MILLIONS OF IRAQIS DEFIED VIOLENT INSURGENTS TO VOTE

    Iraqis defied violence and calls for a boycott to cast ballots in Iraq's first free election in a half-century Sunday. Insurgents seeking to wreck the vote struck polling stations with a string of suicide bombings and mortar volleys, killing at least 44 people, including nine suicide bombers.

    Women in black abayas whispered prayers at the sound of a nearby explosion as they waited to vote at one Baghdad polling station. But the mood for a great majority was upbeat: Civilians and policemen danced with joy at one of the five polling stations where photographers were allowed, and some streets were packed with voters walking shoulder-to-shoulder to vote. The elderly made their way, hobbling on canes or riding wheelchairs; one elderly woman was pushed along on a wooden cart, another man carried a disabled 80-year-old on his back.

    "This is democracy," said Karfia Abbasi, holding up a thumb stained with purple ink to prove she had voted. Officials said turnout among the 14 million eligible voters appeared higher than the 60 percent that had been predicted, although it would be some time before any turnout figure was confirmed. Casting his vote, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi called it "the first time the Iraqis will determine their destiny." Earlier Sunday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the elections are a first step to a brighter democratic future for a country once held under the thumb of tyranny. "We all recognize the Iraqis have a long road ahead of them," Rice said on CBS' "Face The Nation."

    COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA REACH SETTLEMENT IN DISPUTE OVER REBELçS CAPTURE; TENSION BETWEEN CHÁVEZ AND WASHINGTON REMAIN

    Venezuela and Colombia announced a settlement in a bitter dispute over the capture of a Colombian rebel on Venezuelan soil, easing the worst diplomatic crisis between the South American countries in decades. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe's office said in a statement Friday that "the incident has been resolved" and that Uribe would meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez next Thursday in Venezuela.

    Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency he was pleased to have settled the dispute. The carefully worded statement from Colombia appeared to bridge the differences, referring to a shared strategy "against terrorism, drug trafficking, smuggling, kidnapping and other crimes." It also said both sides would have "the strictest respect for the law and in particular the sovereignty of both countries." Uribe's office said during the meeting next week he would "listen to President Chavez and propose ways to reflect."

    The dispute also has drawn in the United States, which has sharply criticized Chavez's government for appearing to tolerate "terrorist groups." Shortly before Colombia's announcement, Chavez accused Washington of threatening Venezuela and said his country would defend itself if necessary. "The North American Empire continues threatening us," Chavez said during a speech Friday night. "If other empires - under whatever name, no matter how strong - were to try one day to enslave us, this sacred country, all of Venezuela... we would defend this land."

    THIRTY-TWO CUBAN MIGRANTS LAND ON FLORIDA ISLAND

    Thirty-two Cuban migrants landed on a small island near this city in the Florida Keys. All were in good health, officials said Friday. The migrants said they arrived on the island late Thursday after leaving Cuba late Monday, Border Patrol spokesman Robert Montemayor said. In the group were 16 men, eight women and eight children, he said.

    Officials with the U.S. Coast Guard picked up the Cubans and transferred them to Border Patrol custody, where they will be interviewed, Petty Officer Sandra Bartlett said. Cuban migrants who reach U.S. soil are generally allowed to stay, while those stopped at sea are usually sent back to Cuba. Nearly 1,500 Cuban migrants were caught trying to reach the United States last year, an average of about four a day.

    CUBAN TECHNICIANS JOIN AGRICULTURAL UNITS IN VENEZUELA

    About 20 Cuban experts will be located soon in 16 Venezuelan states to enhance productive areas of the so-called small-scale agricultural program undertaken by the Ministry for Popular Economy (Minep.) Program coordinator Leonardo Villamizar said to the official news agency ABN that the families and farmers of several states and the Capital District are implementing the program after having attended for two days the Second Session of Organoponic and Intensive Orchards to exchange experiences.

    He said that to date, 3,500 families are engaged in this activity, and the inclusion of 2,000 additional families is planned for this year, for a total of 5,500 families. The Cuban-Venezuelan agreement provides also for the installation of a plant to fight plague and diseases in small farms.

    IT IS A SHAME -- EUROPEAN UNION TO HEAL RIFT WITH CUBA OVER DISSIDENTS 

    The European Union is set to heal a rift with Cuba next week by suspending its policy of inviting dissidents to national day celebrations at its embassies in Havana, officials said on Friday. EU foreign ministers meeting on Monday will decide to drop the measures as Cuban President Fidel Castro has released political prisoners and restored diplomatic ties with eight EU states earlier this month.

    Former Czech President Vaclav Havel wrote an article in the French daily Le Figaro on Friday condemning the move. "European embassies in Havana will now draw up their invite list according to the wishes of the Cuban government," he wrote. "I cannot find a better way for the European Union to destroy its noble ideal of liberty, equality and respect for human rights."

    Relations became frosty when Europe decided to invite opponents of the communist regime to embassy receptions in protest at a crackdown on dissent on the island in 2003. The Cuban authorities snubbed European diplomats in return. "The measures taken in 2003 will be temporarily suspended," said an EU official, adding that the restrictions could be re-imposed if Cuba failed to keep its side of the bargain. European embassies in Cuba would only admit diplomats from other countries to receptions, he said. Ex-communist states Poland and the Czech Republic have opposed the thaw towards Cuba, EU officials said.

    COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA FOREIGN MINISTERS FAIL TO REACH SOLUTION TO DISPUTE

    Colombian Foreign Minister Carolina Barco said a meeting with her Venezuelan counterpart did not resolve a dispute over the capture of a Colombian rebel by bounty hunters on Venezuelan soil. Barco did say that some progress had been made Thursday during talks with Venezuelan Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez. He did not comment as he left the closed-door talks at Peru's Foreign Ministry.

    Venezuelan officials have said the United States is also escalating the situation. "We are brother nations. We have the same origins," Rodriguez told reporters before he met with Barco. "Any problem we have can always be overcome when a third party doesn't intervene in a negative sense." The U.S. State Department has demanded an explanation from Venezuela as to why it allowed Granda, a foreign affairs adviser to Colombia's largest guerrilla group, "to freely move within its territory."

    Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has defended the act of paying a reward for Granda's capture as a legitimate tool in Colombia's war against leftist rebels. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called it a "bribe" paid for a "kidnapping." He accused Colombia of violating Venezuela's sovereignty, slowed commerce between the two countries and demanded an apology from Bogota.

    CAMCO CELEBRATES WITH HOPES OF LIBERTY THE BIRTHDAY OF THE APOSTLE OF CUBAN INDEPENDENCE, JOSÉ JULIÁN MARTÍ Y PÉREZ  (January 28, 1853 - May 19, 1895) 

     The Apostle said: "You take your rights, you do not beg for them; you do not buy them with tears but with blood.

    DIAZ-BALART BLASTS U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS "ACTION PANEL" FOR INCLUSION OF CUBAN DICTATORSHIP

    Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) today blasted the Cuban dictatorship's inclusion in an "'action panel" that will influence the work of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. 

    Eleven Latin American nations approved the dictatorship's inclusion on the panel. This will allow dictatorship "diplomats" to not only have a say in alleged violations the commission will investigate, but also will be first to represent the region when the group has its initial gathering on February 7. Joining the Cuban dictatorship in the "action panel's" first session next month will be regional representatives from Africa, Asia, and Europe.

    "It is condemnable that the Latin American nations who are members of the UN Human Rights Committee could have selected the greatest human rights abuser in the region as their representative in this panel. The U.N. Commission on Human Rights, and this panel, are deteriorating into a club of tyrannies, with the inclusion of dictatorships such as those from Cuba, Sudan, and China. This action by so many Latin American governments is shameful and condemnable," said Diaz-Balart. 

     UNITED STATES WONDERS WHY GRANDA MOVED FREELY IN VENEZUELA 

    The US Department of State Tuesday ruled out any involvement in the capture of Colombian guerrilla leader Rodrigo Granda in Venezuela and requested from the Venezuelan government an explanation for the stay of terrorist groups in its territory.

    "We urge the government of President Chávez to explain why did it allow for a major terrorist of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) to move freely within its territory and even get a Venezuelan passport," stated the notice issued by the Department of State. The text notes that "the Chávez' government members who argue that the United States was involved (in the capture) try to deviate the attention from the apparent tolerance of the Venezuelan government for terrorist groups who use its territory with impunity."

    The Department of State rebutted the charges on the alleged participation of the United States in the capture of the Colombian guerrilla member Rodrigo Granda and pointed out that these "arguments are unfounded. We did not play any role in the capture of the top terrorist Rodrigo Granda, occurred in December 2004." The document added that President Hugo Chávez "has never produced any evidence to support his accusation that the US government was committed, because there is no any." It also urged other nations in the hemisphere to cooperate with President Álvaro Uribe's administration in this regard.

    SALVADORIAN PRESIDENT SACA REQUESTS ENQUIRY INTO CHAVEZ'S LINKS WITH FMLN 

    Salvadorian President Antonio Saca said that a potential funding by President Hugo Chávez to FMLN should be investigated.

    In an issue of the newspaper "Diario de Hoy," Saca reacted to the remarks made by ex Commander of the US South Command James Hill, who claimed that Chávez funds FMLN and Bolivian coca leader Evo Morales. Saca stated that an evidence of these links should be produced. "If he (Hill) has given such news, he must have some information available. We expect that he will make it known, for us to take a definite posture," said the ruler.

    CASTRO HAS TALKED TO PRESIDENT URIBE AMID COLOMBIAN-VENEZUELAN DIPLOMATIC ROW 

    Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has phoned several times his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe in order to support a solution to a diplomatic impasse facing Colombia and Venezuela, local media reported.

    According to the Colombian broadcasting network RCN,  Castro "has taken direct steps" to help Colombia and Venezuela settle their differences, which were sparked by Colombian guerrilla leader Rodrigo Granda's abduction  in Caracas.  "Talks have been long and useful," said RCN quoting a government top official who stated that Castro "wishes to cooperate in private." He added that Castro has also phoned Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, as he usually does.

    COLOMBIA DEEMED AS NONSENSE VENEZUELAN ATTORNEY GENERAL'S STATEMENTS

    The Colombian government described Wednesday as "nonsense" the statements by Isaías Rodríguez, Venezuelan Attorney General, regarding the probe on Colombian Defense Minister Jorge Uribe into the "kidnapping" in Caracas of the so-called "chancellor" of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC). Luis Camilo Osorio, Colombian Attorney General, said the statements made in Caracas by his counterpart are nonsense, adding that there must be respect between both countries, reported DPA.

    Rodríguez had said that in the light of a "punitive act committed in Venezuela, the Venezuelan state can request the extradition even of the Colombian Defense Minister." He said that the Colombian minister's statements on January 12 acknowledging that they paid a bounty for the capture of Rodrigo Granda, a top member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, is one of the pieces of evidence the Attorney General's Office is using in the investigation, reported AP. The Venezuelan official told state TV channel Venezolana de Televisión that Uribe "could have committed" the crime of "false arrest" when capturing Granda in Venezuelan soil.

    U.S. ASKS CONTINENTAL PARTNERS TO URGE VENEZUELA TO CUT TIES WITH FARC

    The US Administration asked Latin American countries once again to put pressure on Venezuela so that "it cuts all the ties" it could have with the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC)." Richard Boucher, spokesman for the US Department of State, said "we have asked our continental partners to urge Venezuela to adopt a more conciliatory and constructive stance and to put a end to any relation it could have with FARC."

    "We think that the whole continent would have to be concerned; it should encourage Venezuela to adopt a non confrontational stance; it should encourage Venezuela not to give any support to terrorist groups in Colombia," said Boucher. He also informed that the US appreciates Brazil's attempts to "engage in a constructive dialogue" both with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe.

    RANGEL: VENEZUELA DOES NOT HAVE TO REPORT TO THE UNITED STATES 

    Venezuelan Executive Vice President José Vicente Rangel Tuesday replied to US Department of State Spokesman Adam Ereli's statements by saying that the US administration keeps on "attacking the Venezuelan government  and its people."

    "Venezuela does not have to account to the US administration for what is happening here. Venezuela will provide the information requested by the Colombian government in due time and under no pressure," said Rangel in a press release issued by the Vice President's office. Rangel accused the US for "fanning the confrontation flames" instead of assuming an "inconspicuous stance which favors understanding between Colombia and Venezuela."

    NEW RATION BOOK DISTRIBUTED IN CUBA FOR 2005

    The Ministry of Internal Commerce distributed new ration books to Cuban families at the end of the year. The document is necessary for people to acquire certain basic products of a basket determined by the government at subsidized prices. For starters, Havana residents will be eligible to buy six pounds of rice, 20 ounces of split peas, and five pounds of sugar, according to the weekly Tribuna de La Habana.

    The rest of the month's quota will probably be distributed later in the month of January. Going by the previous year's numbers, residents expect it to consist of 11 ounces of fish, eight eggs, one pound of chicken and half a pound of something called "ground-up, textured soy."

    MEXICO PROPOSES CREATING REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING GROUP FOR LATIN AMERICA

     Mexico has proposed creating a regional organization to promote and evaluate human rights throughout Latin America, a mechanism meant partly to depoliticize conflicts with Cuba dictatorship over the island's human rights record.

    Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez told representatives of 30 countries on Monday that the plan would help build a culture of human rights throughout the region. The Cuban ambassador to Mexico, Jorge Bolanos, also endorsed the idea. "We are here to participate, to make our contributions and we wish it success," Bolanos said. He added that the U.N. commission should be restructured to prevent countries such as the United States from imposing their will on other nations.

    Bolanos said countries should "participate under equal conditions" and should avoid a division between the "the condemned of the Earth and the condemners." Cuba has repeatedly accused the United States of surreptitiously sponsoring annual U.N. resolutions criticizing the communist-governed island. The 2004 resolution sponsored by Honduras was approved 22-21, with 10 abstentions.

    VENEZUELA OIL MINISTER RAFAEL RAMIREZ: OIL PRICES RISE STEMS FROM FEARS

    Venezuela's oil minister said Monday that the recent rise in world oil prices stems from fears the United States may use military force against Iran because of that country's nuclear program. "There's a lot of nervousness. You can't have a threat over Iran and pretend that it won't affect oil prices," Rafael Ramirez told reporters following a cabinet meeting. The U.S. administration "continues influencing a rise (in oil prices)," Ramirez said.

    While U.S. President George Bush has said he prefers a diplomatic settlement to Iran's controversial nuclear program, he has not ruled out the use of force. Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that Iran "is right at the top of the list" of world trouble spots.

    Ramirez's comments comes as Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are set to meet Jan. 30 to discuss whether to cut production levels. Venezuela, known as one of OPEC's price hawks, has said it is opposed to production cuts. Ramirez said the cartel will assess market fundamentals, but stressed that "our concern is to defend the price of the barrel."

    U.S. CALLS ON VENEZUELA TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST TERRORISTS

    The State Department expressed concern Monday about reports that Venezuela is harboring leftist rebels from Colombia, and urged Hugo Chavez government to take action against any who are linked to U.S.-designated terrorist groups. Spokesman Adam Ereli took note of reports that the Albaro Uribe government has given to Venezuelan authorities the names of 10 "major Colombian terrorists" allegedly operating in Venezuela.

    "We expect the Venezuelan government to examine this information," Ereli said. At least some of the 10 are members of the FARC, a leftist Colombian rebel group listed by the United States as a terrorist organization. Chavez has said that the United States had a hand in Granda's seizure. Ereli did not comment directly on that allegation, saying only that the United States encourages Venezuela to crack down on Venezuela-based terrorists.

    He added that it is important for the United States to have effective, cooperative counter terrorist relationships with all countries. "We are all engaged in a concerted war against those who use violence against innocents to advance their ideology or their political agenda," Ereli said. He also expressed concern about Chavez's ties to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

    HUGO CHÁVEZ: VENEZUELA MUST BE RESPECTED

    Supporters of President Hugo Chavez (Chavistas) marched through Caracas on Sunday, demanding respect for Venezuela's sovereignty following U.S. criticism and Colombia's acknowledgment that it paid a bounty to capture a rebel on Venezuelan soil. Chavistas marched with posters reading: "(George W. Bush) CRITTER and (Condoleezza Rise) VAMPIRES, VENEZUELA MUST BE RESPECTED."

    "Venezuela must be respected!" Chavez told a massive crowd outside Miraflores presidential palace. "Nobody can deny that what Colombia has done is a violation of international law ... (but) the only government that has defended this vulgar error is the imperialist government of the United States." The crowd chanted, "Chavez makes them crazy!" Chavez blamed the United States for the crisis with Colombia. "This provocation came from Washington. It is the latest attempt by the imperialists ... to ruin our relations with Colombia," he said.

    Last week Secretary of State nominee Doctor Condoleezza Rice accused Venezuela of meddling in its neighbors' affairs and expressed concern about its friendship with Cuba. Chavez said he would send Rice Cuban materials his government uses in a nationwide literacy program. Holding up a U.S. dollar bill, Chavez also challenged President Bush to wager which president will remain in office longer. "I challenge you to a bet Mr. Bush, one dollar, who will last longer? You in the White House or me in Miraflores?" said Chavez, who has repeatedly accused the United States of conspiring to oust him.

    DEBATE ARISES OVER VENEZUELAN-CUBAN ACCORD ON JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE

    A new accord between Venezuela and Cuba to cooperate in judicial affairs is stirring debate over whether the agreement could be used by the Cuban government to pursue its critics in Venezuela. Venezuelan congressman Ricardo Sanguino, an ally of President Hugo Chavez, said Monday the agreement is positive because it allows Cuba to advise Venezuela on judicial matters.

     "It is simply advising," he said, adding the fact that Cuban authorities could "come here doesn't mean it will be an interference in our internal affairs." Some critics say the agreement, published in Venezuela's official gazette Dec. 22, could be interpreted to allow for Cuban security agents to conduct investigations on Venezuelan soil or for Cuban authorities to extradite Cuban dissidents or Venezuelans who are critical of Fidel Castro's dictatorship.

     Sanguino denied the claims. "Advising on judicial affairs does not mean extradition agreements," he said. Thousands of Cuban exiles live in Venezuela, and many of them have been in the South American country for decades. Since he was elected in 1998, Chavez has forged close ties with Castro's socialist government, and the two countries have signed cooperative agreements involving oil, health, education, agriculture and sports.

    DOCTOR RICE: CUBA AN ‚OUPTOST OF TYRANNY,ç VENEZUELA A ‚NEGATIVE FORCE IN THE REGIONç
 
    Condoleezza Rice had harsh words for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, were in consonant with President Bushçs dazzling inaugural speech. Doctor Rice said Chávez was a regional troublemaker and called Cuba an ''outpost of tyranny.'' She emphasized she would focus on pursuing economic and political freedom in her Latin America policy, and would work with Mexico, Canada and others in the region to "realize the vision of a fully democratic hemisphere bound by common values and free trade.''

    ''To be sure, in our world there remain outposts of tyranny, and America stands with oppressed people on every continent: in Cuba and Burma and North Korea and Iran and Belarus and Zimbabwe,'' she said. Rice said she would support U.S. efforts to bypass Cuban government jamming of Radio and TV Marti to Cuba and would pay ''very close attention to the implementation'' of tougher sanctions against the communist government announced by the Bush administration last year.

    Dr. Rice singled out Venezuela, a country she said was once a U.S. ally and had become what she called a ''negative force in the region,'' citing Chávez's meddling in neighbors' affairs, cracking down on domestic dissent and muzzling the media. ''I think it's extremely unfortunate that the Chávez government has not been constructive,'' she said. "And we do have to be vigilant and to demonstrate that we know the difficulties that that government is causing for its neighbors, its close association with Fidel Castro in Cuba.'' She said the United States would work with other countries in the region and the Organization of American States to ensure that ''leaders who do not govern democratically, even if they are democratically elected'' are held accountable.

    CUBAN AND HAITIAN MIGRANTS DETAINED IN THE BAHAMAS SAID THEY HAVE BEEN BEATEN AND PHYSICALLY MISTREATED
 
    In the Bahamas, illegal Cuban and Haitian migrants in a government detention center claim that they are regularly beaten while handcuffed, subjected to extortion and denied clean water and medical treatment. ''They beat us like dogs,'' said a 33-year-old Cuban detainee. "They don't give us soap or drinking water. They give us nothing.''

    Amnesty International has reported detainee complaints that guards beat them, forced several to eat off the ground, raped two women and subjected two Cuban men to mock executions. The situation reached a flash point last month, when a showdown between Cuban migrants and soldiers who guard the camp ended with the detainees being sprayed with rubber bullets and a barrack burned down. A government statement said 16 detainees and guards were injured.

    More than 40 Cubans involved in the melee were transferred to Nassau's Fox Hill criminal prison, accused of setting fire to the barrack. Twenty-two of them remain there but are yet to see a lawyer or speak to their families. The highly charged situation in this relatively affluent and peaceful former British colony reflects a growing fear and resentment that the islands' 300,000 residents will be overrun by illegal migrants. Last year alone, 4,642 illegal migrants were interdicted in its vast territorial waters.

HAVANA, January 23

    CUBAN MEDIA CALLS PRESIDENT BUSH AN "EMPEROR," SCORNS HIS INAUGURATION

    Cuba's state-run media derided U.S. President George W. Bush the day after his inauguration, dubbing the American leader an "emperor" and "the worst president ever." Granma, Cuba's Communist Party libel, had little but disdain for Bush's speech. "Putting forth increased interventionism as the axis of foreign policy for this new era, (Bush) justified the necessity of extending his empire's hegemonic power," an article said.

    On its front page, Granma also ran the headline, "No more massacres, Mr. President." A general dislike of Bush was amplified in Cuba last summer when his administration implemented new measures aimed at squeezing the island's economy in an effort to undermine President Fidel Castro. Visits by Cuban-Americans to the island were sharply reduced, as was the amount they can bring on each trip. Also, the list of those allowed to send remittances from abroad to family in Cuba was restricted to include only the closest family members.

    Juventud Rebelde, the Communist Youth's daily newspaper, on Friday focused its coverage on those in Washington who marched against Bush's inauguration, printing photographs of protesters and anti-Bush signs. The newspaper called Thursday's inauguration the "coronation of the emperor" and described Bush "the worst president ever." One article lamented that his second term would represent "four more years of military aggressions, environmental degradation, and lack of respect for international consent."

    AGGRESSIVE HECKLERS LEAD SPAINçS DEFENSE MINISTER TO ABANDON ANTI-TERROR MARCH

    Defense Minister Jose Bono hastily left a political rally in downtown Madrid on Saturday after an angry crowd jeered and jostled him. The march was organized by the Association of Victims of Terrorism, mostly referring to people killed or wounded by the Basque separatist group ETA, but also to those killed or wounded in the March 11 train bombing by alleged Islamic militants. he theme was "remembrance, dignity and justice."

    Bono accompanied Rosa Diez, European Parliament deputy for the Basque Socialist Party. He left after some of the estimated 35,000 people in attendance shouted at him, apparently for the recently elected Socialist government's uncertain policy on ETA. One person tried to strike him with what looked like a stick, TV news video showed. The former government of the conservative Popular Party, voted out of office in March, took a hard line against ETA.

    VENEZUELA SAID FRIDAY IT WOULD SUPPORT A CUT IN OUTPUT IF NECESSARY

    The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is slated to meet in Vienna on Jan. 30. Venezuela is one of the group's leading price hawks and has consistently argued in favor of controlling output to defend prices. OPEC produces roughly one-third of the world's oil.

    OPEC is pumping at least 1 million barrels of oil a day above its official quota and "If it is needed, Venezuela will support a cut," said Rafael Ramirez. "We have estimated at least 1 million barrel per day in overproduction." Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose US$1.37 cents on Friday to US$48.68 a barrel in early afternoon trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

    IRAN GIVES CUBA 20 MILLION IN EURO CREDIT

    Iran's ambassador to Cuba said his country will increase ties to the Communist dictatorship 90 miles from Florida by extending some 20 million in euro credit.  United by anti-Americanism, the two countries have grown closer in recent years ú a concern to some in Washington because of Iran's sponsorship of terrorism and desire to develop weapons of mass destruction.

    Cuba has an extensive biological and chemical weapons development program.  Plans for more scientific collaboration were announced by Ahmad Edrissian, Iran's ambassador to Cuba. They include plans by Cuba to help build a plant in Iran to produce vaccines and medicines.  "There is no doubt that Iran is determined to strengthen its economic relations with Cuba, and there are many interesting areas in which to cooperate," Edrisan said.

    The ambassador said his country will help Cuba in oil pumping developments now that new reserves of this resource have been found.  Although economic cooperation currently covers agriculture, water usage, medicines, biotechnology and sports, the exchange is to be greatly expanded.  Edrisan said bilateral relations between the two countries were excellent and recalled Cuban dictator Fidel Castroçs visit to Iran in 2001.

    FORMER COLOMBIAN PRESIDENTS SUPPORT PRESIDENT URIBEçS POSITION AGAINST HUGO CHAVEZ

    President Alvaro Uribe met with five of his predecessors Thursday and the former leaders offered their support in a growing political row with neighboring Venezuela.

    Relations between Colombia and Venezuela have soured since Colombian authorities acknowledged earlier this month that they paid bounty hunters to capture Rodrigo Granda, a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in Caracas last month and return him to Colombia. Uribe accuses Chavez of harboring FARC guerrillas and said Colombia has a right to hunt down "narcoterrorists." "We, the former presidents, reiterate our support of Uribe's handling of the crisis," they said in a statement after their three-hour meeting in the presidential palace.

    The former presidents, whose terms date back to the 1970s, included Alfonso Lopez, Julio Cesar Turbay, Belisario Betancur, Ernesto Samper and Andres Pastrana. The former presidents' statement also concurred with the need to normalize relations with Venezuela because the two nations share important "social, historic and economic" links.

    VENEZUELA INVESTIGATING REPORTS THAT COLOMBIAN REBELS HIDE WITHIN ITS BORDERS

     Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said authorities were searching registries compiled by Venezuela's immigration office and Interpol. His statements came after the local El Nacional daily published a list of 10 alleged Marxist rebels who are purportedly hiding in Venezuela or have done so in the past.

    Colombia has accused Venezuela of harboring Marxist rebel leaders and providing camps for them on its territory. Chavez denies that his government has secretly protected Colombian rebels. However, Chacon said Thursday that Venezuela was waiting for an official list of rebels who might be hiding out in its territory from Uribe's government.

    "We are working with a list ... that appeared today in one of the nation's newspapers, and we are looking through (registries in) the Immigration Office (and) Interpol to come up with a response," said Chacon, a close ally of leftist President Hugo Chavez.

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 21

     PRESIDENT BUSH PROMISES TO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM

     George W. Bush swore the presidential oath for a second term in turbulent times Thursday and issued a sweeping pledge to spread "LIBERTY and FREEDOM 'to the darkest corners of the world."

    ''Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill and would be dishonorable to abandon,'' said the president, who led the nation to war in Iraq and Afghanistan in a first term marked by terrorist attacks on the United States.

    In a speech delivered before thousands of fellow Americans spilling away from the steps of the Capitol, Bush said he would place the nation on the side of the world's oppressed people. ''All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: The United States will not ignore your oppression or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.''

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 21

    CUBA RAISES OBJECTIONS TO THE USE OF GUANTANAMO AS A U.S. PRISON

    Cuba on Wednesday accused the United States of lying about its treatment of inmates at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, claiming torture and cruelty occur daily at the prison camp for terror suspects. The Cuban Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it sent a letter to the U.S. government urging authorities to immediately stop the alleged abuse at the camp, which sits on Cuba's easternmost tip.

    The U.S. government has lied "by hiding the horrendous torture, cruelty and humiliating and insulting treatment of prisoners" that are all part of the abuse it "commits every day," the statement said. "The Foreign Ministry joins the protests and demands of the international community for the U.S. government to immediately halt these flagrant violations of prisoners' rights," it added. The U.S. State Department dismissed the charges, saying it was ironic that such criticisms were coming from "the biggest, and most closed, human rights violator in the hemisphere."

    It denied that human rights violations are occurring at Guantanamo but stopped short of saying none had occurred previously. Accusations of mistreatment are investigated and, when confirmed, those responsible have been held accountable, the department said, adding that Guantanamo detainees are regularly visited by Red Cross officials.

    HONDURAS LOOKS FOR WAY TO HALT WAVE OF CUBAN MIGRANTS

    The Honduran government announced Wednesday that it was working with Cuba to halt a wave of migrants who have been leaving the communist-run island and arriving on Honduran shores. In a news conference, immigration official Carlos Sanchez said the talks with Cuba began five months ago, although he didn't give details of what was being discussed.

    Nearly 500 Cubans have arrived in Honduras in the past two years. Most ask for temporary asylum so they can travel north to the United States. Sanchez said Honduras was willing to receive Cubans fleeing their home country for political reasons, but that it didn't want to remain a stop on the way to the United States. "Honduras should change its migration policies for Cubans, but it's hard because the country has signed human rights accords," Sanchez said.

    He added that Honduras can't afford to pay for the airfare to deport the refugees. Most Cuban migrants receive permission to stay at least 15 days in Honduras, and the majority begin looking for ways to cross into the United States, either by plane or by traveling north through Guatemala and Mexico.

    CONDOLEEZZA RICE CONFIRMED BY THE SENATEçS FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE

    Condoleezza Rice cleared the Foreign Relations Committee earlier in the day, 16  in favor and 2 against (senators Barbara Boxer and John Kerry),  a lopsided vote that belied hours of skeptical questioning by Democrats critical of President George W. Bush's foreign policy and his conduct of the war in Iraq.

    Senate Democrats intend to delay Condoleezza Rice's confirmation as secretary of state at least until next week rather than grant her Inauguration Day approval, a spokesman said Wednesday.

    "There are a number of Democrats not on the committee that want to have a chance to debate her nomination a couple of hours," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. He said Democrats would not seek to prevent Rice's confirmation as the nation's top diplomat, and he predicted her approval within a matter of days.

    IRAN SAYS IT DOESNçT FEAR MILITARY ACTION BY U.S.

    Iranian officials declared Tuesday that Iran would not be intimidated by threats, a day after President Bush refused to rule out military action against Iran if it continues to pursue nuclear weapons. "We are not afraid of foreign enemies' threats and sanctions, since they know well that throughout its Islamic and ancient history Iran has been no place for adventurism,'' Iran's former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, told the state news agency, IRNA.

    Iran's defense minister, Ali Shamkhani, appeared to make some threats of his own, saying, ''We have developed a might that no country can attack us because they do not have accurate information about our military capabilities,'' according to Iran's Mehr news agency. "We have produced equipment at a rapid pace with the minimum investment that has resulted in the greatest deterrent force.''

    Rafsanjani announced in October that Iran had increased the range of its missile, Shahab-3, to 1,200 miles, putting Israel, U.S. military bases in the Persian Gulf and even parts of Europe in range. The Mehr news agency, which reportedly has close ties to the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, boasted in nonspecific terms about Iran's capacity to retaliate against any attacks. ''Today, the Islamic Republic has acquired massive military might, the dimensions of which still remain unknown, and is prepared to attack any intruder with a fearsome rain of fire and death,'' it said, according to Reuters.

    IRANIAN PARLIAMENT SPEAKER HADDAD ADEL MEETS CUBAN VICE-PRESIDENT JOSÉ RAMÓN FERNÁNDEZ

    Iranian Parliament or Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel in a meeting with the visiting Cuban Vice President and Chairman of Cuba's Olympic Committee José Ramón Fernández here Sunday referred to the US negative propaganda against Iran and underlined that the Iranian nation will not put up with Washington's excuses. For his part, Fernandez expressed his country's interest in bolstering ties with Iran and said, "The Cuban government and nation will stand against the US pressures and stand beside the Iranian nation."

    According to a report released by Majlis media department, he pointed to the resistance and campaign of both nations against the US hegemony and termed the solidarity between nations and governments as the key to overcoming the US hegemonic pressures. Referring to the growing trend of cooperation between the two countries, he noted that given its high economic and industrial potentials, Iran is prepared to collaborate with Cuba in all domains.

    The Majlis Speaker assessed the perspective of bilateral economic ties as favorable and hoped that the upcoming tenth Iran-Cuba economic commission meeting will result in positive outcome as long as consolidation of relations is concerned. Haddad Adel referred to the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro as a symbol of campaign and resistance against the US throughout the world.

    VENEZUELA SUPPORTS LULAçS ACTIONS TO OVERCOME CRISIS WITH COLOMBIA

    Venezuela's foreign minister reached out to Colombia on Tuesday, saying President Hugo Chavez's government wanted to "get through" a diplomatic row sparked by the capture of Rodrigo Granda, a Marxist rebel, on Venezuelan soil. "We want to improve relations and get through this situation, (to) have it become an event of the past," said Foreign Minister Ali Rodriguez.

    Rodriguez told reporters that Venezuela would welcome Brazilian mediation to end the diplomatic spat with neighboring Colombia. "Anything the good friends of Colombia and Venezuela can do to get through situations like the one we face will be welcome," said Rodriguez - opening the door for a way out of a dispute that has led to a freeze in commercial and diplomatic relations.

    The feud between the two South American nations began after Colombia acknowledged it paid bounty hunters to have Rodrigo Granda, a top member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, captured in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, last month and spirited to the Colombian border. Chavez recalled his ambassador to Colombia and suspended commercial ties, demanding that Uribe apologize.

    VENEZUELAN RESERVIST WILL BE ARMED TO "PROTECT THE FARMERS"

    The director of Venezuela's land reform initiative said Monday that the military would join the reform effort by helping poor farmers establish agriculture-based cooperatives, the state-run Venpres news agency reported. Eliezer Otaiza, director of the National Land Institute, also requested that the reserve troops be issued shotguns to protect the farmers they will help in the western states of Tachira, Merida and Barinas.

    Otaiza didn't say what threats the farmers might face, but President Hugo Chavez's government has expressed concern in the past over violent clashes that have broken out between landless squatters and security guards employed by ranchers or owners of large land estates. "We are asking the defense ministry, through the respective channels, for shotgun permits for these reserve troops," Otaiza said. "Not all the troops will carry the gun licenses, this will depend on the zone they are in." Venezuela has roughly 100,000 reservists.

    Opponents claim Chavez is gradually steering oil-rich yet poverty-stricken Venezuela toward Cuba-style socialism. Foes accuse the president of using graft and intimidation to secure the loyalty of the armed forces. In a fiery speech last month, Chavez urged hundreds of troops to take up "an ideological offensive" including "anti-imperialist thought." Chavez has rejected concerns among critics that he is politicizing the military or moving the country toward communist-orientated dictatorship.

     JORGE MAS SANTOS LASHES OUT AT SPAIN FOREIGN MINISTER 

    Jorge Mas Santos, the chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, criticized the Spanish Foreign Minister on Saturday for inviting the organization to a meeting in Madrid to discuss Cuba -- then canceling at the last minute. The reason for the cancellation, says Mas Santos, is pressure from the Cuban government, which has been lobbying the European Union to normalize relations with the island nation after tensions mounted over the arrest of scores of dissidents in 2003.

    "Any government is free to advance its own agenda, but it's important to listen to our point of view,'' said Mas Santos. Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Maratinos was supposed to meet with Mas Santos, and two other CANF directors, Jose (Pepe) Hernandez and Jesus Garcia, Friday evening. Maratinos, however, canceled about an hour before the planned meeting because of supposed scheduling conflicts, Mas Santos said.

    Last year, the Cuban government released 14 dissidents, and an EU panel recommended restoring high-level visits to the island. This month, Cuba announced it had reestablished ties with all European countries. Spain's Socialist government has lobbied for restoration of ties between Cuba and the EU. Mas Santos -- who brought to Madrid a letter from Cuban dissident Vladimiro Roca -- said CANF remains opposed to any change in stance from the EU, which will consider its Cuba policy later this month.

    EUROPEAN UNION SPLIT OVER PROPOSAL TO CHANGE ITS CUBA POLICY  

    The European Union is split over a proposal to change its Cuba policy. Eastern Europeans object to any friendly moves toward a communist system that represses dissent, European diplomats. EU officials hope to establish a new policy before a Jan. 31 meeting of foreign ministers that would limit the contacts with dissidents. But Poland, the Czech Republic and other former communist countries are balking at a Spanish proposal to lift the sanctions imposed on Havana after the arrests of 75 dissidents in 2003.

    ''We would be sure that the right message is sent to Cuba, that the first message is to free all political prisoners and respect human rights,'' said Martin Palous, the Czech ambassador to Washington, adding if the new policy only appears to reestablish relations with Cuba and forget the dissidents then "we don't think it is the right thing to do.''

    Eastern Europeans, once ruled by communist governments, feel strongly about Cuba and want the EU to continue to take a hard line with Cuban dictator Fidel Castroçs government. Poland and the Czech Republic are very strong in their opposition to anything that will be perceived by the dissidents inside Cuba as less of a support for them. As it is expected, France, Italy, England and other European powers have bowed to Spain's initiative, given Madrid's historic ties with Latin America, but the EU was still seeking a compromise to satisfy the Eastern Europeans.

   PRESIDENT URIBE WANTS FACE-TO-FACE MEETING WITH HUGO CHAVEZ OVER GROWING DISPUTE 

    Colombian President Alvaro Uribe wants to meet personally with Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez and other heads of states to resolve a rift between the two countries over Colombia's hiring of bounty hunters to capture a Marxist guerrilla in Caracas, Uribe's spokesman said Saturday. Uribe "is willing to discuss the subject with President Chavez face to face," Ricardo Galan, Uribe's spokesman, said. He added Uribe wants the meeting to be "in front of other presidents and in public." Galan said Uribe made the comments Saturday before a cabinet meeting in Bogota.

    Colombia's leading newspaper El Tiempo on Saturday called the crisis the biggest between the two countries since 1987, when Colombian war ships entered Venezuelan waters that Colombia was claiming as its own. In recent years, the two countries have sparred over claims that Chavez, a leftist, allows the FARC and other leftist guerrillas to use Venezuela as a safe haven.

   U.S. BACKS COLOMBIA IN ITS DISPUTE WITH VENEZUELA

    The United States has expressed support for Colombia, its strongest ally in Latin America, as it feuds with Venezuela over Colombia's hiring of bounty hunters to capture a Marxist guerrilla in the Venezuelan capital. "We support 100 percent the declarations from (Colombia's) presidential palace," U.S. Ambassador William Wood told reporters Saturday, referring to a statement from President Alvaro Uribe in which he defended the action.

    Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez on Friday froze diplomatic and commercial relations with Colombia until Uribe apologizes for allegedly paying rogue elements in the Venezuelan police force, acting as bounty hunters, to snatch Rodrigo Granda, a leader of the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Uribe has refused to apologize and defended Colombia's actions, saying the use of bounty hunters is a legitimate tool and that Colombia was only trying to end its "nightmare of terrorism." He also said that Colombian police never violated Venezuela's sovereignty, as Chavez alleges.

    Wood said the FARC was right to issue a statement after Granda's capture, asking Chavez to clarify his position on whether FARC guerrillas and members of other leftist groups are permitted in Venezuela. The FARC said Granda was told by Venezuela's government that he was allowed to be in the country. "For the first and probably last time we are in agreement with the FARC, which, in its Dec. 30 communiqué asks the Venezuelan government to define its position," Wood said.

    SMALL BOATS CARRY 17 CUBANS TO HONDURAN SHORES

    Two small boats carrying 17 Cuban migrants have landed on Honduran shores, Honduran authorities said Saturday. The migrants, hoping to eventually reach the United States, arrived Friday at Bajamar, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Tegucigalpa.

    Only seven of the Cubans - six men and one woman - reported to Honduran authorities. Police were searching for the other migrants. Friday's landing was the third group of Cuban migrants to arrive in Honduras this year, as asylum seekers take advantage of relatively dry, calm winter weather to cross the Caribbean. More than 250 Cubans have arrived in Honduras over the past six months, but only 10 have won political asylum. Most of the Cubans are granted temporary asylum before making their way to the United States. Honduras restored diplomatic ties with Cuba in 2001, but has not sent an ambassador to the communist island.

    A MAN LIVED FOR SIX DAYS WITH A NAIL EMBEDDED IN HIS SKULL

    A dentist found the source of the toothache Patrick Lawler was complaining about on the roof of his mouth -- a four-inch (10-centimeter) nail the construction worker had unknowingly embedded in his skull six days earlier. A nail gun backfired on Lawler, 23, on January 6 while working in Breckenridge, a ski resort town in the central Colorado mountains. The tool sent a nail into a piece of wood nearby, but Lawler didn't realize a second nail had shot through his mouth, said his sister, Lisa Metcalse.

    Following the accident, Lawler had what he thought was a minor toothache and blurry vision. On Wednesday, after painkillers and ice didn't ease the pain, he went to a dental office where his wife, Katerina, works. "We all are friends, so I thought the (dentists) were joking ... then the doctor came out and said 'There's really a nail,"' Katerina Lawler said. "Patrick just broke down. I mean, he had been eating ice cream to help the swelling."

    Lawler was taken to a suburban Denver hospital, where he underwent a four-hour surgery. The nail had plunged 1 1/2 inches (4 centimeters) into his brain, barely missing his right eye, Metcalse said. Lawler was recovering Sunday in the hospital, where he was expected to spend several more days. Despite his lack of medical insurance and hospital bills between $80,000 and $100,000, Katerina Lawler said her husband is in good spirits. "The doctors said, 'If you're going to have a nail in the brain, that's the way you want it to be,"' she said. "He's the luckiest guy, ever."

    DESPITE HIS TOUGH WORDS AGAINST CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO, PRESIDENT BUSH KEEPS BAN ON LAWSUITS OVER PROPERTY LOST IN CUBA

    U.S. President George W. Bush notified Congress on Friday that he will maintain a ban on lawsuits by U.S. citizens whose property was expropriated by the Cuban revolution. Bush said in a letter to Congress that the action is "necessary to the national interests of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba. The lawsuit provision was included in a 1996 law aimed at tightening sanctions against Cuba.

    Secretary of State Colin Powell recommended that Bush renew the waiver but some officials urged that the provision be allowed to lapse, thus opening the way to lawsuits. Bush and President Bill Clinton have exercised the waiver right at six month intervals since the law was passed in March 1996 shortly after Cuban jet fighters shot down two unarmed Miami-based planes over waters north of Cuba.

    A refusal to waive would give Americans the right to sue any individual, investor or business using property seized after the Castro government took power in 1959. It is believed that a number of suits would be filed against foreign companies that are doing business on expropriated property. A failure to waive could complicate support by European and other countries for a democratic transition in Cuba, a goal long sought by the United States.

    VENEZUELA ARCHBISHOP BALTAZAR PORRAS CONCERNED OVER CHAVEZ

    A top Catholic archbishop expressed concerns about the direction of President Hugo Chavez's government but said he is not taking sides and hopes to smooth out relations that have been tense for years.  "All actions that lead to a concentration of power generate authoritarianism," Archbishop Baltazar Porras said on Thursday. He said a concentration of power "has been one of the temptations" under the president's government. "It has been seen in the comments of some officials saying that everything has to be identified with (Chavez's revolutionary) 'process,' and that isn't healthy," Porras said.

    However, "it is against the beliefs of the church to be on one side or the other," he added.  After months of keeping a low profile, the country's highest body of Catholic leaders, the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, issued a statement Wednesday expressing concern over what it called the increasing power of Chavez and his allies, and the smaller role played by the opposition in Venezuelan politics.

   Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Thursday that he was "disappointed" by the statement and accused the church of bias. He also rejected a statement made last week by Nuncio Andre Dupuy, the Vatican's ambassador to Venezuela, who referred to peaceful protests that have waned since Chavez won a recall referendum in August. "Where are those brave people now, men and women who were witnesses of liberty and solidarity, conscious of their responsibility?" Dupuy said.

    TRIAL OPENS FOR 23 PEOPLE CHARGED IN OCCUPATION OF MEXICAN EMBASSY IN CUBA

    A government prosecutor sought prison terms of up to 12 years as 23 men went on trial Wednesday in the violent occupation of the Mexican Embassy in Cuba three years ago. A group of young men stole a bus and crashed it through the gates of the mission in late February 2002 amid a wave of rumors that the Mexican Embassy was issuing visas to all Cubans who showed up.

    Members of the group demanded visas and refused to leave before they were arrested less than two days later by specially trained Cuban police in a lightning fast pre-dawn eviction. After a full day of testimony Wednesday, a second day of proceedings was scheduled for Thursday, the defendants' relatives said. No details were provided to international journalists, who were barred from the session.

    The prosecution also has sought 10-year sentences for another six defendants and five years for the remainder, according to the non-governmental Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation. A written statement by the human rights commission said that hundreds of people were rounded up at the time and all were released in subsequent weeks and months with the exception of the 23 going on trial.

    HUGO CHAVEZ FROZE BILATERAL ACCORDS AND BUSINESS DEALS WITH COLOMBIA -- CHAVEZ IS "VERY UPSET;" NO MORE DRINKING WITH URIBE

    Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday froze bilateral accords and business deals with Colombia in retaliation for a Colombian police operation that abducted a top Colombian Marxist rebel from Venezuela. While the left-wing president stopped short of breaking diplomatic relations with Bogota, he demanded a public apology from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally in Latin America, for what he called a violation of Venezuela's sovereignty.

    "This case has really hurt me," Chavez said in an emotional personal reproach to Uribe. The Venezuelan sanctions signaled the worst crisis in recent years between the two Andean neighbors, which are major trade partners but have often squabbled over the spillover of violence from Colombia's four-decades-old internal war. Chavez announced the measure after recalling his ambassador from Bogota this week.

    This was a protest against a Colombian police operation in December that Venezuela says kidnapped Rodrigo Granda, foreign relations chief of the leftist Colombian FARC rebel group, from the Venezuelan capital. "Our ambassador will not return until the Colombian government apologizes," Chavez, a firebrand nationalist first elected in 1998, told the National Assembly. "I have ordered all agreements and business with Colombia to be stopped," he said.

    CUBA TO AID VENEZUELA IN CRIMINAL MATTERS

    Last December 22nd, the "Enacting Law of the Convention between the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the government of the Republic of Cuba on Aid in Criminal Matters" was published in Official Gazette 38,092. As of this date, under Article 1, Cuba officials can take care of potential requests for inspection, seizure and preventive attachment of goods of any individuals subject to an investigation in Venezuela.

    Venezuelan officials will have similar powers as part of any investigation conducted in Cuban territory. According to the rule, the aid will also include the administration of testimonies or statements; delivery of documents, files and proofs of evidence; service of notices; location and identification of individuals; transfer of detainees to give testimony or otherwise; freezing of assets and aid related to confiscation, compensation and collection of fines, among others.

    With regard to inspection, seizure and attachment of goods, Article 14 establishes that the state concerned (Cuba or Venezuela) will answer to the request for aid, "provided that a rationale for such action is given, under the laws of the state concerned." Receivers of seized assets or officials responsible for the preventive attachment will also attest, using a form, to "continuing custody and identity and integrity of the good."

    FISHMONGER THREW FISH TO PASSERBY AS HE WAS ARRESTED

    A fishmonger in Santa Clara faced with imminent arrest, started throwing his fish to passersby and on the roofs of neighboring houses January 6. The man reportedly screamed at the two arresting agents: "I'm struggling so my children don't starve and have something to wear."

    The police nevertheless handcuffed him and took him to the nearest police station. Several in the crowd protested the man's arrest until a patrol car appeared at the scene and took the man away.

    U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES PRISONERS FROM MARIEL CANNOT BE HELD INDEFINITELY

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Mariel refugees and other foreign nationals never 'technically' admitted into the country cannot be held indefinitely. About 2,000 foreign nationals in indefinite detention around the country, including 700 to 1,000 Mariel refugees from Cuba, must be released as a result of a U.S. Supreme Court decision Wednesday.

    The 7-2 ruling, written by Justice Antonin Scalia, struck down one of the last measures used by the government to hold the migrants, who are convicts, without any hope of release. Justice Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice William Rehnquist dissented. The ruling was not a total surprise. Most immigration-law experts had expected the Supreme Court to follow its 2001 rejection of indefinite detention for those who could not be deported because their countries would not take them back.

    Despite the 2001 ruling, the government continued to hold the group of Mariel refugees by claiming, under a complicated immigration-law theory, that they had never ''technically'' entered the United States. The government classified those refugees as ''excludable'' and ''inadmissible'' because they had been convicted of crimes and their immigration paroles were revoked. Many Mariel refugees were classified as ''excludable'' after the 1980 boatlift from the Cuban port of Mariel, but the majority were paroled, and most obtained permanent U.S. residence and citizenship. A few, however, were convicted of crimes here and were deemed "excludable.''

    BISHOPS WARN THAT VENEZUELA COULD BECOME A "LEGAL DICTATORSHIP"

    Venezuelan Roman Catholic bishops urged left-wing President Hugo Chavez Wednesday to free jailed opponents and warned him that his "excessive" political power risked turning him into a dictator. Bishops from the predominantly Catholic country called for reconciliation in the country. "As part of the search for reconciliation, we bishops ask the president to grant clemency or pardons to civilians or military officers convicted or accused for political reasons," the bishops said in a statement after a five-day meeting.

    The document, read by the Archbishop of Cumana, Monsignor Diego Padron, also criticized what it called "an excessive concentration of power in a government where the autonomy of public institutions appears to have been diluted." Venezuela's Catholic hierarchy has clashed with Chavez in the past, joining opponents who say he is trying to install a Cuba-style communist regime. He accuses senior bishops of siding with rich elites opposed to his self-styled "revolution," which he says aims to help the poor.

    Critics say Chavez has eroded democratic checks to his authority by packing the Supreme Court with allies and tightening his control over the armed forces and the state oil firm, both of which he purged after the 2002 coup and strike. The bishops said this was "very damaging for a democracy". They warned Chavez that if he did not allow a critical opposition and independent state institutions "this runs the risk of abuses of power and would open the doors to a dictatorship with an appearance of legality".

    VENEZUELA CALLS BACK AMBASSADOR TO COLOMBIA IN DIPLOMATIC ROW OVER CAPTURED REBEL

    Venezuela has recalled its ambassador to Colombia, accusing the neighboring country Thursday of bribing Venezuelan authorities to participate in the capture of a Colombian rebel in Caracas. Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said Colombia's government paid "a bribe" to Venezuelan security officials to capture Rodrigo Granda, a leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

     Colombia's government had no official comment as yet, said Hector Mujica, a spokesman for the Foreign Relations Ministry in Bogota. Venezuela's decision came one day after Colombia acknowledged for the first time that it paid bounty hunters an unspecified sum for the capture in Venezuela of Granda. Rangel said five Venezuelan National Guard troops and three federal police officers have been arrested for their alleged role in the abduction.

    CHRISTIAN MAGAZINE ENDS EIGHT-YEAR RUN PROVIDING INDEPENDENT VIEWPOINTS IN CUBA 

     The alternative Christian magazine Espacios, one of a few independent publications in Cuba's mostly state-run media market, is closing after eight years because it has run out of funding and local church support. Espacios, which costs about US$1,400 (1,065) every three months to print 4,000 copies, had survived eight years on donations from religious institutions in countries including Germany and Mexico. Most contributors work for free, with a few full-time staffers receiving modest salaries.

    "We don't have the money to keep going," Joaquin Bello, director and founder of Espacios, said. "We've gone looking for funding in many places, but nothing has come up." The magazine touched on topics that are often rarely expressed in Cuban society, where the communist government controls official newspapers, magazines and TV and radio stations.

    "We can't accept money from just anyone," he said. "We have to make sure it's coming from very neutral people. If not, I get myself into trouble, and bring problems to the church as well." It became clear last week that the magazine would cease to exist in its current form after Bello met with Cardinal Jaime Ortega, lead bishop in Havana and the island's top Catholic churchman. The cardinal said the church wanted a publication "much more aimed at the laity," focusing mostly on events in the religious community, Bello said.

    NORMANDO HERNANDEZ HOSPITALIZED FOR POSSIBLE TUBERCULOSIS

    Normando Hernández González, an independent journalist jailed for almost two years since a crackdown on Cuba's opposition, was hospitalized in custody for possible tuberculosis. Hernandez was transferred from prison to a hospital in the western province of Pinar del Rio on Jan. 5, said his wife, Yarai Reyes Marin.

    Marin learned of her husband's transfer through another prisoner's wife and that when she called the hospital she was not allowed to speak with him. Hernandez, head of an independent news agency in the eastern provincial capital of Camaguey, is serving a 25-year term. He was among 75 government opponents - including 26 journalists - who were arrested in March 2003 and sentenced to long prison terms.

    They were all accused of being mercenaries working with the United States to undermine Fidel Castro's government - a charge the dissidents and American officials denied. Fourteen of the original 75 have since been released on parole for health reasons, including internationally known writer and poet Raul Rivero.

    VENEZUELAçS OIL MINISTER SAYS OPEC COULD DECIDE TO CUT PRODUCTION AT NEXT MEETING

    OPEC may make further production cuts during its meeting later this month, but the reduction would likely stem from slashing excess output rather than lowering the production ceiling, Venezuela's oil minister said Tuesday. "There exists a position among some colleagues favorable for a cut. It could be. We will evaluate and see," said Rafael Ramirez, adding that members are producing about a million barrels per day in excess of the official 27 million barrel a day ceiling.

    Ramirez, who also serves at the president of Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could move to cut output after determining how much oil the cartel is producing in excess of member quotas. The Jan. 30 meeting in Vienna comes after the cartel in December decided to cut production by 1 million barrels a day - scaling back member-states' production to the official ceiling.

    But OPEC members, who produce roughly a third of the world's oil, have continued to miss those targets - largely because of persistently strong crude prices. Ramirez said Venezuela - one of OPEC's leading price hawks - is content with current oil prices and will do whatever is necessary to keep them afloat. "The current price is comfortable for OPEC and consumers," Ramirez said. Venezuela is the world's fifth largest petroleum exporter and a major exporter of oil and gasoline to the United States.

    MARACAIBOçS MAYOR ORDERS PRIVATE LAND SEIZED

    The mayor of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city, ordered the government to seize two swaths of abandoned private lands Tuesday, saying the property would be used for projects to benefit the entire population.

    Giancarlo Di Martino, Maracaibo mayor and staunch supporter of President Hugo Chavez, said the lands include 62 acres within the city and an abandoned industrial zone running along the shore of lake Maracaibo about 20 miles to the southeast. The mayor said the lands are partly owned by a bank and a hotel, which has been closed for decades. The city of 1.7 million people plans to build public housing, a center for street children and a public sports center on the lands, Di Martino said.

    Di Martino's order coincides with a sweeping land reform being led by Chavez to turn over "idle" farmlands to the poor. Chavez declared on Monday that the government would survey farmland across the country and gradually redistribute unused acreage. Despite Venezuela's position as a major global producer of oil, a majority of its people live in poverty.

    THE SAME U.S. SENATORS WHO HELP CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO ARE HELPING NOW HUGO CHAVEZ

    Three U.S. senators met with Hugo Chavez on Monday in Caracas and said they came away optimistic the two governments can mend relations despite past tensions. Chavez met for two hours with Sens. Christopher Dodd, Lincoln Chafee and Bill Nelson, who said they saw their visit as a first step toward better ties between the two countries. These three senators had previously met in Havana with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

     "We've had a very sour relationship in the past. Every indication is that there will be better times ahead,'' said Nelson, a Florida Democrat. "Let's see if the words translate into action.''  The senators said they discussed trade with Chavez as well as efforts against drug trafficking and terrorism. The United States is the No. 1 buyer of Venezuelan oil.

    The three senators, members of the Foreign Relations Committee, made a point of emphasizing the need for a fresh start in the often troubled relationship between Washington and Chávez's government. ''This is a very, very important bilateral relationship,'' said Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the ranking member of the delegation.

     HUGO CHÁVEZ SAYS COLOMBIAN POLICE VIOLATED SOVEREIGNTY BY CAPTURING REBEL IN CARACAS

    Hugo Chavez said Sunday he had proof Colombian authorities lied and violated Venezuela's sovereignty by capturing a Colombian rebel in Caracas. Colombian officials say they arrested Rodrigo Granda, a senior member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, on Dec. 14 in the Colombian city of Cucuta, close to the border with Venezuela.

    But Granda's lawyer and Venezuelan officials say he was abducted from a Caracas cafeteria on Dec. 13 and then taken to Colombia. "I have no doubt that Granda was abducted here in Caracas. We have proof," said Chavez during his weekly radio and television show.  "When Colombian police officers say that Granda was arrested in Cucuta, they are lying," said Chavez.

    "I am the first Venezuelan to reject emphatically the violation of our sovereignty," said Chavez, arguing that Venezuela had not initiated a similar bid to capture Pedro Carmona - who served as Venezuela's president for two days during a short-lived coup in 2002 - while Carmona is in Colombia. "We are not going to Colombia to get Carmona. We respect (Colombia's) decision to grant him asylum," said Chavez.

    CUBA "MAGNANIMOUSLY" ANSWERS THE PLEA OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, IT REESTABLISHES RELATIONS WITH ALL MEMBERS OF THE UNION

    Cuba was back on speaking terms with all European Union embassies in Havana on Monday after ending a diplomatic flap dubbed the "cocktails war" over the invitation of dissidents to official receptions. The dispute broke out in 2003 when European embassies began inviting dissidents to National Day celebrations to protest a crackdown on dissent by President Fidel Castro's communist government.

    "As of this moment, Cuba has restored official contacts with all the countries of the European Union," Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters. The European Commission, the EU's executive, welcomed the decision. Cuba last week announced the "unfreezing" of eight EU countries, but had kept four remaining nations with embassies in Havana on its blacklist because of their more outspoken support for the dissidents. The four countries, the Netherlands, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, have opposed a softening in policy until Cuba releases all political prisoners.

    EU foreign ministers are expected to adopt the policy change when they meet on Jan. 31. This would also restore high-level visits by European officials to Cuba that were suspended in June 2003. Cuba restored contacts in November with Spain, whose Socialist government has actively sought to end the diplomatic deadlock and mend EU ties with its former colony.

    LETTER OF THE YEAR PREDICTS WIDESPREAD DISEASE, BETRAYAL, AND MILITARY INTERVENTIONS

    Revered priests of Cuba's Santeria religion warned of everything from environmental contamination to male impotence in 2005 as part of their annual New Year's predictions announced Tuesday. Cuba and the world are also at risk of widespread disease, betrayal, and military interventions, according to the latest "Letra del Año,'' or Letter of the Year. Despite all the catastrophe, a well-known Santeria priest, or babalao, urged followers to not abandon hope.

    "If mankind unites in faith, unites in prayer, unites in the constancy to work toward making things better, I think that these large-scale phenomena we've been able to predict will be less,'' Lazaro Cuesta, wearing a white cap and all-white outfit, told a news conference. "Not less in quantity, but less in pain and suffering, because we would be prepared to confront the problems,'' he added.

    Last year, Cuesta's group predicted "elevation of the level of the sea'' for 2004. On Tuesday, the babalao lamented that the prediction came true with December's undersea earthquake and giant tsunami in Asia, and asked for a moment of silence for the tens of thousands of victims killed by the waves. The world predictions issued by a handful of groups in the first days of January are watched closely by many Cubans, even those who do not follow Santeria, a syncretic mix of Yoruba spiritual traditions carried here by African slaves and Roman Catholicism brought by Spaniards.

    CUBA RIGHTS ACTIVIST REPORTS 294 POLITICAL PRISONERS ON ISLAND

    The number of political prisoners held in Cuba dropped slightly over the past six months to 294, a veteran rights activist reported Monday. The decline from 317 prisoners six months ago and 315 a year ago is not significant enough to mark a change in the government's policy toward jailed dissidents, said activist Elizardo Sanchez, who heads the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and Reconciliation.

    "The fact that the number of political prisoners has stayed stationary during the last few years reflects the highly repressive position that the government of Cuba maintains," Sanchez wrote in the non-governmental commission's latest report, which was distributed to international journalists on Monday.

    Among those named on the commission's list are all 75 dissidents arrested in a roundup on the opposition in spring 2003 even though 14 of them have since been freed on parole for health reasons. The 75 activists were arrested in March 2003 on charges of being mercenaries working with the U.S. government to undermine the communist government, something the dissidents and American officials deny. Sentences ranged from six to 28 years.

    THANKS TO THE "WOMEN IN WHITE" AND THE CUBAN AMERICAN NATIONAL FOUNDATION, THREE KINGS DAY STILL ALIVE FOR DISSIDENTSç KIDS IN COMMUNIST CUBA

     Cuban children whose fathers have languished in prison for 21 months as part of a government crackdown against dissidents, gathered at a Havana home Saturday to receive toys as part of a Three Kings holiday tradition. The quiet gathering, organized by the wives of the dissidents, also served as a subtle demonstration against the arrests of the 75 activists, most of whom remain behind bars serving lengthy prison terms.

     ''We distributed toys to the children and read them stories about the Three Kings,'' party host Laura Pollán said in a telephone interview. Pollán, wife of jailed independent journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, said all 53 children of dissidents across the island received gifts paid for with a donation by the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation. ''This year the gifts went all the way to Oriente province for the children of all 75 dissidents,'' said Pollán, part of a group of women known as ''Women in White,'' whose peaceful resistance has made some strides in the struggle for human rights on the island.

    Three Kings Day, or Dia de los Reyes Magos, is celebrated on Jan. 6. In Cuba, it is one of the few holidays that remained alive, albeit discreetly, even after Fidel Castro declared the island an atheist nation and banned religious celebrations soon after he seized control in 1959.

    AGRARIAN REFORMS BEGIN IN VENEZUELA

    Government officials escorted by troops and police descended on a privately owned cattle ranch Saturday to determine whether some lands may be turned over to poor farmers as part of an agrarian reform. The vast El Charcote Ranch, 125 miles southwest of Caracas, is one of many across Venezuela being eyed by authorities as they move forward on a sweeping plan to re-evaluate uses of agricultural lands in this South American country.

    Squatters have moved onto the 32,000-acre ranch and planted crops in hopes the land will one day be declared their own. Most of the estimated 600 squatters settled here in the four years since President Hugo Chavez signed a law clearing the way for agrarian reform. An ally of Chavez, Cojedes state Gov. Johnny Yanez Rangel, told supporters "private property ... is a right, but not absolute" and that "the collective interest" must be considered. "Today is a historic day ... We didn't come to run over (the rights) of anybody. We come to do away with the anarchy, to give spaces to those who need them," Yanez said.

    "We didn't come to expropriate, but to do justice," said Yanez, as helicopters that will be used to survey lands hovered. Officials said the evaluation will take 90 days and will determine whether the ranch lands are being properly used and whether the owner has rightful claims to the land. The owner of the El Charcote Ranch, Agropecuaria Flora C.A., is a subsidiary of the British-owned Vestey Group Ltd. and a major beef producer. The company insists that it can prove ownership back to 1830 and that the ranch is not idle as officials have said.

    GUANTANAMO  PRISON TAKES ON LOOK OF PERMANENCY

    The U.S. prison camp for terror suspects is taking on a look of permanence as the mission marks its third year Tuesday, with plans for a new $25 million prison facility, $1.7 million psychiatric wing and a permanent guard force. Also planned is a $4 million security fence that could reduce the need for some 300 infantry troops.

    Most of the 550 prisoners from 42 countries no longer are considered of significant intelligence value, but many swept up in the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan aren't expected to be freed anytime soon - some because of stalled legal proceedings, others because they allegedly still pose a threat to the United States or its allies. "Where this will go four or five years down the road, I don't know," said Army Brig. Gen. Jay Hood, who has commanded the mission for nine months.

    A full-time, 324-member Military Police Internment and Resettlement Battalion will replace the temporary, mostly reserve force at Guantanamo. Some soldiers will have experience in prisons such as the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., or guarding prisoners of war, said an Army Lt. Col., who will lead the 525 Brigade. Some soldiers already are being trained.

    POPE CRITICIZES U.S. EMBARGO AGAINST CUBA  

    Pope John Paul repeated his condemnation of the U.S. economic embargo against Communist-ruled Cuba on Saturday, saying the island nation needed proper conditions for its development. The Pope, who has spoken out against the embargo in the past, made his comments at a ceremony at which Havana's new ambassador to the Vatican presented his credentials.

    "The Holy See strongly desires that obstacles which block free communication and exchange between the Cuban nation and part of the international community be overcome soon, thus reinforcing through respectful and open dialogue with everyone, the conditions necessary for real development," he said.

     The 84-year-old Pope, who made an historic visit to Cuba in 1998, also made a brief reference to human rights, calling for a dialogue among "all groups that make up the Cuban people." He did not mention the 75 dissidents imprisoned last year by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

    CUBA ANNOUNCES SMALLER SUGAR HARVEST

    Cuba is among many sugar-producing nations expecting a smaller harvest this year because of climatic conditions, a sugar ministry official was quoted as saying. "Sugar production is an agro industrial process in which the raw material is alive," ministry official Oscar Almazan del Olmo told the Communist Party daily Granma in its Friday edition. "Inevitably, it is influenced by climactic phenomena."

    Almazan blamed droughts for the expected harvest shortfall in major sugar-producing nations including Thailand and India, as well in Cuba. Because of the lower production in Cuba, the upcoming harvest for the 2004-2005 season is expected to be just four months long, beginning in January and ending in April. Cuban sugar harvests usually begin in November or December and stretch into May or even June.

    The last harvest, for the 2003-2004 season came in at 2.5 million metric tons. The 2002-2003 harvest yielded 3.6 million metric tons and 2001-2002 registered 3.5 million tons. Cuba's sugar industry has been undergoing a major restructuring over the past several years as officials struggle to make production more efficient. Sugar has been replaced in recent years by tourism as the island's primary source of foreign income.

    CHAVEZ AND HIS GENERALS CONSIDER SATELLITE OFFERS FROM FIVE COUNTRIES 

     Venezuela is considering offers from Argentina, Russia, India, China and Ukraine for the purchase of a satellite to fill the country's communication needs, a government official said Wednesday. Science and Technology Minister Marlene Cordova said that delegations representing President Hugo Chavez's administration are evaluating offers from the five nations.

    "The best technical conditions as well as the best business conditions are being evaluated, and the background each country has in the area," Cordova said at a press conference. Chavez, who has vowed to expand Venezuela's telecommunications network, plans to make a decision on the purchase of a satellite within several months, Cordova added. She said the satellite would be used exclusively by the Venezuelan state, not privately-owned companies.

    Cordova told reporters that the government was also considering buying equipment with photographic imaging capabilities that could be installed in Venezuela's military planes and jets. In a related development on Wednesday, Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel swore in a committee charged with establishing a state-run institution responsible for managing forthcoming aerospace programs.

    VENEZUELA SAYS IT APPEARS COLOMBIA REBEL WAS KIDNAPPED 

    A top Colombian rebel captured last month was apparently abducted from Venezuela, possibly by Colombian security officials in a serious violation of Venezuelan sovereignty, Venezuelan Interior Minister Jesse Chacon said on Wednesday. Through his statement, Venezuela's government appeared to moving toward asserting that Rodrigo Granda, the foreign relations chief of Colombia's FARC rebel group, was kidnapped in the Venezuelan capital Caracas on Dec. 13.

    Colombian police have said they captured him in the border town of Cucuta, in Colombian territory. But the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) said he was illegally abducted in Caracas by Colombian security agents helped by "corrupt" Venezuelan police officers. "There are strong indications that Rodrigo Granda was kidnapped near the Bellas Artes metro station in Caracas," Chacon said in his statement.

    "There are also indications which could implicate Colombian officials in this incident," he said, adding former or serving Venezuelan police officers may also have been involved. If proved, the kidnap would be embarrassing for leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and could trigger a diplomatic rift with neighboring Colombia, whose conservative President Alvaro Uribe has close ties to Washington.

   GUTIERREZ UNYIELDING ON DEMOCRACY FOR CUBA

    The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday said it approved the nomination of Kellogg Co. Chief Executive Carlos Gutierrez as secretary of commerce. The nomination, which follows a confirmation hearing before the panel Wednesday, now goes to the full Senate for final approval.

    "We are pleased that the committee was able to act so quickly," said panel Chairman Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, in a statement. "Mr. Gutierrez is a true American success story, having fled with his family from Cuba, where he and his family are now living the true American dream."

   OSWALDO PAYÁ: THE CUBAN CAUSE DOES NOT DEPEND ON EXTERNAL SUPPORT

    Oswaldo Payá, one of Cuba's best known dissidents, said that renewed contacts between Cuba and European countries, a thaw in relations that is likely to kick him and other activists off the embassy cocktail party circuit, won't hurt their efforts to change the communist system.

    Oswaldo Paya, lead organizer of the Varela Project democracy drive, said Tuesday that a policy by European embassies in Havana to invite dissidents to national day events for more than a year had already served a purpose. "The EU had made the decision to invite us as an expression of solidarity with the people of Cuba, as a gesture of displeasure with the detention of our 75 brothers," Paya said.

    "We have clearly expressed that changes in Cuba depend on us, on the people of Cuba," Paya said. "I think that within the European Union there exists the good will to contribute ... so that changes toward democracy can happen (in Cuba)," he added.

    CUBA IS IN THE CENTER OF MARTINEZçS AGENDA

    Mel Martinez became the first Cuban American to hold a U.S. Senate seat when he was sworn in Tuesday. Martinez wasted no time before wielding his newfound political clout. Minutes after being sworn in, he entered a lunch meeting with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State nominee, who gave him a diplomatic message to send to the Israeli and Palestinian governments when he visits the Middle East later this week.

    Only minutes earlier, Martinez had approached Vice President Dick Cheney to be sworn in. Former Sen. Paula Hawkins of Florida walked arm in arm with him as he approached the podium. ''Mel, welcome,'' said Cheney to the man who served as President Bush's housing secretary. During the ceremony, Martinez sat in the chamber with other political stars such as New York's Hillary Clinton, Arizona's John McCain and Illinois' Barack Obama.

    Senator Martinez said he wants the United States to directly aid dissidents in Cuba. The U.S. government now sends most of its money for promoting freedom and democracy in Cuba to exile and U.S.-based organizations. ''I think to the extent possible, any way that we can get money directly to dissidents within the island, I think that would be desirable, and I think it should be done,'' he said.

    FOLLOWING CASTRO'S EXAMPLE, HUGO CHAVEZ WILL GRANT PRIVATE PLOTS OF LAND TO HIS FOLLOWERS 

    As Cuban dictator Fidel Castro did in Cuba, Hugo Chavez promised to grant his followers at least 100,000 plots of land carved from either state property or large private holdings, a step toward implementing a controversial agrarian reform law, a top agricultural official said. Under the 2001 legislation, the government can and does seize land from large estates if it deems the property is not being used productively for agriculture.

    Eliezer Otaiza, director of the National Land Institute and a close ally of populist President Hugo Chavez, emerged from talks with regional governors on the land reform holding up a pamphlet titled "War Against the Large Estates." He said more than 2,000 government officials are evaluating both private and state-owned lands across the country to determine if they are productive or idle.

    Opponents, including owners of large land estates, argue the law is unconstitutional because it violates private property rights. Some ranchers and farmers fear Chavez, a self-proclaimed revolutionary, will break up their businesses in the interest of trying to do away with economic inequality.

    NEW SENATOR MEL MARTÍNEZ BRINGS BILINGUAL POLITICS TO THE CAPITOL

    On the day he was sworn to U.S. Senate, Mel Martinez did something apparently unprecedented: he stood under the marble dome that symbolizes the nation's power and outlined his agenda in two languages -- English and Spanish. Martinez, sworn in as Florida's newest senator at 12:35 p.m., fielded questions as easily from Telemundo as from the Washington Post, toggling freely between the languages of his homeland and his adopted country, as Miami-Dade leaders have done for 30 years.

    English-only reporters had to ask him to repeat answers he had said in Spanish. And Martinez even had to translate questions from Spanish to English. ''I am ready to be Mel Martinez at the national level,'' he said when asked whether he would take bilingual politics national. "And Mel Martinez is bilingual and bicultural.'' Martinez said that his priority was to represent Florida by making sure enough aid flows to areas affected by hurricanes and to continue funding the Everglades restoration.

    He also said that in his capacity as member of the prominent Senate foreign relations committee he will help increase ties to Latin America and play an active role in the Arab-Israeli peace process. Late this week, he is scheduled to travel to Israel to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and witness the Palestinian elections. He noted that large Jewish and Cuban constituencies in Florida have a strong interest in both the Middle East and Latin America. Two busloads of Cuban exiles originally from his hometown of Sangua la Grande arrived from Miami today to see the swearing-in ceremony.

    STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON J. ADAM ERELIçS NEWS BRIEFING ON CUBA

    I would note a couple of things.  Number one, the position of the United States government is clear and that is that Cuba systematically and brutally suppresses human rights, suppresses the free expression of views, freedom of association, freedom of speech, freedom of -- and just about every fundamental human freedom that you can imagine. Number two, the arrest of 75 dissidents and the continued incarceration of most of them I think is a vivid example of that policy. Number three, it's up to every country to determine what kind of response it wants to have to these kinds of actions by the government of Cuba.

    We certainly take every effort to make our views known about our opposition to what Cuba is doing and the importance of the international community speaking out and acting firmly in this regard. But I don't know the facts of actually what's happened. I know what Cuba is reporting, but I don't know the facts of what's been decided or agreed to within the European Union. So I wouldn't really want to speak to this specific report. QUESTION-- But you will once the Europeans confirm what the Cubans say, right? ERELI: That hasn't happened yet. Thank you very much.

    CUBA RESTORES FULL TIES WITH EIGHT EUROPEAN NATIONS

    Cuba ended a diplomatic deadlock with eight European Union nations on Monday in response to proposals by EU officials to stop inviting dissidents to National Day receptions in Havana. Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said Cuba was reopening official contacts with the embassies of France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Greece, Portugal and Sweden.

    EU embassies began inviting political opponents to the diplomatic cocktail parties last year to protest a crackdown on dissent in March 2003 and other human rights violations in Cuba. The practice so incensed dictator Fidel Castro's communist government that it shut its doors to European diplomats, shunned ambassadors and did not return telephone calls.

    After Cuba freed 14 of the 75 jailed dissidents, EU working group on Latin America recommended on Dec. 14 that the policy be dropped in favor of more discrete contacts with the dissidents. "As a result of the decision by the EU's Latin American committee to renounce invitations to national day celebrations of mercenaries paid and directed by the United States, Cuba has decided to restore official contacts with the embassies of a group of EU countries," Perez Roque told reporters.

    FARC FOREIGN RELATIONS OFFICIAL CAPTURED BY COLOMBIAN AGENTS IN VENEZUELA 

    Colombia's outlawed rebel group says the Venezuelan government permitted one of the group's leaders to enter Venezuela, but later let Colombian authorities arrest and deport him, in a move that could indicate a shift in policy.

    The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, said in a statement late Sunday that Ricardo Granda, a foreign relations official for the leftist armed group, was arrested by Colombian intelligence agents in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas on Dec. 13 - after two days of meetings with other leftist organizations.

    The FARC called the arrest a "lamentable precedent" and asked President Hugo Chavez's government to "define its position" regarding the ability for the FARC and other leftist groups to enter Venezuela in the future. The issue has caused friction between the two countries' governments in the past, as Colombia has accused Venezuela of sympathizing with the rebel groups.

    VENEZUELAçS TOP LAND REFORM AUTHORITY SAYS 40,000 PLOTS OF FARM LAN UNDER INSPECTION

    Venezuela's top land reform authority said Monday that at least 40,000 plots of farm land are being inspected to determine if they are private or state-owned and being used productively. Eliezer Otayza, director of the National Land Institute, said "500 plots of land nationwide have been identified as idle."

    "We are going through registries of 40,000 others to determine ... if they are public or private," Otayza, a close ally of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, told the state-run television station.   Otayza did not provide details regarding the number of hectares (acres) currently under inspection. He said authorities were proceeding cautiously to prevent conflicts with those who claim to own the lands.

    The Land Law enacted by Chavez in 2000 permits the government to grant state-owned land to the homeless and tax land that is classified as idle. Land can be seized if owners fail to prove it is productive. Land owners claim mistakes have been made by the National Land Institute in classifying lands as state-owned or private. Outlining what he has dubbed "the new stage of the revolution," the leftist Chavez has recently urged his political allies to begin applying the land reform law.

    PRESIDENT BUSH PICKS FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON AND HIS FATHER, FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE H.W. BUSH, TO LEAD PRIVATE AID EFFORTS IN SOUTH ASIA

    President George W. Bush on Monday tapped two former presidents -- his father, former President George H. W. Bush, and his predecessor, former President Bill Clinton -- to lead a nationwide fund-raising campaign to help victims of the Asian tsunamis. "I ask every American to contribute as they are able to do so," Bush said in the White House's Roosevelt Room, the two former presidents at his side.

    The two former presidents are to lead an effort to encourage the American people and American businesses to support, through private contributions, non-governmental and international organizations relief and reconstruction to areas devastated by the tsunamis, Bush said. "In the coming days, Presidents Clinton and Bush will ask Americans to donate directly to reliable charities already providing help to tsunami victims," Bush said.

    The president urged Americans to give money instead of other items. "Cash donations are most useful," he said. Private donations began pouring in from people in the United States and around the world at unprecedented levels almost immediately. The Pentagon has decided to send the USNS Mercy, a 1,000-bed hospital ship based at San Diego, to join the tsunami relief effort in south Asia.

    ‚AXIS OF EVILç TOPçS BUSHçS SECOND-TERM AGENDA

     The three countries U.S. President George W. Bush called an "axis of evil" in his first term are at the top of his foreign policy to-do list in the second, along with a revitalized Midleast peace process and continued efforts to repair European alliances frayed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Some analysts said that the war and reconstruction in Iraq are likely to continue to command more attention than any other international issues, at least for the first couple of years of Bush's new four-year term.

    "The first priority has got to be getting Iraq right," said Max Boot, a conservative expert on national security at the Council on Foreign Relations. But in the short run, the Bush administration also must juggle a complicated response to the devastation from tsunami across South Asia amid some complaints that the rich United States is not doing enough. On Iraq, the administration will get a real and perceived boost in credibility if elections scheduled there for the end of this month come off well, Boot and others said.

    Iran and North Korea, the other two countries in Bush's famous axis, loom nearly as large as Iraq. The United States suspects both countries are on their way to possessing nuclear weapons, or already have them. Both have repressive or authoritarian governments that could interfere with their neighbors or worse. U.S. policy in all three nations is yoked to the continuing war on terrorism, since all three are potential training grounds or arsenals for terrorists.

    FEWER CUBAN-AMERICANS TRAVELING TO THE ISLAND FOLLOWING NEW RESTRICTIONS IMPLEMENTED BY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION

    According to the State Department, airplane seat reservations for Cuba significantly decreased in 2004 compared to the previous. From July - when the policy was put into effect - to December there were 50,558 reservations, less than half of last year's 118,938 bookings for the same period.

    The new policy requires that Cuban-Americans apply for a family license to visit only immediate relatives, such as mother, father, siblings and children. They can visit once every three years. Other licenses are available for religions or commercial reasons. U.S.-Cuba relations, which have never been good during four decades of communist rule on the island, have deteriorated during President Bush's administration, which has toughened economic sanctions and publicized its plan for a democratic Cuba after Fidel Castro.

    The Treasury Department said that from Aug. 10 to Nov. 10 there have been about 6,300 applications for family licenses, 2,600 were accepted and 3,600 were rejected. A State Department official said the travel restrictions were put in place to stop revenue for Cuba. Officials estimated that during 2003 money generated from relatives coming in on charter flights amounted to about $96.3 million for the government. At the Miami International Airport, three to five flights leave daily for several destinations in Cuba.

    NORTH KOREA AFFIRMS ALLIANCE WITH CUBA AGAINST U.S.

    A top North Korean official said on Friday that his country and Cuba will wage a joint struggle against the United States.

    In a message to Cuban dictador Fidel Castro, North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and Kim Yongnam, president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, said the two countries will continue to jointly fight U.S. aggression and intervention on the basis of their traditional friendship and cooperation.

    GOVERNOR BUSH HEADED TO BANGKOK, THAILAND, WITH SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL AS REPRESENTATIVE OF PRESIDENT BUSH

    In his first ever foray as a presidential emissary, Gov. Jeb Bush left Florida on Sunday for tsunami-ravaged South Asia to illustrate American compassion at a time of terrible tragedy. ''This is a time for us to reflect on God's blessing . . . and be generous,'' Bush said as he departed in the governor's jet from Miami International Airport to link up with Secretary of State Colin Powell at Andrews Air Force Base just outside Washington, D.C.

    President Bush tapped his brother as an expert in disaster relief because Florida was lashed by four hurricanes last year. He arranged the delegation after the White House was accused of responding slowly to the calamity that has killed tens of thousands of people from India to Indonesia and eastern Africa. The Bush administration initially offered $15 million in disaster aid. It has since raised the figure to $350 million -- part of an overall global pot of $2 billion so far pledged by 40 nations.

    This week's trip is part fact-finding mission, part photo opportunity. Governor Bush said there would be meetings with political leaders in Bangkok and Jakarta as well as tours of ''impacted areas,'' to see relief workers and victims at a remote hospital. ''The fact that I'm his brother . . . symbolically gives people the sense that people care,'' he said, explaining he was recruited for the mission "to show the heart of this country during this really tragic time.''

    CUBAN DICTATOR FIDEL CASTRO INCREASES HIS CONTROL OF HARD CURRENCY, CENTRAL BANK TIGHTENS FOREX CONTROLS

     Cash-strapped Cuba will further limit state-run companies' use of foreign exchange, the Caribbean nation's central bank said on Friday, in what experts said was the final move in an 18-month drive to control hard currency. All foreign exchange and its Cuban equivalent, the convertible peso, will be turned into a single account controlled by the central bank beginning next year, according to a resolution published in the official media on Thursday.

    Francisco Soberón, President of  the Central Bank, signed a resolution which indicates that a bank-run committee will decide how the money in the account will be spent. State banks can no longer process companies foreign exchange or convertible peso transactions without the central bank's prior approval. Resolution 92/2004 allows each ministry to set an amount of company spending that does not need prior approval, but the bank reserved the right to cancel the privilege if it finds evidence of improper use of funds.

    "Experience shows it is necessary to move to a new organizational phase that concentrates all foreign exchange... and centrally approve the use of convertible pesos by Cuban entities," the resolution states. Both convertible pesos (chavitos) and pesos circulate freely in Cuba. The government officially maintains a 1-to-1 parity between the peso and convertible peso, but allows its exchange offices to trade convertible pesos at the street rate, currently 27 pesos. Communist-run Cuba's economy is more than 90 percent controlled by the state.

    LEFTIST GUERRILLAS MASSACRE 16 PEASANTS IN EASTERN COLOMBIA

    Marxist rebels massacred 16 peasants, including women and children, in a remote area in lawless Arauca province, police said Saturday. The attack came last Friday less than an hour before the New Year arrived in the village of Puerto San Salvador, 230 miles northeast of Bogota, Arauca police chief Col. Rodrigo Palacio told The Associated Press.

    He said the killers, believed to be members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, accused the peasants of collaborating with right-wing paramilitary militias. The dead included six men, six women and four children. Leftist rebels have long battled the outlawed paramilitary fighters of the United Self-Defense Forces, or AUC, for control of Arauca, one of Colombia's most violent provinces that is a strategic corridor for smuggling drugs and arms from across the border in Venezuela.

    The massacre came the same day that President Alvaro Uribe took the unprecedented step of extraditing a top FARC commander to the United States on drug trafficking and terrorism charges, raising fears of reprisal attacks. Colombia's 40-year-old conflict kills more than 3,000 people every year.

    DESPITE PRESIDENT BUSHçS TIGHTENING OF THE EMBARGO, FIRST FLORIDA-BRED CATTLE IN MORE THAN 40 YEARS GOES TO CUBA

    The first shipment of Florida-bred cattle to Cuba in more than 40 years was left Friday from Port Everglades near Fort Lauderdale. Twenty-two beef cattle were on a cargo chip for the three-day trip to Havana, said J.P. Wright & Co. Inc., which has a contract to ship the livestock under an exemption to the long-standing U.S. trade embargo on Cuba.

    The six bulls and 16 heifers were raised in Florida's prime cattle country of Levy, St. Lucie, Suwannee and Highlands counties, said John Parke Wright IV, owner of the Naples-based company. The shipment is the first part of a nearly $1 million order totaling 300 head of Florida-bred cattle. The rest is expected to ship within the next few months.

    A law passed in 2000 lets U.S. farmers and companies sell livestock and agricultural and food products to Cuba on a cash-only basis. CAMCO contends that the farm sales only benefit the communist nation's elite, including the Castro brothers. It believes the trade restrictions must be tightened to topple Castro's government and bring democracy to the island.

    PRESIDENT URIBE AUTHORIZES THE EXTRADITION OF TOP REBEL LEADER TO U.S.

    The most important commander of Colombia's largest rebel army ever captured was handed to U.S. authorities at a Bogota airport to be extradited to the United States Friday to face cocaine smuggling and kidnapping charges.

    President Alvaro Uribe authorized the extradition of Ricardo Palmera, alias "Simon Trinidad," after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia failed to comply with an ultimatum to free 63 hostages, including three Americans.

    VENEZUELA, IRAN TO SIGN SERIES OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS

    Iran will provide equipment and technology to Venezuela for use in agriculture, petrochemicals, construction and health care, an Iranian official said. A series of cooperative agreements will provide Venezuela with "plants, machinery and technology," Iranian Vice Minister of Industry Valiallah Afkhami told reporters after a meeting with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

    Afkhami said the agreements would be signed Friday. He also said Iranians would help set up farms with special irrigation systems and plants for making bricks. He said next month a delegation will come to Caracas to discuss cooperative projects in petrochemicals. The Iranian official began his one-week visit to the South American oil producer on Monday. Chavez also visited Iran in November as part of an international tour.