February 15, 2010

CHILE'S PRESIDENT-ELECT SEBASTIAN PIÑERA: I'LL SPEAK OUT FOR DEMOCRACY AND RIGHTS

       SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE--President-elect Sebastián Piñera of Chile says he will speak out for fundamental freedoms in Cuba and Venezuela after he assumes the leadership of the Rio Group of Latin American countries.

    "I believe that Cuba is not a democracy, and I also think that human rights are not respected in Cuba," Piñera said this week in an interview with The Miami Herald's Andrés Oppenheimer. "That's why, as president of Chile, I aspire to do as much as I can to see that the Organization of American States Charter and the O.A.S. mandate to defend democracy and human rights be made more effective.'' Asked if he would meet with dissidents on a trip to Cuba, Piñera answered: "I definitely would have an enormous interest in being able to also meet with people who don't share the Cuban government's views. I have visited Cuba on some occasions, and I have always met with the dissidents.''
   
    Piñera, a Harvard Ph.D in economics who opposed the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, noted the OAS Democratic Charter does not effectively allow member countries' legislative or judicial branches to seek regional support when under assault by autocratic leaders. He vowed to push for these changes within the Rio Group, which Chile will chair for two years starting later this month. The group, in which Cuba plays an active role, was created in 1986 as a Latin American consultation group to discuss regional issues without the United States.  That final statement was challenged by Piñera's critics during the presidential campaign. They pointed out that, during business trips to Havana in 1995, he met with government officials but not with oppositionists.

ALLIED TROOPS SEIZE CRUCIAL POSITIONS ACROSS TALIBAN STRONGHOLD

     MARJAH, AFGHANISTAN--American, Afghan and British troops seized crucial positions across the Taliban stronghold of Marja on Saturday, encountering intense but sporadic fighting as they began the treacherous ordeal of house-to-house searches. One American and one British Marine were reported killed by small-arms fire, but none from the Afghan Army, whose soldiers make up the majority of those in the fight.  American commanders said the troops had achieved every first-day objective. That included advancing into the city itself and seizing intersections, government buildings and one of the city’s main bazaars in the center of town.

    Some Marines held meetings with local Afghans almost immediately to reassure them and to ask for help in finding Taliban and hidden bombs. Mohammed Dawood Ahmadi, a spokesman for Helmand Province’s governor, said Afghan and NATO forces had set up 11 outposts across Marja and two in the neighboring town of Nad Ali. “We now occupy all the strategic points in the area,” he said. From those posts, Marines and soldiers began to go on patrols, searching door to door for weapons and fighters. This phase of the operation, considered the most dangerous, is expected to last at least five days. The biggest concern is bombs and booby-traps, of which there are believed to be hundreds, in roads, houses and footpaths.

    The invasion of Marja is the largest military operation of its kind here since the American-backed war began eight years ago. The area, about 80 square miles of farmland, villages and irrigation canals, is believed to be the largest Taliban sanctuary inside Afghanistan. Afghan and American commanders believe there are also a number of opium factories that the insurgents control to finance their war. On the first full day of operations, much of the expected resistance failed to materialize. Certainly there was none of the eyeball-to-eyeball fighting that typified the battle for Falluja in Iraq in 2004, to which the invasion of Marja had been compared.

PRESIDENT OBAMA TRIES TO PROJECT TOUGH STAND ON IRAN BUT SANCTIONS DEPEND ON CHINA

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--U.S. officials sought to shore up support Sunday for a tougher stand against Iran's nuclear program by saying Tehran had left the world little choice and expressing renewed confidence that holdout China would come around to harsher U.N. penalties. Even as the Obama administration intensifies its diplomacy, Iran is showing little sign of bending to the will of its critics. Past U.N. sanctions have had little effect. Some outside experts have detected what they believe are new slowdowns in Iran's nuclear advances, but the Islamic republic is believed headed toward having nuclear weapons capability in perhaps a few years -- estimates vary as to when.

    President Obama's senior military adviser called for more time for diplomatic pressure to work and said from Israel, which has hinted that it might attack if negotiations to contain Iran's nuclear ambitions failed, that such action could have "unintended consequences" throughout the Middle East. Israel views Iran's nuclear program as a threat to its very existence. While diplomatic patience has its limits, "we're not there yet," U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Tel Aviv.

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on a quick visit to Persian Gulf allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia, told a forum on U.S.-Muslim relations that Iran has not lived up to its nuclear obligations and has rebuffed U.S. and international efforts to engage in serious talks. She said Iran has a right to nuclear power, but only if shown unequivocally it is to be used just for peaceful purposes. While Iran insists it has no desire to get the bomb, Clinton said it appears otherwise. "The evidence is accumulating that that is exactly what they are trying to do," she said during a question-and-answer session with her audience at the U.S.-Islamic World Forum, attended by officials and scholars from around the world. She also used pointed language in stressing that after months of failed efforts aimed at direct talks with Iran, tougher action is now required. "It's time for Iran to be held to account for its activities," she said, alluding to penalties designed to squeeze Iran's economy.

February 14, 2010

U.S. AFGHANISTAN AND NATO FORCES BEGIN OFFENSIVE AGAINST TALIBAN

       KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--Roughly 15,000 American, Afghan and NATO forces began an assault late Friday on the Taliban in the central Helmand town of Marjah in what senior military commanders are calling the largest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war. Punching their way through a line of insurgent defenses that included mines and homemade bombs, ground forces crossed a major canal Saturday into the town's northern entrance. Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, NATO commander of forces in southern Afghanistan, said Afghan and coalition troops, aided by 60 helicopters, made a "successful insertion" into Marjah without incurring any casualties. "The operation went without a single hitch," Carter said at a briefing in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah.

    Carter said the strike force quickly gained ground as it moved into Marjah and overran disorganized insurgents. "We've caught the insurgents on the hoof, and they're completely dislocated," he said. At least 20 insurgents have been killed and 11 arrested so far in the offensive, said Gen. Sher Mohammad Zazai, the commander of Afghan forces in the region. Troops have recovered Kalashnikov rifles, heavy machine guns and grenades from those captured, he said. The U.S. military announced two NATO troops were killed, the first reported coalition casualties of the offensive. A NATO statement said one service member died in an IED strike, while another died from small-arms fire. It did not give their nationalities.

    U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said the deaths occurred in Helmand province and were related to the ongoing offensive aimed at breaking the Taliban grip over a wide area of their southern heartland. The troops' advance into Marjah was slowed during the morning as they carefully picked their way through poppy fields lined with homemade explosives and other land mines. Gunfire was ringing through the town by midday Saturday. The bridge over the canal into Marjah from the north was so rigged with explosives that Marines erected temporary bridges to cross into the town. Several civilians hesitantly crept out of compounds as the Marines slowly worked through a suspected mine field. The Marines entered compounds first to make sure they were clear of bombs, then called in their Afghan counterparts to interview civilians inside.The ground assault followed many hours after an initial wave of helicopters carrying hundreds of U.S. Marines and Afghan troops swooped into town under the cover of darkness early Saturday. Cobra helicopters fired Hellfire missiles at tunnels, bunkers and other defensive positions.

TENS OF THOUSANDS PROTEST AGAINST ECUADOREAN PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA

     QUITO, ECUADOR--Tens of thousands of protesters crowded into downtown Guayaquil on Thursday, answering a call from the mayor of Ecuador's biggest city to demonstrate against the national government.  Mayor Jaime Nebot, a conservative, accused President Rafael Correa of trying to build a system that Nebot called a copy of Venezuela's leftist leader, Hugo Chavez. Supporters of Nebot filled about 20 blocks of coastal Guayaquil's October Avenue, a traditional site for protests and parades. Police said they had no estimate for the size of the crowd, while Ecuadorean media put it at 200,000 to 250,000.

    Friction between the president and mayor has worsened since the national government allocated $175 million for Guayaquil's administration rather than the $192 million requested by the city of 2.5 million people. Correa, like Chavez and Bolivia's Evo Morales, is a leftist seeking to remake his country by redistributing wealth and giving a stronger voice to the poor. That has made him popular with many Ecuadoreans, but also brought strong opposition. In a speech to the demonstration, Nebot called on supporters to "fight together until the end of the dictatorship."

    The mayor charged "there is no democracy" in Ecuador and said the government is trying to control everyone and everything. "Are we going to continue tolerating that?" he asked, drawing a shout in unison from the crowd: "No!" Nebot, who was the only speaker, said Correa's government "is a repulsive copy of that failed scheme that Chavez has imposed for the misfortune of Venezuelans." "A nation like Venezuela that could and should swim in abundance, suffocates in misery and poverty," he said.  Both Venezuela and Ecuador are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

CUBAN GUN OWNERS ORDERED TO REGISTER WITH POLICE

     HAVANA, CUBA--Cuban police will begin an unprecedented program for registering unlicensed weapons in the hands of private citizens, the state-run media reported on Thursday.

   The gun owners must come to their local police stations to ask for permits allowing them to keep the weapons, Lt. Col. Juan Fonseca told the official AIN news agency. To obtain a permit, gun owners “must be over 18 years of age and have the necessary knowledge regarding (the guns’) operation and use,” AIN said.

    In addition, “it is essential to pass the medical examination on psychophysical aptitude at one’s local hospital, maintain conduct in accord with socialist regulations on social coexistence, have conditions of security and protection (in place) for the weapons and pay the taxes.”  Cubans and foreigners who already have received the authorization to carry weapons also must come to their local police stations to renew those permits.

February 13, 2010

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO MEET DALAI LAMA DESPITE CHINA OPPOSITION

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--  The White House announced on Thursday that President Barack Obama and the Dalai Lama would meet on Feb. 18, despite China's warning that such talks could hurt already-strained Sino-U.S. relations.  The Dalai Lama's visit is likely to set off a new round of sniping from Beijing, already at odds with Washington over issues from trade to currencies to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.  But the Obama administration is ready to weather China's displeasure over the Dalai Lama and expects its response to be no worse than in the past, "which is to criticize it and then we move on," a senior U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

      "The Dalai Lama is an internationally respected religious leader and spokesman for Tibetan rights, and the president looks forward to an engaging and constructive dialogue," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.  Mindful of Chinese sensibilities, Obama had held off meeting the Dalai Lama, until after the president first saw Chinese leaders during a trip to Asia in November, a delay that angered some U.S. lawmakers and human rights groups.  But the White House made clear in recent days it would shrug off China's opposition and go ahead with the visit.  All that was left was to set the date for the meeting with the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing regards as a dangerous separatist responsible for fomenting unrest in Tibet.

     Tensions over the Dalai Lama and other issues have raised worries China might retaliate by obstructing U.S. efforts in other areas, such as imposing tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.  But Gibbs insisted the relationship between the United States and China -- the world's largest and third-biggest economies -- is "mature enough" to find common ground on issues of mutual interest despite disagreements on other topics.  He said Obama, for example, has not been shy about talking to the Chinese about U.S. concerns over their currency and problems with Internet freedom. "We know that two countries aren't going to agree on everything," Gibbs said.  Despite that, the senior U.S. official said the administration was braced for possibly months of "coolness" from China "but it's not going to overwhelm the relationship, nor is it going to be long term."

CHINA DEMANDS U.S. TO CANCEL "IMMEDIATELY" PRESIDENT OBAMA-DALAI LAMA MEETING

     BEIJING, CHINA--China DEMANDED the United States on Friday to scrap plans for President Barack Obama to meet the Dalai Lama next week, the latest source of friction in already strained Sino-U.S. relations. "China firmly opposes the Dalai Lama visiting the United States and U.S. leaders' contacting with him," a report from the official Xinhua news agency cited foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu as saying.

    The long-planned meeting with Dalai Lama has further stoked Beijing's ire. It regards the spiritual leader as a dangerous separatist responsible for fomenting unrest in Tibet. "We urge the U.S. side to fully understand the high sensitivity of Tibet-related issues, honor its commitment to recognizing Tibet as part of China and opposing 'Tibet independence'," Ma said. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs had earlier made clear the United States would shrug off China's opposition.

     "The Dalai Lama is an internationally respected religious leader and spokesman for Tibetan rights, and the president looks forward to an engaging and constructive dialogue," he said. Mindful of Chinese sensibilities, Obama had held off meeting the Dalai Lama until after the president first saw Chinese leaders during a trip to Asia in November. Strains over the Dalai Lama and other issues have raised worries that China might retaliate by obstructing U.S. efforts in other areas, such as imposing tougher sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. "We know that two countries aren't going to agree on everything," Gibbs said. The Dalai Lama has said he wants a high level of genuine autonomy for his homeland, which he fled in 1959. China says his demands amount to calling for outright independence. China recently hosted talks with envoys of the Dalai Lama but they achieved little. The United States says it accepts Tibet is a part of China but wants Beijing to sit down with the Dalai Lama to address differences over the region's future.

VENEZUELAN LAWMAKER REQUESTED A TRIAL FOR TREASON AGAINST DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Venezuelan lawmaker Ismael García appeared on Thursday at the Attorney General Office to request a probe into a contract signed in 2007 by the Venezuelan government to build a thermal power station to solve Cuban power crisis, and a trial for treason against dictator Hugo Chávez.

    "In 2007, Cuban company Unión Eléctrica and the Venezuelan government signed an agreement intended to solve the energy crisis in Cuba. Venezuela's President authorized Alejandro Andrade and Luis Alberto Bellorin, the head of the Cooperation and Finance Division, Economic and Social Development Bank (Bandes), to draft a contract to purchase a thermoelectric plan with an output of 175 megawatts, a power capacity almost similar to the power demand that the government wants to reduce in Caracas metropolitan area," García said.

   The lawmaker also requested a criminal investigation and a trial for treason "against President Chávez, Treasurer Alejandro Andrade and Luis Alberto Bellorín, as provided in Articles 52 and 58 of the Code on Criminal Procedure."

February 12, 2010

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA PROMISES TOUGH SANCTIONS ON IRAN

       WASHINGTON, D.C.-- President Barack Obama said Iran remains on an "unacceptable" path to nuclear weapons, despite its denials, and that the United States and like-minded countries will soon produce a set of punishing sanctions against the Islamic republic.   According to the New York Times, the sanctions would more specifically take aim at the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps of Iran, publicly singling out the organization's vast array of companies, banks and other influential entities.

    Obama and other administration officials expressed disappointment in Iran's latest move, a declaration that it will enrich uranium to a level that puts it on course to producing nuclear material that could be used to build a nuclear bomb. Yet Obama acknowledged that it remains unclear whether he can win sufficient support in the U.N. for tougher sanctions.  The confrontation with Iran is one of Obama's biggest foreign policy challenges. It goes to the heart of his effort to limit the spread of nuclear weapons technology and to offer to negotiate even with the United States' fiercest adversaries. So far his strategy has produced little except modest momentum toward a new U.N. scolding of the Iranians.

     Iran said Tuesday it had begun enriching uranium to a level sufficient to fuel a Tehran research reactor that produces medical isotopes for cancer and other patients. The United States and the international community are willing to accommodate Iran's need for the isotopes but have insisted they be produced with reactor fuel manufactured outside Iran.

PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD CLAIMS  IRAN IS NOW A "NUCLEAR STATE"

     TEHRAN, IRAN--President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed Thursday that Iran has produced its first batch of uranium enriched to a higher level, saying his country will not be bullied by the West into curtailing its nuclear program a day after the U.S. imposed new sanctions. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated to hundreds of thousands of cheering Iranians on the anniversary of the 1979 foundation of the Islamic republic that the country was now a "nuclear state," an announcement he's made before. He insisted that Iran had no intention of building nuclear weapons. It was not clear how much enriched material had actually been produced just two days after the process was announced to have started.

    The United States and some of its allies accuse Tehran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build nuclear weapons but Tehran denies the charge, saying the program is just geared toward generating electricity. "I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20 percent fuel was produced and provided to the scientists," he said. Enriching uranium produces fuel for a nuclear power plants but can also be used to create material for atomic weapons if enriched further to 90 percent or more.

    "We have the capability to enrich uranium more than 20 percent or 80 percent but we don't enrich (to this level) because we don't need it," he said in a speech broadcast live on state television. Iran announced Tuesday it was beginning the process of enriching its uranium stockpile to a higher level. The international community reacted by starting the process to impose new sanctions on Iran. Tehran has said it wants to further enrich the uranium — which is still substantially below the 90 percent plus level used in the fissile core of nuclear warheads — as a part of a plan to fuel its research reactor that provides medical isotopes to hundreds of thousands of Iranians undergoing cancer treatment. But the West says Tehran is not capable of turning the material into the fuel rods needed by the reactor. Instead it fears that Iran wants to enrich the uranium to make nuclear weapons.

IRAN THWARTED ANOTHER MASSIVE OPPOSITION PROTEST

     TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran’s regime thwartED another massive opposition protest today by turning out its own supporters in huge numbers, imposing draconian restrictions on the media and making the headline-grabbing announcement that the Islamic Republic was now a “nuclear state”.

    Determined to prevent the so-called Green Movement from hijacking the biggest day in Iran’s calendar, the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, the regime also flooded Tehran with security forces who moved swiftly and violently to break up opposition demonstrations.  The opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammed Khatami - a former president - were attacked. Zahra Eshraghi, the granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 revolution, was briefly arrested. She is married to Mr Khatami's brother and her own brother, Hassan, has made clear his hostility to the regime.

    Mr Karroubi’s son, Hussein, said his father had to get out of his car and walk towards Sadeghieh Square, where thousands of supporters had gathered, because the roads were blocked. He was joined by hundreds of other protestors, but they found their way blocked by plainclothes security forces who attacked them with knives, batons and teargas.

February 11, 2010

venezuelan opposition leader americo martin:  visit of ramiro valdes would activate a radical  pro-chavez movement

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--According to Venezuelan opposition leader Américo Martín, the visit of Cuban Minister of Technology Ramiro Valdés and his "obvious presence" - he had been before in a private visit - have multiple interpretations. For instance, it could be a gambit of Fidel Castro, for whom a loss of power by Hugo Chávez would put Cuba into a "desperate" situation, to activate a radical pro-Chávez movement.

    The former guerrilla leader made this analysis as part of a weekly debate of Grupo Diálogo, which is coordinated by the opposition leaders Carlos Raúl Hernández and Pompeyo Márquez. Based on his personal acquaintance of Ramiro Valdés and brothers Fidel and Raúl Castro, Martín said that without the financial support provided by Chávez, Cuba would fall into the US hands through the development of an economic system similar to the Chinese model. Martín said that China has excellent relations with Washington and explained that Raúl Castro supports this model, unlike Fidel.

    The Venezuelan opposition leader said that Fidel Castro has a "besieged spirit." He speculated that part of the plan to strengthen politically the position of Chávez would be to establish several task forces with the 10,000 Cubans working in Venezuela in order to increase repression, along with pro-Chávez radical groups. Martín said that thanks to Fidel's support, Valdés has amassed a great fortune.

EUROPEAN EMBASSIES STONED BY IRANIAN MILITIA IN PROTEST OVER "INTERFERENCE"  

     TEHRAN, IRAN--Supporters of the Iranian regime tried to attack the Italian Embassy and staged demonstrations outside other European missions in Tehran yesterday in apparent protest at Europe’s stance towards the Islamic Republic and its nuclear programme.  Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister, said that about a hundred members of the Basij militia threw stones at the embassy and shouted “Death to Italy” and “Death to Berlusconi”, before police intervened.  Government supporters also gathered and chanted slogans outside the French Embassy and there were unconfirmed reports of protests outside the German and Dutch missions. Mr Frattini said that Italy was contacting other members of the European Union to send a “signal of strong concern” to the regime, and would boycott tomorrow’s ceremonies in Tehran marking the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

    The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said that the British Embassy witnessed no protests outside its walls yesterday, but added: “We are aware that the Italians and some other EU colleagues did. We, too, have suffered demonstrations in recent months that have sometimes turned violent.”  Britain has yet to decide whether to attend tomorrow’s ceremonies, which are expected to be overshadowed by huge opposition protests. It is keen to engage the regime on the nuclear issue, but attracted considerable criticism when Simon Gass, the British Ambassador in Tehran, attended President Ahmadinejad’s inauguration in August after an election that was widely regarded as fraudulent.

    Demonstrations such as yesterday’s do not take place without the regime’s approval and encouragement, and were probably a riposte to recent comments by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, and Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister. The Iranian IRNA news agency condemned both countries’ “interference in Iran’s domestic affairs”. In Jerusalem last week, Mr Berlusconi expressed strong support for Israel, calling for “effective sanctions” against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme. Iranian TV denounced Mr Berlusconi as a “slave of Israel”. On Monday, Mr Kouchner accused Iran of “blackmail” after it announced plans to start enriching uranium to 20 per cent.  Fearing a bloody crackdown on the opposition tomorrow, the EU has also issued a rare joint statement with the United States urging the regime to live up to its international human rights obligations. An Iranian was sentenced to death yesterday and eight others jailed for allegedly taking part in December’s anti-government protests.

COLOMBIAN GAS EXPORTS TO VENEZUELA COLLAPSED IN JANUARY 

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Exports of Colombian gas to Venezuela declined to 60 million cubic feet per day (cbpd) in January compared with an average of 179 cbpd last year, the US oil company Chevron reported on Tuesday.

    The sharp decline in gas supply could further increase energy problems in the western region of Venezuela. This part of the country has been affected by serious power outages that may last seven hours, due to the energy crisis. "Average export in January amounted to 60 million cbpd," said the oil company in a statement sent to Reuters.

     The capacity of the gas pipeline, inaugurated by Presidents Alvaro Uribe and Hugo Chávez in October 2007, is 500 million cbpd and it has carried up to 300 million cbpd in recent years. Gas demand in Colombia has increased in order to supply thermal power plants. Colombian authorities have implemented a rationing plan which has affected the use of hydroelectric plants to address the lack of rain in the Andean region.

February 10, 2010

venezuelan dictator hugo chavez declares state of emergency in the power sector

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--According to Minister of Electric Energy Alí Rodríguez Araque, Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez has declared state of emergency in the power sector due to the crisis affecting power generation in Venezuela. "We are in an emergency and you can not hide it (...) When power generation declines so much, we are in an emergency situation. We have not declared a state of emergency yet but we will probably do so."

    The minister said that such a measure will be implemented to speed up the allocation of funds required for government investments to increase the level of power generation. Rodríguez Araque conceded that the crisis in power supply could impact Venezuela's economic performance this year.  "Troubles with power generation could have some effect on the economic performance, estimated at 0.5-percent growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)," the minister said in an interview with Televen, a Venezuelan private TV network.

     It is worth mentioning that in 2009, the Venezuelan economy declined 2.9 percent, according to data from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV). The Venezuelan government has made some investments in the electricity sector. Rodríguez said that the government had plans to add 4,000 MW to the power system, through an investment of USD 4 billions. The goal for 2015 is to generate 30,000 MW.  Rodriguez Araque asked people to make every effort to save power.

half of venezuelans claim to distrust dictator chavez--no chavez!

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Only two out of 10 Venezuelans put the blame on DICTATOR Hugo Chávez for the country's problems. According to poll firm Venezuelan Institute for Data Analysis (IVAD), 63.2 percent of Venezuelan held accountable the different bodies of the Executive branch of government for domestic troubles; 20.1 percent held Venezuela's President responsible; 11.4 percent attributed the problems to state governors and 6.2 percent to Mayors.

    With regard to confidence in President Chávez, 51.6 percent had little or no confidence; another 21.6 percent said that they had little confidence and 30 percent no confidence at all. Meanwhile, 15.7 percent was highly confident, 20.2 percent trusted the president and 11.7 percent was somewhat confident. With respect to political allegiance, 36 percent said they support President Chávez, 33.4 percent was against Chávez, 26.1 percent was independent, 1.9 percent was not interested in politics, and 2.6 percent did not know/did not respond.

     As for the Venezuelan economy, 62.5% considered that the devaluation of the Venezuelan bolivar was not favorable. About the causes of the power crisis, 39.8 held the President responsible; 25.8 percent blamed nature, particularly El Niño meteorological phenomenon, 11.3 percent blamed people and their lack of conscience. On water supply problems, 32.2 percent said that the problem can be attributed to scarce rains whereas 24.6 percent held the government responsible.

BOLIVARIAN MILITIAS HAVE ESTABLISHED LINKS WITH FARC

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--According to a report from Colombian intelligence services, published by the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, at least four Venezuelan Bolivarian militias have established links with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

    The investigations are based on a videotaped statement and on several interviews according to which the FARC have sought to influence for eight years "these militias." Intelligence sources said that there are several messages in the computers seized from the guerrilla deceased leader Raúl Reyes which "show how this relationship has evolved."

    According to the report, the Bolivarian groups Carapaica, the Tupamaro Popular Resistance Group, the April 28th Movement, the Bolivarian Liberation Forces and the Cuban-Venezuelan Revolutionary Troop are mentioned in the alleged files. There are messages which report on the establishment of "Popular Defense Groups" in Venezuela and their training plans, said the Colombian report.

February 9, 2010

COSTA RICA ELECTS FIRST WOMAN PRESIDENT IN LANDSLIDE

       SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA--Costa Ricans have elected their first woman president as the ruling party candidate won in a landslide after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America's most stable nation. With most of the votes from Sunday's election counted, Laura Chinchilla held a 22-point lead over her closest rival. Her 47 percent share of the vote was well beyond the 40 percent needed to avoid a run-off. The 50-year-old protege of the current president, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oscar Arias, promised to pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the U.S. and opened commerce with China.

    "Today we are making history," said Chinchilla, who will be the fifth Latin American woman to serve as president when she takes office in May. "The Costa Rican people have given me their confidence, and I will not betray it." The closest contender, Otton Solis of the Citizens Action Party, got 25 percent of the votes. He and the other main rival, Libertarian Otto Guevara, quickly conceded defeat. It was unclear, however, whether Chinchilla's National Liberation Party would gain a majority in congress. Analyst Heather Berkman of the Eurasia Group said coalition building without a majority would likely delay or derail controversial fiscal reforms to shore up government finances and energy deregulation.

    The third-place candidate, Guevara, congratulated Chinchilla as "our president," but he also pointed out the new political muscle of his tax-bashing Libertarian Movement Party. He won 21 percent of the vote. Arias' economic policies helped insulate Costa Rica from the world economic crisis as he kept a high profile on the world stage as a negotiator in Honduras' political crisis after a coup deposed President Manuel Zelaya in June. Critics of the Arias government, in which Chinchilla served as vice president, contended its policies catered to big developers to boost the economy at the cost of the nation's fragile ecosystems. Chinchilla, the mother of a teenage son, is a social conservative who opposes abortion and gay marriage. She appealed both to Costa Ricans seeking a fresh face and those reluctant to risk the unknown.

NORTH KOREA THREATENS  SOUTH AMID PUSH TO RESTART TALKS

     SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--North Korea warned South Korea that any attempt to bring down the communist country would draw "strong measures" from its military, a threat issued Monday even as Pyongyang embarked on a flurry of diplomacy with Seoul, Washington and Beijing. Pyongyang is poised to mobilize troops to defend itself, including a "world-level ultramodern striking force" that has not yet been publicly revealed, North Korea's Ministry of People's Security and the Ministry of State Security said in a statement.

    North Korea will take "all-out strong measures to foil the treacherous, anti-reunification and anti-peace moves of the riff-raffs to bring down the dignified socialist system ... and destabilize it," said the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.  The warning, stern but milder than threats made last year, was carefully timed to show tensions could flare if North Korea doesn't get what it wants from the round of diplomacy, said Jeung Young-tae, a North Korea expert at the state-run Korea Institute of National Unification in Seoul. "They are using it as a negotiating card," he said.

    The threat was issued as senior Chinese envoy Wang Jiarui met in Pyongyang with Choe Thae Bok, a high-level official in North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, amid an international push to persuade North Korea to return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks. Footage broadcast by APTN in Pyongyang showed Wang visiting a modern new apartment and touring a fruit farm. Wang told Choe that China, North Korea's longtime ally and benefactor, was ready to work with North Korea to boost bilateral ties, according to the Xinhua News Agency. The report did not mention the nuclear issue. The envoy was expected to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il later Monday to discuss the nuclear talks, South Korean cable network YTN said, without citing its source. Wang will likely bring Kim a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said in a similar report.

OAS REQUESTED TO MEDIATE IN THE CASE OF VENEZUELAN RCTV INTERNATIONAL   

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--Marcel Granier, the Chief Executive Officer of Empresas 1BC, appeared on Monday at the head offices of the Organization of American States (OAS) based in Caracas to ask for mediation of the OAS Secretary-General in the case of the removal for second time of the signal of TV channel RCTV Internacional.

    "What is happening in the field of human rights in Venezuela is a matter of concern; we see everyday violation of freedom of expression, freedom of organization, freedom to protest, the right to fair trial, and the right to defense. Therefore, as the Organization of American States is the guarantor of such rights as a result of the American Convention on Human Rights, we have come to request its intervention," Granier said.

     "We have come to tell the OAS again that the Inter-American Democratic Charter should be enforced, the American Convention on Human Rights should be enforced, and the National Constitution should be enforced. Therefore, we have invoked the OAS protection and mediation," he added.

February 8, 2010

IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD ORDERED HIS ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY TO BEGIN ENRICHING URANIUM TO 20 %

       TEHRAN, IRAN--IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD  made the announcement during a live broadcast with Iranian energy head Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's state-run Press TV reported. "Please start 20 percent enrichment, though we are still in talks about a fuel exchange," he told Salehi. "We are ready for exchange. But if (Western countries) don't like an exchange, we go our own way."

    Ahmadinejad made the announcement a day after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates expressed skepticism that Iran would agree to exchange the bulk of its uranium supply for fuel for its medical reactor in Tehran. The plans aims to keep Iran from processing its own uranium and provide international oversight. Western nations fear Iran is trying to develop atomic weapons.

    Iran has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful and the 20 percent enriched uranium is to be used to aid thousands of Iranian patients in need of post-surgery drug treatment with nuclear medicine. To enrich uranium, ore is purified into solid "yellowcake," which is processed into uranium hexaflouride gas that is fed through centrifuges that separate isotopes and increase enrichment. Uranium used for civil energy production needs to be enriched to about 3 percent, while weapons grade uranium must be enriched to 90 percent.

U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY ROBERT GATES CALLS FOR GREATER INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE ON IRAN

     ROME, ITALY-U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, during a visit to Rome, said sanctions targeting the Iranian government would be most effective. There was an international consensus to avoid putting "more hardship than is absolutely necessary" on the Iranian people, he said. Gates, who discussed the Iranian issue with Italian leaders, said Tehran's response to U.S. and Western overtures has been very disappointing.

    "If the international community will stand together and bring pressure to bear on the Iranian government, I believe there is still time for sanctions and pressure to work," Gates said at a news conference with Italy's defense minister. "But we must all work together... I think all of us can do more," Gates said, without mentioning any countries by name. China has made clear it wants the powers to keep talking rather than impose new sanctions on Tehran.

    However, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday told the country's Atomic Energy Organization to start work on producing nuclear fuel for a Tehran research reactor, raising the stakes in the dispute. Gates stopped short of saying what types of sanctions should be imposed on Iran if it refused to back down. But he told reporters: "Pressures that are focused on the government of Iran, as opposed to the people of Iran, potentially have greater opportunity to achieve the objective," Gates said. "We have seen what is going on inside Iran," he added, referring to growing protests by Iranians against the government.

venezuela'S dictator hugo chavez: if they look for us by means of arms, we are ready to fight

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chávez challenged on February 4 the opposition student movement and warned them that he is prepared to fight anywhere for his "Bolivarian revolution."

    During his speech on the occasion of the commemoration of another anniversary of the coup attempt led by him on February 4, 1992, Chávez challenged students to keep on trying ousting his government. He said that if they intend to take the way of arms, revolutionaries will be there, willing to defend their revolution.

    "Well then, keep on trying to tumble the revolutionary government with your little white hands; keep on trying; you will never make it. If you look for us by means of arms, here we go, with Bolívar's sword, ready to fight anywhere for Venezuela's freedom, for the Bolivarian revolution. Do not get wrong about us."

February 7, 2010

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA HONORS 7 CIA HEROES KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN BLAST


       WASHINGTON, D.C.--President BARACK Obama paid tribute Friday to seven CIA heroes killed in Afghanistan in December, calling them "American patriots who loved their country and gave their lives to defend it." Obama delivered the remarks during a memorial service at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. The service was closed to the media to protect the identities of undercover officers in attendance. A transcript of Obama's speech was provided to members of the press.

    "There are no words that can ease the ache in your hearts," Obama told families, friends and co-workers of the seven officers. "But to their colleagues and all who served with them -- those here today, those still recovering, those watching around the world, I say: Let their sacrifice be a summons. To carry on their work. To complete this mission. To win this war and to keep our country safe." A suicide bomber killed the CIA officers and contractors, as well as a Jordanian intelligence official, on December 30 at a U.S. base in Khost, in southeastern Afghanistan. The bomber was within seconds of being searched by security contractors when he detonated his explosives, a former intelligence official with knowledge of the incident said in January.

    Two of those killed were contractors with private security firm Xe, formerly known as Blackwater, a former intelligence official said. The CIA considers contractors to be officers. Former CIA official Robert Richer called the bombing the greatest loss of life for the agency since the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, which killed eight agents. "These remarkable men and women are the story of America," CIA Director Leon Panetta said at Friday's service, according to the transcript. "They are the heart and soul of this great country. Their devotion to duty is the foundation of our country."

CUBAN dissidents beaten, detained in cAMAGÜEY

     CAMAGÜEY, CUBA--At least 37 dissidents were detained this week during protests in the eastern province of Camagüey in solidarity with an ailing political prisoner, the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission said Friday.

    The commission’s chairman, Elizardo Sanchez, told foreign reporters that 23 people were “brutally beaten” and arrested Wednesday after a street demonstration about the plight of Orlando Zapata Tamayo. Another 14 dissidents were detained Thursday as they gathered in a private home for additional “actions in solidarity with Zapata Tamayo,” Sanchez said. All but five of those arrested have already been released, the rights commission said.

    Zapata Tamayo is being treated at a hospital in Camagüey after mounting a hunger strike to protest mistreatment by prison authorities, the commission said. Recognized by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, Zapata Tamayo was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 25 years for the offenses of resistance and disrupting public order.  Cuba’s communist government is holding 201 political prisoners, according to a report released last month by Sanchez’s commission.

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN VENEZUELA

     STRASBOURG, FRANCE--The European Parliament (EP) plans to discuss and take a position next Thursday on human rights violations of dictator Hugo Chavez in Venezuela following the closure of the private TV network RCTVI and the deaths of two students in protests carried out after the Venezuelan government decision.

     The plenary in Strasbourg (France) will discuss the issue at the initiative of the European People's Party (EEP), a Conservative group which is the largest parliamentary bloc in the Chamber, and of the Liberal and Democrat groups.

    According to parliamentary sources, the motions that these political groups will submit to the EP will criticize the government of President Hugo Chávez, since this is the usual position of these political parties regarding Chávez administration. The Venezuelan government has been condemned several times by the European Parliament, Efe reported.

February 6, 2010

DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE "FUSS" OVER RAMIRO VALDES' NEW ASSIGNMENT IN VENEZUELA 

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's DICTATOR Hugo Chávez downplayed on Friday widespread criticism of Cuban Minister Ramiro Valdés, as his top advisor on electricity issues, and claimed that his presence in the country is "like the visit of any other foreign delegation."

    "Those mad people, cashing on their availability of a significant number of media outlets, have made such a fuss because a Cuban commission came to work together with our experts on the electricity issue (…) The mad bourgeoisie and his media outlets and spokespersons say it is high treason, meddling of Fidel's empire in Venezuela. It is aid; it is cooperation; it is the result of international cooperation relations that Venezuela has managed to establish with 99 percent of countries in the world," he said.

     The dictator reported that an Argentinean delegation, headed by Minister of Federal Planning Julio De Vido was to arrive on Friday in order to explore the energy subject. He noted that Venezuelan Ambassador to Argentina Alicia Castro sent him a paper with the input of an Argentinean team that visited Venezuela concerning the electricity situation in the country.

(CLICK HERE AND READ ambassador noriega's interesting article: "HUGO CHAVEZ, DESPERATE AND DANGEROUS")

venezuelan GOVERNMENT insists on rejecting US REPORT CLAIMING THAT DICTATOR CHAVEZ SUPPORTS THE FARC 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Venezuelan Embassy in the United States insisted on Friday that the US intelligence report which states, inter alia, that Venezuela has continued a "covert support" to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is an attempt to criminalize the government of  dictator  Hugo Chávez.

    Ambassador to the US sent a letter to the US Congress on Thursday describing as "cynical" and "baseless" the report issued by Dennis Blair, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

     The spokeswoman was responding a question about the alleged Venezuelan support to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), according to the DNI report submitted to the Senate. In his letter to the Senate, Álvarez said that the report is a new attempt to "criminalize" the government of President Hugo Chávez and to "encourage sectors of the Venezuelan opposition which are seeking undemocratic ways to achieve power."

VENEZUELAN STUDENT LEADERS NOT INTERESTED IN OUSTING THE DICTATOR

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Juan Andrés Mejías, a student leader of the Simón Bolívar University (USB), a public institution located in Caracas, described as "sad and regrettable" the statements made by  dictator Hugo Chávez, against opposition students.

      He reiterated that the student movement has never had the goal of overthrowing the government. "We have always said that the goal of the student movement has never been, under any circumstances, to overthrow any Venezuelan government." "Our slogan in 2007 was: "we are not coup plotters, we are students." We repeated it on Thursday. Mejías said that the students of this generation only want a better country, which is not divided by colors or social classes; a country where all people have the same opportunities to succeed.

    The student leader said that these are the reasons why they have protested and they will remain in the streets "asking for justice and a better country." He said that the slogans of the students do not seek to overthrow dictator Hugo Chávez. Their aim is to struggle for a better quality of life of the Venezuelan people. He said that the students are preparing to take the power but through democratic means. Finally, Mejías said that the students have tried, in a country polarized by politics, not to be identified as opposition or Chávez's followers, but as a force willing to transform the country.

February 5, 2010

us asks venezuelan dictator hugo chavez to refrain himself from repression

       BRASILIA, BRAZIL--Incoming US Ambassador to Brazil and former Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Thomas Shannon said that his government message to the administration of Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez was an advice not to repress, but to listen to his people in these troubled times.

     "It would be our message to the government of Venezuela: not to repress, but make room and listen to the Venezuelan people," Shannon said the same day of his inauguration as US Ambassador to Brazil, AFP reported.

     "Venezuela is undergoing an ordeal. From our point of view, it is important at a time of political crisis to make political room for the whole Venezuelan people and all Venezuelan citizens," he added.  Shannon, who made his remarks in Portuguese during a press conference in Brazil, acted as Political Advisor at the US Embassy in Caracas in 1996-1999.

CHINA DEFENDS CURRENCY AFTER PRESIDENT OBAMA CRITICISM

     BEIJING, CHINA--China dismissed U.S. threats to get tough on trade and exchange rates to ensure American goods are not disadvantaged, saying on Thursday that its currency was at a reasonable level.  President Barack Obama said his administration was pushing China to enforce trade rules and further open its markets, adding to a range of issues weighing on relations between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies.

    A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman responded by saying the yuan was already at a reasonable level, and that China did not deliberately pursue a trade surplus with the United States. "At the moment, looking at international balance of payments and forex market supply and demand, the level of the yuan is close to reasonable and balanced," Ma Zhaoxu told a regular news briefing, repeating China's standard line on its currency. "Accusations and pressure do not help to solve the problem," he added.

    The Foreign Ministry has no say in China's currency policy, which is driven mainly by domestic considerations, such as the need to maintain rapid economic growth and provide jobs. U.S. manufacturers have complained for years that China deliberately holds down the yuan, giving local exporters an unfair price advantage. China says exchange rate policy is an internal matter. Analysts cautioned against reading too much into Obama's comments, saying his words were as much aimed at appealing to a domestic audience as trying to put pressure on Beijing.

cuban musicians trickle into us under president obama

       MIAMI, FLORIDA--One by one, musicians from the renowned Cuban salsa band Los Van Van made their way past immigration officials at Miami International Airport and into the bright lights and cameras of the Spanish-language media. One reporter offered them Cuban pastries. Another asked what it meant to play in Miami. Maintenance workers took pictures with their cell phones. One said she had grown up dancing to Los Van Van. Another denounced them as tools of the island's communist government. When they last played Miami 10 years ago, a mini-riot broke out between fans and protesters. "I didn't come to do anything political," bassist Juan Formell said. "We came to play music."

    Los Van Van are the latest in a string of Cuban bands to visit the United States under the Obama administration - and the most controversial. Many characterize the group as having a cozy relationship with the Castro government, making them an emblem for conservative exiles of a five-decade long dictatorship. Aside from Los Van Van, La Charanga Habanera and Buena Fe, a pop duo, each made recent appearances to sold-out crowds in Miami. The Septeto Nacional visited in November. Folk singer Carlos Varela met with politicians and sang in Washington. Legendary singer Omara Portuondo is scheduled to perform here in March.

    Figures from the State Department show the number of visas issued to Cuban artists and athletes has inched up slightly since plummeting under the Bush administration. In the 2001 fiscal year, 860 such visas were granted; four years later, that number had dropped to 16. Last year, artist and athlete visas rose from 41 to 57. "I think under Obama, we've seen that reversed a little bit," said Sujatha Fernandes, an assistant sociology professor at Queens College in New York City and author of "Cuba Represent! Cuban Arts, State Power, and the Making of New Revolutionary Cultures." "There's nothing formally written. But we've begun to see groups slowly being allowed to enter the country."

February 4, 2010

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA TO MEET DALAI LAMA DESPITE CHINESE WARNINGS

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--U.S. President Barack Obama still plans to meet the Dalai Lama, the White House said on Tuesday, despite China's warning that such a meeting would hurt ties already strained by U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan. Digging in on two points of discord, China vowed to impose unspecified sanctions against U.S. companies selling arms to Taiwan and said any meeting between Obama and the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader would hurt bilateral ties.

    The White House shrugged off Beijing's warning. "The president told China's leaders during his trip last year that he would meet with the Dalai Lama and he intends to do so," White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters traveling with Obama to New Hampshire. "We expect that our relationship with China is mature enough where we can work on areas of mutual concern such as climate, the global economy and non-proliferation and discuss frankly and candidly those areas where we disagree."

     China has become increasingly vocal in opposing meetings between foreign leaders and the Dalai Lama, who Beijing deems a dangerous separatist. A meeting between the Tibetan leader and Obama would raise tensions between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies.Ties between the United States and China have also soured over trade and currency quarrels, cyber security and control of the Internet, and Beijing's jailing of dissidents. U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Washington wanted to "work through" disputes in various bilateral meetings the United States has with China. "You have two of the most powerful nations on earth and our interests coincide in many areas and our interests collide occasionally in a handful of those," he told reporters.

U.S. DOES NOT NECESSARILY SEE EUROPEAN UNION'S POLICY CHANGE TOWARD CUBA AS POSITIVE

     MADRID, SPAIN.-- The top U.S. diplomat for Latin America said on Tuesday that his country does not necessarily view as “positive” a potential change in the European Union’s policy toward Cuba, as Spain has proposed. “At this time, in our judgment, we don’t necessarily see the change in the Common Position as positive, but it depends a lot on how changing it is handled,” Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela told reporters in Madrid after participating at a conference.

    The EU’s Common Position toward Cuba has conditioned the bloc’s policy toward the communist-ruled island since 1996 and links bilateral relations to concrete advances in democracy and human rights by the Cuban regime. The change in policy toward Cuba is one of the objectives that the Spanish government has set during its six-month turn in the EU’s rotating presidency during the first half of 2010, with an eye toward softening the bloc’s relations with the Havana regime.

    Valenzuela, however, emphasized that a potential shift in the EU’s stance must make “very clear that what is required” is an “expectation” of a “democratic opening in Cuba.” “I think that is the objective we all have going forward. Seeing a democratic Cuba,” insisted the Chilean-born U.S. official. In addition, he continued, the island’s government must comply with the “fundamental condition of free open societies with respect to human rights and the possibility of genuine participation on the part of all its citizens. When asked about the direction U.S. policy would take toward Cuba this year, Valenzuela said that Washington will seek “to resume some of the conversations” held with Havana “on matters of common interest.”  “And in that sense, we have set conversations on immigration issues, postal issues ...” he said, emphasizing the “efforts” of the U.S. administration to “have a direct dialogue with the Cuban government.”

DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ LEADS REGIONAL FORCE AGAINST THE UNITED STATES

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--TEHRAN, IRAN-- VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ'S influence may have peaked, but he is still leading a regional force against the United States, warns a report released on Tuesday. Chávez "continues to impose an authoritarian populist political model in Venezuela that undermines democratic institutions," according to the Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community 2009, submitted on Tuesday to the Senate by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), Dennis Blair.

    Regarding foreign policy, "Chavez's regional influence may have peaked, but he is likely to continue to support likeminded political allies and movements in neighboring countries and seek to undermine moderate, pro-US governments," said the document, as reported by Efe.  "He and his allies are likely to oppose nearly every US policy initiative in the region, including the expansion of free trade, counter drug and counterterrorism cooperation, military training, and security initiatives, and even US assistance programs," adds the report.

     In the analysis, which includes a brief chapter on Latin America, Blair says that, in general, democratic governance remains strong in Latin America and the Caribbean, although in some countries democracy and market policies remain at risk because of the continued threats from crime, corruption, and poor governance.

February 3, 2010

dictator hugo chavez appoints cuban minister ramiro valdez to head committee on venezuela's power crisis

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--  venezuelan dictator hugo Chávez said on Tuesday that Ramiro Valdez, the Cuban Minister of Technology, is in Venezuela to head a technical committee in order to address the power crisis.

     Chávez said during an official event held in the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex that the Cuban leader Fidel Castro contacted the Venezuelan government and asked it authorization to send, with the consent of President Raúl Castro, a technical commission to help resolve the power crisis in Venezuela.

     "We have received Commander Ramiro Valdez. He is with us and is heading a technical commission," Chávez said. The Venezuelan President highlighted the role of the Cuban top official in the revolution led by Fidel Castro. Ramiro Valdez is the Cuban Minister of Information and Technology and President of the Council of Ministers.

UN SAYS ARMED GROUP ATTACKED HAITI FOOD CONVOY

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI-- The United Nations says the security situation in Haiti is "stable but potentially volatile" in the wake of last month's earthquake. The U.N.'s humanitarian office says an armed group attacked a food convoy at the Jeremie airport in the southwest of the country.

    It says U.N. peacekeepers fired warning shots and there were no injuries. The global body says Haitian national police are stepping up patrols to prevent violence and apprehended 33 escaped prisoners on Saturday.
   U.N. spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said Tuesday several hundred prisoners are still believed to be on the loose after their prisons collapsed in the Jan. 12 quake. Four U.N. human rights experts also warn of growing risk of Haitian children being abducted, enslaved or trafficked.

IRAN CRITICIZES U.S. MISSILE DEPLOYMENT IN THE PERSIAN GULF

       TEHRAN, IRAN-- Iran accused the United States on Tuesday of seeking to stoke "Iran phobia" in the Middle East by deploying missile defense systems in the Gulf, and said Tehran enjoyed friendly ties with neighboring states. U.S. officials said on Sunday that the United States has expanded land- and sea-based missile defense systems in and around the Gulf -- a waterway crucial for global oil supplies -- to counter what it sees as Iran's growing missile threat. "We regard these (U.S.) measures as a conspiracy and a ploy by foreign countries to create a sense of Iran phobia," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told state television.

    The U.S. deployments include expanded land-based Patriot defensive missile installations in Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Mehmanparast attacked Washington for insinuating that Iran should be feared in the region. "Because they have lost their presence in Iran, they feel they have no foothold and in order to justify their presence (in the region) they make such an insinuation," he added.  The United States is making the deployments at a time of tension in a long-running international row over Iran's nuclear program, with Western powers calling for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Tehran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.

    President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the West did not want to see friendly relations prevail in the region, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. "They have always tried to keep the countries of the region weak and their existence dependent on division and insecurity ... Fortunately, there is a good understanding of the enemies' conspiracies between Tehran and Doha," Ahmadinejad said at meeting with visiting Qatari Crown Prince Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

February 2, 2010

former supporters of venezuela's dictator hugo chavez demand his resignation

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--A group of  dictator Hugo Chávez's former colleagues in the Army, former ministers and members of the Constituent Assembly in 1999, who comprise a group called Polo Constitucional, urged the Venezuelan ruler to resign. They claimed that Chávez "has neither moral nor material authority to rule the country, since he can not meet people's demands satisfactorily."

     At a press conference held on Sunday, Luis Alfonso Dávila, former Congress Speaker, former Minister of the Interior and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, read the statement where the group voiced their demands.

     "Everything you said before you took office has turned you into an illegitimate president. People suffer from personal insecurity, undermined freedoms, legal and social insecurity; poverty is deepening; public utilities such as water, electricity and garbage collection are a mess. Lack of productivity has led to food shortages, the country's infrastructure has deteriorated due to the lack of maintenance; the Venezuelan economy is experiencing one of its more serious crisis despite oil prices (...) Corruption has reached obscene levels," the statement read.

cuba gives citizens 2 months to register guns

     HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba has declared a two-month amnesty for citizens to register unlicensed guns, and says those passing aptitude and psychological tests will be allowed to keep their weapons. The move is unusual in a state where almost no one except some active military personnel and plain-clothed state security agents are allowed to possess weapons. Even most police officers are required to leave their pistols at the station or in a regional barracks when on vacation or leave, and young men participating in mandatory military service are given unloaded firearms for most exercises.

    Starting Feb. 12, Cubans will have the "exceptional and one-time only" chance to register their guns with police, and will be allowed to keep them provided they are over 18 and have passed the proper tests administered at police stations. There was no explanation for why the drive to legalize unlicensed weapons is coming now, though the state-run news agency Prensa Latina said the move grew out of a November 2008 law regulating possession of guns and ammunition.

    According to a weekend bulletin carried by state news media, gun owners must "maintain conduct consistent with the appropriate norms of social behavior, meet security and protection conditions for the firearms and pay established taxes." Cubans were encouraged to register any weapons they owned in the years after Fidel Castro and his band of rebels toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959. But later authorities used a list of those who had sought licenses to go door-to-door and encourage them to turn over their firearms — even antiques considered family heirlooms.

DISSENTING STUDENTS TO FILE COMPLAINT ON POLITICAL PERSECUTION

       CARACAS, VENEZUELA--A group of dissenting Venezuelan students announced in a press conference that they would appear on Tuesday at the Attorney General Office to submit a document where they will complain of political persecution by the Venezuelan government.

     Roderick Navarro, the President of the Federation of Students' Council (FCU), Central University of Venezuela, rejected the calls for violence by the Venezuelan government and said that Venezuelan students are not going to be provoked by anybody. Navarro did not provide further details.

     "Over the weekend, government authorities made several calls against the student movement. They urged people to fight against people. They want people to attack the students. We want to tell Chávez government that we are also the people and those initiatives will not succeed."

February 1, 2010

U.S. SPEEDING UP MISSILE DEFENSES IN PERSIAN GULF 

       WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Obama administration is accelerating the deployment of new defenses against possible Iranian missile attacks in the Persian Gulf, placing special ships off the Iranian coast and antimissile systems in at least four Arab countries, according to administration and military officials. The deployments come at a critical turning point in President Obama’s dealings with Iran. After months of unsuccessful diplomatic outreach, the administration is trying to win broad international consensus for sanctions against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, which Western nations say control a covert nuclear arms program. Mr. Obama spoke of the shift in his State of the Union address, warning of “consequences” if Iran continued to defy United Nations demands to stop manufacturing nuclear fuel. And Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly warned China on Friday that its opposition to sanctions was shortsighted.

    The news that the United States is deploying antimissile defenses — including a rare public discussion of them by Gen. David H. Petraeus — appears to be part of a coordinated administration strategy to increase pressure on Iran. The deployments are also partly intended to counter the impression that Iran is fast becoming the most powerful military force in the Middle East, to forestall any Iranian escalation of its confrontation with the West if new sanctions are imposed. In addition, the administration is trying to show Israel that there is no immediate need for military strikes against Iranian nuclear and missile facilities, according to administration officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. By highlighting the defensive nature of the buildup, the administration was hoping to avoid a sharp response from Tehran.

    Military officials said that the countries that accepted the defense systems were Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. They said the Kuwaitis had agreed to take the defensive weapons to supplement older, less capable models it has had for years. Saudi Arabia and Israel have long had similar equipment of their own. General Petraeus has declined to say who was taking the American equipment, probably because many countries in the gulf region are hesitant to be publicly identified as accepting American military aid and the troops that come with it. In fact, the names of countries where the antimissile systems are deployed are classified, but many of them are an open secret. The general spoke about the deployments at a conference at the Institute for the Study of War here on General Petraeus said that the acceleration of defensive systems  included “eight Patriot missile batteries, two in each of four countries.” Patriot missiles are capable of shooting down short-range offensive missiles.

COLOMBIA'S PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE VISITS HONDURAS TO RESTORE TIES 

     TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS--The Colombian head of state, ALVARO URIBE, was welcomed with military honours by President Lobo, Honduran Foreign Minister Mario Canahuati, and Colombian Ambassador Sonia Pereira Portilla at "Hernan Acosta Mejia" Airport in Tegucigalpa. President Uribe then went to the Presidential House of Honduras where he will take part in a working breakfast with President Lobo and subsequently attend an extended meeting with the Honduran cabinet.

     During his visit the head of state will reiterate Colombia's support for the national unity and reconciliation process and democracy in Honduras, as well as the willingness to strengthen commercial ties and cooperation between the two countries.

     The Organization of American States cut off diplomatic ties to Honduras in the summer after then-President Manuel Zelaya was forced into exile, and millions of dollars in foreign aid was frozen. Uribe's visit is part of Lobo's efforts to restore those ties. Other countries appear to support normalized relations as well: The presidents of Taiwan, Panama and the Dominican Republic attended Lobo's inauguration Wednesday and the U.S. ambassador to Honduras says the new leader should be able to name an ambassador to Washington in the near future.

IRAN PUTS 16 OPPOSITION SUPPORTERS ON TRIAL

       TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran put 16 opposition supporters detained during anti-government protests last month on trial Saturday on charges of rioting and conspiring against the ruling system, Iran's state media reported.  The official IRNA news agency and state Press TV said the defendants face charges ranging from plotting against the establishment to violating security regulations. Five of those on trial, including two women, were accused of "moharebeh," or defying God, a charge that could carry the death penalty, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

    The new prosecutions, coupled with the execution on Thursday of two men accused of involvement in anti-government groups, could mark an attempt by Iran's hardline leaders to intimidate the opposition ahead of a new round of street demonstrations expected in February. Those who stood trial Saturday — including a follower of the Bahai faith, an alleged communist and a student activist — were detained during anti-government demonstrations on Dec. 27, when at least eight people were killed and hundreds more were arrested after clashes between opposition activists and security forces. The violence was the worst since authorities launched a harsh crackdown immediately after Iran's disputed presidential election in June.

     The protesters have presented Iran's cleric-led establishment with its biggest challenge since the 1979 revolution despite a brutal crackdown that has left hundreds imprisoned. IRNA quoted a prosecutor identified only by the last name of Farahani as saying in court that some of the defendants had confessed to spying, planning bomb attacks and damaging public and private properties. He also said some of the defendants had sent videos on the clashes between protesters and Iranian police to the "foreign hostile networks," IRNA reported. During previous mass trials in Iran, many human rights groups have cautioned that such confessions are often made under duress in Iran.