean "the change of a (U.S.) policy that, in practice, has served as an alibi for maintaining totalitarianism in Cuba and has been very harmful." "A flexible attitude like Obama's could encourage the reformist sectors existing within the government, in the (communist) party and in Cuban society," the former political prisoner said.

     Another prominent dissident, Vladimiro Roca, said that "the proposal of the Democratic candidate is the most sensitive," but it is also the least convenient for the Cuban government because "it breaks the ... state of siege that it tries to maintain to justify repression and narrow-mindedness."  "On the other hand, McCain would help the hard line ... to maintain the approach that they are beseiged by the greatest power in the world," he added.

     While both presidential hopefuls say they will maintain the economic embargo Washington imposed on Havana in 1962, Obama pledges to lift restrictions on family travel and remittances to the island and says he is willing to meet with Raul Castro, who this year succeeded ailing older brother Fidel as Cuba's president. Differing with his colleagues, opposition figure Manuel Cuesta Morua suggested "Obama's discourse and possible election do not come at a good time because, although it's paradoxical, so that the government can control the inevitable reforms it needs McCain more than Obama." "I think that the pressure from Obama would be much greater because the (U.S.) 'empire' would lose visibility for the Cuban people," he added.

hugo chavez to visit fidel castro in cuba 

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA --  Hugo Chavez says he plans to visit his close friend and ally Fidel Castro in Cuba on Monday. President Chavez made the announcement during his regular Sunday television and radio programs. The reason for his visit is not known.

    Chavez last met with the former Cuban leader in March. That visit took place shortly after Mr. Castro turned over power to his younger brother, Raul, after nearly 50 years.

     Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since July 2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery. He has, however, appeared in videos and photographs, and articles attributed to him have been published in the state-run media. Details of his health are considered a state secret.

06-15-2008

GOVERNOR BILL RICHARDSON ADVOCATES DIALOGUE WITH HUGO CHAVEZ AND RAUL CASTRO

      MADRID, SPAIN --  Bill Richardson, governor of US New Mexico state, lobbied on Monday in Madrid for a dialogue between the next US government and Cuba and Venezuela. "In my view, we should start a dialogue with Venezuela and Cuba," said Richardson during an informational breakfast in Casa de América.

     The Secretary of Energy during the administration of Democrat Bill Clinton said that the diplomacy to be built by Washington after the government of President George W. Bush in January 2009 should "approach Cuba in a realistic way, sensibly dealing with economic and personal issues, such as trade and family relations."

     "The embargo has been unsuccessful, but I would like Cuba also to move on, to be more democratic, act to release more political prisoners. But if I can give any advice to the new president is that the embargo has not been positive at all. Therefore, such policy needs to change," said Richardson. "In Venezuela, we have disagreements with President (Hugo) Chávez, but I would favor a direct dialogue with him, to see if we can solve our differences," he added.

VENEZUELAN SOCIALIST INTERNATIONAL OPPOSITION REJECTS BAN ON LIKELY REGIONAL CANDIDATES

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Socialist International refuses Comptroller's action to bar politicians. The organization issued a press release to voice its "concern about the decision made by administrative authorities of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, who, without issuing any conviction, deny more than 400 citizens the right to run as candidates in the next local elections to be held on November 23rd of this year."

     "Such a decision causes today widespread concern and uneasiness in the Venezuelan and international public opinion, seemingly contravening the right of the citizens of that country to run as candidates, and also their right to elect the candidate of their choice. Additionally, a large proportion of these barred people are members of the democratic opposition," the text pointed out.

     The Socialist International made an appeal to observe the legitimate rights of the people disqualified in this way and urged to restore immediately all their political and civil rights.

cuba deports u.s. citizen wanted on sex charges

       HAVANA, CUBA --  CUBA on Friday turned over to U.S. authorities an American fugitive sought on charges of sexual abuse of a minor and possession of child pornography. Cuban authorities said they arrested Leonard B. Auerbach, a 61-year-old mortgage specialist from Orinda, California, on the island on May 7, acting on information from U.S. officials.

    Cuban authorities say the investigation showed that Auerbach arrived on the island on April 8, and he was deported Friday. Such cooperation is unusual between the United States and Cuba, which have no extradition treaty. Cuba said it decided to deport Auerbach because the crimes he is charged with ``are of a grave character and strongly fought by our authorities.''

     Auerbach is the fourth American fugitive Cuba has deported to the United States since President Raúl Castro first took provisional power from his ailing brother Fidel in July 2006. Raúl Castro permanently assumed the presidency in February. The U.S. government complains there are dozens more U.S. fugitives on the island that Cuba has not deported, including several former Black Panthers accused of killings and other violent acts in the 1960s and 1970s.

06-14-2008

ecUadOrian president rafael correa agrees with hugo chavez on the farc

      QUITO, ECUADOR --  Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said once again that the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) should give up and agreed with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez on the need of peace talks in Colombia.

    "I have made the same appeal (like Chávez). What future has guerrillas that combat a democratic government?" wondered Correa, and then added, "Stop it; lay down your arms; let us start a dialogue to find peace," said the head of state during an interview on TV channel Ecuavisa.

    Last June 8th, Chávez said, "at this moment in Latin America, an armed guerrilla movement is out of place, and this must be told the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces." "Guerrillas warfare has gone down in history," he admonished.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE BARACK OBAMA SAYS THATHUGO CHAVEZ IS AN "EASILY LED" THREAT

        WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Candidate for the Democratic Party running for US President Barack Obama called Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez an "easily led" threat for the US security and expressed willingness to approach Venezuela and Cuba if elected president.

    In an interview released on Wednesday by Chilean daily newspaper El Mercurio, the Senator said that Mexico was his priority in Latin America and talked about his plans to make a proposal on a migration reform during his first year in office in case of winning the presidential election on November. When queried if Chávez was a threat for the security of the United States and the hemisphere, Obama answered during the interview held in Denver, "Yes, I do think he is, yet a threat that can be managed," Reuters quoted.

     "We know, for instance, that he could be involved in the support to the (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) FARC, harming his neighbor. This is not the kind of neighbors we want. I deem it important, through the Organization of American States (OAS) or the United Nations (UN) to start sanctions that say that such behavior is not acceptable," he added.

HUGO CHAVEZ READY TO TALK TO BARACK OBAMA OR JOHN MCCAIN

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --   During his address to the nation on Wednesday night to brief on the new economic steps, Hugo Chávez expressed willingness to negotiate with the next US president to be elected on November.  

    He said that he wanted to talk face to face either to Barack Obama or John McCain and determine the new course of the US-Venezuelan relationship. As stated by Chávez, one of the key issues to be discussed would be the production of ethanol and the US policy concerning the use of most part of corn plantations for the new fuel instead of using it for food.

    In his opinion, the use of vital goods for fuel generation "is something horrible (…) a wrong decision and major cause of increasing food prices throughout the world; it is something criminal."

06-13-2008

president alvaro uribe "praises" hugo chavez's call to farc

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA --  Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Wednesday described as positive statements by his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez, who last weekend asked the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) to unconditionally release hostages held by the rebel group.

     In an interview with Colombian radio station La FM, Uribe addressed for the first time the request made by Chávez on Sunday, who asked the FARC to free all the hostages "for nothing" and to reconsider the guerrillas warfare, reported Efe.

     "I think -this is the first time I say so- that President Hugo Chávez's remarks are positive, helpful," said Uribe when journalists asked his opinion on the Venezuelan ruler' statements.

FRANCE "PRAISES" HUGO CHAVEZ'S APPEAL TO THE GUERRILLAS 

        PARIS, FRANCE -- The French government valued positively on Tuesday everything that helps release the hostages held by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), such as an appeal previously made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

    France views as "positive anything that helps find a humanitarian solution to free the hostages, particularly Colombian-French Ingrid Betancourt," said the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pascale Andréani, when queried about Chávez's comments.
 
     Last Sunday, the Venezuelan president asked the FARC, particularly Alfonso Cano, the new guerrilla leader and successor of deceased Manuel Marulanda, to release the hostages "for nothing."

COLOMBIAN EX PRESIDENT "PRAISES" CHAVEZ'S PETITION TO FARC

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA -- César Gaviria, Colombian former president and ex secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS), welcomed on Thursday a request made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) to release hostages and pull out from the guerrilla warfare.

     "I think it is good news for Colombia that President Chávez says so, because he has authority over FARC," said Gaviria in an interview with Caracol Radio, quoted by Efe.   Last Sunday, the Venezuelan ruler urged the FARC to release the people kidnapped by them "in exchange for nothing."

     Gaviria feels that Chávez's shift of attitude, who earlier this year strongly recommended the international community to recognize the rebel group as a "legitimate belligerent force," could have been as result of the finding of the laptops property of the FARC second-in-command Raúl Reyes, which suggest links between the Venezuelan government and the FARC. "Probably (Chávez) is worried about the large amount of grounds appearing in those computers," he speculated.

06-12-2008

WASHINGTON POST: CHAVEZ'S TURNAROUND ON FARC IS DUE TO LAPTOPS

      WASHINGTON, D.C. --The "obvious explanation" for a change of mind of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez concerning the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) can be found in the laptops seized from the guerrillas last March by Colombian authorities, said The Washington Post as quoted by AP. To date, the officials close to the president "have offered no coherent answer" to the claims of alleged contacts between Chávez and the FARC, said the daily newspaper in its editorial.

    The article recalled that just five months ago, Chávez asked governments to recognize the FARC as a "legitimate belligerent force." He changed his mind last weekend when suggesting the guerrillas that they should free all the prisoners "in exchange for nothing." Also, he asked them to virtually lay down their arms, because "at this moment in Latin America, an armed guerrilla movement is out of place." "Their thousands of digital files contain powerful evidence that Mr. Chávez and Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa accepted aid from the FARC while rising to power and later provided or promised the group money, weapons or safe harbor."

     "Mr. Chávez clearly hopes to avoid the consequences of supporting a terrorist group against a democratic government, which could include the addition of Venezuela or some of its senior officials to the State Department's list of terrorism sponsors. Perhaps, too, Mr. Chávez hoped to take credit for what some Colombian sources say may be an imminent move by the FARC to free hostages," added the Washington Post. "Either way, his discrediting of armed revolutionary movements (…) can only be welcomed," said the newspaper editorial entitled "A welcome flip-flop."

HUGO CHAVEZ VOIDS INTElLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE LAW

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Hugo Chávez abolished on Tuesday at Miraflores presidential palace the Law on Intelligence and Counterintelligence, which entered into force by means of a statutory decree published in the Official Gazette last May 28th. During a ceremony attended by workers of iron and steel industry Sidor, the president conceded that he made a mistake and in order to finish off the controversy, he issued a decree to abrogate the law.

    "Therefore, a very simple decree will be approved today (Tuesday) and must be released in the Gazette tomorrow, at the very latest. Hugo Chávez Frías, President of the Republic, in exercising the right conferred upon him by number 8 of the Bolivarian Constitution of Venezuela does issue the following directive in full force and effect to abrogate the decree on the National Law of Intelligence and Counterintelligence," he said.

    The president called "disastrous" the law, particularly article 16. "The diatribe is over and we will devote ourselves to work and make progress, and I will get rid of another concern I had about the way to fix all that. It is better to annul it and start discussing a new law at the National Assembly."

PRESIDENT BUSH MEETS WITH GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL, SAYS 'ALL OPTIONS ON THE TABLE' REGARDING IRAN

       BERLIN, GERMANY  --  PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH reinforced the possibility of a military strike against Iran, even as a last resort, during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Bush warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a danger to world peace, and he is rallying European allies to back sanctions. The American president is pushing Iran to halt its uranium enrichment work in a verifiable way. Iran insists it is enriching only for peaceful purposes.

    Bush said, "I told the chancellor my first choice, of course, is to solve this diplomatically." He quickly added, "all options are on the table." Merkel said if Iran does not agree to suspend its enrichment program, additional sanctions would be needed.

     "The offer has been put on the table to Iran, but ... if Iran does not meet its commitments, then further sanctions will simply have to follow," she said. "We again said we want to give room for diplomatic solutions, we want to give diplomacy a chance, but we also have to stay on that particular issue." She said the global community is unified, that U.N. sanctions have been effective, and that it's important that all of the existing sanctions are implemented. Bush on Tuesday won new European promises to tighten pressure on Tehran, possibly with new sanctions.

06-11-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ TRIES TO BE FAR-AWAY FROM FARC  **  RANGEL: CHAVEZ "IS ONE OF THE MOST REJECTED PERSONS, ALONG WITH PIEDAD CORDOBA, IN THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ARENA" 

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- It seems that the largest guerrillas in Colombia lost their last and most important ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. This puts pressure on the rebel group to look for a negotiated peace and free the hostages, said Alfredo Rangel, a political scientist and director of Colombia's Foundation for Safety and Democracy.

    "The Venezuelan president's statement results from his conviction about the political and military failure of the guerrillas of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC)." The Colombian analyst added that there is also the Venezuelan president's interest in "keeping publicly his distance from FARC due to the finding of several documents, through Raúl Reyes' computer, that would show the recent relations of cooperation and support between Chavez and the guerrillas."
 
    In addition to the military pressure on FARC, it should be noted that presently the guerrillas have "98 percent of refusal by the Colombian society, they have no links with social, economic and political struggle. And they are present in the farthest and most outlying areas," Rangel explained. According to the Colombian analyst, like FARC, President Chávez "is one of the most rejected persons, along with (Colombian) Senator Piedad Córdoba, in the national and international political arena."

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH ASKS HUGO CHAVEZ TO CLARIFY HIS LINKS WITH THE FARC 

        WASHINGTON, D.C.  -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday called upon HUGO CHAVEZ'  to explain what are his links with the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), after publication of the computer files property of slain FARC leader Raúl Reyes. "The emails raise serious questions about Chavez's relationship with the Colombian guerrillas that deserve serious answers," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

     "At the very least, they appear to show that the guerrilla commanders who were engaged in horrendous abuses believed they had the backing of the Venezuelan government," Vivanco added   "For any government to support a guerrilla group like the FARC that routinely commits atrocities against civilians is entirely beyond the pale," said Vivanco. "If the contents of these emails are in fact accurate, they show that the FARC was set to receive much more than rhetorical support from the (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez government." 

     According to Bogota, Reyes' computers were seized following the shelling by the Colombian Army of a FARC camp in Ecuador last March 1. The Colombian government insists that the files found in the laptops account for links between the Colombian guerrillas and the governments in neighboring Venezuela and Ecuador.

venezuela's inflation speeds up in may, accrues 12.4 percent

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA --The National Price Consumer Index (NPCI) recorded in May a 3.2-percent hike, the highest monthly variation thus far this year, reported on Monday the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).

    Accrued inflation during the first five months of 2008 amounted to 12.4 percent, well beyond the government budgeted annual target of 11 percent. Some months ago the authorities admitted that such goal would not be attained.

     BCV attributed the variation in May to the price adjustments authorized by the government to some foodstuffs and the seasonal effects on the agricultural production cycles. As a result, inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages accounted for 6.1 percent.

06-10-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ URGES THE FARC TO CEASE ARMED STRUGGLE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Hugo Chávez asked the new leader of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) Alfonso Cano to unconditionally release all the hostages held by them and commented that the "guerrillas warfare has gone down in history" in Latin America.

    "I think that there is time for FARC to free all the hostages they have in the mountain for nothing. It would be a great humanitarian token," said Chávez in his TV and radio show aired on Sundays "Aló, Presidente." "At this point, in Latin America, an armed guerrilla group is off-topic and this should be told to FARC," said the ruler.

    Chávez said at the beginning of this year that the rebels should be acknowledged as insurgent forces. This time, he clarified, "it was perhaps what I wanted to tell (FARC top leader Manuel) Marulanda (who died last March). I never wrote to him anything. He sent me letters, yet I did not deem it appropriate to answer to him. I wanted to talk to him personally." "But now, I tell Cano: 'Come on, release those people and then let us start peace talks,'" he added.

COLOMBIA GOVERNMENT HOPES HUGO CHAVEZ'S APPEAL TO THE FARC COME TRUE

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- Colombian Minister of Defense Juan Manuel Santos said on Monday that he would like the appeal made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) for unconditional release of hostages to be implemented.

     "I wish it would translate into facts. Our fundamental and strategic objective is that our neighbors help fight terrorism," Santos told Bogotá's radio Caracol. According to the official, following Chávez's remarks, "we can feel better and resume relations in good terms and to the benefit of the two peoples."

     "If that is true and translates into facts, it is good news," he added. Last Sunday, surprisingly in his TV and radio show "Aló, Presidente," Chávez asked the new FARC commander Alfonso Cano to free unconditionally all the hostages in their possession and concluded that "guerrillas warfare has gone down in history" in Latin America.

LECH WALESA THINKS HUGO CHAVEZ IS NOT AS CLEVER AS FIDEL CASTRO

       QUITO, ECUADOR --Poland's ex president and Nobel Price laureate Lech Walesa, on visit to Ecuador, lashed out again at Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and said that, unlike Chávez, Fidel Castro is an intelligent man who "chose a wrong way of ruling Cuba."

    The former trade union leader depicted Chávez as a "demagogue and populist who deceives the poor," and said he was never interested in meeting the Venezuelan head of state, AFP reported."The last time I came to Latin America there was an offer to go to Venezuela for a meeting with President Chávez, but I refused because I do not like to meet with people of such a kind," Walesa told TV channel Ecuavisa during an interview.

     "Castro thought that the communist system is a good system, and at the beginning he tried to implement his communist ideals because it is true that by that time and now also there are many capitalists that harm workers and, of course, there is the need to fight that evil people," he said.

06-09-2008

FREE, LEGAL SEX-CHANGE OPERATIONS COMING TO CUBA

      HAVANA, CUBA-- Cuba has authorized sex-change operations and will offer them free for qualifying citizens, an official said Friday. The move is the latest in a series of changes implemented by President Raul Castro since he succeeded his elder brother, Fidel, in February. Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela, heads Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, which strongly backs the new policy.

     Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer signed a resolution approving sex-change surgery, said an official at the center who spoke on condition of anonymity because the measure has not been formally published. The resolution will be posted on the Internet on Saturday, the official said. The procedure would be available to Cubans for free as part of their country's health-care system. The sex education center has said previously that 28 transsexual Cubans have asked to undergo the surgery and that Cuban doctors have trained with physicians from Belgium to prepare for the procedures.

     According to the center, a clinic for transsexual health will be created toperform the procedures, but it was not clear when it will start operating. Cuba carried out a successful sex-change operation in 1988, but future surgeries were canceled because it sparked a negative public outcry. Since becoming Cuba's first new president in 49 years, the younger Castro has done away with bans that kept most Cubans from owning cell phones in their own names and renting hotel rooms and cars. His government also has decentralized the floundering state agricultural sector, raised pensions for retirees and hiked salaries for some state employees, among other changes.

HUGO CHAVEZ BACKTRACKS ON VENEZUELA INTELLIGENCE LAW

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Hugo Chavez said Saturday that his government will rewrite a new intelligence law to calm fears in Venezuela that the decree could be used to stifle dissent. Human rights groups had criticized an overhaul of the country's intelligence services, which included a clause requiring citizens to act as informants if authorities believe they have information on national security threats.

     The law would have punished noncooperative citizens with up to four years in prison, raising concerns that Venezuelans would have been forced to spy on their neighbors. Chavez told supporters Saturday that his government would soon amend the controversial law to protect civil rights. "Mistakes" were made in the decree and would be corrected, he said. "I guarantee the country that nobody will be tread upon, and nobody will be forced to say anything they don't want to say," he said. "This is a political battle, not a legal battle."

     Chavez backtracked a day after Venezuelan Catholic Church officials condemned the decree. Speaking to journalists after a Mass on Friday, Venezuelan Cardinal Jorge Urosa warned that the law "restricts human rights consecrated in the Constitution." Human rights groups compared the decree to the U.S. Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11 attacks, because both allow authorities to monitor suspects' phone calls and e-mails without court permission. Under Venezuela's law, authorities can also withhold evidence from defense lawyers, if it is deemed to be in the interest of national security.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE DOESN'T RULE OUT US BASE MAY MOVE TO COLOMBIA 

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- Colombian President Álvaro Uribe does not rule out the United States army base, currently located in Ecuadorean Pacific waters, will be moved to Colombia if Ecuador decides the base can not stay within its territory.

     “We will do whatever we can to increase help from the United States to defeat drug trafficking,” The President said he didn’t know if there already had been talks with the U.S. about a possible transfer. “I don’t know of talks about a military base, I know there have been talks like always (…) trying to find ways to strengthen the cooperation.” he said in the interview.

     Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa has always openly objected the United States army base in Ecuadorean waters and implied recently he considers closing it down. The U.S. use the base for antinarcotics surveillance in the area. Last week, U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield suggested the transfer of the base from hostile Ecuador to ally Colombia. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez reacted immediately when media mentioned the base would be located in La Guajira, close to the Venezuelan border. Chávez said his country would consider it “an act of war”.

06-08-2008

HILLARY CLINTON PLEDGES FULL SUPPORT TO BARACK OBAMA 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Hillary Rodham Clinton ended her historic campaign for the presidency on Saturday and told supporters to unite behind rival Barack Obama, closing out a race that was as grueling as it was groundbreaking. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton took the stage at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., to announce the suspension of her campaign and pledge her full support to Sen. Barack Obama. She went on to repeatedly ask her supporters to "help elect Barack Obama our president."

     The former first lady, who as recently as Tuesday declared herself the strongest candidate, gave Obama an unqualified endorsement and pivoted from her role as determined foe to absolute ally. "The way to continue our fight now to accomplish the goals for which we stand is to take our energy, our passion, our energy and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama, the next president of the United States," she said in a speech before cheering supporters packed into the ornate National Building Museum, not far from the White House she longed to reign in.

     "Today as I suspend my campaign, I congratulate him on the victory he has won and the extraordinary campaign he has won. I endorse him and throw my full support behind him and I ask of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me," the New York senator said. With that, Clinton placed herself solidly behind her Senate colleague from Illinois, a political sensation and the first black to secure a presidential nomination. 

COLOMBIA SAYS NABS VENEZUELAN NATIONAL GUARD OFFICER WITH AMMO FOR FARC

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA  -- Colombia arrested a Venezuelan national guard officer who authorities said was carrying 40,000 AK-47 assault rifle cartridges to Marxist rebels, a charge that could increase already high tensions between the countries. The man, identified as Manuel Agudo, was captured on Friday in the southern Colombian province of Vichada, near the Venezuelan border along with another Venezuelan and two Colombians, Attorney General Mario Iguaran said.

    "Four people with 40,000 AK-47 cartridges were arrested, two of them Venezuelans," Iguaran said, adding that authorities believe the ammunition was to be sold to the outlawed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The arrest comes at a time of discord between the left-wing government of Venezuela and Colombia's conservative president, Alvaro Uribe. Venezuela briefly sent tanks to its border with Colombia in March after a Colombian military raid into neighboring Ecuador.

    The raid, in which FARC chief Raul Reyes was killed, set off a regional diplomatic crisis. Colombia says files found in Reyes' computer show links between the FARC and the governments of Ecuador and Venezuela, a charge both countries deny. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein)

CARDINAL UROSA BRANDS INTELLIGENCE LAW AS REGRESIVE  

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino Friday rejected the Law on the National Intelligence and Counterintelligence System, claiming that the instrument raises serious concerns, as it apparently runs counter the fundamental rights provided for under the Venezuelan Constitution.

     "There is a need to assess it (the law). We (the Venezuelan Episcopate) are going to assess the law very carefully, for the Constitution, and particularly the Venezuelans' human, civil and political rights, need to be respected."
  He warned that any backlash should be avoided, and rather the 1999 Constitution should be observed. In his view, the intelligence law "appears to be regressive and to curtail Venezuelans' human rights."

     Regarding claims that the new law forces Catholic priests to violate the seal of confession, the Caracas Archbishop replied, "(the seal of confession) has always been observed by priests. It is an obligation for us to preserve whatever is said to the confessor. No law should infringe this. This law appears to undermine such seal, and we cannot give in on that point. One cannot turn the confessor into an informer."

06-07-2008

CLAIMS OF NEW INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERINTELLIGENCE LAW TURNING VENEZUELA INTO A POLICE STATE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- Human rights NGOs denounced on Wednesday that a new law on intelligence and counterintelligence enacted by presidential decree will turn Venezuela into a police state, where all citizens are under suspicion. Cofavic spokeswoman Liliana Ortega said that under the controversial law, everybody is suspect, and replaces legal tutorship with "hegemonic" tutorship.

    The government rebutted that the law, which sweeps away two intelligence organizations and creates four new ones, affects adversely human rights. As alleged by the government, it is needed to face any threat against the law and order.

     "There is something very worrisome, which is anonymous denunciation. This will be a police justice, because it will put citizens in a situation of enormous insecurity. One will have no access to know about who is making the investigation. And as denunciation is anonymous, one will not know who is making the accusation," Ortega told news TV channel Globovisión.

NGO FEARS HUGO CHAVEZ ATTEMPTS TO IMPLEMENT SOCIAL SPYING

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The recently enacted Law on the National Intelligence and Counterintelligence System "obliges you to turn into a whistle-blower under compulsory terms," said Rocío San Miguel, the chair of NGO Citizen Control for Security and Defense.

    "They intend to implement a standard similar to the Revolution Defense Committees existing in Cuba. They want to implement social spying in Venezuela," added the former legal advisor to the National Borders Council.  In her opinion, people's obligation to "cooperate" with intelligence tasks "removes in the most vulgar way fundamental rights and freedoms."

     San Miguel thinks that the legal instrument eradicates the principle of presumption of innocence, enshrined in the Constitution, and creates the concept of internal enemy, "overcome in the experiences of the South Cone." She cautioned also that the law jeopardizes NGOs and critical journalists, as it is enforceable on anybody who has access to strategic information. "They want to silence us," she said.

EXPERTS MATCHES INTELLIGENCE LAW WITH INQUISITION

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  The recently enacted Law on the National Intelligence and Counterintelligence System "runs counter to the trend of democratic countries because legalizes that which is illegitimate," said law professor Fernando Fernández. The specialist is certain that the new law passed by President Hugo Chávez in exercise of his special powers to issue executive orders reverses the due process contained in article 49 of the Constitution.

    "This instrument involves a return to 1492, when Fernando the Catholic established the inquisition. This law allows for anonymous denunciation. However, under democracy, under the rule of law, denunciation has a name. The person involved has the right to know about the grounds for the accusation and who is making it for the purposes of defense. Here there is no right to defense," he argued.

     The expert fears that in terms of human rights, the law released last May 28th in the Official Gazette is much worse than the changes proposed in a failed constitutional reform, concerning the articles on the state of emergency and discontinued rights to due process and information.

NGO WARNS AGAINST INFRINGEMENT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION UNDER THE NEW INTELLIGENCE LAW

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  -- In defense of freedom of expression, NGO Coalición Pro Acceso deems it necessary to abrogate or amend the law on the national system of intelligence and counterintelligence, enacted last Wednesday by the Venezuelan Executive. The NGO claimed that the legal instrument adversely affects the exercise of the rights to access to information, habeas data and due process.

     "Anyone has the right to access to information about himself; included, but not limited to, the information held by the state," said the NGO in a press release. The NGO is certain that article 26 of the law contravenes the habeas data, because it restricts the access to confidential information of both the issuer and the recipient, as well as secret information to the authorized people.

     For his part, Minister of the Interior and Justice Ramón Rodríguez Chacín commented, "Nobody is bound to disclose his/her private activities and when this may affect other people's rights, there are bodies able to take action and organize individual and collective rights."

06-06-2008

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE IS SET TO OUST TWO TOP LEADERS FROM AIR FORCE

      WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Air Force’s senior civilian officer and its highest-ranking general are expected to be asked to resign following an inquiry into the mishandling of nuclear weapons parts and a series of other embarrassments, Pentagon officials said Thursday. The Air Force secretary, Michael W. Wynne, and the service’s chief of staff, Gen. T. Michael Moseley, had come under pressure following an official inquiry to determine how four high-tech electrical nosecone fuses for Minuteman nuclear warheads were sent to Taiwan in place of helicopter batteries. The mistake was discovered in March — a year and a half after the erroneous shipment.

    The mishandling of the nosecone fuses was viewed as another indication of lack of discipline within America’s nuclear infrastructure, and was another embarrassment for the people in charge of those weapons. Last year, the Air Force disclosed that it unwittingly let a B-52 bomber carrying six armed nuclear cruise missiles fly from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana last August. About 36 hours passed before the missiles were properly secured, officials have said. In April, a Pentagon investigation found a $50 million contract to promote the Thunderbirds was tainted by improper influence and preferential treatment. No criminal conduct was found, but three officials were subjected to administrative penalties.

     Those specific incidents only added to a sense of frustration Mr. Gates has felt toward some Air Force actions regarding weapons procurement, budgets and execution of the mission in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to his aides. Mr. Gates has said he has been struggling for months to bring more surveillance aircraft to the war zones of Iraq and Afghanistan.

A FEDERAL APPEAL COURT UPHOLDS CONVICTIONS OF FIVE CUBAN SPIES

        MIAMI, FLORIDA  --  A federal appeals court has upheld convictions of five men convicted of being part of a Cuban spy network but vacated sentences of three of them.

    A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals returned those sentences to a judge in Miami for resentencing based on findings in an opinion filed Wednesday. The full 11th Circuit court already upheld the convictions of the so-called "Cuban Five" in an August 2006 ruling that rejected claims that their federal trial should have been moved from Miami because of widespread opposition among Cuban-Americans there to the Cuban government.

     The latest decision involved other issues, including a life sentence for one defendant convicted of murder conspiracy in the deaths of four men shot down by Cuban jets in 1996.

OAS IS TO CHECK RAUL REYES' COMPUTER FILES

       MEDELLIN, BOGOTA  --  The ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Americas renewed on Tuesday their agreement for the Organization of American States (OAS) to help provide a solution for the diplomatic crisis between Ecuador and Colombia, including the assessment of three controversial laptops. This would be the only decision made by the ministers during a "consultation meeting" held after the closing session of the 38th general meeting, AP reported.

    OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza will continue taking the lead for détente of the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations since March 1st, when the Colombian army raided on a camp of the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) in Ecuadorian territory. Insulza said that while his report was "cautiously optimistic," nobody should expect great news, including the reestablishment of relations.

     The OAS received an official request from Ecuador to study the files found in the computers of deceased FARC leader Raúl Reyes, a casualty during the raid. Ecuador asked for "the assessment of the contents to determine their objectiveness and legal validity. We would like to show that we have nothing to hide," said Ecuadorian Foreign Minister María Salvador. In advance to the formal request, Insulza was ready to take it "with much pleasure," but did not know yet how to do it. In any case, he warned that the OAS would not embark on a technical review, like the analysis undertaken by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

06-05-2008

FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS WEEK, EIGHT CUBAN MIGRANTS LAND ON VIRGINIA KEY, FLORIDA

      MIAMI, FLORIDA -- For the second time this week, a group of Cuban migrants has landed in South Florida.This group arrived Wednesday morning in a marshy mangrove area on Virginia Key, their denim pant legs dripping after a slog through shallow waters. There were eight in the group. They said they built their boat themselves, equipping it with a two-cylinder diesel engine.

     The migrants said they tried repeatedly to embark from the island only to discover that the boat propeller was too large for the engine. Finally, they got the boat working. They said they spent five days at sea, although their story could not be confirmed. The area where they landed is a popular dropping-off point for human smugglers. The migrants said they ditched their boat in the mangroves near the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration weather station.

    The migrants said recently announced changes, including increased availability of cellphones and the ability to buy one's home, had done little to improve their lives on the island. Under the United States' wet foot/dry foot policy, Cuban migrants who make it to U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay while those interdicted at sea are generally turned back.

CLAIMS OF VENEZUELA GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN TO LINK JEWISH WITH 2002 COUP ATTEMPT

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA. --The first vice-president of the Venezuelan Confederation of Israeli Associations (CAIV) David Bittán, denounced on Monday a campaign launched by the Venezuelan government to link the Jewish community with a coup attempt in April 2002.

    "There is a campaign coming from the official sector that accuses and blames directly some members of our Jewish community as the leading characters of the April coup," said Bittán during the opening of the seminar "Jewish in the Spanish-Speaking Americas," hosted in Madrid by Casa América and Casa Sefarad.

    "Over the past few years, we have bumped into a stumbling block in the development of the Jewish community due to attacks coming directly from the state media or where the state is somewhat involved," he said, Efe quoted. "We have been the victim of two police raids in search for arms and subversive materials in our schools," recalled Bittán and labeled as "difficult" the situation undergone by the Jewish community since President Hugo Chávez took office.

US AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA THINKS BILATERAL RELATIONS ARE "DIFFICULT"

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --  Venezuelan-US relations are going through "very difficult times," said US Ambassador Patrick Duddy.

    The chief of mission claimed to have no news about the remarks made by Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro at the general meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), where he called US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte a "little criminal."

     However, he noted that Negroponte is a professional with a long experience and many significant achievements in the US diplomacy. He stressed also the work carried out by his country to unite the hemisphere. The ambassador attended a ceremony to disclose the successes of program "Baseball and Friendship" as part of the antinarcotics efforts.

06-04-2008

VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN NEGROPONTE HAS "CRIMINAL RECORD" 

      MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA --Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro attacked US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte on Tuesday, calling him a 'petty official with a criminal record.'  At the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in the Colombian city of Medellin, Maduro accused Negroponte of being 'responsible for disappearances, for tortures and for deaths in Central America and in several parts of the world.'

    He further termed him a 'character of the worst kind.'  Maduro was reacting to comments by Negroponte, who on Monday called upon Venezuela to actively combat the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that 'have sought sanctuary' in its territory.  Maduro accused Negroponte of seeking to 'drive the wedge of intrigue' at the Medellin gathering and to determine the agenda of the meeting.

     The Venezuelan minister interpreted that the United States was upset about the meeting that Maduro held Monday with Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo, who sought to revamp bilateral ties following a severe crisis.  'This petty official has no moral quality to talk about any issues in our continent, and neither does the United States,' Maduro complained.  He went as far as to say that the US government is 'behind the political operation, the show that is being staged around the computers' found in a Colombian cross-border raid on a FARC camp on Ecuadorian territory on March 1.

WASHINGTON "CATEGORICALLY REJECTS" VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER'S EPITHETS AGAINST JOHN NEGROPONTE

        WASHINGTON, D.C. --The United States "categorically rejects" the names Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro used to refer to US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, whom he called "a little official with a criminal record," said US delegate to the Organization of American States Héctor Morales.

     "We are categorically rebutting the Venezuelan characterization of Deputy Secretary of State Negroponte," Morales told the 38th OAS General Assembly in Medellín, northwest Colombia. Maduro on Monday told reporters that Negroponte was "a little official with a criminal record," and then before the plenary session he accused Washington of sponsoring a campaign to "spread violence in the region," AFP quoted.

      Maduro was reacting to Negroponte's remarks on Monday that the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) "sought refuge in Venezuela." Without naming Venezuela, Negroponte asked Colombia's neighbors to help prevent rebels from taking shelter in their soil.

DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN NEGROPONTE SAID THAT FARC COULD HAVE SOUGHT SANCTUARY IN VENEZUELA TERRITORY

       MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA  --  The Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) "could have sought sanctuary in Venezuela," said on Monday US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, who urged Colombia's neighbours to help in order to prevent the rebel group from taking refuge in their territories.

     "I think there is no doubt that some members of FARC have sought a sanctuary in Venezuelan soil" coming from Colombia, said Negroponte in a press conference held in Medellín, Colombia, where the 38th meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) is taking place.

      Negroponte also made a call to "those who can do something about this (FARC attempts to take refuge in third countries)" to help Colombia thinking in the "long term" in bilateral relations, reported AFP. The US high-ranking official was answering a question on Bogotá´s accusations about Venezuela's alleged links with the FARC, an organization classified as terrorist by the United States.

06-03-2008

SEVEN CUBAN IMMIGRANTS ARRIVE  AT HOBIE BEACH, FLORIDA; ONLY ONE WAITED FOR COPS

      MIAMI, FLORIDA  --  As the sun rose on Hobie Beach along Rickenbacker Causeway Monday morning, seven migrants arrived on a boat from Cuba. Six scattered, but the seventh, Yenisel Alonso, asked someone to call police and then waited patiently for an officer to arrive.

     She was dressed in a white T-shirt, knee-length stretch pants and shoes. She said she left behind a 5-year-old son in Camaguey, her home in Cuba. As she waited, homeless men looked through garbage cans for anything left over from the weekend and joggers breezed by. The police officer showed up and gave her a flannel shirt and had her sit in the back of the patrol car until the U.S. Border Patrol arrived.

     The 32-year-old woman said she has a godfather who lives in Miami. Under the government's wet foot/dry foot policy, Cuban migrants who arrive on U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay while those interdicted at sea are generally sent back. Police officers drove across the Rickenbacker Causeway looking for others from the same boat. At 7:30 a.m., a Border Patrol van picked up Alonso. There was still no sign of the six wanderers.

THE VOTERS OF THE BOLIVIAN PROVINCES OF BENI AND PANDO OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVED AUTONOMY

        LA PAZ, BOLIVIA --Amid scattered violence Sunday, voters in two Bolivian provinces appeared to approve controversial autonomy statutes challenging the leftist government of President Evo Morales, who has called the votes illegal and an attempt to divide the country. The research firm Ipsos Apoyo found in a quick count of polling sites that 80.2 percent of voters in Beni and 81.8 percent of voters in Pando supported the autonomy measures, which would grant them powers equivalent to those of U.S. states. Both are rural provinces in the country's northeast.

     While the two provinces make up just 5 percent of Bolivia's 9.1 million people, their referendums are the latest in a wave of autonomy measures that have pitched this impoverished country into a constitutional crisis. Voters in Bolivia's richest and second-most-populous province, Santa Cruz, overwhelmingly approved a similar autonomy statute May 4, although the no-show rate there hit 35 percent. Another autonomy referendum will be held June 22 in Tarija province, home of the country's giant natural-gas industry.

     The referendums have driven a wedge between Bolivia's indigenous, mountainous west, where support for the president is high, and its more mixed-race, richer eastern lowlands, where many have long desired autonomy. Morales has said that only the country's Congress can schedule such votes and has refused to recognize the referendum results. While refraining from sending in troops to block the votes, Morales has warned provincial leaders not to carry out their statutes and withhold tax revenue.

VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT ARMS EXPENDITURE ON THE RISE 

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA.  --  Between 2005 and 2007, Venezuela spent USD 4.4 billion in weapons. Climbing military expenses over the past two years not only turned Venezuela into the largest arms buyer in Latin America but put it before Iran and Pakistan, according to Bogotá's daily newspaper El Tiempo. Such an amount mirrors a disproportionate increase over USD 71 million spent in 2002-2004. In addition, the budget approved for the Defense Ministry in 2008 exceeds USD 3 million, a 21-percent hike in respect of 2007.

     "Venezuela is determined to defend its Bolivarian revolution against any attack from foreign foes such as the United States. Therefore, it needs to strengthen its armed forces." This was the rationale provided by President Hugo Chávez in 2005 to substantiate the dramatic military expenditure started from the very beginning in his first term in office in 1999. However, in the opinion of international observers, arms expenditure is well beyond the country's needs; hence their concern.

      In 2005-2006, the Venezuelan government procured 33 Russian Mi-17, Mi-35 and Mi-36 choppers for more than USD 200 million. Last year, it bought 66 boats for more than USD 300 million. Also, it expanded its air fleet for more than USD 1 billion and purchased 100,000 assault rifles.

06-02-2008

DISCOVERY HEADS TO SPACE STATION WITH JAPANESE LAB

      CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA  --  The central laboratory of Japan's Kibo space science facility was headed Sunday to the International Space Station, one day after launching into orbit aboard the NASA shuttle Discovery. Also on board the shuttle was a payload of high importance for the three ISS astronauts: parts to fix their all-important, high-tech Russian-built space toilet.

    The seven astronauts on Discovery -- six Americans and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide -- woke up early Sunday for their first full day in space. It was to be occupied mainly with piloting the shuttle into higher orbit for the Monday rendezvous with the ISS, and performing a checkup of Discovery's heat shield, taking images from the shuttle's robotic arm to inspect for damage that may have been incurred during liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center here on Saturday.

     The main job for the mission is delivering and installing over three space walks the huge pressurized module for JAXA's Kibo, which means "Hope" in Japanese. When in place, the 11.2-meter (36.7-foot) long, 14.8-tonne (32,600-pound) cylinder will be the single largest room on the ISS, with space for four scientists to work. Kibo's 10-meter (33-foot) robotic arm, to be used for manipulating materials and equipment for science experiments, will also be pulled from the shuttle and attached to the Kibo unit. The installation will be overseen by JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, fans of whom erupted in cheers at the Kennedy Space Center Saturday after the successful shuttle launch.

IRAQI, AMERICAN DEATH TOLLS DOWN IN MAY

        WASHINGTON, D.C. --The number of deaths among Iraqi civilians, police and insurgents fell sharply from April to May, according to data from the Iraqi government, and the monthly death toll for American troops hit its lowest mark since 2004. In May, 504 Iraqi civilians died, the data said, compared with 969 in April. The number of Iraqi police killed also plummeted to 32, or fewer than half of April's death toll for Iraqi police. Insurgent death tolls fell from 354 in April to 172 in May.  The number of Iraqi soldiers killed fell only slightly, from 38 to 27, the data showed.

     The monthly American death toll in Iraq also ebbed in May to a near-record low. As of Saturday, the death toll for American troops stood at 21, the lowest since February 2004, when 20 troops were killed. Included in the death toll was a U.S. Marine who died Friday in an incident that was not combat-related. The numbers appeared to support testimony last week from top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, who said that recent operations in three Iraqi cities have "contributed significantly to the reduction in violence."

     The Iraqi-led operations targeted Shiite insurgency in Basra, Mosul and Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. Remarks from another top U.S. military official in Iraq, Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, spokesman for Multi-National Forces-Iraq, were also encouraging. "In the past week, security incidents decreased to levels we have not seen since March of 2004. These figures reflect a decrease in attacks of some 70 percent since the surge operations began in June of 2007," he said. Last year, the civilian death tolls were much higher as Sunni and Shiite sectarian violence and fighting between insurgents and troops raged. But the tolls began dropping in the summer.

US DECISION TO REACTIVATE THE FOURTH FLEET IS A MATTER OF CONCERN IN LATIN AMERICA

       WASHINGTON, D.C.  --  The decision of the US Navy to reestablish the Fourth Fleet, after almost 60 years on standby, in order to have a higher profile in Latin America and the Caribbean raised concern in the hemisphere. Spokespersons of the US Navy have insisted on saying that the move "is administrative in nature" and does not imply a bigger military presence, because the logistical demands in the Persian Gulf prevent physical relocation of the combat units.

     "In fact, the US Navy forces of the Southern Command have acted as a fleet. Therefore, from the operational view, nothing changes. Basically, the name is intended to be adjusted to the reality," Lieutenant Myers Vásquez, the Southern Command public affairs officer, told BBC. In the meantime, Venezuela, Bolivia and Cuba yell out at a new "terror sowing" or the comeback of the "gun diplomacy;" Brazil downplays the announcement and Washington claims that this new navy component will have not "a military purpose, but one of cooperation."

     Beginning next July 1st, the Fourth Fleet will be based in Mayport, Florida, and will join efforts with the US Southern Command, located also in the area. It will be responsible for more than 30 countries, covering 15.6 million square miles, and focusing on the waters adjacent to Central and South America, the Caribbean Sea, its 12 islands and European overseas territories, the Gulf of Mexico and an area of the Atlantic Ocean.

06-01-2008

VENEZUELA, FRANCE STRENGTHEN MILITARY COOPERATION

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --   French and Venezuelan Joint Chief of Staffs met for the fifth time this week in Caracas to close cooperation and initial an agenda of activities for 2009, reported military sources of both countries.

    In the three-day meeting, leaded by French brigadier general Bruno Pinget and Venezuelan head of Defense Joint Chief of Staffs Julio Ramón Fernández, experiences were exchange, military units were visited and ways of operating in the Caribbean region were analyzed, reported AFP.

    For General Fernández, this kind of cooperation allows the Venezuelan Armed Forces to have access to sophisticated military technology. Besides, this is the opportunity for Venezuelan military staff to have a "high level" training in France. "It allows us to know a new technology that in the future could be highly necessary for our Armed Forces," General Fernández said.

VENEZUELA, GERMANY STRENGTHEN THEIR MILITARY COOPERATION

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA  --Following a recent impasse between Hugo Chávez and German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, the two governments have expressed interest in improving their ties, as stated by German Ambassador to Venezuela Georg Clemens Dick. The diplomat reported that this year a bilateral anti-narcotics agreement will be revised. He thinks that the terms "leftwing and rightwing do not describe the political realities in a global world."

    Relations have grown throughout the history. I will just mention Alejandro de Humboldt, who conquered big merits with his research into Venezuela. I have felt always that the relations are characterized by friendship and respect. If at any time, any misunderstandings or conflicts arise, there is the need to talk and clarify the situation. Embassies are for such purpose, and for such purpose I am here.

    Culturally, we have strong historical ties and there is always the possibility of renewing this process which means cultural exchange. In order to make deals there is the need of negotiations and we are talking permanently about it. For instance, there is presently an agreement to fight drugs, but in a while there will be the need to ascertain whether it worked in the interest of both nations, and we will assess it because it expires this year. Generally, we have the readiness of both parties to look for interesting fields to support each other and we are discussing it.

VENEZUELAN STUDENTS DEMAND RESTITUTION OF TV CHANNEL RCTV OPEN SIGNAL

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA -- University students marched from Chacaíto's Brión square, eastern Caracas, to the National Assembly, where they submitted a paper asking for observance of the Constitution and respect for the Venezuelans' right to have a choice, reported student leader Yon Goicoechea.

    Goicoechea lamented that the free signal of TV channel RCTV was discontinued one year ago and told Unión Radio that many Venezuelans felt "trampled" by the government decision not to renew the license. He added that while in 2007, the student movement was very successful, there is still much to be done. "We think that in this country there is a huge lack of the right to choose (…) because you cannot select the TV channel you want to watch, because there are 400 people barred from political activities and you cannot elect your candidates," he explained.

    The document was received by the National Assembly first vice president, Saúl Ortega, reported Ricardo Sánchez, the chair of the Students Councils Federation (FCU), Central University of Venezuela (UCV). The student leader explained that the document demands, among other thing, that the open signal of RCTV be restored, suspension of President Chávez's enabling law, and approval of the social security law.