May 31, 2010

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS WON FIRST ROUND OF COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: SANTOS, 46.6 %; MOCKUS,  21.5%

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--The two leading candidates in Colombia's presidential race will compete in a runoff June 20, since neither garnered more than 50 percent of the vote in Sunday's election.  With 99 percent of polling stations reporting, Colombia's National Civil Registry said Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos had 46.6 percent of votes while former Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus received 21.5 percent of votes.  Polls had placed the two in a statistical dead heat going into Sunday's election, but more than twice as many voters cast their ballots for Santos -- who has led high-profile operations against leftist guerrillas during his tenure.

    In a speech Sunday Santos praised outgoing President Alvaro Uribe's leadership and asked for supporters across the political spectrum to join his campaign. "My government will be a government of inclusion. It will be a government by all Colombians and for all Colombians, for work and against poverty. It will be a great agreement so that we can have work, work and more work," he said.  At a rally Sunday evening, Mockus also called for unity and said he was determined to win the next round of elections, chanting with supporters as he jumped up and down on stage.

    "Together we can radically transform society. We know that violence, inequality and corruption are not a destiny. They are problems that we can overcome," he said. Voting proceeded smoothly for the most part Sunday, though a government official reported isolated clashes between the military and armed groups in the country's interior. One soldier was killed in one of the skirmishes, Justice and Interior Minister Fabio Valencia said. The winner of the runoff will replace Uribe, a two-term president who has high approval ratings for his tough stand against Marxist guerrillas that have been waging war against the government since the 1960s. Uribe also has been sparring with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who Colombia accuses of supporting the rebels.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ ASKS ATTORNEY GENERAL TO INVESTIGATE FOOD GIANT POLAR FOR HOARDING

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--"If Polar continues hoarding goods, we will have to go after it." Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez instructed the Attorney General Office to investigate major food producer Polar. He asked for "a probe, because if they continue hoarding, we will have to go after Polar. We will not let anybody blackmail us." The Venezuelan Head of State's warning came during his weekly radio and TV show Aló Presidente, broadcast from the municipality of San Diego, in central Carabobo state. The Venezuelan government is building in San Diego a section of a railway linking the towns of Puerto Cabello and La Encrucijada.

     Chávez said that he did not want to take actions against Polar. He dared, however, to forecast the future of some divisions of food giant Empresas Polar if they were expropriated by the State.  "What is the government going to do with a brewery? I would close it. Is beer a national need? How many deaths have there been here due to Polar's beer? How many people have been wounded? How many street fights?"  In his speech about the future of beer production by Empresas Polar, President Chávez said: "This brewery could become an ice cream factory, a food processing plant. What will we do with a brewery? What for? It is not necessary. People get beer bellies, and their cholesterol grows higher and they turn crazy."

    Chávez said that beer production is one of the tools used by capitalism. "It is our undoing. These are weapons to promote bad habits in our peoples. (They are used) to keep poor people dominated and exploited. That's the truth, the real truth."  After justifying the seizure of 120 tons of foodstuffs from Empresas Polar in Barquisimeto, northwestern Lara state, Chávez said, "(In Venezuela), we have a bourgeoisie that wants to hurt people through food. They are not going to make it. We will remove them progressively from the food distribution system."  At the same time, he criticized the stance of Polar employees. "I saw some workers defending Polar. Poor people! They are supporting those who exploit people, supporting the bourgeoisie. This makes me sad. The working class must be aligned with people, not with the bourgeoisie."

FORMER AMBASSADOR DIEGO ARRIA VISITS EUROPE TO DENOUNCE HR VIOLATIONS IN VENEZUELA

      PARIS, FRANCE--Diego Arria, former Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations and owner of the expropriated ranch "La Carolina," is visiting several European countries. The former chairman of the UN Security Council will go to different international organizations to complain about the violation of human rights in his country.

    Arria was in Paris on Friday talking about the Venezuelan situation in a meeting of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE). "I held a meeting with European MP's who were alarmed at the Venezuelan situation," he said.

     Arria just started a tour to air the human rights situation in Venezuela. The former UN Ambassador said on Monday that he would visit Geneva to attend meetings with the Human Rights Council of the UN system, the Anti-Torture League, and the Director-General's Office of the International Labor Organization. Arria said that Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has used the figure of the oligarch to violate the rights of workers.

May 30, 2010

HILLARY CLINTON HARSHLY CRITICIZES LULA DA SILVA FOR HIS IRAN POLITICS 

      RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States has serious disagreements with Brazilian President Lula Da Silva over his efforts to mediate with Iran over its nuclear program. But Clinton stressed the United States desire for good relations with the emerging South American power. U.S. officials have privately expressed irritation that Iran has used Brazilian mediation efforts to try to defuse pressure for new international nuclear sanctions.

    But Clinton's comments at Washington's Brookings Institution were the most extensive by a senior Obama administration official in public on the issue. Clinton, who outlined a new U.S. national security policy at the Washington research organization, said the United States wants enduring good relations with Brazil, which she said is a responsible and effective partner with Washington on many issues. But she said Iran used Brazilian diplomacy spearheaded by President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva to try to stave off new U.N. Security Council sanctions.

     "I don't know that we agree with any nation on every issue," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. "And certainly we have very serious disagreements with Brazil's diplomacy vis-à-vis Iran. And we have told President Lula, and I've told my counterpart the foreign minister [Celso Amorim] that we think buying time for Iran, enabling Iran to avoid international unity with respect to their nuclear program, makes the world more dangerous, not less.'' Earlier this month, Iran told visiting Brazilian and Turkish leaders that it was ready to accept a big-power proposal made last year to export more than one thousand kilograms of enriched uranium, and obtain fuel for a Tehran research reactor in return. But the fact that Iran more than doubled its uranium stockpile since the proposal was made in October lessened the significance of its export pledge.

LULA DA SILVA LASHES OUT AT HILLARY CLINTON OVER HER COMMENTS ON IRAN

         RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LULA DA SILVA LASHED OUT AT US SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON in a deepening confrontation over Iran, saying she and other nuclear powers lacked credibility in demanding Teheran hobble its atomic program. Lula and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted a nuclear fuel swap deal they struck last week with Iran should be weighed instead of a US push for sanctions against the Islamic republic.

      In Sofia, Teheran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran expects a positive response from the UN atomic watchdog IAEA and world powers to its proposed nuclear fuel deal with Turkey and Brazil. And Mottaki insisted that any further sanctions by the United Nations Security Council against the Islamic republic over its contested nuclear programme would prove counterproductive.  “To my understanding, the Vienna group are considering (the deal) positively,” Mottaki told reporters on the sidelines of a Black Sea cooperation forum in Sofia.  “And as soon as their response to (International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya) Amano comes, I think the negotiations will start,” he said.

     Lula was robust in response to comments on Thursday fromClinton that the Brazilian-Turkish deal’s effect of “buying time for Iran... makes the world more dangerous, not less.” “The existence of weapons of mass destruction is what makes the world more dangerous,” Lula shot back at the opening of a UN Alliance of Civilisations conference in Rio aimed at improving cross-cultural understanding.  Erdogan, also attending, said: “When we hear people talking about stopping Iran getting nuclear weapons — who are they to talk against the idea of having nuclear weapons!”  He added that “those who talk like that should eliminate nuclear weapons from their own countries.... That’s the only way to be convincing.”  The sharp exchanges revealed what Clinton has termed “very serious disagreements with Brazil’s diplomacy vis-a-vis Iran.” She also said she believed Iran was “using” Brazil.

MEXICAN PIRATES PREY ON BOATERS ON TEXAS' FALCON LAKE

      FALCON LAKE, TEXAS--Texas' Falcon Lake is best known for its sport fishing, but lately it's the armed Mexican pirates that have attracted quite a bit of attention.  In recent weeks, groups of men with assault rifles and high-powered machine guns have boarded leisure boats demanding drugs and cash, leading authorities to believe that drug cartels are operating on the popular bass-fishing lake on the Mexican border. According to local news reports members of the Zeta drug cartel (Z) patrol the Mexican half of Falcón, a lake that crosses the border between Texas and Mexico, it seems that they  are responsible for the assaults.

     "It's gotten more brazen," Colonel Peter Flores, director of the law enforcement division for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, told Aol News Friday. "We believe that these are some offshoots of gangs on that side that are going into different types of criminal activity aside from the smuggling and poaching that they do. A few of them have gone into sideline robbery and are diversifying," he said.

    The lake has been the site of three armed robberies since April 30, and the Texas Department of Public Safety has issued a bulletin urging fishermen to remain in U.S. waters.  "The robbers are believed to be members of a drug trafficking organization," the warning read. The Texas agency added that fishermen "could be in danger if they cross into Mexican waters." "It's piracy," Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez told ABC. "It may not be on the high seas, but they are taking advantage of people on this lake by threatening and robbing them."

May 29, 2010

BELIEVE IT OR NOT!  SPAIN SAYS IT'S PRESSING CUBA TO FREE POLITICAL PRISONERS

      MADRID, SPAIN--Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said Thursday that she was not throwing in the towel in trying to change European Union policy toward Cuba, adding that Spain is the “most demanding” country at present urging Havana to free political prisoners.  De la Vega said that Spain, which occupies the EU rotating presidency through June 30, will try to modify the common position that the bloc has maintained vis-a-vis Cuba since 1996, a stance that bases dialogue with the communist government on steps it takes favoring democracy and respect for human rights.

     She expressed that sentiment during her speech before the Ibero-American Affairs Committee of the Spanish Senate, explaining to lawmakers the results of the recent EU-Latin America-Caribbean Summit in Madrid. De la Vega expressed her confidence that the EU common position can be changed now that it had been proven that “it’s not useful and doesn’t serve the needs of the present and the future.” The deputy premier emphasized that that objective is compatible with maintaining a firm stance in favor of the “necessary and unavoidable democratization” of Cuba. “The necessity of dialogue, the release of all prisoners of conscience and respect for human rights. We’re going to keep working along that line,” she told senators.

    In her judgment, with dialogue “things can be achieved,” whereas that is not possible with “confrontation, isolation and the elevation of tensions.”  In addition, De la Vega praised the willingness of Raul Castro’s government to take positive measures regarding political prisoners on the island, a position Havana adopted as a result of its dialogue with the Cuban Catholic Church, although those steps have not become concrete as yet. In her opinion, the deputy premier said that “all that is going to permit – we have hopes that it may be this way – that Cuba, sooner than later, will advance at the hands of the Cubans themselves toward a state of law.”

AT LEAST 73 KILLED IN INDIA TRAIN CRASH LINKED TO MAOIST REBELS

         NEW DELHI, INDIA--At least 73 bodies have been pulled out of the mangled wreckage where two trains crashed in eastern India early Friday in an incident authorities linked to Maoist rebels.  By Friday night, hours after the massive collision, prospects were getting dim for anybody else left in the wreckage of crushed train cars, rescuers said. Also about 115 passengers were injured when 13 cars of the Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Express derailed, capsized on a parallel track and were slammed by a cargo train, authorities said. Indian officials gave different theories about the derailment.

    Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said a bomb explosion caused the passenger train to jump rails. "The blast was carefully timed," Banerjee said on television. "The tracks were sabotaged 15 minutes before the train passed over them." However, India's Home Ministry said there was no immediate evidence suggesting a blast. "It appears to be a case of sabotage where a portion of the railway track was removed. Whether explosives were used is not yet clear," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said in a statement.

    Police say they have not found signs of explosives on the scene. Manoj Verma, the district police superintendent, said investigators were looking into the possibility that "fishplates" which secure rail joints were missing from the track. An investigation was under way to determine the cause of derailment. But the role of Maoists "cannot be ruled out", Verma said. West Bengal's police chief Bhupinder Singh told reporters that officers have found Maoist posters claiming responsibility for the attack. The crash occurred at about 1:30 a.m. (4 p.m. ET), railway spokesman Anil Kumar Saxena said.

AT LEAST 80 KILLED IN SIMULTANEOUS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN PAKISTAN

      ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN-- Bombing and firearms attacks in Pakistan targeting houses of worship for a persecuted religious minority killed at least 80 people Friday, a senior government official said.  The strikes took place at two mosques in Lahore belonging to the Ahmadi religious group, police and rescue officials said. At the Baitul Noor place of worship in the Model Town region, two attackers on motorbikes fired at the entrance of the building and tossed hand grenades, a rescue official told CNN. Police said one of the attackers is critically injured. The other, clad in a suicide jacket, was detained.

    At a mosque in the Garhi Shahu neighborhood, one witness there told CNN he saw two attackers armed with AK-47s and another witness said he saw at least four gunmen. Sajjad Bhutta, the senior official, said the heads of three suicide bombers were discovered there. Bhutta said at least 78 people were injured in the violence. Ahmadis regard themselves as Muslim. But the government says they aren't and many Muslim extremists have targeted them. Sunni and Shia Muslims do not regard followers of the religion as Muslims because they do not regard Mohammed as the last prophet sent by God. The movement was founded in 1889. Its followers believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835-1908) was sent by God as a prophet "to end religious wars, condemn bloodshed and reinstitute morality, justice and peace," the worldwide Ahmadi group says.

    The group, which is thought to number between 3 million and 4 million people in the country, endures "the most severe legal restrictions and officially sanctioned discrimination" among Pakistan's religious minorities, according to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. The commission, an independent, bipartisan U.S. government body, said in its latest annual report that "Ahmadis may not call their places of worship 'mosques,' worship in non-Ahmadi mosques or public prayer rooms which are otherwise open to all Muslims, perform the Muslim call to prayer, use the traditional Islamic greeting in public, publicly quote from the Koran, or display the basic affirmation of the Muslim faith." The agency says it's illegal for the group to preach publicly, pursue converts, or pass out religious material, and adherents are restricted from holding public conferences and traveling to Saudi Arabia for the hajj pilgrimage.

May 28, 2010

CUBA SAYS NO CASE YET AGAINST JAILED AMERICAN

      HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba has yet to open a legal case against a U.S. government contractor from Maryland nearly six months after he was arrested as a suspected spy, the head of the island's high court said Wednesday. Alan P. Gross was detained Dec. 3 at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport and has been held without charge at the capital's high-security Villa Marista prison ever since. Formal charges cannot be filed in Cuba without a judicial accusation and the opening of a court case, so it appears unlikely charges against Gross are imminent even as he approaches a half-year in custody.

    It is rare for suspects to be held for extended periods in Cuba without charges or even a case being opened. But Supreme Court President Ruben Remigio said Wednesday that "there still is not a case related to this matter" and he did not know whether prosecutors were working on one. "The courts receive cases when cases are presented," Remigio added, speaking on the sidelines of an international legal conference in western Havana. "When they aren't presented, we don't have a case." The general in charge of investigations for the Interior Ministry attended the same event but declined to comment. Gross, a 60-year-old native of Potomac, Maryland, came to Cuba as part of a little-known program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

     Satellite phones and other telecommunications materials are outlawed in this country, where the government maintains strict control over Internet access and the media. Officials from the U.S. Interest Section, which Washington maintains in Havana instead of an embassy, have been granted three consular visits to see Gross in prison, but have been otherwise largely silent on the matter. Cheryl Mills, chief of staff to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, raised the case in March during a meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez during a U.N. conference on aid for Haiti. Also pressing for Gross' release was Craig Kelly, deputy assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, who became the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Cuba in years when he came here for immigration talks in February.

SOMALI TERROR MEMBER MAY BE HEADING TO US

         HOUSTON, TEXAS--  U.S. Homeland Security officials have asked Houston authorities to watch for a member of a Somalia-based terror group who may be coming to Texas through Mexico. The federal department issued an alert last week for a suspected member of the al-Shabaab group, which has declared allegiance to al-Qaida. Harris County Sheriff's spokeswoman Christina Garza said Wednesday she could not share details. U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Lloyd Easterling says he "cannot discuss specific intelligence regarding individual groups." 

    The alert was issued after federal prosecutors in San Antonio added new charges earlier this month against a 24-year-old Somali man, Ahmed Muhammed Dhakane, who had been picked up in Brownsville in 2008. He pleaded not guilty May 14 in federal court in San Antonio to three counts of immigration fraud. Garza confirmed a connection Wednesday between Dhakane's case and the Homeland Security alert but would not elaborate. Dhakane is accused of making false statements under oath in support of his application for asylum. According to the indictment, Dhakane failed to disclose that he was a member or associate of the al-Barakat financial transfer network and Al-Ittihad al-Islami, or the Islamic Union, which wants to impose Islamic law in Somalia. Both are on the Treasury Department's list of global terrorist groups with links to al-Qaida, according to the indictment.

    The indictment also alleges that Dhakane lied about his movements before entering the United States in March 2008, that he "participated in and later ran a large-scale smuggling enterprise out of Brazil" that smuggled hundreds of people, mostly East Africans, into the United States. Among those smuggled, according to the indictment, were several Somalis affiliated with Al-Ittihad al-Islami. The indictment also alleges he lied when he told officials that a young girl was his wife, when she actually "was a smuggling client" of his whom he had never married and had "repeatedly raped and impregnated prior to coming to the United States." He threatened to have the girl murdered if U.S. officials learned of the rapes or that he was not her husband, according to the indictment.

TARGET OF BLOODY RAID MAY HAVE LEFT JAMAICA

      KINGSTON, JAMAICA--After a slum raid that left nearly 50 people dead in four days of gunbattles, the reputed drug kingpin who was the target may have fled the country, the government said Wednesday. Strongman Christopher Coke, who helped the prime minister win elected office, had months to stockpile weapons in his slum stronghold while the premier wavered over U.S. demands for his extradition.  "I could not say if he is in Jamaica," Information Minister Daryl Vaz said of Coke, who is known as "Dudus." "It's very difficult to tell."

    Police and soldiers who fought their way into the barricaded Tivoli Gardens slum in gritty West Kingston were conducting a door-to-door search, and the government reported calm Wednesday. Coke's lawyer has declined to confirm his whereabouts. Gray smoke was rising from recently extinguished fires inside Tivoli Gardens. Sporadic gunfire rang out elsewhere in West Kingston and security forces barred journalists from entering the battle zones around the capital on Jamaica's south coast, far from the tourist resorts on the north shore of the Caribbean island. The violence did not surprise island police and community groups who warned that Coke had been stockpiling weapons and preparing to defend himself since the U.S. demanded his extradition last August. According to the U.S. indict

ent, he has built a private arsenal of firearms smuggled in by gang members in the United States, sharing guns with other criminals to solidify his power as a major underworld boss.  At least 44 civilians have been killed, said Bishop Herro Blair, Jamaica's most prominent evangelical pastor, who was escorted into the slum by security forces. At least four soldiers and police officers also have died in the fighting. The slum presided over by Coke, the alleged leader of the "Shower Posse" gang, has long been a bastion of support for the governing Jamaica Labor Party. It is part of the district represented in parliament by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who stonewalled the U.S. extradition request for months before reversing himself under pressure from Washington and the local political opposition.

May 27, 2010

COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: PLOT AGAINST PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE WAS MASTERMINDED BY VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Colombian Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva said on Tuesday that intelligence operations are under way in Venezuela to "discredit" President Álvaro Uribe, including recent claims that a brother of the Colombian ruler has links with the paramilitary.

     "There are intelligence operations in Venezuela ordered by dictator Hugo Chávez to discredit President Uribe by using all kind of tricks," Silva said in an interview with Colombian radio station La FM, Efe reported.  According to the minister, there is "sufficient and conclusive" evidence of operations that have been under way "for months" and that are known to Uribe.  Silva added that the alleged plot against the Colombian leader includes the statements of former police major Juan Carlos Meneses, who said on Monday to The Washington Post that Santiago Uribe, the younger brother of the Colombian president, led a paramilitary group in the 1990's.

    Western Hemisphere. Colombian Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva said on Tuesday that intelligence operations are under way in Venezuela to "discredit" President Álvaro Uribe, including recent claims that a brother of the Colombian ruler has links with the paramilitary.

POLAND WELCOMES US SOLDIERS, PATRIOT MISSILE BATTERY

         WARSAW, POLAND-- Polish and U.S. officials hailed the arrival in Poland of an American Patriot missile battery, saying Wednesday that the hardware and soldiers just miles (kilometers) from the Russian border enhance Polish security but pose no threat to Russia. The Patriot battery arrived Sunday at a base in Morag, a town in northeastern Poland 37 miles (60 kilometers) from Russia's westernmost point, the Kaliningrad exclave. Russia's Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that the military activity on its doorstep does not promote security or "develop a relationship of trust and predictability in the region." Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich countered that "we do not share that opinion."

    "You don't need to be a specialist to know that this kind of defense weapon cannot be turned into an offensive weapon," Klich told reporters on a tour of the base. "This kind of weapon does not pose any threat to anybody. It serves the enhancement of Poland's security and the construction of cooperation and trust between Poland and the United States." The Patriot launcher battery will be rotated in and out of Poland over the next two years from its permanent station in Germany, accompanied each time by 100 to 150 U.S. soldiers. Warsaw's aim is to upgrade its air defense system, part of a larger project of military modernization it embarked on when it broke away from Moscow's influence 20 years ago. Poland has since joined NATO and fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. For now, the U.S. has brought six mobile launchers for medium- to high-range Patriot missiles to Poland, but not the missiles themselves - similar to having a gun but no ammunition.

    The U.S. ambassador to Poland, Lee Feinstein, said missiles might arrive later. He, too, stressed that the equipment is only meant for training the Polish military and that Russia is not threatened. "This is an entirely defensive weapons system and they pose no threat to any country," Feinstein said. Klich said the Patriot battery has political and symbolic importance for Poland - "political because it's tied to Poland's security. Symbolic because American soldiers for the first time will be stationed on Polish soil for a longer period of time." Klich also urged U.S. soldiers to respect Poland's laws and customs, noting they had arrived in a proud country with a 1,000-year history and democratic traditions going back to the 15th century.

TOP US MILITARY COMMANDER OKs SECRET MILITARY MISSIONS AGAINST MILITANTS IN MIDEAST, AFRICA

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East signed a secret order last fall that set the stage for increased clandestine and covert operations against militants and other threats across the region, defense officials said Tuesday. Gen. David Petraeus signed an order in September authorizing Special Operations forces to deploy to allied and hostile nations in the Mideast, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa to conduct surveillance missions and work with local forces, two officials said on condition of anonymity because the document is classified.

     Petraeus' seven-page order also appears to authorize specific operations in Iran, most likely to gather intelligence about the country's nuclear program or identify dissident groups that might be useful for a future military offensive, according to The New York Times, which first revealed the directive in Tuesday editions. The newspaper, citing anonymous sources, said that the new order does not authorize offensive action. Instead, the newspaper said, the Pentagon's goal is to build new networks to "penetrate, disrupt, defeat or destroy" militant groups, including al-Qaida, and "prepare the environment" for future attacks.

     The order gives Pentagon officials the authority to plan actions inside countries where the U.S. is not at war, another senior military official said. The order also authorizes special operations forces, the Defense Intelligence Agency and other branches of the Defense Department to carry out activities ranging from recruiting local intelligence sources to fostering local insurgent acts against an enemy. It was unclear whether the military had used the order for any major actions since Petraeus singed it. But it may have played a role in a recent increase in U.S. military activity in Yemen, where al-Qaida linked militants planned the failed Christmas Day airliner attack over Detroit by the so-called underwear bomber.

May 26, 2010

NORTH KOREA CUTS TIES WITH SOUTH, RAISES WAR RHETORIC

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--Relations on the divided Korean peninsula plunged to their lowest point in a decade Tuesday when the North declared it was cutting all ties to Seoul as punishment for blaming the communists for the sinking of a South Korean warship.  The announcement came a day after South Korea took steps that were seen as among the strongest it could take short of military action. Seoul said it would slash trade with the North and deny permission to its cargo ships to pass through South Korean waters. It also resumed a propaganda offensive - including blaring Western music into the North and dropping leaflets by balloon. North Korea said it was cutting all ties with the South until President Lee Myung-bak leaves office in early 2013, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch monitored in Seoul late Tuesday.

     The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification said it would expel all South Korean government officials working at a joint industrial park in the northern border town of Kaesong, and South Korean ships and airliners would be banned from passing through its territory. The North's committee said it would start "all-out counterattacks" against the South's psychological warfare, and called its moves "the first phase" of punitive measures against Seoul, suggesting more action could follow. Earlier Tuesday, one Seoul-based monitoring agency reported that North Korea's leader ordered its 1.2 million-member military to get ready for combat.

     South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report, and its military said it had no indication of unusual activity by North Korea's military. North Korea often issues fiery rhetoric and regularly vows to wage war against South Korea and the U.S. South Korea wants to bring North Korea before the U.N. Security Council over the sinking, and has U.S. support. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was to visit South Korea on Wednesday. The North and South have technically remained at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Tensions have risen since last week, when a team of international investigators concluded that a torpedo from a North Korean submarine tore apart the Cheonan warship on March 26, killing 46 South Korean sailors.

CHINA COOL TO US CALLS FOR ACTION AGAINST NORTH KOREA

         BEJING, CHINA-- China responded coolly Tuesday to U.S. calls for it to support international action against North Korea over the sinking of a South Korean warship, as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called stability on the Korean peninsula a "shared responsibility" of Beijing and Washington. Wrapping up two days of intense strategic and economic talks in Beijing, Clinton appealed to China for its backing by noting that "no one is more concerned about peace and stability in this region than the Chinese." She also said that after "very productive and detailed" conversations, she believed the Chinese "understand the gravity of this situation."

    "We know this is a shared responsibility and in the days ahead we will work with the international community and our Chinese colleagues to fashion an effective, appropriate response," Clinton said at a signing ceremony for several unrelated agreements reached during the course of the broader talks.  But her Chinese counterpart in the discussions, State Counselor Dai Bingguo, barely mentioned the matter in his remarks at the ceremony. China, North Korea's main ally, has remained neutral, and Dai merely repeated his government's standard line on the matter. "The two sides believe that ensuring peace and stability in Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula is critical," he said. "Under current circumstances, relevant parties should calmly and appropriately handle the issue and avoid escalation of the situation." He did not elaborate.

    At a news conference later with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, her U.S. co-chair in the overall dialogue, Clinton made clear that the U.S. expects China's cooperation. But she could not say if any progress had been made in persuading the Chinese to back action against the North. "We expect to be working together with China in responding to North Korea's provocative action and promoting stability in the region," Clinton told reporters at the news conference, which was not attended by Chinese officials. "I think it is absolutely clear that China not only values but is very committed to regional stability and it shares with us the goal of a denuclearized Korean peninsula and a period of careful consideration in order to determine the best way forward in dealing with North Korea," she said.

PENTAGON: US PLANS WAR GAMES WITH SOUTH KOREA

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The U.S. and South Korea are planning two major military exercises off the Korean Peninsula in a display of force intended to deter North Korean acts like the March torpedo attack on a South Korean warship. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters on Monday the joint exercises will be conducted in the "near future." He said the operations will test the nations' ability to defeat submarines and to monitor and prevent illicit activities. "We think that this is an area where, working with the Republic of Korea, we can hone some skills and increase capabilities," said Whitman.

     The military exercises would be a decisive display of force after last week's finding by a team of international investigators that North Korea torpedoed a South Korean warship on March 26 that killed 46 South Korean sailors. It was South Korea's worst military disaster since the Korean War. More than 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, an important regional ally. Previously, the Obama administration has been intentionally vague on how it might respond, reflecting U.S. reluctance to stoke tension unnecessarily. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton -- in Beijing to win support from China, North Korea's top ally, for diplomatic action -- said Monday the Obama administration is striving to avoid a conflict on the Korean peninsula.   "We are working hard to avoid an escalation of belligerence and provocation," Clinton said. "This is a highly precarious situation that the North Koreans have caused in the region."

     The U.S. will work with other nations to make sure that North Korea feels the consequences of its actions and changes its behavior to avoid "the kind of escalation that would be very regrettable," she said.  Obama, in response to North Korea's pattern of "provocation and defiance of international law," has ordered U.S. government agencies to review their policies toward Pyongyang. The White House said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates remains in close contact with the South Korean defense minister and will meet with him next month in Singapore. Whitman declined to say when the exercises will take place or whether they would require additional U.S. resources in the region.

May 25, 2010

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ EXPECTS US ARREST WARRANT AGAINST HIM  FOR MONEY-LAUNDERING

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chávez said the U.S. government could be preparing an arrest warrant against him and some of his collaborators in a money-laundering case being processed at a federal court in Miami.  Citing the name of the federal judge overseeing the process, Joan Lenard, and other facts about the case, Chávez warned at a cabinet meeting Thursday night that it shouldn't surprise anyone if she issues a warrant for his arrest.

    "Don't be surprised if it's released tomorrow that Chávez is the one laundering money  (Like former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega, now serving a ten-year prison term for money laundering in a Paris prison, France, after spending 20 years in  the Federal Detention Center of Miami for drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering.)  and, therefore, Judge Lenard is ordering his arrest,'' he said, adding that warrants may also be issued to arrest vice president Elías Jaua and the minister of Planning and Finance, Jorge Giordiani.  ``This is a high-level operation, which is why I am alerting the people!'' Chávez warned in the meeting, broadcast on state television station Venezolana de Televisión.

     Chávez was referring to an operation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement revealed in April, in which 15 people were arrested, most of them Venezuelan, under suspicion of laundering drug-trafficking money. The group was involved in transferring drug-trafficking cash from Puerto Rico and New York to South Florida. Members of the organization deposited the money in different bank accounts in the United States under the names of people who have not been identified. Another part of the money was converted into bolívares through Venezuelan intermediaries.

ISRAEL HOLDS DEFENSE DRILL AMID REGIONAL TENSION 

         JERUSALEM, ISRAEL--ISRAEL held a dress rehearsal for disaster Sunday, beginning a defense drill to test the response of soldiers, emergency crews and civilians to simulated missile barrages, terrorist attacks and chemical strikes.  Israel embarked on its fourth annual home front drill at a time when Iranian-backed militants are rearming to Israel's north and south, and Iran itself is suspected of developing nuclear arms, despite its denials.  The five-day exercise, the biggest in Israel's history, has raised allegations by the country's enemies that it is preparing for war - a concern Israel has sought to allay. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the drill is a "routine exercise that was scheduled long ago."

    "I want to emphasize that this is not a result of any abnormal security development," he told his Cabinet on Sunday. "On the contrary, Israel wants quiet, stability and peace, but it is no secret that we live in a region that is under threat of missiles and rockets."  Israel began carrying out the annual exercise, code-named Turning Point, after its 2006 war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon showed the country's bomb shelters, air raid sirens and civil defense authorities were unprepared. The exercise also incorporates lessons from Israel's 2009 war against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

    Tensions have risen in recent weeks after Israel accused Syria of smuggling Scuds and other missiles to Hezbollah. Syria denied the charge. Israeli media reported that Hezbollah heightened its alert status ahead of what it branded Israel's "war game."  Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the drill proves Israel is not serious about wanting peace. "Israel should reduce these maneuvers and return to the table to have serious talks about peace," Hariri said, according to a statement issued by his office. "If it wants peace, why does Israel resort to military maneuvers? And if it wants to negotiate with the Palestinians, why would it resort to military maneuvers?"  Israel has tried to allay regional concerns with assurances through diplomatic channels that the drill is not a cover for a military strike, defense officials said.

POLICE PATROL JAMAICAN CAPITAL AFTER ATTACKS

      KINGSTON, JAMAICA--the government  OF JAMAICA declared a state of emergency in sections of the capital Kingston and St. Andrew Sunday, as Prime Minister Bruce Golding vowed "strong and decisive action" to restore order. "We must confront this criminal element with determination and unqualified resolve," Golding said.  The limited emergency in Jamaica, a popular Caribbean tourism destination, covered districts of the capital where gunmen shot up or set fire to five police stations Sunday. Security force officials said at least two policemen and one civilian were killed and seven police officers wounded in the attacks, which were accompanied by sporadic reports of looting and carjackings.

    The assailants were suspected supporters of Christopher "Dudus" Coke. The government has called on him to surrender to face a U.S. judicial request seeking his extradition on cocaine trafficking and gun-running charges. U.S. prosecutors have described Coke as the leader of the infamous "Shower Posse" that murdered hundreds of people by showering them with bullets during the cocaine wars of the 1980s. Heavily armed police patrolled streets Monday around the poor Tivoli Gardens area of West Kingston where Coke is believed to be hiding, brandishing automatic assault rifles from the back of sport utility vehicles. The normally bustling streets were mostly deserted, as the country marked its Labor Day national holiday and motorists and passersby steered clear of the troublespot. The U.S. Department of State had issued a travel alert warning of violence in Kingston before the weekend, as tensions rose after Golding said he was starting proceedings to extradite Coke.

 In his nationwide address Sunday, Golding said the state of emergency would remain in effect for a month and would demonstrate that Jamaica is "a land of peace, order and security" where gang-related violence will not be tolerated.  "This will be a turning point for us as a nation to confront the powers of evil that has penalized the society and earned us the unenviable label as one of the murder capitals of the world," Golding said. The United States requested Coke's extradition in August 2009 but Jamaica initially refused, fueling bilateral tensions as it alleged that evidence against Coke had been gathered through illegal wiretaps. In its annual narcotics control strategy report in March, the U.S. State Department said Coke's well-known ties to Jamaica's ruling party highlighted "the potential depth of corruption in the government."

May 24, 2010

UNITED NATIONS COMMAND TO LAUNCH SOUTH KOREA WARSHIP SINKING PROBE 

      UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK--South Korean President Lee Myung-bak called the sinking a "military provocation" and said it violated the U.N. Charter as well as the truce that ended the fighting in the 1950-53 conflict. But he called for a cautious response to this "serious and grave" issue.  The President  said the U.N. would investigate whether the attack violated the Korean War truce. Arriving in Tokyo ahead of a visit to Beijing and Seoul, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that U.S., Japan, South Korea and China are consulting on an appropriate reaction to an international investigation that blamed North Korea for the incident. She said the report announced Thursday proves a North Korean sub fired a torpedo that sank the ship, the Cheonan on March 26 and that it could no longer be "business as usual" in dealing with the matter and that there must be "an international response."

     While it was "premature" to discuss exact options or actions that will be taken in response, Clinton said it was "important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences. "The evidence is overwhelming and condemning. The torpedo that sunk the Cheonan ... was fired by a North Korean submarine," she told reporters.  North Korea said for a second day that war clouds loomed over the divided peninsula, and has asked to send its own team to investigate the site.

     South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, speaking to reporters, called the request "irrational and incomprehensible." Instead, Kim's ministry requested the U.N. Command's Military Armistice Commission, which oversees the truce, to conduct a probe separate from the multinational investigation. "This incident was clearly a military attack against our naval warship that was carrying out a routine patrol operation — an explicit violation of the truce agreement," deputy defense minister Chang Kwang-il said. The investigation can start as soon as this weekend, though North Korea will most likely reject access to investigators, Chang said. South Korea responded to the North's request to send investigators by telephone Friday, notifying it of the special U.N. probe.

VENEZUELA TO SHIP 960,000 BARRELS OF GASOLINE TO THE UNITED STATES

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuela is to send to the United States a total of 960,000 barrels of reformulated gasoline in May, as part of a plan to increase sales of byproducts to its main oil customer, state-run oil holding Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) reported on Monday in a press release.

     Exports of Venezuelan oil byproducts to the United States have plunged 72 percent since the beginning of 2006, when the OPEC Member State stopped sending 350,000 bpd. Last February, about 97,000 bpd were sent, based on the numbers supplied by the US Department of Energy.  "From the Paraguaná Refining Center (CRP), a shipment of 240,000 barrels of RBOB -a mix used to produce gasoline with ethanol- set off last Wednesday, May 12," Pdvsa reported.

      The last week shipment from the Amuay refinery "is one of the four shipments that we have planned to make in May, each of 240,000 barrels," CRP general manager Jesús Luongo elaborated.  According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), since 2005, the United States has received not a single barrel of reformulated gasoline from Venezuela. In 2007-2010, scarce shipments of standard gasoline were received.

VENEZUELAN NAIONAL GUARD SEIZES 120 TONS OF FOODSTUFFS FROM FOOD PRODUCER POLAR

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--General Luis Bohorquez Soto, commander of the Number 4 Local Command of the National Guard, reported that the commodities will be placed in the government-run retail chains Mercal and Hipermercados Bicentenario.

     Officers of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) seized on Thursday 120 tons of staples stocked in warehouses property of major food producer Polar in Barquisimeto, the capital city of Lara state. General Luis Bohorquez Soto, commander of the Number 4 Local Command of the National Guard, gave the news.

     He said that inventory inconsistencies were found in the inspected facilities. "The amounts reported by them to the authorities of the Ministry of People's Power for Food did not match with the on-site inventory."  The 120 tons of food include 91 tons of wheat flour, 12 tons of butter, five tons of rice and seven tons of mayonnaise, in addition to 25,000 liters of oil, Bohorquez specified, according to state-run news agency ABN.

May 23, 2010

FOURTEEN VENEZUELANS JAILED IN US FOR MONEY LAUNDERING 

      MIAMI, FLORIDA--US authorities produced "bulky" evidence against 16 people accused of alleged conspiracy to launder money from drug trafficking through Venezuela's foreign exchange swap market.  So far, 15 out of the 16 defendants have been arrested in South Florida, New York and Puerto Rico, Efe reported.

     Most of the defendants are Venezuelans: Hermán Rafael Solórzano Caguaripano and his son Hermán Alejandro Solórzano Rincón, Georges Toutounji, Fortunato Farache, Douglas Enrique Sánchez Soto, Édgar Hadad Azraca and Alba Villalobos Vergel; Alfredo Ramón Soto Díaz, Miguel José Pérez Rivero, Luis Enrique Homez García, Henry Eduardo Bilbao Movilla, Rafael Polanco, Antoine Jean Melhem, and Johan Alberto Rincón Medina. Nercido Sosa Medina, from Dominican Republic and residing in New York, and Luis Rafael Díaz Plaza, from Puerto Rico, were also arrested. Courts have set bails from USD 200,000 to USD 1 million.  According to federal prosecutors, Hermán Rafael Solórzano Caguaripano and his son Hermán Alejandro allegedly collected money in Puerto Rico and took it in suitcases to Florida.

     In Miami, they deposited the money in several bank accounts or transferred it to people residing in South Florida, according to authorities.  Following instructions from cover agent Edwin López of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Solórzano Caguaripano negotiated with Alba Villalobos an exchange rate to sell her US dollars allegedly from drug trafficking.  Judge Joan Lenard, who ruled in the case of alleged conspiracy to hide the source and destination of USD 800,000 that Guido Antonini Wilson tried to smuggle in Argentina from Venezuela in 2007, is ruling on the case.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ ASKS THE US FOR THE NAMES OF PEOPLE ACCUSED OF MONEY LAUNDERING

         CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan DICTATOR Hugo Chávez said that he would ask the US Government for information related to the 16 people charged with scheming in alleged money laundering from drug traffic through Venezuela's parallel exchange market.

     "As soon as (Minister of Planning and Finance Jorge) Giordani ended yesterday (on Tuesday) the press conference, where he threw the pill of capital laundering, dollar laundering, a spokesman of the United States, of (US President Barack) Obama's Administration showed up to say that the US government has evidence and that they would take to court some people engaged in money laundering through the so-called Venezuelan swap market," Chávez said.  "What a coincidence! Few minutes later, he showed up, producing evidence. I am sure that they were aware of it long ago," he added.  Chávez noted that his government declared war to exchange-related offenses and reasserted his willingness to shut brokerage firms down.

    Chavez instructed  Minister of Foreign Affairs Nicolás Maduro to go to the US Embassy and request information. “May they give us the names; because for us there are not sacred cows at all here, not untouchable here!”

DICTATOR CHAVEZ ORDERED THE ARREST OF BROKERAGE DIRECTORS IN DOLLAR PROBE

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan authorities have arrested executives from three brokerages in the last two days who will face arraignment today as part of an investigation into irregularities in the unregulated currency market. Four directors at Positiva Sociedad de Corretaje de Titulos de Valores CA, BanValor Casa de Bolsa CA and Venevalores Sociedad de Corretaje de Valores CA have been arrested since May 18, according to an e-mailed statement from the Attorney General’s Office today.

    Investigators said that Positiva sold government securities without providing legal or financial “support” for the money’s origins, dictator Hugo Chavez said late yesterday on state television. BanValor “unduly” sold dollars with no regulation, he said.  “We’re hitting those mafias,” Chavez said. “The revolution is on the offensive.” Authorities have raided 13 brokerages since May 14, according to the Attorney General’s office. Venezuela has taken over 31 brokerages for currency speculation, operations involving financial instruments known as mutuos and administrative problems, El Universal newspaper reported yesterday, citing securities regulator chief Tomas Sanchez.

    Chavez said yesterday that brokerages committed “fraud” in currency transactions and were trying to weaken the bolivar to 10 per dollar or more before the government restricted trading. The government moved to dismantle the unregulated currency market and to investigate brokerages after consumer prices surged 5.2 percent in April from March, in part on the back of a weakening bolivar. Venezuela has the highest inflation rate of 78 economies tracked by Bloomberg. The dictator said he’s willing to close all brokerages as part of an investigation, adding that he’ll ask the U.S. government for information on money laundering in the unofficial parallel currency market after Finance Minister Jorge Giordani said operations may have used proceeds from drug trafficking.   Brokerages were fueling capital flight, were unable to prove the origin of funds for the currency transactions and were creating artificial exchange rates that didn’t correspond to supply and demand, Giordani said.

May 22, 2010

CUBAN CARDINAL IN TALKS WITH DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO ON POLITICAL PRISONERS

      HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba’s Catholic primate, Cardinal Jaime Ortega, said Thursday that the situation of political prisoners on the island “is being handled seriously” in the conversations between the church and the government of President Raul Castro, in a “process” that has not yet concluded. “I cannot provide conclusions regarding concrete dates, concrete actions with respect to the prisoners. That the issue is being treated seriously, yes, that I can say,” said Ortega at a pres conference in Havana to report on the meeting held Wednesday with the president of the communist-ruled island. The cardinal said that the “aspiration” of the church is for political prisoners to be released.

    That meeting, in which the head of the Catholic bishops conference, Santiago de Cuba Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibañez, also participated, lasted more than four hours, Ortega said, calling it a “magnificent” beginning of talks “that should continue in the near future.” The meeting with Gen. Castro was held at Ortega’s request, the cardinal said, adding that he had been satisfied with that conversation, which in his opinion indicates “an open road with prospect and hope.” At the press conference, the archbishop of Havana took pains to make very clear that this relationship is between the government and the church “of Cuba” and he went on to say that the talks are not linked with the upcoming visit to the island by the Vatican’s foreign minister.

     “There has been a dialogue about Cuba, about our realities. What is new and important? We did not deal with problems of the church or needs of the church,” he said. “Steps will be taken” on the issue of political prisoners, Archbishop Garcia told Efe earlier Thursday in the church’s first substantive comment on the talks with Gen. Castro. The mediation of the Catholic Church with the government has raised hopes for the release of ailing political prisoners, notably among members of the Ladies in White, relatives of some of the 75 dissidents imprisoned in the “Black Spring” crackdown of March 2003. Intervention by Catholic prelates earlier this month convinced authorities to allow the resumption of peaceful marches by the Ladies in White.

HILLARY CLINTON: NORTH KOREA MUST FACE CONSEQUENCES FOR ATTACK AGAINST SOUTH KOREA

     TOKYO, JAPAN--U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday the evidence is "overwhelming" that a North Korean submarine sank a South Korean warship and the communist country must face international consequences for its actions. Speaking in Tokyo at the outset of a three-nation Asian trip, Clinton said the U.S., Japan, South Korea and China are consulting on an appropriate reaction to an international investigation that blamed North Korea for the incident. She said the report proves a North Korean sub fired a torpedo that sank the ship, the Cheonan, in March and that it could no longer be "business as usual" in dealing with the matter.

     While it was "premature" to discuss exact options or actions that will be taken in response, Clinton said it was "important to send a clear message to North Korea that provocative actions have consequences." "The evidence is overwhelming and condemning. The torpedo that sunk the Cheonan and took the lives of 46 South Korean sailors was fired by a North Korean submarine," she told reporters at a joint press conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada. "We cannot allow this attack on South Korea to go unanswered by the international community," she said. "This will not be and cannot be business as usual. There must be an international, not just a regional, but an international response." North Korea denies it was responsible for the sinking and has threatened to retaliate against any attempt to punish it with "all-out war." North Korea "will regard the present situation as the phase of a war and handle all problems in inter-Korean relations accordingly," Ri Chung Bok, deputy director of the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, said in an interview with broadcaster APTN in Pyongyang.

     Clinton's Asian tour, which will also take her to China and South Korea, was supposed to focus on U.S.-China economic issues. But that was before Thursday's release of the report which concluded that a North Korean sub had torpedoed a South Korean corvette on March 26, splitting the vessel in two and killing 46 sailors. Input from the three countries will be key to determining an appropriate response, especially with fears that too tough a reaction could provoke new hostilities or spark chaos in the region. The Obama administration has said it wants South Korea to lead the way in coming up with possible responses. Underscoring the concern, U.S. officials have refused to call the North's attack on the ship an act of war or state-sponsored terror, warning that an overreaction could cause the Korean peninsula to "explode." They said they would explore diplomatic steps through the U.N. or increase Washington's unilateral sanctions against North Korea's Soviet-style state.

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR DENNIS BLAIR TO RESIGN 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said Thursday he will resign in the wake of a series of successful and attempted attacks that critics said pointed to U.S. intelligence failures -- from the Fort Hood shooting to the failed Christmas Day bombing plot to the attempted Times Square bombing. "It is with deep regret that I informed the president today that I will step down as director of National Intelligence effective Friday, May 28th," Blair said in a written statement. "I have had no greater honor or pleasure than to lead the remarkably talented and patriotic men and women of the Intelligence Community."

     In a written statement, President Obama said he was "grateful" for Blair's leadership in the job."During his time as DNI, our intelligence community has performed admirably and effectively at a time of great challenges to our security, and I have valued his sense of purpose and patriotism," he said. "He and I both share a deep admiration for the men and women of our intelligence community, who are performing extraordinary and indispensable service to our nation," he said.

     A retired Navy admiral, Blair is the third director of national intelligence, a position created in response to the 9/11 attacks. Blair's tenure as the overseer of the nation's intelligence agencies was marked by turf battles with CIA Director Leon Panetta and controversial public comments in the wake of the Christmas Day airliner bombing attempt. The enmity between Blair and Panetta is well known, one Democratic senator told Fox News. Republican lawmakers blamed the Obama administration for Blair's resignation.  "Blair deserves this nation's thanks for his long service to our country," said Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri, the ranking Republican member on the Senate Intelligence Committee. "It must have been challenging to be forced on the sidelines by the attorney general but still catch all the blame for failings."

May 21, 2010

CUBAN CARDINAL JAIME ORTEGA AND DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO  IN RARE MEETING

      HABANA, CUBA--Cuban DICTATOR Raul Castro held a rare meeting on Wednesday with leaders of an increasingly active Roman Catholic Church to discuss international and domestic issues, the official media reported on Thursday.

     The meeting followed Cardinal Jaime Ortega's successful mediation between Communist authorities and female relatives of imprisoned dissidents earlier this month. That resulted in the group, known as the Ladies in White, resuming Sunday marches along a main Havana avenue free from harassment by government supporters. "During the meeting various issues of mutual interest were analyzed, in particular the favorable development of relations between the Catholic Church and Cuban state and the current international and domestic situation," the official media said in a communiqué.

    The Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Dominique Memberti, is due to visit the island next month amid increasing economic difficulties and international attention on human rights abuses in Cuba. Memberti is expected to press authorities to release political prisoners whom the government brands as mercenaries and subversives in the pay of the United States. "This is the first time the conference has had such a high level meeting," Jose Feliz Perez, spokesman for the bishops conference, told Reuters. Relations between the Church and Cuba's government have been marked by bitter recriminations in the past, but have steadily improved since the 1990s, especially after a visit by Pope John Paul II in 1998.

COLOMBIAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: FARC TRAINS ETA MEMBERS IN VENEZUELA TERRITORY

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Members of Basque terrorist group ETA and "some Iranian groups" are allegedly trained by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in camps located in Venezuela, according to a report issued by the Colombian intelligence agency, said on Wednesday Colombian newspaper El Espectador.

     "In these camps, located in Apure; Maturín (state of Monagas); Santa Cruz de Aragua and the suburbs of Maracay (Aragua state) there would be members of Basque terrorist group ETA, some Iranian groups and members of FARC's Front 59," said the report issued by the Colombian Administrative Department of Security (DAS), a secret intelligence service.  

     According to the newspaper, a DAS protected witness "reported that he met a liaison who is in charge of taking civilians to the FARC training camps," Efe quoted.

BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS FEAR DICTATOR CHAVEZ'S EXPROPRIATIONS TO HIT EMPLOYMENT IN VENEZUELA

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Lope Mendoza, the acting president of the Venezuelan Federation of Trade and Industry Chambers (Fedecámaras), the main business association in Venezuela, said in a press release that "when ownership is disrespected and someone tries to eliminate this right at a stroke, then the goal is to eliminate the jobs of thousand Venezuelans who will be left with no income to support their families."

    Víctor Maldonado, the executive director of the Caracas Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services, said that "in recent times the government has made every possible effort to buy assets belonging to the private sector rather than to produce."

     Expropriations have had negative effects. "We could have double quality jobs available for Venezuelans, but on the contrary, there is this strategy where the social body eats itself and the government thrives on the success of others," Maldonado told private radio station Unión Radio.  About 30 percent of companies in Venezuela have been affected by the decline of trade dynamics, the business leaders told the Venezuelan radio station.

May 20, 2010

VENEZUELAN DISSIDENT PARTY: NO ELECTION PACT WITH DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--the Leader of a leftist party WHO IS obviously SYMPATHETIC TO CHE GUEVARA said Monday they won't form an alliance with President Hugo Chavez's governing party for September congressional elections because of the socialist leader's uncompromising attitude. The announcement by "Fatherland For All" - a longtime member of a pro-Chavez coalition - is a setback for the dictator's Unified Socialist Party of Venezuela in its effort to strike deals with other pro-government parties to avoid fielding too many candidates and dividing the pro-Chavez vote against a unified opposition. "It's impossible to reach an election alliance," Jose Albornoz, secretary general of Fatherland For All, said.

    Albornoz cited what he called Chavez's "aggressions and criticism" directed at leaders of "Fatherland For All," which has been gradually distancing itself from the president but continues to tentatively support him. The squabbling between Chavez and Fatherland For All began in March, after Lara state Gov. Henri Falcon broke ranks with the governing party and joined its increasingly independent ally. Falcon is popular in Lara, where he served two consecutive terms as the mayor of the state capital and was elected governor by a comfortable margin in 2008. Since then, more than a dozen members of Chavez's party have followed Falcon's example, boosting confidence within Fatherland For All as it prepares to field candidates. The party hopes to expand on the five seats it holds in the 167-seat assembly. Hector Navarro, a close Chavez confidant, said at a news conference that Fatherland For All is no longer on the governing party's "list of allies."

    Steve Ellner, a political science professor at Venezuela's University of the East, said the falling out between Chavez and "Fatherland For All" may end up favoring the dissidents, especially in Lara state.  "It's going to have some effect," Ellner said, noting that some Venezuelans who have become disenchanted with the governing party's hard-line socialist policies could vote for Fatherland For All's candidates because of its more moderate stance.  "A few votes here and there might go a long way," he said. Chavez has repeatedly told his allies that an opposition victory in September's elections would be a devastating blow to his efforts to transform Venezuela into a socialist state.

BANGKOK BURNS AFTER THAI ARMY STORMS PROTEST ZONE; 6 KILLED

     BANGKOK, THAILAND--Downtown Bangkok became a flaming battleground Wednesday as an army assault forced anti-government protest leaders to surrender, enraging followers who shot grenades and set fire to landmark buildings, cloaking the skyline in black smoke.  Using live ammunition, troops dispersed thousands of Red Shirt protesters who had been camped in the capital's premier shopping and residential district for weeks. Five protesters and an Italian news photographer were killed in the  ensuing gunbattles and about 60 wounded. After Red Shirt leaders gave themselves up to police, rioters set fires at the Stock Exchange, several banks, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority, the Central World, one of Asia's biggest shopping malls, and cinema that burned to ground. There were reports of looting.

    Thai troops fired bullets at anti-government protesters and explosions thundered in the heart of Bangkok as an army push to clear the streets and end a two-month political standoff sparked clashes that have killed three and wounded 69. The chaos in Bangkok in the wake of the two-month protest will deepen the severe impact dealt to the economy and tourism industry of Thailand, a key U.S. ally and long considered one of the more stable countries in Southeast Asia. The Red Shirts had demanded the ouster of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government, the dissolution of Parliament and new elections. A 10-hour curfew came into force in Bangkok and 18 other provinces at 8 p.m., and the government said army operations would continue through the night in the Thai capital. It is the first time that Bangkok has been put under curfew since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government. "

     At least 74 people have been killed and nearly 1,800 injured since the Red Shirts descended on Bangkok in mid-March to press their demands. Of those, at least 45 people, most of them civilians, have died in clashes that started last Thursday after the army tried to blockade the protesters who had camped in the 1-square-mile (3-square-kilometer) Rajprasong district. The final crackdown began soon after dawn Wednesday, as hundreds of troops armed with M-16s converged on Rajprasong, where high-end malls and hotels have been shuttered for weeks. With no hope of resisting the military's advance, seven top Red Shirt leaders turned themselves in on Wednesday afternoon, saying they cannot see their supporters — women and children among them — being killed anymore. By mid-afternoon, the army announced it had gained control of the protest zone and the operations had ended — nine hours after troops launched the pre-dawn assault — although sporadic clashes with rioters continued into the night.

SOUTH KOREA FOREIGN MINISTER: 'OBVIOUS' NORTH KOREA BEHIND SINKING OF WARSHIP

      SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA--North Korea is clearly responsible for the sinking of a South Korean navy ship and there is sufficient evidence to take the issue to the United Nations, South Korea's top diplomat said Wednesday. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan's comments came a day before the release of a much-anticipated report on the incident and are the first by a South Korean official clearly saying North Korea was behind it. Speculation has steadily increased that a North Korean torpedo brought down the 1,200-ton Cheonan on March 26 in the Yellow Sea near the two countries' disputed western sea border. A total of 46 sailors from the 104-man crew died.

    The government launched a joint military-civilian probe with help from foreign countries including the United States. It has determined that a "strong underwater explosion generated by the detonation of a torpedo" caused the ship to split apart and sink, Yu said in a speech to Seoul-based European business executives. Asked later by reporters if North Korea sank the Cheonan, Yu replied, "I think it's obvious." He added that "we have enough evidence" to take the sinking to the U.N. Security Council. Yu declined to provide details ahead of the release of the report.

    Impoverished yet nuclear-armed North Korea has denied involvement in the sinking, one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. Vice parliamentary speaker Yang Hyong Sop criticized Seoul earlier this week for "unreasonably" linking his country to the incident, according to the North's state radio station.   The report's release is likely to further increase tensions on the divided Korean peninsula, where the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, rather than a peace treaty. The land border is the world's most heavily armed and the western sea border has been the site of several deadly naval clashes since 1999. Any reaction from North Korea, however, may take days or even weeks to emerge. The country usually speaks to the world through its state media.

May 19, 2010

RELUCTANT RUSSIA, CHINA HAVE AGREED ON IRAN SANCTIONS, HILLARY CLINTON SAYS 

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States, Russia, China and other key nations have reached agreement on a "strong" Iran sanctions resolution, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday. Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Clinton said the United States has been "working closely" with its international partners -- the so-called P5 plus 1 -- on a resolution to present to the United Nations Security Council. She said they forged "a strong draft with the cooperation of Russia and China," the two countries that have been reluctant to impose strong sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program.

    "We plan to circulate the draft resolution to the entire Security Council today," said Clinton, who made the remarks before she began testifying about START, the U.S.-Russian treaty on nuclear arms. The P5 plus 1 comprises the five permanent member of the Security Council -- the United States, China, Russia, France, and Britain -- as well as Germany. The group has been concerned that Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denied that claim, saying it wants to develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

     Clinton noted an Iranian offer to send low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for highly enriched uranium but said it would not stop U.S. efforts to impose sanctions. "We acknowledge the sincere efforts of both Turkey and Brazil to find a solution regarding Iran's standoff with the international community over its nuclear program," Clinton told Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, citing the two countries that brokered the deal. But, she said, the P5 plus 1 "are proceeding to rally the international community on behalf of a strong sanctions resolution that will, in our view, send an unmistakable message about what is expected from Iran."

DIEGO ARRIA ASKS FOR THE FLOOR AT VENEZUELAN NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA-- Diego Arria, former Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations (UN) and the owner of the recently seized farm "La Carolina" asked the floor from National Assembly (AN) Chair Cilia Flores to "make the investigation easier."  He referred to an investigation requested by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez against him for his remarks allegedly soliciting assassination.

    In a letter sent to Deputy Flores, Arria clarified that the only assassination ever attempted in Venezuela against a Head of State after President Rómulo Betancourt was against President Carlos Andrés Pérez on February 4, 1992, as instructed by current President Hugo Chávez.

    "It is of public knowledge that, thanks to the evidence filmed that very night, they also tried to finish his (Pérez's) family off at the La Casona president's residence even knowing that President Pérez was in Miraflores presidential palace. It is an unprecedented event in our history of coupster officers who, as they were not satisfied by their attempt at murdering a Head of State, they purported to act likewise with his family."

THE FARC HAVE PERMANENT BASES IN BRAZIL

      RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL--The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, guerrilla group has established permanent bases inside Brazil, the Brazilian press reported over the weekend, citing a classified Federal Police report. The intelligence document says the FARC is operating out of the Brazilian jungle, earning money through drug sales and obtaining equipment that is moved into Colombia, the O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper said.

     The FARC smuggles cash, equipment, fuel and the chemicals used to produce cocaine into Colombia, the newspaper said Sunday. The intelligence report was produced following the arrest earlier this month of Jose Samuel Sanchez, a Colombian suspected of belonging to the FARC.

     Sanchez was arrested along with seven Brazilians, who Federal Police investigators suspect had direct contact with the FARC and obtained drugs, arms and logistical support from the rebel group. The Colombian had a base in the jungle near Manaus, a city in Amazonas state, where he had hidden a radio used to communicate with the FARC three times a day.  The FARC has crossed the border so it can operate “with more peace” and avoid clashes with the Colombian army, the intelligence report says. The FARC, Colombia’s oldest and largest leftist guerrilla group, was founded in 1964, has an estimated 8,000 to 17,000 fighters and operates across a large swath of this Andean nation.

May 18, 2010

NUCLEAR DEAL REACHED BETWEEN IRAN, BRAZIL AND TURKEY

      TEHRAN, IRAN-- Iran agreed Monday to ship most of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in a surprise nuclear fuel swap deal that could ease the international standoff over the country's disputed atomic program and deflate a U.S.-led push for tougher sanctions. The deal, which was reached in talks with Brazil and Turkey, was similar to a U.N.-drafted plan that Washington and its allies have been pressing Tehran for the past six months to accept in order to deprive Iran - at least temporarily - of enough stocks of enriched uranium to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran, which claims its nuclear program is peaceful, dropped several key demands that had previously blocked agreement. In return for agreeing to ship most of its uranium stockpile abroad, it would receive fuel rods of medium-enriched uranium to use in a Tehran medical research reactor that produces isotopes for cancer treatment. It was not immediately clear what would happen to the stockpile once the fuel rods were received.

    Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the new deal meant Iran was willing to "open a constructive road." "There is no ground left for more sanctions or pressure," he told reporters in Iran, according to Turkey's private NTV television. Monday's deal was announced after talks between Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. The main difference from the U.N.-drafted version is that if Iran does not receive the fuel rods within a year, Turkey will be required to "quickly and unconditionally" return the uranium to Iran. Iran feared that under the initial U.N. deal, if a swap fell through, its uranium stock could be seized permanently. The U.N. proposal also said Russia and France would process the Iranian uranium to higher levels, then send it back as fuel rods.

     The process would begin one month after a final agreement is signed between Iran and its main negotiating partners, including the United States and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran dropped an earlier demand for the fuel exchange to happen in stages and is now willing to ship abroad its nuclear material in a single batch. It also dropped an insistence that the exchange happen inside Iran as well as a request to receive the fuel rods right away. While kept under international supervision in Turkey, the uranium would still be considered Iranian property until Iran receives the fuel rods, said Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, called Monday's deal historic.

THE US AND EUROPEAN UNION SHOW SKEPTICISM ABOUT IRAN'S NUCLEAR DEAL

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States had no immediate comment concerning the nuclear deal reached by iran, brazil and turkey  but Germany and Britain greeted the news with caution. Britain's government said it was awaiting confirmation of the reports on Iran's deal with Turkey and insisted it remains committed to new sanctions against Tehran. "Our position on Iran is unchanged at the present time," Prime Minister David Cameron's spokesman Steve Field told reporters. "Iran has an obligation to reassure the international community, and until it does so we will continue to work with our international partners on a sanctions resolution in the United Nations Security Council."

     German government spokesman Christoph Steegmans noted that the question remains whether Iran suspends enrichment of nuclear material at home, raising a possible sticking point since the agreement reaffirmed Tehran's right to enrichment activities for peaceful purposes. Iran's Foreign Ministers spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Iran will continue to enrich uranium to higher level despite the deal reached Monday. "Of course, enrichment of uranium to 20 percent will continue inside Iran," the official news agency IRNA quoted him as saying. For months, Iran has haggled over the terms, making counterproposals that were repeatedly rejected by the U.S. and its allies. With the deal announced Monday, Tehran seems to have agreed to almost all of the original terms. However, making the deal with Turkey and Brazil may have been more palatable, allowing Iran to argue that it did not bend to American pressure.

      "It was agreed during the trilateral meeting of Iranian, Turkish and Brazilian leaders that Turkey will be the venue for swapping" Iran's stocks of enriched uranium for fuel rods, Mehmanparast said on state TV. Washington has cited the Iranians' intransigence against the original deal as proof of the need for new U.N. sanctions.  Monday's deal was announced after talks between Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran. The main difference from the U.N.-drafted version is that if Iran does not receive the fuel rods within a year, Turkey will be required to "quickly and unconditionally" return the uranium to Iran. Iran feared that under the initial U.N. deal, if a swap fell through, its uranium stock could be seized permanently.

IRAN TO RESUME URANIUM ENRICHMENT DESPITE TURKEY DEAL

      TEHRAN, IRAN--Iran will continue to enrich uranium to 20 percent, it said Monday, despite agreeing hours earlier to ship its low-enriched uranium to Turkey.  Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told the Islamic Republic News Agency shortly after the announcement of the deal with Turkey that Iran will not stop enriching its own uranium.  "We are not planning on stopping our legal right to enrich uranium," he told CNN by telephone.  That deal had been designed to answer international concerns that Iran was secretly trying to build nuclear weapons -- a charge it has long denied.  Mehmanparast said the United States and its allies should accept the proposal.

     "I don't think there's any reason why any country would reject this agreement," he said. "This agreement is based on the same requirements and criteria as the previous proposal. This is what they had asked for. If they come back and say no then it will show they are not serious about reaching an agreement."  Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said he hoped the deal would lead the United Nations nuclear energy watchdog to close its file on Iran "forever."  His speech was carried live by Iran's government-backed Press TV. The offer -- announced in a joint statement Monday by Iran, Turkey and Brazil -- would have Iran send 1,200 kg (2,645 lbs) of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey within a month, and the international group monitoring Iran's nuclear activities send 120 kg (264 lbs) of high-enriched uranium to Iran within a year.

    The group to whom Iran is making the offer -- the so-called Vienna Group of the United States, Russia, France, and the International Atomic Energy Agency -- did not respond immediately. "There is no apparent civilian use for this material and it underlines Iran's disregard for efforts to engage it in serious negotiation.   But the United Kingdom did not seem satisfied. "Foreign Minister (Manouchehr) Mottaki told U.N. Security Council ambassadors last week that this enrichment would continue regardless of any deal to resupply the Tehran Research Reactor. There is no apparent civilian use for this material and it underlines Iran's disregard for efforts to engage it in serious negotiation," British Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said in a statement Monday.  Iran, Turkey and Brazil said Iran would formally notify the IAEA of the proposal within a week. If the deal is not accepted, Turkey will return Iran's low-enriched uranium, the joint statement said.

May 17, 2010

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA ARRIVES IN TEHRAN AMID OPTIMISM AND SKEPTICISM

      TEHRAN, IRAN--Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva arrived in Tehran around 11 pm on Saturday. The Iran government seemed optimist with Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's efforts to mediate a dialog between Tehran and the great powers at a time when the stage is set up to introduce sanctions to punish the Iranian government. "There are conditions to reach an agreement," said a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, referring to an exchange of Iranian uranium for nuclear fuel from Turkey.

    Lula will meet today with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the regime's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. While Brazilian diplomats in Tehran denied the existence of new proposals to present to Ahmadinejad by Lula, other officials traveling with the Brazilian president announced that there will be new items included in the negotiations. On the streets Iranians seem happy with the visit of Lula who is being shown in huge posters in the city side by side with Ahmadinejad. The opposition, however, says it feels frustrated with the trip arguing that the government is using the Lula-Ahmadinejad encounter as proof that Iran is not isolated in the world community. Last week the Iranian ambassador in Brazil, Mohsen Shaterzadeh, declared that his country is willing to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but did not offer details.

    Trade with Iran is high on Lula's agenda. Between 2002 and 2007, bilateral Brazil-Iran trade rose from US$ 500 million to almost US$ 2 billion. At the moment, Brazil's biggest trade surplus in the Middle East is with Iran. Lula has never been shy about being a traveling salesman for Brazil. He actively seeks out foreign investments. So, trade is high on the agenda. But this trip is also dealing with a series of controversial issues. There is United Nations reform, changes in the Security Council and the fight to get Brazil a permanent seat on the council. There is the international financial crisis. There is the Iranian nuclear program. There is Honduras. In Iran Lula will be signing agreements and seeking commercial opportunities. According to presidential spokespersons, the idea is to "strengthen the political dialogue between Brazil and Iran."

US CONCERNED ABOUT LULA DA SILVA'S "DIPLOMACY" WITH IRAN

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--A senior U.S. State Department official said Thursday that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's visit to Tehran this weekend probably is the last chance for Iran to respond to international concerns about its nuclear program before more U.N. sanctions are imposed.  The State Department official said he believes Iran will not change course unless there is a fourth round of sanctions.   State Department officials say they do not oppose engagement with Iran by current Security Council member countries Turkey and Brazil. But they say the United States is losing patience with what they see as fruitless overtures to Tehran, and they say they believe that sanctions should be imposed without delay if the long-anticipated visit to Tehran by President Lula fails to produce results.

    A senior official who spoke to reporters here called the Lula visit "perhaps the last big shot at engagement" with Tehran.  He said Iranian authorities have used meetings with countries like Brazil and Turkey to appear to offer what he termed "a veneer of cooperation" while really offering nothing in terms of a meaningful response on the nuclear issue. U.S. officials say Iran's uranium enrichment program is weapons-related, despite Tehran's expression of peaceful intent.  They say their suspicions are reinforced by Iran's refusal to respond to confidence building proposals by world powers. They say they do not think Iran will engage seriously in the absence of what would be a fourth round of sanctions by the U.N. Security Council.

    State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States welcomes the visit by President Lula, but that it is doubtful it will yield anything useful. "We ourselves are skeptical that Iran is going to change course," he said. "And certainly coming out of President Lula's trip to Tehran this weekend, we look forward to hearing the results of that discussion and any others that might occur.  And at that point, I think, we'll understand what Iran is either willing or unwilling to do.  And at that point, we believe there should be consequences for a failure to respond." Crowley said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the nuclear issue by telephone on Thursday with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglo, whose government has also been pursuing nuclear mediation with Iran. The senior official said the United States believes Iran might invite leaders from Turkey and perhaps other countries to join in meetings in Tehran with President Lula in what would be seen here as another move by Iran to ease pressure for sanctions.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ ORDERED AUTHORITIES TO RAID FOUR MONEY-EXCHANGE FIRMS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Venezuelan authorities have raided four money-changing businesses and arrested one man in the start of a clampdown on what dictator Hugo Chavez calls capitalist speculators distorting the currency market.  The  Attorney General's office said on Saturday that the businesses were illegally selling dollars in violation of Venezuela's currency exchange rules. The raids came late on Friday shortly after Chavez promised action to prevent unregulated foreign exchange activities following the bolivar's crash against the dollar on a free-floating "parallel" market. "The bourgeoisie have gone crazy, they want money, money and more money," Chavez said on Saturday in his latest daily speech since last weekend lambasting the currency traders. He promised to "break" the "parallel" exchange market.

    The bolivar had weakened about 25 percent to more than 8.0 to the dollar this year on that market, which exists to feed unmet demand for dollars set by the government at two official rates of 4.3 and 2.6 for essential items. Venezuela's National Assembly voted this week to put that "parallel" market under supervision of the Central Bank, essentially paralyzing trade while the institution works on specific new regulations. Officials have said the bank will set some sort of range for the dollar, and a list of "serious" money-changers will be authorized to do business. Analysts have warned this strategy may backfire and create a fourth, illegal market for dollars, and possibly hasten another devaluation by the government early next year. The bolivar was devalued from an official rate of 2.15 in January.

    The bolivar's woes are complicating a grim macroeconomic environment for OPEC member Venezuela which, despite its oil wealth, has rampant inflation and is expected to be the only nation in Latin America with economic contraction this year. Chavez blames inflation -- which hit a monthly high of more than 5 percent in April -- and the bolivar's weakening on capitalist speculators bent on causing him problems ahead of an assembly election this year and a presidential vote in 2012. Many analysts, however, say the socialist president's incompetent running of the economy, including heavy state controls and nationalizations of private business, are to blame for Venezuela's poor economic health.

May 16, 2010

OUSTED HONDURAN PRESIDENT MANUEL ZELAYA MEETS WITH DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO IN HAVANA

      HAVANA, CUBA--Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has met in Havana with Cuban leader Raul Castro, one day after the former Central American head of state presented what he called a plan for reconciliation for his country.

    Saturday's Communist-party paper Granma showed the two sitting in front of a wood-paneled wall, but did not say what they discussed in Friday's meeting. It was Zelaya's first visit to Cuba since he was ousted last year.

    Zelaya now lives in the Dominican Republic. He came to Havana after a stop in Nicaragua, where he proposed a plan that included recognition of current Honduran President Porfirio Lobo. A Truth Commission started investigating the Honduran coup this month, but Zelaya backers have denounced it as a farce.

GUNMEN KIDNAP FORMER MEXICO PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DIEGO FERNANDEZ DE CEVALLOS

     MEXICO CITY, MEXICO--Gunmen kidnapped a prominent member of President Felipe Calderon's political party on Saturday at his ranch about a two-hour drive north of Mexico City. Diego Fernandez de Cevallos, the 1994 presidential candidate of the National Action party and a political mentor to Calderon and senior members of his Cabinet, apparently was abducted Friday night. The kidnapping was confirmed Saturday afternoon by Calderon's office and the Mexican attorney general's office. Police discovered Fernandez de Cevallos' sport utility vehicle at his ranch with "signs of violence," officials said. A spokesman for the federal attorney general's office told Mexico's Milenio television network that Fernandez de Cevallos' body had not been located, refuting some media reports

     In a long political career, Fernandez de Cevallos, 69, has been a congressman, senator and a leader of his center right party. He was an early supporter of Calderon's rise to national politics although he backed his opponent in the 2006 presidential primaries. A well known and wealthy attorney, Fernandez de Cevallos — widely known by his nickname "The Boss" — is considered a patron of the current Mexican attorney general and Interior minister, both key figures in the crackdown on organized crime. Known as an eloquent speaker, he handily won Mexico's first ever presidential debates in 1994, but later inexplicably disappeared from public view for weeks prior to the July elections. He lost to Ernesto Zedillo, who served as the last president in the 71-year reign of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI.

    Saturday's abduction comes amid growing concerns that gangsters have begun targeting senior officials and political figures in response to Calderon's crackdown. Local and state elections are being held this summer in 10 states.  Assassins on Friday killed the mayoral candidate of Calderon's party in Valle Hermoso, a town about 25 miles south of the Rio Grande at Brownsville that is the hometown of the founder of the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's largest criminal gangs. Before flying to Spain, where he's meeting with European leaders, Calderon ordered federal officials on Saturday to "provide all the support required by the local authorities and the family" in the search for Fernandez de Cevallos. Calderon will meet with President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday for talks certain to be dominated by Mexico's anti-crime efforts.

CUBAN GAYS AND LESBIANS MARCH AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA IN HAVANA

      HAVANA, CUBA--Hundreds of gay and lesbian activists, some dressed in drag and others sporting multicolored flags representing sexual diversity, marched and danced through the streets of Havana on Saturday along with Mariela Castro, daughter of Cuban dictator Raul Castro as part of a celebration aimed at eliminating homophobia around the world.

    Some of the marchers played drums and others walked on stilts as they made their way down a wide avenue in the capital's hip Vedado neighborhood, where they have held a series of debates and workshops ahead of the May 17 celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia, which participants say marks the day in 1990 when the World Health Organization stopped listing homosexuality as a mental illness. "We have made progress, but we need to make more progress," said Mariela Castro, a campaigner for gay rights on the island and the leader of Cuba's National Sexual Education Center. She is also the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro.  Cuba has come a long way in accepting homosexuality. In the 1960s, shortly after the revolution, homosexuals were fired from state jobs and many were imprisoned or sent to work camps. Others fled into exile.

     But that began to change in the 1980s, in large part to the work of Mariela Castro's center. Recently, the government has even agreed to include sex change operations for transsexuals under its free national health system, another project championed by the center. The workshops and debates held Saturday dealt with issues such as adoption by gay and lesbian couples and whether to legalize gay marriages, a step Mariela Castro has been pushing for years, so far without success. The week of celebrations culminates Monday.

May 15, 2010

CARLOS THE CHACAL: "JUST ONE BULLET WOULD BE ENOUGH TO TOPPLE THE VENEZUELAN REVOLUTION"

      PARIS. FRANCE--Venezuelan terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, THE CHACAL," who is serving a life term in France for a triple murder in París in 1975, said on Friday that in his country "just one bullet would be enough to topple the revolution."

     "Carlos", a legend of the 70's for carrying out commando operations in Europe and Africa, argued that "if someone kills Chávez, the government will be toppled because there is no party in power." "He is alive, thanks to Fidel and Raúl (Castro) and thanks to Ramiro Valdés," Carlos said when questioned about the security of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, AFP reported. "Just one bullet would be enough to topple the revolution in Venezuela because the country would not resist the death of Chávez," Ramírez said.

     The news media put “Carlos”  on the map. Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne books made him mega-famous. But Carlos the Jackal has never enjoyed the pop-cultural honor with which he's about to be bestowed: an epic Cannes screening. Of course if any subject deserves this kind of extended treatment, it's the complicated, colorful, controversial and deeply polarizing (if also highly romanticized) Carlos the Jackal, played here by the Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez. Since Carlos came to prominence with his 1975 attack on OPEC headquarters, it's been a wild, violent run: various attacks and assassinations around the world over a period of several decades, a dramatic pursuit and capture by international law enforcement, serious legal wheeling and dealing, and his eventual conviction and imprisonment in 1997. Even from behind bars he's remained a cultural force, thanks to a conversion to radical Islam and a series of influential writings about his new beliefs.

COLOMBIA REPORTS FOREIGN INTERVENTIONISM AT THE OAS 

     WASHINGTON, D.C.--The government of Álvaro Uribe decided to take to the Permanent Council, Organization of American States (OAS), the complaints about the intervention of third countries in internal affairs of Colombia, said Colombian Foreign Minister Jaime Bermúdez.

    "The involvement of third countries can be verbal or physical, but in any case it is unacceptable," said Bermúdez, who never mentioned Venezuela or its ruler, Hugo Chávez, who recently commented about some of the presidential candidates in Colombia.  In recent weeks, Chávez has hinted that if former Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos won the vote next May 30, Venezuela would fully freeze trade with the neighboring country.  The Venezuelan ruler further suggested that he would not welcome Santos in Venezuela if he wins the vote to succeed President Uribe, whose term expires on August 7.

    On Tuesday, Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) José Miguel Insulza termed Chávez's actions a "bad practice."  "It is not a good practice to have rulers of other countries voicing their choices or their views about other countries," Insulza said.  On Wednesday, Bermúdez said that for Colombia the intervention of third countries is an "outrage." "Colombians react with outrage to any intervention in our affairs," he said.  The Colombian foreign minister added that Colombian Ambassador to the OAS, Luis Alfonso Hoyos, was set to raise this issue on Wednesday at the OAS Permanent Council.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE CONCERNED ABOUT TREATMENT GIVEN TO COLOMBIANS IN VENEZUELA

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA-- The government of Colombian President Álvaro Uribe voiced concern about the "arbitrary actions" against its citizens in Venezuela, following reports on the arrest of 19 Colombian illegal aliens in Venezuela who were allegedly involved in "indiscriminate forest logging" in Venezuelan territory. "We are observing with concern the arbitrary actions against Colombians in Venezuela and in other countries," Defense Minister Gabriel Silva told reporters.

    He asked for respect for the rights of Colombians arrested, as provided for under different international treaties, Efe reported.  State-run station Radio Nacional de Venezuela (RNV) reported on Tuesday the arrest in the state of Miranda (central Venezuela) of 19 Colombian illegal aliens in Venezuela. They were carrying rifles and were involved in "indiscriminate forest logging." The radio station added that Venezuelan authorities did not rule out that they are part of "a military group."

    Relations between Bogota and Caracas have been frozen for months, especially following the signing of a military agreement between the US and Colombia under which US troops can be deployed in seven military bases in the Andean country to fight drug trafficking and terrorism.

May 14, 2010

500,000 PILGRIMS WELCOME THE POPE AT FATIMA SHRINE IN PORTUGAL

      FATIMA, PORTUGAL--Half a million pilgrims chanting “Viva o Papa” braved the rain to hear Pope Benedict XVI condemn the world’s “petty egoisms” at an overflowing open-air mass at Fatima, the Portuguese Lourdes. The mass, the highlight of the Pope’s four-day trip to Portugal, marked the anniversary of the day in 1917 when three shepherd children reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary as the sun “spun” in the sky. They claimed that the Madonna confided to them three “secrets” foretelling the Second World War, the conversion of Russia to Christianity and the attempt on the life of John Paul II in 1981. John Paul believed that the Virgin Mary saved him from the attempted assassination, which took place on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

    In his homily a weary looking Pope Benedict, dressed in white and gold vestments and sounding hoarse, said: “We delude ourselves if we think that the prophetic mission of Fatima has come to an end.” On the plane from Rome to Lisbon on Tuesday he said that the so-called Third Secret of Fatima referred not only to the attack on John Paul II by a Turkish gunman on 13 May, 1981, but also to the “sufferings of the Church” in general, including the current crisis over clerical sex abuse. He has not referred directly to the sex abuse scandals in his speeches since arriving in Portugal, where few abuse cases have come to light. However in a policy reversal the Pope acknowledged that the abuse scandals did not come from a conspiracy by the Church’s enemies and the media, as Vatican officials had claimed, but from “sins inside the Church itself”.

    At a candlelit evening prayer service on his arrival at Fatima from Lisbon on Wednesday the pontiff said that he was bringing the suffering “of a wounded humanity, of the problems of the world” to the shrine, constructed in the 1950s. Praying before a statue of the Madonna, the Pope referred to the bullet that his predecessor had placed in the statue’s crown in gratitude for her intervention. “It is a profound consolation to know that you are crowned not only with the silver and gold of our joys and hopes but also with the ‘bullet’ of our anxieties and sufferings,” he said. The cult of the three shepherd children and their visions was first opposed by the then anti-clerical Portuguese authorities and viewed with scepticism by the Church. However, it flourished later after the miraculous nature of the visions was authenticated by the Vatican. On a visit to Fatima in 2000, Pope John Paul disclosed the Third Secret and beatified two of the shepherds who had reported apparitions and who died young. The third of the children, Lucia dos Santos, became a nun and died five years ago. She too is headed for beatification, the step before sainthood.

OFFSHORE NATURAL GAS PLATFORM SINKS OFF VENEZUELA

     CARACAS, VENEZUELA--An offshore natural gas platform sank off Venezuela on Thursday, and 95 workers were rescued safely, the government said. All of the workers on the Aban Pearl platform off eastern Sucre state were safely evacuated, and the sinking poses no threat to the environment, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told state television. The navy rescued the workers using a frigate and boats, Ramirez said. The gas platform disappeared into the Caribbean Sea at 2:20 a.m.

     Dictator  Hugo Chavez announced the sinking on Twitter early Thursday, saying: "To my sorrow, I inform you that the Aban Pearl gas platform sank moments ago. The good news is that 95 workers are safe." Officials are investigating what could have caused the platform to sink, Ramirez said. He said there was a problem with the flotation systems of the semi-submergible platform that led to a massive water leak in one area. He said alarms went off three hours before the sinking, giving the crew time to evacuate. Three workers including the captain stayed behind until it was clear that the platform was at risk of collapsing, and then abandoned the rig, Ramirez said. He said a tube connecting the rig to the gas field was disconnected and safety valves shut. "There's no problem of any sort of any leak from the field into the environment," Ramirez said.

    Last week, Ramirez stood atop the rig on live television as its gas flare was lit to inaugurate the project. Chavez praised the project at the time as an important step in Venezuela's efforts to tap its huge natural-gas deposits. The exploration platform at the Dragon 6 gas field was operated by the state energy company Petroleos de Venezuela SA off the Paria Peninsula of eastern Venezuela, near Trinidad and Tobago. Venezuela, a major oil exporter and OPEC member, is exploring offshore natural gas fields that are among the biggest known deposits in the world.

CUBAN GOVERNMENT PLANS TO REPAIR 3,700 MILES OF RAILWAYS

      HAVANA, CUBA--The Cuban government plans to repair 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles) of the island’s railway network and acquire new equipment for the sector, Communist Party daily Granma said Wednesday. The paper quoted Vice President Antonio Enrique Lusson as saying that “the country’s decision exists” to recover the railroad system, although doing so will require “an enormous effort.” One sign of the “determination to rescue” the railroad infrastructure is the decision to reduce from five to three years the time within which to rehabilitate the island’s central railroad line, said Lusson.

    Another of the objectives of the government of Gen. Raul Castro in this area is to reestablish four technological centers to train young railway workers, facilities that will begin functioning sometime next year. Lusson made his remarks at the re-inauguration of a railroad bridge in the southeastern province of Guantanamo, a ceremony also attended by Transportation Minister Cesar Ignacio Arocha. Lusson and Arocha – both senior military officers – were named in early May in the latest shakeup of Gen. Castro’s Cabinet, a reshuffling that affected the Transportation and Sugar Ministries, two economic sectors that are in critical shape.

     Gen. Lusson, an 80-year-old veteran of the 1959 revolution, was directing the rehabilitation of the railway system prior to being named first vice president. The Cuban government periodically announces investments in the industry, including the purchase of 100 locomotives from China in 2008 and the acquisition of 28 more locomotives from Russia last year. Havana spent $595 million on rail lines and equipment in 2009, according to official figures. State media have labeled Cuba’s railway system “destitute,” pointing to problems such as excessive use of equipment, lack of trained workers, shortages of cars and irregular service. EFE

May 13, 2010

ISRAEL FOREIGN MINISTER AVIGDOR LIEBERMAN DECLARED NORTH KOREA, SYRIA AND IRAN THE NEW "AXIS OF EVIL"

      TOKYO, JAPAN-- Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday declared North Korea, Syria and Iran the new "axis of evil," claiming that North Korean weapons seized in Bangkok in December were bound for Middle Eastern militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.  Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said during a visit to Japan that the three countries are cooperating and pose the biggest threat to world security because they are building and spreading weapons of mass destruction. "This axis of evil that includes North Korea, Syria and Iran, it's the biggest threat to the entire world," he told journalists in Tokyo.

    "We saw this kind of cooperation only two or maybe three months ago with the North Korean plane in Bangkok with huge numbers of different weapons with the intention to smuggle these weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah," Lieberman said without elaborating. "Axis of evil" originated in then-President George W. Bush's first State of the Union address in 2002, where he named North Korea, Iran and Iraq as threats to the United States. Acting on a tip from the United States, Thai authorities on Dec. 12 seized an Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane from the North Korean capital of Pyongyang when it landed in Bangkok. It was carrying 35 tons of weapons - a violation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea.

    Flight documents indicated the plane's cargo - listed as oil drilling equipment - was headed for the Iranian capital Tehran. Iranian officials denied they were importing weapons. Analysts have said that while the aircraft may have been heading for Iran, the weapons could actually have been earmarked for radical Middle Eastern groups like Hamas and Hezbollah which Iran has bankrolled and supplied with weapons in the past. The five-man crew - four from Kazakhstan and one from Belarus - claimed they were ignorant of what they were carrying. The crew was deported in February after prosecutors dropped all charges against them. Thai authorities say the weapons on board included explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles.

BRAZILIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOSE SERRA CRITICIZES DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ MEDDLING IN LATIN AMERICA 

     BRASILIA, BRAZIL--José Serra, the Social Democrat candidate to replace current Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in October's presidential elections to be held in Brazil, criticized the Common Market of the South (Mercosur) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, in an interview with Brazilian radio station CBN.

    Asked about Brazil's relations with Venezuela and President Chávez, Serra pleaded for "a friendly relationship with Venezuela."  However, he was emphatic in saying that in such relation there is no room for "meddling in the internal affairs of other countries, like Venezuela usually does. Chávez does it; he interferes with other countries and Brazil can not support this in any way."

     He added said that when the matter at issue is human rights, if there is a violation of fundamental rights, "Brazil must take a position."  Serra, 68, leads voting intentions in Brazil with 38 percent against 29 percent of Dilma Rousseff, the ruling party's candidate.

SUPREME COURT JUDGE LUCIANO VARELA CLEARS WAY FOR SUPER JUDGE BALTASAR GARZON'S TRIAL

      MADRID, SPAIN --Spain's Supreme Court has removed the last potential obstacle to putting on trial the crusading judge who indicted Augusto Pinochet and Osama bin Laden. Judge Baltasar Garzon, who became world famous with cross-border justice cases, faces charges of knowingly overstepping his jurisdiction by launching a probe of Spanish Civil War atrocities that were covered by an amnesty. He could be suspended from his post on Friday. The Supreme Court judge who indicted him last month, Luciano Varela, issued a ruling Wednesday that rejected an appeal by prosecutors on procedural grounds.

    The prosecutors actually oppose trying Garzon. His indictment stems from a complaint that were filed by two civil groups and accepted by Varela. An official with a judicial oversight board, the General Council of the Judiciary, said Garzon's trial might start in two to three months, or perhaps as late as September. On Tuesday, Garzon asked for a leave of absence to accept a job offer at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. That was initially seen as a possible way for him to avoid being suspended from his post as an investigating magistrate at Spain's National Court. But a subcomittee of the oversight board said it will hold a full session Friday to decide whether to suspend Garzon. It will not rule on his request for a leave of absence until it receives reports it has requested from the court in The Hague and from the Spanish Foreign Ministry.

     Garzon's lawyer, Gonzalo Martinez-Fresneda, has said a suspension would effectively end Garzon's career, regardless of the verdict in his trial. Garzon, 54, was charged last month with knowingly overstepping the bounds of his jurisdiction by launching in 2008 a probe of the execution or disappearance of more than 100,000 civilians at the hands of supporters of Gen. Francisco Franco during the 1936-39 war and in the early years of the Franco dictatorship. Garzon denies any wrongdoing and says his probe was legitimate. If convicted, he faces removal from the National Court for up to 20 years.

May 12, 2010

CHILEAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS THAT DIFFERENCES WITH VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ REMAIN

      SANTIAGO DE CHILE, CHILE--Chilean mINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, ALFREDO MORENO,  believes that there are discrepancies in the vision of democracy. President Sebastián Piñera's view about the government of Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez "has not changed," said Moreno in an interview published in Chilean newspaper La Tercera.  Both leaders had a verbal clash just one day after Piñera won the presidential vote in January.

     The President-elect said then that he did not like the way democracy was practiced in Venezuela. The Venezuelan president asked Piñera not to interfere in the internal affairs of his country.  On May 4, Piñera and Chávez shared breakfast during the summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur), where the Venezuelan ruler called for "respect" and urged to stop "the statements that forced each other to respond."

    Asked about these remarks, the Chilean Foreign Minister denied that there has been a change in the position of the Chilean government. "President Piñera's view about the government of Chávez has not changed at all. We have openly and clearly said that there are differences with Venezuela and other countries as to the way we see democracy and development," he said.  NMoreno added that Piñera admitted these "differences" in his last meeting with Chávez. "President (Piñera) is very frank, but he has a profound respect for what other countries are doing," the minister said. He acknowledged that Chileans have never liked "someone coming from abroad tells us how to do things."

DIEGO ARRIA, FORMER  VENEZUELAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, WILL CHALLENGE THE TAKEOVER OF HIS ESTATE

     NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--Venezuela's ambassador to the United Nations, Diego Arria, plans to challenge the takeover of his farm, which has about 250 milk-producing cows, orange and lime orchards and an organic coffee plantation.   "This is not an agricultural issue. This is a political vendetta," he said in a telephone interview Saturday from his home in New York. The 70-year-old Arria was a diplomat for Venezuela before Chavez was elected president in 1998 campaigning against the country's political establishment. Arria has been a vocal critic of Chavez internationally and is now forming a group to advocate for the rights of people whose lands have been seized by the government.

    Arria vowed to present documents to prove he rightfully owns the land in northwestern Yaracuy state. He said he bought La Carolina farm, which is flanked by a mountain, in 1988 for the equivalent of about $300,000. Its colonial house, originally built in 1852, was remodeled by Arria's family and was featured in Architectural Digest in 1993. The farm has about three dozen employees, and two of them met the group of armed government officials who took over the property May 1, Arria said.  Vice President Elias Jaua, who is also Chavez's agriculture minister, inspected the farm Thursday and said that Arria has 23 days to show his documents and that officials are looking into the sources of money used to buy the property. The government plans to turn it into a state farm, Jaua said.

    Arria, a former governor of Caracas in the 1970s, was ambassador to the United Nations from 1991 to 1993 and represented Venezuela on the Security Council, including a monthlong stint in its rotating presidency in 1992. He was later an assistant U.N. secretary general under then Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Arria said his three daughters, who frequented the farm while growing up, have been upset about losing a place where they frolicked among horses, rabbits and chickens. The farm also produces vegetables and has a restaurant and a country store, which sells marmalade made from its fruit and cheese made from its milk. Outspoken in criticizing a government he calls corrupt and authoritarian, Arria said he thinks some of his recent barbs must have irked Chavez. He noted that the government seized his farm just a few days after he spoke at the Oslo Freedom Forum and suggested that Chavez could eventually face justice for crimes in Venezuela. Arria said he plans to return to Venezuela this week to make his case before the National Lands Institute and to protest what he calls "a complete mockery of the judicial system."

CUBA, VENEZUELA EXPAND JOINT INVESTMENTS IN OIL

      HAVANA, CUBA--The Cienfuegos refinery, operated by the governments of Cuba and Venezuela in the center of Cuba island and to be completed in September 2013, is to expand Cuba's refining capacity to 350,000 barrels a day, sources said in Havana on Monday.  The general manager of Venezuelan-Cuban joint venture PDV-CUPET SA, Héctor Pernía, told local press that the plan includes increasing from 65,000 to 150,000 tons the capacity of the refinery.

     Works are under way to expand (from 22,000 to 50,000 bpd) the capacity of the plant located the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba and for installation of a new refinery with a capacity of 150,000 barrels a day in the city of Matanzas.  Pernía also reported that Cienfuegos refinery, which started operations in January 2006 with a maximum processing capacity of 65,000 barrels per day, currently averages some 59,000 tons per day.

     This plant, considered as one of the key programs in the economic area of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), is the axis of a petrochemical complex comprising a dozen manufacturing facilities, including a regasification plant and another plant processing ammonia and urea.  The plant, based on Soviet technology, was launched in 1991, but stopped shortly thereafter because of the economic crisis Cuba faced following the demise of the Soviet Union. It produces liquefied gas, gasoline, turbo diesel and regular class diesel.

May 11, 2010

US STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL SAID THAT CHAVEZ IS PREPARING FOR WAR

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The United States is monitoring "carefully" Venezuela's decision to purchase Russian arms worth USD 5 billion, as it considers that President Hugo Chávez is trying to "a war" against another country, according to statements of a US government's spokesman published on Monday in the Nicaraguan press.

    Gregory Adams, the US State Department Spokesman for Latin America, said to Nicaraguan newspaper El Nuevo Diario de Managua that for Washington "is a little bit difficult" to see how an important ally as Brazil rejects sanctions against Iran and its nuclear program, DPA reported.  "We find it remarkable that Chávez is buying conventional weapons, and we do not know against who he will make war," Adams said. At the same time, he regretted that these resources are not used to solve the deficiencies affecting the Venezuelan people.

    Adams stressed that among the weapons that Venezuela will buy from Russia there are "tanks, combat helicopters, submarines, which are offensive weapons. What are they for? we do not know. He has never stated their purpose."

TERRORISTS' ATTACKS RAISE DEATH TOLL TO 100 ACROSS IRAQ

     BAGHDAD, IRAQ--A homicide bomber blew himself up outside a textile factory Monday in a crowd that gathered after two car bombings at the same spot in the worst of a series of attacks that killed at least 100 people across Iraq, the deadliest day this year. The violence added to fears that political uncertainty could further destabilize the country. More than two months after the March 7 elections, there is still no new government in sight and the negotiations to form one could drag on for months more as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw.

     In the worst attack of the day, a suicide bomber with explosives strapped to his belt blew himself up among a crowd of people who were trying to help victims of two car bombs that went off earlier outside a textile factory in the Shiite city of Hillah south of Baghdad, said provincial police spokesman Maj. Muthana Khalid. At least 45 were killed and 140 wounded, said Khalid and Zuhair al Khafaji, director of al-Hillah general hospital. Police said the cars were parked outside the factory about 25 yards apart, and were believed to be detonated by remote control. Khalid said the bombs exploded around 1:30 p.m. as workers were leaving the factory.

    Hillah, the capital of Babil province, is 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of Baghdad. The attack was the deadliest in a series of shootings and bombings across the country that began in the capital Baghdad with early morning drive-by shootings and bombings at security checkpoints that targeted police and army. Other attacks targeted both Sunni and Shiite areas and by mid-afternoon, at least 75 were killed across Iraq, and hundreds wounded. Violence in the city and the rest of the country has fallen dramatically since the height of the insurgency in 2006 and 2007.

CUBAN MIGRANTS STOPPED AT SEA BY US COAST GUARD, RETURNED TO THE ISLAND

      MIAMI, FLORIDA--More than two dozen Cuban migrants were repatriated to Cuba on Sunday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The migrants were intercepted in three separate incidents last week, the Coast Guard said. Most were repatriated to Cuba, while others were taken to Guantánamo.

    On May 2, the cutter Key Biscayne crew spotted five male Cubans aboard a vessel about five miles south of Key West, the Coast Guard said.  On Tuesday, an Air Station Miami HU-25 Falcon jet crew spotted a 27-foot pleasure craft being towed with 26 Cubans and three suspected smugglers aboard, the Coast Guard said. The three suspected smugglers were transferred to Customs and Border Protection.

    On Wednesday, a person spotted five male Cubans aboard a craft about 15 miles south of Key West and contacted the Coast Guard. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Key Biscayne responded, the Coast Guard said.

May 10, 2010

COSTA RICA INAUGURATES NEW PRESIDENT LAURA CHINCHILLA 

      SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA--Costa Rica inaugurated Laura Chinchilla as its first woman leader on Saturday, replacing Nobel laureate Oscar Arias with his former vice president and protege. Chinchilla promised to rule with "humility, honesty and firmness" and said she'll pursue the same economic policies that recently brought the country into a trade pact with the U.S. and opened commerce with China.  Elected in a landslide, Chinchilla has also pledged new protections for the pristine parks and reserves that make this Central American nation first in the world for land preservation.

    "We're teaming up for a safer Costa Rica," she said, explaining that a safe country offers a good education, health care, decent housing, care for children and seniors, a prosperous and competitive economy and green, clean industry. The fifth Latin American woman to be elected president, Chinchilla takes office in a decent economic climate despite the world economic crisis, thanks to policies enacted by Arias that helped insulate Costa Rica. Chinchilla, a 51-year-old Georgetown University graduate, 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.

    Her inauguration was attended by dignitaries including the presidents of Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador and Georgia. She hugged and kissed her husband, parents and 14-year-old son during the ceremony. Then she hugged Arias, a popular leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987 for his work to end civil wars in several Central American countries. Arias served as president from 1986 to 1990, and again from 2006 to 2010, boosting tourism and eco-development. During his tenure, Costa Rica became the most visited country in Central America, with a $2.2 billion tourism industry, and Arias has pushed eco-tourism, environmentally friendly development and improved trade relations.

CUBAN POLITICAL PRISONER DANIA GARCIA RELEASED FROM JAIL

     HAVANA, CUBA--Whether it was because the authorities realized they had no case or because of the international attention on an obvious injustice, Cuban independent journalist/blogger/human rights activist Dania Virgen García this morning is a free woman. García was released just as a group of Cuban dissident lawyers filed an appeal on her behalf. Among the things Dania expressed, overcome emotionally and stressed by what she experienced in jail; was a story about the martyr Orlando Zapata Tamayo told to her by Miriam Rondón, an inmate at the same prison.

    In a testimony from the inmate (Miriam Rondón) herself, who says she was in the cell next to Zapata, she told Dania about the prison guard’s cruelty and how they left breakfast and lunch near Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and observed him through cameras to see if he ate anything.   She recounts how she was notified by a guard “hey, gather all your things and don’t talk with anyone”, and how the female inmates there for 20 and 30 years shouted to her “denounce what happens here and the conditions we endure”. Soon Dania will resume her work as a journalist, and in her blog she will reveal in detail the horrors that take place in Cuban prisons.

    We are pleased that Dania has been released, it is a victory against injustice, thanks to the pressure placed on the regime by the international press and the free world that demanded that she be set free. We thank the Lord, for through his will and deed, Dania Virgin Garcia has been freed and returned to us. To the free world and organizations that defend human rights, we plea that they do not  forget about Cuba, nor its daughters and sons who bravely raise their voices to denounce the horrors they endure.

U.S., BRITISH AND FRENCH NTROOPS JOINED RUSSIAN PARADE

      MOSCOW, RUSSIA--For  the first time since Stalin began commemorating the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany, serving U.S., British Polish and French troops joined over 11,000 Russian soldiers to parade past the Kremlin's red walls in bright sunshine. The opposition Communists and some Soviet war veterans condemned the move but Medvedev said in a speech that the lesson from World War Two was "to urge us to unite in solidarity" to counter present-day threats and ensure global security.

    "Today, at the military parade, soldiers of Russia, of countries of the (former Soviet Union), and of the Allied powers will march together, in one column which is evidence of our common readiness to defend peace," he said. Welsh Guards from the British military marched in their trademark black bearskin hats ahead of 70 troops from the U.S. 170th Infantry Brigade in a section reserved for the Soviet Union's war allies. Underlining the message of reconciliation, a 1,200-strong military band closed the parade with a moving rendition of Beethoven's Ode to Joy as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other world leaders looked on.

    Russia's Communists, still the country's biggest opposition party, held a demonstration after the parade, chanting "Glory to the great Stalin," to protest against NATO forces for marching over the square, home to the embalmed body of Lenin. Most of the Soviet war veterans attending the parade seemed unconcerned by the presence of NATO soldiers, though they did not applaud when they marched past. "Why not? Let them see how we celebrate a solemn parade," said ex-World War Two soldier Grigory Petrovich Zabuski. "I'm absolutely not against it. I met English troops myself on the Elbe on May 4, 1945." President Barack Obama, unable to come to Moscow because of a scheduling clash, praised the historic invitation to NATO troops, saying Medvedev had shown "remarkable leadership in honoring the sacrifices of those who came before us."

May 9, 2010

SPAIN'S KING, JUAN CARLOS I, UNDERWENT SUCCESSFULLY  LUNG SURGERY 

      MADRID, SPAIN--King Juan Carlos of Spain successfully underwent lung surgery to remove a small benign growth, doctors said Saturday. The 72-year-old monarch had a two-hour operation in a hospital in Barcelona and was recovering well, Dr. Laureano Molins Lopez-Rodo said. "It's good news, the lesion is benign," Molins said at a post-operation press conference, adding that there were "no malign cells" in tissue removed from the upper part of the king's right lung.  A statement issued by Avelino Barros Caballero, head of the palace's medical team, said doctors carrying out a routine checkup on April 26 and 27 found what was described as "calcification" at the top of the king's right lung. "He has not suffered lung cancer," he said.

    Juan Carlos used to be a heavy smoker but has not been seen smoking in public in recent years. The palace declined to say whether he had stopped. Molins said the king's former addiction to tobacco had been an important factor in deciding to investigate the growth through surgery. The nodule had been growing and "capturing glucose" so it was necessary to examine the growth, Molins said. The origin of the nodule could have been the result of an infection, the surgeon said Molins said the king's medical team had on April 28 forbidden the king to smoke. "Cigars are just as bad as cigarettes," he said.

    The king carried out his duties as normal on Friday, including an early afternoon meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at the Zarzuela Palace. The king and Biden met for 50 minutes and discussed bilateral and international matters, officials said. At a handshake ceremony with Biden the king looked weary.  The king is much loved and respected in Spain after he defended the country's parliamentary democracy from an attempted right-wing military coup in 1981. On Feb. 23 of that year some 200 soldiers and paramilitary Civil Guard stormed the debating chamber of parliament, firing automatic weapons into the ceiling and shouting orders. They took hostage about 350 lawmakers, causing the deepest crisis in government since Gen. Francisco Franco died in 1975 after nearly 40 years of dictatorship. The king stood firm, told the soldiers to stand down and in a nationally televised speech defended democracy.

VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ SIGNED DEAL TO BUY A 49 % STAKE IN DOMINICAN REFINERY

     SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC--Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez and Dominican Republic's President Leonel Fernández signed on Wednesday in Santo Domingo the sale to Venezuela of a 49 percent stake in state-owned Dominican refinery Refidomsa.

    "If one day not a single barrel of oil or a molecule of natural gas is found in Dominican territory, then everything you need, this century and the other, you will find it in your sister country, Venezuela," Chávez said after signing the deal.

    The stock sale was delayed several times after it was announced in 2008 and, according to reports known prior to the signing of the deal, Venezuela paid USD 130 million for the stake in the refinery, which can process 110,000 barrels of oil per day.   Further, Chávez signed other four agreements with his Dominican counterpart.

CUBAN BALLERINA ALICIA ALONSO TO VISIT NEW YORK CITY IN JUNE

      NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--Cuban prima ballerina Alicia Alonso will return next month to New York and the American Ballet Theater, one of the places where she got her start in dance seven decades ago, for an early celebration of her 90th birthday. The National Ballet of Cuba said Friday that U.S. authorities have approved a visa for the grande dame of Cuban dance and she will visit the American Ballet Theater on June 3 for a celebratory version of Don Quixote featuring three principal casts. The show is part of the company's season-long commemoration of its 70th anniversary.

    Born in Havana on Dec. 20, 1920, Alonso began dancing professionally in the United States, joining the American Ballet Caravan in 1937. She became part of the American Ballet Theater four years later, the theater said. Alonso briefly returned to Cuba, then rejoined the company in 1943. She was promoted to the role of principal dancer three years after that, becoming especially acclaimed for her interpretation of Giselle. American Ballet Theater spokeswoman Kelly Ryan said there will be a special on-stage reception for Alonso and other invited guests.

    Alonso founded the Alicia Alonso Ballet Company in Cuba in 1948, but had to close it frequently because of money problems. The company took off again after Fidel Castro took power on New Year's Day 1959 and began to lend both personal and financial support. Her company became the National Ballet of Cuba, and Alonso later founded a national ballet school. The ballerina appears frequently at dance events in Havana despite her failing eyesight. She has been an outspoken critic of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba for decades, but has also traveled to America relatively regularly over the years. Ryan said Alonso last visited the American Ballet Theater in January 1990, when the company was marking its 50th anniversary.

May 8, 2010

FORMER GOVERNOR OF ZULIA, OSWALDO ALVAREZ PAZ, WILL NOT BE PROSECUTED FOR CONSPIRACY

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--The former governor of Zulia state was charged with the alleged crimes of spreading false information and public incitement to hatred in the wake of a statement issued on TV channel Globovisión

    Former governor of Zulia state Oswaldo Álvarez Paz will be prosecuted for the alleged crimes of spreading false information and public incitement to hatred in the wake of a statement issued in TV show Aló Ciudadano, said on Thursday Venezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz in a press conference.

    Ortega added that on Thursday the 21st national prosecutor, Giner Rodríguez, filed with the 25th Control Court of Caracas, a formal indictment against Álvarez Paz, a former presidential candidate. Originally, Álvarez Paz had been charged with the crimes of conspiracy, public incitement to commit a crime and dissemination of false information.  Ortega said that now the Control Judge is expected to convene the preliminary hearing of the case.

RUSSIA SAYS PIRATES WHO HEL OIL TANKER HAVE BEEN RELEASED

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA--The pirates seized by a Russian warship off the coast of Somalia have been released because of "imperfections" in international law, the Defense Ministry said Friday, a claim that sparked skepticism — and even suspicion the pirates might have been killed. Authorities initially said the pirates would be brought to Russia to face criminal charges for hijacking a Russian oil tanker. But Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Alexei Kuznetsov told The Associated Press on Friday that the pirates had been released. Kuznetsov declined to elaborate on the purported legal flaws that prompted the release and it was unclear how the seizure of the tanker might be legally different from last year's alleged hijacking of the Russian-crewed freighter Arctic Sea.

    That vessel allegedly was seized by pirates in the Baltic Sea off Sweden and went missing for several days before a Russian warship tracked it down off West Africa. The eight alleged pirates were flown to Moscow to face eventual trial. The Law of the Seas Convention, to which Russia is a signatory, says the courts of a country that seizes a pirated vessel on the high seas have the right to decide what penalties will be imposed. But what to do with pirates has become a murky problem. Some countries are wary of hauling in pirates for trial for fear of being saddled with them after they serve prison terms, and some propose that pirates taken to Kenya for trial. Kuznetsov appeared to echo those concerns when asked why the pirates who seized the tanker were released.

    "Why should we feed some pirates?" he asked. He did not give specifics of the pirates' release, but the official news agency ITAR-Tass quoted a ministry source as saying they were "sent home," unarmed and without navigational devices, in the small boats they had used to approach the tanker. Their home, presumably, was Somalia, a chaotic and lawless country where pirates are almost certain to avoid any formal prosecution. Mikhail Voitenko, editor of the Russian online Marine Bulletin, said the release strained credulity and instead sparked suspicion the pirates had all been killed "There is no more stupid version than the one that has been proposed to us — that there was no sense in dealing with the pirates and that in Russia there are no suitable laws for convicting them," he wrote. "If the pirates really were let go, it should have been done in the presence of journalists. If the pirates were killed, a heroic version would have to be thought up," Voitenko said.

GURI DAM AT LOWEST LEVEL SINCE THE BEGINNING OF VENEZUELA'S POWER CRISIS

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA-On April 16, the level of Guri Dam began to increase thanks to rains in the south of the country. The water level that had declined to 248.79 meters above sea level increased to 248.80 meters in a day. This upward trend continued until April 21. Throughout this period, water level grew 25 centimeters. However, from that date on the trend has reversed.

    Between April 22 and May 6, water level of Guri Dam declined 76 centimeters, and on May 6 it stood at 248.22 meters above sea level, according to official figures released by the Office of Operations of Interconnected Systems (Opsis).  The daily decline recorded in the water level of Guri is currently less than the decrease recorded during the months of February, March and April. In May, the reservoir has decreased between two and 4 centimeters a day, while in previous months water level fell between 15 and 17 centimeters a day.

    Minister Rodríguez Araque stressed that in addition to the fact that the rains have not been constant, when power failures occur in the transmission grid or in thermal generation systems, water passing through the turbines increases and this contributes to the decline of water in the reservoir.  Just two weeks ago, there were several power failures in the power transmission system in several parts of the country affecting the operation of Guri hydroelectric dam.  The rainy season is expected to begin in mid-May. From that moment, there would be a steady increase in the level of the reservoir.

May 7, 2010

FOUR LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES THREATEN TO BOYCOTT EU SUMMIT IF HONDURAN PRESIDENT IS INVITED

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador are threatening to boycott the upcoming European Union-Latin America and Caribbean summit in Madrid if Honduran President Porfirio Lobo is there. The Spanish Foreign Ministry has not received “any official confirmation” concerning possible absences of Latin American presidents from the May 18 gathering, official sources in Madrid said. The Spanish government is working to ensure the most important summit of its six-month term in the EU presidency is a success and as well-attended as possible, the sources said. Ecuador’s Rafael Correa was the first of the left-leaning heads of state to express “displeasure” with the decision to invite Lobo to attend the Madrid gathering and warned about a possible boycott.

      Many Latin American governments refuse to recognize Lobo’s government because he came to power through an election organized by the de facto regime installed after last June’s coup against elected President Mel Zelaya. During a visit Wednesday to the Dominican Republic, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez – who met with the exiled Zelaya in Santo Domingo – said there “was consensus, but not unanimity” within the Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, that Lobo should not be at the Madrid summit. The Venezuelan dictator included himself among those planning on staying away from the gathering “if Europe insists on inviting Mr. Lobo.” Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales followed suit at a press conference Wednesday in La Paz. This week’s Unasur summit in Argentina voted in favor of attending the Madrid summit “as long as the government that emerged from the dictatorship (in Honduras) does not participate,” Morales said.

     Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s foreign affairs adviser said his boss is among “at least 10 Latin American presidents” who won’t take part in the EU event in Madrid if Lobo is there. At the same time, Marco Aurelio Garcia told Efe he can “guarantee that Honduras isn’t going to go,” though without indicating the basis for that statement. The Honduran Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, contradicted Garcia by reiterating Wednesday in Tegucigalpa that Lobo still plans to attend the summit. Spanish government officials said Wednesday they are trying to arrange Zelaya’s return to Honduras and thereby facilitate the participation of all the Latin American and Caribbean presidents in the summit. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s administration says that if Zelaya returns to Tegucigalpa before the gathering that will be viewed as a conciliatory gesture. The EU’s 27 member states and the 33 countries of the Latin America and Caribbean region have been invited to the summit.

RUSSIAN SPECIAL FORCES STORM OIL TANKER, FREE CREW 

     MOSCOW, RUSSIA--Russian special forces rappelled onto a disabled oil tanker taken over by Somali pirates and freed 23 Russian sailors early Thursday, the commander of the EU Naval Force said. Ten pirates were arrested and one was killed. The raid on the Liberian-flagged ship Moscow University came 24 hours after pirates had taken the ship over and the crew locked itself in a safe room. The vessel is carrying 86,000 tons of crude oil worth about $50 million. The special forces had been aboard the Russian anti-submarine destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov, which rushed to the scene after Wednesday's seajacking. A helicopter was dispatched to investigate and was fired on by the pirates, EU Naval Force said. The Russian warship returned fire on the pirates, it said.


    Special forces troops on the helicopter rappelled down to the Moscow University, Rear Adm. Jan Thornqvist, force commander of the EU Naval Force, told an Associated Press reporter aboard the warship Carlskrona, which on Thursday was 500 miles (800 kilometers) west of Thursday's rescue and was sailing toward Somali waters. Ten pirates were detained and one pirate was killed, the Russian state news agency ITAR-Tass cited Vladimir Markin as saying. Markin is the spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee. There are wounded pirates, he said without giving details. Russian officials were preparing for the pirates to be delivered to Moscow to face criminal charges, Markin said. The crew of the Moscow University had previously told officials they believed the pirates were trying to enter the engine room, Thornqvist said. The ship had been disabled and was not moving. Safe rooms, where crews seek shelter, are typically stocked with food, water and communications equipment and have reinforced doors that can only be opened from the inside. The ship's owner, Novoship, said the decision to free the ship was made knowing "that the crew was under safe cover inaccessible to the pirates and that the lives and health of the sailors was not threatened by anything."

     Cmdr. John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Naval Force, called the rescue "an excellent operation all around." He said the EU Naval Force had been working at a tactical level with the Russians, and that EU Naval Force personnel talked to the Russian crew by VHF radio. He said the EU had offered support to the Russians. The attack occurred about 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of the Somali coast as the Moscow University sailed from the Red Sea to China, the ship's owner said. Novoship is a subsidiary of Sovcomflot, which is owned by the Russian government. The military intervention follows a trend. International military forces have been more aggressively combating piracy. EU Naval Force ships are disrupting pirate groups and destroying their ships at a much higher rate than in previous years. U.S. warships have fired back on pirates and destroyed their boats in several skirmishes in the last several weeks.

VATICAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT CUBA IN JUNE

      HAVANA, CUBA-- The Vatican's foreign minister is coming to Cuba next month to lead discussions on the island's economic challenges and the effects of emigration and the families torn apart by it. Roman Catholic Archbishop Dominique Mamberti will mark Catholic Social Week June 12-20 by leading discussions among church leaders from around the island, as well as elders from other religions, said Orlando Marquez, spokesman for Havana's Conference of Bishops.

     Topics debated will include "the necessity for dialogue and reconciliation among Cubans," specifically the divide between islanders and those who left for the United States and now form part of the outspoken Cuban-American exile community. Also on the agenda are "the challenges the nation's economy faces" and "the complexities of today's Cuban society," according to a statement from the Havana Archbishop's Office.  Mamberti is the first top Vatican official to come since Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of state to Pope Benedict XVI, visited Cuba in February 2008. Word of Mamberti's visit comes as the church has played an increasingly visible role in helping soothe tensions over Cuba's human rights record - while also raising concerns about economic woes.

     Island authorities have pledged to allow a dissident group, the Damas de Blanco, to hold their traditional Sunday march for the rest of May after Cuba Cardinal Jaime Ortega negotiated an agreement. The march had been blocked, provoking ugly standoffs with government counter-protesters, the previous three weeks. Ortega also made headlines April 19 when he said in an interview with the church's monthly magazine that Cuba is facing its worst crisis in years, and that its citizens are openly demanding political and social change. Relations between the church and Cuba's government have often been strained. Tensions eased in the early 1990s when the government removed references to atheism in the constitution and allowed believers of all faiths to join the Communist Party. They warmed more when Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998.

May 6, 2010

CUBA SAYS ITS SUGAR HARVEST IS WORST IN 105 YEARS

      HAVANA, CUBA--Cuba said Wednesday that this year's sugar harvest is the least productive in more than a century — a scathing assessment that follows the firing of the head of an industry that was once a symbol of the nation. A report in the Communist Party newspaper Granma said the harvest fell short of expectations by 850,000 tons, though it did not specify what the goal had been.

    It said there had not been "such a poor sugar campaign" since 1905. It did not cite figures, but the Cuban census then reported 1.23 million tons of sugar were harvested in the 1905-1906 season and 1.44 million for 1906-1907. Cuba reported a harvest of just 1.5 million tons in 2008 and has not released figures for 2009. The island once was a world leader in sugar, annually producing 6 million to 7 million tons and the communist government once made the annual harvest a point of revolutionary pride, regularly sending brigades of office workers from the cities out into the countryside to boost output.

    The collapse of the Soviet Bloc combined with a continuing U.S. embargo to erase the country's biggest guaranteed markets and low global commercial prices undermined the industry, which also has been short on investment. Sugar industries elsewhere in the Caribbean also have suffered. Cuban officials have continually tried to increase efficiency if not output, but Monday's ouster of Sugar Minister Luis Manuel Avila indicates they have not had the desired success. The government said Avila had "asked for his removal, recognizing the deficiencies in his work." Granma said the island now has 750,000 hectares (1.9 million acres) dedicated to sugar and 61 mills, but only 10 of the mills met production goals. It blamed the Sugar Ministry for "lack of control," and blasted officials for lacking "objectivity" in planning.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE ANTANAS MOCKUS VOWS TO PREVENT DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ'S REVOLUTION IN COLOMBIA

     BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombian presidential candidate Antanas Mockus pledged to continue the policies of current President Álvaro Uribe, mainly on the issue of security and the fight against guerrillas  Antanas Mockus in a meeting with Green Party supporters.

    Colombia's Green Party presidential candidate Antanas Mockus said that if elected president he would not allow Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez to export the socialist revolution to his country, as some critics fear.  Mockus pledged to continue the main policies of President Alvaro Uribe if he wins the election, particularly regarding the issue of security and the fight against guerrillas, Reuters reported.

    When asked about Chávez's revolution, Mockus answered: "No, categorically no. It is a competition ofideas, a practical competition. If Colombia is in a better shape than Venezuela in four years, there is no better argument to stop eventual exports. But there has been some hysteria," the presidential candidate -who is leading the polls- said at Reuters' Forum on Investment in Latin America.  The Green Party candidate promised to fight corruption to increase foreign investment.

TALIBAN SUICIDE SQUAD ATTACKS AFGHAN GOVERNMENT COMPOUND; 13 DEAD INCLUDING 9 TERRORISTS

      KABUL, AFGHANISTAN--Taliban suicide bombers disguised as police attacked a government compound Wednesday in southwestern Afghanistan in an assault that left 13 people dead, including a provincial council member and all nine attackers, authorities said. Eight of the bombers blew themselves up and police shot the ninth, President Hamid Karzai's office said. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came as the provincial council was meeting in Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province. The militant group said the council was trying to turn Afghans against the militants.

    Insurgents have carried out coordinated suicide attacks on government and aid installations in the past to strike a blow against NATO and Afghan attempts to counter the insurgency. This summer, a U.S.-led military operation will try to clear the southern city of Kandahar of Taliban fighters in what will be a critical test of the war. Many insurgents fled to Nimroz province, which is farther west and along the border with Iran, earlier this year when troops conducted an offensive to rout the Taliban from neighboring Helmand province. Nimroz is also a major trafficking route for Afghanistan's huge opium trade.

    In Wednesday's hourlong attack, nine suicide bombers wearing Afghan National Police uniforms tried to infiltrate the provincial governor's compound where the Nimroz council was meeting, said provincial police chief Gen. Abdul Jabar Pardeli. Two police officers and a civilian also died, and 10 police were wounded, authorities said. Sadeq Chakhansori, a member of the Afghan parliament who was in Nimroz for a meeting, identified the dead council member as Gul Maki Wakhali. Police also found a car packed with explosives near the compound, which houses a court, the governor's offices and a guest house, Azad said. The Interior Ministry said the car bomb was defused before it could explode. The Taliban carried out the attack because the council was trying to persuade Afghans to turn against the insurgents, said Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi. He said the council included "friends of NATO," and that "any friend of the enemy is an enemy."

May 5, 2010

IRAN TO HOLD NEW WAR GAMES IN STRATEGIC PERSIAN GULF, 2ND-SUCH EXERCISE IN A MONTH

      TEHRAN, IRAN--In the second military show in less than a month, Iran will hold a new set of maneuvers in the strategic waters of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, Iranian media reported on Tuesday. Iran regularly holds such military exercises but they are likely to heighten tensions, coming at a time of a deepening standoff between the West and Tehran over the country's controversial nuclear program. "The massive maneuvers dubbed Velayat-89 will show (Iran's) defensive and deterrent naval power," Iranian Navy chief Adm. Habibollah Sayyari was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. Submarine and air force units are also due to participate, he added.

    Sayyari also confirmed a recent flyover by an Iranian surveillance jet and its close encounter with a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. Iran "has the right to conduct routine surveillance flights," Fars quoted Sayyari as saying. He said the F-27 jet flew over the U.S. vessel and "despite their objection, we persisted on our right" to carry out the surveillance. Sayyari did not elaborate on the time and location of the flyover. But a U.S. military official said last week the U.S. Navy had a close encounter in international waters of the Gulf of Oman. The official said the jet buzzed the USS Eisenhower, coming within about 1,000 yards (meters) of the ship on April 21.  The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. 

     Iran's new war games are to start Wednesday, said IRNA. Fars said the exercise will last for eight days and cover a span of about 97,000 square miles (250,000 square kilometers) of Iranian territorial waters. Iran's Revolutionary Guard held five-day maneuvers in late April in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway for around 40 percent of the world's oil and gas supplies. The exercises are intended to show off the country's military might and act as a warning, should U.S. or Israel consider a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. The West suspects Iran's nuclear programs is aimed at building an atomic bomb. Iran denies the charge, saying it's for peaceful purposes, such as power generation.

CUBAN DICTATOR RAUL CASTRO FIRED TRANSPORTATION, SUGAR MINISTERS  

     HAVANA, CUBA-- DICTATOR Raul Castro has fired Cuba's transportation minister for professional mistakes and replaced the head of the Sugar Ministry after he admitted incompetence, the latest in a growing series of leadership shake-ups. A statement read during the nightly newscast Monday said Jorge Luis Sierra was removed as transportation minister, a role he got in February 2009. Sierra also forfeited his post as a vice president of the Council of Ministers, a governing body that serves as Cuba's Cabinet - although its vice presidents are not considered vice presidents of the country.

     Army Gen. Antonio Enrique Luzon replaced Sierra on the council, among many military leaders to be promoted within the government. Raul Castro served as defense minister for nearly five decades before taking over as president - first temporarily, then permanently - after his older brother, Fidel, underwent intestinal surgery in 2006.  The new Transportation Minister is Cesar Ignacio Arocha. Sierra lost his jobs due to "errors committed while in the act of carrying out his duties," the statement said, but no further details was given. A government spokeswoman said she could not add anything. Sugar Minister Luis Manuel Avila also was dismissed, but the newscast said that "he asked for his removal, recognizing the deficiencies in his work." Orlando Selso was named to the post.

    On March 23, Cuba replaced Attorney General Juan Escalona Reguera, who fought under Fidel and Raul Castro in the rebel army that toppled dictator Fulgencio Batista on New Year's Day 1959. Health problems were cited as the reason. Rio Zaza is jointly owned by Cuba's government and Marambio, but has been shuttered as part of an investigation by Cuba's government. Fidel Castro has not commented on the case, even though he and Marambio have been friends for decades.

VENEZUELA'S DEFENSE MINISTER DENIES, AGAIN, "CUBANIZATION" OF THE ARMED FORCES

      CARACAS, VENEZUELA--Minister of Defense,  General-in-Chief Carlos Mata Figueroa, denied on Tuesday that the National Armed Force is undergoing a process of cubanization, as several critics of the Venezuelan government have denounced in recent weeks.  "The usual prophets of doom are talking about cubanization, 'iranization'` 'russification' or 'belarusification.' There is nothing at all!" the Defense Minister said during a speech.

    These statements were made after retired Brigadier General Antonio Rivero filed on Monday a complaint with the Attorney General Office about the presence of Cuban military officers in Venezuela. General-in-Chief Mata Figueroa reiterated that the Venezuelan Armed Force has adopted a new military doctrine in line with the new military ideas of dictator  Hugo Chávez. He reiterated the commitment of the FAN to the revolution led by the Venezuelan ruler.

     Back in February 2001, the then Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jose Vicente Rangel said that he will not allow the "Cubanization" of the armed forces in his capacity as the new defense minister. His answer was In response to criticisms his appointment had aroused, Rangel told reporters that "(the criticisms) demonstrate a depressing intellectual void and, besides, it's an argument that in reality undermines the armed forces."  Since then, over 60,000 Cubans, including military personnel, had joined the Venezuelan government.

May 4, 2010

IRANIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD DENIES TO BE BUILDING A NUCLEAR WEAPON

      UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK--Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, insisting that there's no "credible proof" his regime is developing a nuclear arsenal, on Monday launched a scathing attack against the U.S. and other nuclear weapons powers in an apparent bid to derail a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran. U.S., British and French diplomats walked out of the U.N. General Assembly hall during Ahmadinejad's address. They were among those attending the nearly month-long conference on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the 189-nation accord that underpins the global system designed to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.

    Ahmadinejad charged the Obama administration with preserving the option of launching a nuclear attack against Iran. He also accused the U.S. and the other nuclear powers of holding onto their weapons stockpiles while trying to deny other nations access to peaceful nuclear technology.    "One of the greatest injustices committed by the nuclear weapons states is equating nuclear arms with nuclear energy," Ahmadinejad told the opening session of an international arms control conference at the U.N. "In fact, these states seek to exclusively monopolize both nuclear weapons and nuclear energy because by doing so they can impose their will on the international community."

    His speech appeared aimed at winning sympathy from U.N. Security Council members that aren't nuclear weapons powers, whose support the U.S. needs to win imposition of more U.N. sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment. Enrichment is the process used to produce low-enriched uranium fuel for power plants and highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons. The conference is being held as U.S., Russian, Chinese, French, British and German diplomats negotiate a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Iran for defying repeated U.N. Security Council calls to suspend its uranium enrichment program, which is suspected of being part of a secret nuclear weapons development effort.

NORTH KOREA'S KIM JONG-IL SEEKS LIFELINE IN CHINA

     DALIAN, CHINA-Reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il arrived in China on Monday in search of economic support and diplomatic protection from his only major ally, after bungled policies at home and military grandstanding that has exasperated the region. China, which has propped up the North's leaders for decades, is becoming increasingly fed up with its provocative neighbor, analysts say, but it is willing to bankroll Kim to prevent chaos on its border.  Kim, aware of Beijing's predicament, is expected to demand sweeteners to rein in his military and return to international nuclear disarmament talks hosted by Beijing.

    Wearing sunglasses and his trademark khaki outfit, Kim emerged from a motorcade of about 50 limousines and other vehicles on Monday evening, and walked gingerly into the Furama Hotel in the thriving port city of Dalian. He crossed into China before dawn in his armored train, with police precautions preceding his every stop. The Furama has covered its facade in a billowing white sheet as part of security measures, and to keep out prying reporters. In his last trip in 2006, Kim toured China's industrial centres for a first-hand look under the hood of the country's quickly growing economy.   Dalian, a rebuilt rust-belt city that has

 attracted major foreign investment, is a symbol of development that Beijing's leaders have advocated for years to Kim and his father, state founder Kim Il-sung, to revive the North's moribund economy. There has been no official confirmation of the trip. Reporters camping out in the Chinese border city of Dandong were hounded out of the area by Chinese security agents just before his special train crossed the river, while Chinese police impeded a South Korean crew from filming in Dalian.  The visit is Kim's first trip abroad since a suspected stroke in 2008. Analysts are also wondering whether Kim's youngest son, Jong-un, may be joining him so that he could introduce him as the heir to the family throne in Beijing.

JUAN MANUEL SANTOS SAYS THAT VENEZUELAN DICTATOR CHAVEZ WANTS TO PREVENT HIS VICTORY IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--Colombian pro-government candidate, Juan Manuel Santos, accused Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez of seeking to prevent his victory in the presidential elections, in order to take his Bolivarian revolution to Venezuela's neighboring country.

    Santos is a former minister of President Álvaro Uribe's cabinet and one of the two favorites to win the elections -his closest rival is independent candidate Antanas Mockus. Santos said that if elected he would preserve security in Colombia, but he would focus the economy and social investment to reduce unemployment and poverty, Reuters reported.  Santos acknowledged that he has profound differences with the Bolivarian revolution led by Chávez in Venezuela.

     When asked about the criticisms made by Chávez, who said that if Santos won the election it would be difficult to rebuild frozen bilateral ties, the former Defense Minister said that "such statements are intended to prevent my victory in Colombian elections, for several reasons."

May 3, 2010

COLOMBIA PROTESTS VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ MEDDLING IN ITS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA--The Colombian government described as “serious” the interference of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Colombia’s electoral process, following his criticism of presidential candidate Juan Manuel Santos, who he said was a “danger to the peace of the continent.” Colombian Interior and Justice Minister Fabio Valencia said that a general principle of international law says that one country cannot “meddle” in the affairs of another and for that reason described such comments as “serious.”   “One should not interfere that way in the electoral process of another country,” the official said, adding that Colombians can take whatever decision they want, “freely, autonomously, but without pressure from foreign governments.”

    “He is giving opinions he should not give, because we respect the decisions that Venezuela has taken without meddling in their affairs and I believe such behavior should be reciprocal,” he said. He also said that Colombians cannot allow any other country to meddle in their elections because they must take their “own free, autonomous decisions.” Chavez said Friday that the candidate of the conservative Party of the U, Juan Manuel Santos, is a “danger to the peace of the continent” and added that if he wins he will not be received as a president in Caracas.
 The Venezuelan dictator  repeated his position when commenting on a news story that originated in the United States, according to which, he said, officials of that country accuse him of interfering in Colombia’s presidential elections.

    “They accuse me of interfering in Colombia’s elections, but they should say in what way, because all I did was reflect on some candidates who decided to incorporate me in their campaigns, to use me for their own benefit. I have the right to shut up or not shut up,” he said. The Venezuelan dictator made special reference to ex-defense minister and candidate Juan Manuel Santos, and repeated that if he gets to be the next Colombian president, relations with that country would not improve. The first electoral round in Colombia is scheduled for May 30, but according to the latest survey, no candidate will obtain an absolute majority, so a second round of voting will be held on June 20. The latest survey released on Friday showed that the centrist Green Party candidate, Antanas Mockus, has a 38.7 percent voter preference, followed by Santos with 26.7 percent, ex-foreign minister and candidate of the Conservative Party, Noemi Sanin, with 9.8 percent and dissident liberal German Vargas Lleras with 3.3 percent for the center-right Radical Change Party.

CAR BOMB FOUND IN NEW YORK'S TIMES SQUARE

      NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK--NEw York City police have defused an improvised car bomb parked in Times Square, one of the city's busiest tourist areas. They say propane tanks, fireworks, petrol and a clock device were removed from a parked sports utility vehicle.  So far, there is no evidence that it was more than a "one-off event", the US homeland security chief said.  Forensic evidence including fingerprints had been recovered, Janet Napolitano told NBC television.  "We're treating it as if it could be a potential terrorist attack," she said.

    Early on Sunday the vehicle was towed to a forensic lab in the city's Queens district and Times Square was reopened.  Part of the district - where many theatres are sited - had been sealed off on Saturday night after the bomb alert.  Both US President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg praised the quick response by the New York Police Department.  Thousands of tourists were evacuated from the area after a T-shirt vendor alerted the police when he spotted smoke coming from a Nissan Pathfinder Heavily armed police and emergency vehicles then shut down many of the busiest streets in Manhattan, which were filled with theatregoers in the heart of Broadway. 

Many who had gathered on 43rd Street and Broadway were shocked to hear that the iconic Times Square had been sealed off due to a suspected car bomb. "We are very lucky," Mr Bloomberg told reporters. "Thanks to alert New Yorkers and professional police officers, we avoided what could have been a very deadly event."  He said the bomb "looked amateurish" but could have exploded, adding that the incident was a "reminder of the dangers that we face".  The alert was triggered when a street vendor saw smoke coming from a Nissan Pathfinder parked on 45th Street and Seventh Avenue at about 1830 (2230 GMT) on Saturday.  The vehicle had its engine running and hazard lights flashing, officials said.  Police shut down several blocks of Times Square, as well as subway lines, while a robotic arm broke windows of the vehicle.

BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT EVO MORALES NATIONALIZES FOUR POWER COMPANIES

      LA PAZ, BOLIVIA--Bolivian President Evo Morales announced a workers' day takeover of four power companies on Saturday, expanding the state's dominion over key industries. Morales signed the nationalization decree at offices of one of the companies in the central city of Cochabamba hours after police and soldiers moved in to secure them.

    The companies include Bolivia's largest power producer, Empresa Electrica Guaracachi SA, which is controlled by Rurelec PLC of Britain, as well as Empresa Corani SA, a hydroelectric company operated by GDF Suez, which itself is partly owned by the French government. Also nationalized were the Valle Hermoso company, operated by the private Bolivian Generating Group, and the Empresa de Luz y Fuerza de Cochabamba, which has been owned by its workers and local citizens.  Workers of that company had occupied their offices overnight to try to block the transfer of ownership from local to national hands.

     May Day takeovers have become a tradition for the socialist president. He decreed nationalization of the hydrocarbons industry in 2006 and took over a telephone company in 2008. "We are complying with the constitution that says that basic services cannot be a private business," Morales said Saturday. He said the government would try to expand service to poor and isolated areas. The nationalization of hydrocarbons, principally gas, increased government revenues but largely froze private investment in the sector. Still in private hands are the country's railroads.

May 2, 2010

US AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO CARLOS PASCUAL: GLOBAL WARMING WILL MAKE THE ISLAND (CUBA) DISAPPEAR 

      MEXICO CITY, MEXICO-The political differences between Cuba and the United States will end in 50 years because the rise in ocean waters caused by global warming will make the island disappear, predicted U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual. Addressing the forum Green Business Expo in Mexico City, Pascual said that "we don't have to worry much in the United States about Cuba, because the environment is going to eliminate the problem for us."

    However, he added, "maybe Fidel Castro can live 50 more years and has powers that we don't know so far." The comment drew laughter from his audience but earned a rebuke from the official Cuban website Cubadebate, which called it a "heavy and arrogant joke." "If Cuba disappears, so will all the other islands in the Caribbean," a Cubadebate article said. "Is that what Mr. Pascual and his jolly audience wish, too?"

    Pascual has been Washington's envoy to Mexico since August 2009, following a 23-year career in the U.S. Department of State, National Security Council and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). His latest book, co-authored with Vicki Huddleston, is "Learning To Salsa: New Steps in U.S.-Cuba Relations." Pascual was born in Havana in 1959 and was brought to the U.S. at the age of 3.

INTERNATIONAL ARREST ORDER FOR FORMER COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER JUAN MANUEL SANTOS

      QUITO, ECUADOR--On Monday, Ecuador's Sucumbios Provincial Court upheld a warrant for JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, for his role in a 2008 bombing raid against Colombian rebels who had set up camp on Ecuador's side of the border. Santos was President Alvaro Uribe's defense minister at the time. "This is very serious," Uribe said in a local radio interview. "We have made every effort to advance the reestablishment of relations with Ecuador and we will continue doing so, but this decision by the Ecuadorean courts affects that process."

     Ecuador's leftist President Rafael Correa, a close friend of dictator Hugo Chavez,  broke off relations with Colombia after the March 2008 bombing, which killed at least 24 people including Raul Reyes, the No. 2 commander of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The arrest warrant had been briefly suspended earlier this year before it was reactivated on Monday. Santos is closely associated with Uribe's U.S.-backed crackdown on the Marxist rebels, which has made many parts of the country safer and helped attract international investment. Colombia says information found in a computer belonging to Reyes shows that Ecuador and the left-wing government of Venezuela had failed to cooperate in fighting the FARC.

     Correa demands that Colombia share those computer files with Ecuador along with other information about the bombing raid as a condition for reestablishing full diplomatic ties. Drug-running FARC guerrillas often seek shelter in neighboring countries. Correa called the raid a massacre and a violation of sovereignty, but relations had been warming in recent months with both countries naming charges d'affaires in their respective embassies. Bilateral commerce fell to $1.9 billion last year from $2.3 billion in 2008, due in part to the diplomatic strife.  Colombia's economy has also been hit by a trade freeze imposed by Venezuela to protest a military pact signed between Washington and Bogota last year.

VENEZUELA'S DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ AND BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT LULA DA SILVA SIGNED 22 COOPERATION AGREEMENTS

      BRASILIA, BRAZIL--Venezuela's DICTATOR Hugo Chávez and Brazilian PRESIDENT Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday signed 22 bilateral agreements to strengthen cooperation in areas such as energy, housing, social issues, culture, tourism, and agribusiness. The documents signed include an agreement on border surveillance and control. It allows both countries to make flights over their border area, state-run news agency Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias (ABN) reported.

     Other agreements provide for the supply of 10,000 tons of Brazilian refined soybean oil to Venezuela as well as the purchase of yellow corn in Brazil.  In a press conference, asked about the future of bilateral relations with Brazil after President Lula hands over power, Chávez replied that no matter the outcome of Brazilian presidential elections, to be held in October, cooperation between the two countries would be irreversible.  Then, Chávez was asked when he would hand over power, and the Venezuelan ruler said that "there is no succession in sight in the short time in Venezuela." He added: "You know our Constitution and the will of our people."

    When asked if state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) has already paid its share in heavy-oil refinery Abreu e Lima, located in the northeastern state of Pernambuco, Chávez said "we will discuss it now." .  The works for the construction of the refinery by state-run oil company Petrobras already began, but Pdvsa has not paid its contribution to the USD 12-billion refinery. According to the agreement, Petrobras will own 60 percent of the shares.  "We are going to transport oil from the Orinoco River to refine it here. We have the largest oil reserves in the world," Chávez said.  Both  rulers met in Brasilia in their quarterly meeting to review bilateral relations.

May 1st., 2010

ARTURO VALENZUELA URGES VENEZUELAN DICTATOR HUGO CHAVEZ "NOT TO INTERFERE" WITH COLOMBIAN ELECTIONS

      WASHINGTON, D.C.--The US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela criticized Venezuelan dictator  Hugo Chávez’s meddling in the Colombian presidential elections. Chávez has expressed negative views against candidates in his neighboring country

    "It is very important not to meddle in the domestic affairs of other countries. It is not our concern to support one candidate or another. This is a decision that voters will have to take in each country. We respect the sovereign decision of the population," said the US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela, referring to comments made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. 

    Chávez has repeatedly said that it would be "very difficult" to mend relations with Colombia if the candidate of the ruling Social National Unity Party, Juan Manuel Santos, is elected. The Venezuelan ruler has said that Santos poses a danger for the region, reported Colombian newspaper El Tiempo.  Chávez has also questioned leftwing candidate Gustavo Petro, for his views on the Bolivarian Revolution.  As a sort of mea culpa, Valenzuela said that if in the past the United States has been involved in electoral processes of other countries, this was "a mistake."  Valenzuela stressed that "it is not the policy of President Obama."  The US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs made these statements via teleconference, before a trip to Central America that will start on Sunday. Valenzuela will visit Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama.

COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT ALVARO URIBE CALLS ON NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES TO FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM 

      BOGOTA, COLOMBIA.--President Álvaro Uribe said on Friday, in a tacit reference to Venezuela, that Colombia could have good diplomatic relations with its neighboring countries if they show commitment to eradicate terrorism.  Uribe recalled that the security agreement signed between his country and the United States aims at fighting drug trafficking and terrorism. He added that the funds provided by Washington have not been used to attack Colombia's neighboring countries.

    "For us, commitment to eradicate terrorism is of the essence for good relations with our neighboring countries. If you do not fight terror acts hitting a neighboring country, then you allow terrorism to undermine democracy in your neighboring country. This is fundamental for our democracy," the Colombian president said.

    The Colombian Head of State said that the word "war" does not exist in his government, as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has complained, DPA reported.  "We have actually changed our foreign policy, because we can not only be lawyers, diplomats or poets in the foreign policy arena. We need to be respected," the Colombian leader added.  Uribe stressed that countries should not protect "terrorists." The government of Uribe has said that several leaders of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are living in Venezuelan territory.  Venezuela froze diplomatic relations with Colombia in August following the signing of a military agreement between Bogotá and Washington.

FREEDOM HOUSE: PRESS FREEDOM SHRINKS IN VENEZUELA

      MIAMI, FLORIDA--Press freedom declined worldwide for an eighth consecutive year in 2009 and Venezuela was one of the countries where independent media were attacked, said Washington-based human rights advocate Freedom House.

    In a report, the organization claimed that that the biggest setbacks for press freedom in Latin America occurred in Mexico and Honduras, adding that independent media faced new challenges in Venezuela, Ecuador and Nicaragua, AP reported.  Governments such as China, Russia and Venezuela "have been systematically encroaching on what used to be the comparatively free environment of the Internet and news media," said the report, titled "Freedom of the Press 2010."

     Karin Karlekar, editor of the study, said that while press freedom expanded in the last years of the 20th century in many regions, it has contracted in the 21st century. "Unfortunately, the positive changes seen in previous decades have not been consolidated," she said.  The report identified 10 of the worst countries in terms of press freedom. They are, in alphabetical order, Belarus, Burma, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.