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    OTTO REICH URGES THE US TO STOP CUBA-VENEZUELA AXIS 

    The United States must try to stop the axis made up by Cuba and Venezuela, which endangers stability in the Americas, Thursday said Otto Reich, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs.

    "The combination of the malicious genius of (Cuban President Fidel) Castro, with his experience in political battles and his economic desperation, in addition to the unlimited money flow of (Venezuelan President Hugo) Chávez and his big imprudence, threaten the regional stability and security," said Reich. "Defeating this axis is an urgent task," he added in a press conference held during the fifth meeting of Fundación Atlas, a conservative organization which promotes free trade, attended by some 300 representatives from 30 countries. 

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    THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO "LAMENTED" THE HARSH CRITICS OF CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO AGAINST PRESIDENT FOX     

    MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexico issued a subdued response on Wednesday to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro's recommendation  that President Vicente Fox retire early, saying simply it "lamented" the Cuban leader's remarks. Castro recommended in a speech Tuesday that Fox take an early retirement to prevent instability or even violence in the current political flap over Mexico City Mayor Andres Manual Lopez Obrador.

    In an apparent bid to avoid the kind of diplomatic spat that saw both countries withdraw their ambassadors last year, Foreign Relations Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said "we should try to carry on our relations based on respect." "We are interested in maintaining cordial relations ... we continue to extend our hand, and look for a positive relationship with President Castro's government," Derbez told reporters in Mexico City, while noting Mexico "laments" the comments.

    Castro is apparently still angry that Mexico voted in favor of a U.S.-sponsored resolution at the U.N. Human Rights Commission condemning Cuba for its record on abuses and requesting that the global body keep the communist country's record under observation. Castro said an early retirement for Fox "is preferable to tensions or violence," Castro said in a meandering speech of more than four hours on state television Tuesday.

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    VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT MAY TAKE OVER PDVSA TO AVOID SABOTAGE

    General Melvin López Hidalgo, president of the Council for the Defense of the Nation (Codena), on Thursday claimed the Venezuelan government and the military top brass may take over the facilities of Venezuelan state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) to avoid "a possible sabotage" and "a silent strike."

    He said that Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramírez has talked to top military officers to "take the necessary steps, above all, at Pdvsa facilities in western Venezuela, in view of a possible sabotage and a silent strike" against the oil giant. López Hidalgo once again dismissed US criticisms against Venezuela's recent move to purchase arms and military equipment. If Caracas had procured this equipment from the United States, "Washington would be acclaiming (Venezuelan) President Hugo Chávez," he said.

     US SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE WORRIED ABOUT FREEDOM IN VENEZUELA

     BRAZILIA.- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized "oppression" in Cuba and wondered about freedoms in Venezuela during a presentation Wednesday on Latin American issues in Brasilia. Also, Rice pointed to hemispheric "concern" about Venezuelan political evolution, despite President Hugo Chávez was formally elected.

     "Democratically elected leaders should govern democratically," as established by the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Secretary said. "In Venezuela, for instance, it is not just a question between the United States and Venezuela. This is also true for democratic processes," she added. "Will there be free press? Will the opposition have the chance to speak out? What will happen to those who dissent from the government? These are essential values that highlight democracy in the hemisphere," Rice noted.

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    HUGO CHAVEZ AND CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO FURTHER INTEGRATE ECONOMIES, HOPE TO WOO OTHERS INTO TRADE PACT

     HAVANA.-  Leftist presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela sent a strong message of independence to Washington on Thursday as they moved to further meld their economies into an alternative Latin American trade pact excluding the United States. Chavez's visit to Cuba coincided with an international meeting here of opponents to the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA, which failed to take effect as scheduled early this year because of resistance from key countries and other obstacles.

    Chavez, who arrived in Cuba late Wednesday, was to join Castro Thursday night at the international gathering of FTAA opponents. Together, they were to promote their own Boliviarian Alternative for the Americas, which would tie together the region's developing nations without U.S. involvement. While the United States would not be part of the pact, member countries evidently would still be able to individually negotiate their own deals with U.S. trade partners. Earlier Thursday, Castro joined Chavez at the opening of new Havana office of the state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela S.A.

     The alternative pact known as ALBA "got started up a little while ago, and is being developed," Chavez told international journalists in a brief comment during an afternoon tour of Old Havana that included placing of a floral wreath at a statue of Bolivar. Dressed in a red shirt and light colored slacks, he was accompanied by Castro, who wore his traditional olive green uniform. Further cementing an alliance that has increasingly alarmed Washington, Castro and Chavez on Thursday were also signing a string of new trade and other agreements between their countries. 

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     HUGO CHAVEZ INCREASES OIL SUPPLIES TO CUBA, OPENS OFFICE IN HAVANA 

     HAVANA.- Venezuela has increased oil shipments to Cuba to 80,000-90,000 barrels a day and will make Havana the headquarters for its Caribbean energy operations, Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said Wednesday. Venezuela's state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), will open an office in Havana on Thursday, when President Hugo Chavez visits Cuba to strengthen a growing political and economic alliance.

     Since 2000, Venezuela has officially been supplying Cuba with 53,000 barrels a day of crude and refined products on very favorable financing terms, and exports have grown since Chavez's consolidation of power. "At the present time, we are sending 80,000 to 90,000 barrels per day. It varies," Ramirez, who is also president of PDVSA, told reporters at a Venezuelan export fair in Havana. Ramirez said PDVSA is now looking beyond oil supplies to the building of storage and tanker terminal facilities in Cuba, and exploring joint ventures to refine petroleum for distribution to other Caribbean islands.

     Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, is also studying involvement in the completion of the Soviet-built refinery in Cienfuegos, Cuba, to process Venezuelan crude for distribution in the Caribbean. Another refinery project under study by PDVSA would be in Matanzas, Cuba's main tanker port, he said. Cuba has also asked PDVSA to get involved in exploration of its Gulf of Mexico waters, where Spain's Repsol YPF (REP.MC) last year discovered a non-commercial deposit of good quality oil.  "We are studying that. But for the time being we are focusing on down-stream operations, storage and transport," he said.

    POWERFUL TRADE GROUPS JOINED FORCES TO INCREASE BUSINESS WITH COMMUNIST CUBA

    WASHINGTON, D.C.- Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Caterpillar Inc. joined farm and trade groups in a new organization to fight Bush administration rules that have disrupted U.S. food sales to Cuba, an organizer said on Tuesday. The newly formed U.S.-Cuba Trade Association backs legislation to overturn the Feb. 22 rules that require Cuba to pay for food cargoes before they leave port. American exporters say it is faster and cheaper to dispatch ships and await payment.

    Bills have been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate that would allow cash payments directly to U.S. financial institutions and allow agribusiness travel to Cuba without needing Treasury Department permission. The new association also supports legislation expected to be unveiled on Wednesday that would open up travel to Cuba. The legislation is planned to help mark a "Cuba Action Day" sponsored by three groups advocating a more open U.S. policy toward Cuba.

    "We have formed this association because of the desire by our members not only to keep trade with Cuba running smoothly, but also to move forward to expand trade and travel opportunities with Cuba," said Kirby Jones, president of the new group and a long-time consultant on Cuba trade. "The new regulations have definitely hurt trade." Jones said the organization will work to normalize trade with Cuba.

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    STATE DEPARTMENT DENIED THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORT ON POLICY SHIFT REGARDING VENEZUELA

    WASHINGTON, D.C.- The US Department of State Tuesday underscored that no policy shift regarding Venezuela has been made, responding to The New York Time report that President George W. Bush administration could adopt a tougher stance towards President Hugo Chávez' government. "This information does not reflect any decision by the US to change its policy," said Adam Ereli, State Department deputy spokesman, when asked about the New York daily article.

    "Policy was stated by Secretary of State" Condoleezza Rice, who reiterated her "concern" about Chávez' behavior before arriving to Brasilia, where she started a Latin American tour on Tuesday. In the article, The New York Times ensured that Washington is considering increasing its support to opposition groups in Venezuela and asking neighboring countries to distance themselves from Chávez, who could be reelected for another six-year term.

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    A REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNAL SENTENCED 23 CUBANS FOR STORMING THE MEXICAN EMBASSY IN HAVANA

    HAVANA.- A court gave prison terms of up to 18 years to nearly two dozen Cubans convicted of storming of the Mexican Embassy in 2002 amid rumors that the neighboring country was granting visas to anyone who asked, a veteran rights activist said Tuesday. The trial was held in December and sentences were announced recently, Elizardo Sanchez, of the non-governmental Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said in a statement sent to international news organizations.

    Sanchez, who said he saw the sentencing documents, reported that the lightest sentence was three years. Only one person, alleged ringleader Pedro Plasencia Achon, received the maximum sentence of 18 years. The 23 men allegedly crashed a stolen bus through the gates of the Mexican Embassy in Havana in February 2002 during a wave of rumors the mission was issuing visas to all Cubans who showed up. They demanded visas and refused to leave. Cuban police arrested them after two days in a pre-dawn eviction.

    Cuban authorities accused the U.S. government's Radio Marti of provoking the occupation by repeatedly broadcasting a sound bite of then-Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda saying the embassy's doors "are open" to Cuban citizens. Officials for Radio Marti, which broadcasts anti-Castro programming to Cuba from its station in Miami, denied provoking the rumors, which drew hundreds of people to the mission seeking visas. Castaneda said his comments, made during a visit to Florida, were taken out of context.

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    COLOMBIAN MINISTER OF DEFENSE: ARMAS PURCHASE BY VENEZUELA HAS HEIGHTENED REGIONAL MILITARY UNBALANCE 

    BOGOTA.-  A recent move by the Venezuelan government to purchase weapons lacks clear grounds and has worsened military unbalances among Andean countries, Colombian Minister of Defense Jorge Uribe said before Congress. "It is an undeniable fact that Venezuela weapons procurement deepens military unbalance in the Andean region," Uribe stated as quoted by a Colombian daily. "For the time being there are no clear justifications for the procurement of some kinds of strategic weapons in a region that has curtailed military expenses for defense."

    Colombian senator Hernán Andrade, who summoned the Congress debate, said that this Venezuelan move has brought about a clear military unbalance that violates international deals such as the Andean Chart signed by the Foreign Ministers of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. "(Venezuelan  President Hugo) Chávez is infringing international agreements on arms trade," he added.

     RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN CALLS COLLAPSE OF SOVIET UNION "THE GREATEST GEOPOLITICAL CATASTROPHE OF THE CENTURY"

    RUSSIA.-  President Vladimir Putin lamented the demise of the Soviet Union in some of his strongest language to date, saying in a nationally televised speech before parliament Monday that it was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century." In his annual address to lawmakers, top government officials and political leaders, Putin also sought to reassure skittish investors about Russia's investment climate - just two days before a ruling in the tax evasion and fraud trial of oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

    His statements on the collapse of the Soviet Union and its effects on Russians, at home and abroad, come as the country is awash in nostalgia just two weeks before the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe - a conflict Russians call the "Great Patriotic War." In the 50-minute address at the Kremlin, Putin avoided mentioning the need to work more closely with other former Soviet republics - in contrast to previous addresses - and he made passing reference to the treatment of Russian-speaking minorities in former Soviet republics.

    "First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century," Putin said. "As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory. The epidemic of collapse has spilled over to Russia itself." Much of Putin's speech centered on assuaging the fears of investors who have been spooked by a series of contradictory and punitive legal and regulatory measures.

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    PRESIDENT BUSH ASKS SAUDI ARABIA TO PUMP MORE OIL

    CRAWFORD, TEXAS.-  CRAWFORD, Texas.-- President Bush prodded Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah on Monday to help curb skyrocketing oil prices, and the White House expressed hope that the kingdom's plans would ease U.S. gasoline prices that have shot above $2.20 a gallon. "A high oil price will damage markets, and he knows that,'' Bush said of Abdullah, the de facto leader of the desert kingdom. Asked whether pump prices would drop, Bush said that would depend on supply and demand.

    "One thing is for certain: The price of crude is driving the price of gasoline,'' Bush said. "The price of crude is up because not only is our economy growing, but economies such as India and China's economies are growing.'' Saudi Arabia has outlined a plan to increase production capacity to 12.5 million barrels a day by 2009 from the current 11 million limit. Saudi Arabia now pumps about 9.5 million barrels daily. If necessary, Saudi Arabia says it will eventually develop a capacity of 15 million barrels a day.

    National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the plan could be seen as positive news by financial markets. "The problem in the oil market now is a perception that there is inadequate capacity,'' Hadley said. Reassurance that can be given to the market on available supply, he said, should "have a downward pressure on the price.'' 

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    WASHINGTON REGRETS TERMINATION OF US/VENEZUELA MILITARY EXCHANGE PROGRAM 

    WASHINGTON, D.C.- George W. Bush administration Monday rejected as unjustified Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' decision to end a military exchange program with the United States. "We regret Venezuela's decision to put an end to what has been a fruitful relationship," Adam Ereli, spokesman for the US Department of State, said in connection with the cancellation of a 35-year-old program of bilateral military exchange.

    "We think it is an unfortunate (move); we certainly think it is unjustified because this (military) cooperation has been very fruitful for both countries," he said. Chávez on Sunday announced that the Venezuelan government indefinitely cancelled any military exchange and joint operations with the Unites States.

   HUGO CHAVEZ WILL VISIT CUBA NEXT WEEK TO STRENGTHEN THE BOLIVARIAN ALTERNATIVE FOR LATIN AMERICA (ALBA)

    CARACAS.-  Chavez will visit Cuba next week to promote exports of everything from sardines to chocolate and forge a new bond in the alliance between his oil-rich nation and the Communist-run island. In the last five years, Venezuela has become the most important economic lifeline for Cuban President Fidel Castro's bankrupt country, filling the void left by the Soviet Union's collapse with vital supplies of oil on preferential terms. Cuba pays for the oil with medical and educational services.

    Chavez now seeks to export manufactured products to Cuba. "We're going to sell Fidel sardines, chocolates, eiderdowns, toys. We make everything here!" Chavez said last week, when the governments announced they were each setting aside $200 million for credits to boost bilateral trade. Chavez is to open a trade conference in Havana Wednesday with 200 Venezuelan manufacturers of food products, textiles, shoes, sports gear and furniture interested in sales to Cuba. Venezuela is pursuing "compensated trade" with the island, in which goods and services are paid for in kind, not cash, as part of a strategy to create a Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America to the U.S.-backed Free Trade Area of the Americas.

    Chavez shares Castro's antipathy for U.S. free-market policies, which are increasingly unpopular in Latin America. The Bush administration views the alliance between Caracas and Havana as "subversive" and worries that Cuba-styled Communism could take root in Venezuela, the United States' fourth-largest oil supplier. Venezuelan support, with planned Chinese investment in Cuba's nickel industry, are behind Castro's new confidence in a Cuban economic recovery and the survival of socialism.

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    HUGO CH�VEZ SAYS AMERICANS DETAINED FOR TAKING PICTURES OF VENEZUELAN MILITARY FACILITY, REFINERY 

   CARACAS.-  Venezuela (AP) - Hugo Chavez said Sunday that a woman linked to the U.S. military had been arrested while photographing a military installation, and several U.S. citizens were also arrested for taking pictures of a refinery, signs that the Washington may be plotting an invasion of his country. Chavez's announcement, made during his weekly radio and television show, was thin on details and did not specify the woman's nationality or supposed role in the military.

    "We put her where we had to," Chavez said, without elaborating, giving an indication of when the incident took place or saying if she had been released. "If she or any other U.S. official does this kind of activity again, they will be imprisoned and face trial in Venezuela." He also said that the Americans detained were journalists who were caught taking pictures of El Palito refinery, some 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of Caracas. They were released, Chavez said. The arrests, coupled with the decision to suspend the military exchange program, are likely to further strain relations with Washington, which Chavez has repeatedly accused of supporting efforts to destabilize his government and to oust him from office.

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    HUGO CH�VEZ SAYS U.S. MILITARY OFFICERS SPREAD NEGATIVE IMAGE OF VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT

    CARACAS.-  Hugo Chavez said Sunday that a military exchange program with the United States was canceled because U.S. officers in Venezuela were spreading a negative image of his government to the soldiers they were training. The U.S. embassy on Friday announced that Venezuela had abruptly ended the 35-year-old program without offering an explanation. During his weekly television and radio show, Chavez complained the U.S. officers "are sent here to turn our boys against us."

    "It's best that they leave, until someday we can have transparent, clear relations and cooperation with the civil and military institutions of the United States, the way we do with almost all governments in the planet," Chavez said Sunday. An official at the U.S. embassy on Friday said there were four U.S. military instructors in Venezuela and roughly 90 Venezuelan military personnel in the United States.

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    VENEZUELANS GET FREE "DON QUIXOTE" BOOKS

    CARACAS.-  Venezuela (AP) - Hugo Chavez says "Don Quixote" is a must-read for Venezuelans - and his government has printed 1 million free copies to mark the 400th anniversary of the classic tale of the knight who dared to dream. Thousands of Venezuelans flocked to public squares across the country Saturday to line up for abridged copies of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra's novel, the book that produced the adjective "quixotic" - or hopelessly idealistic.

    "Don't be left without your Quixote!" Chavez said earlier this week. "We are all going read Quixote to feed our spirit with this fighter who came out to get rid of injustice and fix the world." "To some degree, we are followers of Quixote," he added. Both Chavez's supporters and critics acknowledge his idealism. His foes, many of whom call him "El Loco," or "The Madman," said it was fitting the government was distributing the book about a hallucinating knight wandering through Spain with his faithful companion Sancho Panza.

    Chavez, a close friend of Cuba's Fidel Castro, envisions a new world order in which developing countries around the globe are one day free from oppression, inequality, poverty and injustice. Chavez openly acknowledges that reaching his main objective won't be easy. During a cabinet meeting last week, Chavez admitted that Venezuela is still a poor country more than six years after he took office. "Is Venezuela still poor? Yes, but now Venezuelans have better health care, now they have schools in which children receive a good lunch ... and programs to teach the people how to read and write," he said.

    POPE BENEDICT XVI REACHES OUT IN INSTALLMENT MASS, ASKS FOR PRAYERS FROM "BELIEVERS AND NONBELIEVERS ALIKE"

    VATICAN CITY (April 24) - Pope Benedict XVI formally began his stewardship of the Roman Catholic Church on Sunday, reaching out to Jews, other Christians and ''nonbelievers alike'' and asking for prayers from the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and dignitaries gathered in St. Peter's Square as he assumed ''this enormous task.'' The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was known as the enforcer of church orthodoxy, said in his installation homily that as pope he would listen to the will of God in governing the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.

    ''My real program of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by Him so that He himself will lead the church at this hour of our history,'' he said in his homily, read in Italian.

    Wearing golden vestments and clutching his pastoral staff, Benedict began the ceremony by walking into the area under St. Peter's Basilica where St. Peter is believed to be buried, paying homage to the first pope and blessing the tomb with incense as a choir chanted. In one of the most symbolic moments of the two-hour Mass, Benedict was given his Fisherman's Ring and a woolen pallium, or shawl - both symbols of his papal authority. The ring is emblazoned with an image of Peter casting his fishing nets and was traditionally used to seal apostolic letters.

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    LUCIO GUTIERREZ, DEPOSED ECUADORIAN PRESIDENT, TAKES REFUGE IN BRAZIL

    BRAZILIA.- Ecuador's former president began his life in exile in Brazil on Sunday, ending a four-day drama that began when protesters accusing him of abuse of power drove him from office and forced him to take refuge in the Brazilian ambassador's residence. A police vehicle whisked Lucio Gutierrez out of the Quito residence through its back entrance before dawn Sunday to avoid protesters, and he arrived in Brazil's capital seven hours later on an air force jet, Brazilian military spokesman Vladomiro Fagundes said.

    Gutierrez's wife and one of his two daughters accompanied him to Brazil, which granted asylum to the 48-year-old cashiered army colonel. They were immediately flown out of Brasilia military base by helicopter and were headed to a military-run hotel, Fagundes said. "They were rescued," he said. "The mission was a success." Gutierrez, the third leader of this unstable, oil-rich Andean nation forced from office in eight years, did not talk to reporters as he walked the yards to the military helicopter in the Brasilia airport. He wore a blue suit, white shirt and no tie.

    But in a letter requesting asylum released to reporters, Gutierrez wrote: "In light of the current situation in the Republic of Ecuador, I feel personally threatened and unable to guarantee my liberty and physical integrity, as well as of my wife's and of my daughters." Gutierrez had been holed up in the ambassador's residence for four days awaiting permission from the new government to leave Ecuador, following Congress's decision to remove him from office amid massive anti-government protests. Lawmakers later named former Vice President Alfredo Palacio as Ecuador's new president. The deposed leader's enemies say he should be tried for abuse of power, corruption and the violent repression of protests that prompted Wednesday's congressional vote.

     ELIAN GONZALEZ THANKS AMERICANS FOR HELP 

    HAVANA.-  Elian Gonzalez, the young Cuban castaway whose international custody battle ended in his dramatic seizure from a Miami home five years ago, addressed a crowd of thousands Friday, thanking Cubans and Americans alike for fighting for his return to the island. Elian, now 11, read a speech at a televised event in Havana marking the fifth anniversary of the April 22 raid in which armed U.S. federal agents snatched him from his Miami relatives in the first step to getting him back to Cuba.

    "Five years ago I returned to my dad," he said. "When I saw him, I became very happy. I could hug him, I could see my little brother. That was the happiest day of my life." Though the Cuban boy frequently appears in public alongside his father, this is the first time he has given an address at an event open to the international press. President Fidel Castro was among thousands in the audience and many of the boy's remarks were sure to please the communist leader.

    Elian was found clinging to an inner tube off the south Florida coast in November 1999. His mother, Elisabeth Brotons, perished with 10 other adults in a failed attempt to reach the United States. Elian, then 5, was one of only three survivors. His rescue set off a seven-month custody battle by the boy's relatives in Miami, who fought to keep the child in the United States. The young castaway became a cause celebre for Miami's Cuban exiles. The boy was reunited with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, in the United States after the armed federal raid on his relatives' home. Father and son returned to a hero's welcome in Cuba the summer of 2000.

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    HUGO CHAVEZ GOVERNMENT ABRUPTLY ENDS MILITARY EXCHANGE WITH UNITED STATES

     CARACAS.-  President Hugo Chavez's government has unexpectedly ended a military exchange program with the United States, the U.S. Embassy in Caracas announced Friday. Venezuelan officials could not be reached immediately to confirm the termination of the program that began exchanging U.S. and Venezuelan military personnel 35 years ago. "Giving no explanation, the Bolivarian Government of Venezuela abruptly ended U.S. military participation in the bilateral exchange program," the embassy said in a statement. "The U.S. Embassy regrets this unexpected action. The U.S. government hopes to maintain the historical fraternal relations between the two military forces."

    An embassy official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there are four U.S. military instructors in Venezuela and roughly 90 Venezuelan military personnel in the United States. The American officers in Venezuela "were basically told to leave the Venezuelan military institutions and bases where they were," the official said in a telephone interview. "We have no explanation as to why this was done."

    The statement Friday came one day after Venezuela's vice president downplayed concerns expressed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over Chavez's decision to buy 100,000 assault rifles from Russia. "This (purchase) is part of our effort to re-equip the Venezuelan Armed Forces, which has the same rights as any army," said Jose Vicente Rangel, who added that Venezuela was growing tired of hearing Washington repeat its concerns regarding Venezuela's acquisition of the Kalashnikov rifles.

   THE CUBAN DICTATOR ADDRESSES ECONOMIC WOES IN CUBA, RAISES MINIMUM WAGE, DISTRIBUTE PRESSURE COOKERS 

    HAVANA.-  Cuban dictator Fidel Castro announced Thursday the minimum wage would be more than doubled to $10 a month from $4.50, effective on May 1. The raise will benefit 1.6 million Cubans who earn the lowest salaries in Communist Cuba, including farm laborers, plumbers, carpenters, bakers and undertakers. Castro made the announcement in the latest of his three-hour speeches addressing economic problems endured by Cubans since the collapse of the Soviet Union plunged Cuba into deep crisis. It was the eighth speech in 10 days broadcast live to the nation.

    ''The increase will raise the minimum salary from 100 pesos to 225 pesos,'' the Cuban leader said. Castro said this would raise the average monthly wage in Cuba to $14.20 from $12.80 at a cost to the government of $48.4 million. Cubans welcomed the raises, but said it was still too little to live on. Rent and public services are heavily subsidized in Cuba, but essential consumer goods are more expensive than in the United States.

    Castro's drive to improve the lot of deprived Cubans began on March 8, when he announced the distribution of cheap pressure cookers and electric rice steamers for every household. Castro promised the population new and more efficient household appliances, such as electric fans and refrigerators. He displayed on stage two American-made Frigidaire and Westinghouse fridges from the 1950's that are still in use in Cuba, and homemade ventilators, as examples of appliances that consume too much electricity. ''We are going to have less power cuts,'' he promised.

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      THE WHITE HOUSE WOULD NOT DISCUSS COLIN POWELL'S PERSONAL OPINION ON JOHN R. BOLTON'S NOMINATION AS AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS

     WASHINGTON, D.C.- President Bush on Thursday issued a strong new defense of John R. Bolton, his nominee as ambassador to the United Nations. But associates of Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, said he had expressed reservations about Mr. Bolton in conversations with at least two wavering Republican senators. The associates said Mr. Powell, in private telephone conversations, had made clear his concerns about Mr. Bolton on several fronts, including his harsh treatment of subordinates.

    The associates said Mr. Powell had also praised Mr. Bolton's performance on some matters during his tenure as under secretary of state, but they said Mr. Powell had stopped well short of the endorsements offered by Mr. Bush and by Mr. Powell's own successor, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The accounts of Mr. Powell's private messages about Mr. Bolton suggested a new gulf between the former secretary of state and Mr. Bush. In a speech in Washington on Thursday, Mr. Bush portrayed Democratic opposition to Mr. Bolton as politically driven, and urged the Senate to confirm the nomination. Mr. Powell's former chief of staff, Lawrence Wilkerson, said in an interview this week that Mr. Bolton would be an "abysmal ambassador" to the United Nations.

    This month, five former Republican secretaries of state signed a letter to the Senate committee that endorsed Mr. Bolton's nomination, but Mr. Powell was not among them. In a telephone conversation with Mr. Chafee, the associates said, Mr. Powell said he had not joined in the endorsement in part because he did not normally sign group letters, but also because he believed such endorsements were appropriate only in cases where his point of view was clear cut. It appears that someone is stabbing Mr. Bolton and the president right in the back.

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    WASHINGTON POST SAYS THAT HUGO CHAVEZ MAY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CRISIS IN ECUADOR

    WASHINGTON, D.C.-  In its editorial published Friday, The Washington Post regretted the fact that the United States does not have any strategy regarding Latin America. The newspaper also claimed it fears that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez may attempt to take advantage of the Ecuadorian crisis. According to the daily, "Chávez, who considers Ecuador as part of the 'Bolivarian' territory, may try to promote fresh populist riots as the one in Bolivia."

    The Post said added  that "a growing number of countries" in the region "are badly in need of assistance to support their democratic institutions."  US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and El Salvador next week "will provide for the opportunity to approach Washington's democratic allies in the region.

    The Post said "Condoleezza Rice will soon depart on her first tour of South America as secretary of state -- with stops in Brazil, Chile and Colombia as well as El Salvador -- that will be her opportunity to forge a common approach with the United States' democratic allies. Such a multilateral effort, including an end to the impasse at the OAS, won't be easy given the Bush administration's poor reputation in the region, its differences with the leftist governments of Chile and Brazil, and the continuing obstructionism of Mr. Chavez. But it is the best way to help countries such as Ecuador and arrest a dangerous trend."

    LUCIO GUTIERREZ, OUSTED PRESIDENT OF ECUADOR, ACCUSED OF ABUSING POWER; SEEKS POLITICAL ASYLUM IN THE EMBASSY OF BRAZIL 

    QUITO.-   Ecuadorian President Lucio Gutierrez was ousted by Congress on Wednesday after a week of increasingly violent protests in which he was accused of abusing his power by meddling with the country's top court. Gutierrez, the third president of the Andean nation to be toppled amid popular unrest in eight years, was replaced by his vice-president after a day of escalating clashes between opposing protesters in which two people were reported killed.

    A military helicopter flew him out of the presidential palace in colonial downtown Quito after 60 congressmen from the 100-seat chamber voted to oust him for "abandoning his post." Brazil's foreign ministry said in a statement issued in Brasilia later that Gutierrez was in the Brazilian embassy in Quito. Congress named Vice President Alfredo Palacio to serve out the rest of Gutierrez's four-year term that expires in January 2007, but the move drew immediate counter-protests.

    Palacio, a 66-year-old cardiologist who had been a prominent critic of his former boss and his economic policies, said he would consider an election but could not dissolve Congress. "I will accept the will of the people. My position (as president) depends on them, but first we need order," Palacio said before eventually leaving the building. The state prosecutor's office said it ordered Gutierrez's arrest for two deaths on Tuesday and Wednesday during the demonstrations. The armed forces, traditional arbiters of power, abandoned Gutierrez, who had refused to quit. "We have been forced to withdraw support from the president in order to ensure public safety," said the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Victor Hugo Rosero.

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    U.N. RIGHTS PANEL REJECTS BIT TO INVESTIGATE DETAINEE SITUATION AT GUANTANAMO PRISON

    GENEVA.- The U.N. Human Rights Commission on Thursday rejected a Cuban attempt to force a United Nations investigation into the situation of detainees held at the U.S. naval base in GUANTANAMO, Cuba. Eight countries supported the resolution in the 53-nation panel, against 22 countries that voted against. Twenty-three abstained.

    Cuba was joined by China, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sudan, Malaysia, Guatemala and Mexico in voting for the resolution, which noted "serious concern" expressed by U.N. experts on the situation of the terrorist suspects held at the U.S. military base. The resolution would have requested the U.S. government "to authorize an impartial and independent fact-finding mission" to Guantánamo.

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   WHITE HOUSE HITS BACK OVER BOLTON'S NOMINATION TO BE U.S. ENVOY TO THE UNITED NATIONS 

    WASHINGTON, D.C.- The White House rounded on Congressional Democrats yesterday as it tried to salvage the increasingly threatened nomination of John Bolton to be the US envoy to the United Nations. A day after the Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee was forced to postpone a vote to confirm the tough-talking Mr. Bolton to the post, Scott McClellan, President George Bush's spokesman, accused the eight-strong Democratic minority of trumping up "unsubstantiated allegations" against the nominee.

    But the problems lie not with the Democrats but with the panel's Republican majority, three of whom voiced doubts as more evidence emerged of Mr. Bolton's allegedly bullying behavior, in his present job as the State Department's official in charge of arms control, and during his earlier career as a private sector lawyer.

    On Tuesday, George Voinovich, a moderate Republican on the committee, stunned colleagues by saying he "did not feel comfortable" voting for the nominee. Later another wavering moderate, Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, ominously declared: "The dynamic has changed; a lot of reservations surfaced." Theoretically, if Mr. Bolton fails to command a majority on the committee, his name could be sent for confirmation to the full Senate, where Republicans have a 55-45 majority.

     ECUADOR LAWMAKERS VOTE TO REMOVE GUTIERREZ AND APPOINT A NEW PRESIDENT

     QUITO.-  Lawmakers in Ecuador voted Wednesday to remove embattled President Lucio Gutierrez from office after a week of escalating street protests demanding his ouster, and they swore in Vice President Alfredo Palacio to replace him.  An unidentified army official in combat gear said on television that Gutierrez and his wife, Congresswoman Ximena Bohorquez, had left the presidential palace. An Associated Press photographer saw a small helicopter land briefly on the palace roof and a figure climb aboard. Panama's Ambassador Mateo Castillero denied reports that Gutierrez had sought political asylum in Panama.

        Anti-Gutierrez protests have been building for a week and late Tuesday night 30,000 demonstrators marched on the palace, demanding Gutierrez's ouster. Gutierrez was elected president in November 2002 on a populist, anti-corruption platform. But his left-leaning constituency soon fell apart after he instituted austerity measures, including cuts in food subsidies and cooking fuel, to satisfy international lenders. Opponents have accused him of trying to consolidate power from all branches of government. On Friday Gutierrez dissolved the Supreme Court in a bid to placate protests after his congressional allies in December fired most of the court's judges and named replacements sympathetic to his government.

    That move was widely viewed as unconstitutional. Meanwhile, acting Attorney General Cecilia Armas issued an arrest order for Gutierrez. She ordered Gen. Marco Cuvero, named Wednesday as the new head of the national police, to arrest Gutierrez for his alleged violent repression of demonstrations. The ousted president's whereabouts weren't clear, though some protesters apparently believed he was trying to leave from Quito's airport.

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    SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE IN RUSSIA TO MEET WITH RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN; US OPPOSES PROPOSED SELL OF RUSSIAN WEAPONS  TO VENEZUELA 

    MOSCOW.- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, gave an unusually upbeat account Wednesday of U.S.-Russian cooperation on international issues. "Russia is not a strategic enemy," Rice said, suggesting that the two countries have worked well together since the final years of communist rule right up to the present.

    She also did not mention other areas of tension. These include what U.S. officials perceive to be Russian inaction in curbing violations of American intellectual property rights, including videos and computer software. Washington also contends that Russia has a poor record on stemming human trafficking. The radio station invited listeners to vote on whether they consider the United States an ally or an adversary. The vote was 54 to 46 in favor of the U.S. being considered an ally.

    Washington has accused Moscow of holding elections that fall short of international standards and of meddling in Ukraine's election last November on behalf of the pro-Moscow candidate. Another source of American disgruntlement is Russia's proposed sale of 100,000 rifles to Venezuela's pro-Cuban government. For their part, Russian leaders have long opposed U.S. policies in Iraq and worry about supposed U.S. attempts to "encircle" Russia through establishing a military presence in former Soviet republics. Washington says this concern has no basis.

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    JUAN EMILIO ABOY, A CUBAN EXILE SUSPECTED OF SPYING, IS DEPORTED TO CUBA

    MIAMI.- A Cuban exile who went on a hunger strike for more than a month to protest his detention as a suspected spy was deported Tuesday, the government said. Juan Emilio Aboy arrived in Cuba on Tuesday afternoon on a U.S. government plane, said a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Aboy, a Soviet-trained military diver, came to the United States in 1994. He had been held for three years without criminal charges, but he was fighting a deportation order.

    He has denied the espionage allegations. Federal investigators claim Aboy worked as a Cuban spy in the 1990s and was ordered to infiltrate the U.S. Southern Command. Grisel Ybarra, Aboy's attorney, said Tuesday that neither she nor Aboy's wife were informed he was to be deported. "Nobody knew," Ybarra said. "The only thing I don't understand is how Cuba accepted it." Cuba generally refuses to take back exiles.

    Aboy came to the United States in the 1994 rafter exodus. Five people went to trial after they were indicted in 1998 as part of the 14-member Wasp Network. All five admitted being Cuban agents and were convicted in June 2001 of serving as unregistered agents of a foreign government. Evidence showed members of the group targeted U.S. military installations from Key West to Tampa and that the ring also spied on Cuban exiles. Three were sentenced to life in prison, one got 19 years, and the other received 15 years. All are appealing.

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    NEW TEST PATTERN JAMS TV MART� IN SANTA CLARA

    SANTA CLARA.-  TV viewers who tried to tune to the broadcast from U.S.-based TV Martí Saturday April 16 from Santa Clara were surprised to find themselves watching a test pattern they hadn't seen before accompanied by a high-frequency pitch. The pattern was on the air from early afternoon to about midnight, when TV Martí would have ended its broadcasts for the day.

    Some viewers in nearby municipalities said "they had been able to see and hear some of the programming." Santa Clara is the fifth most populous city in Cuba. Cuban radio authorities have tried to jam radio and TV signals beamed to the island from the U. S. in various ways. Presently, they not only jam TV Martí, but several AM radio stations from Florida that are powerful enough to be heard in Cuba.

      CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER OF GERMANY ELECTED POPE; HE CHOOSE THE NAME OF BENEDICT XVI

    VATICAN CITY.-  Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, the Roman Catholic Church's leading hard-liner, was elected pope Tuesday in the first conclave of the new millennium. He chose the name Benedict XVI and called himself "a simple, humble worker." Ratzinger, the first German pope in centuries, emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, where he waved to a wildly cheering crowd of tens of thousands and gave his first blessing. Other cardinals clad in their crimson robes came out on other balconies to watch him after one of the fastest papal conclaves of the past century.

    "Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me - a simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord," he said after being introduced by Chilean Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estivez. "The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers," the new pope said. "I entrust myself to your prayers." The crowd responded to the 265th pope by chanting "Benedict! Benedict!" Ratzinger turned 78 on Saturday. His age clearly was a factor among cardinals who favored a "transitional" pope who could skillfully lead the church as it absorbs John Paul II's legacy, rather than a younger cardinal who could wind up with another long pontificate.

    The new pope is the oldest elected since Clement XII, who was chosen in 1730 at 78 but was three months older than Ratzinger. Ratzinger is the first Germanic pope in nearly 1,000 years. There were at least three German popes in the 11th century. The last pope from a German-speaking land was Victor II, bishop of Eichstatt, who reigned from 1055-57. White smoke poured from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel and the bells of St. Peter's pealed at 6:04 p.m. (12:04 p.m. EDT) to announce the conclave had produced a pope. Flag-waving pilgrims in St. Peter's Square chanted: "Viva il Papa!" or "Long live the pope!" It was one of the fastest elections in the past century: Pope Pius XII was elected in 1939 in three ballots over two days, while Pope John Paul I was elected in 1978 in four ballots in one day. The new pope was elected after either four or five ballots over two days.

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    HUGO CHAVEZ SAID US MEDIA LASHES OUT AT "CHAVISTAS GRINGOS" 

     CARACAS.-  Hugo Chávez informed Sunday against alleged attacks by the US media on US supporters of the Venezuelan government. "The US media started to rail in US citizens who back the Bolivarian revolution and work with the Bolivarian circles. It is true mobbing just for expressing support to the Bolivarian revolution. The United States claims the moral high ground, but endangers its citizens' human rights," the president said during the 219th issue of his TV and radio show "Hello, President!" aired from Capaya, central Miranda state.

    Due to constant clashes with US government officials, Chávez announced that from now on he would refer to them as "Mister Danger" based on a character of "Doøa Bárbara", a novel by Venezuelan author Rómulo Gallegos, who impersonates multinational companies. With regard to the US remarks about the "export" of his political project, labeled as failed, the president argued: "Capitalism, neo-liberalism is indeed a failed model, a model that they have imposed on the world too many times by means of gunshots, invasions, bombing."

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    HUGO CHAVEZ DENIES CLAIMS THAT HE AND CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO ARE DESTABILIZING ELEMENTS  

   CARACAS.-  Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on Monday refuted US claims criticizing him and his Cuban dictator Fidel Castro as destabilizing factors in the region. In this connection, he said that Washington is just trying to split the countries in the continent to treat them like "colonies."

    'Some people keep on saying that Fidel Castro and myself are a sort of an evil axis; that we have a vicious plan to destabilize countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, and that we are a negative force in the region," Chávez stated. He added that world media continue publishing these kind of claims that form part of the "divide and rule" US imperialist strategy." In his opinion, the sole destabilizing factor in the continent is, and has always been, the United States, which has generated violence and divisions, many a times among ourselves, to treat us like colonies."

    CARDINALS BEGIN CONCLAVE TO SELECT POPE; OBSERVERS SEE NO CLEAR FAVORITE FOR PAPAL SUCCESSOR

    VATICAN CITY.- Roman Catholic cardinals from six continents have locked themselves inside the Vatican's Sistine Chapel to begin a historic conclave to select a successor to Pope John Paul II. The 115 cardinals from 52 countries entered the chapel in a solemn procession that was broadcast live around the world on Monday.  The walked from the Hall of Blessings into the chapel as "The Litany of Saints" was sung. Once the cardinals were inside, the invocation of the Holy Spirit, "Veni, Creator Spiritus," was sung.

    The cardinals -- clad in crimson robes, shoulder capes and hats -- each took an oath of secrecy, vowing not to disclose the discussions that take place in the conclave. They will emerge from the conclave only when they have chosen the first new pontiff of the third Christian millennium and the 264th successor to St. Peter. If the conclave resembles previous ones, the cardinals will need several days and repeated votes to reach a majority.

    Earlier Monday, the cardinals held a special Mass in St. Peter's Basilica to pray for God's guidance. After the Mass, the cardinals broke for lunch and rest. They began leaving the Hall of Blessings at 4:30 p.m. (1430 GMT/1030 EDT) and walked in a procession to the Sistine Chapel.  Once in the Sistine Chapel later on Monday, each cardinal will swear an oath, of which secrecy is just one part. The cardinals will also swear to observe the changes to the process that John Paul put in place in 1996 and to faithfully carry out the duties of the office. On Tuesday, a Mass will be held in the hotel at 7:30 a.m., and the cardinals will assemble in the chapel by 9 a.m. Two votes will take place in the morning and two more in the afternoon, beginning at 4 p.m.

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    HAS CUBAN CARDINAL JAIME LUCAS ORTEGA Y ALAMINO ANY CHANCE TO BECOME POPE?

    VATICAN CITY.- Once confined in a Cuban hard-labor camp with dissidents, petty criminals, homosexuals and other ''enemies of the Cuban revolution,'' Roman Catholic Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino has emerged as a voice in a church that was all but totally silenced after Fidel Castro seized power in 1959. Ortega has earned some respect for his relatively independent stand on Castro's communist regime, and worked diligently to rebuild a church decimated by government restraints and teach a largely baptized but vastly untutored population.

    Nearly half of Cuba's 11.2 million people consider themselves Catholics, but few are devoted practitioners in a nation where the government was officially atheist for more than two decades and often promoted other religions as a counterweight. Seen as a deft conciliator between the notoriously divided Cuban exile community and those who stayed behind, Ortega, 68, is among several cardinals considered to be possible successors to Pope John Paul II.

    Ortega is called an effective communicator who can bolster the enthusiasm for the Catholic faith, especially among youth. Ortega was born in 1936, in the small town of JagÙey Grande, en the province of Matanzas. He studied in a Canada seminary and ordained as a priest in the Cathedral of Matanzas in 1964.He began to emerge as a vocal leader in 1986 when an unprecedented weeklong conference of Cuban Catholics took place in Havana. Ortega told delegates that Cuba's is a ''church whose history has shown that the light always shines after dark times.'' Ortega was appointed archbishop in 1981 and under his leadership, there was a rebirth within the church. John Paul II tapped him in 1994, becoming Cuba's first cardinal in 30 years.

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    VENEZUELA READY TO SELL TWO REFINERIES IN THE UNITED STATES OWNED BY CITGO

    CARACAS.-  Venezuela will sell two refineries in the United States owned by Citgo, the refining arm of state oil company Pdvsa, as part of the check on assets abroad, Minister of Energy and Petroleum Rafael Ramírez said. Ramírez, who is also the head of Petróleos de Venezuela, explained during an interview with TV station Televen that the move does not involve withdrawal from the US market -one major buyer of Venezuelan oil.  "Two particular refineries are to be sold, and offers are welcome," he added.

    Citgo Petroleum has a capacity of 1.1 million b/d and owns or shares eight refineries in the US West Coast and the Virgin Islands. It also owns 13,000 gas stations. Venezuelan government reports about the sale of Citgo have been confusing. According to Ramírez, "not all of Citgo will be sold, but some refineries. We will continue with Citgo and with our presence in the US market, which is a major market."

    The minister pointed out that Venezuela -the fifth world oil exporter- has worked carefully on the sale "to prevent any mistake from happening." Thus, offers have been received from some companies and we are dealing with it confidentially," he added. As stated by Hugo Chávez, Citgo supply agreements provide US customers with discounts in detriment to Venezuelan revenues. Ramírez reported that in addition to the sale of refineries, the Venezuelan government plans "to reverse agreements based on discount. We cannot subsidize the most powerful economy in the world, this makes no sense."

    LUCIO GUTIERREZ, ECUADOREAN PRESIDENT, DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY AND DISSOLVED THE SUPREME COURT

    QUITO.- Facing growing street protests demanding his ouster, President Lucio Guti³rrez declared a state of emergency in the capital and dissolved the Supreme Court in an effort to resolve an escalating political crisis. The state of emergency placed the military in charge of maintaining public order. Guti³rrez, with the military high command standing behind, announced in a televised address to the nation Friday night that under the authority provided by the Constitution he was dismissing ''the judges of the current Supreme Court designated by Congress'' in December.

    "The measure . . . was taken because Congress until now has not resolved the matter of the current Supreme Court, which is generating national commotion and especially in the city of Quito . . . which rejects the operation of the Supreme Court.'' A state of emergency suspends individual rights, including the right to hold public meetings, and allows police to enter private homes without the need for search warrants. The government noted in a news release that previous governments have made use of states of emergencies frequently. It noted, for example, that President Sixto Duran-Ballen's 1992-1996 administration declared states of emergencies on 12 occasions.

    The court crisis was set in motion in November when the former justices sided with opposition politicians in a failed effort to impeach Guti³rrez on corruption charges. Guti³rrez then assembled a bloc of 52 lawmakers in the 100-seat unicameral Congress, which voted in December to remove the judges. Constitutional experts said the vote was unconstitutional. Guti³rrez's opponents accused him of acting like a dictator and demanded that the new court be dismissed. Guti³rrez was elected president in November 2002 after campaigning as a populist, anti-corruption reformer. But his left-leaning constituency soon fell apart after he instituted austerity measures.

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    ECUADOR PRESIDENT, LUCIO GUTIERREZ, ENDS STATE OF EMERGENCY; DEFYING ORDERS NOT TO ASSEMBLE, THOUSANDS CALLED FOR  HIS OUSTER

    QUITO.- Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez called off a state of emergency in the capital Saturday as thousands defied his ban on demonstrations and demanded his resignation. Gutierrez rescinded the measure less than 24 hours after he imposed it in hopes of stifling a wave of peaceful street protests demanding his ouster.

    Speaking over national television, Gutierrez said he was annulling the decree, which suspended civil liberties, including the right to free expression and assembly, because he had "obtained the principal objective, which is the dismissal of the Supreme Court" after he dissolved that Friday. Residents of the capital had defied the state of emergency imposed late Friday night, taking to the streets by the thousands and honking horns across the city, demanding that Gutierrez quit.

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    ROGER NORIEGA: EXPORT OF CHAVEZ' "FAILED POLITICAL MODEL" TO THE REGION IS A RISK

    WASHINGTON, D.C.- Roger Noriega, US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Friday alerted against the risks that Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez's "failed political model" may be exported to other countries, and expressed strong support for the presidents of Bolivia, Peru, and Colombia.

    In this regard, he said that many of Venezuela's neighboring countries are "fragile states" that do not have the Venezuelan oil riches to solve their own problems. "They are trying hard to strengthen their democratic institutions and create wealth," Noriega said at a meeting of the US Department of State with representatives of the community of Andean countries in the US.

    "If the United States' and Venezuela's fellow countries ignore Chávez' questionable affinity with democratic principles, soon we are going to see an impoverished, less free and hopeless Venezuela seeking to export its failed political model to other countries in the region," he said. Noriega added that during six years Chávez has accumulated a "worrying record" for Washington because of his "efforts to concentrate power, his dubious relations with destabilizing forces in the region, and his plans to procure weapons."

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     HONDURAN AUTHORITIES FIND WEAPONS THAT MAY HAVE BEEN HEADED TO COLOMBIAN GUERRILLAS

    HONDURAS.- Police in northern Honduras on Friday recovered a cache of more than 200 weapons - including machine guns and rocket launders - that was likely going to be turned over to a Colombian guerrilla group in exchange for cocaine, said Security Minister Oscar Alvarez. The weaponry was discovered during a police raid on a farm in the city of Choloma, 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of the nation's capital Tegucigalpa, but Alvarez didn't release details about how it had been hidden. Four Honduran citizens were arrested in the raid.

    Police said the weapons recovered included M-16s and AK-47s as well as M-60 rocket launchers and bazookas. "We suspect the arsenal was going to be exchanged for drugs by the Armed Forces of Colombia," Alvarez said at a news conference. He added that "these weapons could destroy tanks and armored vehicles." Alvarez recently said the rebel group known as the FARC - Colombia's largest guerrilla faction - has cells operating in Nicaragua, Panama and Honduras. He claimed rebel operatives were out to trade weapons left over from the region's civil wars of the 1980s for narcotics.

     CUBA CALLS ON EU TO BACK UN RESOLUTION ASKING FOR PROBE OF GUANTANAMO PRISON

      HAVANA.- Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque called on European nations to back a U.N. human rights measure asking for an independent probe into the situation of the terrorists held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay. Perez Roque said Cuba's resolution was presented Thursday and would be considered next week by the U.N. Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva. The call came during a news conference in which Perez Roque chastised European members of the commission for failing to take Cuba's side in a battle with the United States over the island's rights record. All European nations on the commission voted in favor of a U.S. resolution to draw attention to Cuba's human rights record. The resolution passed in Geneva Thursday with a 21-17 vote.

    Perez Roque noted that citizens of numerous European nations are held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, and that those countries had expressed past concerns about the alleged treatment of prisoners there. "Cuba officially asks the European Union ... to co-sponsor and vote in favor" of the Guantanamo resolution, said Perez Roque. The measure also calls on the United States to allow U.N. rights specialists to visit the detention center and gather information for a report by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

    P³rez Roque said EU members who joined the vote were "servile" and "hypocritical," incapable of developing their own policies toward Cuba independent of American interests. "They've gone back to choosing the road of confrontation instead of dialogue," Perez Roque said. "Cuba does not accept the approved resolution, and will not cooperate with it," Perez Roque told journalists, making clear that a U.N. human rights envoy would not be allowed to visit. Cuba has never allowed an envoy, claiming such visits would violate its sovereignty.

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