March 31, 2010

ETA LEADER ARRESTED IN CARACAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Officers with the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) arrested on Sunday an ETA leader at the Maiquetia International Airport, as he intended to enter Venezuela from Mexico. However, Arturo Cubillas Fontán, one of the seven ETA members accused by Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco of trying to kill Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, is a high level official in dictator Hugo Chavez's government.

    Marino Alvarado, coordinator of the Venezuelan Program on Education-Action in Human Rights (Provide), stated that the detainee's name is Walter Wendelin and is considered the representative of Batasuna, the political arm he Basque terrorist organization ETA, for South America.  Wendelin, of German origin, is in the headquarters of the Sebin in Caracas.

    In December last year, in a press release, the Ministry of Information and Communication (Minci) reported that Walter Wendelin took part in an international forum on "Imperialist threats and people's resistance, moving forward towards the construction of an anti-empire front," at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, downtown Caracas.  It is interesting that the arrest and possible extradition of the ETA leader is done  at a time when a Spanish judge has accused  Dictator Hugo Chavez of links with ETA and the FARC. The photo of Wendelin appears in the computer  that was recovered at the death of Raul Reyes, the FARC second in command, who was killed during a Colombia army attack against  his Ecuadorean guerrilla camp.

VENEZUELAN BISHOPS URGE DICTATOR CHAVEZ'S GOVERNMENT TO STOP ACTIONS "TO SILENCE DISSENTERS"

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Leaders of the Venezuelan Bishops's Conference (CEV) urged authorities to resist "the temptation of using power to favor some people over others, to restrict freedom of opinion and silence dissenters."  In a press release issued on the occasion of the Holy Week, the bishops of Maracaibo, Mérida, Coro and the Auxiliary Bishop of Caracas, Monsignors Ubaldo Santana, Baltazar Porras, Roberto Lückert and Jesús González de Zárate, respectively, urged Venezuelan authorities to respect human rights and take the relevant steps to promote tolerance and coexistence among all Venezuelans.

    The request made by the bishops comes a few days after Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, a former presidential candidate and former governor of the state of Zulia, and Guillermo Zuloaga, the President of TV news channel Globovisión, were arrested for having expressed their views against Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.  The leaders of the CEV echoed in their statement the remarks previously made by the Metropolitan Bishop of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, with regard to the threats posed to the Catholic faith, including secularism, superstition, santeria, sex scandals in which priests have been involved and "growing anti-religious spirit spread by the Marxist atheist doctrine."

    In the document, Santana, Porras, Lückert and González asked Venezuelan people to pray for the Providence to "send the desired rain (on our territory) (...) to put an end to the prolonged drought that is affecting our country."  The strong dry season has caused a decline in reservoir levels, especially in the Guri dam, which generates 72 percent of the power consumed in Venezuela, forcing authorities to ration electricity.  Finally, the CEV prayed for "hostages, prisoners and excluded people."

VENEZUELAN CARDINAL JORGE UROSA SAVINO ASKS DICTATOR CHAVEZ TO FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, the leader of the Venezuelan Catholic Church, called for unity, reconciliation and for putting an end to political intolerance. He made this call on the occasion of Easter. Monsignor Urosa Savino expressed concern over the "political attacks" that, in his view, have prevailed in recent times amidst the passage of restrictive laws and the adoption of aggressive attitudes by some government officials.  

     Savino told El Universal that it is important to seek social harmony and political inclusion, as hatred and permanent conflicts between two political factions run counter the wishes of the Venezuelan people. He pleaded for tolerance and respect for plural values. “ Cardinal Urosa Savino rejected particularly the situation affecting Judge María Lourdes de Afiuni, who has been accused of ordering the conditional release of banker Eligio Cedeño. "She is in serious danger. We should ask the Judiciary to transfer her to a safer place of confinement."  

     According to the top Catholic leader in Venezuela, Judge Afiuni must be released pending trial as well as "political prisoners" Richard Blanco (Caracas prefect) and former presidential candidate Oswaldo Álvarez Paz.

March 30, 2010

WOMEN SUICIDE BOMBERS KILLED 38 IN MOSCOW METRO ATTACKS

      MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Two female suicide bombers have blown themselves up aboard packed underground trains at the height of the rush hour in Moscow this morning, killing 38 people and leaving an estimated 65 injured, according to the Russian security service.  President Dimitri Medvedev is due to make a television address later today. He has already pledged no let up in the war against terrorism and promised a security crackdown on public transport.  The first blast came at the Lubyanka station in central Moscow at around 8am (0400 GMT), killing 24 people. The station is deep below the headquarters of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, and is just yards away from the Kremlin.

    Around 40 minutes later the second explosion happened a 15 minute journey away at Park Kultury station, near Gorky Park, killing around 12. Both stations are situated on Moscow's busy Red underground line, or line number one.  A report of a third attack at Prospekt Mira station was not confirmed. Much of the city's underground system is still running despite the attacks.  The blasts have brought the Russian capital to a standstill, with parts of the sprawling Metro system halted in case of further attacks and traffic gridlocked. Emergency services were calling in helicopters to take the wounded to hospital, amid delays in bringing some of the injured to the surface.  

     An emergency meeting was convened at the Kremlin, where Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the FSB, told Mr Medvedev that the bombers were probably Chechens, based on a preliminary examination of their body parts scattered at the scene of the explosion. He did not elaborate.  Mr Medvedev told security chiefs: "The policy to suppress terrorism in our country and the fight with terrorism will be continued. We will continue the operation against terrorists without hesitation and until the end." Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, is being kept informed about the attacks while on a trip to Siberia. Mr Putin cemented his power in 1998 by launching a bloody but successful war to overthrow the separatist government in Grozny, the Chechen capital.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA CONDEMNS MOSCOW BOMBS AS HEINOUS TERRORISM

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday condemned suicide bombings in Moscow that killed at least 38 people and injured 65 on packed metro trains.  "I send my deepest condolences to the people of Russia after the terrible loss of life and injuries resulting from the bombings on the Moscow metro," the president said.

     "My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost loved ones, and I wish all who sustained injuries a successful recovery. The American people stand united with the people of Russia in opposition to violent extremism and heinous terrorist attacks that demonstrate such disregard for human life, and we condemn these outrageous acts," Obama said in a statement.

    The White House issued the statement during an unannounced Obama visit to Afghanistan in the midst of an eight-year war with Islamic militants including al Qaeda, the militant network blamed for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

S. KOREAN DEFENSE CHIEF SAYS NORTH MAY HAVE FLOATED MINE TO SUNK NAVY SHIP

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA-- North Korea may have deliberately directed an underwater mine toward the South Korean naval ship that exploded and sank three days ago near a disputed maritime border, the defense minister told lawmakers Monday. Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said military authorities have not ruled out North Korean involvement in the sinking of the Cheonan, which split apart within minutes of an explosion in the rear hull late Friday night, according to the ship's captain. Fifty-eight crew members were rescued from the Yellow Sea waters near Baengnyeong Island west of Seoul, but 46 others are missing, most likely inside a rear segment of the ship, military officials said. Divers rapping on the stern with hammers got no response Monday, military officials said.

    South Korean officials have been careful to say the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown, and that the rescue mission remains their priority. However, Kim told lawmakers Monday that North Korean involvement was one possibility. "North Korea may have intentionally floated underwater mines to inflict damage on us," he said. The two Koreas remain in a state of war because their three-year conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, in 1953. North Korea disputes the maritime border drawn by the United Nations in 1953, and the western waters -- not far from where the Cheonan went down -- have been the site of three bloody skirmishes between North and South.

    A mine placed by North Korea during the Korean War may also have struck the ship, he said. Many of the 3,000 Soviet-made mines North Korea planted during the war were removed, but not all. Kim noted that a North Korean mine was discovered as recently as 1984. There are no South Korean mines off the west coast, he added. Kim also ruled out a torpedo attack, citing rescued sailors who were manning the radars. The North Korean military was keeping a close watch on the search operation, the Joint Chiefs of Staffs said in a defense committee report cited by the Yonhap news agency. President Lee Myung-bak said rescuers "should not give up hope" of finding the crewmen, according to a statement from the presidential Blue House after Lee met with a security ministers Monday. "We'll continue our search operation until the last minute without giving up hope of rescuing even a single survivor," a Joint Chiefs officer said Monday on condition of anonymity in line with department policy. The U.S. Navy sent four ships and a team of divers to join the search, said Lt. Anthony Falvo, a spokesman for the U.S. 7th Fleet, based just south of Tokyo.

NORTH KOREA, AGAIN, WARNS U.S., SOUTH KOREAN OF "UNPREDICTABLE INCIDENTS"

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA-- North Korea warned the U.S. and South Korea of possible deadly consequences Monday in retaliation for what it called psychological warfare involving journalist tours to the South's portion of the buffer zone between the rivals. Monday's warning came after a South Korean military ship sank Saturday due to an unexplained explosion onboard. The ship was near the disputed sea border with North Korea, though South Korean and U.S. officials say they have seen nothing that suggests any North Korean involvement.

    The statement by the North's military accused South Korea of staging anti-North Korea "psychological warfare" in the demilitarized zone with visits there by journalists there this year. The North said that allowing the reporters to tour the zone and nearby areas was aimed at preparing "materials for anti-north smear campaigns." The statement said those actions violate the armistice that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 conflict and that the U.S., a truce signatory, is also responsible.

    "If the U.S. and the South Korean authorities persist in their wrong acts to misuse the DMZ for the inter-Korean confrontation despite our warnings, these will entail unpredictable incidents including the loss of human lives in this area for which the U.S. side will be wholly to blame," the statement said. The statement was issued in the name of an unidentified spokesman for the Korean People's Army in Panmunjom in the DMZ. The North routinely issues warnings and threatens to attack South Korea and the U.S. The military Friday threatened "unprecedented nuclear strikes" in anger over a report Seoul and Washington plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country.

March 29, 2010

THOUSANDS PROTEST AGAINST RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR PUTIN IN VLADIVOSTOK 

      VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA--Thousands of angry people demonstrated in a northwestern Russian city on Sunday against the high cost of living and demanded that the government of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin quits. About 4,000 protesters braved biting cold to hold an unauthorized rally at a huge Lenin monument in Arkhangelsk's main square, chanting: "Down with this useless state power" and "Down with United Russia." "We do not believe the authorities" and "We demand a pay rise," read some of the posters. Red hammer-and-sickle Communist Party flags dominated the scene.

    The large rally was similar to recent protests held in Vladivostok in Russia's far east and in Kaliningrad in the west. Demands by protesters across Russia vary from lower household bills to the abolition of transport taxes, lower imported car duties and demands to halt a paper mill at the pristine Lake Baikal. Last Saturday, the opposition held around 50 rallies on a national "Day of Anger." Kremlin critics plan to hold a new series of protests on March 31 and May 1. "Putin and Medvedev, along with all deputies and bureaucrats and governors, must be sacked, because they have deprived us of everything, because we cannot afford paying for municipal services," pensioner Nina Kozhukhova, aged 70, told Reuters.

At a past rally, she was knocked down by riot police and hurled into a police van. But Kozhukhova was determined to fight. "That's the limit, we are fed up with this lawlessness," she said. "I do not believe United Russia because they have plundered us and gave all we had to corrupt bureaucrats." Former president Putin, still widely seen as Russia's paramount leader, and President Dmitry Medvedev, seen as his handpicked successor, have launched efforts to tackle social and economic issues more efficiently. This month's local elections showed support for Putin's ruling United Russia party had fallen since the start of the economic crisis, which ended the nation's 10-year oil-fueled economic boom, cut wages and drove unemployment above 9 percent.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ WAITING FOR COLOMBIA'S ELECTION TO RESTORE RELATIONS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela's DICTATOR Hugo Chávez said on Friday in Quito that his government has decided to "wait for the upcoming elections and see the attitude of the next Colombian President" to make a decision on resumption of bilateral relations.

    Chávez added that Colombia's next president must be "someone with the ability of a statesman." He warned that "as we respect Colombia and its sovereignty, and we have the burden of the problems coming from there, we expect that they respect the sovereignty of our countries."

    Finally, he stressed that "the Colombian government has shown profound disrespect against its neighboring countries, especially Venezuela, and also Ecuador," DPA reported.  Diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Colombia are "frozen" since July 28, 2009.

PARAGUAYAN GOVERNMENT ENDS CONTRACT WITH VENEZUELA'S PDVSA FOR ALLEGED IRREGULARITIES 

      ASUNCION, PARAGUAY--The Paraguayan Office of Government Procurement ended a freight agreement between state-run oil companies Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (Pdvsa) and Petróleos Paraguayos (Petropar) for alleged irregularities, confirmed on Thursday the chairman of the company, Max Rejalada.

     Rejalada said that Petropar declared illegal a direct contract to transport 60,000 cubic meters of gasoil from Río de la Plata, the transshipment point from the port of origin, to the pier of Petropar, located in Villa Elisa (outside Asunción).

    The Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color, which has reported the case, said that "it is now evident that the Paraguayan oil company violated the law (...), by granting the tempting freight business to Fluviomar, an Argentine shipping company, which is a partner of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company," Efe reported.

March 28, 2010

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ AND ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA DISCUSS MILITARY COOPERATION AGAINST USA

      QUITO, ECUADOR--Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa and Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chavez met on Friday for talks that centered on joint economic initiatives, but the visiting head of state also raised the possibility of military cooperation in the face of threats posed by the U.S. “empire.”  Chavez cited problems that both countries have had with their common neighbor, Colombia. Caracas and Quito need to consider “cooperation accords in the military, scientific, technological area” in the interest of “guarding our borders,” the leftist Venezuelan leader said. “We know that Colombia has not been able to cope with a set of very serious problems that spill over its borders, that have done plenty of damage to relations with Venezuela, also with Ecuador,” he said.

     He was referring to Colombia’s decades-long internal conflict, which has sent hundreds of thousands of refugees streaming into Ecuador and Venezuela, and to a pact signed last year that gives the U.S. military access to seven bases in Colombia. Since Chavez took office in 1999, Colombian authorities have periodically accused him of supporting their country’s FARC rebels, while Bogota’s March 2008 raid on a clandestine FARC camp inside Ecuador spurred a regional diplomatic crisis. The summit started with a ceremony at the Ecuadorian presidential palace to introduce a line of environmentally friendly automotive lubricants developed by Petroecuador and Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.

     Correa then pointed to plans for Petroecuador and PDVSA to conduct joint gas exploration in Ecuador’s Gulf of Guayaquil and to build a new refinery on his country’s Pacific coast. Though Venezuela is one of the world’s top oil producers and Ecuador’s crude output is modest, both governments depend heavily on petroleum revenue. Later, the two presidents witnessed via videoconference the simultaneous launch of fish-farming projects in Ecuador and Venezuela under the aegis of what Chavez described as a “great-national” seafood enterprise that he said would be the first of several such ventures in various economic sectors. Ecuador’s agriculture minister, Ramon Espinel, said the fish-farming initiative would create jobs and aid both countries in reaching the goal of food sovereignty.  

HRW: VENEZUELA MUST END PROSECUTION OF DISSENTERS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The global human rights non-government organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a news release that the arrest of former governor of the state of Zulia Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, and of Guillermo Zuloaga, president of TV station Globovisión, in retaliation for public statements that were critical of the government is a serious blow to freedom of expression in Venezuela.

    "To prosecute someone for speech, which is protected in any democracy, is a dangerous precedent," said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. "The violations of free speech are likely to be compounded by a trial that falls far short of due process protections, given the government's political takeover of the Supreme Court."

     According to the state-run news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, Zuloaga has criticized President Hugo Chávez for undermining freedom of expression by closing media outlets. Meanwhile, according to state-owned Radio Nacional Venezuela, Venezuela's attorney general is currently investigating Zuloaga for "the crimes of dissemination of false information, offense and vilification of the President of the Republic."  "For years, Chávez has been pushing legislation to restrict free speech." He added: "Now we seem to be entering a darker period where these draconian laws are being implemented," Vivanco said.

SPANISH SUPER JUDGE GARZON CLOSER TO BEING CHARGED

      MADRID, SPAIN--Spain's Supreme Court cleared the way Thursday for the judge known for indicting Osama bin Laden and Augusto Pinochet to be charged with abuse of power in a probe of civil war atrocities. The decision by a five-judge panel is a stinging setback for Judge Baltasar Garzon, who is accused of knowingly overstepping the bounds of his jurisdiction in 2008 by investigating the atrocities. The ultimate decision on whether to charge and put Garzon on trial is up to an investigating magistrate  at the Supreme Court.

     That judge, Luciano Varela, said in a ruling in February that in undertaking the probe, Garzon consciously ignored an amnesty decreed by Parliament in 1977 for civil war-era crimes. Garzon, 54, appealed against that ruling, denying any wrongdoing and calling his probe legitimate. Thursday's decision by the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, allowing the case to proceed and putting it back in the hands of Varela. At least one more procedural step remains before Varela decides on bringing charges. Varela has to rule on accepting or rejecting a request from Garzon that testimony be heard in his defense from international lawyers specializing in human rights law. Garzon can appeal then, too. But even if Varela accepts that request, it is ultimately still up to him to decide whether to indict the judge.

    If Garzon is convicted of knowingly acting without jurisdiction, he can be suspended from the bench for 10 to 20 years. His lawyer, Gonzalo Martinez-Fresneda, has said that would effectively end the judge's career. Garzon's aborted probe centered on the killings of tens of thousands of civilians by supporters of Gen. Francisco Franco during the 1936-39 civil war and in the early years of his right-wing dictatorship. It was the first official investigation into a still-divisive period of history, which had been taboo for many Spaniards. Garzon argued that Franco and his cohorts engaged in a crime against humanity - Garzon cited a systematic campaign by Franco to eliminate opponents - and said this had no statute of limitations.

March 27, 2010

NORTH KOREA SINKS SOUTH KOREA NAVY SHIP


      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA.--A South Korean navy ship sank in the Yellow Sea near North Korea early Saturday, and the navy shot at an unidentified ship toward the north, according to reports quoting South Korean government officials. Yonhap News Agency quoted navy officials saying Friday that a ship carrying 104 crew members sank off the Seoul-controlled island of Baengnyeong in a flashpoint maritime border area between the Koreas. The 1,500-ton corvette Cheonan went down at 9:45 p.m. Friday near the island, but the cause of the incident was not immediately known, the officials said.

     A rescue operation was under way. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but some sort of explosion occurred in the rear of the ship, officials told Yonhap. The South Korean government issued a statement saying the reason for the incident remains unclear, but it wasn't ruling out some sort of military engagement. Yonhap quoted naval officials as saying a South Korean vessel fired at a ship toward the north later. However, South Korean government officials said it isn't certain whether North Korea was involved in the incident. Yonhap said local residents reported hearing gunfire for about 10 minutes. As a result of the incident, South Korean government officials held an emergency meeting of ministers handling security-related matters, officials told Yonhap.

    Aides to South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the first priority is rescuing crew members, and the Defense Ministry said 58 members of the crew have been rescued. South Korea's Korean Broadcasting System said navy vessels and helicopters were rescuing crew members, some of whom reportedly jumped into the sea after the blast, the KBS report said. The official said the Sockcho, another South Korean navy vessel patrolling nearby, fired at unidentified ships north of the area. North Korea has said recently it is bulking up its defenses in response to recent joint South Korean-S. JKorenews agency also quoted South Korean military officials saying North Korea conducted dozens of artillery firing drills Friday.

SOUTH KOREA NAVY REPORTEDLY SHOOTS AT UNIDENTIFIED SHIPS NEAR NORTH KOREA

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--The South Korean navy reportedly shot at unidentified ships near North Korea and is investigating whether a sinking ship in its navy was hit with a torpedo near the maritime border with the communist North. The South Korean navy has reportedly fired shots at unidentified ships in the direction of North Korea as it investigates whether a sinking vessel in its fleet was struck by a torpedo Friday.

    Military officials said the 1,200-ton ship Cheonan was patrolling in waters south of the maritime border with North Korea when an explosion occurred at the stern of the ship, which carries a crew of 104 sailors, KBS World Radio reported.  South Korean broadcaster SBS said many of the sailors were feared dead, as the country's president, Lee Myung-Bak, called an emergency meeting of security-related ministers.

    Twenty-four sailors have been rescued from the vessel, officials told the Korea Herald, and navy ships and helicopters continue to circle in an attempt to save more crew members, KBS World Radio reported. There was no word on the cause of the explosion or any casualties, but officials did not rule out the possibility of an attack from North Korea.  South Korea's YTN TV network said the government was investigating whether the explosion was caused by a torpedo attack from the North, and KBS reported news that the another South Korean ship fired at unidentified vessels while patrolling nearby waters.

NORTH KOREA VOWS 'NUCLEAR STRIKE' IN LATEST THREAT

      SEUL, COREA DEL SUR.--North Korea's military warned South Korea and the United States on Friday of "unprecedented nuclear strikes" over a report the two countries plan to prepare for possible instability in the totalitarian country. The North routinely issues such warnings and officials in Seoul and Washington react calmly. Diplomats in South Korea and the U.S. instead have repeatedly called on Pyongyang to return to international negotiations aimed at ending its nuclear programs.  "Those who seek to bring down the system in the (North), whether they play a main role or a passive role, will fall victim to the unprecedented nuclear strikes of the invincible army," North Korea's military said in comments carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.


     The North, believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen atomic bombs, conducted its second atomic test last year, drawing tighter U.N. sanctions. Experts from South Korea, the U.S. and China will meet in China next month to share information on North Korea, assess possible contingencies in the country, and consider ways to cooperate in case of an emergency situation, South Korea's Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported earlier this month, citing unidentified sources in Seoul and Beijing. The experts will also hold follow-up meetings in Seoul in June and in Honolulu in July, it said. The North Korean statement Friday specifically referred to the March 19 newspaper report.

    South Korean media have reported that Seoul has drawn up a military operations plan with the United States to cope with possible emergencies in the North. The North says the U.S. plots to topple its regime, a claim Washington has consistently denied. Last month, the North also threatened a "powerful -- even nuclear -- attack," if the U.S. and South Korea went ahead with annual military drills. There was no military provocation from North Korea during the exercises. China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. have been trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons in six party talks. The North quit the negotiations last year.  The fate of the North's nuclear weapons has taken on added urgency since late 2008 as concerns over the health of leader Kim Jong Il have intensified.

March 26, 2010

US CONCERNED ABOUT ARREST OF CRITIC OF VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ FOR EXPRESSING HIS VIEWS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The US State Department is "seriously concerned" about the arrest of opposition political leader Oswaldo Álvarez Paz, said spokesman Mark Toner, who described the move as "the latest example" of Hugo Chávez's government assault on freedom of expression.

     "We are seriously concerned about the arrest of former Governor Oswaldo Álvarez Paz for simply expressing his views on a TV talk show," said the US State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner.

     "It is unfortunately the latest example of the government's continuing assault on freedom of expression," Toner said. He added that the US "urges the Venezuelan Government" to uphold freedom of expression, which is an essential value for representative democracies.

ANTI-CHAVEZ TV CHANNEL OWNER, GUILLERMO ZULOAGA, ARRESTED IN VENEZUELA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The owner of Venezuela's only television channel that remains critical of dictator Hugo Chavez was arrested Thursday, spurring concerns among rights activists of a widening government crackdown aimed at silencing critics. Attorney General Luisa Ortega said a warrant was issued for the arrest of Guillermo Zuloaga, owner of the TV channel Globovision, for remarks that were deemed "offensive" to the president. Zuloaga said that military intelligence agents detained him at an airport in the northwestern state of Falcon.

     Ortega said prosecutors are investigating Zuloaga for statements he allegedly made during a recent meeting of newspaper owners in the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, where media executives from across the Americas criticized Chavez's government for limiting freedom of expression. Ortega said pro-Chavez lawmakers requested the probe, arguing that Zuloaga should be prosecuted for "offensive and disrespectful comments against the head of state" during the meeting of the Inter American Press Association. She did not reveal the statements that Zuloaga allegedly made.

      The arrest came three days after opposition politician Oswaldo Alvarez Paz was detained for remarks made on a Globovision talk show on March 8. Alvarez Paz has been charged with conspiracy, spreading false information and publicly inciting crime after remarking that Venezuela has turned into a haven for drug traffickers. He also said he backed allegations by a Spanish judge that Venezuela's government has cooperated with the Basque separatist group ETA and Colombian rebels. Chavez has dismissed those accusations as lies. Alvarez Paz stands by his words and denies breaking the law.

IACHR and the oas secretary general rejected arrest of guillermo zuloaga 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) rejected the arrest of TV channel owner Guillermo Zuloaga, which was conducted as part of an ongoing investigation into statements made by the businessman at meeting of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA), the IACHR said in a press release on Thursday.  "The IACHR and its Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression express their deep concern over Zuloaga's arrest, which evidences the lack of independence of the judiciary and the utilization of the criminal justice system to punish criticism, producing an intimidating effect that extends to all of society."

      The Attorney General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Luisa Ortega Díaz, said Zuloaga was arrested on Thursday at the Josefa Camejo airport in Punto Fijo, Falcon state. A bench warrant was issued for Zuloaga as part of an investigation that was started following a complaint filed with the Attorney General Office by a member of the National Assembly.  Sources said that Zuloaga intended to depart for the island of Bonaire to spend the Easter holidays with his family. The Attorney General Office reported that "there are sufficient elements to establish a presumption of risk that the businessman would not face the criminal proceedings initiated following the complaint regarding his speech at a meeting of the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA)."  

      OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza also joined the criticism Thursday evening, saying in a news release, "I worry about the national and international political repercussions of this situation, and that is why I request the Venezuelan authorities to promptly free Mr. Zuloaga and, should he be tried, that it be done with respect for the presumption of innocence and with all the guarantees offered to him by the law."

March 25, 2010

ROGER NORIEGA: IT IS THE ACT OF A "DESPERATE TRAITOR" 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--Former US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roger F. Noriega, published on Tuesday an Op-Ed in Forbes in which he harshly criticized the arrest of former governor of the state of Zulia and former presidential candidate Oswaldo Álvarez Paz. Noriega described the detention as a "desperate" action from a "traitor," apparently referring to President Hugo Chávez Frías.

     Chávez's crony courts have charged Álvarez Paz with conspiracy, "public instigation of criminality" and "spreading false information"--crimes that could draw sentences of 13 to 27 years, Noriega said. Álvarez Paz was indicted for televised statements on March 8 acknowledging the fact that Venezuela has become a haven for drug trafficking and citing accusations by a Spanish court that the Chávez regime supports Basque and Colombian terrorists.

     Noriega, who was also US ambassador to the Organization of American States (2001-2003) under President George W. Bush, said that Chávez's supporters and Cuban agents probably began to plot the statesman's arrest the moment Álvarez Paz published an article in which he denounced the surrender of Venezuelan sovereignty and mentioned the presence in his country of Cuban adviser Ramiro Valdez as part of the betrayal.  Noriega considers that the detention of Álvarez Paz could be directly related to the "ideal manifesto of the democratic opposition's campaign for the national assembly elections" wrote by the opposition leader.

DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO REPLACED CUBAN PROSECUTOR "FOR REASONS OF HEALTH" 

      HAVANA, CUBA--Gen. Darío Delgado Cura has been appointed Attorney General of Cuba, replacing Gen. Juan Escalona Reguera, who was released from his post "for reasons of health," Cuba's official media announced Tuesday.  The Cuban Council of State directed the substitution "at the initiative of its president, Raúl Castro, following consultation with the Political Bureau of the Communist Party," a televised announcement said.

     A similar announcement on March 8 told of the removal of Gen. Rogelio Acevedo González from his post as president of the Institute of Civil Aeronautics. Brian Latell, a former U.S. intelligence specialist, suspects the two dismissals might not be coincidental. "I'm not saying that Escalona's departure is connected to Acevedo's," he told El Nuevo Herald, "but those familiar with Cuba's history know many examples that reveal that the dismissal of officials – not the same day but within weeks – has a common relationship."

     Delgado is Deputy Attorney General and Chief Military Prosecutor, with vast experience in legal and management work, according to the announcement. Escalona, 78, will be given other work in the Council of State's secretarial staff. The announcement recognized "his meritorious labor" for more than 25 years. In 1989, Escalona prosecuted Gen. Arnaldo Ochoa, Gen. José Abrantes and other officers charged with drug trafficking, a scandal that shook the Cuban regime.

U.S. TO BACK CHILEAN JOSE MIGUEL INSULZA FOR ANOTHER TERM AS OAS SECRETARY GENERAL

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States will support Chile’s Jose Miguel Insulza in his bid for another five years as head of the Organization of American States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday in a letter to the OAS secretary-general. 

     In the letter, Clinton said that it was a “pleasure” to inform Insulza that the Barack Obama administration will support his reelection and that of the assistant secretary-general, Alberto Ramdin, of Suriname, at Wednesday’s special OAS General Assembly in the U.S. capital. The vote of confidence by Washington comes despite the campaign against Insulza launched a month ago by certain Republican lawmakers and the editorial page of The Washington Post.

     Conservative pundits and lawmakers say Insulza has been insufficiently critical of the leftist governments of Venezuela and Nicaragua. Clinton told Insulza the United States would be happy to see him and Ramdin re-elected by acclamation on Wednesday, which will likely happen provided no other member-state demands a roll-call vote. The Chilean and Ramdin are, at the present time, the only candidates and both are virtually assured of receiving the 18 votes required to retain their posts for the 2010-2015 term.

March 24, 2010

GLORIA ESTEFAN CALLS FOR MARCH IN SUPPORT OF THE HEROIC  LADIES IN WHITE

      MIAMI, FLORIDA--At a news conference in Miami, the Cuba-born FAMOUS singer and songwriter Gloria Estefan expressed emotional and passionate support for the heroic Las Damas de Blanco, or Ladies in White, who were violently harassed and forced by government security agents aboard buses in a move that broke up one of their marches last week.

    Dressed in white, Estefan announced plans for a march along Little Havana's Calle Ocho Thursday, beginning at 6 p.m., to express exile solidarity with the Ladies in White.  The Ladies in White march in Havana every year to mark the anniversary of the 2003 arrests by Cuban agents of their husbands and sons during the so-called Black Spring crackdown against independent journalists and other dissidents.

    "For me, at this instant, this is not politics,'' Estefan told El Nuevo Herald after the news conference at Bongos Cuban Cafe at the AmericanAirlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Blvd. ``It's about life, the lives of human being . . . but at this moment, seeing what these women are going through, at this moment, historically, it's important, as a Cuban, as a woman, to support these ladies.'' On March 17, several Damas de Blanco, or Ladies in White -- wives and mothers of jailed dissidents -- were set upon by agents who then dragged and threw them into waiting buses.

    CAMCO fully endorses this patriotic march in support of Cuba's "Ladies in White" and urges all its members residing in the area of Miami to participate.

TWO CUBAN EMBASSY OFFICIALS IN MEXICO DEFECTED; THEIR WHEREABOUTS REMAIN UNKNOWN

      MONTREAL, CANADA .--A Cuban diplomat based in Mexico and her husband defected last week, but their whereabouts remain unknown, worried relatives said Tuesday. Yusimil Casañas, 25, head of the passport section of the Cuban embassy in Mexico City, and her husband, Michel Rojas, 32, disappeared March 17, said her uncle, Esteban Casañas Lostal, who lives in Montreal, Canada.

     Yusimil's mother contacted him to report the defections and ask for his help in case they were detained by Mexican authorities, who may refuse them asylum and force them back to Cuba, Casañas Lostal said. The mother reported that she had asked Cuba's Foreign Ministry about the couple's whereabouts and was told only that they  “had defected,'' Casañas Lostal , a long-time contributor to CAMCOCUBA, said in a message from Montreal (Click here and read  the message).  Casañas and Rojas returned to Mexico City March 17 after a vacation in Cuba, left their belongings at the embassy, took the embassy vehicle assigned to them and have not been heard from since, the uncle added.

      They are likely planning to cross the border into the United States and ask for asylum, but Cuban authorities may have asked Mexican officials to be on the lookout for the couple and the car, he added. Casañas previously served in the Cuban diplomatic mission at the United Nations in New York, her uncle said. He had no further information on Rojas, though spouses of Cuban diplomats abroad generally also work in the embassies. The Cuban embassy in Mexico is one of the largest the island maintains around the world, in part because it's also a base for intelligence, political and propaganda operations against the United States, according to U.S. intelligence experts.

AN OUTSPOKEN  OPPONENT OF VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ  ARRESTED OVER DRUG HAVEN COMMENT

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--An outspoken opponent of DICTATOR Hugo Chavez said Monday that police have taken him into custody while he awaits trial on conspiracy charges for saying Venezuela has become a haven for drug trafficking.  Former Zulia state Gov. Oswaldo Alvarez Paz, who has also been accused of spreading false information and publicly inciting violation of the law, said federal agents planned to escort him to intelligence headquarters in Caracas.  "I am assuming responsibility for the things I have said," Alvarez Paz told the Globovision television channel.

     The station broadcast footage of government agents accompanying Alvarez Paz from his residence in the capital of Caracas to an awaiting car, which then drove off.  His attorney, Omar Estacio, said the charges are unfounded and expressed doubt that prosecutors would have any success in court.  "He is a political prisoner, there is no doubt about that," Estacio said. Representatives from the Attorney General's Office did not immediately answer phone calls seeking comment on the arrest Monday evening.

     The charges against Alvarez Paz stem from comments he made during a talk show broadcast by Globovision, the only TV channel in Venezuela that remains critical of Chavez. "Venezuela has turned into a center of operations that facilitates the business of drug trafficking," Alvarez Paz said last month on "Hello Citizen."   Alvarez Paz has said he stands by the remarks and insists he has broken no laws. Opponents accuse Chavez of growing increasingly intolerant of criticism and using the judicial system to harass and imprison opponents.  Chavez denies holding sway over prosecutors and says only people who break the law are being prosecuted and jailed.

March 23, 2010

THE US SUPREME COURT REFUSED TO TAKE UP THE CASE OF FORMER PANAMA DICTATOR MANUEL NORIEGA

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--On Monday, the US Supreme Court refused to TAKE UP FORMER PANAMA DICTATOR MANUEL NORIEGA CASE  . The action lets stand a lower court decision approving his removal to face criminal charges in a French court, where he was tried and convicted in absentia and faces up to 10 years in prison. Two justices – Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia – issued a dissent, saying the high court should have agreed to hear Noriega’s appeal.

    Although Noriega is the only official prisoner of war currently in US custody, his appeal sought an examination of the constitutionality of legal provisions passed by Congress to undercut appeals on behalf of terrorism suspects at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp. In answering Noriega’s appeal, the US solicitor general’s office cited the 2006 Military Commissions Act, which the government argued precludes a person detained as a POW from invoking the Geneva Conventions as a source of rights in a lawsuit challenging the legality of the POW’s detention. In his dissent, Justice Thomas said the high court should examine the issues raised by Noriega. He said any resulting opinion would provide much-needed guidance to the lower courts in cases involving Al Qaeda suspects.

     Issues raised in the appeal include whether the 2006 Military Commission Act, as enforced against Noriega, resulted in an unconstitutional suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. The appeal also questioned whether the protections of the Geneva Conventions can be invoked by an individual POW and whether those protections may be enforced by US judges. The high court rejected Noriega’s appeal in a one-line order without explanation. No other justices wrote about the Noriega case.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ TO CUT ELECTRICITY TO 96 BIG USERS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ plans to cut service to 96 big electricity users in Caracas on Monday for not having been able to reduce their consumption by at least 20 percent as officials requested, Venezuelan Vice President Elias Jaua said said, everyone, especially those who are heavy consumers of electricity, must work to alleviate the power shortage problem caused by the worst drought registered in the country since 1947, Jaua said.

     The majority of the industries and businesses have reduced their consumption, although not by the necessary percentage, Jaua said, adding that the government is studying the idea of “giving credits” to those sectors to allow them to buy their own electricity generating plants. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the country will not collapse as a result of shortage of electricity although if it does not rain the power blackouts may be intensified, Jaua said.

    Jaua discussed the matter during a ceremony Saturday in Caracas to acknowledge small industries and business who managed to reduce their electricity consumption by at least 20 percent. The drought has caused the water level at the Guri Dam, which supplies more than 70 percent of Venezuela’s electricity, to fall drastically. The ideal solution would be for the rains to begin in May, as historically has been the case, so that the rate of fall of some 14 centimeters per day in the water level at the Guri dam can be halted, officials said. The rainy season in Venezuela should begin in May, unless the effects of the “El Niño” weather phenomenon persist, whereby the drought would be prolonged.

dictator chavez denies he's trying to control internet

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan DICTATORF Hugo Chavez denied that the government plans to impose controls on the Internet, saying Sunday that his administration aims to increase Web access rather than limit it. Earlier this month, Chavez sparked concerns of a possible crackdown on Web sites critical of his government when he called for regulation of the Internet and urged prosecutors to act against Noticiero Digital, a site popular among his opponents.

    Chavez has become increasingly critical of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and says adversaries use them to deceive the public. On Sunday, speaking during his weekly television and radio show, the socialist leader said the government has inaugurated 668 Internet centers in much of the country that offer Venezuelans access to the Web, and his administration plans to spend close to $11 million this year to build 200 more. Still, Chavez also told his audience that government critics often use the Web "to generate panic," and said such actions "cannot be permitted."

    He announced plans to counter such online criticism by launching his own Web page and becoming a cyber-activist himself: "I'm going to have my Internet trench, my trench for the battle." The number of Internet subscribers climbed to more than 1.5 million last year in this politically divided South American country of 29 million -- up from about 273,000 nine years ago -- according to Chavez. He said roughly 35 percent of all Internet users get access to the Web at government centers.

March 22, 2010

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ PROMISES FULL COOPERATION WITH SPAIN IN ETA CASE

      LISBON, PORTUGAL--"There is full cooperation" between Spain and Venezuela in the case of people "presumably" linked with the armed Basque separatist group ETA, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro said on March 19 in Lisbon.

    Such cooperation will be always carried out "within the framework of international law," Maduro added. The Venezuelan Foreign Minister paid a brief visit to Lisbon for talks with his Portuguese counterpart, Luis Amado.  "Whenever someone (related to Venezuela) has been requested, we have been at the service (of the petitioner) and we will continue doing so by fulfilling the principles of international law," Maduro said in the Portuguese capital.

     The Venezuelan Minister referred to the recent arrest of ETA suspect Andoni Zengotitabengoa in Lisbon airport, when he tried to fly to Caracas. "The Spanish government alerted the Venezuelan authorities that another alleged ETA member might be on the same flight" and Venezuela immediately took the necessary steps.  On the international arrest warrant against Arturo Cubillas, a Spaniard with Venezuelan citizenship, due to his alleged activities related to ETA, Maduro said that the Venezuelan judicial system "has asked for more data on this request."

ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU WILL CONTINUE HIS HOUSING CONSTRUCTION PROJECT IN EAST JERUSALEM

    JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he had written to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton making clear Israel would not curb Jewish housing construction in disputed areas in and around Jerusalem. Netanyahu's comments, before the start of a Washington visit on Monday, showed that while a public feud with the White House over Jewish settlements might have eased in recent days, the right-wing leader was not budging from his defiant policy.

    "Our policy on Jerusalem is the same policy followed by all Israeli governments for the 42 years, and it has not changed. As far as we are concerned, building in Jerusalem is the same as building in Tel Aviv," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks. "I believed it would be of great importance for these things not to remain in the context of commentary or speculation. I subsequently wrote a letter, at my own initiative, to the secretary of state so that things would be crystal clear." Clinton and Netanyahu spoke by telephone on Thursday in an attempt to defuse a dispute over settlement in areas around East Jerusalem, which Israel captured in a 1967 war. The issue has delayed the start of indirect peace talks with the Palestinians.

     In what appeared to be a softening of Washington's tone in more than a week of public disagreement with Israel, Clinton said Netanyahu had given a "useful and productive" response to her concerns, but she did not give details. Israeli media reported that Clinton had demanded Israel shelve a plan -- whose announcement two weeks ago during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden embarrassed Washington -- to build 1,600 homes in Ramat Shlomo, a settlement near East Jerusalem. Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its capital, a claim that is not recognized internationally. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of the state they want to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. week there was a national consensus to build in "Jerusalem neighborhoods," Jewish apartment blocs in areas under Israeli control since 1967. He excluded East Jerusalem and nearby annexed areas of the West Bank from a 10-month moratorium he announced in November on new housing starts in Jewish settlements. Palestinians called that limited freeze insufficient.

THOUSANDS RALLY AGAINST RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER VLADIMIR PUTIN, DOZENS DETAINED

      MOSCOW, RUSSIA- Russian police broke up an opposition demonstration in Moscow on Saturday, one of around 50 rallies across the country with thousands protesting falling living standards under Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.  A coalition of opposition groups declared a national "Day of Anger" with nationwide rallies tapping into anger which has been rising since the economic crisis hit. The protests mixed local issues with anger at the federal government. Opposition groups have been heartened by unusually large rallies in recent months. But riven by division they were unable to match the 10,000 people who gathered for a January rally in the western city of Kaliningrad, one of the largest in a decade.

    "The mood has changed, but it has not yet turned into a movement," said Masha Lipman, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center think-tank. But for the micro-managers in the Kremlin "the stakes are extremely high," she said. At least 1,500 people turned out in the Pacific port of Vladivostok, raising their hands to support a motion to dismiss Putin's government. Around 1,000 rallied in Saint Petersburg and hundreds gathered in several other cities. "People have no work and they are fed up," said Ivan Fotodtov, 26, a Vladivostok web designer who braved snow to protest rising bills cutting into his stagnant wages.

     Local elections last week showed support for Putin's United Russia party has fallen since the start of the economic crisis, which brought a sudden end to 10 years of growth and drove unemployment above 9 percent. In the capital, hundreds of police officers blocked off the central Pushkin Square and detained dozens of protesters when they began to chant, shouting "Freedom!" and "This is our city!"  A Moscow police spokesman said 70 people were detained after 200 tried to hold an unsanctioned rally. Protesters across the country had a dizzying array of demands, but they were united in their anger at the ruling United Russia party.  The crowd cheered as opposition leader Boris Nemtsov called on Putin to quit. "Yes to Baikal, No to Putin," chanted Nemtsov, the leader of the opposition Solidarity movement, which has been criticized for hijacking local protests.

March 21, 2010

5.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE HITS NEAR SANTIAGO DE CUBA AND GUANTANAMO


      SANTIAGO DE CUBA, CUBA--A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck at 1:08 p.m. (2:08 p.m. ET) 22 kilometers (14 miles) below the surface and was centered 44 km (27 miles) south-southwest of Guantanamo, the U.S. Geological Survey said.  The quake sent  alarmed residents fleeing into the streets and causing cracks in some buildings, residents said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or serious damage.  "So far, there haven't been any reports of major damages or injuries," a civil defense official in Havana told CNN nearly an hour after the quake. "It's still early." There were no immediate reports of injuries or major damage in Santiago de Cuba, which is 57 km (36 miles) from the epicenter, but a woman who runs a bed and breakfast there felt it.

     A spokesman at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay also reported no damage there. The quake, which also was felt strongly in Cuba's second city of Santiago de Cuba, was centred 27 miles southwest of Guantanamo at a depth of 14 miles, the US Geological Survey reported. State-run Radio Reloj reported from Guantanamo that the quake caused cracks in some buildings and some pieces of masonry fell. The damage was being evaluated, the radio said, but it mentioned no casualties. No tsunami warning was issued for the region.

     "It was very strong," the woman said. "We ran and stood in the doorway. Neighbors were screaming and ran into the street. ... I haven't heard of any damages. Everybody is back inside." "I don't think there are any damages, at least around here," said Mabel Martinez, who runs another bed and breakfast in Santiago de Cuba. "But people are definitely alarmed."  The US base in southeastern Cuba was used to transport supplies and personnel to the aid effort after the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti, about 200 miles away. Elsewhere, a magnitude-5.3 quake struck in Guatemala, about 60 miles from the country's border with Mexico.  The quake was centred about 53 miles north-northeast of Huehuetenango, Guatemala, at a depth of 51 miles, the USGS said.

DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ MET IN SECRET AT ONE OF HIS PRIVATE RESIDENCES WITH RAUL REYES, THE SLAIN SECOND-IN-COMMAND OF THE FARC

    CARACAS, VENEZUELA--DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ said on March 15 that he met in Caracas with Raúl Reyes, the slain second-in-command of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), to comply with several requests that former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana would have made to his Venezuelan counterpart.  

     "I met with Reyes in private and in secret in La Casona (one of the residences of Venezuelan presidents). We talked the whole night through," Chávez said and added that he worked to "try to find peace."  "Then, Pastrana asked me to meet with Antonio … I do not remember his last name, one of the leaders of Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN). I also met with him, in private," Chávez told journalists.

     Meanwhile, Chávez met with his Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the Miraflores Palace and called him "a socialist with very clear principles."  "There is no protocol between us. (...) We are brothers (...) He is a socialist. He has very clear principles," said President Chávez, after he held a private meeting with Lukashenko. After the meeting, delegations of both countries met with the two presidents.   Chávez said that Venezuela will sell 80,000 barrels of crude oil to Belarus from May 1. "The shipment will enable us to enter the European market and work with joint ventures with Belarusian refineries. Belarus is very generous with us," the Venezuelan leader said.

former colombian president andres pastrana denies he had authorized a meeting between dictator chavez and raul reyes

      MADRID, SPAIN--Former Colombian President Andres Pastrana denied on Wednesday that he had authorized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to meet with the FARC, as Chavez had previously claimed. Pastrana, president of Colombia from 1998 to 2002, said that the earlier statement from Chavez was simply "not true," and that "The one with the failing memory is President Chavez."

     On Monday, Chavez admitted that he had met with slain FARC commander Raul Reyes out of a request from Pastrana. "I once received 'Raul Reyes,' in private and in secret in [presidential residency] the Casona. We talked one morning because Andres Pastrana asked me to," Chavez said. Pastrana went on to say that, "We've always known that Venezuela was participating in the peace process and was collaborating with the twenty-odd countries that were helping us (in the process). But I never gave Chavez authorization to speak with the FARC."

      Colombia's former peace commissioner Camilio Gomez, who was responsible for peace talks with the FARC during the Pastrana administration, denied on Monday that Colombian government had authorized Chavez to meet with the FARC's then-number two, 'Raul Reyes'. According to Pastrana, Chavez was always interested in participating in talks with the FARC, but that "the only one who has given permission for Chavez to talk with the FARC has been [current] President [Alvaro] Uribe."

March 20, 2010

THE CHIEF OF U.S. SOUTHCOM, GENERAL DOUGLAS FRASER, ADMITS HIS MISTAKE AND NOW  SAYS THAT VENEZUELA IS DESTABILIZING LATIN AMERICA


      WASHINGTON, D.C.-- The chief of the U.S. military's Southern Command said on Thursday that Venezuela's socialist government is a "destabilizing force" in Latin America and continues to back leftist guerrillas in Colombia. General Douglas Fraser's comments in congressional testimony came a week after he told a U.S. Senate hearing that the Pentagon had no evidence of a "government-to-terrorist" connection between President Hugo Chavez's government and Colombian FARC rebels. Southern Command is responsible for U.S. military activities in much of Latin America.

    Fraser, testifying to the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, said Venezuela remains a threat to U.S. interests. "They continue to have a very anti-U.S. stance and look to try and restrict U.S. activity wherever they have the opportunity to do that," Fraser said. "They are continuing to engage with the region ... and continuing to pursue their socialism agenda. ... They remain a destabilizing force in the region," the general said. Fraser said Venezuela continues to provide the FARC a safe haven and "financial logistical support" based on information found on a laptop computer of a FARC commander seized by Colombian soldiers during a raid on a guerrilla camp in Ecuador in 2008.

     Venezuela's ambassador in Washington, Bernardo Alvarez, said the reversal of the general's position, to conform with statements by officials in the Obama administration, showed the United States has no proof of Venezuelan support for the FARC and the criticism was politically motivated. During a recent tour of Latin America, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stepped up criticism of Chavez, a populist leader who is the fiercest opponent of U.S. influence in the region even though his country is a major supplier of oil to the United States.  Venezuela is among the five main oil suppliers to the United States and is its second-leading trading partner in Latin America after Mexico.

PERUVIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SUSPECTS THAT VENEZUELA IS A DRUG TRANSIT COUNTRY


      LIMA, PERU--"There are suspicions that Venezuela is a corridor of 'drug trafficking' to Central America," said Rafael Rey, the Peruvian Minister of Defense, in an interview published on Friday in the Spanish newspaper El País.

     Rey travelled to Europe to defend the image of Peru's Ministry of Defense, after the Commission of Truth and Reconciliation dedicated to investigate crimes committed during the internal war between the armed group Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and the Peruvian Armed Forces attributed to the Peruvian Army 22,000 of the nearly 70,000 victims of the military conflict.

     Asked about drug trafficking cooperation between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and some armed groups such as Sendero Luminoso, the minister said that those groups protect illegal crops and transport drugs.  "The cooperation between Colombia and Peru has increased, although there are suspicions that Venezuela is a corridor of drug trafficking to Central America," Rey said.

AFTER CAREFULLY LISTENING DICTATOR CHAVEZ'S THREATS, SPAIN SAYS IT DOES NOT CONSIDER VENEZUELA A "HAVEN OF ETA MEMBERS"

    MADRID, SPAIN--Venezuela is not the new sanctuary of Basque terrorist group ETA, but there is a potential "core," that should be investigated by Spain, Spanish Minister of the Interior Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba said.

     The minister remarks came after a Spanish judge issued a bench warrant against 12 members of ETA and of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), mostly of them residents of Venezuela and Cuba, AFP quoted.   "There is a core of people linked with ETA in Venezuela who have been there for some years and…some new additions might have been made," he told Radio Nacional de España (Spain's National Radio, RNE).

     "We need to check what it is, its extent, and above all, prevent it, if any, from sprouting or remaining," the senior officer said.  The Spanish government is interested in "clearing up any suspicion" and "I therefore request the cooperation of Venezuelan authorities and I think we will get it," the minister added.

March 19, 2010

ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS HE BOYCOTTED THE VISIT OF BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIS INACIO LULA DA SILVA


      JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Israel's foreign minister confirmed Tuesday that he boycotted meetings with the visiting Brazilian president, claiming he refused to visit the grave of the founder of modern Zionism.  Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli media he did not attend President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's speech at the Israeli parliament on Monday or two other meetings. Lieberman said he was upset at Silva's decision not to visit late Zionist leader Theodor Herzl's grave, especially while agreeing to lay a wreath at the tomb of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Wednesday.  "A person who is not prepared to visit Herzl's grave but is visiting Arafat's grave, I don't accept that," Lieberman told the Israeli news Web site YNet. He claimed the snub breached protocol. A spokesman from the office of the Brazilian president countered that visiting Herzl's grave was not accepted protocol for a foreign leader's trip.

     "It was never even considered as part of the president's agenda," the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter. He said the Israeli response was odd, considering recent trips to Israel by other leaders did not include a visit to Herzl's grave. The official said French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi did not visit Herzl's grave on their latest trips to Israel. Israeli officials say the trip to Herzl's grave was reinstated recently. Last week visiting Vice President Joe Biden visited the grave site. The diplomatic spat threatened to overshadow an otherwise warm reception for Silva. On Monday, he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed for their governments to hold joint meetings every two years.

     Lieberman has insisted Israel will not stand by when offended by other nations. His year as foreign minister has repeatedly been marred by diplomatic incidents. He protested to Turkey over a TV series that reportedly portrayed Israeli soldiers murdering innocent children and demanded that Sweden condemn an article in a Swedish newspaper that alleged Israeli soldiers harvested the organs of dead Palestinians. Sweden refused, and its foreign minister canceled a trip to Israel at the time of the dispute. Lieberman met with Silva on a South American trip last year, in a bid to enlist help in stymieing Iran's alleged effort to build a nuclear weapon. Silva said his visit - the first for a sitting president of Brazil - was "a mission of peace" that he hoped would help his country emerge as a bigger player in foreign affairs. He continued to the West Bank on Tuesday for meetings with Palestinian officials and was to depart to neighboring Jordan on Wednesday.

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT PLACED A WREATH ON PALESTINIAN LEADER YASSER ARAFAT'S TOMB

    JERSULAEM, ISRAEL--Brazil's president placed a wreath on the tomb of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Wednesday and sharply criticized Israeli policies, leading Israeli officials to suggest he was not being evenhanded. Making the first visit by any sitting Brazilian president to Israel and the Palestinian territories, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has termed the trip amission of peace." The visit appears aimed at helping Brazil emerge as a bigger player in foreign affairs. Brazil could play a bridging role: the country is Israel's largest trading partner in Latin America, but also has close ties to Iran, Israel's archenemy. Silva has been a defender of Iran's nuclear ambitions, which Israel sees as a potentially grave threat.

    Silva laid a yellow and green wreath on Arafat's mausoleum on Wednesday, following protocol for visiting leaders. The visit came a day after Israel's hawkish foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said he boycotted meetings with Silva because the Brazilian did not pay a similar visit to the grave of Zionist founder Theodor Herzl. The mayor of the West Bank city of Ramallah draped an iconic Palestinian black-and-white checkered scarf on the shoulders of the Brazilian president, who told a crowd of Palestinian officials and several dozen people waving Brazil's flag that he had participated in pro-Palestinian protests in the past.

     Speaking at a press conference, Silva criticized Israel's West Bank separation barrier, called on Israel to lift its punishing blockade of the Gaza Strip and described Jewish settlements in the West Bank as extinguishing "the candle of hope." Those statements could diminish Silva's chances of winning the trust of Israelis. Silva showed "sympathy, understanding and support" to Palestinians, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, but "courtesy, politeness and correctness" to Israel. "This is a divide we regret," Palmor said. Silva later traveled to Jordan, with a focus on boosting economic ties. He signed 11 agreements pertaining to science, technology and tourism, according to a palace statement. It quoted Silva as saying Brazil wanted to launch joint ventures with Jordan, but did not provide details.

ISRAELI MAN KILLED BY GAZA-FIRED ROCKET  

      JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip killed a man inside Israel Thursday, Israeli medics said, in the first death from such an attack since Israel's Gaza offensive last year. Such rocket fire once common but have become rare since the Israeli military's campaign in the Gaza Strip last year, which aimed to bring an end to the attacks.

      Israel's emergency service Magen David Adom said the man killed was about 30 years old and appeared to be a farm worker from Thailand employed in an agricultural community just north of Gaza. Thursday's attack came on the same day as a visit to Gaza by Europe's top diplomat, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, the first such visit by a senior official in more than a year. Ashton had just crossed into Gaza when the attack took place. A small Islamist faction calling itself Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the rocket in a text message sent to reporters. There was no immediate response from Israel to the attack.

     The thousands of crude rockets that hit Israel over a seven-year period sparked the Israeli military's three-week offensive in Gaza in late 2008 and January 2009. The brief war devastated Gaza, killing 1,400 Palestinians, including hundreds of civilians. Thirteen Israelis were killed. Rocket attacks have dropped steeply since the campaign. Gaza is ruled by the Islamic militants of Hamas, but the sporadic attacks over the past year have generally been claimed by smaller militant factions.

March 18, 2010

PRO-CUBAN GOVERNMENT HOOLIGANS FURIOUSLY ATTACKED LADIES IN WHITE

      HAVANA, CUBA--Some 200 Cuban government HOOLIGANS demonstrated Tuesday in this capital against 22 women marching to commemorate the seventh anniversary of a March 2003 crackdown on dissidents. The “act of repudiation” occurred along about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) of streets in central Havana when the Ladies in White, comprising relatives of the 75 dissidents jailed in 2003, marched from a church where they had attended Mass to the house of their spokesman, Laura Pollan.

    The only stop made by the Ladies on their march was at the headquarters of the state-run Union of Journalists of Cuba, where Pollan issued a call to the reporters to pay attention to the situation of the 53 opposition members of the “Group of 75” who still remain imprisoned on the communist-ruled island. “We’re here to tell the journalists that we exist,” said Pollan, who was accompanied by the other members of the Ladies in White, who shouted “freedom.”  The Ladies dressed in white and carried gladiolas, as they have every year since the arrests of their relatives during the “Black Spring” of 2003. From that moment on, dozens of people began moving along with the Ladies’ march, including government supporters and State Security agents in plainclothes.

    The dissidents were harassed by a counter-demonstrators, who shouted pro-government slogans and invoked the names of Cuban President Raul Castro and older brother Fidel, who handed over power to his sibling after a serious illness. The march of the Ladies in White is part of their program for a week of protests to mark the passing of seven years since the Black Spring.  On the first day of the protest, they met with Reyna Tamayo, the mother of political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, who died last month after an 85-day hunger strike. This year, the protest coincides with the fast of dissident Guillermo Fariñas, who began his hunger strike 21 days ago in the central city of Santa Clara to demand that the government release 26 ailing political prisoners as a “humanitarian gesture.”

FRENCH POLICEMAN KILLED IN ETA ATTACK

    PARIS, FRANCE--French police are hunting for at least five Basque terrorist suspects after they fled the scene of a shoot-out in which a police sergeant died in the south-eastern outskirts of Paris.  A 26-year-old Spanish national was arrested during the gunfight last night at Dammarie-les-Lys, near Fontainebleau, which broke out after a police patrol stumbled across three men and a woman filling the petrol tanks of four cars on a country track. The cars, including powerful BMWs, had just been stolen by the suspected ETA gang in an armed robbery at a nearby second-hand car sales depot.

    Anti-terrorist police in Paris and the Spanish Government confirmed today that attackers, which included at least one woman, were assumed to be members of ETA, the separatist organisation. ETA has come under pressure in recent years as France has cracked down on its havens.  The group had not until now killed any French police or Gendarmerie officer. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish Prime Minister, condemned the attack. "France has paid a high price for its help against ETA," he said.  The arrested man, Josebo Fernandez Aspurz, identified himself and told police that he was an ETA member, police sources said. He had left Spain only a week earlier and is wanted there for low-level street violence of the kind usually associated with pro-ETA youth groups, Spanish media said.

    The two-man police patrol were unprepared for the danger they faced when they stopped to make a routine identity check of the four people filling cars parked on the unmade road. One of the drivers pulled out a pistol but was disarmed by the officers who proceeded to start handcuffing the group.  At that moment two other cars arrived and their occupants opened fire on the police. The officer was hit by three bullets which entered his chest via his armpit despite the bullet-resistant vest which he was wearing. The other patrol officer was not hit. He managed to restrain Aspurz while at least five others in the gang fled by car and by foot.  Police sealed off the area, which is near the main north-south motorway from Paris, but by mid-day today had found no trace of the gang.

BELARUS OFFERS CLOSER MILITARY TIES WITH VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

      CARCAS, VENEZUELA--Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered to help Venezuela strengthen its military, saying Tuesday that dictator  Hugo Chavez's government should not have to worry about foreign threats. Addressing lawmakers inside Venezuela's National Assembly, Lukashenko said Belarus hopes to "share the experience of creating an integrated defense system." Chavez, a former paratroop commander who has built close ties with Lukashenko, has expressed interest in buying radar and anti-aircraft missiles from the former Soviet republic to bolster Venezuela's air defenses.

    Lukashenko did not provide details on what type of support Belarus could provide, saying only that his government could help fortify Venezuela's defenses "in the short term" and enable Venezuelans "to live peacefully without having to be looking from side to side" for potential threats. Venezuela has significantly increased military spending under Chavez, who has turned to allies such as Russia and China for arms while accusing the United States of plotting against him.

     Chavez and Lukashenko share similarly hostile stances toward Washington. U.S. officials, in turn, have repeatedly raised concerns over growing authoritarianism and the gradual deterioration of democratic freedoms in both Venezuela and Belarus. Lukashenko did not single out Washington as an adversary during Tuesday's speech, but he hinted the U.S. is among a group of powerful countries that "attempt to impose their will" on other nations by lecturing them on "human rights, democracy and freedom." "Together, we can counter this threat," he said. Later, Lukashenko and Chavez toured a housing project that Belarus is helping to build in Venezuela's northwestern Aragua state.

March 17, 2010

CUBAN DISSIDENT GUILLERMO FARIñAS REMAINED IN A CUBAN HOSPITAL

      HAVANA, CUBA--Dissident Guillermo Fariñas remained in a Cuban hospital Monday in what one human rights activist called a ``milimetric'' government concession to his hunger strike. Fariñas was stable but weak and suffering from severe headaches at the intensive care unit of the Arnaldo Milan Castro hospital in his hometown of Santa Clara, said his mother, Alicia Hernandez. He is receiving fluids intravenously but continues to refuse to eat or drink, Hernandez said by telephone from the hospital.

      Fariñas was hospitalized when he fainted Thursday, on the 16th day of his protest to demand the Cuban government release about two dozen political prisoners reported with serious health problems. He also lost consciousness and was rushed to the hospital on March 3, but at that time doctors hydrated him with intravenous fluids, declared him stable the same day and refused to admit him. His current stay in the hospital means the government ``made a millimetric concession'' from its previous ``very dangerous'' position of rehydrating Fariñas and sending him home, said Havana human rights activist Elizardo Sánchez.

     A group of bloggers, writers and artists from Cuba and other countries meanwhile launched an online letter, titled “Orlando Zapata Tamayo: I accuse the Cuban government,'' to demand the immediate release of all political prisoners. Zapata, 42, a political prisoner who was serving sentences totaling about 36 years, died Feb. 23 after an 83-day hunger strike. Fariñas launched his protest one day later. There are nearly 5,000 signers of the letter.

FORMER COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ANDRES PASTRANA DID NOT OKAY DICTATOR CHAVEZ MEETING WITH FARC LEADERS

    BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Former Colombia's Peace Commissioner Camilo Gómez said that it is not true that the government of Andrés Pastrana (1998-2002) authorized a meeting between Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a rebel group.

     "No, President Chávez has not been faithful to the truth in this particular issue," Gómez told TV news station Caracol Noticias, in response to statements made by the Venezuelan ruler, who said he had met with Raúl Reyes, the former FARC spokesman and "number two" of the Colombian guerrillas killed in March 2008, because former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana had requested him to do so, Efe reported.  On Monday Chávez referred to the alleged relations of his government with the Basque separatist group ETA and said that the meeting with the FARC leader took place in the context of peace negotiations that the government of Pastrana carried out with the guerrilla group in the Colombian region of El Caguán.

     "If (Pastrana) does not recognize the request he made or decides to remain silent, is up to him. It is up to his conscience," Chávez said.  NOn the contrary, Gómez said that "President Chávez asked several times the Colombian government to authorize him to talk" with the FARC. The Colombian Commissioner said that the Colombian authorities rejected the request.

VENEZUELA DENOUNCES THE UNITED STATES AT THE UNITED NATIONS 

      GENEVA, SWITZERLAND-- Germán Mundaraín, the Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations, accused on Tuesday the government of the United States of slandering Venezuela. The Venezuelan envoy delivered a speech before the plenary of the UN Human Rights Commission.

    "The country that tells lies to attack us wrongfully is the same country that violates most human rights in the planet and has the darkest record of violations and abuses of human dignity in modern history. It is the only country that has used the atomic bomb on civilians, and is the political and military leader in armed conflicts raging in the world," Mundaraín said, referring to the United States.

     "The United States continues to demonize the peoples and governments that are not subject to its control. They have the support of international media corporations to trivialize the accomplishments made by leftist countries in their struggle for full observance of human rights," the former Venezuelan Ombudsman said.

March 16, 2010

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA  WANTS ISRAEL TO CANCEL EAST JERUSALEM CONSTRUCTION  PLAN

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. is pressing Israel to scrap a contentious east Jerusalem building project whose approval has touched off the most serious diplomatic feud with Washington in years, American and Israeli officials said Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, however, gave no indication he intended to cancel construction of the 1,600 housing units, despite condemnation from a string of U.S. officials. Instead, Netanyahu offered a defense of his country's building in the city's eastern sector, which the Palestinians want as their future capital, and noted that Israel has been building there for more than 40 years. "The building of those Jewish neighborhoods in no way hurt the Arabs of east Jerusalem and did not come at their expense," he said in parliament Monday.

    Palestinians say Jewish building in east Jerusalem harms them in various ways. It eats up land they want for a future state, cuts off east Jerusalem from the rest off the West Bank and prevents the expansion of Arab neighborhoods, they say. The Palestinians also point out that much of the land used for Jewish construction was expropriated from Arab owners. Tensions in the city at the center of the spat were high, with police out in large numbers in Jerusalem's volatile Old City in expectation of renewed clashes and Palestinian shopkeepers shuttering their stores for several hours to protest Israel's actions in the city. Top U.S. officials have lined up in recent days to condemn the Israeli plan. The project was announced during Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the region last week, badly embarrassing the U.S. and complicating its efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

    Obama administration officials said Washington wants the project canceled, though there have been talks with Israeli officials about alternative steps. Speaking on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made, the officials said whatever Israel does must be a significant step to restore confidence and move peace efforts ahead. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev refused to comment Monday. But Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because no official decision has been made public, said Washington wants the construction project canceled. Although Netanyahu has apologized for the timing of the project's approval, he has not said he will cancel it.

PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL, BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, DEFIES PRESIDENT OBAMA OVER EAST JERUSALEM CONSTRUCTIONS PLAN

    JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected any curbs on Jewish settlement in and around Jerusalem, defying Washington in Israel's deepening crisis with U.S. President Barack Obama's administration. "For the past 40 years, no Israeli government ever limited construction in the neighborhoods of Jerusalem," he said in a speech in parliament, citing areas in the West Bank that Israel captured in 1967 and unilaterally annexed to the city.

     The United States has condemned Israel's plan to build 1,600 new homes for Jews in Ramat Shlomo, a religious settlement within the Israeli-designated borders of Jerusalem, whose future status is at the heart of the Middle East conflict. Israel's announcement of the project during a visit last week by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden embarrassed the White House. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in unusually blunt remarks, called it an insult. The Palestinians, who had just agreed to begin indirect peace talks under U.S. mediation, have said they will not go ahead unless the plan is scrapped.

     An Israeli official said U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell planned to return to Israel on Tuesday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on getting the talks under way. In parliament, Netanyahu, who heads a coalition that includes pro-settler parties, including his own, said there was nearly total consensus in Israel that annexed areas of Jerusalem would be part of the Jewish state in any future peace deal. Israeli media said Clinton had demanded a reversal of the decision to build in Ramat Shlomo. Netanyahu's comments appeared to signal to Washington that he believed he had political backing at home to withstand U.S. pressure. Netanyahu imposed a 10-month moratorium on new housing starts in West Bank settlements in November, but excluded Jerusalem. The Obama administration, which had earlier pressed for a complete freeze, welcomed the move at the time, but the Palestinians deemed it inadequate.

CHINA FOREIGN MINISTER, YANG JIECHI, SAYS US-CHINA  TIES "DISRUPTED" 

      BEIJING, CHINA--Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said on Sunday that relations with the United States had been "seriously disrupted," after a rise in friction between the two big powers. "The responsibility does not lie with China," said Yang, speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the annual session of China's parliament.

    Beijing and Washington have recently gone through a rough patch, with quarrels in January and February over Chinese Internet censorship, trade disputes, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. The United States "must respect China's core interests" on Taiwan and Tibet, Yang added. "I believe the United States understands very well China's core interests and major concerns.

     "China has always attached importance to its relationship with the United States," he said. "Resolutely adhering to one's principled stance is not the same thing as being hardline." But the two big trade partners appear to want to lower the temperature of the disputes as they also grapple with how to deal with how to deal with Iran and North Korea. Beijing has not yet acted on its threat to sanction U.S. companies involved in the arms sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of its territory.  Last weekend, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he wanted trade friction with the United States to ease.