LATEST NEWS OF NOVEMBER 2009

HONDURANS HEADED TO POLLS, SEEKING END TO 5-MONTH POLITICAL CRISIS

      TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--After months marred by violent protests, bombings and state-mandated curfews, Hondurans headed to the polls Sunday morning to elect a new president. Many came bearing hopes that the elections would provide a way out of the five-month political crisis that has hovered over the country since the removal at gunpoint of former President Manuel Zelaya. Though residents poured through the doors of local voting precincts, many did so quietly and without much of the fanfare of blaring car horns, music and flag waving that came with previous elections. Authorities reported some clashes with police in San Pedro Sula.

    “We will celebrate once the elections are done and the results are announced,'' said voter Guido Ferrari, 67, after casting his vote at a school in a working-class neighborhood called Kennedy. ``For now we must remain serious to ensure the rest of the world sees just how serious we are about this election. All eyes are on our country and, it's not something as Hondurans take lightly.''  World leaders have condemned the Central American nation ever since Zelaya was shuttled out of bed at gunpoint and flown to Costa Rica in the early-morning hours of June 28.

    Honduras's interim President Roberto Micheletti has said the country's actions were justified because Zelaya violated laws when pushing for a referendum that had been outlawed by the Supreme Court and many feared would let him change the constitution and run for reelection. Leaders of the Resistance Movement, Zelaya supporters, said Election Day was marked by search warrants and arrests to intimidate Zelaya's followers. One Resistance member headed out on the street with a megaphone and landed in jail, leaders said at a news conference Sunday afternoon. She said the group had documented 20 or 30 detentions nationwide. The Resistance Movement urged its followers to stay home Sunday. The group's candidate, Carlos H. Reyes, withdrew from the race, although another leftist candidate, César Ham, decided to participate.

IRAN SET TO CONSTRUCT TEN NDW ENRICHMENT PLANTS

     TEHRAN, IRAN--Days after a new resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog called on Iran to halt the construction of its Fordo enrichment plant, the Iranian government tasks the Atomic Energy Organization (AEO) with building ten more nuclear enrichment sites.  According to the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the AEO should begin the construction of five of the requested enrichment facilities over the next two months.  Upon the Iranian government's request, the organization should also propose locations for the remaining five enrichment plants within a two-month period.

    According to the report published on the Iranian president's website, the request for the construction of the new sites comes as the Iranian government is expected to provide the country's power plants with 20,000 megawatts of electricity for domestic use.  The decision, which was made during a Sunday cabinet meeting, comes as President Ahmadinejad argued that the country is in need of 500,000 centrifuges for generating the cited amount of electricity.  The requested nuclear sites are expected to be as large as Iran's enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz.

     The announcement by Iran comes as earlier in the week six world powers drafted a resolution at the UN nuclear watchdog against Iran's nuclear work.  The draft, backed by the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China, was presented at the year-end meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-nation Board of Governors.  The IAEA passed the resolution which called on Iran to stop all construction work at Fordo and confirm there are no more nuclear sites that the agency must be aware of.  Iran says the demand to stop construction at Fordo is not within the framework of its legal obligations.  Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have rejected the notion that the newly-adopted resolution is much stronger than the previous ones, arguing that the past resolutions called for a complete halt to Iran's nuclear enrichment program while the latest resolution seeks to pressure Iran into abandoning construction at the Fordo plant.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ: "ISRAEL THREATENED US AND WE WILL ACT ACCORDINGLY"

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"We will be together until the end,” Ahmadinejad said to the Venezuelan dictator. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chávez, exchanged praise and reaffirmed their brotherhood "against imperialist threats."

    Chávez welcomed the Iranian leader, calling him an "anti-imperialist gladiator," and a "brother and friend" in the struggle of "two free countries" (against imperialism). Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad described Chávez as a "brave brother," and a man "who resists like a mountain."  For his part, Chávez advocated Ahmadinejad, who "has been attacked by the Western (mass) media."

      The Venezuelan ruler accused the media of "saying nothing" to what he considered a threat from Israeli President Shimon Peres. "Peres said that Chávez and Ahmadinejad would fall soon (...) what the Israeli President said we take as a threat and we will act accordingly," Chávez highlighted.  He insisted "it is a threat and we know that the State of Israel stands for a murderous arm of the Yankee empire."

AS EXPECTED, LULA DA SILVA WILL NOT RECOGNIZE THE RESULTS OF HONDURAS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

      BRAZILIA, BRAZIL--BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA WILL NOT RECOGNIZE  recognize the result of the upcoming presidential elections in Honduras, says his foreign minister, arguing that the move would give legitimacy to the June 28 coup.  Honduran former president Jose Manuel Zelaya was removed from power by his own army in a coup that later installed the interim government of Roberto Micheletti.  

    "A coup is not acceptable as a means for political change," Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said on Thursday on the sidelines of a climate summit between Amazon basin countries and France, reported Xinhua.  Brazil has called for Zelaya's return to power. The ousted president is still holed up in the Brazilian embassy in Honduran capital Tegucigalpa.

    A presidential election, in which neither Zelaya nor Micheletti is running, will take place in the poorest Central American country on Sunday.  The poll has been scheduled based on a Washington-brokered deal that the ousted constitutional president rejects.  The White House maintains that the presidential election could bring to an end the political stalemate in the country. Most regional countries seek re-instatement of Zelaya.  Lula da Silva and his Argentine counterpart Cristina Kirchner have both voiced their rejection to the elections in Honduras.  Lula says, "The elections to be held on Nov. 29 will not be recognized and (otherwise) a very dangerous precedent will be set."

TERRORIST BOMB CAUSES DERAILMENT OF A RUSSIAN TRAIN KILLING AT LEAST 26 PEOPLE AND INJURING 100 

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Investigators probing the derailment of an express train in Russia have found "elements of an explosive device" at the site and believe an act of terror caused the deadly incident. The derailment killed at least 26 people and injured about 100, but there was no immediate word on who or what group might have been behind the action. "One can say with certainty that that was indeed an act of terror," Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the investigative committee of the Russian prosecutor's office, told CNN.

     He would not elaborate on exactly what kind of "elements of an explosive device" the investigators discovered earlier, but said the crater found beneath the railroad bed was "1.5 meter by 1 meter in size." He said investigators are "studying the site of the accident, questioning the witnesses and conducting all kinds of forensic and technical examinations." Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov said "criminology experts have come to a preliminary conclusion that there was an explosion of an improvised explosive device equivalent to seven kilos of TNT.

     "Several leads are being pursued now. A criminal case has been opened under Article 205 ("terrorism") and Article 22 ("illegal possession or storage of weapons or explosives") of the Russian Criminal Code." A total of 681 people -- 20 of them employees -- were on the Nevsky Express as it traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Friday night. The Nevsky Express is Russia's fastest train, equivalent to a bullet train. The crash happened at 9:25 p.m. (1825 GMT) when the train was 280 kilometers (174 miles) from St. Petersburg, Russian state radio said. At least three carriages carrying more than 130 people derailed and turned on their sides, and emergency workers were working to free anyone who may still be trapped inside.  In August 2007, an explosion on the tracks derailed the Nevsky Express, injuring 60 people in what authorities called a terrorist act. About 27,000 passengers on 60 trains were facing delays Saturday as a result of the accident, Russian State TV reported.

FRENCH NAVY FINDS VESSEL FILLED WITH COCAINE FROM VENEZUELA

      PARIS, FRANCE--The French Navy interdicted a sailboat carrying 968 kilograms of cocaine estimated at about USD 59.7 million bound to the Netherlands Antilles from Venezuela, the French government reported on Friday.

    French customs officials found the vessel in front of the French Antilles and tracked it for some weeks, the Ministry of Defense said in a press release, Reuters quoted.

    Four customs officials onboard a patrol boat of the Navy seized the sailboat and the cargo on Thursday in front of Saint Marteen and detained three people of French and Spanish citizenship, the ministry added.

COLOMBIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE THINKS ABOUT EXTERNAL THREAT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN DECADES

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA-- The Colombian Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva admitted on Friday that for the first time in decades he is thinking about the ways to prepare for an external threat, referring to Venezuela, a country with which he wants to "avoid any confrontation."

     "For the first time in decades, the Minister of Defense is pondering how to deal, how to prepare for a situation of external threat," Silva told Colombian radio Caracol in Bogotá.

    However, he warned that Colombia does not want "to deviate from the central strategic goal: defeating narco-terrorism." Therefore, he added, "we must not spend energy, resources and people in some international caprices, created by an unacceptable rhetoric."   Nevertheless, Silva added emphatically that "neighbors are condemned to understand each other."

FORMER AMERICAN EX PRESDENTS REGRET VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ'S AGGRESSIVE STANCE

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Former Presidents Ricardo Lagos, of Chile, and Julio María Sanguinetti, of Uruguay, criticized on Thursday in Colombia the confrontational policy of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and warned that he was hampering the process of South American integration.

    "Integration processes do not improve precisely by cutting bridges," said Lagos, who is attending at the Colombian city of Cartagena a congress on infrastructure, Efe quoted. Lagos made reference to the destruction by Venezuelan authorities of two makeshift bridges on the Colombian border one week ago.

     The Venezuelan government justified the blasting when claiming that the bridges were used by drug traffickers. In reply, Colombia filed a formal complaint with the Organization of American States (OAS). Sanguinetti, also in Cartagena, also lamented Chávez's "confrontational policy," "his daily food" to sideline Venezuela's "internal problems."

DEMONSTRATORS REJECT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD'S VISIT TO VENEZUELA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--A group of students and members of civil society demonstrated on Wednesday outside the Melia Caracas Hotel, where Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is staying during his 48-hour visit to Venezuela.

    "We reject the presence of the Iranian dictator, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the country. We think it is ironic that we are waiting for the doors (of Venezuela) to be opened to the IACHR (for an official visit), while we have to see dictators visiting" the country, said Mariana Hernández, faculty adviser to the Central University of Venezuela (UCV).

    "Today, on the day against violence against women, we demand respect for human beings, women in Iran, Venezuela and of all mankind, women have fought the battle throughout history," she said. Hernández added that the protest was intended to show that people in Venezuela reject the attacks and persecution of dissidents. "In this country we do believe in democracy. In Venezuela, we do believe in equal rights for men and women. "

HONDURAS SUPREME COURT BACKS ZELAYA OUSTER

      TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS-- Honduras' Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that ousted President Manuel Zelaya cannot legally return to office, dimming the possibility of his reinstatement after a June coup, court sources said. The Court did not release the full text of its non-binding ruling, but a court source and a lawyer close to the proceedings said it closely follows earlier decisions upholding Zelaya's ouster after he moved to change the constitution.

    On June 28, soldiers removed Zelaya from office and sent him into exile on orders from the Supreme Court. The Congress swore in Roberto Micheletti to head the new government, but the world denounced the move and refused to recognize the interim government. The Court's opinion will be passed to lawmakers as part of a U.S.-backed deal between both sides that calls on Congress to decide whether or not Zelaya can be reinstated.

    The opinion may sway Congress' December 2 vote against Zelaya, who snuck back into the country in September and is camped out inside the Brazilian embassy. Honduran soldiers have surrounded the embassy. Zelaya pulled out of the U.S.-brokered deal earlier this month and says he will refuse to return to power. Honduras will hold a presidential election on Sunday that was scheduled long before the coup. Neither Zelaya nor Micheletti is running and the United States sees the vote as a possible solution to the stalemate.

FORMER CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO DENIES VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ IS SEEKING WAR WITH COLOMBIA

     HAVANA, CUBA--Former Cuban DICTATOR Fidel Castro described on Thursday as a "slanderous Yankee accusation" the assumption that there could be a war between Venezuela and Colombia, saying that Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez is "reluctant" to ignite an armed conflict.

     "I know Chávez very well. He would be the last one to provoke a conflict where Venezuelan or Colombian blood could be shed," said the first Secretary of the ruling Cuban Communist Party (PCC) in his Op-ed "Reflections by comrade Fidel," published in Cuban media, DPA reported.  

    In his column entitled "Bolivarian Revolution and Peace," Castro describes the Colombian "paramilitaries as "shock troops of imperialism," and accused the United States of fueling tensions between Venezuela and Colombia, Washington's main ally in the region.  Colombian paramilitaries are the first shock troops of imperialism to fight the Bolivarian Revolution," said the former Cuban President, defending the Venezuela's leader.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE URGED VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ TO RESPECT THE RIGHTS OF BORDER TOWNS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombian President Álvaro Uribe said on Tuesday that governments should ensure citizens' rights to live on the border, in reference to a political and diplomatic crisis with Venezuela and its effects on border residents.

    In his remarks to a radio station based in Bogotá, Uribe remembered that many citizens of both countries cross the border on a daily basis, for work or study purposes, AFP reported.  "They live on a side of the border, go to school on the other side; they live in Venezuela, come to Pamplona University. Then, one has to respect the citizens' right to live on the border, on one and another side of the border," he said.

    Reference was made to the control, according to local residents, imposed from Caracas on the bilateral trade on the border and the explosion by the Venezuelan National Guard of two makeshift pedestrian bridges.

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD SAYS U.S., ISRAEL LACK 'COURAGE' TO ATTACK IRAN

      BRAZILIA, BRAZIL.-- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday that the threat of a U.S. or Israeli military strike against Iran was no longer an issue because "they don't have the courage" to attack Iran. "The age of military attacks is over, now we've reached the time for dialogue and understanding. Weapons and threats are a thing of the past," the Iranian president said at a joint press conference with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, closing his one-day visit.

    Iran's leader got a welcoming bear hug from the Brazilian president, who urged Western nations to drop threats of punishment over the Iranian nuclear program and instead negotiate a fair solution. Fielding a question on whether he feared an attack from Israel or the U.S., Ahmadinejad said a military strike was no longer a possibility. That's clear "even for mentally challenged people," he said with a smile, AFP reported.

    Besides, he added, "those you mention [Israel and the U.S.] don't have the courage to attack Iran. They're not even thinking about it." The Iranian and Brazilian presidents didn't say whether they discussed Iranian military exercises that started Sunday, adding to Mideast tensions and driving oil prices higher as an Iranian air force commander boasted Iran could deter any military strike by Israel. Ahmadinejad didn't utter the word Israel during his comments, but said Iran wants a Middle East with "prosperity, progress and security for all nations." In the past, he has called for the destruction of Israel, which has voiced concern about Iran's push in Latin America.

PARIS SUMMONS VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR FOR DICTATOR CHAVEZ'S REMARKS

     PARIS, FRANCE--The French government summoned the Venezuelan ambassador to Paris in connection with the remarks made by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez, according to which Carlos Ilich Ramírez Sánchez was unfairly found guilty of terrorism in France, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported on Wednesday.

    "As soon as we learned about President Chávez's remarks, we made a firm clarification to the Venezuelan ambassador," the ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said, AFP quoted.  "The French justice gave Carlos a life sentence for very serious crimes, for terrorism and murder. He is responsible for the death of several French citizens. Carlos will never be for us but a terrorist," Valero stressed.

     Initially, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had refrained himself from making any comments on Chávez's remarks on his fellow citizen Carlos, whom he vindicated as a "revolutionary fighter."  "The French police abducted him; he was kidnapped from his place in Sudan, put in a sack and taken to Paris," said the Venezuelan president last Friday.

COLOMBIAN OMBUDSMAN REPORTS JOIN PATROLLING OF VENEZUELAN TROOPS  AND FARC GUERRILLAS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--The Colombian Ombudsman reported that Venezuelan military and Colombian guerrillas jointly patrol border areas, according to a report partially released on Tuesday by Bogotá's newspapers.

    Based on the study, the ordeal undergone in the region amidst the strained relations between the two countries have made about 7,000 Colombian residents in Venezuela return to their country of origin in the last couple of months.  "Most seriously, apparently staff of the Venezuelan armed forces has been driving to Colombian territory and appearing in several villages of Herán township, together with members of the Colombian guerrilla," stated the report, DPA quoted.

     According to the survey, during patrolling, residents have been called for "indoctrination" sessions, where they are told "that protection will be provided to them and control will be exerted over said territory."

the oas secretary-general urged venezuelan dictator hugo chavez to watch his wording

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--José Miguel Insulza, Secretary-General, Organization of American States (OAS), termed "deplorable" the remarks made by Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chávez, who called "disgraceful" both Colombian president Álvaro Uribe and Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaime Bermúdez.

    "The statements seem to me deplorable from any point of view. They should not be expected among heads of State in Latin America," the OAS Secretary-General said in a short interview with Efe.  "There the Colombian Foreign Minister went saying that Venezuela is talking about war." "I cannot say what I really meant to tell them because we are on the air… You, disgraceful, as well as your president, and you have disgraced Colombia!" Chávez said when reading a news release that quoted Bermúdez's remarks.

     The day after, Uribe made no comments.  "Such wording must be removed among our heads of State," Insulza noted. Last Friday, the OAS Secretary-General asked the governments of Colombia and Venezuela to keep "top prudence" and urged them again to come to terms by means of dialogue.

COLOMBIAN BUSINESSMEN RAIL ON US SILENCE IN CRISIS WITH VENEZUELA; LULA DA SILVA WANTS TO ACT AS AN INTERMEDIARY

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--The US "silence" in the current showdown between Colombia and Venezuela, precisely unleashed by an agreement which enables US troops to use at least seven Colombian military bases, was criticized by Colombian businessmen.

    "It is a silence that can be heard in a deafening way in the Colombian reality," Luis Carlos Villegas, the president of the National Businessmen's Association (Andi) told Radio Caracol.

     Villegas claimed that the United States "has forsaken its allies elsewhere in the world," Efe quoted.  The Colombian private sector "is very surprised by the US silence as to the dispute with Venezuela," Villegas insisted on saying.  Colombian-Venezuelan diplomatic, political and trade relations have been seriously deteriorated since the news of an agreement with the United States some months ago.

US: NO AGGRESSIVE INTENTION AGAINST VENEZUELA

      WASHINGTON, D.C.The US government is concerned about the "rhetoric comments" by Venezuelan authorities; praises Colombia's "restrained reply" and "has not aggressive intentions" against Venezuela or any other country in the region.

    The remarks were made on Tuesday by US Department of State Spokesman Charles Luoma-Overstreet, when queried about the claims of Colombian businesspersons and the Colombian Advisory Commission on Foreign Affairs for the "silence" of "fellow countries" in view of the current Colombian-Venezuelan standoff, Efe reported.

     Against the background of the crisis is Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez's disagreement with a military deal made at the end of October which enables US troops to use seven Colombian air bases, for considering it a "threat" on regional security. According to Luoma-Overstreet, the United States "pursues peace and prosperity by means of dialogue" in the region.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ TO FORMER CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO: VENEZUELA AWAITS YOU

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chavez IS INVITING CUBAN FORMER DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO to visit Venezuela during the coming months.

     Chavez read aloud a letter to the 83-year-old former Cuban leader during a televised speech Saturday night, saying "Venezuela awaits you." Chavez proposed that Castro visit at some point between now and April, during a congress of his socialist party.

     The 83-year-old Castro has not been seen in public since undergoing a series of emergency intestinal surgeries in July 2006. He handed the Cuban presidency to his brother Raul but has continued writing essays published by state media. Chavez also has invited Castro to a mid-December meeting of the regional ALBA trade bloc in Havana, saying he is well enough to attend.

BRAZILIANS PROTEST AHMADINEJAD'S VISIT

     RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Nearly 2,000 people gathered Sunday on Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro to protest the upcoming visit to Brazil by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and to ask for an explanation from President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for receiving him. “Lula, explain to your invited guest what human rights are” and “denying the Holocaust is the same thing as denying slavery” were some of the slogans written on posters carried by some of the demonstrators. origin, homosexual groups and numerous civilians unhappy with the idea of offering a reception with full presidential honors to the Iranian president, who will arrive in Brasilia on Monday.

   The march lasted about two hours and proceeded along a large part of the walkway running beside the beach, which was packed, just like on every typical sunny Sunday. The demonstrators blew whistles derisively at Ahmadinejad and Lula, distributed pamphlets, shouted and danced to the rhythms of an African percussion group that enlivened the gathering. Also, the crowd observed a minute of silence as a gesture of brotherly solidarity with the Iranian people – who, as protesters said, are the ones who are suffering from the “discriminatory policies” of the Islamic republic’s president – after which they sang the Brazilian national anthem.

    At the end of the protest, a huge number of white balloons were released skyward with comments such as “Human rights,” “Freedom of the press” and “Peace” written on them. The balloons had been contained in a cage and represented the “victims” of the Iranian regime, in the words of protest organizers. In addition to the Rio march, crowds also gathered to repudiate the Iranian leader’s visit in Brasilia in front of the Foreign Ministry and in several other cities around the country. Ahmadinejad will arrive Monday in the Brazilian capital accompanied by a delegation of some 200 businessmen, and he will meet with Lula to try and garner his support for his controversial nuclear program.

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY REGRETS AHMADINEJAD'S VISIT TO VENEZUELA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Confederation of Israelite Associations of Venezuela (CAIV) expressed on Monday its "dismay and disappointment" over the new visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Venezuela.

    The Jewish association in Venezuela issued a statement warning that Ahmadinejad's trip to Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela gives legitimacy to a regime over which "there are serious doubts about the transparency and legality of its government, since it took office after highly questioned elections."

     It warned that Ahmadinejad appointed Ahmad Vahidi, as his new Defense Minister. According to CAIV's statement, Vahidi "has been requested by the International Police (Interpol) in relation to the cowardlyterrorist attack in 1994 against the headquarters of Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA-DAIA), where 85 people were killed.   It says that the Iranian nuclear program is apparently aimed at promoting military purposes, and the international community must not remain indifferent.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ ANNOUNCES DE forthcoming ARRIVAL OF 300 RUSSIAN TANKS AND THE ORGANIZATION OF MILITIAS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ is hailing the forthcoming arrival of 300 Russian-made tanks and armored vehicles, and urging civilians to join government-organized militias to be ready to defend Venezuela from a foreign invasion. Chavez called on his supporters to undergo military training and join the militias during a Saturday speech that ended around midnight, saying he thinks "it's the obligation" of every member of his socialist party to participate in an ongoing effort to "organize combat groups." The dictator, a former paratroop commander, said more than 300 armored vehicles and Russian war tanks, including T-72 battle tanks, will be arriving in Venezuela along with radar and air defense systems.

     Venezuela has already bought more than $4 billion worth of Russian arms since 2005, including 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, dozens of attack helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. And in September, Russia opened a $2.2 billion line of credit for Venezuela to purchase more weapons. The military acquisitions, coupled with weapons purchases among South American nations including Brazil and Ecuador, have raised concerns of an arms race in the region.

     Venezuela must prepare for a possible armed conflict, Chavez said, because the United States and Colombia could attack. He claims U.S. "imperialists" want to undermine his "Bolivarian Revolution," a political movement named after 19th-century independence hero Simon Bolivar. He vehemently denied that Venezuela plans to attack its neighbor. Venezuela and Colombia have been feuding for months over the agreement between Bogota and Washington allowing the U.S. military to increase its presence at seven Colombian bases under a 10-year lease agreement. Colombian and U.S. officials say the deal is necessary to more effectively help Colombia fight drug traffickers and leftist rebels, but Chavez claims the agreement poses a threat to Venezuela. "We are the No. 1 target on the imperial map of this continent," he said.

thousands of NICARAGUA opposition members protest against daniel ortega in MANAGUA

     MANAGUA, NICARAGUA--Thousands of opposition members marched on Saturday to defy the power of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega hours before another march was to begin in support of the president, all under a strong police guard to avoid confrontations. The opposition march, which ended without incident, was called by 18 organizations of civil society to protest the Sandinista government’s harassment of the opposition and against the Supreme Court ruling allowing Ortega to run for re-election, according to the organizers. The demonstration, in which several thousand people from all over the country took part, according to the organizers, began at 9:45 a.m. local time (1545 GMT), hours before the beginning of the march in support of Ortega.

     Violeta Granera, representing the organizers, at the end of the march read the “Managua Manifesto,” which said that the march was carried out after overcoming obstacles, threats and acts of terrorism by the Ortega government “to intimidate the opposition, but without success.” The march was called to protest the Oct. 19 ruling of the panel of Nicaragua’s Supreme Court, which voted to overturn a ban on re-election. The ruling clears the way for Ortega to seek re-election in 2011. Joining in the demonstration were members of five political parties of the opposition waving banners with slogans like “Out with ALBA,” referring to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas promoted by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, “No to re-election” and “Yes to freedom of speech.”

     The opposition protest ended as planned in front of the building of the Supreme Electoral Council without any incidents to report, except for complaints that in some towns of the nation’s interior followers of President Ortega tried to keep the opposition from assembling freely. The Sandinista march was to take place Saturday afternoon to celebrate, according to its organizers, the ruling party’s victory in the municipal elections of Nov. 9, 2008, considered “fraudulent” by the opposition. Sandinista demonstrators plan a 2-kilometer (1¼-mile) march through the capital to a plaza in front of a hotel on Managua’s south side, where a rally was to be held. The rally was planned to end with a speech by President Ortega.

VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION STUDENTS ON HUNGER STRIKE UNTIL IAHRC VISITS THE COUNTRY

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--A group of students in opposition to Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chavez announced Friday that they are on a hunger strike until a delegation of the IAHRC visits the country to observe the alleged violations of fundamental rights. “We’re on a hunger strike starting now...until the Inter American Human Rights Commission (IAHRC) comes and ends the political persecution of everyone who disagrees with a government that is sinking us into poverty,” student leader Julio Cesar Rivas said. Rivas made the announcement together with a dozen of his fellow students from various universities around the country, who gathered this Saturday in the Plaza Brion on Caracas’ east side.

     The hunger-striking students “haven’t come to steal the show...they come to attain a goal, to lay down their lives here if the government does not accept our demand, which is to allow the IAHRC to visit Venezuela,” the student leader said. He said they are demanding the presence of the commission in order to “look after the political prisoners” whose existence the Chavez government denies, asserting that in this country there are only “politico prisoners” – politicians who have allegedly committed crimes.

     Rivas, 22, was held in custody for 22 days last September and is now being tried while out on bail for a number of crimes including “incitement to civil war” for taking part in an opposition march that ended in a clash with police. During the time he was in jail, a hundred of his fellow students went on a hunger strike in front of the Caracas office of the Organization of American States, or OAS, as a way of applying pressure for his release and to demand that a delegation of the IACHR come to Venezuela. For the Venezuelan government, the hunger strike was a “media show” bent on “pressuring it” to allow the IAHRC visit, which official spokesmen have rejected with the argument that its secretary, Santiago Canton, supposedly supported the coup d’état that in April 2002 briefly ousted Chavez. At the beginning of this month, Rivas led a committee of 14 Venezuelan students who met in Washington with Canton and the secretary general of the OAS, Jose Miguel Insulza, to denounce alleged violations of human rights in Venezuela.

AMERICAN AGENT SPYING FOR CUBA GETS LIFE IN PRISON

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--Thirty years of spying for Cuba will send a retired State Department official to prison for life after he and his wife pleaded guilty Friday to sending secrets to the United States' longtime antagonist. Walter Kendall Myers, 72 -- known to his Cuban handlers as ``Agent 202'' -- agreed to a life sentence without parole and to cooperate with the federal government in a deal with prosecutors that offered a much lighter sentence for his wife. Gwendolyn Steingraber Myers, 71 -- known as ``Agent 123'' and ``Agent E-634'' -- had faced as long as 20 years in prison. Under the plea deal, she now could serve between 6 and 7 ½ years. She, too, agreed to cooperate fully with investigators.

    In court Friday, the couple charged with leading a double life for three decades asked U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton if they could be sent to prisons as close together as possible. Prosecutors said the tough sentences, which will be imposed in April after the couple debriefs investigators, should send a warning to others who might divulge state secrets. “Today's guilty plea and impending sentence close the book on this couple's contemptuous betrayal of our nation,'' said Acting U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips. ``Thanks to a well-planned and executed counterintelligence investigation that included unprecedented cooperation among multiple U.S. agencies, the Myerses' serious transgressions of compromising our nation's classified secrets will now be appropriately addressed with significant prison sentences.''

     The pair also agreed to pay the government about $1.7 million -- the salary Kendall Myers made while working at the State Department. They'll forfeit their Washington apartment, a 37-foot sailboat and various bank and investment accounts. The case presented by prosecutors was something out of a Cold War-era spy novel, complete with code names and encrypted messages sent via shortwave radio or by swapping shopping carts at the supermarket. Prosecutors say the Myerses agreed to serve as clandestine agents for Cuba a year later, after a Cuban contact urged Kendall Myers to seek a job -- and top-secret security clearance -- at the State Department or the CIA. Myers got a job and top-secret clearance at the State Department. They traveled to Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and New York to meet with Cuban agents. Kendall Myers bragged to an undercover FBI source that he was so successful he received ``lots of medals'' from the Cuban government.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ PRAISES TERRORIST CARLOS THE JACKAL

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ has defended the alleged terrorist mastermind Carlos the Jackal, saying the Venezuelan imprisoned in France was an important "revolutionary fighter" who supported the cause of the Palestinians. The Venezuelan president praised Carlos - whose real name is Ilich Sanchez Ramirez - during a speech Friday night saying: "I defend him. It doesn't matter to me what they say tomorrow in Europe." Ramirez gained international notoriety during the 1970s and 80s as the alleged mastermind of a series of bombings, killings and hostage dramas. He is serving a life sentence in France for the 1975 murders of two French secret agents and an alleged informant.

     "They accuse him of being a terrorist, but Carlos really was a revolutionary fighter," Chavez said during a televised speech to socialist politicians from various countries, who applauded. In his speech, Chavez also sought to defend other leaders he said are wrongly labeled "bad guys" internationally, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Chavez called both of them brothers and said he now wonders whether Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was truly as brutal as he was reputed to be. "We thought he was a cannibal," Chavez said, referring to Amin, whose regime was notorious for torturing and killing suspected opponents in the 1970s. "I have doubts. ... I don't know, maybe he was a great nationalist, a patriot."

     Chavez has previously called Ramirez a friend, and a controversy erupted in 1999 after the leftist leader confirmed he had written a letter to him in prison, in response to a note from Ramirez. Chavez's remarks on Friday were among his most strident in support of Ramirez. He said he believes Ramirez was unfairly convicted, and called him "one of the great fighters of the Palestine Liberation Organization" at the time. Ramirez was captured in Sudan in 1994, and whisked in a sack to Paris by French agents. He was convicted three years later. He is also accused of having a role in two 1982 bombings - on a Paris-Toulouse train and outside the Paris office of an Arab-language newspaper - and is suspected in two other train bombings on Dec. 31, 1983. Chavez didn't refer to any of the accusations against Ramirez, but suggested the Venezuelan is paying a price for backing the Palestinians' cause - which Chavez also supports.

VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS US SEEKS "DOMINATION" OF LATIN AMERICA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's Foreign Minister, said on Thursday that the coup d'état in Honduras and the "Yankee military bases" in Colombia allegedly show that the new US administration led by Barack Obama still targets imperialist "domination" in Latin America.

    To achieve this goal, Washington has been supported in several Latin American countries by "emboldened right-leaning groups ready to do whatever it takes" to preserve the political and economic hegemony which it has historically controlled, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister said.

     The alleged "involvement" of the United States in actions taken to overthrow Honduras President Manuel Zelaya last June 28, is "quite clear." Maduro said to members of left-leaning parties from 40 countries who are meeting Thursday and Friday in Caracas.

HONDURAS INTERIM PRESIDENT, ROBERTO MICHELETTI, TO TAKE LEAVE FOR VOTE

      TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Honduras' interim president announced Thursday he will step down temporarily to allow voters to concentrate on the upcoming presidential elections.  Roberto Micheletti said he will step aside ahead of the Nov. 29 election until at least Dec. 2, when Congress is scheduled to vote on whether to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Micheletti did not say who would be in charge of the government during his absence.  "My purpose with this measure is for the attention of all Hondurans to concentrate on the electoral process and not on the political crisis," Micheletti said in a message broadcast on national television.

    He said he would immediately return to the presidency should threats to "order and security arise." Micheletti was named president by Congress after Zelaya was rousted from his bed by soldiers and flown to Costa Rica on June 28. Zelaya, who has been holed up at the Brazilian Embassy since slipping back into the country on Sept. 21, called Micheletti's announcement "an easy maneuver ... to deceive fools."

    Zelaya again warned that he would not return to the presidency if Congress votes to restore him after the elections, saying doing so would legitimize the coup. "It's illegal and violates the rights of the voters because it tries to hide a coup d'etat," Zelaya said. Both Zelaya and Micheletti signed an agreement brokered by U.S. diplomats last month. However, the two sides are now at odds over whether the pact is being fulfilled. The accord calls for formation of a national unity government, but does not require Zelaya's restoration to office, leaving that decision up to Congress. Zelaya declared the pact a failure two weeks ago when Micheletti announced the formation of a unity government before any vote by Congress.

IRAN REFUSES TO SEND URANIUM ABROAD

     TEHRAN, IRAN-- Iran said on Wednesday it would not send its enriched uranium abroad for further processing but would consider swapping it for nuclear fuel and keeping it under supervision inside the country, the ISNA news agency said. The decision is expected to anger the United States and its allies, which had called on Iran to accept a deal which aimed to delay Iran’s potential ability to make bombs by at least a year by divesting Iran of most of its enriched uranium. A draft deal brokered by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, calls on Iran to send some 75 percent of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France to be turned into fuel for a Tehran medical research reactor.

    “Surely we will not send our 3.5 percent fuel abroad but can review swapping it simultaneously with nuclear fuel inside Iran,” Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the ISNA students’ news agency. The United States has rejected Iranian calls for amendments and further talks on the deal and US President Barack Obama said time was running out for diplomacy to resolve a long standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. Mottaki criticized the United States for pressuring Iran to accept the deal. “Diplomacy is not black or white. Pressuring Iran to accept what they want is a nondiplomatic approach.”

    Russia and France, both also involved in the fuel proposal, also pressed Iran to accept it as is. Tehran faces possible harsher international sanctions and risks even last-ditch Israeli military action to knock out its nuclear sites. Iran says it needs nuclear technology to generate power but its history of nuclear secrecy and restricting UN inspections have raised Western suspicions of a covert quest for atom bombs. Tehran has repeatedly said it preferred to buy reactor fuel from foreign suppliers rather than part with its low enriched uranium (LEU) — also bomb material if refined to high purity.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE CALLS "VERY SERIOUS" DESTRUCTION OF PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES BY VENEZUELAN DICTATOR, HUGO CHAVEZ

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombia's President, Álvaro Uribe, described as "very serious" the bombing of two makeshift foot bridges across the border by Venezuelan military. However, he insisted on maintaining a conciliatory tone towards his neighboring country by stating that his government "will not produce belligerent gestures."

    "We are determined to defeat terrorism, never wage a war with our brother countries," Uribe said in an interview with the Colombian radio station RCN. He added: "No verbal provocations, but resorting to international organizations."

    Uribe highlighted that Colombia has nothing "against the international community, much less against Venezuela." Despite the differences, Uribe said on Friday that Colombia "will not close the border" with Venezuela and it is not intending to impose trade restrictions against its neighboring country.

PRESIDENT OBAMA WARNS IRAN OF PUNISHMENT OVER NUKES

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--Showing impatience with Iranian foot-dragging, President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.S. and its allies are discussing possible new penalties to bring fresh pressure on Iran for defying international attempts to halt its contested nuclear program. Obama's warning came after Iran rejected a compromise proposal to ship its low-enriched uranium abroad so that it could not be further enriched to make weapons. Talk of fresh sanctions also showed that Obama is preparing for the next phase should Iran fail to meet his year-end deadline for progress in negotiations. "They have been unable to get to `yes', and so as a consequence, we have begun discussions with our international partners about the importance of having consequences," Obama said at a news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. "Our expectation is, is that over the next several weeks we will be developing a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran."

    The tough talk came as Obama wrapped an eight-day, four-nation tour of Asia in which global issues -- nuclear disarmament, climate change, economic recovery -- dominated and goodwill abounded. There also were few new agreements on pending issues. Obama and Lee showed unity on disarming nuclear-armed North Korea and differences over concluding a free-trade agreement stalled by Congress. Obama announced that Stephen Bosworth, his special envoy to North Korea, would make his first trip to Pyongyang on Dec. 8 to test the waters for resuming nuclear disarmament talks.

    Lee said Obama endorsed his "grand bargain" for North Korea -- a package of economic assistance and investment in exchange for full nuclear disarmament in a single step rather than the piecemeal approaches that have twice failed over the past two decades. "I think President Lee is exactly right and my administration is taking the same approach," Obama said. "We didn't come halfway across the world for ticker-tape parades," senior Obama adviser David Axelrod told reporters Thursday. "We came here to lay a foundation for progress. We've done that."

U.S. AFFIRMS  SUPPORT TO ELECTIONS IN HONDURAS; manuel zelaya doesn't like the announcement

     TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--The U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, Craig Kelly, said on Wednesday that his government will support the elections of November 29th in Honduras.  Kelly read reporters a statement saying that "nobody has the right to remove the right of voting to the Honduran people and their right to choose their leaders." "It is an important part of the democracy, and I have noticed the enthusiasm in the country for the elections of November 29th," Kelly said when finishing his two-day visit to Honduras.

    "For organizing the elections, it is very important that the authorities respect the human rights and that all the actors avoid provocations, calls to the violence, because what the country needs is calm, an environment of peace to advance to that important date for the country," Kelly said.  Kelly also said that the United States will continue working to achieve the important aims of the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Agreement. "We are committed to continue working on the implementation of the agreement," Kelly said.

    "The Agreement is a great achievement for the people; the OAS (Organization of American States) and the international community are proud of having worked to have achieved the Agreement," Kelly said.  Kelly said that for the United States it is important to restore the democratic constitutional order in Honduras so as to implement the Agreement. "One important part of the solution to advance to the future are the elections," Kelly said.

AFGHANISTAN'S KARZAI SWORN IN TO SECOND TERM

      KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--Amid intense international pressure for reform, Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed to tackle corruption and drug-trafficking in a speech delivered at his inaugural ceremony Thursday. Karzai was sworn in for a second term following a fraud-marred election that questioned his legitimacy. His inauguration also came a day after a report of grave government graft had surfaced. "Corruption is a very dangerous enemy of the state," Karzai told about 800 guests assembled in the fortified presidential palace in the Afghan capital, Kabul. Security was tight throughout the city, fraught with the potential for Taliban attacks on inauguration day.

    With U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sitting in the front row, Karzai said he was sorry if he had let his allies down. "I am sorry if I have not fulfilled anything I have promised," he said. "It's not easy to govern this state." The Obama administration, considering sending up to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, has expressed concerns about Karzai's viability and has ratcheted up pressure to end corruption in order to combat an intensifying Taliban insurgency. Clinton reiterated those concerns in a dinner meeting with Karzai on the eve of his inauguration and encouraged him to seize the "clear window of opportunity" before him at a "critical moment" in Afghanistan's history.

     Clinton's remarks came after The Washington Post reported that a Chinese firm apparently had secured a contract for a big copper extraction project after a government minister accepted a $30 million bribe. "Good governance -- that's what I want," Karzai said. "I want competent ministers who can lead this country." He said government officials who overstep should be prosecuted. He linked graft to Afghanistan's heroin trade. "It is our duty to tackle drug traffickers and punish those people who are cultivating poppies," Karzai said. Before taking the oath of office, Karzai, in his trademark Afghan robe and hat, walked a red carpet outside the hall in a review of security forces while a band played the Afghan national anthem.

REPORT: CUBA'S HUMAN RIGHTS AS ABUSED UNDER RAUL CASTRO AS FIDEL 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Cuba's DICTATORSHIP remains as repressive under Raúl Castro as it was under his brother Fidel, according to the first in-depth report of the island's human rights since the younger Castro took power. Titled New Castro, Same Cuba, the report by Human Rights Watch details a skein of cruel pressures on dissidents, relatives and friends that contradict initial hopes that Raúl Castro would be different. “Castro inherited a system of abusive laws and institutions. . . . Rather than dismantle this repressive machinery, Raúl Castro has kept it firmly in place and fully active,'' said the report, unveiled Wednesday in Washington.  

    It noted some changes in tactics since Raúl Castro officially took power in early 2008: The growing use of short-term "arbitrary detentions'' -- 532 reported in the first half of 2009 versus 325 in all of 2007 -- and at least 40 prosecutions for "dangerousness,'' a charge less often used by Fidel Castro.  “But repression in Cuba under Raúl is not so different than it was under Fidel,'' the report's researcher and author, Nik Steinberg of Human Rights Watch's Americas section, told El Nuevo Herald. ``If you're a dissenter, your experience is still going to be abysmal.''

    Although the report emphasized that “there is no question the Cuban government bears full and exclusive responsibility for the abuses,'' it also proposed Washington lift the U.S. embargo and forge a multinational effort to improve human rights on the island. Steinberg said Human Rights Watch undertook the inquiry because of the perception that the new Castro had improved the situation in Cuba, Cuba's warming relations with Europe and the effort to readmit it to the Organization of American States.  “We wanted to put on the table where Cuba stands on human rights,'' he said in a telephone interview from Washington.  Cuba has long justified its repression of dissidents as a necessary protection from U.S. hostility. “However, in the scores of cases . . . examined for this report, this argument falls flat,'' the 120-page document noted.

VENEZUELA, UNDER HUGO CHAVEZ DICTATORSHIP, IS THE MOST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN LATIN AMERICA, TI SAYS

     BERLIN, GERMANY--Venezuela, UNDER HUGO CHAVEZ DICTATORSHIP, is one of the world's most corrupt countries and the worst in Latin America after being ranked 162nd. By contrast, Chile and Uruguay are considered role models, since both are ranked 25th, followed by Costa Rica (43rd) and Cuba (61st), according to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), released by Transparency International on Tuesday.  

    New Zealand, Denmark and Singapore top the list of the most transparent countries in the world according to the report, which measures the perceived level of public-sector corruption in 180 countries and is based on 13 different expert and business surveys conducted by 10 independent organizations. Since 1955, the global civil society organization publishes annually an index of perception of corruption ranging from a score of "10," for a country perceived as "transparent," to "0" for one seen as "corrupt," AFP reported. Venezuela scored 1.9.

     The NGO stressed the need to do more to fight corruption at a time when governments seek to revive the economy by injecting a huge volume of public sector capital on programs to boost economic growth.

FORMER COLOMBIAN FMs SUPPORT PRESIDENT URIBE IN IMPASSE WITH VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--A group of former Colombian ministers of Foreign Affairs supported on Wednesday Colombian President Álvaro Uribe amidst the deterioration of diplomatic and trade relations with Venezuela.

     The group recommended their government to keep the international community abreast of developments, in a meeting with current Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez.  "We were briefed on the issue with Venezuela. There was a unanimous rejection of the attacks from Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chávez. We also supported the Colombian government attitude," said former Foreign Minister Guillermo Fernández de Soto.

     "The former Colombian foreign ministers are confident that Chávez will have a lucid moment and conduct the relations between our two countries, because the border situation is serious," the former minister told AFP.

martha beatriz roque and her community communicators ended hunger strike 

      havana, cuba--Members of the Cuban Network of Community Communicators announced here Tuesday the end of a hunger strike they began last week to protest the Communist government's repression of independent journalism. Six of the 10 hunger strikers, including Marta Beatriz Roque, whose chronic diabetes and hypertension were aggravated by her taking part in the protest, received members of the press to read a communique. "We wish to communicate our decision to call off this activity, but not our protest against the totalitarian regime that has violated every kind of freedom," the text read by Lazaro Yuris Valle said.

     The document said that the health of most of the participants in the hunger strike "has been affected" and that 80 percent of the group is willing to "give their lives for Cuba's freedom." The Cuban Network of Community Communicators began a protest 40 days ago at the home of prominent dissident Vladimiro Roca after police seized a digital camera from a member of the group. Roca said last week that it was after authorities interrupted their food supply that the dissidents decided to go on hunger strike.

     "The camera we want back is not the final purpose of this protest, it is a symbol of our rights and the rights of the people, which day after day are violated by government actions," the communique said. We understand that with the government's attitude in not wanting to return this confiscated article, and given its significance, it is perfectly clear to the world that it has no willingness to change and that it will not give an inch towards reestablishing the people's rights," it said. Last Friday Roca said that after three days of the hunger strike, Roque, 64, was in a "grave" state of health due to complications from her diabetes. Marta Beatriz Roque was one of the 75 opposition activists rounded up and jailed in the "Black Spring" of 2003, but was released the following year on medical grounds.

cuban government announces annual military exercises

     HAVANA, CUBA-- The Cuban government announced Monday that its military exercise Bastion, which it organizes annually to prepare the country for a possible invasion, will take place next week. The exercise “has as its objective the training of individual leaders and chiefs and the leadership and command structure” in order to “raise the nation’s preparedness for defense and to get troops ready to meet different kinds of enemy action,” the bulletin released in the official media said.

     Bastion will end Nov. 28, and on Sunday will be National Defense Day, with maneuvers and tactical exercises by the armed forces, the Interior Ministry and “other components of the territorial defense system.” The official bulletin announced that there will be “troop and war-materiel movements, flights by the air arm and explosions when required.”

    In September 2008 Cuba’s president, Gen. Raul Castro, postponed Bastion for that year because of the devastation wrought by the two hurricanes that battered the island within weeks of each other. But in June, amid Cuba’s worst recession in 50 years, the military said that the only thing Havana would not be saving on was its “combat readiness” because, if it did, it would no longer be an independent nation.

A WAR FABRICATED BY HUGO CHAVEZ, THE VENEZUELAN DICTATOR

      WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Reviewing the political history of the Western Hemisphere, including its most conflictive periods, one can not find another case similar to that of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez and, specifically, his challenge against international public order, practically declaring war against Colombia, albeit not invading it, and insulting its government and, basically, its democratic President Alvaro Uribe.

    When one thinks that the limits of the Venezuelan ruler’s verbal violence, extreme violence, have been reached against the governments of Colombia and the United States of America, there comes another wave of insults made publicly in front of a multitude convened by Chávez, defying continental peace with the threat of a war that he announces but does not declare. The dictator insists in saying that Venezuela will be attacked by the governments of Washington and Bogotá. And he calls upon the armed forces and the country in general to prepare for that war that he has fabricated. When one sees on television those demonstrations and those preposterous speeches, it seems that instead of reality it is a Hollywood movie.

     If would be a mistake not to assign importance to these acts of defiance of the Venezuelan ruler, because going over world history one can find in other regions of the world, particularly in Europe, how World War II began when Adolph Hitler, a few years after the Treaty of Versailles, defied with insolent vocabulary the great powers of the world which, at first, did not pay attention to him and afterwards had to face a huge and tragic war. This lesson should serve not to dismiss the importance that Chávez’s verbal challenges could have, even because of a miscalculation, although he is not militarily prepared for the war he is announcing.  It is regrettable, to say the least, that the noble people of Venezuela, who are suffering so much hunger and lack of necessary things for their daily lives, have to be at this historic crossroads determined by the aggressiveness, verbal up to now, of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez.

MANUEL ZELAYA REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE HONDURAN ELECTIONS

      TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya insisted late Saturday that he will not accept any deal to restore him to office if it means he must recognize elections later this month. In a letter addressed to President Barack Obama, Zelaya also repeated his accusation that Washington reversed its stance on whether the Nov. 29 vote should be considered legitimate if he was not in office. "As the elected president of the Honduran people, I reaffirm my position that starting today, no matter what, I will not accept any agreement on returning to the presidency of the republic to cover up this coup d'etat," Zelaya said, reading from the letter on Globo radio.

    Zelaya spoke from the Brazilian Embassy, where he has taken refuge since slipping back into the capital, Tegucigalpa, on Sept. 21. He was hustled out of the country at gunpoint by soldiers June 28, touching off a political crisis that has seen the U.S. and other nations cut off much of their aid to the poor Central American nation. This past week, the United States sent Craig Kelly, deputy assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, to Honduras to try to move along a U.S.-brokered pact signed by both sides that calls for a unity government and for Congress to vote on whether to restore Zelaya to the presidency to serve out his term, which ends in January.

    Zelaya declared the agreement a failure last week when Micheletti announced the creation of a national unity government even though Zelaya had not proposed any candidates. Washington has said it supports Zelaya's reinstatement, but the pact set no deadline for his return to office. And after brokering the deal, U.S. diplomats indicated Washington would support the elections, which had been scheduled before the coup, as long the deal was implemented. "The future that you show us today by changing your position in the case of Honduras, and thus favoring the abusive intervention of the military castes ... is nothing more than the downfall of freedom and contempt for human dignity," Zelaya said in the letter to Obama. "It is a new war against the processes of social and democratic reforms so necessary in Honduras."

TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR IRANIAN NUCLEAR DEAL, PRESIDENT OBAMA SAYS  

     SINGAPOUR, REPUBLIC OF SINGAPOUR--President Obama pushed Sunday for continued pressure on Iran and its nuclear program. Appearing with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama said "we are now running out of time" for Iran to sign on to a deal to ship its enriched uranium out of the country for further processing. "Unfortunately, so far it appears Iran has been unable to say yes," to the proposal on uranium reprocessing, Obama said. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China -- along with Germany have engaged Iran on its nuclear program, most recently with a deal for it to ship enriched uranium to Russia for further processing as fuel for an aging reactor used for medical treatments.

     The United States and its allies believe Iran is using its nuclear program as a cover for building a bomb. Tehran says it only wants to build nuclear reactors to generate electricity. "We have to continue to maintain urgency and our previous discussions, confirming the need for a dual-track approach, are still the right approach to take. We will begin to discuss and prepare for these other pathways," Obama said.   Medvedev said he remains hopeful the negotiations can lead to "positive result," but that, "In case we fail, other options remain on the table."

    He has said further sanctions against Iran were possible if it did not open its nuclear program to inspections to prove it was not trying to build a bomb. Obama and Medvedev met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit of APEC nations to announced good progress in negotiations on an updated pact to replace the START nuclear arms agreement that expires on Dec. 5. Obama and Medvedev agreed in April to reach a new nuclear arms reduction pact to replace and expand upon the one that was signed by former President George H.W. Bush and Soviet leader Michael Gorbachev.

COLOMBIA DETAINED FOUR VENEZUELAN SOLDIERS BUT IT WILL FREE THEM AS A GOODWILL GESTURE

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombia plans to send back home four members of the Venezuelan National Guard captured on its soil as a goodwill gesture aimed at easing tensions between the two sides.  "They should carry the message that here there is affection for the brother people of Venezuela," Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said Saturday, referring to the detained Venezuelan soldiers.

    The Colombian navy intercepted the soldiers on Friday in El Aceitico along the border, according to a statement by Colombia's DAS intelligence agency.  The agency added that they were traveling in a boat, inside which Venezuelan military uniforms were found.  Relations between the South American neighbors have been strained recently over a military deal between Colombia and the US that gives the US military more access to Colombian bases.  Bogota and Washington say their military pact is limited to fighting drug-runners and rebels in Colombia. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called the agreement a threat to the whole region. Last week, he ordered his military to prepare for possible war with Colombia in case the US attempts to provoke one.

     The leftist Venezuelan leader also called his Colombian counterpart a traitor who has signed over Colombian sovereignty to the imperial power of the US.  There also have been several shootings and slayings the past few weeks along the Venezuela-Colombia border. Uribe said Saturday that the detained Venezuelan soldiers will be sent home. "They should carry a message. And the message is that here, there is affection for the brother people of Venezuela," Uribe said. The DAS statement said Colombia hopes Venezuela will respond in kind by promptly returning a detective who was detained by Venezuelan authorities while on vacation.

colombia submits to the oas paper on venezuela's threats

      bogota, colombia--The Colombian government filed on November 13 with the Organization of American States (OAS) a paper requesting Venezuela to stop "continued threats," similar to a document submitted to the United Nations (UN), the Colombian government mission reported.

     "The goal of the Colombian government is to keep the OAS and its Secretary-General informed about this sensitive issue," the mission said in a communiqué, as quoted by AFP.   The paper was handed over by Colombian Ambassador to the OAS Luis Hoyos to OAS Secretary-General José Miguel Insulza.

     Tensions between Colombia and Venezuela, arising from an agreement which enables US troops to use up to seven Colombian military bases, escalated after Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez asked his military on November 8 to "prepare for war."  In reply, the Colombian government got ready to bring the case to the UN and the OAS. On November 11, it filed a complaint at the UN Security Council.

venezuelan exports to the us will fall 50 percent in 2009 

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The president of the Venezuelan-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VenAmCham), Edward Jardine, estimated that Venezuelan exports to the United States will decline 50 percent in 2009. The former President of P&G for Venezuela and Andean Region said that this fall is related to the declining volume of sales of Venezuelan oil to US. "It is evident that Venezuelan oil revenues are much lower due to falling oil prices," he stated.

    In the context of the first debate on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), organized by the Red de Líderes Sociales (Network of Social Leaders), Jardine recalled that by the end of 2008 the price of Venezuela's oil barrel exceeded USD 100, while last week the price of the Venezuelan oil basket was USD 72.82, for an annual average of USD 54.55.  Despite the reduction in oil prices and political differences between the government of Hugo Chávez and the administration of Barack Obama, the president of VenAmCham said that commercial relations between the two countries are "fluid" and "normal."

     "Trade relations with the United States remain very fluid, and normal. Although the volume of trade has declined, commercial relations are fluid," he said.  However, Jardine reiterated that officials should "separate politics from trade."  Jardine would not disclose any statistics on Venezuelan imports from the US, but he said that until last August they were "similar" to those recorded in 2008.  At the end of October, VenAmCham president reported that the Venezuelan state owes USD 13 billion to VenAmCham members whose assets have been expropriated or seized by the government.

HUGO CHAVEZ: US WILL BE LIKE AGENT 007 IN COLOMBIA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Hugo Chávez is certain that following an agreement executed by the United States and Colombia, the US government will act as James Bond Agent 007, with "license to kill whoever, wherever."

     "The United States will be in Colombia like Agent 007 on Her Majesty's Secret Service, able to kill whoever, wherever (…) So we have the '007' in Colombia," Chávez said. Chávez has harshly criticized the recent agreement which will allow US troops to operate in at least seven Colombian military bases.

     The Head of State, who for this reason froze in July Venezuela-Colombia relations, affirms that the agreement poses a "threat" to Venezuela's sovereignty. As a result, he requested both the Venezuelan military and people to prepare for a potential war.  Few days later, he denied his message was intended to unleash an armed conflict with Colombia.

FORMER MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX ACCUSES HUGO CHAVEZ OF PROMOTING "DRUGS, VIOLENCE AND CARTELS" 

      MEXICO CITY, MEXICO--Former Mexican President Vicente Fox accused on Thursday Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of promoting "drugs, violence and drug cartels."  

    The right-leaning leader, who has a long running feud with Chávez, supports wider legalization of drug consumption in Mexico as a possible solution to fight against drug trafficking.

    "This Hugo (Chávez) promotes verbal violence; he promotes real violence in the actions he has taken; he has also promoted drugs, violence and drug cartels," Fox told reporters during the annual meeting of the Press Club in Madrid, which is held on Thursday and Friday in the Spanish capital city, Efe reported.  As for drug consumption in Mexico, Fox said that it is time "to think and discuss its legalization."

INSURGENTS DESTROYED REGIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF PAKISTAN'S INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 

     PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN----A powerful car bomb destroyed the regional headquarters of Pakistan's premier spy agency Friday, as insurgents struck at the controversial institution that once had supported them, killing at least 10. The provincial office of the Inter-Services Intelligence military espionage agency in Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province, was struck in early morning, causing the building to collapse. Separately, a bombing at a police station in Bannu, on the edge of the tribal borderland with Afghanistan, killed six more.

     The latest violence came as the U.S. National Security Adviser, James Jones, visited Pakistan for talks, expected to center on Afghanistan. Pakistan has been rocked by a wave of terrorist attacks in retaliation for the U.S.-backed military offensive launched last month in South Waziristan, the heartland of the country's Taliban movement. The extremists last month assaulted the Pakistani military's headquarters in Rawalpindi, in a daring gun assault.

     Pakistan's military, operating through the ISI, has trained and supported jihadist groups since the 1980s, to serve as its proxy warriors in Afghanistan and India. However, after Pakistan sided with the United States against the Taliban in Afghanistan following the 9-11 attacks in 2001, a rupture developed in the relationship between military and the mullahs. Some extremist groups turned on the state, especially after the government stormed the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007, and other jihadist outfits appear to still remain within the broad control of the military.

THE LEFTIST RULER OF VENEZUELA, HUGO CHAVEZ, CONTROLS OVER 700 MEDIA OUTLETS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The government of LEFTIST RULER Hugo Chávez has control over 238 radio stations, 28 TV stations, 340 newspapers, weekly publications and magazines and 125 websites. Overall, President Chávez has 731 mass media that, apart from the nationwide mandatory radio and TV broadcasts, strengthen the information hegemony, which is one of the goals of the Venezuelan government, and allow it to spread its "communist ideology."

     This complaint was made by David Natera, the President of the Venezuelan Press Block (BPV), when he presented a report about the situation of freedom of speech in Venezuela during the 65th General Assembly of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), held last weekend in Buenos Aires (Argentina). "Venezuela is living under a serious and continuing confrontation between the reality of the country, the reality of the citizens and what President Chávez manipulates and tries to pose as true," Natera said. Reference was made to the government's decision to create so many media and harass the critical press.

     The editor accused President Chávez of leading a "regime" that "is destroying human and economic heritage, the conservation of natural and industrial resources, work values and honesty in the administration of state funds." The editor of Venezuelan newspaper El Correo del Caroní warned that the government is not only managing the media it owns but it is trying to "control more media."

president uribe welcomes hugo chavez "change of position" 

      bogota,colombia--The statements of Venezuela's leftist ruler President Hugo Chávez clarifying that he does not intended to wage a war with Colombia were welcomed by sources close to the Colombian presidential palace Casa de Nariño.  "President (Álvaro Uribe) told us that, even though he does not view President Chávez's new remarks as a total change of stance, he is actually very happy with this new tone and he welcomes it as a positive step to improve relations," said ruling party Senator Manuel Mora, after a meeting with Uribe.

    According to the Colombian lawmaker, Uribe thinks that the reaction of Venezuela's President hints "the possibility of starting talks (between the two governments) to reach a diplomatic tone."  The Venezuelan ruler, however, said on Wednesday that he has not changed his tone. "Since I did some reflections (on Tuesday), some people said (on Wednesday) that Chávez has changed his discourse: he calls for war in the morning and calls for peace at night (...) Media manipulation is harmful if you do not fight back with ideas," Chávez added.

    Chávez's statements set off alarms in the international community and were taken to the UN Security Council by Colombia.  The Colombian permanent representative to the UN sent a diplomatic note to the UN Security Council complaining about "Venezuela's threats of using force against Colombia." Meanwhile, former Venezuelan ambassador Milos Alcalay believes that Chávez's new statements imply that "he is backpedaling."  In this sense, Alcalay said that the Charter of the United Nations prohibits not only the use of force but the threats to use it. However, the former Venezuelan diplomat added that the UN Security Council has mechanisms to convene talks between the parties.

cuban dictator raul castro mandates 'extreme' cuts to solve energy crisis

     HAVANA, CUBA--Facing what government officials call a "critical" energy shortage, Cuban dictator Raúl Castro has ordered his state enterprises to take "extreme measures" to cut back its fuel consumption through the end of the year. The mandate requires closing non-essential factories and workshops and turning off air conditioners and refrigerators that aren't necessary for food preservation or medicinal purposes. Castro hopes to avoid blackouts like those that debilitated the country after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent loss of its oil supply.

    "The energy situation we face is critical and if we do not adopt extreme measures we will have to revert to planned blackouts affecting the population," the Council of Ministers wrote in a recently circulated message obtained by Reuters. Another internal memo directed the heads of companies to limit activities only to "those that guarantee exports, substitution of imports and basic services for the population." Cuba has been hit hard by the global financial crisis and a string of hurricanes, forcing it to cut government spending and slash imports.

    Over the summer, provincial governments and many state-run offices were ordered to reduce energy by at least 12 percent. According to reports from the state-run press, the measures were working, and up until now, warnings about the dire need to cut fuel consumption had died down. Cuba receives almost two-thirds of its daily oil needs, or 93,000 barrels, from Venezuela. It pays for the crude oil by supplying its ally with medical personnel and other professionals, Reuters said. The communist-run country also faces stiff sanctions from the U.S. that cut its access to international lending institutions, and it still rebuilding from last year's devastating hurricanes.

NORTH KOREA WARNS SOUTH  IT WILL PAY FOR FOR FIRING AT PATROL BOAT

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA-- North Korea said the South will pay "an expensive price" for firing at Pyongyang's retreating patrol boat on Tuesday, keeping up its saber rattling two days after a naval gunfight raised tension between the rivals. The threat, published in the North's official Rodong Sinmun daily, comes amid reports officials from the two Koreas met recently to discuss a possible summit between their leaders but failed to reach agreement.

    The navies from the two sides exchanged gunfire on Tuesday for the first time in seven years, reminding financial market players of the security threat the North poses to the region, which accounts for one-sixth of the global economy. "Warmongers who like to play with fire will be certain to pay an expensive price," Rodong Sinmun daily said in an editorial. The communist daily said the North had been taking action to relieve tension and forge cooperation with the South, "with the overall situation on the Korean peninsula heading for the resolution of the problems through dialogue."

    "The armed clash on the West (Yellow) Sea was not an accident but was a premeditated act of aggression by the South's military seeking intensifying of tensions on the Korean peninsula." The clash came as regional powers try to bring the North back to stalled six-way talks on ending its nuclear arms program in return for aid and diplomatic rewards.  North Korea has often used military action to force its way onto the agenda of major diplomatic events, and recently caused alarm by announcing more production of arms-grade plutonium. At the same time, it has been seeking direct talks with Washington. South Korea denounced what it said was an incursion by a North Korean patrol vessel into its territorial waters in the Yellow Sea that sparked a brief firefight near the spot where the two Koreas have had two deadly conflicts in the past decade

BRAZILIAN SENATORS CRITICIZE HUGO CHAVEZ'S REFERENCE TO "WAR" 

      BRAZILIA, BRAZIL--The "pre-war" statement made this weekend by President Hugo Chávez triggered negative reactions in the Brazilian Senate and could affect the approval of Venezuela's Protocol of Accession to the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), reported on Monday lawmakers of the ruling party in Brazil.

    Gim Argello, the deputy leader of the ruling group in the Senate, said in an interview with state-run news agency ABR that Chávez's call on Venezuelan people to prepare for a war against Colombia "will complicate" the approval of the treaty signed in July 2006, whose vote is scheduled for Wednesday, DPA reported.

    Pro-government Senator Renato Casagrande, member of the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), said that Chávez's words "do not support" the effort made by the government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to win approval of the protocol. Chávez's statements in his weekly show "Aló Presidente" led Brazilian opposition parties to launch an offensive to postpone the vote.

CATHOLIC CHURCH CALLS FOR PEACE BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Vice President of the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference (CEV) Monsignor Baltazar Porras called for peace with Colombia, following the statements of President Hugo Chávez, who urged Venezuelan military and civilians to prepare for war with Colombia.

    "We, as Church, are permanently calling for peace, to seek the solution of bilateral problems and domestic problems," Porras told Colombian Caracol Radio station, Efe reported.   Porras, the archbishop of the state of Mérida, said that Chávez's statements on Sunday "give me the creeps." He criticized the fact that the first solution that is sought to solve a problem is "calling to war."

    The bishop added that a vast majority of the Venezuelan people are against war. He believes that the Venezuelan government is "very upset" because it has opposition governors in border states such as Táchira and Zulia.

COLOMBIAN-VENEZUELAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE URGES TO SEPARATE BUSINESS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA.--Magdalena Pardo, the President of the Colombian-Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce, urged the two countries "to separate trade from politics" in reference to the "threats of war" from Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez.

    In an interview with Colombian newspaper El Espectador, Pardo declared that "the real solution" (to the conflict between the two nations) is to put aside the freezing of trade relations.  Pardo predicted that the World Trade Organization (WTO) "will rule in favor of Colombia, since it is being discriminated by Venezuela." The business leader expects the relevant diplomatic channels to be used to seek a solution.

    "Hopefully, the mediation initiative presented by Brazilian President (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) will succeed in finding a way to ease the tensions between Colombia and Venezuela," Pardo said.  Bilateral trade tumbled 14.5 percent in January-September. Pardo estimated that Venezuela-Colombia trade, which amounts to USD 4.5-4.8 billion a year, is to decline 20 percent in the second half.

former cuban dictator fidel castro: us tries to annex colombia against the alba

      havana, cuba--A military agreement entered into by the United States and Colombia "is tantamount to annexation," said former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on Friday. According to him, the United States intends to confront Colombia with Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.

    Therefore, it is "the duty" of political leaders in the region to speak up, he added. "Keeping quiet now and talk afterwards about sovereignty, democracy, human rights, freedom of opinion and other delights is not honest, when a country is devoured by the empire as easy as a lizard catches a fly," said Castro in his article posted on the website Cubatebate.  "Latin American politicians now have before them a sensitive issue –the fundamental duty to explain their views about the annexation paper."

    "The empire now purports to send them (Colombians) to fight against their Venezuelan, Ecuadorian brothers and other Bolivarian peoples and peoples of the ALBA, to squash the Venezuelan revolution," said the 83-year-old leader.

US STATE DEPARTMENT 'DEPLORES ASSAULT' ON CUBAN BLOGGER YOANI SANCHEZ 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The U.S. State Department issued a statement late Monday decrying attacks on three Cuban bloggers, including one who has gained international attention for her searing observations about life on the communist island. "The U.S. government strongly deplores the assault on bloggers Yoani Sanchez, Orlando Luis Pardo, and Claudia Cadelo," the department  spokesman, Ian Kelly, said. Sanchez, who has won international awards for her blog "Generacion Y," said Friday that two Cuban state agents in civilian clothes stopped her and Pardo in Havana's Vedado neighborhood as they and other friends headed to a nonviolence march.

    Sanchez said she and Pardo were ordered into a car where the agents pulled her hair and kicked her. Both she and Pardo were held briefly before being let out at their homes, she said. Cadelo was picked up by a car separately around the same time. The Cuban government has not commented. There was no way to corroborate Sanchez's assertion state security was involved, but agents routinely follow members of Cuba's tiny political opposition. The State Department said the three bloggers were "beaten" and called "on the Government of Cuba to ensure the full respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens."

    Many Cubans who openly criticize the country's single-party system say they are harassed regularly by the state, particularly if they try to attend or plan street demonstrations. The government does not recognize the legitimacy of the opposition, claiming they are paid mercenaries of Washington. Earlier this year, Time magazine named Sanchez one of the world's 100 most influential people. In October, the government denied her permission to travel to New York to receive a journalism prize. While her blog gets about 1 million hits a month, Sanchez enjoys more of a following off the island than on it. Internet access to her blog is blocked in Cuba and Sanchez blames the government, which severely limits freedom of speech and assembly and controls all newspapers, radio and television stations.

CONGRESSMAN LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART: CASTRO DICTATORSHIP RESPONDS TO OBAMA’S GESTURES BY PHYSICALLY ASSAULTING CUBAN BLOGGERS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (FL-21) issued the following statement today concerning the Cuban dictatorship’s physical assault and detention of Cuban bloggers Yoani Sanchez, Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo and Claudia Cadelo on Friday, November 6, 2009:

    “Friday’s violent attack on Yoani Sanchez, as she and her colleagues were on their way to a peaceful demonstration in Havana, was repulsive and condemnable. Through a series of overtures, the Obama Administration has indicated that the United States would seek a “new approach” to the Cuban dictatorship, claiming that President Obama’s gestures would help obtain a positive response from the regime. 

     Friday’s attack on the Cuban bloggers was the dictatorship’s loud-and-clear response to President Obama’s gestures.  I call on the President and his State Department to denounce the attack on these brave bloggers and to ask the international community to demonstrate genuine solidarity with the oppressed people of Cuba.”      

GERMANS CELEBRATED FALL OF THE BERLIN WALL

      BERLIN, GERMANY--Germans from both sides of the former Berlin Wall celebrated on Monday, 20 years after the Iron Curtain fell, sending East Germans flooding west and setting in motion events that soon led to the country's reunification. Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev crossed a former fortified border on Monday to cheers of "Gorby! Gorby!" as a throng of grateful Germans recalled the night that the Berlin Wall gave way to their desire for freedom and unity.

    Within moments of a confused announcement on Nov. 9, 1989 that East Germany was lifting travel restrictions, hundreds of people streamed into the enclave that was West Berlin, marking a pivotal moment in the collapse of communism in Europe. Merkel, who grew up in East Germany and was one of thousands to cross that night, recalled that "before the joy of freedom came, many people suffered."  She lauded Gorbachev, with whom she shared an umbrella amid a crush of hundreds, eager for a glimpse of the man many still consider a hero for his role in pushing reform in the Soviet Union. "We always knew that something had to happen there so that more could change here," she said.

     "You made this possible -- you courageously let things happen, and that was much more than we could expect," she told Gorbachev in front of several hundred people gathered in light drizzle on the bridge over railway lines. Tears sprang to the eyes of Uwe Kross, a 65-year old retiree, who recalled seeing the start of the drama on Nov. 9, 1989 from his home, a block away from the bridge. "That night, you couldn't stop people," Kross said. "They lifted the barrier and everyone poured through. "We saw it first on TV, normally it was very quiet up here, but that night we could hear the footsteps of those crossing, tap, tap, tap."

IRAN TO CHARGE 3 YOUNG AMERICAN HIKERS WITH ESPIONAGE

     TEHRAN, IRAN--The three young Americans have been detained since July 31 on charges of illegally crossing the border from Iraqi Kurdistan into Iran. Their family and friends say it was an innocent mistake.  The announcement of the charges comes only days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met privately with the families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, who were detained along the Iran-Iraq border at the end of July. Tehran's prosecutor general, Abbas Ja'afari Dolatabadi, announced the charges in an interview with the official Iranian news agency IRNA.

    "The charge against the three U.S. citizens who were arrested on the Iran-Iraq border is espionage. Investigation of their cases is in progress," he told IRNA, adding: "There will be more to say [about them] soon." Clinton repeated Monday the Obama administration's call for the release of the hikers, requesting that the Iranian government "exercise compassion." "We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever," said Clinton, speaking in Berlin. Dolatabadi also said a Danish journalism student who was arrested last week in Iran was still under investigation. "A journalist must have an official permit from authorized officials," he told IRNA. "Therefore, the investigation will continue. We have also requested information from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance [which accredits foreign journalists] and after they respond to our inquiry we will make our decision."

    Clinton on Thursday repeated a call to the Iran government to release the American hikers on humanitarian grounds. "As a mother my heart went out to all of them. I cannot imagine what it would feel like to know that your child was in prison for now 100 days with very little contact between you and them," she said. "I told them that we are doing everything we possibly could to get Shane and Joshua and Sarah home. And we are exploring every angle. Obviously I would hope that the government of Iran would free them on humanitarian and compassionate basis and return them to their families," she said. We are doing everything we possibly could to get Shane and Joshua and Sarah home.

PARAGUAYAN PRESIDENT FERNANDO LUGO FIRED CONTINUED TO PURGE HIS TOP MILITARY COMMANDERS

      ASUNCION, PARAGUAY--Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo continued to purge the top ranks of the nation's military Friday, removing the armed forces' commander. Lugo fired the commanders of the country's army, air force and navy on Wednesday. The armed forces commander, Rear Adm. Cibar Benitez Caceres, had been the only top official to survive Wednesday's dismissals. Lugo has given no reason for the firings, publicly denying rumors of a coup plot. Benitez Caceres will be replaced as armed forces chief by Brig. Gen. Juan Oscar Velazquez Castillo, the president's executive order said. The handover ceremony was scheduled to take place Friday afternoon.

    The military held a ceremony Thursday for the new army, navy and air force commanders. Lugo did not attend. Brig. Gen. Bartolome Ramon Pineda Ortiz was installed as the new army commander. Brig. Gen. Hugo Gilberto Aranda Chamorro took over the top post at the air force and Rear Adm. Egberto Emerito Orie Benegas, at the navy. Benitez had said at Thursday's swearing-in ceremony that other changes would be coming in the lower ranks, but denied there was any truth to talk of a coup. Some opposition politicians said Friday that Lugo, a leftist, is trying to install military commanders more in tune with his political and ideological leanings. Opposition Sen. Enrique Gonzalez Quintana was quoted in the Neike.com digital newspaper as saying Lugo has an agenda similar to that of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

     Paraguay's history is filled with unstable transitions of power since it emerged in 1989 from Gen. Alfredo Stroessner's 35-year dictatorship. There were attempted coups in 1996 and 2000, and President Raul Cubas resigned amid controversy in 1999. Friday's military shakeup is the fourth since Lugo took office. The former Catholic bishop was elected to a five-year term last year, bringing an end to six decades of one-party rule in Paraguay. But the goodwill did not last long. In April, Lugo admitted that he fathered a child while he was still a priest and that he may have fathered more. Three women have accused him of fathering a child. The revelation, which came as a shock to most, hurt his political image. Calls for his resignation began, and have continued as Lugo has struggled to push reforms through a majority-opposition legislature. Oppositions lawmakers, who say Lugo also has been ineffective in battling the nation's crime wave, are trying to impeach him.

the leftist ruler of venezuela, HUGO CHAVEZ, ORDERED HIS "WELL TRAINED PRIVATE ARMY" TO prepare for war with colombia

      caracas, venezuela.--VENEZUELA'S LEFTIST RULER, HUGO CHAVEZ,  ordered his "well trained private" army on Sunday to prepare for a possible armed conflict with Colombia, saying the country's soldiers should be ready if the United States attempts to provoke a war between the South American neighbors. "The best way to avoid war is preparing for it," Chavez told military officers standing at attention during his weekly television and radio program. Repeating an often-used military adage, he added, "If you want peace, prepare for war."

     Chavez told his supporters that President Barack Obama holds sway over Colombia's government, and he cautioned the U.S. leader against using his allies in Bogota to mount a military offensive against Venezuela. "Don't make a mistake, Mr. Obama, by ordering an attack against Venezuela by way of Colombia," he said. The former paratroop commander voiced concern over an agreement between Bogota and Washington giving the American military personnel more access to Colombia's military bases through a 10-year lease agreement.

    Chavez also reiterated what he said is his fear that U.S. soldiers could use the bases as launching pads for an attack on his country to seize control of its immense oil reserves. Colombian and U.S. officials say the agreement is necessary to more effectively help Colombia's security forces fight drug traffickers and leftist rebels - not mount military strikes against Colombia's neighbors.  On Thursday, Venezuela sent 15,000 soldiers to the border with Colombia, saying the military buildup was necessary to increase security along the border, combat drug trafficking and root out paramilitary groups. The deployment follows a series of shootings and slayings that have heightened tensions between the two countries.

AMBASSADOR HUGO LLORENS REAFFIRMS US SUPPORT FOR HONDURAS ELECTIONS

     TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--US ambassador to Honduras, Hugo Llorens, reiterated on Friday the Obama administration's position that the upcoming national elections in Honduras represent a democratic way of resolving the political crisis in the country, and that the right to vote "cannot be denied [to the Honduran people] because this would be a mistake of significant proportions". In an interview with Radio América, Mr. Llorens noted, "The elections will occur on November 29, and that is the reality. It is clear that the people of Honduras have the inalienable right to elect their leaders, elect a new president, elect a new Congress, and elect their mayors".

     Referring to the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord negotiated and signed by representatives of the Micheletti government and deposed president Manuel Zelaya, Mr. Llorens said, "The position of our government is that what occurred on October 30, with the help of the OAS and friendly nations, including the United States, was an historic accord. I believe that it was a victory for democracy because it truly provided a peaceful path to resolve the Honduran crisis and deal with the issue of the broken institutional order".

     The certainty of US recognition of the results of the upcoming elections represents a shift in US policy toward Honduras. Prior to the signing of the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord, the US State Department had adopted the view that it would be difficult for the Obama administration to recognize the elections under "existing conditions". The implication was that were Mr. Zelaya not reinstated as president of Honduras, the US would withhold recognition. But the State Department never clearly made this connection, opting instead to use this vague threat as leverage to influence the Micheletti government to negotiate with Mr. Zelaya and his supporters.

THE INTER AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION: LATAM GOVERNMENTS MOVING IN ON PRESS

      BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA-- Latin American governments are increasingly intervening in the news business, creating and favoring official media, regulating content and distribution and using other legal methods to silence their critics, a newspaper group said Sunday. Some governments are imposing limits on ownership, such as Argentina's new law against media monopolies that will force Grupo Clarin to sell off many of its outlets. Others, including Ecuador and Colombia, are trying to punish media that violate vaguely written ethics standards. And many steer lucrative official publicity to reward friends and put perceived enemies at a competitive disadvantage.

    The Inter American Press Association, which includes 1,380 publications from throughout the Western Hemisphere, discussed what it called a host of threats to freedom of expression emerging across the region.  "What we're seeing happen from one country to the next is that they're approving laws to silence the press," said Gonzalo Marroquin, publisher of Prensa Libre of Guatemala. He warned of similar efforts in Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina and Colombia, "because governments that want to stay in power need to control the news media."

     The region's news media also are increasingly threatened by murders, kidnappings and other physical violence - 16 journalists were killed in the past six months alone, including eight in Mexico, said Robert Rivard, editor of the San Antonio Express-News and president of the IAPA's freedom of expression committee. Some governments encourage this violence with rhetoric attacking the credibility of their critics, or by turning a blind eye when ruling-party supporters attack reporters or newsrooms, he said, adding that many journalists have quit the profession or censor themselves to survive.

more democrats oppose lifting cuban travel ban

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--More than 50 House Democrats sent a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi supporting current Cuba policy, which embargo-supporters say effectively means that a bill to open Cuba to tourists is dead. The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act would prevent President Barack Obama from regulating or prohibiting travel to or from Cuba by U.S. residents.  But now 53 Democrats in the House have told Pelosi that they oppose lifting the ban, blunting the momentum that proponents of lifting the travel ban have had under a Democratic president and Democratic-led Congress.

    “Any legislation that would seek to ease or lift sanctions . . . would send a devastating message to Cuba's opposition movement and legitimize an ailing dictatorship,'' states the letter signed by Florida Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Kendrick Meek, Alcee Hastings and 50 others.  The letter notes that President Barack Obama lifted travel restrictions for those with family on the island, but has said he backs further sanctions against the island.

    “It is our strong belief that any effort to upend the president's agenda would undermine the goal that he shares with so many House Democrats -- fostering respect for justice and freedom in Cuba,'' the letter states. Wasserman Schultz, who helped gather signatures, said the letter is aimed at showing that a number of Democrats oppose easing sanctions against Cuba, a stance that is traditionally associated with Republicans. “We felt it was important to show that when push comes to shove, the votes aren't there,'' Wasserman Schultz said. “The number of Republicans opposed combined with these Democrats would seem to spell that it would not be successful.''

interim leader announces unity government for honduras

     TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--Interim Honduran President Roberto Micheletti installed himself as leader of a new unity government late Thursday, a move that drew condemnation from ousted President Jose Manuel Zelaya. Making a late night public announcement, Micheletti said his entire cabinet had resigned to clear the way for a reconciliation cabinet to be named. "This cabinet is a result of an ample participation of different sectors of civil society as well as the political parties," he said. "Tonight with this new government, we're answering the call for the unity of all people of Honduras." He did not identify any of the new cabinet members.

    Representatives for Micheletti and Zelaya signed an agreement October 30 to form a reconciliation government that would rule until a new president, to be chosen in a November 29 election, takes office in January. The deal included the possibility of Zelaya's reinstatement to the presidency, but contained no guarantee. The pact called for the unity government to be named by Thursday. The agreement also stipulated that the nation's congress, in consultation with the supreme court and other institutions, would vote on whether Zelaya would be returned to power. That vote did not occur Thursday.

     Zelaya told local media that Micheletti's actions violated the accord, which he called "a dead letter." The reconciliation government, he said, must be led by the democratically elected president of Honduras. "How can a person who has not been elected by anyone lead a government?" he said. Zelaya was flown out of the country by the country's military June 28 but secretly returned to Honduras on September 21, obtaining refuge in the Brazilian Embassy. Micheletti sent Zelaya a letter earlier this week asking him for the names of people the deposed president would like to have in the unity government. Zelaya did not answer the letter.

iran refuses to send enriched uranium abroad

      TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran is refusing to send its low-enriched uranium abroad for further processing, the influential head of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee was quoted as saying on Saturday.  "We do not want to give part of our 1,200 kilos of enriched uranium in order to receive fuel of 20 percent enrichment," Alaeddin Borujerdi told the ISNA news agency. "This option of giving our enriched uranium gradually or in one go is over now. We are studying how to procure fuel and (Ali Asghar) Soltanieh is negotiating to find a solution," he said of Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog. Last month, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei brokered a deal between Iran, France, Russia and the United States to supply much-needed uranium to a research reactor in Tehran.

    On Friday Iran said it is preparing to give more details on its response to the international proposals for supplying nuclear fuel and expects more negotiations, even as Washington warned the time for talking is over. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran would give the additional details to the IAEA following the initial response it gave on October 29. "We have some more details which we have to give to the International Atomic Energy Agency," state television quoted Mottaki on its website as saying. "We have three options -- enrich the fuel ourselves, buy it directly or exchange our uranium for fuel," he said. "They (the IAEA and the major powers) have to choose from these options. Given the need of Iran to have the fuel, my view is that they will accept another round of discussions."

     His suggestion of further talks came despite a warning from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday that Washington's patience at Tehran's failure to give its definitive response was beginning to wear thin. She called on the Islamic republic to accept unamended the proposals drawn up by the IAEA. "As I have said, this is a pivotal moment for Iran, and we urge Iran to accept the agreement as proposed," Clinton told reporters. "We will not alter it, and we will not wait forever," she said. The IAEA proposal is aimed at allaying Western concerns that Iran could otherwise divert some of low-enriched uranium (LEU) reserves and enrich them further to the much higher levels of purity required to make an atomic bomb.

AT LAST, THOMAS SHANNON AND ARTURO VALENZUELA CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--THE US SENATE APPROVED LAST NIGHT THE APPOINTMENT OF ARTURO VALENZUELA  AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF WESTERN HEMISPHERE AFFAIRS.  An outspoken critic of the Obama Administration's habndling of the crisis in Honduras late Thursday dropped his opposition to two State Department nominees, saying the administration has reversed course. Angry over President Barack Obama's Honduras policy, South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint had objected to the nomination of Arturo Valenzuela to be assistant secretary of Western Hemisphere affairs and Thomas Shannon to be U.S. ambassador to Brazil.

    DeMint said Thursday on the Senate floor that he spoke with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who told him the administration would recognize the Nov. 29 election in Honduras, "regardless of whether former President Manuel Zelaya is returned to office.''   “I am happy to report the Obama administration has finally reversed its misguided Honduran policy and will fully recognize the Nov. 29 elections,'' DeMint said. He noted that the stance means he'll lift his hold on Valenzuela's confirmation hearing.

    Zelaya was toppled in a June 28 coup, and DeMint had argued that the administration made the wrong call by pushing for his return to power.  The senator's hold stalled Obama's Latin America policy, which many critics felt was rudderless without a top diplomat in place. But DeMint said he spoke with Clinton and Shannon who told him that the U.S. would recognize the outcome of the Honduran elections, regardless of whether Zelaya is reinstated.  “I take our administration at their word that they will now side with the Honduran people and end their focus on the disgraced Zelaya,'' he said.

A GUNMAN KILLED ONE AND WOUNDED 5 AT ORLANDO OFFICE BUILDING

       ORLANDO, FLORIDA--A gunman opened fire Friday in the offices of an engineering firm where he was let go more than two years ago. At least one person was killed and five others injured in the shooting at a downtown Orlando office building. The shooting suspect, Jason Rodriguez, 40, surrendered to police about three hours later, after officers saw him through the window of his mother's home and asked him to come outside, Orlando Police Chief Val Demings said. She said investigators did not know why Rodriguez targeted the engineering firm where he once worked.

    "This is a tragedy no doubt about it, especially on the heels of the tragedy in Fort Hood that is on our minds," she said. "I'm just glad we don't have any more fatalities or any more injuries than we currently have." People streamed out of the high-rise building at Gateway Center near Orlando's Lake Ivanhoe around lunchtime and some told local television stations they had barricaded themselves inside their offices. All of the victims were transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center and the hospital said some of the patients are critical, according to WESH TV.

     Orlando police spokeswoman Barbara Jones said Rodriguez was an employee of Reynolds, Smith & Hill, a transportation consulting firm. Jones confirmed witnesses told police the shooting started at Reynolds Smith & Hill.  MCompany spokesman Mike Bernof told CNN all the people shot were in the firm's office.  Rodriguez was released in June 2007 for performance issues, Bernof said. He could not say why. The firm performs transportation engineering work with the Florida Department of Transportation. Gerry Gilgo, who works on the floor where the shooting occurred, told The Associated Press she was meeting a co-worker at the elevators for lunch. "She yelled there are gun shots! There are gun shots! Get back in your office," Gilgo said.

former colombian president ernesto samper, an old friend of the farc, WARNS AGAINST "PRE-WAR" WITH VENEZUELA 

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--former Colombian President ernesto samper, an old friend of the farc,  warned on Wednesday against a "pre-war situation" with Venezuela due to the mishandling of the military agreement executed by Colombia and the United States for the use of military bases and lack of communication between the Colombian and Venezuelan governments.

     The ex president told Caracol Radio that the crisis is bigger and bigger and efforts should be made to open communication channels between Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez, Efe reported.

    "I would dare say that we are in a pre-war situation; the mishandled issue of the bases; Venezuela feels threatened by the bases; the [Colombian] government signs the bases, without a public discussion on the matter and all this begins to accrue," he reasoned.  Colombia and the United States entered into an agreement last Friday that allows US troops and advisors to use at least seven Colombian military bases forantinarcotics efforts and fight against terrorism.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:  IT IS HORRIFYING THAT OUR SOLDIERS COME UNDER FIRE AT THEIR HOME BASES  

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--"These are men and women who have made the selfless and courageous decision to risk and at times give their lives to protect the rest of us on a daily basis," he said. "It's difficult enough when we lose these brave Americans in battles overseas. It is horrifying that they should come under fire at an Army base on American soil."

     Government authorities are working to ensure that Fort Hood is secure, he said. The president asked for all Americans to keep the soldiers from the base "in their prayers." There is no greater honor or responsibility as president than making sure U.S. soldiers are properly cared for, he added. "We will make sure that we get answers to every single question about this horrible incident," he pledged.

      Twelve people  plus a gunman were dead and 31 wounded after the gunman opened fire Thursday on a soldier-processing center at Fort Hood, Texas, officials said. The gunman was a soldier, and two other soldiers have been detained as suspects, Army Lt. Gen. Bob Cone said.  The slain gunman was identified as Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a law enforcement source told CNN. Licensed in Virginia, Hasan was a psychiatrist who previously worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center but more recently was practicing at Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, according to professional records. Ten of the other dead also were soldiers, while the remaining one was a civilian police officer who was working as a contractor on the base, Cone said.  Two of the injured were in "very serious" condition, Fort Hood spokesman Christopher Hogue said.

12 KILLED, 31 WOUNDED IN SHOOTINGS AT FORT HOOD, TEXAS, PENTAGON SAYS

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--At least seven people are dead and between 12 and 31 wounded in shootings at Fort Hood in Texas on Thursday, senior Pentagon official said. At least one person is "neutralized" in connection with the incident, and a second is "cornered," retired Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore reported, citing "unofficial, unconfirmed reports" from two sources. On the Fort Hood Web site, the word "closed" is posted with the statement, "Effective immediately, Fort Hood is closed. Organizations/units are instructed to execute a 100 percent accountability of all personnel."

     Fort Hood was asking people on post to stay away from windows. The incident took place at the sports dome, now known as the soldier readiness area. FBI agents are headed to the scene to assist, said Erik Vasys, spokesman for the FBI office in San Antonio. He had no other details. Fort Hood is the Army's largest U.S. post, with about 40,000 troops. It is home to the Army's 1st Cavalry Division and elements of the 4th Infantry Division, as well as the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment and the 13th Corps Support Command. It is located near Killeen, Texas.

    In June, Fort Hood's commander, Lt. Gen. Rick Lynch, said that he was trying to ease the kind of stresses soldiers face. He has pushed for soldiers working a day schedule to return home for dinner by 6 p.m., and required his personal authorization for anyone working weekends. At the time, two soldiers stationed there had committed uicide in 2009 -- a rate well below those of other posts.

us will support elections, respect vote by hondura's congress on reinstatement of manuel zelaya 

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--In an interview with REPORTERS on Tuesday, US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon stressed that what is most important in Honduras are the presidential elections set for November 29, and that the United States government has already committed to fully supporting them. Mr. Shannon also stated that the US would respect whatever decision the Honduran Congress takes on the matter of reinstating Manuel Zelaya as president. He said that the solution to the political crisis that has prevailed in Honduras since June 28 will have to be an Honduran one.

     Mr. Shannon's remarks clearly suggest that, with the signing of the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord, the Obama administration's position has evolved to where it now recognizes that the political crisis in Honduras is an internal matter.  Mr. Shannon prompted Mr. Zelaya to write a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking for clarification of US policy. In the letter, Mr. Zelaya asked Mrs. Clinton to, "clarify to the people of Honduras if the position of your country regarding condemnation of the coup d'etat in Honduras has been modified or changed".

     In response to Mr. Zelaya's letter, on Wednesday, US State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly in Washington, DC reaffirmed that the official US position remains that it supports the reinstatement of Mr. Zelaya as president. But Mr. Kelly echoed Mr. Shannon's earlier comments that "now the process is an Honduran one" which was initiated by the Tegucigalpa-San José Accord signed last week by representatives of the Micheletti government and Mr. Zelaya. When asked by reporters how the US would respond in the event that the Honduran Congress voted against reinstatement, Mr. Kelly was evasive, saying, "Nobody has voted for anything yet. Everything is proceeding according to the agreement, and so we will let the process take its course".

CUBAN DICTATORSHIP ADMITS FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT IT HAS FROZEN THE FUNDS OF FOREIGN COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE COUNTRY

      HAVANA, CUBA--The Cuban government on Monday acknowledged publicly, but tacitly, that it froze the bank accounts of hundreds of foreign companies, the Mexican newspaper La Jornada pointed out  Tuesday. However, the government abstained from indicating when it will release those funds, which commercial sources place at about $1 billion, the paper said. The newspaper based its assessment on a statement by Foreign Trade Minister Rodrigo Malmierca during the inauguration of the annual Havana Trade Fair.

    "Although the complexity of the current situation has forced us to adopt various restrictive measures, including delays in the payments to suppliers, these [measures] are of a temporary nature," Malmierca said. "I can assure you that we are most willing to dialogue with our economic partners, and that Cuba will continue to be a trustworthy market that abides by its commitments." The freeze began late last year. Trade sources told La Jornada that some firms have received notices that their accounts will be reopened gradually IF they continue to bring their products to the island.

    Most of the foreign suppliers affected by the freeze halted their deliveries, La Jornada says. Some insisted on collecting their money and succeeded, but they lost their operating licenses in Cuba. The newspaper said that no current trade figures are available but estimates that Cuba last year exported US$3.78 billion in goods and imported US$14.5 billion. [RELATED NEWS: Cuban purchases of U.S. food will fall by at least a third this year as the island slashes imports.

DEA WAS AWARE OF ALLEGED TIES BETWEEN VENEZUELA'S LEFTIST RULER HUGO CHAVEZ AND THE FARC LEADERSHIP

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--According to press reports, a former Colombian intelligence official disclosed ties between Venezuela's leftist ruler, Hugo Chavez, and the FARC top leadership.

    Rafael García, the former head of Information Technology, Colombian Administrative Security Department (DAS), provided information to US authorities about the alleged ties between the Venezuelan government, the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and drug trafficking, said on Tuesday Miami's newspaper El Nuevo Herald.

    The daily reported that "García met in Uruguay with officials of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). He told them that leaders of the FARC had visited a military complex in Caracas for training and exchanging information."    The former DAS member allegedly said that Venezuela's government officials and military officers protect "drug trafficking routes controlled by some groups of the Colombian guerrilla."

A VENEZUELAN OFFICIAL SAYS THAT COLOMBIAN CRIMINAL PRACTICES HAVE PENETRATED VENEZUELA

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Edwin Rojas, the director of VENEZUELA'S Department of Crime Prevention, said on Tuesday that crime has penetrated the Venezuelan reality, but added that if the (Venezuelan) revolution did not exist, the problem would be "worse."

    "As time has passed, certain types of crimes that did not exist in Venezuela have appeared, such as the hiring of hit men, the paramilitaries, kidnapping and extortion," Rojas said in TV show Despertó Venezuela, broadcast in state-run TV network Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

    He noted that Venezuela has made progress on contentious issues as security, thanks to the establishment of agencies such as the Prevention and Public Security Council, state-run news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) reported.

ISRAEL ACCUSES VENEZUELA'S LEFTIST RULER, HUGO CHAVEZ, OF TURNING HIS COUNTRY INTO AN IRANIAN OUTPOST

      TEL AVIV, ISRAEL--  Israeli Foreign Affairs Vice-Minister Dani Ayalon accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of having turned Venezuela into an "Iranian outpost in the hemisphere."

    "The scope of the Iranian regime does not end in the Middle East. It is global, and also reaches Africa and Latin America," Ayalon said during a press briefing to diplomats and journalists at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a Jerusalem-based think tank.

    In Latin America, "most countries are not only aware" of the "threat posed by the infiltration of Iran" in the region but "they are also concerned" about it, said the "second in command" in Israeli diplomacy, Efe reported.  Ayalon also warned about the "implications and the danger to world security and peace" posed by the "fanatical regime" in Tehran.

VENEZUELAN FOREIGN MINISTER: COLOMBIA-US MILITARY AGREEMENT IS SHAMEFUL

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--A military agreement executed on October 30th by and between Colombia and the United States is "a shame for the history of our continent" and "nobody knows it," said on Monday Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro.

    "The Colombian Congress does not know it; the public opinion or the whole Colombian government does not know it; the US Congress does not know it; nobody knows it," said Maduro, acting as leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Efe reported. "There are just media speculations saying that in this agreement there is assignment of territory; absolute immunity for any crime committed in Colombia by US troops, and that there is not assurance that the Colombian territory can be used against other countries in or out of the hemisphere," Maduro added.

    The PSUV leader termed "very serious" that Bogotá "insisted on making the historical mistake of ignoring the clamor in the hemisphere for our territory free from US bases." Last October 30th, Colombia and the United States signed a military cooperation agreement which will enable US troops and advisors to use at least seven bases of the Colombian armed forces.

A PLOT AGAINST VENEZUELA IS UNDER WAY, SAYS LAWMAKER 

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"A permanent plot is under way, in which the Colombian Department of Administrative Security (DAS) has become a key element and a sort of Colombian Central Intelligence Service (CIA), headed by President Álvaro Uribe," said Mario Isea, a deputy of the Venezuelan National Assembly.

    Isea added on the TV show Despertó Venezuela, broadcast by state-run TV station Venezolana de Televisión, that Uribe was aware of the Salomón, Fénix and Falcón plans, which are aimed at intervening in several South American countries.

    "Uribe has built an air network to transport drugs in Colombia. He has always been a champion of narcopolitics," Isea said referring to the book entitled Biografía no autorizada de Álvaro Uribe Vélez (Unauthorized Biography of Álvaro Uribe), the state-run news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) reported.

NAVY SHIP USS NEW YORK,  BUILT WITH WORLD TRADE CENTER STEEL, VISITS "THE BIG APPLE"

      NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--The new Navy assault ship USS New York, built with World Trade Center steel, arrived in its namesake city Monday with a 21-gun salute near the site of the 2001 terrorist attack. First responders, families of Sept. 11 victims and the public gathered Monday at a waterfront viewing area, where they could see the crew standing at attention along the deck of the battleship gray vessel. The big ship paused. Then the shots were fired, with a cracking sound, in three bursts. The bow of the $1 billion ship, built in Louisiana, contains about 7.5 tons of steel from the fallen towers.

    "It's a transformation ... from something really twisted and ugly," said Rosaleen Tallon, who lost her firefighter brother, Sean, on 9/11. "I'm proud that our military is using that steel." Tallon said her brother, who was also was a Marine, also would have been proud. JoAnn Atlas, of Howells, N.Y., who lost her husband, fire Lt. Gregg Atlas, draped a flag-themed banner along the fence. The names of emergency workers who died were written on the red stripes.  "We have to remember. It's a way to honor them," she said.

   Lt. Cmdr. Colette Murphy, a Navy spokeswoman, said she was excited for those serving on board to see the city's "awe-inspiring" welcome. Of the 361 sailors serving aboard the ship, around 13 percent are from New York state, which is higher than would normally be the case, Murphy said. There were many requests from Navy personnel to serve on the ship, which will carry some 250 Marines. The New York will remain in the city through Veteran's Day and then head to Norfolk, Va., for about a year of crew training and exercises, Murphy said. The ship is 684 feet long and can carry as many as 800 Marines. Its flight deck that can handle helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. It was scheduled to be built before the terrorist attacks. About a year later, the announcement came that the ship would bear the name New York to honor the city, state, and those who died.

HAMID KARZAI DECLARED PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN 

       KABUL AFGHANISTAN--Afghan electoral officials declared incumbent President Hamid Karzai the winner of the 2009 presidential election Monday, after canceling this weekend's second round of voting.  Observers say Karzai's real test will be whether he can form a government that is seen as legitimate in the eyes of the Afghan people and the international community.The Independent Electoral Commission made the announcement after they canceled Saturday's presidential runoff following the withdrawal of opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah.

    A runoff could have been held with just one candidate, but commission president Azizullah Lodin said electoral officials decided to cancel the second round of voting for several reasons, including security and money.  The decision was made just a couple of hours before the announcement, according to IEC deputy Zakria Barakzai.  Afghans went to the polls on August 20 in a vote marred by widespread fraud. Karzai had initially claimed victory, but two months after the vote, a U.N.-backed panel of election monitors threw out nearly a third of his votes, citing fraud. When that left Karzai short of a majority, he agreed to the runoff.

     Abdullah had called for the resignations of top election officials and politicians to avert electoral fraud in the runoff.  He argued that the commissioners, who are hired by Karzai, cannot be impartial. But that request was not met, Abdullah said Sunday, and he did not believe a transparent election was possible. "I want this to be an example for the future so that no one again tries to use fraud to abuse the rights of the Afghan people," Abdullah told reporters. Meanwhile, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Kabul on Monday, hours before the commission's announcement.  He issued a statement welcoming the decision, congratulating Karzai, and restating the U.N.'s commitment to supporting the new government.  "This has been a difficult election process for Afghanistan and lessons must be learned," Ban said in the statement. "Afghanistan now faces significant challenges and the new president must move swiftly to form a government that is able to command the support of both the Afghan people and the international community."

VENEZUELAN VICE PRESIDENT SAID COLOMBIANS KILLED IN THE BORDER WERE PARAMILITARIES

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's Vice-President Ramón Carrizález said on Sunday that he has evidence that eight of the eleven men killed last week were Colombian paramilitaries training in Venezuela.  Carrizález said in the TV show José Vicente Hoy, hosted by former Vice President José Vicente Rangel and broadcast by private TV channel Televen, that the group of men who were killed on the border was training on Venezuelan soil and was part of a paramilitary infiltration plan.

    The top official added that the plot is part of a "systematic attack" from Colombia and the United States against the Venezuelan government. "The threat is becoming real. We are preparing to defend our territory, to secure sovereignty," he said.  Carrizález stressed that Colombia "has over 50 years of internal conflict that is hitting" Venezuela and makes our country "a victim of (Colombia's) domestic war."

    The Venezuelan Vice-President referred to the "espionage" activities carried out by the Colombian Administrative Department of Security (DAS). He claimed that there is evidence against the Colombian intelligence agency. Carrizález added that the DAS is involved in an alleged plot to destabilize the government of President Hugo Chávez.

FORMER CUBAN dictator FIDEL CASTRO BLAMES THE US FOR THE SWINE FLU

      HAVANA, CUBA-- FORMER CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO has found something to sneeze at in Washington's decision to ease visits by Cuban-Americans to his island: He says more Americans mean more swine flu. The 83-year-old ex-dictator  wrote in state-controlled newspapers on Saturday that many of Cuba's early cases of the virus were visitors from the United States and he used the occasion to take a jab at the U.S. embargo. "We had the strange case where the United States on one hand authorized more trips for a large number of people carrying the virus, and on the other prohibited us from obtaining equipment and medicine to combat the virus," Castro said.

    He added, however, that President Barack Obama was not plotting to infect Cubans with the flu when, in April, he eased restrictions on Cuban-Americans who want to travel or send money to Cuba.  "I don't think, of course, that it was the intention of the United States," Castro wrote. Cuba's government blames Washington's 47-year-old trade sanctions for shortages of medical supplies, though U.S. law allows direct sale of American medical equipment to this country, where health care is free for all citizens.

    Cuba tried to halt the outbreak of swine flu early this year by grounding all flights to Mexico, where the virus was spreading rapidly, and by imposing quarantines on those who were ill. Medical personnel went door-to-door to keep the virus contained through the summer. Most early cases were visitors from the United States or other countries. But health officials say that that swine flu is now spreading at a much faster rate and Castro said it has already infected patients in every Cuban province, "principally those with the highest number of relatives who reside in the United States." Cuba has reported seven deaths and 793 confirmed cases. The World Health Organization says there have been more than 4,500 swine flu fatalities worldwide.
 

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD COMPARES IRAN'S  ENEMIES TO A 'MOSQUITO'  

       TEHRAN, IRAN-- Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday compared the power of Iran's enemies to a "mosquito," saying Iran now deals with the West over its nuclear activities from a position of power. The comment from Ahmadinejad came as Iran is negotiating with the West over a U.N.-backed proposal to ship its uranium abroad for further enrichment. The UN-brokered plan would require Iran to send 1.2 tons (or 1,100 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium - around 70 percent of its stockpile - to Russia in one batch by year's end, for processing to create more refined fuel for a Tehran research reactor.

    Iran has indicated that it may agree to send only "part" of its stockpile in several shipments. Should the talks fail to help Iran obtain the fuel from abroad, Iran has threatened to enrich uranium to the higher level needed to power the research reactor itself domestically. After further enrichment in Russia, France would convert the uranium into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran for use in the reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes. "While enemies have used all their capacities ... the Iranian nation is standing powerfully and they are like a mosquito," a government Web site quoted Ahmadinejad early Sunday as saying.

    Ahmadinejad also said Iran doesn't trust the West when it sits for talks. "Given the negative record of Western powers, the Iranian government ... looks at the talks with no trust. But realities dictate to them to interact with the Iranian nation," he said according to the site. The Tehran reactor needs uranium enriched to about 20 percent, higher than the 3.5 percent-enriched uranium that Iran is producing for a nuclear power plant it plans to build in southwestern Iran. Enriching uranium to even higher levels can produce weapons-grade materials. Iranian officials have said it is more economical to purchase the more highly enriched uranium needed for the Tehran reactor than to produce it domestically.

11 KILLED IN RUSSIAN MILITARY PLANE CRASH

       MOSCOW, RUSSIA-- A Russian heavy-lift military cargo plane crashed on takeoff Sunday in Siberia, killing all 11 crew members on board, officials said. The crash was the second accident in less than a month involving an Il-76 , the mainstay of the Soviet and Russian air force since the 1970s. These and a string of other accidents have raised concerns about the condition of Russia's aging fleet of Soviet-built aircraft.

    The cause of Sunday's crash was not yet known. The four-engine plane had just taken off from Mirny in the Sakha Republic when it banked to the right and was unable to gain altitude, said Vasily Panchenkov, a spokesman for the Interior Troops, which were flying the aircraft.

    The plane hit a slag heap from an old mine and crashed, exploding on impact, he said. The plane, which was headed to Irkutsk, was carrying no cargo but its fuel tanks were full. The Il-76 crashed about a mile from the runway in open fields. No one on the ground was reported hurt. The bodies of all 11 crew members were recovered, Panchenkov said. Flying conditions were good, with clear skies, light winds and temperatures of minus -11 Fahrenheit, he said. Federal investigators were on the scene and said they have recovered the aircraft's flight recorders. State television showed the charred remains of the giant aircraft scattered across the snow.

iran lawmakers reject un-drafted uranium plan

      TEHRAN, IRAN--Senior Iranian lawmakers rejected on Saturday a U.N.-backed plan to ship much of the country's uranium abroad for further enrichment, raising further doubts about the likelihood Tehran will finally approve the deal. The UN-brokered plan requires Iran to send 1.2 tons (1,100 kilograms) of low-enriched uranium — around 70 percent of its stockpile — to Russia in one batch by the end of the year, easing concerns the material would be used for a bomb. After further enrichment in Russia, France would convert the uranium into fuel rods that would be returned to Iran for use in a reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes.

     Iran has indicated that it may agree to send only "part" of its stockpile in several shipments. Should the talks fail to help Iran obtain the fuel from abroad, Iran has threatened to enrich uranium to the higher level needed to power the research reactor itself domestically. The Tehran reactor needs uranium enriched to about 20 percent, higher than the 3.5 percent-enriched uranium Iran is producing for a nuclear power plant it plans to build in southwestern Iran. Enriching uranium to even higher levels can produce weapons-grade materials. "We are totally opposed to the proposal to send 3.5 percent enriched uranium in return for 20 percent enriched fuel," senior lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi was quoted by the semiofficial ISNA news agency as saying.

    Boroujerdi, who heads the parliament's National Security Committee, said the priority for Iran was to buy nuclear fuel and hold on to its own uranium. He also said there was no guarantee that Russia or France will keep to the deal and supply nuclear fuel to Iran if Tehran ships them its enriched uranium. "The preferred option is to buy fuel ... there is no guarantee that they will give us fuel ... in return for enriched uranium. We can't trust the West," ISNA quoted Boroujerdi as saying. Kazem Jalali, another senior lawmaker, said Iran wants nuclear fuel first before agreeing to ship its enriched uranium stocks to Russia and France even if it decides to strike a deal. "They need to deliver nuclear fuel to Iran first ... the West is not trustworthy," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

venezuela minister of interior accuses colombian intelligence service of spying

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan Minister of the Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami charged the Colombian Administrative Department of Security (DAS) with using its state security agency to spy in Venezuela and elsewhere in the region.

    He said that following an investigation, three citizens were held in custody on October 2 in the city of Maracay. Two of them are Colombians and one is a Venezuelan. Their names are Eduardo González Himiob; Argenis Gutiérrez and Ángel Narciso Guanare.

    "Once detained and brought to the competent authorities, some proceedings were carried out and a document resulted. We would like to show it today to the country and the entire world, because it reveals a major espionage operation against our country and against the countries in the region."  The minister said that the official document obtained by Venezuelan officials reports a spy operation against Venezuela.

colombia insists on saying that it did not send spies to venezuela

       BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--The Colombian Administrative Department of Security (DAS), a secret intelligence service, insisted on October 29 that it is not true that it has sent spies to Venezuela, as the government of President Hugo Chávez has said. This week, Venezuelan officials reported that two agents of the Colombian state security agency were arrested to face trial.

    Felipe Muñoz, the director of the Administrative Department of Security, said: "Categorically, no." He ensured that the persons detained by the Venezuelan authorities have nothing to do with his institution, DPA reported.  Muñoz said that Colombian diplomats in Venezuela gave him the names of the detainees.

     "Eduardo González was held in custody on October 3. He has been charged of carrying weapons and drugs abuse. People in Maracay (Venezuela) say that he is one of the DAS spies, but it should be noted that he neither works in DAS nor he is a source of the agency," Muñoz told Colombian radio station Caracol.