February 28, 2009

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS FIDEL DOING VERY, VERY GOOD AND WALKING THROUGH HAVANA CITY

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chavez said Friday that 82-year-old Fidel Castro seemed in "very, very good" shape when they met in Cuba last week. Remarking on the former Cuban president's health for the first time since their latest meeting, Chavez said Castro was "much better than all the times I've visited him in the past three years, two and a half years." Castro has not been seen in public since mid-2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery and ceded power to his younger brother Raul.

     Venezuela's socialist leader said in a telephone call carried on state television early Friday that he met with the elder Castro twice, once for three hours on Feb. 20 and a day later for more than four hours. "Fidel is - well - very, very, very good. Very good," Chavez said. In a televised speech later Friday, Chavez said he had received four letters from Castro a day earlier. "Fidel surprised us all," Chavez said. "He went for a walk. Fidel went out and they saw him. ... Fidel walking through Havana, through the streets. A miracle. The people were crying.

     "Of course he planned it all so there wouldn't be any record of it or anything," Chavez added. "There's a photo of that "miracle" that I've seen, and in that sense I feel humbly privileged (he probably was shown a "miraculous" photo similar to the one inserted by CAMCOCUBA in this section)." It wasn't clear exactly when Castro took the walk. When they met, Chavez and Castro discussed subjects including the world financial crisis and the new government of President Barack Obama, the Venezuelan government said in a statement. There were no images released of the meetings with Castro, whom Chavez views as an exemplary "father" for leftists across Latin America.

US CRITICIZES VENEZUELA AND BOLIVIA FOR INSUFFICIENT COUNTER-NARCOTICS EFFORT

     WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The US Department of State lashed on Friday at Venezuela and Bolivia for their failure to cooperate with the US government in the fight against drugs, praising instead the efforts of Colombia and Mexico. In a report on counter-narcotics efforts and the degree of cooperation of foreign countries, the United States asked Bolivia to "reverse" its policies on enlargement of coca plantations and allow for the return of US anti-drug agents.

    As for Caracas, it offered to resume the US cooperation, provided that the Venezuelan government shows its commitment to combat drug traffic, reported Efe. According to the 2009 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), released on Friday by the US State Department, Venezuela remains a major drug-transit country "with high levels of corruption and a weak judicial system."

     Several high-level Venezuelan officials, including former Interior and Justice Minister Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, current Interior and Justice Minister Tarek El Assaimi, and Vice President Ramón Carrizalez have been repeatedly and publicly critical of US counternarcotics policy and "have accused the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of engaging in illicit narcotics trafficking," added the document.

COLOMBIA TO ALLOW MORE U.S. PLANES TO LAND ON AIR BASES

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos said here that as part of a military cooperation accord being hammered out his country plans to allow more U.S. planes to land on its air bases.  "We're expanding cooperation in every sense and part of that is access to our bases, and that's what we're negotiating," Santos said Thursday in a joint press conference with Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermudez.

    Santos said the move was nothing new because U.S. forces already have access to Colombian bases - via some special permits - for carrying out anti-drug operations in the Pacific.  "What we can do is (negotiate so that) instead of this type of airplane, there can be this other type of plane. Those are the parameters that are being negotiated," he said.

     The defense minister said authorities from both countries will continue working to finalize the details of the accord, which will involve "cooperation in the fight against terrorism, against drug trafficking and military cooperation in general."  According to Santos, the second phase of negotiations should begin on March 12 or 13 with the goal of having the accord "wrapped up" by the middle of that month.  The talks on expanding U.S. access to Colombian bases come seven months before the United States will have to withdraw from the Manta anti-narcotics air base on Ecuador's Pacific coast.
 

February 27, 2009

FRANCE PRESIDENT NICOLAS SARKOZY SENDS EX MINISTER JACK LANG AS ENVOY TO CUBA

     PARIS, FRANCE--President Nicolas Sarkozy has sent France'sformer culture minister Jack Lang to Cuba as his personal envoy with a mission to renew ties with its Communist rulers, French officials confirmed Wednesday. Lang was due to meet Cuba's President Raul Castro later in the day, a senior official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Cuba has entered a period of transition and it's a good time to renewFranco-Cuban ties, as the European Union has just restarted its cooperationagreement and the United States is considering its position," he said.

    Lang was already in Havana and had met with several Cuban officials before officials in Sarkozy's office told AFP that he had been given the new role and was carrying a message from the French president. "The president has asked Jack Lang to be his special envoy for Cuba toexplore with Cuban authorities the modalities for a renewal of political and economic dialogue," the president's office announced. Lang represents France's opposition Socialists in parliament but, likeForeign Minister Bernard Kouchner, has been drawn into the right-wing president's orbit. He had made clear his willingness to deal with Cuba.

    Fifty years after Fidel Castro's socialist revolution, Cuba is still run by the now 82-year-old leader's party, although Fidel himself has retired andhanded over the reins of power to his brother Raul. The Caribbean island is still subject to a US trade embargo but Europeanpowers have begun to rebuild development ties, which Castro broke off in 2003 after EU criticism of a Cuban crackdown on dissidents. Cuba and the European Union formally restored ties October 23, by signing a cooperation agreement that released 2.5 million dollars in aid for rebuilding efforts after two hurricanes devastated the island in September. 

Click here and read  Félix José Hernández  's letter from Paris concerning this topic. 

MEXICO VOWS MORE TROOPS FOR DRUG WAR NEAR U.S. BORDER

     JUAREZ CITY, MEXICO-- THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT promised on Wednesday to pour more troops into a northern border city at the heart of the country's drug war, where a meeting of federal officials was rattled by bomb scares earlier in the day. Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, has become Mexico's most violent city as security forces take on drug cartels warring for control of smuggling routes into the United States.

    "We aren't going to give up an inch of the city and we will expel them from Juarez," Interior Minister Fernando Gomez Mont told reporters after a security cabinet meeting in Ciudad Juarez, which was heavily guarded by federal police. "There will be a substantial increase in military and federal police presence in the coming weeks." Threats against public officials have been rising in the region. Last week suspected drug hitmen killed two city councilmen near Ciudad Juarez.

     Gangs also have threatened to kill the mayor and last week forced out the police chief after killing his deputy and promising murders of police officers every 48 hours. "They want to sow terror and the municipal and state police are totally overwhelmed," Chihuahua state lawmaker Victor Quintana told Reuters. A former soldier attacked a convoy carrying Chihuahua state Governor Jose Reyes late on Sunday in what Mexican media speculated was linked to the drug war. President Felipe Calderon has sent out about 45,000 troops across the country but clashes between rival gangs and security forces killed some 6,000 people last year.

VENEZUELAN OIL SALES TO THE UNITED STATES DOWN 12.3 PERCENT 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The new policy announced by US President Barack Obama to reduce dependence on oil and promote alternative energy sources will make an impact on Venezuela, which sells nearly half of its crude oil to the United States.   Obama announced in a speech before the Congress last Tuesday night that his country's stimulus plan will double the production of renewable energy over the next three years, with the related investment amounting to USD 15 billion per year.    The amount will serve to develop new technologies such as solar energy and wind power, advanced biofuels, clean coal and cars and trucks that use fuel more efficiently.

    Although the United States is one of the world's largest oil producers, large domestic consumption forces the country to import more than 60 percent of the fuel it requires to keep the industries and vehicles moving. The US is the largest importer of Venezuelan oil, with a total of 1.006 million barrels per day, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), an arm of the US Energy Department. Venezuela is the fourth largest supplier of oil to the US, behind Canada, Saudi Arabia and Mexico.

    According to data disclosed by the US energy agency, Venezuelan exports to the United States fell 12.3 percent between December 2007 and December 2008. In December 2007, Venezuela exported 1.148 million per day to the United States. Although the markets for Venezuela's crude oil and oil derivative exports have changed, the US continues to top the list of the major buyers of Venezuelan oil. According to state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela's financial report of operations, in January-September 2008, exports of crude oil to Asian countries increased by 73 percent, as compared to the same period in the previous year.

February 26, 2009

CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO REFUSED TO RELEASE DETAINED JOURNALISTS

     HAVANA, CUBA--Reporters Without Borders notes with regret that the Cuban government has stubbornly refused to release 23 arbitrarily detained journalists, including its correspondent Ricardo González Alfonso, in the 12 months since Raúl Castro was confirmed as President of the Council of State on 24 February 2008, 19 months after taking over provisionally from his ailing elder brother Fidel. There have been a few signs of a political opening-up in the past year but, in all, Cuba continues to hold around 200 political prisoners. The press freedom organisation calls for the continuation of diplomatic efforts that could help change this situation and, in particular, the lifting of the US embargo of Cuba that has been in place since 1962.

    “Nineteen of the 23 journalists currently imprisoned in Cuba for their opinions and their reports were arrested in the ‘Black Spring’ crackdown of 2003 and will begin their seventh year in detention on 18 March,” Reporters Without Borders said. “This situation is all the more absurd and cruel as the authorities have agreed to release or, on health grounds, suspend the sentences of some of the 75 dissidents arrested in that crackdown. “It also stands in complete contradiction to the intentions manifested by the government when it signed two UN human rights conventions and partially liberalised the communications sector. The government cannot keep on evading this contradiction as it tries to consolidate its diplomatic ties and extricate Cuba from its isolation.

    “We again call on the countries engaged in a dialogue with Cuba, especially its Latin American partners, to step up their mediation on behalf of the imprisoned journalists in the name of the free expression that is recognised everywhere else in the hemisphere. In this respect, we think it is necessary that the United State lift the embargo impose 47 years ago on Cuba. Condemned by virtually the entire international community, this embargo just bolsters the regime while penalising the population.” Raúl Castro took over at the head of the Council of State nine days after four of the “Black Spring detainees,” including independent journalist Alejandro González Raga and José Gabriel Ramón Castillo, the editor of a dissident socio-cultural magazine, were released as a result of Spanish government mediation and flew to Spain.

IRAN TESTS ITS FIRST NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

     BUSHEHR, IRAN--Iran tested its first nuclear power plant Wednesday, a stride that prompted one Iranian technician to declare it was "independence day" for the Islamic republic. Tests were carried out at the Bushehr nuclear power plant using "dummy" fuel rods, loaded with lead in place of enriched uranium to simulate nuclear fuel. In a news release distributed to reporters at the scene, officials said the test measured the "pressure, temperature and flow rate" of the facility to make sure they were at appropriate levels.

    Officials said the next test will use enriched uranium, but it's not clear when the test will be held or when the facility will be fully operational. "Of course we're proud. Our power plant is on its way to being ready," engineer Mohsen Shirzai said. "We're definitely proud." The test was observed by the head of the Russian nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, and the head of Iran's nuclear agency, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh. Iranian officials bused in around 70 journalists for the test run and a tour of parts of the power plant. In 1998, the Iranian government signed a Russian company to a $1 billion contract to finish building the power plant. Construction of the plant began in 1974 under the late Shah of Iran, but it was halted at the start of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, and its completion has long been delayed.

    Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, Atomstroiexport, is building the plant under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. The United States, several European nations and Israel suspect Tehran has been trying to acquire the capacity to build nuclear weapons, but Iran has said its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.  Watch the world's reaction to the nuclear plant test » Kiriyenko, quoted by Interfax, couldn't name the commissioning date of the nuclear power plant.

VENEZUELA TO PROPOSE NEW OUTPUT CUT AT OPEC'S NEXT MEETING

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.--Venezuela is to suggest a new output cut at the next meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in March, in an effort to bolster oil prices, Alí Rodríguez, the country's finance minister, said Wednesday.  The fluctuation in the international price of crude oil keeps the Venezuelan oil basket with an annual average of USD 36 per barrel, lower than the USD 60 per barrel that Venezuela estimated to build its 2009 budget, Reuters reported.  "In the next meeting in March, Venezuela -jointly with other countries in accordance with information from the OPEC supply monitoring committee- will propose new cuts as needed," former OPEC president Rodríguez told Venezuelan television station Televen.

    The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plans to meet on March 15.   Venezuela's Finance Minister said that there are still oscillations in the market, which has not yet stabilized completely. "OPEC has achieved its basic goal of putting the brake on the drastic oil price fall. However, there are still roller-coaster, up-and-down price movements," Rodríguez said.   Oil futures rose above USD 40 a barrel on Wednesday lifted by firmer equities. Investors were still waiting the release of US inventory data expected to show rising supply.

    President Hugo Chávez said recently said that Venezuela is facing a "hard and difficult situation" due to persistently low oil prices. However, Chávez vowed that he will not cut resources for social programs allocated to low-income sectors. Analysts believe that reduced revenues amidst crumbling oil prices in world markets are to force Venezuela to take some unpopular measures, such as devaluation. Some officials, however, have ruled out such a possibility in the short term.

February 25, 2009

THE DRUG TRAFFICKING SMUGGLED THROUGH VENEZUELA  HAS INCREASED

     NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent and quasi-judicial control organ monitoring the implementation of the United Nations drug control conventions, has just published its Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2008. The report highlights the increase in drug trafficking smuggled through Venezuela in recent years. "International criminal groups continued to use the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela as one of the main departure areas for illicit drug consignments leaving the region of South America," the report said.

     The report says that according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), "the smuggling of cocaine through that country has increased significantly since 2002." The hike in cocaine drug trafficking reported by the UN office contrasts with the data on seizures of drugs provided by the National Anti-Drug Office (ONA). According to the statistics posted by the Venezuelan agency on its website, cocaine seizures by Venezuelan enforcement officials have dropped considerably. According to the ONA data, in 2005 the National Armed Forces and enforcement agencies seized 58,435 kg of cocaine, while in 2006 the figure fell down to 38,925 kg. In 2007, enforcement agencies seized 31,790 kg of cocaine, versus 24,815 kg through October 2008.

     According to a forecast at the end of the year, the total of cocaine seized in 2008 would amount to 29,778 kg. Despite the fact that the UNODC reports an increase in cocaine trafficking in Venezuela, ironically the seizures made by Venezuela's enforcement agencies have fallen about 50 percent from 2005 to 2008. According to the INCB report, which was kept confidential until last Thursday, Europe is the main destination of the drugs passing through Venezuela. "European countries, in particular Spain, have been identified as the main countries of destination for some 70 percent of the drugs smuggled through the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," the agency said.

VENEZUELA SEEKS DIALOGUE WITH THE UNITED STATES 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela pursues an open dialogue with the administration of US President Barack Obama in order to normalize relations, said Alberto Müller Rojas, the Vice-President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

    "We are looking for a dialogue and, in fact, although at the beginning of his administration, President Obama attacked us, in his recent statements he has not done so." "It shows that he is recognizing the reality of Venezuela," said Müller Rojas during an interview with Mexican news agency Notimex.

    According to the PSUV leader, it is in the interest of both Venezuela and the United States to "resume a cooperative relation." To move towards this scenario, "we have already sent lots of signals about our willingness to start a dialogue with the United States." "We have not reduced trade and social relations (with the United States). We ensure them the energy supply. A dialogue is a win-win situation for both sides," said the Vice-President of the PSUV.

VENEZUELA HAS THE HIGHEST RATE OF MISERY AMONG 60 COUNTRIES 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Venezuela failed to make progress in the implementation of measures that would allow for an "effective economic policy." According to the index made by US economic news agency Bloomberg, Venezuela ranked last in a list with 60 countries, with a 36.8 percent rate of misery.

    The measurement, created by Arthur Okun, an economics adviser to US President Lyndon Johnson, is the result of the sum of the unemployment and inflation rates for each country which, according to the late economist, showed if a country developed disastrous or successful economic policies. Venezuela, which showed by the end of last year an unemployment rate higher than 6 percent and an inflation rate close to 31 percent, ranked last in the list, accompanied by the following countries: South Africa, Ukraine, Egypt and Iceland.

    While the percentage of jobless has fallen consistently in Venezuela, the consumer price index has steadily increased. According to the definition of the rate created by Okun, this implies that other important factors, such as economic growth, do not permeate into the lowest social strata due to the presence of high inflation and unemployment rates. The rate of poverty, measured by income, struck 26 percent of Venezuelan households in 2008, as reported by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

February 24, 2009

N. KOREA MISSILE CAN HIT U.S. TERRITORY; NEW MISSILES CAN TRAVEL ABOUT 3,000 KILOMETERS

     SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--Stalinist North Korea deployed new medium-range ballistic missiles and expanded special forces training during 2008, South Korea's defense ministry reported. The missiles can travel about 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles), possibly putting U.S. military bases in the Pacific Ocean territory of Guam within striking distance, the Ministry of National Defense said in its 2008 Defense White Paper, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday.

    The paper, published after weeks of delay, calls the North's 1.2 million-strong military an "immediate and grave threat," according to Yonhap.  The report adds that the North has recently bolstered its naval forces, reinforcing submarines and developing new torpedoes, in addition to increasing its special forces training after reviewing U.S. military tactics in Iraq and Afghanistan.

     Tension between Pyongyang and Seoul has increased in recent weeks, with North Korea announcing it would scrap peace agreements with the South, warning of a war on the Korean peninsula and threatening to test a missile capable of hitting the western United States. U.S. and South Korean officials have said that North Korea appears to be preparing to test-fire its long-range missile, the Taepodong-2. Pyongyang tested one of the missiles in 2006, but it failed 40 seconds after launch.  The missile is thought to have an intended range of about 4,200 miles (6,700 kilometers), which if true, could give it the capability of striking Alaska or Hawaii. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who returned from Asia on Sunday after her first overseas trip in the post, recently called North Korea's nuclear program "the most acute challenge to stability in northeast Asia."

GUNMEN ATTACK MEXICAN GOVERNOR'S CONVOY KILLING BODYGUARD

     JUAREZ, MEXICO--Gunmen have attacked a convoy carrying the governor of a violence-wracked border state, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding two other agents. It was not clear if the attackers were targeting Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza, but he canceled a trip today to meet with federal officials in Mexico City about security problems in his state, where hundreds have died in drug-related violence in recent months. Baeza said gunmen in two cars fired high-powered weapons at a vehicle two cars behind his in a convoy in the state capital, Chihuahua city, on Sunday night. The two wounded agents were in stable condition today and one of the attackers was hospitalized with a gunshot to the head. The other attackers fled.

    The governor told a news conference shortly before midnight Sunday that he doesn’t know if the attackers were aiming for him: “We don’t want to speculate.” But rich, heavily armed gangs battling for turf on the doorstep of the U.S. narcotics market have increasingly challenged the government on all levels, even ambushing troops sent to battle the cartels. The convoy attack came two days after the police chief of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua’s biggest city, bowed to crime gang demands to resign because they threatened to kill at least one of his officers every 48 hours.

    Reyes Baeza asked federal officials to investigate because he said the assailants fired high-powered weapons that Mexican law says can only be used by the military. Federal officials say more than 6,000 people died in drug-related violence across Mexico last year, and no state suffered more than Chihuahua. Ciudad Juarez alone recorded 1,600 killings. Also today, authorities in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco announced the arrest of nine alleged hitmen aligned with the Gulf cartel. The seven men and two women were detained after a shootout Sunday with soldiers outside two safe houses in the towns of Comalcalco and Paraiso, said state prosecutor Rafael Gonzalez. Two soldiers were wounded in the confrontation.

RAFAEL CORREA SAID EXPELLED US DIPLOMAT DIRECTED CIA IN ECUADOR

     QUITO, ECUADOR--Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa accused an expelled U.S. diplomat of directing CIA operations in the South American nation, but offered no proof. Mark Sullivan, the U.S. Embassy's first secretary in the office of regional affairs, was declared a "persona non grata" on Wednesday and ordered to leave the country within 48 hours because of what the government called "unacceptable meddling" in Ecuadorean affairs. Ecuadorean officials claim he disputed the transfer of a senior police investigator amid a growing diplomatic spat over Washington's aid to the South American nation.

    Last month, Ecuador ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement attache Armando Astorga expelled for supposed interference, although Washington said Astorga had already left the country when his assignment ended. Correa revisited the Sullivan case on his weekly broadcast show Saturday, saying, "Let's be clear: He is the director of the CIA in Ecuador." The president did not offer any evidence. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Marta Youth said it is Washington's policy not to comment on intelligence matters.

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Bolivian President Evo Morales, both leftist allies of Correa, also have been critical of Washington and warned of alleged CIA operations in their countries. Morales accused the agency last week of infiltrating state energy company YPFB. "Regrettably there has been a CIA presence in Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos," Morales said Friday. "Some of our companeros have been caught up in this external infiltration," Morales said, referring to a scandal over the robbery and killing of a businessman. Investigators suspect the $450,000 in cash stolen was intended as a bribe for YPFB officials.

February 23, 2009

HUGO CHAVEZ SEES FIDEL CASTRO TWICE IN SURPRISE CUBA TRIP

     HAVANA, CUBA--Hugo Chavez has met twice with the ailing 82-year-old Fidel Castro during a surprise 24-hour visit to Cuba.
 
     Cuban state media says Chavez arrived Friday night on a working visit and was greeted by Fidel's younger brother President Raul Castro. Venezuela's socialist leader - fresh off a referendum win that allows him to run for re-election - met with Fidel Castro Friday night and again shortly before departing Saturday.

     There were no images of Chavez meeting with Fidel Castro, only with his younger brother. Fidel has not been seen in public since mid-2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery and ceded power to Raul.

SENATOR LUGAR SAYS US MUST RETHINK CUBA EMBARGO

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. policy of shunning communist Cuba by imposing a strict trade embargo has failed to prod the island nation toward democracy and should be re-evaluated, according to the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "We must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way that enhances U.S. interests," wrote Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., in a report dated Monday.

    The report lends new weight to a bipartisan view in Congress that Raúl Castro's rise to power has opened a window for U.S.-Cuban relations. President Obama has promised a fresh look at the U.S. policy. He says he would be open to meeting with Castro, who took over as Cuba's president for his ailing brother, Fidel. Obama also supports easing limitations on the number of visits and the amount of money sent to Cuba by family members in the U.S.

    But like his predecessor, George W. Bush, Obama has said he believes the embargo provides important leverage with the country's leaders. Lugar's suggestion that the U.S. rethink that position was included in an assessment of U.S.-Cuban relations written by his senior staffer, Carl Meacham, who traveled to Cuba in January. The report was scheduled to be distributed this week among Lugar's Senate colleagues. Ending the embargo would require an act of Congress because lawmakers wrote key parts of the restrictions into law in 1992 and 1996. The 1996 law, passed shortly after Cuban fighter jets shot down two planes operated by a Miami-based anti-Castro group, bars the United States from normalizing relations with Cuba as long as Fidel or Raúl Castro is involved in the Cuban government.

TWO ESCAPE GREEK PRISON BY HELICOPTER 

     ATHENS, GREECE-A manhunt was under way Sunday for two inmates who escaped a maximum-security prison when a helicopter plucked them from the roof, Greek officials said.  The escape played out like a Hollywood action film and was the second such flight to freedom by one of the men.
 
    It began at about 3:30 p.m. when two men hijacked a helicopter from Athens International Airport, ordering the pilot to fly to Korydallos Prison, located in a suburb of Athens, Greek state media reported. The helicopter hovered over the roof of a prison compound where inmates Nikos Paleokostas, 42, and Alket Riza, 34, were located, and rope ladders were unfurled. The prisoners climbed into the helicopter and escaped, Greece's Justice Ministry said.

     Prison guards shot at the helicopter during the escape, witnesses told local media. No injuries were reported. The pilot was found gagged near the helicopter north of Athens, a state-run media report said.  The inmates and the unidentified accomplices had not been located, Greek authorities said. The prison break by helicopter is the second for Paleokostas, who was convicted for abducting a businessman and escaped the prison the first time in June 2006. He was recaptured several months later.

February 22, 2009

HUGO CHAVEZ MAKES SURPRISE VISIT TO CUBA

     HAVANA, CUBA--Hugo Chavez was in Cuba on Saturday, paying a surprise visit to the island after a major poll win last Sunday. It is the Venezuelan leader's first trip abroad since winning a referendum on February 15 that removed term limits on his presidency. Standing arm-in-arm with Chavez on his arrival late Friday, Cuban President Raul Castro raised the Venezuelan leader's fist in victory, declaring "I do this in Fidel's name" -- a reference to his brother, a long-time friend of Chavez.

    Chavez, sporting a red beret and olive suit responded to the crowd's adulation with his own cries of "Viva Fidel! Viva Cuba! Viva Raul!" The visit is the latest in a series of exchanges between the two leftist countries, which have developed closer ties since Chavez took power ten years ago, and which have frequently sparred with the west.

    Last December, Raul Castro visited Caracas in his first visit abroad since taking over in July 2006 from Fidel, who stepped aside due to medical problems. Chavez said his first congratulatory message after last Sunday's win, which gave him the power to run for a third term in 2012, came from Fidel Castro. Venezuela is Cuba's largest trading partner, supplying 92,000 barrels of oil a day to the cash-strapped island.

HUGO CHAVEZ WARNS THE VENEZUELA OPPOSITION THAT ANY DIALOGUE BETWEEN PARTY LEADERS IS OVER

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez, who on Sunday labeled himself as a promoter of dialogue, railed on Thursday on his opponents and said they were "eating humble pie."

    "We defeated the lie, the Puerto Rico Pact, we beat the oligarchs and now they are eating humble pie," said President Chávez during the ceremony to enact the amendment to the Constitution that was held in the parish of Pérez Bonalde, Catia. "For us, time for dialogue is every day with those who want to work with people," said Chávez. Then, he sent a message to "the opposition that is now calling for dialogue: the dialogue between party leaders and far from people is over," he said.

    Chávez reiterated that Venezuela "is not ruled by the promoters of the Puerto Rico Pact, or by the petty Yankees, or by the rich media, or by the bourgeoisie. The people are the boss here!," he said. In his address to the crowd gathered in Pérez Bonalde, Chávez mentioned again the issue of insecurity and said: "this situation has changed because we are going to rule more efficiently over the next four years."

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS EXPULSION FROM VENEZUELA DE PARLAMENTARIAN LUIS HERRERO

     MADRID, SPAIN-- European Parliament's President, German conservative politician Hans-Gert Pöttering, said that the arrest and expulsion of Luis Herrero, a Spanish center-right parliamentarian (and member of the EPP-ED group) from Venezuela "is unacceptable."

    Gert Pöttering condemned the action and said that it shows a "lack of respect" to the European Parliament.  "On behalf of the European Parliament, I strongly protest and condemn this way to proceed," said Pöttering with respect to the action taken by the Venezuelan authorities, EFE reported.  

    He recalled that Herrero, a Spanish MEP, was detained by policemen in Caracas who entered into Mr. Herrero's hotel and "without any official explanations and without the possibility of taking his personal effects, put him on a commercial flight to Brazil.

February 21, 2009

CUBAN PEASANTS TO CULTIVATE IN VENEZUELA AND TAKE 50 PERCENT OF THE CROP

     HAVANA, CUBA--The government of Cuba will send farmers and skilled peasants to Venezuela to develop the Orinoco plains and cultivate tubers and grains that will be shared in a 50/50 split by Cuba and Venezuela, said an official of the Ministry of Agriculture of Cuba (Minagri).

     The managers of the state agriculture agencies in the province of Villa Clara, Cuba, are selecting from early February a group of peasants to work in Venezuela, said Jorge Luis Artiles Montiel, a member of the Cuban opposition party Partido Solidaridad Democrática (PSD).

     The applications are received by a joint commission of representatives of Minagri and the Department of State Security, of the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, in order to check the degree of political reliability of the candidates and allow them to travel. Among the farmers who will be sent to Venezuela are peasants, tractor drivers, turbine operators, agriculture mechanics and other skilled labor working for several state agriculture companies, as well as members of the agricultural cooperatives of the province of Villa Clara.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU PICKED TO FORM ISRAEL GOVERNMENT

     JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of the conservative Likud Party, has been chosen to form Israel's next government, Israeli President Shimon Peres announced Friday. "We have different approaches in different areas, but we are all together in our desire to act for the good of the state," Netanyahu said. "We will be able to find the common ground to lead the state toward security, prosperity and peace."

    He said Israeli leaders need to unite as the country faces "great challenges," particularly from Iran, which he said "is developing nuclear weapons and poses the biggest threat to Israel since the war of independence." A U.N. report released this week found that Iran has enough uranium for a single nuclear weapon, but the uranium has not been enriched to make it weapons-grade. Iran consistently has denied the weapons allegations, calling them "baseless," and said that data that indicated otherwise was "fabricated."

    To become Israel's next prime minister, Netanyahu must form a coalition within six weeks, or the process will start all over. The decision comes after Avigdor Lieberman, head of the right-wing Yisrael Beytenu party, said he would recommend Netanyahu for the post, but only if he promises to form a "broad-based" coalition government. In last week's parliamentary elections, no single party won the minimum 61 seats needed to form a government. That means a government of two or more parties -- or coalition government -- is inevitable. The ruling Kadima Party won the most seats in the Knesset, Israel's parliament. But Kadima received just one more seat than Netanyahu's Likud Party.

ECUADOR EXPELS THE SECOND US EMBASSY OFFICIAL THIS MONTH

     QUITO, ECUADOR-- Ecuador's government said it will expel a U.S. Embassy official who allegedly disputed the transfer of a senior police investigator amid a growing diplomatic spat over Washington's aid to the South American nation.It is the second expulsion order against a U.S. Embassy official this month by President Rafael Correa, who has accused American officials of "insolence" for conditioning aid on the right to veto personnel choices.

     Mark Sullivan, the Embassy's first secretary in the embassy's office of regional affairs, must leave the country within 48 hours because of his "unacceptable meddling," Foreign Minister Fander Falconi said. Falconi said Sullivan, in a meeting with police in early February, questioned a decision by Ecuadorean Police Chief Jaime Hurtado to transfer the head of the Special Investigations Unit to another police post.

     Interior Minister Gustavo Jalk said Sullivan threatened to cut off "logistical and economic" aid to the unit, which investigates high-profile cases including drug trafficking. "We can't let foreign officials set conditions over internal affairs according to their own particular views."  Gordon Duguid, acting deputy spokesman at the State Department, said the U.S. regrets Ecuador's decision. "We also reject any suggestion of wrongdoing by Embassy staff. Despite the government of Ecuador's unjustified actions we remain committed to working collaboratively with Ecuador to confront narcotics trafficking," Duguid said.

February 20, 2009

DRUG VIOLENCE SPINS MEXICO TOWARD 'CIVIL WAR'

     MEXICO CITY, MEXICO.--A shootout in a border city that leaves five alleged drug traffickers sprawled dead on the street and seven police wounded. A police chief and his bodyguards gunned down outside his house in another border city. Four bridges into the United States shut down by protesters who want the military out of their towns and who officials say are backed by narcotraffickers.

    Mexico, a country with a nearly 2,000-mile border with the United States, is undergoing a horrifying wave of violence that some are likening to a civil war. Drug traffickers battle fiercely with each other and Mexican authorities. The homicide rate reached a record level in 2008 and indications are that the carnage could be exceeded this year.  Watch a reporter duck to avoid gunfire.

     Every day, newspapers and the airwaves are filled with stories and images of beheadings and other gruesome killings. Wednesday's front page on Mexico City's La Prensa carried a large banner headline that simply said "Hysteria!" The entire page was devoted to photos of bloody bodies and grim-faced soldiers. One photo shows a man with two young children walking across a street with an army vehicle in the background, with a soldier standing at a turret machine gun. Larry Birns, director of the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs, calls it "a sickening vertigo into chaos and plunder." By most accounts, that's not hyperbole. "The grisly portrait of the violence is unprecedented and horrific," said Robert Pastor, a Latin America national security adviser for President Jimmy Carter in the late 1970s.

EUROPEAN SOCIALIST AND CONSERVATIVE DEPUTIES CONCERNED ABOUT HUGO CHAVEZ

     BRUSSELS, BELGIUM--The socialist and conservative blocs -the two largest political groups in the European Parliament- showed concern about the effects of the constitutional amendment Hugo Chávez is to implement in Venezuela to allow indefinite reelection of all elected officials.  Meanwhile, the Czech Presidency of the European Union (EU) and the European Commission opted for caution, saying that they would take note of the results, as 54,3 percent of Venezuelans voted to amend the Constitution and allow President Chávez to run for a fourth consecutive term in office in 2012.

    "The victory of Chávez's proposal with 54 percent of the ballots in the referendum shows, on the one hand, that democratic procedures have been respected in Venezuela. Therefore, we must congratulate President Hugo Chávez on his victory," said Luis  Yáñez-Barnuevo, coordinator of the Party of European Socialists (PES) at the European Parliament for the Latin American Assembly (EuroLat).

    He said, however, that "these results show the division of the country in almost two halves, and therefore, the need to promote dialogue, inclusion and consensus to build Venezuela's future."  The stance of the PES was not as harsh as that of the conservative group of the European People's Party, whose leader Joseph Daul condemned on February 14 the expulsion from Venezuela of Spanish European parliamentarian Luis Herrero and accused Chávez of "moving away" from democracy.  "Hugo Chávez's regime is increasingly moving away from the fundamental freedoms that should be the rule in any democracy," said Daul in a statement.

VENEZUELA GOVERNMENT TAKES OVER LOCAL STANFORD BANK 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced Thursday that Venezuela seized control of Stanford Bank Venezuela, which was seriously hit by a US investigation into fraud charges in Stanford International Bank.

    Finance Minister Alí Rodríguez Araque explained that the bank was affected by external factors rather than by internal factors. He added that the government decided to step in and that the bank would be sold as soon as possible, Reuters reported.

    The government of President Hugo Chávez had sought to calm depositors' nerves over the local Stanford retail bank, declaring on Wednesday that the bank was healthy and even saying the government was working to prevent a run on the bank. In recent days, hundreds of people lined up at the international group's local offices hoping to recover their money

February 19, 2009

U.S. CALLS VENEZUELA REFERENDUM DEMOCRATIC

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Obama administration says the referendum that cleared the way for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to run for re-election was democratic. It was rare praise for a U.S. antagonist after years of criticism from the Bush administration.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Gordon Duguid (DOO gud) noted "troubling reports of intimidation." But he added Tuesday that "for the most part this was a process that was fully consistent with democratic process."

    Chavez captured more than 54 percent of the vote, according to preliminary tallies of 94 percent of results. The win allows him to run for a third term.  Asked whether that was a result the United States welcomes, Duguid said the issue "was a matter for the Venezuelan people."

PRESIDENT OBAMA ORDERED THE DEPLOYMENT OF MORE THAN 17,000 TROOPS TO AFGHANISTAN

     WASHINGTON, D.C."This reinforcement will contribute to the security of the Afghan people and to stability in Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement. "I recognize the extraordinary strain that this deployment places on our troops and military families. I honor their service, and will give them the support they need." Obama said the deteriorating security in Afghanistan made the troop increase necessary, adding that the country has not received the strategic attention or resources it needs.

    Although 17,000 troops have been authorized to go, the Pentagon identified and mobilized only about 12,000. Of those troops, 8,000 will be Marines and the 4,000 others will comprise an Army Stryker Brigade.The additional 5,000 troops will be identified and announced at a later date. But sources provided FOX News with the identity of all 17,000 troops: 10,000 will be Marines stationed in the South; 3,800 with an Army Stryker Brigade; 1,000 Special Operations Force trainers and 3,200 force enablers.

    Obama also said he is withdrawing some U.S. troops from Iraq. He said that will give the Pentagon more flexibility in shifting troops to Afghanistan. The troop increase is a down payment on a larger influx of U.S. forces that has been widely expected this year. It will get a few thousand forces in place in time for the increase in fighting that usually comes with warmer weather and ahead of national midyear elections. A spokesman for Gen. David McKiernan told FOX News that they had already started to build camp barracks for the troops in anticipation of the announcement -- knowing how sensitive the timing is given the spring fighting season. It is generally takes about three months for an Army brigade to deploy to the combat zone.

FARC EXECUTED 8 INDIANS ACCUSED OF COLLABORATING WITH THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT 

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Marxist guerrillas admit they recently killed eight Indians whom the rebels accused of collaborating with the Colombian government, media outlets reported Tuesday. In Bogota, Colombia, last week, Luis Evelis Andrade denounces the killings of Indians by FARC rebels. Human rights organizations and a state governor last week had accused the the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, better known as FARC, of killing at least 27 Awa Indians in southwest Colombia in the past two weeks.

    The FARC issued a statement dated February 11 saying the guerrillas detained and "executed" eight people on February 6 in the town of Rio Bravo because the Indians were gathering information about the rebels to give to the Colombian military. The FARC statement was posted Tuesday by the New Colombia News Agency and Caracol Radio's Web site.

    The statement said the guerrillas were not targeting indigenous populations but took the action "against people who independent of their race, religion, ethnicity, social condition etc. accepted money and put themselves at the service of the army in an area that is the object of military operations." Last week, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe called the FARC "executioners" for killing Indians. "Let the world know: The Democratic Security [forces] protect the indigenous because it is for all Colombians," Uribe said. "And the FARC deceive the country, they assassinate the indigenous." Colombian Attorney General Alejandro Ordonez Maldonado ordered the nation's human rights commissioner to launch an investigation and take steps to help the Awa.

February 18, 2009

THE US CONTINUES TO SEEK "POSITIVE TIES" WITH HUGO CHAVEZ

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States will continue to seek "a positive relation" with Hugo Chavez, after a referendum last Sunday that cleared the way for the Venezuelan leader to run as a presidential candidate for a third consecutive six-year term, said on Tuesday Gordon Duguid, a State Department spokesman.

    "We will continue our quest to maintain a positive relation with Venezuela," said Duguid to journalists, as reported by AFP.

    Duguid noted "troubling reports on intimidation," but he added that "for the most part, this was a process that was fully consistent with democratic process."  Noel Clay, another State Department spokesman said earlier that Washington welcomed "Venezuela's civic and participatory spirit of the millions of Venezuelans who exercised their democratic right to vote."

PRESIDENT LULA'S ADVISOR: GAS PIPELINE OF THE SOUTH IS "PROVISIONALLY SHELVED"  

     BRASILIA, BRAZIL--The ambitious project of the Gas Pipeline of the South, launched by Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez, has been temporarily "put on ice," said on Monday the advisor on International Affairs of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva, Marco Aurelio García.

    "The Gas Pipeline of the South is provisionally shelved; firstly, because it is a large work that requires technical and financial surveys which, under the present circumstances of crisis, can hardly be completed in the short term," said García during an interview with Eldorado radio, quoted by DPA.

    Based on the initial estimates, the project is to cost between USD 20-25 billion, and "all of us know that these prices are always underestimated," he cautioned. Further, García pointed out that the discovery of giant oil and gas reserves in ultra-deep waters on the Brazilian seaboard turned the Gas Pipeline of the South less attractive.

JOSE VIVANCO: DEMOCRACY IN VENEZUELA IS INCREASINGLY FEEBLER 

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Democracy in Venezuela is increasingly "feebler, waned, degraded," said on Tuesday Human Rights Watch (HRW) Director for the Americas José Miguel Vivanco during an interview with Colombian radio stations.

    This was Vivanco's answer to a question on the support of the Yes vote in a referendum on the amendment to the Constitution, which was held last Sunday. The results will enable Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez to run for reelection as many times he wishes, DPA reported.

     "I thought that question on that issue had been already solved more than one year ago when the Venezuelan people was queried about this matter and they resolved to refuse the indefinite reelection. However, the government of President Chávez found a formula to submit again this question to the people," Vivanco told Colombia's RCN Radio. The HRW director, who last September 19th was evicted from Venezuela, said that the Venezuelan president and his government "took good care" and labeled the process as amendment instead of reform in order not to run counter to the Constitution.

February 17, 2009

THE DIRECTOR OF POLLSTER DATANALISIS WARNED THAT THE REVOLUTION DEPENDS EXCLUSIVELY ON THE IMAGE OF HUGO CHAVEZ

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Luis Vicente León, the director of pollster Datanálisis, considers that after the election results, President Hugo Chávez will depend more than ever on his popularity to remain in power. As a result, instead of governing, the Executive branch of government will seek to enhance the populist measures that have characterized his administration.

    "When there is a permanent option to run for president, the government is limited since it can only promote those policies that are welcomed by people. Generally speaking, these people do not always understand what economic or social policies are the right measures to be implemented. This means that governments become extremely populist but inefficient." 

    Although the director of the poll firm said that "it would be ridiculous" not to recognize the victory of President Hugo Chávez, he warned that in political terms this election has made clear that the revolution depends exclusively on the image of President Chávez.     León said that Chávez's victory has a double impact: Chávez wanted to be reelected in 2012 and he has reinforced the idea of strength and invincibility, which had been undermined with the victory of the opposition in 2007 and the symbolic defeat of Chávez in 2008.

REGIONAL TALIBAN COMMANDER KILLED IN U.S. AIRSTRIKE  

     KABUL, AFGHANISTAN- Forces with the U.S.-backed coalition killed a regional Taliban commander and eight others in an airstrike in western Afghanistan, the U.S. said Monday. The Sunday night attack destroyed the building housing Ghulam Dastagir and eight other militants in the village of Darya-ye-Morghab, near the Turkmenistan border, the U.S. military said in a statement.

    Dastagir oversaw all of western Badghis province for the Taliban. He was responsible for a surge in violence in the province in recent months, including a November attack on an Afghan army convoy that killed 13 soldiers, the statement said. "He was like the shadow governor of Badghis," said Gen. Mohammad Ayub Nizyar, the former police chief of the province.

    He had been imprisoned in Kabul until about three months ago, when he was released. The "precision strike" did not destroy any other buildings and nearby structures only had minor external damage, the military statement said. Defense Ministry spokesman Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi confirmed the incident, but said more people may have been killed. He said he had reports of up to 12 deaths. Dastagir had previously been captured and imprisoned, but he was released sometime last year.

BOLIVIA TO GET RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS TO FIGHT DRUGS

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Bolivia will receive helicopters from Russia to help fight drugs and assistance to develop energy resources in the poor South American country, the Russian president said Monday. The moves were part of Moscow's push for more clout in Latin America. Bolivian President Evo Morales became the first leader from the landlocked, Andean nation to visit Russia since Moscow and La Paz established diplomatic relations in 1945.

    Morales and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a declaration emphasizing their similar positions on global issues and opposition to U.S. policies including the decades-old embargo against Cuba, plans for a missile shield in Europe and NATO expansion.

    Morales praised the resurgence of Russian attention to Latin America, where Medvedev has courted Soviet-era allies and others in a bid to increase Moscow's influence and further its economic interests. He met with Morales in November during a regional tour that included Venezuela, Brazil, Peru and Cuba. "Russia's return to the region is very important," Morales said at a joint news conference.

February 16, 2009

SPANISH PRIEST KILLED OUTSIDE HAVANA

     HAVANA, CUBA--A Roman Catholic priest from Spain who lived for many years in Cuba has been found dead outside Havana, Church officials said Sunday. Authorities recovered the body of Eduardo de la Fuente Serrano, a 59-year-old Madrid native, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from Cuba's capital, said Orlando Marquez, spokesman for Havana's Conference of Bishops.

    It was not clear when the body was found. Neither Marquez nor Spanish Embassy officials gave details about the death. "I can confirm he was found dead and this is being investigated," Marquez said by telephone. Marquez said de la Fuente had been in Cuba for many years, but had held his current post at the Santa Clara de Lawton Parish in Havana for a little more than two years.

     Cuban police refused to comment and a spokeswoman for Cuba's government said she had no information about the case. The Rev. Pedro Angel Garcia of San Antonio de Padoua Parish in Havana's Miramar district said that de la Fuente was "a simple man, frank and open." Garcia, a Spaniard who had lived in Cuba for 21 years, said de la Fuente had conducted Mass on Friday night, leading him to speculate that "the incident probably took place in the early hours of Saturday morning." He said he did not know the details of the case, however. "He helped those who needed it most so much, finding them clothes, shoes, all kinds of things," Garcia said of De la Fuente. "He even helped them do repairs on their houses."

SPANISH PARLAMENTARIAN EXPELLED FROM VENEZUELA BY HUGO CHAVEZ IS NOT SORRY

     BARAJAS, SPAIN--Luis Herrero, the Spanish deputy of the European Parliament who was expelled last Friday from Venezuela after having called President Hugo Chávez a "dictator" and criticized the National Electoral Council (CNE), said on Sunday, in arriving in Madrid, that he regrets "absolutely nothing" about what he said in Caracas.

    Herrero, a deputy for the right-wing People's Party, which forms part of the bloc of the European People's Party (PPE), told the Spanish reporters who were waiting for his arrival in Madrid airport, that he would remove "not a single comma" of his remarks made in Venezuela. The senior official had been invited to Caracas by opposition political Copei party to follow up a referendum held on Sunday. He was expelled on Friday for calling President Chávez "dictator" and lashing out at the CNE, said the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    When speaking to the Venezuelan press, the deputy urged Venezuelans to "vote in freedom and not for fear, as a dictator is trying to spread." Chávez is "a guy who does not understand the rules of democracy," said Herrero in Madrid, after commenting that what he saw and listened to in Venezuela seemed to him "absolutely not presentable."

OPEC LIKELY TO CUT OIL PRODUCTION AGAIN IN MARCH

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--OPEC set to cut production in March to boost oil prices, according to the Iraqi oil minister. (Getty Images)OPEC is likely to cut oil production targets when it meets in March, which should help prices gradually rise back above a fair price of $70 a barrel, Iraqi Oil minister Hussain Al Shahristani said on Saturday.

     Shahristani also said he will seek new powers for oil officials to sign large deals without approval of Iraq's cabinet in an effort to revive flagging production.  He blamed red tape and a slow budget process for holding up efforts to increase production in Iraq. "The year 2009 will be a tough economic year. It is expected demand for crude oil will drop," Shahristani told a Baghdad conference on developing the oil industry.

     "In March, OPEC will meet and there is an intention to decide a further cut to shore up prices." "We expect that crude prices will be restored to more than $70 a barrel, but this will not be achieved in coming months. This will happen gradually." Iraq, a founding member of OPEC with the world's third largest reserves, is not bound by the group's production limits but has had trouble maintaining flagging output because of dilapidated infrastructure. oil-production-in-march---iraq

02-15-2009

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ENVOY LUIS HERRERO EXPELLED FROM VENEZUELA AFTER CALLING HUGO CHAVEZ A DICTATOR

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA.--A European parliament envoy who was to serve as observer during the upcoming referendum on President Hugo Chavez's term limits was expelled from Venezuela on Friday after calling Chavez a "dictator". In a statement, Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said it had "invited" Luis Herrero, a European Union parliamentarian from Spain, to leave the country in order to preserve a "peaceful climate" before the February 15 referendum.

     Venezuela's Globovision television reported that Herrero was escorted to the Maiquetia airport on Friday by what appeared to be members of the national guard. "Following his comments, in a sequestering operation, they took him by force from the hotel without even allowing him to take his personal belongings and his passport," opposition member Luis Ignacio Planas told Globovision.

    At about 10 p.m. after a discussion with other Euro parliamentarians, Venezuela's national intelligence agency security officials went to Herrero's room and asked him to leave, police officials told Globovision.

HUGO CHAVEZ ORDERED THE ARREST OF EURO-PARLAMENTARIAN LUIS HERRERO

     SAO PAULO, BRAZIL-- Spanish Euro-deputy Carlos Iturgai late on Friday reported in a news conference that his colleague Luis Herrero was arrested by Venezuelan National Guard and Police Intelligence Services Directorate (Disip) officers, who appeared at the hotel where the two lawmakers were staying in Caracas ahead of February 15 referendum on endless reelection.

    According to Iturgai, the National Guard and Disip officers asked Herrero to leave the hotel and join them, arguing that they were following instructions from the Venezuelan president. "We are shocked... I could not expect that such things may happen in a country where the President of the Nation makes a show of his democratic condition. I could not expect this (...) only because of some public statements, in a place where freedom of expression should be above everything."  Iturgai told reporters: "Luis Herrero is missing. They took him away, and at this time at night we do not know Luis Herrero's whereabouts." He added that they had no news on Herrero for more than two hours.

     Further, the Euro-deputy stressed that they advised the Spanish and European Union diplomatic authorities of the incident. "I have been informed that (Spanish Foreign Affairs) Minister (José Luis) Moratinos has contacted the head of the Spanish delegation of the People's Party (PP), Jaime Mayor Oreja, and that the president of the Spanish People's Party Mariano Rajoy has been advised of the situation. Further, I was told that the (Spanish) Ambassador (in Caracas) is taking the relevant steps before the government of Venezuela." Some minutes following Iturgai's remarks to the press, unofficial sources informed that Herrero was driven directly to the airport to wait for an airplane that would take him back to his country.

ISRAEL SAYS NO TRUCE WITHOUT RELEASE OF CAPTURED SOLDIER 

     JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--  "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Saturday Israel would not agree to any truce with Hamas without the release of an Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants in 2006The position of the prime minister is that Israel won't reach any arrangement on a truce before the release of Gilad Shalit," Olmert's office said in a statement. Egypt has been struggling to mediate a lasting truce between the two sides since a massive three-week war in Gaza was halted by separate ceasefires on January 18 that have since been strained by tit-for-tat exchanges of fire.

    One of the conditions being demanded by Hamas is that all the crossings into the enclave be opened, bringing an end to the Israeli blockade imposed when Hamas seized Gaza in 2007. Hamas has demanded that the release of Shalit -- captured by three militant groups in a deadly cross-border raid in June 2006 -- be negotiated as part of a separate prisoner exchange involving hundreds of people held in Israeli jails.

    On Thursday, senior Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal told Libyan television that "until now there is no agreement concerning Shalit. Israel is trying to mix up the files and link his fate to the opening of the crossings (into Gaza)." Egyptian security chief Omar Suleiman has been leading separate negotiations with Israel and Hamas and has said efforts were under way to draw up a list of Palestinian prisoners that might be released in exchange for Shalit.  While Hamas has demanded an end to the blockade, Israel has insisted that will happen only when Hamas releases Shalit. Earlier on Saturday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum accused Israel of "backtracking" on the talks by demanding an open-ended agreement and stepping up attacks on the group's Gaza enclave.

02-14-2009

US INTELLIGENCE CZAR WARNS THAT HUGO CHAVEZ WILL CONTINUE TO HARBOR THE FARC

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Venezuela serves as a bridge for Iran's influence in Latin America and continues to harbor leftist rebels from Colombia, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told the U.S. Senate Thursday.  Blair warned not only about Venezuela, but also its fellow leftist allies Cuba and Bolivia, and about the growing drug problem in Mexico and FARC rebel strength in Colombia, in an annual assessment of global threats to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

    A thorn in the U.S. side since President Hugo Chavez first took office 10 years ago, Venezuela took center stage in Blair's assessment of Latin America.  U.S.-Venezuelan relations took a turn for the worse in September when they expelled their respective ambassadors, and following complaints that the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, were provided sanctuary in Venezuela.

    "We assess Chavez is likely to maintain his decade-long ties to FARC by providing them safe haven because of his ideological affinity to the group and his interest in influencing Colombian politics," Blair said.  The intelligence czar said the Chavez-FARC links made public after turning up in the computer files of a rebel commander killed by Colombian troops in Ecuador in March, "forced Chavez, at least rhetorically, to improve relations with Bogota."  Blair, who took office two weeks ago, warned that "Venezuela also is serving as a bridge to help Iran build relations with other Latin American countries" through its embassies and cultural centers.

 Click here and read more about Chavez's connections with the FARC

CHILE'S GOVERNMENT RELEASED PHOTOGRAPHS OF FIDEL CASTRO'S MEETING WITH CHILEAN PRESIDENT

     SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE--Chile's government has released photographs of a smiling Fidel Castro standing alongside visiting Chilean President Michelle Bachelet.

    The two photos released on Friday show Fidel Castro on his feet in a track suit. Chile's presidential office released the images of Thursday's private meeting on its Web page.

    Last month, a similar photograph appeared after the 82-year-old Castro met with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez during her official visit to Cuba. Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since mid-2006 when he underwent intestinal surgery and ceded power to his younger brother Raul. The photos have further dispelled recent rumors he was near death.
 

AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN HAMAS AND ISRAEL WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON

     JERUSALEM, ISRAEL-- An agreement between Hamas and Israel to bring quiet to the war-torn Gaza Strip could be announced within days, Hamas officials said, as rocket fired from the territory Friday further strained an informal cease-fire. A Hamas delegation is in the Egyptian capital and an Israeli envoy has been flying in periodically from Tel Aviv. Egypt is mediating between Israel and Hamas because the sides will not talk directly to each other.

    Late on Thursday, Hamas deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk told Egypt's official MENA news agency that the Islamic militant group has agreed to an 18-month truce with Israel. He said it would be announced within two days after the group consults with other Palestinian factions, the news agency reported. Abu Marzouk said the deal calls for Israel to reopen its border crossings into Gaza, fulfilling Hamas' central demand.

    The border crossings have been blockaded by Israel and Egypt since Hamas violently seized power in the territory in June, 2007, defeating its rivals from the Fatah movement. Taher Nunu, a Hamas spokesman in Cairo with the group's truce delegation, said Friday he expects an agreement "within the coming three days." He said progress had been made on a cease-fire, on a reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah and on reconstruction funds for Gaza. "Many obstacles have been resolved, especially stopping all forms of aggression and the issue of the quality and kind of goods (entering Gaza) and the opening of the border," Nunu said in a statement e-mailed to reporters in Gaza. Little has leaked from the Israeli side on the truce talks. In Jerusalem, government officials would not comment Friday.

02-13-2009

HUGO CHAVEZ SAYS FOES TRYING TO SPUR 'RELIGIOUS WAR' 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chavez accused Venezuela's opposition and privately-owned media on Tuesday of attempting to incite "a religious war" by unjustly accusing his government of fomenting anti-Semitism following an attack on a synagogue. Chavez railed against opposition leaders for suggesting that his harsh criticism of the Israeli government and its military offensive in the Gaza Strip have inspired anti-Semitism, and he challenged them to publicly retract their statements.

     Speaking in a nationally televised address, Chavez said his political adversaries and private media outlets critical of his government are involved in a "criminal attempt to try to unleash a religious war in Venezuela."  He did not identify any opposition leaders or media outlets by name. Chavez has condemned the Jan. 30 attack on the Tiferet Israel Synagogue in Caracas. He noted on Tuesday that authorities quickly apprehended 11 people, including 8 police officers, suspected of ransacking and vandalizing the temple.

    The assailants shattered religious objects, spray-painted "Jews, get out" on the temple's walls and stole a computer database with names and addresses of Jews living in Venezuela. Representatives of Venezuela's estimated 15,000-member Jewish community have said that Chavez's fiery rhetoric directed at the Israeli government could have inspired several recent hate crimes against Jews. Several opposition leaders have echoed those concerns. Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores said Tuesday that police are searching for four new suspects in the attack. Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said Monday a synagogue security guard and a police officer who worked as a bodyguard for a local rabbi are among the 11 people detained over the weekend.

U.S. FARM SALES TO CUBA RISE 61 PERCENT, GROUP SAYS

     HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba spent a record $710 million on U.S. farm imports last year, a 61 percent increase over 2007, as hurricanes destroyed much of the country's farms, a leading trade research group said Wednesday.

     Spending on imports jumped with rising food prices during the first part of the year, said the New York-based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. It climbed increased more after three hurricanes hit the island, crippling food production in many parts of the countryside.

     Cuban food and farm imports from the United States have climbed annually since 2001, a year after Washington modified its trade embargo to allow the direct, cash-only sale of farm goods to the island. The U.S. is Cuba's top foreign source of food.  Hurricanes Gustav, Ike and Paloma hit Cuba in 2008, causing more than $10 billion in damage and forcing a sharp increase in food imports. The Cuban government has not released a breakdown of import or export figures for the year.

HUGO CHAVEZ TO RECEIVE CHINESE K-8 AIRCRAFT IN 2010  

     PEKING, CHINA--A lot of six planes, model K-8, out of the 18 aircrafts purchased by the Venezuelan government from China will arrive in January 2010 to be used in counter-narcotics efforts, reported on Wednesday a high-ranking military officer.

    "In January 2010, we will have the first six in Venezuela and before mid 2010, the 18 planes will be flying in the Venezuelan air space," said General Jesús González, the official responsible for the Operational Strategic Command, AFP quoted. According to the officer, from August to September 2009, the planes will be tried by Venezuelan pilots in China and then will be disassembled and sent to Venezuela.

    As part of counter-narcotics efforts, Venezuela also bought 11 Chinese radars which will start operations next March. González said that the government will continue his plans to procure new armaments and military equipments, regardless of the world financial crisis. "The military ambit will possibly suffer some changes, but definitely, it seems unviable that the development plans we have in the National Bolivarian Armed Forces will be modified, because it is a need and it is of the essence," he said.

02-12-2009

CUBA REJECTS FREE PRESS CALL, RELEASE OF POLITICAL PRISONERS

     GENEVA, SWITZERLAND--Cuba rejected calls from Western countries on Monday to release jailed critics of its communist system and told the U.N. Human Rights Council such demands violated its sovereign rights. The Cuban position was set out in a report on discussions last week in the Council's Universal Periodic Review mechanism on the island's human rights record, which was widely praised by developing countries.

    During the review, the call for the release of those Western countries regard as political prisoners -- and which Cuba denies it has -- came from Austria, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands and Slovakia. These recommendations, a Cuban statement said, were not acceptable "because they are incompatible with the Cuban people's right to self-determination (and) because they are not based on reality."

     It said the Western calls, which included recommendations on ensuring media freedom and freedom of expression, reflected support "for the policy of regime change applied to Cuba by successive U.S. administrations." In a separate comment included in the Council report, it also made the same charge. "No country can accept any recommendation that contributes to the implementation of a policy designed by a foreign superpower with the objective of destroying the legitimate constitutional order freely chosen by its people," it said.

HUGO CHAVEZ SAID THAT RADICAL GROUP "LA PIEDRITA' LED BY LINA RON IS INFILTRATED BY THE CIA

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Hugo Chávez said on Tuesday that radical group La Piedrita led by Lina Ron has links with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the Unites States. "I have no doubts that the group has been infiltrated by the CIA. There are some people acting wrongly. They are acting in good faith but they have been used," warned Chávez in a TV broadcast from the Palace of Miraflores, the seat of the Venezuelan government, where the Venezuelan leader was presiding over the Cabinet of Ministers.

    He is certain that "this radical group has been funded by the extreme right. We must neutralize it. We cannot tolerate machineries of war or terrorism that are also using the sacred name of the revolution." The Venezuelan head of state seized the opportunity to hold the "leaders of the worn opposition responsible for promoting a sort of religious media war." He also warned that the opposition is devising a plan called "Check the King."

    The ruler justified once again the need to run for a third time in 2013, recalling his former Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro who warned him "if they kill you, Chávez, or you have to leave your job, the revolution can be stopped because it would not have the strength to consolidate without you." Chávez said that "he was convinced that it was true, to a certain point. After that term, I want no more."

ECUADOR PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA ACCUSES THE UNITED STATES OF WRONGDOING

     QUITO, ECUADOR-- Ecuador has summoned the U.S. ambassador to express anger over a diplomat's letter saying Washington is suspending $340,000 in annual aid because it was not allowed to veto police appointments, the foreign minister said Monday. President Rafael Correa on Saturday ordered the expulsion of Armando Astorga, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement attache, who U.S. Embassy officials say already left the country after completing his assignment.

    On Monday, State Department officials in Washington declined to comment immediately on whether the U.S. sought veto power over Ecuadorean officials, as Correa contends. U.S. Embassy officials in Quito were not available.  An embassy representative previously said aid to anti-smuggling police was suspended in response to an Ecuadorean government policy, but did not elaborate. orrea, a critic of U.S. foreign policy in Latin America, said Astorga announced the aid suspension in a Jan. 8 letter that demanded the return of all donated equipment - including vehicles, furniture, cameras and phones.

    Correa said the letter, addressed to Ecuador's police chief, also revealed that $160,000 in yearly aid to the Human Trafficking Unit was "being reconsidered." Foreign Minister Fander Falconi met with U.S. Ambassador Heather Hodges Sunday to formally lodge a complaint. The Ecuadorean government considers it "unacceptable" for U.S. diplomats to play a role in appointing police positions, he said. In a statement issued Monday, he added that Quito intends to maintain respectful, cooperative ties with Washington.

02-11-2009

CONGRESSIONAL BILL WOULD END BAN ON TRAVEL TO CUBA

     WASHINGTON, D.C.-- A bipartisan bill calling for an end to the 46-year-old ban on travel to Cuba was introduced in Congress by a group of representatives led by William Delahunt of Massachusetts. The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act, introduced Feb. 4 and referred to the Foreign Relations Committee, prohibits the U.S. president from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by U.S. residents, except in times of war between the two countries or of imminent danger to public health or the safety of U.S. travelers.

    During his campaign, President Barack Obama announced that he would roll back the restrictions on travel to Cuba imposed by the Bush administration.  Under that policy, Cuban Americans can send up to $300 in cash every three months and are allowed to visit the island once every three years, although they can send gift packages of food, medicine and other items. Bush also tightened the restrictions on visits by academics, students and religious groups. Americans with no family in Cuba generally cannot visit the island, and the Obama announcement remained unclear as to whether the easing of travel restrictions will apply to them.

    The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act would then go further than Obama's campaign promise by explicitly empowering U.S. citizens and legal residents to visit the island at will. In addition to Delahunt, other sponsors of the bill include representatives Jeff Flakes,R-Ariz.; Rosa Delauro, D-Conn.; Jo-Ann Emerson, R-Mo.; James McGovern, D-Mass.; Jim Moran, R-Kansas; Donna Edwards, D-Md.; Ron Paul, R-Texas; and Sam Farr, D-Calif.

US EXPECTS HUGO CHAVEZ TO CLARIFY ATTACKS ON SYNAGOGUE 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The government of the United States expects that following the recent detention of police agents, the Venezuelan government is able to solve the case of an anti-Semitic attack against a synagogue in Caracas, said on Monday Robert Wood, the Spokesman of the US Department of State. "We hope that the Venezuelan government will do everything possible to prevent any such activities and arrest any perpetrator of anti-Semitic activities, said the Spokesman during a press conference.

    "We remain concerned about any anti-Semitic activity in Venezuela or anywhere in the world," added Wood. Wood refused to answer to a question about the government of President Hugo Chávez, who expelled the Israeli ambassador one month ago, possibly being behind such violent actions.

    Last Sunday, Venezuelan authorities reported on the detention of 11 people, including seven police agents and four civilians, allegedly involved in the profanation of the main synagogue in the capital city. Chávez publicly condemned the attack, where unidentified people smashed cult objects and painted anti-Semitic statements.

VENEZUELAN SUSPECTS OF ATTACK ON SYNAGOGUE TAKEN TO COURT 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- The police officers accused of vandalizing a Caracas synagogue on January 31 were taken to the Palace of Justice to give a sworn statement, reported Wilmer Flores Trossel, the director of the Scientific, Penal and Criminology Investigation Agency (Cicpc).

    He said that the police officers will be brought to the 43rd preliminary proceedings Court, "where the attorneys appointed to the case and responsible for the prosecution will examine them."

    The Police Commissioner said that officers of the Cicpc and of the Department against Theft of the Metropolitan Police were sent to the members of the provinces to capture more than four people involved in the attack on the synagogue. "They are fully identified. We know that they are civilians and have been implicated in various crimes. We hope that they will be arrested in less than 24 hours," said Flores Trossel.

02-10-2009

MORE THAN ONE MILLION VENEZUELANS MARCHED AGAINST HUGO CHAVEZ'S CHANGE TO THE CONSTITUTION

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- In Caracas, a huge vast campaign rally, called an avalancha drew more than a million people in Venezuela, all of whom have had about enough of castro's little minime who's trashing Caracas and stealing countless freedoms as he consolidates power and prepares to assume the castro mantle. Their leader is Manuel Rosales, a decent governor from the western Zulia state, which has never been impressed with chavismo. It's the last anti-Chavista stronghold left in Venezuela. Now, its governor is preparing to reclaim Venezuela for democracy.

     What's his party line? He doesn't want Venezuela to turn into another Cuba. That's his most powerful and resounding campaign message, the one that is attracting hundreds of thousands of people to the streets of Caracas. He talks about it all the time. Look at the kinds of things people are saying at this rally about Cubanization. You gotta know that this rally has Hugo Chavez queasy.

      He has been planning to cheat in the coming election, December 3, where he planned to pull off a Saddam majority, but this huge rally is going to make that that much tougher. How can you argue with these numbers? How can you say anyone wants communism in Venezuela with pictures like this. The thug is telling them all to go to Miami, believe it or not. Well, they aren't going to Miami, they are bringing the freedom of Miami to Caracas.

VENEZUELAN AUTHORITIES DETAINED 11 POLICE OFFICERS AFTER SYNAGOGUE ATTACKS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Authorities arrested 11 people, including seven police officers, suspected of carrying out an attack on a Caracas synagogue that raised concerns of rising of anti-Semitism in Venezuela, officials said Sunday. The Attorney General's Office said an agent of the federally controlled investigative police force and one of the synagogue's security guards were among the 11 suspects arrested during raids over the weekend. The suspects are scheduled to be arraigned Monday. Elias Farache, president of the Venezuelan-Israelite Association, applauded Venezuelan authorities for responding rapidly.

    "We thank the authorities for the quick detention of the suspects," he said in a telephone interview. "We also want to thank all of those who showed their solidarity with us." On Jan. 30, about 15 people overpowered two security guards at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, shattering religious objects and spray-painting "Jews, get out" on the walls. The assailants also stole a computer database with names and addresses.Hugo Chavez has condemned the attack and promised representatives of Venezuela's 15,000-member Jewish community that those responsible would be brought to justice.

    But Venezuela's Jewish leaders and international observers say the socialist president's harsh criticism of the Israeli government has inspired a growing list of hate crimes. Venezuelan Jews also expressed concern after Chavez initially suggested the synagogue attack might have been carried out by government opponents eager to portray his government as anti-Semitic, then warned Jews "not to allow themselves to be used" by his opponents. In the past, Chavez's enthusiastic support of Iran and other enemies of Israel has done little to threaten the coexistence of Jews in Venezuela, which is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic.

HUGO CHAVEZ BEHIND ON BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN PAYMENTS TO FOREIGN OIL CONTRACTORS 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Venezuela's state oil company is behind on billions in payments to private oil contractors from Oklahoma to Belarus, some of which have now stopped work, even as President Hugo Chavez funnels more oil revenue to social programs. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, says unpaid invoices jumped 39 percent in the first nine months of last year — reaching $7.86 billion in September. And that was when world oil was selling for $100 a barrel.

    With prices plummeting by more than half, PDVSA is trying to renegotiate some contracts. But analysts say hardball tactics to reduce charges from crucial service providers could backfire by lowering Venezuela's oil output. And foreign debt markets are reflecting jitters about Venezuela's finances. Oil accounts for 94 percent of Venezuela's exports and funds nearly half the socialist government's budget, and Chavez uses it to bankroll an international aid bonanza, showering allies with cheap fuel, refining projects and cash donations.

     But U.S. contractor Helmerich & Payne Inc. said last week that it has stopped drilling with two of its 11 oil rigs in Venezuela because of delayed payments. The Tulsa, Oklahoma, company says it will stop three more rigs by the end of February and the rest by the end of July if PDVSA doesn't begin to pay off a debt it puts at nearly $100 million. Dallas-based Ensco International Inc. said it suspended operations on an oil rig off Venezuela's Caribbean coast because it was owed $35 million, prompting PDVSA to take over operations. And Belgazstroy of Belarus has stopped work on gas networks in western Venezuela because of nonpayment, Venezuela's ambassador to Belarus, Americo Diaz Nunez, told Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency, adding that two other Belarusian contracts are also in question.

02-09-2009

OPEN LETTER SENT BY A COURAGEOUS  PRIEST,  JOSE CONRADO RODRIGUEZ, TO  CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO

     SANTIAGO DE CUBA, CUBA--Father José Conrado Rodríguez, Pastor of Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús, Santiago de Cuba, sent an open letter to Cuban dictator Raul Castro urging him to change direction and to realize the deep changes that the country needs to overcome the growing lack of hope of the population. In the letter, this courageous priest said “Fifteen years ago I dared to write to the then head of the Cuban State, Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz, who was then President of our country. The gravity of that hour imposed a duty on me for the good of the fatherland. The seriousness of this time impels me to write to you to share my present concerns…” 

     How can I describe the situation of our country? The economic crisis affects every household and makes people live agonizingly, asking themselves: what I will eat or what I’m going to wear? How to get the most elemental things for my family? The difficulties of everyday life become so overwhelming that it keep us mired in sadness and despair. Insecurity and widespread feelings of helplessness lead to amorality, hypocrisy and double dealing.  Everything is worth it because nothing has value, except survival at all cost, which we later discover is “at any cost.” Hence the dream of Cubans, especially the youngest, to abandon the country. It would seem that our country is at an impasse.  As a man of faith, however, I believe that God never puts us in absolutely desperate situations.  I firmly believe that our journey as a nation and a people, will not end in an inevitable precipice, in a reality of irreversible misfortune.  There is always a solution, but it takes courage to seek and to find it...”

    ”We have lived our reality by blaming the enemy, or even our friends: the fall of the communist bloc countries in Eastern Europe, together with the United States trade embargo, have become the goat that carries all our faults. And that is a convenient but misleading exit to the problem. As Miguel de Unamuno said, “We tend to entertain ourselves in counting hairs in the Sphinx’s tail, because we are afraid to look in his eyes… Believe me, Mr. President, I do not write to submit a list of complaints and grievances about the national situation, but if I were to do so this list could be very, very long.  In truth, I have wanted to talk to you Cuban to Cuban, heart to heart.”

 Click here and read the open letter in our “SPECIAL ARTICLES OF THE WEEK”  section

TRAIN COLLISION IN CUBA RESULTED IN 3 KILLED AND 93 WOUNDED

      SIBANICU, CAMAGUEY--Authorities were investigating why the eastbound and westbound trains hit as they were passing each other on parallel tracks at about 8:30 a.m., outside the city of Sibanicu in Camaguey province, according to the Online edition of Adelante, the province's state-controlled newspaper.
 
    The impact knocked some of the cars from the tracks, killing three passengers and injuring 93 others, two of whom were in serious condition, according to state television. The injured were taken to hospitals in Camaguey, capital of the province of the same name.
 
     One of the trains had left Havana bound for the eastern city of Santiago, 540 miles (860 kilometers) to the east, and the other was heading west toward Havana from the coastal city of Manzanillo, 480 miles (775 kilometers) from the capital. Local authorities could not be reached for more details.

FORMER BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT, JOSE SARNEY, MAY HAMPER HUGO CHAVEZ'S ADMISSION TO MERCOSUR 

     RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL-- Fomer Brazilian president, JOSE SARNEY, may hamper Venezuela's admission to Mercosur
Pro-government parliamentarians in Brazil fear that the election on Monday of former Brazilian President José Sarney as the Senate speaker could hamper the process of full adhesion of Venezuela to Mercosur.

    The distrust is based on the manifest position against Venezuela's incorporation into the South American bloc voiced by Sarney, who was elected as the Senate speaker for 49 votes versus 32 votes over his challenger Tiao Viana, of the Workers' Party (PT) of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, DPA reported.   The concern of the lawmakers who back Venezuela's membership deepened last week, when the media stated that in order to get the conservative support to his nomination, Sarney had promised to hinder the approval of the adhesion agreement.

     The Senator denied any deal and termed "intrigues" such reports. However, he did not say whether he had reviewed his position against Venezuela's inclusion in Mercosur, expressed loud and clear during a speech last October. "If we approve Venezuela's adhesion, we would violate the Mercosur treaty. There is no way to declare that Venezuela is a democracy," he maintained on that occasion.

02-08-2009

VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN TO IRAN: UNITED STATES WILL TALK, BUT IS READY TO ACT

     MUNICH, GERMANY--Vice President Biden delivered a clear message to Iran, saying Saturday the U.S. was willing to talk, but will act to isolate and pressure Tehran if it does not abandon its nuclear ambitions and support for terrorism. In a sweeping speech to international leaders and security experts here, Biden said the U.S. will strive to act preventively to avoid having to choose between the risks of war and the dangers of inaction.

    But he held out the option that the U.S. could take pre-emptive action against Iran if necessary to stop crisis before they start. The U.S., he said, will "continue to develop missile defenses to counter a growing Iranian capability, provided the technology is proven and it is cost effective." At the same time, he said that if Tehran gives up its nuclear program and stops backing terrorists, there will be meaningful incentives.

    "We will draw upon all the elements of our power -- military and diplomatic, intelligence and law enforcement, economic and cultural -- to stop crises from occurring before they are in front of us," Biden told the gathering in his 25 minute address. Biden's speech laid out for the first time to an international audience the Obama administration's foreign policy tenets, and emphasized diplomacy and cooperation. He also warned allies that they will be expected to share the burdens of fighting extremists and bolstering weaker governments and poor nations. "America will do more, that's the good news," said Biden. "But the bad news is American will ask for more from our partners."

CARACAS MAYOR ANTONIO LEDEZMA CALLS CHAVEZ'S GOVERNMENT A "LOST DECADE" 

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"Hugo Chávez has perverse alchemist powers, since he has transformed hope into frustration," said Antonio Ledezma in an interview with EFE.  The ten-year term in office of President Hugo Chávez has been a "lost decade," as he has managed to turn "a golden opportunity into a quagmire," said Caracas Metropolitan Mayor Antonio Ledezma.

    "Chávez has perverse alchemist powers, since he has transformed hope into frustration," said Ledezma in an interview with EFE, a few days ahead of the tenth anniversary of the inauguration of Hugo Chávez as Venezuela's President on February 2, 1999.

    The interview took place at the temporary seat of the Mayoralty, as the official headquarters were taken over by "some thirty armed men," according to Ledezma, who complained about an "attack" against the building.  The situation has been described as a "labor problem" by the Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, Tarek El Aissami, who said it was the result of an alleged protest of employees of the Mayoralty who were allegedly dismissed by Ledezma.

ECUADOR'S PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA ORDERS US DIPLOMAT EXPELLED 

     QUITO, ECUADOR-- President Rafael Correa has ordered the expulsion of a U.S. diplomat who he says suspended $340,000 in annual aid to Ecuador's anti-contraband police.

    Ecuador's leftist president says the United States tried to insist on veto power over the unit's commander and other personnel. Correa says the U.S. official, Armando Astorga Jr. also demanded in a Jan. 8 letter that the anti-contraband police return all vehicles, furniture, cameras and phones donated by Washington.

    An embassy spokeswoman reached by The Associated Press by telephone had no immediate comment Saturday. Astorga is listed as the embassy's attache for homeland security and customs and immigration in an August 2008 State Department phone book found online.

02-07-2009

FORMER CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO RUZ: "A QUICK RESPONSE"

     HAVANA, CUBA--Former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro said that the response to his latest "reflection" "came hardly a few hours later in the voice of the White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. It doesn’t matter if he chose not to mention my modest Reflection. It’s the response that counts."

    "He said to the journalists that it is the Cuban American community President Obama is interested in. It was the first time he addressed the subject after the inauguration. From the Cubans with the right to vote due to their ancestry in the state of Florida, 3 to 1 voted for the Democratic candidate. He is not interested in the almost 12 million Cubans who live in the island.

     When the man closest to the President was asked who his candidate was in Cuba he declined to elaborate on the issue and said that the lesser that was said on Cuba, the better. He said that Cuban Americans will be permitted to travel to Cuba and to send remittances. But he did not even mention the American citizens’ right to travel.  The Cuban Adjustment Act and the Blockade did not deserve any comments from him. Thus rather sooner than later Obama’s politics is losing its virginity." 

VENEZUELA'S JEWS FEAR MORE ATTACKS FROM CHAVISTAS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--As Hugo Chavez intensifies his anti-Israel campaign, some Venezuelans have taken action, threatening Jews in the street and vandalizing the largest synagogue in Caracas - where they stole a database of names and addresses. Now many in Venezuela's Jewish community fear the worst is yet to come. Venezuela's Jewish leaders, the Organization of American States and the U.S. State Department say Chavez's harsh criticism has inspired a growing list of hate crimes, including a Jan. 30 invasion of Caracas' largest synagogue.

    About 15 people overpowered two security guards at the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, shattering religious objects and spray-painting "Jews, get out" on the walls. Most worrisome, according to Elias Farache, president of the Venezuelan-Israelite Association, was their theft of a computer database containing many names and addresses of Jews in Venezuela. One week before the attack, a Chavista columnist named Emilio Silva posted a call to action on Aporrea, a pro-government Web site, describing Jews as "filthy" anti-Chavez conspirators and exhorting Venezuelans to confront them.

    "Publicly challenge every Jew that you find in the street, shopping center or park," he wrote, "shouting slogans in favor of Palestine and against that abortion: Israel." Silva called for protests at the synagogue, a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses, seizures of Jewish-owned property, the closure of Jewish schools and a nationwide effort "to denounce publicly, with names and last names the members of powerful Jewish groups present in Venezuela."

VENEZUELAN STUDENT MOVEMENT IS THE CORNERSTONE AGAINST CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- David Smolansky, a student leader at the Andrés Bello Catholic University, said that the student movement has become the leading voice rejecting the constitutional amendment proposed by President Hugo Chávez to establish indefinite reelection of all elected offices.

    According to Smolansky, university students are fighting against the amendment because the issue jeopardizes the future of Venezuela's youth.  "The constitutional amendment puts a cap on the future of the youth,"  Smolansky

    "I believe that the student movement, and I do not mean to be arrogant, has become the main reference point in the fight against indefinite reelection. This has to do with the message we are spreading about the future. Venezuela is a young country, since 60 percent of its population is 30 years old or younger, and the constitutional amendment puts a cap on the future of the youth," said Smolansky. 

02-06-2009

US REPRESENTATIVES SENT A LETTER TO HUGO CHAVEZ REJECTING THE ATTACK ON A SYNAGOGUE IN CARACAS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Rep. Eliot L. Engel, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, on Wednesday wrote a letter to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez condemning the attack on a synagogue in Caracas. According to the document, the attack is the result of a climate of "fear and intimidation" fostered by the Venezuelan government.

    "We write to express our profound concern about the recent attack on a synagogue in Caracas and to condemn in the strongest possible terms this brazen assault on the Jewish community of Venezuela.  We believe that the attack, which occurred last Friday night during the Jewish Sabbath, is a direct result of the dangerous environment of fear and intimidation against the Jewish community which your government has fostered. We, regrettably, note that your policies have already had their predicted effect.  We have been informed that one third or more of the Jewish community of Venezuela, once 25,000 people strong, have already left for safer shores.  We fear that given the recent attacks on the synagogue, more will depart,” the strong letter states.

    The cosigners of the letter are Reps. Eliot L. Engel, Connie Mack, Gary Ackerman, Shelley Berkley, Dan Burton, Gerry Connolly, Joe Crowley, Gene Green, Bob Inglis, Ron Klein, Donald Manzullo, Michael McMahon, Michael McCaul, Dana Rohrabacher, David Scott, Robert Wexler.

US, VENEZUELA EXCHANGE CRITICS AT OAS FOR ATTACK ON SYNAGOGUE IN CARACAS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.-The Alternate Representative of the United States to the OAS Lewis Amselem, during the ordinary session of the OAS Permanent Council based in Washington said  that a recent attack on the main synagogue in Venezuela was the result of the political climate in the country that makes "intolerance move forward."

    His claim was repealed by the Venezuelan representative. "This disruptive event deserves a condemnation in the toughest terms and serves as an unfortunate warning of what could happen in a highly politicized environment where intolerance is allowed to advance," said the Alternate Representative of the United States to the OAS Lewis Amselem, AFP reported.

 "An environment of inclusion and respect is of the essence for a successful democratic government," said Amselem.  Later, when taking the floor, Venezuelan ambassador at OAS Roy Chaderton said: "Venezuela accepts the concern, but refuses any hint that Venezuela's political climate" prompted the anti-Semitic attack last Friday.

HUGO CHAVEZ HAS BETRAYED THE BOLIVARIAN PRINCIPLES SAYS CARLOS GUYON

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Retired VENEZUELAN military officer Carlos Guyón, one of the officers who joined rebel forces in the failed coup of 1992, said on Wednesday that Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez betrayed the principles of the attempt and deplored the imposed celebration as a holiday.

     "We have nothing to celebrate. We rose up against imperfect democracy, which had problems, but today the poor majority is still excluded," Guyón said.

     The retired Venezuelan army officer formed part of the forces that tried to topple President Carlos Andrés Pérez, accused by them of widespread corruption and exclusion of the rank and file. The rebel movement commemorated by Chávez's government as a decent military rebellion was suffocated. However, the failure promoted Chávez, who led a paratroopers' division, for his short, impressive surrender speech.

02-05-2009

OAS SECRETARY GENERAL INSULZA CONDEMNS ATTACK AGAINST SYNAGOGUE IN CARACAS

              WASHINGTON, D.C.--Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza Tuesday rebuffed the act of vandalism perpetrated in the main synagogue located in Caracas, and showed confidence that the Venezuelan government is to protect the Jewish community in that country.

    "Such acts of barbarity cannot and will not be tolerated or accepted among the peoples in Latin America," stated Insulza, as quoted in a press release published by the OAS, AFP reported. Late on January 30th, over a dozen unknown people burst into the Major Synagogue of Caracas, where they wrecked objects of worship and painted the walls and doors with slogans such as "Out Jews," and "Damned Israel."

     The attack came a few days following President Hugo Chávez's decision to expel the Israel Ambassador from Caracas and to severe ties with Israel to reject Israel's operation in Gaza Strip.  "I trust the people responsible for this attack will be found and punished and that the government will do anything in its power to protect the lives and property of the Jewish community in Venezuela," added Insulza, who stressed that the attack came on the International Day of the Holocaust.

VENEZUELAN'S JEWS FEAR ANTI-SEMITISM IN THE COUNTRY

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Dozens of demonstrators waving banners reading "Hate Only Sows Hate" and "Coexist" gathered Tuesday in front of the United Nations' local offices to protest an attack on a Jewish synagogue and to warn against what some fear is a growing tide of anti-Semitism. Roughly 100 protesters condemned the Jan. 30 attack on a Caracas synagogue that has raised concerns of religious intolerance.

    "We're in shock because nothing like this occurred in Venezuela before," said Mercedes Benmoha, 28, a teacher who helped organize the protest. "We all have the right to practice our religion in peace and tranquility."  An armed group vandalized the capital city's oldest synagogue last week, shattering religious objects, throwing Torah scrolls on the floor and spray-painting walls with anti-Semitic messages amid Venezuela's diplomatic spat with Israel over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

    Venezuelan authorities are investigating the incident, but no suspects have been arrested. Leaders of Venezuela's estimated 15,000-member Jewish community have complained that vocal denunciations of Israel by President Hugo Chavez and Venezuela's state and pro-government news media may have encouraged the attack. Chavez has condemned the attack, and suggested that government adversaries eager to portray his socialist administration as anti-Semitic could have been behind it. Venezuela's Jews also are concerned about Chavez's increasingly close relationship with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

10 TRUCKS TORCHED ALONG US SUPPLY LINE IN AFGHANISTAN

        KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--Assailants torched 10 trucks stranded in Pakistan by the bombing of a key bridge on the main supply route for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, an official said Wednesday. Increasing attacks on transport depots and truck convoys heading to bases across the border have raised doubts about Pakistan's ability to protect the vital road as the U.S. prepares to send as many as 30,000 more American forces into Afghanistan this year. Attackers set fire to at least 10 trucks parked overnight near Landi Kotal, a town close to the famed Khyber Pass that connects Pakistan with Afghanistan, local government official Fazl Rabi said.

    The trucks were returning from Afghanistan and it was unclear if they had carried goods for foreign troops, Rabi said. U.S. officials have played down any concern about running out of food or fuel, despite pressure on their supply lines. American forces stockpile enough supplies to last 60-90 days in the event that their supply chain is severed, U.S. officials say. The Khyber route was cut Tuesday when suspected militants set off a bomb that wrecked a bridge across a rocky gorge near the pass. The red metal bridge was twisted and partially collapsed at one end.

    Bakhtiar Khan, another local government official, said Pakistan army engineers were working on the bridge with the aim of reopening it by Thursday. Khan said cars and other small vehicles were able to cross the gorge by picking their way along a rough track that crossed the dry river bed near the bridge but that no trucks were moving. Some 75 percent of U.S. supplies to Afghanistan currently travel through Pakistan, and securing efficient and safe supply routes into Afghanistan has become a top priority for U.S. officials.

02-04-2009

TEHRAN SAYS FIRST IRANIAN-MADE SATELLITE SENT TO SPACE

              TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran said it had launched a domestically made satellite into orbit for the first time on Tuesday, a move likely to worry Israel and Western powers further about Tehran's nuclear ambitions. The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit can also be used for launching warheads, although Iran says it has no plans to do so. "Dear Iranian nation, your children have placed the first indigenous satellite into orbit," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a televised message, adding the launch was successful.

    Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Omid was orbiting earth. The ISNA news agency quoted him as saying: "We have established communications with it and the necessary information has been received." Sending the Omid into space is a message to the world that Iran is "very powerful and you have to deal with us in the right way," an Iranian political analyst said. Senior officials from six world powers -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and China -- will meet on Wednesday to discuss the nuclear row with Iran. It will be their first meeting since U.S. President Barack Obama took office.

    Obama has signaled that he will pursue direct talks with Tehran but has also warned Iran to expect more pressure if it does not meet the U.N. Security Council demand to halt atomic work the West fears has military aims. Iranian state television showed footage of a rocket blasting off from a launchpad and lighting up the night sky as it streaked into space. "With God's help and the desire for justice and peace, the official presence of the Islamic Republic was registered in space," Ahmadinejad said. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also told reporters during a visit to Ethiopia that the satellite had peaceful aims.

ROCKET FIRED BY PALESTINIAN MILITANTS FROM GAZA REACHES ISRAEL CITY 

      JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Palestinian militants fired a long-range rocket from Gaza into southwestern Israel on Tuesday morning. It was the first such attack into the city of Ashkelon since the two sides declared a cease-fire, the Israeli military said.

    This aerial view shows the power station and industrial zone of Ashkelon, Israel, in March of 2008. The missile fired from a Grad rocket launcher did not cause any injuries or damage in the coastal city, said a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces. Rockets fired from a Grad have a longer range than the crude, home-made Qassams that Palestinian militants in Gaza fire more frequently. Militants have used Grads to strike farther into Israel. Ashkelon lies 12 miles (19 km) north of Gaza.

    Israel and Hamas, the Islamic militant group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, declared separate, tentative cease-fires two weeks ago after more than three weeks of fighting in Gaza. Israel launched the attack on Hamas in Gaza on December 27 with the stated aim of ending rocket attacks on southern Israel. More than 1,300 Palestinians died and about 5,400 others were wounded. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, were also killed in the fighting. Since the two sides declared a cease-fire on January 21, militants have sporadically fired rockets into Israel. Israel has responded with air strikes.

CATHOLIC CHURCH AT ODDS WITH HUGO CHAVEZ'S COMMEMORATION

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Vice-President of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference thinks that people cannot be forced to celebrate. "I have nothing to celebrate today (February 2nd); nothing at all. I think that Mr. Chávez went against the constitutionality of a country during his failed coup in 1992," said Monsignor Lückert  Trade Association terms decision to name February 2nd a holiday "irresponsible"

    Monsignor Roberto Lückert, Vice-President of the Venezuela's Bishops Conference (CEV) rebutted on Monday the celebration of the 10th anniversary of President Hugo Chávez's inauguration, including declaration of a national holiday. "There is nothing to celebrate," said an admonishing Coro's Archbishop in view of the president's demeaning remarks of the sectors that are against his policies, DPA reported.

     "I have nothing to celebrate today (February 2nd); nothing at all. And I am in a foul temper, because I think that Mr. Chávez went against the constitutionality of a country during his failed coup in 1992," he told Unión Radio. Lückert lashed out at the government reasons to commemorate due to the treatment given to the Catholic Church and other dissenting sectors. "So, what are we going to celebrate today? He disqualifies you, me, and anybody at odds by calling us plotters, by saying that we are against Venezuela. He said, I did not, that he entered the Military Academy to stage a coup. He was the one the Republic graduated as coupster."

02-03-2009

PRESIDENT OBAMA SAID THAT GUANTANAMO PRISON CLOSURE MAKES U.S. MORE SECURE

        WASHINGTON, D.C.--President Barack Obama says his decision to close the Guantánamo prison "will make us safer" and ensure that the government is upholding legal guarantees under the U.S. justice system.

    In an interview aired Monday on NBC's "Today" show, Obama says his decision to close the military prison at the U.S. naval base in Cuba was driven by his attempts to balance "what's going to keep the American people safe" and constitutionally guaranteed rights for those imprisoned.

     Obama says he is confident the international community will cooperate in accepting some of the militants currently being held at Guantánamo.

HUGO CHAVEZ BLAMES "THE OLIGARCHY" FOR RAID IN CARACAS SYNAGOGUE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"Who benefits from this violent act? This act does not benefit the government, the people or the revolution. Efforts are under way to disturb the climate prevailing in Venezuela," stated President Hugo Chavez on Sunday referring to an attack early on January 31st against a synagogue located in Maripérez, north Caracas.

    "They are trying to change the dynamics that is under way; they are trying to break a trend that is under way, and you know exactly what I mean. They are trying to cast a shadow over a people's victory the date of which has actually been set on the calendar," Chávez said in a mandatory radio and television address.

     "It's them! It was them!," stressed the ruler. "I am making this statement before the country. Mr. Minister (of the Interior and Justice) Tareck El Aissami, we will do everything in our power, everything possible under the law, to demonstrate the real causes behind this act," the Venezuelan ruler added. "The oligarchy is violent. The oligarchy kills, plots, threatens to set Caracas ablaze, burns Avila mountain (a mountain range north Caracas), and uses some soulless youth as cannon fodder, by driving them to violent acts."

ISRAEL DENOUNCES DESECRATION OF SYNAGOGUE IN CARACAS

        JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel Sunday denounced the desecration of the major synagogue located in Caracas and stressed that such an act could not have taken place in the absence of "the lenient look of the senior officials" in Venezuela. "We do deplore this anti-Semitic attack. Authorities in Venezuela should secure order and safety," Ygal Palmor, a spokesperson of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told AFP, adding that "the Venezuelan people are neither racist nor anti-Semitic."

     "This type of act could not have taken place in the absence of the lenient look of senior officials," the spokesperson added. Some 15 people broke into the major Caracas synagogue late Friday until Saturday morning. They tied the guards, destroyed cult artifacts and painted anti-Semitic slogans on the walls.

       "Never before in the history of the Jewish community in Venezuela we had been the target of such an action. We feel threatened, intimidated, attacked," Elia Farache, chair of the Israeli Association of Venezuela, told AFP from Caracas.  Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro rebutted the attack and vowed to punish the people responsible for the attack.

02-02-2009

ISRAEL BOMBS GAZA STRIP AFTER VOWING HARSH RESPONSE TO ROCKET ATTACKS

        JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel bombed areas of the Gaza Strip after vowing a “harsh” response to Palestinians who fired at least nine rockets and mortars into southern Israel yesterday.  The raids targeted six suspected weapons-smuggling tunnels and an outpost of the Hamas group, the Israel Defense Forces said in an e-mailed statement early today. Missiles struck an unmanned police station in central Gaza, according to Palestinian witnesses.

    Israel’s response to rocket attacks “will be harsh, and it will be disproportionate,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the start of a weekly Cabinet meeting yesterday, in comments broadcast on Army Radio. Israel on Jan. 18 ended a 22-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip aimed at stopping Hamas firing rockets into Israeli territory. Violence has increased since Jan. 27 with an Israeli soldier and two Palestinians killed last week and two Israeli soldiers and a civilian injured yesterday.

    One rocket fired from Gaza yesterday narrowly missed a kindergarten, the army said.  The Israeli air raids late yesterday targeted tunnels near the border with Egypt used by Hamas to smuggle weapons into Gaza, residents of the southern town of Rafah said. There were no reports of injuries.   “As the sole authority in the Gaza Strip, Hamas bears full responsibility for all terrorism originating within its area of control,” the IDF said in its statement.   Before the attack, Israeli aircraft flew over the area near the border town of Rafah, setting off sonic booms, and witnesses said hundreds of people who work in the tunnels there fled, along with residents. Earlier Palestinians said residents there received calls from the Israeli military, advising them to leave ahead of the airstrikes.

HAMAS MILITANTS FIRED ROCKET INTO ISRAEL

      JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Palestinian militants fired a rocket from Gaza on Saturday that exploded close to the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon without causing any damages or injuries, an Israeli military spokesman said. Israeli forces and Gaza militants are supposed to refrain from attacking each other under a fragile cease-fire. The truce has been breached several times, making diplomatic efforts to build a lasting agreement difficult. The rocket attack was the first from Gaza since Thursday, said the Israeli military spokesman, who declined to be identified under army regulations. There was no claim of responsibility from any Palestinian militant group.

    Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers stopped fighting in late January after a fierce three-week Israeli offensive meant to halt eight years of near-daily rocket fire from Gaza at southern Israel. Since then, Palestinian militants have fired rockets sporadically toward Israel and killed one soldier on Tuesday. Israel has conducted retaliatory strikes and pounded border tunnels it says Hamas uses to smuggle in weapons from Egypt.

     On Thursday, Israeli President Shimon Peres had a heated exchange with Erdogan at a panel discussion in Davos, Switzerland in which he accused the Israelis of killing children. Later on Friday, Erdogan suggested the high Palestinian civilian death toll in Gaza during Israel's operation was intentional. On Saturday, Erdogan said the Israeli government "should check itself" over its war in Gaza. "They should not exploit this issue for the upcoming elections in Israel," he said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor condemned Erdogan's comments.  "If Mr. Erdogan wants to be heard, he needs to be more truthful and more respectful of the facts, not to mention to show more respect to the Israeli president," he said.

VENEZUELA FOREIGN MINISTER DENIES ANTI-SEMITISM   

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Venezuelan government denied the encouragement or endorsement of actions against the Jewish community in Venezuela and any links with Islamic groups Hammas or Hezbollah.

    Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro said that the statements appeared in Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz, where the Venezuelan government was accused of supporting anti-Semitic groups, are false. He added that the accusation was due to Venezuela criticism of the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza Strip, reported Reuters.

    "There is not and will never be any anti-Semitism. Our criticism has been and remains effective in the face of the crimes of political leaders of the State of Israel," Maduro told state-run TV channel VTV during an interview. The diplomat added that those who make such claims "purport to blackmail by arguing that anyone who criticizes Israel's leaders joins automatically and forthwith the list of anti-Jewish people."

02-01-2009

CARACAS SYNAGOGUE ATTACKED, DAMAGED BY CHAVISTAS

        CARACAS, VENEZUELA--A group of CHAVISTAS entered a Caracas synagogue overnight, destroyed Jewish religious objects and daubed anti-Israel slogans on the walls, representatives of the Jewish community in Venezuela reported Saturday. The group of approximately 15 people, who according to witnesses were "heavily armed," subdued the guards on the premises and remained in the synagogue more than four hours.

      Elias Farache and David Bittan, president and vice president of the Israelite Association of Venezuela, told the local press that the individuals "grabbed and dashed to the ground the sacred scrolls of the Torah and other religious objects." They also painted the walls with such slogans as "Get out, death to all" and "Cursed Israel, death," and carried away the equipment that records video images from the security cameras.

     On Jan. 21 and 22, a group arrived on motorcycles and painted graffiti on the walls outside the same synagogue, located near the downtown Plaza Venezuela, related to the massacre perpetrated in Gaza by the Israeli army. The case was reported to the Attorney General's Office and, according to Israeli spokespersons, they are waiting for the investigation to identify the guilty parties, who on that occasion were captured by the security cameras. Venezuela broke off relations with Israel after the attacks on the Gaza Strip in which 1,500 people died, many of them women, children and the elderly. This week Israel expelled the two officials who were representing Venezuelan interests in that country and in Palestine, and who were received with honors Saturday in Caracas.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY GROUP DEPLORES ATTACKS AGAINST STUDENT MOVEMENT

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Repression against student demonstrators who oppose the amendment to the Constitution that would allow indefinite reelection was rejected on Wednesday, January 28 by the catholic university group Pastoral Universitaria (University Pastoral).

     In a statement, this institution attached to the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference (CEV) and entrusted to promote evangelization, education and missionary activities in higher education institutions, required the government to protect and respect human rights of all citizens, regardless of their political tendency.

      The document is specifically aimed at the case of university students who, according to the Pastoral Universitaria, have been repressed "disproportionately" by security forces during their demonstrations against the amendment to the Constitution.

VIOLENT CHAVISTA GROUP  BREAK INTO FORUM ON CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

        CARABOBO, VENEZUELA--Former Defense Minister Raúl Isaías Baduel -a former close ally of President Hugo Chávez- was taking part in the forum

     A group of chavistas caused a state of confusion at the University of Carabobo, central Venezuela, where former Defense Minister Raúl Isaías Baduel -a former close ally of President Hugo Chávez- was taking part in a forum on a proposed constitutional amendment on unlimited reelection of elected officials.

      Iván Uzcátegui, a student and President of the University Student Council (FCU) of the University of Carabobo, told Caracas-based private news network Globovisión that a "storm of tear gas" was suddenly thrown at the place were they holding the forum. Uzcátegui added that several detonations were heard. Meanwhile, General Baduel said that his truck was shot and his briefcase with personal belongings was stolen. "There were books, papers and a checkbook inside it," Baduel stated.