10-31-2008

BRAZIL PLANS TO SIGN OIL DEAL WITH CUBA

    HAVANA, CUBA-- Brazil's state-run oil company plans to sign an agreement with its Cuban counterpart for deep-water exploration that would allow it to produce oil on the communist-run island, part of a two-day visit by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva beginning late Thursday.  Lula da Silva was coming to Cuba after attending the IberoAmerican summit in El Salvador.

    Cuban authorities said he would preside over a signing ceremony between Brazil's Petrobras and Cuba Petroleo on Friday. The Communist Party newspaper Granma reported that both sides would "sign a contract for the production of hydrocarbons," but there were no further details.  The Brazilian Embassy in Havana referred reporters to Petrobras, but a company spokeswoman said she was not authorized to provide more information or to be quoted by the foreign news media.

    During an interview at the United Nations on Wednesday, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said Cuba "will sign in the presence of President Lula a very important agreement [for] oil exploration in deep water." Accompanying Lula da Silva will be agricultural experts from a small farmers association who will help island officials begin large-scale soy farming operations on land once used for growing sugar. They said the aim is eventually to have more than 100,000 acres of soy planted on the island

BOMB BLASTS IN NORTHEAST INDIA KILL AT LEAST 61 

        GAUHATI, INDIA-- A series of coordinated blasts tore through northeast India on Thursday, killing at least 61 people and sending police scrambling to find any unexploded bombs in a province troubled by years of separatist violence and ethnic tensions.

    At least 300 people were injured in the 13 blasts, most caused by bombs and at least one from a hand grenade, said said Subhash Das, a senior official in Assam state's Home Ministry. Das said at least 31 people lost their lives in five explosions in the state capital, Gauhati.

     The largest bomb exploded near the secretariat — the office of the Assam state's top government official — leaving bodies and mangled cars and motorcycles strewn across the road. Bystanders dragged the wounded and dead to cars that took them to hospitals. Police officers covered the burned remains of the dead with white sheets, leaving them in the street. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts that went off within minutes of each other, but dozens of militant separatist groups have been fighting the government and one another for years in the region.

powerful car bomb wounds 15 in pamplona, SPAIN

     MADRID, SPAIN--A powerful car bomb exploded Thursday at a university in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona, wounding at least 15 people and setting a building on fire in an attack blamed on Basque separatists. There was no claim of responsibility, but officials quickly pointed the finger at the militant Basque group ETA. Spanish police had arrested three suspected members of ETA Tuesday in Pamplona and another in Valencia.

    "ETA has once again displayed its vileness," said Jose Antonio Alonso, spokesman in Parliament for Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapaptero's Socialist party. The bomb detonated in a parking lot at the University of Navarra, shattering windows and setting other vehicles on fire, said Amaya Zaratiegui, spokeswoman for the university's clinic. Navarra is a northern region of which Pamplona is the capital.

    The Spanish Interior Ministry office in Pamplona said 15 people were slightly wounded, apparently cut by flying glass. ETA has killed more than 800 people since the late 1960s in its battle to create an independent Basque homeland straddling northern Spain and southwest France. Navarra borders on the Basque region and is home to many Basque-speakers. ETA says it should be part of the independent homeland it wants to create.

10-30-2008

FINANCIAL CRISIS HANGS OVER IBERO-AMERICA SUMMIT 

    SAN SALVADOR EL SALVADOR-- Leaders from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Andorra meet here Wednesday for a summit focusing on youth and development, under the shadow of the worldwide financial crisis. Students and workers from El Salvador's state university protested ahead of the 18th Ibero-American Summit against the failure of countries taking part to deal with growing poverty, compounded by current financial woes.

    Meanwhile, Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca and the UN children's agency UNICEF on Tuesday presented a proposal for free education for children in participating countries, to be discussed at the summit. "I don't doubt that we'll find the support of the presidents (for the project)," Saca said in a speech Tuesday.

     Saca this week sought to convince his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez to attend the three-day meeting after the leftist leader pulled out citing fears for his personal safety in El Salvador. Spain's King Juan Carlos famously told the Venezuelan leader to "shut up" as last year's Ibero-American summit drew to a close in Santiago, Chile. This year's meeting is due to start Wednesday afternoon in the Salvadoran capital.

COLOMBIA FIRES 25 MILITARY PERSONNEL, INCLUDING THREE GENERALS, IN CIVILIAN DEATHS  

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--President Alvaro Uribe's government on Wednesday fired 25 soldiers, including three generals and four colonels, over the killings of at least 11 civilians who disappeared from a Bogota suburb and were found dead hundreds of miles away. Uribe said an internal military probe determined that the cashiered soldiers were guilty at least of negligence that included permitting "the collusion of members of the army with criminals" in "the murder of innocents."

    The purge was the biggest shakeup in years in Colombia's armed forces over human rights abuses and comes as rights groups complain of a rise in killings of noncombatants to boost body counts of leftist rebels. Armed forces chief Gen. Freddy Padilla read out the names of the fired soldiers at a news conference with Uribe and Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos at his side. They said the cases would be turned over to the chief prosecutor's office.

     Neither Uribe nor the other officials explained how the 25 soldiers cashiered on Wednesday - who included 19 officers - might have been involved in the deaths of the 11 men who disappeared from the Bogota suburb of Soacha early this year and whose bodies were found in August and September in common graves in a turbulent area near the Venezuela border. One of the generals fired on Wednesday, 30th Brigade commander Paulino Coronado, told The Associated Press after nine of the bodies were found that the men had been killed in combat with rebels of the leftist National Liberation Army. The other two cashiered generals were Jose Joaquin Cortes, commander of the 2nd Division and Roberto Hernandez, commander of the 7th Division.

VENEZUELA "SOCIALIST" SATELLITE IN ORBIT

        PEKIN, CHINA--China will send a Venezuelan telecommunication satellite into orbit on the early morning of October 30, according to a spokesman with the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. It will be the first time that China has made a commercial space launch for a Latin American country, said the official. (Xinhua)

     “The satellite …will be purely for social uses and will be open to other Latin American countries” (BBC) An interviewed comment by the BBC: “Chavez is trying to protect his political project and his own person. He believes he’s being pursued and spied on by other countries….. There’s no question: all this is part of an ideological race to try to expand 21st Century Socialism to the whole of South America,” was the comment. Ideological race? Apparantly some people still live in the Cold War.

     The notion that he believes he’s being pursued and spied on by other countries, is a very interesting one indeed. What if. The truth is this gives Venezuela a bit more independence, not relying on the satellites of countries and multinationals, also needed because of the nationalisation of certain industries. Whatever the real reason behind it, i see this as progression. Latin-Americans are in space.

10-29-2008

US INVESTIGATES PENETRATION OF A MAJOR DRUG CARTEL IN ITS MEXICAN EMBASSY

    MEXICO CITY, MEXICO--  A major drug cartel has infiltrated the Mexican attorney general's office, and one cartel worker says he even spied on DEA operations from inside U.S. Embassy, Mexican prosecutors said Monday. Five officials of the Attorney General's Organized Crime unit were arrested on allegations they served as informants for the Beltran-Leyva Cartel, Attorney General Eduardo Medina Mora said, adding there are indications that other spies still work inside his agency.

    The Embassy employee, who also worked for Interpol at the Mexico City airport, is a protected witness after telling Mexican officials in Washington that he leaked details of Drug Enforcement Administration operations, an attorney general's official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. He said he was not authorized to speak on the record.

     U.S. Embassy officials had no immediate comment, saying they generally avoid discussing internal operating or security issues. Separately, a U.S. official announced Monday that a high-ranking Mexican immigration official had been caught in Arizona with 170 pounds of marijuana in his vehicle. The revelations of corruption inside the control centers of the U.S.-Mexican anti-drug effort were a major blow to President Felipe Calderon's anti-drug campaign, in which he has sent tens of thousands of troops and federal police across Mexico to combat violent cartels.

HUGO CHAVEZ AND RAFAEL CORREA FOCUS THEIR BILATERAL MEETING ON GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS 

     QUITO, ECUADOR-- Hugo Chávez asked his Ecuadorian friend Rafael Correa to focus their bilateral meeting held in the Ecuadorian region of Pasca on the discussion of the global economic crisis and the intention on the part of Europe and North America to redefine capitalism, while several Latin American countries are heading towards socialism.

     "The presidents of developed countries have met and called to relaunch capitalism. In contrast, we socialists and people seeking alternative paths are obliged to think and act. It would be good to focus this discussion on this thought."   

     "We cannot continue in Latin America as if nothing was happening in the world, as if it were a distant crisis. I think it is time; it is our time to think and act boldly. We must activate our mechanisms. We can not stay helpless waiting for others to fix the world," Chávez said.

jury in the suitcase scandal trial gives no verdict today 

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--After eight weeks of trial ending last Friday, the 12 jury members deliberated on Monday in the case of Venezuelan businessman Franklin Durán, but did not reach a verdict. Judge Joan Lenard ordered a new break and asked them to return on Tuesday.

    The deliberations, which followed the final pleadings of defense attorneys and prosecutors, started on Friday by midday and took a break for the weekend. There is not a top deadline for the jury to complete its analysis, AP reported.

     Franklin Durán, 41, is accused of scheming in the United States with other four South Americans to conceal the source and destination of USD 800,000 in cash carried in a suitcase. He also faces charges for acting illegally as a Venezuelan agent without prior notice to the US authorities. Unlike the other four defendants, Durán, who presumably made business for years with the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, pleaded not guilty. For that reason, he is facing trial.

10-28-2008

RUSSIAN MILITARY WILL ADVISE CUBA ON AIR DEFENSE

    MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Russia has offered to resume military advice to Cuba, the Russian news media reported Monday. "The Russian and Cuban military will exchange experiences in organizing tactical air defenses and training officers," said Army spokesman Igor Konashenkov, quoted by Interfax. A Russian military delegation will arrive in Cuba on Monday to "discuss the possibility of training Cuban servicemen at the tactical air defense academies and training centers in Russia, using up-to-date Russian-made military hardware," the spokesman said.

     The delegation, which will remain in Cuba until Nov. 3, is led by Gen. Aleksandr Maslov, chief of Russia's Tactical Air Defense. It "will conduct consultations on the organization of air defense, the systems of control, communications and practice of electronic warfare by the air defense forces of Cuba. It will also study the state of maintenance facilities [and] issue recommendations regarding the repair of malfunctioned equipment," Konashenkov said, according to the newspaper Gazeta.

    While in Cuba, the Russian officers will meet with Cuban Army Gen. Alvaro López Miera (in photo) and Gen. Pedro Mendiondo Gómez, chief of Anti-aircraft Defenses. According to the dailies Kommersant and Gazeta, the visitors will instruct Cubans in the use of the Igla (Needle) mobile antiaircraft weapons, the Wasp and Square AA missile systems, and P-18 and P-19 radar stations manufactured in Russia. The island's government remains hostile to the United States. In the past few months, Moscow has stepped up contacts with both Cuba and Venezuela, another South American critic of the United States.

HUGO CHAVEZ THREATENS AGAIN TO IMPRISON OPPOSITION GOVERNOR MANUEL ROSALES

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Hugo Chavez threatened again Saturday to imprison the popular governor of Venezuela's western Zulia state for allegedly plotting to kill him. Chavez leveled the accusation against Manuel Rosales - one of Venezuela's four opposition governors - just weeks before Nov. 23 gubernatorial and municipal elections. Rosales, the two-time governor of Zulia, is running for mayor of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second largest city. He ran against Chavez for the presidency in 2006, but Chavez handily defeated him with nearly 63 percent of the vote.

    "I have decided to make Manuel Rosales a prisoner," Chavez told a group of business leaders in Maracaibo. "He cannot continue in office. ... He is one of those who wants to see me dead." Chavez did not give further details such as who would arrest Rosales or what charges he would face. Rosales denied the accusations later Saturday, calling the Chavez government a "nest of gangsters and mafia leaders" with "clearly demonstrated" ties to Colombian guerrillas. "I respect (Chavez) as president but he has not respected me as governor," Rosales told television station Globovision.

     Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has frequently accused his opponents of conspiring with Washington to assassinate him. But government and opposition rhetoric is becoming even more heated ahead of November's vote on 23 state governorships and 300 municipal posts. In recent weeks, Chavez's allies have accused Rosales of planning the president's assassination - though officials have not presented any evidence implicating the governor in such a plot. Chavez also said concerns for his safety led him to cancel a trip to El Salvador for next week's Ibero-American Summit because President Tony Saca's administration could not guarantee his safety. Rosales has accused Chavez allies of making unfounded allegations as an electoral ploy to distract Venezuelans from pressing problems such as double-digit inflation and rampant crime.

IRAN'S PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD SUFFERING FROM EXHAUSTION

        TEHRAN, IRAN--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday he is suffering from exhaustion and two allies said he was suffering under the strain of his job, in a rare disclosure apparently designed to combat rumors the hardline leader is more seriously ill. A parliament member who confirmed Ahmadinejad's illness accused opponents of using it as an excuse to cast doubt on whether the increasingly unpopular president will run for a second term next year.

    "Thank God, I do not have an illness. Exhaustion is possible, but no illness," Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told reporters Sunday. He will seek his second term as Iran's president in 2009. "Those who use such a natural issue for psychological warfare will fail" to gain support in public opinion, said Parliament member Mohammad Ismail Kowsari. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, every Iranian president has been re-elected to a second term, except the first one, Abolhasan Banisadr, who fled the country in 1981.

     The months ahead are critical for Ahmadinejad if he wants to try to rebuild his political base and rebut critics who point to his unfulfilled campaign promises, including his pledge to extend Iran's oil revenues to poorer provinces around the country. With more than 10 percent unemployment and 30 percent inflation, Iran was unable to bask in record-high oil prices earlier this year. And now with oil prices falling, Iran is certain to face a budget squeeze that could severely complicate Ahmadinejad's last months before he faces re-election. Ahmadinejad is also confronting questions about his uncompromising stance with the West over Iran's nuclear program, which has severely soured international relations. The U.N. has also placed three rounds of sanctions against Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

10-27-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS SECURITY CONCERNS WILL KEEP HIM FROM SUMMIT IN EL SALVADOR -- THREATENED OPPOSITION LEADER MANUEL ROSALES  WITH JAIL

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA--HUGO CHAVEZ was to have attended a meeting of heads of state and government from Spain, Portugal and their ex-colonies in the Americas October 29-31. But "I have just called off my trip to El Salvador to the Ibero-American Summit because my life is not guaranteed safe," Chavez told businessmen at an event in Maracaibo, saying he made the call after "a series of information" of concern.

     The leftist leader, a staunch critic of the US government, said that in Central America "there are (Venezuelan) military people under the protection of Central American governments, the CIA and FBI," who were plotting to assassinate him. He also mentioned the "Cuban-American mafias of (Luis) Posada Carriles," a fugitive from Venezuelan justice convicted here for the 1976 bombing of a civilian airliner.

     Separately Chavez accused opposition governor Manuel Rosales of seeking to kill him, and warned he could be jailed. "He is trying to kill me," Chavez said on national television. "I am not going to kill him. I don't kill anyone, but I am head of state.... I am determined to put Manuel Rosales behind bars," Chavez added to roaring applause. Chávez urged prosecutors to act amid allegations that "11 estates have his name on them, luxurious homes, capital movements, legal fronts, mafias, drug trafficking, arms arsenals. "There is plenty of evidence to work with," Chavez said. "I am leading 'Operation Manuel Rosales, You are Going to Jail.'"

OIL FALLS TO $61.09 IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET DESPITE OPEC'S 1.5 MILLION BARREL A DAY

     NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK.-- Oil dropped nearly $4 a barrel on Friday as concerns about a global recession and slowing fuel demand took the steam out of an OPEC agreement to cut output. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed at an emergency meeting in Vienna to take 1.5 million barrels a day of crude, about 5 percent of its supply, off the world market. Saudia Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said the reduction would take effect from Nov.1.

    U.S. light crude for December delivery settled $3.69 weaker at $64.15 a barrel, after falling as low as $62.65, its lowest since May 2007. It has fallen more than $40 a barrel in a month. London Brent crude settled down $3.87 at $62.05. Traders said OPEC's action might not be enough to arrest oil's slide of more than 56 percent from a record $147 a barrel in July. Drops in motor fuel demand amid the economic downturn have been dramatic.

     "Already we've seen demand destruction of 2 million barrels per day. I'm not convinced this cut will be enough to stop the slide," said Rob Laughlin, at broker MF Global. Signs of a sharp slowdown in Europe and a barrage of profit warnings and job cut announcements from companies around the world intensified fears of deep global recession. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said this week that oil products demand in the world's biggest energy consumer during the previous four weeks was 18.7 million barrels per day, down 8.5 percent from a year ago. Meanwhile, the U.S. Transportation Department said motorists drove 15 billion miles (24 billion km) less in August than they did a year earlier for the biggest decline in any month ever recorded.

US PENALIZES VENEZUELAN, CHINESE AND RUSSIAN FIRMS FOR SALE OF WEAPONS TO IRAN

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States has imposed sanctions on firms in China, Russia and Venezuela for alleged sales of weapons or sensible technology to Iran, North Korea and Syria, according to a document issued by the US Department of State.

    Sanctions were imposed on entities that transferred goods or technology that could help those countries to develop weapons of mass destruction or missile systems, Reuters reported. The document, published on the US Federal Register said the sanctions would be effective from October 23.

    Under the sanctions, which usually last two years, no US government agency may enter into any agreement with the organizations named. Sanctions were imposed on 13 organizations, including China Xinshidai Company, China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Corporation, Huazhong CNC as well as Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport and the Compañía Venezolana de Industrias Militares, Cavim (Venezuelan Military Industries Company).

10-26-2008

OPEC SLASHES BY 1.5 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY PRODUCTION TO HALT PRICE COLLAPSE  --  HOWEVER, CRUDE DROPPED $4 AFTER DECISION

        VIENNA, AUSTRIA-- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said Friday it will cut oil output by 1.5 million barrels a day to halt a collapse in prices. The demand for oil is expected to keep falling in the coming months as growth slows. The 13-member cartel made the decision at an emergency meeting in Vienna, Austria.

     Crude oil prices have dropped 55 percent since hitting a record $147.27 a barrel after months of steady increases were halted as the economic downturn drains energy demands. The decision failed to immediately stem the price slide with crude dropping a further $4 after the decision. "The prices at this time, being affected by the financial crisis, (are) very low," OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem El-Badri said. "We have to bring the prices up."

     OPEC ministers decided to cut production by 1.5 million barrels a day because that is the amount of oversupply in the market, he said. The cartel's current production ceiling is 28.8 million barrels a day. In announcing the cut, OPEC President Chakib Khelil said member countries had no choice but to slash production. OPEC called the emergency meeting out of concern that deteriorating economic conditions around the world would spread to the oil market. The meeting was moved up from its scheduled November 18 date.

THE WHITE HOUSE SAYS OPEC PRODUCTION CUT "ANTI-MARKET"

     VIENNA, AUSTRIA.-- The White House on Friday criticized OPEC's move to cut its oil production by 1.5 million barrels per day as an anti-market decision. "It has always been our view that the value of commodities, including oil, should be determined in open, competitive markets, and not by these kinds of anti-market production decisions," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.

     The White House declined to speculate on what effect OPEC's production cut would have on the U.S. economy, which accounts for about one out of every four barrels of oil consumed in the world each day. The Bush administration has been concerned about high oil prices, which have contributed to a slowing U.S. economy. At the same time, the administration has said OPEC's crude supplies are needed to rebuild global oil inventories.

     "Our only desire is that the markets continue to remain well supplied," Energy Department spokeswoman Healy Baumgardner said. Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, a major critic in the U.S. Congress of OPEC policies, slammed the group for cutting production when the global economy is sputtering. "OPEC has a talent for cutting its nose to spite its face. At a time when oil prices are declining because the world economy has stalled, OPEC's actions will only make things worse," he said.

EU COMMISSIONER VISITING CUBA FOR TALKS ON COOPERATION

        HAVANA, CUBA-- EUROPEAN UNION COMMISSIONER LOUIS MICHEL arrived in Cuba last Wednesday hoping to restart talks and cooperation after Europe lifted its last remaining sanctions on the island nation.

    The Communist Party daily Granma says Michel is to meet with Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque and tour hurricane-damaged areas during a two-day visit. He was arriving Wednesday evening.

     Pérez Roque recently returned from Europe, where he met with Michel and the foreign ministers of France and the Czech Republic. Cuba's Foreign Ministry says Michel's visit was made possible by the EU's June decision to eliminate the last remaining diplomatic sanctions imposed after a 2003 crackdown on dissidents.

10-24-2008

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS HUGO CHAVEZ FOR POLITICAL RIGHTS ABUSES IN VENEZUELA

        PARIS, FRANCE--The European Parliament condemned on Thursday the government of Hugo Chávez for the disqualification of nearly 300 Venezuelan opposition politicians and the expulsion of two senior officials of a human rights advocacy group, through a resolution adopted by the rightwing political parties. The text, harshly questioned by the leftist parties and by Venezuela, was adopted by 51 votes to 1, during Strasbourg (an Eastern France city) plenary session of the European Parliament in the framework of "cases of violation of human rights, democracy and rule of law."

    With the exception of one member of the European Parliament, the Party of European Socialists (PES), the Green Party and the Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) decided not to participate in the vote as a boycott over what they consider a move that "scorns" the European Parliament.

     The resolution presented by the European People's Party (EPP, rightwing), the ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) and the UEN (Union for Europe of the Nations) demands the Venezuelan government to review the disqualification of 272 politicians, most of them from Venezuelan opposition parties, which may not be candidates in Venezuela's regional elections next November. The resolution rejects "categorically" the "arbitrary" expulsion of Human Rights Director, José Miguel Vivanco, and of the deputy director, Daniel Wilkinson, "for having issued a report criticizing Venezuela's actions against civil liberties and human rights during the 10-year tenure of President Hugo Chávez".

IRAN CALLS FOR DEEP OPEC PRODUCTION CUTS

        VIENNA, AUSTRIA.-- Iran on Thursday called on OPEC to slash oil production by 2 million barrels a day to halt a steep slide in prices that has left crude at its cheapest since last summer. Other oil ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries also said output cuts had to be on the table during their meeting Friday - but were well aware that if production is tightened too much, the resulting price spikes could further dent shaky world economies.

    Spooked by prices that have slid more than 50 percent from record highs of around $147 a barrel in July, the 13-nation OPEC has little choice but to scale back production. Benchmark crude futures rose 99 cents Thursday to $67.74 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Wednesday, prices fell $5.43 to settle at $66.75 a barrel, their lowest close since June 13, 2007.

     The emergency meeting was scheduled for Nov. 18 but that was abruptly rescheduled for Friday as oil prices continued to fall away. "They're in a bit of panic," said trader and analyst Stephen Schork. "They underestimated what happens when the bubble implodes."

VENEZUELA PROPOSES OPEC CUTTING OUTPUT IN "AT LEAST ONE MILLION BARRELS A DAY"

        VIENNA, AUSTRIA-- Venezuela called on OPEC to slash oil production by "at least one million barrels per day," said in Vienna Rafael Ramírez, the minister of Energy and Petroleum and President of state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela.

    Ramírez said that it is even possible that oil prices could drop USD 10 a barrel. The Venezuelan minister made the statements upon his arrival in Vienna before the emergency meeting of oil ministers of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Reuters reported.

    Oil prices were below USD 68 per barrel on Thursday and have plunged more than 50 percent from a record high of USD 147.27 on July, a decline that has made OPEC members to recall the Asian economic crisis of the late 90's, when oil prices plummeted below USD 10 a barrel.

10-23-2008

A WITNESS IN THE $800,000 SUITCASE SCANDAL TESTIFIED OF A SOPHISTICATED CORRUPTION NETWORK IN HUGO CHAVEZ'S GOVERNMENT

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--The Miami federal court showed Tuesday a stressful atmosphere. Franklin Durán's defense lawyer Edward Shohat confronted the main witness in the trial, Carlos Kauffman. The Venezuelan businessman was brought to the stand for the third time (this time before the jury, like on the first occasion.) In his two previous appearances in court, the former partner of Franklin Durán was a spirited witness, but this time Kauffman was explosive, proving that sometimes reality beats fiction, and that this case could well inspire a film screenplay, with all the ingredients of intrigue, corruption and treason that characterize blockbusters.

    Kauffman even paraphrased a line from 1992 movie A Few Good Men when he told Shohat: "I'm going to answer with the truth, not the way you want. You can't handle the truth!" The lawyer of defendant Franklin Durán replied: "Are you Jack Nicholson?" At that point they were talking about the great issue of the day, the Citibank building that Kauffman and his partner Durán (the only defendant who has pleaded not guilty and therefore is facing trial), bought in Caracas in 2002 for USD 4.5 million and sold 15 days later to the Venezuelan Finance Ministry for USD 9.5 million. The partners kept about USD 500,000 and kicked back USD 4.5 million to four senior officials in that agency.

    When Shohat suggested that they did not buy the building but their good friend Antonio Pardo, Kauffman was enraged and accused the lawyer of trying to confuse the facts and  shouted, mimicking Col. Nathan Jessep, the character played by Nicholson in the film. Judge Joan Lenard, tired of the tense situation, halted the testimony, removed the jury and gave a verbal warning to Shohat and Kauffman. The defense attorney was asked to question in a more proper way while Kauffmann was ordered to give directs answers and refrain from making "gratuitous comments."

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN HARDENS ANTI-CHAVEZ STANCE IN THE FINAL DAYS OF THE CAMPAIGN

        WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Republican candidate for President of the United States John McCain said that he is "weary of giving money to Hugo Chávez." McCain made these statements when he referred to US dependence on Venezuelan oil, as reported by news television network CNN.

     The senator from Arizona also said to a group of journalists: "I want to reiterate that we have the largest coal reserves in the word. It is a vital part of our future. We have to stop sending our money abroad, because some of the money ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations." In this sense, he expressed his concern and rejection to the fact that the US is "sending" money to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez for the purchase of oil barrels.

    The Republican candidate also said that if elected president, his government would invest in alternative energy sources like nuclear energy and clean sources of energy based on coal, oil and natural gas.    This proposal is one of the few in which he and his Democrat rival, Barack Obama, agree. Obama has also criticized the US energy dependency on governments such as Venezuela's. 

HUGO CHAVEZ: NEW US PRESIDENT SHOULD LISTEN TO THE WORLD 

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez said that the next US president must "talk and listen" to the world. He also said that the new leader of the United States would be accountable for the implementation of neoliberal policies and their impact on the global financial crisis.

    "The next president of the United States must sit down and talk to the world. He has to do it." "Not with Chávez, I am not important," said the Venezuelan leader on Saturday night during a meeting with regional media in the eastern state of Sucre, DPA reported. Chávez made these remarks when he was asked about the recent statements made by Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama on a possible dialogue with the Venezuelan president if Obama wins the elections next November 4.

     Chávez said that both Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain follow instructions from their advisory teams to win votes of certain sectors of the US population. "Obama and McCain, who are now candidates, follow instructions from their electioneering teams. Therefore, they say on many occasions certain things in order to get votes in specific sectors or to come closer to other sectors," Chávez said.

10-22-2008

FROM SLAVES TO MILLIONAIRES -- CUBANS GET $80 MILLION VERDICT IN CURACAO'S SLAVE CASE 

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--Three Cuban men who won a lawsuit claiming they were forced to work as virtual slaves at a shipyard on the island of Curacao have been awarded $80 million in damages by a federal judge in Miami.

    The three Cubans, all living in the Tampa area now, filed a 2006 lawsuit claiming that Cuba forced them to work for Curacao Drydock Co. to repay Cuban debts. The men said they worked long hours under harsh conditions before escaping.

    Senior U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King previously ruled in favor of the men's lawsuit. His decision Monday was how much they were owed in damages.  Officials at Curacao Drydock did not immediately respond to telephone and e-mail messages seeking comment. Curacao is in the lesser Antilles off Venezuela's coast. 

OPEC MULLS OVER CUTTING OUTPUT IN TWO ROUNDS

        ALGIERS, ALGERIA-- The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is likely to cut oil output in two phases, one when they meet this week in Vienna, and a second later on, to drain crude oil surplus off the market and ensure price stability, said the group's president Chakib Khelil, as reported by Reuters.

     "It is not clear that we will take the decision to reduce supplies by 2 million barrels per day but it very likely that we will take a reduction decision this time and another decision later on to ensure prices stability," said Khelil, who is also Algeria's energy minister. 

     Next Friday October 24, the ministers of OPEC will meet in Vienna to discuss the impact of the financial crisis in the international oil markets.  For his part, Iran's representative to the OPEC, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, said that the oil production cut could range from one to three million barrels per day, AFP reported.

OPEC PUSHING TO CUT PRODUCTION, DRIVE UP OIL AND GASOLINE

        ALGIERS, ALGERIA--Just as Americans are finally beginning to reap the benefits of plunging gasoline prices — including more money in their pockets — OPEC is getting ready to squeeze them once again by cutting oil production and driving up prices to refineries. The 13-nation global oil cartel — which includes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Iran and Hugo Chavez's Venezuela — will hold an emergency meeting in Vienna Friday to discuss the steep and rapid decline in oil prices.

    "The era of cheap oil is finished," Iran's Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari boasted on Tuesday. When asked what price Iran would want for its oil, Nozari declared, "The more the better." "A few member nations have voiced their intentions of pushing for a cut in production, including Qatar, Iran, as well as OPEC's president Chekib Khelil, who said that output could be slashed by as much as 2 million barrels a day," analysts for Raymond James & Associates told MarketWatch.com.

    Khelil on Monday even urged non-OPEC oil producers, such as Russia, Mexico and Norway, to follow the cartel's lead and cut production, Reuters reported. Such a coordinated move is sure to drive prices back up over $100 a barrel — and hit Americans where it hurts. "OPEC doesn't care about anybody. They don't care about the United States. They don't care about our consumers," said Ross Dibono, executive director of the Pennsylvania Gasoline Retailers Association. "Saudi Arabia doesn't care about you or me or anybody else," he said. "They've got a taste of the expensive barrel of oil."

10-21-2008

IRAN: DEFEAT IN UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL UNJUST

        TEHRAN, IRAN-- Iran says its failure to win a seat on the U.N. Security Council is an injustice. Japan defeated Iran in a secret ballot Friday to secure the non-permanent Asian seat on the Council. Japan won 158 votes while Iran got 32 votes.

    Ten of the Security Council's 15 seats are filled by regional groups for two-year periods. The other five are held by veto-wielding permanent members.

     Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi told reporters in Tehran on Monday that there was "no logical reason" for Japan to "monopolize" that seat. Japan has served ten times on the Council. Iran is under U.N. sanctions for refusing to halt its uranium enrichment program.

A POWER OUTAGE LEFT MUCH OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN VENEZUELA WITOUT ELECTRICITY ON SUNDAY

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- The outage hit Venezuela's capital at 10:45 a.m, prompting authorities to temporarily close the Caracas subway and evacuate commuters. Some stoplights stopped functioning, causing chaos at busy intersections. Electricity gradually returned to the capital after about 45 minutes.

     The central and western states of Aragua, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Falcon, Trujillo, Cojedes, Carabobo, Tachira and Zulia were also affected by the blackout, but power gradually returned to those regions throughout the afternoon. "It's strange and worries us that a failure of this scope has occurred on a Sunday, when demand is below normal," Gen. Hipolito Izquierdo of the National Electric Corp. told Globovision.

     Venezuela's state-run news agency quoted Izquierdo as saying that officials were investigating the cause of the blackout, but they were not ruling out sabotage as a possibility. "The causes will have to be well investigated," said President Hugo Chavez, speaking during a televised address. Chavez lamented that the blackout occurred, but he thanked Izquierdo and other officials for restoring power. There were no immediate reports of problems in Venezuela's key oil industry. The South American country's refineries are equipped with emergency power generators. Sunday's blackout was the third major outage in Venezuela this year.

VENEZUELA PLANS TO BUILD A NEW CARIBBEAN NAVAL BASE THAT COULD BE USED BY THE RUSSIANS

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Hugo Chavez says a big naval base will be built in Margarita, Venezuela's largest island.

     Chavez says Margarita Island's strategic location off Venezuela's coast in the Caribbean Sea makes it perfect for "a naval base of large proportions." Margarita covers an area of 1,020 square kilometers (394 square miles). It is a popular tourist destination and is home to about 450,000 Venezuelans.

     Chavez says a naval base there will help authorities fight drug trafficking. Chavez's office said Monday that the president visited the island on Sunday along with American actor Sean Penn and Venezuelan Indy car driver Milka Duno. U.S. officials have expressed concern about Venezuela's Russian-backed military buildup.

10-20-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ'S COURT REOPENS TRIAL AGAINST VENEZUELA MAYOR FOR EVENTS AT CUBAN EMBASSY IN 2002

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The 11th first instance court of the Caracas' crime judicial circuit, presided over by Régulo Aponte Madrid, subpoenaed Henrique Capriles Radonski, who is the Mayor of Baruta Municipality, southeast Caracas, and candidate for governor of Miranda state, to advise him that a trial against him in connection with the events occurred at the Cuban embassy in April 2002 was reopened.

     Capriles Radonski, who has been the Baruta Municipality Mayor since 2000, was subject to detention pending trial on several charges related to offenses he allegedly committed at the headquarters of the Cuban Embassy on April 12, 2003, when Hugo Chávez was briefly removed from power.

     According to the Prosecution Office, Capriles supposedly entered the diplomatic premises, thus violating international conventions on the matter. He was arrested during the proceedings, but then a court ordered his release pending trial. Subsequently, an appeals court ordered Capriles be given full freedom and dismissed the case filed by the prosecution office. Then, the Supreme Tribunal of Justice decided to reopen the case and that Capriles would face trial in freedom. On December 15, 2006 the 17th trial court of Caracas found Capriles not guilty of the events at the Cuban Embassy.

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF SPAIN AND VENEZUELA TO MEET IN MADRID

        MADRID, SPAIN-- The foreign ministers of Spain, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, and Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, will meet at the end of next week in Madrid, confirmed on Thursday the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

     The meeting, which was announced by Venezuela's Ambassador to Spain Alfredo Toro Hardy in the province of Cádiz, southern Spain, will take place in Madrid on Thursday or Friday next week, diplomatic sources said, as reported by EFE.  Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez visited Spain on July 25. He was received by King Juan Carlos in Palma de Mallorca. Chávez also talked to Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in Madrid.

     The meetings held by Chávez with King Juan Carlos and Rodríguez Zapatero were considered as a new phase in the relationships between the two countries after months of tensions.  Cancilleres de España y Venezuela se citan en Madrid
 

FOREIGN MINISTERS OF COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA TO ADDRESS BILATERAL ISSUES

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA-- The foreign ministers of Colombia, Jaime Bermúdez, and Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, respectively, are meeting Friday in Caracas to examine the evolution of bilateral relations.

    One of the main issues to be discussed by the ministers will be trade, at a time when Colombian exports to Venezuela, from January to July, amounted to USD 3.17 billion.  Another topic to be addressed is Venezuela's refusal to participate in the Andean Community of Nations (CAN). Colombia is concerned about the fact that Venezuela has withdrawn from the group, even though both countries are benefitting from membership.  

     Friday's meeting will let both countries test their bilateral relations, following the Colombian government's protest last September 26 against the inauguration of a square honoring Manuel Marulanda, the late leader of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), in Caracas 23 de enero neighborhood.

10-19-2008

CANADIAN COMPANY SHERRITT ABANDONS ITS OIL CONTRACT IN CUBA

        HAVANA, CUBA--Canadian energy company Sherritt cancelled its oil-production contract for Cuban waters of the Gulf of Mexico, saying it "wasn't worth continuing" operations in that area, Cuba state oil firm Cupet said. Cupet's director of exploration, Rafael Tenreyro, told reporters Thursday that "the evaluation by that company was that it was not worth continuing with exploration" activity, an option available within its contract. "At the time of evaluating and (preparing to enter the next phase), which is the drilling phase, they said: 'I'm not continuing, I've determined I can't," Tenreyro said.

    Strangely enough, the decision by Sherritt was announced on the same day that Tenreyro claimed that tCuba may have more than 20bn barrels of oil in its offshore fields - more than double the previous estimate. However, Tenreyro didn't provide any proof for his claim and it could just be a strategy to find a replacement for Sherritt and said that his estimate was based only on oil reserves found within similar geological structures off the coasts of the US and Mexico.

     He even tried to lure American companies to participate in the oil drilling off the Cuban coast, saying that the US is "losing opportunities to have access to these resources, to have U.S. oil companies involved in this," he said. Tenreyro didn't explain why Sherritt wasn't willing to continue with its contract, if the opportunities are as good a he claims.

MCCAIN SUGGESTS OBAMA TAX POLICIES ARE SOCIALIST

        CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA--Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Saturday accused Democratic rival Barack Obama of favoring a socialistic economic approach by supporting tax cuts and tax credits McCain says would merely shuffle wealth rather than creating it. "At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives," McCain said in a radio address. "They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Sen. Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut; it's just another government giveaway."

     McCain, though, has a health care plan girded with a similar philosophy. He proposes providing individuals with a $5,000 tax credit to buy health insurance. He would pay for his plan, in part, by considering as taxable income the money their employer spends on their health coverage. McCain leveled his charge before a pair of appearances aimed at restoring his lead in critical battleground states. In both North Carolina and Virginia, where McCain was to speak later in the day, his campaign has surrendered its lead to Obama in various polls. President Bush, a Republican, won both states in 2004.

     During a rally outside Charlotte, N.C., McCain returned to the socialism theme, although he did not use the more tart language of his radio address. He also was sharply critical of the Bush administration, saying it should be more aggressive in buying up the home mortgages of those trapped by high interest rates and falling housing values. "The administration is not doing it. The secretary of the Treasury is not doing it," McCain told the crowd. "We need to buy up these mortgages, give you a mortgage that you can afford, so you can pay your mortgage and realize the American Dream of owning your home."

COLOMBIA CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIAN-VENEZUELAN NAVAL EXERCISES 

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA-- Colombia is reactivating some old military agreements with Moscow and is promoting trade, investment and diplomacy with Russia because it is concerned about Russia's sudden closer ties with Venezuela.

   Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos told Reuters at the end of a week-long visit to Russia that he has sought explanations from Russian officials about the Venezuelan-Russian jointnaval exercises next month.

      "They explained to us that there was not intention to make a show of force," said Santos in an interview. He added that the maneuvers have the goal to train Russian personnel in long-range situations. Moscow will send a nuclear destroyer and support vessels to the Caribbean to conduct war exercises with Venezuela in a show of naval force unprecedented in the region since the Cold War

10-18-2008

VENEZUELAN defendant discloses in miami trial millonaire bribes to HUGO CHAVEZ'S officials

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--Venezuelan businessman Carlos Kauffman admitted on Friday having paid, along with his business partner Franklin Durán, several million dollars in bribes to military officials, governors and government officials of Hugo Chávez' administration to obtain billionaire contracts. Kauffman and Durán have been accused of conspiring to conceal the fact that the USD 800,000 packed in a suitcase seized in a Buenos Aires airport were allegedly intended for the Argentinean political campaign, AP reported.

     During his attestation, Kauffman revealed that, along with Durán, he paid several million dollars in bribes to the National Guard of Venezuela and to Ministry of Finance top officials in order to keep business rolling. Durán and Kauffman had multi-million unlawful businesses with the governments of the states of Cojedes and Vargas.

     Kauffmann said that his contacts were senior officials in ministries and government agencies, particularly those related to financial departments, among them, General Víctor José Medina, who managed the finances of the National Guard; the governor of Cojedes state, Jhonny Yánez Rangel; the governor of Vargas state, Antonio Rodríguez; and former minister of Finance Tobías Nobrega.

BRAZILIAN POLICE CLASH WITH POLICE IN THE CITY OF SAO PAULO VIOLENCE  

        SAO PAULO, BRAZIL--Striking police officers were embroiled in a mass-melee with hundreds of their own colleagues in riot gear who policed their protest, amid bizarre scenes in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. The clashes between state police and plainclothes investigators last night came after the demonstrators tried to break through a barrier protecting the state government palace. Officers fired shots, tear gas and shock bombs, and the scuffles broke out.

     Critics will highlight the incident as another example of the chaotic and dysfunctional nature of policing in Brazil. Last year, the UN pointed out that very low salaries - over which officers are currently striking - encourage widespread corruption, with many police units forming their own vigilante groups, death squads and militias. It also sharply criticised Brazilian police for major human rights violations, pointing out that many of the 694 deaths caused by officers between January and June 2007 in Rio were likely to have been extra-judicial killings.

    Officers are also known to engage in gunfire with Rio’s heavily armed drug gangs. Innocent civilians are often caught in the crossfire. Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein Hospital, located a few blocks from the government palace where the latest clashes took place, said in a statement it treated 13 people who were injured. It did not say whether they were state police officers or investigators.

VENEZUELA DETAINS 6 IN ANTI-CHAVEZ STUDENT'S DEATH

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Venezuela says six people, including three army intelligence officials and a police officer, have been detained in the killing of an opposition student leader.

    Justice Minister Tarek Al Aissami says two civilians were detained along with the intelligence employees and officer, who had been suspended from Venezuela's scientific and investigative police for disciplinary reasons.

     Al Aissami said Thursday the presumed murder weapon was recovered, and that authorities were investigating two additional suspects. University of Zulia student Julio Soto died Oct. 1 when his vehicle was sprayed with gunfire. Soto helped organize protests against constitutional amendments proposed by President Hugo Chavez last year.

10-17-2008

SPAIN'S PRIME MINISTER JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO AGREES TO VISIT COMMUNIST CUBA NEXT YEAR

        MADRID, SPAIN--SPAIN'S PRIME MINISTER has accepted an invitation to visit Cuba next year and could become the first western European leader to travel to the communist-run island in nearly a decade. Details of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's trip still needed to be worked out, Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said after meeting Tuesday with his Cuban counterpart in Madrid. He said Spain was satisfied with Cuba's advances in human rights.

      Zapatero later told reporters that "there is a proposal" and "we'll see when the time comes if it is carried out and how it is carried out." A government spokesman insisted Zapatero was not throwing doubt on the possibility of the visit but simply saying it was not known when exactly it would happen. Zapatero's Socialist government played a key role in persuading the European Union to lift diplomatic sanctions against Cuba last June and in pressing the island to improve its human rights record.

     The sanctions were imposed in 2003 after Cuba jailed 75 dissidents. Twenty have since been released, but more than 200 dissidents are still serving jail terms in Cuba. The last time a western European head of state or government visited Cuba was during the Ibero-American Summit in Havana in 1999. It was attended by Spanish King Juan Carlos and then-Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as well as Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio.

MIAMI JUDGE DISMISSES CLAIMS THAT ANTONINI COERCED DEFENDANT IN SUITCASE SCANDAL TRIAL

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--The attestation made by Venezuelan businessman Carlos Kauffman, a former partner of defendant Franklin Durán, was the centerpiece in the trial against Durán on Wednesday.

     On the one hand, Judge Joan Lenard repeated for the second time in the Miami court that the jury had enough evidence to find Durán guilty of the charges, "thanks to Kauffman's statements." On the other hand, Lenard for the first time referred to Argentinean President Cristina Kirchner, by saying that "the USD 800,000 seized was intended for her political campaign, according to Kauffman."

     At that point, the judge was delivering her verdict, thus dismissing a "motion of solicitation to crime" filed by Durán's lawyer, Edward Shohat, who asked for adjournment of the trial and requested that his client be found not guilty. What were Shohat's allegations? "The FBI and Antonini set him (Durán) up." In other words, Franklin Durán committed a crime coerced by Antonini Wilson, who was collaborating with the FBI "and even wrote a letter to Venezuela's President (Hugo) Chávez. Judge Lenard dismissed the motion. According to her, Kaufmann's testimony provided enough evidence to the jury to find Durán guilty.

HUGO CHAVEZ SUPPORTERS ATTACK NEWSPAPER EL NUEVO PAIS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Caracas-based newspaper El Nuevo País was attacked Wednesday afternoon by members of pro-government militant group "La Piedrita", who tossed two tear gas canisters at the offices of the newspaper and threw leaflets declaring Rafael Poleo, the editor/publisher of the tabloid, a military target, said Graciela Requena, manager of the newspaper.

    Requena said that one of the tear bombs fell into the newsroom and the other in the printing area, blocking one of the exits. "According to the watchman, who saw the perpetrators of the attack, some of them drove motorcycles", said Requena.

     She said that in addition to the bombs, the group threw some leaflets in which they declared Rafael Poleo a military target. The editor of the newspaper was accused of instigating the assassination of President Hugo Chávez.

10-16-2008

BRITISH SECURITY FORCES ARE MONITORING "ANOTHER GREAT PLOT," THE COUNTRY'S COUNTER-TERRORISM MINISTER HAS WARNED

        LONDON, ENGLAND--Lord Alan West said during a House of Lords debate Tuesday that despite taking action to improve security, Britain still faced a huge threat from violent extremists. The country's threat level is listed by the domestic intelligence service MI5 as severe — the second-highest of five levels.

     “The threat is huge. It dipped slightly and is now rising again within the context of ‘severe.’ There are large complex plots. We unraveled one, which caused damage to Al Qaeda and the plots faded slightly,” Lord West said.

     “However, another great plot is building up again, which we are monitoring.” He gave no details on the plot, and the Home Office refused to comment. Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, was speaking after Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Government withdrew plans yesterday to extend the time suspected extremists can be held without charge from 28 to 42 days.

VENEZUELA TO BUY THIRD GENERATION ARMORED VEHICLES FROM RUSSIA

        MOSCOW, RUSSIA-- Russia's state corporation Rosoboronexport, an exporter of arms, said on Wednesday that Russia and Venezuela are ready to sign within one month a contract to deliver third generation BMP-3 armored personnel carriers.

    "The direction of the military-technical cooperation with Venezuela is going vertically up," Igor Sevastyanov, deputy general director of Rosoboronexport arms exporter, was quoted as saying by Interfax. He added that both countries are holding discussions on sales of multiple rocket launching systems and artillery, EFE reported.

     Sevastyanov stressed that such agreements would result in Russian-Venezuelan military cooperation increasing considerably. Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, promised Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, during their meeting last September 25 in Moscow, that he would deliver new weapons to the South American country.

TWO DEAD, 100 HURT IN COLOMBIAN CLASHES BETWEEN INDIAN PROTESTERS AND RIOT POLICE

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Violent clashes between Indian protesters and riot police continued Wednesday in southwest Colombia, increasing the casualty toll to at least two dead and about 100 injured, according to Indian spokesmen. The protests started Tuesday, when an estimated 7,000 Indians from various ethnic communities used rocks and tree trunks to block the Pan-American Highway -- the country's main north-south thoroughfare -- in at least four locations between Colombia's second largest city, Cali, and the city of Popayan, 85 miles (135 kilometers) to the south.

     Fresh clashes broke out Wednesday when police moved in with armored personnel carriers and water cannons to clear the highway. The Indians are protesting the Colombian government's free market economic policies; regional landowners they say have stolen their territory; and government plans for a free-trade deal with the United States. The Indians, who are traditionally among the very poorest in Colombian society, along with blacks, say they are worse off than ever before.

     An Indian spokesman said one Indian was killed in Wednesday's clashes and 39 were injured. That adds to Tuesday's toll, given to CNN by another Indian spokesman, of one dead and around 60 injured. Two hours after the clashes, the Indians said they had managed to move back onto the highway and set up fresh blockades. Tuesday's clashes took place at several locations along the Pan-American Highway. The Pan-American Highway is a network of routes stretching from Alaska to South America's southern tip in Patagonia. The idea for it was conceived in 1923 to unite the Americas.

GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS SHAKES VENEZUELAN

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA --As soon as the "virus" that is weakening the economy of Europe and the United States broke out, the Venezuelan government said that the South American country would not catch the disease that is shaking the foundations of capitalism. However, everything suggests otherwise.  While the main engines of global growth are out of order, energy demand is weakening and oil, a commodity that provides both USD 94 of every USD 100 of Venezuelan revenues and half of the government's income, is losing market value.

    At the same time, a spectacular fall of Venezuelan bonds is boosting the cost of credit, thus hampering the possibility of curbing the rise of the US dollar in the unofficial exchange market, which in turn is resulting in growing inflation.  Venezuelan crude oil dropped 35.3 percent in the last thirteen weeks, from USD 126.46 on July 18 to USD 81.78 at the end of last Friday session.  Traditionally, Venezuelan authorities have responded to declining oil prices with devaluation, which increases the amount of bolivars received for petrodollars. 

     How far is Venezuela from an economic crisis? Private analysts believe that if the Venezuelan oil price declines from USD 100 to USD 70, Venezuela fails to receive USD 1 billion a month. With the oil revenues obtained so far this year, this year the Venezuelan finances are secured, but in 2009 the outlook is uncertain.  If the exchange rate remains at VEB 2.15 per US dollar, the government in 2009 could have the same amount of bolivars it had in 2008 from petrodollars. The problem is that the Consumer Price Index has shown a 36 percent increase in the last twelve months. In other words, the purchasing power of the Venezuelan bolivar has weakened and, therefore, expenses would be lower, in real terms. 

VENEZUELA NEEDS THAT PRICE OF OIL EXCEEDS USD 90 TO PAY EXPENSES  

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Amid the fall of crude oil prices, some specialized firms have begun to estimate the impact of the economic crisis on the finances of petroleum exporting countries.  According to studies prepared by PFC Consulting Limited, a Washington-based wholly owned subsidiary of Power Finance Corporation Limited, and German bank Deutsche Bank, Venezuela is the most vulnerable country to the financial crisis.  PFC considers that Venezuela needs that the price of oil averages USD 97 to balance its accounts while in 2000, the South American country required that the price of the barrel of petroleum was USD 34. 

    The results of the study, released by Reuters, show that Nigeria can balance its budget with a price of USD 71 a barrel; Iran (USD 58); Saudi Arabia (USD 62); Kuwait (USD 48); United Arab Emirates (USD 51) and Algeria (USD 35).   The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum only releases the weekly price of the Venezuelan basket of crudes, and based on the statistics, oil prices dropped 35.3 percent, from USD 126.46 on July 18 to USD 81.78 at the end of last Friday session.  "We believe the deepening banking sector crisis and the significant slowdown in global growth that lies ahead will continue to put downward pressure on commodity prices," said Deutsche Bank in a report released on Friday. 

     Goldman expects crude to average USD 75 in the fourth quarter and USD 70 at the end of the year, but added: "Should the financial and economic crisis cut deeper into demand, the market could fall as low as USD 50 a barrel." Deutsche Bank estimates that a price of oil at USD 60 could be considered "cheap." The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will hold a meeting in Vienna on November 18 and members of the OPEC such as Iran have urged to reduce oil production to defend prices.

PERU INVESTIGATES THE TIES OF ALBA HOUSES WITH THE FRAC 

     LIMA, PERU --Walter Menchola, a member of the Unidad Nacional party and chairman of the Peruvian Congress committee that is investigating the alleged meddling of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) houses in the internal affairs of Peru, announced an upcoming meeting with Colombian tax authorities to obtain information on the alleged links of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) with groups of ideological interference in the region.

    "Our goal is to obtain the information contained in one of the computers that were seized by the Colombian military to late FARC leader Raúl Reyes. We hope we will get a quick response to do so," he said.

     Menchola added that the trip to Colombia will shed light on some versions that connect the so-called ALBA houses to the Colombian terrorist movement, through the so-called Coordinadora Bolivariana (Bolivarian Coordination,) driven by Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez.

10-14-2008

MORE THAN 100 TALIBAN MILITANTS KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN CLASHES

        KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN --Taliban militants launched a surprise attack on a key southern Afghan town, sparking a battle that killed some 60 insurgents, an Afghan official said Sunday. A second clash in the same region killed another 40 militants. Taliban fighters used rockets and other heavy weapons to attack Afghan forces on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province, said Daud Ahmadi, the spokesman for Helmand's governor.

    Militants attacked the city from three sides starting just after midnight and were pushed back only after a battle that involved airstrikes, Ahmadi said. Rockets landed in different parts of the city but there were no civilian casualties, he said. Authorities recovered the bodies of 41 Taliban fighters on the city's outskirts, from where the attack was launched, he said. He estimated the bodies of another 20 fighters were taken from the battle site by the militants, citing intelligence reports.

     British forces are responsible for protecting the area around Lashkar Gah. In a second battle in Helmand province, Afghan and international troops retook the Nad Ali district center — which had been held by militants — during a three-day fight, Ahmadi said. That battle, which also involved airstrikes, ended Saturday, Ahmadi said. Afghan police and soldiers were now in control of the district center. There were no casualties among Afghan or NATO troops, Ahmadi said.

ASSAILANTS OPENED FIRE ON THE U.S. CONSULATE IN MONTERREY

     MONTERREY, MEXICO--Assailants opened fire on the U.S. consulate in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey, a Mexican official said. Nobody was injured in Sunday's shooting. Shell casings were found outside the consulate, but there were no witnesses to the attack and no one was in custody, said a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's office who was not authorized to give her name. The spokeswoman had no further details.

    Mexican media reported that one man opened fire on the consulate and another man threw a grenade that failed to explode. El Universal newspaper, citing a U.S. Embassy statement, said the attack happened before dawn Sunday. The newspaper said the consulate planned to increase security. Embassy officials could not be reached for comment early Monday.

    Also Sunday, two grenades were thrown at the state Public Safety office in the western city of Guadalajara. Genaro Pacheco, the Public Safety spokesman, said the explosion injured two civilians outside the offices but guards inside were unharmed. The explosion shattered windows of the office, a furniture store across the street and an empty passenger bus. It was the second grenade attack against the Public Safety office in less than six months. The first attack killed a policeman and injured another in June. Four former soldiers were arrested in the June attack.

10-13-2008

PRESIDENT BUSH SAYS GOODBYE TO THE CUBANS IN MIAMI BUT CUBA IS STILL UNDER RAUL CASTRO DICTATORSHIP

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--President GEORGE W. Bush came to Miami on Friday to meet with Cuban-American leaders and raise money for GOP congressional candidates across the country. Noticeably absent: Miami's three Cuban-American congressional members, all Republicans waging spirited reelection races with Democratic challengers who are trying to tie the incumbents to the Bush administration. Bush, in what could be his last visit to Miami as president, held the line on the Cuban embargo and remittances to the island while visiting with the Cuban-American leaders.

     Bush, surrounded by 12 Cuban-American activists at Havana Harry's restaurant in Coral Gables, said the Cuban government's rejection of a U.S. offer of hurricane aid ``should tell the people of Cuba and the people around the world that the Castro people are only interested in themselves and their power. ''Our government has been very clear about our strategy, and that is . . . that we will change the embargo strategy only when the government of Cuba lets the people of Cuba express themselves freely,'' said Bush, who did not take questions from reporters.

      2000, struck a nostalgic tone as he met with the group. Several exiles have said they had hoped to celebrate a free Cuba with Bush. ''I have been privileged to know many around this table for nearly eight years as I've been president,'' he said, noting that he got to know them when he was campaigning. ``My little brother [former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush] introduced me to these Cuban Americans with whom I work with one goal in mind, and that is the freedom of Cuba.''

HURRICANES GUSTAV AND IKE WORSEN HOUSING SHORTAGE IN CUBA 

        HAVANA, CUBA-- Cuba, already reeling from a serious housing shortage, has nearly doubled its deficit in homes, while the tab to replace them mounts in the billions. With scarce resources and coast-to-coast wreckage, the country is faced with the daunting task of housing storm victims while simultaneously trying to rebuild its agricultural industry and thousands of government buildings. Food shortages have begun to plague the capital, and the government will probably be forced to spend money first on groceries. The government estimates that it needs $5 billion to rebuild.

     Experts say the task is so overwhelming that Cuba is unlikely ever to accomplish it. Too many structures were lost in a country that already had thousands of people living in temporary and substandard shelter. People simply have to make do. Even before the storm, the Cuban government press said the national housing deficit was 600,000 units, up from 530,000 five years ago. The government boasted of building 110,000 houses last year, then acknowledged that they had not even come close. The National Housing Institute adjusted its goal to 50,000 new homes a year. At that rate, it would take at least 20 years to build all the homes Cuba needs. According to media reports, the government had built just 22,558 by June this year.

     The Associated Press recently reported hundreds of families are living in squalor in East Havana, where the government placed them in temporary shelter after Hurricane Charlie in 2004. Like the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, they are still there awaiting sturdier structures. ''They told me it would be six months, but that was in 2004,'' said María Escalona, 48, a kindergarten supervisor who lives with her husband and 22-year-old son in two rooms with concrete walls and a leaky roof in Bahía, a community of temporary homes in East Havana. ``I want out of here already.''

CUBA'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM COACH SAID THAT TWO PLAYERS ARE MISSING IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--Two members of Cuba's national soccer team have gone missing during the team's trip to Washington for a World Cup qualifying match, the team's coach told reporters on Friday.
   
     "It is always a problem for the Cuba team," coach Reinhold Fanz told the Washington Post. "We have security, but you can't handcuff them to their rooms." The Post identified the players as midfielder Pedro Faife, 24, and forward Reynier Alcantara, 26.

     Cuba is scheduled to play the U.S. team at RFK Stadium on Saturday. Defections have been a concern for Cuba when its sports teams travel abroad. In March, five soccer players went missing after the under-23 team played the U.S. in Tampa, Fla.

10-11-2008

THE RUSSIAN BEAR IN FINAL PULLBACK IN GEORGIA

        MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Russian forces pulled back Wednesday from positions outside South Ossetia, bulldozing a camp at a key checkpoint and withdrawing into the separatist region as European Union monitors and relieved Georgian residents looked on.  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, speaking in France, said Russian forces would leave areas in Georgia around South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another separatist region, by midnight.

     Dozens of armored personnel carriers, military trucks and transport vehicles rolled north through the Russian-established buffer zone and entered South Ossetia. Georgians, frightened by weeks of arson and looting blamed on Russia's South Ossetian allies, lined the road to watch. "Now I feel safe; I hope that life will improve," said Meri Khokhashvili, standing outside her destroyed home in the village of Kitsnisi. She said she and her husband have lived in the cellar since uniformed soldiers burned down their house in mid-August after the war.

     Russia must withdraw from buffer zones abutting South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Friday under cease-fire agreements brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.  Western countries have condemned Russia's invasion of Georgia and its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations. Russia plans to keep nearly 4,000 troops in each of the separatist regions — plans the U.S., European Union and NATO say violate a cease-fire commitment to withdraw to pre-conflict positions.

SUICIDE ATTACK ON PAKISTAN TRIBAL GATHERING KILLS AT LEAST 30

        ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN--  A suicide bomber targeted a tribal gathering in north-west Pakistan Friday evening, Pakistani authorities have said, killing 30 people and injuring more than 45.

    The gathering, known as a jirga, was taking place in an open area in the town of Khadazai, reported the deputy inspector general of Kohat police. Tribal leaders had met to discuss forming a militia known as a lashkar to take on the Taliban. The Pakistan army and government have encouraged tribal lashkars in an effort to build local resistance to the Taliban insurgency in the tribal areas that straddle the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

     Khadazai is located in the Orakzai Agency or territory, one of the federally administered tribal territories in northwest Pakistan. One of the nearest Frontier Corps police stations close to the site of the blast is in Kohat.

OPEC TO HOLD EMERGENCY MEETING NEXT NOVEMBER 18 TO DISCUSS FINANCIAL CRISIS 

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will hold an emergency meeting on November 18 in Vienna to discuss the impact of the global financial crisis on oil markets, sources with the group said on Thursday.

    "According to several oil officials, the meeting will be held on November 18," said one of the sources quoted by Reuters.

    Later, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries published a statement on its web site which reads as follows:  "The Organization is concerned about the deteriorating economic conditions with contagion risks. The subprime mortgage problems that have been observed for a long time have created a shock wave in financial institutions resulting in huge losses, and escalating credit squeeze which has turned into a deep financial crisis. The continuing turmoil in the financial market has spread to many regions and created even more uncertainties for the world economy."

10-10-2008

CUBANS ALL OVER THE WORLD COMMEMORATE TODAY THE HISTORIC "GRITO DE YARA" (CRY OF YARA) 

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--On October 10, 1868, Carlos Manuel de Cespedes and a group of planters from the province of Oriente proclaimed the independence of Cuba in the historic Grito de Yara (Cry of Yara). Initially, there was no mention of the social question of slavery, but as the military campaign went on, it became clear that revolutionary success depended upon uniting all Cubans against Spanish rule.

     Brave men like General Antonio Maceo and General Máximo Gómez, a Dominican exile, contributed to the revolutionary effort. The Cuban masses changed the character of the revolution into a democratic one that sponsored abolition. After a few military victories, the nationalist forces controlled half the island of Cuba. However, the Spanish government was not about to lose its prize possession in the Caribbean. Royalist forces launched a "total war" of destruction, inflicting terrible losses throughout the island.

    Even though the Spanish armies were being supplied by the United States, the Cubans remained confident that people in the United States supported them morally and would eventually influence their government to render the Cubans much needed assistance. After ten years of bloodshed and the loss of an estimated 50,000 Cuban and 208,000 Spanish lives, the war was over. Under the 1878 Pact of Zanjon the crown agreed to enact reforms. However, the end of the war represented only the beginning of a truce between Spain and the Cuban revolutionaries. Men like Maceo and Gómez had become experts in guerrilla fighting and led the Cuban nationalists during the following years of the independence movement.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE CALLS ON HUGO CHAVEZ "to respect the rules of democracy"

        PARIS, FRANCE--The Council of Europe adopted, during the plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) a declaration in which it condemned the political ban of candidates implemented by Venezuela's Comptroller General, after considering that the measure violates the Venezuelan Constitution as well as international agreements signed by the South American country. 

     The Council of Europe determined that the decision of the Comptroller General was adopted "arbitrarily" to prevent the participation of opposition leaders in November's elections, and as a consequence the Venezuelan voters may not support the barred candidates. "This represents a new attack against democracy and pluralism."

     Similarly, the Council of Europe said that "government's actions" against opposition candidates, and against human rights activists "such as the arbitrary expulsion of José Miguel Vivanco, the director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), and Daniel Wilkinson, the deputy director," are a serious attack against freedom," the Venezuelan TV news channel Globovisión said.

HUGO CHAVEZ IS CALLING FOR ESPECIAL OPEC MEETING

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that his country and others are calling for an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

     "I spoke to Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez and he told me we are calling for an extraordinary OPEC meeting," Chavez said during a state-sponsored forum to discuss the ongoing U.S. financial crisis. The president did not name the other nations he said were pressing for the meeting.  Members of OPEC have been pondering action on the back of sliding oil prices over the last few weeks. Sweet light crude prices have lately dropped below $90 a barrel after reaching record highs this summer.

     Chavez added that his government also is proposing the creation of an "OPEC bank." But he has yet to give details on such an institution, which he has proposed in the past.  Chavez said that if OPEC members reject this proposal, Venezuela would seek support from individual oil-producing countries to join the project.

10-09-2008

EVO MORALES DOES NOT FEAR US 'BLOCKADE'

        LA PAZ, BOLIVIA--THE U.S. IS SET TO SUSPEND A TRADE DEAL WITH BOLIVIA THAT IS WORTH 20,000 BOLIVIAN JOBS AND $150 MILLION A YEAR, but President Evo Morales says South America's poorest country shouldn't worry. "We don't have to be afraid of an economic blockade by the United States against the Bolivian people," Morales said Tuesday during a visit to southern town of Vallegrande, near where Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara died in 1967.

    Bolivia's recent demands that U.S. development projects and Drug Enforcement Administration officials to leave the Chapare, a coca-growing region in the country's central Andean foothills, prompted Washington to place Bolivia on an anti-drug blacklist last month. The "decertification" of Bolivia's anti-drug efforts triggered U.S. President George W. Bush to recommend the suspension of Bolivia's participation in the trade deal. The U.S. Trade Representative is expected to decide by month's end on whether to suspend the deal, which covers the import of Bolivian jewelry, textiles, and wood products, among other products.

    Morales recalled that, long before his election as the country's first indigenous president in 2005, he and then Cuban President Fidel Castro discussed the possibility that the U.S. might cut commercial ties to Bolivia. "I asked him, 'What happens if someday I'm president and the U.S. puts an economic blockade on Bolivia?'" Morales said Tuesday. "You know what Fidel told me? First, Bolivia's not an island like Cuba. Second, Bolivia has countries like Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, and Brazil. And third, Bolivia has so many natural resources - hydrocarbons, petroleum."

EVO MORALES SAID BOLIVIA DOES NOT NEED U.S. HELP TO CONTROL ITS COCA CROP

        LA ASUNTA, BOLIBIA-- President Evo Morales said that Bolivia does not need U.S. help to control its coca crop, stepping up his anti-Washington rhetoric days after rejecting an American request to fly an anti-drug plane over the South American nation's territory. Morales also compared U.S. counter-drug efforts in the country, including Drug Enforcement Administration flights, to espionage.

    "It's important that the international community knows that here, we don't need control of the United States on coca cultivation," the president told a gathering of coca farmers. "We can control ourselves internally. We don't need any spying from anybody." U.S. Embassy spokesman Eric Watnik said the DEA makes periodic requests to fly a plane transporting U.S. and Bolivian anti-narcotics personnel around the country. The aircraft is not used for surveillance, he said.

     Washington did not cut off anti-narcotics aid, but the decertification prompted President George W. Bush to recommend suspending Bolivia's special exemption from U.S. tariffs under an Andean-wide act that Congress has just renewed for another year. Bolivian business leaders estimate that loss of the tariff exemptions would cost South America's poorest country as many as 20,000 jobs. Bolivia is the world's third largest producer of coca - the base ingredient in cocaine - after Colombia and Peru. The Andean trade preferences have also benefited the latter two countries and Ecuador.

IAPA IS AFRAID THAT STATUTORY DECREES WILL PAVE THE WAY TO SEIZURE OF THE MEDIA IN VENEZUELA 

        MADRID, SPAIN--During the closing session of the 64th Meeting of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA) held in Madrid, the editors of the media in the Western Hemisphere said, "thanks to the enforcement by decree of 26 laws that run counter to the outcome of the referendum, of December 2nd," Hugo Chávez is entitled to seize any private business, including the media.

     Additionally, the IAPA stated that Chávez's government keeps on threatening to close the media, blame independent people of plotting and evict organizations such as Human Rights Watch, which denounce human rights abuses. According to the IAPA, murders, threats and attacks on journalists continue in Venezuela and remain unpunished. Spanish head of government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero closed the meeting, held from October 3-7. Zapatero associated freedom of expression with democracy. "Latin America has made progress in terms of democratic institutions; we are better than some years ago, but there is still an extensive ground to gain," he reasoned.

     The attacks on private TV news channel Globovisión and its reporters were prominent in the talks. But also the military intervention in the media, including some radio stations and TV network RCTV. As for the latter, attendees considered that upon non-renewal of a broadcasting concession in 2007, "for political reasons, the channel was stripped by military forces of its broadcasting equipments nationwide, but the judiciary has not issued a substantial opinion on the lawsuits."

10-08-2008

THE INTERAMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION BRANDS HUGO CHAVEZ'S ATTITUDE AS 'VERY ALARMING

        COLOMBIA, BOGOTA--The attitude of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez with regard to the media is "very alarming," as it amounts to persecution and "harassment," said on Tuesday Enrique Santos, the new president of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA).

    "The attitude of Hugo Chávez vis-à-vis the media is very alarming, given his harassment and the way the independent news outlets are persecuted in Venezuela," said Enrique Santos, owner and joint editor of Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, based in Bogotá, after being elected president of IAPA during the 64th general assembly held in Madrid, AFP reported.

    "We are neither concerned nor surprised that the government of Hugo Chávez is questioning the IAPA," said Santos, after Venezuelan Minister of the Interior and Justice Tarek El Aissami rejected the allegations of IAPA on "the difficulties and dangers" facing journalists working in Venezuela. Santos recalled that in the previous assembly of IAPA, held earlier this year in Caracas, the government of Chávez did not reply to the invitation to participate in the conference on free press and rather sponsored rallies against the meeting.

KING JUAN CARLOS I OF SPAIN MAKES A CALL TO ENSURE FREEDOM OF THE NEWS MEDIA

        MADRID, SPAIN--The 64th General Assembly of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) was officially inaugurated on Monday in Madrid with a unanimous call in defense of press freedom and against violations of the related rights in some countries.

    At the opening ceremony, King Juan Carlos I of Spain said that governments "must ensure that the media can play their role in conditions of full freedom." At the same time, he asked "accuracy and fairness" to the "professionals of information," AFP reported.

     King Juan Carlos I described freedom of expression as "a fundamental human right and one of the greatest achievements of democratic societies." In his view, freedom of speech "has cost and still costs huge sacrifices and many victims in different regions of the planet," referring to the journalists who have been harassed or murdered while doing their job. King Juan Carlos I highlighted the work of the IAPA in "fighting and preventing the crimes committed against journalists, for the mere fact of being members of that profession, which may go unpunished."

HUGO CHAVEZ: NEW US PRESIDENT SHOULD LISTEN TO THE WORLD 

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez said that the next US president must "talk and listen" to the world. He also said that the new leader of the United States would be accountable for the implementation of neoliberal policies and their impact on the global financial crisis.

    "The next president of the United States must sit down and talk to the world. He has to do it." "Not with Chávez, I am not important," said the Venezuelan leader on Saturday night during a meeting with regional media in the eastern state of Sucre, DPA reported. Chávez made these remarks when he was asked about the recent statements made by Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama on a possible dialogue with the Venezuelan president if Obama wins the elections next November 4.

     Chávez said that both Obama and Republican presidential candidate John McCain follow instructions from their advisory teams to win votes of certain sectors of the US population. "Obama and McCain, who are now candidates, follow instructions from their electioneering teams. Therefore, they say on many occasions certain things in order to get votes in specific sectors or to come closer to other sectors," Chávez said.

10-07-2008

FIDEL CASTRO INSISTS CUBA WILL REMAIN A SOCIALIST COUNTRY

        HAVANA, CUBA --  Fidel Castro says in a commentary published Sunday that Cuba is and will remain socialist. "We are not a developed capitalist country in crisis, whose leaders are going crazy today looking for solutions amid depression, inflation, the lack of markets and unemployment; we are and should remain socialists," the 82-year-old former president said.

    "The production and distribution of food and construction materials, I reiterate, have an absolute priority at this time," Castro said, referring to the recent damage that the island sustained from two hurricanes. Cuba said it suffered $5 billion in damage to crops, homes and infrastructure from two recent hurricanes. Hurricane Ike affected nearly all of Cuba's territory Sept. 7-9, 10 days after Hurricane Gustav battered the western part of the island.

     Fidel Castro's latest "Reflection," like other recent commentaries he has written, focused on the economic situation in Cuba, which is suffering from shortages of food, fuel and other essential products. Cuba has a "serious deficit" of diesel, Castro said, adding that "too much is being used" and it is "essential to reduce the allocations being demanded." Cuba's former head of state has been convalescing from a serious intestinal illness and has not appeared in public since July 2006. In February, Fidel's younger brother, Raul, officially took over the island's presidency.

LATIN AMERICAN STOCKS PLUNGE ON SLOWDOWN CONCERNS

        SAOU PAULO, BRAZIL--Latin American stocks plunged Monday -- led by a precipitous drop in Brazilian shares -- on concerns that the world is descending into a severe economic slowdown that could devastate the region's commodities-based economies and set back hard-won gains for the poor. Trading was halted twice on Sao Paulo's Ibovespa index after stocks sank 10 percent, and then fell another 5 percent. Brazil's currency, the real, slumped nearly 7 percent to a level not seen since early 2007. After sinking 15.1 percent in intraday trading, the Ibovespa recovered some lost ground but was still down 10.6 percent in the afternoon and stood at 39,794.

    Argentina's Merval was off 9.2 percent at 1,374, while Mexico's IPC index fell 5.9 percent to 21.634. Chile's IPSA was down 5.9 percent to 2,455, and Colombia's IGBC fell 4.9 percent to 8,757. Panicky traders had no idea when the market carnage in Latin America brought on by the U.S. mortgage default debacle could end. ''We didn't believe the volatility and uncertainty would so quickly reach the levels we've seen in the last few months,'' said Ociel Hernandez, an economic analyst with the Bancomer bank in Mexico City. ``In this moment, we're in the high part of a risky transition, the consequences of a global economic collapse.''

     And that could squeeze the region's poor and emerging middle class, which have benefited from booming economies in recent years that allowed nations from Mexico to Brazil to spend lavishly on social programs and ease a long-standing deep divide between rich and poor. Monday's losses come on top of steep market declines for Latin American markets during three sessions last week. It was the second time in a week that the Ibovespa has fallen more than 10 percent in intraday trading. A worldwide economic slowdown would be extremely bad news for Latin America, where economies have registered strong gains for five years because of high global demand for commodities. Falling markets could stem demand.
 

VENEZUELA BUREAUCRATS TOLD TO TRIM HIGH LIVING

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Bureaucrats in oil-rich Venezuela can look forward to fewer expensive SUVs, top-of-the-line mobile telephones and whiskey-fueled parties next year. Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said Sunday that Venezuela's 2009 budget "will have significant restrictions" compared to this year's US$63.9 billion plan as President Hugo Chavez's government keeps a close watch on slumping international oil prices.

    Chavez last year criticized political allies who purchase Hummers, saying true socialists must do without such luxuries. He hinted last month at spending cuts, saying that "Zero Waste" should be a mantra for government agencies. Rodriguez said officials will closely watch the price of oil as they draw up next year's budget, but he noted that "it's something we cannot predict."

     Pavel Gomez, an economist at the IESA business school in Caracas said "the financial crisis in the United States and its consequences for the price of oil" have put Venezuela's government officials "on the alert." Gomez said that plans to curb public spending could be partly aimed at reducing inflation, which is eating away at the government's purchasing power. Inflation reached 22.5 percent last year - the highest rate in Latin America - and is on track to finish 2008 at 27 percent or more.

10-06-2008

POLITICS SCUTTLES PLAN TO PUT U.S. DIPLOMATS IN IRAN

        WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Bush administration shelved plans to set up a diplomatic outpost in Iran, in part over fears it could affect the U.S. presidential race or be interpreted as political meddling, The Associated Press has learned. The proposal to send U.S. diplomats to Tehran for the first time in three decades attracted great attention when it was floated over the summer, but has now been placed on indefinite hold as November's election nears and Iran continues to defy demands to halt suspect nuclear activities.

    The officials said a decision had been made to leave the decision to the next U.S. president because it could be seen as a reward for Iran's nuclear intransigence, especially when Iran policy has become a key part of the heated campaign between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. Obama has called for unconditional direct talks with the leaders of adversaries such as Iran and North Korea, assuming that groundwork by lower-level officials indicated that the top-level talks would be fruitful.

    Thus, opening an interest section, or de facto embassy, in Tehran could be interpreted as a Republican president helping a Republican nominee by neutralizing a distinction that might make the Democrat appealing. Or, it could be seen as hurting McCain by leaving him to defend a more hard-line position than the current Republican president's. Either way, the administration concluded that now was not the time. "There is no desire to inject this into the campaign," the second official said.

DRUG VIOLENCE KILLS AT LEAST 49 IN TIJUANA THIS WEEK 

        MEXICO CITY, MEXICO-- Police have found nine more bodies dumped around the Mexican border city of Tijuana, where nearly 50 people have been killed in a week of violence related to the drug trade. Violence has soared in Mexico since officials began a crackdown on the drug trade nearly two years ago. Municipal police found five of the bodies Saturday between two small shopping centers in the eastern part of the city. The people had been beaten, and their hands were bound.

    The bodies of two beheaded men were found wrapped in blankets on a road elsewhere in the city, according to the Baja California state Attorney General's Office. The heads were in black plastic bags nearby. A piece of cardboard left by the bodies read: "These are the bricklayer's people." On Monday, a message found with 12 bodies next to a Tijuana elementary school threatened "all of those who are with 'The Engineer.' "

     State prosecutor Rommel Moreno has blamed the violence on warring leaders within the Arellano Felix drug gang. More than 400 people have been killed in drug-related violence in the city across from San Diego, California, this year, including at least 49 this week. On Friday night, two men were found shot to death in the same empty lot near the elementary school where the 12 bodies were found Monday. Execution-style killings, beheadings and shootouts have soared across Mexico since the army and federal police intensified their fight against the drug trade nearly two years ago.
 

GUYANA CONCERNED ABOUT RUSSIAN WEAPONRY BOUGHT BY VENEZUELA

        GEORGETOWN, GUYANA-- Guyana's opposition party worries about Russian weapons going to neighboring Venezuela and officials say they are monitoring the situation.

    The People's National Congress says the sales are reminiscent of a 1966 buildup, when Venezuela occupied half of Ankoko Island that Guyana says is its territory.

    Foreign Minister Manzoor Nadir said Saturday that he ''is not ignorant of the situation in Venezuela'' and will monitor it. Russia recently gave Venezuela a $1 billion credit to buy weapons. It also has signed contracts worth more than $4.4 billion since 2005 to supply arms including fighter jets and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. Guyana and Venezuela have a long-standing border dispute.

10-05-2008

RAUL CASTRO APPOINTED GENERAL LEPOLDO CINTRA TO DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER

        HAVANA, CUBA--Gen. Leopoldo ("Polo") Cintra Frías, commander of Cuba's Western Army, has been promoted to First Vice Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), the Prensa Latina news agency reported Friday. Gen. Lucio Morales Abat replaces him as Western Army chief.

     At a ceremony in Havana, President Raúl Castro awarded Cintra the Order of Playa Girón "for his exemplary trajectory as a military chief." Cintra, 67, is a member of the Communist Party's Politburo and was appointed to the Council of State last February at the recommendation of Fidel Castro. He served three missions in Angola and one in Ethiopia, 1975-78, and was given the National Hero Award.

     Cintra has been a loyal ally of Raúl Castro since the Revolution, as evidenced by the following quotes from the official book Secrets of Generals: "I don't know a person who is more simple, sensitive, humane and attentive to the slightest detail than [Raúl]. As a military man, he is very clear, realistic and precise. He says things very clearly. Calls a spade a spade, as the saying goes. Cintra will report to the FAR's Minister, Gen. Julio Casas Regueiro.

TWO U.S. HELICOPTERS CRASHED IN IRAQ

        BAGHDAD, IRAQ--At least one person was killed when two US helicopters collided while landing in northern Baghdad tonight, it has emerged. The US military said in a statement that one Iraqi soldier had been killed when the two UH-60 Black Hawks crashed at about 8.55pm local time at a military base in a northern section of the capital.

     Two Iraqi soldiers and two US soldiers were also wounded in the incident. The US military said it is not yet known how many people were on board the aircraft, but an investigation is currently under way. Today's incident is the second helicopter crash in two weeks. A CH-47 Chinook crashed in the southern desert about 60 miles (100km) west of Basra on September 18, killing all seven US soldiers on board. The military said that the crash apparently was due to a mechanical problem, not hostile fire.

     The US military relies heavily on helicopters to ferry troops, dignitaries and supplies to avoid the threat of ambushes and roadside bombs. At least 70 US helicopters have gone down since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to military figures. Of those, 36 were confirmed to have been shot down.

EVO MORALES DENIES U.S. REQUEST FOR ANTI-DRUG FLIGHTS OVER BOLIVIAN TERRITORY

        LA PAZ, BOLIVIA--Bolivian President Evo Morales has rejected a request from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to fly anti-narcotics missions over the South American nation's territory, state media reported Thursday. The Bolivian Information Agency said Morales instructed his government to deny a written request from U.S. officials for a surveillance flight.

     "Two days ago I received a letter from the U.S. DEA asking a government institution for permission to fly over national territory," the agency quoted Morales as saying. "I want to say publicly to our authorities: They are not authorized to give permission so that the DEA can fly over Bolivian territory." A Morales spokesman said he could not immediately confirm the no-flight order. Nobody was available at the U.S. Embassy to comment Thursday evening.

    Washington recently placed Bolivia on an anti-narcotics blacklist, accusing Morales' administration of not cooperating sufficiently in fighting drug trafficking. Morales, a former coca farmer, rose to power leading protests against U.S. drug policy. Coca farmers loyal to the leftist president recently expelled U.S. alternative development programs from one of the country's key coca-growing regions, calling the efforts ineffective. Bolivia is the world's third largest producer of coca, the base ingredient in cocaine.

10-04-2008

HUGO CHAVEZ'S $ 800,000 SUITCASE SCANDAL: THE PROSECUTION HAS PRESENTED SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE SO AS TO THE JURY CAN CONVICT THE DEFENDANTS

        MIAMI, FLORIDA-- The defense must decide whether to continue presenting its evidence," said US District Judge Joan Lenard at the end of the hearing. Lawyers Edward and María Shohat did not leave the courtroom. They decided to stay with Durán to make a decision on the future of the trial and, therefore, on the man accused of acting as an illegal Venezuelan agent.

    Lenard has explained clearly her position. "The prosecution has presented sufficient evidence so as to the jury can convict the defendant of two charges against him." She noted that the evidence shows the goal of Durán and the rest of the "plotters": Trying to convince Venezuelan-American businessman Guido Alejandro Antonini Wilson not to disclose the origin and destination of the USD 800,000 seized in Buenos Aires and oblige him to sign a power of attorney on behalf of a lawyer who would settle the case in Argentina.

    Durán and Shohat looked helpless in their seats after hearing the Judge's statements. Lenard said these words after the defense submitted a motion to cancel the trial. However, when the prosecution office took the floor to make his point, John Shipley, the second prosecutor in the case, was categorical: "Durán had direct access to Venezuelan intelligence director Henry Rangel Silva and to current Interior Minister Tarek El Aissami to deal with the issue.

HUGO CHAVEZ'S $ 800,000 SUITCASE SCANDAL: ONE OF THE DEFENDANTS WAS A COMMISSIONED INTELLIGENCE OFFICER OF THE VENEZUELA NAVAL COMMAND

        MIAMI, FLORIDA-- The prosecution showed key evidence TODAY: the badge as "commissioned intelligence officer of the naval command headquarters intelligence" in the name of Franklin Deivis Duran Guerrero. This military intelligence badge, along with a personal ID with photo, was in a briefcase on December 11, 2007, the day of Durán's detention.

    FBI agent Lawrence Lynn, who is in charge of the case, showed a Miami jury the badge. One by one, all the members of the jury saw the accreditation which read "Naval command headquarters, intelligence;" the number (0367), the issue date (05/10//07) and the expiration date (05/10/09). On the back of the badge: "Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Ministry of Defense."

     Two other defendants, Kauffman and Maionica, implicated him. No rational jury will believe that they were dealing with a legal business. They were here on the orders of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez to get the signature of Antonini, hide the origin and destination of the money and commit fraud to the Argentinean judicial system." Shipley concluded: "They wanted to buy Antonini's and to avoid a major embarrassment for the Venezuelan government." The defense lawyers (if they decide to continue with the trial) will begin presenting their witnesses on Friday, including former Argentinean police officer María del Luján Telpuk.

HUGO CHAVEZ'S $ 800,000 SUITCASE SCANDAL: A DEFENDANT TRIED TO SILENCE ANTONINI TO GAIN "MORE POWER" 

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--Carlos Kauffmann, the former friend and partner of Venezuelan businessman Franklin Durán, said that "nobody wanted Alejandro Antonini to tell the truth". "We all knew that the money did not belong to him. We manipulated him. We made him feel guilty in order to sign the power of attorney on behalf of a lawyer in Argentina. That was our goal," Kauffman acknowledged. "I am held responsible. My government asked me to do something and I did it because that way I could get more power, more money, new government contracts," he stressed.

     Kauffmann pleaded guilty to two counts (conspiracy and illegally acting as a Venezuelan agent in the United States, without notifying the local authorities) on February 29, 2008. Since then, he cooperates with the prosecution to make out a case against Durán. The witness said that the money belonged to Pdvsa and was aimed at the campaign of Cristina de Kirchner. He also said that Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez designated Henry Rangel Silva, the director of the intelligence services (Disip), to manage the case and solve the suitcase scandal. Kaufmann has said that the then Vice-President Jorge Rodríguez was aware of everything and that the current Minister of Interior and Justice, Tarek El Aissami "would be the responsible for the counter surveillance operations."

      He also explained the involvement of Diego Uzcátegui and cited the names of the state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) officials to which Venoco (the company of Durán and Kauffmann) paid "hundred of thousands of dollars" in exchange for information and raw materials. "We bribed Rocío Ramírez, Jasmine and I do not remember the name, and someone at the Curaçao refinery," admitted Kauffmann, who holds Venezuelan and German passports. The businessman, who is expecting a reduction of the sentence and has agreed that he and his family (his wife, María Gabriela Jiménez, and their three children), can stay in the United States or in a third country willing to receive them.

10-03-2008

JULIO SOTO, A STUDENT OPPOSITION LEADER, GUNNED DOWN BY FOLLOWERS OF HUGO CHAVEZ

   MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA--JULIO SOTO, a student opposition leader at the University of Zulia and a member of the opposition Social Christian Party, was shot dead Wednesday by a group of Hugo Chavez’s followers in the city of Maracaibo. Several other students who were with Soto at that time were injured during the shooting.

     Soto, a student leader at the University of Zulia, who helped organize protests against constitutional amendments proposed by Hugo Chavez, was killed Wednesday by unidentified gunmen in the western city of Maracaibo. Local Police Chief Jose Gonzalez said he believes Soto was specifically targeted because the assailants sprayed his vehicle with gunfire and then fled without taking anything.

     But Justice Minister Tarek El Aissami said federal authorities have not yet determined if the killing was a politically motivated hit. Soto was a member of the Copei opposition party. Voters rejected Chavez's proposed reforms in December.

THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT SAID IT HAS ORDERED AN INVESTIGATION OF JULIO SOTO'S BRUTAL ASSASSINATION

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- JULIO SOTO, a prominent Venezuelan student leader and outspoken critic of Hugo Chavez, was killed in Venezuela’s Maracaibo state. In what was almost certainly a targeted assassination, Soto was shot to death by multiple followers of Chavez while driving in his car with other student leaders. The attack appears to have been well-planned, as the shooters were able to pinpoint Soto’s location and take him out with very little collateral damage.

     Soto’s assassination is the latest in a series of targeted attacks on government critics and media representatives in Venezuela. One of the most prominent recent assassination attempts was made on former Venezuelan Defense Minister Gen. Raul Isaias Baduel, an outspoken critic (and former staunch ally) of Chavez. Like Soto, Baduel was shot at while driving in his car, but Baduel managed to get away. The intensifying campaign against student leaders and the media indicates the degree to which political dissent in Venezuela will not be tolerated.

      Tensions are ramping up in Venezuela as the oil-rich South American country’s local and municipal-level elections, slated for Nov. 23, approach. The elections — Venezuela’s first since Chavez lost a constitutional referendum in December 2006 — have become crucial for Chavez. A few months ago, the loosely organized and previously unpopular opposition parties began making major gains in public opinion as Venezuela’s economy began souring and Chavez’s socialist policies came under fire.

PERUVIAN CONGRESS' SPEAKER DENOUNCES HUGO CHAVEZ'S MEDDLING IN HIS COUNTRY'S INTERNAL AFFAIRS 

        LIMA, PERU--Javier Velázquez Quesquén, the president of the Peruvian Congress and member of the Aprista Party, denounced in Chile the interference of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, who through some political operators would be undermining democracy in his country.

     In an interview with Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, Velásquez said that the Chávez's movement "has some political operators in my country who are undermining democracy through disguised movements, such as the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) houses, which are interfering in the political arena."

     Asked about the support that the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) recently gave to Presidente Evo Morales, the congressman said that Peru is in favor of self-determination of peoples. Without mentioning the Venezuelan leader, he said, in reference to Bolivia: "we reject that third countries purport to appear as saviors or meddling in the internal affairs of other countries," AFP reported.

10-02-2008

LATIN AMERICAN LEADERS ADMITTED THAT THEIR COUNTRY COULD BE AFFECTED BY US FINANCIAL CRISIS U.S.

   MANAUS, BRAZIL---Latin American leaders admitted that the financial crisis in the United States may be one of the worst in history, amid appeals for calm and for strengthening the regional financial system, DPA reported. "Nobody knows the scope of this economic crash. I believe that the financial crisis will be worse than that of 1929 and will affect the whole world," said Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez.

    He also predicted that oil prices will fall to a range between USD 80 and USD 95 a barrel, during a summit in Manaos, which was also attended by the presidents of Ecuador, Rafael Correa; Bolivia, Evo Morales; and Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

     Chávez urged South American nations to enforce the Bank of the South. "We cannot lose not even one day in order to implement it." The agency is expected to start operations this year with an initial capital stock of USD 7 billion, USD 6 billion out of which will be provided by Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela, USD 2 billion each. During the summit, the governments of Venezuela and Brazil executed seven agreements and memorandums of understanding.

US FINANCIAL CRISIS REVEALS VENEZUELA'S DEPENDENCE ON THE UNITED STATES

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- The financial crisis unleashed in the United States put on the table once again the dependence of Venezuela's economy with respect to the first world economy.

    While sources from Hugo Chavez's government claim that the effect of the crisis on the Venezuelan economy will be zero, a deep recession in the United States could cause a major impact on the development of Venezuela's economy. The effects are widespread and there are several likely scenarios: from an expected decline in oil prices and a lower oil demand to a reduction of the supply of goods imported from the United States. 

     Venezuela is tied to the US with regard to oil exports, as the superpower remains the leading destination for Venezuelan crude exports. Venezuela shipped to the US 1.01 million bpd of oil and 160,000 bpd of oil byproducts for a total of 1.17 million bpd, at the end of the first half of the year. The fall of the first world economy will imply a reduction of its purchasing power, which undoubtedly will make an impact on Venezuela, since the United States is Venezuela's major oil customer.

CARACAS TOP IN THE LIST OF THE CITIES WITH HIGHEST RATE OF "BRUTAL AND MURDEROUS VIOLENCE"

        WASHINGTON, D.C. --Caracas tops the list of the five cities in the world with the highest rates of "brutal and murderous violence." The city of 3.2 million people has a rate of 130 homicides for every 100,000 residents, according to official statistics published in the review Foreign Policy).

    According to FP, the other four capital cities are Cape Town, South Africa, with a rate of 62 murders for every 100,000 of its residents; New Orleans, United States, with a rate of 67 to 95 murders for every 100,000; Moscow, with a rate of 9.6 for every 100,000 residents and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, with a rate of 54 for every 100,000 inhabitants.

    "Caracas has become in recent years far more dangerous than any other South American city, surpassing even the once notorious criminal rates of Bogota, Colombia," said the article published in the magazine, Efe reported.

10-01-2008

U.S. SLAPS SANCTIONS ON COLOMBIAN REBEL ENVOYS

   WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States on Tuesday slapped sanctions on members of Colombia's main rebel group who represent the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia in 11 foreign countries, including Mexico and Canada.

    The Treasury imposed the penalties - which freeze all assets in U.S. jurisdiction and bar Americans from dealing with those funds - on FARC operatives who serve on the group's "international commission" under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. "Through their service to the FARC as international representatives and negotiators, these persons provide material support to a narco-terrorist organization," said Adam Szubin, head of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "These individuals work abroad to obtain recruits, support and protection for the FARC's acts of terrorism."

     The members represent the FARC in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and Canada and some have been accused of planning or facilitating attempted terrorist attacks on Colombian political figures. Those named are Jairo Alfonso Lesmes Bulla, Efrain Pablo Trejo Freire, Orlay Jurado Palomino, Ovidio Salinas Perez, Jorge Davalos Torres, Francisco Antonio Cadena Collazos, Nubia Calderon de Trujillo and Liliana Lopez Palacios.

HUGO CHAVEZ ARRIVES IN BRASIL TO MEET WITH LULA, MORALES AND CORREA

        MANAUS, BRAZIL-- Hugo Chávez arrived on Tuesday in Manaus, Brazil, to meet with his Brazilian counterpart Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and also with their counterparts of Bolivia, Evo Morales and Ecuador, Rafael Correa.

    "We will review contracts that were signed some months ago but are now becoming concrete projects. We have made progress in the integration and unity of Brazil and Venezuela which is part of the South America unity," said the Venezuelan president upon arriving in Brazil.

     Chávez stressed the importance of the Banco del Sur "to favor the Latin American economy in moments where capitalism and neo-liberalism join together." Lula and Chávez will discuss the strengthening of regional integration mechanisms that allow South American economies to resist the untoward effects of the global financial crisis, reported the Brazilian presidency.

LULA DA SILVA AND HUGO CHAVEZ MEET TO DISCUSS FINANCIAL CRISIS AND ENERGY ISSUES

        MANAUS, BRAZIL -- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will hold on Tuesday a meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez in the Amazonian city of Manaus to address an agenda focused on the financial crisis, energy and food.

    The two presidents hold quarterly meetings to discuss bilateral and regional issues, and the meeting on Tuesday will focus on ways to strengthen regional integration as a means to reduce vulnerability in crisis scenarios, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry reported.

    Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador had been invited to participate in the meeting with Lula and Chávez. However, the presidential office in Brasilia reported that the visit of both leaders to Manaus had been "planned (but) not confirmed."