December 31, 2010

US REVOKES VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR'S VISA

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States revoked the visa of Venezuela's ambassador to Washington in retaliation for President Hugo Chavez's rejection of a nominated U.S. envoy critical of his government, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday. The move stokes long-simmering tensions between Washington and the socialist Chavez, who is a fierce U.S. critic, but is unlikely to affect an oil trade crucial to both nations. Chavez had blocked Larry Palmer's arrival after the American diplomat accused Venezuela's government of close ties to leftist Colombian rebels. He also alleged declining morale and professionalism in Venezuela's armed forces.

    Caracas's insistence on refusing to let Palmer take up his post prompted Washington to effectively expel Venezuela's envoy, Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, by withdrawing his visa, diplomatic sources and the U.S. State Department said. "It's politicking as usual between these two but I don't think we're about to see a crude crisis. They both need to keep exports flowing," said a non-U.S. diplomat in Caracas. The South American OPEC member, which is in a second year of recession, sells about 1.2 million barrels per day of oil and products to the United States. That makes Venezuela the fifth biggest U.S. supplier after Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Nigeria.

    Although seeking to diversify its export portfolio to sell more to political allies like China, Venezuela cannot now afford to drastically reduce sales to the United States. Threats by Chavez in the past to do so have not materialized. The spat is, however, sure to add to Chavez's anger over recent U.S. criticism of his assumption of decree powers for 18 months. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Caracas had brought the visa measure upon itself. "We said there would be consequences when the Venezuelan government rescinded agreement regarding our nominee, Larry Palmer. We have taken appropriate, proportional and reciprocal action," Toner told reporters in an e-mail. There was no immediate reaction from Chavez but U.S.-Venezuelan lawyer Eva Golinger, who is a close ally of his, condemned the move as unjustified.  "USA revokes the visa of the Venezuelan ambassador in Washington in revenge for the decision on Larry Palmer," she was quoted by Venezuelan state media as saying.   "Such cynicism and hypocrisy." Alvarez was believed to be out of the country on Wednesday.

JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA CONCERNED ABOUT POWERS GRANTED TO DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza on Wednesday voiced concern about a number of laws passed by the National Assembly (AN) in Venezuela.

     In his view, the move amounts to "telling the Congress that will be installed in January, that the President will consult the legislature in connection with some issues only, because he is already empowered to decide what he wants. "  Insulza said he was sure that his words will bring reactions. "All I can say is that under the Democratic Charter we should have some powers to present our views or challenge some of these actions."

     "One is interested and concerned. I am not necessarily saying that we can act on this matter. (...) It is the set of laws that are enacted at the end, when they are about to change the parliamentary majority," Insulza said in an interview with Juan Carlos López on CNN show En Directo USA.

CUBA CUTS PERSONAL-HYGIENE ITEMS FROM RATION BOOKS

      HAVANA, CUBA--The cost of cleanliness will rise in Cuba after its cash-strapped, communist government announced Wednesday that soap, toothpaste and detergent will be slashed from monthly ration books. Cuba's official Gazette said that effective Jan. 1, "personal cleanliness products" will join a growing list of products cut from the ration books that islanders have come to rely on for a small but steady supply of basic goods.  Cubans currently pay about 25 centavos, or about a penny, for a rationed bar of soap. They will soon have to fork out four to six pesos, according to the gazette.

     The list of products available with the ration books has shrunk in recent months as the government trimmed items deemed non-essential. Cigarettes, salt, peas and potatoes have been cut. Sugar, beans, meat, rice, eggs, bread and other products remain. “It’s already hard to make ends meet as it is and this is only going to make it harder,” said Elias Conde, a 38-year-old father of two who works in a cafeteria. “But we’re used to them taking things away, today it’s soap and tomorrow it’ll be something else.

     The ration programme began in 1962 as a temporary way to guarantee food staples for all Cubans in the face of the United States’ then-new embargo. Designed to tide people over, it has long provided a measure of food security in a country where average wages hover around 20 US dollars a month. Authorities said the cuts are necessary to free the state – which pays for or heavily subsidises education, health care, housing and transport – from a crushing economic burden. Other, more drastic cost-cutting measures have also been announced, including the lay-offs of about half a million state workers. Critics contend that by slashing the ration books, the state is breaking with what has been a sacred covenant of the island’s 1959 revolution: to provide all Cubans with at least the basics.

December 30, 2010

US SAYS HAVING AN AMBASSADOR IN VENEZUELA IS IMPORTANT

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. government on Wednesday said it is important to have an ambassador in Venezuela, and is considering the possible consequences after President Hugo Chavez rejected Washington's chosen envoy. Chavez on Tuesday dared the U.S. government to expel his ambassador, saying he will not allow the U.S. diplomat Larry Palmer to be ambassador because he made what Chavez described as blatantly disrespectful remarks about Venezuela.

    "If the government is going to expel our ambassador there, let them do it!," Chavez said, adding: "if they're going to cut diplomatic relations, let them do it!" In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner declined to respond to Chavez's comments and repeated that the United States hopes to improve strained relations with Venezuela. He said President Barack Obama's administration was continuing to review possible consequences that Venezuela's refusal to accept Palmer might incur. "We believe it is precisely because there are tensions in the relationship that it is important to maintain diplomatic communications at the highest level," Toner said. "We believe it is in our national interest to have an ambassador in Caracas."

    Palmer, who is awaiting Senate confirmation, angered Chavez by suggesting earlier this year that morale is low in Venezuela's military and that he is concerned Colombian rebels are finding refuge in Venezuela. Chavez, whose economy relies heavily on oil sales to the United States, has accused Palmer of dishonoring the his government by expressing concerns on several sensitive subjects — including 2008 accusations by the U.S. Treasury Department that three members of Chavez's inner circle helped Colombian rebels by supplying arms and aiding drug-trafficking operations. "For an ambassador to come, he has to respect this homeland," Chavez said. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said last week that Venezuela's decision not to accept Palmer — after initially giving its approval — will have consequences on relations with Venezuela. The State Department has also been strongly critical of decree powers granted to Chavez by his congressional allies this month, a maneuver Crowley described as one more way for the leftist president to "justify autocratic powers." "Now the U.S. government is threatening us that they're going to take reprisals. Well, let them do whatever they want, but that man will not come," Chavez said Tuesday. The U.S. Embassy in Caracas, meanwhile, has been without an ambassador since Patrick Duddy finished his assignment and left in July.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT!  OVER 2,000- TONS OF CEMENT ARRIVE IN VENEZUELA SENT BY CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- A total of 2,355 tons of Cuban cement, from a batch of nearly 7,000 tons, are being unloaded at the port of La Guaira, in coastal Vargas state.

    This material, which will be used in the construction of housing for flood victims in recent weeks, is part of the donation of 6,900 tons of cement made by the Communist Government of Cuba to Venezuela.  The rest of the product will arrive in Venezuela in the coming weeks, in other eight shipments, reported state-run news agency AVN.  In addition to the thousand tons of cement, the Government of Cuba will also donate 500,000 square meters of asbestos cement tiles, 200,000 square meters of ceramic floor and 32,000 mattresses.      The first shipment of Cuban cement arrived at the port of La Guaira on Monday and was welcomed at a ceremony by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro and Cuban Ambassador to Venezuela Rogelio Polanco.

     Cuba is donating cement to a rich country despite its own crumbling housing infrastructure. In Havana, an estimated 300 buildings collapse a year. None has been rebuilt because lack of construction materials like cement.   Between 1993 and 1996, there were 5,381 partial or complete structural collapses in Havana. It is estimated that over 100,000 Havana residents presently live in unsafe housing.  Sixty percent of residents in this beleaguered section of Havana live in homes in poor condition and according to the Cuban government, eighty percent in Central Havana live in housing that is “deteriorated or in need of maintenance, including the units classified as fair or poor.”  Nearly half of the capital’s units are in fair to poor condition, and in 2000, approximately 75,000 were being supported with braces, 60,000 were designated for demolition, and 4,000 were in danger of imminent collapse.

CUBA'S JOBLESS SNAP UP SELF-EMPLOYMENT LICENSES

      HAVANA, CUBA--Cubans without formal employment in recent weeks have snapped up more than 60 percent of the new licenses issued for self-employment, Communist libel Granma said Tuesday.  The newspaper said that “thousands of Cubans” have applied for documents to go into business for themselves, a type of employment embodied in the new reforms with which the Raul Castro government aims to “modernize” the socialist model. Since the process began in October of awarding the new licenses for non-state work, the applicants have been “predominantly people without formal employment, in more than 60 percent of the cases,” Granma said, citing figures of the Labor and Social Security Ministry, or MTSS.

     The paper also said that among the 178 private-sector activities available, the preferred options are food preparation and sales, buying and selling discs, and the making and selling of household articles. Granma said Tuesday that as the new reforms get rolling, the authorities should “untie the knots of bureaucracy that are holding up the prompt issuing of licenses to self-employed workers.” It said that the MTSS is working so as “not to transplant” to the licensing process “the bureaucratic practices that have characterized other procedures required of the people.”

     The Cuban government estimates that in 2011 some 146,000 public-sector jobs will be definitively eliminated, and some 351,000 public servants will enter other types of independent employment, as required by the application of economic adjustments. Of those 351,000 people, at least 100,000 will have to become self-employed. At the beginning of this month, official media said that some 45,000 new licenses for non-state employment had already been authorized and were being processed. The government has proposed self-employment as an alternative for the roughly 500,000 state employees facing layoffs as part of an austerity package. Though the government has made it clear that on the island socialist planning and not the market will rule, the planned adjustments increase the scope of private enterprise and Raul Castro himself has asked that the expansion of self-employment not be “stigmatized.”

NOT GUILTY! ... ¿NOT GUILTY?
 

December 29, 2010

CHINA CLOSER TO DEPLOYING ANTI-CARRIER MISSILE

      BEIJING, CHINA--China is moving closer to deploying a ballistic missile designed to sink an aircraft carrier, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command said in newspaper interview published Tuesday. Adm. Robert Willard told Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper that he believed the Chinese anti-ship ballistic missile program had achieved "initial operational capability," meaning that a workable design had been settled on and was being further developed.  Known among defense analysts as a "carrier killer," the Dong Feng 21D missile would be a game-changer in the Asian security environment, where U.S. Navy aircraft carrier battle groups have ruled the waves since the end of World War II.

    The DF 21D's uniqueness is in its ability to hit a powerfully defended moving target with pinpoint precision — a capability U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with. The system's component parts have likely been designed and tested, but U.S. sources have not detected an over-water test to see how well it can target a moving ship, Willard said. Years of tests are probably still needed before the missile can be fully deployed, he said. The system requires state-of-the-art guidance systems, and some experts believe it will take China a decade or so to field a reliable threat. The missile is considered a key component of China's strategy of denying U.S. planes and ships access to waters off its coast. The strategy includes overlapping layers of air defense systems, naval assets such as submarines, and advanced ballistic missile systems — all woven together with a network of satellites. At its most capable, the DF 21D could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 900 miles (1,500 kilometers).

    That could seriously weaken Washington's ability to intervene in any potential conflict over Taiwan or North Korea, as well as deny U.S. ships safe access to international waters near China's 11,200-mile (18,000-kilometer) -long coastline. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Tuesday referred questions about Willard's comments to military departments, but reiterated China's insistence that its expanding military threatens no one. "I can say that China pursues a defensive national policy. ... We pose no threat to other countries. We will always be a force in safeguarding regional peace and stability," Jiang told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference. While China's Defense Ministry never comments on new weapons before they become operational, the DF 21D — which would travel at 10 times the speed of sound and carry conventional payloads — has been much discussed by military buffs online.

SPAIN-RUSSIA SPY ROW LEADS TO DIPLOMATS' EXPULSION

      MADRID, SPAIN--It has emerged that two Russian diplomats were expelled from Spain in November on suspicion of spying. Russia responded by expelling two Spanish diplomats last week, a Spanish foreign ministry spokesman said.  The spokesman would not comment on reports the Russians had engaged in economic espionage.  The spat comes before a year of high-profile cultural exchanges between the two countries.

    Russia is due to celebrate a "Year of Spain" while Spain is to have a "Year of Russia". Spain's respected newspaper El Pais said the Spanish government had not publicized its expulsions last month because it did not want to spoil the forthcoming events. The Spanish foreign ministry spokesman said the two Russians had been expelled "for activities incompatible with their status as diplomats" - the diplomatic term for spying. Both governments considered the incident "resolved" and were working to replace the diplomats, he added. According to El Pais, political attache Ignacio Cartagena and first secretary Borja Cortes-Breton were expelled from Moscow on Friday. Mr Cartagena has been involved in planning the "Year of Spain" programme in Russia.

     It is the most serious diplomatic incident between the two countries since Moscow restored diplomatic relations with Madrid in 1977, following the death of veteran right-wing dictator Francisco Franco, El Pais notes. But a scheduled visit to Moscow by Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez is due to go ahead on 17 January. Earlier in December, the UK expelled a Russian diplomat, and Russia responded in kind.  It is not clear what the alleged spying in that case involved.

VENEZUELAN CRUDE OIL SALES TO THE US DOWN 12 PERCENT

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The steady decline in crude oil shipments from Venezuela to the US worsened over the week that ended on December 17, according to data provided by the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Department of Energy in Washington.

     Weekly statistics show that during the week of 13-17 December, the average US daily crude oil imports from Venezuela hit 758,000 barrels per day. This means a decline of 103,000 barrels per day, or 12 percent, compared to 6-10 December, when shipments to the United States averaged 861,000 bpd. Including the average exports to the US over the past 30 days, 799,000 bpd represent the lowest average weekly oil sales since July this year, when oil sales to the US were about 733,000 barrels per day.  It is noteworthy that the decline in shipments to the United States comes at a period of high fuel consumption due to heavy winter in the northern hemisphere and a decline in inventories in North America.

     Since 1994, except for the years 2002 and 2009, average exports of crude oil from Venezuela to the United States in December exceeded a million barrels a day, with a peak of 1,379,000 bpd in 2004.  In December 2002, oil exports to the United States averaged 652,000 barrels per day amid a national strike and the virtual paralysis of Pdvsa.  In 2009, the average was 772,000 barrels per day, as the industry was hit by deterioration of its productive capacity, particularly with regard to production services, after seizure and nationalization of dozens of companies in the oil sector.  Also, consider that Pdvsa has been implementing a policy of diversification of clients where the United States has lost ground as destination for the Venezuelan crude oil.

December 28, 2010

CHILEAN PRESIDENT SEBASTIAN PIÑERA IS VERY CONCERNED ABOUT RESTRICTIONS IN VENEZUELA

      SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE--Chile is VERY concerned about restrictions on political freedoms and human rights in Venezuela and Cuba, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera said on Sunday.

    "Obviously, we as a country are concerned when freedoms and human rights begin to be restricted anywhere in the world, but particularly in Latin America," Piñera said, when asked about his stance vis-à-vis the government of dictator Hugo Chávez in Venezuela. His comments came in an interview published on Sunday by Chilean newspaper El Mercurio,  reported.  "We have raised our voice loud and clear in the relevant manner and places," the Chilean president stated.

     When Piñera took office last March he said he had differences with "Chávez's model."  "That same afternoon, Chávez responded forcefully and warned me not to mess with him," recalled Piñera.  Further, Piñera said that Cuba "is not a democracy," adding that Cuban society does not "respect political freedoms or human rights."

VENEZUELAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS REJECT DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ'S UNLIMITED POWER

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Federation of Trade and Industry Chambers (Fedecámaras) called for a national front to defend the Constitution, democracy and freedom following the package of laws being passed in the last few days by the National Assembly, including the enabling law, which grants extraordinary powers to dictator Hugo Chávez to pass laws for 18 months. Fedecámaras also rejects  law amendments, seizures of lands, the enabling law and recent actions taken by the government, said Noel Álvarez, the president of Venezuela's private business chamber Fedecámaras. "Unconstitutional actions" have pushed the country to the wall. "We are in a turning point where, if we take a step back, we lose the democracy and the country," the businessman admonished.

    Álvarez suggested that the recommended front includes the Church, political parties, trade unions, universities, academies and all those people who consider that their rights have been violated and wish to restore the validity of the Constitution. Álvarez advised the members of the Armed Forces to read Article 25 of the Constitution, which states: "Any action on the part of the Public Power that violates or undermine the rights ensured by this Constitution and by law is null and void, and public servants who order or implement said action shall incur criminal, civil and administrative liability, as applicable, with no defense on grounds of having followed the orders of a superior." Two Venezuelan prosecutors will investigate the head of Fedecámaras  to determine if in the statement, Álvarez would have violated the Venezuelan law.  Álvarez does not hesitate to say that the government is using rain emergency to impose its economic model.

     Noel Álvarez, the president of the Federation of Trade and Industry Chambers (Fedecámaras) said that he will continue to work despite a criminal investigation initiated by the Public Prosecution Office against him for his remarks on Wednesday in which he allegedly encourage military to disobey orders. "We exercise our freedom of conscience according to the Constitution and we will continue saying what we have to say. Therefore, if we have to go to prison, we will pay a tribute to democracy, and we will continue saying it wherever we are" the business leader said in an interview to the Venezuelan radio station Unión Radio.

strike called over massive bolivia fuel price rises

     la paz, bolivia--Bolivia has announced a sharp rise in the price of fuel, with petrol and diesel going up by more than 70%.  The main transport union called an indefinite strike in protest. The state could not go on subsidising prices when so much fuel was being smuggled abroad by profiteers, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said. The government said it would compensate for the fuel price rise by increasing public sector wages and freezing utility bills. 'Tough test'

    "We are bringing fuels up to international price levels," Mr Garcia said on Sunday. "State subsidies cost $380m (£246m) a year; we don't want this to continue. We buy expensive diesel fuel and sell it cheap." Low-octane petrol prices will now rise 73%, while diesel will go up 83%. The vice president said that the move was aimed at stimulating energy companies to produce more oil and to import diesel and gasoline. Fuel prices in the impoverished South American country had been frozen for almost a decade. To mitigate the impact of the price hike, the government said it would increase public sector salaries above the inflation level and would also freeze utility bills.

     It also said it would not raise prices on the natural gas that is converted into fuel for vehicles or domestic liquid gas, which many Bolivians use in their homes. But anger in the country is already growing. The Drivers' Confederation, which groups bus and lorry operators, called an indefinite strike starting on Monday. The sudden embracing of free market principles will be a tough test of support for the country's left-wing President Evo Morales, correspondents say.

December 27, 2010

FORMER VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT CARLOS ANDRES PEREZ DIES AT 88

      MIAMI, FLORIDA--Former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez, who survived two coup attempts but was finally forced from office as the first Latin American leader to be convicted of corruption, died Saturday in Miami. The  88-year-old served as the South American country's president between 1974 and 1979, and again between 1989 and 1993. Independent Venezuelan broadcaster Globovision said he died at Miami's Mercy Hospital of a heart attack. "(His death) came as a surprise. He woke up today in very good spirits," his daughter Maria Francia told the international press.

     Perez's first term in power was marked by a massive inflow of petrodollars that saw the OPEC member nicknamed "Saudi Venezuela" by some, while his second was marred by corruption scandals, coup bids and the violent suppression of protests. He became the first leader in Latin America to be convicted of graft and was forced out of office in May 1993, seven months before completing his second term. He was sentenced to 28 months for the misappropriation of $17 million in public funds. He served the first few months at a low security jail in the capital Caracas, then was allowed to spend the rest of his term under house arrest due to his age. In his last years, he lived in Miami and was an occasional but fierce critic of the leftist policies of Venezuela's current president, Hugo Chavez, who once tried to topple him. Perez had been elected by a landslide for his second term, but his presidency was rocked by price riots and two coup attempts as he tried to push through tough economic reforms.

    The so-called Caracazo riots in 1989, which were triggered by a package of strict International Monetary Fund-backed fiscal measures, became a landmark human rights case after Perez sent troops into the streets who fired indiscriminately on crowds of demonstrators. In 1992, Chavez -- then a young paratroop officer -- led a botched but bloody coup attempt against the president. Chavez was jailed for two years as a result, but his brief televised surrender speech in which he took responsibility for the insurrection made him famous. Since winning a presidential election in 1998, Chavez has often cited the Caracazo riots as providing the political roots for his own socialist "revolution" to help Venezuela's poor.

cuban dissident dr. darsi ferrer complains of pressure to accept exile

      havana, cuba--Cuban dissident Darsi Ferrer said on Friday that the island’s communist government has refused to issue exit visas for his wife and son, who had planned to travel to the United States, calling the move an attempt to “blackmail” him into accepting exile. Ferrer, a physician, told Efe that Cuban state security agents made it clear to him that his family will only receive permission to travel to the United States, where his wife wants to receive medical treatment, if he agrees to travel with them. “I don’t want to leave the country. I’m embroiled in finding solutions here,” said the dissident, who was released in Havana after 11 months of pre-trial detention.

    He said his wife, Yusnaimy Jorge, and son were issued refugee visas to travel to the United States so that she can receive treatment for a cerebrovascular disease. Ferrer said his wife has not yet received an adequate diagnosis or treatment for her illness in Cuba and the purpose of the trip is to improve her prospects for recovery. “We decided (that she would travel without him) because I’m convinced it won’t be for that long,” Ferrer said. “We have a lot of friends in the United States and we hope those friendships can help us.”

    Ferrer spoke out a day after the Cuban Catholic Church said two more political prisoners are due to be released, although they are not among a high-profile group of imprisoned dissidents designated “prisoners of conscience” by Amnesty International. The archdiocese said 56 Cuban prisoners have now accepted a deal under which they must relocate to Spain immediately upon their release. Following Spanish-backed talks beginning in May between the Catholic hierarchy and President Raul Castro’s government, Havana agreed to release 52 members of the so-called Group of 75 still behind bars, 40 of whom have since been freed on condition they travel to Madrid.

cardinal jaime ortega behind deal TO FREE CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS says jail mass 

     HAVANA, CUBA--A church official says the Havana cardinal who helped broker a deal with the Cuban government for the release of jailed dissidents has said Mass at a prison where some of them are still held. Two of the 11 dissidents remaining behind bars are held at the Combinado del Este prison near Havana, where Cardinal Jaime Ortega said Mass Friday. Havana archbishopric official Orlando Marquez says 20 prisoners attended the Christmas Eve mass, but it wasn't clear if the dissidents were among them. Marquez had no details about the sermon.

     Havana Archbishop Jaime Ortega says "hope springs eternal" that Havana will honor its "formal promise" to free them.  Five weeks after Cuba's Raúl Castro and Catholic church leaders held unprecedented talks on political prisoners, the result has been some modest improvements, much hope and lots of controversy.  Critics say the improvements have been purely cosmetic, that human rights abuses continue and that Castro is talking to the church leaders only because they are too weak to push for significant concessions.

    Supporters say they hope for further improvements and argue that Castro has effectively recognized the church, the country's largest non-government organization, as a legitimate voice in Cuban affairs. A leftist academic in Mexico even warned last week that Castro is playing with fire, ceding power and maneuvering space to a Vatican bent on toppling Havana's communist system just as it did in Poland.

December 24, 2010

SOUTH KOREA THREATENED TO LAUNCH A "SACRED WAR"

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--North Korea threatened Thursday to launch a "sacred war" after South Korea completed large military exercises near the volatile inter-Korean border. "The revolutionary armed forces of the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) are getting fully prepared to launch a sacred war of justice of Korean style based on the nuclear deterrent at anytime necessary," North Korea's defense minister Kim Yong Chun said, according to the state-run news agency. "The South Korean puppet forces perpetrated such grave military provocation as renewing their shelling against the DPRK during their recent exercises for a war of aggression in the West Sea of Korea," Chun said. "This indicates that the enemy's scenario for aggression aimed at the start of another Korean War, has reached the phase of its implementation. U.S. officials appear unimpressed by the threats.

    "Unfortunately, North Korea is back to its old belligerent tricks," wrote State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley in a Twitter posting. "We need constructive actions, not heated rhetoric." The long-planned South Korean exercises, billed as the largest land and air winter drills, were conducted just 15 miles from the North Korean border. More than 800 military personnel, fighter jets and anti-tank missiles took part inthe exercise in Pocheon, which also involved more than 100 types of weapons. The drills took place on undisputed South Korean territory but it was the timing that was worrisome to the region. Tensions have been running high since the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan last March, killing 46 sailors.

    South Korea and the international community blamed the North for the Cheonan incident, but Pyongyang denied the accusations. Then, last month, North Korea said the South's navy fired into Northern waters and in retaliation, it shelled Yeonpyeong Island, killing four South Koreans. South Korea said its Navy was simply holding drills and conducted similar naval exercises again on Monday, drawing threats from Pyongyang that it would attack again. But that did not happen. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak had harsh words for North Korea on Thursday.  "In the case of another surprise attack, the country must launch a merciless counterattack," Lee said. The hostilities come amid transition in North Korea -- the ailing leader Kim Jong Il is believed to be in the process of transferring power to his son, Kim Jong Un. Some analysts believe the upcoming internal changes have prompted the North to flex its military muscle. Korea became a divided nation after Japan's defeat in World War II: the free-enterprise South and the communist North.

FORMER ARGENTINE DICTATOR, JORGE RAFAEL VIDELA, SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON

      BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA--Former Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla was convicted and sentenced to life in prison by a federal court Wednesday for human rights abuses during his rule. Videla was among the coup leaders who overthrew then-President Isabel Martinez de Peron in March 1976. He ruled as dictator until 1981. In a separate proceeding, Luciano Benjamin Menendez, former head of the Third Army Corps, was also sentenced to life in prison for violating the human rights of four people. 

    Another former dictator, Gen. Reynaldo Benito Bignone, was sentenced in April to 25 years in prison for kidnapping and torturing 56 people. He ruled Argentina from June 1982 until the nation's return to democracy in December 1983. Up to 30,000 students, labor leaders, intellectuals and leftists who ran afoul of the dictatorship because of their political views disappeared or were held in secret jails and torture centers during the nation's eight-year "dirty war."

    Videla and the others face charges related to abuses committed at a penitentiary in Cordoba and in the kidnapping and torture of six people, the information service said. Videla, 85, has previously been found guilty of other human rights abuses, including kidnapping, torture and homicide. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1985 but released in 1990 under a pardon issued by then-President Carlos Menem to many former members of the military dictatorship. Argentina's congress and courts have struck down the pardons and amnesty laws of the 1980s, clearing the way for rights trials to be held again.

WIKILEAKS: LULA DA SILVA ASKED DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ TO "LOW TONE" AGAINST U.S.

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--President Luiz Inacio Lula da SilvaLuiz Inacio Lula da Silva has asked Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo ChavezChavez to "lower the tone against the United States", published on Wednesday the Spanish newspaper El Pais, citing documents from the U.S. State Department released the site Wikileaks. The Brazilian president sent his former minister José DirceuDirceu to Caracas to warn Chavez and tell him not to "play with fire." "The incendiary rhetoric of Hugo Chavez since its first presidential term does not bother only the United States, the main recipient of the statements, but also Brazil, whose president Lula da Silva wanted to placate the virulence of the Bolivarian discourse with private messages calling for restraint," said the El Pais

    Dirceu Chavez revealed his conversation with the American ambassador in Brasilia, John Danilovich, according to documents from Wikileaks. It appears that the recommendation of Lula had no effect on the Venezuelan president, who "continued to attack the United States on all fronts." In turn, the head of the American diplomatic delegation explained Dirceu that Washington's policy "in this sense was not responding to Chavez not to give him reasons for it to drown himself," wrote El País Dirceu "Chavez promised to communicate not only the U.S. government was hostile to him, but the U.S. elites and ordinary people began to see Venezuela as a problem, and that the tense situation with American society benefited neither the he nor the country. "

     At that meeting, the two also discussed Cuba's position on the matter. In the opinion of Dirceu, despite the excellent relations between Caracas and Havana, rising tensions in the region of no interest to Cuba. Moreover, the choice of Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympic Games "reinforced the regional leadership of Brazil and the figure of President Lula da Silva," the newspaper said, according to the documentation of Wikileaks. "Brazil's government is realizing that the key challenges facing the preparation of the Games, and showed much greater openness in such areas as cooperation and information exchange with the United States as to admit the possibility of terrorist threats," he wrote in charge of business, Lisa Kubiske in December 2009, three months after the announcement that Rio would host the Olympics.

December 23, 2010

ARCHBISHOP ROBERTO LUCKERT WARNS THAT THE NEW LAW WILL MAKE VENEZUELA A DICTATORSHIP

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Archbishop Roberto Luckert of Coro, Venezuela said dictator  Hugo Chavez's new law will turn the country into a “constitutional democratic dictatorship.” On Dec. 17, Venezuela's National Assembly approved President Chavez's request to rule by decree for 18 months.  The additional power, the president argued, would help him address the damaging floods within the country. The law comes just weeks before the new National Assembly, elected earlier this year, takes office.  During the elections on Sept. 26, Chavez’s ruling party only won 95 of the 165 seats in the Assembly, which is not enough to maintain a majority. 

     Although three Assembly members from other parties are expected to vote with the ruling party, with just 98 votes, Chavez would still fall short of a two-thirds majority needed to get his measures passed.   The new law gives Chavez the power to enact laws on land use, the military and police forces, transportation and public services. He will also have greater control over the treasury and the tax code, urban and rural development, international relations and the emergency response to the flooding. Archbishop Luckert told CNA on Dec. 20 that the measure is “an abuse and a violation of the Constitution,” as Chavez already has “many ways in which he can do what he wants” to address the crisis caused by flooding. The new law has turned the National Assembly into “a congress of political eunuchs who will not be able to do what they are supposed to do,” he stated.

    The tasks of lawmakers are “to pass laws, to legislate -  not to sit on their hands and act like useless fools or mute dogs in a congress in which they won’t be able to do anything,” the archbishop continued. “Personally I think they want to turn this new Legislative Assembly - which the ruling party will not have the majority - into a pack of dogs with no bark.  They won’t be able to speak up when they should and they won’t be able to pass laws that will truly benefit the country.   “Why do we want lawmakers who will have their hands tied?” he asked. Archbishop Luckert said the new law has turned the country into “a constitutional democratic dictatorship” that is being set up under the cover of law. Venezuela is following the lead of Cuba, he warned.  “All of these laws or norms are part of the Cuban package and the Cuban advisors are trying to impose them on Venezuela,” he said.  “We are going down the same path as the Castro autocracy that has afflicted that poor country for 59 years,” the archbishop warned.

SOUTH KOREA HOLDS MASSIVE NEW DRILLS CLOSE TO ITS BORDER WITH THE NORTH

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--South Korea vowed Wednesday to "completely punish" North Korea if it attacks again, and mobilized hundreds of troops, tanks and helicopters for a massive military exercise prompted by high tensions on the peninsula. The firing drills planned for Thursday near the Koreas' heavily armed land border signaled that South Korea is willing to risk further escalating tensions with North Korea, which shelled a southern island off the western coast on Nov. 23 and stirred up a war-like atmosphere.

     The attack, which killed four people, was portrayed by Pyongyang as a retaliation for southern military exercises on Yeonpyeong island that day. South Korea has conducted 47 similar military drills this year, and it scheduled one more exercise for Thursday in response to the North Korean attack, an army officer said on condition of anonymity citing department rules. Thursday's drill will be the biggest-ever wintertime joint firing exercise that South Korea's army and air force have staged, an army statement said. "We will completely punish the enemy if it provokes us again like the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island," Brig. Gen. Ju Eun-sik, chief of the army's 1st armored brigade, said separately.

     South Korean forces are on high alert even though the North backed down from its threat to again retaliate over a separate firing drill the South held Monday on Yeonpyeong in disputed western waters. The two Koreas remain technically at war since their 1950s conflict ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty. The past month's military tension, however, has been the worst in several years.  Thursday's air force and army drills will involve 800 troops, F-15K and KF-16 jet fighters, K-1 tanks, AH-1S attack helicopters and K-9 self-propelled guns. They will take place in Pocheon, about 30 miles (45 kilometers) north of Seoul and about 21 miles (33 kilometers) south of the North Korean border.  Seoul has relocated more artillery on Yeonpyeong island following last month's shelling and plans to deploy Israeli-made Spike missiles there soon, Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unidentified military official. The Joint Chiefs of Staff declined to confirm the report.

US DEEMS IT UNLIKELY THAT AMBASSADOR LARRY PALMER WILL TAKE HIS DUTIES IN VENEZUELA

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The US government is aware that it will be very difficult that Larry Palmer, his nominated Ambassador to Venezuela, take up his duties in Caracas following the withdrawal of agrément by the Venezuelan Executive Office.

    "Larry Palmer has not yet been confirmed by the Senate. His nomination still remains before the United States Senate. Obviously, with the withdrawal of agrément it is unlikely that he will," the US State Department Spokesman Philip J. Crowley said on Monday. Therefore, the future of the relations between the two countries seems to be in the US Senate, controlled by the Republican Party which has shown a less conciliatory tone with the Venezuelan government.

    On Tuesday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolás Maduro reiterated his government rejection to Larry Palmer's appointment, but expressed his belief that the governments can "find a solution." "Let's wait and see how the situation evolves," Maduro said. "We hope that these issues can be discussed objectively." Venezuela withdrew the agrément to Larry Palmer after the US Ambassador answered a questionnaire sent by the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Some of the answers were considered offensive by the Venezuelan government.

December 22, 2010

representative connie mack heads house subcommittee on the western hemisphere

      washington, d.c.--Representative Connie Mack (R-Fla.) on Tuesday was named chairman of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and wasted no time stating his position. In a press release, he said: “With freedom and free markets under continuous assault by thugocrats like Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez and the Castro brothers in Cuba, the United States must remain committed to countering the influence of these socialist leaders in the region.

    "We must also work with our allies in the hemisphere to eradicate terrorist organizations like the FARC, keep a watchful eye on the dangerous ties between Russia, Iran and Venezuela, and build relationships based on our shared goals of freedom, security and prosperity. “I look forward to working with chairman [Ileana] Ros-Lehtinen, the other subcommittee chairmen, and the entire committee on improving U.S. foreign policy and preserving freedom around the world.”

     Ros-Lehtinen immediately produced her own press release welcoming Mack to the corps. "Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales, and Rafael Correa are all placing democracy under siege in Latin America, and I am happy to have Connie standing up to their tyrannical advances," she wrote. The Western Hemisphere Subcommittee oversees matters affecting U.S. foreign policy and political relations in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

wikileaks: dictator chavez may intervene militarily in cuba whenever fidel dies

      caracas, venezuela-- A CABLE SENT ON  10 AUGUST 2006, about Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s illness at the time, argues, “In the event of Castro's permanent departure from the scene, the mercurial Chavez may become even more unpredictable.” The cable suggests Chavez might deploy Venezuelan military to guarantee a “Castroite successor” and says the “Embassy believes this would be an apt moment to warn the BRV against intervening in Cuba during its transition." BRV stands for Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

    When referring to possible internal civil conflict in Cuba, the US cable says, “but the presence, or even threat, of a Venezuelan force in Cuba would have important implications for Cuba and for us.” Other cables express concern over future interventions or nationalisations by the Venezuelan government. Cable 09Caracas1595, created 23 December 2009 responds to the news of the inauguration of the bicentenary banks, comments on the Venezuelan government’s increased share of the banking sector as a result, and tries to analyse whether the “episode of interventions” is over. Cable 09Caracas1181, issued 9 September 2009 is about the state owned company Bolipuertos that is in charge of Venezuela’s ports but that “contacts in shipping circles...tell us that the Cubans are active in the ports as “advisors” The cable speculates on the possibility of the government nationalising stevedoring and customs agent services.

    While there has been no official government response to the cables so far, as the government concentrates on emergency measures for heavy rain victims, Venezuelan Aporrea journalists have referred to the cables about the health mission as “completely manipulated reports” that “contribute to the objective of the disintegration [of the health missions]”. Finally, tonight president Chavez, while visiting a new housing complex for heavy rain victims, responded to the US cables from Caracas, saying, “You see, the [US government] is scared by the presence of Cubans here.” “The Cubans have been to the end of the world to help those in need, even when their country is blockaded by the [U.S]... and the [opposition] here says the Cubans should leave,” he added.

venezuelan farmers lament that dictator chavez only suspended seizure of 16 ranches

     caracas, venezuela--A group of farmers decided in a meeting held in the city of Santa Bárbara del Zulia, South Lake Maracaibo, to keep on protesting until dictator Hugo Chavez suspends the action to seize 47 private productive farms.

     They unanimously rejected that the government has decided to suspend the expropriation of only 16 of the 47 farms it has seized. "They must suspend the expropriation of all the farms or we will keep on protesting at whatever cost, because we will not let the government ride roughshod over us," said Jesús Iragorri, the president of the Federation of Ranchers of the Basin of Lake Maracaibo (Fegalago). He added that the group set up a commission to set a strategy related to daily protests to be mainly carried out in the state of Zulia.

    "This protest was born today (on Monday), here in the area of Colón but it has to conclude in Caracas or throughout Venezuela if necessary until they respect the Constitution," Iragorri said as part of a meeting held by the Legislative Council of the state of Zulia (CLEZ), in the city of Santa Bárbara. Gerardo Alvarado, a union representative of workers of Bolívar ranch, one of the private farms affected by the seizure defended the owners of the farm and said that workers had job benefits. "I strongly reject the seizures made by the government," he said.

December 15, 2010

WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, STAYS IN JAIL FOR NOW

    LONDON, ENGLAND--WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was granted bail Tuesday after a hearing at Westminster Magistrate's Court in London, but a lawyer representing Swedish prosecutors immediately filed an appeal. That means Assange will remain in jail until the next hearing, which should be within 48 hours, lawyers said. The 39-year-old Australian handed himself over to London police last week to answer a European arrest warrant over alleged sex crimes in Sweden. Assange is facing accusations of rape, sexual molestation and illegal use of force in separate incidents in August in Stockholm. He could be sentenced to two years in prison if convicted. His lawyers deny the allegations and have vowed to fight any attempts at extradition.

    The magistrate agreed to grant bail Tuesday after Vaughan Smith, a former British army officer who founded London's Frontline Club, testified that Assange could stay at his mansion in Suffolk. Smith will keep Assange "if not under house arrest, at least under mansion arrest," said defense attorney Geoffrey Robertson. At that, Assange, dressed in a white shirt and a blue jacket and sitting in a glassed-in corner of the court with three security guards, smiled wryly. The magistrate set bail at 200,000 pounds (about $315,000) plus two sureties of 20,000 pounds each (about $31,500). Assange's passport must remain with police, and he will be monitored by a location tag.

     Assange must be at Smith's mansion, about two hours outside of London, for at least four hours overnight and four hours during the day. He will be required to report to police daily between 6 and 8 p.m. The next court hearing was scheduled for January 11. After the conditions were set, Assange stood and said, "I understand," with a neutral expression.  His mother Christine told reporters after the hearing that she was "very, very happy," and thanked "the media for all your support of my son." But several hours later, Sweden filed its appeal. During the hearing, Assange's team of attorneys argued that since he is only wanted for questioning and has not been formally charged, he is presumed innocent. The magistrate agreed. But, said Gemma Lindfield, the attorney representing the Swedish prosecution, "The court has already found that Mr. Assange is a flight risk. Nothing has changed in this regard." She said if the alleged offenses had occurred in Britain, "it undoubtedly would have been a charge of rape in this jurisdiction."

venezuelan national assembly to pass a bill preventing foreign funding for ngos

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--While NGOs are attentive to the passage of a dreaded Bill on International Cooperation, Venezuela's National Assembly is expected to approve on Tuesday in first reading the draft Law for the Protection of Political Freedom and National Self-Determination, which, in practice, limits funding and activities of NGOs.

     The text was prepared by the National Assembly's Committee on Defense and it only has 10 articles. Article 4 of the legal instrument provides that "assets and other income of political organizations or organizations for the protection of political rights shall be composed exclusively of domestic goods and resources." Therefore, neither political parties nor NGOs can receive contributions from abroad to develop their activities in Venezuela.

     Article 8, which refers to "foreign interference" provides: "The representatives of political parties, and representatives of organizations for the defense of political or individual rights that invite foreign organizations or citizens who, under their sponsorship, issue opinions offending State institutions, top officials or violate the sovereignty, will have to pay a fine between 5,000 and 10,000 tax units."

December 14, 2010

WIKILEAKS: us tried to curb venezuelan dictator hugo chavez's clouts in latin america

      washington, d.c.--US diplomats discussed efforts to curb Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez's clout in Latin America and tried to dissuade Russia from selling anti-aircraft missiles to the South American government, according to classified documents released by WikiLeaks.  A secret document sent in 2008 by the US Embassy to Colombia said that then Colombian President Álvaro Uribe urged the US government "to lead a public campaign against Venezuela." He added that the presidents of countries such as Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica were "natural leaders to counter Chávez."

    The document, dated January 28, 2008, and published on December 10, is one of several diplomatic cables leaked in the past week about efforts to marginalize Chávez internationally and prevent arms purchases by Venezuela.

    Other secret documents posted said that at least since 2005, US diplomats have privately discussed their concerns with Russian officials about a possible purchase of weapons by Venezuela, including the purchase of Russian helicopters and fighter jets.  A secret memo from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's office dated February 14, 2009 said that for four years the US government had raised concerns with Russian officials about a possible sale of weapons, including Igla-S surface-to-air missiles.

IRANIAN PRESIDENT, MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, SAcKS HIS FOREIGN MINISTER

    TEHRAN, IRAN--Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sacked his foreign minister on Monday and appointed the top nuclear official as caretaker to the key post, the official IRNA news agency reported. Mottaki is considered a close ally of Ahmadinejad's election rival, parliament speaker Ali Larijani, who is locked in a struggle with the president over the relative powers of parliament and the executive. The change of foreign minister is a sign that the infighting between Ahmadinejad and Larijani is deepening, analysts say. State television reported that Ahmadinejad had made Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization and a close ally, caretaker foreign minister.

    IRNA said Salehi will keep his current job while acting as foreign minister. But a source told the semi-official Fars news agency that Mohammad Ghanadi, a senior nuclear official, might replace Salehi in the country's top nuclear post. A reformist website said Mottaki was dismissed because he had been critical of Ahmadinejad's foreign policy. "Mottaki failed to adjust himself to the president's viewpoints and his foreign policy," the website Mardomsalari reported. The website Khabaronline, which is close to the government, said Mottaki had "harshly criticized the president for setting up a parallel diplomatic apparatus" by appointing six foreign policy advisers.

    Ahmadinejad's government, backed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, crushed the street protests that followed Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in June 2009. The vote created a deepening rift among ruling hardliners, some of whom resent the rising economic and political power of Ahmadinejad. "Salehi was Ahmadinejad's first choice for the ministry in 2005 ... but Khamenei rejected Salehi," a moderate former official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Larijani, a fierce critic of Ahmadinejad's economic policies, has tacitly urged Khamenei to rein in the fiery head of state, to little visible effect. Prominent lawmakers have warned that they may take legal action against the president, and even impeach him, if he continues to ignore the constitution. Critics say Ahmadinejad is spending petro-dollars without the approval of the assembly.

IRAN CONDUCTS LARGE MILITARY EXERCISES NEAR THE IRAQI BORDER

     TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran's army has finished a large military exercise by ground forces near the Iraqi border, the state news agency reported Monday. But unlike previous war games in which Iran boasted of weapons advances, the latest maneuvers were largely held under wraps.

    The report by the IRNA news agency was the first public word that the maneuvers had been held, and even IRNA's confirmation came only indirectly. The report was about the death of two military officers in a road accident as they came back from "large" exercises by ground forces. IRNA gave no further details about the maneuvers. Iran has been holding regular exercises by the various branches of its military and its elite Revolutionary Guard, considered the strongest fighting force in the country. Usually, Iran's state media give them extensive coverage of military exercises to tout the country's strength in the standoff with the United States and its allies over Iran's disputed nuclear program. In November, air defense exercises were meant to showcase Iran's capabilities in defending its nuclear facilities from possible attack.

    Iran announced two months ago that it would hold war games in December in the southwestern provinces of Khuzestan and Ilam, both next to Iraq. But there had been no announcement that the maneuvers had begun. IRNA said the two officers who died were returning from maneuvers "in the south," an apparent reference to the same exercises. It identified the two as Gen. Rahman Forouzandeh , a ground force commander, and his aide, identified only by his rank and family name, Lt. Ordikhani. The report called Forouzandeh a war veteran of Iran-Iraq war in 1980s, saying funeral services will be held for the two on Tuesday in northwestern city of Tabriz where their division is stationed. It was not clear why the maneuvers were held in secret.

December 13, 2010

WIKILEAKS: VATICAN WORRIES ABOUT 'BLOODSHED' IN CUBA

      washington, d.c.--The Vatican "is concerned that the disastrous economic situation [in Cuba] and political tension could lead to bloodshed," according to an American diplomat's message to the State Department, disclosed by WikiLeaks and published by the Spanish newspaper El País. "The Vatican's point person on Cuba, Monsignor Accattino, supports EU dialogue with Cuba and said the U.S. should refrain from unilateral actions against Cuba that play into the hands of the Castros – or [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chávez. This is particularly true, he said, of decisions like identifying Cubans as nationals of particular concern in air travel.

     "The Vatican is concerned that the disastrous economic situation on the island and political tension could lead to bloodshed." Regarding engagement with Cuba, Accatino "thought that the island's blatantly poor human rights record should not block engagement with Cuba any more than it does with other rights-abusing nations. After all, he said, the U.S. and the EU engage other countries that violate human rights, like China. [...] "Looking ahead, Accattino said Cuba's economic and social situations are becoming so bad that people could react violently. If that happens, he added, some in and outside of Cuba could blame the U.S. for having contributed to the situation.

    The U.S. should not allow itself to be held hostage by domestic politics to maintain the current 'counterproductive policy.' "Accattino reiterated the Vatican line about always engaging in dialogue, no matter how unpleasant the interlocutor. He also made it clear that the Vatican is far more concerned about Chávez than Raúl Castro, considering him more dangerous and with a longer reach (not to mention younger). "For this reason, the Vatican has welcomed recent USG [U.S. Government] gestures towards Cuba warmly and advocates further USG actions that, the Vatican believes, would make it increasingly difficult for Caracas or Havana to blame Cuba's economic and social failures on Washington."

WIKILEAKS: US ENVOY  CALLED FORMER HONDURAN PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA 'REBELLIOUS TEEN'

    WASHINGTON, D.C.--A year before the coup that ousted Manuel Zelaya, an outgoing U.S. ambassador called the Honduran president a "rebellious teenager" who secretly wanted to leave office a martyr, according to a diplomatic memo released on the Wikileaks website.  Ambassador Charles A. Ford sent the unflattering portrait of Zelaya - classified as "secret" - on May 15, 2008, to incoming Ambassador Hugo Llorens. More than a year later, on June 28, 2009, soldiers forced Zelaya into exile in a dispute over changing the Honduran Constitution. The coup provoked worldwide condemnation, but months of sanctions and U.S.-led negotiations ultimately failed to restore Zelaya to power.

    Ford also expressed concern that Zelaya had ties to organized crime, although he offered no evidence. His memo said Zelaya's delay in naming a vice minister for security "lends credibility to those who suggest that narco traffickers have pressured him to name one of their own." "I am unable to brief Zelaya on sensitive law enforcement and counter-narcotics actions due (to) my concern that this would put the lives of U.S. officials in jeopardy," Ford wrote. The interim government that ruled Honduras for seven months after the coup also accused Zelaya of supporting drug traffickers, but the U.S. did not publicly support those allegations.

    Zelaya, whose gradual shift to the left and increasingly close ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez alarmed powerful Honduran business leaders and alienated his own political party, remains in exile in the Dominican Republic. "Ever the rebellious teenager, Zelaya's principal goal in office is to enrich himself and his family while leaving a public legacy as a martyr who tried to do good but was thwarted at every turn by powerful, unnamed interests," Ford wrote in the memo released by Wikileaks on Friday. Zelaya, the son of a wealthy landowner whose ranch was the site of a massacre of leftists in the 1970s, apparently never graduated from high school and "has acted in this juvenile, rebellious manner his entire life," Ford wrote. He said Zelaya "resents the very existence of the Congress, the Attorney General and the Supreme Court."

IACHR CONDEMNS PARTIAL TAKEOVER OF VENEZUELAN TV STATION

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and its Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression expressed on Thursday concern regarding a possible Venezuelan State intervention in the TV news channel Globovisión by way of a public entity's appropriation of 20 percent of the company's shares. It said that under Principle 13 of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, "the exercise of power by the state with the intent to put pressure on and punish social communicators and communications media because of the opinions they express threatens freedom of expression."

    It added that "mass media have the right to carry out their role in an independent manner. Direct or indirect pressures exerted upon journalists or other social communicators to stifle the dissemination of information are incompatible with freedom of expression." The Office of the Special Rapporteur calls upon the Venezuelan State "to comply with the most stringent international standards regarding freedom of expression so as to fully ensure the right of the TV channel Globovisión to exercise, without undue interference by the government or arbitrary pressure, the right to free expression as well as the right to integrity and personal security."

     A commission of workers at news TV channel Globovisión appeared on Friday at the Deposit Guarantee and Bank Protection Fund (Fogade) to file a request to become shareholders in the event of "arbitrary winding up" of the Ávila trade union. "Twenty percent of Globovisión shares held by that company (Ávila trade union) should be awarded to us, the channel workers, who would like to be an alternative, together with the current board of directors and our usual shareholders, sharing the same principles and values that have guided the channel for 16 years." Yaneth de Abreu, Mari Trini Mena and Carlos Dolosa, employees of the TV channel, submitted the paper in a meeting with the Fogade's board of directors. "The government intention is to endanger freedom of expression," Gustavo Dolosa said, adding that all that the staff wants is to continue working along with the channel's management "for Venezuela."

December 12, 2010

LADIES IN WHITE DEMAND RELEASE OF ALL CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONERS

      HAVana, cuba--Members of the Ladies in White and their supporters marked International Human Rights Day by demonstrating at the headquarters of the Cuban prison system and at two jails in the capital. They accused the government of violating human rights by keeping in jail 11 dissidents who were arrested in 2003 as part of a crackdown on the opposition. "They have innocent people in prison for seeking change in this nation," said Alejandrina Garcia, wife of prisoner Diosdado Gonzalez.  "They shouldn't be afraid to open up," she said, referring to Cuba's government.

    The Ladies in White was formed by the wives and mothers of 75 dissidents, activists and social commentators who were arrested in 2003. The government alleges all the dissidents are paid by Washington to undermine the political system and says many of them were sentenced for crimes including treason. Most of those arrested have since been released, many under an agreement brokered by the Roman Catholic Church earlier this year. Church officials have said they expect the last 11 to be freed soon, even though a Nov. 8 deadline to complete the deal has passed.

    Some past marches by the Ladies in White have been met by rowdy "acts of repudiation," as they are called in Cuba, including Thursday evening when a crowd followed them through the streets, haranguing them with insults. Marches marking Human Rights Day in 2009 also turned ugly as pro-government crowds shouted insults at the dissidents and chased away a British diplomat observing the march. But there was no such confrontation Friday. The government says the counterprotests are a spontaneous manifestation of the repulsion felt by Cubans toward dissidents. Many observers say the counterprotests are clearly coordinated with official sanction.

U.S. REP. CONNIE MACK TO CONGRESS: IRAN HAS A MISSILE BASE IN VENEZUELA

    WASHINGTON, D.C.--In a letter to his colleagues late Thursday, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fort Myers, the Ranking Republican of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, renewed his calls for Venezuela to be designated as a state sponsor of terrorism after news reports surfaced that Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil. According to the Nov. 25 edition of the German daily, Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers, soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and Venezuelan missile officers.

    The article states that the previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly-operated military base in Venezuela and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles. If proven factual, this would be just the latest example of an increasingly dangerous partnership between Iran and Venezuela.  “What further proof does this Administration need that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is a dangerous threat to the freedom, stability and security of the entire hemisphere? “Chavez has given aid and support to internationally-recognized terrorist organizations like the FARC, is collaborating closely with Iran in the gasoline and banking industries, and continues to trample on the rights and freedoms of the Venezuelan people. And now he is allowing Iran to place missiles on Venezuelan soil.

    “Every day we allow Chavez to move closer to fulfilling his promises to Iran brings an enhanced degree of insecurity to the American people.”  Adding insult to the American people was the President’s recent joke on November 21st that he would divert Air Force One to Venezuela to see his buddy Hugo Chavez on his way home from Europe. “With the Obama Administration’s eye off the ball, the new Congress will have no choice but to work diligently to bring to light the detrimental failures of the Administration’s policies and stress the need to designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Mack concluded.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ TO MOVE HIS OFFICE INTO GADHAFI'S TENT

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chavez says he will set up camp in a tent given to him by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi so he can free up space in the presidential palace for more homeless storm victims.  Dozens of Venezuelans left homeless by torrential rains can remain at the presidential palace until the government finds them new homes, President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday as the death toll from flooding and mudslides reached 25.

    Chavez raised the idea of moving his office to the tent Friday, telling aides on state television: "Put up the tent that Gadhafi gave me." He said it could be erected in the gardens at the Miraflores Palace, and added: "Set it up for me because I'm moving into that tent."  Chavez has already taken in 26 families who lost homes in recent heavy rains, putting them up in the quarters of the presidential guard.

    He told one of his Cabinet ministers during a visit to a disaster shelter that aides should start preparing one of his offices in the palace to house evacuees. "We can stick some beds there, and there's a bathroom," he said. Chavez has been overseeing relief efforts after flooding and landslides that have killed 38 people and driven thousands from their homes. Gadhafi used one of his signature Bedouin tents when he visited Venezuela last year for a summit meeting, setting up camp next to the hotel pool and receiving Chavez and other guests.

December 11, 2010

ladies in white jeered and abused by CUBAN government mob

      havana, cuba--Government supporters jeered and abused the dissident group "Ladies in White" on Thursday as the women marched through Havana on the eve of international Human Rights Day. About 200 students and government workers surrounded the five dozen women and shouted such things as "Sellouts" and "This street belongs to Fidel," in allusion to former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. The women were marching to demand the release of the political prisoners remaining in Cuban jails, including 11 who have been imprisoned since a 2003 government crackdown and are family members.

     They are the last of 52 prisoners dictator Raul Castro agreed to free in a July deal brokered by the Catholic Church. "They are sellouts. They are opportunists doing all this for money," law student Eric Machado said of the women. Ladies in White supporter Odalys Sanabria said the group was not fazed by the hostile crowds. "We're accustomed to them doing this every time we go out to the street, but we'll continue until our prisoners are freed," she said. The Ladies in White said they would march again on Friday, the anniversary of the December 10, 1948, adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

     Last year on December 10, they and other dissidents were greeted by similarly hostile mobs backing the communist-led Cuban government, which views dissidents as traitors working for its archrival, the United States. The Caribbean island is one of 18 countries that have declined to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony for Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo on Friday, while 45 will go despite Chinese pressure for them to stay away. The Ladies in White stage a protest every Sunday in Havana, usually without incident, but public protests are rare in Cuba. Cuba is reshaping its fragile socialist economy, but there has been no talk of political reform in the one-party state.

transparency international (ti) RANKS VENEZUELA AS THE MOST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN LATIN AMERICA

    BERLIN, GERMANY--According to the report, 86 percent of Venezuelans consider that the level of corruption has increased in the past three years One out of two Latin Americans consider that corruption has increased over the last three years in their countries as a result of the global financial crisis, according to the report Transparency International - Global Corruption Barometer 2010, which was released on Friday by Transparency International (TI), a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development.

     According to the report, Venezuela ranks last in the region. "The fall-out of the financial crisis continues to affect public people's opinion of corruption, particularly in North America and Western Europe," said Huguette Labelle, chair of Transparency International in a statement. Latin American countries where corruption has spread in the past three years, according to people interviewed, are: Venezuela, where 86 percent of respondents consider that it has increased, Peru (79 percent), Mexico (75 percent), Brazil (64 percent) and Argentina (62 percent).

    From the global point of view, countries where people feel that the level of corruption has increased the most include: Senegal (88 percent), Rumania (87 percent), Venezuela (86 percent), Papua New Guinea (85 percent), Portugal (83 percent), Peru (79 percent), Pakistan and Iraq (77 percent), the report said. To the question: To what extent do you perceive the following institutions in this country are affected by corruption? (1: not at all corrupt, 5: extremely corrupt) the perception of Latin American respondents was: Salvadoran political parties (4.4), Peruvian Judiciary (4.4), Venezuelan police (4.4) Mexican police and political parties (4.4).

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ TO SET UP SINGLE ACCESS FOR INTERNET

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The Law on Social Responsibility in Radio and Television (known as Resorte Law) will affect the Internet. Following orders from Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, Vice President Elías Jaua sent to the National Assembly a bill to reform the Resorte Law that regulates the dissemination of messages through the web.  The proposal drafted by the vice president includes "Internet service providers (ISP) and electronic media" among the entities affected by this regulation. Besides, it includes "subscription broadcasting services" and "other type of audiovisual and electronic broadcasting services that can arise as a consequence of the development of telecommunications."

    Article 8 of the Resorte Law prohibits the dissemination of messages through radio, TV and electronic media that "could lead to the assassination of the President" or "can represent media manipulation designed to promote uneasiness in the community or disturb public order."  The bill provides that "the National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) may order Internet Service Providers to restrict access to websites or messages disseminated over the Internet or other electronic means" that spread those contents.  In a section related to "classified items," the amendment to Resorte Law will include "texts" and not only images and sounds.

    The draft project submitted by Jaua also strengthens penalties against possible offenders.  If traditional or electronic media disseminate messages that "could lead to the assassination of the President" or are "contrary to national security", the media will have to pay a fine equivalent to "10 percent of its gross income" during the year and a suspension of up to 72 consecutive hours.  Similarly, any radio, TV service provider, subscription broadcasting service and Internet service provider that does not broadcast the national anthem or incurs in any of the other 19 violations provided by the law will have to pay a fine equivalent to 1 to 2 percent of its gross income. Currently, the penalty for those acts is limited to "providing space for the dissemination of cultural and educational messages."

LIBORIO…TÚ TRANQUILO
 

December 10, 2010

U.S., ISRAEL OFFICIALS SLAM BRAZIL and ARGENTINA  FOR RECOGNIZING 'PAlestine' 

      jerusalem, israel--Israeli and U.S. officials slammed TWO Latin American countries this week for moving to recognize a Palestinian state saying they effectively granted the Palestinians a huge concession and undermined the already-sputtering peace process.  Argentina joined Brazil this week in recognizing "Palestine" as an independent state within the borders predating Israel's victory in the 1967 war. Palestinian officials hailed the decision, adding the endorsements to the list of mostly Muslim and former Soviet bloc countries that have done the same. But the move could signal a growing Latin American relationship with Israel's arch-enemy, Iran, and officials condemned the proclamations as counterproductive.

    "It is incomprehensible that these nations who seek to be viewed as responsible stakeholders in world affairs would take a unilateral action like this which undermines the prospects for true, lasting peace in the Middle East," Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a written statement.  She said those nations gave the Palestinian Authority the "biggest concession" without demanding they renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. She urged other nations to refrain from joining them.  "Their unilateral, unconditional recognition of Palestinian claims will only serve to embolden others worldwide who use violence to advance their agendas," Ros-Lehtinen said.

    While the Latin American nations may have offered the Palestinians a concession, at the same time the Obama administration was backing off its attempt to demand one of the Israelis. Officials said this week that President Obama has given up on persuading Israel to slow West Bank settlement activity. Officials said the administration is still trying to broker a peace deal and expects negotiators from both sides to visit Washington next week.  State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley reiterated that "direct negotiations" remain the focus of the administration.  Asked about the actions of Argentina and Brazil, he said: "We do not favor that course of action. As we've said many times ... any unilateral action, we believe, is counterproductive."  Explaining this week's announcement, Argentina's foreign minister Hector Timerman said that in light of the stalled peace talks, "the time has come to recognize Palestine as a free and independent state."  The Israelis suggested it only hurt the peace talks. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor called the decision "disappointing and damaging."

adm. mike mullen SAID that north korea danger must be stopped

    TOKYO, JAPAN-- Turning up the pressure on China over the military crisis on the Korean peninsula, the U.S. military chief said Thursday that Beijing has failed to live up to its role as a global power by not doing enough to defuse tensions. Adm. Mike Mullen, on a brief stopover in Tokyo after visiting Seoul, said China must do more to lead North Korea away from escalating the threat of an all-out war, which he said would be calamitous. North Korea launched a recent artillery attack on an island near a disputed border area that killed four South Koreans and is blamed for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March. "China must lead and guide North Korea to a better future," said Mullen, who is chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. "There is too much at stake for this sort of myopia.

    "There is no country in the world that has more influence in Pyongyang than China," he said. "That's part of responsible leadership. That's part of being a global power. And I would hope they heed this call and do that." North Korea, which has few other allies, depends heavily on China for economic assistance and diplomatic support. China fought on North Korea's side during the 1950-53 Korean War. Beijing has been cautious in placing blame for the skirmish and warship sinking, and has instead called for all sides to exercise restraint. China has suggested more multilateral talks to deal with North Korea's actions and concerns over its ongoing development of nuclear weapons. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu hit back at criticism of China's handling of the crisis. "I'd like to ask the people who make accusations against China, what efforts have they made toward regional stability and peace? Military threat cannot solve problems, can only increase tensions," Jiang told a news conference Thursday.

     China has also been critical of U.S.-South Korean military exercises in the Yellow Sea that were conducted after the artillery attack, in part to send Pyongyang a message of U.S.-South Korean cooperation and resolve not to be cowed by North Korean belligerency. Beijing was wary of the exercises because they took place relatively close to Chinese shores. Mullen defended the exercises as "transparent," said they were planned well in advance of the increased tensions, and added that the U.S. has the right to operate in open seas. He also said he believed that U.S. allies in the region should carry out more multilateral maneuvers. In particular, he said he supports Japan joining in drills with the U.S. and South Korea. Mullen said the lack of military-to-military ties between Beijing and Washington is another source of insecurity. "One of the very difficult parts of the China-U.S. relationship right now is we have no military-to-military ties," he said. "I don't understand much about what they are doing and why they are doing it." To ease that problem, he said Defense Secretary Robert Gates is to visit China next month, and Mullen is to meet his Chinese counterpart next year.

CHILEAN PRESIDENT SEBASTIAN PIÑERA VOWS PRISON REFORM AFTER DEADLY FIRE

     SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE--Chilean President Sebastian PIÑERA has vowed to reform the country's "shameful and inhumane" prisons after a fire left at least 81 inmates dead. "Chile's prison system is not worthy of a country that treats its people in a civilised way," he said after visiting the San Miguel jail in Santiago. The fire broke out on Wednesday morning during a fight between rival gangs at the overcrowded jail. Frantic relatives spent hours outside, desperate for news. Chilean media broadcast audio and video shot and sent by inmates using banned mobile phones as they called for help and pleaded for the doors to be opened. Television pictures also showed some prisoners waving their hands through the bars as relatives screamed at security forces to allow them in to help.

    Many of the dead were first-time offenders. Among them was Bastian Arragiada, who was serving a 61-day sentence for selling pirated films and was due to be released on 11 January, Chilean news website Emol reported. Speaking after a visit to the jail in the south of the capital, Mr Piñera described the fire as "a hugely painful tragedy" that highlighted the severe deficiencies in the prison system that had dragged on over a long period. Mr Piñera said the first concern was to help the bereaved families and the prisoners who were injured in the blaze. "But we must also think how to use this emergency to push forward with improving the conditions in our jails," he added. "We cannot keep living with a prison system that is absolutely inhumane."

    He said the government had launched a project in October to improve the prison system, including building new jails. Chile has one of the highest per capita number of prisoners in Latin America, according to Amnesty International. It is believed some 1,900 prisoners were housed in the San Miguel prison, which has a capacity of about 900. Overcrowding has got worse since last February's earthquake in Chile, which destroyed several prisons. Prison overcrowding has long been a problem in much of Latin America, a situation that has worsened in those countries facing widespread gang violence and drug-trafficking. Last month, a fire at a juvenile detention centre in El Salvador, where prisons are filled to three times their capacity, left 16 inmates dead.

December 09, 2010

rep. ileana ros-lehtinen ratified as house foreign affairs committee chair

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen -- the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee -- will be its chair when the new Congress convenes in January. Her Republican colleagues in the House made it official today.  She released the following statement:  "It has been a remarkable honor and privilege to serve the American people throughout my time in Congress, and I am truly humbled by the trust bestowed upon me to defend and advance our nation’s interest as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.   "In November, the voters made it clear that if we don’t take the correct approach to policy by keeping our economy foremost in our decisions, they’re going to ship us all out. Republicans got the message and are committed to making 'the people’s House' work for the people again. As Chairman of this Committee, I will work to restore fiscal discipline to foreign affairs, reform troubled programs and organizations, exercise vigorous oversight to identify waste, fraud, and abuse, and counter the threats posed to our nation by rogue states and violent extremists.

    "I have identified and will propose a number of cuts to the State Department and Foreign Aid budgets.  There is much fat in these budgets, which makes some cuts obvious. Others will be more difficult but necessary to improve the efficiency of U.S. efforts and accomplish more with less. We must shift our foreign aid focus from failed strategies rooted in an archaic post-WWII approach that, in some instances, perpetuates corrupt governments, to one that reflects current realities and challenges and empowers grassroots and civil society.  "I plan on using U.S. contributions to international organizations as leverage to press for real reform of those organizations, such as the United Nations, and will not hesitate to call for withdrawal of U.S. funds to failed entities like the discredited Human Rights Council if improvements are not made.

     "Finally, my worldview is clear: isolate and hold our enemies accountable, while supporting and strengthening our allies. I support strong sanctions and other penalties against those who aid violent extremists, brutalize their own people, and have time and time again rejected calls to behave as responsible nations. Rogue regimes never respond to anything less than hardball.  "When I first came to this country with my family as a young girl, we were fleeing from oppression and seeking an opportunity to live in freedom. In Cuba, human rights activists are condemned to the gulag and denied every basic human right and dignity. In America, I am privileged to serve in Congress and to stand up against those who seek to destroy freedom. The sharp contrast between what free nations do for their people and for the world and what rogue states do to their people and to the world reminds me every day of how important it is to stand unwaveringly on the right side of the fight. I pledge to do  all that I can to isolate U.S. enemies while empowering and strengthening our allies, and I will not make apologies for doing either."

MARIO VARGAS LLOSA PRAISES LATIN AMERICAN'S DEMOCRACY

    STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN--Peruvian Nobel literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa on Tuesday praised Latin America for becoming more democratic, but criticized Venezuela and Cuba and called the government's in Bolivia and Nicaragua "clownish." In his Nobel lecture in Stockholm, the author said that "for the first time in our history, as in Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and almost all of Central America, we have a left and a right that respect legality, the freedom to criticize, elections, and succession in power."

    Vargas Llosa, who made an unsuccessful run for Peru's presidency in 1990, urged Latin American leaders to stay on that path, combat corruption and continue to integrate with the world.  However, he noted the region still has its dictatorships, including "Cuba and her named successor, Venezuela, and some pseudo populist, clownish democracies like those in Bolivia and Nicaragua." Vargas Llosa is in Stockholm to accept the Nobel Prize in literature from Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf on Friday.

    The novelist, who switched to liberalism after having been a member of the communist party in his youth, also criticized western nations for not taking a harder stance against dictatorships in countries such as China, Myanmar and Cuba. "Dictatorships must be fought without hesitation, with all the means at our disposal, including economic sanctions," he said.  "It is regrettable that democratic governments, instead of setting an example by making common cause with those, like the Damas de Blanco in Cuba, the Venezuelan opposition, or Aung San Suu Kyi and Liu Xiaobo ... often show themselves complaisant, not with them but with their tormenters." Vargas Llosa is the first South American winner of the $1.5 million Nobel Prize in literature since Colombia's Garcia Marquez in 1982, and the first Spanish-language writer to win since Mexico's Octavio Paz in 1990. His best-known works include "Conversation in the Cathedral" and "The Green House."

CHILE PRISON FIRE LEAVES 81 PEOPLE DEAD

     SANITAGO DE CHILE, CHILE--A fire at a prison in Chile has killed 81 people and has left 14 others with life-threatening injuries. The blaze at San Miguel prison, southeast of the capital Santiago, broke out at about 4.30am on Wednesday, said police official Jaime Concha Soto. It was finally brought under control three hours later. Relatives of inmates told state television that prison police had closed the gates to the prison, impeding access for firemen.

    The cause of the fire is currently being investigated, although there were no reports of riots before or after it started. Some inmates' relatives have accused prison police of closing the gates to the jail, impeding the efforts of firemen. The third-floor blaze is the worst prison accident in the country's history.  "We are trying to identify the 81 dead inmates now," said a spokesman for the state prison system.  The blaze, the worst-ever accident in the country's jail system, injured at least one firefighter, prison officials said.

    Television footage showed hands poking through bars in one wing while flames engulfed the building. Family members gathered outside, screaming at police to let them into the prison to rescue their relatives. Mr Concha Soto claimed police acted quickly despite having to cope with a prison population of 1,900 in a building that was designed for just 700 inmates. Health Minister Jaime Manalich told reporters that the 14 injured prisoners were so badly burned that their fate is uncertain. He also confirmed that a firefighter and three guards were less seriously hurt.

December 08, 2010

british judge denies wikileaks founder julian assange bail

      london, england--A British judge jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Tuesday, ordering the leader of secret-spilling website behind bars as his organization's finances came under increasing pressure. Assange showed no reaction as Judge Howard Riddle denied him bail in an extradition case that could see him sent to Sweden to face allegations of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion. Assange denies the accusations and has pledged to fight the extradition, while a spokesman for his organization said the U.S. diplomatic secrets would keep on flowing -- regardless of what happened to the group's founder. "This will not change our operation," Kristinn Hrafnsson told The Associated Press ahead of Assange's hearing. As if to underline the point, WikiLeaks released a cache of a dozen new diplomatic cables, its first publication in more than 24 hours.

    Assange appeared at before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in London after turning himself in to Scotland Yard earlier Tuesday, capping months of speculation over an investigation into alleged sex crimes committed in Sweden over the summer. Assange and his lawyers claim that the accusations stem from a "dispute over consensual but unprotected sex" in Sweden in August, and have claimed the case has taken on political overtones. Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny has rejected those claims. Riddle asked the 39-year-old Australian whether he understood that he could consent to be extradited to Sweden. Assange, dressed in a navy blue suit, cleared his throat and said: "I understand that and I do not consent."

    The decision to fight the extradition could be difficult. Extradition experts say that European arrest warrants like the one issued by Sweden can be tough to beat, barring mental or physical incapacity. Even if the warrant was defeated on a technicality, Sweden could simply issue a new one. Assange's website, meanwhile, came under increasing financial pressure Tuesday -- with both Visa and MasterCard saying they would block payments to the controversial website. In a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, Visa Inc. said it was taking steps "to suspend Visa payment acceptance on WikiLeaks' website pending further investigation into the nature of its business and whether it contravenes Visa operating rules." MasterCard sent a similar statement, saying it would suspend payments "until the situation is resolved." familiares y abogados del laureado y a muchos disidentes. Las autoridades han desplegado un amplio dispositivo para evitar que alguien cercano al disidente preso pueda acudir a Oslo a recoger el premio en su nombre o a participar en el acto. En las últimas semanas, la policía ha impedido a parientes, abogados y algunos activistas viajar al extranjero.

the international criminal court is investigating possible war crimes by north korea

     THE HAGUE, netherlandS--The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday he has opened an preliminary investigation into possible war crimes by North Korea resulting from its recent clashes with South Korea. Luis Moreno-Ocampo said that after receiving complaints, his office is looking at the Nov. 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island and the sinking of South Korean warship the Cheonan in March to see whether they constitute war crimes. The shelling killed two South Korean marines and two civilians. Forty-six people died in the sinking of the Cheonan, which was "hit by a torpedo allegedly fired from a North Korean submarine," ICC prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement.

    South Korea in 2002 signed the international treaty that established the war crimes court, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands. The prosecutor said in a statement Monday that the treaty gives the court jurisdiction over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on South Korean territory. North Korea does not recognize the court's authority. Under the ICC's rules, the prosecutor plays a leading role in deciding which of the many complaints it receives are strong enough to merit formal charges and prosecution. Prosecutors investigate cases themselves. Judges must approve each step along the way.

     The court is investigating other possible war crimes, including a preliminary investigation in Afghanistan and formal investigations in Sudan and Kenya, among others. It has jurisdiction in cases involving member states, and also is sometimes empowered to investigate cases by the U.N. Security Council -- as it was in a case concerning Sudan's Darfur region, where the court has issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir on suspicion of genocide. He denies wrongdoing.

CHINA, 18 OTHER COUNTRIES TO SKIP NOBEL PEACE PRIZE CEREMONY

     OSLO,NORWAY--China and 18 other countries have declined to attend this year's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honoring imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Nobel officials said Tuesday as China unleashed a new barrage deriding the decision. Chinese officials in Beijing called Liu's backers "clowns" in an anti-Chinese farce — comments that came only three days before the Dec. 10 Nobel peace prize ceremony in Oslo. Beijing considers Liu's recognition an attack on China's political and legal system, and says the country's policies will not be swayed by outside forces in what it calls "flagrant interference in China's sovereignty." Liu, 54, is serving an 11-year sentence on subversion charges brought after he co-authored a bold call for sweeping changes to China's one-party communist political system known as Charter 08.

    Countries that have turned down an invitation to Friday's ceremony include Chinese allies Pakistan, Venezuela and Cuba, Chinese neighbors such as Russia, the Philippines and Kazakhstan, and Chinese business partners such as Saudi Arabia and Iran. Other countries not appearing at the Oslo City Hall ceremony include Ukraine, Colombia, Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia, Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Serbia and Morocco. But at least 44 of the 65 embassies that were invited have accepted the invitation, the prize committee said. In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu accused the Nobel committee of "orchestrating an anti-China farce by themselves." "We are not changing because of interference by a few clowns and we will not change our path," she said.

    The tough talk came even as authorities were placing Liu's supporters, including his wife Liu Xia, under house arrest and stopping many others such as lawyers, academics and activists from leaving the country — apparently to prevent them from traveling to Oslo for the ceremony. So far, only one of about 140 Chinese activists invited by Liu's wife to attend the ceremony has said he'll be able to make it, according to organizers — and he was not living in China. Nobel committee secretary Geir Lundestad said countries gave various reasons for not attending but "some of them are obviously affected by China." He said the committee was pleased that two-thirds of embassies had resisted Chinese pressure and accepted the invitation. "We are especially happy that important countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil and South Africa are coming," Lundestad said. Nobel officials said the peace prize will not be handed out Friday because none of Liu's family members will be able to attend. The prestigious $1.4 million award can be collected only by the laureate or close family members.

December 07, 2010

OPPOSITION CANDIDATE WINS MAYOR'S RACE in MARACAIBO

      MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA--An opposition candidate won the mayorship of Venezuela's second-largest city of Maracaibo Sunday, claiming the big prize in regional elections seen as a test of dictator Hugo Chavez's popularity, according to initial results. Venezuelans also elected governors in two rural states that have traditionally favored pro-Chavez candidates and mayors in 10 municipalities besides Maracaibo. Candidates from Chavez's ruling party captured 7 of the 11 mayorships and one state, according to official results released by local election authorities. But it was the Maracaibo race that was the most-closely watched.

     Eveling Trejo, the wife of former Maracaibo Mayor Manuel Rosales, defeated pro-Chavez candidate Gian Carlos Di Martino and several other lesser-known contenders on Sunday, elections officials said. Trejo, a newcomer to politics, won with 58.6 percent of the counted votes. Her husband, Rosales, fled Venezuela last year after prosecutors brought corruption-related charges against him. Rosales, who denies any wrongdoing and claims the charges are politically motivated, was granted asylum in Peru. During the campaign, election officials barred Trejo from using posters bearing the image of her husband's face. "I'm sure that from Lima, where he is, he should be happy and proud," Trejo said, referring to her husband.  In Amazonas state, Liborio Guarulla, a former Chavez ally whose party broke ranks with the president earlier this year, got 51.1 percent of the votes to beat pro-Chavez candidate Edgildo Palau and six other contenders.

    The elections were viewed as a barometer of Chavez's popularity at a time when he is facing numerous domestic woes, including a recession coupled with double-digit inflation and rampant violent crime that has made Venezuela into one of Latin America's most dangerous countries. An embodened opposition is seeking to capitalize on these problems. The National Electoral Council decided to proceed with the elections despite torrential rains and floods that have killed at least 34 people and forced more than 5,000 Venezuelans from their homes. More than 90,000 people have taken refuge at hundreds of government shelters, according to authorities. Chavez has urged Venezuelans to exercise their right to vote, "to sovereignly express their will at the polls, to continue strengthening the model of participatory democracy." Sumate, a local nongovernmental organization that monitors elections, expressed concern the rains would keep voters home. "This situation will undoubtedly have negative effects regarding the participation of voters," Sumate said in a statement issued Saturday.

terrorist bombers killed 50 people in pakistan

     PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN--A pair of TERRORIST bombers disguised as policemen killed 50 people Monday in an attack targeting a tribal meeting called to discuss the formation of an anti-Taliban militia in northwest Pakistan, officials said. The attack occurred on the grounds of the main government compound in Mohmand, part of Pakistan's militant-infested tribal region. It was the latest strike against local tribesmen who have been encouraged by the government to take up arms against the Taliban. The explosions also wounded more than 100 people, many of them critically, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of neighboring Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. One of the reasons the attacks were so deadly was because the bombers had filled their jackets with bullets, said Amjad Ali Khan, the top political official in Mohmand, who was at the compound in Ghalanai town when it was attacked.

    "These bullets killed everyone who was hit," said Khan. Both of the bombers were disguised in tribal police uniforms, said Khan. One of them was caught at the gate of the compound, but he was able to detonate his explosives, he said. One of the wounded in the attack was 45-year-old Qalandar Khan, who came to the compound to visit an imprisoned cousin and was hit by the second explosion. "There was a deafening sound and it caused a cloud of dust and smoke and a subsequent hue and cry," said Khan, laying in a hospital bed in his blood-soaked clothes. "There were dozens on the ground like me, bleeding and crying. I saw body parts scattered in the compound." The dead and wounded included tribal elders, police, political officials and other civilians. Two of the dead were local TV journalists who were at the compound reporting on stories, said Shakirullah Jan, president of the Mohmand press club.

    The Pakistani army has carried out operations in Mohmand to battle Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in the area, but it has been unable to defeat the militants. The military has encouraged local tribesmen to form militias to oppose the militants. These groups have had varying degrees of success and have often been targeted in deadly attacks. A suicide bomber attacked a mosque in northwestern Pakistan in early November that was frequented by elders opposed to the Pakistani Taliban, killing 67 people. The attack occurred in the town of Darra Adam Khel, a militant stronghold on the edge of the tribal region. "We are not scared of such attacks and will keep on taking these enemies of humanity to task until they disappear from society," said Hussain, the information minister.

A RUSSIAN LAUNCH OF THREE NAVIGATIONAL SATELLITES FAILED ON SUNDAY

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA--A Russian Proton-M rocket failed to launch three Glonass satellites into orbit today. The Proton-M carrier launcher, took off from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan riding on a DM-3 booster, went off course by 8 degrees. The DM-3 booster with three Glonass-M satellites landed northwest of Hawaii. The satellites failed to reach their planned orbit. Glonass is the Russian equivalent of a U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). The network requires 18 operational satellites for continuous navigation services covering the entire territory of Russia and at least 24 satellites to provide navigation services worldwide. Currently 26 satellites are in orbit, but three of them are inoperable. The recent launch was scheduled to replace those inactive satellites and maintain reserve assets providing for some redundancy.

    No further information was immediately available. The Russian news agency RIA-Novosti, citing unnamed officials, reported that the satellites crashed into the Pacific Ocean off Hawaii, but U.S. military and Coast Guard said they could not confirm that report. The satellites were launched aboard a Proton-M rocket from Baikonur about 3:25 p.m. Sunday (7:25 a.m. ET) and were slated to be fully operational in about six weeks. GLONASS is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System network, and Sunday's launch would have brought the network up to its full strength of 26 satellites.

    Russia is planning to revamp its Glonass-M network with eight new satellites to be launched into orbit in the 2011-2013 time frame, to ensure the effective operation of the satellite navigation network. The network operator, Information Satellite Systems (ISS) company is already developing the next generation ‘Glonass-K’ satellite, which will have a lifetime of 10 to 12 years. It will also be lighter, weighing about 750 kg each. These satellites will gradually replace the Glonass-Ms currently employed with the network. "A special Board has been established to find out the cause of the contingency and to define next steps," the agency said in a public statement.

December 06, 2010

WIKILEAKS: MEXICAN PRESIDENT FELIPE CALDERON SAID THAT LATAM NEEDS VISIBLE US PRESENCE

      WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Mexican President Felipe Calderon told a U.S. official last year that Latin America "needs a visible U.S. presence" to counter Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's growing influence in the region, according to a U.S. State Department cable leaked to WikiLeaks and posted online Thursday. Calderon told then-U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair that Chavez uses social programs, including sending doctors to Mexico, to gain political influence in the country, according to the memo dated Oct. 23, 2009.

      Calderon told Blair he was trying to isolate Venezuela through the Rio Group and added that the United States needed to engage Brazil because the South American country "is key in restraining Chavez." "Calderon lamented that President (Luiz Inacio) Lula (da Silva) has been reluctant to do so," the cable reads. The cable says Calderon "went out of his way" to point out he believes the Venezuelan leader financially supported his leftist rival, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, in the 2006 presidential campaign. Lopez Obrador, of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, narrowly lost the 2006 presidential election to Calderon of the conservative National Action Party. Lopez Obrador has refused to recognized Calderon's government and recently announced plans to run for the presidency again in 2012. Lopez Obrador demanded in a Twitter posting late Thursday that Calderon present proof that Chavez financed its campaign.

Calderon also said he was concerned about Venezuela's ties to Iran, and that the Iranian Embassy in Mexico is very politically active. Calderon added that Iran's influence is growing in the region thanks to Venezuela's help, the memo said. Calderon also told Blair that there is a link among Iran, Venezuela, drug trafficking, and rule of law issues but the memo provides no details on that connection. Calderon's office said Thursday afternoon it had just seen the cables and had no immediate comment. Mexico and Venezuela have had strained relations in past years. Chavez accused former Mexican President Vicente Fox of kowtowing to the United States. Venezuela was angered when Calderon's campaign for the presidency in 2006 compared Lopez Obrador to Chavez, portraying him as a threat. Calderon and Chavez will meet face to face Friday, when a two-day conference of Iberoamerican presidents will start in the Argentine city of Mar de Plata.

VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT REPORTS 34 DEATHS AS A RESULT OF HEAVY AND CONTINUOUS RAINS

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Heavy rains during the past few days in Venezuela have caused 34 deaths and three people missing until December 4, when better weather allowed stepping up rescue works, Minister of the Interior and Justice Tareck El Aissami said.  "Unfortunately, there are 31 dead according to official figures so far. Three people are missing; hopefully they are safe and sound, but rescue works continue," El Aissami explained.

    The official added that 319 shelters have been installed nationwide. A total of 71,849 people have been hit by the heavy rains.  The minister stressed that better climate conditions allowed stepping up rescue works and also reaching communities that were cut off.  "Today has been the better day because we were able to reach areas that were cut off (…) and we checked that there are no more fatal victims", El Aissami said.  Moreover, dictator Hugo Chávez deeply regretted "the death of over thirty people nationwide as a result (…) of this tragedy that is lashing us." Chávez approved resources for the construction of 9,387 houses in Caracas, many of which will be given to the affected families. The president also informed that Colombia, Cuba and Bolivia have expressed their solidarity towards Venezuela and they offered help to cope with this emergency.

    The most damaged areas are the center-north states of Venezuela, where beaches were closed and fishing is restricted.  At the moment, the state of emergency has been declared in four states: Falcón, Vargas, Miranda y Distrito Capital, the former includes most part of Caracas, capital of Venezuela.  According to the institutes of meteorology, rains will continue for the next 48 hours.  A total of 100 tons of food have been distributed so far, according to General-in-Chief Henry Rangel, the Head of the Strategic Operational Command.

REPORTED BRIBERY TO SPEED UP VENEZUELA'S ACCESSION TO MERCOSUR

     ASUNCION, PARAGUAY-- The website of Paraguayan newspaper ABC, in Asunción, posted on Thursday an article according to which the new request of the Paraguayan Executive Office to the Senate to consider Venezuela's accession as a full member of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) could be discussed in 2011.

     According to the Paraguayan newspaper, the delay would be due to the discovery of "a USD 6 million suitcase that would be a 'reward' for the lobby group" trying to get the votes to pass the bill. The rumor about the alleged billionaire payment would have been heard in a meeting among senators.  According to ABC, pro-government lawmakers would have only 15 votes to support Venezuela's accession, including the group of congressmen of Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA) and left-wing parties.

      The parliamentary groups of the right-wing parties Asociación Nacional Republicana, ANR (Partido Colorado) and Patria Querida, which total 19 votes, reiterated that they will not support Venezuela's accession to Mercosur.  The newspaper added that the members of the nationalist and right-wing party Unión Nacional de Ciudadanos Éticos (Unace) had reconsidered its position and would support Venezuela's entry.  This was the reason why the Paraguayan Executive Office would have requested again in the Senate the approval of Venezuela's accession. However, Unace members would be hesitating to give their vote, after the publication of a new "suitcase scandal."

December 05, 2010

IBEROAMERICAN SUMMIT WRAPPED UP WITH THE APPROVAL OF A HISTORIC PROVISION TO PROTECT DEMOCRACY  ...  IS CUBA DEMOCRATIC?

      MAR DEL PLATA, ARGENTINA--Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking nations wrapped up their annual meeting Saturday by adopting a provision threatening exclusion for any member country that doesn't abide by democratic process. "This is a major advance for us," the group's secretary general, Enrique Iglesias, said of the provision. Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman added, "There is no Latin American forum in which you can be a member if you do not respect the democratic order." Under the group's new provision, it would take unanimous approval to suspend a member nation for non-democratic actions, such as a coup removing an elected leader.

    Ecuador, meanwhile, failed in its effort to include in the meeting's final declaration a criticism of the U.S. diplomatic cables that have been released by WikiLeaks. Several leftist governments at the conference rejected the contents of the leaked documents, portraying them as an attempt by the U.S. to divide the region's leaders. Bolivia's vice president, Alvaro Garcia Linera, urged Saturday that Latin Americans not to allow "imperial diplomacy" that creates divisions. "These malicious acts are looking to separate us."

     Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parilla said the released documents show that "behind the words and friendly smiles of the current U.S. president, there has not been any real change of policy or ethics." Spain, however, said the diplomatic messages are not a concern. "In fact, no Latin American country, or any country in the word, named in these cables has reacted more than dismissively, because they know it is ... subjective information," Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez said. The nations also adopted a statement promising to promote improvements in education and achieve full literacy by 2015. It says should ensure free primary and secondary education and require compulsory basic education for their citizens.

WIKILEAKS: ARGENTINA AWASH IN DRUG MONEY

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--A secret U.S. Embassy cable sent from Buenos Aires a year ago bluntly describes Argentina as becoming awash in drug money due to lax prosecution of organized crime. The dispatch said the problem started with the president herself, who "stands to lose" by going after money launderers. The unvarnished language in the Dec. 1, 2009 cable - one of hundreds of documents exposed by the WikiLeaks website this week - made for banner headlines in Argentina's opposition newspapers Thursday. Other leaked U.S. diplomatic cables also have shown Argentina's leaders in an unflattering light, including one dated Dec. 31, 2009, in which the Embassy was asked to find out if President Cristina Fernandez was taking medicine to control her mental health. Another, from Sept. 10, 2009, shared unsubstantiated allegations that her Cabinet chief had ties to drug traffickers.

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton personally called Fernandez to apologize on Thursday from Central Asia, where she spent much of her time reassuring various leaders that America has good intentions despite the blunt language of leaked diplomatic cables that were supposed to remain classified for decades. Fernandez responded by describing the importance of the friendship Argentina has with the United States, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said. Argentine officials did not comment directly on the money laundering cable, but Justice Minister Julio Alak told a conference of provincial security ministers Thursday that the government "has launched, with all of its weapons and along with the other countries in the region, a battle without quarter against traffickers of drugs, weapons and people."

    Many of the cables dealing with Argentina summarize opinions and gossip about the political challenges of Fernandez and her rivals. But the Dec. 1, 2009 cable is something else: a lengthy summary of the country's efforts to combat money laundering. Its conclusion: "The near complete absence of enforcement coupled with a culture of impunity and corruption make Argentina ripe for exploitation by narcotraffickers and terrorist cells." The Embassy's guidance to Washington: Don't expect the Argentine government to do anything about it - least of all Fernandez and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, whose personal wealth soared during their years in office. Kirchner died in October. The couple had said that they made their money in real estate, and judges have declined to file charges after repeated investigations stalled in the courts. The cable said Argentina's anti-money-laundering office had refused to respond to requests from Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg for investigative reports on allegedly suspicious transactions by the Kirchners themselves.

WIKILEAKS: BOLIVIAN BRASS RECEIVED MONEY FROM VENEZUELA

     washington, d.c.-- Bolivia's top brass got money from Venezuela to have them support President Evo Morales' policies, according to new US diplomatic cables released Friday by WikiLeaks. The cables sent to the US State Department in 2008 by then US ambassador to Bolivia Philip Goldberg, raised concerns the Venezuelan payments could make it difficult for Bolivia's top military to resist Morales's orders to clamp down on opposition. Bolivia's first indigenous president and leftist ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Morales in 2008 was locked in a struggle with right wing regional leaders in Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija seeking autonomy from his central government.

    Goldberg in his cables said some members of Bolivia's high command were worried Venezuela could sway dishonest commanders into supporting the government's repression of opposition members.  However, he also said the payments had angered lower ranking military officers in Bolivia and had cost the top generals some credibility among the rank and file. Without mentioning any names, Goldberg's said some generals were very frustrated over Venezuela's interference in Bolivia's internal affairs.

     Morales expelled Goldberg from Bolivia in September 2008 after accusing him of supporting a right-wing conspiracy against his government. The United States and Bolivia have yet to exchange new ambassadors. The Morales administration has not responded to the WikiLeaks disclosures, although the president recently warned some of the leaks could be used to generate friction between Bolivia and its Latin American allies Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil. Bolivia's Armed Forces have increasingly come in line with Morales' leftist agenda and have adopted his political slogan, “homeland or death, victory.”An army general two weeks ago said in public that Bolivia's military were anti-imperialists and anti-colonialists, meaning anti-American above all else.

December 04, 2010

PRESIDENT BARACK  OBAMA, TROOPS CHEER EACH OTHER IN SURPRISE AFGHAN VISIT

      BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AFGHANISTAN--President Barack Obama told U.S. troops in a surprise holiday-season visit Friday that they are making important progress in Afghanistan, and he pledged the country would never again be a "safe haven for terrorists." But a war-strategy meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai was scrapped at the last minute. "You will succeed in your mission," Obama told more than 3,500 cheering troops in a huge hangar. "We said we were going to break the Taliban's momentum. That's what you're doing. You're going on the offense, tired of playing defense."

    Obama had traveled to Afghanistan to thank the troops and to deal with frayed relations with Karzai. But after he flew 14 hours for the visit, the White House said Obama couldn't make the short additional trip to meet with Karzai in Kabul because the weather was too bad for helicopter travel. Instead, the two leaders spoke by telephone, Obama at the air base and Karzai in Kabul. Obama's visit, his second to Afghanistan as president, came a year after he widened the ever deadlier war and ahead of the completion later this month of a review of the 9-year-plus conflict. "I don't need to tell you this is a tough fight," Obama said. He met with the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and also visited wounded soldiers. He presented five Purple Hearts, military awards for wounded service members.

    There are now about 150,000 coalition forces in Afghanistan, roughly 100,000 of them Americans. The U.S. and its NATO partners agreed last month in Lisbon, Portugal, to begin turning over control to local Afghan authorities in 2011, with a goal of completing that transition by the end of 2014. "We look forward to a new phase next year, the beginning of transition to Afghan responsibility," Obama said. "Thanks to your service we are making important progress," he told the troops. "On behalf of more than 300 million Americans, we are here to say thank you ... for everything that you do." "We will never let this country serve as a safe haven for terrorists who will attack the United States of America again. That will never happen," he said.

US SENATORS DISCUSS VENEZUELA'S DRUG TRAFFIC ACTIVITIES

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--"The situation in Venezuela needs more attention for building regional consensus to counter the government's disregard of international rules," Republican Senator  Richard Lugar, a member of the US Senate Committee on External Relations, said on Wednesday.

    "Top Venezuelan military officers have been involved in drug traffic activities," Lugar told the Committee and he added that the Venezuelan government has taken sides with Iran, Syria and North Korea in "global security and the issue of weapons of mass destruction."

     For his part, Democrat Representative Senator Chris Dodd said that Venezuela and Cuba "continue being examples of denied democracies." In Venezuela, he commented, "there are real reasons to be concerned about." It is a case of "Venezuela versus democracy," he added. Nevertheless, Dodd is certain that "refusing to talk to Caracas will not encourage the moderate ones and democracy advocates; relax political constraints or urge Venezuelans and their neighbors to push for change."

US SAYS CUBA DETENTION OF ALAN GROSS HURTS TIES
 
     washington, d.c.--The yearlong detention of an American subcontractor by Cuba is a "major impediment" to improved ties, the U.S. State Department said Friday, some of the strongest language yet from Washington in a case that has short-circuited nascent hopes for rapprochement between the Cold War enemies. The statement from department spokesman P.J. Crowley comes on the one-year anniversary of the arrest of Alan Gross, whom Cuban President Raul Castro has accused of spying. Gross has not been charged with any crime, however.

    "It is long overdue for Cuban authorities to release Mr. Gross," the statement read. "He has languished in a Cuban jail for a full year and the Cuban Government has yet to explain reasons for his detention or file charges. His arrest and continued detention without charge violate international standards of due process and judicial procedure." "We have made it very clear to the Cuban Government that the continued detention of Alan Gross is a major impediment to advancing the dialogue between our two countries," the State Deparmtent said. It vowed to use "every available channel to urge the Cuban Government to put an end to Mr. Gross' long and unjustifiable ordeal."

    Cuban officials have said previously the case is working its way through the legal system and there is nothing unusual about the period he has spent in jail. Gross, a native of Potomac, Maryland, was working for a firm contracted by USAID when he was arrested Dec. 3, 2009. His family denies he was spying, saying he brought communications equipment for use by the local Jewish community, not dissidents. "Mr. Gross is an international development worker who traveled to Cuba to help connect members of the Jewish community in Havana with other Jewish communities throughout the world," Crowley said. The leaders of the two largest groups for Cuba's 1,500-strong Jewish community said in Havana this week that they never met Gross and were not working with him. Havana says USAID's programs to promote democratic change in Cuba are meant to subvert the government by bankrolling opposition activity.

December 03, 2010

WIKILEAKES DOCUMENTS CLAIM THAT CUBAN SPIES (FIDEL AND RAUL CASTRO) ADVISE VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--Cuban intelligence services directly advise Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chávez, in what a US diplomat called the "Axis of Mischief", according to a State Department cable released by WikiLeaks.  The diplomatic message, which was sent in 2006, expressed concern over Cuba's influence in Venezuela, a top US oil supplier, Reuters said.

      "While the economic impact of Cubans working in Venezuela may be limited, Cuban intelligence has much to offer to Venezuela's anti-US intelligence services," said the cable posted on WikiLeaks website (wikileaks.org) on Wednesday.   Chávez has strengthened ties with Cuban leader Fidel Castro as well as with his brother Raúl, the current Cuban president, subsidizing the island's economy with oil in return for the services of doctors and advisers.  Chávez, a retired military officer, has incorporated Cuban-style militias in the armed forces. Experts on Venezuela have long said Cuban intelligence services train Chávez's bodyguards.

     The document implied that Chávez trusts Cuban information more than his own intelligence services. "Cuban intelligence agents have direct access to Chávez and frequently provide him with intelligence reporting without consulting with Venezuelan officers," the report said.  Meanwhile, the White House appointed Russell Travers as the WikiLeaks Czar to investigate the distribution of classified information as a result of leaks in its networks by WikiLeaks.

WIKILEAKS: ARGENTINEAN PRESIDENT CRISTINA FERNANDEZ 'submissive' to HER husband...AND VENEZUELAN DICTATOR CHAVEZ

     WASHINGTON, D.C.-- President Cristina Fernandez is "submissive" to her powerful husband who is a controlling "monster," her former Cabinet chief told a U.S. official, according to new U.S. diplomatic cables released Wednesday. Sergio Massa, who led Fernandez's Cabinet in 2008 and 2009, said during a September 2009 meeting with a U.S. diplomat that Fernandez "deferred to her husband on all matters, and that in practice she only took orders," according to a cable released by Wikileaks.  Fernandez was married to former President Nestor Kirchner, who died Oct. 27. Kirchner preceded Fernandez as president and Argentina's opposition had charged that the power couple planned to alternate presidencies to maintain their grip on power.

    A leaked cable said that during a dinner in November 2009 with U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Vilma Martinez, Massa described Argentina's president as "submissive, withdrawn" and said she would be "much better without Nestor than she is with him." Fernandez assumed the presidency in December 2007. Massa stepped down as her Cabinet chief after the government suffered setbacks in June 2009 legislative elections.  Massa, who reportedly clashed with Kirchner when he was Cabinet chief, said during the dinner that Kirchner was "a psychopath," "a monster" and "a coward." He said he thought the couple had no chance of returning to power in the 2011 presidential election and he also discounted that they would seek to extend their rule by following the model of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who opponents have described as authoritarian. Venezuela retooled its constitution to allow Chavez to run for re-election.

    Massa said Argentina is not Venezuela and its society is too literate, too middle class and too "temperate" for such a policy. He added that its economy is far more complex and diverse than Venezuela's oil monoculture. Argentina, he said, would not abide the Kirchner's attempts to consolidate power through more autocratic rule.  In another cable sent to Washington in 2008, Spain's secretary general of the presidency, Bernandino Leon, was cited as telling U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon that Spanish companies in Argentina were concerned by the "populist tone" of its government, the country's political polarization and the level of corruption. Other cables revealed by Wikileaks since Monday said the U.S. State Department asked its embassy in Buenos Aires for information about Fernandez's personality to study her mental health.

wikileaks cables: egypt says IT maY seek NUECLEAR WEAPONS  if iran OBTAINS THEM
 
     washington, d.c.--President Hosni Mubarak warned U.S. officials that Egypt might develop nuclear arms if Iran obtained atomic weapons, cables made public by WikiLeaks showed. U.S. ambassador described Egypt, recipient of billions of dollars of American aid since making peace with Israel in 1979, as a "stubborn and recalcitrant ally" in a February 2009 cable. The cables revealed differences between Arabs. Qatar's prime minister said Egypt was stringing out mediation talks between Palestinian rivals in the peace process for as long as possible. The United States has condemned the leaks.

    A May 2008 cable quoted Mubarak, whose country does not have diplomatic ties with Iran, telling a group of U.S. officials that "we are all terrified" about a possible nuclear Iran. "Mubarak said that Egypt might be forced to begin its own nuclear weapons program if Iran succeeds in those efforts." A July 2009 cable quotes Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman telling U.S. officials that Iran was harboring extremists, a hurdle to resuming ties severed for three decades. Suleiman said Egypt was wary of Iran's influence through its Hezbollah and Hamas proxies and its support "for Egyptian groups like (al-Gama'a al-Islamiya) and the Muslim Brotherhood," but that Iran could not "challenge the international community now."

     Suleiman advised against a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear capabilities, saying it would unite Iranians against the United States. He said Egypt was working to prevent Iranian funds to Hamas, worth $25 million per month, from reaching Gaza. Suleiman said Egypt had sent a clear message to Iran that if they interfered in Egypt, Egypt would interfere in Iran, adding Egyptian intelligence was recruiting agents in Iraq and Syria. "Now we have it on paper, in black and white," independent Cairo-based analyst Issander El Amrani said of the cable. A December 2009 cable from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv quotes Israeli security official Uzi Arad calling Egypt's Foreign Ministry a "nagging problem" and accusing it of harming relations with Israel by pushing for a nuclear-free Middle East. Egypt is often portrayed in the region as a docile U.S. partner, but analysts said the cables suggested U.S. officials could get frustrated with Cairo.

¡ WIKILEAKS..!
 

December 02, 2010

CUBA PROVIDES REFUGE TO MEMBERS OF THE FARC, ELN AND ETA: WIKILEAKS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--Rebels from Colombian guerrilla groups the FARC and ELN "enjoy periods of rest and recuperation" in Cuba, according to a diplomatic cable sent by the United States Interest Section in Havana published Tuesday by WikiLeaks.   According to cable 194480, dated February 27, 2009, diplomats from the U.S. Interests Section in the Swiss Embassy say they "have reliable reporting indicating the presence of ELN, FARC and ETA members here in Havana. That said, they are unlikely to conduct terrorist operations in Cuba."

     “The Cuban government (GOC) allows these groups to enjoy R&R [rest and recuperation] in Cuba and receive medical care and other services (NFI). Reporting also indicates that the GOC is able to influence the FARC. The Cuban Communist Party International Department (PCC/ID) has close relationships with the Clandestine Communist Party of Colombia (PCC) which serves as the political wing of the FARC, and to some extent the ELN as well," the leaked cable says.

      “We have reliable reporting indicating the  presence of ELN, FARC and ETA members here in Havana. That  said, they are unlikely to conduct terrorist operations in  Cuba.  The specific activities of these groups are largely  unknown but Post was able to corroborate that ETA members  assisting the FARC had spent time in Cuba and some even had  family members in country. There is little chance of any  operational activity given the need for safehaven The cable is one of over 250,000 diplomatic communiques sent between Washington and diplomats around the world. Of these cables, 2,416 were sent to or from Bogota. None of the Bogota cables were released by Wednesday morning.

RUSSIA POSITIONS WARHEADS NEAR NATO ALLIES, FUELING U.S. CONCERN

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. believes Russia has moved short-range tactical nuclear warheads to facilities near North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies as recently as this spring, U.S. officials say, adding to questions in Congress about Russian compliance with long-standing pledges ahead of a possible vote on a new arms-control treaty.

      U.S. officials say the movement of warheads to facilities bordering NATO allies appeared to run counter to pledges made by Moscow starting in 1991 to pull tactical nuclear weapons back from frontier posts and to reduce their numbers. The U.S. has long voiced concerns about Russia's lack of transparency when it comes to its arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons, believed to be many times the number possessed by the U.S. Russia's movement of the ground-based tactical weapons appeared to coincide with the deployment of U.S. and NATO missile-defense installations in countries bordering Russia. Moscow has long considered the U.S. missile defense buildup in Europe a challenge to Russian power, underlining deep-seated mistrust between U.S. and Russian armed forces despite improved relations between political leaders. The Kremlin had no immediate comment.

      Republican critics in the Senate say it was a mistake for President Barack Obama to agree to the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, or New Start, without dealing with outstanding questions about Moscow's tactical nuclear weapons. New Start would cap the Russian and U.S. deployed strategic nuclear arsenals at 1,550 per side. It doesn't address tactical weapons, which are smaller and for use on a battlefield. Senior administration officials say New Start, like most arms treaties before it, deals only with strategic nuclear weapons, adding that only after it is ratified can Washington and Moscow begin to negotiate a legally binding, verifiable treaty to limit tactical warheads in Europe. The positioning of Russian tactical nuclear weapons near Eastern European and the Baltic states has alarmed NATO member-states bordering Russia. They see these as potentially a bigger danger than long-range nuclear weapons. Tactical weapons are easier to conceal and may be more vulnerable to theft, say arms-control experts. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis said he raised concerns about the weapons this month with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior defense officials in Washington.

SPAIN FOREIGN MINISTER, TRINIDAD JIMENEZ, REQUESTS MORE LEGAL CERTAINTY FOR SPANIARDS IN VENEZUELA
 
     MADRID, SPAIN--Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Trinidad Jiménez vowed to ask the Venezuelan government to give more legal certainty and protect the physical integrity of Spanish nationals living in the South American country, particularly businessmen and individuals affected by seizures and land invasions.  Jiménez's remarks came in response to José Luis Perestelo, a deputy of the Canary Coalition, a nationalist and liberal party in the Canary Islands, during a meeting they held in Congress (Lower House).

    Perestelo urged Jiménez to convey to the Venezuelan authorities the Spanish businessmen's concerns about increased express kidnappings.   Jiménez said that Venezuelan and Spanish authorities and the affected people are likely to meet soon to try to speed up compensation for seizures of farms and industries owned by Spanish businessmen and to close those cases.

    Eighty percent of Spanish companies with interests in Latin America will increase their activities in the region in 2011, according to the 4th report issued by IE Business School, a Spanish business school based in Madrid.  The report, which was released on Wednesday, says that Brazil has been confirmed as the most attractive market.  According to the report, 75 percent of the Spanish companies plan to increase its business in Brazil in 2011.  Mexico, Colombia and Peru are the preferred markets for Spanish businessmen, while Venezuela and Argentina are the two countries with "more threats and risks" to invest.  According to the data issued by the report, Latin America has strongly emerged in the global economic landscape.

December 01, 2010

WIKILEAKS DOCUMENTS DISCUSS CUBAN SPIES IN VENEZUELA, US CONCERNS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--Cuban intelligence agents have deep involvement in Venezuela and enjoy direct access to dictator Hugo Chavez, the U.S. Embassy said in a 2006 diplomatic cable that was classified as secret.  The document was among several posted online Tuesday by the newspaper El Pais of Spain as a growing list of sensitive U.S. government messages were released by WikiLeaks.  The Jan. 30, 2006, cable from then-U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield said that "Cuban intelligence officers have direct access to Chavez and frequently provide him with intelligence reporting unvetted by Venezuelan officers."  Similar claims have been raised previously by Chavez's critics, but U.S. officials have not publicly aired such concerns. "The impact of Cuban involvement in Venezuelan intelligence could impact U.S. interests directly," the report said. "Venezuelan intelligence services are among the most hostile towards the United States in the hemisphere, but they lack the expertise that Cuban services can provide. Cuban intelligence routinely provides the (Venezuelan government) intelligence reports about the activities of the USG."

     The embassy cable also said Venezuela's DISIP domestic spy agency "may be taking advice from Cuban intelligence on the formation of a new intelligence service." The DISIP has since been replaced by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service, named after independence hero Simon Bolivar - the inspiration of Chavez's socialist-inspired Bolivarian Revolution movement. "Cuban intelligence officers train Venezuelans both in Cuba and in Venezuela, providing both political indoctrination and operational instruction," the report said, without citing sources. The cable said U.S. officials believed Cubans were training and advising Chavez's military security detail, but said American diplomats at the time had "no credible reports of extensive Cuban involvement in the Venezuelan military."

      It also said there were reports that Chavez's brother Adan, then the Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba, "may profit illicitly from the loan process" while Venezuela was financing some food imports through a Havana branch of the Industrial Bank of Venezuela. Chavez, who has welcomed thousands of Cuban doctors to Venezuela along with military advisers, has made no secret of his close ties to Cuba's communist government. He has said his mentor Fidel Castro once told him that the thousands of Cubans in Venezuela would come to his defense and fight if ever needed. Before the latest documents were released, Chavez said Monday about the WikiLeaks revelations: "The empire was left naked." He said that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton should resign and that the documents show the U.S. government is a "failed state."   American diplomats also attempted to provide a detailed portrait of Chavez's personality and motivations. One 2004 confidential cable reported on a conversation with Chavez's former lover Herma Marksman. "Marksman stated that Chavez is loyal to no one and does not have true friends. If he has a problem, he will only confide in his brother, Adan, whom she characterized as a communist, and Cuban leader Fidel Castro," the cable said. It concluded that "Chavez's unwillingness to trust others ... likely contributes to his government's failure in executing many of his initiatives."

venezuelan dictator hugo chavez praises wikileaks, calls for  hillary clinton's resignation

      caracas, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's dictator  Hugo Chávez said on Tuesday that leaks of diplomatic correspondence by whistleblower website WikiLeaks have exposed a "naked empire." Chávez added that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "should resign, it is the least she can do" given the seriousness of the revelations.  "The empire stood naked. I do not know what the United States is going to do. Well, they do not care about this. But how many things have been disclosed! They disrespect their allies with all these spying activities!" Chávez said during a cabinet meeting broadcast by state-run TV network Venezolana de Televisión (VTV).

     The Venezuelan president said that according to the documents leaked by WikiLeaks, the United States "refers to its allies in a very unusual way." The documents show "an attack against governments, people and international organizations."  The United States "is a failed and illegal state that disrespects ethical principles, and has lost respect for its own allies... and this (the documents leaked by WikiLeaks) shows it clearly," he added.  "I have to congratulate the people of WikiLeaks," Chávez said, and his director, Julian Assange, "for their courage and bravery."  "This man (Assange) has gone underground; he is making statements in a secret place. He even fears for his life," Chávez said.

Chávez criticized the reaction of the US Secretary of State, who on Monday condemned in harsh terms the "theft" of diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks and said that "it is an attack on the United States and the international community."  Clinton should resign, Chávez suggested. "It is the least she can do, together with all those other spies and delinquents working in the State Department. They should give an answer to the world rather than attacking and saying that it was a theft," the Venezuelan president said.  Chávez was outraged because the documents leaked by WikiLeaks show that Clinton allegedly ordered a "study on the mental health of Argentine President" Cristina Fernández. The Venezuelan head of state expressed his solidarity with his Argentine counterpart.  "Somebody should study Mrs. Clinton's mental state," said Chávez.

WIKILEAKS FOUNDER, JULIAN ASSANGE, OFFERED RESIDENCY IN ECUADOR
 
     QUITO, ECUADOR-- Following the Wikileaks diplomatic cables controversy of Monday, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is being offered a home in Ecuador.  The Washington Post today reports that Kintto Lucas, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Ecuador, has offered refuge to the Australian founder Assange, 39.

    "We are ready to give him residence in Ecuador, without any kind of trouble and without any kind of conditions,'' Mr. Lucas said to Ecuadorinmediato today.  "We are going to invite him to come to Ecuador so he can freely present the information he possesses and all the documentation, not just over the internet but in a variety of public forums.'  Mr. Lucas was also said to have stated that despite Ecuadorian policy was not to become involved in other countries' internal affairs, it was "concerned'' by the leaked cables and the information contained - particularly information regarding Latin American nations.  Meanwhile, in Assange's native Australia, the Attorney General Robert McClelland has warned that the government is making legal investigation into Assange's actions and as to whether he has broken any Australian law.

    Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino said in a TV interview Tuesday that the possibility "will have to be studied from the legal and diplomatic perspective." His deputy Kintto Lucas said Monday that Ecuador was open to giving Julian Assange residence "without any kind of trouble and without any kind of conditions." The 39-year-old Australian has incensed Washington and many other governments by releasing hundreds of sensitive diplomatic cables. He had sought residency in Sweden. But a court there has ordered him detained for questioning on sexual assault allegations. Assange denies the allegations.

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