BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LULA A SILVA ASKS FOR BIGGER U.S. ROLE IN SOLVING HONDURAN CRISIS

        BRAZILIA, BRAZIL--Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on the United States to use more political influence to help solve the Honduran crisis.  He called on the U.S. government to take more measures such as trade sanctions against the Honduran interim government. 70 percent of the Honduran economy depends on the United States.

    Reaffirmed his support for Zelaya's "immediate and unconditional" return to Honduras, Lula said he would talk to his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the issue at an appropriate time.  But there wasn't a date set for the conversation between the two leaders.  The  Brazilian Foreign Minister Celson Amorim told the press that Zelaya's return would largely depend on the position of the United States. 

    "President Lula said that clearly we are concerned by the delay (of Zelaya's return), because as time passes, the possibility that President Zelaya's legitimate elections (scheduled for November) is weakening," Amorim said.  Zelaya was expected to end his term as president at year-end.   "This depends on what the United States will act," Amorim said.  "It must be a multilateral action. We believe that actions should be conducted by the OAS (Organization of American States)," he added.  Zelaya was deposed in a June 28 military coup. Following the coup, Brazil recalled its ambassador from Honduras and suspended cooperation with the Central American nation.

TALIBAN SLICE OFF FINGERS OF TWO PEOPLE IN KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN

         KABUL, AFGHANISTAN -- Making good on a threat of election day violence, the Taliban sliced off the index fingers of at least two people in Kandahar province, according to a vote monitoring group. After they cast their ballots, the fingers of Afghan voters are stained with ink to prevent them from voting multiple times. The fingers of the two women in Kandahar, a stronghold of the Taliban, were cut off because they voted, said Nader Naderi of the Free and Fair Election Foundation.

    The Taliban had vowed to disrupt Thursday's election and the risk was too great for some Afghans to venture out, especially in the southern provinces that form the heartland of the radical Islamist group. Just days ahead of the election, U.S. Marines and other NATO forces carried out military operations to clear and hold sectors that have long been in the Taliban grip, and free up the population to vote. Sporadic attacks on election day killed 26 people and injured scores more. Still, Afghan officials hailed the voting as a success.

     On Friday, the European Union echoed those sentiments and congratulated Afghanistan for holding elections under what it called challenging circumstances. Watch how counting is under way in Afghan provinces. "While deploring the loss of life, we believe that the security measures successfully prevented any major disruptions of the elections," the E.U. said in a statement. Preliminary results will be announced on a piecemeal basis from Tuesday to September 5, according to the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan.

CAVEP TO PROMOTE REFERENDUM AGAINST NEW VENEZUELAN EDUCATION LAW

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--THe board of the Venezuelan Chamber of Private Education (Cavep) reported on Friday that it would set legal and constitutional mechanisms off, including a referendum, against the education law that was passed very early on Friday morning by pro-government deputies at the National Assembly and rebutted by the opposition upon the grounds of being "unconstitutional."

    "We must continue within the legal framework and appeal to all the instances to denounce this law and seek the referendum to abrogate it," said Cavep chair Octavio Delamo, Efe quoted.  The official said that the law secures the government purpose of "making children, youth and teachers serve a political project."

    In his opinion, the "discretionary character" is one of the most worrisome issues in the new instrument, because it will provide the government with "a legal framework enabling it to express all the social resentment" and "ask for payback" from private schools.  At midnight and after 10 hours of debate, National Assembly chair Cilia Flores declared the new education law approved, with the abstention of the dissenting minority, who left the discussion in the middle of the session.

U.S. CHURCH LEADERS URGE PRESIDENT OBAMA TO END CUBA EMBARGO 

        HAVANA, CUBA--A delegation of U.S. Roman Catholic Church leaders urged President Barack Obama's administration Tuesday to seize what they called a rare political opportunity to lift the 47-year-old economic embargo against Cuba's communist government. Bishop Thomas Wenski of Orlando, Florida, said the U.S. church welcomed a recent move by Washington to relax travel restrictions on Cuban Americans with family in Cuba as well on the remittances they can send to those families. But he said there is much more to be done.

    Wenski said at a news conference that the U.S. church hopes "both sides listen to their better angels" and move to normalize ties.  The U.S. church long has urged an end to the embargo, imposed by Washington in 1962 to weaken Cuba's communist government. Opponents argue that easing or lifting the sanctions will only sustain a government that doesn't tolerate dissent. Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston said Obama's election presents a rare opportunity to bridge an "immense psychological distance" that has marred relations and end an economic policy the church says punishes Cuban citizens. "There were other opportunities that were lost," Wenski said. "And it's important we do not lose the opportunity this time."

    Wenski, O'Malley and Auxiliary Bishop Oscar Cantu of San Antonio, Texas, met on Monday with Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega and diplomats at the U.S. Interests Section, which serves as an informal U.S. government mission. They planned to meet with Ricardo Alarcon, head of Cuba's parliament, later Tuesday. Wenski said the delegation came away from the Interests Section meeting with the impression that U.S. policy toward Cuba is under review and that "their approach seems to be piece by piece." He urged a quicker pace after "50 years of lack of confidence on both sides." "That's a lot of history to overcome," Wenski added. "We would hope that both sides listen to their better angels."

CONVICTED LOKERBIE BOMBER RETURNS HOME TO LIBYA, A HERO  

         TRIPOLI, LIBYA--Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the only man ever convicted of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing, which killed 270 people, received a hero's welcome back home in Libya today just hours after being released from a Scottish jail.  A judge has granted Abdel Baset al-Megrahi a compassionate release. He was greeted by a large enthusisatic crowds at the airport in Tripoli, according to The Associated Press.  He was alllowed to return home on compassionate grounds, Scottish officials said, after doctors said he is suffering from terminal prostate cancer and may have only three months to live.

    Al-Megrahi, 57, served only eight years of the life sentence imposed after his 2001 conviction.  Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said he understands people will disagree with the decision but said al-Megrahi "now faces a sentence imposed by a higher power. It is terminal, final and irreversible. He is going to die."

     In Washington, the White House said it "deeply regrets" the decision to release al-Megrahi.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a statement said the U.S. has repeatedly maintained that al-Megrahi should serve out his term in Scotland. "Today, we remember those whose lives were lost on December 21, 1988, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the families who live each day with the loss of their loved ones due to this heinous crime," Clinton said.

VENEZUELAN ECONOMY SHRINKS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2003   

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Venezuelan economy tumbled 1 percent in the first half this year, the first contraction after 22 consecutive quarters of economic growth, reported the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV).

    The Central Bank explained that the Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter plunged 2.4 percent and, together with a 0.5 percent growth in the first quarter, this represents a 1 percent decline in the first half of 2009, DPA reported.  The BCV stressed that the fall came after five and a half years of consecutive growth, and more than one year into the global economic crisis that "adversely affected the economic performance of most countries around the world."

     The Central Bank added that the aggregate gross value of the public sector soared 2.7 percent in the second quarter this year, while the private sector declined 4.1 percent, amidst the government nationalization of major companies.

COLOMBIA'S SENATE APPROVES PRESIDENT URIBE RE-ELECTION BILL 

        BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombia's Senate voted late Wednesday to pass a bill calling for a referendum on whether to change the constitution to allow President Alvaro Uribe to run for a third term. The measure, which is to be voted on by the lower House next week, was approved 56-2 by senators after deputies from two opposition parties left the 102-member chamber. The opposition acknowledged earlier that they lacked the support to block the bill.

    If the lower House approves the bill, it would then be submitted to the Constitutional Court, which would have three months to determine if the referendum was legal. Prospects for its passage through the lower House and Constitutional Court are uncertain.

     The referendum would ask voters if Colombia should modify its constitution to allow presidents to run for two consecutive re-elections. The current constitution, which was already modified once to let Uribe run for a second four-year term, allows for a single immediate re-election. Colombia's next election is in May 2010, and Uribe has not yet said publicly if he will run for a third term. Uribe, a conservative closely allied with Washington, is highly popular for reducing Colombia's murder and kidnapping rates and putting leftist rebels on the defensive. But critics have urged him to step aside, saying eight years is enough and a healthy democracy requires alternating leadership.

US TO REQUEST AUTHORIZATION FOR ANY ACTIVITIES ON THE COLOMBIA BORDER 

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--In an interview released on Wednesday by daily newspaper El Tiempo, US Ambassador to Bogotá William Brownfield said that any issue related to the Colombia-Venezuela borders and Colombia-Ecuador borders, or any of its neighbors “are sovereign matters for these countries and their governments" Any activities to be carried out by the United States on the Colombian border under a recent bilateral agreement will have the "specific authorization" of the governments involved, according to the US Ambassador to Bogotá William Brownfield.

    In an interview released on Wednesday by daily newspaper El Tiempo, the diplomat said that any issue related to the Colombia-Venezuela borders and Colombia-Ecuador borders, or any of its neighbors "are sovereign matters for these countries and their governments."  "I can assure you that any activity of ours, under this bilateral agreement, will not reach the borders without the specific authorization of all the governments involved," he promised.

    Brownfield repeated that he deal made by his country and Colombia was next to be executed by the respective governments. "It is an absolutely bilateral question," he said, Efe quoted.  "While bilateral, we have nothing to hide," the ambassador added and noted that both Colombia and the United States are ready to explain the agreement and showing the text to any interested government.  The US chief of mission said that the agreement which will enable his government to use at least seven military bases in Colombia is not news. "We are and have been cooperating with the Colombian government on these issues for at least 10 years and, as a matter of fact, for decades earlier."

JUANES RECEIVES THREATS ON TWITTER AND FEARS FOR HIS LIFE 

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--Colombian singer Juanes, CLOSE FRIEND OF CUBAN MUSYCIAN SILVIO RODRIGUEZ, who resides in Key Biscayne, filed a police report saying he had received life threatening messages in his Twitter account. The police report was filed August 15 at the Key Biscayne police department. He said he feared for the safety of him and his family. The threatening messages are from an opponent of the singer’s scheduled concert in Havana.

     Many artists, including exiled Cubans, have also come to Juanes’ defense, highlighting the longstanding divide about whether to engage in dialogue with Cuba or not. “Ninety miles of border, of wall, of lack of communications, of pain and death,” the 17-time Latin Grammy winner Juanes wrote on Twitter Monday, citing the distance between Florida and Cuba. “Don’t you think it would be good that they talk after 50 years?”

    But Cuban-Americans like singer Willy Chirino and actress María Conchita Alonso have issued harsh statements criticizing the Sept. 20 “Paz Sin Fronteras” (“Peace Without Borders”) concert. “A concert for peace? In Cuba? Please, that would only occur to a naive, ignorant or cynical person,” Alonso said in a statement.  Protesters seem particularly angry at Juanes’ chosen location — Revolution Plaza — and his plan to perform with well-known Cuba-based singers like Silvio Rodríguez and Amaury Pérez, who they charge are supporters of the Castros’ government. A small group of Cubans on Miami’s Calle 8 last Friday even hammered to pieces Juanes’ CDs
 

HILLARY CLINTON REBUTS HUGO CHAVEZ ASSERTION ABOUT COLOMBIA PACT

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, appearing with Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez after their meeting in Washington on Tuesday, stressed that the U.S. will not be establishing bases in Colombia as part of the defense cooperation agreement. "I want to be clear about what this agreement does and does not do," Clinton said. "First, the agreement does not create U.S. bases in Colombia. It does provide the United States access to Colombian bases, but command and control, administration and security will be Colombia’s responsibility, and any U.S. activity will have to be mutually agreed upon in advance. The United States does not have and does not seek bases inside Colombia.

    "Second, there will be no significant permanent increase in the U.S. military presence in Colombia," Clinton added. "The congressionally mandated cap on the number of U.S. service members and contractors will remain and will be respected."  The pact, she said, would focus on "working together to meet the challenges posed by narco-traffickers, terrorists and other illegal armed groups in Colombia."

    On his Sunday TV show, Venezuelan leftist ruler, Hugo Chavez, accused President Barack Obama of being "lost in the Andromeda Nebula" when it came to Latin American policy. While reserving much of his criticism for Obama's remarks about hypocrisy from Latin American critics who wanted the U.S. to get more involved in the Honduras crisis, Chavez also lashed out at the administration over the Colombian security agreement.

HUGO CHAVEZ SAID "NOBODY BELIEVES WHAT HILLARY CLINTON SAYS, NOT EVEN HERSELF BELIEVES IT" 

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"Nobody is to believe what HILLARY CLINTON says, not even herself believes it," said Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez about the work carried out by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the military deals made by Washington and Bogotá.  He criticized that it was said that the bases "do not affect Colombia's neighbors."

    "Nobody will believe what Ms. Clinton says and a bit nervous, somewhat sad Colombian Foreign Minister (Jaime Bermúdez) repeats… or perhaps they do not know the empire's strategy," Chávez told state-run TV channel VTV.  With regard to a protest staged last week by media workers against the education law, the president said that as far as he knew, there was evidence that the journalists battered by alleged government followers provoked the attack, because they acted as political activists.

    The journalists were hit when they were delivering to pedestrians leaflets warning against the law. Critics fear that the new instrument could result in indoctrination at schools.  "It is said that they were not working as journalists; they were on a march… handing over some leaflets; engaged in proselytism against the education law," said the Head of State during an telephone interview aired on VTV, AP quoted.

ROBERT MICHELETTI BROKE DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ARGENTINA

        TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Honduras BROKE diplomatic relations with Argentina on Tuesday in retaliation for having its ambassador expelled from Argentina last week. The move stems from tensions between the two countries over a June 28 military-led coup in which Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya was replaced by congressional leader Roberto Micheletti. When Honduran Ambassador Carmen Eleonora Ortez Williams, who had been appointed by Zelaya, did not protest the coup, Argentina took exception.

    Argentina asked Ortez to leave last week "for supporting the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti." On Tuesday, Honduras suspended relations with Argentina and asked the South American nation's diplomats to leave within 72 hours. Honduras' relations with Argentina will be "channeled" though the Argentine embassy in Israel, said a release issued in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.

    "With regards to Argentine personnel stationed in Tegucigalpa and who are finishing their functions in Honduras, they will be granted, based on the principle of strictest reciprocity, the same treatment, time and facilities that was conceded to Honduran functionaries accredited in Argentina," the Honduran release said. The Honduran political crisis stems from Zelaya's desire to hold a referendum that could have led to extending term limits by changing the constitution, despite the country's congress having outlawed the vote and the supreme court having ruled it illegal. Zelaya vowed to hold the vote anyway but was ousted before the voting started. The congress named Micheletti provisional president shortly after Zelaya was detained by the military and sent into exile.

UNITED STATES REITERATES NO "INVASION" FROM COLOMBIAN BASES

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--"There will be no invasion" to neighboring countries from the Colombian bases which will use US troops under a bilateral military agreement, said on Tuesday US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Frank Mora.

    "There will be no invasion. This is misinformation which forms part of the 'anti-Yankeenism' which is no more effective today," stressed Mora during an interview from Washington with Colombian radio station La FM, Efe quoted.  Mora replied in this way to the accusations of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who had said over and over again that the United States is getting ready to "invade" his country from Colombian bases.

    According to Mora, "the role of the United States in Colombia will not change under this agreement." The point at issue is to "institutionalize many things that are happening already."  The discussions over this agreement between Colombia and the United States on the use of up to seven Colombian bases by US troops for counternarcotics and anti-terrorism efforts ended last Friday in Washington, pending the execution by both governments.

IDEOLOGY IS THE STUMBLING BLOCK OF VENEZUELA TO MERCOSUR

         ASUNCION, PARAGUAY--Venezuela will have to wait for a while to complete its entry into Mercosur, as far as the radical reforms undertaken by Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez continue annoying the parliamentarians of Paraguay and Brazil.  The impossibility that Venezuela will form part of the trade bloc composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay adds on the inconveniences faced by Mercosur in its efforts to consolidate regional integration since its creation almost two decades ago.

    The adhesion protocol was approved by the Congresses of Argentina and Uruguay, but it did not share the same luck at the Parliaments of Brazil and Paraguay. The latter have procrastinated for more than two years, mainly due to the criticism of Chávez.  The government of Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo withdrew on August 13 from the Congress a request for an agreement on Venezuela's membership to prevent a majority of the Senate from refusing the initiative, thus jeopardizing the relations between the two countries.

     President Lugo will personally explain Chávez in Buenos Aires, at the end of August, why did he withdraw the request last week from the Congress, Paraguayan Minister of Foreign Affairs Héctor Laconagta told AP on Monday.  Emilio Camacho, the president's legal counsel, summed up that the move "was due to the parliamentarian regulation: any rejected document may not be submitted again in the same term."  "Chávez's administration has not shown a democratic behavior by closing media outlets," clarified Miguel Carrizosa, the Paraguayan Congress speaker.

ROBERT MICHELETTI ORDERS EXPULSION OF ARGENTINE DIPLOMATS

        TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Honduras' interim government ordered Argentine diplomats Tuesday to leave the country in three days, sending a defiant message ahead of a visit by six foreign ministers who are seeking the restoration of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. The Foreign Ministry said the diplomats were ordered to leave in response to Argentina's decision to expel the Honduran ambassador, who has recognized the government of Interim President Roberto Micheletti.

    It was another signal that Micheletti will not budge on international demands that Zelaya be restored to power. Argentina is among six countries planning to send their foreign ministers to Honduras in a bid to revive negotiations - a visit that was postponed last week after the interim government said it did not want the Organization of American States chief to join the mission. No new date has been set.

    It was the second time the interim government ordered the expulsion of foreign diplomats since soldiers flew Zelaya into exile in a June 28 coup condemned worldwide.  Venezuela's envoys have also been told to leave but have refused, saying they will not recognize an order by the coup-installed government. The left-leaning governments of Venezuela and Argentina have been among the most vocal in demanding Zelaya's return to power, warning the coup has set a dangerous precedent for Latin American democracy.  Micheletti, who has withstood weeks of diplomatic isolation and the suspension of international aid, insists that Congress legitimately removed Zelaya from office after Zelaya ignored court orders to drop efforts to change the Honduran constitution.

ALI RODRIGUEZ ARAQUE SAID THAT VENEZUELA WANTS NO WAR WITH THE US, COLOMBIA

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Alí Rodríguez Araque, the vice-president of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) for the Andean region of the country, said they do not want an armed conflict with the United States or Colombia, but added that for reasons of "security and sovereignty" they had "a duty" to denounce the installation of US military bases in Colombia.

     Rodríguez Araque, who is also the Minister of Finance, stressed that the first strategy to ignite a conflict between Venezuela and Colombia has been "a brutal and massive campaign of misleading information about the events taking place in Venezuela, which is enthusiastically echoed by a widely known group of news outlets. Two drastic events illustrate what we are saying, namely the coup d'etat of April 2002 and the so-called oil strike against the Venezuelan society."

    He dismissed the claims that the US military bases in Colombia are intended to fight terrorism or drug traffic. "What is the purpose of the military forces in any country? Is it fighting against drug traffic? Did not they have Plan Colombia? Does not the (the installation of the US military bases in Colombia) amounts to acknowledge a resounding failure of such plan?"  "We want no armed conflict with the United States, let alone with Colombia. Nobody wins at war, except for the so-called dogs of war. Besides that, everything else are losses, in any country. We have a duty, for the national sovereignty, to say these things."

VENEZUELAN JOURNALISTS DECLARE EMERGENCY FOR "RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION"

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- William Echeverría, the chair of the Venezuelan Journalists' Association (CNP), reported that after a meeting held on Monday at the head offices of daily newspaper El Nacional to deal with the attacks on several journalists of the Capriles network last week, they declared permanent emergency for considering that there is in the country "overwhelming limitation" to freedom of expression.

     Echeverría explained that during the meeting they agreed on a number of actions which will be timely made known.  He noted that they decided to be on standing session, not only because of the lately violent attacks on journalists, but also because of the difficult access to information from government authorities.

    He recalled that some media outlets are not called to some press conferences or the remarks of some political parties. He also regretted the lack of access to press offices at public entities, such as the National Assembly (AN) and the Scientific, Penal and Criminology Investigation Agency (Cicpc).

VENEZUELAN STUDENTS SAY "nO" TO THE EDUCATION LAW

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--In the early hours, a group of students from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and Simón Bolívar University (USB) deployed near Francisco Fajardo freeway in Caracas to protest against the recently enacted education law.

    Carlos Julio Rojas, Finance Secretary, Federation of Student Councils (FCU), UCV, explained that the National Assembly (AN) ignored some educational sectors during the stage of discussion and passage of the education law.  "How dare they approve such an important law staring at four walls, leaving behind grassroots sectors, universities, and taking benefit of holydays? Revolution is not discussing a law in the absence of all the thought currents, a law where one single way of thinking prevails," said Rojas on the highway.

    He stressed that the student movement "will remain in the streets, protesting and firmly refusing this law; strongly recommending the National Assembly not fearing the people's heat, going to the barrios, showing that there really is street parliamentarianism."

juanes will oFFer a mega-concert to bring "happiness" to the enslaved cubans

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--Renowned Colombian singer Juanes, one of the icons of Latin pop rock, will offer a mega-concert in Havana next September 20th, as confirmed by sources of the Cuban Music Institute (ICM). Speaking to Granma newspaper, ICM vice president Osmany Lopez said that the popular Colombian singer, winner of five Latin Grammy awards in 2008 for his CD La vida es un ratico (Life is Just a Short While), is very excited about this concert that will be dedicated "to peace."

    The white color will mark Juanes presentation in Cuba as a symbolic element and he will be accompanied by a group of Latin American artists still to be determined, Lopez added. The ICM vice president announced that Juanes will also share the stage with Cuban singer song-writer Silvio Rodriguez and with the renowned group Los Van Van in an open plaza that has not been chosen yet. Meanwhile, Susana Llorente, head of the ICM Foreign Relations Department, said that the idea of the concert was suggested by Juanes himself. He presented the project to us and we welcomed it with a lot of interest, she explained.

    Juanes is very happy to be able to sing to the Cuban people and to dedicate this concert in Cuba entirely to peace. He wants it to be an event of solidarity, love and affection, she added. Colombian musician Juan Esteban Aristizabal, 36, known as Juanes, visited Havana last June. Then, he toured the old part of the city and met with Silvio Rodriguez and with authorities of the Cuban Music Institute. Recently, Juanes said he wants to dedicate this concert to the International Day of Peace on September 21. On that occasion, we want to go to Cuba, to celebrate it from there, he commented.

JUANES GETS HEAT FROM THE CUBAN EXILE COMMUNITY FOR PLAYING CONCERT IN CUBA

         MIAMI, FLORIDA-- Colombian rocker Juanes wants to hold his second "Peace Without Borders" concert in Havana's storied Revolution Plaza next month with a host of regional stars - and says he has met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in hopes that American musicians can join the extravaganza. In what could be the latest sign the art world is well into a thaw of nearly a half century of icy U.S.-Cuba relations, Juanes' manager, Fernan Martinez, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the concert will be Sept. 20.

    Juanes wants to use the sprawling concrete plaza, which is flanked by a huge homage to fallen Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara and houses offices for Fidel and Raul Castro. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans gather there each May 1 for International Workers' Day celebrations. I n the wake of his “Peace Without Borders'' concert in Colombia last year -- an effort to ease tensions between his native country and Venezuela -- Colombian rocker Juanes is feverishly planning a performance in Havana for September.

    I figured that as part of Juanes'  “Peace Without Borders'' campaign he would invite Cuban performers who are on the opposite side of the Cuba's totalitarian equation: Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Willy Chirino, Lissette Alvarez, Hansel & Raul, Albita Rodriguez. Perhaps also include Cuban musicians on the island who are not sanctioned by the government's ministry of culture, like Gorky Aguila of the alternative rock band Porno Para Ricardo, who has been jailed multiple times for his refusal to yield to the regime's censorship.   As it turns out, it was nothing more than my wishful thinking.

JUANES DEFENDS PLANS TO HOST A HAVANA CONCERT IN "CHE GUEVARA" PLAZA

        MIAMI, FLORIDA--Colombia's Juanes PLANS  to host a peace concert in HavaANA has split the Cuban exile community in the U.S.   Filmmaker Joe Cardona who wrote a scathing op/ed piece in the Miami Herald. “The concert promises to be nothing more than a shameless, thoughtless and heartless appearance by the 36-year-old singer and his fellow performers” wrote Cardona who also claimed that the planned concert would provide a “tacit legitimization” of the Castro government.

    Meanwhile, Juanes and his associates have strongly denied the criticisms against him. “Why are the promotion of unity between peoples and the dismantling of borders bothersome?” said the musician’s spokesman- Fernán Martínez. Juanes defended his actions in an interview on Univision’s “Aquí y Ahora" (Here and Now) newsmagazine. “Traveling to Cuba symbolizes that it’s time to change minds” he said and added that the U.S. government has provided its support for the event.  

    The  island blogger Yoani Sanchez said: “I think that Juanes should come and sing. If his subject is peace, he will have to know that this Island is not immersed in bellicose conflict, but neither does it know concord. He will raise his voice before a people who have been divided, classified according to a political color and compelled to confront any who think differently. A population that for years has not heard talk of harmony and that knows the punishment given to those who dare to voice their criticisms. We need his voice, but only if he comes to sing without forgetting any Cuban, without rejecting any difference.

hugo chavez 'surprises' fidel castro with birthday visit

        HAVANA, CUBA----  VENEZUELA'S LEFTIST RULER, HUGO CHAVEZ, visited Fidel Castro on his birthday, Thursday, Friday and the daily Granma reported Saturday.  Chávez delivered to Castro a birthday present, charcoal portraits of Cuban patriots José Martí and Francisco de Miranda by Venezuelan painter Edgar Alvarez Estrada. He also delivered "a few trunks full of Venezuelan products made by socialist factories." According to the website Cubadebate, the men toasted with Venezuelan "country wine."

    Speaking to students at Carabobo University on Saturday, Chávez said that his arrival in Havana was a  "surprise" to Fidel. "We were [at his home] until eight at night, with his children, his grandchildren, his wife, and Raúl," he said. "We ate cake, of course." The visit had not been previously announced.

     On Friday, the leaders were joined by Raúl Castro for two working sessions that lasted until early afternoon, when Chávez returned to Caracas, Granma said, without describing the subjects discussed. However, Cubadebate quoted Chávez as saying that "one of the topics we talked most about was the ecology, and we wondered if we still have time to save the earth from the disaster created by the madness of capitalism." Despite speculation about Fidel's health, the Cuban leader "is absolutely enjoying his mental faculties," Chávez said. No photographs were immediately released of this meeting. Chávez last visited Fidel on Feb. 20-21 and no pictures were released then.

FARC CHIEF DENIES ANY RELATIONS WITH THE VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA-- Alfonso Cano, the top guerrilla leader of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), said that his group has no contacts whatsoever with the Venezuelan government and that he did not fund the first electoral campaign of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, according to statements published on Thursday by a Colombian magazine.

    "Cano," whose real name is Guillermo Sáenz, made these comments in an e-mailed response to questions posed by Colombian news magazine Cambio, whose weekly edition was released on Thursday The head of the FARC said that contacts with President Hugo Chávez were suspended since Colombian Head of State Álvaro Uribe put an end to Venezuela's mediation for the release of some hostages held by the FARC.

    In recent days, the relations between Colombia and Venezuela have become strained following Uribe's decision to allow US troops to use seven Colombian military bases by the United States and amidst allegations that two rocket launchers sold in 1988 by Sweden to the Venezuelan military were seized last year in a FARC camp.  "Uribe has used media terrorism to suggest that Venezuela's government provided rocket launchers we had captured a long time ago in a military battle on the border, an event that was widely reported at that time," Cano said.

VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION GOES ON CONTEMPT; TAKES ACTION AGAINST NEW EDUCATION LAW

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Political and student leaders rebutted on Friday the new education law approved at midnight by the pro-government majority at the National Assembly (AN).

    Deputy for dissenting political Podemos party Ismael García reported that from now on they would plea contempt of the legal instrument, which he labeled as ludicrous.

     He stated that the education law instructs the government to work on a country project which is not related at all with the expectations of most Venezuelans. In his view, it breaks all the values and it is aimed at taking hold of universities.  García reported that they would appeal to the National Electoral Council (CNE) in order to request a referendum to abrogate the law.

August 15,  2009

AGAIN, HUGO CHAVEZ WARNS OF "WAR" OVER COLOMBIA-US MILITARY BASE DEAL

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--   VENEZUELA LEFTIST RULER   Hugo Chavez warned  AGAIN that "winds of war were beginning to blow" across Latin America due to a decision from Colombia to allow the US use of seven military bases.

    Chavez said he was fulfilling his "moral duty" by telling fellow leaders that the "winds of war were beginning to blow," because of the July accord between Bogota and Washington. "This could generate a war in South America," he said. The heightened rhetoric came a day after Chavez accused Colombia's leader Alvaro Uribe and the Colombian military of "provocations" by entering   Venezuelan territory. Colombia's foreign ministry denied the charge.

    Moderate Latin American countries, led by Brazil and Argentina, agreed to hold a summit, probably in Argentina later this month, to discuss the deal that has angered many in the region. They said Uribe, America's main ally in the region, would be invited to explain his case.  Colombia raised concern throughout the region, which has a troubled history of US military interventions, when it announced a deal on July 15 to allow American forces to coordinate anti-drug operations from seven of its military bases. The deal has prompted strong criticism from Colombia's regional opponents, particularly Correa and Chavez. It has also sparked concern from moderate Colombian allies, such as Chile and Brazil, who want assurance that US forces will not be operating outside Colombia's territory.

STATE DEPARTMENT: CHAVEZ'S WARNING ABOUT WAR "ARE IRRESPONSIBLE" 

         WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Venezuelan leftist ruler, HUGO CHAVEZ, has repeatedly warned about “the winds of war” that are beginning to blow across the region because of Colombia’s intention to allow the United States to use its military bases. Chávez's warnings about a possible war in South America "are irresponsible," said Christopher McMullen, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, in statements published on Thursday in Quito.

      "I believe that this comment is irresponsible, because it does not serve the cause of peace in the region," McMullen told Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio, referring to Chávez's statements about a possible war in the region as a result of a military agreement between the White House and Bogotá. According to the US diplomat, there has been some "confusion" with regard to the agreement with Colombia that would allow the United States to use military bases in Venezuela's neighbor country to fight drug trafficking and terrorism.

    "This is not a fight of Colombia and the United States only, but of all countries in the region, including Venezuela. Then, Venezuelans should rather get involved in this fight," noted McMullen.  The Venezuelan leader has warned about "the winds of war" that are beginning to blow across the region because of Colombia's intention to allow the United States to use its military bases.  The governments that have criticized the agreement "have not asked us to provide information. We provided information to Brazil, because they asked for it. We have nothing to hide," McMullen stressed.

paraguayan senate president accuses chavez of being a dictator

        ASUNCION, PARAGUAY-The president of the Paraguayan Senate, Miguel Carrizosa, on Thursday accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of trying to impose "a disguised dictatorship."

    "As long as in Venezuela -not the Venezuela people, who have nothing to do with this, quite the opposite- they keep going in the same direction, turning the 21st Socialism into a disguised dictatorship, there would not be conditions to deal with its entry into Mercosur (Common Market of the South," said Carrizosa.

     On Thursday, the Paraguayan government withdrew from the Senate a motion seeking Venezuela's adhesion to the Mercosur, reported DPA.  This "does not mean that we are severing diplomatic relations with that country," said Carrizosa, who did not rule out that the issue could be tackled later.

venezuela's leftist ruler, hugo chavez, closes golf courses in CARACAS

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--   After a brief tirade against the sport by venezuela's leftist ruler, hugo chavez, the ruler on national television last month, pro-Chávez officials have moved in recent weeks to shut down two of the country’s best-known golf courses, in Maracay, a city of military garrisons near here, and in the coastal city of Caraballeda. “Let’s leave this clear,” Mr. Chávez said during a live broadcast of his Sunday television program. “Golf is a bourgeois sport,” he said, repeating the word “bourgeois” as if he were swallowing castor oil. Then he went on, mocking the use of golf carts as a practice illustrating the sport’s laziness.  The government’s broad nationalizations and asset seizures have gone far beyond the oil industry to include coffee roasters, cattle ranches and tomato-processing plants.

    If the golf course closings go forward, the number of courses shut down in the last three years will be about nine, said Julio L. Torres, director of the Venezuelan Golf Federation.  A project on Margarita Island, designed by the American architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. and intended to be South America’s top course, was halted because of financial problems.  Most of the closed courses are in oil regions, near Maracaibo in western Venezuela and in Monagas State, in the east, and were initially built for Americans working in the oil industry. Mr. Chávez’s purge of dissidents from the national oil company focused suspicion on the golf courses, which were seen as bastions of the old elite.

    A housing shortage has also pushed the government’s hand, Mr. Chávez said last month, when he questioned why Maracay had so many slums while the golf course and the grounds of the state-owned Hotel Maracay, a decaying modernist gem built in the 1950s, stretch over about 74 acres of coveted real estate.  “Just so some little group of the bourgeois and the petit-bourgeois can go and play golf,” he said during his television program.

STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TAKES SHOT AT CHAVEZ'S COMMENTS ON "BOURGEOIS SPORT" 

         WASHINGTON, D.C.--State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, a once-a-week golfer and proud defender of the sport, is teed off at Hugo Chavez after the Venezuelan president called golf a "bourgeois sport," and vowed to close down several swanky Caracas courses. Describing himself as the department's "self-appointed ambassador-at-large for golf," P.J. Crowley took a shot at the leftist leader who last month said rich people who want to play golf at the public course in Maracay, Venezuela, can build another one on the city's outskirts.

    "The government should take over that course in the urban area and make room for housing," Chavez said during a live broadcast of his Sunday television program. "Let's leave this clear, golf is a bourgeois sport," Chavez said. The president then proceeded to mock the practice of using golf carts, alleging that the sport allows for laziness. "It isn't justified that in the middle of a city there's a golf course, with so much land lacking for buildings for the people," Chavez said. Crowley, who describes himself as a long-time golfer with a low handicap of 8, launched the daily press briefing at the department to protest what he called the "unwarranted attack" by Chavez on the game. "The suggestion that golf, a truly global sport, is 'bourgeois' is a mulligan," Crowley said, using the term for retaking a bad shot with a new swing. "

    And once again Mr. Chavez, one of the hemisphere's most divisive figures, finds himself out of bounds." President Obama is also a fan of the sport, playing golf regularly on the weekends. Chavez has long been the target of U.S. officials for taking his country in a leftist direction and not honoring democratic commitments. The Venezuelan government has carried out a broad nationalization, seizing assets from within the oil industry to coffee roasters, cattle ranches and tomato-processing plants. If the golf course closings go forward, the number of courses shut down in the last three years will be about nine, Julio L. Torres, director of the Venezuelan Golf Federation, told The New York Times. A project on Margarita Island, designed by the American architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. and intended to be South America's top course, was halted because of financial problems. Chavez insisted that his government was not banning the game of golf. But the mayor of Caracas, the capital, in 2006 announced plans to expropriate three exclusive golf courses for public housing projects. The plan has not been carried out.

POLICE, CHAVISTAS SUPPRESS RALLY AGAINST NEW EDUCATION LAW

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Alexis Ramírez, President of the National Federation of Parents and Representatives Associations of Official, Private, non-Religious and Religious Education Institutes in Venezuela (Fenasopadres), reported that a march heading for the headquarters of the National Assembly to reject the Draft Organic Law on Education was suppressed by the police.

     "We were marching peacefully when government's armed gangs, dressed in red, said 'you shall not pass.' As we are not violent guys, we did not accept any provocation but some people threw tear gas against us, I do not know exactly who, because there was a police cordon to prevent us from passing through," Ramírez said.

      The NGO leader told news television channel Globovisión that demonstrators were dispersed by the Caracas Metropolitan Police with tear gas, plastic bullets and high-pressure water cannons.  "We had no choice but to split up. Behind us, protected by the Metropolitan Police and marching orderly, came the demonstration of the government followers, who had no problem to get to the National Assembly and voice their support for the draft law. Once again, this shows the discrimination of the government against the civil society," added Ramírez.

COSTA RICA'S PRESIDENT, OSCAR ARIAS, HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED WITH SWINE FLU

        SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA--Nobel Peace laureate and Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Tuesday that he has swine flu, showing that not even a head of state is safe from the virus that has caused worldwide concern but relatively few deaths. The 69-year-old president and Nobel Peace Prize winner said in a statement that he was quarantined at home and is being treated with the anti-flu medicine oseltamivir.

    "The pandemic makes no distinctions," Arias said. "I am one more case in this country and I am being submitted to the recommendations that health authorities have established for the entire population."  Arias suffers from asthma and is at higher risk than most, but was in good enough health to continue working.

    "Aside from the discomfort of the fever and sore throat, I feel in good shape and in full capacity to carry out my work by telecommuting," Arias said in the statement. The president had flu symptoms since Sunday, but participated in public activities as late as Tuesday morning, when he appeared at a call center. Arias has been serving on-and-off as a mediator in the political crisis in Honduras after that country's president was ousted June 28 in a coup.

AS IN CUBA, SOCIALIST ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT, RAFAEL CORREAS, ESTABLISHES DEFENSE COMMITTEES

         QUITO, ECUADOR--The socialist Ecuadorian president, Rafael correa, while speaking, thanked the presence of their peers and asked his people not to end being prepared for the defense of the homeland, recommending to organize defense committees in each district to deal with those who seek to destabilize the country.  "Let's make no mistake: the enemies of change have already also realized that we are not playing," he said, claiming the negative propaganda of corrupt right wing media and the international enemies.

     The socialist Ecuadorian president, Rafael Correa, while speaking, thanked the presence of their peers and asked his people not to end being prepared for the defense of the homeland, recommending to organize defense committees in each district to deal with those who seek to destabilize the country.  "Let's make no mistake: the enemies of change have already also realized that we are not playing," he said, claiming the negative propaganda of corrupt right wing media and the international enemies.  

     "They do not know what to invent. But none of this is fortuitous," he assured, asserting that if he would accept the U.S.'s military bases in Ecuador, he would end being the "friend of the FARC," the populist and demagogue, and would become "the exemplary statesman in Latin America. "  "We prefer the risk to be free, to the disastrous solvency of the servile ones," he exclaimed.  "The free men of our America will know how to deal with the messengers of the empire. Be clear that what happens is not fortuitous; bases in Colombia is an extremely serious threat, a provocation ...".  "They're desperate. Our historical responsibility is to get organized. United and organized we will be invincible (...) This revolution is irreversible. Nobody or nothing can stop it."

CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO APPOINTS THE EDITOR OF "JUVENTUD REBELDE" AS THE NEW AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA

         HAVANA, CUBA--Cuban DICTATOR Raúl Castro appointed journalist Rogelio Polanco as the new ambassador to Venezuela, announced on Wednesday the Cuban government in an official statement. The position was occupied during 15 years by sociologist Germán Sánchez.

    Polanco, the editor of newspaper Juventud Rebelde, one of the two state-run nationwide newspapers, "has accomplished important missions linked to Venezuela's Bolivarian Revolution" over the past five years, according to the statement published in the Cuban official newspaper Granma. The political career of the new ambassador began with the Union of Young Communists (UJC), where he was a member of the National Bureau (1994-1998) and of its National Committee (1994-97). In 1997, Polanco organized the World Festival of Youth and Students held in Havana.

     Polanco is a member of the Cuban National Assembly and appears frequently in TV program "Mesa Redonda" (Round Table). According to the statement, Sánchez "will be assigned additional duties." In 2008, Sánchez was one of the diplomats who participated in the release of hostages from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and their transfer to Venezuela. The Venezuelan government is the main ally of Cuba, which receives about 95,000 barrels of oil per day, with loans on preferential terms. A total of 30,000 Cubans, most of them physicians, has been sent to Venezuela to cooperate in government activities.

VENEZUELA'S LEFTIST RULER, HUGO CHAVEZ, BLAMES THE US FOR TENSIONS BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA

        QUITO, ECUADOR--Venezuela’s leftist RULER Hugo Chávez accused the United States of meddling in the process of integration between Bogotá and Caracas to "sow discord" and promote tensions between the two South American countries, according to statements published on Monday in the Colombian press.

     Chávez said that the relations between Venezuela and Colombia are still "frozen," despite the fact that last week he ordered the return of his ambassador to Bogotá.  The Venezuelan Head of State said that the current tensions stem from claims that Venezuela supports the Colombian guerrilla and the announcement of President Álvaro Uribe about the negotiation of an agreement with the United States to allow the use of seven Colombian military bases in different regions of Colombia, DPA reported.

     "The government of Uribe is amenable to this absurd accusation that we are providing weapons to the Colombian guerrillas. This amounts to disrespect and a hard blow for the governments to resume normal and good relations. There is no confidence," Chávez told El Tiempo, a Bogotá newspaper.

HUGO CHAVEZ ANNOUNCES NEW ARMS PURCHASE FROM RUSSIA

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's LEFTIST RULER, Hugo Chávez, reported on Wednesday on his next visit to Russia, where he plans to sign multiple agreements, including one instrument to buy several tanks and shield the country against the deployment of US troops in Colombia.

    "Now, one of the things we are planning to do is going to Moscow (…) We will buy several battalions of Russian, cutting-edge tanks," said the president during a press conference with foreign correspondents. Chávez also said that during his visit, he and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev are expected to execute some other agreements in the fields of oil and economy.

    The Venezuelan Head of State also reported on his plans to buy several radars made in China in order to enhance the air defense and upgrade counternarcotics efforts, DPA reported.  Chávez said that he opted to buy the military equipment in the face of the impending "threat" posed by an agreement reached between the Colombian and US governments on the deployment of US troops in Colombian military bases.

COLOMBIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH TERMS "DIRTY, LOW AND CHILDISH" VENEZUELA, ECUADOR'S DEALING WITH COLOMBIA

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--The Secretary of the Colombian Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Juan Córdoba, labeled as "dirty, low and childish" the treatment given by the presidents of Venezuela and Ecuador to Colombia, but criticized the use of military bases by the United States.

     "Colombia must endure such a dirty, low, childish, adolescent, immature treatment by those presidents for whom the end justifies the means, and they do whatever they want, and Colombia should accept it," the Catholic hierarch told Bogotá's TV newscast Caracol on Tuesday.

     The bishop urged Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez "not to meddle" in the internal affairs of Colombia. "Please, leave us alone, because we respect you," he said, AFP quoted.  "Should you take an active part, do it as a gentleman, upfront, without blackmail or childish threats," he added.  "Let us do it little by little; let us do it based on brotherhood, tolerance, respect."

PRESIDENT OBAMA: CRITICS OF US HONDURAS POLICY HYPOCRITICAL IN DEMANDING WASHINGTON ACTION

        GUADALAJARA, MEXICO--President Barack Obama says critics who complain the U.S. has not done enough to restore to power the elected government in Honduras are guilty of hypocrisy. The same people, he said, that tell Americans to leave hemispheric neighbors alone are now saying Washington has ignored Honduras, where a June 28 military coup overthrew the government of President Manuel Zelaya.  "The same critics who say that the United States has not intervened enough in Honduras, are the same people who say that we're always intervening and that Yankees need to get out of Latin America. You can't have it both ways," Obama said.

      Obama said the United States fully supports Zelaya's return to power and has issued the strongest demands for the coup leaders to surrender power to the elected leader. "We have been very clear in our belief that President Zelaya was removed from office illegally, that it was a coup, and that he should return," Obama said. The United Nations and Organization of American States, including the United States, have called for Zelaya's return, but more than one month later, the interim government of Roberto Micheletti remains firm and talks between the two sides have so far been unsuccessful.

      After Obama spoke, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped in to defend the United States, saying: "If I were an American I would be really fed up with this kind of hypocrisy." The remarks came at a summit of North American leaders in Guadalajara, Mexico.  The three North American countries depend on their borders being safe and secure, Obama said, adding that he supports "orderly and legal" migration, while respecting the American tradition of welcoming immigrants.

PRESIDENT ROBERTO MICHELETTI WILL ALLOW INSULZA TO VISIT HONDURAS

         TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS-- HoNDURAN PRESIDENT ROBERTO MICHELETTI on Sunday canceled and then rescheduled a trip by foreign envoys who are seeking to resolve a six-week-old political crisis caused by the ouster of President Manuel Zelaya. Honduras' interim government initially said Sunday that it wouldn't accept a delegation led by Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, because of what it called his ``lack of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism.''

     The interim government later said it had worked out its differences with the OAS over which foreign ministers would visit. It also said that Inzulsa had been downgraded to “observer'' status.  The government's communique Sunday evening said it would settle on a new date for the visit "in the next two days.'' Many independent observers give an OAS delegation the best chance to resolve this Central American nation's power struggle that led the military to whisk Zelaya out of the country on June 28 and the Congress to replace him with Micheletti.

     The OAS's Insulza has angered Micheletti government officials by calling for Zelaya's return without, they think, taking time to understand that Zelaya repeatedly violated the law by trying to hold an illegal vote on June 28. They think that Zelaya was trying to use that vote to amend the Honduran constitution in order to remain in power, following the model of his political ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, and other leaders of Chávez's ALBA trade and political alliance.  Insulza has cast his lot with the ALBA group,'' Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American studies professor at Florida International University, said. “He's burned a lot of bridges.''

VENEZUELA'S SOCIALIST RULER, HUGO CHAVEZ, HINTS "WINDS OF WAR' BECAUSE OF COLOMBIA-US PACT

         QUITO, ECUADOR--Venezuelan SOCIALIST  RULER, Hugo Chávez, warned on Monday at the presidential summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) that "winds of war" are blowing in South America due to Colombia's intention to allow the United States to use its military bases.

    "It is my moral duty to warn that winds of war are blowing" in South America, Chávez said. "This could lead even to war in South America," he added.  The Venezuelan leader reiterated his concern about the agreement that would allow the United States to use seven military bases in Colombian territory, AFP reported.

     During the summit, Chávez said that he signed a letter that he will submit to his counterparts in the region. "We are very concerned" about the military agreement between Colombia and the United States," he explained.  "The announcement of the installation of seven military bases" in Colombia, which is a member of Unasur, could "become a tragedy," Chávez stated.

honduras president, roberto micheletti, prohibits visit of jose miguel insulza, oas secretary general, as member of AN OAS DELEGATION

        TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Honduras' interim government announced Sunday that it was canceling a visit by foreign delegates aimed at resolving the country's political crisis because it could not accept the participation of a regional official who insists on reinstating the ousted president. Interim President Roberto Micheletti is willing to reschedule the delegation's visit, previously planned for Tuesday -- as long as Organization of American States chief José Miguel Insulza is excluded, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

    The Washington-based OAS, a long-established hemispheric body promoting democracy, development and legal cooperation in the Americas, on Friday named the delegation comprising foreign ministers from Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.  The group's mission was to try to persuade Micheletti to negotiate with international mediators seeking to return President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup on June 28. But in addition to insisting that he accompany the delegation, Insulza failed to include foreign ministers who might be open to ``reconsidering our position,'' the statement said, which ``has made it impossible to hold the visit'' now.

    From the beginning, Insulza and the OAS as a whole have harshly condemned the coup and said that any solution to the crisis must include Zelaya's restoration to office. The organization later voted to suspend Honduras from its ranks. The interim government, however, had already said it would quit the organization rather than meet its demands.  Micheletti's government ``is completely willing to consider a new date for the mission of foreign ministers . . . excluding Mr. Insulza, who could be replaced by other OAS officials,'' the Foreign Ministry's statement said. The statement referred to what it called Insulza's ``lack of objectivity, impartiality and professionalism . . . which has resulted in serious damage to democracy, to Honduras'' and to the OAS. Neither Insulza nor the OAS immediately commented.

SENATOR JIM DeMINT PUTS NOMINEES ON HOLD TO SHOW HIS OPPOSITION TO PRESIDENT OBAMA'S HONDURAS POLICY

         WASHINGTON, D.C.-- A South Carolina senator who opposes the Obama administration's handling of the crisis in Honduras is blocking the nominations of two appointees to the State Department.

    Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., asked Tuesday that the nominations of Arturo Valenzuela, President Barack Obama's choice to be the assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, and Tom Shannon, his candidate for ambassador to Brazil, be held until the next Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting. The committee, which is scheduled to meet next week, had been poised to vote on the nominations Tuesday.

    At Valenzuela's confirmation hearing July 8, DeMint had argued that the administration made the wrong call by pushing for ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya's return to power. He pressed Valenzuela on whether the removal constituted a military coup and questioned whether the U.S. should side with Zelaya. Zelaya, a leftist ally of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, found himself increasingly isolated over a nonbinding referendum that was to take place Sunday.

COLOMBIA ARMY CAPTURED 11 ECUADOREAN TROOPS INSIDE ITS TERRITORY

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombian soldiers have captured 11 Ecuadorean troops who crossed over the border at a time of heightened tensions between the Andean neighbors but Ecuador authorities played down the incident as an accident. The two officers and nine soldiers were caught 300 yard/meters from the frontier in Putumayo province on Saturday and will be handed over to Ecuadorean armed forces on the border on Sunday, the Colombian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

    Ecuadorean officials said the men crossed the Putumayo River, which separates the two countries at that point along the jungle frontier. "They crossed over the other side of the river to buy some fish, without their weapons. This happens from time to time," said Deputy Foreign Minister Lautaro Pozo in Ecuador. Ties between U.S. ally Colombia and Ecuador have been tense since March last year when Colombian troops raided across the border to kill a Colombian FARC rebel commander in his camp in Ecuadorean territory.

    The troop incident came as leftist Correa hosts a regional summit of South America governments, where presidents will discuss Colombia's plan to increase U.S. troop access to its military bases. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says the bases are an extension of U.S. military cooperation for counter-drug operations. But South American governments have expressed concern with Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a fierce U.S. adversary, warning it could spark war in the region. Colombia, the world's No. 1 cocaine producer, has received more than $5 billion in mostly military aid from Washington to fight drug traffickers and FARC rebels.

OAS DIPLOMATIC MISSION WILL TRAVEL TO HONDURAS ON TUESDAY 

         SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA--A high-ranking diplomatic mission will travel to Honduras in a new effort to pressure coup-installed leaders to restore ousted President Manuel Zelaya, the chief mediator in the crisis said Monday. Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said a group of top Latin American diplomats would seek to persuade the government of interim President Roberto Micheletti to accept all 12 points of a proposed compromise — "the most important one, of course, being the return of President Zelaya." "I hope Micheletti leaves this door open," Arias said. 

     Micheletti, however, appeared to keep it closed. "The former president of Honduras can never return to the presidency because he has declared mediated talks a failure," the interim leader said in a statement hours before Arias' announcement. Zelaya, who was whisked out of the country in a June 28 coup condemned worldwide, has said negotiations mediated by Arias last month floundered because of Micheletti's refusal to consider his reinstatement. The exiled leader signaled his own support for the proposed agreement, which would obligate him to abandon ambitions to change the Honduran constitution, an initiative that defied court orders declaring it illegal and led to his ouster. Opponents say Zelaya wanted to end the constitutional ban on multiple presidential terms, but he denies that.

     Zelaya, a wealthy rancher who veered to the left midway through his presidency and allied himself with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has called for more pressure from the United States, which is Honduras' biggest trade partner and its largest source of direct foreign investment. Interim leaders have made clear they hope to resist international pressure until the Nov. 29 presidential election, which they hope will weaken resolve to return Zelaya to power. Jose Miguel Insulza, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, said he hoped the conflict would be resolved before then. He said the OAS would meet Wednesday to organize the diplomatic mission, which he said he hoped would include foreign ministers. Although his supporters have staged daily demonstrations to demand his return, Zelaya has struggled to muster strong popular resistance among Hondurans to the coup-installed government.

UNITED NATIONS RAPPORTEUR, FRANK LA RUE, EXPRESSED HIS CONCERN ABOUT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN VENEZUELA

         UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK--The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, said on Wednesday that he is concerned about the closure of 34 radio stations in Venezuela.

     He considered that "it is a serious and massive violation of the freedom of expression without precedent in the hemisphere."

    The Guatemalan human rights lawyer explained that the closure of radio stations was made on the grounds of administrative offenses committed by the owners of the radio stations that were shut down. La Rue added that these infractions could be resolved through normal administrative and legal procedures without the need of closing the media, reported the private TV news network Globovisión. La Rue said that the closure of a media outlet can not be the result of a "simple political decision of a government, since it lends itself to arbitrariness and abuse of power."

ODCA REPORTS HUGO CHAVEZ REGIME'S "SYSTEMATIC ATTACKS," AGAINST AMERICAN DEMOCRATS

         WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Christian Democratic Organization for America (ODCA) reported on Thursday "systematic attacks from the Chávez's regime" against "democrats of the Americas" and expressed particular concern about the conflict in Honduras.

    "We must not forget that the (Honduras) conflict was ultimately and mostly caused by the meddling attitude of the hemispheric populist project," stated a press release from the organization, a critic of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez.  The ODCA urged "political and public opinion leaders to pay attention and publicly condemn the systematic attacks of the Chávez's regime."

    The ODCA views as antidemocratic "bringing arms in the narco-guerrillas, arbitrarily closing broadcasting stations, intervening in the election process of foreign countries and encouraging the creation of dictatorships by means of constitutional reforms that allow remaining in office forever."  The organization, presided by Mexican Manuel Espino, presently pools 35 Christian democratic political parties from 25 countries.

SONIA SOTOMAYOR BECOMES FIRST LATINA US SUPREME COURT JUSTICE

         WASHINGTON, D.C.--Sonia Sotomayor won historic Senate confirmation on Thursday as the first Hispanic justice on the US Supreme Court, in a big victory for President Barack Obama over stiff Republican objections. By an easy 68-31 margin, lawmakers lifted the 55-year-old appeals court judge to the bench that serves as the final arbiter of the US Constitution and is called upon to decide bitter feuds on issues like gun rights and abortion.

     "I'm filled with pride in this achievement and great confidence that Judge Sotomayor will make an outstanding Supreme Court justice," Obama said moments after the vote. "It's a wonderful day for America." Obama's Democratic allies and a handful of Republicans joined forces to make Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican descent, the 111th justice and just the third woman to sit on the court in its 220-year history. In a statement after the vote, Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid hailed her confirmation as "an inspiration to not only millions of young women and Hispanic Americans, but our nation as whole."  Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele called her confirmation "a historic milestone" but signalled Obama may face a tougher battle when it comes to "future Supreme Court nominees."

     Democrats and some Republicans predicted the vote will shape how Hispanic Americans, a fast-growing group, align themselves in the 2010 mid-term elections and the 2012 presidential contest. While the outcome was never seriously in doubt, the final days of debate over handing her the lifetime job being vacated by retiring Justice David Souter brought harsh debates over whether she would be fair. Republicans anchored their attacks on Obama's comment that he sought a judge with "empathy" and on Sotomayor's stated hope in public remarks over the years that a "wise Latina" could be a better judge than a white male.  "What if you're the other guy? When he walks out of the courthouse, he can say he received his day in court. He can say he received a hearing. But he can't say he received justice," said the Kentucky lawmaker.  Democrats shot back that Sotomayor's 17-year record on the bench was that of a cautious and fair judge, devoted to upholding legal precedent, and warned Republicans who opposed her that they stood in the way of racial progress.

VENEZUELA'S SOCIALIST RULER HUGO CHAVEZ TERMS "MAFIA BOSS" THE ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTER

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela'S SOCIALIST RULER  Hugo Chávez on Thursday harshly condemned Israel after Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman suggested that the Lebanese Islamic group Hezbollah has established militant cells in Venezuela.  The Venezuelan Head of State accused the ultranationalist Israeli Foreign Minister of being a "mafia boss."

     Chávez said during his radio and TV weekly program Aló, Presidente Teórico (Theoretical Hello President) that the Israeli police recommended prosecuting Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for (a string of alleged corruption) offenses, AP reported.  "This Foreign Minister (Lieberman) who visited Colombia is a mafia boss. He has been taking to court (in Israel) for money laundering," Chávez said.  "He is (part) of the Israeli far rightist (groups) that have killed and, whenever they want, have ordered the killing of thousands of Palestinian people, children, innocent women, Lebanese people," Chávez said.

    Lieberman visited Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia in June on a mission intended, among other things, to counter Iran's influence in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela.  "Then, he visited Colombia to say that there are terrorist cells in the border (with Colombia), in La Guajira. They are preparing an aggression against Venezuela," he noted.  On that occasion, Dorit Shavit, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director-General for Latin America and the Caribbean, said that the visit of Foreign Minister Lieberman sought to "counter Iran's influence in the region, which has been in (Latin America) for a long time, since the terrorist attacks in Buenos Aires."

THE WHITE HOUSE'S LATIN CONNECTION -- IS GREG GRAIG (FORMER FIDEL CASTRO'S LAWYER) DRIVING U.S. LATIN AMERICA POLICY? 

         WASHINGTON, D.C.--MARY ANASTASIA O’GRADY: "Some Washington watchers figure this bizarre stance is due to the fact that Mr. Obama is relying heavily on White House Counsel Gregory Craig for advice on Latin America. "

    "Mr. Craig was the lawyer for Fidel Castro—er, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, the father of Elian Gonzalez—during Bill Clinton’s 2000 repatriation to Cuba of the seven-year-old. During the presidential campaign when Mr. Craig was advising Mr. Obama, the far-left Council on Hemispheric Affairs endorsed Mr. Craig as “the right man to revive deeply flawed U.S.-Latin America relations.” In other words, to pull policy left."

     "There is plenty of speculation that Mr. Obama is making policy off of Mr. Craig’s “expertise.” It is not too much to believe. Indeed, if all policy is now being run out of the White House, as many observers contend, then the views of the White House counsel may explain a lot. "

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VENEZUELAN ARMS IN FARC HANDS WERE STOLEN, SAYS VENEZUELA'S SOCIALIST RULER HUGO CHAVEZ

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA---Rocket launchers and automatic rifles found in a Colombian rebel camp were stolen from a Venezuelan naval post 14 years ago, President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday, denying Bogota's claim he gave them to the insurgents.  Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez shows several Sweden-made shoulder-launched AT-4 anti-tank rockets, similar to weapons seized by the Colombian army.

    The anti-tank launchers, bought from Sweden by Venezuela in the 1980s, had been in the arsenal in the post in Cararabo, close to the Colombian border, that was cleared out in the robbery in 1995, Chavez told a news conference.  He described Colombian claims that he supplied them to the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia as a "dirty move".

    He claimed Bogota made the allegation to divert attention from a plan to open seven military bases in Colombia to US forces, which has triggered opposition across South America.  Chavez on July 28 announced he was freezing diplomatic ties with Colombia because of the weapons allegation.

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD SWORN IN AS IRAN PRESIDENT AMID CRISIS

         TEHRAN, IRAN--Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in Wednesday for a second term as president nearly two months after a disputed election triggered massive street protests, split Iran's clerical leadership and brought attacks from within his own conservative camp over mistreatment of detained opposition activists.  In streets near parliament, security forces using batons dispersed hundreds of protesters who chanted "Death to the Dictator," witnesses said. Some wore black T-shirts in a sign of grief and others wore green — the color of the opposition movement. A middle-aged woman carried a banner warning Iran's leaders if they do not listen to people's demands, they will face the same fate as Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was toppled in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

    Key opposition leaders, moderate lawmakers and all three of Ahmadinejad's election challengers boycotted the swearing in ceremony. State-run Press TV said more than 5,000 security forces deployed around the parliament building and police with sniffer dogs patrolled the area after the opposition called for demonstrations to coincide with the inauguration. In his inaugural address, Ahmadinejad seemed to tone down his often-bellicose rhetoric and emphasized his plans to improve the faltering economy. He demanded that Iran be on an equal footing with other world powers and denounced foreign interference. The government has accused the U.S. and the West of backing street protests.

    "We must play a key role in the management of the world," Ahmadinejad said. "We will not remain silent. We will not tolerate disrespect, interference and insults," he added. "I will spare no effort to safeguard the frontiers of Iran." He did not directly address President Barack Obama's outreach for the start of a dialogue on Iran's contentious nuclear program, which the U.S. suspects is geared toward producing weapons.  But he said: "Iran is a nation of logic, dialogue and constructive interaction. The basis of our foreign policy is wide and constructive contacts with all nations and independent governments based on justice, respect and friendship." The U.S. administration has given Iran a vague deadline of September to respond positively to the outreach or face stiffened sanctions. But U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged recently that the election turmoil appears to have paralyzed decision-making on the U.S. offer.

RADIO, TV MARTI TO CUT 35 POSITIONS

         MIAMI, FLORIDA--In the face of anticipated budget cuts in federal funding of the Office of Cuba Broadcast (OCB) in Miami, Radio and TV Martí will eliminate 35 jobs, or 21.8 percent of their workforce.   “We have done everything possible to minimize the impact of these cuts on our staff,'' said OCB spokeswoman Letitia King. Twenty-two employees will be laid off -- mainly television anchors and technicians, news editors and radio anchors, King said. The rest involve vacant positions and employees who have volunteered for buyout packages.

    The workforce cuts take place at a time when the stations, designed to break Fidel Castro's information blackout, get ready for a September retooling of their program format, which has been criticized for its scant reception in Cuba.  The staff cuts “reflect the proposal to change the news format of TV Martí, replacing two evening news programs with news updates every half-hour and giving Radio Martí an all-news format,'' OCB director Pedro Roig wrote in a memo to the staff Tuesday. Employee union representative Niurka Fernández Arteaga said the ``layoffs of federal employees are unnecessary. TV Martí can reduce its budget without affecting these people's jobs.'' Regarding the program changes, Fernández Arteaga, vice president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 1812, argued that they are ``an excuse to dismantle TV Martí.''

    “The newscast is TV Martí's spinal cord and its very reason of being,'' said Fernández, a TV reporter. ``If the newscast is removed, we have no reason to exist since TV Martí was created to deliver news to Cuba. What news can you deliver in five minutes?'' Four nonunion management employees received layoff letters explaining that, due to budget cuts, their positions had been eliminated. Among these are Marta Yedra, a radio figure in Miami who is a co-founder of the Martí stations, and Ramón Cota, who was El Nuevo Herald's news editor years ago.  The rest of the staff is in a wait-and-see mode, said Fernández. Those affected will be notified within about a month. Until then, TV and Radio Martí will offer buyout packages to employees willing to leave voluntarily, King said the OCB cuts are estimated at $4.2 million for the 2010 fiscal year, which will begin Oct. 1. In Miami, employees have protested the large number of contractors used by Radio and TV Martí. The staff of the TV Martí newscast that will be cut includes employees with the most seniority.

RUSSIAN SUBS PATROLLING OFF u.s. EAST COAST

         WASHINGTON, D.C.--Two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the East Coast for several days, in activity reminiscent of the Cold War, defense officials said Tuesday. U.S. Northern Command would not comment on the Russian submarines' movement. But in a prepared statement, Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek acknowledged the patrols and said the U.S. has been monitoring the two submarines.

     Two senior U.S. officials, however, said the submarines had been patrolling several hundred miles off the coast and so far had done nothing to provoke U.S. military concerns. The officials provided details on condition of anonymity in order to discuss intelligence reports. While the incident raises eyebrows, it did not trigger the more intense reaction by the U.S. military that Russia prompted when two of its bombers buzzed an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific in February 2008. U.S. fighter planes intercepted the two Russian fighters, including one that flew directly over the USS Nimitz twice at an altitude of about 2,000 feet. The event did not escalate beyond that, but it signaled a more aggressive military agenda by Moscow.

    Russia conducted naval exercises with Venezuela last year in the Caribbean and sent one of its warships through the Panama Canal for the first time since World War II. The exercises with Venezuela were the first deployment of Russian ships to the Western Hemisphere since the Cold War. Officials said they became aware of the most recent submarine activity off the East Coast early on through intelligencesources and were not notified by Moscow in advance of the patrols. They said the submarines have not crossed into U.S. waters, which extend 12 miles out into the ocean. The statement issued by Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command said, "We have been monitoring them during transit and recognize the right of all nations to exercise freedom of navigation in international waters according to international law."

VENEZUELA'S SOCIALIST PRESIDENT, HUGO CHAVEZ, PUTS THE BLAME ON THE US FOR HONDURAS COUP

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA---Venezuela’s  socialist president Hugo Chávez accused again the US government of being an accomplice with the coup staged in Honduras last June 28th, which toppled President Manuel Zelaya.

     "The Yankee empire (the United States), there is not doubt, despite its apparent ambiguity and a presumably new wording, the empire is undoubtedly supporting the coup in Honduras," said the Head of State, DPA quoted.  During a ceremony held to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the National Guard, Chávez blamed the United States for the coup in Honduras. He did not mention US President Barack Obama, though.

     Chávez compared the US ambiguity to the "dignified" attitude of Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who welcomed Zelaya and accorded him the honors of a head of state on Tuesday in Mexico City.  The president also warned that the United States "is turning Colombia into an imperialist operational base that threatens Venezuela's sovereignty." Therefore, his government would take the appropriate actions to ensure security.

BOLIVIA'S SOCIALIST PRESIDENT, EVO MORALES, SAys US MILITARY BEHIND HONDURAS COUP

         LA PAZ, BOLIVIA--Bolivian SOCIALIST president, Evo Morales,  has accused the U.S. military of being behind the coup in Honduras, saying the "imperial structure remains in force," despite President Barack Obama's inauguration.

    "I have first-hand information that the empire, through the U.S. Southern Command, made the coup d'etat in Honduras," President Morales said during a visit to the Uruguayan capital Montevideo. Morales and Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez asserted in a joint statement their "support for democratic institutions in Honduras, the legitimate government of President Jose Manuel Zelaya Rosales." The pair added that they "do not recognize any other authority that emerged from violating the constitutional order in that country."   

     “Perhaps Obama doesn’t know it, but the structure of the (U.S.) empire still remains and what was supposed to happen last year in Bolivia is now happening in Honduras. It is an aggression, a provocation act of the empire,” the Bolivian president told a news conference in reference to a spate of clashes which broke last year in Bolivia when several regions demanded autonomy. “I have first-hand information that the Southern Command of the United States has led the (military) coup in Honduras,” he added, declining to give further details.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON IN NORTH KOREA TO TRY TO FREE TWO U.S. JOURNALISTS 

         PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA--Former President Bill Clinton landed in North Korea early Tuesday on a surprise diplomatic star turn to win the freedom of two female U.S. journalists jailed at hard labor by the regime of ailing dictator Kim Jong Il. North and South Korean news outlets reported Clinton arrived in the capital of Pyongyang by charter jet after receiving word through back channels that Laura Ling and Euna Lee might be released to the former President after nearly five months in captivity. "A little girl presented a bouquet to Bill Clinton," North Korea's official state news agency said.

    The North's chief nuclear negotiator, Kim Kye Gwan, was among the official greeters on the tarmac, the official agency said, possibly signaling that the Communist nation was also seeking a breakthrough on the standoff with the U.S. over nuclear disarmament. The State Department had no comment on Clinton's trip. Secretary of State Clinton was en route to Kenya on a 10-day Africa tour that will now be overshadowed, but Bill Clinton's rescue effort had her blessing as well as that of the White House.

    "Since they started talking about this, he [Bill Clinton] was the only person who was going to go," a well-placed U.S. source said. "This is made for him; he probably knows as much as anybody about the North Koreans." Ling and Lee, both journalists for former Vice President Al Gore's Current TV cable channel, were arrested along China's border with North Korea in March.  They were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for "illegal activity," and U.S. efforts to seek their release have thus far been fruitless. The mission marked a return to center stage for the former President, who has undertaken low-key humanitarian work since his wife took over as the nation's chief diplomat.

BILL CLINTON SECURES PARDON FOR TWO US JOURNALISTS JAILED IN NORTH KOREA

         PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA---The two US journalists serving a 12-year jail sentence in North Korea - Laura Ling and Euna Lee - have been pardoned. The announcement came hours after former president Bill Clinton met the country's reclusive dictator Kim Jong Il. Kim issued an order granting a special pardon to the pair, according to a report in the Washington Post, quoting the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

    Clinton travelled to North Korea after receiving an explicit assurance that he would be able to depart with the two journalists.  KCNA said Kim and Clinton exchanged "a broad range of opinion" in their talks. North Korean media also reported that Clinton delivered a "verbal message" to Kim from President Obama, but the White House denied that any formal message was sent.

    A source familiar with the planning of the visit said the administration's consensus choice to travel to Pyongyang was former vice president Al Gore, who co-founded the news channel, Current TV, that employs the journalists. But North Korea rejected Gore. Ling and Lee were detained in March on the North Korean border with China while reporting on refugees. They were sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labour for entering the country illegally and engaging in "hostile acts".

17 FARC GUERRILLAS WERE KILLED IN A COLOMBIAN AIR FORCE STRIKE

         BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--At least 17 rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were killed when the security forces bombed one of their hideouts in the country’s central Meta province, officials said. There were 200 FARC guerrillas at the camp when the attack took place, a defence ministry spokesman said Monday, without elaborating on the fate of the other rebels.

    Media reports said the security forces have launched a major operation against the rebels, mainly to capture FARC’s 27th Front commander Efren Arboleda.  The operation was hampered due to the bad weather, reports said.  In a separate development, the army and the air force have launched an operation against the rebels in southern Caqueta province. The main target is the chief of FARC’s 49th Front, Wilson Pena Maje.

    Gen. Javier Florez, commander of the Joint Task Force Omega, said his soldiers have killed at least 40 militants in clashes in eastern Colombia in recent weeks. FARC, the country’s largest leftist group, has fought with successive Colombian governments since mid-1960s. The group is thought to have around 9,000 fighters.

cuban dictator raul castro said CUBA WILL CUT SPENDING FOR EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE

         HAVANA, CUBA--CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO  said Saturday that Cuba will cut spending on education and health care, potentially weakening the building blocks of its communist system in a bid to revive a foundering economy. Castro and Vice President Juan Almeida Bosque attended the legislature on Saturday. Castro, the former defense minister who took over the presidency last year, called state spending "simply unsustainable" and said the government would reorganize rural schools and scrutinize its free health care system in search of ways to save money.

    But he vowed that the island will not see fundamental change to its communist system, even after he and his older brother and predecessor, Fidel Castro, are gone. While insisting that education will not suffer, he said some students and teachers in rural areas will be reassigned to nearby cities, saving time and money needed to transport educators long distances between home and work.

    He also said cuts were in store for the universal health care system, which, along with free education through college, subsidized housing and food forms the basis of the communist way of life.  Three hurricanes last summer caused more than $10 billion in damage and wiped out grain that the government had stockpiled to protect against rising commodity prices. The global recession has since cut into export earnings and caused budget deficits to soar.  Castro reiterated his willingness to negotiate better relations with the United States, but he said Cuba "won't negotiate our political or social system, and we won't ask the United States to do so."

IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER APPROVES AHMADINEJAD'S SECOND TERM

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran's Supreme Leader endorsed the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a ceremony boycotted by leading moderates in protest at a disputed poll that plunged Iran into its worst crisis since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  Two former presidents, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, who backed defeated candidate Mirhossein Mousavi, did not attend Monday's ceremony although they had been present at such events in the past, Iranian media reported.

    "I am endorsing the presidency of this brave, hard-working and wise man as the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, in praise of Ahmadinejad who will be sworn in by parliament on Wednesday.  After the ceremony hundreds of Mousavi supporters, some of them honking car horns, headed towards a central Tehran square where they planned to protest. Dozens of riot police and Basij militia had assembled to prevent any demonstration but were not intervening, the witness said.  Other leading moderate figures joined Rajsanfani, who has declared the country in crisis, and Khatami in missing the formal endorsement.

    Ahmadinejad's victory for a second term led reformists and moderate candidates Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi to accuse the government of electoral fraud, caused violent protests and exposed deep schisms within Iran's clerical and political elite.  The president now faces the difficult task of assembling a cabinet which is acceptable to the mostly conservative parliament, which may object if he just picks members of his inner circle. Parliament has in the past rejected some of Ahmadinejad's cabinet choices.  The Supreme Leader endorsed the June 12 election result and demanded an end to the protests at which more than 20 people have been killed, but in a challenge to his authority Mousavi and Karoubi said the next government would be illegitimate.

VENEZUELAN JOURNALISTS PROTEST AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF GOVERNMENT BROADCASTING WATCHDOG

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--From the early hours of Monday, a group of journalists rallied in front of the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) and the Ministry of Public Works and Housing to reject the shutdown of 34 Venezuelan radio stations.

    Roger Santodomingo, the secretary general of the Caracas chapter of the Venezuelan Journalist's Association (CNP) regretted that the government "is silencing the radio outlets, to make the biggest attack." He fears that the government is trying to implement in Venezuela "a Cuban package to take our liberties,"and this is contrary to the Constitution.

    He said that besides affecting the workers of the radio stations that were closed last week, the government is limiting the right to choose of millions of Venezuelans. The student movement has also protested the shutdown of 34 radio stations with multiple demonstrations throughout the city to raise awareness of people about the recent events occurred in Venezuela.

cuban dictator raul castro said communist cuba will not change despite president obama's unilateral concessions

         HAVANA, CUBA--CUBAN DICTATOR Raul Castro said on Saturday he would not change Cuba's communist system to make peace with the United States, but repeated his willingness to discuss all issues with the island's longtime enemy. In a speech to the Cuban National Assembly, Castro acknowledged the United States under President Barack Obama was less "aggressive" toward Cuba, but he expressed irritation with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for saying repeatedly that Washington expected Havana to make changes in exchange for better relations.

    "I have to say, with all due respect to Mrs. Clinton ... they didn't elect me president to restore capitalism in Cuba, nor to hand over the revolution," said Castro, who succeeded his brother Fidel Castro as president last year. "I was elected to defend, maintain and continue perfecting socialism, not destroy it," he added, prompting a long standing ovation from assembly members, most of whom are members of the Communist Party. "We are ready to talk about everything, but ... not to negotiate our political and social system," he said.

     Obama has said he wants to "recast" relations with Cuba and eased the 47-year-old U.S. embargo by allowing Cuban-Americans to travel and send money freely to the island 90 miles (145 km) from Key West, Florida. His administration has reopened immigration talks with the Cuban government that were suspended by his predecessor, George W. Bush, and recently turned off a news ticker on the U.S. Interests Section in Havana that Cuba viewed as an affront.  But Obama and Clinton have said further improvements depend on Cuba making progress on human rights and political prisoners.    "It's true there has been a diminution of the aggression and anti-Cuban rhetoric on the part of the administration," Castro said. But he noted the embargo remained in effect and the ending of restrictions on Cuban-Americans had not yet been implemented.

FARC LEADER DIARY TIES ECUDADOR PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA TO THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--A diary OF a top Colombian guerrilla leader killed last year says key officials in Ecuador accepted money from the rebels and had connections with Mexican drug gangs. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, has been at war with the government for decades.  The money was meant to finance Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's 2006 election campaign, Marxist rebel Raul Reyes is said to have written in a diary allegedly obtained after his death.

     Ecuador denies the allegations and has asked the Organization of American States to investigate. "The president of the republic did not know anything about this and never sent any emissary to finance his electoral campaign," Interior Minister Gustavo Jalkh said at a news conference Wednesday. Ecuadorian officials released excerpts from the diary Thursday. Wednesday's revelation was the second instance in two weeks tying Correa to donations from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC.

     Last week, Colombian media broadcast a 2008 video in which guerrilla leader Victor Julio Suarez Rojas, widely known as Mono Jojoy, said the rebels donated money to Correa's campaign.  The guerrilla group also had conversations with Correa's emissaries and has reached "some accords, according to documents that we have," Suarez said in the videotape. Correa denied those allegations, asking the nation's civil service commission to investigate. FARC issued a statement Tuesday denying that the rebels have "given money to any electoral campaign of any neighboring country."

HUGO CHAVEZ SHUT DOWN DOZENS OF VENEZUELAN RADIO STATIONS

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--At least 34 private radio stations in Venezuela were closed indefinitely BY HUGO CHAVEZ, and 206 more were at risk of being shut down, a government official said. The stations were closed for various reasons, including expired permits and operation by unauthorized personnel, said Diosdado Cabello, minister of Public Works and Housing. "Freedom of expression is not the most sacred freedom," Cabello was quoted as saying by CNN affiliate Globovision.

    Cabello said the closings affected at least 11 states nationwide and 206 additional stations would shut down in the coming days.  Most station owners said the closures were politically motivated. The government of leftist President Hugo Chavez has cracked down on the media. A "Special Bill Against Media Crimes" was introduced before the National Assembly this week, Cabello said, adding that he hoped the bill would pass. The government has also heightened its battle against Globovision, the only critical private broadcaster in the nation. In June, it launched a fifth investigation into the network. In early June, officials arrived at Globovision to accuse the station of not paying about $2.3 million in taxes for certain advertisements it aired in 2002 and 2003.

     A few hours before, the government raided the home of Globovision President Guillermo Zuloaga, an avid hunter, to see whether he had killed any protected animals. It was the second raid on Zuloaga's home in two weeks. "This is something to try to scare Globovision, to silence Globovision, something they are not going to achieve," Zuloaga said at the time. RCTV, another independent station that criticized Chavez, lost its broadcast license two years ago. It had to go off the public airwaves and transmit solely on cable. Other TV stations hung on to their frequencies by adjusting their editorial line, the Reporters Without Borders press organization said in its 2009 World Report. Venezuelan officials have repeatedly denied any political motives. Chavez has labeled as "terrorists" any TV station owners who criticize the government.

HUGO CHAVEZ'S MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS, DIOSDADO CABELLO, SAYS THAT "FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IS NOT THE MOST SACRED FREEDOM" 

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Diosdado Cabello, the Minister of Public Works and Housing and interim director of the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel), supported the draft Special Law against Media Crimes submitted to the National Assembly by the Attorney General, Luisa Ortega Díaz, to punish "media crimes" with imprisonment. "I think that the Attorney General explained the whole situation very well. Everything has a limit."

    Cabello hopes that the National Assembly passes a legislation related to this proposal "to put limits on what some call here the most sacred freedom."  The Minister of Public Works said that "the freedom of expression is not the most sacred freedom that can exist." According to Cabello, there is an editorial line followed by the Venezuelan media, "which says: Today's headlines must be devoted to this particular issue. The headings of the main Venezuelan newspapers are related today (Friday) to the "coup" against freedom of expression," Cabello mentioned as an example.

    He added that the media are aware of the damage they cause to the Venezuelan people. Therefore, in his opinion, when the media spread information, they must assume their responsibility. "When we make a campaign claiming that (private TV news network) Globovisión makes people sick, we mean it, Globovisión makes people sick. This is not a lie. Globovisión is slowly alienating people; they broadcast a string of lies. They never broadcast one single positive piece of news."

OUSTED PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA ORGANIZES HIS "POPULAR ARMY" TO OVERTHROW ROBERTO MICHELETTI  GOVERNMENT

       MANAGUA, NICARAGUA--Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is organizing a “popular, pacific army” of loyal followers to join him in his promised return to Honduras, he said from his exile post in Nicaragua opposite the border with his homeland.  “We will begin with a training period."

     The best way is for five trainers to train 20,” Zelaya said Wednesday evening to a crowd of hundreds of supporters in Ocotal. He added that the struggle will remain peaceful and the members of his force “will use weapons of intelligence and reason.”  On Thursday, Zelaya held a surprise meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, which came after Zelaya made statements on television urging the United States to step up pressure against the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti.

     Though Nicaragua's Sandinista president, Daniel Ortega, has proven to be a gracious host and staunch supporter of Zelaya's cause, Nicaraguan opposition leaders such as the Liberal Constitutional Party (PLC) have grown wary of the exiled leader's pronouncements and prolonged stay in their country. “The PLC demands that the deposed president of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, because of his conduct disrespecting our sovereignty, his warmongering language and utilization of our national territory to organize militias of popular resistance to attack his own country, leave Nicaragua immediately,” reads a party statement released Thursday.  The PLC is also urging Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, a close ally of Ortega and Zelaya, to “lay off Central America.”

raul castro postpones the communist party's first congress

         HAVANA, CUBA--Raul Castro has postponed what was to have been the ruling Communist Party’s first congress in 12 years, saying it may be the last under the aging “historic leadership of the revolution” and must be done right, state-run media reported on Friday. Castro said the party has to carefully analyze economic matters to determine “what must be perfected and even eliminated” as Cuba moves into the future without him or brother Fidel Castro at the helm, according to the newspaper Granma.

    The congress, where direction is set for the country’s future, was expected to take place at the end of this year. No new date has been set. The congress has been heavily anticipated because, among other things, it will determine if Fidel Castro, 82, stays on as head of the party. Granma quoted Raul Castro, who spoke to the party’s central committee, as saying, “Because of the laws of life, this will be the last (congress) led by the historic leadership of the revolution,” referring to age and time.

     Raul Castro, 78, replaced Fidel Castro as president last year but the elder Castro, who ran Cuba for 49 years after taking power in the 1959 revolution, has held on to the leadership of the Communist Party, the only legal political party on the island. Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since undergoing abdominal surgery three years ago but still is involved in the government and writes columns for state-run media. Raul Castro said the congress, which would be the sixth in the party’s history, would be held only when the party has completed preparations and the public has been consulted.  “It has to be the people, with the party at the vanguard, that decides” future direction, he said. Raul Castro is trying to squeeze more productivity out of Cuba’s socialist economy while at the same time fighting to keep it afloat in the face of the global economic crisis.

OUSTED PRESIDENT ZELAYA MET  IN NICARAGUA WITH HIS FRIEND, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO HONDURAS HUGO LLORENS  

         MANAGUA, NICARAGUA--Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya met at the Honduras embassy in Managua with a U.S. mission led by ambassador Hugo Llorens on Thursday, trying to seek a solution to the political crisis produced by the coup of June 28 in Honduras.  

     After the meeting which was held in Honduran embassy in Managua, located in Las Colinas district, south of Tegucigalpa, Llorens said it was "a pleasure to see again President Manuel Zelaya, who as you know, is the government that the U.S. recognizes."    To emphasize the meaning of his words, Llorens,  Zelaya and other U.S. officials posed for pictures. Zelaya had returned to Managua Thursday to meet with Llorens to discuss about the issue of Honduran current situation.  

    Llorens said "the meeting was a chance to discuss the political scene and the way the international community is working to restore the democracy in Honduras."  To the moment Zelaya have not talked about his meeting with the U.S. mission.  While Zelaya and the U.S. mission were meeting, in Honduras the army repressed the protesters demanding the return of power to Zelaya and the Interim President, Roberto Micheletti, said he will never allow Zelaya's return to Honduras.  On Thursday, Zelaya also announced the creation of a people's army of pacific resistance which will start to be trained and educated to prepare the democracy's return to Honduras--possibly, as Fidel Castro did in Cuba, to replace the Honduras army. 

IRANIAN POLICE AND GOVERNMENT MILITIA ATTACKED HUNDREDS OF PEACEFUL PROTESTERS

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Iranian police and pro-government militia attacked and scattered hundreds of protesters in a demonstration in Iran's capital Saturday, witnesses said.  The protests were in response to the demonstrations being held around the world calling for the Iranian government to release opposition activists, one of the witnesses told The Associated Press.  Protesters in Vanak and Mirdamad districts chanted "death to the dictator" and "we want our vote back" before they were attacked and beaten by police.

    As night fell, Iranians across the city gathered on their rooftops and chanted "death to the dictator" and "courageous neighbors, thank you for your support," apparently in response to the protests around the world.  While the rooftop chanting had been common feature in the immediate aftermath of the June 12 elections, it had largely disappeared in recent weeks.  The opposition says that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the June 12 elections through fraud, sparking protests across the country.  Hundreds of activists have since been imprisoned in the ensuing crackdown and at least 20 have died.

    Protesters across the world on Saturday called on Iran to end its clampdown on opposition activists, demanding the release of those rounded up.  Groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are backing a global day of action, with protests planned in more than 80 cities.  The protesters want Iranian authorities to release what they say are hundreds, or even thousands, of people detained during protests that followed the presidential election last month that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.  In Amsterdam, Iranian Nobel Peace prize laureate Shirin Ebadi urged the international community to reject the outcome of the Iranian election and called for a new vote monitored by the United Nations.

hugo chavez and russia expand military and technical cooperation

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez said that he will visit Moscow and Saint Petersburg in a month to consolidate bilateral contacts between the two countries. Venezuela and Russia signed an agreement on Monday to expand their military exchanges and enhance bilateral cooperation, said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. During a TV and radio broadcast of the agreements signed between the governments of Russia and Venezuela, at the Palace of Miraflores, the seat of the Executive Office, Chávez said that the agreements reviewed included the "New Regulations for a Military-Technical Cooperation."

    "We (Venezuela) have no plans to attack anybody, we only have the right to defend ourselves," said Chávez during the meeting attended by the first Vice President of Russia, Igor Sechin, and some 30 Russian businessmen and officials.  President Chávez did not elaborate on the scope of the new cooperation agreements.  However, according to sources consulted by AFP, the agreements will increase trade between the armed forces of the two countries, including sale of arms, joint maneuvers and technology transfer.

    "The military cooperation will now have a permanent and binational body whose task will be to provide continuity and consistency and extend cooperation beyond the acquisition of weapons," diplomatic sources said.  The military relationship between Russia and Venezuela started when the United States restricted the sale of arms to Venezuela, as the US authorities believed that the South American country was not making the necessary efforts to fight terrorism.  Chávez also said that he will visit Moscow and Saint Petersburg in a month to consolidate bilateral contacts between the two countries.